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Growing evidence indicates that testosterone is a conspicuous marker for assessing male bone mineral density (BMD). However, research regarding testosterone levels and BMD is sparse and controversial for females. Hence, we aimed to investigate the association between testosterone levels and BMD among adult females aged 40–60 years in the United States. In this cross-sectional study, all participants were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011–2016). A weighted general linear model was used to estimate the association between testosterone levels and lumbar BMD. Age, race, income level, education level, body mass index (BMI), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level, serum uric acid (UA) level, serum calcium (Ca) level, serum phosphorus (P) level, the use of oral contraceptive pills, the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), smoking status, drinking status, and the use of corticosteroids were adjusted using a weighted multiple regression model. Subgroup analyses were performed using the same regression model. We included 2198 female participants in the study, and testosterone levels were positively associated with lumbar BMD after adjusting for all the covariates (β = 1.12, 95% CI 0.31, 1.93). In subgroup analyses, the associations in the fourth quartile of testosterone levels were stronger for the participants aged 40–50 years old (quartile 4, β = 42.92, 95% CI 7.53, 78.30 vs. quartile 1) and 50 to 60-year-old (quartile 4, β = 32.41, 95% CI 0.14, 64.69 vs. quartile 1). Similar results were found in other subgroups, including subgroups for race (Non-Hispanic Black, Other), income level (income ≤ 1.3, income > 3.5), education level (college or higher), BMI > 25 kg/m2, BUN levels ≤ 20 mg/dL, UA levels ≤ 6 mg/dL, Ca levels ≤ 10.1 mg/dL, P levels ≤ 5 mg/dL, drinking status, never smoker, never taking birth control pills, and HRT user. There was no interaction among the covariates in the association between lumbar BMD and testosterone levels (P for interaction > 0.05). In US adult females aged 40–60 years, the testosterone level was a positive predictor of the lumbar BMD after adjusting for covariates.

This prospective study was aimed to evaluate the clinical value of narrow-band imaging (NBI), magnification endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (NBIME) and magnification endoscopy with acetic acid enhancement and narrow-band imaging (AA-NBIME) in the diagnosis of small colorectal polyps. We studied 261 small colorectal polyps from 122 patients with the use of above three techniques. Lesions were resected for histopathological analysis. The endoscopic images were independently reviewed by three experts and three non-experts and the diagnostic accuracy and image definition were compared among the modalities. The “experts-agreed” diagnostic accuracy was 87.7% for NBI versus 91.6% for NBIME versus 94.6% for AA-NBIME. The “non-experts-agreed” diagnostic accuracy was 80.1% for NBI versus 84.3% for NBIME versus 89.3% for AA-NBIME. All experts and non-experts diagnosed the small colorectal polyps statistically more accurately with AA-NBIME than NBI (P P

The large catalytic subunit of acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS, EC 2.2.1.6) of Thermotoga maritima (TmcAHAS) was prepared in this study. It possesses high specific activity and excellent stability. The protein and a whole cell catalyst overexpressing the protein were applied to the preparation of α-hydroxyketones including acetoin (AC), 3-hydroxy-2-pentanone (HP), and (R)-phenylacetylcarbinol (R-PAC). The results show that AC and HP could be produced in high yields (84% and 62%, respectively), while R-PAC could be synthesized in a high yield (about 78%) with an R/S ratio of 9:1. Therefore, TmcAHAS and the whole cell catalyst overexpressing the protein could be practically useful bio-catalysts in the preparation of α-hydroxyketones including AC, HP, and R-PAC. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that bacterial AHAS was used as a catalyst to prepare HP with a good yield, and also the first time that TmcAHAS was employed to synthesize AC and R-PAC.

It is a challenging task to seek a highly-efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of water splitting. Non-noble Co-based nanomaterials are considered as earth-abundant and effective catalysts to lower overpotential and increase polarization current density of OER. In this work, we reported, for the first time, a “rapid solvent-evaporation” strategy for the synthesis of three-dimensional (3D) cobalt complex hierarchical architectures constructed by two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets. The 3D structured cobalt complexes have excellent performances in catalyzing OER with lower onset potential, overpotential, Tafel slope and better stability than commercial IrO2. Superior electrochemical performances would be beneficial from the unique 3D structure. This extremely simple method for 3D Co complex with good OER activities makes the complex be promising commercial OER catalyst to replace earth-rare and expensive IrO2.

Natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) is an intra-abdominal procedure that does not require an auxiliary incision to take a surgical sample from the abdominal wall through the natural orifice, but there are few systematic clinical studies on it. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the safety and feasibility of NOSES. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data and follow-up of 165 patients with low rectal cancer who underwent NOSES or conventional laparoscopic surgery at our center from January 2013 to June 2015. From the perioperative data and postoperative follow-up results of both groups, patients in the NOSES group had less intraoperative bleeding (49.3 ± 55.8 ml vs. 75.1 ± 57.3 ml, p = 0.02), shorter postoperative gastrointestinal recovery (42.3 ± 15.5 h vs. 50.1 ± 17.0 h, p = 0.01), less postoperative analgesic use (35.6% vs. 57.6%, p = 0.02), lower postoperative pain scores, lower rate of postoperative complications (6.8% vs. 25.4%, p = 0.01), better satisfaction of the image and cosmesis of the abdominal wall postoperatively, and higher quality of life. Moreover, there was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) between two groups. Overall, NOSES is a safe and reliable minimally invasive surgical technique for patients with low rectal cancer.

The challenge of decoding information about complex diseases hidden in huge number of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes is undertaken based on five dbGaP studies. Current genome-wide association studies have successfully identified many high-risk SNPs associated with diseases, but precise diagnostic models for complex diseases by these or more other SNP genotypes are still unavailable in the literature. We report that lung cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer as the first three top cancers worldwide can be predicted precisely via 240–370 SNPs with accuracy up to 99% according to leave-one-out and 10-fold cross-validation. Our findings (1) confirm an early guess of Dr. Mitchell H. Gail that about 300 SNPs are needed to improve risk forecasts for breast cancer, (2) reveal an incredible fact that SNP genotypes may contain almost all information that one wants to know, and (3) show a hopeful possibility that complex diseases can be precisely diagnosed by means of SNP genotypes without using phenotypical features. In short words, information hidden in SNP genotypes can be extracted in efficient ways to make precise diagnoses for complex diseases.

Meniscal degeneration is a very common condition in elderly individuals, but the underlying mechanisms of its occurrence are not completely clear. This study examines the molecular mechanisms of meniscal degeneration. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) of the right rear limbs of seven Wuzhishan mini-pigs were resected (meniscal degeneration group), and the left rear legs were sham-operated (control group). After 6 months, samples were taken for gene chip analysis, including differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis, gene ontology (GO) analysis, clustering analysis, and pathway analysis. The selected 12 DEGs were validated by real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The two groups showed specific and highly clustered DEGs. A total of 893 DEGs were found, in which 537 are upregulated, and 356 are downregulated. The GO analysis showed that the significantly affected biological processes include nitric oxide metabolic process, male sex differentiation, and mesenchymal morphogenesis, the significantly affected cellular components include the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, and the significantly affected molecular functions include transition metal ion binding and iron ion binding. The pathway analysis showed that the significantly affected pathways include type II diabetes mellitus, inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels, and AMPK signaling pathway. The results of RT-PCR indicate that the microarray data accurately reflects the gene expression patterns. These findings indicate that several molecular mechanisms are involved in the development of meniscal degeneration, thus improving our understanding of meniscal degeneration and provide molecular therapeutic targets in the future.

© 2020, The Author(s). Grain refinement has been a topic of extensive research due to its scientific and technological importance as a common industrial practice for over seven decades. The traditional approach to grain refinement has been to reduce nucleation undercooling by the addition of potent nucleant particles. Here we show both theoretically and experimentally that more significant grain refinement can be achieved through increasing nucleation undercooling by using impotent nucleant particles. Based on the concept of explosive grain initiation, this new approach is illustrated by grain initiation maps and grain refinement maps and validated by experiments. It is anticipated that this new approach may lead to a profound change in both nucleation research and industrial practice well beyond metal casting. EPSRC (grant number EP/N007638/1).

