A low-background fluorescent aptasensor for acetamiprid detection based on DNA three-way junction-formed G-quadruplexes and graphene oxide.

A simple fluorescence detection platform has been established for acetamiprid assay based on DNA three-way junctions (TWJs), which can triple the fluorescence signal without any other amplification. It is designed with three single-stranded DNAs (ssDNA), each of which contains one-third or two-thirds of the G-quadruplex sequence at each end. Upon the addition of acetamiprid, the conformation of the aptamer-containing double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) changes from its original conformation and releases a strand of ssDNA. This ssDNA, with the other two ssDNAs, can assemble into DNA TWJs, and the three pairs of the branched ends of the DNA TWJs are adjacent to each other, allowing them to form three units of G-quadruplexes. Hence, the fluorescence of N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM) is lighted by the nascent G-quadruplexes. Graphene oxide (GO) is then added to minimize the detection background by absorbing the free NMM and non-target-induced ssDNA. The proposed strategy can assay acetamiprid in a wide linear range of 0-500 nM with a detection limit of 5.73 nM. More importantly, this assay platform demonstrates high potential for acetamiprid assay in food control and environmental monitoring.

[Effects of gaseous formaldehyde fluctuating exposure on medical students' subjective symptoms and pulmonary function].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the concentration of fluctuating gaseous formaldehyde in an anatomy laboratory and to investigate its effects on the subjective symptoms and the lung functions of medical students working there. METHODS: To measure the levels of formaldehyde gas at different physical ventilation times at the center of the study laboratory by the gaseous formaldehyde detector. A total of 251 of second-year medical students were randomly selected from 1004 students participating in the anatomy operation as the survey subjects, 77 medical students were randomly selected for lung function assessment. The subjective symptoms of the medical students exposed to this gas were investigated via questionnaire surveys before, during and after the dissection operation. The probable lung function damages caused by the exposure before and after the operation were also measured using various parameters. RESULTS: The concentration of gaseous formaldehyde decreased with an increase in the ventilation time(P<0. 05), but it was always higher than the occupational health standard(0. 50 mg/m~3). The gas concentration above the dissecting table(0. 43-2. 89 mg/m~3) was significantly higher than that at the center of the laboratory(0. 34-2. 31 mg/m~3)(P<0. 05). The levels of the gas in the thoracic and abdominal cavities(0. 67-2. 89 mg/m~3) were significantly higher than those in the superficial fascia(0. 50-2. 13 mg/m~3) and deep layer of the back(0. 34-1. 48 mg/m~3)(P<0. 05). When compared with that at the pre-operative period, the prevalence of most subjective symptomssuch as itchy eyes, nasal congestion, runny nose, dyspnea, headache, and lack of energy increased significantly during the operation and decreased thereafter(P<0. 05). After the procedure, forced expiratory volume 1(FEV1)/forced vital capacity(FVC), FEV1, peak expiratory flow(PEF), FEF25%-75%, maximum expiratory flow 25%(MEF25%), and FEF50%-75% were found to be lower in comparison with the corresponding values recorded before the operation(P<0. 05). CONCLUSION: Existing physical ventilation facilities are difficult to reduce the concentration of gaseous formaldehyde below the safety threshold. Exposure to ultra-high concentrations of gaseous formaldehyde caused a significant increase in subjective symptoms of medical students with secondary pulmonary function impairment.

Circular RNA circMAN2B2 facilitates lung cancer cell proliferation and invasion via miR-1275/FOXK1 axis.

Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In the past years, increasing reports indicate that circular RNAs (circRNAs) exert a great important role in human cancers, including lung cancer. However, the knowledge about circRNA in lung cancer remains very little so far. In the present study, we screened out a highly expressed novel circRNA named circMAN2B2 in lung cancer tissues. We investigated the function of circMAN2B2 and found that circMAN2B2 knockdown significantly inhibited cell proliferation and invasion in both H1299 and A549 lung cancer cells. Mechanistically, we found that circMAN2B2 could sponge miR-1275 to inhibit its level. Through a series of functional experiments, we dissected the role of miR-1275 in lung cancer and proved the anti-tumor role of miR-1275. Furthermore, we found that miR-1275 exerted its role in lung cancer by regulating FOXK1 expression. In addition, we demonstrated that restoration of FOXK1 could rescue circMAN2B2 knockdown-induced repression of cell proliferation and invasion. Taken together, our study demonstrated that circMAN2B2 acts as an oncogenic role in lung cancer through promoting FOXK1 expression by sponging miR-1275.

