Classifying and characterizing the development of self-reported overall quality of life among the Chinese elderly: a twelve-year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: To promote healthy aging, the information about the development of quality of life (QoL) is of great importance. However, the explorations of the heterogeneity in the change of QoL under the Chinese context were limited. This study aimed to identify potential different development patterns of QoL and the influential factors using a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of the Chinese elderly. METHODS: We adopted a five-wave longitudinal dataset from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), and a total of 1645 elderly were obtained. The sample had a mean age of 72.7 years (SD = 6.64) and was 47.2% male. Overall QoL was measured through self-report during the longitudinal process. We utilized the conditional growth mixture model (GMM) with time-invariant covariates (TICs) to explore various development patterns and associated factors. RESULTS: Three distinct trajectories of self-reported overall QoL were identified: the High-level Steady Group (17.08%), the Mid-level Steady Group (63.10%), and the Low-level Growth Group (19.82%). Results also indicated that several factors predicted distinct trajectories of self-reported overall QoL. Those elderly who received enough financial resources, had adequate nutrition, did not exhibit any disability, engaged in leisure activities, and did less physical labor or housework at the baseline were more likely to report a higher level of overall QoL over time. CONCLUSIONS: There existed three development patterns of self-reported overall QoL in elders, and the findings provided valuable implications for the maintenance and improvement of QoL among the Chinese elderly. Future studies could examine the influence of other confounding factors.

Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Revealed the Biological Response of Chlorella pyrenoidesa to Single and Repeated Exposures of AgNPs at Different Concentrations.

Increased release of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) from widely used commercial products has threatened environmental health and safety, particularly the repeated exposures to ENPs with relatively low concentration. Herein, we studied the response of Chlorella pyrenoidesa (C. pyrenoidesa) to single and repeated exposures to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Repeated exposures to AgNPs promoted chlorophyll a and carotenoid production, and increased silver accumulation, thus enhancing the risk of AgNPs entering the food chain. Notably, the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content of the 1-AgNPs and 3-AgNPs groups were dramatically increased by 119.1% and 151.5%, respectively. We found that C. pyrenoidesa cells exposed to AgNPs had several significant alterations in metabolic process and cellular transcription. Most of the genes and metabolites are altered in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with the control group, single exposure had more differential genes and metabolites than repeated exposures. 562, 1341, 4014, 227, 483, and 2409 unigenes were differentially expressed by 1-0.5-AgNPs, 1-5-AgNPs, 1-10-AgNPs, 3-0.5-AgNPs, 3-5-AgNPs, and 3-10-AgNPs treatment groups compared with the control. Metabolomic analyses revealed that AgNPs altered the levels of sugars and amino acids, suggesting that AgNPs reprogrammed carbon/nitrogen metabolism. The changes of genes related to carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, such as citrate synthase (CS), isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1), and malate dehydrogenase (MDH), further supported these results. These findings elucidated the mechanism of biological responses to repeated exposures to AgNPs, providing a new perspective on the risk assessment of nanomaterials.

Prediction of Drug-Induced Nephrotoxicity with a Hydroxyl Radical and Caspase Light-Up Dual-Signal Nanoprobe.

The development of well-designed nanoprobes for specific imaging of multiple biomarkers in renal cells will afford beneficial information related to the transmutation process of drug-induced kidney injury (DIKI). However, the most reported nanoprobes for DIKI detection were dependent on single-signal output and lack of kidney targeting. In this work, we reported a renal cell targeting and dual-signal nanoprobe by encapsulating Brite 670 and Dabcyl-KFFFDEVDK-FAM into a low molecular weight chitosan nanoparticle. Confocal fluorescence imaging results demonstrated that the nanoprobe could visualize the upregulation of hydroxyl radical in early stage and activation of caspase-3 in late stage of DIKI at both the renal cell and tissue level. In a mouse DIKI model, the positive time of 8 h using nanoprobe imaging was superior to that of 72 h for serum creatinine or blood urea nitrogen, 16 h for cystatin-C, and 24 h for kidney injury molecule-1 with conventional methods. These results demonstrated that the nanoprobe may be a promising tool for effective early prediction and discriminative imaging of DIKI.

