[Correlation between the expression level of coiled-coil domain-containing protein 80 and obesity].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between expression of coiled-coil domain-containing protein 80(CCDC80) and obesity in serum and adipose tissues. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a hospital in Tangshan in September 2010. 100 people including 78 healthy people and 22 with type-2 diabetes were recruited. Another 36 female patients with benign tumor of Obstetrics and Gynecology were also recruited. Demographic characteristics and serum samples were collected from all subjects, basic biochemical indicators were tested. All subjects were divided into 'Normal Weight' and 'Overweight and Obese' according to their BMI (BMI <24.0 kg/m(2); BMI≥24 kg/m(2)). Serum CCDC80 of the 100 subjects was detected by ELISA. Visceral and subcutaneous fat were derived from the other 36 female subjects, and Real-time PCR was used to detect CCDC80 mRNA expression in adipose tissues. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the correlation between serum or adipose CCDC80 expression and waist, BMI, and other biochemical indicators. RESULTS: The age of 100 subjects was (52.9±8.4) years old. 44% of them were women (44 cases) and 56% of them were men (56 cases). After dividing them into three groups according to their BMI, covariance analysis were conducted, and age and gender were adjusted. The HDL-C level was significantly different among three groups (F = 10.73, P < 0.001): 'Overweight and obese combined with diabetes' group ((0.90±0.06) mmol/L)< 'Overweight and obese' group ((1.14±0.04) mmol/L) < 'Normal weight' group ((1.28±0.05) mmol/L). The adjusted expression of serum CCDC80 of the 100 subjects was (5.84±0.16) pg/ml, (5.81±0.98) pg/ml among men and (5.97±0.89) pg/ml among women, and there was no significant difference (t = -0.812, P = 0.419) between genders. ANOVA revealed that there was no significant differences of the expression of serum CCDC80 among three groups (F = 1.06, P = 0.351), 'Normal weight' group was (5.84±0.16) pg/ml, 'overweight and obese' group was (6.11±0.14) pg/ml, and 'Overweight and obese combined with diabetes' group was (5.84±0.19) pg/ml. The analysis showed that FBG had a negative correlation with serum CCDC80 (R(b) = -0.223, P = 0.026). Multivariate linear regression had a similar result, with 1 mmol/L increase of serum FBG, serum CCDC80 decreases for 0.24 pg/ml (ß = -0.24, 95% CI: -0.21--0.02). There was also a negative correlation between serum CCDC80 and FBG in overweight and obese people (R(a) = -0.368, P = 0.013). Besides, CCDC80 mRNA was detected in both subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue of 36 cases, the expression level was 0.06±0.02 for subcutaneous fat, was 0.05±0.04 for visceral fat, and the expression in visceral fat was lower (0.05±0.03) than that in subcutaneous fat (0.06±0.03) (t = 2.50, P = 0.025) among overweight and obese group. There was a negative correlation between waist and visceral CCDC80 mRNA expression (r = -0.472, P = 0.035). CONCLUSION: This study suggested that CCDC80 may be involved in energy and insulin metabolism, and plays a protective role in obesity and diabetes.

High-efficiency and sustainable sodium humate aerogel evaporator for solar steam generation.

The utilization of solar interface evaporation technology (SIET) for freshwater production from seawater and sewage is a sustainable, green, viable, and promising approach. However, the absorption rate of sunlight, evaporation rates, and high costs still pose large-scale solar steam generation. In this paper, a novel aerogel (named SAS) was prepared by graft copolymerization with sodium alginate (SA), acrylic acid (AA) and sodium humate (SH) in aqueous solution, using N, N'-Methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as crosslinker and ammonium persulfate (APS) as initiator, which has high light absorption (90 %), high porosity (87.96 %), superhydrophilicity (35 ms), low thermal conductivity (0.23 W m-1 k-1). The evaporation rate of SAS aerogel can reach up to 1.66 kg m-2h-1 under 1 kW m-2 light intensity, and the reusability and reliability of SAS aerogel are verified by 10 cycles of experiments. The utilization of this SAS aerogel holds significant implications for the design and fabrication of cost-effective, high-performance solar steam evaporation systems, thereby offering promising solutions to address global freshwater shortages and enhance wastewater treatment efficiency.

