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BACKGROUND: The authors investigated the putative surrogate endpoints of best response, complete response (CR), confirmed response, and progression-free survival (PFS) for associations with overall survival (OS), and as possible surrogate endpoints for OS. METHODS: Individual patient data from 870 untreated extensive stage small-cell lung cancer patients participating in 6 single-arm (274 patients) and 3 randomized trials (596 patients) were pooled. Patient-level associations between putative surrogate endpoints and OS were assessed by Cox models using landmark analyses. Trial-level surrogacy of putative surrogate endpoints were assessed by the association of treatment effects on OS and individual putative surrogate endpoints. Trial-level surrogacy measures included: R² from weighted least squares regression model, Spearman correlation coefficient, and R² from bivariate survival model (Copula R2). RESULTS: Median OS and PFS were 9.6 (95% confidence interval [CI], 9.1-10.0) and 5.5 (95% CI, 5.2-5.9) months, respectively; best response, CR, and confirmed response rates were 44%, 22%, and 34%, respectively. Patient-level associations showed that PFS status at 4 months was a strong predictor of subsequent survival (hazard ratio [HR], 0.42; 95% CI, 0.35-0.5, concordance index 0.63; P < .01), with 6-month PFS being the strongest (HR, 0.4, 95% CI, 0.35-0.49; concordance index, 0.66, P < .01). At the trial level, PFS showed the highest level of surrogacy for OS (weighted least squares R² = 0.79; Copula R² = 0.80), explaining 79% of the variance in OS. Tumor response endpoints showed lower surrogacy levels (weighted least squares R² ≥ 0.48). CONCLUSIONS: PFS was strongly associated with OS at both the patient and trial levels. PFS also shows promise as a potential surrogate for OS, but further validation is needed using data from a larger number of randomized phase 3 trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To identify and describe clinicopathologic prognostic factors in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma who underwent surgical resection with curative intent. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study cohort consisted of 796 patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, gastroesophageal Junction, or gastric cardia who underwent complete tumor resection at Mayo Clinic from January 1, 1980, to December 31, 1997. We reviewed individual patient medical records and abstracted demographic, pathologic, perioperative, and cancer outcome data. Median follow-up for vital status and disease recurrence was 12.8 and 5.8 years, respectively. RESULTS: Univarlate analysis revealed the following factors to be statistically associated with worse 5-year disease-specific survival: higher N and T status, higher tumor grade, age older than 76 years, and the presence of extracapsular lymph node extension and signet ring cells. The following factors remained significantly linked with worse 5-year disease-specific survival on multivariate analysis: higher N and T status, grade, and age and the absence of preoperative chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Anatomic location of tumor was not associated with differential prognosis. Lymph node metastases were found in 25 (27%) of 93 T1b tumors, 397 (85%) of 468 T3 tumors, and 22 (67%) of 33 T4a tumors. Disease-specific survival was better in T3-4N0 than in T1bN1-3 carcinomas (hazard ratio, 0.50; 95% confidence interval, 0.28-0.89, adjusted for grade and age; P=.02). CONCLUSION: Our results confirm the importance of T and N status and tumor grade and suggest that age may affect prognosis. in addition, we show that a significant proportion of superficial esophageal adenocarcinomas exhibit regional metastases and have worse prognosis than more invasive nonmetastatic tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gap junction intercellular communication in osteocytes plays an important role in bone remodeling in response to mechanical loading; however, the responsible molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we show that phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling activated by fluid flow shear stress and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) had a stimulatory effect on both connexin 43 (Cx43) mRNA and protein expression. PGE2 inactivated glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) and promoted nuclear localization and accumulation of β-catenin. Knockdown of β-catenin expression resulted in a reduction in Cx43 protein. Furthermore, the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay demonstrated an association of β-catenin with the Cx43 promoter, suggesting that β-catenin could regulate Cx43 expression at the level of gene transcription. We have previously reported that PGE2 activates cyclic AMP (cAMP)-protein kinase A (PKA) signaling and increases Cx43 and gap junctions. Interestingly, the activation of PI3K/Akt appeared to be independent of the activation of PKA, whereas both PI3K/Akt and PKA signaling inactivated GSK-3 and increased β-catenin translocation. Together, these results suggest that shear stress, through PGE2 release, activates both PI3K/Akt and cAMP-PKA signaling, which converge through the inactivation of GSK-3, leading to the increase in nuclear accumulation of β-catenin. β-Catenin binds to the Cx43 promoter, stimulating Cx43 expression and functional gap junctions between osteocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new dammarane triterpenes 3β-acetyl-20S,24R-dammarane-25-ene-24-hydroperoxy-20-ol (1), 20S,24R-dammarane-25-ene-24-hydroperoxy-3β,20-diol (2), as well as three known dammarane triterpenes, 3β-acetyl-20S,25-epoxydammarane-24α-ol (3), 20S,25-epoxydammarane-3β,24α-diol (4), 20S-dammarane-23-ene-3β,20,25-triol (5) were isolated from the fruits of Ligustrum lucidum. Compounds 3-5 were isolated from the fruits of L. lucidum for the first time. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Like microarray-based investigations, high-throughput proteomics techniques require machine learning algorithms to identify biomarkers that are informative for biological classification problems. Feature selection and classification algorithms need to be robust to noise and outliers in the data. Results: We developed a recursive support vector machine (R-SVM) algorithm to select important genes/biomarkers for the classification of noisy data. We compared its performance to a similar, state-of-the-art method (SVM recursive feature elimination or SVM-RFE), paying special attention to the ability of recovering the true informative genes/biomarkers and the robustness to outliers in the data. Simulation experiments show that a 5 %-~20 % improvement over SVM-RFE can be achieved regard to these properties. The SVM-based methods are also compared with a conventional univariate method and their respective strengths and weaknesses are discussed. RSVM was applied to two sets of SELDI-TOF-MS proteomics data, one from a human breast cancer study and the other from a study on rat liver cirrhosis. Important biomarkers found by the algorithm were validated by follow-up biological experiments. Conclusion: The proposed R-SVM method is suitable for analyzing noisy high-throughput proteomics and microarray data and it outperforms SVM-RFE in the robustness to noise and in the ability to recover informative features. The multivariate SVM-based method outperforms the univariate method in the classification performance, but univariate methods can reveal more of the differentially expressed features especially when there are correlations between the features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the two related polymeric title compounds, {[La2(sip)2- (phen)2(H2O)3]·H2O}n [sip is the 5-sulfonatoisophthalate trianion (C8H3O7S3- ) and