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The placenta is crucial for a successful pregnancy and the health of both the fetus and the pregnant woman. However, how the human trophoblast lineage is regulated, including the categorization of the placental cell subtypes is poorly understood. Here we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on sorted placental cells from first- and second-trimester human placentas. New subtypes of cells of the known cytotrophoblast cells (CTBs), extravillous trophoblast cells (EVTs), Hofbauer cells, and mesenchymal stromal cells were identified and cell-type-specific gene signatures were defined. Functionally, this study revealed many previously unknown functions of the human placenta. Notably, 102 polypeptide hormone genes were found to be expressed by various subtypes of placental cells, which suggests a complex and significant role of these hormones in regulating fetal growth and adaptations of maternal physiology to pregnancy. These results document human placental trophoblast differentiation at single-cell resolution and thus advance our understanding of human placentation during the early stage of pregnancy.

إن معظم الدول والمناطق على طول «الحزام والطريق» هي دول نامية، وتعاني جميعا من مشكلات في البيئة الإيكولوجية أكثر أو أقل، كما إنها تواجه تحديات ضخمة في التوازن بين التنمية وحماية البيئة. وتواجه هذه البلدان النامية فرصا غير مسبوقة أتاحها المفهوم الاستراتيجي لمبادرة «الحزام والطريق»، كما أن كيفية التعامل مع التحدي المتمثل في حماية البيئة الإيكولوجية أثناء بناء وتطوير «الحزام والطريق» هي المهمة الأساسية التي تواجهها البلدان النامية بما فيها الصين. ويناقش هذا الكتاب ويلخص الخلفية البيئية الإيكولوجية للبلدان/ المناطق المشاركة في مبادرة \"الحزام والطريق\" والمشكلات الرئيسية في هذا الجانب.

Abstract Microbial extracellular enzymatic activities (EEAs) produced by microbes to degrade biopolymers are the ‘gatekeeper’ of carbon cycle in the marine ecosystem. It is usually assumed that these extracellular enzymes are actively secreted by microbes. However, biopolymer-degrading enzymes also exist in the intracellular space. Cell lysis will passively release these enzymes into the environments and contribute to the total EEAs. However, to what extent the cell lysis can contribute to the total EEAs are still unclear. Here, using extreme cell lysis method, we evaluated the maximum contribution of cell lysis to total EEAs in culturable marine bacteria and coastal seawater. For carbohydrate-processing enzymes (β-glucosidase, alginate lyase, and chitinase), the release of intracellular enzymes could contribute positively (up to 56.1% increase for β-glucosidase in seawater) to the total EEAs. For protease and leucine aminopeptidase, the cell lysis did not increase and even decreased the total EEAs. For alkaline phosphatase, the intracellular enzymes generally had no contribution to the total EEAs. These results showed that passively released intracellular enzymes could substantially increase the total extracellular activities of carbohydrate-processing enzymes, which should be considered in building the link between the EEAs and organic carbon cycle in the ocean. Defining the contribution of intracellular enzymes to extracellular activity.

يناقش الكتاب سلسلة من الإيضاحات الهامة قدمها الرئيس الصيني والأمين العام للجنة المركزية للحزب الشيوعي الصيني، شي جين بينغ، وتدور حول أفكار الإصلاح وتوسيع الانفتاح على نحو شامل في الصين. يضم الكتاب أكثر من 70 وثيقة هامة على صورة كلمات شي جين بينغ وخطاباته وتعليقاته وتوجيهاته وينقسم الكتاب إلى 12 موضوعا خاصا تتضمن 274 قطعة من مقتطفات الأقوال، نشر بعضها لأول مرة.

Information overload has been an important issue in today’s big data era where a huge amount of unstructured user-generated content in different languages is being created on the Web in every minute. Social media search systems could help with it by effectively and efficiently collecting, storing, organizing and presenting user-generated content across the Web in an organized and timely manner. However, little research has been done to examine factors that could influence user acceptance on this new type of systems. To address it, this study develops a research model by integrating Mental Workload (MWL), Task-Technology Fit (TTF), and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). The model is tested on a security-related social media search system. The results indicate that both MWL and TTF can significantly influence user acceptance. We also operationalize the multi-dimensional latent construct of MWL by developing survey-based measurement items for different dimensions.

