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Rice husk, as an abundant agricultural waste and renewable biomass, is adopted to produce porous silica which is used as a potential carbon-free adsorbent for mercury emission control of coal-fired power plants. The rice husk derived porous silica (RHS) exhibits a good Hg0 adsorption capability with Hg0 removal efficiency above 80% in the temperature range of 60–140 °C, which is plausibly due to the big specific surface area and mesoporous structure. The mercury removal performance of RHS can be evidently reinforced by KBr modification. The optimal KBr loading value and reaction temperature are 2 wt% and 140 °C, respectively. Acidic gas components, such as NO and SO2, both show slight inhibitive effects on Hg0 adsorption process probably owing to the competitive adsorption or the elimination of adsorption sites.

ObjectiveIncreasing studies have indicated that senescence was associated with tumorigenesis and progression. Lower-grade glioma (LGG) presented a less invasive nature, however, its treatment efficacy and prognosis prediction remained challenging due to the intrinsic heterogeneity. Therefore, we established a senescence-related signature and investigated its prognostic role in LGGs.MethodsThe gene expression data and clinicopathologic features were from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The experimentally validated senescence genes (SnGs) from the CellAge database were obtained. Then LASSO regression has been performed to build a prognostic model. Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were performed to investigate the prognostic value of the SnG-risk score. A nomogram model has been constructed for outcome prediction. Immunological analyses were further performed. Data from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA), Repository of Molecular Brain Neoplasia Data (REMBRANDT), and GSE16011 were used for validation.ResultsThe 6-SnG signature has been established. The results showed SnG-risk score could be considered as an independent predictor for LGG patients (HR=2.763, 95%CI=1.660-4.599, PConclusionThe SnG-related prognostic model could predict the survival of LGG accurately. This study proposed a novel indicator for predicting the prognosis of LGG and provided potential therapeutic targets.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) protein senses microbial-secreted metabolites to trigger the host's innate immune system. The Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) metabolite phthiocol (Pht) are both ligands of AhR with similar chemical structures. As PQS is an essential quorum-sensing molecule that regulates a wide range of virulence factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we hypothesized that Pht and its analogs are potential P. aeruginosa quorum-sensing inhibitors (QSIs) with immune-modulating functions. In this study, we demonstrated that Pht was able to inhibit the P. aeruginosa pqs QS system and reduce both biofilm formation and the production of pyocyanin. Molecular docking analysis suggested that Pht competes with PQS at the binding site of its receptor, PqsR. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay confirmed the Pht-PqsR interaction and showed that Pht attenuated PqsR from binding to the pqsA promoter. Proteomic analysis showed that synthesis of the key pqs QS proteins decreased upon the addition of Pht to the bacterial cultures. Furthermore, Pht analogs vitamins K1 (Phylloquinone), K2 (Menaquinones), and K3 (Menadione) were also showed to inhibit the P. aeruginosa pqs QS system while able to activate the AhR signaling pathways. Our study suggests that the AhR ligands Pht and its vitamin K analogs are promising QSIs for the alternative treatment of P. aeruginosa infections.

Recently, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) has been proven to be a novel and effective carbon-based adsorbent for elemental mercury (Hg⁰) removal in flue gas due to its peculiar π-conjugated electronic structure and chemical and thermal stability. However, the active sites and detailed reaction pathways occurring on the g-C₃N₄ surface are still unknown. Here, g-C₃N₄ nanoplates with abundant active edge sites (surface defects) are successfully prepared via a thermal polymerization method, which display good Hg⁰ adsorption ability. The adsorption behavior of Hg⁰ over g-C₃N₄ is further studied using quantum chemistry calculations based on density functional theory (DFT), aiming at gaining a better understanding of the Hg⁰ adsorption structures and bonding mechanisms on the g-C₃N₄ surface at the atomic level. The calculation results show that the adsorption of Hg⁰ on intact g-C₃N₄ surfaces is poor due to the stable chemical structure of intact g-C₃N₄ and lack of active electron orbitals. In contrast, g-C₃N₄ with surface defects, i.e., exposed C or N sites, possesses enhanced Hg⁰ adsorption ability probably owing to the unsaturated coordination bond environment and the formation of chemical bonds with mercury atoms at the defective sites. The location of defects also has a big influence on the mercury capture ability of g-C₃N₄. The exposed surface nitrogen is more favorable for mercury capture than the exposed surface carbon.

