Nanomechanical collective vibration of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins.

The development of effective therapeutics against COVID-19 requires a thorough understanding of the receptor recognition mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein. Here the multidomain collective dynamics on the trimer of the spike protein has been analyzed using normal mode analysis (NMA). A common nanomechanical profile was identified in the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. The profile involves collective vibrations of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the N-terminal domain (NTD), which may mediate the physical interaction process. Quantitative analysis of the collective modes suggests a nanomechanical property involving large-scale conformational changes, which explains the difference in receptor binding affinity among different variants. These results support the use of intrinsic global dynamics as a valuable perspective for studying the allosteric and functional mechanisms of the S protein. This approach also provides a low-cost theoretical toolkit for screening potential pathogenic mutations and drug targets.

Modeling and optimizing through plenoptic function for the dual lenticular lens-based directional autostereoscopic display system.

We propose an autostereoscopic display system that ensures full resolution for multiple users by directional backlight and eye tracking technology. The steerable beam formed by directional backlight can be regarded as the result of sparsely sampling the light field in space. Therefore, we intuitively propose an optimization algorithm based on the characterization for the state of the steerable beams, which is computed in matrix form using the plenoptic function. This optimization algorithm aims to optimize the exit pupil quality and ultimately enhancing the viewing experience of stereoscopic display. Numerical simulations are conducted and the improvement in exit pupil quality achieved by the optimization scheme is verified. Furthermore, a prototype of the stereoscopic display that employs dual-lenticular lens sheets for the directional backlight has been constructed using the optimized optical parameters. It provides 9 independent exit pupils at the optimal viewing distance of 400 mm, with an exit pupil resolution of 1/30. The field of view is ±16.7°, the viewing distance range is 380 mm to 440 mm. At the optimal viewing distance 400 mm, the average crosstalk of the system is 3%, and the dynamic brightness uniformity across the entire viewing plane reaches 85%. The brightness uniformity of the display at each exit pupil is higher than 88%.

Targeting LINC070974 inhibits lung adenocarcinoma cell proliferation and progression by interacting with Y-box binding protein 1.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests that long noncoding RNAs play crucial roles in lung cancer pathogenesis. We previously identified a novel lncRNA, LINC070974, which is associated with tumor cell proliferation. In the present study, we find that knockdown of LINC070974 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion as well as tumor formation both in vitro and in nude mice. LINC070974 silencing also improves cisplatin efficacy in A549/DDP cells. The function of LINC070974 may depend on its interaction with YBX1. Knockdown of LINC070974 reduces the recruitment of YBX1 to the CCND1 promoter and delays tumor progression through its coregulatory genes, which are mainly involved in the p53 signaling pathway. We utilize nebulized inhalation to deliver siRNAs targeting LINC070974 and find that LINC070974 significantly prevents tumor metastasis and growth in lung tissues. These findings reveal the role of LINC070974 in lung cancer and suggest a promising therapeutic approach involving siRNA inhalation.

Treatment of landfill leachate by black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae and the changes of intestinal microbial community.

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) (Hermetia illucens) are commonly used to treat organic waste. This work aims to evaluate the transformation effect, heavy metal migration, and alterations in the gut microbiota of BSFL in addition to treating landfill leachate (LL) with BSFL. We found that BSFL may grow in various landfill leachate concentrations without obvious toxicity and growth inhibition. In addition, the results indicated a significant increase in the content of ammonia nitrogen and the activity of urease and ß-glucosidase (ß-GC) in LL, increased from 2570.17 mg/L to 5853.67 mg/L, 1859.17 mg/(g·d) to 517,177.98 mg/(g·d), 313.73 µg/(g·h) to 441.91 µg/(g·h) respectively. Conversely, the content of total nitrogen (TN) and total organic carbon (TOC) decreased in LL, decreasing by 31.24% and 29.45% respectively. Heavy metals are accumulated in the leachate by the BSFL to differing degrees, the descending sequence of accumulation is Cd > As > Cu > Cr. As dropped by 26.0%, Cd increased by 22.6%, Cu reduced by 5.23%, and Cr increased by 317.1% in the remaining matrix. The concentration of heavy metals satisfies the organic fertilizers' limit index (NY/T1978). The diversity of intestinal microorganisms in BSFL decreased, from 2819 OTUs to 2338 OTUs, with Providencia and Morganella emerging as the core flora. The gene abundance of nitrogen metabolism in the microbiota increased significantly. The TOC, ß-GC, and Copper (Cu) content in BSFL correlated significantly with the gut microbiota. In Summary, this study revealed the treatment effect of BSFL on LL, the migration of heavy metals, and changes in the intestinal microorganisms of BSFL. The content of heavy metals in BSFL was found to be much lower than the upper limit of feed protein raw materials, demonstrating that BSFL is a sustainable method to treat LL.

