Analysis of Changes in BDNF Levels Before and After Bariatric Surgery in Obese Patients

Objectives:The rate of obesity has been increasing globally,so is the number of obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery.The relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and body weight has been highlighted in recent years,but there are few related studies in China.The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of BDNF in obese patients before and after bariatric surgery and to provide evidence for obesity-related mechanisms.Methods:The BDNF levels in 44 obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)before and 4.5 months after surgery.SPSS 27.0 was used for statistical analysis.Results:Among the 44 patients,30 were female and 14 were male.The body mass index(BMI)decreased significantly after bariatric surgery(P<0.001);the serum BDNF of the patients significantly increased(P<0.001)after surgery.There was no significant difference in BDNF among patients with different degrees of obesity before and after surgery(P>0.05).There were no significant differences in BMI and BDNF levels between different sexes before and after surgery(P>0.05).Conclusion:The BDNF levels of obese patients increased significantly after bariatric surgery,which proved that bariatric surgery has an effect on BDNF levels.

Effects of iron precursors on the structure and catalytic performance of iron molybdate prepared by mechanochemical route for methanol to formaldehyde

Mechanochemical synthesis has been applied for many novel material preparations and gained more and more attention due to green and high-efficiency recently. In order to explore the influences of iron precursors on structure and performance of iron molybdate catalyst prepared by mechanochemical route, three typical and cheap iron precursors have been used in preparation of iron molybdate catalyst. Many characterization methods have been employed to obtain the physical and chemical properties of iron molybdate catalyst. Results indicate that iron precursors have the significant impact on the phase composition, crystal morphology and catalytic performance in the conversion of methanol to formaldehyde. It is hard to regulate the phase composition by changing Mo/Fe mole ratios for Fe2(SO4)3 as iron precursor. In addition, as for Fe2(SO4)3, the formaldehyde yield is lower than that from iron molybdate catalyst prepared with Fe(NO3)3·9H2O due to the reduction in Fe2(MoO4)3 phase as active phase. Based on mechanochemical and coprecipitation method, the solvent water could be a key factor for the formation of MoO3 and Fe2(MoO4) for FeCl3·6H2O and Fe2(SO4)3 as precursors. Iron molybdate catalyst prepared with Fe(NO3)3·9H2O by mechanochemical route, shows the best methanol conversion and formaldehyde yield in this reaction.

A blockchain-enabled wiki framework based on participatory design

The 5G mobile Internet facilitates contents generation for online communities and platforms through human-to-human collaboration.Wikipedia,a well-known online community,uses wiki technology to build an encyclopedia through collective intelligence and collaboration.Mainstream wiki systems adopt a centralized implementation,and while existing studies have optimized the efficiency of the wiki systems'centralized implementation,these systems still suffer from a lot of problems,for example,opacity and distrust.Over the years,blockchain has brought a flurry of fervour and decentralization to the system architecture,meanwhile giving users a sense of trust and participation.Thus,an innovative blockchain-enabled wiki framework called DecWiki is proposed to build one transparent,truthful,collaborative and autonomous encyclopedia.After several participatory design iterations,we present DecWiki's detailed architecture and its implementation in the form of a smart contract and use the interplanetary file system to complement the big data storage.Meanwhile,we use the trusted execution environment to secure sensitive information in the wireless scenario.Finally,the system overhead and the acceptance of the prototype are evaluated.Extensive experiments present its significant performance.

A metabolism-associated gene signature with prognostic value in colorectal cancer

Objective In this study,our goal was to explore the role of metabolism-associated genes in colorectal cancer(CRC)and construct a prognostic model for patients with CRC.Methods Differential expression analysis was conducted using RNA-sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)dataset.Enrichment analyses were performed to determine the function of dysregulated metabolism-associated genes.The protein-protein interaction(PPI)network,Kaplan-Meier curves,and stepwise Cox regression analyses identified key metabolism-associated genes.A prognostic model was constructed using LASSO Cox regression analysis and visualized as a nomogram.Survival analyses were conducted in the TCGA and Expression Omnibus(GEO)cohorts to demonstrate the predictive ability of the model.Results A total of 332 differentially expressed metabolism-associated genes in CRC were screened from the TCGA cohort.Differentially expressed metabolism-associated genes mainly participate in the metabolism of nucleoside phosphate,ribose phosphate,lipids,and fatty acids.A PPI network was constructed out of 328 key genes.A prognostic model was established based on five prognostic genes(ALAD,CHDH,ISYNA1,NAT1,and P4HA1)and was demonstrated to predict survival in the TCGA and GEO cohorts accurately.Conclusion The metabolism-associated prognostic model can predict the survival of patients with CRC.Our work supplements previous work focusing on determining prognostic factors of CRC and lays a foundation for further mechanistic exploration.