The influence of methods of selecting concepts of an expository text on different reading representations' predictive ability.

In this study, we compared two experimental methods of selecting terms in expository text to generate reading representations and tested how well these reading representations predicted reading comprehension. The two experimental methods were the traditional method of using all terms (all keywords) to create participants' representation networks, and the terms categorization (TC) method of using only important terms (core and branch words). Representation networks were assessed using participants' adjacency scores, ratings of relatedness in pairs of terms, and using summary (summary writing) by all turms. An in-subject design was performed in experiments 1 and 2, and an inter-subject design was performed in experiment 3 to test the hypothesis. With the same sample in exp1 and epx2, a different sample in each exp3. Experiment 1 showed that when using only the traditional way of selecting terms, adjacency was better than relatedness in predicting reading comprehension. Reading representations generated based on the summary method could not predict participants' reading comprehension ability, so this method was excluded from subsequent studies. Experiment 2 showed that the terms selected in Experiment 1 were stronger predictors of reading comprehension when the word pairs included a core term (central to understanding of full text) or a branch term (key to understanding paragraph), relative to a detail term (not affect the understanding full text). Experiment 3 found that whereas the two methods were equally effective in generating representations measured by adjacency, TC was superior in generating representations measured by relatedness. These conclusions have important implications for future research and application.

LINC02015 modulates the cell proliferation and apoptosis of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells by transcriptional regulation and protein interaction network.

Long intergenic nonprotein coding RNA 2015 (LINC02015) is a long non-coding RNA that has been found elevated in various cell proliferation-related diseases. However, the functions and interactive mechanism of LINC02015 remain unknown. This study aimed to explore the role of LINC02015 in the cell proliferation and apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to explain the pathogenesis of aortic diseases. Ascending aorta samples and angiotensin-II (AT-II) treated primary human aortic VSMCs (HAVSMCs) were used to evaluate the LINC02015 expression. RNA sequencing, chromatin isolation by RNA purification sequencing, RNA pull-down, and mass spectrometry (MS) were applied to explore the potential interacting mechanisms. LINC02015 expression was found elevated in aortic dissection and AT-II-treated HAVSMCs. Cell proliferation and cell cycle were activated in HAVSMCs with LINC02015 knockdown. The cyclins family and caspase family were found to participate in regulating the cell cycle and apoptosis via the NF-κB signaling pathway. RXRA was discovered as a possible hub gene for LINC02015 transcriptional regulating networks. Besides, the protein interaction network of LINC02015 was revealed with candidate regulating molecules. It was concluded that the knockdown of LINC02015 could promote cell proliferation and inhibit the apoptosis of HAVSMCs through an RXRA-related transcriptional regulation network, which could provide a potential therapeutic target for aortic diseases.

Oxymatrine relieves high-fructose/fat-induced obesity via reprogramming the activity of lipid metabolism-related enhancer.

Introduction: Emerging evidence demonstrates that the high-fructose and high-fat diet (HFHF) induced obesity and fatty liver disease has become one of the most common metabolic disorders worldwide. Therefore, innovative investigations on compounds targeting obesity and fatty liver diseases are urgently needed. Methods: The high-throughput natural compounds screen was performed to screen the important compounds. A rat HFHF model was constructed, the regulatory function of Oxymatrine in HFHF-induced obesity was further explored. Results: We identified Oxymatrine, a natural compound extracted from Sophora flavescens, showed a potential compacity in high-fat diet-induced fatty liver disease. We found that oxymatrine significantly inhibited HFHF-induced obesity using a rat HFHF model. Additionally, we found that oxymatrine altered the enhancer landscape of subcutaneous adipose tissues by ChIP-seq analysis using antibodies against the H3K27ac histone modification. Motif enrichment analysis showed the Smad motif was significantly enriched in enhancers altered post-oxymatrine treatment. Further chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR (ChIP-qPCR) analysis and luciferase reporter assays showed oxymatrine alters the binding of Smad3 on the enhancer regions of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) and the enhancer activity of Bcl2. Discussion: Together, our study highlighted oxymatrine could suppress high-fructose and high-fat diet-induced obesity by inhibiting the suppressor of mothers against decapentaplegic 3 (Smad3) binding on obesity-related enhancers.