Two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides have gained increasing concerns because of their distinct structural features and also display great potential in mercury removal. Herein, a defect-rich MoS2 nanosheet is synthesized by using hydrothermal method and applied for adsorptive capture of elemental mercury (Hg0) in simulated flue gas at low temperature. It exhibits excellent Hg0 removal performance due to its ultra-thin lamellar and defective structures with ample exposed adsorption sites. The Hg0 removal efficiency of the defective MoS2 nanosheet is all above 93% when the reaction temperature is within 25–150 °C. Besides, presence of NO has no influence on Hg0 removal, while SO2 subtly reduces the Hg0 removal efficiency due to competitive adsorption. Mo4+, S2−, and S22− ions take part in the Hg0 removal process, which transfers Hg0 into Mo–Hg amalgam and HgS. The process of Hg0 adsorption on the defective MoS2 nanosheet obeys the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic model.

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), as a novel carbon-free layered material, has received extensive attention owing to its high mechanical strength and excellent chemical and thermal stability. Herein,...

To explore the influence of high-frequency microwave transmission on the power change of EEG in pain-induced brain activity. we propose a method, to measure and evaluate the relative changes in the Electroencephalographic (EEG) power for microwave frequencies 4.5, 5, and 5.5 GHz in no pain (NP) and cold pain (CP) conditions. The relative power changes of EEG frequency bands in delta, theta, alpha1, alpha2, beta1, and beta2 were calculated with and without (Sham) microwave transmission. Then, the standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) was used to analyze the source localization of different pain types. In addition, a pain brain activity detection experiment was designed to verify the feasibility and accuracy of microwave detection of pain. At 5 GHz microwave transmission, the average EEG power of delta, beta1, and beta2 increased by 10–35%, which was substantially higher than that of Sham. In source localization analysis, the source activity changes of the activated brain regions were enhanced under high frequency microwave radiation. The proposed method can better reflect the variation of active state EEG power under high-frequency electromagnetic radiation. In the test of pain detection, microwave transcranial (MT) signal has certain correlation with the spectrum characteristics of EEG signal in the same test state, and the experimental results confirm that MT signal is indeed related to pain brain activity. This study provides a basis for microwave detection of neural activity induced by cold pain and has great significance for clinical diagnosis of pain-induced diseases.

Mercury emission from industrial activities has become a major environmental health concern, because mercury is one of the most toxic metals encountered in the environment. Elemental mercury is the dominant Hg species in gas streams. Adsorption is regarded as a practical technique for Hg0 removal, for which developing efficient and economic adsorbents are needed. Chalcogenides have recently gained increasing research interest owing to their high binding affinity for Hg0. Chalcogen-based adsorbents include S-modified adsorbents, H2S- and SO2-activated adsorbents, polysulfide chalcogels, mineral sulfides and metal selenides. This article reviews chalcogen-based adsorbents for Hg0 capture from gas streams, with focus on removal performances, mechanisms, advantages and disadvantages. Results show that S modification, and H2S and SO2 activation generate a great variety of active sulfur species on the adsorbent surface, resulting in enhanced Hg0 removal activity. Sulfur species include elemental sulfur, sulfide, thiophene and sulfate. Nonetheless, removal efficiency decreases to some extent due to the presence of acidic flue gas components and steam. On the other hand, mineral sulfides and metal selenides exhibit outstanding Hg0 removal performances with fast adsorption rate, high mercury capacity and excellent resistance to SO2 and H2O. Yet most mineral sulfides and metal selenides perform well below 100 °C, which might limit industrial applications.

CO2 emission is partly responsible for climate change induced by greenhouse effects. Carbon capture, utilization and storage is a major pathway to reduce CO2 emission. This article reviews conversion of CO2 into value-added products by photocatalytic, electrocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic processes, which involve a catalyst, a reducing agent, an electrolyte and a reactor. An ideal catalyst should be cheap, abundant, non-toxic, less corrosive and chemically stable. Doping various catalysts can increase product yields up to 207 times. Furthermore, monolith reactors generated 23 times and 14 times higher yields than slurry and cell reactors, respectively. Photoelectrocatalytic conversion standout because it combines the advantages of photocatalytic and electrocatalytic processes such as high product yield and selectivity, no electrical energy required, cost-effectiveness, more catalysts option and no sacrificial donor.