phen is 1,10-phenanthroline (C12H8N2)], (I), and {[La(sip)(H2O)3]-H2O]n, (II), the lanthanum(III) ions are nine-coordinate, with similar distorted monocapped square-antiprism coordination geometry. The two crystal structures are very different. In (I), the sip anion acts as a pentadentate ligand, one of the coordinated water molecules lies on a twofold axis and further inversion, n-glide and translation operations generate a two-dimensional framework. In (II), the sip anion functions as a hexadentate ligand and a three-dimensional network with trinuclear 24- membered rings is developed via inversion, n-glide, twofold- screw and translation operations. Both structures also have extensive O—H…O hydrogen-bonded networks and π-π interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing-3 (Tim-3) is a negative regulator expressed on T cells, and is also expressed on natural killer (NK) cells. The function of Tim-3 chiefly restricts IFNγ-production in T cells, however, the impact of Tim-3 on NK cell function has not been clearly elucidated. Results: In this study, we demonstrated down-regulation of Tim-3 expression on NK cells while Tim-3 is upregulated on CD4+ T cells during HIV infection. Functional assays indicated that Tim-3 mediates suppression of CD107a degranulation in NK cells and CD4+ T cells, while it fails to inhibit the production of IFN-γ by NK cells. Analyses of downstream pathways using an antibody to block Tim-3 function demonstrated that Tim-3 can inhibit ERK and NFκB p65 signaling; however, it failed to suppress the NFAT pathway. Further, we found that the NFAT activity in NK cells was much higher than that in CD4+ T cells, indicating that NFAT pathway is important for promotion of IFN-γ production by NK cells. Conclusions: Thus, our data show that the expression of Tim-3 on NK cells is insufficient to inhibit IFN-γ production. Collectively, our findings demonstrate a potential mechanism of Tim-3 regulation of NK cells and a target for HIV infection immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the interface effects between human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) and the titanium substrate for soft tissue sealing, zinc (Zn) was incorporated into titanium by plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) in the work, and the durations of 30, 60 and 90 min were adopted for serials of Zn content on titanium to identify the possible dose-effect relationship. Results showed that the implanted Zn formed metallic Zn and zinc oxide on the surface, and the Zn content increased with the extension of implantation time. The release of Zn ions occurred in the saline solution, but the amounts of released ions were inconsistent with the Zn content of implanted samples and their corrosion behaviors, indicating the different reaction activities among the sample surfaces. Moreover, in vitro studies disclosed that the incorporated samples were beneficial to the adhesion, proliferation, and migration of HGFs with appropriate dose of released Zn ions as well as the surface activities, as the fact it was not a directly proportional dose-effect relationship between released Zn ions and the behaviors of cells. It was suggested that Zn-PIII provided an approach to improve the soft tissue sealing of titanium through interfacial activities of implanted samples to regulate the behaviors of HGFs and the usage of Zn ions followed a synergistic manner. The interface effects of Zn-PIII titanium on the behaviors of human gingival fibroblasts relied on the implanted time. Unlabelled Image • Zn implanted titanium regulated the behaviors of HGFs through interface effects. • The surface activities of Zn-PIII samples were affected by the implantation time. • HGFs behaviors were not in a proportional dose-effect relation with released ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chaihu-shugan-san (CHSGS) has been widely used in China to treat depression and gastrointestinal diseases for thousands of years, but little is known about its pharmacokinetic properties. The purpose of our study is to develop a reliable and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method to detect five components in beagle plasma and study their pharmacokinetic after oral administration of CHSGS in beagles. An Agilent C18 column (2.1 × 150 mm, 3.5 μm) was used to separate the analytes, and the column temperature was maintained at 40°C. A gradient elution procedure was used with solvent A (acetonitrile) and solvent B (0.1% formic acid, aqueous) as mobile phases. The elution procedure was 60% B—10% B (0–3 min) and 10% B—60% B (3.1–4 min). The flow rate was 0.3 mL/min, and the total measurement time was 4 min. Within the determined range, the standard calibration curves of the five analytes had a satisfactory linear relationship (r2 ≥ 0.9923). The recovery rate (n = 6) of the five analytes was between 85.42% and 90.85%, and the matrix effects (n = 6) were between 94.52% and 103.91%. These results show that the validated method could be successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetic in beagles after a single dose of CHSGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic phase separation in complex oxides is the inhomogeneous spatial distribution of electronic phases, involving length scales much larger than those of structural defects or nonuniform distribution of chemical dopants. While experimental efforts focused on phase separation and established its correlation with nonlinear responses under external stimuli, it remains controversial whether phase separation requires quenched disorder for its realization. Early theory predicted that if perfectly "clean" samples could be grown, both phase separation and nonlinearities would be replaced by a bicritical-like phase diagram. Here, using a layer-by-layer superlattice growth technique we fabricate a fully chemically ordered "tricolor" manganite superlattice, and compare its properties with those of isovalent alloyed manganite films. Remarkably, the fully ordered manganite does not exhibit phase separation, while its presence is pronounced in the alloy. This suggests that chemical-dopinginduced disorder is crucial to stabilize the potentially useful nonlinear responses of manganites, as theory predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple primary malignant tumors (MPMTs) are rarely seen among the patients with malignant neoplasms. Moreover, the existence of five MPMTs in the same patient is an extremely rare phenomenon. In this case, a 42‐year‐old male patient developed five metachronous MPMTs within 16 years and the duration between each malignant tumor shortened with the progression of the disease. Multidisciplinary treatments were used on this patient and he fought against the cancers until the end of his life. Our report provides us with a new awareness of MPMTs, which should be considered when we come across with cancer patients who develop various unexplainable symptoms after the diagnosis of the first neoplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the polymeric title compound, [Cu(im)Cl(phen)]n, where im is the imidazolate anion (C3H3N2) and phen is 1,10-phenanthroline (C12H8N2), each CuII ion is five-coordinated by four basal N atoms (two from two different im anions and two from one phen ligand) and one axial Cl atom, in a distorted square-pyramidal coordination geometry. Moreover, each im anion bridges two identical &lcub;CuCl(phen)&rcub;+ cations through its two N atoms, resulting in a one-dimensional zigzag chain along the crystallographic a axis. In addition, pairs of adjacent chains are staggered by π-π interactions, generating a two-dimensional layer, and neighbouring layers are further linked by two different kinds of C-H…Cl interactions, producing a three-dimensional network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the