The Association of Serum Complement C1q with Coronary Artery Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of death in middle-aged and elderly people, and its incidence has been increasing in recent years. An in-depth understanding of the pathogenesis of CAD is important to ensure the health of CAD patients. Objective: To analyze the association of serum complement C1q with CAD," you could say something like "The objective of this meta-analysis is to investigate the relationship between serum complement C1q levels and the presence of CAD, aiming to provide insights for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods: Relevant studies on C1q and CAD were searched in PubMed, Web of Science and other literature databases. Two research team members independently cross-screened the literature according to the inclusion-exclusion criteria and assessed the literature quality. RevMan5.3 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: Three references were finally included, all of which had a Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) score ≥6, indicating high quality. A total of 2065 subjects were studied, including 1249 in the experimental group (CAD patients) and 816 in the control group (healthy population). Through the meta-analysis, it was found that the experimental group (CAD patients) had higher serum C1q than the control group (healthy controls) (P < .05). According to subgroup analysis, age, sex, sample size, diabetes mellitus (with/without), and serum complement C1q detection methods were not factors affecting the heterogeneity of the literature, and more data are needed for verification. Validation analysis with the fixed-effect model also showed higher C1q expression in the experimental group (P < .05). The graph of the funnel plot was basically symmetrical, suggesting low publication bias. Conclusions: Serum complement C1q is elevated in CAD patients, but its mechanism of action may have a dual effect, but further research is needed to understand its precise role and clinical implications.

Nonlinear and spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on green total factor energy efficiency: evidence from 281 cities in China.

Although the digital economy has become a new driving force for development worldwide, it is still unclear how digital economy development affects green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE). Using panel data from 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2018, this study empirically analyzes the effect of digital economy development on GTFEE by adopting a dynamic panel model, a mediation effect model, a dynamic threshold panel model, and a spatial Durbin model. The empirical results show that digital economy development has a significantly negative direct effect on GTFEE. The digital economy can impact GTFEE by the mechanisms of electrification, hollowing out of industrial scale, and hollowing out of industrial efficiency. Neither innovation nor environmental regulations significantly change this negative impact. The dynamic threshold panel model shows a nonlinear relationship between digital economy development and GTFEE, which indicates that the effect of digital economy development on GTFEE significantly inverts from negative to positive as the digital economy develops. In addition, GTFEE has a significantly positive spatial correlation, and the digital economy has a positive spatial spillover effect on GTFEE.

Optimal control of a black-box system based on surrogate models by spatial adaptive partitioning method.

When the dynamic model of a classical optimal control problem is explicit, we can transform this problem into a nonlinear programming problem and solve it by employing a traditional method. However, in some cases, no mathematical model of state equations is provided explicitly except for input-output data obtained from a simulation model. The hybrid model composed of functional mockup unit blocks generated in multiple platforms is a typical example. In this work, we regard these blocks as black-box models and use hierarchical neural network model to surrogate right-hand-side derivative functions of state equations. Specifically, to obtain highly accurate hierarchical neural network model, we explore a spatial adaptive partitioning criterion combining global sensitivity indices and interval length of local spaces based on the input-output data. Compared with models trained by several other partition criteria, numerical results verify that surrogate models obtained by the spatial adaptive partitioning method have higher accuracy. A mathematical example and a trajectory optimization problem of the black-box industrial robot Manutec r3 indicate the effectiveness of our proposed strategy.

Associations between Self-Determined Motivation, Accelerometer-Determined Physical Activity, and Quality of Life in Chinese College Students.

Purpose: To better promote college students' physical activity (PA) and quality of life (QoL), it is imperative to understand this population's PA correlates, such as self-determined motivation and perceived competence. However, few studies existed in this area of inquiry among Chinese college students. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among Chinese college students' self-determined motivation, PA, and QoL. Method: A total of 220 college students (115 females; Mage = 20.29 years, SD = 2.37; MBMI = 20.67) were recruited from one university in south-central China. Participants were instructed to wear the ActiGraph GT9X Link (ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL, USA) accelerometers for 7 days. A minute-by-minute stepping rate methodology was used to determine participants sedentary behaviors, light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Participants' self-determined motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation), perceived competence, and QoL (physical function, stress, depression, fatigue, sleep, and social issues) were assessed by a battery of validated surveys in June 2017. Results: Participants reported moderate-high levels of PA correlates and QoL as the means ranged from 5.5 to 6 (out of 7) for PA correlates and 2.75 to 4 (out of 4) for QoL. The minute-by-minute stepping rate revealed participants had average 580.51 min/day in sedentary, 134.77 min/day in LPA, and 1.57 min/day in MVPA. Regression analyses for physical function, stress, depression, and social issues suggested that the models explained 4%-8% of the variances. Specifically, perceived competence was the negative predictor of the problems with physical function (ß = -0.17, p < 0.05) and depression (ß = -0.18, p < 0.01), amotivation was positively associated with depression and stress (p < 0.05). Additionally, controlled motivation predicted the ability to participate in social roles and activities (ß = 0.22, p < 0.05). No significant predictors emerged for fatigue or for sleep. Conclusions: Findings suggest Chinese college students' perceived competence and social support are critical for improving PA and QoL. In addition, strategies are needed to motivate Chinese college students to engage in PA participation and improve overall well-being.