Worm-Inspired, Untethered, Soft Crawling Robots for Pipe Inspections.

The increasing demand for inspection, upkeep, and repair of pipeline and tunnel infrastructures has catalyzed research into the creation of robots with superior flexibility, adaptability, and load-bearing capacities. This study introduces an autonomous soft robot designed for navigating both straight and curved pipelines of 90 mm diameter. The soft robot is enabled by an elongation pneumatic actuator (EPA) as its body and multiple radial expansion pneumatic actuators (REPAs) as its feet to provide adhesion and support on the pipe walls. It achieves a horizontal movement speed of 1.27 mm/s and ascends vertically at 0.39 mm/s. An integrated control mechanism, merging both pneumatic and electrical systems is employed to facilitate unrestrained movement. A novel control tactic has been formulated to ensure synchronized coordination between the robot's body deformation and leg anchoring, ensuring stable movement. This soft robot demonstrates remarkable mobility metrics, boasting an anchoring strength of over 100 N, a propelling force of 43.8 N when moving vertically, and a pulling strength of 31.4 N during navigation in curved pipelines. It can carry a camera to capture the internal view of the pipe and remove obstacles autonomously. The unconstrained and autonomous movement of the untethered soft robot presents new opportunities for various applications at different scales.

Safety and efficacy of balloon pulmonary angioplasty for technically operable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) has been proven effective for addressing technically inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). However, the effectiveness of BPA in technically operable CTEPH patients who, for various reasons, did not undergo the procedure remains an area requiring exploration. This study sought to assess the safety and efficacy of BPA in such cases. We collected and reviewed data from CTEPH patients who underwent BPA in a consecutive manner. Following multidisciplinary team (MDT) decisions, patients were classified into two groups: technically inoperable (group A) and operable (group B). Group B comprised patients deemed technically suitable for pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) but who did not undergo the procedure for various reasons. All patients underwent a comprehensive diagnostic work-up, including right heart categorization at baseline and the last intervention. This study compared changes in hemodynamic parameters, functional capacity, and quality of life between the two groups. In total, 161 patients underwent 414 procedures at our center, with Group A comprising 112 patients who underwent 282 BPA sessions and group B comprising 49 patients who underwent 132 BPA sessions. Significantly, both groups exhibited improvements in hemodynamics, functional capacity, and quality of life. The occurrence rate of complications, including hemoptysis and lung injury, was similar [12 (63.2%) vs. 7 (36.8%), p = 0.68]. BPA demonstrated favorable outcomes in patients with proximal CTEPH who did not undergo pulmonary endarterectomy. However, the clinical impact of BPA in technically operable CTEPH was found to be less significant than in inoperable cases.

Non-interference delivery of Ce6 and DOX in NIR light-responsive liposomes for synergetic cervical cancer therapy.

Multi-model combination treatment of malignant tumors can make up for the shortcomings of single treatment through multi-target and multi-path to achieve more ideal tumor treatment effect. However, the mutual interference of different drugs in the delivery processin vivoand the difficulty of effective drug accumulation in tumor cells are the bottlenecks of combined therapy. To this project, light-responsive liposomes loading doxorubicin (DOX) and chlorin e6 (Ce6) (DOX-Ce6-Lip) without mutual interference were engineered by thin film hydration method. This kind of nano-drug delivery system increased the drugs concentration accumulated in tumor sites through enhanced permeability and retention effect, and reduced the toxic and side effects of drugs on normal tissuesin vivo. In addition, after entering the tumor cells, Ce6 produced a large number of reactive oxygen species under 660 nm NIR laser irradiation, which further oxidized the unsaturated fatty acid chain in the liposomes and caused the collapse of the liposomes, thus realizing the stimulus-responsive release of Ce6 and DOX. The concentrations of DOX and Ce6 in the tumor cells rapidly reached the peak and achieved a more effective combination of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Consequently, DOX-Ce6-Lip followed by 660 nm NIR irradiation achieved an efficient tumor growth inhibition of 71.90 ± 3.14%, indicating the versatile potential of chemotherapy and PDT. In conclusion, this study provides a delivery scheme for drugs with different solubilities and an effectively combined anti-tumor therapy method.

