Integration of artificial intelligence performance prediction and learning analytics to improve student learning in online engineering course.

As a cutting-edge field of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) that depends on advanced computing technologies, AI performance prediction model is widely used to identify at-risk students that tend to fail, establish student-centered learning pathways, and optimize instructional design and development. A majority of the existing AI prediction models focus on the development and optimization of the accuracy of AI algorithms rather than applying AI models to provide student with in-time and continuous feedback and improve the students' learning quality. To fill this gap, this research integrated an AI performance prediction model with learning analytics approaches with a goal to improve student learning effects in a collaborative learning context. Quasi-experimental research was conducted in an online engineering course to examine the differences of students' collaborative learning effect with and without the support of the integrated approach. Results showed that the integrated approach increased student engagement, improved collaborative learning performances, and strengthen student satisfactions about learning. This research made contributions to proposing an integrated approach of AI models and learning analytics (LA) feedback and providing paradigmatic implications for future development of AI-driven learning analytics.

Structure enhanced deep clustering network via a weighted neighbourhood auto-encoder.

Structural deep clustering involves the use of neural networks for fusing semantic and structural representations for clustering tasks, and it has been receiving increasing attention. In some pioneering works, auto-encoder (AE)-specific representations were integrated with a graph convolutional network (GCN)-specific representation by delivering semantic information to the GCN module layer-by-layer. Although promising performance has been achieved in various applications, we observed that a vital aspect was overlooked in these works: the structural information may vanish in the learning process because of the over-smoothing problem of the GCN module, leading to non-representative features and, thus, deteriorating clustering performance. In this study, we address this issue by proposing a structure enhanced deep clustering network. The GCN-specific structural data representation is enhanced and supervised by its structural information. Specifically, the GCN-specific structural data representation is strengthened during the learning process by combining it with a structure enhanced semantic (SES) representation. A novel structure enhanced AE, named the weighted neighbourhood AE (wNAE), is employed to learn the SES representation for each data sample. Finally, we design a joint supervision strategy to uniformly guide the simultaneous learning of the wNAE and GCN modules and the clustering assignment. Experimental results for different datasets empirically validate the importance of semantic and neighbour-wise structure learning.

Protective effect of a mechanistic target of rapamycin inhibitor on an in vivo model ofcisplatin-induced ovarian gonadotoxicity.

This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of everolimus, a mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, on cisplatin chemotherapy-induced ovarian toxicity. Eighty sexually mature, virgin, female, 7-week-old C57BL/6J mice were divided into four groups: control, cisplatin (Cis), everolimus (mTORi), and everolimus plus cisplatin (mTORi+Cis). Mice in the Cis and mTORi+Cis groups were intraperitoneally injected with 2 mg/kg of cisplatin for 15 d. Mice in the mTORi and mTORi+Cis groups were orally administered 2.5 mg/kg of everolimus for 29 d, from one week before the first cisplatin injection to one week after the last cisplatin injection. Histological examinations were performed 24 h after the last everolimus administration. The primordial, primary, and antral follicles were significantly depleted in the Cis group compared with that in the control group, confirming the gonadotoxicity of cisplatin. The number of primordial, secondary, and antral follicles was significantly higher in the mTORi+Cis group than in the Cis group, thereby displaying the effect of mTORi-treatment on ovarian protection. Primordial, secondary, and antral follicle counts were similar in the mTORi+Cis and the control groups. The results of this study indicate a protective effect of an mTOR inhibitor against cisplatin chemotherapy-induced gonadotoxicity in the ovarian reserve in an in vivo mouse model.

Dienogest suppresses the activation of primordial follicles and preserves the primordial follicle stockpile for fertility in mice.

The aim of the present study was to characterize the effect of long-term usage of dienogest, a fourth-generation progestin that possesses progestogen and anti-androgen activities, on the stockpile of oocytes and fertility after administration. Female ICR mice (100 days old) were divided into a dienogest group and a control group. The mice received 16 consecutive subcutaneous injections of 5 mg dienogest dissolved in corn oil or corn oil as a vehicle control every 4 days. The mice treated with dienogest had more total offspring and larger litter sizes after the final administration than the mice treated with the vehicle control. Greater numbers of primordial follicles were detected at both 4 and 80 days after the final administration. No significant differences were found in serum anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations at 4 and 80 days after the final dienogest administration. The ratio of primary to primordial follicles was decreased in 3-day-old newborn ovaries cultured for 4 days with dienogest (10-7, 10-6 and 10-5 mol/l) compared with ovaries cultured without dienogest. The results of the present study indicate that dienogest suppresses the activation of primordial follicles during its administration and preserves the primordial follicle stockpile and subsequent fertility in mice.

