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Background: Urinary calprotectin is a novel biomarker that distinguishes between intrinsic or prerenal acute kidney injury (AKI) in different studies. However, these studies were based on different populations and different AKI criteria. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of urinary calprotectin and compared its diagnostic performance in different AKI criteria and study populations. Method: In accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane database up to September 2018. The diagnostic performance of urinary calprotectin (sensitivity, specificity, predictive ratio, and cutoff point) was extracted and evaluated. Result: This study included six studies with a total of 502 patients. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.90 and 0.93, respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio (LR) was 15.15, and the negative LR was 0.11. The symmetric summary receiver operating characteristic (symmetric SROC) with pooled diagnostic accuracy was 0.9667. The relative diagnostic odds ratio (RDOC) of the adult to pediatric population and RDOCs of different acute kidney injury criteria showed no significant difference in their diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion: Urinary calprotectin is a good diagnostic tool for the discrimination of intrinsic and prerenal AKI under careful inspection after exclusion of urinary tract infection and urogenital malignancies. Its performance is not affected by different AKI criteria and adult or pediatric populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a new mixed condition to obtain a new compact embedding theorem. Under this theorem, we study the existence and multiplicity of nontrivial homoclinic solutions for a class of second-order Hamiltonian systems with variable separated type nonlinear terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We sought to compare clinical outcomes in patients with acute type A aortic dissection that undergone surgical repair during in‐hours (IH) versus out‐of‐hours (OOH). Methods: An electronic literature search was done till March 2020 to include studies with comparative cohorts of IH versus OOH. Primary outcomes were 30‐day mortality, stroke, and reoperation for bleeding; secondary outcomes were acute kidney injury, total hospital stay, and intensive care unit stay. Results: Six articles with a total of 3744 patients met the inclusion criteria. Mean age was similar, 60 ± 12 versus 60 ± 13 in IH versus OOH (p =.25). Aortic root and total arch replacement were similar in both cohorts, 22% in IH versus 25% in OOH (risk ratio [RR], 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI: 0.78, 1.55]; p =.58) and 29% in IH versus 32% in OOH (RR, 0.96; 95% CI [0.89, 1.04], p =.37) respectively. Reoperation for bleeding and stroke rate were similar, with 18% in IH versus 23% in OOH (RR, 0.89; 95% CI [0.73, 1.08]; p =.24), and 12% in IH versus 13% in OOH (RR, 0.83; 95% CI [0.66, 1.03]; p =.09) respectively. Thirty‐day mortality was significantly lower in IH (RR, 0.81; 95% CI [0.72, 0.90]; p =.0001). Conclusion: There was higher 30‐day mortality rate during OOH surgery, yet this difference diminished following sensitivity analysis. There were no significant differences in major postoperative outcomes. Therefore, operating on such cases should be decided on clinical priority without delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With ageing populations, new elderly end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) cases rise. Unlike younger patients, elderly ESKD patients are less likely to undergo kidney transplant, and therefore the decision of receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) is more crucial. A total of 36,852 patients, aged more than 65, who were newly diagnosed with ESKD and initiated renal replacement therapy between 2013 and 2019 were identified. These patients were categorized into two groups: the PD group and the HD group according to their long-term renal replacement treatment. After propensity score matching, the PD group (n = 1628) displayed a lower incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) (10.09% vs. 13.03%, hazard ratio (HR): 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66–0.83), malignancy (1.23% vs. 2.14%, HR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.40–0.76), and MACCE-associated mortality (1.35% vs. 2.25%, HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.46–0.84) compared to the HD group (n = 6512). However, the PD group demonstrated a higher rate of infection (34.09% vs. 24.14%, HR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.20–1.37). The risks of all-cause mortality and infection-associated mortality were not different. This study may provide valuable clinical information to assist elderly ESKD patients to choose HD or PD as their renal replacement therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective • This study is aimed to examine the correlation between the transitions in the muscular strength pre and post arthroscopic meniscus suture surgery. Methods • A total of 87 patients records were collected from the electronic medical records of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from 2020 to 2021. Patients in the operative group underwent arthroscopic meniscus sutures. The isokinetic muscular strength test system (ISOMED2000) tool was utilized to examine the isokinetic intensity of the knee joins on both sides and the balance was marked and adjusted to the training methods before the test. The HSS score was used to assess the transitions in the knee activity. Results • There was a significant variation in the extensor muscle strength found on the affected portion where F value was observed at 3747.845 (P < .01). The extensor knee joint strength of the affected side was less than the healthy side when compared with pre-operation, one month, three months, and six months post-surgery where F values were found to be 5287.41, 5510.517, and 1947.91 respectively (P < .001). After six months of the surgery, there was an improvement in the isokinetic muscular strength of patients, where the measurement of the damaged side and the healthier side was observed as 89.11 ±6.78 and 93.45±5.59, respectively. Conclusion • Arthroscopic meniscus suture surgery is observed to have a superior influence on the treatments. After 6 months of surgery, the muscular force of the knee extensor on the affected joint portion enhanced remarkably in contrast to the other durations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic‐inorganic hybrid multifunctional materials have received significant attention due to their potential applications in smart devices such as phase‐change memory (PCM), resistive random‐access memory (ReRAM). Yet, devices application requires achieving a balance between fast switching speeds, long‐term stability, and high cycling endurance in materials still facing difficulties. Herein, we report two hybrid phase transition compounds: (CMQ)BiCl5(CMQ=Chloromethyl Quinuclidin‐3‐one) (1) and (FMQ)2SbBr5(FMQ=Fluoromethyl Quinuclidin‐3‐one) (2), both two compounds exhibit high phase transition temperature, dual‐stable behavior in dielectric during reversible phase transition process. Notably, 1 exhibit small dielectric change after multiple dielectric state switching. Furthermore, investigate the influence of halogen substitution (F to Cl) for compound properties, which show an Increasing transition temperature (9 K) and raising structural dimension (0D to 1D). Additionally, using first principles, analyze the electronic structure of 1 and find that it has a 3.4 eV wide bandgap, closing to GaN semiconductor (3.4 eV). This work provides a new insight into developing the next‐generation phase transition compounds and chemical modification enhances material performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXene, a new intercalation pseudocapacitive electrode material, possesses a high theoretical capacitance for supercapacitor application. However, limited accessible interlayer space and active sites are major challenges to achieve this high capacitance in practical application. In order to stimulate the electrochemical activity of MXene to a greater extent, herein, a method of hydrothermal treatment in NaOH solution with reducing reagent-citric acid is first proposed. After this treatment, the gravimetric capacitance of MXene exhibits a significant enhancement, about 250% of the original value, reaching 543 F g−1 at 2 mV s−1. This improved electrochemical performance is attributed to the tailoring of an interlayer