Positive and Negative Psychological Derailment in Chinese Adolescents and the Mechanism by Which It Affects Mental Health: A Mediated Moderation Model.

Psychological derailment refers to the phenomenon whereby original self-expectations are seriously inconsistent with developments in reality. Research to date has neglected the valence of derailment and the mechanism by which it affects mental health. To improve the mental health of Chinese adolescents from the perspective of psychological derailment, after validating the translated Chinese versions of the derailment measurement instruments, we conducted an empirical study on the freshmen in senior high schools and universities in China and obtained three major results. First, the study revealed the prevalence of psychological derailment among Chinese adolescents and its strong correlation with mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, stress and satisfaction with life). Second, the study found significant differences in all mental health indicators among the non-derailed group, the positively derailed group and the negatively derailed group, and suggested that positive psychological derailment may help to ease mental health problems. Third, using path analysis to establish a mediated moderation model relating psychological derailment, psychological derailment valence, self-esteem and depression, the study uncovered that the valence of psychological derailment moderated the effect of psychological derailment on depression, while self-esteem mediated the moderating effect. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Growth patterns of activity of daily living disability and associated factors among the Chinese elderly: A twelve-year longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES: The acceleration of population aging has brought a lot of attention to the disability among older populations, but existing results about the development patterns of disability were mixed. The current study aimed to identify the potential different development patterns of disability and the influential factors using a large, nationally representative sample of the Chinese elderly. METHODS: We adopted a five-wave longitudinal dataset from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), and 1,654 elderly aged 65 and over were obtained. Disability was measured by the Katz index scale grading individuals on a scale of difficulty to carry out activities of daily living (ADL). We utilized the conditional growth mixture model (GMM) to identify various development patterns and associated factors. RESULTS: Compared with those without disability (n = 1,140), individuals with ADL disability (n = 514) were more likely to be old, female, or Han ethnic, eat more healthy food and suffer from chronic disease. Two groups with distinct trajectories of ADL disability were identified, including the Slightly Increasing Group and the Quickly Increasing Group. People who did less housework (OR=0.33, 95%CI: 0.12-0.90; p = 0.030), suffered from stroke (OR=5.39, 95%CI: 1.43-20.35; p = 0.013) or dementia (OR=10.29, 95%CI: 1.01-104.44; p = 0.049) were more likely to be classified into the Quickly Increasing Group. CONCLUSION: There existed two development patterns of ADL disability among the Chinese elderly. Besides, doing housework could help prevent the deterioration of disability, and suffering from stroke or dementia may accelerate the deterioration of ADL ability in later years. Implications are provided for public health interventions.

Achievement Emotions in Selective Schools: Reexamining the Happy-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in an Extreme Case from the Chinese Collectivist Context.

Achievement emotions, defined as the emotions generated in the academic process or by achievement results, are critical for an individual's mental health, personality development, and academic productivity. Referring to the well-known big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept, which describes the well-known phenomenon that students in selective schools/classes tend to have lower academic self-concepts than those who are comparably competent but attend regular schools/classes, Pekrun and colleagues focused on German students and proposed a similar happy-fish-little-pond effect on achievement emotions in 2019. In our paper, we examined whether this effect exists in extreme cases. To maximize the positive reflected-glory effect of being in a selective school and minimize the negative social comparison contrast effects that result from being ranked low in the school, we conducted an investigation in the Chinese collectivist cultural setting and compared the achievement emotions of students from a highly selective senior middle school with those of students from a regular school where the top-ranking students fell short of the bottom-ranking students in the selective school in terms of academic performance. Through an analysis of variance and a moderated serial mediation model, our study revealed that the bottom-ranking students in the selective school had less positive achievement emotions, lower academic self-concepts, and more negative achievement emotions than the top-ranking students in the regular school, providing strong evidence that students rely more on social comparison than on objective self-evaluation standards to evaluate themselves. The implications of the results for educational policies are discussed.

