How peer relationships affect academic achievement among junior high school students: The chain mediating roles of learning motivation and learning engagement.

BACKGROUND: Despite the recognition of the impact of peer relationships, learning motivation, and learning engagement on academic achievement, there is still a gap in understanding the specific mechanisms through which peer relationships impact academic achievement via learning motivation and learning engagement. METHODS: This study aims to investigate how peer relationships affect junior high school students' academic achievement through the chain mediating roles of learning motivation and learning engagement, employing the self-system model of motivational development as the theoretical framework. In January 2024, 717 participants were selected from two middle schools in eastern China (mean age = 13.49 years, SD = 0.5). The data analysis in this study was performed using the structural equation model (SEM) in AMOS 24.0 and SPSS 24.0. RESULTS: The results showed that peer relationships were directly and significantly related to junior high school students' academic achievement, and that peer relationships were indirectly and positively related to junior high school students' academic achievement via learning motivation and learning engagement respectively. The results also revealed a significant indirect and positive relationship between peer relationships and junior high school students' academic achievement, mediated by the sequential mediating roles of learning motivation and learning engagement. Moreover, the path "peer relationship→learning motivation→academic achievement" has the strongest indirect effect. CONCLUSION: For junior high school students to achieve academic success, the appropriate interventions should be implemented to improve peer relationships, learning motivation, and learning engagement.

Spatial distribution and environmental correlations of Culex pipiens pallens (Diptera: Culicidae) in Haidian district, Beijing.

Culex pipiens pallens Coquillett, 1898 (Diptera: Culicidae) was the dominant health threat to mosquito species in Beijing, and it is important to unravel the spatial distribution and environmental correlations of Cx. pipiens pallens in Beijing. 3S technology methods and spatial statistics were used to clarify the distribution pattern. Subsequently, linear and spatial regression were performed to detect the environmental factors linked with the density of Cx. pipiens pallens. The same "middle peak" spatial distribution pattern was observed for Cx. pipiens pallens density at the community, subdistrict, and loop area levels in our study area. In addition, there were various correlated environmental factors at the community and subdistrict scales. At the community scale, the summary values of the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) in 2 km buffer zone (MNDWI_2K) were negatively correlated, and the summary values of Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) in 800 m buffer zone (NDBI_800) was positively correlated to the Cx. pipiens pallens density. However, the summary values of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Nighttime Light Index significantly affected Cx. pipiens pallens density at the subdistrict scale. Our findings provide insight into the spatial distribution pattern of Cx. pipiens pallens density and its associated environmental risk factors at different spatial scales in the Haidian district of Beijing for the first time. The results could be used to predict the Cx. pipiens pallens density as well as the risk of lymphatic filariasis (LF) infection, which would help implement prevention and control measures to prevent future risks of biting and LF transmission in Beijing.

Photoexcited Hot Electron Catalysis in Plasmon-Resonant Grating Structures with Platinum, Nickel, and Ruthenium Coatings.

We report the electrochemical potential dependence of photocatalysis produced by hot electrons in plasmon-resonant grating structures. Here, corrugated metal surfaces with a period of 520 nm are illuminated with 785 nm wavelength laser light swept as a function of incident angle. At incident angles corresponding to plasmon-resonant excitation, we observe sharp peaks in the electrochemical photocurrent and dips in the photoreflectance consistent with the conditions under which there is wavevector matching between the incident light and the spacing between the lines in the grating. In addition to the bare plasmonic metal surface (i.e., Au), which is catalytically inert, we have measured grating structures with a thin layer of Pt, Ru, and Ni catalyst coatings. For the bare Au grating, we observe that the plasmon-resonant photocurrent remains relatively featureless over the applied potential range from -0.8 to +1.2 V vs NHE. For the Pt-coated grating, we observe a sharp peak around -0.3 V vs NHE, three times larger than the bare Au grating, and near complete suppression of the oxidation half-reaction, reflecting the reducing nature of Pt as a good hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst. The photocurrent associated with the Pt-coated grating is less noisy and produces higher photocurrents than the bare Au grating due to the faster kinetics (i.e., charge transfer) associated with the Pt-coated surface. The plasmon-resonant grating structures enable us to compare plasmon-resonant excitation with that of bulk metal interband absorption simply by rotating the polarization of the light while leaving all other parameters of the experiment fixed (i.e., wavelength, potential, electrochemical solution, sample surface, etc.). A 64X plasmon-resonant enhancement (i.e., p-to-s polarized photocurrent ratio) is observed for the Pt-coated grating compared to 28X for the bare grating. The nickel-coated grating shows an increase in the hot-electron photocurrent enhancement in both oxidation and reduction half-reactions. Similarly, Ru-coated gratings show an increase in hot-electron photocurrents in the oxidation half-reaction compared to the bare Au grating. Plasmon-resonant enhancement factors of 36X and 15X are observed in the p-to-s polarized photocurrent ratio for the Ni and Ru gratings, respectively.