济南市6~18岁儿童青少年散光分布特征及矫正情况

目的:调查济南市6~18岁儿童青少年散光的流行病学分布,探讨该人群散光类型和程度的分布规律。方法:横断面调查研究。本研究于2021年10—12月对济南市12个区县1056所学校共1034863位中小学生进行视力及屈光筛查。采用满足GB/T1533的视力表检查视力,采用符合ISO0342要求的台式电脑验光仪对筛查学生进行非睫状肌麻痹下屈光检测,测量3次,取其平均值。年龄变化趋势采用Cochran-Armitage趋势检验,分类数据分析采用卡方检验。结果:最终纳入年龄6~18岁中小学生1016053人数据进行分析。济南市6~18岁学生散光患病率为48.8%,其中轻度散光率为25.9%,中度散光率为16.6%,重度散光率为6.3%。男生散光率为50.0%,女生散光率为47.4%。单纯左眼散光率(15.8%)明显高于单纯右眼散光率(7.3%),差异具有统计学意义(χ^(2)=15900,P<0.001)。双眼均散光率(25.7%)高于单眼散光率,差异具有统计学意义(χ^(2)=15940,P<0.001)。轻、中、重度散光率随年龄增长逐渐增高,差异有统计学意义(Z值分别为-82.8、-181.0、-91.3,均P<0.001)。顺规散光在不同性别、眼别中均占比最大,其中左眼顺规散光占比最大,为93.1%。顺规散光构成比中,男生高于女生,左眼高于右眼,但差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。7岁之后,复合远视散光随年龄增长占比逐渐减少,差异有统计学意义(Z=-123.3,均P<0.001)。复合近视散光随年龄增长占比逐渐增大(Z=-82.9,均P<0.001)。散光总矫正率为46.1%。结论:散光在6~18岁人群中的发病率较高,各年龄组散光度分布均以低中度散光为主。不同分类中以顺规散光、复合近视散光为主。

Combining radiation and the ATR inhibitor berzosertib activates STING signaling and enhances immunotherapy via inhibiting SHP1 function in colorectal cancer

Background:Immune checkpoint inhibitors(ICIs)targeting programmed cell death protein 1(PD-1)and programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1)have shown a moderate response in colorectal cancer(CRC)with deficient mismatch repair(dMMR)functions and poor response in patients with proficientMMR(pMMR).pMMRtumors are generally immunogenically“cold”,emphasizing combination strategies to turn the“cold”tumor“hot”to enhance the efficacy of ICIs.ATR inhibitors(ATRi)have been proven to cooperate with radiation to promote antitumor immunity,but it is unclear whether ATRi could facilitate the efficacy of IR and ICI combinations in CRCs.This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of combining ATRi,irradiation(IR),and anti-PD-L1 antibodies in CRC mouse models with different microsatellite statuses.Methods:The efficacy of combining ATRi,IR,and anti-PD-L1 antibodies was evaluated in CRC tumors.The tumor microenvironment and transcriptome signatures were investigated under different treatment regimens.The mechanisms were explored via cell viability assay,flow cytometry,immunofluorescence,immunoblotting,co-immunoprecipitation,and real-time quantitative PCR in multiple murine and human CRC cell lines.Results:Combining ATRi berzosertib and IR enhanced CD8+T cell infiltration and enhanced the efficacy of anti-PD-L1 therapy in mouse CRC models with different microsatellite statuses.The mechanistic study demonstrated that IR+ATRi could activate both the canonical cGAS-STING-pTBK1/pIRF3 axis by increasing cytosolic double-stranded DNA levels and the non-canonical STING signaling by attenuating SHP1-mediated inhibition of the TRAF6-STINGp65 axis,via promoting SUMOylation of SHP1 at lysine 127.By boosting the STING signaling,IR+ATRi induced type I interferon-related gene expression and strong innate immune activation and reinvigorated the cold tumor microenvironment,thus facilitating immunotherapy.Conclusions:The combination of ATRi and IR could facilitate anti-PD-L1 therapy by promoting STING signaling in CRC models with different microsatellite statuses.The new combination strategy raised by our study isworth investigating in the management of CRC.

