The Effect of Hearing Loss and Working Memory Capacity on Context Use and Reliance on Context in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: Older adults often complain of difficulty in communicating in noisy environments. Contextual information is considered an important cue for identifying everyday speech. To date, it has not been clear exactly how context use (CU) and reliance on context in older adults are affected by hearing status and cognitive function. The present study examined the effects of semantic context on the performance of speech recognition, recall, perceived listening effort (LE), and noise tolerance, and further explored the impacts of hearing loss and working memory capacity on CU and reliance on context among older adults. DESIGN: Fifty older adults with normal hearing and 56 older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss between the ages of 60 and 95 years participated in this study. A median split of the backward digit span further classified the participants into high working memory (HWM) and low working memory (LWM) capacity groups. Each participant performed high- and low-context Repeat and Recall tests, including a sentence repeat and delayed recall task, subjective assessments of LE, and tolerable time under seven signal to noise ratios (SNRs). CU was calculated as the difference between high- and low-context sentences for each outcome measure. The proportion of context use (PCU) in high-context performance was taken as the reliance on context to explain the degree to which participants relied on context when they repeated and recalled high-context sentences. RESULTS: Semantic context helps improve the performance of speech recognition and delayed recall, reduces perceived LE, and prolongs noise tolerance in older adults with and without hearing loss. In addition, the adverse effects of hearing loss on the performance of repeat tasks were more pronounced in low context than in high context, whereas the effects on recall tasks and noise tolerance time were more significant in high context than in low context. Compared with other tasks, the CU and PCU in repeat tasks were more affected by listening status and working memory capacity. In the repeat phase, hearing loss increased older adults' reliance on the context of a relatively challenging listening environment, as shown by the fact that when the SNR was 0 and -5 dB, the PCU (repeat) of the hearing loss group was significantly greater than that of the normal-hearing group, whereas there was no significant difference between the two hearing groups under the remaining SNRs. In addition, older adults with LWM had significantly greater CU and PCU in repeat tasks than those with HWM, especially at SNRs with moderate task demands. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, semantic context not only improved speech perception intelligibility but also released cognitive resources for memory encoding in older adults. Mild-to-moderate hearing loss and LWM capacity in older adults significantly increased the use and reliance on semantic context, which was also modulated by the level of SNR.

Factors Affecting Visual-Only Speech Recognition in Individuals With Cochlear Implants.

Objectives: Several reports have underlined the benefits of speechreading (visual-only speech recognition) on speech recognition in individuals with hearing loss after cochlear implantation (CI). However, the factors that would affect the ability of speechreading are unclear. The aim of the present study is to assess the factors that affect speechreading abilities in CI users. Methods: A total of 104 participants were enrolled in this retrospective study. They viewed silent videos of sentences being spoken by a model and were tasked with repeating what they thought had been said. They were tested under audio-only and visual-only conditions. Factors (such as the age, the age of CI; <3 years old vs 3-8 years old; male vs female, etc) believed to affect speechreading abilities were analyzed. Results: The age range of the participants is 8 to 34 years. CI users showed significantly different speechreading abilities among themselves. The authors found that age and hearing loss at 3 to 8 years of age were positively related to superior speechreading recognition scores. Conclusions: CI users followed a more complex method of perceptual compensation. Those who have suffered hearing loss between 3 and 8 years of age are more sensitive to developing an advantage in speech recognition by using speechreading. Older age positively affects speechreading abilities; thus, the more experience CI has, the greater speechreading ability they may exhibit.

Protective effect of selenomethionine on rabbit testicular injury induced by Aflatoxin B1.

The aim of this study was to investigate the alleviating effect of selenomethionine (SeMet) on aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-induced testicular injury in rabbits. Twenty-five 90-d-old rabbits were randomly divided into 5 groups (the control group, the AFB1 group, the 0.2 mg/kg SeMet + AFB1 group, the 0.4 mg/kg SeMet + AFB1 group and the 0.6 mg/kg SeMet + AFB1 group). After 1 d of the experiment, the SeMet-treated groups were fed 0.2 mg/kg SeMet, 0.4 mg/kg SeMet, or 0.6 mg/kg SeMet daily, and the remaining two groups were fed a normal diet for 30 d. On Day 31, all rabbits in the model group and the three treatment groups were fed 0.5 mg/kg AFB1 for 21 d. The levels of testosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in rabbit plasma were detected. Rabbit semen was collected, and its quality was evaluated. Pathological changes in rabbit testes were observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The expression of related proteins in testicular tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and western blot (WB) analysis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were used to detect oxidative stress-related indices and inflammatory factors in testicular tissue. The results showed that AFB1 can induce oxidative stress and inflammation to activate the p38/MSK/NF-κB signalling pathway, mediate apoptosis, inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of testicular cells, destroy the integrity of the blood-testis barrier (BTB) and the normal structure of the testis, and reduce the content of sex hormones and semen quality. SeMet pretreatment significantly alleviated testicular injury oxidative stress, and the inflammatory response in rabbits. Thus, we demonstrated that SeMet restores AFB1-induced testicular toxicity by inhibiting the p38/MSK/NF-κB signalling pathway. In addition, in this study, 0.4 mg/kg SeMet had the most impactful effect.