H. pylori attenuates TNBS-induced colitis via increasing mucosal Th2 cells in mice.

There is an epidemiological inverse relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and Crohn's disease (CD). However, whether H. pylori plays a protective role against CD remains unclear. Since 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis is thought to resemble CD, we investigated whether H. pylori can attenuate TNBS-induced colitis in mice. Here we show that H. pylori can attenuate the severity of TNBS-induced colitis. In addition, H. pylori not only down-regulates Th17 and Th1 cytokine expression, but can up-regulate Th2 cytokine expression and increase the Th2:Th17 ratio of CD4+ T in the colonic mucosa of TNBS-induced colitis. Our results indicate that H. pylori attenuates TNBS-induced colitis mainly through increasing Th2 cells in murine colonic mucosa. Our finding offers a novel view on the role of H. pylori in regulating gastrointestinal immunity, and may open a new avenue for development of therapeutic strategies in CD by making use of asymptomatic H. pylori colonization.

[Effects of typical herbicides on soil respiration and N2O emissions from soil added with different nitrogen fertilizers].

To investigate the effects of typical herbicides on soil respiration and N2O emissions from soil added with different nitrogen fertilizers, a laboratory incubation experiment was carried out using a modified gas chromatograph (Agilent 4890D) method. The results showed that with (NH4)2SO4 amendment, soil respiration and N2O emissions from the Atrazine and Paraquat treatments had no significant difference in comparison to the control (P > 0.05). Glyphosate significantly inhibited soil respiration by 21.5% (P < 0.05) and had no obvious influence on N2O emissions (P > 0.05). Tribenuron-methyl significantly promoted soil respiration with the increase of 14.3% (P < 0.05) and also had no obvious influence on N2O emissions (P > 0.05). Acetochlor significantly increased soil respiration and N2O emissions (P < 0.05) with the increase of 6.1% and 45.1%, respectively. With urea application, Atrazine and Acetochlor had no significant influence on soil respiration and N2O emissions (P > 0.05). Paraquat increased N2O emissions significantly (P < 0.05)with the increase of 43.5% and had no significant influence on soil respiration ( P > 0.05). Glyphosate significantly inhibited soil respiration by 17.5% (P < 0.05), and had no significant influence on N2O emissions (P > 0.05). Tribenuron-methyl enhanced soil respiration and N2O emissions significantly (P < 0.05), and its soil respiration and N2O emissions were 1.3 and 1.6 times higher than those from the control. Due to the complexity of effects of different herbicides on microbial physiological metabolism, long-term in-situ studies need to be carried out to better understand the effect of various herbicides on greenhouse gas emissions.

PKHD1 protein encoded by the gene for autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease associates with basal bodies and primary cilia in renal epithelial cells.

Mutations of the polycystic kidney and hepatic disease 1 (PKHD1) gene have been shown to cause autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD), but the cellular functions of the gene product (PKHD1) remain uncharacterized. To illuminate its properties, the spatial and temporal expression patterns of PKHD1 were determined in mouse, rat, and human tissues by using polyclonal Abs and mAbs recognizing various specific regions of the gene product. During embryogenesis, PKHD1 is widely expressed in epithelial derivatives, including neural tubules, gut, pulmonary bronchi, and hepatic cells. In the kidneys of the pck rats, the rat model of which is genetically homologous to human ARPKD, the level of PKHD1 was significantly reduced but not completely absent. In cultured renal cells, the PKHD1 gene product colocalized with polycystin-2, the gene product of autosomal dominant polycystic disease type 2, at the basal bodies of primary cilia. Immunoreactive PKHD1 localized predominantly at the apical domain of polarized epithelial cells, suggesting it may be involved in the tubulogenesis and/or maintenance of duct-lumen architecture. Reduced PKHD1 levels in pck rat kidneys and its colocalization with polycystins may underlie the pathogenic basis for cystogenesis in polycystic kidney diseases.