The South China Sea is not a mini-Atlantic: plate-edge rifting vs intra-plate rifting

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Wang, P., Huang, C., Lin, J., Jian, Z., Sun, Z., & Zhao, M. The South China Sea is not a mini-Atlantic: plate-edge rifting vs intra-plate rifting. National Science Review, 6(5), (2019): 902-913, doi:10.1093/nsr/nwz135.The South China Sea, as ‘a non-volcanic passive margin basin’ in the Pacific, has often been considered as a small-scale analogue of the Atlantic. The recent ocean drilling in the northern South China Sea margin found, however, that the Iberian model of non-volcanic rifted margin from the Atlantic does not apply to the South China Sea. In this paper, we review a variety of rifted basins and propose to discriminate two types of rifting basins: plate-edge type such as the South China Sea and intra-plate type like the Atlantic. They not only differ from each other in structure, formation process, lifespan and geographic size, but also occur at different stages of the Wilson cycle. The intra-plate rifting occurred in the Mesozoic and gave rise to large oceans, whereas the plate-edge rifting took place mainly in the mid-Cenozoic, with three-quarters of the basins concentrated in the Western Pacific. As a member of the Western Pacific system of marginal seas, the South China Sea should be studied not in isolation on its origin and evolution, but in a systematic context to include also its neighboring counterparts.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China as a part of the ‘South China Sea Deep’ Project (91128000)

On Protecting the Data Privacy of Large Language Models (LLMs): A Survey

Large language models (LLMs) are complex artificial intelligence systems capable of understanding, generating and translating human language. They learn language patterns by analyzing large amounts of text data, allowing them to perform writing, conversation, summarizing and other language tasks. When LLMs process and generate large amounts of data, there is a risk of leaking sensitive information, which may threaten data privacy. This paper concentrates on elucidating the data privacy concerns associated with LLMs to foster a comprehensive understanding. Specifically, a thorough investigation is undertaken to delineate the spectrum of data privacy threats, encompassing both passive privacy leakage and active privacy attacks within LLMs. Subsequently, we conduct an assessment of the privacy protection mechanisms employed by LLMs at various stages, followed by a detailed examination of their efficacy and constraints. Finally, the discourse extends to delineate the challenges encountered and outline prospective directions for advancement in the realm of LLM privacy protection.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

The matrikine N-acetylated proline-glycine-proline induces premature senescence of nucleus pulposus cells via CXCR1-dependent ROS accumulation and DNA damage and reinforces the destructive effect of these cells on homeostasis of intervertebral discs

AbstractIntervertebral disc (IVD) cell senescence is a recognized mechanism of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying disc cell senescence will contribute to understanding the pathogenesis of IDD. We previously reported that N-acetylated proline-glycine-proline (N-Ac-PGP), a matrikine, is involved in the process of IDD. However, its roles in IDD are not well understood. Here, using rat nucleus pulposus (NP) cells, we found that N-Ac-PGP induced premature senescence of NP cells by binding to CXCR1. N-Ac-PGP induced DNA damage and reactive oxygen species accumulation in NP cells, which resulted in activation of the p53-p21-Rb and p16-Rb pathways. Moreover, the RT2 profiler PCR array showed that N-Ac-PGP down-regulates the expression of antioxidant genes in NP cells, suggesting a decline in the antioxidants of NP cells. On the other hand, N-Ac-PGP up-regulated the expression of matrix catabolic genes and inflammatory genes in NP cells. Concomitantly, N-Ac-PGP reinforced the destructive effects of senescent NP cells on the homeostasis of the IVDs in vivo. Our study suggests that N-Ac-PGP plays critical roles in the pathogenesis of IDD through the induction of premature senescence of disc cells and via the activation of catabolic and inflammatory cascades in disc cells. N-Ac-PGP also deteriorates the redox environment of disc cells. Hence, N-Ac-PGP is a new potential therapeutic target for IDD

