Building an interactive platform for practical design projects between students and industries

[EN] The advancement of information media and the convenience of the Internet have fostered the growth of web-based instruction, interactive functions, and resources available for participants to engage, interact, learn, discuss, and access without time and space constraints. This paper aims to provide an introduction on an interactive online platform which is beneficial for university-enterprise cooperation. Enterprises and students have more online and offline opportunities to gain a better mutual understanding and actively collaborate. Combined with the “learning to learn” theory, this sustainable platform can enhance the learning of students so that they learn capabilities over time through guidance and practical projects exercise.The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for Teaching Development Grant (TDG) 2019-22.Qiu, S.; Jiang, S. (2021). Building an interactive platform for practical design projects between students and industries. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 783-790. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.12917OCS78379

Caenorhabditis elegans RIG-I Homolog Mediates Antiviral RNA Interference Downstream of Dicer-Dependent Biogenesis of Viral Small Interfering RNAs.

Dicer enzymes process virus-specific double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to initiate specific antiviral defense by related RNA interference (RNAi) pathways in plants, insects, nematodes, and mammals. Antiviral RNAi in Caenorhabditis elegans requires Dicer-related helicase 1 (DRH-1), not found in plants and insects but highly homologous to mammalian retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs), intracellular viral RNA sensors that trigger innate immunity against RNA virus infection. However, it remains unclear if DRH-1 acts analogously to initiate antiviral RNAi in C. elegans Here, we performed a forward genetic screen to characterize antiviral RNAi in C. elegans Using a mapping-by-sequencing strategy, we uncovered four loss-of-function alleles of drh-1, three of which caused mutations in the helicase and C-terminal domains conserved in RLRs. Deep sequencing of small RNAs revealed an abundant population of Dicer-dependent virus-derived small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs) in drh-1 single and double mutant animals after infection with Orsay virus, a positive-strand RNA virus. These findings provide further genetic evidence for the antiviral function of DRH-1 and illustrate that DRH-1 is not essential for the sensing and Dicer-mediated processing of the viral dsRNA replicative intermediates. Interestingly, vsiRNAs produced by drh-1 mutants were mapped overwhelmingly to the terminal regions of the viral genomic RNAs, in contrast to random distribution of vsiRNA hot spots when DRH-1 is functional. As RIG-I translocates on long dsRNA and DRH-1 exists in a complex with Dicer, we propose that DRH-1 facilitates the biogenesis of vsiRNAs in nematodes by catalyzing translocation of the Dicer complex on the viral long dsRNA precursors.IMPORTANCE The helicase and C-terminal domains of mammalian RLRs sense intracellular viral RNAs to initiate the interferon-regulated innate immunity against RNA virus infection. Both of the domains from human RIG-I can substitute for the corresponding domains of DRH-1 to mediate antiviral RNAi in C. elegans, suggesting an analogous role for DRH-1 as an intracellular dsRNA sensor to initiate antiviral RNAi. Here, we developed a forward genetic screen for the identification of host factors required for antiviral RNAi in C. elegans Characterization of four distinct drh-1 mutants obtained from the screen revealed that DRH-1 did not function to initiate antiviral RNAi. We show that DRH-1 acted in a downstream step to enhance Dicer-dependent biogenesis of viral siRNAs in C. elegans As mammals produce Dicer-dependent viral siRNAs to target RNA viruses, our findings suggest a possible role for mammalian RLRs and interferon signaling in the biogenesis of viral siRNAs

RNAa-mediated overexpression of WT1 induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>Recent studies have reported that double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) can activate gene expression by targeting promoter sequence in a process termed RNA activation. The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of WT1 induction by small activating RNA targeting the WT1 promoter (dsWT1) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 was transfected with dsRNA by liposomes. The expression of mRNA and protein in cells were investigated using real-time reverse real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot, respectively. Cell viability and clonogenicity were determined by MTT assay and clonogenicity assay, respectively. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by flow-cytometric analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expressions of WT1 mRNA and protein in dsWT1 treated HepG2 cells were significantly elevated. Inhibition of cell viability by dsWT1 was dose-dependent and time-dependent. Reduction of the number and size of colonies formed were found in dsWT1 treated cells. dsWT1 induced significant apoptosis in HepG2 cells. The decreased anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and elevated pro-apoptotic protein Bak expression were detected in dsWT1 treated cells. The level of pro-caspase-3 remarkably decreased and cleaved caspase-3 and PARP fragment were also detected in dsWT1 treated cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data show that RNAa-mediated overexpression of WT1 may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.</p

Preoperative Changes in Hematological Markers and Predictors of Glioma Grade and Survival

