Brucella Dysregulates Monocytes and Inhibits Macrophage Polarization through LC3-Dependent Autophagy

Brucellosis is caused by infection with Brucella species and exhibits diverse clinical manifestations in infected humans. Monocytes and macrophages are not only the first line of defense against Brucella infection but also a main reservoir for Brucella. In the present study, we examined the effects of Brucella infection on human peripheral monocytes and monocyte-derived polarized macrophages. We showed that Brucella infection led to an increase in the proportion of CD14++CD16− monocytes and the expression of the autophagy-related protein LC3B, and the effects of Brucella-induced monocytes are inhibited after 6 weeks of antibiotic treatment. Additionally, the production of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α from monocytes in patients with brucellosis was suppressed through the LC3-dependent autophagy pathway during Brucella infection. Moreover, Brucella infection inhibited macrophage polarization. Consistently, the addition of 3-MA, an inhibitor of LC3-related autophagy, partially restored macrophage polarization. Intriguingly, we also found that the upregulation of LC3B expression by rapamycin and heat-killed Brucella in vitro inhibits M2 macrophage polarization, which can be reversed partially by 3-MA. Taken together, these findings reveal that Brucella dysregulates monocyte and macrophage polarization through LC3-dependent autophagy. Thus, targeting this pathway may lead to the development of new therapeutics against Brucellosis

The Uyghur Population And Genetic Susceptibility To Type 2 Diabetes: Potential Role For Variants In CDKAL1, JAZF1, and IGF1 Genes

Substantial evidence suggests that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a multi-factorial disease with a strong genetic component. A list of genetic susceptibility loci in populations of European and Asian ancestry has been established in the literature. Little is known on the inter-ethnic contribution of such established functional polymorphic variants. We performed a case-control study to explore the genetic susceptibility of 16 selected T2DM-related SNPs in a cohort of 102 Uyghur objects (51 cases and 51 controls). Three of the 16 SNPs showed significant association with T2DM in the Uyghur population. There were significant differences between the T2DM and control groups in frequencies of the risk allelic distributions of rs7754840 (CDKAL1) (p=0.014), rs864745 (JAZF1) (p=0.032), and rs35767 (IGF1) (p=0.044). Carriers of rs7754840-C, rs35767-A, and rs864745-C risk alleles had a 2.32-fold [OR (95% CI): 1.19-4.54], 2.06-fold [OR (95% CI): 1.02-4.17], 0.48-fold [OR (95% CI): 0.24-0.94] increased risk for T2DM, respectively. The cumulative risk allelic scores of these 16 SNPs differed significantly between the T2DM patients and the controls [17.1±8.1 vs. 15.4±7.3; OR (95%CI): 1.27(1.07-1.50), p=0.007]. This is the first study to evaluate genomic variation at 16 SNPs in respective T2DM candidate genes for the Uyghur population compared with other ethnic groups. The SNP rs7754840 in CDKAL1, rs864745 in JAZF1, and rs35767 in IGF1 might serve as potential susceptibility loci for T2DM in Uyghurs. We suggest a broader capture and study of the world populations, including who that are hitherto understudied, are essential for a comprehensive understanding of the genetic/genomic basis of T2DM

Optimizing interplanar spacing, oxygen vacancies and micromorphology via lithium-ion pre-insertion into ammonium vanadate nanosheets for advanced cathodes in aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Ammonium vanadates, featuring an N─H···O hydrogen bond network structure between NH4+ and V─O layers, have become popular cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). Their appeal lies in their multi-electron transfer, high specific capacity, and facile synthesis. However, a major drawback arises as Zn2+ ions tend to form bonds with electronegative oxygen atoms between V─O layers during cycling, leading to irreversible structural collapse. Herein, Li+ pre-insertion into the intermediate layer of NH4V4O10 is proposed to enhance the electrochemical activity of ammonium vanadate cathodes for AZIBs, which extends the interlayer distance of NH4V4O10 to 9.8 Å and offers large interlaminar channels for Zn2+ (de)intercalation. Moreover, Li+ intercalation weakens the crystallinity, transforms the micromorphology from non-nanostructured strips to ultrathin nanosheets, and increases the level of oxygen defects, thus exposing more active sites for ion and electron transport, facilitating electrolyte penetration, and improving electrochemical kinetics of electrode. In addition, the introduction of Li+ significantly reduces the bandgap by 0.18 eV, enhancing electron transfer in redox reactions. Leveraging these unique advantages, the Li+ pre-intercalated NH4V4O10 cathode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 486.1 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and an impressive capacity retention rate of 72% after 5,000 cycles at 5 A g−1

