Can the Elite Stream Improve the Academic Achievement of Senior Secondary School Students? A Study of High School Students from X City in western China based on Regression Discontinuity Analysis

The fairness and efficacy of the elite stream in general senior secondary education have long been a contentious issue. Based on the longitudinal data of the students who were enrolled in five senior secondary schools in X City in western China in 2017 and 2018, this study examined the effects of elite class streaming in improving student academic performance, using regression discontinuity analysis. The research findings showed that: despite the significant differences in the grade-10 streaming examination results and the grade-12 academic achievement between the elite class and regular class students, the gap was not markedly widened after three years of senior secondary education; the elite stream did not exhibit distinct promotive effects on the advancement of students’ overall performance when the cutoff point of elite class admission was utilized as the exogenous variable to evaluate the effects of the elite stream on student performance; both the parameter estimation and non-parametric estimation results demonstrated that the elite stream had no marked effects in improving student performance and there was no gender difference or urban vs. rural difference in the impact of the elite stream on student academic achievement

Expression and distribution of PPP2R5C gene in leukemia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently, we clarified at the molecular level novel chromosomal translocation t(14;14)(q11;q32) in a case of Sézary syndrome, which caused a rearrangement from TRAJ7 to the <it>PPP2R5C </it>gene. <it>PPP2R5C </it>is one of the regulatory B subunits of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). It plays a crucial role in cell proliferation, differentiation, and transformation. To characterize the expression and distribution of five different transcript variants of the <it>PPP2R5C </it>gene in leukemia, we analyzed the expression level of <it>PPP2R5C </it>in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 77 patients with <it>de novo </it>leukemia, 26 patients with leukemia in complete remission (CR), and 20 healthy individuals by real-time PCR and identified the different variants of <it>PPP2R5C </it>by RT-PCR.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Significantly higher expression of <it>PPP2R5C </it>was found in AML, CML, T-ALL, and B-CLL groups in comparison with healthy controls. High expression of <it>PPP2R5C </it>was detected in the B-ALL group; however, no significant difference was found compared with the healthy group. The expression level of <it>PPP2R5C </it>in the CML-CR group decreased significantly compared with that in the <it>de novo </it>CML group and was not significantly different from the level in the healthy group. By using different primer pairs that covered different exons, five transcript variants of <it>PPP2R5C </it>could be identified. All variants could be detected in healthy samples as well as in all the leukemia samples, and similar frequencies and distributions of <it>PPP2R5C </it>were indicated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overexpression of <it>PPP2R5C </it>in T-cell malignancy as well as in myeloid leukemia cells might relate to its proliferation and differentiation. Investigation of the effect of target inhibition of this gene might be beneficial to further characterization of molecular mechanisms and targeted therapy in leukemia.</p

Putting labs online with web services

Web services provide a way to offer remote control of scattered scientific instruments, enabling online labs that students can use from anywhere, at any time

An Online Cross-Sectional Survey on Oral Healthcare Among School-Age Children During COVID-19 Epidemic in Wuhan, China

Background: Since the outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the government of China adopted many measures which changed people's lifestyle including oral health-related lifestyle to control the transmission. The aim of this study was to investigate oral health status, oral healthcare behaviors, and parental attitudes toward oral healthcare among school-age children in Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak and what the status would be when the outbreak is under control.Methods: This study was an online cross-sectional survey facing elementary school students in Wuhan. The questionnaire was completed by children's parents or other family members. The information on demographic data, oral health status, oral healthcare behaviors, and parental attitudes toward oral healthcare was collected at the end of school closure. The chi-square test was used to test the association of different questionnaire items.Results: A total of 18,383 subjects aged 6–13 years with complete data were included in this investigation, and 44.2% of them suffered pain or discomfort related to teeth and gums during the epidemic. While there might be an increasing need and concern of oral healthcare during the outbreak and even when the outbreak was controlled, the worry of infection made it difficult for people to meet their demands of dental attendance.Conclusion: The risk of cross-infection during the treatment had a negative influence on parental attitudes toward dental attendance. Effective measures should be taken to meet people's demands of dental attendance

Combined modeling of cell aggregation and adhesion mediated by receptor–ligand interactions under shear flow

AbstractBlood cell aggregation and adhesion to endothelial cells under shear flow are crucial to many biological processes such as thrombi formation, inflammatory cascade, and tumor metastasis, in which these cellular interactions are mainly mediated by the underlying receptor–ligand bindings. While theoretical modeling of aggregation dynamics and adhesion kinetics of interacting cells have been well studied separately, how to couple these two processes remains unclear. Here we develop a combined model that couples cellular aggregation dynamics and adhesion kinetics under shear flow. The impacts of shear rate (or shear stress) and molecular binding affinity were elucidated. This study provides a unified model where the action of a fluid flow drives cell aggregation and adhesion under the modulations of the mechanical shear flow and receptor–ligand interaction kinetics. It offers an insight into understanding the relevant biological processes and functions