MiR-148a-3p attenuates apoptosis and inflammation by targeting CNTN4 in atherosclerosis.

Background: Atherosclerosis (AS) seriously affects human health. The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the pathogenesis and progression of AS has become a focus of research. Our goal was to identify the biological effect of differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) in AS. Methods: To analyze differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including differentially expressed mRNAs (DE-mRNAs) and DE-miRNAs, in AS by using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and limma package. DEGs protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and functional enrichment analysis were constructed by using the search tool for the retrieval of interacting genes/proteins (STRING) database, Cytoscape software and Cytoscape plugin "ClueGO2.5.6". We established a coexpression network of dysregulated miRNAs and mRNAs to predict the function of miRNAs by using miRWalk database and Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) analysis. Cellular experiments were used to validate the results of bioinformatics. Results: First, 69 common DEGs were obtained from datasets GSE43292 and GSE97210 using the limma package in R. Next, a DEG PPI network was constructed. Functional enrichment analysis of DEGs showed that 11 functional pathways were significantly enriched, such as positive regulation of monocyte chemotaxis. Seven common DE-miRNAs were obtained from the GSE99685 dataset and DE-mRNAs predicted miRNAs through the miRWalk database. The miRNA-mRNA network constructed using Cytoscape software suggested that miR-148a-3p targeted contactin 4 (CNTN4). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay results indicated that miR-148a-3p was downregulated and CNTN4 was upregulated in the THP-1 + phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) + oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) group compared with the THP-1 + PMA group. qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) found that upregulated miR-148a-3p significantly inhibited the expression of CNTN4, cell apoptosis, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) concentrations in oxLDL-induced THP-1 macrophages. In addition, a dual-luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that CNTN4 was a target gene of miR-148a-3p. Conclusions: Overall, these findings suggested that miR-148a-3p inhibited oxLDL-induced cell apoptosis and inflammation via targeting CNTN4 in THP-1 macrophages.

Complement C7 is Specifically Expressed in Mesangial Cells and is a Potential Diagnostic Biomarker for Diabetic Nephropathy and is Regulated by miR-494-3p and miR-574-5p.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease, but it remains relatively underdiagnosed. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to explore the key regulatory pathways and potential biomarkers related to DN using integrated bioinformatics analysis and validation. METHODS: First, the microarray data of the GSE30528 and GSE96804 datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened. Then, weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA), gene ontology (GO) annotation, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed to identify key pathways and genes. qRT-PCR and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to validate our results. Furthermore, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data were reanalyzed to investigate the expression specificity of C7 in DN cells. An online database search and luciferase reporter assay identified the target relationship between miRNAs and C7. RESULTS: The "complement and coagulation cascades" were significantly enriched, and complement C3 and C7 were candidate markers. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve revealed that C7 had significant diagnostic value (AUC=0.865) in DN. Through scRNA-seq reanalysis, we found that C7 was specifically elevated in mesangial (MES) cells of DN. Moreover, we found that the expression of C7 was regulated by miR-494-3p and miR-574-5p. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to reveal that C7 is specifically expressed in mesangial cells, is a potential diagnostic biomarker for diabetic nephropathy, and is regulated by miR-494-3p and miR-574-5p.

