Risk Prediction of Diabetes Progression Using Big Data Mining with Multifarious Physical Examination Indicators.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the independent-influencing factors from normal people to prediabetes and from prediabetes to diabetes and use different prediction models to build diabetes prediction models. Methods: The original data in this retrospective study are collected from the participants who took physical examinations in the Health Management Center of Peking University Shenzhen Hospital. Regression analysis is individually applied between the populations of normal and prediabetes, as well as the populations of prediabetes and diabetes, for feature selection. Afterward,the independent influencing factors mentioned above are used as predictive factors to construct a prediction model. Results: Selecting physical examination indicators for training different ML models through univariate and multivariate logistic regression, the study finds Age, PRO, TP, and ALT are four independent risk factors for normal people to develop prediabetes, and GLB and HDL.C are two independent protective factors, while logistic regression performs best on the testing set (Acc: 0.76, F-measure: 0.74, AUC: 0.78). We also find Age, Gender, BMI, SBP, U.GLU, PRO, ALT, and TG are independent risk factors for prediabetes people to diabetes, and AST is an independent protective factor, while logistic regression performs best on the testing set (Acc: 0.86, F-measure: 0.84, AUC: 0.74). Conclusion: The discussion of the clinical relationships between these indicators and diabetes supports the interpretability of our feature selection. Among four prediction models, the logistic regression model achieved the best performance on the testing set.

Melanoserispenghuana (Lactucinae, Cichorieae, Asteraceae), a new species from North-central Yunnan, China.

In this paper, we describe a new species, Melanoserispenghuana, from Mt. Jiaozi Xueshan located in North-central Yunnan, China. Despite its morphological similarities to M.likiangensis, M.penghuana exhibits distinct differences in leaf texture, shape of terminal lobes, indumentum of leaves, peduncles, and involucres, as well as the length of the achenes. Additionally, the conservation status of this species is classified as Vulnerable through data analysis from two field surveys.

Downregulated BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling causes emphysema via dysfunction of alveolar type II epithelial cells.

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-Smad1/5/8 signaling plays a crucial regulatory role in lung development and adult lung homeostasis. However, it remains elusive whether BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling is involved in the pathogenesis of emphysema. In this study, we downregulated BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling by overexpressing its antagonist Noggin in adult mouse alveolar type II epithelial cells (AT2s), resulting in an emphysematous phenotype mimicking the typical pathological features of human emphysema, including distal airspace enlargement, pulmonary inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and impaired lung function. Dysregulation of BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling in AT2s leads to inflammatory destruction dominated by macrophage infiltration, associated with reduced secretion of surfactant proteins and inhibition of AT2 proliferation and differentiation. Reactivation of BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling by genetics or chemotherapy significantly attenuated the morphology and pathophysiology of emphysema and improved the lung function in Noggin-overexpressing lungs. We also found that BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling was downregulated in cigarette smoke-induced emphysema, and that enhancing its activity in AT2s prevented or even reversed emphysema in the mouse model. Our data suggest that BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling, located at the top of the signaling cascade that regulates lung homeostasis, represents a key molecular regulator of alveolar stem cell secretory and regenerative function, and could serve as a potential target for future prevention and treatment of pulmonary emphysema. © 2023 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

WLP3 Encodes the Ribosomal Protein L18 and Regulates Chloroplast Development in Rice.

Plastid ribosomal proteins play a crucial role in the growth and development of plants, mainly in the gene expression and translation of key genes in chloroplasts. While some information is known about the regulatory processes of plastid ribosomal proteins in various plant species, there is limited knowledge about the underlying mechanisms in rice. In this study, ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis was used to generate a new mutant called wlp3 (white leaf and panicle3), characterized by white or albino leaves and panicles, which exhibited this phenotype from the second leaf stage until tillering. Furthermore, after a certain period, the newly emerging leaves developed the same phenotype as the rice variety ZH11, while the albino leaves of wlp3 showed an incomplete chloroplast structure and significantly low chlorophyll content. A transition mutation (T to C) at position 380 was identified in the coding region of the LOC_Os03g61260 gene, resulting in the substitution of isoleucine by threonine during translation. WLP3 encodes the ribosomal L18 subunit, which is localized in the chloroplast. Complementation experiments confirmed that LOC_Os03g61260 was responsible for the albino phenotype in rice. WLP3 has high expression in the coleoptile, leaves at the three-leaf stage, and panicles at the heading stage. Compared to the wild-type (WT), wlp3 exhibited reduced chlorophyll synthesis and significantly decreased expression levels of genes associated with plastid development. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) analysis revealed that WLP3 interacts with other ribosomal subunits, to influence chloroplast development. These results contribute to a better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of chloroplast development and plastid gene translation.

