Membrane modification in enhancement of virus removal: A critical review.

Many waterborne diseases are related with viruses, and COVID-19 worldwide has raised the concern of virus security in water into the public horizon. Compared to other conventional water treatment processes, membrane technology can achieve satisfactory virus removal with fewer chemicals, and prevent the outbreaks of viruses to a maximal extent. Researchers developed new modification methods to improve membrane performance. This review focused on the membrane modifications that enhance the performance in virus removal. The characteristics of viruses and their removal by membrane filtration were briefly generalized, and membrane modifications were systematically discussed through different virus removal mechanisms, including size exclusion, hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions, electronic interactions, and inactivation. Advanced functional materials for membrane modification were summarized based on their nature. Furthermore, it is suggested that membranes should be enhanced through different mechanisms mainly based on their ranks of pore size. The current review provided theoretical support regarding membrane modifications in the enhancement of virus removal and avenues for practical application.

Equivalent Fracture Patterns Demonstrate Poorer Postoperative Functional Outcomes Among Pronation-External Rotation IV Ankle Fractures.

BACKGROUND: Pronation-external rotation IV (PER IV) ankle fractures are relatively uncommon among rotational ankle fractures, but they are the most severe type. Although recent studies have shown satisfactory functional recovery in PER IV after surgical treatment, the different outcomes between fracture patterns and equivalent fracture patterns have not yet been evaluated. This study aims to compare short-term outcomes in PER IV ankle injuries between fracture patterns and equivalent fracture patterns. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted at Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou, China, from July 2023 to October 2023. A total of 41 PER IV injuries from 2018 to 2022 were included and followed for at least one year. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Ankle­Hindfoot Scale, Ankle Range of Motions (ROM), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain scores were the main outcome measures. The rate of postoperative complications was the secondary outcome measure. Patient demographics were compared in PER IV fractures and PER IV ankle equivalent fractures. RESULTS: The mean follow-up time was 18.2 ± 4.2 (range, 12-24) months. Postoperative X-ray and CT scans showed a satisfactory reduction of the ankle joint and syndesmosis. No reduction loss of distal tibiofibular syndesmosis or ankle joints was found at the 12-month follow-up. The average AOFAS scores after one year in both groups were satisfactory (fracture group vs. fracture equivalent group, 96.72 ± 4.21 vs. 92.63 ± 5.36; P < 0.05). The average VAS scores after one year in both groups were satisfactory (fracture group vs. fracture equivalent group, 1.45 ± 2.01 vs. 1.38 ± 1.96; P > 0.05). The average ROM scores after one year in both groups were satisfactory (dorsiflexion, fracture group vs. fracture equivalent group, 15.21 ± 5.62 vs. 13.46 ± 4.35; P > 0.05; plantar flexion, fracture group vs. fracture equivalent group, 38.62 ± 9.68 vs. 42.32 ± 5.28; P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: For patients with PER-IV ankle injuries, the fracture mode had a better prognosis than the fracture equivalent mode.

Caecum Rupture Secondary to Iliac Crest Bone Graft: A Case Report.

Autogenous bone grafting is a common surgical method in orthopaedics. The anterior iliac crest is a common site for harvesting autologous bone grafts. There are many complications after iliac bone harvesting, and pain and discomfort at the donor site are the most common sequelae. However, intestinal rupture after iliac bone harvesting has not been reported. We report a case of caecum rupture in a 58-year-old male after harvesting bone from his iliac crest. After proper surgical repair, the patient was discharged from the ICU and his bowel function recovered. This serious complication of bone harvesting from the iliac crest prompted investigation of the technique of iliac crest harvesting and donor site reconstruction.

Public perceived risks and benefits of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS): Scale development and validation.

As a critical technology to mitigate climate change, the large-scale implementation of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) depends on both technological advancement and public acceptance, which is significantly influenced by the perceived risks and benefits. Existing studies, however, have yet to reach a consensus regarding the measurement of CCUS in these two aspects. To fill this gap, this paper develops and validates new scales based on four studies. Specifically, Study 1 generates the initial item pool based on a literature review and semi-structured interviews, and then invites experts to examine the content validity of these items; Study 2 identifies the dimensions and assesses the reliability and validity of the measures through an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis; Study 3 conducts a one-way ANOVA to test known-group validity; and Study 4 employed structural equation modeling to evaluate the nomological validity. The results demonstrate the internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity of the new scales developed to measure CCUS. This study provides a valuable tool for investigating public perceptions of CCUS and can help policymakers develop future publicity strategies.

