General anesthetic agents induce neurotoxicity through astrocytes

Neuroscientists have recognized the importance of astrocytes in regulating neurological function and their influence on the release of glial transmitters.Few studies,however,have focused on the effects of general anesthetic agents on neuroglia or astrocytes.Astrocytes can also be an important target of general anesthetic agents as they exert not only sedative,analgesic,and amnesic effects but also mediate general anesthetic-induced neurotoxicity and postoperative cognitive dysfunction.Here,we analyzed recent advances in understanding the mechanism of general anesthetic agents on astrocytes,and found that exposure to general anesthetic agents will destroy the morphology and proliferation of astrocytes,in addition to acting on the receptors on their surface,which not only affect Ca^(2+)signaling,inhibit the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and lactate from astrocytes,but are even involved in the regulation of the pro-and anti-inflammatory processes of astrocytes.These would obviously affect the communication between astrocytes as well as between astrocytes and neighboring neurons,other neuroglia,and vascular cells.In this review,we summarize how general anesthetic agents act on neurons via astrocytes,and explore potential mechanisms of action of general anesthetic agents on the nervous system.We hope that this review will provide a new direction for mitigating the neurotoxicity of general anesthetic agents.

Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Effect Summer Rainfall in Huanghuai, Jianghuai Region in China

Summer Precipitation in Eastern China was closely related to the global sea surface temperature field. In this paper, the impact of the main sea surface temperature anomaly on flood season precipitation in China’s Huanghuai and Jianghuai regions is examined as an external forcing factor for short-term climate prediction. Through analysis of global sea surface temperature anomalies and regional anomalies in Huanghuai and Jianghuai, a significant effect related to the main area, the North Pacific region, and the Nino3 corresponding index calculation is found. Various key areas are examined for their relevance, and finally, the mechanism of summer precipitation in two key zones, China’s Huanghuai and Jianghuai regions, is briefly discussed. The main implication is the prediction of season precipitation based on the external forcing signal of sea surface temperature anomaly in China’s Huanghuai and Jianghuai regions.

Potato tonoplast sugar transporter 1 controls tuber sugar accumulation during postharvest cold storage

Cold-induced sweetening(CIS),the undesirable sugar accumulation in cold-stored potato(Solanum tuberosum L.)tubers,is a severe postharvest issue in the potato processing industry.Although the process of sucrose hydrolysis by vacuolar invertase during potato CIS is well understood,there is limited knowledge about the transportation of sucrose from the cytosol to the vacuole during postharvest cold storage.Here,we report that among the three potato tonoplast sugar transporters(TSTs),StTST1 exhibits the highest expression in tubers during postharvest cold storage.Subcellular localization analysis demonstrates that StTST1 is a tonoplast-localized protein.StTST1 knockdown decreases reducing sugar accumulation in tubers during low-temperature storage.Compared to wild-type,potato chips produced from StTST1-silenced tubers displayed significantly lower acrylamide levels and lighter color after cold storage.Transcriptome analysis manifests that suppression of StTST1 promotes starch synthesis and inhibits starch degradation in cold-stored tubers.We further establish that the increased sucrose content in the StTST1-silenced tubers might cause a decrease in the ABA content,thereby inhibiting the ABA-signaling pathway.We demonstrate that the down-regulation ofβ-amylase StBAM1 in StTST1-silenced tubers might be directly controlled by ABA-responsive element-binding proteins(AREBs).Altogether,we have shown that StTST1 plays a critical role in sugar accumulation and starchmetabolism regulation during postharvest cold storage.Thus,our findings provide a newstrategy to improve the frying quality of cold-stored tubers and reduce the acrylamide content in potato chips.

Evaporative Cooling Applied in Thermal Power Plants:A Review of the State-ofthe-Art and Typical Case Studies

A review is conducted about the application of the evaporative cooling technology in thermal power plants.Different case studies are considered,namely,evaporative air conditioners,evaporative cooling in direct air-cooled systems,gas turbine inlet cooling,wet cooling towers,and hybrid cooling towers with a crosswind effect.Some effort is provided to describe the advantages related to direct evaporative cooling when it is applied in thermal power plants and illustrate the research gaps,which have not been filled yet.In particular,typical case studies are intentionally used to compare the cooling performances when direct evaporative cooling is implemented in different types of cooling towers,including the natural draft wet cooling tower(NDWCT)and the pre-cooled natural draft dry cooling tower(NDDCT).It is shown that the NDWCT provides the best cooling performance in terms of power station cooling,followed by the pre-cooled NDDCT,and the NDDCT;moreover,the evaporative pre-cooling is able to enhance the cooling performance of NDDCT.Besides,on a yearly basis,better NDDCT cooling performances can be obtained by means of a spray-based pre-cooling approach with respect to wet media pre-cooling.Therefore,the use of nozzle spray is suggested for improvement in the performance of indirect/direct air-cooling systems with controlled water consumption.