Highly Stretchable Double Network Ionogels for Monitoring Physiological Signals and Detecting Sign Language.

At the heart of the non-implantable electronic revolution lies ionogels, which are remarkably conductive, thermally stable, and even antimicrobial materials. Yet, their potential has been hindered by poor mechanical properties. Herein, a double network (DN) ionogel crafted from 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Emim]Cl), acrylamide (AM), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was constructed. Tensile strength, fracture elongation, and conductivity can be adjusted across a wide range, enabling researchers to fabricate the material to meet specific needs. With adjustable mechanical properties, such as tensile strength (0.06-5.30 MPa) and fracture elongation (363-1373%), this ionogel possesses both robustness and flexibility. This ionogel exhibits a bi-modal response to temperature and strain, making it an ideal candidate for strain sensor applications. It also functions as a flexible strain sensor that can detect physiological signals in real time, opening doors to personalized health monitoring and disease management. Moreover, these gels' ability to decode the intricate movements of sign language paves the way for improved communication accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. This DN ionogel lays the foundation for a future in which e-skins and wearable sensors will seamlessly integrate into our lives, revolutionizing healthcare, human-machine interaction, and beyond.

Assessing genotoxic effects of chemotherapy agents by a robust in vitro assay based on mass spectrometric quantification of γ-H2AX in HepG2 cells.

Chemotherapy has already proven widely effective in treating cancer. Chemotherapeutic agents usually include DNA damaging agents and non-DNA damaging agents. Assessing genotoxic effect is significant during chemotherapy drug development, since the ability to attack DNA is the major concern for DNA damaging agents which relates to the therapeutic effect, meanwhile genotoxicity should also be evaluated for chemotherapy agents' safety especially for non-DNA damaging agents. However, currently applicability of in vitro genotoxicity assays is hampered by the fact that genotoxicity results have comparatively high false positive rates. γ-H2AX has been shown to be a bifunctional biomarker reflecting both DNA damage response and repair. Previously, we developed an in vitro genotoxicity assay based on γ-H2AX quantification using mass spectrometry. Here, we employed the assay to quantitatively assess the genotoxic effects of 34 classic chemotherapy agents in HepG2 cells. Results demonstrated that the evaluation of cellular γ-H2AX could be an effective approach to screen and distinguish types of action of different classes of chemotherapy agents. In addition, two crucial indexes of DNA repair kinetic curve, i.e., k (speed of γ-H2AX descending) and t50 (time required for γ-H2AX to drop to half of the maximum value) estimated by our developed online tools were employed to further evaluate nine representative chemotherapy agents, which showed a close association with therapeutic index or carcinogenic level. The present study demonstrated that mass spectrometric quantification of γ-H2AX may be an appropriate tool to preliminarily evaluate genotoxic effects of chemotherapy agents.

Recent progress in flexible pressure sensors based on multiple microstructures: from design to application.

Flexible pressure sensors (FPSs) have been widely studied in the fields of wearable medical monitoring and human-machine interaction due to their high flexibility, light weight, sensitivity, and easy integration. To better meet these application requirements, key sensing properties such as sensitivity, linear sensing range, pressure detection limits, response/recovery time, and durability need to be effectively improved. Therefore, researchers have extensively and profoundly researched and innovated on the structure of sensors, and various microstructures have been designed and applied to effectively improve the sensing performance of sensors. Compared with single microstructures, multiple microstructures (MMSs) (including hierarchical, multi-layered and hybrid microstructures) can improve the sensing performance of sensors to a greater extent. This paper reviews the recent research progress in the design and application of FPSs with MMSs and systematically summarizes the types, sensing mechanisms, and preparation methods of MMSs. In addition, we summarize the applications of FPSs with MMSs in the fields of human motion detection, health monitoring, and human-computer interaction. Finally, we provide an outlook on the prospects and challenges for the development of FPSs.