Survival differences between the USA and an urban population from China for all cancer types and 20 individual cancers: a population-based study.

Background: The systematic comparison of cancer survival between China and the USA is rare. Here we aimed to assess the magnitude of survival disparities and disentangle the impact of the stage at diagnosis between a Chinese metropolitan city and the USA on cancer survival. Methods: We included 11,046 newly diagnosed cancer patients in Dalian Cancer Registry, China, 2015, with the follow-up data for vital status until December 2020. We estimated age-standardised 5-year relative survival and quantified the excess hazard ratio (EHR) of death using generalised linear models for all cancers and 20 individual cancers. We compared these estimates with 17 cancer registries' data from the USA, using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. We further estimated the stage-specific survival for five major cancers by region. Findings: Age-standardised 5-year relative survival for all patients in Dalian was lower than that in the USA (49.9% vs 67.9%). By cancer types, twelve cancers with poorer prognosis were observed in Dalian compared to the USA, with the largest gap seen in prostate cancer (Dalian: 55.8% vs USA: 96.0%). However, Dalian had a better survival for lung cancer, cervical cancer, and bladder cancer. Dalian patients had a lower percentage of stage Ⅰ colorectal cancer (Dalian: 17.9% vs USA: 24.2%) and female breast cancer (Dalian: 40.9% vs USA: 48.9%). However, we observed better stage-specific survival among stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ lung cancer patients in Dalian than in the USA. Interpretation: This study suggests that although the overall prognosis for patients was better in the USA than in Dalian, China, survival deficits existed in both countries. Improvement in cancer early detection and cancer care are needed in both countries. Funding: National Key R&D Program (2021YFC2501900, 2022YFC3600805), Major State Basic Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2021-I2M-1-010, 2021-I2M-1-046), and Talent Incentive Program of Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Racial/ethnic disparities in the cause of death among patients with prostate cancer in the United States from 1995 to 2019: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

Background: Racial/ethnic disparities in prostate cancer are reported in the United States (US). However, long-term trends and contributors of racial/ethnic disparities in all-cause and cause-specific death among patients with prostate cancer remain unclear. We analysed the trends and contributors of racial/ethnic disparities in prostate cancer survivors according to the cause of death in the US over 25 years. Methods: In this retrospective, population-based longitudinal cohort study, we identified patients diagnosed with first primary prostate cancer between 1995 and 2019, with follow-up until Dec 31, 2019, using population-based cancer registries' data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. We calculated the cumulative incidence of death for each racial/ethnic group (Black, white, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander [API], and American Indian or Alaska Native [AI/AN] people), by diagnostic period and cause of death. We quantified absolute disparities using rate changes for the 5-year cumulative incidence of death between racial/ethnic groups and diagnostic periods. We estimated relative (Hazard ratios [HR]) racial/ethnic disparities and the percentage of potential factors contributed to racial/ethnic disparities using Cox regression models. Findings: Despite a decreasing trend in the cumulative risk of death across five racial/ethnic groups, AI/AN and Black patients consistently had the highest rate of death between 1995 and 2019 with an adjusted HR of 1.48 (1.40-1.58) and 1.40 (1.38-1.42) respectively. The disparities in all-cause mortality between AI/AN and white patients increased over time, with adjusted HR 1.32 (1.17-1.49) in 1995-1999 and 1.95 (1.53-2.49) in 2015-2019. Adjustment of stage at diagnosis, initial treatment, tumor grade, and household income explained 33% and 24% of the AI/AN-white and Black-white disparities in all-cause death among patients with prostate cancer. Interpretation: The enduring racial/ethnic disparities in patients with prostate cancer, call for new interventions to eliminate health disparities. Our study provides important evidence and ways to address racial/ethnic inequality. Funding: National Key R&D Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding Support, the Open Research Fund from Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Big Data-Based Precision Medicine, Key Projects of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research, Ministry of Education of China.

