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Pulmonary drug delivery is a highly attractive topic for the treatment of infectious lung diseases. Drug delivery via the pulmonary route offers unique advantages of no first-pass effect and high bioavailability, which provides an important means to deliver therapeutics directly to lung lesions. Starting from the structural characteristics of the lungs and the biological barriers for achieving efficient delivery, we aim to review literatures in the past decade regarding the pulmonary delivery strategies used to treat infectious lung diseases. Hopefully, this review article offers new insights into the future development of therapeutic strategies against pulmonary infectious diseases from a delivery point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the influence of Zn on the hydration reaction of calcium phosphate cement (CPC), the incompletely hydrated CPC tablets were kept soaking in varying zinc-containing tris-(hydroxymethyl)-aminomethane/hydrochloric acid (Zn-Tris-HCl) buffers. It was found that Zn could retard the CPC hydration, the inhibitory effect was in direct proportional to the Zn content in the Zn-Tris-HCl buffer, and overhigh concentration of Zn (≧800 μM) caused the CPC hydration products having different phase composition and surface morphology. Cell culture experimental results revealed the CPC tablets which were soaked in the Zn-Tris-HCl buffer containing relative low Zn content (≦320 μM) favored the mouse bone mesenchymal stem cells (mBMSCs) spreading. When Zn-doped CPC tablets released 10.91 to 27.15 μM of zinc ions into the cell culture medium, it greatly contributed to the improvement of the proliferation ability and the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of the mBMSCs. In the same case, the expression of osteogenesis related genes such as collagen I and runt-related transcription factor 2 was remarkably up-regulated as well. However, the release of high concentration of Zn (128.58 μM) would significantly reduce the ALP activity of the mBMSCs. Therefore, Zn not only facilitates osteogenesis but also affects the CPC hydration behavior, and the CPC with suitable Zn dosage concentration has great potentials to be used for clinical bone repairing. Unlabelled Image • Zn can retard the CPC hydration reaction and the inhibitory effect is positive relevant to the Zn dosage concentration. • It will change the phase composition and morphology of the CPC hydration products in presence of no less than 800 μM of Zn. • When Zn-doped CPC releases 10.91–27.15 μM of Zn, it benefits the improvement of the in vitro osteogenic performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing highly active and durable catalysts is considered to be crucial for enhancing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from water electrolysis. Although some studies indicate that anatase TiO 2 is a promising candidate for electrolytic hydrogen evolution reaction, the influence of different crystalline phases of TiO 2 on the supported Ru catalysts for electrocatalytic HER performance is rarely systematically explored. Herein, a series of Ru/TiO 2 -X (X = R (Rutile), A (Anatase), and P25) catalysts were prepared to investigate the influence of the rutile and anatase phases of TiO 2 on the catalytic activity of Ru catalysts in HER. The findings demonstrate that the HER activity is much affected by the variation of the titania structure, when other factors are kept constant. The 15Ru/TiO 2 -R-H 2 has superior HER performance with a small overpotential of 63 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in acidic electrolyte and 99 mV in alkaline electrolyte compared to 15Ru/TiO 2 -A-H 2 and 15Ru/TiO 2 -P25-H 2. This might be attributed to the faster electron transfer and lower Fermi level caused by the oxygen vacancy (V O) and strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), along with the exposure of active sites afforded by the highly dispersed ruthenium nanoparticles on the rutile TiO 2. Our results indicate that the presence of rutile TiO 2 support alone is adequate to maintain Ru in its most active form and make it a more performing catalyst, compared to anatase titania and P25. • Ru is supported on different crystalline phase of TiO 2 for electrocatalytic HER. • Partial Ru is incorporated the lattice of TiO 2 -R with SMSI effect. • Highly dispersed Ru and rich V O promote electrocatalytic HER. • Electron transfer from V O and Ti to surface Ru is conducive to optimizing HER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rosacea is a complex chronic inflammatory skin disorder with high morbidity. Pyroptosis is known as a regulated inflammatory cell death. While its association with immune response to various inflammatory disorders is well established, little is known about its functional relevance of rosacea. So, we aimed to explore and enrich the pathogenesis involved in pyroptosis‐related rosacea aggravations. In this study, we evaluated the pyroptosis‐related patterns of rosacea by consensus clustering analysis of 45 ferroptosis‐related genes (FRGs), with multiple immune cell infiltration analysis to identify the pyroptosis‐mediated immune response in rosacea using GSE65914 dataset. The co–co‐work between PRGs and WGCNA‐revealed hub genes has established using PPI network. FRG signature was highlighted in rosacea using multi‐transcriptomic and experiment analysis. Based on this, three distinct pyroptosis‐related rosacea patterns (non/moderate/high) were identified, and the notably enriched pathways have revealed through GO, KEGG and GSEA analysis, especially immune‐related pathways. Also, the XCell/MCPcount/ssGSEA/Cibersort underlined the immune‐related signalling (NK cells, Monocyte, Neutrophil, Th2 cells, Macrophage), whose hub genes were identified through WGCNA (NOD2, MYD88, STAT1, HSPA4, CXCL8). Finally, we established a pyroptosis‐immune co‐work during the rosacea aggravations. FRGs may affect the progression of rosacea by regulating the immune cell infiltrations. In all, pyroptosis with its mediated immune cell infiltration is a critical factor during the development of rosacea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Chinese government has invested significant resources to build many rural healthcare stations. However, in the face of convenient medical paths and accessible medical resources, the utilization rate of health services for older adults in rural areas is surprisingly low. This study explored why health-seeking behavior among older adults in rural China was not active. Methods: Data were collected through participatory rural appraisal (PRA) with 108 participants in 12 villages in southern China. Daily schedule and social and resource mapping were employed to outline the range of activities and the routine of the older adults, as well as in-depth interviews to understand the logic of their healthcare choices. Data collected were analyzed by content analysis. Results: Three themes were generated: (1) perceptions of health status (being healthy or sick): the rural older adults used the ability to handle routine chores as a measure of health status; (2) prioritization of solving symptoms over curing diseases: the older adults preferred the informal self-medication to cope with diseases, as long as there were no symptoms and no pain; (3) 'unpredictable' troubles: they tended to favor the 'optimal' solution of keeping their lives in order rather than the best medical treatment options. Conclusion: This study showed that the medical practices of the rural elderly were profoundly influenced by their perceptions of health and their life experiences. In the face of diseases, they tended to keep their lives in order, preferring self-treatment practices that address symptoms or selectively following medical advice rather than medical and science-based clinical solutions. In the future, the construction of rural health care should focus on changing the 'inaccessibility' of healthcare resources at the subjective level of the rural elderly and develop culturally adaptable health education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen energy is a kind of secondary energy with abundant sources, green and wide application, which can realize the interconversion of chemical energy and electric energy. It is an important path for achieving deeply clean decarbonization in many fields. In addition, hydrogen will become an indispensable carrier for energy transformation and development. Electrochemically splitting water into hydrogen by renewable energy has attracted much attention due to its high efficiency, easy operation and no secondary pollution. However, the overall efficiency of hydrogen production by water electrolysis is