Experimental and simulation studies on the improvement of coal dust pollution by an aqueous solution of sodium α-alkenylsulfonate and amino acid-based surfactants.

The use of surfactants is crucial for the prevention and control of coal dust pollution in coal mining operation areas, yet there still exist many challenges in the control of coal dust pollution. In this paper, the green biomass-based amino acid surfactant sodium myristoyl glutamate (SMG) and the anionic surfactant sodium α-alkenyl sulfonate (AOS) were selected to investigate the improvement of coal dust wettability by single and binary solutions from the macroscopic and microscopic perspectives. Molecular simulations were used to reveal the microscopic mechanism of the wettability of coal dust by the different solutions. Experimental measurements showed that the contact angle of the AOS + SMG aqueous solution was as low as 13.8° on a coal surface. Coating the coal dust with the AOS + SMG solution reduced the surface tension by 12.02% compared to coating the coal with a single component solution. Additionally, the use of the binary AOS + SMG solution increased the hydrophilic group content in the coating by 11.77% compared to a single component solution, and the linkage between hydrophilic groups was enhanced, which pulls the water molecules to wet the coal dust. These research results should provide a new way to promote more environmentally friendly coal dust pollution control technology.

The combination use of inclisiran and statins versus statins alone in the treatment of dyslipidemia in mainland China: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Objective: Statin is well-established as a classical lipid-lowering drug, and its cost has reduced considerably in the past years. Inclisiran is a new and effective lipid-lowering drug given as a subcutaneous injection at 6-month intervals. This study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the combination use of inclisiran and statin versus statin alone for dyslipidemia in the mainland China population. Methods: The Markov decision-making model was used, and the clinical data and real-world data were collected at the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH). Patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and blood lipid levels above the target on statin therapy were included as the target population and analyzed for cardiovascular events, future medical expenses, and the calculation made for the total life cost, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). Sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the influence of parameter uncertainty on the base-case analysis results. Results: If inclisiran was priced at Chinese renminbi (RMB) 20,000.00 (USD 2,973.49) per injection, patients in the inclisiran and statin group would incur an incremental cost of RMB 449,233.56 (USD 66,789.60) compared with the statin group, and they would obtain 0.21 more QALYs in their life cycle. The subsequent ICER of RMB 2,127,756.78 (USD 316,343.32)/QALY was significantly higher than the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of 3 times the per capita GDP of China, which was RMB 257,094.00 (USD 38,223.33)/QALY, suggesting that the combined use of inclisiran and statin was not cost-effective. If the price of inclisiran were reduced to RMB 2,500.00 (USD 371.69)/injection, the ICER of patients in the inclisiran and statin group would become RMB 257,790.63 (USD 38,326.91)/QALY, which is slightly lower than the WTP threshold of 3 times the per capita GDP of China, indicating that the combined use of inclisiran and statin would be cost-effective. Conclusion: If inclisiran is priced at RMB 20,000.00 (USD 2,973.49)/injection, then the combined use of inclisiran and statins is not cost-effective compared with statin alone. It will be economical only if the price of inclisiran is reduced by more than 88%.