A novel virus in the family Marnaviridae as a potential pathogen of Penaeus vannamei glass post-larvae disease.

As an aquatic animal of great commercial relevance, Penaeus vannamei is currently the dominant species of cultured shrimp in China and many other countries worldwide. In recent years, the outbreak of glass post-larvae disease (GPD), which accounts for more than 90% of the mortality of shrimp seedlings in serious cases, in many regions of China has caused significant losses and threatened the sustainability of the aquaculture industry and the economy. It is extremely urgent to determine the infectious agent of GPD in P. vannamei. In this work, we performed metagenomic sequencing of glass post-larvae collected from diseased prawns in Tangshan Hebei, where GPD broke out recently. An evolutionary tree was constructed by MEGA 7 to understand the evolutionary history and relationship of the pathogen genome. A novel virus in the family Marnaviridae was first identified in P. vannamei suffering from GPD, and we tentatively named this virus Baishivirus (GenBank: ON550424). The identified pathogen was validated according to Koch's rule with a pathogenic challenge assay and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. There was only 8% query coverage with 64.96% identity in the Baishivirus genome when compared with its most closely related genome sequence of Wenzhou picorna-like virus 21 reported in 2016. Baishivirus genomic RNA is 9.895 kb in length and encodes three potential open reading frames (ORFs). The identification of Baishivirus in P. vannamei enriches the family Marnaviridae and potentially provides a new candidate to study and prevent GPD in the aquaculture industry.

Sub-lineages of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants: Characteristics and prevention.

Since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, new variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS­CoV­2) have emerged, accelerating the spread of the virus. Omicron was defined by the World Health Organization in November 2021 as the fifth "variant of concern" after Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. In recent months, Omicron has become the main epidemic strain. Studies have shown that Omicron carries more mutations than Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and wild-type, facilitating immune escape and accelerating its transmission. This review focuses on the Omicron variant's origin, transmission, main biological features, subvariants, mutations, immune escape, vaccination, and detection methods. We also discuss the appropriate preventive and therapeutic measures that should be taken to address the new challenges posed by the Omicron variant. This review is valuable to guide the surveillance, prevention, and development of vaccines and other therapies for Omicron variants. It is desirable to develop a more efficient vaccine against the Omicron variant and take more effective measures to constrain the spread of the epidemic and promote public health.

Large-scale achromatic flat lens by light frequency-domain coherence optimization.

Flat lenses, including metalens and diffractive lens, have attracted increasing attention due to their ability to miniaturize the imaging devices. However, realizing a large scale achromatic flat lens with high performance still remains a big challenge. Here, we developed a new framework in designing achromatic multi-level diffractive lenses by light coherence optimization, which enables the implementation of large-scale flat lenses under non-ideal conditions. As results, a series achromatic polymer lenses with diameter from 1 to 10 mm are successfully designed and fabricated. The subsequent optical characterizations substantially validate our theoretical framework and show relatively good performance of the centimeter-scale achromatic multi-level diffractive lenses with a super broad bandwidth in optical wavelengths (400-1100 nm). After comparing with conventional refractive lens, this achromatic lens shows significant advantages in white-light imaging performance, implying a new strategy in developing practical planar optical devices.

Soft Humanoid Hands with Large Grasping Force Enabled by Flexible Hybrid Pneumatic Actuators.