severely restricted by the high overpotential of anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the sluggish reaction kinetics. Therefore, it is expected to use thermodynamically more oxidizable chemicals as anode additives to assist water splitting to produce hydrogen, such as electrocatalytic alcohol oxidation, which can not only significantly reduce the overpotential of hydrogen production from water splitting, but also synthesize green products with high added-value. Therefore, this paper reviews the research progress of hydrogen production from water splitting assisted by electrocatalytic alcohol oxidations in recent years, and focuses on the reaction mechanism, electrocatalytic performance, and the product selectivity of alcohol oxidations by transition metall catalysts, as well as their structure-activity relationship. Finally, the challenges and development of alcohol oxidations assisted hydrogen production from water splitting are prospected to shed light on rational design of high-efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen production from water splitting assisted by electrocatalytic alcohol oxidations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Errors in gene transcription can be costly, and organisms have evolved to prevent their occurrence or mitigate their costs. The simplest interpretation of the drift barrier hypothesis suggests that species with larger population sizes would have lower transcriptional error rates. However, Escherichia coli seems to have a higher transcriptional error rate than species with lower effective population sizes, for example Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This could be explained if selection in E. coli were strong enough to maintain adaptations that mitigate the consequences of transcriptional errors through robustness, on a gene by gene basis, obviating the need for low transcriptional error rates and associated costs of global proofreading. Here, we note that if selection is powerful enough to evolve local robustness, selection should also be powerful enough to locally reduce error rates. We therefore predict that transcriptional error rates will be lower in highly abundant proteins on which selection is strongest. However, we only expect this result when error rates are high enough to significantly impact fitness. As expected, we find such a relationship between expression and transcriptional error rate for non-C→U errors in E. coli (especially G→A), but not in S. cerevisiae. We do not find this pattern for C→U changes in E. coli , presumably because most deamination events occurred during sample preparation, but do for C→U changes in S. cerevisiae , supporting the interpretation that C→U error rates estimated with an improved protocol, and which occur at rates comparable with E. coli non-C→U errors, are biological. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaucoma is a group of diseases characterized by the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and progressive, irreversible vision loss. High intraocular pressure (IOP) heightens the likelihood of glaucoma and correlates with RGC loss. While the current glaucoma therapy prioritizes lower the IOP; however, RGC, and visual loss may persist even when the IOP is well-controlled. As such, discovering and creating IOP-independent neuroprotective strategies for safeguard RGCs is crucial for glaucoma management. Investigating and clarifying the mechanism behind RGC death to counteract its effects is a promising direction for glaucoma control. Empirical studies of glaucoma reveal the role of multiple regulated cell death (RCD) pathways in RGC death. This review delineates the RCD of RGCs following IOP elevation and optic nerve damage and discusses the substantial benefits of mitigating RCD in RGCs in preserving visual function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to identify the rate of parafoveal vessel density (VD) changes associated with the progression from non-diabetic retinopathy (NDR) to early stages of DR over a year. This longitudinal cohort study enrolled diabetic patients from the Guangzhou community in China. The patients with NDR at baseline were included and underwent comprehensive examinations at baseline and after 1 year. A commercial OCTA device (Triton Plus, Topcon, Tokyo, Japan) was employed to quantify the parafoveal VD in the superficial and deep capillary plexuses. The rates of change in parafoveal VD over time in the incident DR and NDR groups were compared after a year. A total of 448 NDR patients were included in the study. Among them, 382 (83.2%) were stable and 66 (14.4%) developed incident DR during the 1-year follow-up. The average parafoveal VD in the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) reduced significantly more quickly in the incident DR group than in the NDR group (-1.95 ± 0.45%/year vs. −0.45 ± 0.19/year, p = 0.002). The VD reduction rate for the deep capillary plexus (DCP) was not significantly different for the groups (p = 0.156). The incident DR group experienced a significantly faster reduction in parafoveal VD in the SCP compared with the stable group. Our findings further provide supporting evidence that parafoveal VD in the SCP may be used as an early indicator of the pre-clinical stages of DR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetoelastic behaviour subjected to the electromagnetic body force induced by flux pinning is studied with Kim model for zero-field cooling (ZFC) magnetization process, in which the non-uniform parameter η is considered for inclusion-superconducting matrix system. For superconducting composites, the effect of inhomogeneous distribution of critical current density on effective magnetostriction is also obtained based on the plane strain approach. The results show that the exponential distribution of critical-current density will lead to a larger trapped field and magnetostriction inside the inhomogeneous sample, which also means that it is worthwhile to investigate the magnetoelastic problem of bulk superconductors with inhomogeneous distribution of critical-current density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can cause great harm to environment and human health. At present, the annual emission of VOCs in China has reached the same level as that of NOx and SO2 and already been classified as one of the major atmospheric pollutants. Among various VOCs elimination methods, catalytic combustion is regarded as a highly efficient and green VOCs elimination method because it can transform VOCs mo-leculars into H2O and CO2. Additionally, VOCs catalytic combustion is very fitful for the continous removal of the VOCs with low concentration in a closed space. The structure of active sites of VOCs catalytic combustion catalysts can be dramatically decided by their preparetion methods, and thus the different preparation methods can directly affect the catalytic performance of these catalysts. The preparation methods, such as impregnation method, sol-gel method, co-precipitation method, deposition-precipition, grafting method, hydrothermal synthesis method and microemulsion method, are most commonly used to prepare VOCs catalytic combustion catalysts. In the current paper, the difference among the preparation methods for VOCs catalytic combustion catalysts was focused on, in order to present the applicability of these preparation methods to the adjustment of the active sites structure and their effect on the catalytic performance of VOCs catalytic combustion catalysts. This work would provide a prospect, which was valuable for achieving highly efficient VOCs catalytic combustion catalysts, of the relationship between the different preparation methods and different catalyst structures along with different catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The effect of viscous flux flow on the flux profiles within the superconductor was investigated by solving Bean model and viscous flux flow equation simultaneously. • The variation in the normalized stress intensity factor considering viscous flux flow was obtained based on the plane strain approach and J-integral theory. • The results indicate that the effect of viscous flux flow on crack propagation is more significant compared with the crack length. Abstract In this paper, an attempt was made to study how viscous flux flow affects crack propagation in a long cylindrical superconductor by determining the stress intensity factor during the decreasing field stage after a zero-field cooling process. Under the assumption that the crack forms a perfect barrier to the flow of the shielding current, the effect of viscous flux flow on the flux profiles within the superconductor was investigated by solving the Bean model and