Voltage-Induced Inversion of Band Bending and Photovoltages at Semiconductor/Liquid Interfaces.

At semiconductor/liquid interfaces, the surface potential and photovoltages are produced by a combination of band bending and quasi-Fermi-level splitting at the semiconductor surface, which are usually treated in a qualitative fashion. As such, it is important to develop quantitative metrics for the band energies and photovoltaics at these interfaces. Here, we present a spectroscopic method for monitoring the photovoltages produced at semiconductor/liquid junctions. The surface reporter molecule mercaptobenzonitrile (MBN) is functionalized on the photoelectrode surface (p-type silicon) and is measured using in situ surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy with a water immersion lens under electrochemical working conditions. In particular, the vibrational frequency of the C≡N stretch mode (ωCN) around 2225 cm-1 is sensitive to the local electric field in solution at the electrode/electrolyte interface via the vibrational Stark effect. Over the applied potential range from -0.8 to 0.6 V vs Ag/AgCl, we observe ωCN to increase from 2220 to 2229 cm-1 (at low laser power). As the incident laser power is increased from 83.5 µW to 13.3 mW, we observe additional shifts of ΔωCN = ±1 cm-1, corresponding to photovoltages produced at the semiconductor/liquid interface ΔV = ±0.2 V. Based on Mott-Schottky measurements, the flat band potential (FBP) occurs at -0.39 V vs Ag/AgCl. For applied potentials above the FBP, we observe ΔωCN > 0 (i.e., blue-shifts ∼1 cm-1) corresponding to positive photovoltages, whereas for applied potentials below the flat band potential, we observe ΔωCN < 0 (i.e., red-shifts ∼1 cm-1) corresponding to negative photovoltages. These spectroscopic observations reveal voltage-induced changes in the band bending at the semiconductor/liquid junction that, thus far, have been difficult to measure.

Measuring Local pKa and pH Using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of 4-Mercaptobenzoic Acid.

We report spectroscopic measurements of the local pH and pKa at an electrode/electrolyte interface using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA). In acidic and basic solutions, the protonated and deprotonated carboxyl functional groups at the electrode surface exist in the solution as -COOH and -COO-, which have different Raman active vibrational features at around 1697 and 1414 cm-1, respectively. In pH neutral water, as the applied electrochemical potential is varied from negative to positive, the acidic form of the 4-MBA (i.e., -COOH) decreases in Raman intensity and the basic form (i.e., -COO-) increases in Raman intensity. The change in local ion concentration is due to the application of electrochemical potentials and the accumulation of ions near the electrode surface. Under various applied potentials, the ratio of 1697 and 1587 cm-1 (pH-independent) peak areas spans the range between 0.7 and 0, and the ratio of the 1414 and 1587 cm-1 peak areas ranges from 0 to 0.3. By fitting these data to a normalized sigmoid function, we obtain the percentage of surface protonation/deprotonation, which can be related to the pKa and pH of the system. Thus, we can measure the local pKa at the electrode surface using the surface enhanced Raman signal of the 4-MBA.

Dynamic Study of Intercalation/Deintercalation of Ionic Liquids in Multilayer Graphene Using an Alternating Current Raman Spectroscopy Technique.

We report Raman spectra and infrared (IR) imaging collected during the intercalation-deintercalation half cycles in a multilayer graphene (MLG) device (∼100 layers) operating at 0.2-10 Hz. The device consists of a MLG/alumina membrane/copper stack, in which the alumina membrane is filled with ionic liquid [DEME][TFSI], forming an electrochemical cell. Upon the application of a positive voltage, the TFSI- anions intercalate into the interstitial spaces in the MLG. The incident laser light is modulated using an optical chopper wheel that is synchronized with (and delayed with respect to) a 0.2-10 Hz alternating current (AC) voltage signal. Raman spectra taken just 200 ms apart show the emergence and disappearance of the intercalated G band mode at around 1610 cm-1. By integration of over hundreds of cycles, a significant Raman signal can be obtained. The intercalation/deintercalation is also monitored with thermal imaging via voltage-induced changes in the carrier density, complex dielectric function ε(ω), and thermal emissivity of the device.

