Tax structure, government debt, and the relative power of local education supply.

Policymakers are increasingly focusing on structural adjustment and efficiency to cope with the pressures that the economic downturn has placed on local finances. Accordingly, the Chinese government should shift from using standard passive investments to high-quality active investments for its social guarantees, such as education. Based on panel data of 274 cities from 2010 to 2019, this study conducted the first examination of the impact of tax structure and government debt on the relative power of the local education supply (LES) in China. The study found that, first, in general, increases in the tax structure-represented by the proportion of personal income tax to budgetary revenue strengthen the relative power of LES, which is more sensitive in the southern region with a more developed market economy system. And the impact of government debt-represented by the urban investment debt ratio on the relative power of LES is initially negative and then positive. Second, the study revealed that the tax structure can stimulate the relative power of LES through the intermediary channel of an increase in the urban consumption rate; however, the mechanism of promoting the relative power of LES by encouraging localities to attract more floating populations is not obvious. Third, excessive investment in local governance adjusts the positive effect of local debt on the relative power of LES. Therefore, the government should pay attention to the promotion of personal income tax status, standardize their debt risk management, improve the efficiency of governance, and emphasize the pull of urban consumption, so as to enhance the ability to support livelihood and fully mobilize initiatives for local education development.

CIRCUSP42 AMELIORATES LPS-INDUCED HUMAN RENAL EPITHELIAL CELLS IN VITRO BY REGULATING THE MIR-182-5P/DUSP1 AXIS.

ABSTRACT: Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening systemic inflammatory disease that can cause many diseases, including acute kidney injury (AKI). Increasing evidence showed that a variety of circular RNAs were considered to be involved in the development of the disease. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the role and potential mechanism of circUSP42 in sepsis-induced AKI. Methods: HK2 cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to establish septic AKI cell model. The expression levels of circUSP42, microRNA-182-5p (miR-182-5p), and DUSP1 in LPS-treated HK2 cells were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction or Western blot. Functional experiments were performed by using Cell Counting Kit-8, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine staining, flow cytometry, oxidative stress assay, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The potential target binding site between miR-182-5p and CircUSP42 or DUSP1 was verified by dual-luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays. Results: CircUSP42 and DUSP1 were downregulated in serum samples from patients with AKI and LPS-treated HK2 cells, while miR-182-5p was upregulated. Functionally, overexpression of CircUSP42 promoted cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress in LPS-triggered HK2 cells. Further mechanism analysis showed that miR-182-5p had potential binding sites with circUSP42 and DUSP1, and circUSP42 regulated LPS-induced cell damage by targeting miR-182-5p. At the same time, miR-182-5p knockdown inhibited LPS-treated HK2 cell damage by regulating DUSP1. In addition, circUSP42 induced DUSP1 expression via sponging miR-182-5p to ameliorate LPS-induced HK2 cell damage. Conclusion : Our results showed that circUSP42 overexpression might attenuate LPS-induced HK2 cell injury by regulating miR-182-5p/DUSP1 axis. This might provide therapeutic strategy for the treatment of sepsis.

On-line preconcentration and determination of sulfadiazine in food samples using surface molecularly imprinted polymer coating by capillary electrophoresis.

In this study, on-line preconcentration and selective determination of the trace sulfadiazine (SDZ) existing in milk and hen egg white samples were realized by the capillary electrophoresis using molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) coated capillary. The capillary coated with MIP was firstly prepared through the surface imprinted techniques, using SDZ as template molecule and dopamine as function monomer and crosslinker, and then amine-terminated poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PMOXA-NH2) was introduced onto polydopamine layer to reduce the non-specific adsorption. Successful preparation of SDZ-MIP-PMOXA coating was verified by zeta potential, as well as water contact angle. The SDZ-MIP-PMOXA coated capillary performed well on-line preconcentration of SDZ and the obtained peak area of SDZ was 46 times higher than that one obtained in bare capillary using the same procedure. Then the proposed on-line preconcentration method was fully validated and displayed good linear behavior in the concentration from 5.0 to 100.0 ng/mL, with the limit of detection was low to 1.5 ng/mL; and this method presented excellent accuracy and robustness. The prepared SDZ-MIP-PMOXA coated capillary also showed high selectivity with the imprinting factor of 5.85 and good repeatability during five consecutive runs with the relative standard deviation value of peak area was 1.6%. At last, the application of the prepared SDZ-MIP-PMOXA coated capillary in the detection of SDZ in spiked food samples was investigated, and good recoveries of 98.7-109.3% were obtained.