title compound, [Co(C5H3O4)2(H2O)2]·2C3H7NO, the octahedrally coordinated CoII atom lies on an inversion centre. The equatorial plane of the octahedron comprises two bidentate 1 H-imidazole-4,5-di­carboxyl­ate monoanions, coordinated through the N-3 atoms, and one carboxyl­ate O atom, with two water mol­ecules in the axial coordination sites. A one-dimensional chain structure is formed by intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the equatorial plane, between the uncoordinated N atom in the imidazole ring and an uncoordinated carboxyl O atom. The two O atoms of the coordinated water mol­ecules in each chain are engaged in two hydrogen bonds with the uncoordinated carboxyl O atoms of two adjacent chains, forming a two-dimensional network structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A direct numerical simulation of single plume flow in thermal convection with polymers was carried out in a domain with 1:3 as the width to height ratio. The heat transport ability is weakened by adding polymers within the here-investigated governing parameter range. However, it is promoted when the maximum polymer extension L is increased. The distribution of vertical velocity and temperature indicates that the plume in the polymer solution case is speeded up and widens bigger as compared to that in the Newtonian fluid case. Inside the plume, polymer chains tend to release energy at the position where the velocity is decelerated. The ratio of Nusselt numbers (Nu/ N u N e w ) shows the power-law scaling relation with the governing parameter L2/Wi in polymer solution cases, which is only applicable for moderate Wi and small L. The present study can give direct insight into the observation about plumes in turbulent thermal convection experiments. It is therefore useful for the analysis of heat transport in thermal convection with polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) has become a commercially important fish species all over the world. High-density aquaculture has led to congestion and contributed to bacterial infection outbreaks that have caused high mortality. Therefore a 56-days feeding trial was conducted to determine the effects of dietary Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (GB-9) and Yarrowia lipolytica lipase2 (YLL2) on growth performance, digestive enzymes activity, innate immunity and resistance to pathogens of A. japonica. Fish growth performance was significantly affected by dietary YLL2 supplementation but not by GB-9. Fish fed diets with YLL2 at 2.0 g/kg diet in combination of high and low levels of GB-9 (5.0 g/kg and 2.0 g/kg) produced the highest growth. For digestive enzyme, lipase and trypsin activities was promoted by dietary containing YLL2, while amylase activities was increased by dietary containing YLL2, GB-9 single or combination. For innate immunity, the mucus lysozyme activity, leukocytes phagocytosis activity and reactive oxygen species level of skin, peroxidase and lysozyme activity of serum were enhanced in fish fed with GB-9 compared to those in control group (p < 0.05). The highest resistance to Vibrio anguillarum and Aeromonas hydrophila was determined in fish fed with 5.0 g kg−1 GB-9 + 2.0 g/kg YLL2. This study demonstrated that GB-9 and YLL2 enhanced non-specific immune defense system of A. japonica , providing them with higher resistance to pathogens. The present results suggested that the combination of these supplements could be considered as potential biological additives for aquaculture farmed fish. Highlights • The supplementations of YLL2 resulted in a significant increase in growth performance of Japanese eel. • The lysozyme and peroxidase activity, phagocytosis rates, ROS level were significantly higher in supplemented group. • The digestive enzymes activity were significantly higher in GB-9 supplemented group. • The survival rate of Japanese eel challenged with V. anguillarum and A. hydrophila was significantly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FRET-based biosensor experiments in adult cardiomyocytes are a powerful way of dissecting the spatiotemporal dynamics of the complicated signaling networks that regulate cardiac health and disease. However, although much information has been gleaned from FRET studies on cardiomyocytes from larger species, experiments on adult cardiomyocytes from mice have been difficult at best. Thus the large variety of genetic mouse models cannot be easily used for this type of study. Here we develop cell culture conditions for adult mouse cardiomyocytes that permit robust expression of adenoviral FRET biosensors and reproducible FRET experimentation. We find that addition of 6.25 μM blebbistatin or 20 μM (S)-nitroblebbistatin to a minimal essential medium containing 10 mM HEP ES and 0.2% BSA maintains morphology of cardiomyocytes from physiological, pathological, and transgenic mouse models for up to 50 h after adenoviral infection. This provides a 10-15-h time window to perform reproducible FRET readings using a variety of CFP/YFP sensors between 30 and 50 h postinfection. The culture is applicable to cardiomyocytes isolated from transgenic mouse models as well as models with cardiac diseases. Therefore, this study helps scientists to disentangle complicated signaling networks important in health and disease of cardiomyocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A 12-weeks feeding trial was performed to investigate the possible effects of supplementation of Hybrid sturgeon diet with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (GB-9) and Yarrowia lipolytica lipase2 (YLL2) single or combined on immune response and growth performance of Hybrid sturgeon (Acipenser schrenkii ♂and Acipenser baeri ♀). For this aim, Hybrid sturgeons were fed with four experimental diets namely: Diet 1 (0-control), Diet 2 (5.0 g/kg GB-9), Diet 3 (4.0 g/kg YLL2), and Diet 4 (5.0 g/kg GB-9 + 4.0 g/kg YLL2), respectively. After fed with varied diets, growth performance, mucosal immune response, leukocytes immune response and serum immunological response were measured. The results indicated that supplementations of GB-9 + YLL2 resulted in a significant increase in final weight, Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and Eicosapentenoic acid (EPA) concentration, compared with that of control (p < 0.05). For innate immunity, the results showed that skin mucus lysozyme activity, leukocytes phagocytosis activity and reactive oxygen species level, and serum alternative complement pathway activity, peroxidase and lysozyme activity were significantly higher in supplemented groups compared to the control (p < 0.05). The highest values were recorded in fish fed both YLL2 and GB-9 with respect to the individual application. The present results suggested that the combination of these supplementation could be considered as potential feed-additives for aquaculture farmed fish. Highlights • The supplementations of GB-9 and YLL2 resulted in an increase in growth, DHA and EPA concentration of Hybrid sturgeon. • The skin mucus lysozyme activity, leukocytes phagocytosis activity and ROS level were higher in supplemented group. • The serum alternative complement pathway activity, peroxidase and lysozyme activity were higher in supplemented group. • The combination of exogenous lipase and Bacillus could be considered as potential feed-additives for farmed fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new arylbenzofuran derivative, menthanolic acid A, was isolated from the aerial parts of Mentha canadensis L. The structure was elucidated on the basis of 1D/2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS spectroscopic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The patterns and mechanisms of Holocene temperature variability in China remain highly controversial, possibly due to the lack of sufficient high-resolution