Interferon-lambda1 induces peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived chemokines secretion in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: its correlation with disease activity

Abstract Introduction Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease involving multiple organ systems. Previous studies have suggested that interferon-lambda 1 (IFN-λ1), a type III interferon, plays an immunomodulatory role. In this study we investigated its role in SLE, including its correlation with disease activity, organ disorder and production of chemokines. Methods We determined levels of IFN-λ1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and serum protein levels in patients with SLE using real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) and enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Further, we detected the concentration of IFN-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), monokine induced by IFN-γ (MIG) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) secreted by PBMC under the stimulation of IFN-λ1 using ELISA. Results IFN-λ1 mRNA and serum protein levels were higher in patients with SLE compared with healthy controls. Patients with active disease showed higher IFN-λ1 mRNA and serum protein levels compared with those with inactive disease as well. Serum IFN-λ1 levels were positively correlated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI), anti-dsDNA antibody, C-reactive protein (CRP) and negatively correlated with complement 3. Serum IFN-λ1 levels were higher in SLE patients with renal involvement and arthritis compared with patients without the above-mentioned manifestations. IFN-λ1 with different concentrations displayed different effects on the secretion of the chemokines IP-10, MIG and IL-8. Conclusions These findings indicate that IFN-λ1 is probably involved in the renal disorder and arthritis progression of SLE and associated with disease activity. Moreover, it probably plays an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE by stimulating secretion of the chemokines IP-10, MIG and IL-8. Thus, IFN-λ1 may provide a novel research target for the pathogenesis and therapy of SLE

Multi-energy X-ray linear-array detector enabled by the side-illuminated metal halide scintillator

Conventional scintillator-based X-ray imaging typically captures the full spectral of X-ray photons without distinguishing their energy. However, the absence of X-ray spectral information often results in insufficient image contrast, particularly for substances possessing similar atomic numbers and densities. In this study, we present an innovative multi-energy X-ray linear-array detector that leverages side-illuminated X-ray scintillation using emerging metal halide Cs3Cu2I5. The negligible self-absorption characteristic not only improves the scintillation output but is also beneficial for improving the energy resolution for the side-illuminated scintillation scenarios. By exploiting Beer's law, which governs the absorption of X-ray photons with different energies, the incident X-ray spectral can be reconstructed by analyzing the distribution of scintillation intensity when the scintillator is illuminated from the side. The relative error between the reconstructed and measured X-ray spectral was less than 5.63 %. Our method offers an additional energy-resolving capability for X-ray linear-array detectors commonly used in computed tomography (CT) imaging setups, surpassing the capabilities of conventional energy-integration approaches, all without requiring extra hardware components. A proof-of-concept multi-energy CT imaging system featuring eight energy channels was successfully implemented. This study presents a simple and efficient strategy for achieving multi-energy X-ray detection and CT imaging based on emerging metal halides

Numerical Study of Random Corrosion Characteristics of Metal Based On the Cellular Automata Method

In the production process of coal chemical companies, the corrosion of metal equipment and the resulting shortening of its service life can cause safety hazards. Simulation modeling of pit emergence and development during corrosion evolution provides a new approach to corrosion research. By analyzing the effect of different parameters on causing corrosion to occur, it is possible to reflect the influence of complex physico-chemical systems. In this paper, the simulation of a meta-cellular automaton model of pit growth under diffusion and the introduction of a passivation probability to correct the chemical reaction rate are developed; The effect of reaction passivation probability, chemical reaction rate and diffusion coefficient on the degree of corrosion was also analyzed by means of quantitative analysis. The results show that for metal corrosion loss processes, the degree of corrosion damage decreases with increasing probability of reactive passivation and increases with increasing chemical reaction rate, increasing electrolyte concentration and increasing time step. The CA model was applied to simulate the growth and change of pitting corrosion of metal materials with their corrosion protection layer under damaged conditions. The corrosion model can simulate the corrosion morphology change characteristics similar to the real metal to the corrosion pit evolution simulation related research has certain scientific, validity, reference