viscous flux flow equation simultaneously. Based on the plane strain approach and J-integral theory, the variation in the normalized stress intensity factor considering viscous flux flow was obtained for different viscous flux flow velocities and crack lengths. The results indicate that when with the crack lengths are compared, the effect of viscous flux flow on crack propagation is more significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a kind of metal-free material, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is widely used in catalytic materials, energy storage materials and other fields. However, the limited light absorption, low conductivity and high recombination rate of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs limit its further application. Constructing g-C3N4 based composite materials by integrating it with carbon materials is an effective and common way to overcome the above shortcomings of g-C3N4. In this paper, carbon materials, such as carbon dots, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and carbon spheres, are integrated with g-C3N4 to construct carbon/g-C3N4 composite materials (CCNCS) and their photoelectrocatalytic performance is reviewed. The effects of those factors such as the categories of carbon materials, carbon content, nitrogen content, the morphology of g-C3N4, and the interfacial interactions between carbon and g-C3N4 on the photo/electrocatalytic performance of CCNCS are carefully analyzed to help researchers to touch the nature of the synergistic effect of g-C3N4 and the carbon ingredient in CCNCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of carrier state phages challenged the canonical lytic-lysogenic binary, and carrier state appears to be ubiquitous and ecologically important. However, the mechanisms of the carrier state are not well elucidated due to the limited phage models. Herein, we reported phage HQ103, similar to Escherichia coli phage P2. In contrast to the temperate P2 phage, the HQ103 phage does not insert its genome into the bacterial chromosome and displays a dual behavior depending on the temperature. At 37°C, HQ103 lyses the host and forms clear plaques due to the truncation of repressor CI and mutation of promoter Pc. In contrast, HQ103 maintains a carrier state lifestyle with Y. pestis at an environmental temperature (21°C). Mechanistically, we found that the host-encoded histone-like nucleoid-structuring protein H-NS, which is highly expressed at 21°C to silence the Cox promoter Pe and inhibits the phage lytic cycle. Subsequently, the HQ103 carrier state Y. pestis could grow and co-exist with the phage in the soil at 21°C for one month. Thus, this study reveals a novel carrier state lifestyle of phage HQ103 due to the H-NS mediated xenogeneic silencing and demonstrates that the carrier state lifestyle could promote long-term phage-host coexist in nature. Author summary: The lifestyles of phages beyond the canonical lytic-lysogenic binary are being investigated in the natural environment. The alternative bacteriophage infection strategies mainly include pseudolysogeny and carrier state. Pseudolysogeny stands for a stalled state of development during which the phage genome does not replicate and is asymmetrically transmitted to a daughter cell. This is most often described in conditions of starvation. While the carrier state refers to a stable balance between phages and bacteria at a population level, caused by the persistence of both susceptible and resistant hosts. The ecological consequences of pseudolysogeny and carrier state had been suggested as maintaining both phage and bacteria under unfavorable conditions and promoting horizontal gene transfer. However, the study of the carrier state is very limited due to various technical challenges, including the lack of a stable carrier state model, and the molecular mechanism that maintains a carrier state lifestyle is not well understood. This study demonstrated an H-NS-mediated carrier state lifestyle between a lytic phage and Yersinia pestis, which promotes their coexistence in the soil at a cool temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory networks show promising context understanding and reasoning capabilities in Textual Question Answering (Textual QA). We improve the previous dynamic memory networks to do Textual QA by processing inputs to simultaneously extract global and hierarchical salient features. We then use them to construct multiple feature sets at each reasoning step. Experiments were conducted on a public Textual Question Answering dataset (Facebook bAbI dataset) in two ways: with and without supervision from labels of supporting facts. Compared to previous works such as Dynamic Memory Networks, our models show better accuracy and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vi capsular polysaccharide, a linear homopolymer of α-1,4-linkedN-acetylgalactosaminuronate, is characteristically produced bySalmonella entericaserovar Typhi. The Vi capsule covers the surface of the producing bacteria and serves as an virulence factor via inhibition of complement-mediated killing and promoting resistance against phagocytosis. Furthermore, Vi also represents a predominant protective antigen and plays a key role in the development of vaccines against typhoid fever. Herein, we reviewed the latest advances associated with the Vi polysaccharide, from its synthesis and transport within bacterial cells, mechanisms involved in virulence, immunological characteristics, and applications in vaccine, as well as its purification and detection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Orally administered vaccine bacteria usually persist for a period of time in the intestinal tracts of immunized individuals, and are excreted in feces to the environment resulting in a potential biosafety issue. The releasing risk can be minimized by immediate elimination of the persistent vaccine bacteria once adequate protective immune responses have been elicited by the vaccine bacteria. In a previous study, inducible expression of truncated yncE gene (yncE*) was found lethal to host bacteria. This feature has an application potential in biosafety control. Here, we assessed the efficacy of YncE* in eliminating an attenuated strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in a mouse model. To this end, a pBAD-derived plasmid containing yncE* under the control of the Ara promoter was transformed into a ΔphoPQ mutant of S. Typhimurium. Our data show that the induced expression of yncE* in the presence of arabinose eliminated the vaccine bacteria both in vitro and in vivo. BALB/c mice with or without streptomycin-pretreatment were used to assess the efficacy of YncE* in vivo. Oral administration of 500 μl of 20% arabinose at 24 h postvaccination removed the vaccine bacteria from the guts of the tested mice without streptomycin-pretreatment. For streptomycin-pretreated mice, which were colonized with higher levels of Salmonella, an additional gavage of arabinose was required to completely eliminate the vaccine bacteria in the guts of the tested mice. The orally administered arabinose did not affect the persistence of bacteria that had penetrated the intestinal mucosa of the immunized mice. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the protection rate between the routine immunization and the immunization with the arabinose treatment. The results indicate that the yncE* element improves the biosafety of the bacterial vaccine, and can be taken in consideration in future design of live bacterial vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Sepsis, which could cause a systemic inflammatory response, is a life-threatening disease with a high morbidity and mortality rate. There is evidence that brain injury may be related to severe systemic infection induced by sepsis. The brain injury caused by sepsis could increase the risk of mortality in septic patients, which seriously affects the septic patient's prognosis of survival. Although there remains a focus on sepsis research, clinical measures to prevent and treat brain injury in sepsis are not yet available, and the high mortality rate is still a big health burden. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the new molecules or regulated pathways that can effectively inhibit the progress of sepsis. Objective. NLR family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) increased in the procession of sepsis and functioned as the key regulator of pyroptosis. Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) can protect organs from multiorgan dysfunction syndrome induced by lipopolysaccharides in mice, and NLRP3 could be inhibited by HSF1 in many organs. However, whether HSF1 regulated NLRP3 in sepsis-induced brain injury, as well as the detailed mechanism of HSF1 in brain injury, remains unknown in the sepsis model. In this research, we try to explore the relationship between HSF1 and NLRP3 in a sepsis model and try to reveal the mechanism of HSF1 inhibiting the process of brain injury. Methods. In this study, we used wild-type mice and hsf1-/- mice for in vivo research and PC12 cells for in vitro research. Real-time PCR and Western blot were used to analyze the expression of HSF1, NLRP3, cytokines, and pyrolytic proteins. EthD-III staining was chosen to detect the pyroptosis of the hippocampus and PC12 cells. Results. The results showed that HSF1 is negatively related to pyroptosis. The pyroptosis in cells of brain tissue was significantly increased in the hsf1-/- mouse model compared to hsf1+/+ mice. In PC12 cells, hsf1 siRNA can upregulate pyroptosis while HSF1-transfected plasmid could inhibit the pyroptosis. HSF1 could negatively regulate the NLRP3 pathway in PC12 cells, while hsf1 siRNA enhanced the pyroptosis in PC12 cells, which could be reversed by nlrp3 siRNA. Conclusion. These results imply that HSF1 could alleviate sepsis-induced brain injury by inhibiting pyroptosis through the NLRP3-dependent pathway in brain tissue and PC12 cells, suggesting HSF1 as a potential molecular target for treating brain injury in sepsis clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell death is a fundamental pathophysiological process in human disease. The discovery of necroptosis, a form of regulated necrosis that is induced by the activation of death receptors and formation of necrosome, represents a major breakthrough in the field of cell death in the past decade. Z-DNA-binding protein (ZBP1) is an interferon (IFN)-inducing protein, initially reported as a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) sensor, which induces an innate inflammatory response. Recently, ZBP1 was identified as an important sensor of necroptosis during virus infection. It connects viral nucleic acid and receptor-interacting protein kinase 3 (RIPK3) via two domains and induces the formation of a necrosome. Recent studies have also reported that ZBP1 induces necroptosis in non-viral infections and mediates necrotic signal transduction by a unique mechanism. This review highlights the discovery of ZBP1 and its novel findings in necroptosis and provides an insight into its critical role in the crosstalk between different types of cell death, which may represent a new therapeutic option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate iris volume before and after pupil dilation using swept‐source anterior segment optical coherence tomography (SS‐ASOCT) and investigate the associated factors of iris volume and iris volume change after pupil dilation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center among T2DM registered patients in the community of Guangzhou, China. Anterior chamber volume (ACV), iris volume, anterior chamber depth (ACD), angle opening distance at 500 μm (AOD 500) and pupil diameter were estimated using SS‐ASOCT (CASIA; Tomey, Nagoya, Japan). Venous blood was taken for the measurement of glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbAlc). All biometric measurements were performed before and after pharmacologic pupil dilation. Results: A total of 117 subjects were included in the analysis. The mean age (±SD) was 64.96 ± 7.75 years, and 62.4% were females. After pupil dilation, iris volume decreased in all eyes. Shorter duration of diabetes (p = 0.035), longer axial length (p < 0.001) and smaller pupil diameter (p < 0.001) were associated with larger iris volume. The change in iris volume per millimetre change in pupil diameter was 1.35mm3/mm. Smaller baseline iris volume (p = 0.002) and higher HbA1c level (p = 0.010) were associated with smaller change in iris volume per millimetre change in pupil diameter, after adjusting for other factors. Conclusion: Iris volume can be estimated by SS‐ASOCT. Diabetic duration was associated with static anatomy of iris volume, while HbA1c level indicated the dynamic response of iris volume. It is likely that diabetic duration and HbA1c level could affect the macroscopic and microscopic composition of the iris in the diabetic population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For efficient removal of the antibiotic-resistance bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes, zirconium-doped zinc-aluminum layered double hydroxide/graphene oxide (Zn-Al-Zr LDHs/GO) nanocomposite has been developed. The Zn-Al-Zr LDHs/GO shows outstanding photocatalytic sterilization, inactivating kanamycin-resistance E. coli (6.53 log 10 CFU/mL) under the full-wavelength light irradiation within 50 minutes. Owing to the 1O 2 formation, it greatly disrupts the respiratory chain of the kanamycin-resistance E. coli, thereby leading to a declined yield of adenosine triphosphate, down-regulated expressions of the DNA ligase and polymerase proteins, as well as completely inhibited expressions of the DNA repair proteins. Meanwhile, the strong adsorption capability of the Zn-Al-Zr LDHs/GO towards phosphorus endows it with special nano-confinement effects for ARGs. It results in significantly enriched local concentration of the kanamycin-resistance genes on the Zn-Al-Zr LDHs/GO, consequently enhanced removal ability towards the kanamycin-resistance genes (4.70 log 10 copies/mL in 3 hours). This work provides a new strategy for effectively removing the ARB and ARGs. [Display omitted] • Zn-Al-Zr LDHs/GO binds e-ARGs through the nano-confinement effects. • Zn-Al-Zr LDHs/GO removes ARB with different concentrations in 60 min by photocatalytic. • ATP yield in ARB decreased and DNA replication was blocked by 1O 2. • Zn-Al-Zr LDHs/GO has stable material structure and photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance evaluation of refurbished thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) components is crucial for the engineering application of TBCs and prolonging the service life of high-temperature components. This work investigates the secondary oxidation behaviors of refurbished EB-PVD TBCs specimens after different primary oxidation time, including microstructures, thermally grown oxide (TGO) phase composition and TGO crystal structures. The results show that the γ phase coarsening occurs in the single-crystal superalloy substrate after primary oxidation before refurbishment, and this phenomenon is retained in the refurbished single-crystal superalloy substrate. Furthermore, the γ phase channel width increases with the increase of the primary oxidation time before refurbishment. The TGO of the refurbished specimens has a certain amount of θ -Al 2 O 3 at the initial oxidation stage, and its content is positively correlated with the primary oxidation time before refurbishment. The TGO of the refurbished specimens is composed of Al 2 O 3 doped with mixed oxides particles at the late oxidation stage. The TGO thickness of the refurbished specimens is higher than that of ordinary specimens under the same oxidation condition. There are a certain amount of micro-defects such as voids and cracks generated in the TGO of the refurbished specimens. Additionally, affected by the microstructures of the single-crystal substrate, the TGO of the refurbished specimens is equiaxial Al 2 O 3 , while the TGO of ordinary specimens is equiaxial Al 2 O 3 at the top and columnar Al 2 O 3 at the bottom. • The secondary oxidation behaviors of refurbished specimens with were first investigated. • The microstructure changes of substrate in refurbished specimens caused by primary oxidation was clarified. • The relationship between the microstructure of substrate and TGO growth in refurbished specimens was first established. • The influence of primary oxidation on TGO growth due to microstructural change of substrate was first discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) is critical for cellular redox regulation and is involved in tumor proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis. Its C-terminal redox-active center contains a cysteine (Cys497) and a unique selenocysteine (Sec498), which are exposed to solvent and easily accessible. Thus, it is becoming an important target for anticancer drugs. Selective inhibition of TrxR by 1,2-(bis-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one)ethane (4a) prevents proliferation of several cancer cell lines both in vivo and in vitro. Using the structure of 4a as a starting point, a series of novel bis-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-ones was designed, prepared and tested to explore the structure–activity relationships (SARs) for this class of inhibitor and to improve their potency. Notably, 