Evaluating and improving the seismic performance of older tall buildings

The seismic performance of new tall buildings located in regions of high seismic hazard has been recently investigated by Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center under its Tall Buildings Initiative (TBI) program. The Tall Building Initiative has now expanded to assess the seismic performance of existing tall buildings. Buildings being considered are 20 stories or more in height, and constructed on the West Coast of the U.S. between about 1960 and 1990. During this period, several hundred tall buildings were constructed in California, but earthquake-resistant design procedures had not yet been fully developed. From these structures, a 35-story steel building, designed in 1968, and having representative details from that period, was selected for evaluation. In this paper, results of three-dimensional nonlinear analysis models developed to assess the seismic performance of this structure are presented. Two earthquake hazard levels are used for the evaluation. Structural analysis results are interpreted to assess the impact of suspected deficiencies on seismic response, and the ability of different evaluation guidelines, numerical models and analysis methods to identify seismic vulnerabilities. A feasible retrofit strategy was identified. Recommendations are offered for further research and guideline evaluation

miRNAs as Regulators of Antidiabetic Effects of Fucoidans

open access articleDiabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease with a high mortality rate worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), and other small noncoding RNAs, serve as endogenous gene regulators through binding to specific sequences in RNA and modifying gene expression toward up- or down-regulation. miRNAs have become compelling therapeutic targets and play crucial roles in regulating the process of insulin resistance. Fucoidan has shown potential function as an a-amylase inhibitor, which may be beneficial in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In recent years, many studies on fucoidan focused on the decrease in blood glucose levels caused by ingesting low-glucose food or glucose-lowering components. However, the importance of miRNAs as regulators of antidiabetic effects was rarely recognized. Hence, this review emphasizes the antidiabetic mechanisms of fucoidan through regulation of miRNAs. Fucoidan exerts a vital antidiabetic effect by regulation of miRNA expression and thus provides a novel biological target for future research

Effects of domestic cooking process on the chemical and biological properties of dietary phytochemicals

peer-reviewedFoods are good sources of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibers as well as phytochemicals, which are beneficial for the human body as nutritional supplements. The nutritional value (crude fibers, crude proteins, crude fats, flavonols, carotenoids, polyphenols, glucosinolate, chlorophyll, and ascorbic acid) and biological or functional properties (antioxidant activity, anticancer activity, or anti-mutagenic activity) of foods can be well retained and protected with the appropriate cooking methods. The chemical, physical and enzyme modifications that occur during cooking will alter the dietary phytochemical antioxidant capacity and digestibility. This paper reviewed the recent advances on the effects of domestic cooking process on the chemical and biological properties of dietary phytochemicals. Furthermore, the possible mechanisms underlying these changes were discussed, and additional implications and future research goals were suggested. The domestic cooking process for improving the palatability of foods and increasing the bioavailability of nutrients and bioactive phytochemicals has been well supported

Exploring the safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of a Chinese patent medicine (Fufang E’jiao syrup) for alleviating cancer-related fatigue : a protocol for a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial

Objective: To provide higher level evidence on the benefits of a Chinese patent medicine (CPM) (Fufang E’jiao Syrup, FFEJS) for alleviating cancer-related fatigue (CRF), this article describes a protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Methods/design: We designed a double-blind, placebo-controlled stratified permuted block randomization clinical trial on CRF among 3 types of cancer in China. Participants will be equally allocated to FFEJS group or placebo group according to the randomization sequence and the hospitals they were enrolled at. Each patient will receive 20 ml of either the study formula FFEJS or a placebo formula, 3 times a day for 6 weeks. The follow-up period will be another 4 weeks for safety evaluation. The primary outcome is the difference in improvement of fatigue as measured with the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale-Chinese Version (RPFS-CV). Secondary outcomes include change in fatigue (measured by routine blood panel and hormones in peripheral blood) and QoL (measured by Edmonton symptom assessment scale and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy). Patient safety will be measured by liver, renal or cardiac damage, and the risk of FFEJS having a tumor promotion and progression effect will be monitored throughout this study. Cost-effectiveness will also be evaluated mainly by incremental cost per each quality-adjusted life year gained. Discussion: This article describes the study design of a CPM for CRF in patients with advanced cancer through exploring the effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of FFEJS. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04147312. Registered on 1 Sep 2019

The Moderating Effect of Different Types of Internet Use on the Relationship between Transitional Aging Changes and Self-esteem of Older Adults

This study investigates the moderating effect of different types of Internet use regarding the relationship between three transitional aging changes and self-esteem of older adults. The current paper is still in progress; this is a research-in-progress paper. An aging population increases government expenditures and family responsibilities, thus drawing more attention from the academic community. Recent research posits that self-esteem tends to decline in individuals from the ages around 50-65 due to role loss, social loss, and dissatisfaction resulting from unaccomplished life goals. To address this issue, previous studies considered that the general use of the Internet may help to enhance self-esteem among older adults. To fill this research gap, the present study proposes that the cultural use of the Internet could moderate role loss of older adults, while social use of the Internet could mitigate social loss. Furthermore, economic use could moderate the dissatisfaction of unfulfilled life goals. Regarding various theoretical contributions, this is the first study to apply different types of Internet use, so as to investigate its moderating effect concerning the relationship between transitional aging changes and self-esteem. Findings of the present study can also help shed light on interventions for the caregiver in both community centers and the domestic environment to moderate the decline of self-esteem among older adults. The data will be collected through surveys distributed to District Elderly Community Centers (DECCs) in Hong Kong. Multiple regression analysis will then be utilized to test the moderating effect of each type of Internet use