Arabidopsis SKU5 Similar 11 and 12 play crucial roles in pollen tube integrity, growth and guidance.

Pollen tube integrity, growth and guidance are crucial factors in plant sexual reproduction. Members of the plant Skewed5 (SKU5) Similar (SKS) family show strong similarity to multicopper oxidases (MCOs), but they lack conserved histidines in MCO active sites. The functions of most SKS family members are unknown. Here, we show that Arabidopsis pollen-expressed SKS11 and SKS12 play important roles in pollen tube integrity, growth and guidance. The sks11sks12 mutant exhibited significantly reduced male fertility. Most of the pollen from sks11sks12 plants burst when germinated, and the pollen tubes grew slowly and exhibited defective growth along the funiculus and micropyle. SKS11-GFP and SKS12-mCherry were detected at the cell wall in pollen tubes. The contents of several cell wall polysaccharides and arabinogalactans were decreased in the pollen tube cell walls of sks11sks12 plants. Staining with a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-sensitive dye and use of the H2 O2 sensor HyPer revealed that the ROS content in the pollen tubes of sks11sks12 plants was remarkably reduced. SKS11444His-Ala , in which the last conserved histidine was mutated, could restore the mutant phenotypes of sks11sks12. Thus, SKS11/12 are required for pollen tube integrity, growth and guidance possibly by regulating the ROS level and cell wall polysaccharide deposition or remodeling in pollen tubes.

Dppa2/4 as a trigger of signaling pathways to promote zygote genome activation by binding to CG-rich region.

Developmental pluripotency-associated 2 (Dppa2) and developmental pluripotency-associated 4 (Dppa4) as positive drivers were helpful for transcriptional regulation of zygotic genome activation (ZGA). Here, we systematically assessed the cooperative interplay of Dppa2 and Dppa4 in regulating cell pluripotency and found that simultaneous overexpression of Dppa2/4 can make induced pluripotent stem cells closer to embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Compared with other pluripotency transcription factors, Dppa2/4 can regulate majorities of signaling pathways by binding on CG-rich region of proximal promoter (0-500 bp), of which 85% and 77% signaling pathways were significantly activated by Dppa2 and Dppa4, respectively. Notably, Dppa2/4 also can dramatically trigger the decisive signaling pathways for facilitating ZGA, including Hippo, MAPK and TGF-beta signaling pathways and so on. At last, we found alkaline phosphatase, placental-like 2 (Alppl2) was completely silenced when Dppa2 and 4 single- or double-knockout in ESC, which is consistent with Dux. Moreover, Alppl2 was significantly activated in mouse 2-cell embryos and 4-8 cells stage of human embryos, further predicted that Alppl2 was directly regulated by Dppa2/4 as a ZGA candidate driver to facilitate pre-embryonic development.

Hydrogen Peroxide-Activated Nitric Oxide-Releasing Vancomycin-Loaded Electrostatic Complexation for Efficient Elimination of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Abscesses.

