Chinese Expert Consensus on Critical Care Ultrasound Applications at COVID-19 Pandemic

The spread of new coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) follows a different pattern than previous respiratory viruses, posing a serious public health risk worldwide. World Health Organization (WHO) named the disease as COVID-19 and declared it a pandemic. COVID-19 is characterized by highly contagious nature, rapid transmission, swift clinical course, profound worldwide impact, and high mortality among critically ill patients. Chest X-ray, computerized tomography (CT), and ultrasound are commonly used imaging modalities. Among them, ultrasound, due to its portability and non-invasiveness, can be easily moved to the bedside for examination at any time. In addition, with use of 4G or 5G networks, remote ultrasound consultation can also be performed, which allows ultrasound to be used in isolated medial areas. Besides, the contact surface of ultrasound probe with patients is small and easy to be disinfected. Therefore, ultrasound has gotten lots of positive feedbacks from the frontline healthcare workers, and it has played an indispensable role in the course of COVID-19 diagnosis and follow up

Excessive use of online video streaming services: Impact of recommender system use, psychological factors, and motives

With the growing relevance of the Internet as a tool for communication and entertainment, researchers have examined the effects of individual's psychological factors and media use motives on their excessive use of Internet. Since Internet use has significant nuances, the excessive use of particular Internet application, such as social network services and online games, has been studied separately. However, as the major Internet application, online video streaming service has not been investigated. Moreover, other than psychological factors and media use motives, the IT features implemented in the application, such as the recommender system, could also induce excessive use behavior. This paper aims to examine individual's excessive use of online video streaming services and the effects of recommender system in such services. A survey of 490 video streaming service users was conducted. The results show that the use of recommendations, along with lack of self-control, lack of self-esteem and use motive of information seeking, lead to excessive usage of video streaming services. This study contributes to the literature of excessive Internet use by exploring individual's excessive use behavior in video streaming services and incorporating the salient role of recommender system in Internet applications

The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor modulates DNA repair and radioresponsiveness.

PURPOSE: Perturbations in the retinoblastoma pathway are over-represented in advanced prostate cancer; retinoblastoma loss promotes bypass of first-line hormone therapy. Conversely, preliminary studies suggested that retinoblastoma-deficient tumors may become sensitized to a subset of DNA-damaging agents. Here, the molecular and in vivo consequence of retinoblastoma status was analyzed in models of clinical relevance. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Experimental work was performed with multiple isogenic prostate cancer cell lines (hormone sensitive: LNCaP and LAPC4 cells and hormone resistant C42, 22Rv1 cells; stable knockdown of retinoblastoma using shRNA). Multiple mechanisms were interrogated including cell cycle, apoptosis, and DNA damage repair. Transcriptome analysis was performed, validated, and mechanisms discerned. Cell survival was measured using clonogenic cell survival assay and in vivo analysis was performed in nude mice with human derived tumor xenografts. RESULTS: Loss of retinoblastoma enhanced the radioresponsiveness of both hormone-sensitive and castrate-resistant prostate cancer. Hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation was not mediated by cell cycle or p53. Retinoblastoma loss led to alteration in DNA damage repair and activation of the NF-κB pathway and subsequent cellular apoptosis through PLK3. In vivo xenografts of retinoblastoma-deficient tumors exhibited diminished tumor mass, lower PSA kinetics, and decreased tumor growth after treatment with ionizing radiation (P \u3c 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Loss of retinoblastoma confers increased radiosensitivity in prostate cancer. This hypersensitization was mediated by alterations in apoptotic signaling. Combined, these not only provide insight into the molecular consequence of retinoblastoma loss, but also credential retinoblastoma status as a putative biomarker for predicting response to radiotherapy

Photoacoustic Identification of Laser-induced Microbubbles as Light Scattering Centers for Optical Limiting in Liquid Suspension of Graphene Nanosheets

Liquid suspensions of carbon nanotubes, graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides have exhibited excellent performance in optical limiting. However, the underlying mechanism has remained elusive and is generally ascribed to their superior nonlinear optical properties such as nonlinear absorption or nonlinear scattering. Using graphene as an example, we show that photo-thermal microbubbles are responsible for the optical limiting as strong light scattering centers: graphene sheets absorb incident light and become heated up above the boiling point of water, resulting in vapor and microbubble generation. This conclusion is based on direct observation of bubbles above the laser beam as well as a strong correlation between laser-induced ultrasound and optical limiting. In-situ Raman scattering of graphene further confirms that the temperature of graphene under laser pulses rises above the boiling point of water but still remains too low to vaporize graphene and create graphene plasma bubbles. Photo-thermal bubble scattering is not a nonlinear optical process and requires very low laser intensity. This understanding helps us to design more efficient optical limiting materials and understand the intrinsic nonlinear optical properties of nanomaterials

Protocatechuic acid: A novel detoxication agent of fumonisin B1 for poultry industry

Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is a major fusarium mycotoxin that largely contaminates feedstuffs and foods, posing a health risk to both animals and humans. This mycotoxin can enter the human body directly through contaminated food consumption or indirectly by toxins and their metabolites. In a prior study, feed-borne FB1 is one of the leading mycotoxins in breeder eggs, leading to reduced hatchability and gizzard ulceration in chicken progenies. Currently, no effective way is available to remove FB1 from feeds and human-contaminated foods. We hypothesize that FB1 can be reduced to low risk by protocatechuic acid (PCA). To assess the ability of FB1 to be degraded in vivo, 1 ppm of FB1 was treated with PCA, or D-glucose, or silymarin, or anti-FB1 monoclonal antibody. Our study revealed that both D-glucose and PCA exhibited 53.4 and 71.43% degradation, respectively, at 80°C for 2 h, while 35.15% of FB1 detoxification was determined in the silymarin group at 60°C for 0.5 h. A dose-dependent manner was found after treatment with D-glucose or PCA at 80°C for 2 h. As for detoxification of anti-FB1 monoclonal antibody, the 1:3,000 dilution induced significant FB1 detoxification, accounting for 25.9% degradation at 25°C for 2 h. Furthermore, 50 SPF 11-day-old embryonated eggs were divided into 10 groups, with five eggs per group. Post treatment with PCA or D-glucose, or silymarin or anti-FB1 monoclonal antibody, the treated samples were inoculated into albumens and monitored daily until the hatching day. Consequently, 100% of the chickens survived in the D-glucose group and other control groups, except for the FB1 control group, while 80, 80, and 60% hatching rates were found in the PCA-treated group, the anti-FB1 monoclonal antibody-treated group, and the silymarin-treated group. Additionally, both the FB1 group and the silymarin-treated group yielded lower embryo growth than other groups did. Postmortem, lower gizzard ulceration index was determined in the PCA-treated group and the anti-FB1 monoclonal antibody-treated group compared to those of the silymarin-treated group and D-glucose-treated group. Based on the above evidence, PCA is a promising detoxification to reduce FB1 contamination in the poultry industry, contributing to the eradication of mycotoxin residuals in the food chain and maintaining food security for human beings

The All-Data-Based Evolutionary Hypothesis of Ciliated Protists with a Revised Classification of the Phylum Ciliophora (Eukaryota, Alveolata)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The file attached is the published version of the article

Novel role for the innate immune receptor toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the regulation of the wnt signaling pathway and photoreceptor apoptosis

Recent evidence has implicated innate immunity in regulating neuronal survival in the brain during stroke and other neurodegenerations. Photoreceptors are specialized light-detecting neurons in the retina that are essential for vision. In this study, we investigated the role of the innate immunity receptor TLR4 in photoreceptors. TLR4 activation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) significantly reduced the survival of cultured mouse photoreceptors exposed to oxidative stress. With respect to mechanism, TLR4 suppressed Wnt signaling, decreased phosphorylation and activation of the Wnt receptor LRP6, and blocked the protective effect of the Wnt3a ligand. Paradoxically, TLR4 activation prior to oxidative injury protected photoreceptors, in a phenomenon known as preconditioning. Expression of TNFα and its receptors TNFR1 and TNFR2 decreased during preconditioning, and preconditioning was mimicked by TNFα antagonists, but was independent of Wnt signaling. Therefore, TLR4 is a novel regulator of photoreceptor survival that acts through the Wnt and TNFα pathways. © 2012 Yi et al

Fusion of Color Doppler and Magnetic Resonance Images of the Heart

This study was designed to establish and analyze color Doppler and magnetic resonance fusion images of the heart, an approach for simultaneous testing of cardiac pathological alterations, performance, and hemodynamics. Ten volunteers were tested in this study. The echocardiographic images were produced by Philips IE33 system and the magnetic resonance images were generated from Philips 3.0-T system. The fusion application was implemented on MATLAB platform utilizing image processing technology. The fusion image was generated from the following steps: (1) color Doppler blood flow segmentation, (2) image registration of color Doppler and magnetic resonance imaging, and (3) image fusion of different image types. The fusion images of color Doppler blood flow and magnetic resonance images were implemented by MATLAB programming in our laboratory. Images and videos were displayed and saved as AVI and JPG. The present study shows that the method we have developed can be used to fuse color flow Doppler and magnetic resonance images of the heart. We believe that the method has the potential to: fill in information missing from the ultrasound or MRI alone, show structures outside the field of view of the ultrasound through MR imaging, and obtain complementary information through the fusion of the two imaging methods (structure from MRI and function from ultrasound)

Nitric oxide sensing in plants is mediated by proteolytic control of group VII ERF transcription factors

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important signaling compound in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In plants, NO regulates critical developmental transitions and stress responses. Here, we identify a mechanism for NO sensing that coordinates responses throughout development based on targeted degradation of plant-specific transcriptional regulators, the group VII ethylene response factors (ERFs). We show that the N-end rule pathway of targeted proteolysis targets these proteins for destruction in the presence of NO, and we establish them as critical regulators of diverse NO-regulated processes, including seed germination, stomatal closure, and hypocotyl elongation. Furthermore, we define the molecular mechanism for NO control of germination and crosstalk with abscisic acid (ABA) signaling through ERF-regulated expression of ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE5 (ABI5). Our work demonstrates how NO sensing is integrated across multiple physiological processes by direct modulation of transcription factor stability and identifies group VII ERFs as central hubs for the perception of gaseous signals in plants

Magnetism and its microscopic origin in iron-based high-temperature superconductors

High-temperature superconductivity in the iron-based materials emerges from, or sometimes coexists with, their metallic or insulating parent compound states. This is surprising since these undoped states display dramatically different antiferromagnetic (AF) spin arrangements and N$\rm \acute{e}$el temperatures. Although there is general consensus that magnetic interactions are important for superconductivity, much is still unknown concerning the microscopic origin of the magnetic states. In this review, progress in this area is summarized, focusing on recent experimental and theoretical results and discussing their microscopic implications. It is concluded that the parent compounds are in a state that is more complex than implied by a simple Fermi surface nesting scenario, and a dual description including both itinerant and localized degrees of freedom is needed to properly describe these fascinating materials.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, Review article, accepted for publication in Nature Physic