Co-encapsulation of Creatininase, Creatinase, and Sarcosine Oxidase in Yeast Spore for Creatinine Degradation.

Creatinine clearance is used to reflect the glomerular filtration rate to assess kidney function. Creatinine degradation-related enzymes have been used for creatinine detection in clinical medicine. The mixture of spores encapsulating either creatininase or creatinase or sarcosine oxidase could mediate a three-step reaction to produce hydrogen peroxide from creatinine.

Probiotics Combined with Metformin Improves Sperm Parameters in Obese Male Mice through Modulation of Intestinal Microbiota Equilibrium.

The decline in sperm parameters among obese males has attracted significant scholarly interest. The intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in obesity, and investigating the intestinal-reproductive axis may offer a novel molecular approach to addressing the decline in male sperm parameters caused by obesity. To clarify whether probiotics, either alone or in conjunction with metformin, can enhance sperm parameters in obese male mice and assess the underlying mechanisms involved.

A novel 193-plex MPS panel integrating STRs and SNPs highlights the application value of forensic genetics in individual identification and paternity testing.

Massively parallel sequencing (MPS) has emerged as a promising technology for targeting multiple genetic loci simultaneously in forensic genetics. Here, a novel 193-plex panel was designed to target 28 A-STRs, 41 Y-STRs, 21 X-STRs, 3 sex-identified loci, and 100 A-SNPs by employing a single-end 400 bp sequencing strategy on the MGISEQ-2000™ platform. In the present study, a series of validations and sequencing of 1642 population samples were performed to evaluate the overall performance of the MPS-based panel and its practicality in forensic application according to the SWGDAM guidelines.

A Gradient-Guided Evolutionary Neural Architecture Search.

Neural architecture search (NAS) is a popular method that can automatically design deep neural network structures. However, designing a neural network using NAS is computationally expensive. This article proposes a gradient-guided evolutionary NAS (GENAS) to design convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for image classification.

Development and validation of a custom panel including 114 InDels using massively parallel sequencing for forensic application.

Insertion/deletion polymorphisms (InDels) have particular characteristics, such as a relatively low mutation rate, small amplicon size, and no stutter artifacts when genotyped via the capillary electrophoresis platform. It would be an important complementary tool for individual identification and certain kinship analyses. At present, massively parallel sequencing (MPS) has shown excellent application value in forensic studies.

Surface hydroxylation process of YAG crystal in aqueous solution.

Surface hydroxylation is the basis for material removal in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of monocrystalline silicon, diamond, and YAG crystals. Existing studies use experimental observations to investigate surface hydroxylation, but lack in-depth understanding of the hydroxylation process. In this paper, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, we analyze the surface hydroxylation process of YAG crystals in an aqueous solution using first-principle calculations.

Influence of handrail height and knee joint support on sit-to-stand movement.

Handrail height and knee joint support both significantly influence sit-to-stand (STS) movement. However, research on the associations between handrail height, knee joint support, and their cumulative effect on STS kinematics and changes in plantar pressure distribution during STS under different handrail heights and knee joint support is still unclear. The main objective of this study was to examine the influence of handrail height and knee joint support on the kinematics and the distribution of plantar pressure in healthy adults during STS.

Fecal microbial signatures of healthy Han individuals from three bio-geographical zones in Guangdong.

Important forensic evidence traced from crime scenes, such as fecal materials, can help in the forensic investigation of criminal cases. Intestines are the largest microbial pool in the human body whose microbial community is considered to be the human "second fingerprint". The present study explored the potential for community characteristics of gut microbes in forensic medicine.

Integrating the salivary microbiome in the forensic toolkit by 16S rRNA gene: potential application in body fluid identification and biogeographic inference.

Saliva is a common body fluid with significant forensic value used to investigate criminal cases such as murder and assault. In the past, saliva identification often relied on the α-amylase test; however, this method has low specificity and is prone to false positives. Accordingly, forensic researchers have been working to find new specific molecular markers to refine the current saliva identification approach.

Measuring the impact of an exogenous factor: An exponential smoothing model of the response of shipping to COVID-19.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, various lockdown strategies restrained global economic growth bringing a significant decline in maritime transportation. However, the previous studies have not adequately recognized the specific impacts of COVID-19 on maritime transportation. In this study, a series of analyses of the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), the China Coastal Bulk Freight Index (CCBFI) and of container throughputs with and without the impact of COVID-19 were carried out to assess changing trends in dry bulk and container transportation.

Effect of different handrail types and seat heights on kinematics and plantar pressure during STS in healthy young adults.

Handrail type and seat height both significantly influence sit-to-stand (STS) movement. However, research on the associations between handrail type, seat height, and their cumulative effect on STS kinematics and changes in plantar pressure distribution during STS under different handrail types and seat heights is insufficient.The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different handrail types and seat heights on the kinematics and plantar pressure in healthy adults during STS.

A Flexible Temperature Sensor for Noncontact Human-Machine Interaction.

Flexible sensors have attracted extensive attention because of their promising applications in the fields of health monitoring, intelligent robots, and electronic skin, etc. During the COVID-19 epidemic, noncontact control of public equipment such as elevators, game consoles, and doors has become particularly important, as it can effectively reduce the risk of cross-infection. In this work, a noncontact flexible temperature sensor is prepared via a simple dip-drying progress, in which poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and printer paper served as the sensing material and the flexible substrate, respectively.