Melanoseriskangdingensis (Lactucinae, Cichorieae, Asteraceae), a new species reported from western Sichuan, China.

Melanoseriskangdingensis, a new species native to western Sichuan, China, is firstly described and illustrated, and its conservation status is also assessed. It bears resemblance to M.macrantha and M.bracteata in terms of morphology; however, there are distinguishing characteristics in terms of their leaf structure, presence of bracts, hairiness of involucre, number of florets, and length of both stamen tube and achene's beak.

From normal population to prediabetes and diabetes: study of influencing factors and prediction models.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the independent influencing factors of the transition from normal population to prediabetes, and from prediabetes to diabetes, and to further construct clinical prediction models to provide a basis for the prevention and management of prediabetes and diabetes. Materials and methods: The data for this study were based on clinical information of participants from the Health Management Center of Peking University Shenzhen Hospital. Participants were classified into normal group, prediabetes group, and diabetes group according to their functional status of glucose metabolism. Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated for the variables, and a matrix diagram was plotted. Further, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were conducted to explore the independent influencing factors. The independent influencing factors were used as predictors to construct the full-variable prediction model (Full.model) and simplified prediction model (Simplified.model). Results: This study included a total of 5310 subjects and 22 variables, among which there were 1593(30%) in the normal group, 3150(59.3%) in the prediabetes group, and 567(10.7%) in the diabetes group. The results of the multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that there were significant differences in 9 variables between the normal group and the prediabetes group, including age(Age), body mass index(BMI), systolic blood pressure(SBP), urinary glucose(U.GLU), urinary protein(PRO), total protein(TP), globulin(GLB), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C). There were significant differences in 7 variables between the prediabetes group and the diabetes group, including Age, BMI, SBP, U.GLU, PRO, triglycerides(TG), and HDL.C. The Full.model and Simplified.model constructed based on the above influencing factors had moderate discriminative power in both the training set and the test set. Conclusion: Age, BMI, SBP, U.GLU, PRO, TP, and ALT are independent risk factors, while GLB and HDL.C are independent protective factors for the development of prediabetes in the normal population. Age, BMI, SBP, U.GLU, PRO, and TG are independent risk factors, while HDL.C is an independent protective factor for the progression from prediabetes to diabetes. The Full.model and Simplified.model developed based on these influencing factors have moderate discriminative power.

The Mining of Genetic Loci and the Analysis of Candidate Genes to Identify the Physical and Chemical Markers of Anti-Senescence in Rice.

Premature senescence is a common occurrence in rice production, and seriously affects rice plants' nutrient utilization and growth. A total of 120 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were obtained from successive self-crossing of F12 generations derived from Huazhan and Nekken2. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA), content and catalase (CAT) activity related to the anti-senescence traits and enzyme activity index of rice were measured for QTL mapping using 4858 SNPs. Thirteen QTLs related to anti-senescence were found, among which the highest LOD score was 5.70. Eighteen anti-senescence-related genes were found in these regions, and ten of them differed significantly between the parents. It was inferred that LOC_Os01g61500, LOC_Os01g61810, and LOC_Os04g40130 became involved in the regulation of the anti-senescence molecular network upon upregulation of their expression levels. The identified anti-senescence-related QTLs and candidate genes provide a genetic basis for further research on the mechanism of the molecular network that regulates premature senescence.

High-risk human papillomavirus distribution in different cytological classification women.