Chitooligosaccharides (COSs) have been widely used in agriculture, medicine, cosmetics, and foods, which are commonly prepared from chitin with chitinases. So far, while most COSs are prepared from colloidal chitin, chitinases used in preparing COSs directly from natural crystalline chitin are less reported. Here, we characterize three chitinases, which were identified from the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas flavipulchra DSM 14401T, with an ability to degrade crystalline chitin into (GlcNAc)2 (N,N’-diacetylchitobiose). Strain DSM 14401 can degrade the crystalline α-chitin in the medium to provide nutrients for growth. Genome and secretome analyses indicate that this strain secretes six chitinolytic enzymes, among which chitinases Chia4287, Chib0431, and Chib0434 have higher abundance than the others, suggesting their importance in crystalline α-chitin degradation. These three chitinases were heterologously expressed, purified, and characterized. They are all active on crystalline α-chitin, with temperature optima of 45–50 °C and pH optima of 7.0–7.5. They are all stable at 40 °C and in the pH range of 5.0–11.0. Moreover, they all have excellent salt tolerance, retaining more than 92% activity after incubation in 5 M NaCl for 10 h at 4 °C. When acting on crystalline α-chitin, the main products of the three chitinases are all (GlcNAc)2, which suggests that chitinases Chia4287, Chib0431, and Chib0434 likely have potential in direct conversion of crystalline chitin into (GlcNAc)2.

Heterotopic ossification (HO) refers to the abnormal formation of bone in non-skeletal tissues. Fibroblasts have traditionally been viewed as stationary cells primarily responsible for producing extracellular matrix during tissue repair and fibrosis. However, recent discoveries regarding their plasticity-encompassing roles in inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and osteogenesis-highlight their potential as key contributors to the development of HO. In this review, we systematically summarize the diverse phenotypic and functional plasticity of fibroblasts in HO. Furthermore, we evaluate the possible interaction between fibroblasts and macrophages in pathophysiological processes and signaling pathways. Finally, we highlight the potential strategies for preventing and treating HO by targeting fibroblast activities.

