Analysis of heat transfer and thermal environment in a rural residential building for addressing energy poverty

Reducing energy consumption and creating a comfortable thermal indoor environment in rural residential buildings can play a key role in fighting global warming in China. As a result of economic development, rural residents are building new houses and modernizing existing buildings. This paper investigated and analyzed a typical rural residential building in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in Northwest China through field measurements and numerical simulation. The results showed that making full use of solar energy resources is an important way to improve the indoor temperature. Reasonable building layout and good thermal performance of the building envelope can reduce wind velocities and convective heat loss. Insulation materials and double-glazed windows should be used to reduce energy loss in new buildings, although it is an evolution process in creating thermally efficient buildings in rural China. This research provides a reference for the design and construction of rural residential buildings in Northwest China and similar areas for addressing energy poverty

Volume-regulated Cl- current: contributions of distinct Cl- channel and localized Ca2+ signals.

The swelling-activated chloride current (ICl,swell) is induced when a cell swells and plays a central role in maintaining cell volume in response to osmotic stress. The major contributor of ICl,swell is the volume regulated anion channel (VRAC). LRRC8A (SWELL1) was recently identified as an essential component of VRAC but the mechanisms of VRAC activation are still largely unknown; moreover, other Cl- channels, such as anoctamin 1 (ANO1) were also suggested to contribute to ICl,swell. In this present study, we investigated the roles of LRRC8A and ANO1 in activation of ICl,swell; we also explored the role of intracellular Ca2+ in ICl,swell activation. We used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing approach, electrophysiology, live fluorescent imaging, selective pharmacology and other approaches to show that both LRRC8A and ANO1 can be activated by cell swelling in HEK293 cells. Yet, both channels contribute biophysically and pharmacologically distinct components to ICl,swell, with LRRC8A being the major component. Cell swelling induced oscillatory Ca2+ transients and these Ca2+ signals were required to activate both, the LRRC8A- and ANO1-dependent components of ICl,swell. Both ICl,swell components required localized rather than global Ca2+ for activation. Interestingly, while intracellular Ca2+ was necessary and sufficient to activate ANO1, it was necessary but not sufficient to activate LRRC8A-mediated currents. Finally, Ca2+ transients linked to the ICl,swell activation were mediated by the GPCR-independent PLC isoforms

Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) deficiency exacerbates pressure overload-induced cardiac dysfunction by inhibiting Beclin-1 dependent autophagy pathway

AbstractMitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) was demonstrated to play cardioprotective roles in cardiovascular diseases. Nonetheless, little is known about the roles and mechanisms of ALDH2 in pressure overload-induced cardiac damages. In this study, we revealed that ALDH2 deficiency overtly exacerbated transverse aortic constriction (TAC)-induced cardiac dysfunction. Cardiomyocyte enlargement was observed in both WT and ALDH2−/− mice in HE-stained myocardial tissue samples at 8weeks post TAC surgery. Mitochondrial morphology and structure were also significantly damaged post TAC surgery and the changes were aggravated in ALDH2−/− TAC hearts. ALDH2 deficiency also depressed myocardial autophagy in hearts at 8weeks post TAC surgery with a potential mechanism of repressing the expression of Beclin-1 and promoting the interaction between Bcl-2 and Beclin-1. These data indicate that ALDH2 deficiency exacerbates the pressure overload induced cardiac dysfunction partly by inhibiting Beclin-1 dependent autophagy pathway.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Autophagy and protein quality control in cardiometabolic diseases

DeepAIR: A deep learning framework for effective integration of sequence and 3D structure to enable adaptive immune receptor analysis

Structural docking between the adaptive immune receptors (AIRs), including T cell receptors (TCRs) and B cell receptors (BCRs), and their cognate antigens are one of the most fundamental processes in adaptive immunity. However, current methods for predicting AIR-antigen binding largely rely on sequence-derived features of AIRs, omitting the structure features that are essential for binding affinity. In this study, we present a deep learning framework, termed DeepAIR, for the accurate prediction of AIR-antigen binding by integrating both sequence and structure features of AIRs. DeepAIR achieves a Pearson’s correlation of 0.813 in predicting the binding affinity of TCR, and a median area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.904 and 0.942 in predicting the binding reactivity of TCR and BCR, respectively. Meanwhile, using TCR and BCR repertoire, DeepAIR correctly identifies every patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and inflammatory bowel disease in test data. Thus, DeepAIR improves the AIR-antigen binding prediction that facilitates the study of adaptive immunity