Effect of surgery on sensory eye balance in patients with intermittent exotropia: An observational study.

To evaluate the impact of strabismus surgery on sensory eye balance in patients with intermittent exotropia (IXT). In total, 112 IXT patients with ocular alignment at the first strabismus surgery and 34 controls were enrolled from January 2015 to December 2016 in this retrospective study. The effective contrast ratio (ECR) of non-dominant eyes was measured by binocular phase combination paradigm before and 3 months after surgery, and the degree of sensory eye balance was quantitatively evaluated and compared between IXT patients and controls. The preoperative and postoperative mean ECRs of IXT patients were 0.492 ±â€…0.182 and 0.684 ±â€…0.198, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of the control group (0.896 ±â€…0.214, both P < .001). In addition, the postoperative ECR was significantly higher than the preoperative ECR (P < .001). The ECR change was not correlated with age orstrabismus degree measured with a6 m accommodative target (both P > .05), while significant negative correlation was observed between the ECR change and strabismus degree measured with a 33 cm accommodative target (P = .002). Strabismus surgery can significantly reduce the degree of sensory eye imbalance in patients with IXT, while further treatment aimed at rebalancing the ocular dominance might be necessary for more efficient binocular visual processing in the long-term.

Carboxymethylated Alginate-Resiquimod Micelles Reverse the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment and Synergistically Enhance the Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy for Gastric Cancer.

Due to the intrinsic weak immunogenicity of tumor cells and the quantitatively and functionally different populations of immune cells, immunosuppression has become the major obstacle for cancer immunotherapy. In this study, the biocompatible alginate was chemically modified with the carboxyethyl linker to facilitate the esterification reaction of the resultant carboxymethylated alginate (CMA) and resiquimod (R848), the agonist of Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8a). In aqueous solution, the hydrophilic CMA and the hydrophobic R848 formed stable nanomicelles (CMA-R848) by self-assembling. After combined administration of CMA-R848 and cisplatin (Cis) in a gastric cancer (GC) model, the long-circulating CMA-R848 micelle reached the mild acidic tumor microenvironment (TME); the ester bonds were quickly cleaved by the ubiquitous esterase and released the single molecule of R848. In vitro and in vivo results demonstrated that the released R848 efficiently promoted co-stimulatory molecules' expression of dendritic cells (DCs), enhanced the antigen uptake and cross-presentation, and primed the cytotoxic T lymphocytes' (CTLs) infiltration and killing effects, thereby reprogramming the "cold tumor" into the "hot tumor". In addition, the ex vivo tumor sections revealed that the released R848 effectively repolarized the M2-like tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) into M1-like macrophages, exerted synergistic antitumor activity, reduced the tumor burden, and prolonged the overall survival duration of the GC animal model. Our study provided a targeting therapeutic strategy overcoming the limitations of R848 in vivo, and enhanced the efficacy of GC chemotherapy and immunotherapy by TME modulation.

Three-dimensional core-shell alginate microsphere for cancer hypoxia simulation in vitro.

Hypoxia is one of the major causes of cancer resistance and metastasis. Currently, it is still lack of convenient ways to simulate the in vivo hypoxic tumor microenvironment (TME) under normoxia in vitro. In this study, based on multi-polymerized alginate, we established a three-dimensional culture system with a core-shell structure (3d-ACS), which prevents oxygen diffusion to a certain extent, thereby simulating the hypoxic TME in vivo. The cell activity, hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) expression, drug resistance, and the related gene and protein changes of the gastric cancer (GC) cells were investigated in vitro and in vivo. The results demonstrated that the GC cells formed organoid-like structures in the 3d-ACS and manifested more aggressive growth and decreased drug responses. Our study provides an accessible hypoxia platform in the laboratory with moderate configuration and it may be applied in studies of the hypoxia-induced drug resistances and other preclinical fields.