[Expression of F0 ATP synthase C subunit in serum of patients with ischemic heart disease and its clinical implications].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of F0 ATP synthase C subunit (Csub) in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD). METHODS: The 101 patients with chest pain admitted to the department of emergency of the People's Hospital of Yuhuan from May 2019 to December 2020 were enrolled, including 59 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and 42 patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP). At the same time, 50 age-matched healthy subjects in the health examination center were selected as the healthy control (HC). All patients had completed blood sampling before the intervention of drugs or other intervention measures in the emergency room. The content of serum Csub was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the relationship between Csub and clinical characteristics was analyzed. At the same time, the contents of hypersensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CK-MB) in blood were detected by electrochemical luminescence. The receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to evaluate the value of Csub, hs-cTnT, and CK-MB in the early diagnosis of IHD. RESULTS: The baseline data such as age, gender, and history of the three groups were balanced. There were significant differences in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), CK-MB, hs-cTnT and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), but there were no significant differences in other biochemical indexes. The Csub content in the AMI group and the UAP group were significantly higher than those in the HC group [8.96% (6.37%, 11.53%), 4.27% (3.23%, 6.49%) vs. 1.56% (1.07%, 2.33%), both P < 0.01]. Moreover, the Csub in the AMI group with more severe myocardial ischemia was higher than UAP group [8.96% (6.37%, 11.53%) vs. 4.27% (3.23%, 6.49%), P < 0.01]. A total of 59 patients with AMI were treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). According to the median of Csub, AMI patients were subdivided into above-median group (29 cases) and below-median group (30 cases). The results showed that there were no significant differences in the number of coronary artery lesion branches, the number of stent implantation and postoperative medication between the two groups. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) of Csub, hs-cTnT and CK-MB in the diagnosis of IHD were 0.98 (0.95-1.00), 0.99 (0.99-1.00), 0.94 (0.89-0.99), respectively. The diagnostic efficacy of Csub was slightly lower than that of hs-cTnT but higher than that of CK-MB. When the cut-off value of Csub was 4.74%, the sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of IHD were 100% and 87.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Csub increased significantly in the serum of IHD patients, and further increased with the severity of ischemia. It can be used as a new diagnostic biomarker for the diagnosis and evaluation of the development of myocardial ischemia.

Subtyping Cryptosporidium xiaoi, a Common Pathogen in Sheep and Goats.

Cryptosporidiosis is a significant cause of diarrhea in sheep and goats. Among the over 40 established species of Cryptosporidium, Cryptosporidium xiaoi is one of the dominant species infecting ovine and caprine animals. The lack of subtyping tools makes it impossible to examine the transmission of this pathogen. In the present study, we identified and characterized the 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene by sequencing the genome of C. xiaoi. The GP60 protein of C. xiaoi had a signal peptide, a furin cleavage site of RSRR, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor, and over 100 O-glycosylation sites. Based on the gp60 sequence, a subtyping tool was developed and used in characterizing C. xiaoi in 355 positive samples from sheep and goats in China. A high sequence heterogeneity was observed in the gp60 gene, with 94 sequence types in 12 subtype families, namely XXIIIa to XXIIIl. Co-infections with multiple subtypes were common in these animals, suggesting that genetic recombination might be responsible for the high diversity within C. xiaoi. This was supported by the mosaic sequence patterns among the subtype families. In addition, a potential host adaptation was identified within this species, reflected by the exclusive occurrence of XXIIIa, XXIIIc, XXIIIg, and XXIIIj in goats. This subtyping tool should be useful in studies of the genetic diversity and transmission dynamics of C. xiaoi.

Dual signal amplification for microRNA-21 detection based on duplex-specific nuclease and invertase.

