基于生物信息学分析揭示枸杞红素抗青光眼靶点及分子机制的研究

目的本研究拟通过网络药理学研究策略旨在揭示枸杞红素抗青光眼的药理靶点及分子机制。方法运用整合数据库分别获取枸杞红素治疗靶点和青光眼病理靶点,并经映射后获得枸杞红素治疗青光眼的潜在靶点。采用STRING数据库获得靶点-靶点功能相关蛋白间的网络关联图。运用Cytoscape软件Network Analyzer分析网络自由度中位数和最大自由度等拓扑参数,并根据Degree值筛选现枸杞红素抗青光眼的核心靶点。此外,应用R语言中的“ClusterProfiler”、“org.Hs.eg.Db”、“ggplot2”等数据包对核心靶点进行GO和KEGG富集分析及可视化。结果生物信息学分析筛选出128个枸杞红素、1196个青光眼潜在靶点及19个共有靶点。GO富集分析结果表明枸杞红素抗青光眼药理活性可能与通过调控这些核心靶点有关,提示枸杞红素通过多靶点调控进而发挥治疗青光眼的潜在作用。KEGG富集分析结果显示,枸杞红素抗青光眼作用可能与调控眼组织细胞因子活性,内环境稳态及激活神经修复因子/受体活性进而促进神经细胞增殖或修复有关。此外,枸杞红素抗青光眼分子机制可能与抗炎症反应、氧化损伤、细胞凋亡及增强免疫调控等信号通路有关。结论枸杞红素可能是抗青光眼的潜在活性成分,并通过多靶点和多通路共同作用发挥抗青光眼活性。

肩袖损伤后脂肪浸润基因表达谱及关键通路的生物信息学分析

背景:脂肪浸润是肩袖修补术后失败的关键因素,然而肩袖损伤后脂肪浸润的病理变化机制尚不清楚。目的:旨在探索肩袖损伤后关键基因的表达差异,确定其功能和机制通路,为肩袖损伤脂肪浸润的病理变化机制提供理论依据。方法:通过GEO数据库获取GSE93661芯片筛选差异表达基因,采用GO、KEGG分析脂肪浸润的潜在机制。通过构建PPI网络获取枢纽基因,分析潜在致病靶点。结果与结论:共鉴定差异表达基因471个。GO和KEGG分析表明神经活性配体-受体相互作用、细胞黏附分子通路是肩袖损伤脂肪浸润的潜在机制。白三烯B4受体(LTB4R)作为PPI网络中的枢纽基因,可能是肩袖损伤脂肪浸润的关键靶标。提示:文章发现了肩袖损伤后脂肪浸润病理发展中潜在的关键基因和通路,为今后的治疗提供了参考方向。

Mastering Presenters by Means of Visual Aids： Assessing Students＇ Oral Presentations

The introduction of the ICTs （Information and Communication Technologies） in education has set a new paradigm in knowledge acquisition. The Internet, overhead projectors and interactive boards, presentation and animation software, and online databases are only some resources that teachers use in order to present information in a more dynamic, immediate, and stunning way, transforming and revitalizing the teaching-learning process. The ICTs have been established in the university classroom and nowadays, they have become an essential part in this teaching-learning process. Lecturers make use of them in the same proportion as they make of traditional materials. At the same time, students have to be acquainted with these new technologies and they also have to be able to deal with them. The objective of this paper is twofold： On the one hand, we study and show how our students make use of the technologies when they have to face their oral presentations in the subject Advanced English： Professional Settings （English Studies Degree at Universitat Jaume I in Castellen, Spain）. It is acknowledged that visual aids can be helpful to support a speech, but we want to analyze if the visual aids are successfully applied, how and to which extent. On the other hand, we want to make out the opinions of their classmates about the use of these graphical resources （students fill in a questionnaire about the effectiveness of the visual aids in their classmates＇ presentations and how they would improve them）. Results demonstrate that not only teachers make advantage of the new technological resources, we show, based on the students＇ oral presentations and their peer-reviews, that also our university students are increasingly aware of the advantage and importance of the ICTs in the classroom.

Abilities and Competences of Students and Seafarers for Education Supported by Modem ICT

The purpose of this paper was to find out whether the higher education has met the necessary requirements for the implementation of the ICT system, in particular the e-learning system in higher education of seafarers. The goal was to explore to what extent the technical and organisational prerequisites for introducing the system have been fulfilled at the very institution--E-learning system provider, and to what extent the full-time maritime students and part-time students-seafarers are ready and trained to adopt such a system. In order to gather insights and make conclusions, the analytical method and the survey of students were used. A total of 930 full-time and part-time students （seafarers） were surveyed. The goal of these surveys was to find out the educational needs of both student groups, as well as their technical preconditions （e.g., having a PC at work or at home, access to the intemet, and the like） and competencies （e.g., computer literacy） that are necessary for active involvement in the e-learning system. A particularly interesting part of the research tackled the psychological predisposition of students, i.e., whether they were willing to use the system at all. A special part of the research was focused on issues regarding the costs and the available time that the students/seafarers have for using the e-learning system. The research has revealed that there are neither obstacles nor initial constraints for the implementation of the e-learning system in education of maritime students and seafarers at the University of Split. Moreover, the students have a positive attitude towards the e-learning system, and most of them are very enthusiastic about its implementation. The scientific contribution of this paper is provided by an analytical model exploring and defining the necessary prerequisites for introducing the e-learning system. The advantage of the model lies in its wide and multi-disciplinary approach to all these prerequisites, ranging from psychological to purely technical, financial, time, organisational and other aspects. An interesting issue is the question of＂good will＂ for launching such systems at the institutions which obviously meet all necessary prerequisites for their introduction, including the enthusiasm of their students and teachers. The case study shows that, apparently, the university management and the wider community have not recognised many a benefit of the e-learning system. This sounds paradoxical as it is precisely the very academic community that should act as the designer and the initiator of social changes, in social systems in general and in education systems in particular.

