Identification of biomarkers and mechanisms of diabetic cardiomyopathy using microarray data

Background: The study aimed to uncover the regulation mechanisms of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) and provide novel prognostic biomarkers. Methods: The dataset GSE62203 downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database was utilized in the present study. After pretreatment using the Affy package, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by the limma package, followed by functional enrichment analysis and protein– protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Furthermore, module analysis was conducted using MCODE plug-in of Cytoscape, and functional enrichment analysis was also performed for genes in the modules. Results: A set of 560 DEGs were screened, mainly enriched in the metabolic process and cell cycle related process. Hub nodes in the PPI network were LDHA (lactate dehydrogenase A), ALDOC (aldolase C, fructose-bisphosphate) and ABCE1 (ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily E Member 1), which were also highlighted in Module 1 or Module 2 and predominantly enriched in the processes of glycolysis and ribosome biogenesis. Additionally, LDHA were linked with ALDOC in the PPI network. Besides, activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) was prominent in Module 3; while myosin heavy chain 6 (MYH6) was highlighted in Module 4 and was mainly involved in muscle cells related biological processes. Conclusions: Five potential biomarkers including LDHA, ALDOC, ABCE1, ATF4 and MYH6 were identified for DCM prognosis

Exploring and exploiting the synergy of non-covalent interactions on the surface of gold nanoparticles for fluorescent turn-on sensing of bacterial lipopolysaccharide

National Natural Science Foundation of China [21075101]; National Basic Research Program of China [2011CB910403]; Planned Science and Technology Project of Xiamen, China [3502z20113006]; Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China [200803840007]; NFFTBS [J1030415]The sensing of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) relies on the synergy of multiple electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between LPS and the sensor. However, how non-covalent interactions are coordinated to impel the recognition process still remains elusive, and the exploration of which would promote the development of LPS sensors with higher specificity and sensitivity. In this work, we hypothesize that Au NPs would provide a straightforward and flexible platform for studying the synergy of non-covalent interactions. The detailed mechanism of interactions between the designed fluorescent probes and Au NPs with two distinct surface properties was systematically explored. We demonstrated that only when the electrostatic attraction and hydrophobic stacking are both present, the binding of fluorescent probes onto Au NPs can be not only highly efficient, but also positively cooperative. After that, hybrid systems that consist of Au NPs and surface-assembled fluorescent probes were exploited for fluorescent turn-on sensing of LPS. The results show that the sensitivity and selectivity to LPS relies strongly on the binding affinity between fluorescent probes and Au NPs. Fluorescent probes assembled Au NPs thus provide an attractive platform for further optimization of the sensitivity/selectivity of LPS sensing

Life Cycle Assessment of Biochar Preparation of Chinese Traditional Medicine Residue by Low-temperature Pyrolysis

This study aimed to evaluate the environmental impacts of the biochar production process through low-temperature pyrolysis of Chinese medicine residue via life cycle assessment (LCA). An LCA model consisting of biomass pretreatment, pyrolysis, separation and cooling was developed. The results indicated that the low-temperature pyrolysis process has the highest environmental impact on AP and GWP. The consumption and direct emission of pyrolysis process were the primary sources of environmental impact. In addition, by comparing to the traditional landfill process of Chinese medicine residue, it turns out that the low-temperature pyrolysis process has improved environmental protection performance

Characteristics of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Code Observations for Different Receiver Types and Their Influence on Wide-Lane Ambiguity Resolution

The Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has been an important constitute of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and the combination of GPS and BDS shows significant improvements when compared with single GPS system for real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning, and improves on availability and fixing rates, especially in the East Asian area. While network RTK might have different types of receivers, both for global and regional networks, different types of receiver may adopt different internal multipath mitigation methods and other techniques that result in different pseudorange characteristics, especially for a multipath. Then, the performance of wide-lane ambiguity resolution (WL AR) is affected. In this study, we first analyze and compare the characteristics of BDS dual-frequency observations for different types of receivers, including Trimble, Leica, Javad, and Septentrio, based on multipath (MP) observables, and then we assess their influence on double-differenced (DD) WL AR. The numerical results show that an obvious low-frequency component exists in MP observables of BDS geostationary earth-orbit satellites (GEOs) for Leica receivers, while its high-frequency measurement noise is very small. For geosynchronous orbit satellites (IGSOs) and medium earth-orbit satellites (MEOs), a slight fluctuation can also be observed that is similar to that of GPS satellites, except for the satellite-included code bias. In Trimble, Javad, and Septentrio receivers, the MP series are dominated by high-frequency measurement noise, both for GEOs and non-GEOs, except for satellite-included code bias. Furthermore, the characteristic of Leica receivers for BDS GEOs seriously affects WL AR and, even for a short baseline, it takes a long time for WL ambiguities to converge, or not converge for many GEO-related DD WL ambiguities, while Trimble, Javad, and Septentrio receivers perform well for short and medium baselines. Then, a time-difference method is proposed to mitigate the multipath of BDS GEOs for a Leica receiver. After applying the proposed method, WL ambiguity fixing rates of GEO-related satellite pairs are improved significantly and the convergence time is shortened from several hours to ten minutes

