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Phase modulation has scarcely been mentioned in diffusive physical systems because the diffusion process does not carry the momentum like waves. Recently, non-Hermitian physics provides a unique perspective for understanding diffusion and shows prospects in thermal phase regulation, exemplified by the discovery of anti-parity-time (APT) symmetry in diffusive systems. However, precise control of thermal phase remains elusive hitherto and can hardly be realized, due to the phase oscillations. Here we construct the PT-symmetric diffusive systems to achieve the complete suppression of thermal phase oscillation. The real coupling of diffusive fields is readily established through a strong convective background, and the decay-rate detuning is enabled by thermal metamaterial design. We observe the phase transition of PT symmetry breaking with the symmetry-determined amplitude and phase regulation of coupled temperature fields. Our work shows the existence of PT symmetry in dissipative energy exchanges and provides unique approaches for harnessing the mass transfer of particles, wave dynamics in strongly scattering systems, and thermal conduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic lignin-based adsorbent (MLA) was successfully fabricated to remove methyl orange dye from aqueous solution. The synthesized MLA was characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). In the process of adsorption, influence factors and recycling performance were considered, and the adsorption mechanisms such as isotherm and kinetics were investigated. The result showed that the equilibrium data was consisted with the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 85.0 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo-secondorder model. Based the adsorption performance, MLA showed good recyclability. Therefore, these results demonstrate that MLA could offer a great potential as an efficient and reusable adsorbent in the wastewater treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Via ab initio simulation, we study the behavior of interfaces of water with silica nanotubes. We find profound differences between zero and finite tensile strains and between unconfined (exterior) versus confined (interior) water. For these distinct cases, we characterize the fracture dynamics of the silica nanotube and the underlying physical mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present our computational investigations on the energetics of clusters that consist of H2O and SiO2 using first-principles Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics method. Cohesive energy and hydration energy of both pure (or dry) and hydroxylated (or wet) ring-structured clusters have been investigated as functions of system size. We have found clear trends of energy as the cluster size increases. Energetics of a small silica nano-rod that contains 108 atoms is also obtained as a middle reference point for size evolution. Results from cluster and nano-rod calculations are compared with values from bulk quartz calculations using the same level of theoretical treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Initial configuration is important for optical system design, especially for systems with high requirements in specifications. The number and complexity of optical surfaces needed in an optical system largely depend on the choice of the initial configuration. It is essential to achieve a good initial configuration with minimum aberrations before using complicated surfaces. We propose an initial configuration design method for off-axis reflective optical systems. With this method, a good initial configuration with conic surfaces can be obtained directly. Nodal aberration theory and matrix method are used to calculate the aberration coefficients for the off-axis reflective optical system. Genetic algorithm is applied to search for the initial configuration with minimum aberrations. The validity of this design method is demonstrated by designing an off-axis three-mirror optical system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic issue in nanoscale systems is whether large-scale behavior occurs or not. At and above the mesoscale, the water-silica interaction is known to have large effects, e.g., the geological importance of hydrolytic weakening. Here, we show that water not only substantially weakens a silica nanochain that has been the focus of much recent research but also leads to novel proton conduction. The SiO2 chain consists of a string of orthogonal (planes alternating vertically and horizontally) two-membered rings. We treat two cases of adjacent water to understand both local and collective motion in the system. The first is two water molecules, the second is a water monolayer film that coats the entire chain. Structure, charge separation, stress dependent bond breaking and formation, and proton conduction are discussed based on results obtained at the room temperature. The simulations have been performed using both first-principles molecular dynamics and a novel multiscale quantum-classical software system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first successful catalytic borylation of unactivated aromatic C–N bonds of tertiary anilines without the preactivation or any directing groups is demonstrated. The reactivity of both N,N-dialkylarylamines and N-arylpyrroles were investigated systematically, and the targeted products were furnished in moderate to good yields. The DFT calculation results indicated that the catalytic cycle is furnished via a five-membered cyclic transition-state due to the steric hindrance of the Ni/NHC catalytic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that the single-risk duration model with two event types is a limiting case of bivariate dependent competing risks model, where the joint distribution of event times are