High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection is a major cause of infection-related cancer worldwide. 3101 HR-HPV-positive females were retrospectively analyzed and grouped using the cervical cytological screening (ThinPrep cytological test, TCT) evaluations combined with colposcopy. The HPV16 infection rate is the highest in all groups. HPV16 was the most frequent in each group, with significant differences between the four groups (χ2 = 23.41, P = 0.0001). The distribution of HPV16 and HPV33 correlated with the pathologic stage in each group. The mixed infection rate of mRNA testing differs significantly between groups (P < 0.01, χ2 = 17.44, P = 0.002). HR-HPV infection duration of less than six months accounted for 87.65%, 6 and 12 months of persistent infection (28.28%), and more than one year of continuous infection accounted for only 16.48%. The top three HPV types in a group with a duration of more than 12 months were HPV52 (3.03%), HPV16 (2.55%), and HPV39 (1.58%). The least clearance types were HPV39 (63.48%), 56 (69.54%), and 52 (71.44%) more than 12 months. This study revealed the region's primary pathogenic subtypes on different cervical lesions and provided the basis for diagnosing and treating HPV infection.

Advances in cloning functional genes for rice yield traits and molecular design breeding in China.

Rice, a major food crop in China, contributes significantly to international food stability. Advances in rice genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and transgenic techniques have catalyzed Chinese researchers' discovery of novel genes that control rice yield. These breakthroughs in research also encompass the analysis of genetic regulatory networks and the establishment of a new framework for molecular design breeding, leading to numerous transformative findings in this field. In this review, some breakthroughs in rice yield traits and a series of achievements in molecular design breeding in China in recent years are presented; the identification and cloning of functional genes related to yield traits and the development of molecular markers of rice functional genes are summarized, with the intention of playing a reference role in the following molecular design breeding work and how to further improve rice yield.

Preparation and Characterization of Red Mud/Fly Ash Composite Material (RFCM) for Phosphate Removal.

In this study, a new red mud/fly ash composite material (RFCM) for phosphate removal was prepared by granulation and activation methods, using bauxite residue (red mud, RM) as the main raw material, adding with some fly ash and a few adhesives. The effects of different types of RM and adhesives on RFCM for phosphate removal were discussed. It was found that RFCM prepared from sintering red mud and cement waste performed better on phosphate removal than that prepared from Bayer red mud and common industrial adhesives. After calcination activated at appropriate temperature around 800-900℃, the specific surface area of RFCM increased, and new substances with hydroxyl (-OH) appeared on the surface of RFCM, which were the functional groups for phosphate removal. Mechanism of RFCM for phosphate removal was speculated as a combination of physical adsorption, chemical adsorption and chemical precipitation, which mainly depended on ligand exchange and chemical reaction. This research will provide a potential application of bauxite residue in environmental remediation.

Performance of Red Mud/Biochar Composite Material (RMBC) as Heavy Metal Passivator in Pb-Contaminated Soil.

Red mud/biochar composite material (RMBC), which was applied as heavy metal passivator in this research, was prepared with red mud (the bauxite residue) and cornstalk under anoxic sintering condition. Based on the batch experiments in Pb contaminated soil, the passivating properties of several materials, including red mud (RM), biochar (BC), RMBC and phosphate-containing RMBC (PRMBC), were investigated in comparison with each other. Some interesting results are as follows: through anoxic thermal activation, a rough and porous structure of RMBC was obtained. Substances such as Fe3O4 and metal-organic complexes generated in RMBC provided effective sites for Pb passivation; and the mechanisms were speculated as the precipitation between Pb2+ and the carbonate (or hydroxide), as well as the complexation reaction between Pb and metal organic complexes through ligand bonding. The pot experiments showed the promotion effects of four passivators on the growth of red onion were in the following order: PRMBC > RMBC > BC > RM. PRMBC stabilized Pb content in soil significantly due to the formation of insoluble substances, with the minimum transfer factor and bioconcentration factor for plant growth. The evidences above implied the composite materials (PRMBC and RMBC) would be potential passivators for heavy metal-contaminated soil.

A Zero-Dimensional Hybrid Cadmium Perovskite with Highly Efficient Orange-Red Light Emission.

