Genetic polymorphisms of CYP24A1 gene and cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis including 40640 subjects.

BACKGROUND: Whether cytochrome P450 24A1 (CYP24A1) polymorphism is associated with cancer susceptibility, the individual study results are still controversial. Therefore, we performed a comprehensive study to identify the association of CYP24A1 polymorphisms (rs4809960, rs6068816, rs2296241, rs4809957, rs2762939) with cancer susceptibility. METHODS: Electronic databases including Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase were systematically retrieved for relevant publications. Fixed or random-effect model was selected to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). RESULTS: Eighteen published articles were identified. The results indicated that rs4809960 polymorphism was associated with a decreased cancer risk in Caucasian (TT vs. TC+CC: P=0.035; C vs. T: P=0.016) and Asian population (CC vs. TC+TT: OR P=0.044; TT vs. TC+CC: P=0.021; CC vs. TT: P=0.020; C vs. T: P=0.008) and breast cancer risk (TT vs. TC+CC: P = 0.007; TC vs. TT: P=0.004; C vs. T: P=0.033). A significant association was found between rs2296241 polymorphism and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma risk (AA vs. GG+AG: P = 0.023) and prostate cancer susceptibility (A vs. G: P=0.022). Furthermore, rs4809957 polymorphism was associated with prostate cancer susceptibility in Caucasian (GG vs. GA+AA: P=0.029; GA vs. GG: P=0.022) and breast cancer susceptibility (AA vs. GG+GA: P=0.012; AA vs. GG, P=0.010; A vs. G: P=0.024). Additionally, rs6068816 polymorphism significantly decreased the lung cancer (CC vs. CT+TT: P = 0.016; TT vs. CC: P = 0.044; CT vs. CC: P = 0.036; T vs. C: P = 0.016) and breast cancer risk (TT vs. CC+CT: P = 0.043; TT vs. CC: P = 0.039). No association was found for rs2762939 polymorphism with overall cancer risk. However, for rs2296241, rs4809957, and rs6068816 polymorphisms, there were no significant differences after the Bonferroni correction. CONCLUSION: The meta-analysis suggested that rs4809960 was associated with cancer risk and might be a genetic marker for predicting cancer risk. More large-scale and large-sample studies are necessary to further confirm these results.

Summary of the effect of an exercise intervention on antenatal depression and the optimal program: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the effect of exercise intervention for antenatal depression using meta-analysis and to propose the best exercise intervention program. METHODS: Review Manager 5.3 was used to analyze 17 papers with 2224 subjects by setting five moderators, including type, time, frequency, period, and format of exercise intervention, and a random-effects model was used to test for overall effect, heterogeneity, and publication bias. RESULTS: (1) The effect size of the exercise intervention on antenatal depression was d = -0.56, which reached a good effect and was statistically significant; b (2) The effect size of the exercise type on antenatal depression was Yoga and a combination of aerobic exercise in order of intervention; (3) the single intervention duration of 10-75 min all had a good effect on antenatal depression, and 30-60 min had the best effect; (4) the intervention frequency of 3 to 5 times/week had the greatest amount of intervention effect on maternal depression; (5) exercise lasting 6-10 weeks had a good intervention effect on antepartum depression, and the amount of effect decreased gradually with the extension of time; (6) In terms of exercise format, the amount of intervention effect on maternal depression was in the order of group exercise, individual + group exercise. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise intervention can significantly alleviate antenatal depression symptoms. The best exercise program for exercise intervention for antenatal depression is: Yoga and a combination of aerobic exercise intervention effects are more prominent, and the intervention effect of Yoga is the best. The use of group exercise 3-5 times per week for 30-60 min for 6-10 weeks was more likely to achieve the desired intervention effect of improving antenatal depression.

Combination of UAV and Raspberry Pi 4B: Airspace detection of red imported fire ant nests using an improved YOLOv4 model.

Red imported fire ants (RIFA) are an alien invasive pest that can cause serious ecosystem damage. Timely detection, location and elimination of RIFA nests can further control the spread of RIFA. In order to accurately locate the RIFA nests, this paper proposes an improved deep learning method of YOLOv4. The specific methods were as follows: 1) We improved GhostBottleNeck (GBN) and replaced the original CSP block of YOLOv4, so as to compress the network scale and reduce the consumption of computing resources. 2) An Efficient Channel Attention (ECA) mechanism was introduced into GBN to enhance the feature extraction ability of the model. 3) We used Equalized Focal Loss to reduce the loss value of background noise. 4) We increased and improved the upsampling operation of YOLOv4 to enhance the understanding of multi-layer semantic features to the whole network. 5) CutMix was added in the model training process to improve the model's ability to identify occluded objects. The parameters of improved YOLOv4 were greatly reduced, and the abilities to locate and extract edge features were enhanced. Meanwhile, we used an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to collect images of RIFA nests with different heights and scenes, and we made the RIFA nests (RIFAN) airspace dataset. On the RIFAN dataset, through qualitative analysis of the evaluation indicators, mean average precision (MAP) of the improved YOLOv4 model reaches 99.26%, which is 5.9% higher than the original algorithm. Moreover, compared with Faster R-CNN, SSD and other algorithms, improved YOLOv4 has achieved excellent results. Finally, we transplanted the model to the embedded device Raspberry Pi 4B and assembled it on the UAV, using the model's lightweight and high-efficiency features to achieve flexible and fast flight detection of RIFA nests.

Self-formed C-dot-based 2D polysiloxane with high photoluminescence quantum yield and stability.

