Effects of Gene Methylation Reprogramming in Cloned Calves Derived from In Vitro-Transfected Somatic Cells

AbstractIn vitro transfection of cultured cells combined with nuclear transfer currently is the most effective procedure to produce transgenic livestock. In the present study, bovine primary fetal fibroblasts were transfected with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter transgene and used as nuclear donor cells in oocyte reconstructions. To examine the role of host cytoplasm on transgene expression and developmental outcome, GFP-expressing fibroblasts were fused to oocytes reconstructed either metaphase or telophase activation, and PCR technology was also employed. The results showed that GFP became detectable at the 8- to 16-cell stage, approximately 80h after reconstruction, and remained positive at all later stages. Embryonic development to the blastocyst stage was not significantly different among metaphase and telophase groups. Therefore, GFP transgene technology can be used to select embryoes derived from transgenic animals

Herbal therapy: a new pathway for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

It has been a clinical challenge to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the present commentary we discuss whether herbal therapy could be a novel treatment method for AD on the basis of results from clinical trials, and discuss the implications for potential therapy for AD pathophysiology. There is evidence to suggest that single herbs or herbal formulations may offer certain complementary cognitive benefits to the approved drugs. The current evidence supporting their use alone, however, is inconclusive or inadequate owing to many methodological limitations. Herbal mixtures may have advantages with multiple target regulation compared with the single-target antagonist in the view of traditional Chinese medicine. Several clinical trials using herbal mixtures are being conducted in China and will hopefully show promising results for treating AD in the near future

¹²⁹I and its species in the East China Sea: level, distribution, sources and tracing water masses exchange and movement

Anthropogenic I-129 as a long-lived radioisotope of iodine has been considered as an ideal oceanographic tracer due to its high residence time and conservative property in the ocean. Surface water samples collected from the East China Sea (ECS) in August 2013 were analyzed for I-129, I-127 and their inorganic chemical species in the first time. The measured I-129/I-127 ratio is 1-3 orders of magnitude higher than the pre-nuclear level, indicating its dominantly anthropogenic sources. Relatively high I-129 levels were observed in the Yangtze River and its estuary, as well as in the southern Yellow Sea, and I-129 level in seawater declines towards the ECS shelf. In the open sea, I-129 and I-127 in surface water exists mainly as iodate, while in Yangtze River estuary and some locations, iodide is dominated. The results indicate that the Fukushima nuclear accident has no detectable effects in the ECS until August 2013. The obtained results are used for investigation of interaction of various water masses and water circulation in the ECS, as well as the marine environment in this region. Meanwhile this work provides essential data for evaluation of the possible influence of the increasing NPPs along the coast of the ECS in the future

Extended Finite Element Method for Predicting Productivity of Multifractured Horizontal Wells

Based on the theory of the extended finite element method (XFEM), which was first proposed by Moës for dealing with the problem characterized by discontinuities, an extended finite element model for predicting productivity of multifractured horizontal well has been established. The model couples four main porous flow regimes, including fluid flow in the away-from-wellbore region of reservoir matrix, radial flow in the near-wellbore region of reservoir matrix, linear flow in the away-from-wellbore region of fracture, and radial flow in the near-wellbore region of fracture by considering mass transfer between fracture and matrix. The method to introduce the interior well boundary condition into the XFEM is proposed, and therefore the model can be highly adaptable to the complex and asymmetrical physical conditions. Case studies indicate that this kind of multiflow problems can be solved with high accuracy by the use of the XFEM

Fingerprinting Sediment Transport in River-Dominated Margins Using Combined Mineral Magnetic and Radionuclide Methods

Both magnetic properties and radionuclides are widely used to trace sediment transport in aquatic environments; however, these methods have not been used in combination. In this study, the East China Sea (ECS), a typical river-dominated margin, was chosen to demonstrate the advantages of combining these two methods to track sediment movements on a seasonal to annual timescale. The ratios between saturation isothermal remnant magnetization and anhysteretic remnant magnetization (χARM/SIRM) and 7Be/210Pbex activity ratios as well as mass balance of 7Be provide information on the seasonal transport of sediment from the Changjiang Estuary to the neighboring shelf. Both 210Pb budget and SIRM distribution in the inner shelf of the ECS show that a small fraction (at most 14% of annual Changjiang sediment discharge) of particles could be transported offshore. Most of 7Be activities in inner shelf sediments of the ECS were below detection limit due to relatively lower residence times and dilution by the older sediment. The observation that radionuclide activities exhibit a better correlation with χARM/SIRM ratios than with grain size suggests that iron oxides are the primary carriers of 7Be, 210Pb, and 234Th. The absorption of radionuclides onto magnetic minerals further reinforces the reliability of this combined approach in tracing sediment transport. Our study indicates that radionuclides, with different half-lives, can be utilized for quantifying sediment dynamics, whereas magnetic properties can yield more detailed information on sediment transport directions. The combined analysis of magnetic parameters and radionuclides offers a better understanding of sediment transport in river-dominated areas

Effect of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) on Babies Born: Compared by IVF Laboratories of Two Countries