Numerical Study of Random Corrosion Characteristics of Metal Based On the Cellular Automata Method

In the production process of coal chemical companies, the corrosion of metal equipment and the resulting shortening of its service life can cause safety hazards. Simulation modeling of pit emergence and development during corrosion evolution provides a new approach to corrosion research. By analyzing the effect of different parameters on causing corrosion to occur, it is possible to reflect the influence of complex physico-chemical systems. In this paper, the simulation of a meta-cellular automaton model of pit growth under diffusion and the introduction of a passivation probability to correct the chemical reaction rate are developed; The effect of reaction passivation probability, chemical reaction rate and diffusion coefficient on the degree of corrosion was also analyzed by means of quantitative analysis. The results show that for metal corrosion loss processes, the degree of corrosion damage decreases with increasing probability of reactive passivation and increases with increasing chemical reaction rate, increasing electrolyte concentration and increasing time step. The CA model was applied to simulate the growth and change of pitting corrosion of metal materials with their corrosion protection layer under damaged conditions. The corrosion model can simulate the corrosion morphology change characteristics similar to the real metal to the corrosion pit evolution simulation related research has certain scientific, validity, reference

Water and ions transport in calcium silicate hydrate: a molecular dynamics study

Transport properties of water and ions in calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) greatly affect the durability of cementitious materials. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) technique is used to investigate the transport behaviors of NaCl solution in C-S-H nanopores with different sizes (from 0.5 nm to 5 nm), and the hindering effect of C-S-H on the diffusion of water molecules and Cl ions is further explored in the case of a 5 nm pore. Results show that the diffusion coefficients of water molecules and Cl ions in C-S-H nanopores increase with the expansion of nanopore. At the atomic scale, the Ca-rich C-S-H forms Ca-O and Ca-Cl clusters with water molecules and Cl ions, respectively, and the Si-O tetrahedra on silicate chains can also build hydrogen bonding interactions with water molecules, which constrain the transport behaviors of water and ions. From the molecular perspective, this study innovatively investigates the effect of C-S-H pore size on the diffusion capacity of water and ions, and reveals the chemical bonding mechanism between water molecules, Cl ions and C-S-H, which provides a theoretical basis for studying the resistance of concrete to ionic attack

IRE1α promotes cell apoptosis and an inflammatory response in endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synovial cells by enhancing autophagy

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress can induce autophagy via the unfolded protein response (UPR), and autophagy can regulate the activation of inflammasomes. Inositol-requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α) is a transducer of the UPR in cells with ER stress. Here, we investigated the role of IRE1α and its impact on ER stress in rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synovial cells (RA-FLSs). RA-FLSs were isolated from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and stimulated with thapsigargin (TG) to produce ER stress cells. ER stress-, autophagy and the expression of apoptosis-associated factors were investigated by western blotting and the qRT-PCR. Cellular ROS levels were assessed by flow cytometry. ELISAs were performed to determine the concentrations of inflammatory mediators. TG treatment promoted IRE1α, GRP78, CHOP, and ATP6 mRNA and protein expression. ROS generation was increased in TG-induced RA-FLSs; additionally, TG was found to induce cell inflammation by upregulating the expression of inflammasome markers and the concentrations of inflammatory mediators. The levels of autophagy markers, apoptosis-associated proteins, and mRNA were increased in TG-stimulated RA-FLSs. However, transfection with si-IRE1α suppressed TG-induced increases in ROS generation, inflammation levels, cell apoptosis, and autophagy in RA-FLSs. Treatment with the autophagy activator RAPA attenuated the protective effects of IRE1α silencing on TG-induced RA-FLS apoptosis and inflammatory damage. Our findings showed that in RA-FLSs, IRE1α silencing alleviated ER stress-induced inflammation and apoptosis caused by autophagy

Phase characteristics of an electromagnetically induced transparency analogue in coupled resonant systems