Continuously tunable separation of light-induced Haematococcus pluvialis using an ultrastretchable, sheath-flow-assisted elasto-inertial microchannel.

BACKGROUND: A proportion of Haematococcus pluvialis under the light stress can effectively conduct astaxanthin biosynthesis, leading to the increase in cell size. Although the size is a critical indicator for identifying the astaxanthin-rich H. pluvialis cells, the cut-off size to be separated varies from sample to sample. RESULTS: Here, we report an ultrastretchable, straight elasto-inertial microchannel with tunable separation threshold to continuously separate the light-induced H. pluvialis cells by size. The symmetrical sheath flows confine the particles to the channel sidewalls, and large particles can cross the interface of viscoelastic fluids to the equilibrium position at the channel centerline. By stretching the microfluidic chip, the medium-sized particles can gradually migrate to the channel centerline in the narrower and longer channel, bringing the tunable separation threshold. Results show that the separation performance of the ultrastretchable microfluidic device is affected by total flow rate, flow rate ratio of sheath to sample, polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution configuration. Lastly, size-tunable separation of light-induced H. pluvialis cells is demonstrated. SIGNIFICANCE: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on cell migration in co-flow configurations in the ultra-stretchable microfluidics. Separation of H. pluvialis is not only a relevant end application in harvesting the astaxanthin-rich species, but the separated populations of highly productive microalgal cells will open a venue for cellular directed evolution.

Development of a Quorum Sensing-Mediated Bacterial Autolytic System in Escherichia coli for Automatic Release of Intracellular Products.

Escherichia coli, one of the most efficient expression hosts for recombinant proteins, is widely used in chemical, medical, food, and other industries. De novo engineering of gene regulation circuits and cell density-controlled E. coli cell lysis are promising directions for the release of intracellular bioproducts. Here, we developed an E. coli autolytic system, named the quorum sensing-mediated bacterial autolytic (QS-BA) system, by incorporating an acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)-based YasI/YasR-type quorum sensing circuit from Pseudoalteromonas into E. coli cells. The results showed that the E. coli QS-BA system can release the intracellular bioproducts into the cell culture medium in terms of E. coli cell density, which offers an environmentally-friendly, economical, efficient, and flexible E. coli lysis platform for production of recombinant proteins. The QS-BA system has the potential to serve as an integrated system for the large-scale production of target products in E. coli for medical and industrial applications.

Collaborative governance effects of carbon market on GHG and air pollutants emission reduction in 3E model -- analysis based on System Dynamics.

The carbon market is regarded as one of the important means to achieve China's dual carbon target. It has ancillary effect for reducing air pollution while regulating carbon emissions since climate change and air pollution share the same origin and homology. Research on how to design the carbon market mechanism in order to maximize the synergistic effect of reducing greenhouse gas and air pollution will have a very important practical impact for China. This study conducts a theoretical analysis of the collaborative emission reduction path of China's carbon market, and constructs an Energy-Economy-Environment (3E) model of the collaborative emission reduction effect of carbon trading system based on System Dynamics. After analyzing the feedback path of the core cycle of the model and verifying its performance, three main policy factors in the carbon market are explored, and their effects under the dual objectives of emission control and economic development are comprehensively evaluated. This study suggests that the exploration of the potential of carbon market for collaborative governance should be accelerated, and ensure the orderly expansion of coverage and precise setting of limits, so as to ensure the smooth achievement of carbon reduction targets while guaranteeing the social and economic development.

