MEMS-Based Electrochemical Seismometer with a Sensing Unit Integrating Four Electrodes.

This paper presents a new process to fabricate a sensing unit of electrochemical seismometers using only one silicon-glass-silicon bonded wafer. By integrating four electrodes on one silicon-glass-silicon bonded wafer, the consistency of the developed sensing unit was greatly improved, benefiting from the high alignment accuracy. Parameter designs and simulations were carried out based on this sensing unit, which indicated that the sensitivities of the developed electrochemical seismometer decreased with the decrease in the number of flow holes in the sensing unit, and the initial stabilization time decreased gradually with the decrease in the thickness of the glass layer.

Biomechanical effect of selective osteotomy and corticotomy on orthodontic molar uprighting.

Introduction: Uprighting mesially tipped molars is often a necessary step before implant placement. However, the orthodontic treatment can be lengthy and discourage patients from choosing implant prostheses. Periodontally accelerated osteogenic orthodontics is reported to facilitate molar movements.

Effects of noise and low-concentration carbon monoxide exposure on rat immunity.

Objective: To evaluate the immunotoxicity and effects of noise and/or low-concentration carbon monoxide (CO) exposure on immune organs and immune functions in rats.

Methods: Male Wistar rats exposed to 98 dB(A) white noise and/or 100 ppm CO 4 h/d for 30 d were used to determine the pathological changes in the thymus and spleen, and variations in leukocyte counts, inflammatory factors, and immunoglobulin (Ig) concentrations.

Results: The boundaries of the cortex and medulla of the thymus were unclear following noise and combined exposure.

Association of Child Mental Health with Child and Family Characteristics in Rural China: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Assessing the mental health problems encountered by school children and understanding the contributing factors are crucial to inform strategies aimed at improving mental health in low-resource contexts. However, few studies have investigated the mental health problems among disadvantaged children in poorer countries. This study examines the prevalence of mental health problems in rural China and their association with child and family characteristics.

Secondary choroidal neovascularization due to choroidal osteoma after 9 years follow-up.

Background: Choroidal osteoma is a benign intraocular tumor that can increase risk of developing choroidal neovascularization. The visual prognosis is influenced by the tumor location, decalcification status, overlying RPE atrophy, presence of choroidal neovascularization, persistence of subretinal fluid and occurrence of subretinal hemorrhages.

Case Presentation: The authors present a 40-year-old woman diagnosed with choroidal osteoma of the right eye.

A high-throughput screen identifies inhibitors of lung cancer stem cells.

Metastasis is the main cause of cancer morbidity and mortality. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a rare subpopulation of cancer cells that can drive metastasis. The identification of CSC inhibitors and CSC-related genes is an alluring strategy for suppressing metastasis.

A Higher Serum Calcium Level is an Independent Risk Factor for Vision-Threatening Diabetic Retinopathy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses.

Objective: An elevated serum calcium level is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), but its role in microvascular complications remains unclear. This study was conducted to investigate the association between serum calcium levels and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy (VTDR).

Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional and longitudinal design.

Electrochemical sensing for naphthol isomers based on the in situ growth of zeolitic imidazole framework-67 on ultrathin CoAl layered double hydroxide nanosheets by a reaction-diffusion technique.

It is established that ultrathin layered double hydroxide nanosheets (LDHNS) and zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIF) are desirable electrochemical sensing modifiers owing to their large surface area and abundant catalytic sites. Integration of them is thus an effective solution to maximize their electrocatalytic activity. Herein, a novel reaction-diffusion framework (RDF) technique is applied for the in situ growth of ZIF-67 on ultrathin CoAl-LDHNS (CoAl-LDHNS@ZIF-67).

CuSe nanowires shelled with NiFe layered double hydroxide nanosheets for overall water-splitting.

It is imperative but challenging to develop non-noble metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Our work reports a core-shell nanostructure that is constructed by the electrodeposition of ultrathin NiFe-LDH nanosheets (NiFe-LDHNS) on CuSe nanowires, which are obtained by selenizing Cu(OH) nanowires in situ grown on Cu foam. The obtained CuSe@NiFe-LDHNS electrocatalyst provides more exposed edges and catalytic active sites, thus exhibiting excellent OER and HER electrocatalytic performance in alkaline electrolytes.

Temperature Compensation of the MEMS-Based Electrochemical Seismic Sensors.

Electrochemical seismic sensors that employ liquid as their inertial masses have the advantages of high performances in the low-frequency domain and a large working inclination. However, the surrounding temperature changes have serious impacts on the sensitivities of the sensors, which makes them unable to work as expected. This paper studied the temperature characteristics of electrochemical seismic sensors based on MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems), and analyzed the influences of the temperature effects on the open-loop and closed-loop amplitude-frequency curves.

Higher Serum Uric Acid Levels Are Associated With an Increased Risk of Vision-Threatening Diabetic Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetes Patients.

Purpose: To investigate the association between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy (VTDR) in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated 3481 patients with type 2 diabetes from four communities in China between 2016 and 2019. VTDR was defined as severe nonproliferative, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, or clinically significant macular edema evaluated by fundus photography and optical coherence tomography.

Association of Interleukin-1 Functional Polymorphism with Risk of Chronic Periodontitis in Han Chinese Population.

Chronic periodontitis (CP) is a common inflammatory illness affecting a large proportion of humans. Genetic factors are thought to play important roles in its onset and development. A functional polymorphism (rs1800587) in the promoter of the interleukin-1 gene (-889 C/T) has been found to confer risk of CP primarily in Europeans, but the association between this variant and CP in the Chinese population remains less conclusive.