Impact Resistant Structure Design and Optimization Inspired by Turtle Carapace

The turtle carapace has a high level of protection, due to its unique biological structure, and there is great potential to use the turtle carapace structure to improve the impact resistance of composite materials using bionic theory. In this paper, the chemical elements of the turtle carapace structure, as well as its mechanical properties, were investigated by studying the composition of the compounds in each part. In addition, the bionic sandwich structure, composed of the plate, core, and backplate, was designed using modeling software based on the microstructure of the keratin scutes, spongy bone, and the spine of the turtle carapace. Additionally, finite element analysis and drop-weight experiments were utilized to validate the impact-resistant performance of the bionic structures. The numerical results show that all of the bionic structures had improved impact resistance to varying degrees when compared with the control group. The experimental results show that the split plate, the core with changing pore gradients, and the backplate with stiffener all have a considerable effect on the impact-resistance performance of overall composite structures. This preliminary study provides theoretical support for composite material optimization

Impact Resistant Structure Design and Optimization Inspired by Turtle Carapace

The turtle carapace has a high level of protection, due to its unique biological structure, and there is great potential to use the turtle carapace structure to improve the impact resistance of composite materials using bionic theory. In this paper, the chemical elements of the turtle carapace structure, as well as its mechanical properties, were investigated by studying the composition of the compounds in each part. In addition, the bionic sandwich structure, composed of the plate, core, and backplate, was designed using modeling software based on the microstructure of the keratin scutes, spongy bone, and the spine of the turtle carapace. Additionally, finite element analysis and drop-weight experiments were utilized to validate the impact-resistant performance of the bionic structures. The numerical results show that all of the bionic structures had improved impact resistance to varying degrees when compared with the control group. The experimental results show that the split plate, the core with changing pore gradients, and the backplate with stiffener all have a considerable effect on the impact-resistance performance of overall composite structures. This preliminary study provides theoretical support for composite material optimization

Synthetic Effects and Economic Accounting of Low-temperature Pyrolysis Process of Typical Medical Waste based on Kinetics Analysis

The thermogravimetric (TG) analysis was adopted to study the pyrolysis characteristics of two typical medical wastes at different heating rates (10, 20, and 50 °C/min), and the kinetic parameters were analyzed by the Coats-Redfern method. Finally, the economic evaluation of the technology was carried out. The results showed that the two typical medical wastes both have only one weight loss peak. The syringes and bamboo sticks pyrolysis ranged from 264.80 to 554.07 °C and from 205.66 to 487.05 °C, respectively. With the increase of the heating rate, the initial, final and peak temperatures of the two raw materials shifted to higher values. The pyrolysis reaction mechanisms of the syringes and bamboo sticks were summarized as the nucleation growth model (A2.5) and the second-order model (F2). The total investment of medical waste pyrolysis project is 59 million yuan, and the annual net gain is 11.85 million yuan. The investment recovery period of the project takes five years

Characterization of Purified Mulberry Leaf Glycoprotein and Its Immunoregulatory Effect on Cyclophosphamide-Treated Mice

Mulberry leaf protein is a potentially functional food component and health care agent with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, its composition, immunoregulatory effects, and gut microbial regulatory effects are unclear. Herein, ultra-filtrated and gel-fractionated mulberry leaf protein (GUMP) was characterized. Its effects on cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed mice were further investigated. The results indicated that GUMP is a glycoprotein mainly containing glucose, arabinose, and mannose with 9.23% total sugar content. Its secondary structure is mainly β-sheet. LC–MS/MS analysis showed that GUMP closely matched with a 16.7 kDa mannose-binding lectin and a 52.7 kDa Rubisco’s large subunit. GUMP intervention significantly improved serous TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-2 contents; increased serum immunoglobulins (IgA and IgG) levels; and reversed splenic damage prominently. Moreover, GUMP administration increased fecal shot-chain fatty acid concentration and up-regulated the relative abundance of Odoribacter, which was positively correlated with SCFAs and cytokine contents. Overall, GUMP alleviated immunosuppression through the integrated modulation of the gut microbiota and immune response. Therefore, GUMP could be a promising dietary supplement to help maintain gut health