records and few systematic compilations and reviews of published records. Here, we used branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) to generate a Holocene mean annual air temperature (MAAT) record from Lake Yangzonghai (YZH) in southwest (SW) China. Our record, largely ruling out the effect of seasonal bias, displays a long-term cooling of ∼1.5 °C since 10 cal ka BP, indicating that the discrepancy of Holocene temperature records (such as long-term cooling vs warming trends) in China cannot be attributed to the seasonal bias in temperature proxies. We compiled 67 published Holocene temperature records from China. These temperature records exhibit a mathematically consistent pattern with a relatively warmer mid-Holocene and colder late Holocene in the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) domain, whilst records show a relatively colder mid-Holocene and warmer late Holocene in the westerlies domain. This spatial heterogeneity of Holocene temperature variability is attributed to the modulation of monsoon systems, including the warming effect of ASM and the cooling effect of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM). In the ASM domain, the dominant pattern with the relatively warmer mid-Holocene and colder late Holocene is primarily controlled by the persistent weakening of the warming effect of the ASM and the concurrent strengthening of the cooling effect of the EAWM during the mid-to-late Holocene. In the westerlies domain, the warming effect of the ASM disappears, the cooling effect of the EAWM is confined to the north of the Tibetan Plateau due to the blocking effect of the Tibetan Plateau. This dominant pattern with the relatively colder mid-Holocene and warmer late Holocene is driven by the increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) radiative forcing and Northern Hemisphere Annual Insolation (NHAI) forcing during the mid-to-late Holocene. • Long-term cooling of ∼1.5 °C since 10 cal ka BP recorded by brGDGT-based MAAT reconstruction. • Systematic compilation and review of 67 published Holocene temperature records from China. • Spatial heterogeneity of Holocene temperature variability between ASM and westerlies domains. • Monsoon systems control the trend of Holocene temperature variability in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A semi-empirical equation of state model for aluminum in a warm dense matter regime is constructed. The equation of state, which is subdivided into a cold term, thermal contributions of ions and electrons, covers a broad range of phase diagram from solid state to plasma state. The cold term and thermal contribution of ions are from the Bushman–Lomonosov model, in which several undetermined parameters are fitted based on equation of state theories and specific experimental data. The Thomas–Fermi–Kirzhnits model is employed to estimate the thermal contribution of electrons. Some practical modifications are introduced to the Thomas–Fermi–Kirzhnits model to improve the prediction of the equation of state model. Theoretical calculation of thermodynamic parameters, including phase diagram, curves of isothermal compression at ambient temperature, melting, and Hugoniot, are analyzed and compared with relevant experimental data and other theoretical evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (GDGTs) serve as important tools for the quantitative reconstruction of paleoclimate and paleoecology in both continental and marine environments. Previous studies of GDGTs in the terrestrial environments focused primarily on the soils from the relatively warm-humid or cold-dry regions. However, it is still unclear how GDGTs respond to environmental variables in the cold-humid regions. Here, we collected soils along an altitudinal transect of Mountain (Mt.) Changbai, which has a typical cold-humid climate, to investigate the distribution of GDGTs and the response of GDGT-based proxies to changes in climate along the transect. The shift in the distribution of archaeal isoprenoidal GDGTs (isoGDGTs) revealed that the archaeal community varied significantly along the transect, which can affect the relationship between TEX86 and mean annual air temperature (MAT). In addition, the increased temperature seasonality at higher altitudes exerted a significant impact on TEX86. We proposed a global calibration of TEX86 for the growing season temperature reconstruction in the soil environments: T=85.19×TEX86−46.30 (R2=0.84, p<0.001). The methylation indices for 5-methyl branched GDGTs (brGDGTs) including MBT′5me and MBT5/6, showed correlation with soil water content but no relationship with MAT, indicating that MBT′5meand MBT5/6 from cold-humid environments may be not suitable for temperature and altitude reconstruction. In contrast, the recently developed pH proxies, including MBT′6me (the methylation index for 6-methyl brGDGTs), CBT (Cyclisation index of Branched Tetraethers), IRIIa’ (Isomer ratio of IIa′) and IRIIIa′ (Isomer ratio of IIIa′) exhibited significant correlations with soil pH, suggesting these proxies can still be used for soil pH reconstruction in the coldhumid regions. The combination of MBT′5me and MBT′6me was strongly related to different types of climate (cold-dry, warmhumid, cold-humid, and warm-dry). For example, MBT′5me<0.65 and MBT′6me>0.55 are diagnostic for the cold-humid climate. Thus, the combination of MBT′5me and MBT′6me has the potential as a tool for the identification of different types of paleoclimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endothelial cells (ECs) are located at the interface between flowing blood and the vessel wall, and abnormal EC proliferation induced by pathologic environments plays an important role in vascular remodeling in hypertensive conditions. Exchanges of information between blood components and ECs are important for EC function. Hence, the present study sought to determine how platelets induce EC dysfunction under hypertensive conditions. EC proliferation was increased in renal hypertensive rats established by abdominal aortic coarctation compared with control rats and that elevated thrombin in plasma promoted platelet activation, which may induce the release of platelet-derived microparticles (PMPs). MicroRNA (MiR) array and qPCR revealed a higher level of miR-142-3p in platelets and PMPs. In vitro, PMPs delivered miR-142-3p into ECs and enhanced their proliferation via Bcl-2-associated transcription factor (BCLAF)1 and its downstream genes. These results indicate that PMPs deliver miR-142-3p from activated platelets into ECs and that miR-142-3p may play important roles in EC dysfunction in hypertensive conditions and may be a novel therapeutic target for maintaining EC homeostasis in hypertension.--Bao, H., Chen, Y.-X., Huang, K., Zhuang, F., Bao, M., Han, Y., Chen, X.-H., Shi, Q., Yao, Q.-P., Qi, Y.