Low-dimensional organic-inorganic hybrid metal halide materials have been extensively studied due to their excellent optoelectronic performances. Herein, by using the facile wet-chemistry method, we designed one new hybrid cadmium bromide of (H3AEP)2CdBr6·2Br based on discrete octahedral [CdBr6]4- units. Remarkably, the bulk crystal of (H3AEP)2CdBr6·2Br exhibits strong broadband orange-red light emission from the radiative recombination of self-trapped excitons (STEs) with a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 9%. Benefiting from the highly efficient luminescent performance, this 0D cadmium perovskite can be utilized as an excellent down-conversion red phosphor to assemble a white light-emitting diode, and a high color rendering index (CRI) of 93 is realized. As far as we know, this is the first orange-red light-emitting hybrid cadmium perovskite which promotes the full-color display in this system.

Preferential capture of phosphate by an Enteromorpha prolifera-based biopolymer encapsulating hydrous zirconium oxide nanoparticles.

Preferential removal of phosphate from aqueous was conducted by a novel biomass-based nanocomposite (EP-N+-Zr) with encapsulated hydrous zirconium oxide, and the biopolymer EP-N+-Zr features were described. EP-N+-Zr exhibited high selective sequestration toward phosphate when humic acid or other competing anions (Cl-, SO42-, NO3-, ClO4-) coexisted at relatively high levels. Such excellent performance of EP-N+-Zr was attributed to its specific two site structures; the embedded HZO nanoparticles and quaternary ammonia groups [N+(CH2CH3)3Cl-] bonded inside the biomass-Enteromorpha prolifera, which facilitated preferable capture towards phosphate through specific affinity and nonspecific preconcentration of phosphate ions on the basis of the ion exchange, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of phosphate (20 °C) as calculated by Langmuir model was 88.5 mg(P)/g. Regeneration tests showed that EP-N+-Zr could be recycled at least five times without noticeable capacity losses using binary NaOH-NaCl as eluent.

Removal of Cu(II) and Cr(VI) from wastewater by an amphoteric sorbent based on cellulose-rich biomass.

A cellulose-rich biomass was modified as a new amphoteric sorbent to eliminate toxic Cu(II) and Cr(VI) from wastewater. The product (WSCA, which stands for modified wheat straw containing both cationic and anionic characters) presents high sorption capacities for the two ions which was evidenced by the comparison with unmodified wheat and other similar samples. Kinetic data and sorption equilibrium isotherms were conducted in batch process. The sorption kinetic analysis revealed that sorption of Cu(II) and Cr(VI) followed the pseudo second-order model well during the whole sorption process. The linear Langmuir isotherm model could perfectly describe the equilibrium data for Cu(II), while the sorption data of Cr(VI) were well fitted by the Freundlich. Results of the static test illustrated the complicated interactions between Cr(VI)/Cu(II) and WSCA including complexation and/or electrostatic attraction mechanisms.

Characteristics of cellulosic amine-crosslinked copolymer and its sorption properties for Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions.

A new cellulosic amine-crosslinked copolymer was prepared after the amination reaction with cotton stalk peel (CSP). The physicochemical characteristics of amine-crosslinked cotton stalk peel (AC-CSP) and raw CSP were determined after the surface analysis (including specific surface area, micropore volume and SEM), zeta potential analysis and spectrum analysis (FTIR and Raman spectrum). The sorption properties of AC-CSP for Cr(VI) were evaluated in the static, column sorption and desorption tests. The surface characteristics indicated the absence of porous adsorption in the potential Cr(VI) sorption mechanism. Zeta potential and spectrum analysis of AC-CSP illustrated the involvement of amine groups in the Cr(VI) sorption process. The sorption capacity of AC-CSP for Cr(VI) was 129.0mg/g as comparison with 14.8 mg/g of raw CSP. Flow rate and influent Cr(VI) concentration were demonstrated as two influencial factors in the column sorption tests. NaCl was used as the eluent, and the desorption efficiencies during three successive cycles were 75.9%, 69.8% and 64.3%, respectively. In addition, the results of the static, column sorption and desorption tests illustrated the complicated interactions between Cr(VI) and AC-CSP including complexation and ion exchange mechanisms.

Sorption of nitrate onto amine-crosslinked wheat straw: characteristics, column sorption and desorption properties.