Phage-Ce6-Manganese Dioxide Nanocomposite-Mediated Photodynamic, Photothermal, and Chemodynamic Therapies to Eliminate Biofilms and Improve Wound Healing.

Biofilms have become one of the fundamental issues for chronic infections, while traditional therapies are often ineffective in removing quiescent (persister) cells from biofilms, resulting in a variety of implant-related or nosocomial infections. Recently, bacteriophage (phage) therapy has reflourished in research and clinical trials. However, phage therapy alone manifested many intrinsic defects, including poor biofilm penetration, incomplete clearance of quiescent cells, etc. In this study, a phage-Chlorin e6 (Ce6)-manganese dioxide nanocomposite (PCM) was constructed by mild biomineralization. The results demonstrated that PCM contained both the vigorous activities of host bacterial targeting and efficient delivery of Ce6 to penetrate the biofilm. Assisted with NIR irradiation, robust reactive oxygen species (ROS) was triggered within the biofilm. In the weak acidic and GSH-rich infection niche, PCM was degraded into ultra-small nanosheets, endowing PCM with moderate photothermal therapy (PTT) effects and considerable Mn2+ release, thus exerting strong chemodynamic therapy (CDT) effects in situ. In vivo application demonstrated that the combination of PCM application and NIR irradiation strikingly reduced the pathogen loading, activated innate and adaptive immunity, promoted neocollagen rearrangement, and attenuated cicatricial tissue formation. Our research may pave a new way for bacterial treatment, biofilm-related infections, and other diseases caused by bacteria.

3d oxidized alginate-porcine liver acellular collagen droplets for tumor microenvironment mimicking.

The traditional 2d culture has been proved inferior to reproduce the subtle interaction between cell-to-cell and cell-to-extracellular matrix (ECM) in tumor microenvironment (TME) and collagen in ECM contributes to various malignancies of tumors. Hence, the 3d model contained with collagen may overcome the shortcomings of 2d culture. In this study, the in vitro TME mimicking matrix was prepared by coupling porcine liver-derived collagen (COL) and the dialdehyde group of partially oxidized alginate (OA), namely OA-COL, and the 3d OA-COL droplets were polymerized by divalent calcium ions. In the 3d OA-COL droplets, cancer cells displayed vigorous proliferation, and the cells grew in clusters and formed a unique spindle like clone. Quantitative analysis proved that various gene transcription and protein expression were up-regulated for the cells in the 3d OA-COL droplets, including F-actin reassembling, focal adhesion, pseudopodia formation, and the proteins involved in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The 3d OA-COL droplets induced the cells with strengthened polarity, invasiveness, higher IC50, and manifested stronger tumorigenicity in vivo. The fabricated 3d OA-COL droplets reproduced a variety of TME parameters, constructed an in vitro model similar to the TME in vivo, and it may facilitate many investigations in cell biology and tumor biology.

Study of the Characteristics of Two Immobilized Microbial Materials in Degradation and Evolution of Petroleum Hydrocarbon.

To enhance the degradation efficiency of oily wastewater, polyacrylamide (PAM)-sodium alginate (SA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-sodium alginate (SA) were mixed and used as spherical supporting materials for the immobilization of microbials, which were employed as a platform to study the degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) in the oily wastewater. The degradation and evolution of normal paraffin (n-paraffin) series have been studied by determining the crude oil group composition of the residual oils by the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The results show that the half-lives of the PAM-SA-immobilized microorganisms are 6.21 days, which is 2.11 days less than that of PVA-SA, indicating that more nutrients are provided by PAM-SA for microbial growth, which can accelerate the degradation of TPHs. As can be seen from the GC-MS analysis, the main peak carbons of the n-paraffin series are moved backward after 14 days of degradation, implying the degrading advantage of n-paraffin with low carbon numbers. The ∑C21-/∑C22+ value of PAM-SA was measured to be 0.749, which is greater than that of PVA-SA (0.051), indicating that PAM-SA has a superior ability to degrade normal paraffins with high carbon numbers. After 14 days of degradation, an odd-even predominance (OEP) (the mass ratio of normal alkanes of odd carbon/even carbon) value of 1.075 for PAM-SA was obtained, which is slightly larger than that of PVA-SA (0.967), indicating a better degradation performance of PAM-SA, especially for the degradation of the even-carbon normal paraffins with high carbon numbers. The Pr/Ph of PAM-SA is 0.938, which is also greater than that of PVA-SA (0.844), indicating that the ability of PAM-SA for the degradation of isoprenoids is superior to that of PVA-SA under the immobilized conditions. Based on these results, in terms of immobilization of microorganisms, PAM-SA, instead of PVA-SA, is more advantageous for the degradation of TPH in the oily wastewater.