Effects of 30% vs. 60% inspired oxygen fraction during mechanical ventilation on postoperative atelectasis: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: There is the ongoing debate over the effect of inspired oxygen fraction (FiO2) during mechanical ventilation on postoperative atelectasis. We aimed to compare the effects of low (30%) and moderate (60%) FiO2 on postoperative atelectasis. The hypothesis of the study was that 30% FiO2 during mechanical ventilation could reduce postoperative atelectasis volume compared with 60% FiO2. METHODS: We performed a randomized controlled trial with 120 patients. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive 30% or 60% FiO2 during mechanical ventilation in a 1:1 ratio. The primary outcome was the percentage of postoperative atelectasis volume in the total lung measured using chest CT within 30 min after extubation. The secondary outcomes included different aeration region volumes, incidence of clinically significant atelectasis, and oxygenation index. RESULTS: In total, 113 subjects completed the trial, including 55 and 58 subjects in the 30% and 60% FiO2 groups, respectively. The percentage of the postoperative atelectasis volume in the 30% FiO2 group did not differ from that in the 60% FiO2 group. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the atelectasis volume between the two groups after the missing data were imputed by multiple imputation. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the volumes of the over-aeration, normal-aeration, and poor-aeration regions between the groups. No significant differences in the incidence of clinically significant atelectasis or oxygenation index at the end of surgery were observed between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with 60% FiO2, the use of 30% FiO2 during mechanical ventilation does not reduce the postoperative atelectasis volume. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( http://www.chictr.org.cn ). Identifier: ChiCTR1900021635. Date: 2 March 2019. Principal invetigator: Weidong Gu.

Reductive Aldol Approach to Natural Products: Bioinspired Synthesis of abeo-11(12 → 13)-Oleanane Triterpenoids.

A synthesis of alstoscholarinoid B (1) and 3ß-acetoxy-11α-hydroxy-11(12 → 13)abeooleanan-12-al (2) has been accomplished in 7-9 steps and 10%-16% overall yield from oleanolic acid. This synthesis featured a bioinspired SmI2-mediated reductive aldol reaction to establish the abeo-11(12 → 13)-oleanane framework of both 1 and 2 and a retro-aldol/aldol/lactonization cascade to fully construct the skeleton of 1. Moreover, the investigation of the bioinspired aldol reaction also sheds light on the potential biogenesis of natural products.

A novel rabbit model of abdominal aortic aneurysm: Construction and evaluation.

Prior research has indicated that animal models of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) utilizing porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) exhibit a perfusion duration of 30 min, and extended perfusion durations are associated with elevated mortality rates. Similarly, the AAA model, which relies solely on balloon dilation (BD), is limited by the occurrence of self-healing aneurysms. Consequently, we constructed a novel AAA model by PPE combined with balloon expansion to shorten the modeling time and improve the modeling success rate. The findings indicated that 5 min was the optimal BD time for rabbits, 3 min BD was ineffective for aneurysm formation, and 10 min BD had a high mortality rate. The model, constructed in combination with PPE and 5 min BD, exhibited a 100% model formation rate and a 244.7% ± 9.83% dilation rate. HE staining exhibited that severe disruption of the inner, middle, and outer membranes of the abdominal aorta, with a marked decrease in smooth muscle cells and elastase, and a marked increase in fibroblasts of the middle membrane, and many infiltrating inflammatory cells were seen in all three layers, especially in the middle membrane. EVG staining displayed that the elastic fibers of the abdominal aortic wall were fractured and degraded, and lost their normal wavy appearance. The protein expression of inflammatory factor (IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α) as well as extracellular matrix components (MMP-2 and MMP-9) were significantly increased compared to PPE and 5 min BD alone. In conclusion, PPE combined with BD allows the establishment of a novel AAA model that closely mimics human AAA in terms of histomorphology, inflammatory cell infiltration, and vascular stromal destruction. This model provides an ideal animal model for understanding the pathogenesis of AAA.