Long-term culture captures injury-repair cycles of colonic stem cells

The colonic epithelium can undergo multiple rounds of damage and repair, often in response to excessive inflammation. The responsive stem cell that mediates this process is unclear, in part because of a lack of in vitro models that recapitulate key epithelial changes that occur in vivo during damage and repair. Here, we identify a Hop

A novel type 2 diabetes risk allele increases the promoter activity of the muscle-specific small ankyrin 1 gene

Genome-wide association studies have identified Ankyrin-1 (ANK1) as a common type 2 diabetes (T2D) susceptibility locus. However, the underlying causal variants and functional mechanisms remain unknown. We screened for 8 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ANK1 between 2 case-control studies. Genotype analysis revealed significant associations of 3 SNPs, rs508419 (first identified here), rs515071, and rs516946 with T2D (P 0.80); subsequent analysis indicated that the CCC haplotype associated with increased T2D susceptibility (OR 1.447, P < 0.001). Further mapping showed that rs508419 resides in the muscle-specific ANK1 gene promoter. Allele-specific mRNA and protein level measurements confirmed association of the C allele with increased small ANK1 (sAnk1) expression in human skeletal muscle (P = 0.018 and P < 0.001, respectively). Luciferase assays showed increased rs508419-C allele transcriptional activity in murine skeletal muscle C2C12 myoblasts, and electrophoretic mobility-shift assays demonstrated altered rs508419 DNA-protein complex formation. Glucose uptake was decreased with excess sAnk1 expression upon insulin stimulation. Thus, the ANK1 rs508419-C T2D-risk allele alters DNA-protein complex binding leading to increased promoter activity and sAnk1 expression; thus, increased sAnk1 expression in skeletal muscle might contribute to T2D susceptibility

Polypyrimidine tract binding protein knockdown reverses depression-like behaviors and cognition impairment in mice with lesioned cholinergic neurons

Background and objectivesDepression is a common comorbidity of dementia and may be a risk factor for dementia. Accumulating evidence has suggested that the cholinergic system plays a central role in dementia and depression, and the loss of cholinergic neurons is associated with memory decline in aging and Alzheimer’s patients. A specific loss of cholinergic neurons in the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (HDB) is correlated with depression and dysfunction of cognition in mice. In this study, we examined the potential regenerative mechanisms of knockdown the RNA-binding protein polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB) in reversing depression-like behaviors and cognition impairment in mice with lesioned cholinergic neurons.MethodsWe lesioned cholinergic neurons in mice induced by injection of 192 IgG-saporin into HDB; then, we injected either antisense oligonucleotides or adeno-associated virus-shRNA (GFAP promoter) into the injured area of HDB to deplete PTB followed by a broad range of methodologies including behavioral examinations, Western blot, RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence.ResultsWe found that the conversion of astrocytes to newborn neurons by using antisense oligonucleotides on PTB in vitro, and depletion of PTB using either antisense oligonucleotides or adeno-associated virus-shRNA into the injured area of HDB could specifically transform astrocytes into cholinergic neurons. Meanwhile, knockdown of PTB by both approaches could relieve the depression-like behaviors shown by sucrose preference, forced swimming or tail-suspension tests, and alleviate cognitive impairment such as fear conditioning and novel object recognition in mice with lesioned cholinergic neurons.ConclusionThese findings suggest that supplementing cholinergic neurons after PTB knockdown may be a promising therapeutic strategy to revert depression-like behaviors and cognitive impairment

Large-eddy simulation of gas–liquid two-phase flow in a bubble column reactor using a modified sub-grid scale model with the consideration of bubble-eddy interaction

The Eulerian–Eulerian Large-eddy simulations (LES) of gas–liquid two-phase flow in a cylindrical bubble column reactor have been conducted. When considering the turbulent eddy viscosity in LES, apart from the well-accepted contributions from shear turbulence and bubble induced turbulence (BIT), the effect of the interaction between entrained bubbles and eddies with a similar turbulence length scale to the sub-grid scale (SGS) cannot be neglected. With the consideration of the bubble response to the eddies on the induced sub-grid stresses, a modified SGS model, which incorporates the Stokes number, St, was proposed. The results of LES clearly indicate that the use of the modified SGS model can effectively capture the transient bubbly flow in the cylindrical bubble column. The power turbulent kinetic energy spectrum obtained in LES indicates that a slope similar to Komogorov -5/3 scaling law and the -3 scaling law can still be identified for a critical frequency f=10.70 Hz. © 2020 The Author(s

Single-cell chromatin accessibility profiling of cell-state-specific gene regulatory programs during mouse organogenesis

In mammals, early organogenesis begins soon after gastrulation, accompanied by specification of various type of progenitor/precusor cells. In order to reveal dynamic chromatin landscape of precursor cells and decipher the underlying molecular mechanism driving early mouse organogenesis, we performed single-cell ATAC-seq of E8.5-E10.5 mouse embryos. We profiled a total of 101,599 single cells and identified 41 specific cell types at these stages. Besides, by performing integrated analysis of scATAC-seq and public scRNA-seq data, we identified the critical cis-regulatory elements and key transcription factors which drving development of spinal cord and somitogenesis. Furthermore, we intersected accessible peaks with human diseases/traits-related loci and found potential clinical associated single nucleotide variants (SNPs). Overall, our work provides a fundamental source for understanding cell fate determination and revealing the underlying mechanism during postimplantation embryonic development, and expand our knowledge of pathology for human developmental malformations