Metformin Enhances Excitatory Synaptic Transmission onto Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Neurons.

Metformin (Met) is a first-line drug for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Numerous studies have shown that Met exerts beneficial effects on a variety of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD). However, it is still largely unclear how Met acts on neurons.

Neddylation is critical to cortical development by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Wnt signaling plays a critical role in production and differentiation of neurons and undergoes a progressive reduction during cortical development. However, how Wnt signaling is regulated is not well understood. Here we provide evidence for an indispensable role of neddylation, a ubiquitylation-like protein modification, in inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Image recovery of ghost imaging with sparse spatial frequencies.

When the spatial frequencies of the object are insufficiently sampled, the reconstruction of ghost imaging will suffer from repetitive visual artifacts, which cannot be effectively tackled by existing ghost imaging reconstruction techniques. In this Letter, extensions of the CLEAN algorithm applied in ghost imaging are explored to eliminate those artifacts. Combined with the point spread function estimation using the second-order coherence measurement in ghost imaging, our modified CLEAN algorithm is demonstrated to have a fast and noteworthy improvement against the spatial-frequency insufficiency, even for the extreme sparse sampling cases.

Predictive Value of FMO3 Variants on Plasma Disposition and Adverse Reactions of Oral Voriconazole in Febrile Neutropenia.

Background And Objectives: With the increasing number of patients with febrile neutropenia (FN), voriconazole (VRC) has been widely used in hospitals for first-line treatment of FN. The study was designed for evaluating the influence of FMO3 mutation on the plasma disposition and adverse reactions of VRC in FN.

Materials And Methods: A single-center observational study was conducted in the inpatient ward for 4 years.

Complementary multiple hydrogen-bond-based magnetic composite microspheres for high coverage and efficient phosphopeptide enrichment in bio-samples.

Due to the number of phosphorylation sites, mono- and multiple-phosphopeptides exhibit significantly different biological effects. Therefore, comprehensive profiles of mono- and multiple-phosphopeptides are vital for the analysis of these biological and pathological processes. However, the most commonly used affinity materials based on metal oxide affinity chromatography (MOAC) show stronger selectivity toward mono-phosphopeptides, thus losing most information on multiple-phosphopeptides.

Airborne particulate matter (PM) triggers cornea inflammation and pyroptosis via NLRP3 activation.

Although studies have demonstrated that fine particulate matter (PM) induces ocular surface damage, PM2.5 exposure causes cornea toxicity is not entirely clear. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of the nod-like receptor family pyrin domain containing three (NLRP3) inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis in PM-related corneal toxicity.

Comprehensive evaluation of adsorption performances of carbonaceous materials for sulfonamide antibiotics removal.

Sulfonamide antibiotics have highly toxic effects on humans and other organisms within the food chain. Adsorption by various carbonaceous materials is an effective method for removing them from the aqueous environment. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted between adsorbents and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) by studies of characterization, isotherm model, and kinetic model.

Cancer-testis Antigen OY-TES-1 Expression and Immunogenicity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Cancer testis (CT) antigens have received particular attention in cancer immunotherapy. OY-TES-1 is a member of CT antigens. This study was to evaluate OY-TES-1 expression and immunogenicity in hepatocelluar carcinoma (HCC).

Cytochrome P450 2U1 Is a Novel Independent Prognostic Biomarker in Breast Cancer Patients.

The susceptibility of breast cancer is largely affected by the metabolic capacity of breast tissue. This ability depends in part on the expression profile of cytochrome P450 (CYPs). CYPs are a superfamily of enzymes with related catalysis to endogenous and exogenous bioactive substances, including xenobiotic metabolism, drugs, and some endogenous substances metabolism which activate cells and stimulate cell signaling pathways, such as arachidonic acid metabolism, steroid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism.

Interlayer Space Engineering of MXenes for Electrochemical Energy Storage Applications.

The increasing demand for high-performance rechargeable energy storage systems has stimulated the exploration of advanced electrode materials. MXenes are a class of two-dimensional (2D) inorganic transition metal carbides/nitrides, which are promising candidates in electrodes. The layered structure facilitates ion insertion/extraction, which offers promising electrochemical characteristics for electrochemical energy storage.

Multipoint stable radio frequency long distance transmission over fiber based on tree topology, with user fairness and deployment flexibility.

In this paper, we propose a multipoint stable radio frequency (RF) optical transmission system with tree structure. Based on the principle of phase conjugation, the phase jitter induced by environment variation can be compensated by frequency mixing. Different from other schemes, the RF signal is modulated on a optical comb at local and each tooth is grouped with a near subcarrier for a user.

Segmenting Objects in Day and Night: Edge-Conditioned CNN for Thermal Image Semantic Segmentation.

Despite much research progress in image semantic segmentation, it remains challenging under adverse environmental conditions caused by imaging limitations of the visible spectrum, while thermal infrared cameras have several advantages over cameras for the visible spectrum, such as operating in total darkness, insensitive to illumination variations, robust to shadow effects, and strong ability to penetrate haze and smog. These advantages of thermal infrared cameras make the segmentation of semantic objects in day and night. In this article, we propose a novel network architecture, called edge-conditioned convolutional neural network (EC-CNN), for thermal image semantic segmentation.

