Oridonin Up-regulates Expression of P21 and Induces Autophagy and Apoptosis in Human Prostate Cancer Cells

Background: Oridonin (ORI) could inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis in various cancer cell lines. However, the mechanism is not fully understood

Effects of Gamification Elements on Crowdsourcing Participation: The Mediating Role of Justice Perceptions

Justice perceptions have been regarded as an important influencing factor for solvers’ (i.e., users who solve tasks on the crowdsourcing platforms) continued participation in crowdsourcing. However, researchers and practitioners still lack of sufficient understanding on the design of crowdsourcing platform that can effectively foster solvers’ justice perceptions. By synthesizing theory of organizational justice and the literature on gamification, we examine the effects of solvers’ gamification element perceptions on their crowdsourcing participation through justice perceptions. Specifically, we propose a research model to explain the effects of three gamification element perceptions (i.e., point, feedback, social network) on solvers’ distributive, interactional, and informational justice perceptions which, in turn, foster their crowdsourcing participation. By collecting survey data from 295 solvers and analyzing the data with the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, our study finds that point fosters crowdsourcing participation through distributive and interactional justice. Feedback enhances participation through distributive, interactional and informational justice. While social network strengthens participation via interactional and informational justice. Our study offers significant theoretical contributions and practical implications for the gamified crowdsourcing and organizational justice literatures

Optimal combination of MYCN differential gene and cellular senescence gene predicts adverse outcomes in patients with neuroblastoma

IntroductionNeuroblastoma (NB) is a common extracranial tumor in children and is highly heterogeneous. The factors influencing the prognosis of NB are not simple.MethodsTo investigate the effect of cell senescence on the prognosis of NB and tumor immune microenvironment, 498 samples of NB patients and 307 cellular senescence-related genes were used to construct a prediction signature.ResultsA signature based on six optimal candidate genes (TP53, IL-7, PDGFRA, S100B, DLL3, and TP63) was successfully constructed and proved to have good prognostic ability. Through verification, the signature had more advantages than the gene expression level alone in evaluating prognosis was found. Further T cell phenotype analysis displayed that exhausted phenotype PD-1 and senescence-related phenotype CD244 were highly expressed in CD8+ T cell in MYCN-amplified group with higher risk-score.ConclusionA signature constructed the six MYCN-amplified differential genes and aging-related genes can be used to predict the prognosis of NB better than using each high-risk gene individually and to evaluate immunosuppressed and aging tumor microenvironment

Single-cell multiomics of the human retina reveals hierarchical transcription factor collaboration in mediating cell type-specific effects of genetic variants on gene regulation

BACKGROUND: Systematic characterization of how genetic variation modulates gene regulation in a cell type-specific context is essential for understanding complex traits. To address this question, we profile gene expression and chromatin accessibility in cells from healthy retinae of 20 human donors through single-cell multiomics and genomic sequencing. RESULTS: We map eQTL, caQTL, allelic-specific expression, and allelic-specific chromatin accessibility in major retinal cell types. By integrating these results, we identify and characterize regulatory elements and genetic variants effective on gene regulation in individual cell types. The majority of identified sc-eQTLs and sc-caQTLs display cell type-specific effects, while the cis-elements containing genetic variants with cell type-specific effects are often accessible in multiple cell types. Furthermore, the transcription factors whose binding sites are perturbed by genetic variants tend to have higher expression levels in the cell types where the variants exert their effects, compared to the cell types where the variants have no impact. We further validate our findings with high-throughput reporter assays. Lastly, we identify the enriched cell types, candidate causal variants and genes, and cell type-specific regulatory mechanism underlying GWAS loci. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, genetic effects on gene regulation are highly context dependent. Our results suggest that cell type-dependent genetic effect is driven by precise modulation of both trans-factor expression and chromatin accessibility of cis-elements. Our findings indicate hierarchical collaboration among transcription factors plays a crucial role in mediating cell type-specific effects of genetic variants on gene regulation

Metagenomic Insights Into the Contribution of Phages to Antibiotic Resistance in Water Samples Related to Swine Feedlot Wastewater Treatment

In this study, we examined the types of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) possessed by bacteria and bacteriophages in swine feedlot wastewater before and after treatment using a metagenomics approach. We found that the relative abundance of ARGs in bacterial DNA in all water samples was significantly higher than that in phages DNA (>10.6-fold), and wastewater treatment did not significantly change the relative abundance of bacterial- or phage-associated ARGs. We further detected the distribution and diversity of the different types of ARGs according to the class of antibiotics to which they confer resistance, the tetracycline resistance genes were the most abundant resistance genes and phages were more likely to harbor ATP-binding cassette transporter family and ribosomal protection genes. Moreover, the colistin resistance gene mcr-1 was also detected in the phage population. When assessing the contribution of phages in spreading different groups of ARGs, β-lactamase resistance genes had a relatively high spreading ability even though the abundance was low. These findings possibly indicated that phages not only could serve as important reservoir of ARG but also carry particular ARGs in swine feedlot wastewater, and this phenomenon is independent of the environment

Position and orientation measurement technology for bolter miner body based on dual-screen visual target

