166 research outputs found
Microbial community analysis in biocathode microbial fuel cells packed with different materials
Biocathode MFCs using microorganisms as catalysts have important advantages in lowering cost and improving sustainability. Electrode materials and microbial synergy determines biocathode MFCs performance. In this study, four materials, granular activated carbon (GAC), granular semicoke (GS), granular graphite (GG) and carbon felt cube (CFC) were used as packed cathodic materials. The microbial composition on each material and its correlation with the electricity generation performance of MFCs were investigated. Results showed that different biocathode materials had an important effect on the type of microbial species in biocathode MFCs. The microbes belonging to Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla in the four materials packed biocathode MFCs. Comamonas of Betaproteobacteria might play significant roles in electron transfer process of GAC, GS and CFC packed biocathode MFCs, while in GG packed MFC Acidovorax may be correlated with power generation. The biocathode materials also had influence on the microbial diversity and evenness, but the differences in them were not positively related to the power production
B Cell Activation in Insulin Resistance and Obesity
Our group has demonstrated that inflammatory diseases such as type 2 diabetes (DM), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and periodontal disease (PD) are associated with altered B cell function that may contribute to disease pathogenesis. B cells were found to be highly activated with characteristics of inflammatory cells. Obesity is a pre-disease state for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and
is considered a state of chronic inflammation. Therefore, we sought to better characterize B cell function and phenotype in obese patients. We demonstrate that (Toll-like receptor) TLR4 and CD36 expression by B cells is elevated in obese subjects, suggesting increased sensing of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and other TLR ligands. These ligands may be of microbial, from translocation from a leaky gut, or host origin. To better assess microbial ligand burden and host response in the bloodstream, we measured LPS binding protein (LBP), bacterial/permeability increasing protein (BPI), and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). Thus far, our data demonstrate an increase in LBP in DM and obesity indicating increased responses to TLR ligands in the blood. Interestingly, B cells responded to certain types of LPS by phosphorylating extracellular-signal-regulated kinases (ERK) 1/2. A better understanding of the immunological state of obesity and the microbial and endogenous TLR ligands that may be activating B cells will help identify novel therapeutics to reduce the risk of more dangerous conditions, such as cardiovascular disease
Comparative analysis of the growth and biological activity of a respiratory and atheroma isolate of reveals strain-dependent differences in inflammatory activity and innate immune evasion
En el año 2010, como contraparte de los festejos del centenario de la RevoluciĂłn mexicana, el poeta Jorge Esquinca invitĂł a treinta y cuatro poetas a participar en una antologĂa titulada PaĂs de sombra y fuego. La relevancia de este ejercicio poĂ©tico proviene de la pregunta que lo estructura: ÂżExiste todavĂa en el vocablo Patria un nĂşcleo generador de significado?A travĂ©s del análisis de estos poemas y de los tĂłpicos que prevalecen en ellos, es posible conocer el doloroso MĂ©xico que perciben los poetas mexicanos y la forma en que la poesĂa mexicana contemporánea del siglo XXI lo nombra.In 2010, as a counterpart to the festivities related to the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, the poet Jorge Esquinica invited thirty-four poets to participate in an anthology titled PaĂs de sombra y fuego. The relevance of this poetic exercise stems from the very question which gives it structure. Is the word Motherland still relevant in today's world?Through an analysis of these poems and the themes that prevail in them, it is possible to discover how these anthologized Mexican poets view their country nowadays and how they address its main issues.A l’any 2010, com a contrapart dels festejos del centenari de la RevoluciĂł mexicana, el poeta Jorge Esquinca va convidar trenta-quatre poetes a participar en una antologia titulada PaĂs de sombra y fuego. La rellevĂ ncia d’aquest exercici poètic provĂ© de la pregunta que l’estructura: existeix encara en el terme PĂ tria un nucli generador de significat? A travĂ©s de l’anĂ lisi d’aquests poemes i dels tòpics que prevalen en ells, Ă©s possible conèixer el dolorĂłs Mèxic que perceben els poetes mexicans i la forma en què la poesia mexicana contamporĂ nia del segle XXI ho nombra
Integration of the Confucian Culture on Cross-Cultural Conflict Management: The Role of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Cross-culture conflict management is the major challenge for the Chinese enterprises going global along the Belt and Road Initiative. This study explores the feasibility of integrating the Confucian culture into cross-culture conflict management, and a special role is given to the COVID-19 pandemic. We combine the Confucian culture values and Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory and adopt the questionnaire survey methods on the Chinese multinational enterprises’ employees. The Cronbach’s Alpha method is also deployed to test the reliability and validity of the data. We find the significant integration of the Confucian culture into cross-culture conflict management. Furthermore, 16 sub-values of the Confucian culture are suggested to mitigate the cross-culture conflicts in multinational enterprises effectively. The findings imply that Chinese enterprises should consider new strategies to manage the cross-culture conflicts, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic
The numerical analysis of piles\u27 restriction on foundation