Forensic application of a novel MPS-based panel (90 STRs and 100 SNPs) in a non-exclusion parentage case with three autosomal STRs incompatibilities.

In kinship tests, the investigating of the forensic STRs usually provides decisive information to resolve relationship cases. We describe a parentage case with 3 genetic incompatibilities (D6S1043, D18S51 and D2S1338) between the child and alleged parent. With 90 STR loci and 100 SNP loci, the massively parallel sequencing (MPS)-based genotyping results support the certainty of parentage, and the mismatched alleles were considered to be mutations.

Development and Validation of a Forensic Multiplex System With 38 X-InDel Loci.

In the present study, a novel multiplex system, AGCU X-InDel 38 kit, was designed to amplify 38 X-InDel markers and amelogenin in a single Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). To demonstrate the suitability and efficiency for forensic applications, a series of validation experiments were conducted, including sensitivity, species specificity, reproducibility, stability, case samples, balance of peak height, size precision, as well as allele frequency and forensic parameter analysis. The results showed that AGCU X-InDel 38 kit was capable to get full profiles even with 62.

Kinematic analysis of the human body during sit-to-stand in healthy young adults.

Sit-to-stand (STS) motion is one of the most important and energy-consuming basic motions in everyday life. Kinematic analysis provides information regarding what strategy or motion pattern is used by the healthy people, and through which, we can understand and obtain the law of the STS motion. The objective of this article is to study the law of STS motion through the experiment to determine a suitable description of STS motion in healthy adults, so as to provide a starting point and bases for future design and control of STS assistive devices.

Efficient Electron Transfer from Electron-Sponge Polyoxometalate to Single-Metal Site Metal-Organic Frameworks for Highly Selective Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide.

In this work, by combining the superiority of polyoxometalates (POMs) and catalytic single-metal site Co of metalloporphyrin, a series of mixed-valence POM-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) composites is synthesized by a post-modification method. The electron-transfer property of POM@PCN-222(Co) composite is significantly enhanced owing to the directional electron-transfer from POM to single-metal site Co in PCN-222(Co). In particular, H-POM@PCN-222(Co) gives a high Faradaic efficiency of 96.

Signatures of vaginal microbiota by 16S rRNA gene: potential bio-geographical application in Chinese Han from three regions of China.

The human microbiome is expected to be a new and promising tool for classification of human epithelial materials. Vaginal fluids are one of the most common biological samples in forensic sexual assault cases, and its identification is crucial to accurately determine the nature of the case. With the development of molecular biology technologies, the concept of vaginal microflora in different physiological states, ethnic groups, and geography is constantly improved.

Single-Pore versus Dual-Pore Bipyridine-Based Covalent-Organic Frameworks: An Insight into the Heterogeneous Catalytic Activity for Selective CH Functionalization.

Exponential growth in the field of covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) is emanating from the direct correlation between designing principles and desired properties. The comparison of catalytic activity between single-pore and dual-pore COFs is of importance to establish structure-function relationship. Herein, the synthesis of imine-linked dual-pore [(BPyDC)] -ETTA COFs (x = 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) with controllable bipyridine content is fulfilled by three-component condensation of 4,4',4″,4'″-(ethene-1,1,2,2-tetrayl)tetraaniline (ETTA), 4,4'-biphenyldialdehyde, and 2,2'-bipyridyl-5,5'-dialdehyde in different stoichiometric ratio.

Effect of indoor environmental exposure on seminal microbiota and its application in body fluid identification.

Semen is a common body fluid type in forensic sexual assault cases. It is of great significance to effectively identify semen for restoring the crime scene and determining the nature of the case. Nowadays, microbiome-based method shows as a promising tool for forensic body fluid identification.

Application of Y-chromosomal microdeletions in a homicide case.

A case study involving an intentional homicide case in November 2018, in which the autosomal genotypes of the suspect were unavailable and only part of deletions of Y-STR loci were identified by Y-chromosomal typing. The suspect, male, was charged with beating the decedent, female, over the head with an iron water pipe to death. The use of standard autosomal DNA profiling to identify the suspect was unattainable due to the extensive volume blood of the decedent on the murder weapon which was inevitably cleaned by running water at the crime scene.

Increased levels of conjugated bile acids are associated with human bile reflux gastritis.

Bile acids (BAs) play essential roles in facilitating lipid digestion and absorption in the intestine. Gastric BAs were attributed to abnormal refluxing from duodenal compartments and correlated with the occurrence of gastric inflammation and carcinogenesis. However, the differences in gastric BAs between physiologically compromised and healthy individuals have not been fully investigated.

Exploration of the microbiome community for saliva, skin, and a mixture of both from a population living in Guangdong.

The identification of biological traces provides vital evidence in forensic reconstruction at crime scenes, especially in sexual offences. Compared with traditional presumptive or confirmatory methods, the microbiome-based method has been proven to be of great value in body fluid identification. Mixture of body fluids or tissue is common in sexual assault cases; thus, it is essential to determine the sources of mixed samples.

Combined application of multiple autosomal and Y-chromosomal STR loci in solving a homicide case in 2009.

In 2009, a violent murder occurred. Two victims, a 47-year-old mother and her 21-year-old daughter, were murdered at home. After importing the 20 autosomal STR loci and 27 Y-STR loci into a database, no hit had been found.