Quantitative visualization and characterization of stress-field evolution during fracture rapid growth is critical for understanding the mechanisms that govern the deformation and failure of solids in various engineering applications. However, the direct capture and accurate characterization of a rapidly-changing stress field during crack propagation remains a challenge. We report an experimental method to quantitatively visualize and characterize rapid evolution of the stress-field during crack propagation in a transparent disc model containing a penetrating fusiform crack. Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology and a stress-sensitive photopolymer resin were adopted to produce the disc model and to alleviate the residual processing stress that usually blurs the dynamic stress field due to overlap. A photoelastic testing system that synchronized a high-speed digital camera and a pulsed laser with a nanosecond full width at half maximum (FWHM) was used to capture the rapid evolution of the stress field in the vicinity of crack tips. The results show that the proposed method is suitable to directly visualize and quantitatively characterize the stress-field evolution during crack rapid propagation. It is proved that the crack propagation velocity is strongly governed by the stress field around the crack tips.

We study the parity-time (PT) symmetry characteristics and the applications to nonlinear optics in an optical trimer system consisting of two indirectly coupled standing-mode micro-cavities and a two-level quantum emitter (QE) placed at the intersection of two cavities. We find this trimer system can exhibit analogical phenomena as those in typical $$\mathscr{PT}$$ 𝒫 𝒯 -symmetric dimer systems composed of a passive cavity directly coupled to an active cavity. This system, whose $$\mathscr{PT}$$ 𝒫 𝒯 symmetry is demonstrated by our analytic results, can be transformed between the $$\mathscr{PT}$$ 𝒫 𝒯 -symmetric phase and the $$\mathscr{PT}$$ 𝒫 𝒯 -broken phase by adjusting relevant system parameters. Then, with this system, we observe both the linear and nonlinear parts of the transmission field become remarkably enhanced and can further reach peak values around the $$\mathscr{PT}$$ 𝒫 𝒯 breaking point. In addition, we show the negative correlation between the gain degree of the linear (nonlinear) transmission part and decay rate of the QE. This trimer proposal is feasible for experiments and may provide a promising platform for $$\mathscr{PT}$$ 𝒫 𝒯 -symmetric optics of low-light levels. Moreover, novel phenomena arising from the QE-cavity-coupling induced nonlinearity gain could be explored to fabricate photonic devices and controllable nonlinear optical media for quantum information process and communication of photons.

Thoracic aortic dissection (TAAD) is one of the most common types of aortic diseases. Although surgery remains the main method of treatment, the high rate of postoperative gastrointestinal complications significantly influences the effects of surgery and the recovery process. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying this disease remain unclear. To address these problems, we examined changes in the gut microbiota in 40 thoracic aortic dissection patients with abdominal complications after surgery. Levels of white blood cells (WBC), neutrophile granulocytes (NE), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were higher in all patients after surgery. Levels of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10, were also higher after surgery. A metagenome analysis revealed that levels of Oscillibacter, Anaerotruncus, Alistipes, and Clostridium difficile were higher after the operation. The abundance of functional genes, such as the spermidine/putrescine transport system permease protein, the flagellar motor switch protein, and branched-chain amino acid transport system proteins, was also higher post-surgery. These changes likely contribute to diarrhea, bloating, gastrointestinal bleeding, and other abdominal complications after surgery, and our research opens up new treatment possibilities for patients suffering from abdominal complications after surgical treatment.

Herein, an insulating biopolymer is exploited to guide the controlled formation of micro/nano-structure and physical confinement of alpha-delta mixed phase crystalline grains of formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI(3)) perovskite, functioning as charge carrier concentrators and ensuring improved radiative recombination and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). This composite material is used to build highly efficient near-infrared (NIR) FAPbI(3) Perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) that exhibit a high radiance of 206.7 W/sr*m(2), among the highest reported for NIR-PeLEDs, obtained at a very high current density of 1000 mA/cm(2), while importantly avoiding the efficiency roll-off effect. In depth photophysical characterization allows to identify the possible role of the biopolymer in i) enhancing the radiative recombination coefficient, improving light extraction by reducing the refractive index, or ii) enhancing the effective optical absorption because of dielectric scattering at the polymer-perovskite interfaces. Our study reveals how the use of insulating matrixes for the growth of perovskites represents a step towards high power applications of PeLEDs. Funding Agencies|Regione Puglia through Samset2018 [r_puglia/A00_137/PROT/17/07/2017/001578]; MIUR (Italian Ministry of University and Research) through PRIN PERovskite-based Solar cells: towards high Efficiency and lOng-term stability (PERSEO) [20155LECAJ]; Fondazione di Sardegna - Convenzione triennale tra la Fondazione di Sardegna e gli Atenei Sardi Regione Sardegna [L.R. 7/2007, F72F16003040002]; SIR project "Two-Dimensional Colloidal Metal Dichalcogenides based Energy-Conversion Photovoltaics" (2D ECO), Bando SIR (Scientific Independence of young Researchers) 2014 MIUR Decreto Direttoriale 23 gennaio 2014 [197, RBSI14FYVD, CUP: B82I15000950008]; Regione Puglia; ARTI [LSBC6N4, GOWMB21]; China Scholarship Council