-X. Platelet-derived microparticles promote endothelial cell proliferation in hypertension via miR-142-3p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive primary brain tumor due to the lack of effective therapeutic drugs. Cancer therapy targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is of revolutionary. However, the role of intrinsic PD-L1, which determines immune-therapy outcomes, remains largely unclear. Here we demonstrated an oncogenic role of PD-L1 via binding and activating Ras in GBM cells. RNA-sequencing transcriptome data revealed that PD-L1 significantly altered gene expression enriched in cell growth/migration/invasion pathways in human GBM cells. PD-L1 overexpression and knockout or knockdown demonstrated that PD-L1 promoted GBM cell proliferation and migration in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, PD-L1 prominently activated epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in a MEK/Erk- but not PI3K/Akt-dependent manner. Further, we identified intracellular interactions of PD-L1 and H-Ras, which led to Ras/Erk/EMT activation. Finally, we demonstrated that PD-L1 overexpression promoted while knockdown abolished GBM development and invasion in orthotopic GBM models of rodents. Taken together, we found that intracellular PD-L1 confers GBM cell malignancy and aggressiveness via binding Ras and activating the downstream Erk-EMT signaling. Thus, these results shed important insights in improving efficacy of immune therapy for GBM as well as other malignant tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Narrow band imaging (NBI) and stroboscopy are non-invasive techniques to detect the malignant lesions of the vocal cord. This study was to assess the diagnostic value of combined endoscopic analysis in the applanate indiscernible early-stage vocal cord cancer. Methods: A total of 110 patients with 160 suspicious vocal cord malignant lesions were included in this retrospective study. Stroboscopy was immediately performed after NBI and white light endoscopy (WLE) were performed in all patients. Excisional biopsy was performed to examine histopathology examination. Results: We found that the diagnostic specificity and PPV were higher in the NBI and WLE combined with stroboscopy group than in the NBI and WLE group without stroboscopy (88.9% vs 72.5%, 88.4% vs 60.9%). However, the diagnostic sensitivity was not significantly different in those two groups (69.3% vs 67.7%). Conclusion: NBI and WLE combined with stroboscopy is a promising method to detect early-stage vocal cord cancer with the advantage of clinical feasibility and diagnostic specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new compound, quercetin-8-(2″-pyrrolidinone-5″-yl)-3′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, with 11 known flavonoids, was isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Abelmoschus manihot. The structure was elucidated by spectral analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent evidence demonstrates that vessel involvement is crucial in various bone remodeling situations, indicating that blood vessel formation within or surrounding the implant is essential for establishment of rigid implant fixation. In this work, the ability of the silicon-doped porous TiO 2 coatings fabricated via plasma electrolyte oxidation method (PEO) to enhance the angiogenic potential of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were investigated. The cellular responses of HUVECs on the silicon-doped porous TiO 2 coatings were studied through cell proliferation, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion, and angiogenic-associated gene (VEGF, HIF-1α and HGF) expression analysis. The results show that small amount of silicon significantly enhanced angiogenic activity of HUVECs, while larger amount of silicon appears excessive. Hence, the silicon-doped TiO 2 coating offers a potential solution to improve bone vascularization to achieve efficient osseointegration and restoration of function after implantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network structures assembled from α-Fe2O3 nanosheets with exposed {104} facets were successfully prepared by heating Fe(NO3)3 solution containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in air. The α-Fe2O3 nanosheet-based network structures demonstrate significantly higher response to ethanol and triethylamine than α-Fe2O3 commercial powders. The excellent sensing performances can be ascribed to the exposed (104) facet terminated with Fe atoms. A concept of the unsaturated Fe atoms serving as the sensing reaction active sites is thus proposed, and the sensing reaction mechanism is described at the atomic and molecular level for the first time in detail. The concept of the surface metal atoms with dangling bonds serving as active sites can deepen understanding of the sensing and other catalytic reaction mechanisms and provides new insight into the design and fabrication of highly efficient sensing materials, catalysts, and photoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The root of Cynanchum auriculatum ( C. auriculatum) Royle ex Wight has been shown to possess various pharmacological effects and has recently attracted much attention with respect to its potential role in antitumor activity. The C-21 steroidal glycosides are commonly accepted as the major active ingredients of C. auriculatum. In this study, the antitumor abilities of different extracted fractions of the root bark and the root tuber of C. auriculatum were investigated by using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay in human cancer cell lines HepG2 and SMMC-7721. The results showed that the chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions of the root tuber suppressed tumor cell growth strongly. To identify and characterize the chemical constituents of different active fractions, an ultra high performance liquid chromatography with triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for the simultaneous quantitation of eight C-21 steroidal glycosides. The analysis revealed that the C-21 steroidal glycosides were concentrated in the chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions, and the total contents of different fractions in the root tuber were significantly higher than those of corresponding ones in the root bark. Furthermore, the C-21 steroidal glycosides based on different types of aglucones were prone in different medicinal parts of C. auriculatum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Chemical Constituents of the Flower Buds of Panax ginseng" by Xiao-Ling Pan, Zhen-Lin Li, Shi-Hui Qian, and She-Ban Pu is presented.

Background: Borderline resectable pancreatic cancers infiltrate into adjacent vascular structures to an extent that makes an R0 resection unlikely when pancreatectomy is performed de novo. In a pilot study, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Trial A021101, the median survival of patients who received chemotherapy and radiation prior to anticipated pancreatectomy was 22 months, and 64% of operations achieved an R0 resection. However, the individual contributions of preoperative chemotherapy and radiation therapy to therapeutic outcome remain poorly defined.Methods: In Alliance for Clinical Oncology Trial A021501, a recently activated randomized phase II trial, patients (N = 134) with a CT or MRI showing a biopsy-confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma that meets centrally-reviewed anatomic criteria for borderline resectable disease will be randomized to receive either 8 cycles of modified FOLFIRINOX (oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2, irinotecan 180 mg/m2, leucovorin 400 mg/m2 and infusional 5-fluorouracil 2400 mg/m2 over 2 days for 4 cycles) or to 7 cycles of modified FOLFIRINOX followed by stereotactic body radiation therapy (33-40 Gy in 5 fractions). Patients without evidence of disease progression following preoperative therapy will undergo pancreatectomy and will subsequently receive 4 cycles of postoperative modified FOLFOX6 (oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2, leucovorin 400 mg/m2, bolus 5-fluorouracil 400 mg/m2, and infusional 5-fluorouracil 2400 mg/m2 over 2 days for 4 cycles). The primary endpoint is the 18-month overall survival rate of patients enrolled into each of the two treatment arms. An interim analysis of the R0 resection rate within each arm will be conducted to assess treatment futility after accrual of 30 patients. Secondary endpoints include rates of margin-negative resection and event-free survival. The primary analysis will compare the 18-month overall survival rate of each arm to a historical control rate of 50%. The trial is activated nationwide and eligible to be opened for accrual at any National Clinical Trials Network cooperative group member site.Discussion: This study will help define standard preoperative treatment regimens for borderline resectable pancreatic cancer and position the superior arm for further evaluation in future phase III trials.