Sentiment Analysis of Long-term Social Data during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has bringing the “infodemic” in the social media worlds. Various social platforms play a significant role in instantly acquiring the latest updates of the pandemic. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook produce vast amounts of posts related to the virus, vaccines, economics, and politics. In order to figure out how public opinion and sentiments are expressed during the pandemic, this work analyzes the long-term social posts from social media and conducts sentiment analysis on tweets within 12 months. Our findings show the trend topics of long-term social communities during the pandemic and express people’s attitudes towards progress of major actions during the pandemic. We explore the main topics during the prolonged pandemic, including information surrounding economics, vaccines, and politics. Besides, we show the differences in gender-based attitudes and propose future research questions refer to the “infodemic”. We believe that our work contributes to attracting public attention to the “infodemic” of the social crisis

Clinical outcomes of S2 Alar-Iliac screw technique in the treatment of severe spinal sagittal imbalance: a retrospective 2-year follow-up study

Background: The treatment of adult spinal deformity (ASD) remains a significant challenge, especially in elderly patients. This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of the S2AI screw technique in the treatment of severe spinal sagittal imbalance with a minimum 2-year follow-up.Methods: From January 2015 to December 2018, 23 patients with severe degenerative thoracolumbar kyphosis who underwent placement of S2AI screws for long segment fusion were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into group A (no mechanical complications, 13 cases) and group B (with mechanical complications, 10 cases) according to the occurrence of mechanical complications at the last follow-up. Radiographic parameters were compared between groups preoperatively, 1 month postoperatively and at the last follow-up. Risk factors for mechanical complications were analyzed.Results: The incidence of mechanical complications was 43.5% and the revision rate was 17.4%. At 1 month postoperatively, sagittal correction was better in group A than in group B (p<0.05). The area under the curve for predicting mechanical complications of sacral slope (SS), lumbar lordosis (LL), PI (pelvic incidence)-LL at 1 month postoperatively were 0.762 (p=0.035), 0.896 (p=0.001) and 0.754 (p=0.041) respectively and the best cut-off values were 24.1°, 32.8°and 12.0°. The sagittal correction of both groups was partially lost at the last follow-up.Conclusions: A high incidence of mechanical complications was observed in long-segment corrective surgery with the S2AI screw technique for severe spinal sagittal imbalance. Inadequate sagittal correction is a risk factor for the development of mechanical complications.

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel Tetrahydroacridin Hybrids with Sulfur-Inserted Linkers as Potential Multitarget Agents for Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disease that can lead to the loss of cognitive function. The progression of AD is regulated by multiple signaling pathways and their associated targets. Therefore, multitarget strategies theoretically have greater potential for treating AD. In this work, a series of new hybrids were designed and synthesized by the hybridization of tacrine (4, AChE: IC50 = 0.223 μM) with pyrimidone compound 5 (GSK-3β: IC50 = 3 μM) using the cysteamine or cystamine group as the connector. The biological evaluation results demonstrated that most of the compounds exhibited moderate to good inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β). The optimal compound 18a possessed potent dual AChE/GSK-3β inhibition (AChE: IC50 = 0.047 ± 0.002 μM, GSK-3β: IC50 = 0.930 ± 0.080 μM). Further molecular docking and enzymatic kinetic studies revealed that this compound could occupy both the catalytic anionic site and the peripheral anionic site of AChE. The results also showed a lack of toxicity to SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells at concentrations of up to 25 μM. Collectively, this work explored the structure–activity relationships of novel tetrahydroacridin hybrids with sulfur-inserted linkers, providing a reference for the further research and development of new multitarget anti-AD drugs

Architectural structure for a water resources data base system

a large amount of data related to water resources, such as precipitation, evaporation, runoff, groundwater, water quality, water projects, water use, water supply and water economics, as well as development plans for society, industry, agriculture, etc. The architectural structure of the WRDBS consists of three major parts, that is, nuclear, basic and special spheres; these parts can be combined like toy bricks to yield an appropriate data set from which a special application system can obtain all the required information. This conceptual structure of the WRDBS has high flexibility, expandability and maintainability. Therefore, on the basis of the WRDBS, many application systems can be produced, e.g. the assessment of water resources; the balance analysis of water demand and supply; computer-aided planning of water resources, etc. La structure du système de données de base des ressources e

