Search

As the most common form of glomerulonephritis worldwide, IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is characterized by the diffuse deposition of immune complexes formed by glycosylation-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) and its specific antibodies (Gd-IgA1-IgG) in the glomerular mesangium. Although the mechanisms of Gd-IgA1 production are still unknown, there is accumulating evidence that Gd-IgA1-producing plasma cells are primarily derived from gut-associated lymphoid tissue, giving rise to the "gut-kidney axis" theory. Further research has discovered that gut microbiota may be involved in IgAN development and progression, and that several interventions to regulate gut microbiota, such as probiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, and intestinal immunity modulation, may be used in the treatment of IgAN. In patients with IgAN, targeted-release formulation-budesonide has been shown to reduce urinary protein levels and delay kidney progression. Gut microbiota has promising potential as a preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic target for IgAN, and further research is needed.

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing is a cutting-edge micro/nano manufacturing technology for flexible substrates. Generally, EHD printing uses an electric field to drive droplet jet printing, which has characteristics of low cost, simple structure, and high precision. According to the research status of EHD printing at home and abroad, this article mainly focuses on the processing and applications of demanding devices by EHD printing, as well as the influence of associated-processing parameters, with regard to the breakthrough of different kinds of electronic inks developed in recent 5 years. Upon the understanding of the challenges and opportunities from the point of view of engineering applications, optimization strategies for ink selection are put forward for driving EHD printing in various fields of transistors, sensors, biomedicine, and electroluminescent devices.