Soft grippers and actuators have attracted increasing attention due to safer and more adaptable human-machine and environment-machine interactions than their rigid counterparts. In this study we present a novel soft humanoid hand that is capable of robustly grasping a variety of objects with different weights, sizes, shapes, textures, and stiffnesses. The soft hand fingers are made of flexible hybrid pneumatic actuators (FHPAs) designed based on a modular approach. A theoretical model is proposed to evaluate the bending deformation, grasping force, and loading capacity of the FHPAs, and the effects of various design parameters on the performance of the FHPA are investigated for optimizing the soft hands. This new FHPA achieves a balance of required flexibility and necessary stiffness, and the resulting soft humanoid hand has the merits of fast response, large grasping force, low cost, light weight, and ease of fabrication and repair, which shows promise for a variety of applications such as fruit picking, product packaging, and manipulation of fragile objects.

Robotic-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy: Initial Canadian experience.

INTRODUCTION: Abdominal sacrocolpopexy provides effective long-term outcomes for apical pelvic organ prolapse. The introduction of robotic-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (RALS) has mitigated the risks of abdominal surgery. This study aims to evaluate the preoperative patient characteristics, intraoperative surgical parameters, and postoperative outcomes of RALS, which has not been previously performed in Canada. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 47 patients who have undergone RALS from 2016-2018 by a single surgeon at a tertiary care hospital in Canada was completed. RESULTS: This case series had a mean age of 60.2 years, body mass index (BMI) of 28.3 kg/m2, and Charlson comorbidity index of 2.0. Preoperatively, 13 (28%), 23 (49%), and 11 (23%) patients had Baden-Walker grade 2, 3, and 4 apical prolapse, respectively. Intraoperatively, 45 (96%) patients underwent concomitant procedures, including 36 (77%) with adnexal surgery, 32 (68%) with anti-incontinence surgery, and 25 (53%) with hysterectomy. Intraoperative complications included one ureteric injury, two bladder injuries, and three vaginotomies. The mean robotic console time, surgery time, and total operating room times were 125.6, 148.6, and 190.6 minutes, respectively. Postoperatively, data was analyzed for 32 (68%) patients with greater than 12 weeks' followup. There was no recurrence of apical prolapse on exam after a mean followup of 60.1 weeks. Seven (22%) patients experienced symptomatic prolapse in the posterior compartment. There were two grade 3 Clavien-Dindo complications, including osteomyelitis and mesh exposure. CONCLUSIONS: RALS can be safely and effectively performed with other pelvic procedures with good outcomes. Concurrent posterior repairs may be considered in select patients.

Ambient pressure synthesis of Eu3+ doped δ-BiB3O6 by seed-assisted high temperature solid state reactions.

δ-BiB3O6 shows a comparable nonlinear optical performance with the famous α-BiB3O6. It can be prepared either by a high temperature-high pressure method or by a sol-gel method associated with RE3+-doping (RE = La, Ce, Pr, and Nd). A direct solid state reaction at 700 °C stabilized 20 atom% La3+ doped δ-BiB3O6 compared to the previously reported record (15 atom%) in the literature. La3+ doping would not only expand the thermodynamically stable region, which is critical for the synthesis, but also hasten the crystallization process. Moreover, Eu3+, a smaller RE cation, was also doped for the first time at a high doping level (7 atom%) simply by a seed-assisted solid state reaction, which apparently provides additional functionality and will prompt further efforts on single crystal growth of RE3+-doped δ-BiB3O6 under ambient pressure. The combined powder X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis underpinned the phase purity and doping homogeneity of cation doped bismuth borates. UV-excited red luminescence was observed for δ-Bi0.93Eu0.07B3O6.

miR-224 enhances invasion and metastasis by targeting HOXD10 in non-small cell lung cancer cells.