Mangroves are critical in global carbon budget while vulnerable to exotic plant invasion. Spartina alterniflora, one of typical salt marsh plant grows forcefully along the coast of China, has invaded the native mangrove habitats in Zhangjiang Estuary. However, the effects of S. alterniflora invasion on soil carbon gases (CH4 and CO2) emission from mangroves are not fully understood. Accordingly, we conducted a field experiment to investigate the soil CH4 and CO2 emission during growing seasons in 2016 and 2017 at four adjacent wetlands, namely bare mudflat (Mud), Kandelia obovata (KO), Avicennia marina (AM) and S. alterniflora (SA). Potential methane production (PMP), potential methane oxidation (PMO), functional microbial abundance and soil biogeochemical properties were measured simultaneously. Our results indicate that S. alterniflora invasion could dramatically increase soil CH4 emissions mainly due to the enhancement in PMP which facilitated by soil EC, MBC, TOC and mcrA gene abundance. Additionally, S. alterniflora invasion decreases soil CO2 emission. Both heterotrophic microbial respiration (16S rRNA) and methane oxidation (pmoA and ANME-pmoA) are responsible for CO2 emission reduction. Furthermore, S. alterniflora invasion greatly increases GWP by stimulating CH4 emissions. Thus, comparing with mangroves, invasive S. alterniflora significantly (p 4 emission while reduces CO2 emission.

Inflammatory activity plays a central role in the development of carotid rupture-vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques, which is one of the major contributors to acute ischemic stroke. Our objective was to characterize carotid intraplaque neovascularizations (INP) using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and evaluate plaque burden through exploring the relationship between INP and cell count of peripheral leukocytes. Sixty-two patients with large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) were enrolled in this study. CEUS was performed to characterize the carotid artery plaques. The correlations between the CEUS imaging features of carotid plaques and leukocyte counts were investigated. The results showed that the characteristic parameters derived from CEUS, including peak of time-intensity curve (TIC-P), mean of time-intensity curve (TIC-M), peak (FC-P), sharpness (FC-S) and area under the curve (FC-AUC) compared with the control group, were all increased in the stroke group. TIC-P, TIC-M and FC-P were negatively related to lymphocytes, respectively. FC-S and FC-AUC were positively correlated with neutrophils, respectively. Our study indicated carotid INP was closely related to the peripheral leukocytes count. CEUS may serve as a useful tool to predict vulnerability of plaque.

The chemokine fractalkine (CX3CL1) and its receptor CX3CR1 play a fundamental role in the pathophysiology of stroke. Previous studies have focused on a paracrine interaction between neurons that produce fractalkine and microglia that express CX3CR1 receptors in the central nervous system. Recent findings have demonstrated the functional expression of CX3CR1 receptors by hippocampal neurons, suggesting their involvement in neuroprotective and neurodegenerative actions. To elucidate the roles of neuronal CX3CR1 in neurodegeneration induced by ischemic stroke, a mouse model of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) was employed. In the pMCAO mice, increased CX3CR1 levels, apoptosis-associated morphological changes, and Caspase 3-positive neuronal cells were observed in the striatum and in the hippocampus 24 hours after occlusion. Upregulation of CX3CR1 in ischemic neurons is associated with neuronal apoptotic cell death. In contrast, ischemia-induced apoptotic neuronal cell death was decreased in CX3CR1 deficient mice. Cultured primary hippocampal neurons obtained from CX3CR1 deficient mice were more resistant to glutamate-induced excitotoxicity by blocking calcium influx than those from wild-type mice. For the first time, we reported that neuronal CXCR1 mediates neuronal apoptotic cell death in ischemia. Our results suggest that modulating CXCR1 activity offers a novel therapeutic strategy for stroke.