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT02839343 , registered July 14, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel and convenient strategy for the enantioselective synthesis of γ-lactam derivatives via N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed formal [3 + 2] annulation of enals with 2-aminoacrylates is disclosed. This activation mode provides a complementary approach to the synthesis of various γ-lactam derivatives in good yields with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities. In this process, two consecutive stereocenters are constructed, and a quaternary carbon center is also established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression and hypertension frequently present together in clinical practice. Evaluating the interaction between depression and hypertension would help stakeholders better understand the value of depression prevention in primary care. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the excessive burden of depression on overall health and on health care utilization expenditure among hypertensive patients. A total of 7019 hypertensive patients (ICD-9-CM: 401) were identified from the 2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS 2012) data, of which 936 patients had depression (ICD-9-CM: 311). Hypertension with depression was associated with worse health status (physical component score, -3.97 [17.9% reduction]; mental component score, -9.14 [9% reduction]), higher utilization of health care services (outpatient visits, 6.4 [63.8% higher]; nights of hospitalization, 0.9 [100% higher]; medication prescription, 22.6 [76.8% higher]), and higher health care expenditures (inpatient, $1953.2 [72% higher]; prescription drugs, $1995.5 [82% higher]). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Mechanical factors play significant roles in neointimal hyperplasia after vein grafting, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we investigated the roles of microRNA-33 (miR-33) in neointimal hyperplasia induced by arterial mechanical stretch after vein grafting. Methods and results Grafted veins were generated by the 'cuff' technique. Neointimal hyperplasia and cell proliferation was significantly increased, and miR-33 expression was decreased after 1-, 2-, and 4-week grafts. In contrast, the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 3 (BMP3), which is a putative target of miR-33, and the phosphorylation of smad2 and smad5, which are potential downstream targets of BMP3, were increased in the grafted veins. miR-33 mimics/inhibitor and dual luciferase reporter assay confirmed the interaction of miR-33 and BMP3. miR-33 mimics attenuated, while miR-33 inhibitor accelerated, proliferation of venous smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Moreover, recombinant BMP3 increased SMC proliferation and P-smad2 and P-smad5 levels, whereas BMP3-directed siRNAs had the opposite effect. Then, venous SMCs were exposed to a 10%-1.25 Hz cyclic stretch (arterial stretch) by using the FX4000 cyclic stretch loading system in vitro to mimic arterial mechanical conditions. The arterial stretch increased venous SMC proliferation and repressed miR-33 expression, but enhanced BMP3 expression and smad2 and smad5 phosphorylation. Furthermore, perivascular multi-point injection in vivo demonstrated that agomiR-33 not only attenuates BMP3 expression and smad2 and smad5 phosphorylation, but also slows neointimal formation and cell proliferation in grafted veins. These effects of agomiR-33 on grafted veins could be reversed by local injection of BMP3 lentivirus. Conclusion The miR-33-BMP3-smad signalling pathway protects against venous SMC proliferation in response to the arterial stretch. miR-33 is a target that attenuates neointimal hyperplasia in grafted vessels and may have potential clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental platform was built to investigate how aqueous foam extinguishes fire in the upper area of a goaf. A temperature-programmed oxidation testing method was used to illustrate the inhibitory effect of foam. The results showed that foam has good accumulation characteristics, cooling performance, blocking effect, and inhibition. Foam extinguishes the fire in the upper area of a goaf and cools the entire goaf from bottom to top; it even diffuses into the interior of the high-temperature zone and extinguishes any hidden fire in the porous medium. In addition, foam blocks all the cracks in the goaf, thus blocking the air supply and maintaining a constant negative pressure in the goaf. By restricting chemical reactions between coal and oxygen, foam increases the crossing point temperature and reduces CO generation and thus prevents the further oxidation of coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature measurement is the core technique for investigating heat transfer in microfluidics. In this paper, the resistance thermometry of Titanium–Platinum (Ti–Pt) films is manufactured by microelectronic manufacturing technology and used for the micro-scaled temperature measurement. In order to obtain the accurate temperature on the bottom wall of microchannel, the Ti–Pt films are embedded on the bottom wall. With standardized calibration and error analysis, the experimental system is proven to be reliable and stable for flow and temperature measurement. The experiments of viscoelastic fluid with heat transfer at very-low- Re flow in the curved microchannel are conducted. Both viscoelastic fluid (polymeric solution) and Newtonian fluid (sucrose solution) are used as working fluids, and the corresponding heat transfer performances are obtained. Comparing with Newtonian fluid flow, higher heat transfer rate of viscoelastic fluid flow is achieved due to the irregular motion induced by the fluid viscoelasticity in the curved microchannel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Sixteen compounds, including five triterpenoids (1–5), five C 21 -steroids (6–10), two other steroids (11–12), two phenols (13–14) and others (15–16), were isolated from the root bark of Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight. Their chemical structures were determined by spectral data analyses. In the present research, compound 11 is reported for the first time in the species C. auriculatum. Compounds 2 ∼ 5 , 12 , 15 and 16 have not been reported from any species in Asclepiadaceae family. Moreover, the chemotaxonomic significance of the isolated compounds is discussed. Highlights • Sixteen compounds isolated from C. auriculatum were assigned as triterpenoids, C 21 -steroids, steroids, substituted benzenes and others. • Compound 11 has not been reported in the species of C. auriculatum and compounds 2 – 5 , 12 , 15 , 16 were new for the family of Asclepiadaceae. • Compounds 1 , 8 , 11 may be useful chemotaxonomic markers to differentiate C. auriculatum from other species of Cynanchum. • Further work needs to be done on the distribution of these compounds in the genus of Cynanchum to evaluate whether they have systematic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH) 2), Mg-Fe layered double hydroxide (Mg-Fe LDH), and ferric hydroxide (FeOOH) coatings were prepared on plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO)-treated magnesium (Mg) alloy by immersion and hydrothermal treatment. These three kinds of hydroxides coatings exhibited nanosheet like surface structures, which completely sealed the micro-pores formed during PEO treatment. The anti-corrosion and biocompatibility of these three kinds of hydroxides coatings on Mg were systematically investigated. The results of electrochemical test, Mg2+ release behavior, and