degenerate. Then a new test is proposed for the null hypothesis of single risk against dependent competing risks model under the proportional hazard model assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: It is now recognized that asthma can present in different forms. Typically, asthma present with symptoms of wheeze, breathlessness and cough. Atypical forms of asthma such as cough variant asthma (CVA) or chest tightness variant asthma (CTVA) do not wheeze. We hypothesize that these different forms of asthma may have distinctive cellular and molecular features.Methods: 30 patients with typical or classical asthma (CA), 27 patients with CVA, 30 patients with CTVA, and 30 healthy control adults were enrolled in this prospective study. We measured serum IgE, lung function, sputum eosinophils, nitric oxide in exhaled breath (FeNO). We performed proteomic analysis of induced-sputum supernatants by mass spectrometry.Results: There were no significant differences in atopy and FEV1 among patients with CA, CVA, and CTVA. Serum IgE, sputum eosinophil percentages, FeNO, anxiety and depression scores were significantly increased in the three presentations of asthmatic patients as compared with healthy controls but there was no difference between the asthmatic groups. Comprehensive mass spectrometric analysis revealed more than a thousand proteins in the sputum from patients with CA, CVA, and CTVA, among which 23 secreted proteins were higher in patients than that in controls.Conclusions: Patients with CA, CVA, or CTVA share common clinical characteristics of eosinophilic airway inflammation. And more importantly, their sputum samples were composed with common factors with minor distinctions. These findings support the concept that these three different presentations of asthma have similar pathogenetic mechanism in terms of an enhanced Th2 associated with eosinophilia. In addition, this study identified a pool of novel biomarkers for diagnosis of asthma and to label its subtypes. Trial registration http://www.chictr.org.cn (ChiCTR-OOC-15006221). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supporting simultaneous access of machine-type devices is a critical challenge in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. In this paper, we propose an optimal scheme to dynamically adjust the Access Class Barring (ACB) factor and the number of random access channel (RACH) resources for clustered machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, in which Delay-Sensitive (DS) devices coexist with Delay-Tolerant (DT) ones. In M2M communications, since delay-sensitive devices share random access resources with delay-tolerant devices, reducing the resources consumed by delay-sensitive devices means that there will be more resources available to delay-tolerant ones. Our goal is to optimize the random access scheme, which can not only satisfy the requirements of delay-sensitive devices, but also take the communication quality of delay-tolerant ones into consideration. We discuss this problem from the perspective of delay-sensitive services by adjusting the resource allocation and ACB scheme for these devices dynamically. Simulation results show that our proposed scheme realizes good performance in satisfying the delay-sensitive services as well as increasing the utilization rate of the random access resources allocated to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we demonstrated Ni-catalyzed oxidative coupling of unactivated C(sp³)-H bonds with terminal alkynes for construction of C(sp³)-C(sp) bonds to synthesize alkyl-substituted internal alkynes. Different amides exhibited good compatibility. Preliminary mechanistic studies were conducted to account for this alkynylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable manipulation of everyday household objects is essential to the success of service robots. In order to accurately manipulate these objects, robots need to know objects’ full 6-DOF pose, which is challenging due to sensor noise, clutters, and occlusions. In this paper, we present a new approach for effectively guessing the object pose given an observation of just a small patch of the object, by leveraging the fact that many household objects can only keep stable on a planar surface under a small set of poses. In particular, for each stable pose of an object, we slice the object with horizontal planes and extract multiple cross-section 2D contours. The pose estimation is then reduced to find a stable pose whose contour matches best with that of the sensor data, and this can be solved efficiently by cross-correlation. Experiments on the manipulation tasks in the DARPA Robotics Challenge validate our approach. In addition, we also investigate our method’s performance on object recognition tasks raising in the challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We study the electronic and magnetic structures of the newly discovered compound KCr3As3. The nonmagnetic state has five Fermi surface sheets involving three quasi-one-dimensional and two three-dimensional energy bands. However, the ground state is magnetic, exhibiting an interlayer antiferromagnetic order where the basic block-spin state of a unit Cr triangle retains a high spin magnitude. Moreover, the magnetic Fermi surface involves three one-dimensional sheets only, manifesting the reduced dimensionality. By fitting a twisted spin tube model, the magnetic frustrations are found to be relaxed, leading to gapless spin excitations. A frustration-induced transition to the disordered low block-spin state is expected upon increasing the intralayer exchange interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activation of inert chemical bonds, such as C–H, C–O,C–C, and so on, is a very important area, to which has beendrawn much attention by chemists for a long time and which is viewedas one of the most ideal ways to produce valuable chemicals. Undermodern