1,2-(5,5′-dimethoxybis(1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one))ethane (12) was found to be more potent than 4a in both in vitro and in vivo evaluation. Its binding sites were confirmed by biotin-conjugated iodoacetamide assay and a SAR model was generated to guide further structural modification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The presence of neuritic plaques is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the origin of extracellular β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) deposits and the process of plaque development remain poorly understood. The present study attempted to explore plaque pathogenesis by localizing β-secretase-1 (BACE1) elevation relative to Aβ accumulation and synaptic/neuritic alterations in the forebrain, using transgenic mice harboring familial AD (FAD) mutations (5XFAD and 2XFAD) as models. In animals with fully developed plaque pathology, locally elevated BACE1 immunoreactivity (IR) coexisted with compact-like Aβ deposition, with BACE1 IR occurring selectively in dystrophic axons of various neuronal phenotypes or origins (GABAergic, glutamatergic, cholinergic or catecholaminergic). Prior to plaque onset, localized BACE1/Aβ IR occurred at swollen presynaptic terminals and fine axonal processes. These BACE1/Aβ-containing axonal elements appeared to undergo a continuing process of sprouting/swelling and dystrophy, during which extracellular Aβ IR emerged and accumulated in surrounding extracellular space. These data suggest that BACE1 elevation and associated Aβ overproduction inside the sprouting/dystrophic axonal terminals coincide with the onset and accumulation of extracellular amyloid deposition during the development of neuritic plaques in transgenic models of AD. Our findings appear to be in harmony with an early hypothesis that axonal pathogenesis plays a key or leading role in plaque formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) are among the most widely available resources and most frequently approved model systems used for studying adult stem cells. HFSCs are particularly useful because of their self-renewal and differentiation properties. Additionally, the cyclic growth of hair follicles is driven by HFSCs. There are high expectations for the use of HFSCs as favourable systems for studying the molecular mechanisms that contribute to HFSC identification and can be applied to hair loss therapy, such as the activation or regeneration of hair follicles, and to the generation of hair using a tissue-engineering strategy. A variety of molecules are involved in the networks that critically regulate the fate of HFSCs, such as factors in hair follicle growth and development (in the Wnt pathway, Sonic hedgehog pathway, Notch pathway, and BMP pathway), and that suppress apoptotic cues (the apoptosis pathway). Here, we review the life cycle, biomarkers and functions of HFSCs, concluding with a summary of the signalling pathways involved in HFSC fate for promoting better understanding of the pathophysiological changes in the HFSC niche. Importantly, we highlight the potential mechanisms underlying the therapeutic targets involved in pathways associated with the treatment of hair loss and other disorders of skin and hair, including alopecia, skin cancer, skin inflammation, and skin wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The influence of myopia and ocular biometry parameters on diabetic retinopathy (DR) needs further clarification. We aimed to investigate the association between ocular biometrical parameters and DR in Chinese people with diabetes mellitus (DM) without any ocular intervention. Methods: This cross‐sectional study recruited type 2 DM patients with no history of ocular treatment in Guangzhou, China. The ocular biometrical parameters were obtained by Lenstar (LS900, Haag‐Streit AG, Koeniz, Switzerland), including corneal diameter, central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal curvature (CC), anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness (LT) and axial length (AL). The lens power and axial length‐to‐cornea radius ratio (AL/CR ratio) were calculated. Spherical equivalent (SE) was determined by auto‐refraction after pupil dilation. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the associations of ocular biometry with any DR and vision threatening DR (VTDR). Results: A total of 1838 patients were included in the final analysis, involving 1455 (79.2%) patients without DR and 383(20.8%) patients with DR. After adjusting confounding factors, any DR was independently associated with AL (odds ratio (OR) 0.84 per 1 mm increase, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74, 0.94) and AL/CR ratio (OR 0.26 per 1 increase, 95%CI: 0.10, 0.70). Similarly, the presence of VTDR was independently related to AL (OR 0.67 per 1 mm increase, 95%CI: 0.54, 0.85) and AL/CR ratio (OR 0.04 per 1 increase, 95%CI: 0.01, 0.25). The lens power may not be significantly correlated with presence of any DR or VTDR. The CC, corneal diameter and refractive status were not significantly correlated with presence of DR or VTDR. Conclusion: Longer AL and higher AL/CR ratio may be protective factors against the occurrence and progression of DR. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to verify if refractive status and AL‐associated parameters contribute to the occurrence and progression of DR in type 2 DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Core-shell structured iron/zinc oxide (Fe/ZnO) nanocomposites have been successfully prepared via a low-temperature wet chemical method. The electromagnetic wave absorbing performances of all the Fe/ZnO nanocomposites are significantly improved in comparison with single α-Fe and ZnO. With the ZnO content increasing, the effective absorption band (reflection loss below −10 dB) moves toward the high frequency orientation. When the thickness is 1.59 mm, the Fe/ZnO nanocomposite with a Fe/Zn ratio of 1:0.75 can gain the optimal reflection loss at 15.55 GHz, which reaches up to −48.28 dB, and the effective absorption bandwidth (reflection loss below −10 dB) is 3.50 GHz (12.925–16.425 GHz). In addition, the maximum effective absorption bandwidth (reflection loss below −10 dB) reaches up to 5.10 GHz (10.79–15.89 GHz) at the thickness of 1.9 mm for Fe/Zn ratio of 1:0.75. The excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance of Fe/ZnO nanocomposite benefits from the effects of dielectric loss, magnetic loss and suitable impedance matching. Therefore, the Fe/ZnO nanocomposites are promising to be applied in the field of Ku band wave absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emulsified asphalt cold recycled technology has received great attention for its low carbon and environmental protection. There have been many researches on the performance improvement of emulsified asphalt cold recycling mixture (CRME) and its achievements, but there lacks systematic sorting. Based on this, this study summarizes the related research from the performance formation mechanism and influencing factors. Firstly, the demulsification mechanism of emulsified asphalt and the performance formation mechanism of CRME are summarized. Secondly, the influence of asphalt material (type and content), aggregate type (new aggregate, RAP), gradation, additives (regenerant, cement, fiber, etc.), water consumption and fabrication methods on CRME performance is analyzed. Finally, the future development of CRME is prospected. In the future, the fusion characteristics of old and new asphalt on RAP surface can be studied from multi-scale perspective. Besides, we can combine genome to construct CRME material library and improve the preparation technology standard of CRME pavement. • The development status of emulsified asphalt cold recycling technology was reviewed. • The influence of different factors on the strength of recycled mixture was analyzed. • The optimal dosage range of different influencing factors was summarized. • The development of emulsified asphalt cold recycling technology was prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) contain specific proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids that can be passed to other cells as signal molecules to alter their function. However, there are many problems and challenges in the conversion and clinical application of EVs. Storage and protection of EVs is one of the issues that need further research. To adapt to potential clinical applications, this type of problem must be solved. This review summarizes the storage practices of EVs in recent years, and explains the impact of temperature on the quality and stability of EVs during storage based on current research, and explains the potential mechanisms involved in this effect as much