Increasing number of studies have indicated aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression could affect normal biological progress in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. This study was performed to evaluate the biologic functions of microRNA-224 (miR-224) in NSCLC. Real-time PCR was performed to evaluate the expression of miR-224 and Homeobox D10 (HOXD10) in NSCLC cell lines and tissues. Transwell assays were performed to investigate the function of miR-224 on NSCLC cell migration and invasion. Moreover, western blotting and luciferase assays were used to investigate HOXD10 as miR-224 downstream targets. miR-224 is increased in NSCLC metastatic tissues and cell lines. Increased miR-224 expression promoted NSCLC cell migration and invasion, while low miR-224 expression suppressed NSCLC cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, HOXD10 was targeted directly by miR-224 in NSCLC cells. Moreover, we found that HOXD10 was a functional target and influenced tumour-inductive functions of miR-224 on progression of NSCLC. These findings suggest that miR-224 may be used in the treatment of NSCLC. Targeting this novel strategy, miR-224/HOXD10 axis may be helpful as promising biomarker and therapeutic method to control NSCLC cell metastasis.

miR-96 promotes invasion and metastasis by targeting GPC3 in non-small cell lung cancer cells.

Lung cancer is a major cause of death worldwide, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate whether miR-96 mediated the invasion and metastasis of NSCLC by targeting glypican-3 (GPC3). Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was employed to detect the level of miR-96 and GPC3 mRNA. We applied western blot analysis to measure the protein expression level of GPC3 gene. The luciferase reporter assay was employed to confirm that GPC3 was a target gene of miR-96. The Transwell assay was used to detect migration and invasion. The results revealed that miR-96 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and lung cancer cells (A549 and H460) compared with corresponding paracancerous tissues and normal epidermic MRC-5 cells. Overexpression of miR-96 promoted invasion and migration in A549 cells. GPC3 was a direct target of miR-96 and regulated by miR-96. GPC3 could reverse partial fuction of miR-96 on proliferation. In conclusion, miR-96 was able to promote the migration and invasion of lung cancer cells by targeting GPC3 gene. The newly identified miR-96/GPC3 axis may provide a therapeutic method for the treatment of NSCLC.

[Role of serum S1P levels during asthma attack in the evaluation of asthma severity].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the changes of serum sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) level in asthmatic patients with different severity of bronchial asthma, and to explore the evaluation value of S1P on the severity of asthma. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted. Fifty-two patients with asthma admitted to Department of Respiratory Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University from November 2015 to January 2017 were enrolled. According to the severity of the disease, the patients were divided into mild, moderate and severe groups. In the same period, 25 healthy subjects were served as healthy control group. All the subjects got the peripheral venous blood collection in the morning fasting, the level of serum S1P was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the peripheral blood eosinophil (EOS) was counted, and the pulmonary function test was performed. The correlation among the parameters was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was plotted, and the value of serum S1P on evaluating the severity of asthma was analyzed. RESULTS: Fifty-two asthma patients were enrolled, including 17 patients of the mild, 19 of the moderate, and 16 of the severe. Compared with the healthy control group, serum S1P level and peripheral blood EOS in different degree asthma groups were significantly increased, and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) was decreased significantly; and with asthma exacerbations, serum S1P levels and peripheral blood EOS were gradually increased [mild, moderate and severe S1P (nmol/L) were 1 537.0±120.3, 1 980.7±149.5, 2 202.2±117.2 (F = 274.624, P = 0.001); EOS (×109/L) were 0.13±0.06, 0.20±0.07, 0.37±0.14 , respectively (F = 44.093, P = 0.001)], and FEV1 was decreased gradually [mild, moderate and severe were 0.89±0.05, 0.63±0.06, 0.42±0.10, respectively (F = 159.756, P = 0.001)]. Correlation analysis showed that there were significant positive correlations between serum S1P level and peripheral blood EOS in patients with mild, moderate and severe asthma (r value was 0.696, 0.746, 0.508, all P < 0.05), and negatively correlations with FEV1 were found (r value was -0.761, -0.655, -0.815, all P < 0.01). There was no significant correlation between serum S1P level and EOS, FEV1 in healthy control group (r value was 0.324 and -0.048, both P > 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under curve (AUC) of serum S1P for assessing mild, moderate and severe asthma was 0.948, 1.000, 1.000, respectively; when the cut-off of S1P was 1 181.8, 1 534.2, 1 708.6 nmol/L, the sensitivity was 88.2%, 100%, 100%, and the specificity was 88.0%, 100% and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: During asthma attack, the serum S1P level was gradually increased with the exacerbation of the disease. Serum S1P level has significant evaluative effect on the severity of asthma.