Delineating cathodic extracellular electron transfer pathways in microbial electrosynthesis: Modulation of polarized potential and Pt@C addition.

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is an innovative technology that employs microbes to synthesize chemicals by reducing CO2. A comprehensive understanding of cathodic extracellular electron transfer (CEET) is essential for the advancement of this technology. This study explores the impact of different cathodic potentials on CEET and its response to introduction of hydrogen evolution materials (Pt@C). Without the addition of Pt@C, H2-mediated CEET contributed up to 94.4 % at -1.05 V. With the addition of Pt@C, H2-mediated CEET contributions were 76.6 % (-1.05 V) and 19.9 % (-0.85 V), respectively. BRH-c20a was enriched as the dominated microbe (>80 %), and its relative abundance was largely affected by the addition of Pt@C NPs. This study highlights the tunability of MES performance through cathodic potential control and the addition of metal nanoparticles.

Apolipoprotein A-IV polymorphisms Q360H and T347S attenuate its endogenous inhibition of thrombosis.

Platelets are small anucleate cells that play a key role in thrombosis and hemostasis. Our group previously identified apolipoprotein A-IV (apoA-IV) as an endogenous inhibitor of thrombosis by competitive blockade of the αIIbß3 integrin on platelets. ApoA-IV inhibition of platelets was dependent on the N-terminal D5/D13 residues, and enhanced with absence of the C-terminus, suggesting it sterically hinders its N-terminal platelet binding site. The C-terminus is also the site of common apoA-IV polymorphisms apoA-IV-1a (T347S) and apoA-IV-2 (Q360H). Interestingly, both are linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we generated recombinant apoA-IV and found that the Q360H or T347S polymorphisms dampened its inhibition of platelet aggregation in human platelet-rich plasma and gel-filtered platelets, reduced its inhibition of platelet spreading, and its inhibition of P-selectin on activated platelets. Using an ex vivo thrombosis assay, we found that Q360H and T347S attenuated its inhibition of thrombosis at both high (1800s-1) and low (300s-1) shear rates. We then demonstrate a conserved monomer-dimer distribution among apoA-IV WT, Q360H, and T347S and use protein structure modelling software to show Q360H and T347S enhance C-terminal steric hindrance over the N-terminal platelet-binding site. These data provide critical insight into increased cardiovascular risk for individuals with Q360H or T347S polymorphisms.

MiR-181a protects the heart against myocardial infarction by regulating mitochondrial fission via targeting programmed cell death protein 4.

Worldwide, myocardial infarction (MI) is the leading cause of death and disability-adjusted life years lost. Recent researches explored new methods of detecting biomarkers that can predict the risk of developing myocardial infarction, which includes identifying genetic markers associated with increased risk. We induced myocardial infarction in mice by occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery and performed TTC staining to assess cell death. Next, we performed ChIP assays to measure the enrichment of histone modifications at the promoter regions of key genes involved in mitochondrial fission. We used qPCR and western blot to measure expression levels of relative apoptotic indicators. We report that miR-181a inhibits myocardial ischemia-induced apoptosis and preserves left ventricular function after MI. We show that programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4) is the target gene involved in miR-181a-mediated anti-ischemic injury, which enhanced BID recruitment to the mitochondria. In addition, we discovered that p53 inhibits the expression of miR-181a via transcriptional regulation. Here, we discovered for the first time a mitochondrial fission and apoptosis pathway which is controlled by miR-181a and involves PDCD4 and BID. This pathway may be controlled by p53 transcriptionally, and we presume that miR-181a may lead to the discovery of new therapeutic and preventive targets for ischemic heart diseases.

