Verapamil inhibits inflammation and promotes autophagy to alleviate ureteral scar by regulation of CaMK IIδ/STAT3 axis.

Background: Ureteral stricture (US) is a pathological stenosis in the urinary tract characterized by increased collagen synthesis and inflammation. Autophagy activation has been shown to ameliorate tissue fibrosis and protect against fibrotic diseases. Verapamil has beneficial therapeutic benefits on fibrotic disorders.

Three-dimensional rainbow refractometry.

We propose a new, to the best of our knowledge, rainbow technique called three-dimensional rainbow refractometry (TDRR), with a cylindrical lens in the signal collecting system. With a TDRR model based on the ray transfer matrix developed, it is proved that the tilt angle of the rainbow signal is related to the axial position of the droplet, which helps to obtain the 3D position. By converting rainbow scattering angle calibration into the system parameter calibration, a new rainbow data processing program is written in combination with the model to obtain the refractive index and the particle size.

Spectroscopic Techniques and Hydrogen-Sensitive Compounds: A New Horizon in Hydrogen Detection.

Detecting hydrogen leaks remains a pivotal challenge demanding robust solutions. Among diverse detection techniques, the fiber-optic method distinguishes itself through unique benefits, such as its distributed measurement properties. The adoption of hydrogen-sensitive materials coated on fibers has gained significant traction in research circles, credited to its operational simplicity and exceptional adaptability across varied conditions.

WTAP enhances the instability of SYTL1 mRNA caused by YTHDF2 in bladder cancer.

Background: Bladder cancer (BCa) is the most frequent type of cancer in humans. The association between m6A modification and the anti-tumor effects of natural killer (NK) cells has been described in BCa. This study intended to investigate the implications of m6A regulators in modulating SYTL1 expression in BCa and the association with the anti-tumor effects of NK cells.

Advances in air pollution control for key industries in China during the 13th five-year plan.

Industrial development is an essential foundation of the national economy, but the industry is also the largest source of air pollution, of which power plants, iron and steel, building materials, and other industries emit large amounts of pollutants. Therefore, the Chinese government has promulgated a series of stringent emission regulations, and it is against this backdrop that research into air pollution control technologies for key industrial sectors is in full swing. In particular, during the 13th Five-Year Plan, breakthroughs have been made in pollution control technology for key industrial sectors.

Advances in the treatment of multi-pollutant flue gas in China's building materials industry.

In most of the world's building material industries, the control of flue gas pollutants mainly focuses on a single pollutant. However, given the large capacity and high contribution of China's building materials industry to global air pollution, the need to develop multi-pollutant emission reduction technology is urgent. Recently, China has focused on reducing the emissions of flue gas pollutants in the building materials industry, established many key research and development projects, and gradually implemented more stringent pollutant emission limits.

Technology development and cost analysis of multiple pollutant abatement for ultra-low emission coal-fired power plants in China.

The implementation of ultra-low emission (ULE) limits (SO: 35 mg/m, NOx: 50 mg/m, PM: 10 mg/m) promoted the development of flue gas treatment technologies in China. Pollutant control technology development for Chinese coal-fired power plants was summarized and an analysis of the applicability and cost of pollutant control technologies was conducted. Detailed data were collected from 30 ultra-low emission coal-fired units across China.

Advances in air pollution control for vessels in China.

Vessel emissions have contributed a great deal to air quality deterioration in China. Hence, the Chinese government has promulgated a series of stringent emission regulations. It is in this context that vessel emission control technology research is in full swing.

Surface temperature measurement of cooling and heating droplets by rainbow refractometry.

Rainbow refractometry was used to measure the temperature and size of transparent spherical particles. In practice, however, there are limitations to the application of heating and cooling droplets, as the temperature measured is neither the average nor the surface or core temperature of the droplet. Reported here is an exploitation of this technique for droplet surface temperature determination.

Synthetic aperture rainbow refractometry.

This work proposed a synthetic aperture rainbow refractometry (SARR) by synthesizing rainbow signals of the same droplet with dual-wavelength laser beams, in order to increase the aperture of rainbow refractometry. In this way, the SARR can apply to long distance and small droplets measurement. An achromatic imaging system, which simultaneously records while separating the two rainbow signals in two channels of a color image, is elaborately designed.

A Method for Medical Microscopic Images' Sharpness Evaluation Based on NSST and Variance by Combining Time and Frequency Domains.

An algorithm for a sharpness evaluation of microscopic images based on non-subsampled shearlet wave transform (NSST) and variance is proposed in the present study for the purpose of improving the noise immunity and accuracy of a microscope's image autofocus. First, images are decomposed with the NSST algorithm; then, the decomposed sub-band images are subjected to variance to obtain the energy of the sub-band coefficients; and finally, the evaluation value is obtained from the ratio of the energy of the high- and low-frequency sub-band coefficients. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm delivers better noise immunity performance than other methods reviewed by this study while maintaining high sensitivity.

ELK1 suppresses SYTL1 expression by recruiting HDAC2 in bladder cancer progression.

ETS transcription factor (ELK1) stimulates the expression of genes at the onset of the cell cycle and participates in early developmental programming. Here, we investigated whether alterations of ELK1 lead to progression of bladder cancer (BCa), a main neoplasm of urinary tract, and clarified the function of ELK1 in BCa. Using the GEO database, we identified ELK1 as the most significantly overexpressed gene in BCa, which was substantiated in the acquired clinical samples and cells.