Analysis of the influential factors of the emotional health of patients with cancer based on the structural equation model: the role of social media and emotional support.

PURPOSE: To explore the mental health status of patients with cancer and related influential factors and provide a scientific basis to reduce serious emotional problems, improve the quality of life of cancer survivors and adopt targeted interventions. METHODS: A total of 517 patients who attended the oncology departments of six grade-A tertiary hospitals from July 2022 to September 2022 were selected by convenience sampling. The effects of emotional support, social media, patient-centred communication, health self-efficacy and cancer beliefs on the emotional well-being of patients with cancer were analysed based on the structural equation model. RESULTS: A Spearman correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation among the six latent variables (P<0.01). The structural equation model path analysis showed that health self-efficacy (ß=0.374, P<0.001), cancer belief (ß=0.214, P=0.003) and emotional support (ß=0.104, P=0.031) all had positive effects on emotional health. The mediating effect results showed that cancer beliefs had a mediating effect on mental health in social media use (ß=0.106, P=0.001), emotional support (ß=0.028, P=0.002) and patient-centred communication (ß=0.050, P=0.002). Further, health self-efficacy had mediating effects on mental health in emotional support (ß=0.084, P=0.001) and patient-centred communication (ß=0.098, P=0.001). CONCLUSION: By constructing structural equation models, this study found that emotional support, cancer beliefs and health self-efficacy showed a positive effect on the emotional well-being of patients with cancer. Further, it found a mediating role of health cancer beliefs on the impact of emotional support, social media use and patient-centred communication on mental health. Additionally, health self-efficacy has a mediating role regarding the effects of emotional support and patient-centred communication on mental health.

Development and characterization of a high efficiency bio-based rhamnolipid compound dust suppressant for coal dust pollution control.

Surfactants make a significant contribution to the suppression of coal dust fly in underground coal mines, but are hazardous to the environment and human health. It is therefore crucial to develop more environmentally friendly and efficient wetting agents using non-polluting eco-friendly surfactants. In this study, the wetting properties of the biosurfactant rhamnolipid were investigated and the rhamnolipid composite wetting agent (CS-A-S) was prepared by mixing design after preferring different surfactants by means of experiments and quantum mechanical simulations. The dust suppression properties were compared by means of infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and molecular dynamics simulation. The results showed that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of rhamnolipid was 0.04 wt% and the surface tension was 25.9 mN/m, which had the basis to become an underground dust suppressant; the surface tension of CS-A-S was reduced to 23.95 mN/m and the contact angle to coal dust was 25°; after spraying CS-A-S, the median particle size of coal dust reached 125.76 µm, an increase of 849.13%; the specific surface area was reduced to 2.24 m2/g, a decrease of 51.06%; the oxygen-containing groups on the coal surface increased by 55.87-246.7%, making it easier to form hydrogen bonds, the coal dust became more hydrophilic, and coal dust particles easily agglomerated into larger sizes and settled rapidly under gravity; the CS-A-S simulated system showed the greatest degree of water molecule penetration, with a minimum of 71 Å, and a water molecule diffusion coefficient of 1.06 Å2/ps, a decrease of 75%, and the interaction energy with coal molecules is 155.6 kcal/mol, an increase of 66.9%, making it easier for the dust suppressant molecules to form adsorption on the coal surface, showing a better dust suppression effect.

Study of wetting and adsorption mechanism of mixed anionic-nonionic nonhomologous surfactants on coal dust based on intermolecular interactions.

The research found that mixed anionic-nonionic surfactants have synergistic wetting performance which can be added to the spray solution to greatly enhance the wettability to coal dust. In this study, based on the experiment data and some synergism parameters, and a 1:5 ratio of fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether sulphate (AES)-lauryl glucoside (APG) has the best synergism, resulting in a highly wettable dust suppressant. Additionally, the wetting processes of different dust suppressant on coal were comparatively simulated by molecular dynamics. Then, the electrostatic potential on the molecular surface was computed. Following this, the mechanism of surfactant molecule regulation of coal hydrophilicity and the advantage of the interspersed arrangement of AES-APG molecules in the mixed solution were proposed. Also, based on the computation of highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels and binding energy calculations, a synergistic mechanism of the anionic-nonionic surfactant is proposed from the perspective of enhanced hydrogen bonding between the hydrophilic part of the surfactant and the water molecule. Overall, these results present a theoretical basis and development strategy for the preparation of highly wettable mixed anionic and nonionic dust suppressants for different coal types.