structure and surface chemistry state. An expanded and homogenized interlayer space is created, which provides enough space for electrolyte ions storage. The –F terminations are replaced with O-containing groups, which enhances the hydrophilicity, facilitating the electrolyte's accessibility to MXene's surface, and makes MXene show stronger adsorption for electrolyte ion-H+, providing sufficient electrochemical active sites. The change in terminations further leads to the increase in Ti valence, which becomes more prone to reduction. This work establishes full knowledge of the rational MXene design for electrochemical energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A retrospective analysis was conducted based on the clinical data from 60 patients older than 16 years from January 2016 to January 2021. All the patients were newly diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) with an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of zero. We compared the hematological response and survival of haploidentical–allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HID-HSCT) (n = 25) and intensive immunosuppressive therapy (IST) (n = 35) treatments. At six months, the overall response rate and complete response were significantly higher in the HID-HSCT group than those in the IST group (84.0% vs. 40.0%, P = 0.001; 80.0% vs. 17.1%, P = 0.001). With a median follow-up of 18.5 months (4.3~30.8 months), patients in the HID-HSCT group had longer overall survival and event-free survival (80.0% vs. 47.9%, P = 0.0419; 79.2% vs. 33.5%, P = 0.0048). These data suggested that HID-HSCT might be an effective alternative treatment option for adult patients with SAA with an ANC of zero, which requires further validation in an additional prospective study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most lethal malignancies, which is generally resistant to various treatments. Tumor angiogenesis is deemed to be a pivotal rate-determining step for tumor growth and metastasis. Therefore, anti-angiogenetic therapy is a rational strategy to treat various cancers. However, numerous clinical trials on anti-angiogenetic therapies for PC are overwhelmingly disappointing. The unique characteristics of tumor blood vessels in PC, which are desperately lacking and highly compressed by the dense desmoplastic stroma, are reconsidered to explore some optimized strategies. In this review, we mainly focus on its specific characteristics of tumor blood vessels, discuss the current dilemmas of anti-angiogenic therapy in PC and their underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, we point out the future directions, including remodeling the abnormal vasculature or even reshaping the whole tumor microenvironment in which they are embedded to improve tumor microcirculation, and then create therapeutic vulnerabilities to the current available therapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen implicated in both acute and chronic diseases, which resists antibiotic treatment, in part by forming physical and chemical barriers such as biofilms. Here, we explore the use of confocal Raman imaging to characterize the three-dimensional (3D) spatial distribution of alkyl quinolones (AQs) in P. aeruginosa biofilms by reconstructing depth profiles from hyperspectral Raman data. AQs are important to quorum sensing (QS), virulence, and other actions of P. aeruginosa. Three-dimensional distributions of three different AQs (PQS, HQNO, and HHQ) were observed to have a significant depth, suggesting 3D anisotropic shapes—sheet-like rectangular solids for HQNO and extended cylinders for PQS. Similar to observations from 2D imaging studies, spectral features characteristic of AQs (HQNO or PQS) and the amide I vibration from peptide-containing species were found to correlate with the PQS cylinders typically located at the tips of the HQNO rectangular solids. In the QS-deficient mutant lasIrhlI, a small globular component was observed, whose highly localized nature and similarity in size to a P. aeruginosa cell suggest that the feature arises from HHQ localized in the vicinity of the cell from which it was secreted. The difference in the shapes and sizes of the aggregates of the three AQs in wild-type and mutant P. aeruginosa is likely related to the difference in the cellular response to growth conditions, environmental stress, metabolic levels, or other structural and biochemical variations inside biofilms. This study provides a new route to characterizing the 3D structure of biofilms and shows the potential of confocal Raman imaging to elucidate the nature of heterogeneous biofilms in all three spatial dimensions. These capabilities should be applicable as a tool in studies of infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jacobin is a breed of fancy pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding that originated in Asia. In the present work, we report the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Jacobin pigeon for the first time. The total length of the mitogenome was 17,245 bp with the base composition of 30.18% for A, 23.98% for T, 31.88% for C, and 13.96% for G and an A-T (54.17 %)-rich feature was detected. It harbored 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 1 non-coding control region. The arrangement of all genes was identical to the typical mitochondrial genomes of pigeon. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Jacobin pigeon would serve as an important data set of the germplasm resources for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Impaired value-based decision-making is a feature of substance and behavioral addictions. Loss aversion is a core of value-based decision-making and its alteration plays an important role in addiction. However, few studies explored it in internet gaming disorder patients (IGD). Methods: In this study, IGD patients (PIGD) and healthy controls (Con-PIGD) performed the Iowa gambling task (IGT), under functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We investigated group differences in loss aversion, brain functional networks of node-centric functional connectivity (nFC) and the overlapping community features of edge-centric functional connectivity (eFC) in IGT. Results: PIGD performed worse with lower average net score in IGT. The computational model results showed that PIGD significantly reduced loss aversion. There was no group difference in nFC. However, there were significant group differences in the overlapping community features of eFC. Furthermore, in Con-PIGD, loss aversion was positively correlated with the edge community profile similarity of the edge between left IFG and right hippocampus at right caudate. This relationship was suppressed by response consistency in PIGD. In addition, reduced loss aversion was negatively correlated with the promoted bottom-to-up neuromodulation from the right hippocampus to the left IFG in PIGD. Discussion and conclusions: The reduced loss aversion in value-based decision making and their related edge-centric functional connectivity support that the IGD showed the same value-based decision-making deficit as the substance use and other behavioral addictive disorders. These findings may have important significance for understanding the definition and mechanism of IGD in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been accepted to play key roles in the development and progression of mutiple cancers including colorectal cancer (CRC). Here, we identified circ-METTL9, derived from 2 to 4 exons of METTL9 gene, may promote CRC progression by accelerating cell cycle progression. However, the role and mechanism of circ-METTL9 in CRC remains unclear. Based on our data, the expression of circ-METTL9 was significantly upregulated in CRC tissues and markedly increased in advanced tumors in CRC patients. Functional experiments demonstrated that circ-METTL9 overexpression promoted CRC cells proliferation and migration in vitro , and simultaneously enhanced CRC tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays proved that circ-METTL9 might be a miRNA sponge, and RNA pulldown assays showed the interaction between circ-METTL9 and miR-551b-5p. Notably, cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6), a key regulator in cell cycle, is a conserved downstream target of miR-551b-5p. Taken together, our findings highlight a novel oncogenic function of circ-METTL9 in CRC progression via circ-METTL9/miR-551b-5p/CDK6 axis, which may serve as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for CRC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibition of the mevalonate pathway using statins has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI). Here, we investigated whether partial inhibition of this pathway by targeting geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase large subunit 1 (GGPPS1), a catalase downstream of the mevalonate pathway, was effective at treating lung inflammation in ALI. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was intratracheally instilled to induce ALI in lung-specific GGPPS1-knockout and wild-type mice. Expression of GGPPS1 in lung tissues and alveolar epithelial cells was examined. The severity of lung injury and inflammation was determined in lung-specific GGPPS1 knockout and wild-type mice by measuring alveolar exudate, neutrophil infiltration, lung injury, and cell death. Change in global gene expression in response to GGPPS1 depletion was measured using mRNA microarray and verified in vivo and in vitro. We found that GGPPS1 levels increased significantly in lung tissues and alveolar epithelial cells in LPS-induced ALI mice. Compared with wild-type and simvastatin treated mice, the specific deletion of pulmonary GGPPS1 attenuated the severity of lung injury by inhibiting apoptosis of AECs. Furthermore, deletion of GGPPS1 inhibited LPS-induced inflammasome activation, in terms of IL-1β release and pyroptosis, by downregulating NLRP3 expression. Finally, downregulation of GGPPS1 reduced the membrane expression of Ras-related protein Rab10 and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and inhibited the phosphonation of IκB. This effect might be attributed to the downregulation of GGPP levels. Our results suggested that inhibition of pulmonary GGPPS1 attenuated LPS-induced ALI predominantly by suppressing the NLRP3 inflammasome through Rab10-mediated TLR4 replenishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

18F-FDG PET/MRI has been applied to the diagnosis and preoperative staging in various tumor types; however, reports using PET/MRI in gastric cancer are rare because of motion artifacts. We investigated the value of PET/MRI for preoperative staging compared with PET/CT in gastric cancer (GC). Thirty patients with confirmed GC underwent PET/CT and PET/MRI. TNM staging for each patient was determined from the PET/MRI and PET/CT images. The diagnostic performance of PET/MRI and PET/CT was calculated compared with the pathologic TNM stage. The two methods were compared using statistical analyses. The accuracy for T staging between PET/MRI and PET/CT was 76.9% vs. 57.7%, respectively. In T1 and T4a staging, the sensitivity and specificity for PET/MRI vs. PET/CT was 1.0 vs. 0.6 and 1.0 vs. 0.8, respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) for PET/MRI vs. PET/CT was 1.00 vs. 0.78 in the T1 stage, 0.73 vs. 0.66 in the T2 stage, 0.72 vs. 0.57 in the T3 stage, and 0.86 vs. 0.83 in the T4 stage. The accuracy for N staging of PET/MRI vs. PET/CT was 53.9% vs. 34.0%, and that for N0 vs. N+ was 85.0% vs. 77.0%. The sensitivity for PET/MRI in N3 staging was 0.67 and 0 for PET/CT. There was a statistically significant difference in the AUC for N1 staging (PET/MRI vs. PET/CT, 0.63 vs. 0.53, p=0.03). SUVmax/ADC positively correlated with tumor volume and Ki-67. PET/MRI performs more accurately in TNM staging compared with PET/CT and is optimal for accurate N staging. SUVmax/ADC has positive correlations with tumor volume and Ki-67. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Development of electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with low overpotential and robust stability remains as one of the most serious challenges for energy conversion. Herein, a serviceable and highly active HER electrocatalyst with multilevel porous structure (Co‐Co2P nanoparticles@N, P doped carbon/reduced graphene oxides (Co‐Co2P@NPC/rGO)) is synthesized by Saccharomycete cells as template to adsorb metal ions and graphene nanosheets as separating agent to prevent aggregation, which is composed of Co‐Co2P nanoparticles with size of ≈104.7 nm embedded into carbonized Saccharomycete cells. The Saccharomycete cells provide not only carbon source to produce carbon shells, but also phosphorus source to prepare metal phosphides. In order to realize the practicability and permanent stability, the binderless and 3D electrodes composed of obtained Co‐Co2P@NPC/rGO powder are constructed, which possess a low overpotential of 61.5 mV (achieve 10 mA cm−2) and the high current density with extraordinary catalytic stability (1000 mA cm−2 for 20 h) in 0.5 m H2SO4. The preparation process is appropriate for synthesizing various metal or metal phosphide@carbon electrocatalysts. This work may provide a biological template method for rational design and fabrication of various metals or metal compounds@carbon 3D electrodes with promising applications in energy conversion and storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of an extraordinarily superconductive large energy gap in SrTiO3 supported single-layer FeSe films has recently initiated a great deal of research interests in surface-enhanced superconductivity and superconductive ultrathin films fabricated on crystal surfaces. On account of the instability of ultra-thin films in air, it is desirable to perform electrical transport measurement in ultra-high vaccum (UHV). Here we review the experimental techniques of in situ electrical transport measurement and their applications on superconductive ultrathin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of oral arsenic (the realgar-indigo naturalis formula, RIF) and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on coagulopathy in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) compared with intravenous arsenic trioxide (ATO) and ATRA during induction. Mitoxantrone was added to all the patients at a dose of 1.4 mg/m 2 per day for 5–7 days. D-dimer levels, prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen (Fbg) levels and the platelet count were comparably analyzed among 83 newly diagnosed APL patients treated with RIF (n = 45) or with ATO (n = 38). Since induction therapy with RIF and ATRA, the median levels of Fbg, PT and platelets were recovered to the normal range within 4 days, 10 days and 28 days, respectively. The last day of platelet and plasma transfusion was day 12 (range: 0–24 days) and day 3 (range: 0–27 days), respectively. Among the 42 patients with a disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) score = 4, the consumption of transfused platelets was less in the RIF group than that in the ATO group ( P = 0.037). In the 17 patients with a DIC score <4, prompt recovery of Fbg levels ( P = 0.028) was observed in the RIF group compared with that in the ATO group ( P = 0.401). RIF and ATO showed similar effects on the recovery of coagulopathy in APL patients. RIF had a potential beneficial effect in accelerating the recovery of thrombocytopenia and hypofibrinogenemia for subclinical DIC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein Arginine Methyltransferases (PRMTs) are crucial players in diverse biological processes, and dysregulation of PRMTs has been linked to various human diseases, especially cancer. Therefore, small molecules targeting PRMTs have profound impact for both academic functional studies and clinical disease treatment. Here, we report the discovery of N1-(2-((2-chlorophenyl)thio)benzyl)-N1-methylethane-1,2-diamine (28d, DCPR049_12), a highly potent inhibitor of type I PRMTs that has good selectivity against a panel of other methyltransferases. Compound 28d effectively inhibits cell proliferation in several leukemia cell lines and reduces the cellular asymmetric arginine dimethylation levels. Serving as an effective inhibitor, 28d demonstrates the mechanism of cell killing in both cell cycle arrest and apoptotic effect as well as downregulation of the pivotal mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) fusion target genes such as HOXA9 and MEIS1, which reflects the critical roles of type I PRMTs in MLL leukemia. These studies present 28d as a valuable inhibitor to investigate the role of type I PRMTs in cancer and other diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sunlight-driven electrolytic splitting of water is a promising route to hydrogen production, and widespread implementation has called for the development of inexpensive, robust and large-scale electrodes. Here, nickel nanoparticles partially embedded into carbon fiber cloth (NiΦCFC) is prepared on a large scale (e.g., 40 cm × 40 cm) via a metal-mediated pitting process, which is adopted to fabricate hydrogen evolution reaction electrode for the first time. The partially embedded structure is beneficial