Early Second-Trimester Serum MiRNA Profiling Predicts Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one type of diabetes that presents during pregnancy and significantly increases the risk of a number of adverse consequences for the fetus and mother. The microRNAs (miRNA) have recently been demonstrated to abundantly and stably exist in serum and to be potentially disease-specific. However, no reported study investigates the associations between serum miRNA and GDM. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We systematically used the TaqMan Low Density Array followed by individual quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays to screen miRNAs in serum collected at 16-19 gestational weeks. The expression levels of three miRNAs (miR-132, miR-29a and miR-222) were significantly decreased in GDM women with respect to the controls in similar gestational weeks in our discovery evaluation and internal validation, and two miRNAs (miR-29a and miR-222) were also consistently validated in two-centric external validation sample sets. In addition, the knockdown of miR-29a could increase Insulin-induced gene 1 (Insig1) expression level and subsequently the level of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxy Kinase2 (PCK2) in HepG2 cell lines. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Serum miRNAs are differentially expressed between GDM women and controls and could be candidate biomarkers for predicting GDM. The utility of miR-29a, miR-222 and miR-132 as serum-based non-invasive biomarkers warrants further evaluation and optimization

Thyroid Disruption by Di-n-Butyl Phthalate (DBP) and Mono-n-Butyl Phthalate (MBP) in Xenopus laevis

BACKGROUND: Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), a chemical widely used in many consumer products, is estrogenic and capable of producing seriously reproductive and developmental effects in laboratory animals. However, recent in vitro studies have shown that DBP and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP), the major metabolite of DBP, possessed thyroid hormone receptor (TR) antagonist activity. It is therefore important to consider DBP and MBP that may interfere with thyroid hormone system. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Nieuwkoop and Faber stage 51 Xenopus laevis were exposed to DBP and MBP (2, 10 or 15 mg/L) separately for 21 days. The two test chemicals decelerated spontaneous metamorphosis in X. laevis at concentrations of 10 and 15 mg/L. Moreover, MBP seemed to possess stronger activity. The effects of DBP and MBP on inducing changes of expression of selected thyroid hormone response genes: thyroid hormone receptor-beta (TRβ), retinoid X receptor gamma (RXRγ), alpha and beta subunits of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSHα and TSHβ) were detected by qPCR at all concentrations of the compounds. Using mammalian two-hybrid assay in vitro, we found that DBP and MBP enhanced the interactions between co-repressor SMRT (silencing mediator for retinoid and thyroid hormone receptors) and TR in a dose-dependent manner, and MBP displayed more markedly. In addition, MBP at low concentrations (2 and 10 mg/L) caused aberrant methylation of TRβ in head tissue. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings highlight potential disruption of thyroid signalling by DBP and MBP and provide data for human risk assessment

Real-time Monitoring for the Next Core-Collapse Supernova in JUNO

Core-collapse supernova (CCSN) is one of the most energetic astrophysical events in the Universe. The early and prompt detection of neutrinos before (pre-SN) and during the SN burst is a unique opportunity to realize the multi-messenger observation of the CCSN events. In this work, we describe the monitoring concept and present the sensitivity of the system to the pre-SN and SN neutrinos at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), which is a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector under construction in South China. The real-time monitoring system is designed with both the prompt monitors on the electronic board and online monitors at the data acquisition stage, in order to ensure both the alert speed and alert coverage of progenitor stars. By assuming a false alert rate of 1 per year, this monitoring system can be sensitive to the pre-SN neutrinos up to the distance of about 1.6 (0.9) kpc and SN neutrinos up to about 370 (360) kpc for a progenitor mass of 30$M_{\odot}$ for the case of normal (inverted) mass ordering. The pointing ability of the CCSN is evaluated by using the accumulated event anisotropy of the inverse beta decay interactions from pre-SN or SN neutrinos, which, along with the early alert, can play important roles for the followup multi-messenger observations of the next Galactic or nearby extragalactic CCSN.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure

The WL_PCR: A Planning for Ground-to-Pole Transition of Wheeled-Legged Pole-Climbing Robots

Hybrid mobile robots with two motion modes of a wheeled vehicle and truss structure with the ability to climb poles have significant flexibility. The motion planning of this kind of robot on a pole has been widely studied, but few studies have focused on the transition of the robot from the ground to the pole. In this study, a locomotion strategy of wheeled-legged pole-climbing robots (the WL_PCR) is proposed to solve the problem of ground-to-pole transition. By analyzing the force of static and dynamic process in the ground-to-pole transition, the condition of torque provided by the gripper and moving joint is proposed. The mathematical expression of Centre of Mass (CoM) of the wheeled-legged pole-climbing robots is utilized, and the conditions for the robot to smoothly transition from the ground to the vertical pole are proposed. Finally, the feasibility of this method is proved by the simulation and experimentation of a locomotion strategy on wheeled-legged pole-climbing robots

Bentonite Modified by Allylamine Polymer for Adsorption of Amido Black 10B

The main object of this work is to remove Amido black 10B using a new type of bentonite-based adsorbent with cationic groups by the modification of polyallyl amines between the interlayers of bentonite. Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the functionalized bentonite. A series of batch adsorption experiments were performed. The maximum adsorption amount was 144.08 mg g−1 when the pH was 2 and the contact time was 120 min. In addition, the equilibrium isotherm data were analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, while only the Langmuir model could provide a high correlation. Therefore, this study provided a new functionalized bentonite as a low-cost adsorbent for dye removal from water

Surface Modification of Bentonite with Polymer Brushes and Its Application as an Efficient Adsorbent for the Removal of Hazardous Dye Orange I

Poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-grafted bentonite, marked as Bent-PDMAEMA, was designed and prepared by a surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization method for the first time in this study. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were applied to characterize the structure of Bent-PDMAEMA, which resulted in the successful synthesis of Bent-PDMAEMA. As a cationic adsorbent, the designed Bent-PDMAEMA was used to remove dye Orange I from wastewater. The adsorption property of Bent-PDMAEMA for Orange I dye was investigated under different experimental conditions, such as solution pH, initial dye concentration, contact time and temperature. Under the optimum conditions, the adsorption amount of Bent-PDMAEMA for Orange I dye could reach 700 mg·g−1, indicating the potential application of Bent-PDMAEMA for anionic dyes in the treatment of wastewater. Moreover, the experimental data fitted well with the Langmuir model. The adsorption process obeyed pseudo-second-order kinetic process mechanism