To better constrain the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision, a combined palaeomagnetic and geochronological study of the far western Lhasa terrane was conducted on the Duoai Formation lava flows (~113–116 Ma), as well as on the Early Cretaceous Jiega Formation limestone. Following detailed rock magnetic, petrographical, and palaeomagnetic experiments, characteristic remanent magnetisation directions were successfully isolated from most samples using principal component analysis. The tilt-corrected direction groups yielded a palaeopole at 69.1°N, 319.8°E with A95 = 4.8° (N = 19). A primary origin for the magnetisation is consistent with positive fold tests. Our results from the Early Cretaceous units, combined with published palaeomagnetic data obtained from Cretaceous strata from the Lhasa and western Qiangtang terranes, show that these two terranes had already collided by the Early Cretaceous, the Lhasa terrane had a relatively east-west alignment, and it remained at a relatively stable palaeolatitude during the entire Cretaceous. Comparing the Cretaceous palaeolatitude calculated for the western Lhasa terrane with those from Eurasia and Mongolia suggests a latitudinal convergence of ~1400 ± 290 km and ~1800 ± 300 km, respectively, since the Early Cretaceous.

Mangroves are critical in global carbon budget while vulnerable to exotic plant invasion. Spartina alterniflora, one of typical salt marsh plant grows forcefully along the coast of China, has invaded the native mangrove habitats in Zhangjiang Estuary. However, the effects of S. alterniflora invasion on soil carbon gases (CH4 and CO2) emission from mangroves are not fully understood. Accordingly, we conducted a field experiment to investigate the soil CH4 and CO2 emission during growing seasons in 2016 and 2017 at four adjacent wetlands, namely bare mudflat (Mud), Kandelia obovata (KO), Avicennia marina (AM) and S. alterniflora (SA). Potential methane production (PMP), potential methane oxidation (PMO), functional microbial abundance and soil biogeochemical properties were measured simultaneously. Our results indicate that S. alterniflora invasion could dramatically increase soil CH4 emissions mainly due to the enhancement in PMP which facilitated by soil EC, MBC, TOC and mcrA gene abundance. Additionally, S. alterniflora invasion decreases soil CO2 emission. Both heterotrophic microbial respiration (16S rRNA) and methane oxidation (pmoA and ANME-pmoA) are responsible for CO2 emission reduction. Furthermore, S. alterniflora invasion greatly increases GWP by stimulating CH4 emissions. Thus, comparing with mangroves, invasive S. alterniflora significantly (p

Extensive phytochemical investigation on the whole herbs of Delphinium anthriscifolium var. majus led to the identification of fourteen diterpenoid alkaloids, including three new C20–diterpenoid alkaloids (anthriscifolsines A–C, 1–3), six new C19–diterpenoid alkaloids (anthriscifolrines A–F, 4–9), and five know compounds (10–14). Among them, anthriscifolsine A represents a novel C20–diterpenoid alkaloid characterized by a seco C–ring. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods, including HR-ESI–MS, X–ray, and 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Bioactivity of compounds 3–6 was evaluated for their cytotoxicity against the MCF–7, HepG2 and H460 cancer cell lines.

Our previous studies have demonstrated that activation of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors downregulated Kir channels in chronic ocular hypertension (COH) rats, thus contributing to Müller cell gliosis, characterized by upregulated expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). In the present study, we explored possible signaling pathways linking Kir channel inhibition and GFAP upregulation. In normal retinas, intravitreal injection of BaCl2 significantly increased GFAP expression in Müller cells, which was eliminated by co-injecting mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor U0126. The protein levels of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase1/2 (p-ERK1/2) and its upstream regulator, p-MEK, were significantly increased, while the levels of phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK) and p38 kinase (p-p38) remained unchanged. Furthermore, the protein levels of phosphorylated cAMP response element binding protein (p-CREB) and c-fos were also increased, which were blocked by co-injecting ERK inhibitor FR180204. In purified cultured rat Müller cells, BaCl2 treatment induced similar changes in these protein levels apart from p-p38 levels and the p-p38:p38 ratio showing significant upregulation. Moreover, intravitreal injection of U0126 eliminated the upregulated GFAP expression in COH retinas. Together, these results suggest that Kir channel inhibition-induced Müller cell gliosis is mediated by the MEK-ERK/p38-CREB/c-fos signaling pathway.

