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Enhancing the sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells to sorafenib (SFN) is an essential clinical bottleneck to be solved. Here we report that the expression of CD47 negatively correlated with HCC sensitivity to SFN. The microbiota-derived Staphylococcal superantigen-like protein 6 (SSL6) inhibited CD47 and promoted SFN-induced apoptosis of HCC cells Huh-7 and MHCC97H. Mechanistically, the sensitivity of HCC cells to SFN was inhibited by elevated Warburg effect (glycolysis), and SSL6 down-regulated PI3K/Akt-mediated glycolysis by blocking CD47. Knockdown of CD47 also dampened glycolysis and sensitized HCC cells to SFN. Moreover, SFN-resistant HCC cells exhibited enhanced glycolysis and CD47 expression. SSL6 significantly re-sensitized the resistant HCC cells to SFN. More importantly, we identified the anti-tumor effect of SSL6 in combination with SFN in HCC-bearing mice. Our results clarify the mechanism by which SSL6 enhances SFN sensitivity in HCC cells, providing a molecular basis for combination targeted therapy with microbiota-derived SSL6 to treat HCC.

A porous spherical hybrid of TiO2 (B)/anatase entwined by graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) was synthesized by a facile and scalable method. The entwining of GNRs can adhere on the surface of TiO2 by electrostatic interactions and prevent TiO2 nanoribbons from self-scrolling to nanotubes, facilitating large lithium storage and high rate capability. The TiO2/GNRs nanocomposite exhibited high rate capability in galvanostatic charge-discharge experiments, providing a capacity of 131 mAh g−1 with a coulombic efficiency of 99.2% at a charge rate of 10C (1 C = 335 mA g−1) over 1400 cycles. The appealing electrochemical performance can be attributed to the synergistic effect of TiO2 nanoribbons entwined by GNRs.

In this paper, a series of cathode materials xLi2MnO3·(1-x) LiNi0.45Co0.2Mn0.35O2 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1) were prepared by a carbonate co-precipitation method followed by a two-step sintering process. The effects of different x values on the phase structure, particles size distribution, tap density and electrochemical properties of as-prepared samples were systematically studied. The results display that the two phases between Li2MnO3 and LiNi0.45Co0.2Mn0.35O2 have a better synergistic effect: firstly, suitable amount of Li2MnO3 can stabilize the hexagonal α-NaFeO2 layered structure of OLO and inhibit the mixing positions of Li+ and Ni2+. Secondly, when the x value is 0.5 (MCO-0.5), spherical precursors have the most monodispersed particles size distribution (d = 0.72) and the highest tap density (1.82 g cm−3) among all prepared powders. Finally, 0.5Li2MnO3·0.5LiNi0.45Co0.2Mn0.35O2 (OLO-0.5) delivers a high initial discharge capacity (220 mAh g−1 at 0.1C) and a superior cyclic stability (~ 96% after 100 cycles). Moreover, OLO-0.5 provides the best rate capability owing to the highest discharge capacity when the C-rate increases from 0.1 to 10C.

Thermal exposure would compromises the compliance and thermal insulating performance of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). However, most publications were based on free-standing coatings in which the stress resulting from substrate is essentially different from TBCs on superalloy substrate. In this paper, the constrained effect of substrate on the ceramic top-coat of plasma sprayed lamellar TBCs was investigated. Results showed that the structural changes evolve from micro-scale to macro-scale during thermal exposure. In a relatively shorter thermal exposure stage, the inter-splat pores became narrowed, whereas the intra-splat cracks became widened. Consequently, the healing kinetics of inter-splat pores was much faster than that of the intra-splat cracks. In a relatively longer thermal exposure stage, some macroscale cracks appeared in coating surface owing to the gradually stiffening coatings. As a result, the microscale intra-splat cracks near the macroscale cracks were healed rapidly. In brief, the substrate constraint induced structural changes were stage sensitive.

Renal fibrosis, a common feature of chronic kidney disease (CKD), is characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) leading to scar formation in the renal parenchyma. Active epithelial-mesenchymal communication (EMC), and the proliferation and activation of fibroblasts are implicated in the causation of renal fibrosis. Aurora-A kinase (AURKA) is a serine/threonine kinase required for the process of mitosis. Dysregulation of AURKA has been demonstrated in the context of various cancers. However, the role of AURKA in CKD-associated fibrosis has not been elucidated. MK-5108, a potent and highly selective AURKA inhibitor, was shown to exhibit anti-cancer activity in recent preclinical and clinical studies. In the present study, we investigated the role of MK-5108 in renal fibrosis employing animal and cell models. In vivo, AURKA was highly expressed in fibrotic kidneys of CKD patients and in mouse kidneys with unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). Post treatment with MK-5108 at the 3rd day after UUO remarkably alleviated renal fibrosis, possibly by inhibiting the proliferation and activation of fibroblasts and suppressing the phenotypic transition of renal cells. Moreover, the enhanced inflammatory factors in obstructive kidneys were also repressed. In vitro, MK-5108 treatment inhibited the pro-fibrotic response in renal cells induced by transforming growth factor-β1. Finally, overexpression of AURKA in renal fibroblasts promoted fibrotic response, while silencing AURKA showed anti-fibrotic effect, further confirming the pro-fibrotic role of AURKA. In this study, inhibition of AURKA by MK-5108 markedly attenuated renal fibrosis. MK-5108 is a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of renal fibrosis in CKD.