Colon perforation due to cytomegalovirus infection in a patient with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome: a case report.

Background: Hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is a very rare disease and usually treated with corticosteroids. Gastrointestinal (GI) cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is also rare but frequent in patients with immunocompromised status. These two related diseases present with similar manifestations, and may result in a life-threatening complication: perforation.

Copper foam in situ loaded with precious metal nanoparticles as transmission SEIRAS substrate for rapid detection of dithiocarbamate pesticides.

A transmission surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) substrate based on copper foam (CF) was developed for the rapid detection of dithiocarbamate (DTC) pesticides. The transmission SEIRAS substrate was prepared by immersing CF in a mixed solution of a precious metal solution and a polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) solution. Then CF could be in situ loaded with precious metal nanoparticles (MNPs) by PVP-modified displacement reaction in seconds.

Biomimetic SnP Anchored on Carbon Nanotubes as an Anode for High-Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Recently, SnP has emerged as a promising anode for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to the high specific capacity. However, the use of SnP has been impeded by capacity fade and an inferior rate performance. Herein, a biomimetic heterostructure is reported by using a simple hydrothermal reaction followed by thermal treatment.

Designing efficient BiFeO photoanodes via bulk and surface defect engineering.

The BiFeO photoanode material is modified through a combined bulk and surface defect engineering (BSDE) strategy, delivering the highest photoresponse for BiFeO based materials. This work shows the advantage of BSDE in achieving efficient solar water splitting.

Observation and analysis of VOCs in nine prefecture-level cities of Sichuan Province, China.

The observation and analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were conducted during January 2018 in nine prefecture-level cities of Sichuan, China, covering the period of heavily polluted weather. Air samples collected in nine prefecture-level cities were analyzed using a preconcentration method coupled with GC-MS/FID. The characteristics and ozone generation potential (OFP) of VOCs were analyzed.

Quantized Residual Preference Based Linkage Clustering for Model Selection and Inlier Segmentation in Geometric Multi-Model Fitting.

In this paper, quantized residual preference is proposed to represent the hypotheses and the points for model selection and inlier segmentation in multi-structure geometric model fitting. First, a quantized residual preference is proposed to represent the hypotheses. Through a weighted similarity measurement and linkage clustering, similar hypotheses are put into one cluster, and hypotheses with good quality are selected from the clusters as the model selection results.

[Spatio-Temporal Variations and Source Apportionment of Carbonaceous Species in PM Across Multiple Sampling Locations in the Chengdu Plain].

To understand the characteristics and sources of carbonaceous aerosols, one-year PM samples were analyzed for their organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) content, following the thermal/optical transmission protocol in three cities[Deyang (DY), Chengdu (CD), and Meishan (MS)] in the Chengdu Plain. The observed annual average concentrations (μg·m) were in the following order:MS (15.8±9.

Association between an indel polymorphism within CTH and the risk of sudden cardiac death in a Chinese population.

Individuals harbouring specific genetic variations might trend towards suffering sudden cardiac death. Cystathionine-γ-lyase is one of the key enzymes of endogenous hydrogen sulfide production, and a key factor on the expression regulation of hydrogen sulfide in human heart. Compelling studies have suggested the cardioprotective effects of hydrogen sulfide, while it remains controversial whether cystathionine-γ-lyase and hydrogen sulfide are beneficial to cardiovascular diseases.

Spatiotemporal patterns of PM elemental composition over China and associated health risks.

Trace metals in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) are a serious threat to public health. Although pollution from toxic metals has been investigated in many Chinese cities, the spatial and temporal patterns in PM remain largely unknown. Long-term PM field sampling in 11 cities, combined with a systemic literature survey covering 51 cities, provides the first comprehensive database of 21 PM-bound trace metals in China.

Increasing plant diversity offsets the influence of coarse sand on ecosystem services in microcosms of constructed wetlands.

As wastewater treatment systems that strengthen natural processes, constructed wetlands provide both ecosystem services and disservices. Manipulating both the physical and ecological structures of constructed wetlands has been the key to improve ecosystem services while reducing disservices. Herein, an experiment using simulated constructed wetlands was conducted to explore the effect of two different substrate sizes (fine sand or coarse sand), plant richness (1, 3, or 4 species), and plant species identity on ecosystem services.

Lipoprotein-Inspired Nanocarrier Composed of Folic Acid-Modified Protein and Lipids: Preparation and Evaluation of Tumor-Targeting Effect.

Background: Reconstituted lipoproteins (rLips) based on endogenous lipid nanostructures has been increasingly regarded as an excellent and promising antitumor drug delivery. However, some problems relating to the main component, apolipoprotein, for instance, rare source, unaffordable price, and low specificity of relevant receptor expression, become chief obstacles to its broad development and application.

Purpose: The primary aim of this study is to develop biomimetic rLips by utilizing folic acid (FA)-modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a replacement for apolipoprotein and demonstrate its tumor targeting and antitumor efficacy.