Giant low-field magnetocaloric effect in ferromagnetically ordered Er_(1-x)Tm_(x)Al_(2)(0≤x≤1)compounds

Magnetocaloric material is the key working substance for magnetic refrigerant technology,for which the low-field and low-temperature magnetocaloric effect(MCE)performance is of great importance for practical applications at low temperatures.Here,a giant low-field magnetocaloric effect in ferromagnetically ordered Er_(1-x)Tm_(x)Al_(2)(0≤x≤1)compounds was reported,and the magnetic structure was characterized based on low-temperature neutron powder diffraction.With increasing Tm content from 0 to 1,the Curie temperature of Er_(1-x)Tm_(x)Al_(2)(0≤x≤1)compounds decreases from 16.0 K to 3.6 K.For Er_(0.7)Tm_(0.3)Al_(2) compound,it showed the largest low-field magnetic entropy change(–SM)with the peak value of 17.2 and 25.7 J/(kg K)for 0–1 T and 0–2 T,respectively.The(–SM)max up to 17.2 J/(kg K)of Er0.7Tm0.3Al2 compound for 0–1 T is the largest among the intermetallic magnetocaloric materials ever reported at temperatures below 20 K.The peak value of adiabatic temperature change(Tad)max was determined as 4.13 K and 6.87 K for 0–1 T and 0–2 T,respectively.The characteristic of second-order magnetic transitions was confirmed on basis of Arrott plots,the quantitative criterion of exponent n,rescaled universal curves,and the mean-field theory criterion.The outstanding low-field MCE performance with low working temperatures indicates that Er_(1-x)Tm_(x)Al_(2)(0≤x≤1)compounds are promising candidates for magnetic cooling materials at liquid hydrogen and liquid helium temperatures.

Er-Y-Cr-Si化合物在极低温区的巨低场磁热效应

高性能低温低场磁热材料在气体液化等领域具有重要的应用前景.本团队通过真空电弧熔炼的方式成功合成了一系列多晶Er_(1-x)Y_(x)Cr_(2)Si_(2)(0≤x≤0.8)样品,这些材料表现出巨大的低场磁热效应.其中Cr含量为0.1的样品显示出最好的低场磁热性能以及接近2 K的合适的工作温区.更重要的是,在0-1 T的磁场变化下,该样品的最大磁熵变峰值以及最大绝热温变峰值分别高达19.2 J kg^(-1)K^(-1)和4.3 K.其磁熵变峰值为目前已报道的20 K以下温区合金类磁热材料的最大值.通过Arrott曲线,平均场理论以及约化磁熵变曲线等手段,证明了磁相变特征为二级相变.物理机理分析表明,10%的Y替代导致高达15.9%的磁熵变峰值增强的原因在于替代样品所具有的大饱和磁化强度以及小饱和磁场.

Modified iron-molybdate catalysts with various metal oxides by a mechanochemical method:enhanced formaldehyde yield in methanol partial oxidation

A mechanochemical method was employed to prepare modified iron molybdate catalysts with various metal salts as precursors.The physicochemical properties of the iron molybdate catalysts were characterized,and their performances in catalyzing the reaction from methanol to formaldehyde(HCHO)were evaluated.Iron molybdate catalysts doped with Co(NO_(3))_(2)·6H_(2)Oand Al(NO_(3))_(3)·9H_(2)O resulted in high HCHO yields.Compared with a commercial catalyst,the HCHO yields in the reaction with the modified catalyst at an optimal Co/Mo molar ratio reached 97.37%.According to chemical state analysis,the formation of CoO and the efficient decrease in the MoO_(3)sublimation rate could be important factors enhancing the HCHO yield in reactions catalyzed with iron molybdate doped with different Co/Mo mole ratios.