Drug repurposing of propafenone to discover novel anti-tumor agents by impairing homologous recombination to delay DNA damage recovery of rare disease conjunctival melanoma.

Conjunctival melanoma (CM), a rare and fatal malignant ocular tumor, lacks proper diagnostic biomarkers and therapy. Herein, we revealed the novel application of propafenone, an FDA-approved antiarrhythmic medication, which was identified effective in inhibiting CM cells viability and homologous recombination pathway. Detailed structure-activity relationships generated D34 as one of the most promising derivatives, which strongly suppressed the proliferation, viability, and migration of CM cells at submicromolar concentrations. Mechanically, D34 had the potential to increase γ-H2AX nuclear foci and aggravated DNA damage by suppressing homologous recombination pathway and its factors, particularly the complex of MRE11-RAD50-NBS1. D34 bound to human recombinant MRE11 protein and inhibited its endonuclease activity. Moreover, D34 dihydrochloride significantly suppressed tumor growth in the CRMM1 NCG xenograft model without obvious toxicity. Our finding shows that propafenone derivatives modulating the MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 complex will most likely provide an approach for CM targeted therapy, especially for improving chemo- and radio-sensitivity for CM patients.

Kinetin induces microtubular breakdown, cell cycle arrest and programmed cell death in tobacco BY-2 cells.

Plant cells can undergo regulated cell death in response to exogenous factors (often in a stress context), but also as regular element of development (often regulated by phytohormones). The cellular aspects of these death responses differ, which implies that the early signalling must be different. We use cytokinin-induced programmed cell death as paradigm to get insight into the role of the cytoskeleton for the regulation of developmentally induced cell death, using tobacco BY-2 cells as experimental model. We show that this PCD in response to kinetin correlates with an arrest of the cell cycle, a deregulation of DNA replication, a loss of plasma membrane integrity, a subsequent permeabilisation of the nuclear envelope, an increase of cytosolic calcium correlated with calcium depletion in the culture medium, an increase of callose deposition and the loss of microtubule and actin integrity. We discuss these findings in the context of a working model, where kinetin, mediated by calcium, causes the breakdown of the cytoskeleton, which, either by release of executing proteins or by mitotic catastrophe, will result in PCD.

The role of hypothalamic endoplasmic reticulum stress in schizophrenia and antipsychotic-induced weight gain: A narrative review.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a serious mental illness that affects 1% of people worldwide. SCZ is associated with a higher risk of developing metabolic disorders such as obesity. Antipsychotics are the main treatment for SCZ, but their side effects include significant weight gain/obesity. Despite extensive research, the underlying mechanisms by which SCZ and antipsychotic treatment induce weight gain/obesity remain unclear. Hypothalamic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is one of the most important pathways that modulates inflammation, neuronal function, and energy balance. This review aimed to investigate the role of hypothalamic ER stress in SCZ and antipsychotic-induced weight gain/obesity. Preliminary evidence indicates that SCZ is associated with reduced dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) signaling, which significantly regulates the ER stress pathway, suggesting the importance of ER stress in SCZ and its related metabolic disorders. Antipsychotics such as olanzapine activate ER stress in hypothalamic neurons. These effects may induce decreased proopiomelanocortin (POMC) processing, increased neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related protein (AgRP) expression, autophagy, and leptin and insulin resistance, resulting in hyperphagia, decreased energy expenditure, and central inflammation, thereby causing weight gain. By activating ER stress, antipsychotics such as olanzapine activate hypothalamic astrocytes and Toll-like receptor 4 signaling, thereby causing inflammation and weight gain/obesity. Moreover, evidence suggests that antipsychotic-induced ER stress may be related to their antagonistic effects on neurotransmitter receptors such as DRD2 and the histamine H1 receptor. Taken together, ER stress inhibitors could be a potential effective intervention against SCZ and antipsychotic-induced weight gain and inflammation.