Modulating solvated structure of Zn2+ and inducing surface crystallography by a simple organic molecule with abundant polar functional groups to synergistically stabilize zinc metal anodes for long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have attracted significant attention owing to their inherent security, low cost, abundant zinc (Zn) resources and high energy density. Nevertheless, the growth of zinc dendrites and side reactions on the surface of Zn anodes during repeatedly plating/stripping shorten the cycle life of AZIBs. Herein, a simple organic molecule with abundant polar functional groups, 2,2,2-trifluoroether formate (TF), has been proposed as a high-efficient additive in the ZnSO4 electrolyte to suppress the growth of Zn dendrites and side reaction during cycling. It is found that TF molecules can infiltrate the solvated sheath layer of the hydrated Zn2+ to reduce the number of highly chemically active H2O molecules owing to their strong binding energy with Zn2+. Simultaneously, TF molecules can preferentially adsorb onto the Zn surface, guiding the uniform deposition of Zn2+ along the crystalline surface of Zn(0 0 2). This dual action significantly inhibits the formation of Zn dendrites and side reactions, thus greatly extending the cycling life of the batteries. Accordingly, the Zn//Cu asymmetric cell with 2 % TF exhibits stable cycling for more than 3,800 cycles, achieving an excellent average Columbic efficiency (CE) of 99.81 % at 2 mA cm−2/1 mAh cm−2. Meanwhile, the Zn||Zn symmetric cell with 2 % TF demonstrates a superlong cycle life exceeding 3,800 h and 2,400 h at 2 mA cm−2/1 mAh cm−2 and 5 mA cm−2/2.5 mAh cm−2, respectively. Simultaneously, the Zn//VO2 full cell with 2 % TF possesses high initial capacity (276.8 mAh/g) and capacity retention (72.5 %) at 5 A/g after 500 cycles. This investigation provides new insights into stabilizing Zn metal anodes for AZIBs through the co-regulation of Zn2+ solvated structure and surface crystallography

System Performance Investigation of the IVC System

With the greatly increased number of vehicles in our society, a lot of new issues concerning the transportation arise. Among them, traffic safety is one of the hottest topics. To improve traffic safety, the decentralized communication network for Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC) system has drawn great attention all over the world in recent years. On the basis of the principle theories and frames, various ideas using all kinds of communication technologies have been proposed to make it practically suitable for real application and enhance the system performance. This paper investigated the basic structure of the IVC system and performance evaluation of ARQ in this system. Based on the basic application environment, the system model was constructed and simulation parameters were defined. A simulation idea called \u27Snapshot\u27 was proposed to turn a dynamic real system to a static system suitable for modeling. Automatic Retransmission Request (ARQ), as a main technology, was examined in this paper. The simulation results about the system performance with ARQ and without ARQ have been provided, along with the detailed analysis about their respective features and performance comparison. Additionally, to enhance the system performance, two improvement methods are proposed. Their functions are simulated and analyzed. In the last section, several directions for the future work are pointed out based on the research work in this thesis

Research on the Development Features of the Shengquan Minefield Fault Structure in Shandong Province

In order to figure out the complexity of Shengquan Minefield fault structure, the required sample data was reorganized and collected in accordance with the field measurement data and the geological information of the 15th coal layer of the minefield. Firstly, according to the exposure condition of the drilling hole, the rose diagram of the fault direction was drawn after specifically collecting the nature, direction, and height gap and realize the visualization of the fault field measurement data, so the complexity of sectional structure can be initially analyzed. Secondly, the similarity dimension model was built through the box-type covering method in order to count the grid number of the fault trace under each sideline, and then the result was applied to the logarithmic coordinate system. By using the least square method, the slope of the bridging curve and, moreover, the fractal dimension value were achieved. Finally, Sufer was applied to draw the contour map of the fractal dimension value. The research result indicates that, through a series of quantitative analyses, this field can be divided into a simple tectonic area, mid-complex tectonic area, and complex tectonic area. &nbsp

Three-dimensional electrical method advanced detection technology based on comparative method to eliminate the influence of roadway

In order to eliminate the influence of roadway on underground 3D electric method advanced detection technology, ANSYS finite element software was used to simulate the actual working situation of 3D electric advance detection in underground. Based on the control variable method, four models were established for comparison, and meshing, loading and solving of the established models were carried out. From the perspective of the potential change of the isosurface, it is obtained that the apparent resistivity is affected by the roadway, and then the false anomaly phenomenon that first decreases and then increases. The interference formula to eliminate the influence of the roadway obtained by the comparison method is used for correction, and the corrected result is consistent with the result when there is no roadway interference. Finally, the data in the engineering application was corrected, and the least-squares inversion based on the inequality constraint and the round constraint was applied. The three-dimensional visualization process was used to obtain the three-dimensional resistivity data volume of the top and bottom layers of the coal mines. Combined with the work area data, the top sand sandstone and bottom grey ash rich water anomalies are delineated, which improves the accuracy of the mine 3D electric advanced detection technology

One-Sided Matching with Permission

Classical one-sided matching assumes participants in the matching market are of a fixed size, each with an initial endowment and can exchange with others. In this paper, we consider a more dynamic and challenging setting where only a few participants are initially in the market, while the others need their invitation/permission to join in. However, the invitation does not always occur naturally and thus requires incentives. If we simply apply Top Trading Cycle, a classic solution for traditional matching, invitees may compete with their inviters in the matching and therefore they are reluctant to invite others. To combat this, we propose a new solution to protect inviters which guarantees that inviting all their friends is a dominant strategy for all participants. This solution novelly utilizes participants' invitations, which is not a simple extension of any existing solutions. We demonstrate its advantages in terms of participants' satisfaction by simulations and compare it with other existing solutions