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and EIT-like effects have been investigated in a wide variety of coupled resonant systems. Here, a classification of the phase characteristics of the EIT-like spectral responses is presented. Newly identified phase responses reveal unexplored operation regimes of EIT-like systems. Taking advantage of these new phase regimes, one can obtain group delay, dispersion and nonlinearity properties greatly enhanced by almost one order of magnitude, compared to the traditionally constructed EIT-like devices, all of which breaks the fundamental limitation (e.g. delay–bandwidth product) intrinsic to atomic EIT and EIT-like effects. Optical devices and electrical circuits are analyzed as examples showing the universality of our finding. We show that cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED)-based quantum phase gates can be greatly improved to achieve a phase shift of π. The new phase characteristics are also believed to be useful to build novel doubly resonant devices in quantum information based cavity QED, optomechanics and metamaterials

Overview of systematic reviews of probiotics in the prevention and treatment of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in children

Background: Antibiotics alter the microbial balance commonly resulting in antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD). Probiotics may prevent and treat AAD by providing the gut barrier and restoring the gut microflora. This study will overview the Systematic Reviews (SRs) of probiotics in preventing and treating AAD in children. It will also assess the reporting, methodological, and evidence quality of the included SRs to provide evidence for their clinical practice.Methods: After searching PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, CBM, VIP, and WanFang Data databases, and finally included SRs of probiotics in the prevention and treatment of AAD in children, which were published before 1 October 2022. The reporting, methodological, and evidence quality of the included SRs were assessed by PRISMA 2020 statement, AMSTAR 2 tool, and GRADE system.Results: A total of 20 SRs were included, and the results of PRISMA 2020 showed that 4 out of 20 SRs with relatively complete reporting, and the others within some reporting deficiencies, with scores ranging from 17 points to 26.5 points; the results of AMSTAR 2 showed that 3 SRs belonged to moderate quality level, 10 SRs belonged to low-quality level and 7 SRs being extremely low-quality level; the results of the GRADE system showed that a total of 47 outcomes were reported for the included SRs, three were high-level evidence quality, 16 were medium-level evidence quality, 24 were low-level evidence quality, and four were extremely low-level evidence quality; the results of the Meta-analysis showed that high doses (5–40 billion CFUs per day) of probiotics had a significant effect in the prevention of AAD, but it is too early to conclude the effectiveness and safety of other probiotic drugs for AAD in children, except for Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus and Saccharomyces boulardii.Conclusion: Current evidence shows that probiotics effectively prevent and treat AAD in children, and the effect of probiotics on pediatric AAD may be a potential dose-response effect. However, the conclusion should be treated with caution due to deficiencies in the methodological, reporting, and evidence quality of the included SRs. Therefore, the methodological, reporting, and evidence quality of relevant SRs still need further improvement.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD4202236232

A Modified Lattice Configuration Design for Compact Wideband Bulk Acoustic Wave Filter Applications

High-performance bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters have been widely applied in the advanced radio frequency (RF) wireless communication systems in the past decade. However, the demand for filters with large bandwidth, up to 10%, still puts a significant stress on the typical aluminum nitride (AlN)-based BAW filters. In this work, a modified lattice configuration is proposed to achieve a wideband filter response using AlN-based BAW resonators. The single stage of this novel topology comprises two auxiliary inductors paralleled in the balanced input and output of the conventional lattice topology. In multi-stage configuration, adjacent two auxiliary inductors can be combined into one; thus, the number of auxiliary inductors decreases exponentially, enabling the compact integration of filter chips. The circuit analysis is performed to reveal the working principle of this configuration. The systematic design methodology is developed ranging from the schematic design to the electromagnetic (EM) simulation. For proof-of-concept validation purposes, a prototype film bulk acoustic wave filter in this configuration is designed and fabricated. The measured 3-dB bandwidth is 400 MHz at the central frequency of 3.25 GHz (12.3% relative bandwidth), which demonstrates a huge superiority in contrast with the conventional ladder and lattice topologies