chemical bond activation logic, many conventionally viewed“inert” chemical bonds that were intact under traditionalconditions can be reconsidered as novel functionalities, which not only avoids the tedious synthetic procedures for prefunctionalizationsand the emission of undesirable wastes but also inspires chemiststo create novel synthetic strategies in completely different manners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Although regulatory T cells (Tregs) are key to the maintenance of immunologic homeostasis and tolerance, little is known about Treg-mediated immunosuppression in the stage of sepsis. This article aimed to review the current literature on the role of Tregs in the pathophysiology of septic response, attempting to investigate the role of Tregs in immune dysfunction during sepsis. DATA SOURCES: A literature search was conducted in January 2014 using the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and PubMed. Articles on the role of Tregs in immune dysfunction during sepsis were identified. RESULTS: The identified articles indicated that Treg levels can be used for the assessment of the course of sepsis. The inhibition of Treg activity can promote the recovery of immune function. CONCLUSION: Since the mechanism of Tregs is complex during the sepsis, more studies are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 87 patients were enrolled and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples were obtained from all subjects. A significant difference was found in BALF VEGF-C level between patients with squamous cell carcinoma and benign diseases (P = 0.043). In addition, the concentration of NSE in BALF form the malignant group was significantly higher compared with that of the benign groups (P = 0.018). However, no statistical difference was observed in BALF CEA (P =0.375) or CYFRA21-1 (P =0.838) between lung cancer patients and nonmalignant controls. With a cut-off value of 2.06 ng/ml, NSE had a sensitivity of 72.9%, a specificity of 69.2%, respectively, in predicting the malignant nature of pulmonary mass. Our study observed that the level of VEGF-C was increased in BALF of patients with squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, we found that NSE was significantly higher in BALF of lung cancer patients than in benign diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the rich interplay among electronic correlation, spin-orbit coupling (SOC), crystal-field splitting, and geometric frustrations in the honeycomblike lattice, we systematically investigated the electronic and magnetic properties of Li2RhO3. The material is semiconducting with a narrow band gap of δ ~ 78 meV, and its temperature dependence of resistivity conforms to a three-dimensional variable range hopping mechanism. No long-range magnetic ordering was found down to 0.5 K, due to the geometric frustrations. Instead, single atomic spin-glass behavior below the spin-freezing temperature (∼6 K) was observed and its spin dynamics obeys the universal critical slowing down scaling law. A first-principles calculation suggested it to be a relativistic Mott insulator mediated by both electronic correlation and SOC. With moderate strength of electronic correlation and SOC, our results shed light on the research of the Heisenberg-Kitaev model in realistic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic structure of the vacancy-ordered K0.5Fe1.75Se2 iron-selenide compound (278 phase) is studied using the first-principles density functional method. The ground state of the 278 phase is stripelike antiferromagnetic, and its bare electron susceptibility shows a large peak around (π,π) in the folded Brillouin zone. Near the Fermi level, the density of states is dominated by the Fe-3d orbitals, and both electronlike and holelike Fermi surfaces appear in the Brillouin zone. An unfolded band structure shows limited similarities to a hole-doped 122 phase. With 0.1e electron doping, the susceptibility peak is quickly suppressed and broadened, while the two dimensionality of the electronlike Fermi surfaces is greatly enhanced, resulting in a better nesting behavior. Our study should be relevant to the recently reported superconducting phase K0.5+xFe1.75+ySe2 with both x and y being very tiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been a subject of interest for decades. However, the evidence is inadequate to draw robust conclusions because some studies were generally small or with a short follow-up. Methods: We carried out a search in MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and EMBASE database for relevant studies. Relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the association between BMI and mortality in patients with COPD. In addition, a baseline risk-adjusted analysis was performed to investigate the strength of this association. Results: 22 studies comprising 21,150 participants were included in this analysis. Compared with patients having a normal BMI, underweight individuals were associated with higher mortality (RR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.01-1.78), whereas overweight (RR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.33-0.68) and obese (RR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.38-0.91) patients were associated with lower mortality. We further performed a baseline risk-adjusted analysis and obtained statistically similar results. Conclusion: Our study showed that for patients with COPD being overweight or obese had a protective effect against mortality. However, the relationship between BMI and mortality in different classes of obesity needed further clarification in well-designed clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic structure and magnetic properties for iron-deficient TlFe2-xSe2 compounds are studied by first-principles calculations. We find that for the case of x=0.5 with a Fe vacancy ordered orthorhombic