A meta-analysis of melanoma risk in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy patients.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) is a group of chronic acquired autoimmune diseases. The association between IIM and malignancies has been observed for decades. No meta-analysis has been conducted to summarize the relationship between IIM and melanoma. Herein, we specifically wanted to investigate whether IIM is associated with a higher incidence of melanoma. METHODS: We searched both Chinese and English databases (CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science) for studies on IIM related to melanoma published up to October 2023. Two independent authors reviewed all literature to identify studies according to predefined selection criteria. Fixed effects models were applied to pool the risk. Publication bias was also evaluated and sensitivity analysis performed. RESULTS: A total of 1660 articles were initially identified but only four cohort studies met the criteria. Thus, 4239 IIM patients were followed up. The pooled overall risk ratio/hazard ratio was 3.08 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-5.37) and the standardized incidence ratio was 6.30 (95% CI 1.59-11.02). CONCLUSION: The present meta-analysis suggests that IIM patients are at a significantly higher risk of developing melanoma.

Design method of dual-band synchronous zoom microscope optical system based on coaxial Kohler illumination.

The intrinsic properties of the observed object are closely related to its spectral information, to extend the imaging spectral range of a continuous zoom microscope to obtain more detailed intrinsic properties of the object, this paper proposes a design method of dual-band simultaneous zoom microscope optical system based on the coaxial Koehler uniform illumination. First, the imaging principle of the dual-band simultaneous zoom microscope optical system is theoretically analyzed, and we propose to split the front fixed group of the zoom system into a collimation lens group and a converging lens group to realize the compact design of the system. Then, two different rear fixed groups are used to correct the residual aberration, and a method for solving the initial structure of the dual-band simultaneous zoom microscope optical system is proposed. Finally, a dual-band synchronous zoom microscope optical system is designed using the method proposed in this paper. The design results show that the imaging magnification of the visible (VIS) band is -0.4 to -4.0, the simultaneous imaging magnification ranges are -0.4 to -0.8 in the VIS and short-wave infrared (SWIR) bands, and the magnification difference of its simultaneous zoom imaging is less than 1.25%. In addition, the system has the advantages of good imaging quality, clever design of coaxial illumination, and compact structure, thus verifying the feasibility of the design method.

Geometric error modeling and compensation for high precision composite optical measurement systems.

Composite optical measurement systems are widely used in the field of precision measurement due to their combination of inspection with high accuracy, speed, wide range, real-time, and other advantages. Whereas errors are prevalent in measurements, in order to improve detection accuracy, the systems must be compensated for geometric errors in three-dimensional space. Aiming at the complex situation of multi-probes and multi-zooms in the composite optical measurement system, the current error modelling methods are difficult to be directly applied, so this paper establishes a unified three-dimensional volumetric error model based on the theory of multi-body system and combined with the principle of geometric optics, performs the error verification through the direct measurement method, and finally realises the compensation of geometric error in the continuous space of the whole measurement range. Eventually, the accuracy of the proposed error model and the effectiveness of the error compensation method were verified by a laser interferometer and standard objects to be measured, and the integrated geometric error of the system was decreased by 76.55%, which effectively improved the accuracy of the system. The error modelling and compensation method proposed in this paper provides a new idea for the error compensation of the zoom measurement system, and at the same time, it is universal for the measurement systems of different structures and motion forms, which can be widely used in the field of precision measurement.

Automatic aberration compensation for digital holographic microscopy based on bicubic downsampling and improved minimization of global phase gradients.

In digital holographic microscopy, aberrations caused by imperfect optical system settings can greatly affect the quantitative measurement of the target phase, so the compensation of aberrations in the distorted phase has become a key point of research in digital holographic microscopy. Here, we propose a fully automatic numerical phase aberration compensation method with fast computational speed and high robustness. The method uses bicubic downsampling to smooth the sample phase for reducing its disturbance to the background aberration fit, while reducing the computational effort of aberration compensation. Polynomial coefficients of the aberration fitting are iteratively optimized in the process of minimizing the global phase gradient by improving the phase gradient operator and constructing the loss function to achieve accurate fitting of the phase aberration. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve high aberration compensation accuracy without prior knowledge of the hologram recording settings or manual selection of the background area free of samples, and it is suitable for samples with moderate and relatively flat background area, which can be widely used in the quantitative analysis of biological tissues and micro and nano structures.

Design of the dual-band shared-aperture asynchronous zoom optical system using focus tunable lenses.