Ions play different roles in virus removal caused by different NOMs in UF process: Removal efficiency and mechanism analysis.

In this study, we investigated the effect of different compositions of aquatic natural organic matter (NOM) and ions on virus removal by ultrafiltration (UF). MS2 bacteriophage was used as a surrogate. Humic acid (HA) improved the MS2 removal rate from 1.95 ± 0.09 LRV to 2.40 ± 0.03 LRV at the HA dosage of 9 mg/L through the combined mechanisms of size exclusion, electrostatic repulsion and hydrophobicity. MS2 removal rate further increased to 3.10 ± 0.05 LRV by 10 mmol/L Na+ dosage and 3.19 ± 0.12 LRV by Ca2+ 1 mmol/L in the HA-containing UF system. Size exclusion turned into the dominant virus removal mechanism according to the results of the fouling model fitting and the weakening of electrostatic repulsion and hydrophobicity. The complexation of Ca2+ also played a role in MS2 removal based on the analysis of interaction force. MS2 removal rate by bovine serum albumin (BSA) was poor, which was 2.07 ± 0.06 LRV at the BSA dosage of 9 mg/L. Hydrophobicity was greatly reduced and the dominant virus removal mechanisms were size exclusion and electrostatic repulsion. 10 mmol/L Na+ in the presence of BSA deteriorated MS2 removal rate to 2.02 ± 0.07 LRV by the weakening of electrostatic repulsion, hydrophobicity and size exclusion. Electrostatic repulsion severely decreased by 1 mmol/L Ca2+ and the enhanced adsorption barrier represented competitive adsorption of Ca2+ by BSA and MS2 contributed for MS2 removal further decline (1.99 ± 0.05 LRV). Complex components in water will have different effects on virus removal due to their properties and interactions. This study can provide references for selecting more efficient water treatment methods according to the different compositions of raw water in actual water treatment applications during the UF process. Moreover, the retention of virus by UF can be predicted based on our study results.

Fate of dissolved inorganic nitrogen in turbulent rivers: The critical role of dissolved oxygen levels.

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) is considered the main factor that induces eutrophication in water, and is readily influenced by hydrodynamic activities. In this study, a 4-year field investigation of nitrogen dynamics in a turbulent river was conducted, and a laboratory study was performed in the approximately homogeneous turbulence simulation system to investigate potential mechanisms involved in DIN transformation under turbulence. The field investigation revealed that, contrary to NO-3 dynamics, the NH+4 concentrations in water were lower in flood seasons than in drought seasons. Further laboratory results demonstrated that limitation of dissolved oxygen (DO) caused inactive nitrification and active denitrification in static river sediment. In contrast, the increased DO levels in turbulent river intensified the mineralization of organic nitrogen in sediment; moreover, ammonification and nitrification were activated, while denitrification was first activated and then depressed. Turbulence therefore decreased NH+4 and NO-2 concentrations, but increased NO-3 and total DIN concentrations in the overlying water, causing the total DIN to increase from 0.4 mg/L to maximum of 1.0 and 1.7 mg/L at low and high turbulence, respectively. The DIN was maintained at 0.7 and 1.0 mg/L after the 30-day incubation under low and high turbulence intensities (ε) of 3.4 × 10-4 and 7.4 × 10-2 m2/s3, respectively. These results highlight the critical role of DO in DIN budgets under hydrodynamic turbulence, and provide new insights into the DIN transport and transformation mechanisms in turbulent rivers.

Spatial correlation network structure of China's building carbon emissions and its driving factors: A social network analysis method.

Clarifying the spatial association network of provincial building carbon emissions and its influential drivers is profoundly significant for transregional collaborative emission reduction and regionally-coordinated development. This study adopts the social network analysis method to investigate the network structure characteristics of carbon emissions in the building sector based on China's provincial-level evidence from 2000 to 2018. Then, the quadratic assignment procedure is further utilized to examine the driving factors. The results demonstrate that building carbon emissions in China take the form of a network structure. From 2000 to 2018, the relevance and stability of the spatial associations gradually strengthened. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Tianjin, Beijing and Zhejiang are in the center of the spatial association network and play a vital part in the network. The network of carbon emissions in the building sector can be classified into four plates: the main inflow plate, main outflow plate, bidirectional spillover plate and agent plate. Geographical adjacency, economic development level, energy intensity and industrial structure are significantly correlated with building carbon emissions. The urbanization level has no significant influence on the spatial correlations of building carbon emissions. This study is conducive to formulating energy conservation policies and promoting transregional collaborative emission reductions.