Kako je moguće predvidjeti taloženje visokih zgrada i analizirati pomak temelja kako bi se zaštitile podzemne komunalije? To je urgentan problem u današnjoj izgradnji. U svrhu njegovog rješenja, u ovom se radu istražuje kako piloti utječu na vrijednost pomaka temelja primjenom Mohr-Coulomb Modela i 3D računarskog programa FLAC3D s 20 m dubokim iskopima temelja kao primjerom. Analiza pokazuje da je distribucijski uzorak pomaka temelja bez pilota konveksna krivulja, a da s pilotima krivulja postaje valovita uz porast vrijednosti pomaka temelja za 0,4÷0,6. Isto tako parametri poput udaljenosti pilota, promjera pilota i njihove dužine utječu na tu vrijednost na način da veći razmak snižava ograničenje pilota na vrijednost pomaka temelja. Stoga se u radu predlaže da najveći razmak između pilota ne bi trebao biti veći od 6d kad je ograničeni iznos vrijednosti oko 0,23÷0,37. Povećanje promjera i dužine pilota (ne više od 1,25 puta dubine kopanja) može učinkovito ograničiti pomak. Prema tome, u radu se daju korisni parametri za konstrukciju pilota, dokazuje njihovo djelovanje na mehanizam za ograničenje pomaka temelja i pruža analitička osnova za optimizaciju pilota.How can people predict the sedimentation of tall buildings and analyze the foundation rebound to protect underground utilities? This is the urgent problem in today\u27s construction. To solve it, this paper is dedicated to analyzing how piles affect the foundation rebound value by using Mohr-Coulomb Model and the 3D emulation calculation software FLAC3D with 20-meter-deep foundation pits as an example. The study shows that the distribution pattern of the foundation rebound without piles is a convex curve while piles make the curve go corrugated with the foundation rebound value shrieking by 0,4÷0,6. Also, parameters such as the distance of the piles and diameter of the piles and length of the piles have an effect on the value in a way that the increasing distance lowers the piles\u27 restriction on the foundation rebound value. Therefore, this paper suggests that the largest distance between piles should be no more than 6d when the restricted extent of the value is about 0,23÷0,37. Raising the diameter and length of the piles (no more than 1,25 times of the digging depth) can restrict rebound effectively. Therefore, this paper concludes useful parameters in pile design, proves its mechanism for restriction on foundation rebound, and provides analytical basis for optimization of the piles
Ultrafast and Ultralight Network-Based Intelligent System for Real-time Diagnosis of Ear diseases in Any Devices
Traditional ear disease diagnosis heavily depends on experienced specialists
and specialized equipment, frequently resulting in misdiagnoses, treatment
delays, and financial burdens for some patients. Utilizing deep learning models
for efficient ear disease diagnosis has proven effective and affordable.
However, existing research overlooked model inference speed and parameter size
required for deployment. To tackle these challenges, we constructed a
large-scale dataset comprising eight ear disease categories and normal ear
canal samples from two hospitals. Inspired by ShuffleNetV2, we developed
Best-EarNet, an ultrafast and ultralight network enabling real-time ear disease
diagnosis. Best-EarNet incorporates the novel Local-Global Spatial Feature
Fusion Module which can capture global and local spatial information
simultaneously and guide the network to focus on crucial regions within feature
maps at various levels, mitigating low accuracy issues. Moreover, our network
uses multiple auxiliary classification heads for efficient parameter
optimization. With 0.77M parameters, Best-EarNet achieves an average frames per
second of 80 on CPU. Employing transfer learning and five-fold cross-validation
with 22,581 images from Hospital-1, the model achieves an impressive 95.23%
accuracy. External testing on 1,652 images from Hospital-2 validates its
performance, yielding 92.14% accuracy. Compared to state-of-the-art networks,
Best-EarNet establishes a new state-of-the-art (SOTA) in practical
applications. Most importantly, we developed an intelligent diagnosis system
called Ear Keeper, which can be deployed on common electronic devices. By
manipulating a compact electronic otoscope, users can perform comprehensive
scanning and diagnosis of the ear canal using real-time video. This study
provides a novel paradigm for ear endoscopy and other medical endoscopic image
recognition applications.Comment: This manuscript has been submitted to Neural Network
Twist1 enhances hypoxia induced radioresistance in cervical cancer cells by promoting nuclear EGFR localization
Twist1 is a crucial transcription factor that regulates epithelial mesenchymal transition and involves in metastasis. Recent evidence suggests that Twist1 plays important role in hypoxia-induced radioresistance, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here we investigated the change of Twist1 expression in human cervical squamous cancer cell line SiHa after hypoxia treatment. We also explored the role of Twist1 in radioresistance by manipulating the expression level of Twist1.We observed that hypoxia treatment elevated the expression of Twist1 in SiHa cells. Knockdown of Twist1 with siRNA increased the radiosensitivity of SiHa cells under hypoxia condition, accompanied by reduced levels of nuclear Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) and DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK). Conversely, overexpression of Twist1 led to increased radioresistance of SiHa cells, which in turn increased nuclear EGFR localisation and expression levels of nuclear DNA-PK. Moreover, concomitant high expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1? (HIF-1?) and Twist1 in primary tumors of cervical cancer patients correlated with the worse prognosis after irradiation treatment. Taken together, these data provide new insights into molecular mechanism underlying hypoxia-induced radio resistance in cervical cancer cells, and suggest that Twist1 is a promising molecular target to improve the efficacy of cancer radiotherapy
- …