Spray Effect on the Thermal Performances of a Dry Cooling Tower

Pre-cooling the inlet air of a dry cooling tower by means of a spray can improve the tower performance during periods of high temperature.To study the spray effect on the thermal performance of natural draft dry cooling towers(NDDCTs),in this study 3-D numerical simulations of such a process have been conducted using Fluent 16.2(a two-way coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian approach).The considered NDDCT is 120 m high and only half system is simulated due to its structural symmetry.Three different spray strategies have been investigated at a typical crosswind speed of 4 m/s,which is the most frequent wind speed.The results have shown that:(1)The three implemented spray strategies can improve the thermal performance of the studied NDDCT with a vary-ing degree of success.In one case,the heat rejection rate can be increased by 35.2%,and the tower outlet water temperature can be decreased by 2.1℃ when compared with the no spray case;(2)To improve the thermal per-formance of the NDDCT using a small amount of water,the design of the spray pre-cooling system must include more nozzles on the windward and fewer or even no nozzles on the leeward sides of the NDDCT.

Screening and identification of purine degrading Lactobacillus fermentum9-4 from Chinese fermented rice-flour noodles

The aim of this study was to isolate a new purine-degrading potential probiotic strain from Chinese fermented rice-flour noodles and investigate its potential application in purine-degrading food development for promising anti-gout therapy.A new lactic acid bacteria strain designated as Lactobacillus fermentum 9-4 was screened out from 10 Shengzhamifen samples by a comprehensive method integrating agar plate selection,in vitro purine-metabolizing enzymatic activities of xanthine oxidase and urate oxidase,16 S rRNA gene sequencing and identification.The resting cells of L.fermentum 9-4 showed the maximum degradation rates of inosine and guanosine by respective 2.13×10^(-3) and 2.78×10^(-3) g/(L·min),and the highest assimilation ratio of guanosine by(55.93±3.12)%,which are improvements over LAB strains characterized previously.Yogurt fermented by L.fermentum 9-4 also efficiently assimilated the inosine and guanosine,with respective degradation rates of 98.10%and 98.56%higher than those of the commercial ones.The L.fermentum 9-4 showed excellent survival(>80%)under the conditions of pH 2.5 and 0.1%bile salt.The results suggest that L.fermentum 9-4 may be a promising candidate as a probiotic for developing low-purine foods.

StRAP2.3, an ERF-Ⅶ transcription factor, directly activates StInvInh2 to enhance cold-induced sweetening resistance in potato

Potato invertase inhibitor(StInvInh2)positively regulates cold-induced sweetening(CIS)resistance by inhibiting the activity of vacuolar invertase.The distinct expression patterns of StInvInh2 have been thoroughly characterized in different potato genotypes,but the related CIS ability has not been characterized.The understanding of the regulatory mechanisms that control StInvInh2 transcription is unclear.In this study,we identified an ERF‐Ⅶ transcription factor,StRAP2.3,that directly regulates StInvInh2 to positively modulate CIS resistance.Acting as a nuclear-localized transcriptional activator,StRAP2.3 directly binds the ACCGAC cis-element in the promoter region of StInvInh2,enabling promoter activity.Overexpression of StRAP2.3 in CIS-sensitive potato tubers induced StInvInh2 mRNA abundance and increased CIS resistance.In contrast,silencing StRAP2.3 in CIS-resistant potato tubers repressed the expression of StInvInh2 and decreased CIS resistance.We conclude that cold-responsive StInvInh2 is due to the binding of StRAP2.3 to the ACCGAC cis-element in the promoter region of StInvInh2.Overall,these findings indicate that StRAP2.3 directly regulates StInvInh2 to positively modulate CIS resistance,which may provide a strategy to improve the processing quality of potatoes.