The Educational Role of Libraries in the Digital Age Among the High School and University Student in Slavonski Brod and Osijek

A society of knowledge has a mission based on information dissemination and its usage, but its purpose cannot be completely realized without library as an institution that collects, processes, archives, protects and provides library collections to the public. Elementary- and high-school libraries, as well as the academic ones, are ubiquitous as associates and promoters of importance of information in the Digital Age. Information literacy becomes a foundation of an individual＇s literacy in general and leads him/her toward lifelong learning that becomes a philosophy on the way to a society of knowledge. The paper presents research results of informatics and information literacy among students with a purpose of improving the library mission and vision within future education. Data were collected by poll and the pollees were high-school and university students of Slavonski Brod and Osijek. This study found that although the trend of Internet usage in a library is not high, the percentage of those possessing a basic Information and Communication Technology OCT） literacy level is high. Another significant fact is that the number of those unskilled in ICT usage （online database and catalog search） is high which represents a challenge to the libraries and ICT experts who are the incumbents of great responsibility.

E-Learning Islamic Studies for Form Four Students

Despite the efforts by Ministry of Education to promote Information and Communication Technology （ICT） in education in Malaysia, the Islamic education syllabus is far behind the intended plan in ICT usage in learning and teaching. Concern was raised that Islamic Studies faced the risk of being misunderstood if the lessons were taught through self-accessing method with minimal intervention from teachers. Using the Dick and Carey instructional model as a framework, an e-learning version was devised for the national Form 4 Islamic Studies syllabus, ＂The steps and procedures of Hajj and Umrah＂. The Islamic Studies textbook for national secondary schools in Malaysia was reviewed using a systematic approach, from identifying the instructional goal through to formative and summative evaluation processes. Interview sessions with students were conducted to assess the developed e-learning Islamic Studies content. A subsequent survey with students was conducted. Results from the study indicated the e-learning Islamic Studies content had the potential to help students, being easy to use, and attracting and retaining students＇ attention.

Mechanism of Pingyang Jiangya Formula in treating hypertension based on network pharmacology and in vivo study

Objective This study aimed to analyze the mechanism of action of the Pingyang Jiangya Formula(平阳降压方,PYJYF)in treating hypertension,based on network pharmacology,and to verify the subsequent predictions through animal experiments.Methods The active components and related target genes of PYJYF were screened using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP),Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine(BATMAN-TCM),Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine(ETCM),and Drug Bank databases and available literature.The hypertension target genes were screened based on Therapeutic Target Database(TTD),GeneCards,Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man(OMIM),UniProt,and relevant literature.The component-disease-target network intersection target genes were inputted into the STRING database,and the key target genes were selected according to the degree algorithm.Gene Ontology(GO)analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analyses were performed to explore the multitarget mechanism of action and molecular regulatory network of PYJYF in the treatment of hypertension.To verify this prediction,we used PYJYF to intervene in spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHRs)and Wistar–Kyoto rats(WKY)as normal control,and the noninvasive tail artery manometry method was used to measure systolic blood pressure(SBP)in the rat tail before PYJYF intervention.After drug intervention,the SBP of each group rats were measured and compared every week.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to test plasma renin,angiotensin II(Ang II),and aldosterone(Ald)levels,and hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining was used to observe pathological damage to the renal vessels in each group of rats.Western blot and reverse transcription real-time quantitative PCR(RT-PCR)were used to detect the protein and mRNA expression levels of PI3 K,AKT1,BAX,and Bcl-2,respectively.Results A total of 4123 hypertension targets were obtained from related databases.From the TCMSP and chemical databases,78 active components of PYJYF and the corresponding 401 drug targets were retrieved.Data analysis revealed that 208 drug targets directly interacted with the hypertension targets in PYJYF.The 10 targets most closely related to hypertension target proteins in PYJYF were directly retrieved from relevant databases.GO analysis revealed that 10 direct target proteins were involved in all aspects of the antihypertensive effects of PYJYF,as well as molecular biological processes,such as the regulation of blood pressure,renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system(RAAS),angiotensin-mediated ligand reactions,and biological stimulation of cardiomyocyte apoptosis.KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that PYJYF directly affected 20 signaling pathways associated with hypertension.In animal experiments,PYJYF reduced the protein and m RNA levels of PI3 K,Akt,and Bax and upregulated the expression of the protein and m RNA levels of Bcl-2,reduced plasma renin,Ang II,and Ald levels,improved the hyperactivity of RAAS,and significantly reduced SBP in SHRs.Conclusion PYJYF is effective for hypertension therapy that acts through multiple compounds and targets.The possible underlying molecular mechanism includes regulating the PI3 K/Akt signaling pathway to suppress RAAS,increasing the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax proteins,and inhibiting apoptosis,thereby mediating the repair of renal and renal vascular damage caused by hypertension.These findings warrant further research for use in clinical settings.