superstructure, the ground state exhibits a stripelike antiferromagnetic ordering and opens a sizable band gap if the short-ranged Coulomb interaction of Fe- 3d electrons is moderately strong, manifesting a possible Mott insulating state. While increasing Fe vacancies from the x=0 side, where the band structure is similar to that of a heavily electron-doped FeSe system, the Mott localization can be driven by kinetic energy reduction, as evidenced by the band narrowing effect. Implications of this scenario in the recent experiments on TlFe2-xSe2 are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the phase diagram of a square-lattice Hubbard model with a perfect vacancy superstructure. The model can also be defined on a bipartite lattice with each building block consisting of a minimal square. The noninteracting model is exactly solved and a midband gap opens at the Fermi energy in the weak interblock hopping regime. Increasing the Coulomb interaction will develop the Néel antiferromagnetic order with varying block spin moments. The metal-insulator transition with UMI, which is smaller than the one without vacancies, occurs above the magnetic instability UM. The emergent intermediate magnetic metal phase develops substantially in the moderate interblock hopping regime. Drastic increases in the ordered moment and the gap magnitude are observed on the verge of a tight-binding band insulator with increasing U. The implications of these results for the recently discovered (A,Tl)yFe2-xSe2 compounds are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By carefully choosing parameters and including more semi-core orbitals as valence electrons, we have constructed a high-quality projected augmented wave dataset that yields results comparable to existing full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave calculations. The dataset was then applied to BaFe2As2 to study the effects of different levels of structure optimization, as well as different choices of exchange-correlation functionals. It was found that the local density approximation exchange-correlation functional fails to find the correct spin-density-wave anti-ferromagnetic (SDW-AFM) ground state under full optimization, while the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) exchange-correlation functional obtains the correct state but significantly overestimates the magnetism. The electronic structure of the SDW-AFM state is not very sensitive to structure optimizations with the PBE exchange-correlation functional because the positions of the As atoms are preserved under optimizations. We further investigated the Ba atom diffusion process on the BaFe2As2 surface using the nudged elastic bands method. The Ba atom was found to be stable above the center of the squares formed by the surface As atoms, and a diffusion barrier of 1.2 eV was found. Our simulated scanning tunneling microscopy image suggests an ordered surface Ba atom structure, in agreement with Massee et al (2009 Phys. Rev. B 80 140507; van Heumen E et al 2010 arXiv:1009.3493v1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spin-dependent electronic transport properties of Fe-terminated zig-zag graphene nanoribbons (zGNRs) have been studied using first-principles transport simulations. The spin configuration of proposed zGNRs junction can be controlled with external magnetic field, and the tunneling junction show magnetoresistance > 1000 at small bias and is a perfect spin-filter by applying uniform external magnetic filed at small bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the density functional theory combined with dynamical mean-field theory, we have performed systematic study of the electronic structure and its band topology properties of Ce3Pt3Bi4 and Ce3Pd3Bi4. At high temperatures (~290 K), the electronic structures of both compounds resemble the open-core 4f density functional calculation results. For Ce3Pt3Bi4, clear hybridization gap can be observed below 72 K, and its coherent momentum-resolved spectral function below 18 K exhibits an topologically trivial indirect gap of ~6 meV and resembles density functional band structure with itinerant 4f state. For Ce3Pd3Bi4, no clear hybridization gap can be observed down to 4 K, and its momentum-resolved spectral function resembles electron-doped open-core 4f density functional calculations. The band nodal points of Ce3Pd3Bi4 at 4 K are protected by the gliding-mirror symmetry and form ringlike structure. Therefore, the Ce3Pt3Bi4 compound is topologically trivial Kondo insulator while the Ce3Pd3Bi4 compound is topological nodal-line semimetal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is prevalent in people with obes ity and is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D). The effect of OSA on metabolic function and the precise mechanisms (insulin resistance, ß-cell dysfunction, or both) responsible for the increased T2D risk in people with OSA are unknown. Design and methods: We used a two-stage hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp procedur e in conjunction with stable isotopically labeled glucose and palmitate tracer infusions and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose injection and positron emission tomography to quantify multi-organ insulin action and oral and intravenous tolerance tests to evaluate glucosestimulated insulin secretion in fifteen people with obesity and OSA and thirteen people with obesity without OSA. Results: OSA was associated with marked insulin resistance of adipose t issue triglyceride lipolysis and glucose uptake into both skeletal muscles and adipose tissue, whereas there wa s no significant difference between the OSA and control groups in insulin action on endogenous glucose producti on, basal insulin secretion, and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion during both intravenous and oral glucose tole rance tests. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that OSA is a key determinant of insuli n sensitivity in people with obesity and underscore the importance of taking OSA status into account whe n evaluating metabolic function in people with obesity. These findings may also have important clinical implica tions because disease progression and the risk of diabetes-related complications vary by T2D subtype (i.e. sev ere insulin resistance vs insulin deficiency). People with OSA may benefit most from the targeted treatment of periphe ral insulin resistance and early screening for complications associated with peripheral insulin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two distinct superconducting (SC) domes were discovered in the phase diagram of P-doped iron pnictide superconductors LaFeAs1-xPxO with x ranging from 0 to 1. The first SC dome is centered around x=0.3 and then disappears as P content increases to x=0.5. For x>0.5, a second SC dome appears, and Tc reaches another maximum at x=0.7. Although the maximum of Tc in the two domes is close to each other, the estimated upper critical field (Hc2) is much larger in the first SC dome, implying a difference in the nature between the two SC domes. Further band calculations and thermopower measurements suggest that there could be a Lifshitz transition in the electronic structure between the two SC domes. VC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key pose recognition (KPR) is widely used in sport analysis, which provides effective tools for coaches, athletes and other professionals to conduct game analysis and auxiliary training. KPR from video stream can be divided into individual-oriented and group-oriented. The former method is based on the segmentation and tracking of each target, and the characteristics of the individual are used to study the events in the group. The latter is to process and sample the global image, obtain the overall information, and then process the collected data to classify the abnormal situation and normal situation. In this paper, we propose key pose recognition method based on deep learning. Specifically, we first train an FCN network for foreground extraction with weightlifting video frame images to remove a large amount of background interference in the weightlifting video image. Further, by fine-tuning the CNN network, a network model suitable for the weight-of-weight video classification of the region of interest is obtained. Finally, according to the classification result, the classification result selection strategy is designed to extract the key pose. In addition, our algorithm can select high image quality key pose frame, which is important for sports training. The experimental results show that the proposed method is very competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to an article on efficacy and safety of a monoclonal antibody dupilumab to improve asthma symptom and annual rates of exacerbation in patients with uncontrolled persistent asthma by Sally Wenzel and others, which appeared in previous issue.

INTRODUCTION The study aimed to establish and internally validate a nomogram to predict successful smoking cessation in a Chinese outpatient population. METHODS A total of 278 participants were included, and data were collected from March 2016 to December 2018. Predictors for successful smoking cessation were evaluated by 3-month sustained abstinence rates. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to select variables for the model to predict successful smoking cessation, and multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to establish a novel predictive model. The discriminatory ability, calibration, and clinical usefulness of the nomogram were determined by the concordance index (C-index), calibration plot, and decision curve analysis, respectively. Internal validation with bootstrapping was performed. RESULTS The nomogram included living with a smoker or experiencing workplace smoking, number of outpatient department visits, reason for quitting tobacco, and varenicline use. The nomogram demonstrated valuable predictive performance, with a C-index of 0.816 and good calibration. A high C-index of 0.804 was reached with interval validation. Decision curve analysis revealed that the nomogram for predicting successful smoking cessation was clinically significant when intervention was conducted at a successful cessation of smoking possibility threshold of 19%. CONCLUSIONS This novel nomogram for successful smoking cessation can be conveniently used to predict successful cessation of smoking in outpatients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Randomized trial of reduced-nicotine standards for cigarettes," by E. C. Donny and colleagues in the 2015 issue.

An abstract of the article "IL-17-Mediated Inflammation Promotes Cigarette Smoke-Induced Genomic Instability," by Chao Cao and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "Effectiveness and Safety of Poly (ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors in Cancer Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis," by Zhengqiang Bao and colleagues is presented.