ROS: Crucial Intermediators in the Pathogenesis of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in degenerative intervertebral disc (IVD) indicates the contribution of oxidative stress to IVD degeneration (IDD), giving a novel insight into the pathogenesis of IDD. ROS are crucial intermediators in the signaling network of disc cells. They regulate the matrix metabolism, proinflammatory phenotype, apoptosis, autophagy, and senescence of disc cells. Oxidative stress not only reinforces matrix degradation and inflammation, but also promotes the decrease in the number of viable and functional cells in the microenvironment of IVDs. Moreover, ROS modify matrix proteins in IVDs to cause oxidative damage of disc extracellular matrix, impairing the mechanical function of IVDs. Consequently, the progression of IDD is accelerated. Therefore, a therapeutic strategy targeting oxidative stress would provide a novel perspective for IDD treatment. Various antioxidants have been proposed as effective drugs for IDD treatment. Antioxidant supplementation suppresses ROS production in disc cells to promote the matrix synthesis of disc cells and to prevent disc cells from death and senescence in vitro. However, there is not enough in vivo evidence to support the efficiency of antioxidant supplementation to retard the process of IDD. Further investigations based on in vivo and clinical studies will be required to develop effective antioxidative therapies for IDD

Experimental Design and Study of Micro-nano Wood Fiber Processed by Nanosecond Pulse Laser

A new processing technology using a nanosecond pulse laser to process micro-nano wood fiber is proposed in this paper. A test bench was designed and manufactured for the technology. The digital design process, experimental methods, and general layout principle of the test bench are introduced. When the factors that affected the results of the experiment were analyzed, it was found that cutting width and cutting depth were affected by cutting direction, cutting speed, and cutting power. The wood underwent thermal degradation near the point of processing. The results of the experiment showed that the technology is feasible

Identification and validation of ferroptosis related markers in erythrocyte differentiation of umbilical cord blood-derived CD34+ cell by bioinformatic analysis

Ferroptosis has been observed to play an important role during erythrocyte differentiation (ED). However, the biological gene markers and ferroptosis mechanisms in ED remain unknown. We downloaded the datasets of ED in human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34+ cells from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Using median differentiation time, the sample was categorized into long and short groups. The differentially expressed ferroptosis-related genes (DE-FRGs) were screened using differential expression analysis. The enrichment analyses and a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network were conducted. To predict the ED stage, a logistic regression model was constructed using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Overall, 22 DE-FRGs were identified. Ferroptosis-related pathways were enriched using Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and Gene Set Variation Analysis revealed the primary involvement of DE-FRGs in JAK-STAT, MAPK, PI3K-AKT-mTORC1, WNT, and NOTCH signaling pathways. Ten-hub DE-FRGs were obtained using PPI analysis. Furthermore, we constructed mRNA-microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA-transcription factor networks. Immune cell infiltration levels differed significantly during ED. LASSO regression analysis established a signature using six DE-FRGs (ATF3, CDH2, CHAC1, DDR2, DPP4, and GDF15) related to the ED stage. Bioinformatic analyses identified ferroptosis-associated genes during ED, which were further validated. Overall, we identified ferroptosis-related genes to predict their correlations in ED. Exploring the underlying mechanisms of ferroptosis may help us better understand pathophysiological changes in ED and provide new evidence for clinical transformation

Psychological symptoms in Chinese nurses may be associated with predisposition to chronic disease: A cross-sectional study of suboptimal health status