for regulating the electron density state of carbon, exposing the nickel catalytic sites and improving the catalytic stability. The two kinds of electrochemical area and density functional theory results confirm that the interface effect between nickel and defective carbon leads into a low Gibbs free energy of H* adsorption. The NiΦCFC as flexible and efficient electrodes require a small overpotential of 131.5 mV to achieve −10 mA cm −2 . Note that the two-electrode electrolyzer composed of FeNi layered double hydroxide loaded on CFC (NiFe-LDH/CFC) (+)//NiΦCFC (−) possesses a voltage of 1.54 V at −10 mA cm −2 , which can also be powered by a solar cell. The facile and large-scale preparation of NiΦCFC as flexible electrodes could be adapted for the industrial hydrogen production powered by solar energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mn-Bi-Te class of compounds are recently discovered topological insulators with broken time-reversal-symmetry, which host unique quantum anomalous Hall and axion insulator states. Their key characteristics are believed to be sufficiently understood by models in a single-particle picture. Here, we apply scanning tunneling microscopy to study the electronic properties of MnBi2Te4 and MnBi4Te7. Unexpectedly, our quasiparticle interference (QPI) results demonstrate that rotational symmetry of the crystal breaks, i.e. a nematic-like pattern arises, in certain energy range but persists in others. Moreover, our data in the presence of an external magnetic field rule out the possibility of the material magnetism as an origin of the C2 symmetric QPI pattern. This study reveals that the interaction in the Mn-Bi-Te class of topological materials may play an essential role in their electronic states, and thus opens a new path for investigating the interplay between wavefunction topology and symmetry breaking phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia is a life-treating fungal infection. • Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is often recommended as the first-line drug for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia prophylaxis. • Low-dose trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole has good tolerance and few adverse effects. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of low-dose trimethoprim (TMP)-sulfamethoxazole (SMX) (TMP-SMX) as the primary prophylaxis for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) in adult recipients of kidney transplantation. Three kinds of prescriptions in kidney recipients were documented, including 20 mg TMP/100 mg SMX oral daily, 20 mg TMP/100 mg SMX oral every other day, and nonprophylaxis. The primary outcome was the incidence of PJP in the first 180 days of follow-up after kidney transplantation. The secondary outcomes were changes in renal and liver function. Among the 1469 recipients, 1066 (72.56%) received 20 mg TMP/100 mg SMX daily, 127 (8.65%) received 20 mg TMP/100 mg SMX every other day, and 276 (18.79%) did not have prophylaxis prescription. The 276 recipients in the nonprophylaxis group had 124.92 person-years of follow-up, during which PJP occurred in 29 patients, for an incidence rate of 23.21 (95% confidence interval 15.76-32.72) per 100 person-years. The TMP-SMX daily group and the TMP-SMX every other day group had 524.89 and 62.07 person-years of follow-up, respectively, with no occurrence of PJP. There was no significant difference among the three groups in changes in renal and liver function (P >0.05, respectively). A total of 111 recipients in each group were enrolled in the propensity score matching analysis. It was revealed that the 111 nonprophylaxis recipients had 51.27 person-years of follow-up and 10 PJP cases. Prophylaxis was considered effective because there was a significant difference between the three groups (P <0.001). Low-dose TMP-SMX prophylaxis significantly reduces the incidence of PJP within 6 months after kidney transplantation and has a favorable safety profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radix Bupleuri (RB), with a Chinese name Chaihu, is one of the most popular Traditional Chinese herbal drug. It can be baked with vinegar to afford vinegar-baked Radix Bupleuri (VBRB), which is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for liver diseases treatment. In the present study, nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomic approach was used to compare the liver protective effect of RB and two types of VBRBs, which were prepared by two kinds of vinegar. The contents of 14 metabolites in the liver of carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) treated mice were significantly altered in comparison with control group, and VBRB prepared by Shanxi vinegar showed best effect as revealed by the amount and regulatory degree of the perturbed metabolites. The metabolism pathways analysis showed that the liver protective effect was related with the energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, ketone body metabolism, glutathione metabolism, amino acids metabolism and nucleotide synthesis. The results presented here showed that metabolomic approach made it possible to disclose the subtle biological difference between two types of VBRB, which highlight the potential of metabolomic approach to quantitatively compare the pharmacological effect of the herbal drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two novel ferrocene-containing macrocyclic triazoles ( L1 and L2 ) and their acyclic analogs ( L3 and L4 ) were easily prepared by “click” reaction. The anions binding abilities of L1 – L4 were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry methods. The results revealed that the receptors L1 – L4 have exclusive electrochemical sensing of H 2 PO 4 − , with the shift in redox potentials of L1 – L4 towards the cathodic values. The binding mechanisms between the receptors and H 2 PO 4 − were examined by 1 H NMR titrations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given multiple material performance advantages, ceramic matrix composite (CMC) material has become one of the most promising hot structural materials used for thermal protection system in hypersonic vehicles. Under harsh thermal exposure of vehicles in flight, the design of connection structure would be a critical issue in improving load-carrying efficiency and ensuring service safety of aircraft structures in service environments. However, little attention was paid on mechanical behavior and its factors affecting the mechanical property of CMC joining at elevated temperature. To address this concern, a 3D finite element model coupled with progressive damage analysis is carried out to predict high temperature tensile properties and failure behavior of single-lap, double-bolt CMC/superalloy joints assembled by two serial protruding-head bolts. In the implementation of progressive damage analysis of 2D plain-woven C/SiC composites, a user-defined subroutine UMAT including a nonlinear constitutive model, 3D Alvaro failure criterion and Tan's material degradation rule were embedded into the general package ABAQUS® through Fortran program interface. A parametric study considering geometries of joints was performed to evaluate their resultant influence on high temperature tensile behavior and the associated damage mechanisms for the CMC/superalloy double-bolt joint. New findings were provided for full exploitation of high performance through geometric design of ceramic matrix composite hot structure for hypersonic aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The endpoint for all lupus anticoagulant (LA) assays is a clotting time in seconds. This study aimed to clarify the use of normalizing clotting time to ratio and how the use of different denominators is relevant. Methods: Whether normalization could reduce reagent variability and possess better diagnostic performances was assessed; denominators included reference interval (RI) mean, local‐obtained pooled plasma clotting time, standard plasma clotting time, and control plasma clotting time (CNPPct). Moreover, whether day‐to‐day variation in CNPPct would impact its application was studied. Results: If not normalized, significant difference existed among different reagent batches; if normalized (against any denominators), no statistically significant difference existed anymore. The validation of in‐house RIs achieved a 100% success rate. Normalization against different denominators had different RIs, but the same diagnostic efficacies (when a prolonged LA1 is used to suggest further LA‐related testings, normalized LA1 demonstrated a better sensitivity: 1.0 vs. 0.95). Normalization