Adaptive evolution by serial subcultivation of co-cultured Bacillus thuringiensis and Ketogulonicigenium vulgare significantly enhanced the productivity of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid in two-step vitamin C production. The adaptation mechanism in K. vulgare-B. thuringiensis consortium was investigated in this study based on comparative genomics and metabolomics studies. It was found that the growth, anti-oxidation, transcription and regulation were significantly enhanced in the adapted consortium. The mutation of the genes, which encode amidohydrolase in adapted K. vulgare (K150) and amino acid permease in adapted B. thuringiensis (B150), resulted in the increase of some amino acids levels in each species, and further enhanced the metabolic exchange and growth ability of the two species. Besides, the mutation of the gene encoding spore germination protein enhanced the metabolic levels of tricarboxylic acid cycle, and decreased the sporulation in B150, which induced its growth. The mutation of the genes, which encode NADPH nitroreductase in K150 and NADPH-dependent FMN reductase in B150, may enhance the ability of anti-oxidation. Overall, the long-term adaptation of K. vulgare and B. thuringiensis influenced the global regulation and made them more inseparable in metabolite exchange. Our work will provide ideas for the molecular design and optimization in microbial consortium.

We used a rat model of whole thorax x-ray irradiation to profile the microRNA (miRNA) in lung and blood up to 4 weeks after radiation. MiRNA from normal and irradiated Wistar rat lungs and whole blood were analyzed by next-generation sequencing and the changes by radiation were identified by differential deRNA-seq 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks after irradiation. The average total reads/library was 2,703,137 with a mean of 88% mapping to the rat genome. Detailed profiles of 100 of the most abundant miRNA in rat blood and lung are described. We identified upregulation of 4 miRNA, miR-144-5p, miR-144-3p, miR-142-5p and miR-19a-3p in rat blood 2 weeks after radiation that have not previously been shown to be altered after radiation to the lung. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis identified signaling of inflammatory response pathways. These findings will support development of early detection methods, as well as mechanism(s) of injury and mitigation in patients after radiotherapy or radiological accidents.

More and more new natural products have been found in Streptomyces species, which become the significant resource for antibiotics production. Among them, Streptomyces lydicus has been known as its ability of streptolydigin biosynthesis. Herein, we present the genome analysis of S. lydicus based on the complete genome sequencing. The circular chromosome of S. lydicus 103 comprises 8,201,357 base pairs with average GC content 72.22%. With the aid of KEGG analysis, we found that S. lydicus 103 can transfer propanoate to succinate, glutamine or glutamate to 2-oxoglutarate, CO2 and L-glutamate to ammonia, which are conducive to the the supply of amino acids. S. lydicus 103 encodes acyl-CoA thioesterase II that takes part in biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, and harbors the complete biosynthesis pathways of lysine, valine, leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine and isoleucine. Furthermore, a total of 27 putative gene clusters have been predicted to be involved in secondary metabolism, including biosynthesis of streptolydigin, erythromycin, mannopeptimycin, ectoine and desferrioxamine B. Comparative genome analysis of S. lydicus 103 will help us deeply understand its metabolic pathways, which is essential for enhancing the antibiotic production through metabolic engineering.

In this paper, a spoof surface plasmon polarions (SPPs) transmission line is designed by patterning thin metal film in open-cross shape arranged in array. Numerical simulations show the proposed open-cross array can support spoof SPPs with enlarged propagation constant and hence enhanced confinement at metal/dielectric interface as compared to the reported ultra-thin plasmonic waveguide with the rectangular groove or solid-cross. Furthermore, a differential transmission line pair is built with such two close plasmonic arrays. A narrow metal strip locates at the symmetrical plane of the two SPPs waveguides and acts as a resonator to realize common-mode rejection at specific frequency. The notch frequency for common mode can be adjusted by tuning the metal strip length of the resonator while differential mode propagation remains unaffected. Both simulated and experimental results with good agreement are given to verify the proposed idea.