corrosion morphology indicated that FeOOH coating showed the best corrosion resistance. And, the results of cell adhesion, live/dead staining, and proliferation indicated FeOOH coating showed better biocompatibility than other hydroxides coatings. The study provides a detailed understanding and deep insight for metal hydroxides-based coatings on Mg alloy and indicated that FeOOH coating could as a novel potential coating for modification of Mg-based implants. • Mg(OH) 2 ,Mg-Fe LDH, and FeOOH coatings were fabricated on PEO-treated Mg alloy. • All of the constructed hydroxide coatings exhibited similar nanosheet structure. • The constructed hydroxides coatings could seal the micro-pores on PEO coating. • FeOOH coating showed better anti-corrosion and biocompatibility performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gestational weight gain in excess of or below Health Canada's guidelines is known to increase the risk of adverse outcomes for both the woman and her baby. This study describes patterns and trajectories of total and rate of gestational weight gain in a large prospective cohort of pregnant women and adolescents in the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition study. Methods: We collected weight and height data for 1541 pregnant adolescents and women (mean age 31 years, < 27 weeks' gestation) recruited through advertisements and physicians' offices in Calgary and Edmonton between May 2009 and November 2012. Data were collected once during each trimester following enrolment and once at about 3 months post partum. The participants were categorized according to their prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) as underweight, of normal weight, overweight or obese. We calculated distributions of total and weekly rates of weight gain and determined trajectories of weight gain for each prepregnancy BMI category. Results: Of the 1541 participants, 761 (49.4%) exceeded Health Canada's guidelines for total gestational weight gain, and 272 (17.6%) gained less weight than recommended. A total of 63 (19.2%) and 38 (23.6%) participants categorized as overweight or obese, respectively, exceeded the recommended upper limit by 5 to less than 10 kg, and 53 (16.2%) and 27 (16.8%), respectively, exceeded the upper limit by at least 10 kg. Ninety-five participants (30.3%) in the overweight group and 59 (39.6%) of those in the obese group gained weight at more than double the recommended rate between the second and third trimesters. The median weight gain for participants in the normal, overweight and obese categories had exceeded recommended upper limits by about 30, 20 and 18 weeks' gestation, respectively. Interpretation: Adherence to Health Canada's guidelines for gestational weight gain was low. Excess gestational weight gain was most marked among those with a prepregnancy BMI in the overweight or obese category. The findings suggest that weight management in pregnancy is challenging and complex. Messages and supports that are tailored for women in different prepregnancy BMI categories may help to improve guideline-concordant gestational weight gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclic stretch is an important inducer of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation, which is crucial in vascular remodeling during hypertension. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear. We studied the effects of emerin and lamin A/C, two important nuclear envelope proteins, on VSMC proliferation in hypertension and the underlying mechano-mechanisms. In common carotid artery of hypertensive rats in vivo and in cultured cells subjected to high (15%) cyclic stretch in vitro, VSMC proliferation was increased significantly, and the expression of emerin and lamin A/C was repressed compared with normotensive or normal (5%) cyclic stretch controls. Using targeted siRNA to mimic the repressed expression of emerin or lamin A/C induced by 15% stretch, we found that VSMC proliferation was enhanced under static and 5%-stretch conditions. Overexpression of emerin or lamin A/C reversed VSMC proliferation induced by 15% stretch. Hence, emerin and lamin A/C play critical roles in suppressing VSMC hyperproliferation induced by hyperstretch. ChIP-on-chip and MOTIF analyses showed that the DNAs binding with emerin contain three transcription factor motifs: CCNGGA, CCMGCC, and ABTTCCG; DNAs binding with lamin A/C contain the motifs CVGGAA, GCCGCYGC, and DAAGAAA. Protein/DNA array proved that altered emerin or lamin A/C expression modulated the activation of various transcription factors. Furthermore, accelerating local expression of emerin or lamin A/C reversed cell proliferation in the carotid artery of hypertensive rats in vivo. Our findings establish the pathogenetic role of emerin and lamin A/C repression in stretch-induced VSMC proliferation and suggest mechanobiological mechanism underlying this process that involves the sequence-specific binding of emerin and lamin A/C to specific transcription factor motifs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The strategy of health policy has been changed for improving the performances to meeting the increasing healthcare demands. However, limited evidences were found to prove that the bundled payment was valid for service delivering in public sector. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a bundled policy on strengthening the county-village communication and improving the quality of chronic disease management. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study using the data collected in 2011, 2012 and 2014 from the Rural Health Development Project in China. The policy intervention included performance-related contract with health facilities, developing technical guideline for doctors and nurses, routine monitoring of performance, and efforts to increase public awareness about the services. There were two intervention counties in Henan Province, China, while one county with similar characteristics in Henan was selected as control. Funding allocation, work load and salary for health care workers, volume of township-to-village technical assistance were reported before and after the policy was implemented. Our study also examined the policy impacts on improving treatment outcomes of diabetes and hypertension care. Results: There were substantial increases in the provision of the basic package of services including 96.6 % of patients with hypertension, 91.2 % of patients with diabetes under the health management system. After the intervention, there were 34.3 % (hypertension) and 42.0 % (diabetes) increase in regular follow-up visit rates, 24.6 and 17.2 % increase in blood pressure and blood glucose control rates, respectively. The family health records system covered 96 % of the rural families. Technical assistance between township health centres and village clinics were enhanced. Compared with baseline, the monthly training meeting and field supervision & guidance between township health centres and village clinics increased 1.0 meeting, 1.5 field visits, respectively, while the increases in the control county were only 0.3 meeting and 0.3 field visits. At the end of this study, 93.8 % of health workers achieved their performance goals. More patients were referred to appropriate levels of care. Conclusion: This bundled policy intervention effectively improved rural health care delivery. The result of our study can be used for local governments to implement performance-based health system management in developing country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic tunnel junction nanopillar with interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA-MTJ) becomes a promising candidate to build up spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) for the next generation of non-volatile memory as it features low