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been widely used for infertility treatment, but many people have concern about their baby’s health. The objective of this chapter is to provide some detailed data about the effect of ART on human birth babies by analyzing the data from in vitro fertilization (IVF) centers in two countries. All recent records related to a baby’s birth including mother’s age, gestational days, baby’s sex, and birth weight data were collected and analyzed according to fresh or frozen embryo transfer procedure. Normal delivery data without ART were used as control. The result showed that ART patient age is significantly older than non-IVF women; the gestation of fresh and frozen embryo transfer is the same as normal spontaneous conception gestation days, but women pregnant with multiple gestations have shorter gestational period and early birth rate as well as low birth weight; and there is no significant difference in the baby’s weight between ART singleton babies and normal conception babies, but male babies weight is more than female babies, and multiple gestation’s birth weights are significantly lower than singletons, while frozen embryo transfer babies have significantly heavier birth weight than fresh embryo transfer. Also, the frozen embryo transfer technique may significantly decrease premature birth rate. Thus, frozen embryo transfer may be recommended as a health strategy in ART

Enabling Access Control for Encrypted Multi-Dimensional Data in Cloud Computing through Range Search

With the growing popularity of cloud computing, data owners are increasingly opting to outsource their data to cloud servers due to the numerous benefits it offers. However, this outsourcing raises concerns about data privacy since the data stored on remote cloud servers is not directly controlled by the owners. Encryption of the data is an effective approach to mitigate these privacy concerns. However, encrypted data lacks distinguishability, leading to limitations in supporting common operations such as range search and access control. In this research paper, we propose a method called RSAC (Range Search Supporting Access Control) for encrypted multi-dimensional data in cloud computing. Our method leverages policy design, bucket embedding, algorithm design, and Ciphertext Policy-Attribute Based Encryption (CPABE) to achieve its objectives. We present extensive experimental results that demonstrate the efficiency of our method and conduct a thorough security analysis to ensure its robustness. Our proposed RSAC method addresses the challenges of range search and access control over encrypted multi-dimensional data, thus contributing to enhancing privacy and security in cloud computing environments

Insulin resistance predicts progression of de novo atherosclerotic plaques in patients with coronary heart disease: a one-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to explore and evaluate the relationship between insulin resistance and progression of coronary atherosclerotic plaques. With the great burden coronary heart disease is imposing on individuals, healthcare professionals have already embarked on determining its potential modifiable risk factors in the light of preventive medicine. Insulin resistance has been generally recognized as a novel risk factor based on epidemiological studies; however, few researches have focused on its effect on coronary atherosclerotic plaque progression. METHODS: From June 7, 2007 to December 30, 2011, 366 patients received their index coronary angiogram and were subsequently found to have coronary atherosclerotic plaques or normal angiograms were consecutively enrolled in the study by the department of cardiology at the Ruijin Hospital, which is affiliated to the Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. All patients had follow-up angiograms after the 1-year period for evaluating the progression of the coronary lesions. The modified Gensini score was adopted for assessing coronary lesions while the HOMA-IR method was utilized for determining the state of their insulin resistance. Baseline characteristics and laboratory test results were described and the binomial regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between insulin resistance and coronary atherosclerotic plaque progression. RESULTS: Index and follow-up Gensini scores were similar between the higher insulin lower insulin resistant groups (9.09 ± 14.33 vs 9.44 ± 12.88, p = 0.813 and 17.21 ± 18.46 vs 14.09 ± 14.18, p =0.358). However the Gensini score assessing coronary lesion progression between both visits was significantly elevated in the higher insulin resistant group (8.13 ± 11.83 versus 4.65 ± 7.58, p = 0.019). Multivariate logistic binomial regression analysis revealed that insulin resistance (HOMA-IR > 3.4583) was an independent predictor for coronary arterial plaque progression (OR = 4.969, p = 0.011). We also divided all the participants into a diabetic (n = 136) and a non-diabetic group (n = 230), and HOMA-IR remained an independent predictor for atherosclerosis plaque progression. CONCLUSIONS: Insulin resistance is an independent predictor of atherosclerosis plaque progression in patients with coronary heart disease in both the diabetic and non-diabetic population

The Development of LLMs for Embodied Navigation

In recent years, the rapid advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) has attracted increasing attention due to their potential in a variety of practical applications. The application of LLMs with Embodied Intelligence has emerged as a significant area of focus. Among the myriad applications of LLMs, navigation tasks are particularly noteworthy because they demand a deep understanding of the environment and quick, accurate decision-making. LLMs can augment embodied intelligence systems with sophisticated environmental perception and decision-making support, leveraging their robust language and image-processing capabilities. This article offers an exhaustive summary of the symbiosis between LLMs and embodied intelligence with a focus on navigation. It reviews state-of-the-art models, research methodologies, and assesses the advantages and disadvantages of existing embodied navigation models and datasets. Finally, the article elucidates the role of LLMs in embodied intelligence, based on current research, and forecasts future directions in the field. A comprehensive list of studies in this survey is available at https://github.com/Rongtao-Xu/Awesome-LLM-E