against a "daily" CNPPct (obtained alongside test plasmas day to day) demonstrated low inter‐day variations (LA1: ~1%, LA2: ~1%), and it could employ the RI for normalization against a "fixed" CNPPct (obtained alongside normal plasmas when the RI was established). Conclusions: Normalizing clotting time reduces reagent‐batch variability and promotes the adoption of common RIs, and therefore reduces the necessity of establishing RI for new reagent batches. Normalized LA1 is more sensitive when used to suggest further LA‐related testings, and therefore reduces the rate of missed LA diagnosis. All denominators are of the same application value. Day‐to‐day variation in CNPPct did not impact its application as a reliable denominator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly monodisperse Au nanorods (NRs) with different aspect ratios were separated from home-synthesized polydisperse samples using a gradient centrifugation method. The morphology, size and its distribution, and photo-absorption property were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and UV–visible spectroscopy. Subsequently, using colloidal Au NRs (36.2 nm ×10.7 nm) with 97.4% yield after centrifugation and Au nanospheres (NSs) (22.9 ± 1.0 nm in diameter) with 97.6% yield as Au substrates, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) were recorded using laser excitation at 632.8 nm. Results show that surface enhancement factors (EF) for Au NRs and NSs are 6.2 × 105 and 5.7 × 104 using 1.0 × 10−6 M 2,4-D, respectively, illustrating that EF value is a factor of ∼10 greater for Au NRs substrates than for Au NSs substrates. As a result, large EF are a mainly result of chemical enhancement mechanisms. Thus, it is expected that Au NPs can find a comprehensive SERS application in the trace detection of pesticide residues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Room temperature morphology evolution of Pb thin films, prepared on the Si(111)-7×7 substrate at a low temperature (145K), is investigated by reflection high energy electron diffraction, scanning tunnelling microscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. A critical thickness of 10 monolayers (ML) is identified, below which all the flat films formed at low temperature are unstable against evolution into interconnected islands at room temperature. From 10ML to 21ML, Pb films become stable at room temperature and grow via a bi-layer mode. Above 21ML, the film growth turns into a layer-by-layer mode. A “beating effect” is observed to modulate this special growth mode, which changes the film stability from even (odd) layers to odd (even) layers with a 9ML period. Morphology and electronic structure analysis show that the quantum size effect is responsible for the different morphology evolution behaviour and the magic stability of Pb films. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Pritelivir is a novel helicase-primase inhibitor in clinical development for treatment of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections. In preclinical work, resistance-mediating mutations were identified in the HSV-2 genome at 3 loci in the UL5 gene and 1 locus in UL52.Methods: To evaluate whether daily pritelivir treatment results in emergence of resistance-mediating mutations, we analyzed HSV-2 strains detected in genital swab specimens from trial participants who were randomly assigned to receive different dosages of pritelivir. We sequenced resistance regions from 87 participants' samples, the UL5 gene in 73 samples from 44 participants, and the UL52 gene in 71 samples from 43 participants.Results: We found no evidence that pritelivir induced known resistance-mediating mutations or for amino acid variation at other loci. In one participant's HSV-2 isolate, we found a previously unidentified mutation close to the putative resistance-mediating region in UL5 and subsequently determined in vitro susceptibility to pritelivir. We characterized mutations from 32 cultivated HSV-2 isolates previously found to be susceptible to pritelivir in vitro and identified several novel mutations that most likely reflect preexisting variation in circulating HSV-2.Conclusions: This study demonstrates evidence of retained susceptibility of HSV-2 to pritelivir in immunocompetent persons following daily therapy for up to 28 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurofeedback training (NFT) of the alpha rhythm has been used for several decades but is still controversial in regards to its trainability and effects on working memory. Alpha rhythm of the frontoparietal region are associated with either the intelligence or memory of healthy subjects and are also related to pathological states. In this study, alpha NFT effects on memory performances were explored. Fifty healthy participants were recruited and randomly assigned into a group receiving a 8-12-Hz amplitude (Alpha) or a group receiving a random 4-Hz amplitude from the range of 7 to 20 Hz (Ctrl). Three NFT sessions per week were conducted for 4 weeks. Working memory was assessed by both a backward digit span task and an operation span task, and episodic memory was assessed using a word pair task. Four questionnaires were used to assess anxiety, depression, insomnia, and cognitive function. The Ctrl group had no change in alpha amplitude and duration. In contrast, the Alpha group showed a progressive significant increase in the alpha amplitude and total alpha duration of the frontoparietal region. Accuracies of both working and episodic memories were significantly improved in a large proportion of participants of the Alpha group, particularly for those with remarkable alpha-amplitude increases. Scores of four questionnaires fell in a normal range before and after NFT. The current study provided supporting evidence for alpha trainability within a small session number compared with that of therapy. The findings suggested the enhancement of working and episodic memory through alpha NFT. Hum Brain Mapp 37:2662-2675, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we reported the synthesis of nanoporous carbide-derived carbons (CDCs) from a new precursor, titanium tin carbides (Ti2SnC), via chlorination at 400-1100C. At low chlorination temperature (400-500C), as-synthesized CDCs mainly consisted of amorphous carbon and chlorides. As the chlorination temperature increased up to 600C, chlorides disappeared, and the main composition of CDCs was amorphous carbon. At high chlorination temperature, there was a trend of graphitization. The microstructure of CDCs was observed and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Some graphite-like sheet structures in CDCs were found. Specific surface area (SSA) and pore volume of CDCs increased with chlorination temperature, except an abnormal decrease of the CDC chlorinated at 900C. CDC chlorinated at 1100C had the largest SSA, 1580m2/g. In order to apply these materials as novel hydrogen/methane storage media in the area of energy efficient transport, gas adsorption properties of CDCs were measured. For CDC chlorinated at 1100C, pore volume uptakes are cm3/g at 60 bar (25C) for methane, and cm3/g at 35 bar (C) for hydrogen, respectively. It was suggested that CDCs from Ti2SnC are promising materials for hydrogen/methane adsorptive storage. Nanoporous carbide-derived carbons (CDCs) with large surface area, tunable pore size, and abundant precursors are excellent gas storage materials for energy efficient transport. This paper is the first report on CDCs produced from Ti2SnC via chlorination at the temperature range of 400-1100C. Gas adsorption experiments also confirmed that Ti2SnC-CDCs are novel and capable materials for hydrogen/methane storage by further optimization design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To utilize the wasted coat resources, which are usually discarded in the process of mung bean derived food, and understand the traditional use of mung bean, nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolic fingerprinting approach was used to compare the chemical composition between the coat and kernel. The results showed that the flavonoids, isovitexin and vitexin, were only present in the coat, while the kernel contained higher levels of amino acids and sugars. In addition, the coat showed much stronger 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity than the kernel, which was in accordance with the analysis result from the biplot of partial least squares. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Piezoelectricity, solar vaporization, water activation, wave-driven A Wave-Driven Piezoelectric Solar Evaporator for Water Purification (Adv. Keywords: piezoelectricity; solar vaporization; water activation; wave-driven EN piezoelectricity solar vaporization water activation wave-driven 1 1 1 06/06/22 20220602 NES 220602 B Solar Vaporisation b In article number 2200087, Jie Yang, Wei Yang and co-workers report a solar evaporation membrane integrated with a piezoelectric ultrathin nanofilm, which can trigger water activation near the electrical field generated through continuously converting the wave energy from the ocean to electrical energy, thus facilitating water evaporation with an additional improvement of over 20% compared to an equivalent non-piezoelectric evaporator. [Extracted from the article]