Polyglycerol grafting and RGD peptide conjugation on MnO nanoclusters for enhanced colloidal stability, selective cellular uptake and cytotoxicity.

An efficient surface engineering strategy for MnO nanoparticles was developed to attain enhanced colloidal stability, selective uptake by and toxicity to specific cancer cells. Specifically, MnO nanoclusters prepared by polyol method were grafted with polyglycerol (MnO-PG), and then conjugated with arginine-glycine-aspartate peptide (MnO-PG-RGD) through stepwise organic reactions. The physicochemical properties of the surface engineered MnO nanoclusters were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The grafted PG layer not only largely enhanced the dispersibility and colloidal stability of MnO nanoclusters in physiological media, but also effectively inhibited non-specific cellular uptake of MnO-PG. MnO-PG-RGD was selectively taken up by human glioblastoma U87MG cells overexpressing αvß3 integrins through receptor-mediated endocytosis. The internalized MnO-PG-RGD was mainly located in the lysosomes of U87MG cells. The acidity of lysosomes accelerated Mn2+ ions releasing, which promoted intracellular oxidative stress and further led to cell damage and apoptosis. The results indicate that appropriate surface functionalization can enable MnO nanoparticles to act as a potential anticancer agent in addition to their MRI functionality.

Polyglycerol mediated covalent construction of magnetic mesoporous silica nanohybrid with aqueous dispersibility for drug delivery.

Construction of nanohybrids with chemical and colloidal stability is of great importance for the exploration of their potential applications in biomedical field. In this work, a versatile strategy based on polyglycerol (PG) mediated covalent linkage is developed to fabricate a core-satellite nanohybrid, termed MMSN, consisting of a mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) as a core and many superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) on the outer surface. In this synthetic strategy, the PG grafted SPION is derivatized to convert partial periphery hydroxyl groups to carboxyl moieties, followed by attachment to aminated MSN through amide bonds. The PG layer accounting for ~17wt% of MMSN not only serves as a tether to connect the two nanoparticles but also greatly enhances the colloidal stability of the nanohybrid, resulting in no significant change in hydrodynamic diameter and zeta potential during four months. Taking advantage of the combined porosity and magnetic property of the nanohybrid, a photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6) is loaded on MMSN and efficiently delivered into target cells under magnetic guidance, leading to an enhanced efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT). The versatile strategy presented here opens up a new route to rational design and fabrication of multifunctional nanohybrids for various biomedical purposes.

Chronic endometritis modifies decidualization in human endometrial stromal cells.

BACKGROUND: Chronic endometritis (CE) is a continuous inflammation of uterine endometrium, and it is usually symptomless. As CE has been thought not to affect the reproductive status and general health of affected women, its significance has not been explored. However, recent studies have shown that CE is related with repeated implantation failures after in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer, unexplained infertility, and recurrent miscarriages. As decidua differentiates to support the implantation process and maintains the pregnancy, we hypothesized that CE may influence the process of decidualization. METHODS: Seventeen patients were employed in the experiment involving culture of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs). After obtaining endometrial samples, ESCs were harvested and cultured for 13 days. The concentrations in culture media and the protein expressions in ESCs of prolactin (PRL) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1), two well known decidualization markers used in a large number of in vitro models, were analyzed by ELISA and Western blotting, respectively, and the cell numbers were also counted. The mRNA levels of PRL and IGFBP-1 were tested by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Since sex hormone induce proliferation and differentiation to decidua via binding to the sex hormone receptors (ERα, ERß, PRA, and PRB), their expression was assessed in another 17 patients' paraffin-embedded endometrial tissue specimens by immunohistochemistry and semi-quantified by H-score. RESULTS: Increased cell numbers and reduced secretion of PRL and IGFBP-1 were detected by ELISA in the ESCs of CE patients after culture for 13 days compared with non-CE patients. The decreased protein expression of IGFBP-1 in ESCs of CE patients was detected by Western blotting. The decreased expression of PRL mRNA and IGFBP-1 mRNA were detected by RT-PCR. Increased expressions of ERα, ERß, PRA, and PRB were observed in the stromal cells of CE patients in comparison to non-CE patients, whereas increased expressions of ERα and ERß were detected in the glandular cells of CE. CONCLUSION: Our data suggests that CE modifies decidualization of human ESC through untuning the function of sex steroid hormone receptor.