Potentials of long non-coding RNAs as biomarkers of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignant tumor worldwide and the fourth major cause of cancer-related death, with high morbidity and increased mortality year by year. Although significant progress has been made in the therapy strategies for CRC, the great difficulty in early diagnosis, feeble susceptibility to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and high recurrence rates have reduced therapeutic efficacy resulting in poor prognosis. Therefore, it is urgent to understand the pathogenesis of CRC and unravel novel biomarkers to improve the early diagnosis, treatment and prediction of CRC recurrence. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-coding RNAs with a length of more than 200 nucleotides, which are abnormally expressed in tumor tissues and cell lines, activating or inhibiting specific genes through multiple mechanisms including transcription and translation. A growing number of studies have shown that lncRNAs are important regulators of microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) expression in CRC and may be promising biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets in the research field of CRC. This review mainly summarizes the potential application value of lncRNAs as novel biomarkers in CRC diagnosis, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and prognosis. Additionally, the significance of lncRNA SNHGs family and lncRNA–miRNA networks in regulating the occurrence and development of CRC is mentioned, aiming to provide some insights for understanding the pathogenesis of CRC and developing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. (AU)

miR-875-5p inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells by targeting USF2 / 中国肿瘤生物治疗杂志

@#[摘 要] 目的：探讨miR-875-5p对胃癌细胞增殖、迁移和侵袭的影响及其机制。方法：采用qPCR法检测胃癌细胞BGC-823、HGC-27、MGC-803、SGC-7901、AGS、MKN-45 和胃黏膜上皮细胞GES-1中miR-875-5p的表达水平。利用脂质体转染技术，分别将miR-875-5p模拟物/抑制剂（mimic/inhibitor）及其阴性对照质粒（miR-NC/Anti-miR-NC）转染至AGS细胞/MKN-45细胞，构建过表达/抑制miR-875-5p的细胞模型，空白对照组（Control组）不转染。通过CCK-8、克隆形成、Transwell等实验分别检测miR-875-5p表达变化对细胞增殖、克隆形成、迁移和侵袭的影响。采用双荧光素酶报告基因实验验证miR-875-5p与上游刺激因子2（USF2）的靶向关系，WB实验验证miR-875-5p对USF2的调控作用并检测USF2蛋白的表达。构建MKN-45细胞裸鼠移植瘤模型，验证miR-875-5p过表达对MKN-45细胞成瘤能力的影响。结果：miR-875-5p在6种胃癌细胞中表达水平显著低于胃黏膜上皮细胞GES-1（均P<0.01）。与Control组和miR-NC组相比，miR-875-5p mimic组AGS细胞的增殖、克隆形成率、迁移和侵袭细胞数，以及USF2蛋白的表达均显著降低（P<0.05或P<0.01）；miR-875-5p inhibitor组MKN-45细胞的增殖、克隆形成率、迁移和侵袭细胞数，以及USF2蛋白的表达均显著提高（P<0.05或P<0.01）。双荧光素酶报告基因实验证明，miR-875-5p能够直接靶向USF2基因。体内成瘤实验结果表明，过表达miR-875-5p显著抑制MKN-45细胞移植瘤的生长（均P<0.01）。结论：miR-875-5p通过靶向USF2抑制胃癌细胞的增殖、迁移和侵袭。

Non-coding RNAs as potential biomarkers of gallbladder cancer

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) performs strongly invasive and poor prognosis, and adenocarcinoma is the most common histological type in it. Statistically, the 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced GBC is less than 5%. Such dismal outcome might be caused by chemotherapy resistance and native biology of tumor cells, regardless of emerging therapeutic strategies. Early diagnosis, depending on biomarkers, receptors and secretive proteins, is more important than clinical therapy, guiding the pathologic stage of cancer and the choice of medication. Therefore, it is in urgent need to understand the specific pathogenesis of GBC and strive to find promising novel biomarkers for early screening in GBC. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), especially microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), are confirmed to participate in and regulate the occurrence and development of GBC. Exceptionally, lncRNAs and circRNAs could act as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) containing binding sites for miRNAs and crosstalk with miRNAs to target regulatory downstream protein-coding messenger RNAs (mRNAs), thus affecting the expression levels of specific proteins to participate in and regulate the development and progression of GBC. It follows that ncRNAs may become promising biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for GBC. In this review, we mainly summarize the recent research progress of miRNAs and lncRNAs in regulating the development and progression of GBC, chemoresistance, and predicting the prognosis of patients, and highlight the potential applications of the lncRNA/circRNA–miRNA–mRNA cross-regulatory networks in early diagnosis, chemoresistance, and prognostic evaluation, aiming to better understand the pathogenesis of GBC and develop new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies (AU)