MXenes, a new family of two-dimensional materials, are terminated by O, OH and F groups. The existence of the oxygen-containing functional groups indicates a potential application in supercapacitor based on a redox mechanism. However, the irreversible stacking of MXenes will lead to an insufficient utilization of these functional groups and thus a decrease in the supercapacitive performance. To solve the problem, we synthesized a composite material comprised of carbon nanotube (CNT) and Ti 3 C 2 sheets (d-Ti 3 C 2 ) delaminated from MXenes by ultrasonic stirring. The FTIR result suggests that the ultrasonication has no significant effect on the oxygen-containing functional groups. The resultant composites exhibit significantly higher volumetric capacitance and better capacitance retention (during 5–100 mv s −1 ) than d-Ti 3 C 2 . A highest volumetric capacitance of 393 F cm −3 at 5 mv s −1 in KOH electrolyte can be obtained when the weight ratio of d-Ti 3 C 2 to CNT is 2:1. In addition, the volumetric capacitance has no significant degradation even after 10000 cycles in cycling stability test, showing an excellent cycling stability compared with metal oxides. These enhanced electrochemical performances can be ascribed to the introduction of CNTs, which impede the stacking of Ti 3 C 2 , enlarge the distance between Ti 3 C 2 sheets and improve the electrical conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure, phase transition, elastic, and thermodynamic properties of OsN2 have been studied via first-principles calculations. It is shown that the CoSb2 structure is more stable than other structures. By the calculated H-P relations at 0 K, we found that the phase transition of OsN2 from CoSb2 structure to marcasite structure ( ε → δ) occurs at 16.8 GPa, while the phase transition pressure between pyrite structure and fluorite structure ( γ → α) is 80 GPa. The results of obtained phase transitions are also confirmed by bond length, sound velocity, and thermal expansion coefficient under different pressures. The pressure dependences of the elastic constants, mechanical stability, and mechanical anisotropy of four structures of OsN2 have been investigated by finding that the fluorite (pyrite and marcasite) structure OsN2 is mechanically stable under hydrostatic pressure (up to 60 GPa). However, the monoclinic structure is mechanically unstable under pressure from 0 to 60 Gpa. The calculated elastic anisotropic factors show that OsN2 possesses high elastic anisotropy under pressure. Moreover, the calculations on total density of states show that OsN2 of different structures has a metallic character, in agreement with previous theoretical results. The thermodynamic properties and sound velocity under diverse pressures of OsN2 of the four structures have been also investigated successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To kill urothelial cancer cells while preserving healthy cells, this study used photothermal therapy (PTT). PTT techniques target urothelial cancer cells using gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and a green light laser. Materials and Methods. The GNPs were conjugated with anti-Mucin 7 antibodies, which acted as a probe for targeting tumor cells. Conjugated GNPs were exposed to a green light laser (532 nm) with sufficient thermal energy to kill the transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs). Results. According to our results, nanoparticles conjugated with Mucin 7 antibodies damaged all types of cancer cells (MBT2, T24, 9202, and 8301) at relatively low energy levels (i.e., 500 laser shots at 10 W/cm2 in power, 1.6 Hz in frequency, and 300 ms in duration). Nonconjugated nanoparticles required 30 W/cm2 or more to achieve the same effect. Cell damage was directly related to irradiation time and applied laser energy. Conclusions. The minimally invasive PTT procedure combined with Mucin 7 targeted GNPs is able to kill cancer cells and preserve healthy cells. The success of this treatment technique can likely be attributed to the lower amount of energy required to kill targeted cancer cells compared with that required to kill nontargeted cancer cells. Our in vitro pilot study yielded promising results; however, additional animal studies are required to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The aim of this study was to detect the role of osteoprotegerin ( OPG) gene variants in early-onset severe pre-eclampsia. Material and Methods The associations of 163 A/ G (rs3102735) and 950 T/ C (rs2073617) polymorphisms of OPG with pre-eclampsia (60 cases of early-onset severe pre-eclampsia and 91 cases of late-onset pre-eclampsia), as well as with the clinical manifestations of individuals, were evaluated. Results Data showed lower frequencies of TC and TC + CC genotypes and C allele of 950 T/ C in the early-onset group than those of the control and late-onset groups ( P = 0.003; P = 0.002; P = 0.005; P = 0.031; P = 0.021; P = 0.022). However, no significant differences were found in genotype and allele frequencies between the late-onset and control groups. Moreover, no significant differences were observed in the genotype and allele frequencies of 163 A/ G polymorphism among the three groups. In the early-onset group, 950 T/ C TC + CC genotype carriers exhibited significantly lower systolic blood pressure ([147.25 ± 11.89] mmHg) and 24-h urine protein ([2.46 ± 0.92] g) than the TT carriers ([165.88 ± 20.39] mmHg, [3.64 ± 0.81] g) ( P = 0.003; P = 0.001, respectively). Serum creatinine was significantly higher in women with the 163 A/ G AG + GG genotypes ([82.31 ± 11.66] μmol/L) than in those with the AA genotype ([71.90 ± 16.85] μmol/L) ( P = 0.003). Conclusion This study implicates that OPG gene variants may be associated with early-onset severe pre-eclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus, called "Yesanqi" in Chinese, is a new variety of P. vietnamensis, which was first found in Jinping County, the southern part of Yunnan Province, China. Compared with other Panax plants, this species contains higher content of ocotillol-type saponin, majonoside R2. Despite the pharmacological importance of ocotillol-type saponins, little is known about their biosynthesis in plants. Hence, P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus is a suitable medicinal herbal plant species to study biosynthesis of ocotillol-type saponins. In addition, the available genomic information of this important herbal plant is lacking. Results: To investigate the P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus transcriptome, Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 sequencing platform was employed. We produced 114,703,210 clean reads, assembled into 126,758 unigenes, with an average length of 1,304 bp and N50 of 2,108 bp. Among these 126,758 unigenes, 85,214 unigenes (67.23%) were annotated based on the information available from the public databases. The transcripts encoding the known enzymes involved in triterpenoid saponins biosynthesis were identified in our Illumina dataset. A full-length cDNA of three Squalene epoxidase (SE) genes were obtained using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and the expression patterns of ten unigenes were analyzed by reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Furthermore, 15 candidate cytochrome P450 genes and 17 candidate UDP-glycosyltransferase genes most likely to involve in triterpenoid saponins biosynthesis pathway were discovered from transcriptome sequencing of P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus. We further analyzed the data and found 21,320 simple sequence repeats (SSRs), 30 primer pairs for SSRs were randomly selected for validation of the amplification and polymorphism in 13 P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus accessions. Meanwhile, five major triterpene saponins in roots of P. vietnamensis var. fuscidicus were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD). Conclusions: The genomic resources generated from P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus provide new insights into the identification of putative genes involved in triterpenoid saponins biosynthesis pathway. This will facilitate our understanding of the biosynthesis of triterpenoid saponins at molecular level. The SSR markers identified and developed in this study show genetic diversity for this important crop and will contribute to marker-assisted breeding for P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reaction of 2-(2′-pyridyl)benzothiazole, L-alanine and perchlorate copper salt in methanol/water system affords a novel Cu(II) coordination polymer [Cu(PBT)(L-Ala)]n(ClO4)n[PBT = 2- (2′- pyridyl)benzothiazole, L-Ala = L-alaninate]. The structure of the polymer has been determined by elemental analysis, IR, X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The results reveal the carboxyl oxygen atoms of L-Ala brige adjacent Cu(II) atoms into 1D single-stranded chiral helical chains, and the Cu(II) coordination polymer consists of the left- and right-hand helical chains arranging alternately. In the Cu(II) coordination polymer, there exist strong aromatic π–π stacking interactions between benzothiazole rings and pyridyl rings, and hydrogen bonding interactions between perchlorate groups and the helical trains. Moreover, the thermal stability and fluorescent properties of the polymer are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol soluble extractive values play an important role in the quality evaluation of herbal drugs. Farfarae Flos were collected from four locations in this study, and their alcohol soluble extractives were compared systematically. The values were determined according to the procedures described in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and the chemical compositions of alcohol soluble extractives were compared by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) fingerprinting approach combined with the multivariate analysis. A principal component analysis biplot showed better discrimination and revealed the contribution of each variable to the clustering model. Material from Zhangjiakou contained higher concentrations of tussilagone and tussilagonone, while Qinxian samples contained more chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, rutin, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid. This study demonstrates that the alcohol soluble extractives of Farfarae Flos may be used to trace its cultivation locations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As a member of the chemokine family, CXCL3 was previously known to participate in many pathophysiological events. However, whether CXCL3 stimulates trophoblast invasion as a key process of preeclampsia pathogenesis remains largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate this hypothesis and determine the effect of CXCL3 on the first trimester trophoblast. Seventy gravidas were included in this study. ELISA was used to detect CXCL3 plasma levels on preeclampsia and normal pregnant groups. CXCL3 protein and mRNA levels were detected via Western blot and real-time quantitative PCR analysis after immunolocalized in human placenta. Moreover, the CXCL3 function in HTR-8/Svneo was analyzed via WST-1 assay, flow cytometry and invasion test. The plasma CXCL3 level in preeclampsia was significantly higher than that in normal pregnancy. CXCL3 expression was observed in the cytoplasm of placental trophoblasts and vascular endothelium in all groups without significant difference between maternal and fetal sides. In addition, placenta CXCL3 expression in severe preeclampsia was significantly lower than those in normal and mild PE groups. Moreover, exogenous CXCL3 can promote the proliferation and invasion of HTR-8/Svneo; however, its effect on apoptosis remains unclear. In summary, a significant abnormality of plasma CXCL3 level and placental CXCL3 expression was discovered in severe preeclampsia; CXCL3 had a function in trophoblast invasion, which indicated its participation in shallow implantation. Therefore CXCL3 might be involved in severe preeclampsia pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible neuroprobe with better tissue compliance exhibits unique mechanical characteristics in maintaining stability of neural implant in vivo. In this study, a flexible neuroprobe using SU-8 was designed and fabricated for in vitro and in vivo electrical sensing to show the improved tissue compatibility compared to that of the traditional rigid neuroprobe. The validation of neuroprobe was achieved by in vitro mechanical and cytotoxicity tests as well as in vivo neural recording and immunohistological staining. The fabrication process consisted of the creation of a backbone structure using photolithography, photopatterning of evaporated metal, and insulating of the electrode trace. The results of mechanical test of our fabricated SU-8 neuroprobe showed four times of physical stress (18.77 mN) than the insertion force (4.69 mN) to sustain resistance from brain tissue during implantation. The in vitro cytotoxicity assay showed well neuronal survival and proved the sufficient surface biocompatibility of the SU-8 neuroprobe. Further in vivo immunohistological staining showed no obvious glia aggregation around the implantation site indicating suitable biocompatibility compared with that of a rigid neuroprobe. Our in vitro and in vivo studies showed SU-8 neuroprobe possessed enough stress to complete the implantation in brain tissue and remained flexibility to comply micromovement of soft tissue with minor immune responses to achieve in vivo electrophysiological recordings at a signal-noise-ratio of greater than 7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Various forms of theta-burst stimulation (TBS) such as intermittent TBS (iTBS) and continuous TBS (cTBS) have been introduced as novel facilitation/suppression schemes during repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), demonstrating a better efficacy than conventional paradigms. Herein, we extended the rTMS-TBS schemes to electrical stimulation of high-definition montage (HD-TBS) and investigated its neural effects on the human brain. Methods. In a within-subject design, fifteen right-handed healthy adults randomly participated in 10 min and 2 mA HD-TBS sessions: unilateral (Uni)-iTBS, bilateral (Bi)-cTBS/iTBS, and sham stimulation over primary motor cortex regions. A 20-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system was covered on the bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), sensory motor cortex (SMC), and parietal lobe (PL) for observing cerebral hemodynamic responses in the resting-state and during fast finger-tapping tasks at pre-, during, and poststimulation. Interhemispheric correlation coefficient (IHCC) and wavelet phase coherence (WPCO) from resting-state NIRS and concentration of oxyhemoglobin during fast finger-tapping tasks were explored to reflect the symmetry between the two hemispheres and cortical activity, respectively. Results. The IHCC and WPCO of NIRS data in the SMC region under Bi-cTBS/iTBS showed relatively small values at low-frequency bands III (0.06–0.15 Hz) and IV (0.02–0.06), indicating a significant desynchronization in both time and frequency domains. In addition, the SMC activation induced by fast finger-tapping exercise was significantly greater during Uni-iTBS as well as during and post Bi-cTBS/iTBS sessions. Conclusions. It appears that a 10 min and 2 mA Bi-cTBS/iTBS applied over two hemispheres within the primary motor cortex region could effectively modulate the interhemispheric synchronization and cortical activation in the SMC of healthy subjects. Our study demonstrated that bilateral HD-TBS approaches is an effective noninvasive brain stimulation scheme which could be a novel therapeutic for inducing effects of neuromodulation on various neurological disorders caused by ischemic stroke or traumatic brain injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is a single-pass transmembrane receptor of the immunoglobulin superfamily that is secreted in a soluble (sTREM2) form. Mutations in TREM2 have been linked to increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A prominent neuropathological component of AD is deposition of the amyloid-β (Aβ) into plaques, particularly Aβ40 and Aβ42. While the membrane-bound form of TREM2 is known to facilitate uptake of Aβ fibrils and the polarization of microglial processes toward amyloid plaques, the role of its soluble ectodomain, particularly in interactions with monomeric or fibrillar Aβ, has