Efficient delivery of chlorin e6 into ovarian cancer cells with octalysine conjugated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for effective photodynamic therapy.

In cancer treatment, efficient delivery of active anticancer drugs into cancer cells is highly desirable for maximizing therapeutic effects and alleviating side effects. In this work, a nanocarrier consisting of an Fe3O4 core, a polyglycerol coating, and an octalysine functionality (SPION-PG-Lys8) has been designed, synthesized and used to deliver a photosensitizer, chlorin e6 (Ce6), into cancer cells for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer cells. SPION-PG-Lys8 is colloidally stable in various aqueous solutions, showing a high positive zeta potential of 47.2 ± 6.9 mV in pure water. In vitro characterization reveals that SPION-PG-Lys8 is efficiently taken up by SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells, exhibiting low cytotoxicity, and suppressed autophagy compared to bare SPIONs. Negatively charged Ce6 is thus loaded on the SPION-PG-Lys8 through electrostatic attraction to yield a SPION-PG-Lys8/Ce6 nanocomplex with a positive zeta potential of 22.4 ± 4.3 mV. SPION-PG-Lys8/Ce6 is more easily taken up by the cells than free Ce6, and surprisingly, the internalized SPION-PG-Lys8/Ce6 is found to be enriched in the mitochondria. SPION-PG-Lys8/Ce6 exhibits almost no cytotoxicity under dark conditions, but strong photocytotoxicity due to the light-triggered production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) destroying the mitochondria. Taken together, our results highlight the great potential of SPION-PG-Lys8 as an efficient carrier of Ce6 for photodynamic cancer therapy.

A new diketopyrrolopyrrole-based probe for sensitive and selective detection of sulfite in aqueous solution.

A new probe was synthesized by incorporating an α,ß-unsaturated ketone to a diketopyrrolopyrrole fluorophore. The probe had exhibited a selective and sensitive response to the sulfite against other thirteen anions and biothiols (Cys, Hcy and GSH), through the nucleophilic addition of sulfite to the alkene of probe with the detection limit of 0.1 µM in HEPES (10 mM, pH 7.4) THF/H2O (1:1, v/v). Meanwhile, it could be easily observed that the probe for sulfite changed from pink to colorless by the naked eye, and from pink to blue under UV lamp after the sulfite was added for 20 min. The NMR and Mass spectral analysis demonstrated the expected addition of sulfite to the C=C bonds.

Subpopulations of macrophages within eutopic endometrium of endometriosis patients.

PROBLEM: Endometriosis is recognized as a chronic inflammatory disease and is related to immune response. There have been reports that revealed the different distribution of macrophage within the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis. Macrophages are functionally polarized into M1 and M2 cell lineages. We studied a difference in the subpopulations of M1 and M2 macrophages within the eutopic endometrium in patients with or without endometriosis to investigate how the eutopic endometrium is stimulated immunologically. METHOD OF STUDY: Thirty-six patients with endometriosis (endometriosis group) and 37 without endometriosis (non-endometriosis group) were analyzed. Paraffin-embedded endometrial specimens were used for the study. Consecutive sections were used for immunostaining of CD68 (pan-macrophage marker) and CD163 (M2 macrophage marker). Cells positive for each marker were quantified, and the ratio of M2 macrophages in pan-macrophages was calculated. RESULT: The endometriosis group had a significantly higher number of pan-macrophages than the control group in all phases (P < 0.05). The ratios of M2 macrophages in pan-macrophages were significantly lower in all phases in the endometriosis group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The macrophage population slants toward M1 in the endometrium of endometriosis patients. The endometrium appeared to be stimulated by some organelles and/or substances that induce M1 in endometriosis patients.