as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitreous, a transparent tissue in our body, contains anti‐angiogenesis factors. Our previous work reported that vitreous activates the signaling pathway of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which plays a critical role in angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine the role of EGFR in vitreous‐induced angiogenesis‐related cellular responses in vitro. Using a pharmacologic and molecular approach, we found that vitreous increased proliferation and migration via EGFR in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Furthermore, we demonstrated that vitreous promoted tube formation via EGFR in HUVECs. Subsequently, depletion of EGFR using CRISPR/Cas9 and blockage with EGFR inhibitor AG1478 suppressed vitreous‐induced Akt activation and cell proliferation, migration, and tube formation in HUVECs. The significance of the angiogenic effect derived from vitreous demonstrates the importance of vitreous in the ocular physiology and the pathobiology of angiogenesis‐related ophthalmic diseases, such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish bile has long been considered to have therapeutic benefits in folk medicine in some Asian countries. However, poisoning incidents and even death sporadically occurred when people consumed fish bile. Herein, we summarize the main characteristics of fish bile poisoning in China including clinical symptoms, treatment strategies and factors being associated with death and affecting prognosis, hoping to provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of fish bile poisoning, as well as forensic identification of death cases induced by fish bile poisoning. We suggest that the health authorities should make an effort to enhance people's awareness of the safety of traditional medicine like fish bile so as to reduce the incidence of adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The biological role of miR-203 and the underlying mechanisms on the proliferation of epidermal stem cells (ESCs) have not yet been reported during the progression of chronic wound healing in diabetes mellitus. Our previous studies have observed that the expression of miR-203 showed a marked upregulation and ESC proliferation capacity was impaired in diabetes mellitus skin wounds in rats. Methods: Wound models were established in normal rats and rats with type 2 diabetes. Expression level of miR-203 and the alteration of ESCs' number and function were detected. ESCs were isolated from the back skin of fetal rats to assess the effects of glucose in vitro. An antagomir to miR-203 was used to assess its effect on ESCs. Using microarray analysis, we further identified potential target genes and signaling pathways of miR-203. Results: We found that high glucose significantly upregulated the expression of miR-203 and subsequently reduced the number of ESCs and impaired their proliferation capacity. Meanwhile, over-expression of miR-203 reduced the ESCs' numbers and impaired the proliferation capacity via downregulation of the Notch and Wnt signaling pathways. Conversely, inhibition of miR-203 enhanced the proliferation capacity. Additionally, silencing miR-203 in skin of rats with type 2 diabetes accelerated wound healing and improved healing quality via the upregulation of the Notch and Wnt signaling pathways. Finally, over-expression of miR-203 downregulated genes ROCK2, MAPK8, MAPK9, and PRKCA. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that induced expression of miR-203 by high glucose in type 2 diabetic rats decreased the number of ESCs and impaired ESC proliferation capacity via downregulating genes related to Notch and Wnt signaling pathways, resulting in a delayed wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epidermis, which is the outermost layer of mammalian skin, provides an essential barrier that is essential for maintenance of life. The epidermis is a stratified epithelium, which is maintained by the proliferation of epidermal stem cells (EPSCs) at the basal layer of the epidermis. As a unique cell population characterized by self-renewal and differentiation capabilities, EPSCs ensure the maintenance of adult skin homeostasis and participate in repair of the epidermis after injury. Recently, the utilization of EPSCs for wound healing and tissue regeneration has been attracting increased attention from researchers. In addition, the advances in tissue engineering have increased the interest in applying EPSCs in tissue-engineered scaffolds to further reconstitute injured tissues. In this review, we introduce research developments related to EPSCs, including methods recently used in the culture and enrichment of EPSCs, as well as advanced tools to study EPSCs. The function and mechanism of the EPSC-dermal units in the development and homeostasis of the skin are also summarized. Finally, the potential applications of EPSCs in skin tissue engineering are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Receptor‐interacting protein 3 (RIP3) plays an important role in the necroptosis signaling pathway. Our previous studies have shown that the RIP3/mixed lineage kinase domain‐like protein (MLKL)‐mediated necroptosis occurs in retinal ganglion cell line 5 (RGC‐5) following oxygen‐glucose deprivation (OGD). However, upstream regulatory pathways of RIP3 are yet to be uncovered. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of p90 ribosomal protein S6 kinase 3 (RSK3) in the phosphorylation of RIP3 in RGC‐5 cell necroptosis following OGD. Our results showed that expression of RSK3, RIP3, and MLKL was upregulated in necroptosis of RGC‐5 after OGD. A computer simulation based on our preliminary results indicated that RSK3 might interact with RIP3, which was subsequently confirmed by co‐immunoprecipitation. Further, we found that the application of a specific RSK inhibitor, LJH685, or rsk3 small interfering RNA (siRNA), downregulated the phosphorylation of RIP3. However, the overexpression of rip3 did not affect the expression of RSK3, thereby indicating that RSK3 could be a possible upstream regulator of RIP3 phosphorylation in OGD‐induced necroptosis of RGC‐5 cells. Moreover, our in vivo results showed that pretreatment with LJH685 before acute high intraocular pressure episodes could reduce the necroptosis of retinal neurons and improve recovery of impaired visual function. Taken together, our findings suggested that RSK3 might work as an upstream regulator of RIP3 phosphorylation during RGC‐5 necroptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Evidences suggest that during ischemia/reperfusion events, neuronal loss in ganglion cell layers (GCLs) occurs initially in the peripheral retinae followed by the central. However, which key molecule or factor mediates this selective loss needs elucidation. In the present study, we detected the regional expression of active matrix metalloproteinase 3 (Act-MMP3) in the central and peripheral rat retinae following acute retinal ischemia/reperfusion (RI/R) injury and explored the effects and mechanisms of this regional expression on the selective neuronal loss in GCLs. Methods: QPCR and Western Blotting were used to detect the expression of Act-MMP3 in the central part and peripheral part of the adult rat retinae. Immunofluorescence and double immunofluorescence were used to assess the number of NeuN-positive cells in the GCLs and Iba-1+CD 68-positive cells were determined. Additionally, the Linear-regression analysis was performed to test the correlation between the ODV of Act-MMP3 and the neuronal loss in the GCLs/Iba-1+CD 68 positive cells in retinae. Results: An evident up-regulation of active matrix metalloproteinase 3 (Act-MMP3) in peripheral retinae preceded to that in central region following acute RI/R. We found Act-MMP3 up-regulation to be associated with the selective neuronal loss in GCLs (central: r = 0.7566, p <.0001, r2 = 0.5724; peripheral: r = 0.8241, p <.0001, r2 = 0.6792). Suppressing Act-MMP3 ameliorated the selective neuronal loss in GCLs following acute RI/R. Furthermore, the activation of microglia in the peripheral retinae also preceded to that in the central and was found to be correlated with the regional expression of Act-MMP3 (Central: r = 0.8540, p <.0001, r2 = 0.7294; Peripheral: r = 0.7820, p <.0001, r2 = 0.6116). Suppressing Act-MMP3 ameliorated the microglia regional activation following acute RI/R. Conclusion: The regional expression of Act-MMP3 in the rat retinae may contribute to the selective neuronal loss in GCLs and microglia regional activation in acute RI/R. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) play a key role in the pathogenesis and development of glaucoma. The present study aims to investigate the underlying mechanism of long noncoding RNA growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5) in glaucoma development through regulating the apoptosis of RGCs. Rat models of chronic glaucoma were successfully established by translimbal laser photocoagulation. Retinal tissues were collected to determine the density of RGCs through Toluidine blue staining. The overexpression vector or short hairpin RNA for GAS5 or enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) was transfected into RGCs after in vitro pressurization culture to examine the function of GAS5 in RGC apoptosis. The involvement of EZH2 and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) was further identified. Cell apoptosis after laser treatment and transfection was assessed by flow cytometry. We found abundant GAS5 expression and a reduction in RGC density in the retinal tissues of glaucoma rats. Silencing of GAS5 led to increased EZH2 expression and decreased ABCA1 expression in RGCs. In addition, upregulation of EZH2 promoted trimethylation of lysine 27 on histone H3, thereby suppressing ABCA1 expression and eventually leading to the inhibition of RGC apoptosis. These findings provide further understanding of the function of GAS5 in RGC apoptosis. We conclude that downregulation of GAS5 could help relieve glaucoma symptoms. GAS5 is therefore a promising target for developing novel therapeutic approaches for treating patients with glaucoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• H 2 S can be harmful or beneficial to the brain depending on the concentration inside the organism. • Oxidative stress participates in the neurotoxicity of H 2 S. • Anti-oxidative actions play an important role in H 2 S-elicited neuroprotection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the importance of non‐coding RNAs in modulating normal brain functions and their implications in the treatment of neurological disorders, non‐coding RNA‐based diagnostic and therapeutic strategies have shown great clinical potential. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as potentially important players in this field. Recent studies have indicated that circRNAs might play vital roles in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ischemic brain injury, and neurotoxicity. However, the mechanisms of action of circRNAs have not been fully characterized. We aimed to review recent advances in circRNA research in the brain to provide new insights on the roles of circRNAs in neurological disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During an educational dissection of a 72-year-old Chinese male cadaver, the hemiazygos vein (HAV) coursing the left side that drains into the persistent left superior vena cava was observed. The HAV was formed at the junction of the 9th to 11th right posterior intercostal veins, right subcostal vein, 5th to 11th left posterior intercostal veins, and left subcostal vein; it then ascended posteriorly to the thoracic aorta. After collecting the accessory hemiazygos vein, it crossed over the aorta and the pedicle of the left lung via the hemiazygos arch, then converged with a communicative branch (vein of Marshall) that emerged from the left brachiocephalic vein to form the persistent left superior vena cava and entered the pericardium at the level of the sixth thoracic vertebra. Upon opening the pericardium of our cadaver, the persistent left superior vena cava was found to drain directly into the significantly dilated coronary sinus at the level of the eighth thoracic vertebra. The azygos vein was formed by the union of the first to eighth right posterior intercostal veins and appeared to be finer and shorter than the HAV. The persistent left superior vena cava might be the result of incomplete degeneration of the left posterior cardinal vein. Knowledge of such variations could be of great value to surgeons placing peripherally inserted central catheters because incorrect placement of the azygos venous system can be detrimental to the patient. In addition, during heart surgery, awareness of such variations may prevent major complications, such as hemorrhage or damage to vascular structures, and possibly also provide new insights and perspectives to cardiovascular surgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a "chimney effect" formed on the interface between the metal oxide and nickel metal for the hydrogen evolution reaction is confirmed by using density functional theory calculations and experimental methods. • A "chimney effect" formed on the interface between the metal oxide and nickel metal for the hydrogen evolution reaction is found. • The "chimney effect" is a result of the interfacial charge transfer between the metal and metal oxide. • The chemical environment around interface makes the neighboring sites be immune to H 2 O* and OH* adsorption but tend to adsorb H* selectively. • The metal oxide/metal interface is beneficial for the smooth adsorption of H* and the easy desorption of H 2 from the catalyst surface. • Experiments further reveal the key role of the amount of chimney, i.e., the interfacial metal atoms, for the excellent HER activity. Precise atomic-level control of composition and geometric structure at the interface between two catalyst components can effectively tune the catalytic properties. Herein, we found a "chimney effect" formed on the interface between the metal oxide and Nickel metal for the hydrogen evolution reaction, using density functional theory calculations and experimental methods. This special chemical environment around the interface leads the neighboring sites to be immune to the H 2 O* and OH* adsorption and to only selectively adsorb H* properly. Meanwhile, it is also beneficial for the smooth adsorption of the reactant (H*) on the interface and the easy desorption of the product (H 2) from the catalyst surface (ΔG H* close to zero). This phenomenon appears similar to a chimney of hydrogen evolution around the metal oxide/metal interface. Such "chimney effect" is a result of the interfacial charge transfer between the metal and metal oxide, and should be the nature of the interface-induced synergistic effect in metal oxide/metal composite catalysts for HER. Experiments further confirm that the catalytic activity of metal oxide/metal composites for HER can be enhanced by increasing the amount of the chimney - the interfacial metal atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract Hypothesis Nanoparticles functionalized with ligands which can on-demand and remotely be detached have recently attracted interest as stimuli-responsive materials. Research is now focused on multi-responsive systems, with applications in environmental science and biomedicine. The possibility to covalently couple two different ligands on a single nanoparticles, and to release them independently is investigated. This concept of nanoparticles functionalized with dual on-demand cleavable ligands is exploited in ground water decontamination and radionuclides separation. Efficient separation of contaminants in a single step is expected, simplifying partitioning process and decreasing generation of secondary waste by nuclear industry. Experiments Sub−10 nm Janus superparamagnetic nanoparticles are functionalized by click-chemistry (thiol and Diels-Alder) with two different Actinide-specific chelators. The reversible covalent bonds allow to detach chelators independently by either pH- or thermo-stimulation. The nanoparticles decorated with diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA) and [(2-furan-2-yl-2-hydroxy-ethylcarbamoyl)-methoxy]-acetic acid (FHECMAA) are incubated with UO 2 2+ and La3+ (as substitute for Pu3+) at pH = 3 and 7 before chelator-metal complexes are released. Metal contents are measured to determine separation efficiency. Findings Chelators can be detached from Janus nanoparticles with perfect selectivity. The nanoparticles are highly efficient for extraction of metals in acidic medium and show good ability for separation of U and La at neutral pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mesoporous Co/KIT-6 catalysts with 10 wt% Co loading were prepared at different reduction temperatures. The physicochemical properties of the Co/KIT-6 catalysts were characterized by TEM, BET, XRD, XPS, and CO 2 -TPD, and the effect of reduction temperature on CO 2 hydrogenation catalytic performance of Co/KIT-6 catalysts was studied. The results show that reduction temperature has a significant impact on the specific surface area, crystallinity and content of Co 0 species, and CO 2 adsorption performance of the prepared Co/KIT-6 catalysts. The low reduction temperature is not conduct to the reduction of CoO x , while the high reduction temperature lead to the increase of Co 0 species