Low-Temperature Processed Carbon Electrode-Based Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells with Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance and Stability

All-inorganic perovskite solar cells(PVSCs)have drawn widespread attention for its superior thermal stability.Carbon-based devices are promising to demonstrate excellent long-term operational stability due to the hydrophobicity of carbon materials and the abandon of organic holetransporting materials(HTMs).However,the difficulty to control the crystallinity process and the poor morphology leads to serious non-radiative recombination,resulting in low V_(OC)and power conversion efficiency(PCE).In this article,the crystal formation process of all-inorganic perovskites is controlled with a facile composition engineering strategy.By bromide incorporation,high-quality perovskite films with large grain and fewer grain boundaries are achieved.As-prepared perovskite films demonstrate longer carrier lifetime,contributing to lower energy loss and better device performance.Fabricated carbon-based HTM-free PVSCs with CsPbI_(2.33)Br_(0.67) perovskite realized champion PCE of 12.40%,superior to 8.80%of CsPbI_(3)-based devices,which is one of the highest efficiencies reported for the carbon-based all-inorganic PVSCs to date.The high V_(OC) of 1.01 V and FF of 70.98% indicate the significance of this composition engineering method.Moreover,fabricated carbon-based devices exhibit excellent stability,and unencapsulated device retains over 90%of its initial efficiency under continuous one sun illumination for 250 h in N_(2) atmosphere and keeps~84%of its original value after stored in ambient environment with RH 15–20% for 200 h.This work provides a facile way to fabricate high-performance and stable carbon-based all-inorganic PVSCs.

Simulation on the Time Progress of the Non-Point Source Pollution Load in Initial Stage Runoff for Small Watershed

Taking a reservoir in South China as an example, we use rainfall-runoff unit hydrograph method to analyze the time changing process of surface runoff inflow, which generated by typical design rainfall. On the basis of time series data of flow and water quality in control section of the main rivers in Xili Reservoir, we establish mathematical response relation between non-point source pollutants flux, such as flux of COD, flux of NH3-H, in catchment area of control section and runoff. Then we simulate the time dynamic change progress of non-point source pollution load which generate with the initial stage runoff that generated by design rainfall and flow into reservoir. It can provide technical parameters for the design of non-point source which generate from early runoff treatment project.

Numerical Simulation of the Effects on Low Temperature Drainage from LNG on the Ocean Water Environment

In order to research the distribution of thermal field of low temperature discharge from LNG in the ocean, further to formulate reasonable wastewater marine disposal scheme and provide scientific support to the protection of ocean environment, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model was used to simulate the tide current field in the radial sand ridge group of shallow sea area of Jiangsu maritime space. This model was based on the tide current characteristics near the LNG project and the seasonal design of the typical hydrological conditions in different seasons. This model was used as the hydrodynamic condition that simulated the transport and diffusion for the heat quantity in the change of time and spatial distribution. Considering the comprehensive heat radiation coefficient of water surface, the 2-D water temperature model was established to predict the spatial distribution and temporal variation of the temperature field in the receiving waters. Finally, results showed that the low temperature drainage less affected in the ocean water environment.

基于LASSO回归的BP-LSTM模型对网球比赛势头的研究

在各大体育赛事中,球员在比赛中的优势表现往往对比赛的结果至关重要。为了定量化分析势头对各体育赛事的影响,我们将势头概念量化,引入势头得分这一概念,并随机抽取五场网球比赛进行分析,将破发成功率,二发成功率,一发成功率,一发得分率作为影响势头分的指标,通过LASSO回归建立势头得分与各指标的量化关系,考虑到多指标的输入输出,我们引入BP神经网络建立起多指标对输出的关系,并将LASSO回归得到的具体的势头分作为BP神经网络的输出,将BP神经网络残差输出借助LSTM预测,并将二者相加得到较为精准的势头得分,正确率高达95%。结果表明各球员在比赛中的势头在一定程度上影响比赛的结果。

Constructing Ce-Mn/Al_(2)O_(3)with different active components for low temperature catalytic degradation of chlorobenzene in soil

Soil remediation containing numerous organic contaminants is of great significance to ecological environment.Herein,the synergetic effects of Ce-Mn/Al_(2)O_(3)with different active components on catalytic thermal desorption of chlorobenzene in soil were investigated.The optimized Ce-Mn/Al_(2)O_(3)drastically enhance the desorption efficiency of chlorobenzene,and the corresponding conversion reaches 100%within 1 h at a low temperature of 120℃.The superior performance is ascribed to the formation of Ce-Mn solid solution during the calcination process,resulting in a certain lattice change to the generation of abundant oxygen vacancies and acidic sites.Combining with the analysis of in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry,the final products of chlorobenzene are decomposed into CO_(2),H_(2)O,Cl_(2)and HCl.This work sheds light on the rational design of highly-active catalysts for practical applications of sustainable soil remediation.