Biomimetic Sustainable Graphene Ultrafast-Selective Nanofiltration Membranes

In nature, the frog's skin can be permeated by water via collecting water from the humid environment, which is important for its life activities. Inspired by this phenomenon, herein we designed a bioinspired strategy that involved the synergistic effect of lignin and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) layers to achieve fast water transport and excellent organic dyes separation. These nanocomposite membranes exhibited ultrahigh water permeance of 11 820 L m(-2) h(-1) bar(-1) and separation performance of 100% rejection rates, over 300 times higher than traditional GO membranes. In this biomimetic membrane, the hydrophilic lignin enlarged the water nanochannels of the ordered laminates through cross-linking with GO layers, leading to an increased water driving force. Moreover, the lignin chains also provide excellent molecular sieves for the organic dyes across the GO laminates. Finally, the cross-linking lignin chains within the interlayers of laminates can restrict the movement of nanosheets, realizing the good stability of membranes. We believe that this bioinspired method opens an effective avenue for designing and fabricating high-performance nanofiltration 2D membranes for water purification and molecular separation

In Vitro Study on the Regulation of Annexin IV and VEGF by hCG in the Human Endometrium

Objective. Whether changes in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and annexin IV during implantation are regulated through the LH/hCG-R needs further research. To investigate the mechanism of hCG on the expression of annexin IV and VEGF in human endometrial cells. Methods. Endometrial cells were isolated and identified from human specimens. The proportion of glandular and epithelial cells was analyzed. Annexin IV and VEGF were analyzed by qRT-PCR (mRNA), western blot (proteins), and immunohistochemistry (proteins). Protein location was identified by immunohistochemistry. The cells were cultured with hCG, hCG/PD98059 (a MAPK inhibitor), or no treatment (control). Results. The proportions between the glandular epithelial cells and stromal cells at inoculation and when adding hCG were 25.8 ± 0.2% and 27.8 ± 0.04%, respectively (P>0.05). LH/hCG-R, annexin IV, and VEGF were found in the cytoplasm of endometrial cells. After 2, 6, 12, and 24 h of hCG treatment, compared with 1 h, VEGF mRNA was increased by 1.25-fold, 3.19-fold, 4.21-fold, and 4.86-fold and annexin IV by 2.23-fold, 3.37-fold, 5.14-fold, and 5.02-fold. Compared with the control group, annexin IV mRNA and protein were increased in the hCG and hCG/PD98059 groups (mRNA/protein: 1.99-fold/1.80-fold and 2.33-fold/1.93-fold, P<0.05). Compared with the control group, VEGF mRNA and protein were increased in the hCG group (mRNA/protein: 2.30-fold/1.86-fold), but not in the hCG/PD98059 group. Conclusion. hCG could upregulate the mRNA and protein expression of annexin IV and VEGF. The upregulation of annexin IV by hCG could not be inhibited by PD98059, but the upregulation of VEGF by hCG could

Effects of Carbonization Conditions on Structure and Gas Adsorption of Carbon Membranes Derived from Polyvinyl Chloride

Carbon membranes were fabricated through the pre-oxidation and pyrolysis of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Their chemical composition and structure morphology were characterized using FTIR, SEM and XRD; their CO2 and N-2 adsorption isotherms were measured at 25 degrees C. The experimental results showed that heating rate and holding time have great influences on the pore structure during the pre-oxidation process as well as the carbonization process. The pore structure of the carbon membrane is also influenced by carbonization temperature. The carbon membrane obtained at 700 degrees C has the largest CO2 adsorption capacity of 1.45 mmol/g at 101 kPa. The carbon membrane prepared at heating rate of 3 degrees C/min and holding time of 0.5 h at 800 degrees C displayed an excellent adsorption selectivity of CO2 over N-2 evidenced by the fact that its CO2 adsorption capacity could reach 1.1 mmol/g and while it does not significantly adsorb N-2

Boron Nitride Quantum Dots Derived from Renewable Lignin

Boron Nitride Quantum Dots Derived from Renewable Ligni

How semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides replaced graphene for enhancing anticorrosion

How semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides replaced graphene for enhancing anticorrosio