Porous Carbon Nanofoam Derived From Pitch as Solar Receiver for Efficient Solar Steam Generation.

Photothermal-material-assisted solar-steam generation has recently attracted intensive attention due to its superior evaporation rate with high energy conversion efficiency for desalination. In this work, a simple approach for fabrication of porous carbon nanofoam (PCN) is reported, which is prepared by the carbonization of pitch using a combination of CaCO3 and NaCl templates, Meanwhile, NaCl saturated solution acts as a porogen to produce micropores and mesopores as solar receiver for efficient solar steam generation. The as-prepared PCN shows excellent porosity and mesoporous feature with an average pore size of 26.8 nm. It also shows superior light absorption of 88% and better thermal insulation (thermal conductivity 0.993 W m-1 K-1). Based on these characteristics, the as-prepared PCN can be used as a promising solar receiver. Under 1 sun, 2 sun, and 3 sun irradiation, the PCN-based solar receiver shows high energy conversion efficiencies of 88%, 86%, and 84%, respectively. Taking advantage of the abundant, low-cost, and commercial availability of pitch as well as its simple and cost-effective manufacture method, the PCN-based solar receiver may hold great potential for a broad variety of solar-steam generation applications, for instance, fresh water production, power generation, desalination, and so on.

Study on Degradation of Oily Wastewater by Immobilized Microorganisms with Biodegradable Polyacrylamide and Sodium Alginate Mixture.

In this work, four immobilized kinds of mixed microorganisms were prepared by uploading oil-degradation bacteria into the cross-linked biodegradable polyacrylamide and sodium alginate mixture supporting material, which were employed for efficient degradation of oily wastewater. The morphology of immobilized microbial pellets was characterized by scanning electron microscopy after 7d and 14d of duration. The components of residual crude oil were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and the microbial degradation and evolution of n-alkanes, terpenoids, and steroids were studied. The results show that the oil degradation rate for experimental group I (sample containing 1% crude oil) and experimental group II (sample containing 3% crude oil) reaches as high as 70 and 40%, respectively, after 14d of degradation of saturated hydrocarbon total petroleum hydrocarbons. For different oil components, the degradation degree is in the order of tricycoloditerpanes > homohopanes > norhopanes. The order of the degradation degree of steroids with different carbon atoms is C27 > C28 > C29. In terms of evolution characteristics, it can be seen from the biological evolution parameters of n-alkanes that only a slight degradation for odd-even carbon by biodegradable bacteria was achieved, whereas high degradation for isoprene alkanes was observed. According to the biological evolution parameters of hopane and sterane, hopane C31α ß-22S/22S + R and sterane C29α α20S/20(S + R) were all greater than 0.4, that is, they are all strongly degraded by microorganisms.

[Study on karyotype and giemsa C-banding of Aquilaria sinensis].

OBJECTIVE: To study Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Spreng chromosome karyotype and C-banding. METHOD: Sections for karvotvpe and BSG method for C-banding. RESULTS: The somatic chromosome number was 2n=16, karyotype formula was K(2n) = 2x = 16 = 6m + 6sm + 4st, based on Levan's publication in 1964. According to the method of Kuo, the chromosome based on the relative length was 2n = 16 = 4L + 4M2 + 6M1 + 2S, which belonged to "2B". 8 pairs chromosomes had 34 C-bands and the C-banding patter was 2n = 2x = 16 = 4C + 2I + 2T + 2CI+ + 2CI+ T + 2CI+ T+ + 2I+ T+. CONCLUSION: The data of karyotype and C-banding indicated A. sinensis chromosome had a relatively high asymmetry and was in the advanced stage of evolution, which offered the evidence for further genetic analysis.