Regression models of Pearson correlation coefficient

We propose two simple regression models of Pearson correlation coefficient of two normal responses or binary responses to assess the effect of covariates of interest.Likelihood-based inference is established to estimate the regression coefficients,upon which bootstrap-based method is used to test the significance of covariates of interest.Simulation studies show the effectiveness of the method in terms of type-I error control,power performance in moderate sample size and robustness with respect to model mis-specification.We illustrate the application of the proposed method to some real data concerning health measurements.

Cortico–subcortical spatiotemporal dynamics in Parkinson’s disease can be modulated by transcranial alternating current stimulation

Objective:We investigated changes in cortico–subcortical spatiotemporal dynamics to explore the treatment mechanisms oftranscranial alternating current stimulation(tACS)in patientswith Parkinson’s disease(PD).Methods:Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(rs-fMRI)data were collected from 20 patients with PD and 20 normal controls(NC).Each patient with PD received successivemultidisciplinary intensive rehabilitation treatment and tACStreatment over a one-year interval.Individual functional brain network mapping and co-activation pattern(CAP)analysis were performed to characterize cortico–subcortical dynamics.Results:The same tACS electrode placement stimulated different proportions of functional brain networks across the participants.CAP analysis revealed that the visual network,attentional network,and default mode network co-activated with the thalamus,accumbens,and amygdala,respectively.The pattern characterized by thede-activation of the visual network and the activation of the thalamus showed a significantly low amplitude in the patients with PD than inNCs,and this amplitude increased after tACS treatment.Furthermore,the co-occurrence of cortico–subcortical CAPs was significantly higherin patients with PD than in NCs and decreased after tACS treatment.Conclusions:This study investigated cortico–subcortical spatiotemporaldynamics in patients with PD and further revealed the tACS treatmentmechanism.These findings contribute to understanding cortico–subcortical dynamics and exploring noninvasive neuromodulationtargets of cortico–subcortical circuits in brain diseases,such as PD,Alzheimer’s disease,and depression.

Dysregulated miRNAs modulate tumor microenvironment associated signaling networks in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

The desmoplastic and complex tumor microenvironment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC)has presented tremendous challenges for developing effective therapeutic strategies.Strategies targeting tumor stroma,albeit with great potential,have met with limited success due to the lack of knowledge on the molecular dynamics within the tumor microenvironment(TME).In pursuit of a better understanding of the influence of miRNAs on TME reprogramming and to explore circulating miRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for PDAC,using RNA-seq,miRNA-seq,and single-cell RNA-seq(scRNA-seq),we investigated the dysregulated signaling pathways in PDAC TME modulated by miRNAs from plasma and tumor tissue.Our bulk RNA-seq in PDAC tumor tissue identified 1445 significantly differentially expressed genes with extracellular matrix and structure organization as the top enriched pathways.Our miRNA-seq identified 322 and 49 abnormally expressed miRNAs in PDAC patient plasma and tumor tissue,respectively.We found many of the TME signaling pathways were targeted by those dysregulated miRNAs in PDAC plasma.Combined with scRNA-seq from patient PDAC tumor,our results revealed that these dysregulated miRNAs were closely associated with extracellular matrix(ECM)remodeling,cell-ECM communication,epithelial-mesenchymal transition,as well as immunosuppression orchestrated by different cellular components of TME.The findings of this study could assist the development of miRNA-based stromal targeting biomarkers or therapy for PDAC patients.

新生儿Coffin-Siris综合征2例

Coffin-Siris综合征(Coffin-Siris syndrome,CSS)是一种以外貌异常、发育迟缓为特征的先天性多系统功能异常综合征,临床特征不典型。本文报道2例新生儿期起病的CSS患儿,通过全外显子组测序分析和全基因组测序明确诊断,以加强临床医生对该病的认识。

Cu催化偶联反应合成烷基芳基醚的DFT机理研究

本工作提出了Cu催化的2-(2-碘苯基)-1-乙醇分子内UllmannC―O偶联反应机理,并用密度泛函理论(density functionaltheory,DTF)计算验证.催化循环从原位生成的亚铜配合物开始,亚铜配合物经氧化加成生成Cu(Ⅲ)配合物;Cu(Ⅲ)配合物和反应物醇配位形成四配位Cu(Ⅲ)配合物;然后四配位Cu(Ⅲ)配合物被O-卤键活化,活化后进行配体交换;最后经还原消除释放烷基芳基醚并再生催化剂.量化计算显示叔丁醇离子不仅是一种碱而且还扮演催化剂物种的角色.然后,计算各步反应能垒表明配体交换是整个反应的决速步骤.计算结果与实验结果吻合较好,证明了计算机理的合理性.