spin transfer switching current, fast speed, high scalability, and easy integration into conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits. However, this device suffers from a number of failure issues, such as large process variation and tunneling barrier breakdown. The large process variation is an intrinsic issue for PMA-MTJ as it is based on the interfacial effects between ultra-thin films with few layers of atoms; the tunneling barrier breakdown is due to the requirement of an ultra-thin tunneling barrier (e.g., <1 nm) to reduce the resistance area for the spin transfer torque switching in the nanopillar. These failure issues limit the research and development of STT-MRAM to widely achieve commercial products. In this paper, we give a full analysis of failure mechanisms for PMA-MTJ and present some eventual solutions from device fabrication to system level integration to optimize the failure issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mapping Impervious Surface Area (ISA) at regional and global scales has attracted increasing interest. DMSP-OLS nighttime light (NTL) data have proven to be successful for mapping urban land in large areas. However, the well-documented issues of pixel blooming and saturation limit the ability of DMSP-OLS data to provide accurate urban information. In this paper, a multi-source composition index is proposed to overcome the limitations of extracting urban land using only the NTL data. We combined three data sources (i.e., DMSP-OLS, MODSI EVI and NDWI) to generate a new index called the Normalized Urban Areas Composite Index (NUACI). This index aims to quickly map impervious surface area at regional and global scales. Experimental results indicate that NUACI has the ability to reduce the pixel saturation of NTL and eliminate the blooming effect. With the reference data derived from Landsat TM/ETM+, regression models based on normalized DMSP-OLS, Human Settlement Index (HSI), vegetation adjusted NTL urban index (VANUI), and NUACI are then established to estimate ISA. Our assessments reveal that the NUACI-based regression model yields the highest performance. The NUACI-based regression models were then used to map ISA for China for the years 2000, 2005 and 2010 (Free download link for the ISA products can be found at the end of this paper). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound, C16H7Cl2F3N4O, is a tricyclic imide with an overall U-shape. There are π–π inter­actions between the pyrazole and furyl rings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound, C18H8Cl3F3N4, is a tricyclic imide with an overall U-shape, each of the three rings being planar. The packing is stabilized by π–π interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound, C18H8Cl2F3N5O3·C2H6O, is an ethanol solvate of a tricyclic imide with an overall U-shape, each of the the three rings being planar. These include a benzene ring with two chloro and one tri­fluoro­methyl substituent, a central pyrazole ring with a cyano substituent, and a benzene ring with one nitro substituent. In the crystal packing, weak intermolecular hydrogen-bond contacts result in the formation of zigzag chains running parallel to the b axis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound, C18H8Cl2F3N5O2, is a tricyclic imide with an overall U-shape, each of the the three rings being planar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound, C19H11Cl2F3N4, is a tricyclic amide with an overall U-shape, each of the three rings being planar. These include a benzene ring with two chloro and one tri­fluoro­methyl substituent, a central pyrazole ring with a cyano substituent, and a benzene ring with one methyl substituent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the scope offered by coordinate polymer solids with a variety of cavities of channels for the generation of new materials with a range of useful properties. Observation of popular bridging ligands; Assessment of transition metal complexes; Characteristics of a novel infinite one-dimensional coordination polymer.

• Bio-functional FeOOH nanosheet-engineered Mg-based bone implants were developed. • FeOOH film was safe and improved Mg implant corrosion resistance/biocompatibility. • FeOOH film showed superior photocatalytic/photothermal effects. • The Mg-based implants had bactericidal and bone defect regenerating properties. Bone implants with excellent antibacterial and osteogenic activity are beneficial in decreasing the risk of infection and accelerating the healing of injured bone tissue. Biodegradable Mg alloys are considered promising new platforms for treating bone-related diseases. However, the shortcomings of these alloys, including rapid corrosion and insufficient bio-functions (antibacteria and osteogenesis) severely limit their widespread applications. In the present work, ferric oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) nanosheets were grown in situ on plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO)-coated Mg alloy through a simple and green immersion treatment. The highly-oriented FeOOH nanosheets completely sealed the porous structure of the PEO coating, and thereby significantly improved the corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of the Mg alloy. The prepared FeOOH films provided antibacterial activity through two modes. (i) the first is a photocatalytic effect, which prevents infections or contamination during storage and transportation and can be used to quickly sterilize the implants under sunlight before implantation into the human body. (ii) The second is a photothermal antibacterial effect, which has been shown to effectively kill Staphylococcus aureus that adhered to implants placed under the skin of mice using near infrared (NIR) light. Moreover, the enhanced corrosion resistance and synergistic biofunctions of the Mg and Fe ions of the FeOOH nanosheet-reinforced Mg alloy implants significantly facilitated cell adhesion, spreading, and proliferation and accelerated osteogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacterial infections in wounds often delay the healing process which threaten human health and life. The development of biocompatible hydrogels with antibacterial activity and self-healing to achieve excellent wound closure effectiveness is highly desirable in clinical applications. Herein, a new class of highly stretchable, biocompatible, and antibacterial hydrogel dressings called BPP hydrogel is designed and prepared by chemically cross-linking β-CD with PEI and then physically cross-linking with PVA. The BPP hydrogel exhibits superior properties including excellent antibacterial properties against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli , good biocompatibility for mouse fibroblasts, mouse embryonic fibroblasts and human umbilical vein endothelial cells, outstanding deformability and self-healing performance to protect the wound completely even in special scenes such as pulling and bending. Besides, after damage, the broken BPP hydrogel could heal together, and the healed BPP hydrogel could be stretched to 150% breaking deformation. Furthermore, in vivo experiments further verify that BPP hydrogel has excellent sterilization and healing effect on infectious wounds. This work proves that BPP hydrogel would be a promising material for wound healing and has good prospect for clinical translation. [Display omitted] • A composite hydrogel containing β-CD, PEI, and PVA was fabricated via chemical and physical cross-linking. • The incorporation of PEI endows this composite hydrogel with superior antibacterial activity. • This composite hydrogel exhibited good self-healing property due to the presence of intermolecular forces. • Mechanisms of this hydrogel for wound healing in the presence of S. aureus were revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]