© 2020, The Author(s). Background: Suboptimal health status (SHS) is a reversible state between ideal health and illness and it can be effectively reversed by risk prediction, disease prevention, and personalized medicine under the global background of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM) concepts. More and more Chinese nurses have been troubled by psychological symptoms (PS). The correlation between PS and SHS is unclear in nurses. The purpose of current study is to investigate the prevalence of SHS and PS in Chinese nurses and the relationship between SHS and PS along with predisposing factors as well as to discuss the feasibility of improving health status and preventing diseases according to PPPM concepts in Chinese nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with the cluster sampling method among 9793 registered nurses in Foshan city, China. SHS was evaluated with the Suboptimal Health Status Questionnaire-25 (SHSQ-25). Meanwhile, the PS of depression and anxiety were evaluated with Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) self-assessment questionnaires. The relationship between PS and SHS in Chinese nurses was subsequently analyzed. Results: Among the 9793 participants, 6107 nurses were included in the final analysis. The prevalence of SHS in the participants was 74.21% (4532/6107) while the symptoms of depression and anxiety were 47.62% (2908/6107) and 24.59% (1502/6107) respectively. The prevalence of SHS in the participants with depression and anxiety was significantly higher than those without the symptoms of depression (83.3% vs 16.7%, P \u3c 0.001) and anxiety (94.2% vs 5.8%, P \u3c 0.0001). The ratio of exercise habit was significantly lower than that of non-exercise habit (68.8% vs 78.4%, P \u3c 0.001) in SHS group. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of SHS and PS in Chinese nurses. PS in Chinese nurses are associated with SHS. Physical exercise is a protective factor for SHS and PS so that the exercise should be strongly recommended as a valuable preventive measure well in the agreement with PPPM philosophy. Along with SDS and SAS, SHSQ-25 should also be highly recommended and applied as a novel predictive/preventive tool for the health measures from the perspectives of PPPM in view of susceptible population and individual screening, the predisposition to chronic disease preventing, personalization of intervention, and the ideal health state restoring

Homozygous p.Ser267Phe in SLC10A1 is associated with a new type of hypercholanemia and implications for personalized medicine.

SLC10A1 codes for the sodium-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP), which is a hepatocellular transporter for bile acids (BAs) and the receptor for hepatitis B and D viruses. NTCP is also a target of multiple drugs. We aimed to evaluate the medical consequences of the loss of function mutation p.Ser267Phe in SLC10A1. We identified eight individuals with homozygous p.Ser267Phe mutation in SLC10A1 and followed up for 8-90 months. We compared their total serum BAs and 6 species of BAs with 170 wild-type and 107 heterozygous healthy individuals. We performed in-depth medical examinations and exome sequencing in the homozygous individuals. All homozygous individuals had persistent hypercholanemia (P = 5.8 × 10-29). Exome sequencing excluded the involvement of other BA metabolism-associated genes in the hypercholanemia. Although asymptomatic, all individuals had low vitamin D levels. Of six adults that were subjected to bone mineral density analysis, three presented with osteoporosis/osteopenia. Sex hormones and blood lipids were deviated in all subjects. Homozygosity of p.Ser267Phe in SLC10A1 is associated with asymptomatic hypercholanemia. Individuals with homozygous p.Ser267Phe in SLC10A1 are prone to vitamin D deficiency, deviated sex hormones and blood lipids. Surveillance of these parameters may also be needed in patients treated with drugs targeting NTCP.This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31471193, 81570539, 81370535, 91331204 and 31525014). S.X. acknowledges financial support from the Strategic Priority Research Program (XDB13040100) and Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences (QYZDJ-SSW-SYS009) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

Dent Disease in Chinese Children and Findings from Heterozygous Mothers: Phenotypic Heterogeneity, Fetal Growth, and 10 Novel Mutations.

Par Antoine Blanchard et Mélodie Faury pour le collectif Révoluscience Billet publié simultanément sur Sciences et Démocratie et Knowtex Blog Les "lieux" des réactions Plusieurs dispositifs avaient été mis en place pour recueillir les réactions des lecteurs, d'abord sur le blog du manifeste où les commentaires étaient possibles sous chaque proposition, puis sur un site de travail collaboratif permettant d’en annoter le texte, paragraphe par paragraphe. On alliait ainsi critique d'un côté et..