The Role of microRNAs in Development of Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most deadly cancer worldwide, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the critical factors in CRC carcinogenesis. IBD is responsible for an unphysiological and sustained chronic inflammation environment favoring the transformation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) belong to a class of highly conserved short single-stranded segments (18–25 nucleotides) non-coding RNA and have been extensively discussed in both CRC and IBD. However, the role of miRNAs in the development of colitis-associated CRC (CAC) is less clear. The aim of this review is to summarize the major upregulated (miR-18a, miR-19a, miR-21, miR-31, miR-155 and miR-214) and downregulated (miR-124, miR-193a-3p and miR-139-5p) miRNAs in CAC, and their roles in genes’ expression modulation in chronic colonic-inflammation-induced carcinogenesis, including programmed cell-death pathways. These miRNAs dysregulation could be applied for early CAC diagnosis, to predict therapy efficacy and for precision treatment.     

How does a bank's involvement interplay with a firm's capacity investment? An analysis and comparison of different consortium structures

As nonrecourse project finance (rather than financing on a sovereign basis) is becoming more prevalent worldwide, financing institutions have to collaborate more closely with firms to optimize capacity‐investment and financing decisions. Under this background, this paper presents a stylized Stackelberg games model, taking into account the firm's capacity investment as well as the bank's interest rate and funding ratio decisions. Consortium structures between bank and firm are formalized into five modes based on industry practice, namely, the integrated consortium, pure shareholder funding, bank as leader, full coordination, and bank as follower. The optimality and equilibrium of each of the five modes are analytically derived, and their existence and uniqueness are demonstrated. Valuable economic insights are obtained through both modeling analysis and numerical experiments, with the main findings including the following: (i) a lack of bank financing leads to insufficient capacity investment and poor consortium performance; (ii) interest rate and funding ratio play important but different roles in the bank's risk management; (iii) the bank's proactivity in leading and coordinating the consortium is critical for the two parties’ overall performance; and (iv) if the bank is the follower, the firm's capacity decision is irrelevant to the bank's loan contract, and the consortium cannot be coordinated to the first‐best level of performance.     

Airborne bacterial assemblage in a zero carbon building: A case study

Currently, there is little information pertaining to the airborne bacterial communities of green buildings. In this case study, the air bacterial community of a zero carbon building (ZCB) in Hong Kong was characterized by targeting the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Bacteria associated with the outdoor environment dominated the indoor airborne bacterial assemblage, with a modest contribution from bacteria associated with human skin. Differences in overall community diversity, membership, and composition associated with short (day‐to‐day) and long‐term temporal properties were detected, which may have been driven by specific environmental genera and taxa. Furthermore, time‐decay relationships in community membership (based on unweighted UniFrac distances) and composition (based on weighted UniFrac distances) differed depending on the season and sampling location. A Bayesian source‐tracking approach further supported the importance of adjacent outdoor air bacterial assemblage in sourcing the ZCB indoor bioaerosol. Despite the unique building attributes, the ZCB microbial assemblage detected and its temporal characteristics were not dissimilar to that of conventional built environments investigated previously. Future controlled experiments and microbial assemblage investigations of other ZCBs will undoubtedly uncover additional knowledge related to how airborne bacteria in green buildings may be influenced by their distinctive architectural attributes.     

Gui-A-Gra Attenuates Testicular Dysfunction in Varicocele-Induced Rats via Oxidative Stress,ER Stress and Mitochondrial Apoptosis Pathway

Gui-A-Gra, a commercial insect powder from Gryllus bimaculatus, is registered as an edible insect by the Korean food and drug administration. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Gui-A-Gra on testicular damage induced by experimental left varicocele in male Sprague Dawley rats. A total of 72 rats were randomly divided into the following six groups (12 rats in each group): a normal control group (CTR), a group administrated with Gui-A-Gra 1.63 gm/kg (G1.63), a group administrated with Gui-A-Gra 6.5 gm/kg (G6.5), a varicocele (VC)-induced control group (VC), a VC-induced group administrated with Gui-A-Gra 1.63 gm/kg (VC + G1.63), and a VC-induced group administrated with Gui-A-Gra 6.5 gm/kg (VC + G6.5). Rats were administrated 1.63 or 6.5 gm/kg Gui-A-Gra once daily for 42 days. Indicators of sperm parameters, histopathology, reproductive hormones, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial apoptosis were analyzed to evaluate effects of Gui-A-Gra on VC-induced testicular dysfunction. Gui-A-Gra administration to VC-induced rats significantly (p < 0.05) increased sperm count and sperm motility, Johnsen score, spermatogenic cell density, serum testosterone, testicular superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase, GPx4, and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) level. Moreover, pretreatment with Gui-A-Gra significantly (p < 0.05) decreased terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) positive cells/tubules, serum luteinizing hormone (LH), serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testicular tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS)/reactive nitrogen species (RNS) level, glucose-regulated protein-78 (Grp-78), phosphorylated c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (p-JNK), phosphorylated inositol-requiring transmembrane kinase/endoribonuclease 1α (p-IRE1α), cleaved caspase-3, and BCL2 associated X protein: B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bax: Bcl2) ratio in VC rats. These results suggest that protective effects of Gui-A-Gra on VC-induced testicular injury might be due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and androgenic activities that might be mediated via crosstalk of oxidative stress, ER stress, and mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.     

Potential pitfalls of smart city development: A study on parking mobile applications (apps) in Hong Kong

Smart cities are built upon information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enable a broad range of advanced services. Through a comprehensive literature review, this study identified four pitfalls brought by the pervasive application of ICT, including information insecurity, privacy leakage, information islands, and digital divide. Therefore, a questionnaire survey together with 27 interviews was conducted in Hong Kong to investigate how the public perceived these pitfalls within the context of mobile apps providing real-time parking information which form a major part of smart mobility. System insecurity and privacy leakage were found to arouse worries among the app-users while their awareness of protecting personal data was found to have room for improvement. Islands of real-time parking information occur as a result of the lack of collaboration among private carpark operators. Digital divide existed widely among the disadvantaged groups and the problem cannot be solved by mere provision of ICT facilities. Overall, technologies alone cannot make a city smart or smarter. It is the suitable way in which ICTs are used to serve all citizens that matters.     

Chinese state and society in epidemic governance: A historical perspective

This paper looks at the role of state and society in the history of epidemic governance in China for an appreciation of the way China manages the current COVID-19 epidemic.     

Development of a noble aluminum-pigmented metallic polymer: Recommendations for visible flow and weld line mitigation

We investigated the appearance of flow and weld lines when metallic pigments are used in polymer blends and how such lines can be eliminated by improving the pigment particle shape and optimizing pigment loading. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer and two types of aluminum flakes, lamellar and three-dimensional (3D), were blended in a twin-screw extruder with a screw diameter of 25 mm. The temperatures from the hopper to the nozzle were 140, 180, 220, 220, 220, 220, and 220°C. Weld and flow lines were observed using field-emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of specially manufactured injection specimens. In the flow line region, traditional lamellar flakes were randomly oriented, while 3D flakes exhibited a distinct and stable orientation. Based on these observations, flow and weld lines in a finished metal/polymer blend can be minimized by using 3D metal particles in place of lamellar flakes. We also investigated the effects of aluminum flake loading on weld and flow line visibility. At low loading, weld lines were clearly visible due to the lack of pigmentation in the front of the polymer flow. Conversely, high loading resulted in relatively high concentrations of pigment near the weld line area, reducing weld line visibility. These findings suggest that there is an optimum metal loading level where the visibility of flow and weld lines is minimized.