To meet the increasing demand of the current market and the diversity of application scenarios, combine the zoom system and the multi-band shared-aperture system, and fully harness their respective advantages, this paper proposes a dual-band shared-aperture asynchronous zoom optical system using focus tunable lenses (FTLs). To address the lack of available patents for such systems, we designed a sub-system simultaneous iterative optimization algorithm to calculate the initial structure parameters. This synchronous iterative optimization approach can strengthen the connection between sub-systems and compensate for the shortcomings of current mainstream design methods. The initial structure constructed in this way has a good performance in terms of structural stability and optimization potential. Based on these methods, we successfully designed an optical system that can work in both VIS and NIR bands, and the two sub-systems can zoom independently. The design results possess good performance in terms of distortion control, aberration correction, and volume control.

Optical system design of double-sided telecentric microscope with high numerical aperture and long working distance.

The working distance of the high numerical aperture visible video microscope is extremely short, which greatly limits its application scenarios. To solve this problem, this paper proposes an unobstructed design method of double-sided telecentric microscope with high numerical aperture and long working distance. First, aiming at the obstruction problem of the image-side telecentric catadioptric microscope objective, the structure of the catadioptric optical system is improved. Then, the aspheric design method based on the best aberration compensation is analyzed theoretically to better correct the primary aberration of the high-numerical aperture microscope objective. Finally, a double-sided telecentric microscope optical system with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.8 and a working distance of 10.0 mm was designed, which is composed of a spherical reflector, a beam splitter plate, a collimating lens group, and an image-side telecentric eyepiece optical system. The design results show that the imaging resolution of this high numerical aperture video microscope is as high as 0.42 µm, and the microscope has a magnification of about 220× for the image with 1080P (1920 × 1080 pixels) resolution. This double-sided telecentric microscope has the advantages of a large field of view, compact structure, good stray light suppression ability, and manufacturability, and has high practical value in the field of high-precision measurement and detection.

Leishmania Regulated MTDH Expression to Suppress Dendritic Cells.

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between Leishmania infection and dendritic cell infiltration and explore the underlying molecular mechanism how Leishmania infection regulates dendritic cell infiltration. Three datasets, GSE63931, GSE80008 and GSE77528 were combined and their batch effects were removed by Combat function in sva R package. Immune cell infiltrations were estimated using the Microenvironment Cell Populations-counter (MCP-counter) R package. Statistical results were verified by Student's t test. The differential expression of metadherin (MTDH) was identified by Limma R package. The correlation between MTDH expression and dendritic cell infiltration was estimated by Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient. GDS5086 was used to explore MTDH expression pattern in dendritic cells infected with Leishmania. Compared with normal samples, 5 types of immune cells showed differential infiltration in leishmaniasis samples, including T cells, CD8+ T cells, dendritic cells, cytotoxic lymphocytes and B lineage cells. Among these, only DCs were significantly suppressed in leishmaniasis samples. Notably, MTDH expression was differential between leishmaniasis and normal samples. There was a significant correlation between MTDH expression and dendritic cell infiltration. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that Leishmania infection leads to the downregulation of MTDH expression and the suppression of dendritic cell infiltration.

High-precision calibration to zoom lens of optical measurement machine based on FNN.

We proposed a calibration method for high-precision zoom lenses of optical measurement machines based on Fully Connected Neural Network (FNN), using a 5-layer neural network instead of a camera calibration model, to achieve continuous calibration of zoom lenses at any zoom setting by calibrating typical zooms. From the experimental verification, the average calibration error of this method is 9.83×10-4mm and the average measurement error at any zoom setting is 0.01317mm. The overall calibration precision is better than that of Zhang's calibration method and can meet the application requirements of a high-precision optical measurement machine. The method proposed in this paper provided a new solution and a new idea for the calibration of zoom lenses, which can be widely used in the fields of precision parts inspection and machine-vision measurement.

Intestinal Engineered Probiotics as Living Therapeutics: Chassis Selection, Colonization Enhancement, Gene Circuit Design, and Biocontainment.