In this study, biochars prepared under 500–900 °C interacted with cellulose volatiles at 500 °C, and the effects of volatile–char interactions on the changes of biochar functional groups and its re...

A novel two-step sorption enhanced staged gasification of biomass for H2 production was proposed and studied using Aspen Plus software. An equilibrium model based on Gibbs free energy minimization was developed and validated. The results showed that the two-step process was more advantageous for H2 production compared with the conventional steam gasification and the one-step process. The independent control of each stage could realize a high temperature steam gasification in the first stage and a subsequent lower temperature steam reforming in the second stage, which thus promoted the gasification of biomass and benefited the water gas shift (WGS) reaction to produce more H2. Meanwhile, the in situ CO2 absorption of CaO in the second stage could enrich the H2 concentration in the product gas, and also further shifted the WGS reaction equilibrium to convert more CO to H2. With further introduction of catalyst for steam methane reforming (SMR), high-purity H2 with the concentration of 99.7 vol% and yield of 142.8 g/kg daf biomass could be achieved.

Pyrolysis is an important thermochemical route to decompose lignocellulose biomass into biogas, bio-oil, and biochar, which can be then converted into value-added biofuels, chemicals, and biomateri...

Metal chloride-impregnated seaweed bio-chars, derived from waste algae (Enteromorpha), are served as solid sorbents for Hg0 capture from simulated flue gas. The impacts of various metal chloride modification on Hg0 removal performance, i.e. FeCl3, CuCl2, ZnCl2, CoCl2, and CeCl3, are studied. The results display that the Hg0 removal performances of Enteromorpha derived bio-chars are greatly enhanced by immersing metal chlorides. FeCl3-and CeCl3-modified bio-chars exhibits the optimal Hg0 removal performance. Oxygen and NO show a promotional effect on Hg0 removal, whereas H2O suppresses Hg0 adsorption. Lower concentration of SO2 favors Hg0 removal, but higher concentration of SO2 inhibits Hg0 adsorption. Hg0 is oxidized by covalent chloride groups and metal oxides on the metal chloride-impregnated bio-chars.

Graphite-phase carbon nitrides (g-C3N4), composed of only C, N, and some impurity H, have been synthesized by direct thermal polymerization of urea in air and employed to capture elemental mercury ...

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) protein senses microbial-secreted metabolites to trigger the host's innate immune system. The

Background The long-term clinical status of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in recovered patients remains largely unknown. This prospective cohort study evaluated clinical status of COVID-19 and explored the associated risk factors. Methods At the outpatient visit, patients underwent routine blood tests, physical examinations, pulmonary function tests, 6-min walk test, high-resolution computed tomography (CT) of the chest, and extrapulmonary organ function tests. Results 230 patients were analyzed. Half (52.7%) reported at least one symptom, most commonly fatigue (20.3%) and sleep difficulties (15.8%). Anxiety (8.2%), depression (11.3%), post-traumatic symptoms (10.3%), and sleep disorders (26.3%) were also reported. Diffusion impairments were found in 35.4% of the patients. Abnormal chest CT scans were present in 63.5% of the patients, mainly reticulation and ground-glass opacities. Further, a persistent decline in kidney function was observed after discharge. SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies of IgA, IgG, and IgM were positive in 56.4%, 96.3%, and 15.2% of patients, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression showed that disease severity, age, and sex were closely related to patient recovery. Conclusions One year after hospital discharge, patients recovered from COVID-19 continued to experience both pulmonary and extrapulmonary dysfunction. While paying attention to pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19, follow-up studies on extrapulmonary manifestations should be strengthened.

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness that is amongst the most debilitating conditions encountered in medical practice. A recent landmark schizophrenia study of the protein-coding regions of the genome identified a causal role for ten genes and a concentration of rare variant signals in evolutionarily constrained genes1. This study -- and most other large-scale human genetic studies -- was mainly composed of individuals of European ancestry, and the generalizability of the findings in non-European populations is unclear. To address this gap in knowledge, we designed a custom sequencing panel based on current knowledge of the genetic architecture of schizophrenia and applied it to a new cohort of 22,135 individuals of diverse ancestries. Replicating earlier work, cases carried a significantly higher burden of rare protein-truncating variants among constrained genes (OR=1.48, p-value = 5.4 × 10−6). In meta-analyses with existing schizophrenia datasets totaling up to 35,828 cases and 107,877 controls, this excess burden was largely consistent across five continental populations. Two genes (SRRM2andAKAP11) were newly implicated as schizophrenia risk genes, and one gene (PCLO) was identified as a shared risk gene for schizophrenia and autism. Overall, our results lend robust support to the rare allelic spectrum of the genetic architecture of schizophrenia being conserved across diverse human populations.