The nitrate removal process was evaluated using a fixed-bed column packed with amine-crosslinked wheat straw (AC-WS). Column sorption and desorption characteristics of nitrate were studied extensively. Solid-state (13)C NMR and zeta potential analysis validated the existence of crosslinked amine groups in AC-WS. Raman shift of the nitrate peaks suggested the electrostatic attraction between the adsorbed ions and positively charged amine sites. The column sorption capacity (q(ed)) of the AC-WS for nitrate was 87.27 mg g(-1) in comparison with the raw WS of 0.57 mg g(-1). Nitrate sorption in column was affected by bed height, influent nitrate concentration, flow rate and pH, and of all these, influent pH demonstrated an essential effect on the performance of the column. In addition, desorption and dynamic elution tests were repeated for several cycles, with high desorption rate and slight losses in its initial column sorption capacity.

Sorption of phosphate onto giant reed based adsorbent: FTIR, Raman spectrum analysis and dynamic sorption/desorption properties in filter bed.

A sorption process for the removal of phosphate was evaluated under various conditions using a filter bed packed with giant reed (GR) based adsorbent. FTIR spectrum measurement validated the existence of grafted amine groups in the adsorbent and Raman spectrum displayed the characteristic peaks of different forms of phosphate. The column sorption capacity of the adsorbent for phosphate was 54.67 mg g(-1) in comparison with the raw GR of 0.863 mg g(-1). Influent pH demonstrated an essential effect on the performance of the filter bed as compared to other influent conditions (flow rates and influent concentrations) and the optimal pH was selected at 5.0-10.0. Eluents of HCl, NaOH and NaCl solutions with concentrations of 0.01-0.1 mol l(-1) showed the excellent capacities for desorption of phosphate from the adsorbent, and their elution processes could be finished in 90 min.

Synthesis and characterization of a novel super-absorbent based on wheat straw.

In order to develop an eco-friendly polymer, a novel super-absorbent polymer was prepared by graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA), acrylic amide (AM) and dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride (DMDAAC) onto the pretreatment wheat straw (PTWS). The molecular structure of the super-absorbent was confirmed by FTIR. The factors that can influence absorbencies of the super-absorbent resin (SAR) were investigated, such as weight ratio between the monomers, the ratio of PTWS to monomers, the amount of initiator and cross-linker, temperature reaction time and neutralization degree of AA. The SAR has the water absorbency of 133.76 g/g in distilled water and 33.83 g/g in 0.9 wt.% NaCl solution.

Preparation of agricultural by-product based anion exchanger and its utilization for nitrate and phosphate removal.

To develop the agricultural by-product adsorbent that possesses anionic exchangeable function, the performance of a new anion exchanger prepared from wheat straw (WS) was evaluated in this study. Wheat straw anion exchanger (WS-AE) was prepared by the grafting of aminated intermediate onto WS. Results indicate that reaction time and temperature in the chemical modification process both affected the preparation of aminated intermediate and WS-AE. FTIR, nitrogen content, solid-state (13)C NMR and zeta potential data validated the existence of grafted amine group in the structure of WS-AE. The maximum sorption capacities of WS-AE for nitrate and phosphate were approximately 52.8 and 45.7mgg(-1), respectively, which shows higher maximum capacity for phosphate and a similar capacity for nitrate in comparison with commercial anion resins. Regeneration studies and column adsorption tests were performed, and the excellent regeneration and column adsorption capacities provided strong evidence of the potential of WS-AE for the technological applications of phosphate and nitrate removal from aqueous solutions.

Preparation and utilization of wheat straw bearing amine groups for the sorption of acid and reactive dyes from aqueous solutions.

Removal of Acid Red 73 (AR 73) and Reactive Red 24 (RR 24) onto modified wheat straw (MWS) from aqueous solutions was investigated. Sorption experiments were carried out as function of MWS dosage, contact time, initial concentration, pH and temperature. Characterizations of MWS were measured and a mass of amine groups were observed in the framework of MWS. The equilibrium sorption data were well represented by the Langmuir isotherm equation, and the calculated thermodynamic parameters indicated a spontaneous and endothermic nature for sorption process. It was shown that pseudo-second-order kinetic equation could best describe the adsorption kinetics. More over, the high maximum sorption capacity (q(e max), 714.3 mg g(-1) for AR 73 and 285.7 mg g(-1) for RR 24) and low cost (1.24 US$ kg(-1)) of MWS provided strong evidence of the potential of MWS for the technological applications of anionic dyes removal from aqueous solutions.