Comparative Analysis of the Microbial Profiles in Supragingival Plaque Samples Obtained From Twins With Discordant Caries Phenotypes and Their Mothers

Early childhood caries (ECC), the most frequent disease of oral cavity in preschool children, is the consequence of microbial, genetic, biochemical, socioeconomic, physical, environmental and health-influencing behavioral factors. To investigate the role of the oral microbiome and the impact of host and environmental factors in the occurrence and development of ECC, we studied the supragingival plaques of 14 twin pairs and a set of triplets with discordant caries phenotypes and 15 mothers, applying the Human Oral Microbe Identification using Next Generation Sequencing technique (HOMINGS). A total of 2,293,650 reads revealed 11 phyla, 116 genera, and 139 species of micromiome. Comparative analysis between the caries and caries-free group at species level revealed that the relative abundance of Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus fermentum, Actinomyces islaelii, Neisseria sica, and Veilonella dispar was much higher in caries group (P &lt; 0.0001). Furthermore, monozygotic twins exhibited a higher degree of similarity than dizygotic twins. Finally, we analyzed the relationship between environmental factors and the oral microbiome, and our results indicat that the frequency of taking sweet food is associated with ECC. We conclude the following. First, the occurrence of Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus fermentum, Neisseria sica, and Veilonella dispar is strongly associated with the occurrence of ECC. Second, host genetic factors influence the oral microbiome composition, while environmental and behavioral factors like the frequency of taking sweet foods have an impact on the distribution of caries-related bacteria

Functional characterization of PETIOLULE-LIKE PULVINUS (PLP) gene in abscission zone development in Medicago truncatula and its application to genetic improvement of alfalfa

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most important forage crops throughout the world. Maximizing leaf retention during the haymaking process is critical for achieving superior hay quality and maintaining biomass yield. Leaf abscission process affects leaf retention. Previous studies have largely focused on the molecular mechanisms of floral organ, pedicel and seed abscission but scarcely touched on leaf and petiole abscission. This study focuses on leaf and petiole abscission in the model legume Medicago truncatula and its closely related commercial species alfalfa. By analysing the petiolule-like pulvinus (plp) mutant in M. truncatula at phenotypic level (breakstrength and shaking assays), microscopic level (scanning electron microscopy and cross-sectional analyses) and molecular level (expression level and expression pattern analyses), we discovered that the loss of function of PLP leads to an absence of abscission zone (AZ) formation and PLP plays an important role in leaflet and petiole AZ differentiation. Microarray analysis indicated that PLP affects abscission process through modulating genes involved in hormonal homeostasis, cell wall remodelling and degradation. Detailed analyses led us to propose a functional model of PLP in regulating leaflet and petiole abscission. Furthermore, we cloned the PLP gene (MsPLP) from alfalfa and produced RNAi transgenic alfalfa plants to down-regulate the endogenous MsPLP. Down-regulation of MsPLP results in altered pulvinus structure with increased leaflet breakstrength, thus offering a new approach to decrease leaf loss during alfalfa haymaking process

Study of Xuanhuang Pill in protecting against alcohol liver disease using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry and network pharmacology

IntroductionXuanhuang Pill (XHP) is a traditional Chinese medicine oral formula composed of 10 herbs. This study aims to verify the hepatoprotective activity of XHP and explain its possible mechanism.MethodsThe hepatoprotective activity of XHP was evaluated by constructing a mouse model of alcoholic liver disease, and the mechanism of XHP was preliminarily explained by utilizing ultra-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS), proteomics and network pharmacology.ResultsThe current study demonstrated that treatment with XHP ameliorated acute alcohol-induced liver injury in mice by significantly reducing alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels and triglycerides (TGs) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Remarkably, treatment also increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione (GSH) content. UPLC-QTOF/MS, 199 compounds were identified as within the make-up of the XHP. Network pharmacology analysis showed that 103 targets regulated by 163 chemical components may play an important role in the protective liver effect mediated by XHP. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis suggest that the HIF-1, FoxO, PI3K-Akt, insulin, and thyroid hormone signaling pathways are key modulators of XHP’s effects. Finally, eight key targets including Mapk1, Mapk3, Akt1, Map2k1, Pik3ca, Pik3cg, Raf1, and Prkca were verified by molecular docking and proteomics analysis, which provide insight into the hepatoprotective effect observed with XHP treatment.ConclusionIn summary, these results improved upon knowledge of the chemical composition and the potential mechanisms of hepatoprotective action of oral XHP treatment, providing foundational support for this formulation as a viable therapeutic option for alcoholic liver disease