Intestinal probiotics are often used for the in situ treatment of diseases, such as metabolic disorders, tumors, and chronic inflammatory infections. Recently, there has been an increased emphasis on intelligent, customized treatments with a focus on long-term efficacy; however, traditional probiotic therapy has not kept up with this trend. The use of synthetic biology to construct gut-engineered probiotics as live therapeutics is a promising avenue in the treatment of specific diseases, such as phenylketonuria and inflammatory bowel disease. These studies generally involve a series of fundamental design issues: choosing an engineered chassis, improving the colonization ability of engineered probiotics, designing functional gene circuits, and ensuring the safety of engineered probiotics. In this review, we summarize the relevant past research, the progress of current research, and discuss the key issues that restrict the widespread application of intestinal engineered probiotic living therapeutics.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Specific Antibodies in Saliva Samples.

Molecular assays on nasopharyngeal swabs act as a confirmatory test in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) diagnosis. However, the technical requirements of nasopharyngeal sampling and molecular assays limit the testing capabilities. Recent studies suggest the use of saliva for the COVID-19 diagnostic test. In this study, 44 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen were enrolled. Saliva and serum specimens were obtained at different time points and the immunoglobulins against SARS-CoV-2 were measured. The results showed that saliva IgA presented a higher COI value than IgG and IgM. In matched saliva and serum samples, all saliva samples presented lower IgG levels than serum samples, and only one saliva sample presented a higher IgM level. The conversion rates of saliva IgA and the detection of viral nucleic acids were analyzed in the first and second weeks after hospitalization. The positive rates increased when combining saliva IgA and viral nucleic acid detection. In conclusion, our results provide evidence that saliva IgA could serve as a useful index for the early diagnosis of COVID-19.

40× zoom optical system design based on stable imaging principle of four groups.

Based on stable imaging principle of four groups and combined with optical design software, a method for initial structure calculation of zoom optical system and optical system optimization design is proposed to solve the problems of difficult initial structure calculation, large volume, and inflection point of zoom curves of a high zoom ratio optical system. First, this paper theoretically derives the four-group stable imaging principle of the zoom optical system. Then, using the derived equations and optical design software, the initial structural parameters of the four-group zoom optical system are solved to ensure that there is no inflection point in the zoom curves. Finally, a lightweight and small 40× continuous zoom optical system is designed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the design method proposed in this paper. The zoom optical system has the advantages of good imaging quality, lightweight, small size, smooth zoom, and no inflection point.

A Method Based on Curvature and Hierarchical Strategy for Dynamic Point Cloud Compression in Augmented and Virtual Reality System.

As a kind of information-intensive 3D representation, point cloud rapidly develops in immersive applications, which has also sparked new attention in point cloud compression. The most popular dynamic methods ignore the characteristics of point clouds and use an exhaustive neighborhood search, which seriously impacts the encoder's runtime. Therefore, we propose an improved compression means for dynamic point cloud based on curvature estimation and hierarchical strategy to meet the demands in real-world scenarios. This method includes initial segmentation derived from the similarity between normals, curvature-based hierarchical refining process for iterating, and image generation and video compression technology based on de-redundancy without performance loss. The curvature-based hierarchical refining module divides the voxel point cloud into high-curvature points and low-curvature points and optimizes the initial clusters hierarchically. The experimental results show that our method achieved improved compression performance and faster runtime than traditional video-based dynamic point cloud compression.

Long noncoding RNA and atrial fibrillation. / é•¿é“¾éžç¼–ç RNA与心房纤颤.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), a common arrhythmia that usually occurs in patients with heart disease, is one of the leading causes for mortality and disability worldwide. Current drug therapy for AF patients lacks sufficient efficacy and has side effects. Radiofrequency ablation is more effective than traditional drug therapy, but this invasive procedure is associated with potential risks and postoperative recurrence, limiting the clinical benefits for AF patients. Therefore, it is necessary to expand our understanding about the underlying molecular mechanism of AF and to explore the new therapeutic strategies. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is a set of noncoding RNA longer than 200 nucleotides. Growing evidence indicates that lncRNA is involved in numerous pathophysiological processes of AF, such as structural remodeling, electrical remodeling, renin-angiotensin system, abnormal calcium regulation, etc. In addition, lncRNA involved in structural remodeling and electrical remodeling has the potential to be a novel target for the diagnosis and treatment of AF, and lncRNA involved in autonomic nerve remodeling may bring new enlightenment for the prognosis and recurrence of AF.