MicroRNA-21 (miRNA-21) is a significant biomarker which is closely related to some kinds of diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. Therefore, the detection of miRNA-21 is of great importance and can provide essential information for disease diagnosis. In this study, we report a facile, sensitive assay for miRNA-21 detection using personal glucose meters (PGM). Biotinylated DNA strand linked invertase (Inv) is conjugated on the surface of streptavidin-coated magnetic beads (MBs) to form a MBs-DNA-Inv complex. Target miRNA-21 in the detection system is captured by the MBs-DNA-Inv probe through DNA/RNA hybridization. The duplex-specific nuclease (DSN) enzyme specifically cleaves the DNA to recycle the target miRNA and release invertase, thereby triggering the dual signal amplification and ensuring high sensitivity. Besides, we establish a linear relationship between PGM and different concentrations of miRNA-21 in the range of 10 to 200 pM. The limit of detection is 1.8 pM, which is more sensitive than some of the previous reports. In addition, the biosensor exhibits excellent sequence selectivity and single-base mutation can be discriminated. Moreover, the expression of miRNA-21 is confirmed in urine from mice by our method, which is in good accordance with the qRT-PCR result. Therefore, a dependable, low-cost strategy for the detection of miRNA has been established and it meets the latest analytical demands for miRNA determination that is suitable for the public.

Molecular characterization and zoonotic potential of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium sp. in farmed masked palm civets (Paguma larvata) in southern China.

BACKGROUND: Masked palm civets are known to play an important role in the transmission of some zoonotic pathogens. However, the distribution and zoonotic potential of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. in these animals remain unclear. METHODS: A total of 889 fecal specimens were collected in this study from farmed masked palm civets in Hainan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Chongqing, southern China, and analyzed for these pathogens by nested PCR and DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Altogether, 474 (53.3%), 34 (3.8%) and 1 (0.1%) specimens were positive for E. bieneusi, G. duodenalis and Cryptosporidium sp., respectively. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of 11 novel E. bieneusi genotypes named as PL1-PL11 and two known genotypes Peru8 and J, with PL1 and PL2 accounting for 90% of E. bieneusi infections. Phylogenetically, PL4, PL5, PL9, PL10 and PL11 were clustered into Group 1, while PL1, PL2, PL3, PL6, PL7 and PL8 were clustered into Group 2. Assemblage B (n = 33) and concurrence of B and D (n = 1) were identified among G. duodenalis-positive animals. Further multilocus genotyping of assemblage B has revealed that all 13 multilocus genotypes in civets formed a cluster related to those from humans. The Cryptosporidium isolate from one civet was identified to be genetically related to the Cryptosporidium bamboo rat genotype II. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this first report of enteric protists in farmed masked palm civets suggests that these animals might be potential reservoirs of zoonotic E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis genotypes.

Point-of-care testing of MicroRNA based on personal glucose meter and dual signal amplification to evaluate drug-induced kidney injury.

The upregulation or downregulation of microRNA-21 (miRNA-21) is closely related with drug-induced kidney injury (DIKI). As a potential and significant biomarker, the point-of-care testing (POCT) of miRNA-21 is worthy of attention and can provide essential information for clinical diagnosis. Hence, we design a portable and sensitive POCT assay for miRNA-21 using personal glucose meters (PGM). The whole operational system is constructed on streptavidin-coated magnetic beads (MBs) modified with substrate strands linked invertase and DNAzyme molecules each silenced by a locking strand. In the presence of miRNA-21, the locking strand can hybridize to miRNA-21, which originates the activation of the DNAzyme. The DNAzyme cleaves the substrate strands and induces the release of invertase from the surface of MBs. The separated invertase hydrolyzes sucrose to glucose which can be measured by PGM. The dual enzyme mediated catalyzation by DNAzyme and invertase therefore triggers the signal amplification. We establish a linear relationship between PGM and different concentration of miRNA-21 in the range of 100 fM to 1 pM. The limit of detection is 68.08 fM, which is comparable with some of the previous reports. The biosensor also exhibits excellent sequence selectivity, well-presented reproducibility and stability. Notably, by detecting miRNA-21 in urine, this method has been successfully used to predict DIKI and evaluate the protection effect of drugs on DIKI. Therefore, a dependable and low-cost POCT strategy for the detection of miRNA-21 is established, which is promising to supply valuable information for drug screening and evaluation of DIKI.

NOM mitigates the phytotoxicity of AgNPs by regulating rice physiology, root cell wall components and root morphology.