C-Dots and composites based on them face the challenges of poor stability, especially under photo-radiation, and low solid-state photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs), which hinder their application in optical devices. Herein, a novel 2-dimensional hybrid material of polysiloxane embedded with Si-doped carbon dots (P-E-Si-CDs) was synthesized by a self-assembly approach, and the hybrid composite exhibited broadband blue-green fluorescence emission, outstanding photostability, high thermal stability, and a high PLQY of 82.8%. Moreover, the dual fluorescent emissions were demonstrated the creation of two closed-loop fluorophores. Using the as-prepared hybrid fluorescent material, fabricated light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on UV and blue-emitting LED chips present safe warm white light emission and adjustable white emission with a high color rendering index of up to 91, respectively. This work provides a novel strategy for the design and realization of Si-CD-based hybrid composites, thus promising their prospective use commercially in LED lighting.

Synthesis of modified carbon dots with performance of ultraviolet absorption used in sunscreen.

The research and development of non-toxic, broad-spectrum and environmentally friendly ultraviolet absorbers remains no significant progress in recent years. We found that the ultraviolet absorption spectra can be regulated through modification of functional groups on carbon dots surface, and the modified carbon dots exhibiting good stability and functions of sunscreen (Sun protection actor reaches to 22) and anti-aging properties were experimentally demonstrated. Moreover, we figured out the ultraviolet absorption mechanism of carbon dots for the first time and confirmed the existence of non-fluorescent radiation energy traps. Carbon dots are expected to be widely used and commercialized as ultraviolet absorbers.

Sol-gel-Derived highly sensitive optical oxygen sensing materials using Ru(II) complex via covalent grafting strategy.

The preparation and oxygen sensing properties of Ru(ll) covalently-grafted and physically-incorporated silica based hybrid materials by sol-gel technique are described in this article. The Ru(II) complexes are successfully grafted onto the backbone of the silica via the condensation reaction of the tetraethoxysilane and the functionalized Ru(II) complex 2-[4'-{3-(Triethoxysilyl)propyl}phenyl]imidazo [4,5-f]-1,10-phenanthroline that contains the hydrolysable tri-alkoxylsilyl group. The luminescence quenching of Ru(II) complex by oxygen within the silica matrix is efficient. The oxygen quenching sensitivity of the covalently-grafted sample is higher than that of the physically-incorporated one due to the strong Si-CH2 bond that is useful to prolong the excited state lifetimes and enhance the photobleaching of the luminophore. The downward oxygen sensing Stern-Volmer plots can be well fitted using the Demas two-site model and the Lehrer model due to the heterogeneous distribution of the Ru(ll) complex within the sol-gel derived silica.

Topological morphology conversion towards SnO2/SiC hollow sphere nanochains with efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Novel SnO2/SiC hollow sphere nanochains were synthesized by topological morphology conversion of SnO2@C core-shell nanochains through a vapour-solid reaction. Evaluation of the SnO2/SiC HSNCs for the generation of hydrogen revealed that they exhibit excellent catalytic activity and durability.

A simple additive-free approach for the synthesis of uniform manganese monoxide nanorods with large specific surface area.

A simple additive-free approach is developed to synthesize uniform manganese monoxide (MnO) one-dimensional nanorods, in which only manganese acetate and ethanol were used as reactants. The as-synthesized MnO nanorods were characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) including high-resolution TEM and selected-area electron diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrum, and nitrogen adsorption isotherm measurements. The results indicate that the as-synthesized MnO nanorods present a mesoporous characteristic with large specific surface area (153 m2 g-1), indicating promising applications in catalysis, energy storage, and biomedical image. On the basis of experimental results, the formation mechanism of MnO one-dimensional nanorods in the absence of polymer additives was also discussed.

Enhancing photoactivity of TiO2(B)/anatase core-shell nanofibers by selectively doping cerium ions into the TiO2(B) core.

Cerium ions (Ce(3+)) can be selectively doped into the TiO2(B) core of TiO2(B)/anatase core-shell nanofibers by means of a simple one-pot hydrothermal treatment of a starting material of hydrogen trititanate (H2Ti3O7) nanofibers. These Ce(3+) ions (≈0.202 nm) are located on the (110) lattice planes of the TiO2(B) core in tunnels (width≈0.297 nm). The introduction of Ce(3+) ions reduces the defects of the TiO2(B) core by inhibiting the faster growth of (110) lattice planes. More importantly, the redox potential of the Ce(3+)/Ce(4+) couple (E°(Ce(3+)/Ce(4+))=1.715 V versus the normal hydrogen electrode) is more negative than the valence band of TiO2(B). Therefore, once the Ce(3+)-doped nanofibers are irradiated by UV light, the doped Ce(3+) ions--in close vicinity to the interface between the TiO2(B) core and anatase nanoshell--can efficiently trap the photogenerated holes. This facilitates the migration of holes from the anatase shell and leaves more photogenerated electrons in the anatase nanoshell, which results in a highly efficient separation of photogenerated charges in the anatase nanoshell. Hence, this enhanced charge-separation mechanism accelerates dye degradation and alcohol oxidation processes. The one-pot treatment doping strategy is also used to selectively dope other metal ions with variable oxidation states such as Co(2+/3+) and Cu(+/2+) ions. The doping substantially improves the photocatalytic activity of the mixed-phase nanofibers. In contrast, the doping of ions with an invariable oxidation state, such as Zn(2+), Ca(2+), or Mg(2+), does not enhance the photoactivity of the mixed-phase nanofibers as the ions could not trap the photogenerated holes.