The treatment of subcutaneous abscesses has been greatly hindered due to the spread of drug-resistant strains such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Thus, alternative strategies are highly desired to complement conventional antibiotic therapies and surgical intervention. As one of such strategies, applications of nitric oxide (NO) have shown great potential in the treatment of bacteria-induced subcutaneous abscesses by improving the efficacy of many therapeutic methods. However, it is extremely challenging to achieve precise delivery and controlled release because of its gaseous nature. In the present study, an effective strategy was reported in which on demand hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-activated nitric oxide-releasing vancomycin (Van)-loaded electrostatic complexation (Lipo/Van@Arg) was fabricated. In this system, Van was encapsulated into a negative-charged DSPG/Chol liposome (Lipo/Van) and electrostatically bound with the positive-charged l-arginine (l-Arg). As expected, Lipo/Van@Arg exhibited superior bacterial binding and biofilm penetration abilities. After being in the interior of the biofilms, Lipo/Van@Arg could be triggered by the endogenous H2O2 and effectively release NO. The released NO could exhibit combined antibacterial and biofilm eradication effects with Van. Moreover, an in vivo evaluation using a BALB/c mouse model of subcutaneous abscesses indicated that the combination treatment of NO and Van based on Lipo/Van@Arg could effectively eliminate MRSA from the abscesses, thereby preventing abscess recurrence. In summary, the Lipo/Van@Arg system developed in this study realized controlled delivery and precise release of NO, which had significant clinical implications in the efficient treatment of abscesses.

pH/Hyal-Responsive Surface-Charge Switchable Electrostatic Complexation for Efficient Elimination of MRSA Infection.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a great threat to human health worldwide, making new effective antibacterial strategies urgently desired. In this study, a cationic pH-responsive delivery system (pHSM) was developed based on poly(ß-amino esters)-methoxy poly(ethylene glycol), by which linezolid (LZD) could be encapsulated to form pHSM/LZD. The biocompatibility and stability of pHSM/LZD were further enhanced by adding low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid (LWT HA) on the surface through electrostatic interaction to form pHSM/LZD@HA, of which the positive surface charges were neutralized by LWT HA under physiological conditions. LWT HA can be degraded by hyaluronidase (Hyal) after arriving at the infection site. In vitro, pHSM/LZD@HA could rapidly change to being positively charged on the surface within 0.5 h under acidic conditions, especially when Hyal was present, thus promoting bacterial binding and biofilm penetration of pHSM/LZD@HA. In addition, the pH/Hyal-dependent accelerated drug release behavior was also observed and it is beneficial for the comprehensive treatment of MRSA infection in vitro and in vivo. Our study provides a novel strategy to develop a pH/Hyal-responsive drug delivery system for the treatment of MRSA infection.

Hydrogel microenvironment contributes to chemical-induced differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells: single-cell infrared microspectroscopy characterization.

Stem cell microenvironment plays vital roles in directing cell proliferation and differentiation. Due to the tiny biochemical changes in the early stage of stem cell development, technical challenges to characterize the potential effects of environmental signals remain. In this work, we have introduced synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy to evaluate the synergistic effects of physical and chemical factors on stem cell differentiation at the single-cell level. By using principal component analysis and cell-cell Euclidean distance calculation, the phenotypic heterogeneity changes during stem cell osteogenesis induced by lithium chloride or Wnt5a protein loaded in the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel were characterized in detail. The results demonstrated that PVA hydrogel could lead to the distinct effects between low-concentration lithium and wnt5a on human mesenchymal stem cells, suggesting a vital role of niche signals in Wnt pathway. These findings highlight the importance of microenvironment to the chemical-induced effects on stem cell differentiation and also provide a label-free, noninvasive method to sensitively identify the niche function in stem cell biology.

Label-free analysis of biofilm phenotypes by infrared micro- and correlation spectroscopy.

The methodology development for deeply describing the complex biofilm phenotypes is an urgent demand for understanding their basic biology and the central clinic relevance. Here, we developed an infrared microspectroscopy-based method for the quantitative evaluation and description of biofilm phenotypic characteristics by calculating the spectral similarity of the infrared data. Using this approach, we revealed the phenotypic variation during the biofilm formation process and biofilm heterogeneity between two E. coli strains. Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy was further combined to deeply investigate the biochemical component evolution sequences during E. coli biofilm formation and revealed the first-order of the polysaccharide molecules change, expanding new opportunities for infrared microspectroscopy in revealing molecule evolution in the biofilm formation. This novel development offers a label-free optical toolkit for the bioanalytical analysis of biofilm phenotypes but also paves the way for screening the drugs to modulate the structure and ecology of biofilm microbiome.

Predicting response to CCRT for esophageal squamous carcinoma by a radiomics-clinical SHAP model.