Natural organic matter (NOM) affects the environmental behaviors of AgNPs, which may change their phytotoxicity to plants. However, more evidence can be provided to illustrate how NOM influences AgNPs-induced phytotoxicity. In this study, using rice (Oryza sativa) as a model, the effects of NOM, Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA) and fulvic acid (FA), on the dissolution and phytotoxicity of AgNPs were investigated. Silver ions decreased in both AgNPs and AgNO3 solution in the presence of NOM, and the effect of SRHA was stronger than FA. Image-XRF (iXRF) results showed that Ag mainly remained in the root rather than the shoot of rice seedling exposed to AgNPs. NOM mitigated the negative effects of AgNPs and AgNO3 on rice with lower germination inhibition rate, less chlorophyll reduction, more relative biomass and less O2•- content. Moreover, NOM improved root cell viability according to FDA fluorescent dye as well as maintained the normal root morphology. Interestingly, the neutral sugars content from pectin, hemicellulose 1, hemicellulose 2 and cellulose of root cell wall in AgNPs and AgNO3 treatments differed from the control, while it was close to the regular content in AgNPs/AgNO3+SRHA/FA groups, which implied that NOM regulated the changes. Besides, SRHA led to less germination and less relative biomass than FA due to different chemical characters. Thus, NOM needs to be considered when studying the phytotoxicity of AgNPs.

Population genetic analysis suggests genetic recombination is responsible for increased zoonotic potential of Enterocytozoon bieneusi from ruminants in China.

Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a zoonotic pathogen with worldwide distribution. Among the 11 established groups of E. bieneusi genotypes based on phylogenetic analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS), the human-infective potential and population genetics of the Group 1 genotypes from diverse hosts are well characterized. In contrast, Group 2 genotypes from ruminants have unclear population genetics, leading to poor understanding of their host range and zoonotic potential. In this study, we sequence-characterized 121 Group 2 isolates from dairy cattle, beef cattle, yaks, Tibetan sheep, golden takins, and deer from China at five genetic loci (ITS, MS1, MS3, MS4 and MS7), comparing with data from 113 Group 1 isolates from nonhuman primates. Except for MS7, most of the genetic loci produced efficient PCR amplification and high nucleotide identity between Groups 1 and 2 of E. bieneusi genotypes. In population genetic analyses of the sequence data, a strong linkage disequilibrium was observed among these genetic loci in the overall Group 2 population. The individual ITS genotypes (I, J and BEB4) within Group 2, however, had reduced linkage disequilibrium and increased genetic exchanges among isolates. There was only partial genetic differentiation between Group 1 and Group 2 genotypes, with some occurrence of genetic recombination between them. Genetic recombination was especially common between genotypes I and J within Group 2. The data presented indicate a high genetic identity between Group 1 and Group 2 genotypes of E. bieneusi, which could be responsible for the broad host range and high zoonotic potential of Group 2 genotypes in China. As there is no effective treatment against E. bieneusi, the One Health approach should be used in the control and prevention of zoonotic transmission of the pathogen.

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on Academic Self-Concept: A Meta-Analysis.

The Big-fish-little-Pond effect is well acknowledged as the negative effect of class/school average achievement on student academic self-concept, which profoundly impacts student academic performance and mental development. Although a few studies have been done with regard to this effect, inconsistence exists in the effect size with little success in finding moderators. Here, we present a meta-analysis to synthesize related literatures to reach a summary conclusion on the BFLPE. Furthermore, student age, comparison target, academic self-concept domain, student location, sample size, and publication year were examined as potential moderators. Thirty-three studies with fifty-six effect sizes (total N = 1,276,838) were finally included. The random effects model led to a mean of the BFLPE at ß = -0.28 (p < 0.001). Moreover, moderator analyses revealed that the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect is an age-based process and an intercultural phenomenon, which is stronger among high school students, in Asia and when verbal self-concept is considered. This meta-analysis is the first quantitative systematic overview of BFLPE, whose results are valuable to the understanding of BFLPE and reveal the necessity for educators from all countries to learn about operative means to help students avoid the potential negative effect. Future research expectations are offered subsequently.