The development of high-efficient adsorbents for Hg

Background Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a common secondary complication and an important cause of disability and mortality among patients who survive aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Knowledge on DCI pathogenesis, risk factors, and biomarkers are essential for early detection and improved prognosis. To investigate the role of DNA methylation in DCI risk, we conducted an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) in 68 patients followed up to 1 year after the initial aneurysm rupture. Blood samples were collected within 48 h post hemorrhage and used for DNA methylation profiling at ~ 450k CpG sites. A separate cohort of 175 patients was sequenced for the top CpG sites from the discovery analysis for a replication of the EWAS findings. Results EWAS did not identify any epigenome-wide significant CpGs. The top signal, cg18031596, was annotated to ANGPT1, a gene with critical functions in angiogenesis after vascular injury. Post hoc power calculations indicated a well-powered discovery analysis for cg18031596. Analysis of the replication cohort showed that four out of the five CpG sites sequenced at the ANGPT1 locus passed a Bonferroni-adjusted significance threshold. In a pooled analysis of the entire sample, three out of five yielded a significant p-value, and the top association signal (p-value = 0.004) was seen for a CpG that was not originally measured in the discovery EWAS. However, four ANGPT1 CpG sites had an opposite effect direction in the replication analysis compared to the discovery EWAS, marking a failure of replication. We carefully examined this observed flip in directions and propose several possible explanations in addition to that it was a random chance that ANGPT1 ranked at the top in the discovery EWAS. Conclusions We failed to demonstrate a significant and consistent effect of ANGPT1 methylation in DCI risk in two cohorts. Though the replication attempt to weaken the overall support of this gene, given its relevant function and top rank of significance in the EWAS, our results call for future studies of larger aSAH cohorts to determine its relevance for the occurrence of DCI.

Background Biological aging may occur at different rates than chronological aging due to genetic, social, and environmental factors. DNA methylation (DNAm) age is thought to be a reliable measure of accelerated biological aging which has been linked to an array of poor health outcomes. Given the importance of chronological age in recovery following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), a type of stroke, DNAm age may also be an important biomarker of outcomes, further improving predictive models. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a unique tissue representing the local central nervous system environment post-aSAH. However, the validity of CSF DNAm age is unknown, and it is unclear which epigenetic clock is ideal to compute CSF DNAm age, particularly given changes in cell type heterogeneity (CTH) during the acute recovery period. Further, the stability of DNAm age post-aSAH, specifically, has not been examined and may improve our understanding of patient recovery post-aSAH. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to characterize CSF DNAm age over 14 days post-aSAH using four epigenetic clocks. Results Genome-wide DNAm data were available for two tissues: (1) CSF for N = 273 participants with serial sampling over 14 days post-aSAH (N = 850 samples) and (2) blood for a subset of n = 72 participants at one time point post-aSAH. DNAm age was calculated using the Horvath, Hannum, Levine, and “Improved Precision” (Zhang) epigenetic clocks. “Age acceleration” was computed as the residuals of DNAm age regressed on chronological age both with and without correcting for CTH. Using scatterplots, Pearson correlations, and group-based trajectory analysis, we examined the relationships between CSF DNAm age and chronological age, the concordance between DNAm ages calculated from CSF versus blood, and the stability (i.e., trajectories) of CSF DNAm age acceleration over time during recovery from aSAH. We observed moderate to strong correlations between CSF DNAm age and chronological age (R = 0.66 [Levine] to R = 0.97 [Zhang]), moderate to strong correlations between DNAm age in CSF versus blood (R = 0.69 [Levine] to R = 0.98 [Zhang]), and stable CSF age acceleration trajectories over 14 days post-aSAH in the Horvath and Zhang clocks (unadjusted for CTH), as well as the Hannum clock (adjusted for CTH). Conclusions CSF DNAm age was generally stable post-aSAH. Although correlated, CSF DNAm age differs from blood DNAm age in the Horvath, Hannum, and Levine clocks, but not in the Zhang clock. Taken together, our results suggest that, of the clocks examined here, the Zhang clock is the most robust to CTH and is recommended for use in complex tissues such as CSF.