BACKGROUND: Radical concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is frequently used as the first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. Unfortunately, some patients respond poorly. To predict response to radical concurrent chemoradiotherapy in pre-treatment patients with esophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC), and compare the predicting efficacies of radiomics features of primary tumor with or without regional lymph nodes, we developed a radiomics-clinical model based on the positioning CT images. Finally, SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) was used to explain the models. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 105 patients with medically inoperable and/or unresectable ESCC who underwent radical concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) between October 2018 and May 2023. Patients were classified into responder and non-responder groups with RECIST standards. The 11 recently admitted patients were chosen as the validation set, previously admitted patients were randomly split into the training set (n = 70) and the testing set (n = 24). Primary tumor site (GTV), the primary tumor and the uninvolved lymph nodes at risk of microscopic disease (CTV) were identified as Regions of Interests (ROIs). 1762 radiomics features from GTV and CTV were respectively extracted and then filtered by statistical differential analysis and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). The filtered radiomics features combined with 13 clinical features were further filtered with Mutual Information (MI) algorithm. Based on the filtered features, we developed five models (Clinical Model, GTV Model, GTV-Clinical Model, CTV Model, and CTV-Clinical Model) using the random forest algorithm and evaluated for their accuracy, precision, recall, F1-Score and AUC. Finally, SHAP algorithm was adopted for model interpretation to achieve transparency and utilizability. RESULTS: The GTV-Clinical model achieves an AUC of 0.82 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.76-0.99 on testing set and an AUC of 0.97 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.84-1.0 on validation set, which are significantly higher than those of other models in predicting ESCC response to CCRT. The SHAP force map provides an integrated view of the impact of each feature on individual patients, while the SHAP summary plots indicate that radiomics features have a greater influence on model prediction than clinical factors in our model. CONCLUSION: GTV-Clinical model based on texture features and the maximum diameter of lesion (MDL) may assist clinicians in pre-treatment predicting ESCC response to CCRT.

LncRP11-675F6.3 responds to rapamycin treatment and reduces triglyceride accumulation via interacting with HK1 in hepatocytes by regulating autophagy and VLDL-related proteins.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been widely proven to be involved in liver lipid homeostasis. Herein, we identify an upregulated lncRNA named lncRP11-675F6.3 in response to rapamycin treatment using a microarray in HepG2 cells. Knockdown of lncRP11-675F6. 3 leads to a significant reduction in apolipoprotein 100 (ApoB100), microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTTP), ApoE and ApoC3 with increased cellular triglyceride level and autophagy. Furthermore, we find that ApoB100 is obviously colocalized with GFP-LC3 in autophagosomes when lncRP11-675F6. 3 is knocked down, indicating that elevated triglyceride accumulation likely related to autophagy induces the degradation of ApoB100 and impairs very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) assembly. We then identify and validate that hexokinase 1 (HK1) acts as the binding protein of lncRP11-675F6.3 and mediates triglyceride regulation and cell autophagy. More importantly, we find that lncRP11-675F6.3 and HK1 attenuate high fat diet induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by regulating VLDL-related proteins and autophagy. In conclusion, this study reveals that lncRP11-675F6.3 is potentially involved in the downstream of mTOR signaling pathway and the regulatory network of hepatic triglyceride metabolism in cooperation with its interacting protein HK1, which may provide a new target for fatty liver disorder treatment.

Herbicide propisochlor exposure induces intestinal barrier impairment, microbiota dysbiosis and gut pyroptosis.

Propisochlor is a chloroacetamide herbicide causing liver toxicity and suppressing immunity in human and animal. Although the herbicide has been used for years, the effects of propisochlor on intestinal health remain poorly understood. Hence, the impacts of propisochlor in intestinal health and gut microbiota were analyzed by using molecular approach and bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing. The result showed that the intake of propisochlor in mice impaired gut morphology, reduced expression of tight junction proteins, decreased thickness of mucus layer and activated pyroptosis signaling. Moreover, the exposure of propisochlor in mice led to significant alterations in gut microbial diversity and composition, including an increase of Bacteroidetes and a decrease of Firmicutes. The gut microbiota, such as Parabacteroides, Parasutterella, and Bacteroides, demonstrated a strong negative correlation with the intestinal health. These findings suggested that gut microbiota could play a critical role in the propisochlor-induced pyroptosis.

A Low-Carbon and Economic Dispatch Strategy for a Multi-Microgrid Based on a Meteorological Classification to Handle the Uncertainty of Wind Power.