Background This study investigates the link between genetic variants associated with kidney function and immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy (IgAN) progression. Methods We recruited 961 biopsy-proven IgAN patients and 651 non-IgAN end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients from Ruijin Hospital. Clinical and renal pathological data were collected. The primary outcome was the time to ESRD. A healthy population was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate >60 mL/min/1.73 m2 without albuminuria or hematuria. Fifteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected from a genome-wide association study of kidney function and genotyped by the SNaPshot. Immunohistochemistry in renal tissue and ELISA in urine samples were performed to explore the potential functions of genetic variations. Results The rs77924615-G was independently associated with an increased risk for ESRD in IgAN patients after adjustments for clinical and pathologic indices, and treatment (adjusted hazard ratio 2.10; 95% confidence interval 1.14–3.88). No significant differences in ESRD-free survival time were found among different genotypes in non-IgAN ESRD patients (log-rank, P = .480). Moreover, rs77924615 exhibited allele-specific enhancer activity by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Accordingly, the urinary uromodulin–creatinine ratio (uUCR) was significantly higher in healthy individuals with rs77924615 AG or GG than in individuals with AA. Furthermore, uromodulin expression in tubular epithelial cells was higher in patients with rs77924615 AG or GG. Finally, we confirmed that an increased uUCR (P = .009) was associated with faster IgAN progression. Conclusion The SNP rs77924615, which modulates the enhancer activity of the UMOD gene, is associated with renal function deterioration in IgAN patients by increasing uromodulin levels in both the renal tubular epithelium and urine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify group variations in adolescent impulsivity and explore the connections between latent categories of impulsivity and psychological symptoms, social anxiety, and internet addiction. The research involved 2,378 participants from three middle schools in Guangdong Province, China. We assessed the impact of impulsivity levels (measured by BBIS) on depression (measured by KADS-11), anxiety (measured by SCARED), social anxiety (measured by SASC), and internet addiction (measured by YDQ). Latent profile analysis was employed to examine the diversity in adolescent impulsivity, establish latent classifications, and investigate the variances in psychological symptoms, social anxiety, and internet addiction. The middle school students were categorized into five latent groups based on their BBIS scores. Statistical analysis revealed five impulsivity categories, strongly linked to psychological symptoms and social anxiety but less strongly associated with internet addiction. The high impulsivity group (C5) exhibited higher scores in psychological symptoms and social anxiety compared to other groups, whereas the poor self-regulation group (C3) displayed greater psychological symptoms, social anxiety scores, and internet addiction than the impulsive behavior group (C4). Future investigations should investigate the underlying factors contributing to the observed differences among these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the significant challenge posed by the trade-off between the efficiency of separating potato soil and minimizing potato peel damage in the 4SW-170 potato excavator, this study focused on enhancing the design of the swing separation sieve. The objective was to develop a novel separation sieve comprising three distinct orders of sieve surfaces. Building upon this foundation, the EDEM-Adams coupled simulation method was employed to explore the fragmentation and separation attributes of potato–soil aggregates. This investigation aimed to elucidate the behavior of potato–soil aggregates within the operational scope of the novel swing separation sieve. Subsequently, the optimized parameters were validated through field tests. The findings indicate a direct correlation between the fracture ratio of the cohesive bond and the crank speed, illustrating an increase in the former with higher crank speeds. Conversely, an inverse relationship exists between the fracture ratio and the sieve inclination angle, demonstrating a decrease in the ratio as the sieve inclination increases. At a machine speed of 1.9 km/h, the fracture ratio of the cohesive bond attains its peak value. The force exerted on potatoes at their maximum point escalates with rising crank speed but diminishes with increasing machine speed. Conversely, the effect of sieve inclination on the peak force applied to the potatoes is deemed inconsequential. The most effective parameter configuration for the separation sieve comprises a crank speed of 180 revolutions per minute (r/min), a machine speed of 1.9 km per hour (km/h), and a sieve inclination of 14.4°. Field trials have confirmed that the parameter combination yielded a potato detection rate of 98.01% and a mere 0.68% rate of potato skin breakage, meeting the stipulated technical specifications of the potato harvester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inverse analysis of the deformation moduli of high arch dams based on displacement monitoring data is essential for structural safety assessment. In traditional inverse analysis methods, the deformation moduli are identified based on the single‐objective optimization and the hydrostatic component derived from the statistical model. This type of method has two main shortcomings: First, it treats the essential multi‐objective optimization problem as a single‐objective problem; second, the extracted hydrostatic component may be biased due to the multicollinearity of variables in the statistical model. This paper presents a methodology for the inverse analysis of the deformation moduli of high arch dams under a multi‐objective optimization strategy. The methodology employs empirical mode decomposition to extract the aging component from displacement monitoring data. Then, thermomechanical analysis is used to reconstruct the remaining hydrostatic and temperature components, thereby avoiding the biases encountered in solving the statistical model. The adaptive polynomial chaos expansion method is embedded in the NSGA‐III algorithm to establish and solve multi‐objective functions in the inverse analysis. Additionally, a composite decision index considering errors and test information is proposed to determine acceptable deformation moduli from the Pareto solution set. A high arch dam is selected to illustrate this methodology with static and dynamic monitoring data. The results show that the identified deformation moduli have errors of 3.8% and 7.2% in displacement and acceleration, respectively. The proposed methodology can yield deformation modulus values that are more consistent with the physical implications than those of the single‐objective optimization method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the ion transport properties of self‐microporous polymers by introducing a novel combination of carboxylated PIM‐1 with sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) to fabricate membranes. The resulting membranes exhibit enhanced structural stability, hydrophilicity, and ion exchange capacity (IEC) compared with the original carboxylated PIM‐1 (CPIM‐1), while preserving the subnanoporous structure. However, it was observed that excessive SGO loading leads to a detrimental "blocking effect" that compromises various membrane properties. Through electrically driven ion transport tests in a 0.01 M NaCl solution, it is demonstrated that a moderate amount of SGO effectively enhances membrane conductivity from 46.96 μS m−1 (for carboxylated PIM‐1 membranes without SGO) to 56.55 μS m−1. Additionally, the membranes exhibit selective sieving of cations and anions. The presence of small‐sized ion channels and the electrostatic repulsion generated by the abundant carboxyl and sulfonic acid groups significantly hinder Cl− transport. Consequently, the Na+/Cl− migration ratio (t+/t−) reaches 98 at a concentration ratio of 10:1 on both sides of the membrane, surpassing the value of 3.74 observed for the pure CPIM‐1 membrane. This investigation provides valuable insights for the practical application of easily prepared, processable, and cost‐effective hydrophilic self‐contained microporous polymer membranes in ion transport applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concrete-faced rockfill dam (CFRD) has been widely constructed worldwide, and the reliability of the concrete panels, the most important containment structure, is critical to the safety of the CFRDs and downstream communities. Several practical projects show that concrete slab cracking usually occurs during the water storage period, which can be attributed to the rapid increase of hydrostatic pressure and uneven settlement of the dam body. In this paper, a time-dependent reliability analysis method considering the fuzziness of the failure criterion is presented to assess the slab cracking risk of the Houziyan CFRD during the water storage period. Based on the observed deformation, the material parameters are calibrated to ensure the fidelity of the numerical simulation. Based on the Drucker–Prager yield criterion and tensile strength criterion, the response surface method is utilized to construct the performance functions at different moments, and then the time-dependent reliability analysis considering the fuzzy failure criteria is implemented for the concrete slab. The case study of the Houziyan CFRD shows that, during the initial period of water storage, the reliability index of the concrete slab decreases with the rise of the water level. With a stable water level, the probability of cracking of the concrete slab slowly decreases as the deformation of the dam body and slab tend to be coordinated. Especially, considering the fuzziness of the failure criteria, the reliability index decreased by about 2%, indicating that the proposed evaluation method is biased toward safety. The method proposed in this paper can reflect the evolution law of concrete slab reliability with the operating environment and provides a new approach to evaluate the performance of the concrete slab during the water storage period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CRISPR/Cas9 system is promising for the reversal of tumor immunosuppression in immunotherapy, but the controlled delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 remains challenging. Herein, the study reported a smart DNA nanoassembly containing multivalent aptamers, realizing the controlled delivery of Cas9/sgRNA ribonucleoprotein (RNP) for enhanced cancer immunotherapy. A single‐stranded DNA complementary to sgRNA in the Cas9/sgRNA RNP can initiate a cascade‐clamped hybridization chain reaction (C‐HCR) to wrap the Cas9/sgRNA RNP up in the DNA nanoassembly. After selective internalization of DNA nanoassembly by cancer cells, Cas9/sgRNA RNP is released to cytoplasm in response to endogenous RNase H and enters the nuclei to knock out β‐catenin. The expression of the programmed death‐ligand one gene is effectively suppressed, and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment is reprogrammed. Meanwhile, the migration of cancer cells is inhibited, and the apoptosis of cancer cells is promoted. In a breast cancer mouse model, the administration of DNA nanoassembly effectively increased the infiltration of CD8+ T cells, eventually achieving high therapeutic efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many natural fractures in shale reservoirs, changes in hydraulic fracture extension patterns. In the paper, a multi-fracture extension finite element model for horizontal wells in shale reservoirs under the disturbance of natural fractures is established by combining the actual geological parameters and construction parameters of a horizontal well multi-fracturing operation in X oilfield to analyze the effects of the difference in geostress, elastic modulus, angle of natural fractures, and the number of natural fracture groups on the hydraulic fracture extension. The results show that with the increase in ground stress difference and natural fracture angle, hydraulic fractures are more likely to penetrate the natural fractures; with the increase in elastic modulus, the fracture stress and tip stress increase, the volume of rupture unit, the fracture extension width and the pore pressure concentration area decrease, and it is easy to form a long and narrow fracture; with the increase in the number of fracture groups, the connectivity of reservoir fractures increases, the extension of fractures is stronger, and it is easier to form a complex fracture network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]