Graphene/GaN nanocomposites have been widely used in high-power and high-frequency optoelectronic devices. At present, the thermal transport characteristics of graphene/gallium nitride heterostructures have been investigated by many scholars, but their mechanical properties have not been systematically studied. In this paper, the effects of graphene layer number, temperature and interfacial structure on the mechanical properties of graphene/GaN heterostructures were investigated by molecular dynamics method. The mechanical properties of materials were analyzed by failure stress, failure strain and Young’s modulus. The simulation results show that the heterogeneous structure is very sensitive to temperature. When the temperature is set at 2000K, the Young’s modulus of the heterostructure decreases by 25.11% compared with that at 300K, which indicates that the increase of temperature will reduce the mechanical properties of graphene composites, However, when the number of graphene layers increases, the mechanical properties of the heterostructures also improved. With the number of graphene layers is set from 1 layer to 5 layers, the performance of the heterostructure is improved, and its Young’s modulus increases by 48.46%. In addition, the effect of interface structure on the young’s modulus of the heterostructure structure is not obvious, but it will affect the maximum failure stress and maximum failure strain of the material. The mechanical properties of graphene in cross section contact with gallium atom are better than those of nitrogen atom. It is beneficial to improve the reliability of microelectronic devices to control and design heterogeneous structures based on the research results.

Facial morphology is highly variable, both within and among human populations, and a sizable portion of this variation is attributable to genetics. Previous genome scans have revealed more than 100 genetic loci associated with different aspects of normal-range facial variation. Most of these loci have been detected in Europeans, with few studies focusing on other ancestral groups. Consequently, the degree to which facial traits share a common genetic basis across diverse sets of humans remains largely unknown. We therefore investigated the genetic basis of facial morphology in an East African cohort. We applied an open-ended data-driven phenotyping approach to a sample of 2,595 3D facial images collected on Tanzanian children. This approach segments the face into hierarchically arranged, multivariate features that capture the shape variation after adjusting for age, sex, height, weight, facial size and population stratification. Genome scans of these multivariate shape phenotypes revealed significant (p < 2.5 × 10−8) signals at 20 loci, which were enriched for active chromatin elements in human cranial neural crest cells and embryonic craniofacial tissue, consistent with an early developmental origin of the facial variation. Two of these associations were in highly conserved regions showing craniofacial-specific enhancer activity during embryological development (5q31.1 and 12q21.31). Six of the 20 loci surpassed a stricter threshold accounting for multiple phenotypes with study-wide significance (p < 6.25 × 10−10). Cross-population comparisons indicated 10 association signals were shared with Europeans (seven sharing the same associated SNP), and facilitated fine-mapping of causal variants at previously reported loci. Taken together, these results may point to both shared and population-specific components to the genetic architecture of facial variation., Author summary Genetic factors play an important role in shaping human facial features. Over the last decade, studies have identified numerous genes associated with various facial traits. The vast majority of these studies have focused on European or Asian populations, while African populations have been underrepresented. Increasing the diversity of these analyses can reveal novel associations and cross-population analyses can help deepen our understanding of known genetic associations. We therefore performed a genome scan of 3D facial features in African children from Tanzania and then compared our results to Europeans. We found 20 regions of the genome associated with facial shape in Tanzanian children, 10 of which were also present in Europeans, indicating evidence for a partly shared genetic basis for human facial shape across populations. In addition, about half of the genetic associations observed in Tanzanians were not present in Europeans, and some of the shared signals differed between populations in the specific genetic variants associated or specific facial traits affected. These results shed light on the shared and population-specific genetic contributors to normal-range facial variation.