been less clear. Our results demonstrate that sTREM2 does not bind to monomeric Aβ40 and Aβ42, even at a high micromolar concentration, while it does bind to fibrillar Aβ42 and Aβ40 with equal affinities (2.6 ± 0.3 µM and 2.3 ± 0.4 µM). Kinetic analysis shows that sTREM2 inhibits the secondary nucleation step in the fibrillization of Aβ, while having little effect on the primary nucleation pathway. Furthermore, binding of sTREM2 to fibrils markedly enhanced uptake of fibrils into human microglial and neuroglioma derived cell lines. The disease-associated sTREM2 mutant, R47H, displayed little to no effect on fibril nucleation and binding, but it decreased uptake and functional responses markedly. We also probed the structure of the WT sTREM2-Aβ fibril complex using integrative molecular modeling based primarily on the cross-linking mass spectrometry data. The model shows that sTREM2 binds fibrils along one face of the structure, leaving a second, mutation-sensitive site free to mediate cellular binding and uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of effective photogenerated charge transfer channels through interface engineering is the key to achieving the highly efficient of photocatalysts. Herein, sandwich-like ZnIn 2 S 4 /TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 nanosheets integrated type-II heterostructure with Schottky junction are reasonably fabricated by low temperature in-situ growth method. Benefitting from the intensive visible light absorption of ZnIn 2 S 4 , the fast electron transport of TiO 2 , the rich active sites in Ti 3 C 2 , as well as the intimate interface coupling and the matched band alignment among ternary components, enhanced hydrogen production can be achieved with ZnIn 2 S 4 /TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 hierarchical photocatalyst under visible light irradiation in the absence of noble metal co-catalysts. The concept of coupling type-II heterostructure with the Schottky barrier can steer the charge flow and boost the charge carrier separation and transfer across the interfacial domain, which may spark new ensemble design for efficient solar energy harvesting and conversion. [Display omitted] • The hierarchical ZnIn 2 S 4 /TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 photocatalysts were successfully constructed. • The enhanced hydrogen production was achieved under visible light irradiation. • The type-II heterostructure coupling with Schottky barrier can steer the charge flow. • The enhanced visible-light capture capability and more active sites promoted PHE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to investigate therapeutic effect of Bushenhuoxue recipe in intrauterine adhesions (IUA) and explore the underlying molecular mechanism via integrating network pharmacology and in vitro experimental verification. The active compounds and gene targets of Bushenhuoxue recipe were screened in the TCMSP database and the IUA-related genes were identified using GeneCards database by the keyword “Intrauterine adhesions”. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were conducted to reveal the underlying molecular mechanism of Bushenhuoxue recipe treating IUA. T-HESC cells were inducted to fibrotic state using TGF-β1 of 10 ng/ml concentration treating for 24 h. RT-qPCR or western blot was used to demonstrate the expression levels of fibrosis markers (COL1A1 and α-SMA) and KEGG pathway markers. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay was performed to illustrate the cell viability of endometrial stromal cell. The treatment of Bushenhuoxue recipe could significantly inhibit the proliferation and fibrosis of endometrial stromal cells. We obtained a total of 169 no-repeat ingredients of Bushenhuoxue recipe and 3044 corresponding targets. After taking intersection with 4230 no-repeat IUA-related genes, a total of 83 target genes related to both Bushenhuoxue recipe and IUA were finally identified. KEGG analysis found that PI3K-AKT signaling pathway might be the key pathway. Further experiment revealed that PI3K-AKT signaling pathway was significantly activated in endometrial stromal cells of fibrotic state and the treatment of Bushenhuoxue recipe could inhibit the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Further rescue assay demonstrated that Bushenhuoxue recipe suppressed the proliferation and fibrosis of endometrial stromal cells via PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Bushenhuoxue recipe suppresses the proliferation and fibrosis of endometrial stromal cells via PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, eventually inhibiting the progression of IUA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This review provides an introduction to the characteristics and advantages of MOF electrocatalysts, as well as an overview of the primary mechanism involved in water electrolysis. • The application of MOF-based electrocatalysts in water splitting is reviewed. • The preparation, modification, and catalytic activity of electrocatalysts for MOF derivatives are summarized. Green hydrogen is generated by water electrolysis using renewable energy sources. For green hydrogen to become cost-effective in front of hydrogen production from fossil fuels, highly active, efficient, and durable electrocatalysts based on abundant and low-cost elements need to be developed. Great efforts have been invested in designing and engineering water-splitting electrocatalysts with optimized compositions and architecture. In this last direction, metal–organic framework (MOF) compounds have received particular attention on account of their high specific surface area (SSA) and excellent chemical stability. This work affords an overview of the latest progress in the design, engineering, and application of MOFs and their derivatives as electrocatalysts in water splitting. It further discusses the challenges encountered and the new research directions and application prospects. First, the characteristics and advantages of MOF electrocatalysts and the main mechanism of water electrolysis are introduced. Next, the research progress on the application of MOFs and their derivatives in water electrolysis is reviewed, with special emphasis on the preparation, modification, and catalytic activity of the catalysts. Finally, the present challenges and future development prospects of MOFs as water-splitting electrocatalysts are discussed. Overall, this review aims to provide new insights into the design and synthesis principles of MOF materials, promoting their practical application in water splitting, and further broadening their future uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Erigeron breviscapus (Vant.) Hand-Mazz. is a famous medicinal plant. Scutellarin and chlorogenic acids are the primary active components in this herb. However, the mechanisms of biosynthesis and regulation for scutellarin and chlorogenic acids in E. breviscapus are considerably unknown. In addition, genomic information of this herb is also unavailable. Principal Findings: Using Illumina sequencing on GAIIx platform, a total of 64,605,972 raw sequencing reads were generated and assembled into 73,092 non-redundant unigenes. Among them, 44,855 unigenes (61.37%) were annotated in the public databases Nr, Swiss-Prot, KEGG, and COG. The transcripts encoding the known enzymes involved in flavonoids and in chlorogenic acids biosynthesis were discovered in the Illumina dataset. Three candidate cytochrome P450 genes were discovered which might encode flavone 6-hydroase converting apigenin to scutellarein. Furthermore, 4 unigenes encoding the homologues of maize P1 (R2R3-MYB transcription factors) were defined, which might regulate the biosynthesis of scutellarin. Additionally, a total of 11,077 simple sequence repeat (SSR) were identified from 9,255 unigenes. Of SSRs, tri-nucleotide motifs were the most abundant motif. Thirty-six primer pairs for SSRs were randomly selected for validation of the amplification and polymorphism. The result revealed that 34 (94.40%) primer pairs were successfully amplified and 19 (52.78%) primer pairs exhibited polymorphisms. Conclusion: Using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, this study firstly provides abundant genomic data for E. breviscapus. The candidate genes involved in the biosynthesis and transcriptional regulation of scutellarin and chlorogenic acids were obtained in this study. Additionally, a plenty of genetic makers were generated by identification of SSRs, which is a powerful tool for molecular breeding and genetics applications in this herb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]