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Apelin-13 on autophagy in hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and the underlying mechanism of the effect. The HepG2 cells were treated with Apelin-13 at a final concentration of 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 µmol/l for 24 h. Cells were also treated with 10 µmol/l PD98059 for 24 h. The expression of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2, phosphorylated ERK1/2 (pERK1/2) and Beclin1 proteins were detected by western blot analysis. Beclin1 mRNA expression was also detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Autophagy was observed using fluorescence microscopy subsequent to monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining. Following treatment with the various concentrations of Apelin-13, the expression of the ERK1/2 protein remained at a similar level, whereas the expression of pERK1/2 increased in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with the control group, the increase was significant (P<0.05). Similarly, Beclin1 expression was upregulated at the protein and mRNA levels by Apelin-13 treatment in a dose-dependent manner and was significantly increased compared with the control group. However, following treatment with the Apelin-13 inhibitor PD98059, the expression of pERK1/2, Beclin1 protein and Beclin1 mRNA were significantly decreased (P<0.05). In addition, Apelin-13 induced the autophagy of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner, as revealed by MDC staining. PD98059 inhibited autophagy of HepG2 cells induced by Apelin-13. Therefore, Apelin-13 may promote autophagy in HepG2 cells by inducing the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and upregulating the expression of Beclin1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Band structure of transition metal oxides plays a critical role in many applications such as photo-catalysis, photovoltaics, and electroluminescent devices. In this work we report findings that the band structure of MoO3 can be significantly altered by a distortion in the octahedral coordination structure. We discovered that, in addition to epitaxial type of structural strain, chemical force such as hydrogen inclusion can also cause extended lattice distortion. The lattice distortion in hydrogenated MoO3 led to a significant reduction of the energy gap, overshadowing the Moss-Burstein effect of band filling. Charge doping simulations revealed that filling of conduction band drives the lattice distortion. This suggests that any charge transfer or n-type electron doping could lead to lattice distortion and consequentially a reduction in energy gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the image quality of fast neutron radiography, a converter made of scintillator and wavelength-shifting fibers has been developed. The appropriate parameters of the converter such as fibers arrangement, distance between fibers are optimized theoretically, and manufacture of the converter are also optimized. Fast neutron radiography experiments by 14 MeV neutrons are used to test this converter and kinds of traditional converters. The experiments' results matched the calculations. The novel converter's resolution is better than 1 mm and the light output is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to evaluate whether circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are a biomarker of systemic inflammation and a significant predictor of future chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outcome. During the study, 116 patients with stable COPD and 35 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects with normal pulmonary function were observed. Patient follow-up was also performed to evaluate the strength of the associations between CRP levels and future outcomes. The observations from the present study showed that serum CRP levels were significantly higher in stable COPD patients than in control subjects (4.48±0.83 vs. 1.01±0.27 mg/l, respectively; P<0.05). In addition, it was identified that a serum CRP concentration of >3 mg/l is a poor prognostic variable of COPD compared with a CRP concentration of ≤3 mg/l [hazard ratio (HR), 2.71; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05-6.99; P<0.05]. A quantitative synthesis of four studies including 1,750 COPD patients was performed and statistically similar results were obtained (HR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.14-2.07; P<0.01). The present study showed that circulating CRP levels are higher in stable COPD patients and, therefore, may be used as a long-term predictor of future outcomes. These observations highlight the importance of high sensitivity CRP assays in patients with stable COPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic and phonon properties of the platinum pnictide superconductors APt3P (A = Ca, Sr, and La) were studied using first-principles calculations. The spin-orbit-coupling effect is significant in LaPt3P but negligible in CaPt3P and SrPt3P. Moreover, SrPt3P has been demonstrated to exhibit an unexpected weak charge-density-wave (CDW) instability, which is related neither directly to the Fermi-surface nesting nor to the momentum-dependent electron-phonon coupling alone. The instability is absent in CaPt3P and can be quickly suppressed by the external pressure, accompanied with decreases in the phonon softening and BCS Tc. Our results suggest SrPt3P as a rare example where superconductivity is enhanced by the CDW fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of in-layer strain on the optical and electrical properties of monolayer green phosphorene, a new anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) material, has been systematically studied. The studied strain includes in-layer uniaxial strain and biaxial strain. Green phosphorene can be viewed as a combination of black and blue phosphorene segments in regular order. We adopt the HSE06 method to correct the calculated results. The results reveal that, firstly, strain-free monolayer green phosphorene is a stable direct band gap 2D semiconductor with the anisotropic optical property. The transmittance of infrared and visible light along the zigzag direction is better than that along the armchair direction. However, the transmittance of the UV-light along the armchair direction is better than that along the zigzag direction. Secondly, the optical properties, such as the absorption coefficient and reflectivity, along armchair and zigzag direction respond very differently to the various applied strains. As for the electronic properties, the band gap exhibits different changing trends by applying either in-layer biaxial strain or uniaxial