The presence of an inflammatory environment outside the pelvic region has prompted researchers to reconsider EMS as an immunity-associated systemic disorder.1 The term inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, traditionally categorized into ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Additionally, conducting randomized controlled trials is not feasible. [...]we applied a two-sample MR approach to elucidate the causality between the two. SEE PDF] EMS and IBD large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary results are presented in Tables 1A and 1B, with no sample overlap between them.6,7 Figure 1B displays the selection process for instrumental variables (IVs) of EMS. Exposure Outcome MR methods Number of SNPs OR (95% CI) SE MR p-value MR-Steiger p-Value heterogeneity p-Value pleiotropy EMS_total IBD MR Egger 14 1.130 (.877–1.456) .129 .362 True .840 .985 IVW 14 1.128 (1.042–1.221) .040 .003 .888 Weighted median 14 1.120 (1.011–1.240) .054 .041 EMS_total UC MR Egger 13 1.052 (.764–1.450) .163 .760 True .797 .802 IVW 13 1.095 (.985–1.217) .054 .092 .852 Weighted median 13 1.137 (.994–1.301) .074 .062 EMS_total CD MR Egger 14 1.249 (.842–1.853) .201 .291 TRUE .212 .622 IVW 14 1.134 (1.006–1.278) .061 .040 .255 Weighted median 14 1.099 (.943–1.281) .081 .227 EMS (ASRM I/II) IBD MR Egger 8 .828 (.381–1.800) .650 .650 True .743 .488 IVW 8 1.108 (1.015–1.209) .045 .023 .773 Weighted median 8 1.079 (.961–1.211) .059 .200 EMS (ASRM I/II) UC MR Egger 8 .557 (.209–1.488) .501 .288 True .616 .196 IVW 8 1.149 (1.029–1.284) .057 .014 .476 Weighted median 8 1.174 (1.006–1.369) .079 .042 EMS (ASRM I/II) CD MR Egger 8 1.375 (.480–3.938) .537 .575 True .922 .608 IVW 8 1.030 (.914–1.160) .061 .628 .943 Weighted median 8 .969 (.836–1.123) .075 .678 EMS (ASRM III/IV) IBD MR Egger 19 1.270 (1.019–1.584) .112 .048 True .023 .776 IVW 19 1.098 (1.019–1.184) .038 .014 .047 Weighted median 19 1.118 (1.026–1.218) .044 .014 EMS (ASRM III/IV) UC MR Egger 19 1.162 (.863–1.564) .152 .337 True .023 .776 IVW 19 1.115 (1.012–1.227) .049 .027 .032 EMS (ASRM III/IV) UC Weighted median 19 1.144 (1.029–1.272) .0542 .016 EMS(ASRM III/IV) CD MR Egger 19 1.352 (1.024–1.785) .142 .049 True .179 .121 IVW 19 1.086 (.987–1.195) .049 .090 .108 Weighted median 19 1.063 (.945–1.196) .060 .310 EMS_ovary IBD MR Egger 17 1.190 (1.001–1.415) .088 .068 True .155 .321 IVW 17 1.093 (1.028–1.163) .031 .005 .146 Weighted median 17 1.103 (1.023–1.190) .039 .011 EMS_ovary UC MR Egger 9 1.100 (.801–1.512) .162 .575 True .729 .955 IVW 9 1.090 (.994–1.196) .047 .068 .816 Weighted median 9 1.101 (.977–1.240) .061 .114 EMS_ovary CD MR Egger 18 1.283 (1.008–1.635) .123 .060 True .092 .139 IVW 18 1.072 (.981–1.173) .046 .126 .051 Weighted median 18 1.073 (.969–1.189) .052 .177 EMS_pelvic peritoneum IBD MR Egger 9 1.160 (.731–1.843) .236 .549 NA .644 .733 IVW 9 1.068 (.990–1.153) .039 .087 .730 Weighted median 9 1.062 (.960–1.175) .052 .245 EMS_pelvic peritoneum UC MR Egger 9 1.060 (.558–2.014) .327 .863 NA .299 .915 IVW 9 1.099 (.996–1.212) .050 .060 .394 Weighted median 9 1.086 (.959–1.230) .063 .191 EMS_pelvic peritoneum CD MR Egger 9 1.311 (.701–2.454) .320 .424 NA .980 .432 IVW 9 1.008 (.909–1.118) .053 .875 .972 Weighted median 9 .973 (.854–1.109) 0.066 .684 Exposure Outcome MR methods Number of SNPs OR (95% CI) SE MR p-Value MR-Steiger p-Value heterogeneity p-Value pleiotropy EMS_rectovaginal septum and vagina IBD MR Egger 8 .729 (.467–1.139) .227 .214 NA .970 .128 IVW 8 1.085 (1.018–1.157) .033 .012 .726 Weighted median 8 1.079 (.990–1.175) .044 .083 EMS_rectovaginal septum and vagina UC MR Egger 8 .565 (.322–.991) .286 .093 NA .946 .051 IVW 8 1.127 (1.036–1.226) .043 .005 .368 Weighted median 8 1.107 (.995–1.231) .054 .061 EMS_rectovaginal septum and vagina CD MR Egger 8 1.139 (.621–2.091) .310 .688 NA .900 .725 IVW 8 1.018 (.932–1.111) .045 .697 .939 Weighted median 8 .987 (.887–1.099) .054 .816 EMS_occurring infertility IBD MR Egger 6 1.256 (.765–2.062) .253 .418 NA .766 .544 IVW 6 1.065 (.970–1.170) .048 .186 .810 Weighted median 6 0.990 (.846–1.158) .080 .900 EMS_occurring infertility UC MR Egger 6 1.538 (.825–2.864) .317 .247 NA .745 .288 IVW 6 1.049 (.933–1.181) .060 .423 .631 Weighted median 6 .990 (.846–1.158) .080 .900 EMS_occurring infertility CD MR Egger 6 1.150 (.543–2.435) .383 .734 NA .306 .922 IVW 6 1.105 (.972–1.257) .066 .127 .436 Weighted median 6 1.078 (.917–1.266) .082 .363 Abbreviations: ASRM, American Society for Reproductive Medicine; CD, Crohn's disease; CI, confidence interval; EMS, endometriosis; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; IVW, inverse-variance weighted; MR, Mendelian randomization; OR, odds

PurposeThis study aims to explore the opportunities and constraints for learner identity formation among community college transfer students.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from four in-depth interviews with five transfer students across an academic year (i.e. 20 interviews in total). The first interview allowed the current researcher to explore the context of students' community college experiences and their first semester in the university. The second and third interview had two purposes: (1) to provide an opportunity for students to discuss their second semester experiences and (2) to understand the process of learner identity formation. The last interview allowed the students to reflect on their time in the university after studying for one year.FindingsThe findings reveal that higher education (HE) learner identity was nurtured by peer support, orientation activities and mentorship programme. While, striving for self-improvement and developing into an autonomous and active learner are essential in the formation of the HE learner identity in university.Originality/valueThis study represents the local students' voice that enrolling in community colleges with the goal of transferring to University Grant Committee (UGC)-funded universities. Transition is a process of change in the course of life and also a shift from one identity to another (Ecclestone et al., 2010). A smooth transition may contribute to the formation of positive learner identity, which is essential to student retention and persistence.