Toluene is one of the most toxic pollutants of the air and catalytic oxidation is an effective technology for toluene removal. A series of mesoporous Co3O4 catalysts for toluene oxidation were successfully synthesized via pyrolysis of different morphologic Co-MOFs, involving ZIF-67, MOF-74 and ZSA-1 with N-donor, O-donor and N-O-donor linkers, respectively. The resulting Co3O4 catalysts exhibited different physicochemical properties such as exposed facets, Co3+/Co2+, Oads/Olatt, specific surface area, low temperature reducibility and so on. The morphology of the parent Co-MOFs and the content of C, N and O in the linkers are both pivotal in these differences. The Co3O4 catalysts also displayed differential catalytic activity and stability for toluene oxidation in the catalytic test. T90% of toluene over the Co3O4 catalysts is in the following order: ZSA-1-Co3O4 (N-O-ligand with octahedra shape) > MOF-74-Co3O4 (O-ligand with rod shape) > ZIF-67-Co3O4 (N-ligand with dodecahedral shape).

A series of Na-ZSM-5 zeolite supported Pd catalysts with different Si/Al ratios (Si/Al = 20, 40 and 80) were synthesized. And the effect of different Si/Al ratios on the catalytic combustion of VAM (with methane concentration below 1%) was investigated. The Pd/Na-ZSM-5-40 shows the best catalytic activity for VAM as to catalytic test. Through various techniques (XRD, SEM, HRTEM, XPS, H2-TPR and NH3-TPD), it is found that the advantage physicochemical properties of Pd/Na-ZSM-5-40 compared with Pd/Na-ZSM-5-20 and Pd/Na-ZSM-5-80: good dispersion and relatively small particle size of Pd particles, higher PdO and surface oxygen content, strong interaction between the active Pd species and the Na-ZSM-5 supports and more surface acid sites are all beneficial to methane oxidation. Furthermore, the CH4 conversion of Pd/Na-ZSM-5-40 at different GHSV (16000–112500 mL g−1 h−1) were remained after running for 50 h, suggesting a good stability.

ObjectiveTo explore protective effect of topiramate (TPM) on hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.MethodsA total of 360 neonatal rats were selected then randomly divided into sham operation group, ischemia and hypoxia group, conventional treatment group and degradation therapy group (n=90). After surgical treatment, sham and ischemic hypoxia group were treat with normal saline; conventional treatment group was received TPM solution 100 mg/kg, 2 times/d; degradation therapy group received TPM solution 150 mg/kg, 2 times/d, per 3 d treatment each dosage was reduced 50 mg/kg, the lowest reduced to 50 mg/kg. Four groups received continuous treatment for 10 d. After treatment for 1 d, 4 d, 7 d, 10 d the cerebral edema, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels and cognitive abilities of four groups were observed.ResultsAfter 1 d, 4 d of treatment, the brain water content and NSE levels in ischemia and hypoxia group, the conventional treatment group and the degradation therapy group were significantly higher than that in sham group (P

Spectral type recognition is an important and fundamental step of large sky survey projects in the data reduction for further scientific research, like parameter measurement and statistic work. It tends out to be a huge job to manually inspect the low quality spectra produced from massive spectroscopic survey, where the automatic pipeline may not provide confident type classification results. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of spectral classification, we develop a semi-automated toolkit named ASERA, A Spectrum Eye Recognition Assistant. The main purpose of ASERA is to help the user in quasar spectral recognition and redshift measurement. Furthermore it can also be used to recognize various types of spectra of stars, galaxies and AGNs (Active Galactic Nucleus). It is an interactive software allowing the user to visualize observed spectra, superimpose template spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and interactively access related spectral line information. It is an efficient and user-friendly toolkit for accurate classification of spectra observed by LAMOST (the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope). The toolkit is available in two modes: a Java standalone application and a Java applet. ASERA has a few functions, such as wavelength and flux scale setting, zoom in and out, redshift estimation, spectral line identification, which helps user to improve the spectral classification accuracy especially for low quality spectra and reduce the labor of eyeball check. The function and performance of this tool is displayed through the recognition of several quasar spectra and a late type stellar spectrum from the LAMOST Pilot survey. Its future expansion capabilities are discussed., Comment: 13 pages, 1 table, 6 figures, submitted to Astronomy and Computing

Two Zn2+ ion fluorescent probes based on a coumarin Schiff-base were designed and synthesized, which have highly selective sensing of Zn2+ ions over other metal ions in aqueous solution based on a C N isomerization mechanism. Both the X-ray crystal structure of the zinc complex and the Job’s plots showed a 1:1 probe-Zn2+ ion identification with high selectivity and sensitivity. The Cp1 probe was also used to image intracellular Zn2+ ions in MCF-7 cells with a good performance.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves heart function and reduces all-cause mortality in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, there are still about one third patients, who fulfilled the indications of guidelines, unrespond to CRT. The inflammatory injury is the major reason