In a modern power system, reducing carbon emissions has become a significant goal in mitigating the impact of global warming. Therefore, renewable energy sources, particularly wind-power generation, have been extensively implemented in the system. Despite the advantages of wind power, its uncertainty and randomness lead to critical security, stability, and economic issues in the power system. Recently, multi-microgrid systems (MMGSs) have been considered as a suitable wind-power deployment candidate. Although wind power can be efficiently utilized by MMGSs, uncertainty and randomness still have a significant impact on the dispatching and operation of the system. Therefore, to address the wind power uncertainty issue and achieve an optimal dispatching strategy for MMGSs, this paper presents an adjustable robust optimization (ARO) model based on meteorological clustering. Firstly, the maximum relevance minimum redundancy (MRMR) method and the CURE clustering algorithm are employed for meteorological classification in order to better identify wind patterns. Secondly, a conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) is adopted to enrich the wind-power datasets with different meteorological patterns, resulting in the construction of ambiguity sets. Thirdly, the uncertainty sets that are finally employed by the ARO framework to establish a two-stage cooperative dispatching model for MMGS can be derived from the ambiguity sets. Additionally, stepped carbon trading is introduced to control the carbon emissions of MMGSs. Finally, the alternative direction method of multipliers (ADMM) and the column and constraint generation (C&CG) algorithm are adopted to achieve a decentralized solution for the dispatching model of MMGSs. Case studies indicate that the presented model has a great performance in improving the wind-power description accuracy, increasing cost efficiency, and reducing system carbon emissions. However, the case studies also report that the approach consumes a relative long running time. Therefore, in future research, the solution algorithm will be further improved for the purpose of raising the efficiency of the solution.

Derivation of Arbas Cashmere Goat Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in LCDM with Trophectoderm Lineage Differentiation and Interspecies Chimeric Abilities.

The Arbas cashmere goat is a unique biological resource that plays a vital role in livestock husbandry in China. LCDM is a medium with special small molecules (consisting of human LIF, CHIR99021, (S)-(+)-dimethindene maleate, and minocycline hydrochloride) for generation pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) with bidirectional developmental potential in mice, humans, pigs, and bovines. However, there is no report on whether LCDM can support for generation of PSCs with the same ability in Arbas cashmere goats. In this study, we applied LCDM to generate goat induced PSCs (giPSCs) from goat fetal fibroblasts (GFFs) by reprogramming. The derived giPSCs exhibited stem cell morphology, expressing pluripotent markers, and could differentiate into three germ layers. Moreover, the giPSCs differentiated into the trophectoderm lineage by spontaneous and directed differentiation in vitro. The giPSCs contributed to embryonic and extraembryonic tissue in preimplantation blastocysts and postimplantation chimeric embryos. RNA-sequencing analysis showed that the giPSCs were very close to goat embryos at the blastocyst stage and giPSCs have similar properties to typical extended PSCs (EPSCs). The establishment of giPSCs with LCDM provides a new way to generate PSCs from domestic animals and lays the foundation for basic and applied research in biology and agriculture.

Time-Series Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Molecular Mechanism of Ethylene Reducing Cold Sensitivity of Postharvest 'Huangguan' Pear.

'Huangguan' pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd) fruit is susceptible to cold, characterized by developing peel browning spots (PBS) during cold storage. Additionally, ethylene pretreatment reduces chilling injury (CI) and inhibits PBS occurrence, but the mechanism of CI remains unclear. Here, we deciphered the dynamic transcriptional changes during the PBS occurrence with and without ethylene pretreatment via time-series transcriptome. We found that ethylene suppressed the cold-signaling gene expression, thereby decreasing the cold sensitivity of the 'Huangguan' fruit. Moreover, the "Yellow" module closely correlated with PBS occurrence was identified via weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and this module was related to plant defense via Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis. Local motif enrichment analysis suggested that the "Yellow" module genes were regulated by ERF and WRKY transcription factors. Functional studies demonstrated that PbWRKY31 has a conserved WRKY domain, lacks transactivation activity, and localizes in the nucleus. PbWRKY31-overexpressed Arabidopsis were hypersensitive to cold, with higher expression levels of cold signaling and defense genes, suggesting that PbWRKY31 participates in regulating plant cold sensitivity. Collectively, our findings provide a comprehensive transcriptional overview of PBS occurrence and elucidate the molecular mechanism by which ethylene reduces the cold sensitivity of 'Huangguan' fruit as well as the potential role of PbWRKY31 in this process.