Complete genome sequence of a previously undescribed monopartite begomovirus and betasatellite infecting Malvastrum coromandelianum in Cambodia.

A previously undescribed monopartite begomovirus was identified in Kampot province, Cambodia, in Malvastrum coromandelianum plants exhibiting yellow vein symptoms characteristic of begomovirus infections. The apparently full-length viral component was cloned and sequenced following enrichment of circular DNA by rolling-circle amplification and restriction enzyme digestion. The genome of the virus was 2737 nucleotides in length (KP188831) and exhibited an organization like that of other monopartite begomoviruses, sharing the highest nucleotide sequence similarity (87.

Preparation and characterization of a chiral molecularly imprinted polymer with a novel functional monomer for controlled release of S-sulpiride.

A novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) with chiral recognition affinity to S-sulpiride (S-SUL) enantiomer was prepared by using newly synthesized N-acryloyl-tryptophan (ATrp) as function monomer, S-SUL as the template molecule, and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross linker. Under the optimized synthesis conditions, the MIP was synthesized by bulk polymerization according to the molar ratio of 1:4 of S-SUL to ATrp, and structurally characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and laser particle analysis. The results illustrated that the MIP offered uniform, loose and porous structure.

APP/PS1 Gene-Environment Noise Interaction Aggravates AD-like Neuropathology in Hippocampus Activation of the VDAC1 Positive Feedback Loop.

Background: Environmental risk factors, including environmental noise stress, and genetic factors, have been associated with the occurrence and development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the exact role and mechanism of AD-like pathology induced by environment-gene interactions between environmental noise and APP/PS1 gene remain elusive.

Methods: Herein, we investigated the impact of chronic noise exposure on AD-like neuropathology in APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

Fungal co-infection in COVID-19 patients: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected tens of millions of people worldwide within the last year. However, the incidence of fungal co-infection in COVID-19 patients remains unclear. To investigate the association between fungal co-infection and mortality due to COVID-19, we systematically searched Medline, Embase, MedRxiv and Cochrane Library for eligible studies published in the period from 1 January to 1 December 2020.

A mixed ploidy natural population of provides an opportunity to trace the evolution of karyotype.

, a perennial herb belongs to the family Araceae, and is widely distributed in Asia and Africa. As an agricultural crop, it has been cultivated and consumed for ~2000 years in China. Previous studies have found that there are chromosome number and ploidy changes in this genus, but there are a few reports on the evolution of different karyotypes.

Immune Microenvironment: New Insight for Familial Adenomatous Polyposis.

Currently, the main treatment for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is surgery, however, surgery is far from ideal as there are many complications such as uncontrollable bowel movements, pouch inflammation, anastomotic stricture, and secondary fibroids. Therefore, it is necessary to further expand the understanding of FAP and develop new treatments for FAP. The immune microenvironment including immune cells and cytokines, plays an important role in FAP and the progression of FAP to adenocarcinoma, thus it may be a promising treatment for FAP.

MEMS-Based Electrochemical Seismometer Relying on a CAC Integrated Three-Electrode Structure.

This study developed a MEMS-based electrochemical seismometer relying on a cathode-anode-cathode (CAC) integrated three-electrode structure where two cathodes were positioned on two surfaces of a silicon wafer, while one anode was positioned on the sidewalls of the through holes of the silicon wafer. Device design and numerical simulations were conducted to model the functionality of the three-electrode structure in detecting vibration signals with the key geometrical parameters optimized. The CAC integrated three-electrode structure was then manufactured by microfabrication, which demonstrated a simplified fabrication process in comparison with conventional four-electrode structures.

A Heterogeneous Spiking Neural Network for Unsupervised Learning of Spatiotemporal Patterns.

This paper introduces a heterogeneous spiking neural network (H-SNN) as a novel, feedforward SNN structure capable of learning complex spatiotemporal patterns with spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) based unsupervised training. Within H-SNN, hierarchical spatial and temporal patterns are constructed with convolution connections and memory pathways containing spiking neurons with different dynamics. We demonstrate analytically the formation of long and short term memory in H-SNN and distinct response functions of memory pathways.

Differently fluorescence-labelled dibenzodiazepinone-type muscarinic acetylcholine receptor ligands with high MR affinity.

A series of fluorescent dibenzodiazepinone-type muscarinic acetylcholine M receptor (MR) ligands was synthesized using various fluorescent dyes (5-TAMRA, / ≈ 547/576 nm; BODIPY 630/650, / ≈ 625/640 nm; pyridinium dye Py-1, / ≈ 611/665 nm and pyridinium dye Py-5, / ≈ 465/732 nm). All fluorescent probes exhibited high MR affinity (p (radioligand competition binding): 8.75-9.

The decrease of fucosylation in intestinal epithelium is related to the development of necrotizing enterocolitis.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating neonatal gastrointestinal emergency. Fucosylated glycans on intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) play a central role in the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. Nevertheless, its association with necrotizing enterocolitis is not clear.

Compact, broadband, and low-loss silicon photonic arbitrary ratio power splitter using adiabatic taper.

The arbitrary ratio power splitter is widely used in photonic integrated circuits (PICs), for signal monitoring, power equalization, signal feedback, and so on. Here we designed a fabrication-tolerant, compact, broadband, and low-loss arbitrary ratio power splitter. The proposed arbitrary ratio power splitter was realized with an adiabatically tapered silicon rib waveguide with 70 nm shallow etches and an waveguide.