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Microbial as well as enzymatic degradation associated with PCBs coming from e-waste-contaminated websites: a review.
However, mixed-handedness may prove to be a better general predictor of academic performance across disciplines. Contributions from the cognitive neurosciences encourage the development of innovative tools in learning. Through an innovative intervention program called NeuroStratE, we conducted a study to analyze the impact of brain knowledge, with metacognitive approach, on the academic performance of students. This analysis concerns a cohort of 311 students aged 16. Students' school results were collected over one year and compared with those of a control group. These results are qualitatively refined with student feedback on the value of the intervention program, along with individual teacher interviews. This study showed no significant difference in school results between the two groups of students. However, the study shows the relevance of the program and students acquired knowledge about the brain's functioning. Moreover, this intervention highlights the evidence of the emergence in students of greater autonomy and better self-knowledge, both contributing to a feeling of self-efficacy, which is at the core of educational success. BACKGROUND Fluid intelligence (Gf) is a critical cognitive ability that is predictive of real-world outcomes, and it has been a persistent aim to characterize its neural architecture. PROCEDURE We advance our prior research by applying latent class analysis to evaluate individual differences in the neural and cognitive foundations of Gf over the course of a 16-week randomized, multi-modal intervention trial in neurologically healthy, younger adults (N = 424). RESULTS Controlling for pre-intervention ability, three latent classes described individual performance at post-intervention and one group (n = 71) showed greater gains in visuospatial reasoning and high performance at post-intervention. The high performance group was predicted by larger anterior cingulate cortex, caudate and hippocampus volumes, and smaller middle frontal, insula and parahippocampal cortex volumes. CONCLUSION Regions that support cognitive control, working memory, and relational processes differentiated individuals who had higher Gf ability at pre-intervention and demonstrated a cumulative better response to the intervention. BACKGROUND Evidence has established obesity as a risk factor for total knee replacement (TKR) due to osteoarthritis. Obesity is a risk factor for TKR. Randomized trials such as Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) have shown long-term successful weight loss with an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI). It is unknown, however, if intentional weight loss can reduce the risk of TKR. METHODS Look AHEAD randomized persons aged 45-76 with type 2 diabetes who had overweight or obesity to either an ILI to achieve/maintain 7% weight loss or to standard diabetes support and education (DSE). Reported knee pain was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale and Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index questionnaire in 5125 participants without previous TKR. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to model differences in risk of TKR in relation to randomization group assignment (ILI vs DSE) along with baseline body mass index category and baseline knee pain as potential confounders from baseline thifestyle change including physical activity, dietary restriction and behavioral changes to achieve weight loss for prevention of TKR may be most effective in preventing TKR prior to the development of knee pain. A dacryolith is a rare finding and can be considered as a complication of a Le Fort I fracture. A case of dacryolith and nasolacrimal duct obstruction after surgery for a Le Fort I fracture is described, and the reasons for and prevention of this condition are discussed. BACKGROUND There remains a residual risk for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) even with low low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. This study aimed to characterize the culprit lesion morphology of AMI by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with low LDL-C. METHODS Four-hundred and nine culprit lesions of 409 patients with their first presentation of AMI imaged by OCT were investigated. OCT analysis included the presence of plaque rupture and thin-capped fibroatheroma (TCFA). Fibrous cap thickness and lipid length were also measured. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was performed in 368 (90.0%) patients. OCT and IVUS findings were compared between patients with LDL-C  less then  100 mg/dl (lower-LDL group) and those with LDL ≥ 100 mg/dl (higher-LDL group). RESULTS Lower-LDL group included 93 (22.7%) patients. Plaque rupture (54.8% vs. 68.7%, p = 0.018) and TCFA (39.8% vs. 54.6%, p = 0.013) were less frequently observed in lower-LDL than in higher-LDL. Fibrous cap was thicker [73 (59-109) µm vs. 63 (57-83) µm, p = 0.028] and lipid length was smaller [5.4 (2.3-9.9) mm vs. 7.1 (4.1-10.5) mm, p = 0.012] in lower-LDL than in higher-LDL. There were no significant differences in IVUS parameters including plaque burden or remodeling index between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Patients with lower LDL-C showed more prevalent intact fibrous cap and less vulnerable features in the culprit lesions, which may suggest the need for exploring a specific strategy for the prevention of plaque erosion in low LDL-C subjects. To explore the energy barrier between microalgae cells that impedes their aggregation and their interfacial interactions with cationic starch (CS), this study applied the extended Derjaguin Landau Verwey Overbeek (eDLVO) theory combined with the flocculation performance to analyze the interactions. The result shows that zeta potential based electrostatic interaction played a determinative role no matter for the energy barrier or the interfacial interactions. The energy barrier between microalgae cells would decrease with the descend of the pH and it disappeared when the pH decreased to 3 and resulted in self-flocculation. The quantitative analysis of the interfacial interactions between microalgae cell and CS showed well agreement with the experiment data of flocculation efficiency (FE) under different conditions of pH and ionic strength. Thus, the quantitative findings will be helpful to know the aggregation and flocculation process better and find more effective flocculants for microalgae harvesting. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation and migration play a fundamental role during the process of hypertensive angiopathy. Angiotensin-II (Ang-II) is one of the robust phenotype-modulating agents, which changes VSMCs to efficiently proliferate and migrate. The mechanism of the proliferation and migration is not well understood yet. Septin4, as a member of GTP binding protein family, is widely expressed in the eukaryotic cells and considered to be an essential component of the cytoskeleton which is involved in many important physiological processes. We approved that Septin4 expression was upregulated in mouse aorta by continuous infusion of Ang-II and in cultured VSMCs treated with Ang-II. Overexpression of Septin4 led to lower level of autophagy and decreased capacity of proliferation and migration. In order to identify the mechanism by which Septin4 interacts with these processes, we blocked autophagy by chloroquine (CQ). After inhibiting the autophagy, the ability of proliferation and migration was further restrained in the Septin4 overexpression VSMCs. In conclusion, our results indicated that during the process of VSMCs proliferation and migration induced by Ang-II, Septin4 modulated autophagy and thus regulated the activity of proliferation and migration. Microtubules are made up of tubulin protein and play a very important part in numerous cellular events of eukaryotic cells, which is why they are seen as attractive targets for tumor chemotherapy. BNC105, a known vascular targeting agent, has entered in phase II clinical trials. It has previously been confirmed that BNC105 is an effective microtubule targeting agent for various cancers. BNC105 exhibits selectivity for tumor cells, elicits vascular disrupting effects, and inhibits tumor growth. However, the molecular mechanism of BNC105 is still elusive. Herein, the crystal structure of BNC105 in complex with tubulin protein is revealed, demonstrating the its interaction with the colchicine binding site. In order to thoroughly evaluate its molecular mechanism from a structural-activity-relationship standpoint, the binding mode of tubulin to BNC-105 is compared with colchicine, CA-4 and other BNC-105 derivatives. Our study not only confirms the detailed interactions of the BNC105-tubulin complex, but also offer substantial structural foundation for the design and development of novel benzo[b]furan derivatives as microtubule targeting agents. Recently, we reported that chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 (CXCR4) heteromerizes with α1-adrenergic receptors (AR) on the cell surface of vascular smooth muscle cells, through which the receptors cross-talk. Direct biophysical evidence for CXCR4α1-AR heteromers, however, is lacking. Here we utilized bimolecular luminescence/fluorescence complementation (BiLC/BiFC) combined with intermolecular bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) assays in HEK293T cells to evaluate CXCR4α1a/b/d-AR heteromerization. Atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3) and metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGlu1R) were utilized as controls. BRET between CXCR4-RLuc (Renilla reniformis) and enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP)-tagged ACKR3 or α1a/b/d-ARs fulfilled criteria for constitutive heteromerization. BRET between CXCR4-RLuc and EYFP or mGlu1R-EYFP were nonspecific. BRET50 for CXCR4ACKR3 and CXCR4α1a/b/d-AR heteromers were comparable. Stimulation of cells with phenylephrine increased BRETmax of CXCR4α1a/b/d-AR heteromers without affecting BRET50; stimulation with CXCL12 reduced BRETmax of CXCR4α1a-AR heteromers, but did not affect BRET50 or BRETmax/50 for CXCR4α1b/d-AR. A peptide analogue of transmembrane domain (TM) 2 of CXCR4 reduced BRETmax of CXCR4α1a/b/d-AR heteromers and increased BRET50 of CXCR4α1a/b-AR interactions. A TM4 analogue of CXCR4 did not alter BRET. We observed CXCR4, α1a-AR and mGlu1R homodimerization by BiFC/BiLC, and heteromerization of homodimeric CXCR4 with proto- and homodimeric α1a-AR by BiFC/BiLC BRET. BiFC/BiLC BRET for interactions between homodimeric CXCR4 and homodimeric mGlu1R was nonspecific. Our findings suggest that the heteromerization affinity of CXCR4 for ACKR3 and α1-ARs is comparable, provide evidence for conformational changes of the receptor complexes upon agonist binding and support the concept that proto- and oligomeric CXCR4 and α1-ARs constitutively form higher-order hetero-oligomeric receptor clusters. Upregulation of the Src tyrosine kinase is implicated in the progression of cancer. The oncogenic potential of Src is suppressed via several negative regulation systems including degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Here, we show that ubiquitination of Src promotes its secretion via small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) to suppress its oncogenic potential. In MDCK cells expressing a modified Src that can be activated by hydroxytamoxifen, activated Src was transported to late endosomes/lysosomes and secreted via sEVs. The secretion of Src was suppressed by ablation of Cbl E3-ligase, suggesting the contribution of ubiquitination to this process. Activated Src was ubiquitinated at multiple sites, and Lys429 was identified as a critical site for sEV-mediated secretion. Mutation of Src at Lys429 (R429) caused resistance to ubiquitination and decreased its secretion via sEVs. The activated R429 mutant was also transported to late endosomes/lysosomes, whereas its incorporation into intraluminal vesicles was reduced.
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