crystallinity and the formation of Co 2 SiO 4 and/or CosbndOsbndSi species which are unfavorable to the form Co 0 species. The RT400 catalyst exhibits the highest Co 0 species content and the best CO 2 adsorption performance. Both the CO 2 hydrogenation catalytic activity and CH 4 selectivity of the Co/KIT-6 catalysts follow the order: RT400 > RT350 > RT450 > RT500 > RT550, with a small amount of by-product CO. At the reaction temperature of 340 °C, the CO 2 reaction rate (CO 2 conversion) of the RT400 catalyst can reach 2.98 × 10 −5  mol/g cat /s (40%), the CH 4 and CO selectivity are 86.7% and 13.3%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This review briefly introduces the mechanism and detection methods of necroptosis in recent years. The most significant points of this review focus on the involvement of necroptotic proteins in disease progression. The following aspects are summarized: 1) RIPs, MLKL, and the upstream and downstream molecules that mediate necroptosis; 2) The development of detection methods for necroptosis; 3) The involvement of related necroptotic proteins in diverse diseases etiology; and 4) The application of necroptotic proteins in disease diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Little is known how miR-203 is involved in epidermal stem cells (ESCs) differentiation and scar formation. Methods: We first used luciferase assay to determine the interaction of miR-203 with the 3'-UTR in regulation of Hes1 expression. We then used flow cytometry to analyze the effects of miR-203 expression on the differentiation of ESCs to MFB by determination of CK15 ratio and α-SMA. To confirm the results of flow cytometry analysis, we used Western blot to examine the expression of α-SMA, Collagen I (Col I), and Collagen III (Col III), as well as the expression of Notch1, Jagged1, and Hes1 in ESCs after the treatment of pre-miR-203 or anti-miR-203. Finally, we examined the effects local anti-miR-203 treatment on would closure and scar formation using a mouse skin wound model. Results: Pre-miR-203 treatment increased ESCs differentiation to MFB cells, as indicated by decreased CK15 ratio and increased MFB biomarkers. This phenomenon was reversed by overexpression of Hes1 in ESCs. In addition, skin incision increased expression of miR-203 in wound tissue. Local treatment of anti-miR-203 could accelerate wound closure and reduce scar formation in vivo, which was associated with increased re-epithelialization, skin attachment regeneration, and collagen reassignment. Finally, we confirmed that anti-miR-203 treatment could inhibit ESCs differentiation in vivo via increasing Hesl expression. Conclusion: Taken together, our results suggested that overexpression of miR-203 in ESCs after skin wound may be a critical mechanism underlying the scar formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat shock protein 90α (HSP90α) maintains cell stabilization and regulates cell death, respectively. Recent studies have shown that HSP90α is involved in receptor interacting protein 3 (RIP3)‐mediated necroptosis in HT29 cells. It is known that oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) can induce necroptosis, which is regulated by RIP3 in neurons. However, it is still unclear whether HSP90α participates in the process of OGD‐induced necroptosis in cultured neurons via the regulation of RIP3. Our study found that necroptosis occurs in primary cultured cortical neurons and PC‐12 cells following exposure to OGD insult. Additionally, the expression of RIP3/p‐RIP3, MLKL/p‐MLKL, and the RIP1/RIP3 complex (necrosome) significantly increased following OGD, as measured through immunofluorescence (IF) staining, Western blotting (WB), and immunoprecipitation (IP) assay. Additionally, data from computer simulations and IP assays showed that HSP90α interacts with RIP3. In addition, HSP90α was overexpressed following OGD in cultured neurons, as measured through WB and IF staining. Inhibition of HSP90α in cultured neurons, using the specific inhibitor, geldanamycin (GA), and siRNA/shRNA of HSP90α, protected cultured neurons from necrosis. Our study showed that the inhibitor of HSP90α, GA, rescued cultured neurons not only by decreasing the expression of total RIP3/MLKL, but also by decreasing the expression of p‐RIP3/p‐MLKL and the RIP1/RIP3 necrosome. In this study, we reveal that inhibition of HSP90α protects primary cultured cortical neurons and PC‐12 cells from OGD‐induced necroptosis through the modulation of RIP3 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colloidal particles based on self-assembled Cu2+ coordination polymers were fabricated following a one-step process. These particles were shown to be stimuli-responsive. In particular they can be readily disassembled in acidic conditions. This effect originates from a pH-induced fragmentation of the polymer chains into dinuclear Cu2+ complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ordered mesoporous Co/KIT-6 catalysts with different Co loading (15–30 wt%) were prepared by impregnation method for CO 2 hydrogenation. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by H 2 -TPR, XRD, BET, H 2 -TPD, and CO 2 -TPD. The results show that the crystal size of Co species increases with the increasing Co content and the dispersion of Co species reveals an opposite trend. The adsorption capacities of H 2 and/or CO 2 molecules achieve a maximum value at the Co loading of 25 wt%. The CO 2 reaction rate and CH 4 selectivity are in the following order: Co15 < Co20 < Co30 < Co25. With the increasing of Co loading, the CO 2 reaction rate increases from 2.21 × 10 −5  mol/g cat /s (CO 2 conversion of 29.8%) for the Co15 catalyst to 3.91 × 10 −5  mol/g cat /s (CO 2 conversion of 52.6%) for the Co25 catalyst, and the CH 4 selectivity improves from 67.0% for the Co15 catalyst to 94.5% for the Co25 catalyst at 360 °C, while the other product is CO. The catalytic performance and products distribution of the Co/KIT-6 catalysts for CO 2 hydrogenation are sensitive to the crystal size of Co species which can be adjusted by changing the Co content in Co/KIT-6 catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tribological performance and mechanisms of BN/calcium borate nanocomposites (BCBNs) as additives in lubricating oil.Design/methodology/approach BCBNs were prepared by heterogeneous deposition method. And the morphology and structure of samples were analysed by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectra and X-ray powder diffraction pattern. The maximum non-seizure load (PB) of samples was tested using four-ball friction tester. The average friction coefficients and wear tracks were obtained. In addition, tribological mechanism was also investigated using optical microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope.Findings It was found that the nanocomposites present core-shell nanostructure with the thickness of shell around 12 nm and the diameter of particles 100-200 nm, and tribological tests indicate that the PB value of BCBNs was increased by 113 per cent, whereas the average friction coefficient was decreased by 23.6 per cent and the bloom’s wear area was also decreased by 25.2 per cent.Originality/value This paper involves investigation on tribological properties and mechanism of the BCBNs with core-shell structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni-HT, Ni-ST, Ni-PC, and Ni-CA catalysts were synthesized using hard-template, soft-template, co-precipitation, and complex methods, respectively, characterized by XRD, BET, H 2 -TPR, and H 2 -TPD technology. The catalytic hydrodeoxygenation performance of the prepared Ni catalysts was evaluated by using ethyl acetate as the model compound. The prepared Ni catalyst activities are in the following order: Ni-HT > Ni-ST > Ni-PC > Ni-CA. Ni-HT and Ni-ST catalysts have developed pore structure; they show large specific surface area of 90.2 and 45.4 m 2 /g, respectively. The active phase of the catalyst is well dispersed, the active sites are widely distributed, thereby promoting the effective activation for reactant molecules. Ethyl acetate can be completely converted over Ni-HT and Ni-ST catalysts at 300 °C and 320 °C, respectively, and the ethane selectivity reaches 97.8% and 97.2%. Ni-PC and Ni-CA catalysts are mainly composed of dense particles, and have low specific surface areas of 11.2 and 2.4 m 2 /g, respectively. The crystallinity of the active phase is poor, the activation ability for the hydrogen molecule is obviously weaker than that of Ni-HT and Ni-ST catalysts. Ethyl acetate can be completely converted with the activity of Ni-PC and Ni-CA catalysts at 360 °C and 380 °C, and the ethane selectivity reached 96.7% and 93.5%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]