Cucurbitacin B-induced G2/M cell cycle arrest of conjunctival melanoma cells mediated by GRP78-FOXM1-KIF20A pathway.

Conjunctival melanoma (CM) is a rare and fatal malignant eye tumor. In this study, we deciphered a novel anti-CM mechanism of a natural tetracyclic compound named as cucurbitacin B (CuB). We found that CuB remarkably inhibited the proliferation of CM cells including CM-AS16, CRMM1, CRMM2 and CM2005.1, without toxicity to normal cells. CuB can also induce CM cells G2/M cell cycle arrest. RNA-seq screening identified KIF20A, a key downstream effector of FOXM1 pathway, was abolished by CuB treatment. Further target identification by activity-based protein profiling chemoproteomic approach revealed that GRP78 is a potential target of CuB. Several lines of evidence demonstrated that CuB interacted with GRP78 and bound with a K d value of 0.11 µmol/L. Furthermore, ATPase activity evaluation showed that CuB suppressed GRP78 both in human recombinant GRP78 protein and cellular lysates. Knockdown of the GRP78 gene significantly induced the downregulation of FOXM1 and related pathway proteins including KIF20A, underlying an interesting therapeutic perspective. Finally, CuB significantly inhibited tumor progression in NCG mice without causing obvious side effects in vivo. Taken together, our current work proved that GRP78-FOXM1-KIF20A as a promising pathway for CM therapy, and the traditional medicine CuB as a candidate drug to hinder this pathway.

Vitamin A in children's pneumonia for a COVID-19 perspective: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 trials.

BACKGROUND: To systematically review and meta-analyze the efficacy of vitamin A as an adjuvant therapy for pneumonia in children. METHODS: We searched in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Database and Chongqing VIP information network from libraries building to March 2022, screening randomized controlled trials (RCT) about vitamin A combined with conventional therapy for pneumonia in children. Two researchers used the Cochrane risk of bias tool to assess the quality of included studies dependently. Data analysis was conducted in the RevMan 5.3. RESULTS: 15 trials involving 3496 patients (treated group: 1898; control group: 1598) were analyzed in this study. The Meta-analysis showed that vitamin A combined with conventional therapy improved clinical efficacy (P < .05), shortened the duration of fever and cough, negative time of chest X-ray, and the hospitalization, lung rale disappearance, choking milk disappearance, shortness of breath disappearance and perilabial cyanosis disappearance (P < .05). However, vitamin A combined with conventional therapy did not reduce the mortality of pneumonia in children (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Vitamin A contributes to relieve the clinical symptoms and signs, and also shorten the hospitalization.

Innovative Design of a Healthy and Environmentally Friendly Intelligent Cleaning Robot in a Smart City Public Environment.

With the expansion of modern society, there has been a substantial increase in the number of structures with multiple stories. Skyscrapers are not only the dream of incredible architects that desire to command the sky, but they have also transformed and defined how we live in the modern day. Building walls, on the other hand, are constantly affected by acid rain, dust and mist, meteorites, and bird droppings since they are exposed for lengthy periods of time. Furthermore, the challenges of cleaning at great heights are becoming increasingly critical. Figuring out how to most efficiently maintain the outside surfaces of skyscrapers so as to extend their longevity, as well as their worth in urban contexts, is a major concern for the health and cleanliness of the public environment in modern cities. The creation of "smart cities" offers a huge opportunity to achieve this goal. A PLC control system for an intelligent cleaning robot was presented in this study, together with its wire design, control demands, hardware selection, and control system. Furthermore, it provided a design for a cleaning robot that would operate within the context of a smart city. A PLC system would be used in this design to detect the cleaning position and initiate automatic cleaning. The operation of the system revealed that the PLC-based intelligent cleaning robot control system has high dependability, strong operating efficiency features, and a high promotional value.