Inflammatory mediator bradykinin increases population of sensory neurons expressing functional T-type Ca2+ channels

T-type Ca2+ channels are important regulators of peripheral sensory neuron excitability. Accordingly, T-type Ca2+ currents are often increased in various pathological pain conditions, such as inflammation or nerve injury. Here we investigated effects of inflammation on functional expression of T-type Ca2+ channels in small-diameter cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. We found that overnight treatment of DRG cultures with a cocktail of inflammatory mediators bradykinin (BK), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), norepinephrine (NE) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) strongly increased the population size of the small-diameter neurons displaying low-voltage activated (LVA, T-type) Ca2+ currents while having no effect on the peak LVA current amplitude. When applied individually, BK and ATP also increased the population size of LVA-positive neurons while NE and PGE2 had no effect. The PLC inhibitor U-73122 and B2 receptor antagonist, Hoe-140, both abolished the increase of the population of LVA-positive DRG neurons. Inflammatory treatment did not affect CaV3.2 mRNA or protein levels in DRG cultures. Furthermore, an ubiquitination inhibitor, MG132, did not increase the population of LVA-positive neurons. Our data suggest that inflammatory mediators BK and ATP increase the abundance of LVA-positive DRG neurons in total neuronal population by stimulating the recruitment of a 'reserve pool' of CaV3.2 channels, particularly in neurons that do not display measurable LVA currents under control conditions

Single-Cell Atlas of the Chinese Tongue Sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) Ovary Reveals Transcriptional Programs of Oogenesis in Fish

16 pages, 6 figures, supplementary material https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2022.828124/full#supplementary-material.-- Data Availability Statement: According to national legislation/guidelines, specifically the Administrative Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Human Genetic Resources (http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2019-06/10/content_5398829.htm, http://english.www.gov.cn/policies/latest_releases/2019/06/10/content_281476708945462.htm), no additional raw data is available at this time. Data of this project can be accessed after an approval application to the China National Genebank (CNGB, https://db.cngb.org/cnsa/). Please refer to https://db.cngb.org/, or email: [email protected] for detailed application guidance. The accession code CNP0002319 should be included in the applicationOogenesis is a highly orchestrated process that depends on regulation by autocrine/paracrine hormones and growth factors. However, many details of the molecular mechanisms that regulate fish oogenesis remain elusive. Here, we performed a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of the molecular signatures of distinct ovarian cell categories in adult Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis). We characterized the successive stepwise development of three germ cell subtypes. Notably, we identified the cellular composition of fish follicle walls, including four granulosa cell types and one theca cell type, and we proposed important transcription factors (TFs) showing high activity in the regulation of cell identity. Moreover, we found that the extensive niche–germline bidirectional communications regulate fish oogenesis, whereas ovulation in fish is accompanied by the coordination of simultaneous and tightly sequential processes across different granulosa cells. Additionally, a systems biology analysis of the homologous genes shared by Chinese tongue sole and macaques revealed remarkably conserved biological processes in germ cells and granulosa cells across vertebrates. Our results provide key insights into the cell-type-specific mechanisms underlying fish oogenesis at a single-cell resolution, which offers important clues for exploring fish breeding mechanisms and the evolution of vertebrate reproductive systemsThis work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31722058, 31802275 and 31472269); the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0900301); the AoShan Talents Cultivation Program Supported by Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (2017ASTCP-ES06); the Taishan Scholar Project Fund of Shandong of China to C.S.; the National Ten-Thousands Talents Special Support Program to C.S.; the Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund, CAFS (No.2020TD19); and the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-47-G03)With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)Peer reviewe

