A Transgenic Mouse Model for DNA/RNA Gene Therapy of Human β Thalassemia

TheâIVS-2-654 C→T mutation accounts for approximately 20% of â thalassemia mutation in southern  China; it causes aberrant RNA splicing and leads to â thalassemia. To provide an animal model for testing  therapies for correcting splicing defects, we have produced two lines of transgenic mice with the human â  thalassemia mutant gene. The transgenic mice carrying this mutant gene show the same aberrant splicing  as their human counterparts and provide an animal model for testing therapies to correct splicing defects  at either the RNA or DNA level.

The distribution of zeros of solutions of neutral advanced differential equations

AbstractThe distribution of zeros of solutions of the neutral advanced differential equations[x(t)+P(t)x(t+r)]'-Q(t)x(t+σ)=0,t≥to,, is investigated, where P(t), Q(t) C([t0, ∞), R+), τ, σ R+. The estimate for the distance between adjacent zeros of the oscillatory solution of the above equation is obtained

Piezoelectric sensing method for segmental joint contact stress during shield tunnel construction

The emergence of curved shield tunnels poses a significant construction challenge. If the quality of the segment assembly is not guaranteed, many segment cracks and damage will result from the stress concentration. Sensing the contact stresses between segmental joints is necessary to improve the quality of segments assembled for shield tunnel construction. Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric material was chosen for the sensor because it can convert contact stresses into electrical signals, allowing the state of the segmental joints to be effectively sensed. It matches the working environment between the segmental joints of the shield tunnel, where flexible structures such as rubber gaskets and force transfer pads are present. This study proposes a piezoelectric sensing method for segmental joints in shield tunnels and conducts laboratory tests, numerical analyses, and field tests to validate the feasibility of the method. The results indicate that the PVDF film sensor can effectively sense the entire compression process of the gasket with different amounts of compression. The piezoelectric cable sensor can effectively sense the joint offset direction of the gasket. For differently shaped sections, the variation in the force sensed by the piezoelectric cable sensors was different, as verified by numerical simulation. Through the field test, it was found that the average contact stress between the segmental joints was in the range of 1.2–1.8 MPa during construction of the curved shield tunnels. The location of the segmental joints and the type of segment affect the contact stress value. The field monitoring results show that piezoelectric sensing technology can be successfully applied during assembly of the segments for effective sensing of the contact stress

Operational Water Withdrawal and Consumption Factors for Electricity Generation Technology in China—A Literature Review

As two indispensable resources for human development, energy and water are closely related. China, as the world’s largest consumer of electricity, is also experiencing very serious water shortages. Understanding the water consumption intensity in various types of electric power production technologies according to China’s national conditions is a prerequisite for understanding the potential impact of electrical power production on water resources. Therefore, following the steps of a meta-analysis, this paper provides a literature review on operational water withdrawal and consumption factors for electricity generation technology in China. We observed that 50% of water consumption for electricity generation was for coal power, whereas there was no research on the water consumption intensity of natural gas power generation, and a shortage of studies on water intake during electrical power production. The average water consumption intensity of hydropower is the largest. The results indicate that compared with other fuel types, hydropower is not a sustainable energy with respect to water conservation, and the study of hydropower applications should be improved in China

sj-docx-1-chl-10.1177_17475198231226425 – Supplemental material for Rhodium-catalyzed C–H selective amination of 2,4-diarylquinazolines with N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-chl-10.1177_17475198231226425 for Rhodium-catalyzed C–H selective amination of 2,4-diarylquinazolines with N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide by Wei Gao, Lifang Hu, Fang Gao, Guozhu Hu and Xueying Zhou in Journal of Chemical Research</p

The Patterns of Male and Female Flowers in Flowering Stage May Not Be Optimal Resource Allocation for Fruit and Seed Growth

Changes in the proportions of male and female flowers in monoecious plants in response to external environmental conditions are directly related to the reproductive fitness of plants. The monoecious cucumber (Cucumber sativus) plant was used in this study to assess the responses of sex differentiation and the breeding process to nutrient supply and the degree of artificial pollination using pollen solutions of different concentrations. We found that the nutrient supply significantly improved the number of female flowers, while pollination treatments did not obviously increase the number of male flowers. Continuous pollination changed the number of female flowers especially in the later stage of the pollination experiment. Therefore, pollination changed the ratio of male and female flowers in the flowering stage of cucumber. Pollination treatment affected the fruit growth, seed set, and fruit yield. The number of fruit, fruit set percentage, and total seeds per plant did not increase with the pollination level, but individual fruit weight and seed number in one fruit did increase. The differentiation of male and female flowers in the flowering stage of cucumber is a response to nutrient and pollination resources, but this response is not the optimal resource allocation for subsequent fruit development and seed maturity, which suggests that the response of plants to external environment resources is short-term and direct

A Model for Predicting Clinical Prognosis in Patients with WHO Grade 2 Glioma

Objectives. Although patients with grade 2 glioma have a relatively better prognosis and longer survival than those with high-grade glioma, there are still a number of patients with disappointing outcomes. In order to accurately predict the prognosis of patients, relevant risk factors were included in the analysis to establish a clinical prediction model so as to provide a basis for clinically individualized treatment. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted in patients diagnosed with grade 2 glioma. Data including clinical features, pathological type, molecular classification, neuroimaging examination, treatment, and survival were collected. The data sets were randomly assigned, with 80% of the data used for model building and 20% for validation. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to construct the model using important risk factors and present it in the form of a nomogram. The nomogram was evaluated a using C-index and calibration chart. Results. A total of 160 patients were enrolled in this analysis, including 128 in the training group and 32 in the validation group. In the training group, eight important risk factors including preoperative KPS, the first presenting symptom, the extent of resection, the gross tumor size, 1p19q, IDH, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy were identified to construct the model. The C-index of the training group and the validation group was 0.832 and 0.801, respectively, indicating that the model had good prediction ability. The calibration charts of the two groups were drawn respectively, which showed that the calibration line and the standard line had a good consistency, which suggested that the model-predicted risk had a good consistency with the actual risk. Conclusions. Based on the data of our center, a nomogram prediction model with eight variables has been established as an off-the-rack tool and verified its accuracy, which can guide clinical work and provide consultation for patients