An efficient copper-catalyzed direct 2-arylation of benzoxazoles and benzoimidazoles with aryl bromides is presented. The CuI/PPh3-based catalyst promotes the installation of various aryl and heteroaryl groups through a C-H activation process in good to excellent yields. The cytotoxicity of obtained 2-aryl benzoxazoles (benzoimidazoles) was also evaluated and 1-methyl-2-(naphthalen-1-yl)benzoimidazole showed potential cytotoxicity.

A severe bottleneck exists during HIV-1 mucosal transmission. However, viral properties that determine HIV-1 transmissibility are not fully elucidated. We identified multiple transmitted/founder (T/F) viruses in six HIV-1-infected subjects by analyzing whole genome sequences. Comparison of biological phenotypes of different T/F viruses from the same individual allowed us to more precisely identify critical determinants for viral transmissibility since they were transmitted under similar conditions. All T/F viruses used coreceptor CCR5, while no T/F viruses used CXCR4 or GPR15. However, the efficiency for different T/F viruses from the same individual to use CCR5 was significantly variable, and the differences were even more significant for usage of coreceptors FPRL1, CCR3 and APJ. Resistance to IFN-α was also different between T/F viruses in 2 of 3 individuals. The relative fitness between T/F viruses from the same subject was highly variable (2–6%). Importantly, the levels of coreceptor usage efficiency, resistance to IFN-α and viral fitness were not associated with proportions of T/F viruses in each individual during acute infection. Our results show that the modest but significant differences in coreceptor usage efficiency, IFN-α sensitivity and viral fitness each alone may not play a critical role in HIV-1 transmission.

Previous neuroimaging studies have demonstrated a hierarchical functional structure of the frontal cortices of the human brain, but the temporal course and the electrophysiological signature of the hierarchical representation remains unaddressed. In the present study, twenty-one volunteers were asked to perform a nested cue-target task, while their scalp potentials were recorded. The results showed that: (1) in comparison with the lower-level hierarchical targets, the higher-level targets elicited a larger N2 component (220–350 ms) at the frontal sites, and a smaller P3 component (350–500 ms) across the frontal and parietal sites; (2) conflict-related negativity (non-target minus target) was greater for the lower-level hierarchy than the higher-level, reflecting a more intensive process of conflict monitoring at the final step of target detection. These results imply that decision making, context updating, and conflict monitoring differ among different hierarchical levels of abstraction.

In this study, we report a facile fabrication of ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) nanosheet hybrid composite, α-Fe2O3 nanosheet@Ni(OH)2 nanosheet, by a two-step hydrothermal method to achieve high specific capacitance and good stability performance at high charging/discharging rates when serving as electrode material of supercapacitors. The α-Fe2O3@Ni(OH)2 hybrid electrode not only has a smooth decrease of the specific capacitance with increasing current density, compared with the sharp decline of single component of Ni(OH)2 electrode, but also presents excellent rate capability with a specific capacitance of 356 F/g at a current density of 16 A/g and excellent cycling stability (a capacity retention of 93.3% after 500 cycles), which are superior to the performances of Ni(OH)2 with a lower specific capacitance of 132 F/g and a lower capacity retention of 81.8% at 16 A/g. The results indicate such hybrid structure would be promising as excellent electrode material for good performances at high current densities in the future.

Formation of solid solutions is a good strategy to acquire materials with special properties and bring forth new type of applications or enhance the performance of currently existing devices. In this study, hollow ZnxCd1−xS nanospheres with different molar ratios were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process. The products were fully characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. It was found that the photocatalysis performance of the as-prepared samples could be enhanced by formation of ZnxCd1−xS solid solutions. In addition, their photocatalytic activities are dependent on the Zn/Cd molar ratios and nanostructures of ZnxCd1−xS solid solutions. Hollow Zn0.2Cd0.8S spheres exhibit extremely high photocatalytic activity and good re-usability, and the photocatalytic conversion of RhB reaches as high as 96% after 50 min of irradiation.

Salts containing radical cations of 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(isopropylthio)benzene (TPB) and 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(ethylthio) benzene (TEB) have been successfully synthesized with "Equation missing". These newly synthesized salts have been characterized by UV-Vis absorption, EPR spectroscopy, conductivity measurement, single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis as well as DFT calculation. This study raises the first crystal structure of conductive π-stacking radical cation with single phenyl ring and reveals their conductivity has relationship with the stack structure which affected by the substituent.