Tracing Acetylene Dissolved in Transformer Oil by Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectrum.

Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) is widely used in monitoring and diagnosing of power transformer, since the insulation material in the power transformer decomposes gases under abnormal operation condition. Among the gases, acetylene, as a symbol of low energy spark discharge and high energy electrical faults (arc discharge) of power transformer, is an important monitoring parameter. The current gas detection method used by the online DGA equipment suffers from problems such as cross sensitivity, electromagnetic compatibility and reliability. In this paper, an optical gas detection system based on TDLAS technology is proposed to detect acetylene dissolved in transformer oil. We selected a 1530.370 nm laser in the near infrared wavelength range to correspond to the absorption peak of acetylene, while using the wavelength modulation strategy and Herriott cell to improve the detection precision. Results show that the limit of detection reaches 0.49 ppm. The detection system responds quickly to changes of gas concentration and is easily to maintenance while has no electromagnetic interference, cross-sensitivity, or carrier gas. In addition, a complete detection process of the system takes only 8 minutes, implying a practical prospect of online monitoring technology.

Effects of dietary betaine on growth performance, fat deposition and serum lipids in broilers subjected to chronic heat stress.

We evaluated the effects of supplementing betaine on growth performance, fat deposition and lipid metabolism status in broilers kept under chronic heat stress. Five hundred and forty chicks were randomly divided into six groups and the two normal temperature groups were held at normal ambient temperature and fed the basal diet (CONT) and basal diet plus 0.1% betaine, respectively. Heat stressed (HS) broilers were held at 32 ± 1°C from days 22 to 42 and fed the basal diet containing variable levels of betaine. Broilers were examined at days 28, 35 and 42 for body weight, feed consumption, fat deposition and serum lipids. The CONT and betaine-supplemented groups showed higher (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) feed consumption, body weight gain, and lower feed : gain ratio compared with the HS-CONT group. Meanwhile, heat stress increased abdominal, intermuscular and subcutaneous fat deposition, whereas the supplemental betaine significantly decreased those compared with the HS-CONT group. Additionally, betaine supplementation significantly decreased triglyceride, free fatty acids, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol compared with HS-CONT. Chronic HS reduces broiler production performance. However, betaine can reverse these negative effects partially and thus improve carcass composition by changing lipid metabolism.

Transcriptome profiling and digital gene expression analysis of Fallopia multiflora to discover putative genes involved in the biosynthesis of 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxy stilbene-2-O-ß-D-glucoside.

The compound 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxy stilbene-2-O-ß-d-glucoside (THSG) synthesized by Fallopia multiflora (F. multiflora) exhibits pharmacological potency. However, the mechanistic details of its biosynthesis pathway are still vague. To clear this ambiguity, we performed de novo transcriptome assembly and digital gene expression (DGE) profiling analyses of F. multiflora using the Illumina RNA-seq system. RNA-seq generated approximately 70 million high-quality reads that were assembled into 65,653 unigenes (mean length=750 bp), including 26,670 clusters and 38,983 singletons. A total of 48,173 (73.4%) unigenes were annotated using public protein databases with a cut-off e-value above 10(-5). Furthermore, we investigated the transcriptome difference of four different F. multiflora tissues using DGE profiling. Variations in gene expression were identified based on comparisons of transcriptomes from various parts of a high-level THSG- and a low-level THSG-producing F. multiflora plant. Clusters with similar differential expression patterns and enriched metabolic pathways with regard to the differentially expressed genes putatively involved in THSG biosynthesis were revealed for the first time. Our data provides the most comprehensive sequence resource regarding F. multiflora so far. Taken together, the results of this study considerably extend the knowledge on THSG production.