Background: Preoperative hematological markers that indicate nutritional, coagulation, and inflammation statuses have prognostic value for gliomas. This study aimed to investigate hematological markers with regard to tumor grades, isocitrate dehydrogenase mutations (IDH), age, and sex in patients with gliomas.Methods: From 2008 to 2017, patients with a pathological diagnosis of glioma who underwent surgery were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Information from clinical records, including age, sex, preoperative experiment tests (routine blood tests, biochemistry, and coagulation examinations), pathological results, and IDH status, was collected. A univariable survival analysis was performed. Hematological factors such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte-ratio (PLR), and albumin-to-globulin (AGR) were calculated. The prognostic nutrition index (PNI) was calculated as 10 × serum albumin value (g/dl) + 0.005 × peripheral lymphocyte count (per mm3).Results: Our study included 706 patients. The univariate analysis showed that age, IDH-1, and hematological factors were all significantly associated with overall survival (OS) in patients with gliomas. Our results showed that inflammation markers (NLR, PLR, and fibrinogen) were positively associated with age, whereas AGR was negatively associated with age. The PLR was significantly increased, whereas the AGR and PNI were decreased in women with gliomas, as compared with men. We found that inflammation markers increased and nutrition markers decreased with gliomas grade. However, these hematological markers did not significantly differ with IDH status. NLR was the best single hematological marker for distinguishing glioblastoma (GBM) [0.684 (0.645–0.723)], IDH-wt GBM [0.672 (0.631–0.71)] from other gliomas subtypes. Combinations of age with PNI and age with AGR were the best predictors of GBM [0.750 (0.713–0.786)] and IDH-wt GBM [0.759 (0.719–0.798)], respectively.Conclusion: Preoperative hematological marker levels vary among glioma grades and have high predictive values for GBM

Characterization techniques for tobacco and its derivatives: a systematic review

Biomass and its derivatives have broad applications in the fields of bio-catalysis, energy storage, environmental remediation. The structure and components of biomass, which are vital parameters affecting corresponding performances of derived products, need to be fully understood for further regulating the biomass and its derivatives. Herein, tobacco is taken as an example of biomass to introduce the typical characterization techniques in unraveling the structural information, chemical components, and properties of biomass and its derivatives. Firstly, the structural information, chemical components and application for biomass are summarized. Then the characterization techniques together with the resultant structural information and chemical components are introduced. Finally, to promote a wide and deep study in this field, the perspectives and challenges concerning structure and composition charaterization in biomass and its derivatives are put forward

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) Science White Paper

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) project is a new generation multi-component instrument, to be built at 4410 meters of altitude in the Sichuan province of China, with the aim to study with unprecedented sensitivity the spec trum, the composition and the anisotropy of cosmic rays in the energy range between 10$^{12}$ and 10$^{18}$ eV, as well as to act simultaneously as a wide aperture (one stereoradiant), continuously-operated gamma ray telescope in the energy range between 10$^{11}$ and $10^{15}$ eV. The experiment will be able of continuously surveying the TeV sky for steady and transient sources from 100 GeV to 1 PeV, t hus opening for the first time the 100-1000 TeV range to the direct observations of the high energy cosmic ray sources. In addition, the different observables (electronic, muonic and Cherenkov/fluorescence components) that will be measured in LHAASO will allow to investigate origin, acceleration and propagation of the radiation through a measurement of energy spec trum, elemental composition and anisotropy with unprecedented resolution. The remarkable sensitivity of LHAASO in cosmic rays physics and gamma astronomy would play a key-role in the comprehensive general program to explore the High Energy Universe. LHAASO will allow important studies of fundamental physics (such as indirect dark matter search, Lorentz invariance violation, quantum gravity) and solar and heliospheric physics. In this document we introduce the concept of LHAASO and the main science goals, providing an overview of the project.Comment: This document is a collaborative effort, 185 pages, 110 figure

Вихретоковый анизотропный термоэлектрический первичный преобразователь лучистого потока

Представлена оригинальная конструкция первичного преобразователя лучистого потока, который может служить основой для создания приемника неселективного излучения с повышенной чувствительностью

Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Cereals Through Breeding and Transgenic Interventions

The success of plant breeding in the 20th century led to new cultivars that, to date, have provided enough food for an increasing world population (Conway and Toenniessen 1999; Mifflin 2000). The results of the Green Revolution-led in the 1960s by Henry M. Beachell andNormanE. Dotlaug—resulted in a dramatic increase in rice and wheal grain yields (Milford and Runge 2007; Ortiz et al. 2007). However, abiotic stresses and climate change are becoming increasingly serious threats to crop production worldwide at a time when food staple supply will need to be significantly higher to meet the demand of the growing human population. Water scarcity (Rockstrom et al. 2007], salinity (Rengasamy 2006). and low soil fertility (Sanchez and Swaminathan 2005) rank among the moat important abiotic stresses worldwide. Similarly, increased climatic disturbances due to global warming are causing the major stresses that necessitate crop improvements to safeguard grain supply, particularly in the developing world (Kumar 2006). Hence, genetic enhancement of cereal crops with respect to abiotic stress tolerance will be essential far ensuring grain yields in water-limited, increasingly hotter agricultural zones, particularly If these conditions combine with poor and saline soils, conditions that prevail in parts of the developing world. Crop breeding for adaptation to abiotic stress-prone environments remains a challenging task, not least because of the complexity of the stress-adaptive mechanisms in plants and particularly cereal crops, which are the staple of most of the world's population (Reynolds et al. 2005}