Inhibition of Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase Alleviates Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension by Modulating Macrophage Polarization.

Macrophage accumulation and activation contribute to the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), while Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) is an important regulator for the activation and polarization of macrophage. However, the role of BTK in PAH remains unknown. In the present study, a selective BTK inhibitor (BTKi) BGB-3111 was applied to investigate the role of BTK in monocrotaline- (MCT-) induced PAH rat and phorbol myristate acetate- (PMA-) differentiated U937 macrophages.

Verapamil inhibited the development of ureteral stricture by blocking CaMK II-mediated STAT3 and Smad3/JunD pathways.

Background: Ureteral stricture (US) is a fibrotic process that leads to urinary tract obstruction and even kidney damage, with the characteristic of reduced extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and increased collagen synthesis. Verapamil, as a calcium channel blocker, was reported to prevent scar formation. Our work aimed to investigate the biological effects and mechanism of verapamil in US.

Accurate droplet depth displacement measurement with time-resolved astigmatic interferometric particle imaging.

The astigmatic interferometric particle imaging (AIPI) model reveals that the fringe orientation shifts with droplet depth displacement, and their relationships are quantitatively formulated. The depth displacement is directly evaluated from the relative angular shift of the fringes with angular cross power spectral density, and this algorithm isolates the uncertainty of droplet depth position from depth displacement. Proof-of-concept experiments on micrometer-sized transparent droplets with a 5 kHz AIPI system demonstrates that droplet three-dimensional (3D) trajectories are accurately obtained with the accuracy of depth displacement up to tens of micrometers, improving an order of magnitude from hundreds of microns in a traditional Lagrangian framework by comparing droplet depth positions.

Paeoniflorin attenuates monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in rats by suppressing TAK1-MAPK/NF-κB pathways.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) characterized by pulmonary vascular remodeling is a lethal disease. Paeoniflorin (PF) is a monoterpene glycoside with numerous beneficial functions, such as vasodilation, anti-inflammation and immunomodulation. This study aims to investigate the effects of PF on monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PAH rats.

Planar rainbow refractometry.

Rainbow refractometry has been used in the past to measure size and refractive index of spherical particles, typically droplets in a spray. In the present study, conventional optical configurations for point measurements or line measurements have been extended to allow also the particle position in a plane to be determined, and hence, the designation planar rainbow refractometry. However, this extension introduces challenges in accurately calibrating the 2D scattering angles with the image coordinates.

Role of Interleukin-4 (IL-4) in Respiratory Infection and Allergy Caused by Early-Life Infection.

is a type of pathogenic gram-negative bacteria that causes various respiratory tract infections including asthma. species infect humans and cause respiratory infection by rupturing the lining of the respiratory which includes the throat, lungs and windpipe. Meanwhile, the function of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in respiratory infection and its association with the development of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in adulthood and causing allergic airway disease (AAD) are not understood properly.

Astigmatic dual-beam interferometric particle imaging for metal droplet 3D position and size measurement.

We propose astigmatic dual-beam interferometric particle imaging (ADIPI) to simultaneously measure the three-dimensional (3D) position and size of spherical metal droplets. A theoretical model reveals that the orientation and spacing of the ADIPI fringes generated from the two reflections propagating through an astigmatic imaging system relate to the depth position and size, respectively. Proof-of-concept experiments on micron-sized gallium droplets are performed, and the tilted fringes in elliptical patterns are observed in the ADIPI interferogram, confirming theoretical predictions.

Circular RNA_0000629 Suppresses Bladder Cancer Progression Mediating MicroRNA-1290/CDC73.

Background: Recent studies showed circular RNAs (circRNAs) played regulatory roles in bladder cancer (BC). However, the relevance of circ_0000629, a newly identified circRNA, has not been determined yet. We aimed to characterize the function of circ_0000629 in BC and the relevant mechanism.

Measurement techniques for sulfur trioxide concentration in coal-fired flue gas: a review.

Under the extensive implementation of ultra-low emission facilities, sulfur trioxide (SO) has received increasing attention. This article reviews the measurement techniques for SO in flue gas, which include controlled condensation method (CCM), isopropanol absorption method (IPA), salt method, tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (UVs), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The first three methods are chemical methods, which focus on the extraction of SO from flue gas.

Measurement of airblast atomization of low temperature kerosene with 25 kHz digital holography.

Atomization of low temperature fuel is of great importance in a jet engine combustor, and its visualization and diagnostics are challenging, especially in the presence of shreds and ligaments. A 25 kHz picosecond pulsed digital inline holography system is applied to measure the spray produced by an airblast atomizer with low temperature kerosene. The breakup process of shreds and ligaments of -37 kerosene are visualized and analyzed, revealing the transition of liquid jet disintegrating into droplets under the atomizing air film.

Surface tension and viscosity measurement of oscillating droplet using rainbow refractometry.

We extend rainbow refractometry to quantify the oscillations of a droplet in its fundamental mode. The oscillation parameters (frequency and amplitude damping), extracted using the time-resolved rainbow angular shift, are utilized to measure surface tension and viscosity of the liquid. Proof-of-concept experiments on an oscillating droplet stream produced by a monodisperse droplet generator are conducted.