Feature extraction and classification of climate change risks: a bibliometric analysis.

Risks brought by climate change are inevitable obstacles to global development. Clarifying the features of climate change risks helps us to further understand and cope with climate change. There lacks a systematic review of climate change risks in terms of feature extraction and classification. The bibliometric analysis can be used to analyze and extract climate change risk features. The literature in the field of climate change was searched in the Web of Science database. Coauthors, citations, bibliographic coupling, co-citations, and keyword co-occurrence were analyzed. From five dimensions including nature, politics, economy, society, and culture, the risk features of climate change were extracted and summarized. Through text mining and cluster analysis, the climate change risk feature system was established, which is embodied in five different aspects: ecosystem and sustainability; uncertainty, vulnerability, and efficiency; behavior and decision-making; governance and management; and adaptation and mitigation. The feature system reflects that the current climate change risk presents strong variability and that the risk boundary is gradually blurred. The areas affected by risk are expanding and deepening. The strategies and governance for addressing risks are gradually diversified. This research contributes to the domain of climate change risk identification and assessment. The features of climate change indicate that we need to adjust policymaking and managerial practices for climate change in the future. Interdisciplinary cooperation, human cognition and preferences, public participation in global governance, and other unnatural factors related to climate change should be strengthened with a more positive attitude.

E-learning intention of students with anxiety: Evidence from the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in China.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need to address the mental health issues for the future adoption of e-learning among massive students in higher education. This study takes a lead to investigate whether and how general anxiety will influence college students' e-learning intention to provide knowledge to better improve the e-learning technology. METHODS: We adopted the Technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine the difference between students with and without general anxiety in the e-learning intention where the students are classified based on the General Anxiety Disorder-2 scale. The model is empirically analyzed based on a survey of 512 college students in China regarding their e-learning experience in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Results demonstrate that the TAM is powerful in explaining the e-learning intention among college students with general anxiety. Besides, all effects associated with perceived usefulness (PU) are reinforced while those associated with perceived ease of use (PEOU) are attenuated in the anxiety group. The results suggest that instructors and higher education institutions should take advantage of the significant PU-intention relationship by providing quality e-learning, which is paramount to coping with the general anxiety among students. LIMITATIONS: This study provides a prototype attempt to investigate the influence of anxiety on e-learning where the different types of anxiety sources are synthesized. However, anxiety can stem from internal sources (computer anxiety, academic stress) and external sources (fear of the virus, lack of social interaction), which requires further investigations.

Understanding the impact of emotional support on mental health resilience of the community in the social media in Covid-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Emotional support in social media can act as a buffer against the negative impact of affective disorders. However, empirical evidence relating to emotional support in social media and how it influences the wider public remains scanty. The objective of this study is therefore to conduct a prototype investigation into the translation mechanism of emotional support in social media, providing empirical evidence for practitioners to use to tackle mental health issues for the wider public. METHODS: A regression model is proposed to examine the relationship between perceived and received emotional support. Received emotional support is set as the dependent variable and measured using public activity. Perceived emotional support is derived using Natural Language Processing (NLP)-based content analysis. The model is then analyzed using a panel date with a total number of 61,297 posts from 17 Weibo accounts in 17 provincial administrative units in China. RESULTS: The relationship between perceived and received emotional support is not linear but complex, suggesting that translation of emotional support is not automatic. Further, our empirical evidence suggests that the translation of emotional support in social media is affected by frequency and pandemic stage. LIMITATIONS: The study does not examine the direct relationship between perceived and received emotional support, instead adopting public activity as a proxy for the latter construct. In addition, the relationship between perceived and received emotional support is more complex than linear, requiring further model and theory development.

Identification of Fuzzy Rule-Based Models With Collaborative Fuzzy Clustering.