Determination of pepsin by capillary electrophoresis using mixed polymer coated capillary with switchable properties toward protein adsorption/desorption.

In this work, a simple online preconcentration method for quantitative detection of pepsin was realized by using the binary mixed polymer brushes coated capillary with switchable properties toward protein adsorption. Firstly, the binary mixed polymer brushes were prepared by grafting poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) and poly(4-vinylpyridine) onto the inner wall of the capillary through a polydopamine anchor. Then the coatings were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectrometer and electroosmotic flow measurement. The results indicated that the composition of coating could be controlled by varying the feed ratio of poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) to poly(4-vinylpyridine) and the inner surface charge could be tuned toward the change of pH and ionic strength. The results showed that when the poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)/poly(4-vinylpyridine) mass ratio was 80/20, the highest online preconcentration effect was obtained and the sensitivity enhancement factor was 6.3. Moreover, satisfactory sensitivity (limit of detection: 7.5 ng/mL) and good repeatability were obtained with the online preconcentration method. The polymer-coated capillary was still stable for online preconcentration and detection of pepsin after 50 consecutive runs. Last, the proposed method was used successfully to online preconcentrate pepsin in the saliva matrix.

On the Number of Saturated and Optimal Extended 2-Regular Simple Stacks in the Nussinov-Jacobson Energy Model.

It is known that both RNA secondary structure and protein contact map can be presented using combinatorial diagrams, the combinatorial enumeration and related problems of which have been studied extensively. Motivated by previous enumeration works on saturated RNA secondary structures and extended stack structures of protein contact maps, we are interested in the enumeration problems of saturated and optimal extended stacks in the Nussinov-Jacobson energy model, in which each base pair contributes energy -1. Then optimal structures are those with most arcs, and locally optimal structures are exactly the saturated structures, in which no more arcs can be added without violating the structure definition. For saturated extended 2-regular simple stacks, whose degree configuration is related to the protein fold in two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, we obtain generating function equation and asymptotic formula for its number. Moreover, an explicit formula for the number of optimal extended 2-regular simple stacks is also obtained.

Online preconcentration of lysozyme in hen egg white using responsive polymer coating in CE.

A mixed polymer brushes material based on poly (2-methyl-2-oxazoline)- and poly (acrylic acid)-coated capillary with switchable protein adsorption/desorption properties was applied for online preconcentration of lysozyme in hen egg white during capillary electrophoresis performance. First, lysozyme in simulated egg white was successfully online preconcentrated and the detection signal of lysozyme was amplified. Ovalbumin, ovomucoid, and conalbumin in egg white were verified show negligible interference on the online preconcentration of lysozyme according to the study on electroosmotic flow mobility. Second, a series validation procedure was carried out to evaluate the proposed method performance. There was a good linearity behavior range from 0.1 to 5.0 ng/mL, limit of detection was 20 pg/mL, and limit of quantity was 50 pg/mL, the accuracy and robustness of this method were also excellent. Last, the proposed method has been successfully used to detect and analyze lysozyme in hen egg white, the determined amounts of lysozyme in hen egg white were consistent with reported normal levels and recoveries were in the range of 96.0-99.2%. After 75 consecutive runs, this prepared capillary was still stable for online preconcentration and determination of lysozyme in hen egg white without being affected by complex matrix.

Association between vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and acute pancreatitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have been performed to investigate the association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism and acute pancreatitis, but the results are inconclusive. We conducted this meta-analysis for a precise estimation of the association between BsmI (rs1544410), ApaI (rs7975232), TaqI (rs731236), and FokI (rs2228570) polymorphisms and acute pancreatitis. METHODS: Appropriate studies were retrieved by searching Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google scholar databases, until January 31, 2021. Two reviewers independently conducted data extraction and literature quality evaluation. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to evaluate the strength of the association.All of the data were analyzed with Stata 16.0. RESULTS: The results of this meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis will summarize the association between BsmI, ApaI, TaqI, and FokI polymorphisms and the risk of acute pancreatitis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was not required for this study. The systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal, presented at conferences, and shared on social media platforms. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/83W7R.