Aiming at the problem that it is difficult to achieve the real-time and accurate measurement of the bolter miner’s position and orientation during the excavation process in coal mines, which leads to the difficulty in achieving directional excavation, a guidance method for bolter miner based on dual-screen visual target is proposed. Using two vertically installed light-sensitive imaging screens to form the dual-screen visual target surfaces and the indication laser emitted by the laser instrument presents light spots on the front and rear target surfaces. Combining with the visual measurement, high-precision raster calibration and other technology are applied to establish the mapping relationship of the spot centroid between 2D-3D coordinates, which is used to form the point cloud data of the coordinates. Based on the principle of grid indexing, coordinate transformation and Euler angle solving, combining with the biaxial inclinometer at the bottom of target to obtain the bolter miner body’s real-time position and orientation, the key points’ horizontal/vertical deviations relative to the roadway axis are calculated, which can provide data support for deviation correction during the excavation process. The off-target problem of the system is analyzed by constructing a mathematical model. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of the guidance method is verified by building an experimental platform. The experimental results indicate that this method can achieve a precision measurement of six-degrees-of-freedom spatial pose for the machine body. When the measurement distance is 9 m, the repeatability measurement precision of the yaw angle is better than 0.01º and the error of absolute measurement is less than 0.05º. Within the measurement range of 15−40 m, which uses the total station and mining laser to set the planning line, the measurement errors of key points’ horizontal/vertical deviations are less than 5 mm and 15 mm, respectively. The guiding system developed based on this method has also been successfully applied to the underground roadway excavation in coal mine, which fully meets the requirements of underground roadway excavation and the positioning of the machine body’s key points. The error characteristic of the guiding method is independent of the test distance. Also, all optical measurement functions involved in the method are realized inside the target, which can effectively shield the influence of the underground complex environment for the measurement function, and greatly improve the capacity of anti-dust interference in field application

Psoriasis comorbid with atherosclerosis meets in lipid metabolism

Psoriasis (PSO) is a common skin disease affecting approximately 1%–3% of the population, and the incidence rate is increasing yearly. PSO is associated with a dramatically increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the most common of which is atherosclerosis (AS). In the past, inflammation was considered to be the triggering factor of the two comorbidities, but in recent years, studies have found that lipid metabolism disorders increase the probability of atherosclerosis in patients with psoriasis. In this review, we discuss epidemiological studies, clinical treatment methods, risk factors, and lipid metabolism of psoriasis and atherosclerosis comorbidities

Electrochemical properties of poly3-(ω-4-pyridylalkyl)thiophenes

Poly[3-(ω-4-pyridylalkyl)thiophenes] (P{{P(n)T}}; n = 2, 5, 7, 9, 11) were prepared on the surfaces of Pt disk electrodes by oxidative electropolymerization of the respective monomers. Scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry were used to investigate the surface structure and electrochemical properties of the polymer-modified electrodes. Apparent diffusion coefficients Dₐpp for charge transfer in the polymer matrices were measured by chronoamperometry, and revealed a dependency on both the porous structure of the polymers (which is determined by the length of the alkyl chains between thiophene and pyridyl groups), and the nature of the supporting electrolytes. A.c. impedance spectra depended on the doped state of the films and the nature of the supporting electrolytes. In oxidized polymers, the charge transfer processes within the bulk polymers and at interfaces are controlled by both kinetic factors and diffusion, while for the reduced films kinetic factors predominate

Mechanism of mediation of the electrochemical oxidation of K₄Fe(CN)₆ at poly-[tris(3-{ω-[4-(2,2'-bipyridyl)] alkyl}-thiophene)iron(II)]-film modified electrodes in aqueous solutions

The kinetics of the electrochemical oxidation of K₄Fe(CN)₆ at poly-[tris(3-{ω-[4-(2,2'-bipyridyl)]alkyl}thiophene)iron(II)]-film modified electrodes have been investigated in aqueous solutions, using cyclic voltammetry and rotating disk electrode voltammetry. The retro-electrocatalytic reaction of the substrate at the polymer-coated electrodes is dependent on the alkyl chain length between the thiophene and 2,2'-bipyridine moieties and on the concentration of the substrate. The electrodes coated with the films possessing short alkyl chains exhibit more reversible voltammetric behavior and better catalytic activity to the oxidation of [Fe(CN)₆]⁴⁻ species in aqueous solutions compared with those possessing long alkyl chains. Kinetic parameters, calculated on the basis of modified Levich equations, indicate that under most circumstances the mediated reactions are controlled by the chemical step

Synthesis and electrochemical properties of poly[3-{{ω-[4-2,2'-bipyridyl)]alkyl}}thiophenes], P{{B(n)T}}, and of poly[Ru(II){{B(n)T}}₃²⁺]

The electropolymerization of a series of ligands 3-{{ω-[4-(2,2'-bipyridyl)]alkyl}}thiophene (B(n)T; n = 2, 5, 7, 9, 11) and their tris(ligand)ruthenium(II) complexes, [Ru{{B(n)T}}₃]²⁺, is reported. The electrochemical properties of the polymers were investigated using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and a.c. impedance spectroscopy. These studies reveal the dependence of the electrochemical behavior of the poly[Ru{{B(n)T}}₃²⁺] films upon the length of alkyl chains between the thiophene and the bipyridyl groups, and on the supporting electrolytes; longer alkyl chains induce more irreversible voltammetric behavior and larger charge transfer resistances in the cathodic processes of the polymers. On the basis of these investigations, the mechanism of charge transfer in the polymer-modified electrodes has been evaluated, and interpreted. This shows that electrochemical processes of the polymers in the anodic region are controlled both by kinetic and diffusion factors, whereas the primary influences in the cathodic region are associated with kinetic factors arising from the alkyl chains