Fuzzy rule-based models (FRBMs) are sound constructs to describe complex systems. However, in reality, we may encounter situations, where the user or owner of a system only owns either the input or output data of that system (the other part could be owned by another user); and due to the consideration of data privacy, he/she could not obtain all the needed data to build the FRBMs. Since this type of situation has not been fully realized (noticed) and studied before, our objective is to come up with some strategy to address this challenge to meet the specific privacy consideration during the modeling process. In this study, the concept and algorithm of the collaborative fuzzy clustering (CFC) are applied to the identification of FRBMs, describing either multiple-input-single-output (MISO) or multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The collaboration between input and output spaces based on their structural information (conveyed in terms of the corresponding partition matrices) makes it possible to build FRBMs when input and output data could not be collected and used in unison. Surprisingly, on top of this primary pursuit, with the collaboration mechanism the input and output spaces of a system are endowed with an innovative way to comprehensively share, exchange, and utilize the structural information between each other, which results in their more relevant structures that guarantee better model performance compared with performance produced by some state-of-the-art modeling strategies. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by experiments on a series of synthetic and publicly available datasets.

Managing urban citizens' panic levels and preventive behaviours during COVID-19 with pandemic information released by social media.

Reducing citizens' panic and promoting their preventive behaviours are critical parts of pandemic management for the government. However, the effects of pandemic information types (daily statistical vs. detailed case information) and sources (official vs. unofficial social media accounts) on the psychological states and behaviours of urban citizens need to be explored further. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of these effects for citizens from areas with different epidemic levels also needs further investigation. Therefore, we conducted a survey during the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China in March 2020, and 1298 urban citizens (592 from Wuhan) offered reliable data. Results of linear regression analysis indicated that non-Wuhan urban citizens who were more concerned about detailed case information (e.g., patients' movement paths) exhibited more preventive behaviours than those concerned about daily statistical information (e.g., case numbers) and did not show higher panic levels. Additionally, regarding social media information sources, unofficial social media caused both Wuhan and non-Wuhan urban citizens to have higher levels of panic than official media but had no significant impacts on their preventive behaviours. These findings contribute to urban management through the discovery of the effects of different information types and social media information sources on urban citizens during pandemics.

Potassium supplement enhanced cadmium removal in a Microcystis aeruginosa photobioreactor: Evidence from actual and simulated wastewater.

In this study, a Microcystis aeruginosa-based photobioreactor (M. aeruginosa-based PBR) was developed for the removal of cadmium (Cd2+) from diluted actual mine wastewater (DW) and Cd2+-contained simulated wastewater (SW), with a uniform Cd2+ concentration of 0.5 mg/L. For the DW and SW, both K+ -abundant (DWA & SWA) and K+-insufficient (DWB & SWB) treatments were conducted. It was found that continuous supplementation of K+ benefited Cd2+ removal. The Cd2+ removal efficiency in SWA reached 70% during the 41 days of operation, which was 20% higher than that in the SWB. The K+ addition triggered great higher Cd2+ removal efficiency (90%) in the DWA in comparison to the SWA. The Cd2+ assimilation by M. aeruginosa and Cd2+ retention on M. aeruginosa surface were the primary processes involved in the PBR system. The K+ starvation triggered a 45% and 43% loss of M. aeruginosa biomass in the DWA and the DWB, respectively. Hence, the Cd2+ removal efficiency in DWB increased significantly, and this was attributed to the increased abundance of non-living cells and enhanced bioretention of Cd2+. The results revealed that continuous K+ supplementation enhanced the Cd2+ removal efficiency in the M. aeruginosa-based PBR jointly by prompting algal cell growth, Cd2+ assimilation and biosorption, as well as Cd2+ retention on the algal cells.

Using fear appeal theories to understand the effects of location information of patients on citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the effects of location information of patients has significant theoretical and practical implications for public crisis management and health communication. Based on fear appeal theories, this research proposed a chain reaction model that links physical distance to the nearest patients, which is informed by the location information of patients, citizens' anxiety, attention to information and preventive behaviors. To test the hypothesized model, we conducted a study during the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China in March 2020. The survey of 2061 people from 244 cities across 30 provinces showed that physical distance to confirmed cases has a significant influence on citizens' anxiety, which in turn can improve their preventive behaviors through the mediating factor of attention to information. In addition, this research also revealed the twofold effects of vertical collectivism as a personality trait on anxiety. These findings will provide support to help governments take actions to reduce citizens' anxiety and promote preventive behaviors.