OptiFlex: Multi-Frame Animal Pose Estimation Combining Deep Learning With Optical Flow.

Animal pose estimation tools based on deep learning have greatly improved animal behaviour quantification. These tools perform pose estimation on individual video frames, but do not account for variability of animal body shape in their prediction and evaluation. Here, we introduce a novel multi-frame animal pose estimation framework, referred to as OptiFlex. This framework integrates a flexible base model (i.e., FlexibleBaseline), which accounts for variability in animal body shape, with an OpticalFlow model that incorporates temporal context from nearby video frames. Pose estimation can be optimised using multi-view information to leverage all four dimensions (3D space and time). We evaluate FlexibleBaseline using datasets of four different lab animal species (mouse, fruit fly, zebrafish, and monkey) and introduce an intuitive evaluation metric-adjusted percentage of correct key points (aPCK). Our analyses show that OptiFlex provides prediction accuracy that outperforms current deep learning based tools, highlighting its potential for studying a wide range of behaviours across different animal species.

Stabilizing Triglyceride in Methanol Emulsions via a Magnetic Pickering Interfacial Catalyst for Efficient Transesterification under Static Conditions.

Pickering emulsion systems provide potential platforms for simultaneously intensifying and catalyzing transesterification between triglyceride and methanol under static conditions. However, realizing static transesterification with high biodiesel yield is still challenging due to low emulsion stability at the reaction temperature. Here, a series of magnetically recyclable Pickering interfacial catalysts (PICs) with similar surface affinities but different densities were constructed as stabilizers of a soybean oil/methanol emulsion. The variations in the emulsion volume fraction and droplet size were comparatively studied and analyzed from the viewpoint of droplet settling and catalyst particle shedding. It is found that, except for surface affinity, PIC density also plays a pivotal role in emulsion stability owing to the non-negligible effect of gravity on catalyst adsorption in triglyceride/methanol emulsion (especially at elevated temperature). By reducing the density, finely improving the lipophilicity, and optimizing the addition amount of PIC, the obtained soybean oil/methanol emulsion can remain stable for at least 12 h at 60 °C, enabling static transesterification with a high biodiesel yield of 95.6%. Moreover, the best performing PIC can be reused for at least 7 cycles. This efficient static transesterification system offers a green strategy for biodiesel production.

Characteristics of B lymphocyte infiltration in HPV+ head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an important etiological factor of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). HPV+ HNSCC patients usually have a better prognosis, which probably results from the higher infiltration of B lymphocytes. This study was purposed to detect the infiltration of B lymphocyte subsets and the correlation between B lymphocyte subsets and the prognosis in HPV-related HNSCC. In this study, 124 HPV+ and 513 HPV- HNSCC samples were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database for transcriptomic analysis. Infiltration of B lymphocytes subsets was detected with 7 HPV+ HNSCC and 13 HPV- HNSCC tissues through immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. One HPV- HNSCC sample was detected with single-cell sequencing for chemokine analysis. In the results, the infiltration of plasma cells (CD19+ CD38+ ) and memory B cells (MS4A1+ CD27+ ) was higher in HPV+ HNSCC samples. High infiltration of plasma cells and memory B cells was related to a better prognosis. High density of B lymphocytes was positively correlated with high CXCL13 production mainly from CD4+ T lymphocytes in HNSCC. These results indicated that a high density of plasma cells and memory B cells could predict excellent prognosis. CD4+ T lymphocytes might affect B lymphocytes and their subsets through the CXCL13/CXCR5 axis in HNSCC.