Experimental evidence to understand mechanical causes of retinal detachment following blunt trauma.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to perform an in vitro experiment to simulate retinal detachment caused by blunt impact, and provide experimental evidence to understand mechanical causes of traumatic retinal detachment. METHODS: The experiment was conducted on twenty-two fresh porcine eyes using a bespoke pendulum testing device at two energy levels (0.1J for low energy and 1.0J for high energy). We examined dynamic forces and mechanical responses to the impact, including global deformations, intraocular pressure changes and the energy absorption. Another set of twenty-two eyes underwent pathological examination immediately after being subjected to blunt impact. Twelve additional intact eyes were examined as controls. All pathological sections were scored to indicate whether retinal detachment had occurred. RESULTS: A dynamic variation in intraocular pressure was detected following impact and exhibited an approximate sinusoidal oscillation-attenuation profile. The peaks of impact force were 12.9 ± 1.9 N at low-energy level and 34.8 ± 9.8 N at high-energy level, showing a significant difference (p < 0.001). The positive and negative peaks of intraocular pressure were 149.4 ± 18.9 kPa and -10.9 ± 7.2 kPa at low-energy level, and 274.5 ± 55.2 kPa and -35.7 ± 23.7 kPa at high-energy level, showing significant differences (p < 0.001 for both levels). Retinal detachments were observed in damaged eyes while few detachments were found in control eyes. The occurrence rate of retinal detachment differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the high- and low-energy impact groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided experimental evidence that shockwaves produced by blunt trauma break the force equilibrium and lead to the oscillation and negative pressure, which mainly contribute to traumatic retinal detachment

Correlation between TyG index and coronary atherosclerosis assessed by CCTA in elderly male patients: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Age is a major risk factor associated with the complexity of coronary artery disease (CAD), and the prognosis of elderly patients with coronary heart disease is relatively poor. Metabolic disturbances are prevalent in the elderly population and contribute to CAD morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index and total coronary atherosclerotic burden assessed non-invasively by Coronary Computed Tomography Angiogram (CCTA) in the elderly population. Methods This retrospective cross-sectional study involved 427 patients who underwent CCTA. The patients were divided into two groups based on their Leiden score: ≥5 and < 5. Comparisons between groups were conducted using t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests for continuous variables and chi-square tests for categorical variables. The correlation between TyG and Leiden score was assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the role of TyG in atherosclerosis risk, using clinical variables previously shown to independently predict a high Leiden score. Results The levels of age and HbA1c% were significantly higher in patients with Leiden score ≥ 5. Patients with Leiden score ≥ 5 showed no significant difference in TyG index compared to those with Leiden score < 5. Pearson correlation analysis showed that HbA1c% (r = 0.44, p < 0.01), age (r = 0.34, p < 0.01), and FBG (r = 0.15, p = 0.01) were positively correlated with Leiden score, while TyG index had no correlation with Leiden score (r = 0.05, p = 0.42). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that HbA1c% (β = 2.92, 95%CI: 2.25–3.56, P < 0.01) was positively correlated with Leiden score, while TyG index had no correlation with Leiden score (β = 0.73, 95%CI: -3.27-4.72, P < 0.01). HbA1c% was found to be an influential factor for obstructive CVD (β = 1.86, 95%CI: 1.50–2.29, P < 0.01), while TyG index was not an independent risk factor for obstructive CVD (β = 0.39, 95%CI: 0.12–1.32, P = 0.13). Conclusion The TyG index did not show any significant correlation with the Leiden score and obstructive CVD as a risk factor in elderly male population. On the other hand, HbA1c% was identified as an influential factor for both the Leiden score and obstructive CVD

Structural Optimization and Application Research of Alkali-Activated Slag Ceramsite Compound Insulation Block Based on Finite Element Method

The research and application of new wall materials have been attracting increasing attention owing to the continuous promotion of sustainable development in the building industry. An alkali-activated slag ceramsite compound insulation block (AASCCIB) is used as the research object. Based on the finite element method, the effects of different numbers of hole rows and hole ratios on the thermal and mechanical performances of AASCCIBs are analyzed using ANSYS CFX. On this basis, the AASCCIB with the optimal comprehensive performance is determined by a multi-objective optimization analysis. Finally, the improvement effect of the AASCCIB wall on the indoor thermal environment relative to an ordinary block (OB) wall is quantitatively analyzed using ANSYS CFX. The results show that the von Mises equivalent stress and heat transfer coefficient of the AASCCIB decrease with the increase in the hole ratio when the hole shape and number of hole rows are constant. AASCCIB&nbsp;B1 has the optimal comprehensive performance among six AASCCIBs, with the heat transfer coefficient and average von Mises equivalent stress of 0.446 W/(m2∙K) and 9.52 MPa, respectively. Compared with the indoor lowest and average temperatures of the building with the OB wall, those of the building with the AASCCIB wall increased by at least 1.39 and 0.82 °C on the winter solstice, respectively. The indoor temperature difference decreased by at least 0.83 °C. In addition, the indoor highest temperature, average temperature, and temperature difference decreased by at least 1.75, 0.79, and 1.89 °C on the summer solstice, respectively