Cerebral edema and intracranial hypertension are major contributors to unfavorable prognosis in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Local epigenetic changes, particularly in DNA methylation, may influence gene expression and thus host response/secondary injury after TBI. It remains unknown whether DNA methylation in the central nervous system is associated with cerebral edema severity or intracranial hypertension post TBI. We sought to identify epigenome-wide DNA methylation patterns associated with these forms of secondary injury after TBI.We obtained genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of DNA extracted from ventricular cerebrospinal fluid samples at three different postinjury time points from a prospective cohort of patients with severe TBI (n = 89 patients, 254 samples). Cerebral edema and intracranial pressure (ICP) measures were clustered to generate composite end points of cerebral edema and ICP severity. We performed an unbiased epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) to test associations between DNA methylation at 419,895 cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites and cerebral edema/ICP severity categories. Given inflated p values, we conducted permutation tests for top CpG sites to filter out potential false discoveries.Our data-driven hierarchical clustering across six cerebral edema and ICP measures identified two groups differing significantly in ICP based on the EWAS-identified CpG site cg22111818 in RGMA (Repulsive guidance molecule A, permutation p = 4.20 × 10We report a novel potential relationship between intracranial hypertension after TBI and an acute, nonsustained reduction in DNA methylation at cg22111818 in the RGMA gene. To our knowledge, this is the largest EWAS in severe TBI. Our findings are further strengthened by previous findings that RGMA modulates axonal repair in other central nervous system disorders, but a role in intracranial hypertension or TBI has not been previously identified. Additional work is warranted to validate and extend these findings, including assessment of its possible role in risk stratification, identification of novel druggable targets, and ultimately our ability to personalize therapy in TBI.

Air pollution caused by mercury emissions from combustion and pyrolysis of fossil fuels, biomass, and solid wastes is a major health issue. Elemental mercury (Hg0), the dominant species in flue gas, is poorly captured by actual control equipments because Hg0 has a high volatility and is insoluble in water. Alternatively, photocatalytic processes can oxidize Hg0 into Hg compounds that are easier to remove. Here we review the recent research on oxidative removal of Hg0 by photocatalysts, with focus on titanium dioxide, bismuthides, silver compounds and hybrid photocatalysts. We discuss the Hg0 removal performances and mechanisms of catalytic oxidation. The TiO2 photocatalyst often suffers from low absorption of solar energy and easy recombination of photoinduced electron–hole couples. BiOIO3 appears as a promising photocatalyst due to its high Hg0 oxidation activity under visible light irradiation. Silver carbonates and silver halides are newly developed visible-light-responsive photocatalysts for Hg0 removal. Fast separation and transformation of photogenerated electrons and holes control the performance of Hg0 removal by photocatalysts.

Background The aims of this study were to investigate the pathologic manifestation of pretransplant biopsy and to provide an accurate assessment method for liver graft of China Donation after Citizen's Death (CDCD). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed based on clinical and biopsy data of 96 CDCD liver transplantations completed between January 2012 and December 2017. The pretransplant pathologic sections were semiquantitatively scored according to Banff Schema recommendations on liver allograft pathology. Graft overall survival (OS) and early allograft dysfunction (EAD) rates were observed. Results The histologic analysis of the 96 CDCD liver graft biopsy specimens was summarized, including portal area neutrophilic infiltrate, macrovesicular steatosis, microvesicular steatosis, and hepatocellular swelling. Among these pathologic characteristics, only portal area neutrophilic infiltrate ≥20% was an independent risk factor for graft survival, although it has limited effect on the recipient's short-term prognosis. Conclusions We found that portal area neutrophilic infiltrate ≥20% was an independent risk factors for long-term graft survival. According to this criterion, we can identify liver transplant recipients at risk for poor prognosis and make timely interventions.

The contribution of low-frequency variants to the genetic architecture of normal-range facial traits is unknown. We studied the influence of low-frequency coding variants (MAF AR, CARS2, FTSJ1, HFE, LTB4R, TELO2, NECTIN1) were significantly associated with shape variation of the cheek, chin, nose and mouth areas. These genes displayed a wide range of phenotypic effects, with some impacting the full face and others affecting localized regions. The missense variant rs142863092 in NECTIN1 had a significant effect on chin morphology and was predicted bioinformatically to have a deleterious effect on protein function. Notably, NECTIN1 is an established craniofacial gene that underlies a human syndrome that includes a mandibular phenotype. We further showed that nectin1a mutations can affect zebrafish craniofacial development, with the size and shape of the mandibular cartilage altered in mutant animals. Findings from this study expanded our understanding of the genetic basis of normal-range facial shape by highlighting the role of low-frequency coding variants in several novel genes.