strain in different directions. Besides, the near-band-edge electronic orbitals exhibit different bond nature in different directions. These results suggest that green phosphorene shows strong anisotropy in electronic and optical properties. By calculating and comparing the energies of near-band-edge states after applying different strains on green phosphorene, the reason for the anisotropy of the new 2D material is analyzed. This study implies that the electronic and optical properties of green phosphorene, a stable direct band gap anisotropic semiconductor, could be efficiently tuned by in-layer biaxial or uniaxial strain. Therefore, green phosphorene can be used in linear polarizers and other anisotropic photoelectric devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using polarized optical and magneto-optical spectroscopy, we have demonstrated universal aspects of electrodynamics associated with Dirac nodal lines that are found in several classes of unconventional intermetallic compounds. We investigated anisotropic electrodynamics of NbAs2 where the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) triggers energy gaps along the nodal lines. These gaps manifest as sharp steps in the optical conductivity spectra σ1(ω). This behavior is followed by the linear power-law scaling of σ1(ω) at higher frequencies, consistent with our theoretical analysis for dispersive Dirac nodal lines. Magneto-optics data affirm the dominant role of nodal lines in the electrodynamics of NbAs2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Histone deacetylase (HDAC)2 is expressed in airway epithelium and plays a pivotal role in inflammatory cells. However, the role of HDAC2 in allergic airway inflammation remains poorly understood. In the present study, we determined the role of HDAC2 in airway inflammation using in vivo models of house dust mite (HDM)-induced allergic inflammation and in vitro cultures of human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells exposed to HDM, IL-17A, or both. We observed that HDM-challenged Hdac2+/- mice exhibited substantially enhanced infiltration of inflammatory cells. Higher levels of T helper 2 cytokines and IL-17A expression were found in lung tissues of HDM-challenged Hdac2+/- mice. Interestingly, IL-17A deletion or anti-IL-17A treatment reversed the enhanced airway inflammation induced by HDAC2 impairment. In vitro, HDM and IL-17A synergistically decreased HDAC2 expression in HBE cells. HDAC2 gene silencing further enhanced HDM- and/or IL-17Ainduced inflammatory cytokines in HBE cells. HDAC2 overexpresion or blocking IL-17A gene expression restored the enhanced inflammatory cytokines. Collectively, these results support a protective role of HDAC2 in HDM-induced airway inflammation by suppressing IL- 17A production and might suggest that activation of HDAC2 and/or inhibition of IL-17A production could prevent the development of allergic airway inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we report an efficient and concise protocol for Cu-catalyzed cross-coupling of unactivated alkyl halides/peusudohalides with terminal alkynes to afford internal alkynes with the assistance of various amides as directing groups. Different alkyl halides/pseudohalides exhibited excellent reactivities, and the inactivated alkyl chlorides and sulfonates showed better reactivity than bromides/iodides. This is the first successful example to apply alkyl chlorides and sulfonates directly in cross-coupling with terminal alkynes in the absence of any additives. A Cu catalyst was found to be more effective than other transition metal catalysts. This reaction also exhibited a broad substrate scope with respect to terminal alkynes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies suggest that YKL-40, also called chitinase-3-like-1 protein, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases. It is currently unknown, however, whether YKL-40 plays a role in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) and airway remodeling. Methods: We evaluated serum YKL-40 levels in patients with AECOPD (n = 37) and stable COPD (n = 44), as well as in controls (n = 47). The association between YKL-40 expression and airway remodeling was analyzed. The effects of YKL-40 on collagen synthesis of primary human lung fibroblasts were also evaluated. Results: Serum YKL-40 levels were elevated at AECOPD onset as compared to stable disease (median [interquartile range], 78.6 [52.3-122.2] ng/ml versus 46.7 [31.2-75.5] ng/ml; p = 0.0005). The ideal cutoff point for distinguishing patients with AECOPD from those with stable COPD was 64.7 ng/ml (AUC: 0.71; 95%CI: 0.596 to 0.823). YKL-40 expression correlated with airflow obstruction, C-reactive protein, and collagen deposition. Stimulation with YKL-40 promoted collagen production in lung fibroblasts through ERK- and p38-dependent mechanisms. Conclusions: YKL-40 expression is up-regulated in patients with COPD and correlates with exacerbation attacks and may contribute to airway remodeling by acting on lung fibroblasts. The current data may provide insight into the underlying pathogenesis of COPD, in which YKL-40 has an important pathogenic role. Trial Registration: ChiCTR-OCC-13003567. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical properties of CsNi2Se2 were characterized by electrical resistivity, magnetization and specific heat measurements. We found that the stoichiometric CsNi2Se2 compound undergoes a superconducting transition at Tc = 2.7 K. A large Sommerfeld coefficient (∼77.90 mJ/mol K−2) was obtained from the normal state electronic specific heat. However, the Kadowaki–Woods ratio of CsNi2Se2 was estimated to be about 0.041 × 10cm(mol K2/mJ)2, indicating the absence of strong electron–electron correlations. In the superconducting state, we found that the zero-field electronic specific heat data, Ces(T) (0.5 K T < 2.7 K), can be fitted well with a two-gap BCS model, indicating the multi-gap feature of CsNi2Se2. The comparison with the density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggested that the large in these nickel selenide superconductors may be related to the large density of states (DOS) at the Fermi surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By systematic chemical substitution of Pt and Ni in the newly discovered superconductor Nb2PdS5 (Tc ~ 6 K), we study the evolution of its superconducting properties with doping, focusing on the behavior of the upper critical field Hc2. In contrast to the previous results of Se doping on S sites, superconductivity is found to be rather robust against the Pt and Ni dopants on the one-dimensional Pd chains. Most strikingly, the reduced Hc2, i.e., the ratio of Hc2/Tc, is seen to be significantly enhanced by the heavier Pt doping but suppressed in the Ni-doped counterparts, distinct from the nearly constant value in the Se-doped samples. Our findings therefore suggest that the upper critical field of this system can be modified in a tunable fashion by chemical doping on the Pd chains with elements of varying mass numbers. The spin-orbit coupling on the Pd sites, by inference, should play an important role in the observed superconductivity and on the large upper critical field beyond the Pauli pair-breaking field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes of cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) reflect immunologic reactions of the lung in pulmonary malignancies. Detection of biomarkers in BALF might serve as an important method for differential diagnosis of lung cancer. A total of 78 patients admitted into hospital with suspected lung cancer were included in our study. BALF samples were obtained from all patients, and were analyzed for TGF-β1, IL-6, and TNF-α using commercially available sandwich ELISA kits. The levels of TGF-β1 in BALF were significantly higher in patients with lung cancer compared with patients with benign diseases (P = 0.003). However, no significant difference of IL-6 (P = 0.61) or TNF-α (P = 0.72) in BALF was observed between malignant and nonmalignant groups. With a cut-off value of 10.85 pg/ml, TGF-β1 showed a sensitivity of 62.2%, and a specificity of 60.6%, in predicting the malignant nature of pulmonary disease. Our data suggest that TGF-β1 in BALF might be a valuable biomarker for lung cancer. However, measurement of IL-6 or TNF-α in BALF has poor diagnostic value in lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel kind of amphiphilic hyperbranched polymer (AHP), poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-co-polystyrene (HPTAM-co-PS), was synthesized via the combination of reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization and self-condensing vinyl polymerization (RAFT-SCVP). HPTAM-co-PS was functionalized via the highly efficient Menschutkin click reaction, resulting in hyperbranched poly(propargyl quaternary ammonium methacrylate)-co-polystyrene (HPPrAM-co-PS) with a hydrophilic quaternary ammonium salt core and hydrophobic PS shell. The average numbers of dye molecules trapped by each molecule of HPPrAM-co-PS (24.2 kDa) were 24.1 for methyl orange (MO), 22.0 for fluorescein sodium (FS), 24.2 for rose bengal (RB), and 238.4 for Congo red (CR). The polymer-dye complexes show excellent colouring effects for both PS and poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) (SBS) membranes; the colour of the membrane containing AHP is very stable and uniform. Our work opens an avenue for the design of efficient dye-colouring additives and for the application of hyperbranched polymers in the field of polymer colouring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the isovalent substitution effect by partially introducing Se on the S site in the newly discovered superconductor Nb2PdS5 (Tc ∼ 6 K) whose upper critical field is found to be far above its Pauli paramagnetic limit. In this Nb2Pd(S1-xSex)5 (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.8) system, superconductivity is systematically suppressed by the Se concentration and ultimately disappears when x ⩾ 0.5, after which a semiconductinglike ground state emerges. In spite of the considerably reduced Tc with Se doping, the ratio of the upper critical field Hc2 to Tc remains unaffected. Moreover, the size of the heat capacity jump at Tc is smaller than that expected for a BCS superconductor, implying that a strong-coupling theory cannot be the origin of this large upper critical field. In addition, the low-lying quasiparticle excitations are consistent with a nodeless gap opening over the Fermi surface. These results combined impose severe constraints on any theory of exotic superconductivity in this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed an isovalent substitution study in a layered titanium oxypnictide system BaTi2(Sb1-xBix)2O (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.40) by measurements of x-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity, and magnetic susceptibility. The parent compound BaTi2Sb2O is confirmed to exhibit superconductivity at 1.5 K as well as charge- or spin-density wave (CDW/SDW) ordering below 55 K. With the partial substitution of Sb by Bi, the lattice parameters a, c, and c/a all increase monotonically, indicating a negative chemical pressure and lattice distortion for the (super)conducting Ti2Sb2O layers. Bi doping elevates the superconducting transition temperature to its maximum Tc=3.7 K at x=0.17, and then Tc decreases gradually with further Bi doping. A metal-to-nonmetal transition takes place around x=0.3, and superconductivity at ~1 K survives on the nonmetal side. The CDW/SDW anomaly, in comparison, is rapidly suppressed by Bi doping, and vanishes for x ⩾ 0.17. The results are discussed in terms of negative chemical pressure and the disorder effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]