Sustained sustainable development actions of China from 1986 to 2020.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a long-term task, which puts forward high requirements on the sustainability of related policies and actions. Using the text analysis method, we analyze the China National Sustainable Communities (CNSCs) policy implemented over 30 years and its effects on achieving SDGs. We find that the national government needs to understand the scope of sustainable development more comprehensively, the sustained actions can produce positive effects under the right goals. The SDGs selection of local governments is affected by local development levels and resource conditions, regions with better economic foundations tend to focus on SDGs on human well-being, regions with weaker foundations show priority to basic SDGs on the economic development, infrastructures and industrialization.

Nonlinear influence of urbanization on China's urban residential building carbon emissions: New evidence from panel threshold model.

Carbon mitigation in the urban residential building sector is critical for China to achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutral commitment. However, how urbanization affects urban residential building carbon emissions is still unclear. This study adopts the panel threshold regression model to explore the dynamic influence mechanism of the urbanization on urban residential building CO2 emissions based on the evidence from China's 30 provincial regions during 2000-2015. Results indicate that urbanization contributes positively to the increase of urban residential building CO2 emissions, while such degree of influence varies across different stages of income and energy structure. As for per capita income, the promoting effect of the urbanization on urban residential building CO2 emissions is enhanced with the growth of per capita income. And the degree of such increasing effect becomes greater when per capita income exceeds its threshold value. Regarding the energy mix, the driving effect of urbanization on urban residential building CO2 emissions is also strengthened when the energy mix crosses its threshold value, showing a "stepwise growth" feature. This study reveals the nonlinear influence mechanism of urbanization on urban building CO2 emissions, and this is helpful in boosting the related theoretical and practical exploration on the impact of urbanization on the environment. Based on our findings, an environmentally-friendly consumption pattern should be promoted and more penetration of cleaner energies should be improved in urban households, which will be effective to alleviate the increase of residential carbon emissions.

The Effects of Governmental and Individual Predictors on COVID-19 Protective Behaviors in China: A Path Analysis Model.

The COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the world into a crisis. To contain this crisis, it is essential to build full cooperation between the government and the public. However, it is unclear which governmental and individual factors are determinants and how they interact with protective behaviors against COVID-19. To resolve this issue, this study builds a multiple mediation model. Findings show that government emergency public information such as detailed pandemic information and positive risk communication had greater impact on protective behaviors than rumor refutation and supplies. Moreover, governmental factors may indirectly affect protective behaviors through individual factors such as perceived efficacy, positive emotions, and risk perception. These findings suggest that systematic intervention programs for governmental factors need to be integrated with individual factors to achieve effective prevention and control of COVID-19 among the public.

Expression of miR-625 and Fas in cervical vertebral cartilage endplate.

The aim of the present study was to assess miR-625 and Fas expression in normal and degenerative cervical cartilage endplate (CEP) tissues. Following biof-informatics analysis, the Fas gene was predicted to be one of the targets of miR-625. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) and western blotting were used to detect miR-625 and Fas expression in normal and degenerative CEP. A luciferase reporter assay was used to identify whether miR-625 could directly target the 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) of Fas. Lentiviral overexpression and/or inhibition vectors of miR-625 (pre-miR-625)/antigomiR-625 were constructed to determine whether overexpression or inhibition of miR-625 could affect Fas and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expression in cartilaginous endplate cells (CECs) and tissues. qPCR analysis demonstrated that miR-625 expression in degenerative CEP was significantly lower than in normal CEP tissue, while the production of Fas in degenerated CEP was significantly higher. Results from western blotting also showed a significant increase in Fas expression in degenerative CEP. miR-625 can bind directly to the 3'-UTR of the Fas gene. However, this inhibition was attenuated by a target mutation in the miR-625-binding site of the 3'-UTR of Fas mRNA. In addition, following transfection of CECs with pre-miR-625 and antigomiR-625, expression of Fas significantly decreased and increased, respectively, and Bcl-2 expression was upregulated and downregulated, respectively. Upregulation of miR-625 can inhibit Fas expression and further affect Bcl-2 expression in CEP degeneration, suggesting that miR-625-mediated inhibition of the Fas gene is important in cervical degeneration.