Mixed-Lineage Leukemia 1 Inhibition Enhances the Differentiation Potential of Bovine Embryonic Stem Cells by Increasing H3K4 Mono-Methylation at Active Promoters.

Mixed-lineage leukemia 1 (MLL1) introduces 1-, 2- and 3-methylation into histone H3K4 through the evolutionarily conserved set domain. In this study, bovine embryonic stem cells (bESCs, known as bESCs-F7) were established from in vitro-fertilized (IVF) embryos via Wnt signaling inhibition; however, their contribution to the endoderm in vivo is limited. To improve the quality of bESCs, MM-102, an inhibitor of MLL1, was applied to the culture. The results showed that MLL1 inhibition along with GSK3 and MAP2K inhibition (3i) at the embryonic stage did not affect bESCs' establishment and pluripotency. MLL1 inhibition improved the pluripotency and differentiation potential of bESCs via the up-regulation of stem cell signaling pathways such as PI3K-Akt and WNT. MLL1 inhibition decreased H3K4me1 modification at the promoters and altered the distribution of DNA methylation in bESCs. In summary, MLL1 inhibition gives bESCs better pluripotency, and its application may provide high-quality pluripotent stem cells for domestic animals.

Application of virtual technology to maximize esthetics and function in the restoration of anterior traumatic dental injuries.

The restoration of multiple teeth with traumatic injury in the esthetic zone is complex. For the present patient, an intraoral scanner, a facial scanner, a jaw motion analyzer, and cone beam computed tomography were applied to collect patient data and establish a virtual dental patient. The virtual technology increased the accuracy of tooth- and implant-supported crowns in both appearance and occlusion.

Comparison of case-based learning combined with Rain Classroom teaching and traditional method in complete denture course for undergraduate interns.

BACKGROUND: Complete denture, as an important restoration method for edentulism, is difficult to study for beginners, especially in linking the theory with clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to compare the teaching effects between case-based learning combined with Rain Classroom teaching and traditional lecture method in the clinical course of complete denture prosthesis for undergraduate interns. METHODS: In a course called "Problems and treatment strategies of complete denture after wearing", interns were divided into two groups: one for traditional lecture-based teaching with PowerPoint slideshow (the control group, n = 28); and the other for case-based learning combined with Rain Classroom teaching, which published information before class, discussed specific clinic cases in class and got real-time interns' feedback via WeChat (the test group, n = 22). Both groups received the same exam and questionnaire survey after class. The Q&A participation of interns in class, theoretical test scores and questionnaire survey responses were used to evaluate the teaching effects. An independent sample t-test and the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were used for statistical analysis in this study. RESULTS: The Q&A participation of interns in the test group was much better than that of the control group. The average score on the theoretical test after class in the test group (72.14 ± 12.24) was significantly higher than that in the control group (61.29 ± 20.12) (P < 0.05). In the test group, 94.54% (21/22) of the interns preferred the new teaching mode. CONCLUSION: Case-based learning combined with Rain Classroom teaching is helpful to enliven the classroom atmosphere, inspire studying enthusiasm, and achieve a good learning effect in both theory and clinical practice related to complete denture prosthesis.

Synchrotron Infrared Microspectroscopy for Stem Cell Research.

Stem cells have shown great potential functions for tissue regeneration and repair because of their unlimited self-renewal and differentiation. Stem cells reside in their niches, making them a hotspot for the development and diagnosis of diseases. Complex interactions between niches and stem cells create the balance between differentiation, self-renewal, maturation, and proliferation. However, the multi-facet applications of stem cells have been challenged since the complicated responses of stem cells to biological processes were explored along with the limitations of current systems or methods. Emerging evidence highlights that synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy, known as synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, has been investigated as a potentially attractive technology with its non-invasive and non-biological probes in stem cell research. With their unique vibration bands, the quantitative mapping of the content and distribution of biomolecules can be detected and characterized in cells or tissues. In this review, we focus on the potential applications of synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy for investigating the differentiation and fate determination of stem cells.