Tangeretin attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury through Notch signaling pathway via suppressing Th17 cell response in mice.

Tangeretin, a polymethoxylated flavonoid is abundant in citrus fruits, which has been reported to inhibit inflammation by inhibiting NF-κB activation and proinflammatory cytokines. Notch blockage inhibits Th17 cells response that are involved in the development of acute lung injury (ALI). This study investigated the protective effects of tangeretin on LPS-induced ALI in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), LPS and tangeretin, or LPS and N-[N-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl)-l-alanyl]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester (DAPT, a Notch signaling inhibitor), which were harvested at 48 h after challenged by LPS. CD4+ T cells were treated with tangeretin or DAPT and harvested after 72 h. Tangeretin notably attenuated pathological changes and decreased the wet to dry weight ratio of the mouse lungs. The total cell and neutrophil counts, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), myeloperoxidase activity of lung tissue were markedly reduced by tangeretin. The percentage of CD4+IL-17 + T cells in the lungs and the concentration of interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-22 in BALF were significantly down-regulated by tangeretin. As with the positive control (DAPT), tangeretin inhibited the activity of the Notch signaling pathway accompanied with the down-regulation of acid-related orphan receptor gamma t and IL-23 receptor expression. This study demonstrated that tangeretin protects against LPS-induced ALI by suppressing Th17 response at least partially, through a Notch-dependent mechanism.

Protein Kinase C Theta Inhibition Attenuates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Lung Injury through Notch Signaling Pathway via Suppressing Th17 Cell Response in Mice.

Acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome is characterized by increased pulmonary inflammation, where T helper 17 (Th17) cells play an important regulatory role. Notch signaling critically regulates Th17 differentiation and is known to be linked with proximal T cell by protein kinase C theta (PKCθ). We hypothesized that PKCθ inhibition could attenuate ALI by suppressing Th17 response via the Notch signaling pathway. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), LPS and N-[N-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl)-l-alanyl]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester (DAPT, a Notch signaling inhibitor), or LPS and PKCθ inhibitor (PI), and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), blood, and lung tissues were harvested at 48 h after the LPS challenge. CD4+ T cells were treated with DAPT or PI and harvested after 72 h. PKCθ inhibition markedly attenuated pathological changes and decreased the wet to dry weight ratio of the mouse lungs. The total cell and neutrophil counts, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) in BALF, myeloperoxidase activity in lung tissue, and the leukocyte count in whole blood were markedly reduced by PKCθ inhibition. The concentration of interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-22 in BALF, and the percentage of CD4+IL-17A+ T cells in the lungs were significantly downregulated by PKCθ inhibition. A similar trend was observed for the expression of retinoic acid-related orphan receptor gamma t and IL-23 receptor after PKCθ inhibition accompanied with inactivation of the Notch signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro. Collectively, these data demonstrated that PKCθ inhibition protects against LPS-induced ALI by suppressing the differentiation and pathogenicity of Th17, at least partially, through a Notch-dependent mechanism.

Chitin nanowhisker-supported sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) proton exchange for fuel cell applications.

To balance the relationship among proton conductivity and mechanic strength of sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) (SPES) membrane, chitin nanowhisker-supported nanocomposite membranes were prepared by incorporating whiskers into SPES. The as-prepared chitin whiskers were prepared by 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO) mediated oxidation of α-chitin from crab shells. The structure and properties of the composite membranes were examined as proton exchange membrane (PEM). Results showed that chitin nanowhiskers were dispersed incompactly in the SPES matrix. Thermal stability, mechanical properties, water uptake and proton conductivity of the nanocomposite films were improved from those of the pure SPES film with increasing whisker content, which ascribed to strong interactions between whiskers and between SPES molecules and chitin whiskers via hydrogen bonding. These indicated that composition of filler and matrix got good properties and whisker-supported membranes are promising materials for PEM.