Evaluation of an innovative pediatric isolation(PI)bed using fluid dynamics simulation and aerosol isolation efficacy

Airborne transmission is an important mechanism of spread for both viruses and bacteria in hospitals,with nosocomial infections putting a great burden on public health.In this study,we designed and manufactured a bed for pediatric clinic consultation rooms providing air isolation to protect patients and medical personnel from pathogen transmission.The pediatric isolation bed has several primary efficiency filters and a high-efficiency particulate air filter in the bedside unit.The air circulation between inlet and outlet forms negative pressure to remove the patient's exhaled air timeously and effectively.A computational fluid dynamics model was used to calculate the speed of the airflow and the angle of sampler.Following this,we conducted purification experiments using cigarette smoke,Staphylococcus albus(S.albus)and human adenovirus type 5(HAdV-5)to demonstrate the isolation efficacy.The results showed that the patient's head should be placed as close to the air inlet hood as possible,and an air intake wind speed of 0.86 m/s was effective.The isolation efficacy of the pediatric isolation bed was demonstrated by computational fluid dynamics technology.The isolation efficiency against cigarette smoke exceeded 91.8%,and against S.albus was greater than 99.8%,while the isolation efficiency against HAdV-5 was 100%.The pediatric isolation bed could be used where isolation wards are unavailable,such as in intensive care units and primary clinical settings,to control hospital acquired infections.

Review of brain-computer interface based on steady-state visual evoked potential

The brain-computer interface(BCI)technology has received lots of attention in the field of scientific research because it can help disabled people improve their quality of life.Steady-state visual evoked potential(SSVEP)is the most researched BCI experimental paradigm,which offers the advantages of high signal-to-noise ratio and short training-time requirement by users.In a complete BCI system,the two most critical components are the experimental paradigm and decoding algorithm.However,a systematic combination of the SSVEP experimental paradigm and decoding algorithms is missing in existing studies.In the present study,the transient visual evoked potential,SSVEP,and various improved SSVEP paradigms are compared and analyzed,and the problems and development bottlenecks in the experimental paradigm are finally pointed out.Subsequently,the canonical correlation analysis and various improved decoding algorithms are introduced,and the opportunities and challenges of the SSVEP decoding algorithm are discussed.

Aminoflavone upregulates putative tumor suppressor miR-125b-2-3p to inhibit luminal A breast cancer stem cell-like properties

Metastatic breast cancer is incurable and often due to breast cancer stem cell(CSC)-mediated self-renewal.We previously determined that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor(AhR)agonist aminoflavone(AF)inhibits the expression of the CSC biomarkerα6-integrin(ITGA6)to disrupt the formation of luminal(hormone receptor-positive)mammospheres(3D breast cancer spheroids).In this study,we performed miRNA-sequencing analysis of luminal A MCF-7 mammospheres treated with AF to gain further insight into the mechanism of AF-mediated anti-cancer and anti-breast CSC activity.AF significantly induced the expression of>70 microRNAs(miRNAs)including miR125b-2–3p,a predicted stemness gene regulator.AF-mediated miR125b-2–3p induction was validated in MCF-7 mammospheres and cells.miR125b-2–3p levels were low in breast cancer tissues irrespective of subtype compared to normal breast tissues.While miR125b-2–3p levels were low in MCF-7 cells,they were much lower in AHR100 cells(MCF-7 cells made unresponsive to AhR agonists).The miR125b-2–3p mimic decreased,while the antagomiR125b-2–3p increased the expression of stemness genes ITGA6 and SOX2 in MCF-7 cells.In MCF-7 mammospheres,the miR125b-2–3p mimic decreased only ITGA6 expression although the antagomiR125b-2–3p increased ITGA6,SOX2 and MYC expression.AntagomiR125b-2–3p reversed AF-mediated suppression of ITGA6.The miR125b-2–3p mimic decreased proliferation,migration,and mammosphere formation while the antagomiR125b-2–3p increased proliferation and mammosphere formation in MCF-7 cells.The miR125b-2–3p mimic also inhibited proliferation,mammosphere formation,and migration in AHR100 cells.AF induced AhR-and miR125b2-3p-dependent anti-proliferation,anti-migration,and mammosphere disruption in MCF-7 cells.Our findings suggest that miR125b-2–3p is a tumor suppressor and AF upregulates miR125b-2–3p to disrupt mammospheres via mechanisms that rely at least partially on AhR in luminal A breast cancer cells.