Here, an inexpensive, widely available, and environmentally benign precursor, guanidine hydrochloride, has been employed for the synthesis of graphitic carbon nitride and applied for elemental mercury adsorption. The GH600 attained via polycondensation of guanidine hydrochloride at 600 °C displays good mercury capture ability probably owing to the bigger BET surface area and the presence of chemisorbed oxygen species. The mercury removal performance of GH600 can be profoundly reinforced by modifying with small amounts of potassium iodide. The acidic gas components, such as NO and SO2, presents almost no impact on the Hg0 removal ability of KI-loaded GH600.

Regarding the heat dissipation problem of the fatigue life of IGBT module under thermal vibration coupling load, the finite element analysis method and incremental damage superposition method are used to simulate and calculated the working condition of IGBT module under thermal vibration coupling effect. According to the IGBT model, the thermal cycle load was applied to the model, and the fatigue damage factor of the module under the thermal cycle load is obtained by using the modified Coffin-Manson equation. Then, the modal analysis of the module under the influence of thermal stress was carried out, and the random vibration excitation signal was applied. The damage factor of the module under the random vibration load was calculated by strain-based Coffin - Manson equation and Miners linear cumulative damage theory. A fatigue life of 59.5h was obtained through calculating the total damage value of IGBT module under thermal vibration coupling load by superposition of thermal cycle fatigue damage factor and average fatigue damage factor under random vibration. This paper can theoretically guide reliability prediction of electronic devices and the fatigue life prediction under thermal-vibration coupling load.

Stretchable electronics can be summarized as an emerging electronic technology that manufactures electronic devices on flexible substrates, and has broad application prospects due to its unique ductility. In order to improve product reliability, it has become critical to understand all the failure modes that caused it to fail. Interface delamination is an important factor leading to its failure, especially at the interface between the flexible substrate and the metal conductive layer. In this study, in order to explore the stress distribution of the interface layer between the substrate (PDMS) and the metal conductive layer (Cu) under load, a uniaxial tensile simulation and a three-point bending simulation were first performed, and it was found that stress occurred at the corners Concentration phenomenon. Therefore, a peeling model without prefabricated cracks was used. The finite element model with cohesive elements is used for numerical simulation, and the stripping process is described in detail. Finally, the influence of cohesion parameters on peeling force is analyzed. It is found that with the increase of C1, the maximum peel force also increases, but it has no effect on the stable expansion stage. This research content is of great significance for quantitative analysis of the delamination of stretchable electrons and improving the reliability of stretchable electrons.

One challenge in conducting DNA methylation-based epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) is the appropriate cleaning and quality-checking of the methylation values to minimize biases and experimental artifacts, while simultaneously retaining potential biological signals. These issues are compounded in studies that include multiple tissue types, and/or tissues for which reference data are unavailable to assist in adjusting for cell-type mixture, for example cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). For our study that evaluated blood and CSF taken from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients, we developed a protocol to clean and quality-check genome-wide methylation levels and compared the methylomic profiles of the two tissues to determine whether blood is a suitable surrogate for CSF. CSF samples were collected from 279 aSAH patients longitudinally during the first 14 days of hospitalization, and a subset of 88 of these patients also provided blood samples within the first two days. Quality control (QC) procedures included identification and exclusion of poor performing samples and low-quality probes, functional normalization, and correction for cell-type heterogeneity via surrogate variable analysis (SVA). Significant differences in rates of poor sample performance was observed between blood (1.1% failing QC) and CSF (9.12% failing QC; p = 0.003). Functional normalization increased the concordance of methylation values among technical replicates in both CSF and blood. Likewise, SVA improved the asymptotic behavior of the test of association in a simulated EWAS under the null hypothesis. To determine the suitability of blood as a surrogate for CSF, we calculated the correlation of adjusted methylation values between blood and CSF globally and by genomic regions. Overall, mean correlation (r < 0.26) was low, suggesting that blood is not a suitable surrogate for global methylation in CSF. However, differences in the magnitude of the correlation were observed by genomic region (CpG island, shore, shelf, open sea; p < 0.001 for all) and orientation with respect to nearby genes (3’ UTR, transcription start site, exon, body, 5’ UTR; p < 0.01 for all). In conclusion, the correlation analysis and QC pipelines indicated that DNA extracted from blood was not, overall, a suitable surrogate for DNA extracted from CSF in aSAH methylomic studies.