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Antecedentes Pocos estudios han investigado el impacto del síndrome metabólico (SM) en la enfermedad por coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Describimos las características clínicas y el pronóstico de los pacientes con COVID-19 confirmados con SM durante la hospitalización y después del alta. Métodos Se incluyeron retrospectivamente 233 pacientes con COVID-19 de los hospitales de 8 ciudades de Jiangsu, China. Se describieron las características clínicas de los pacientes con COVID-19 y se analizaron los factores de riesgo de enfermedad grave mediante un análisis de regresión logística. Resultados Cuarenta y cinco (19,3%) de los 233 pacientes de COVID-19 tenían EM. La mediana de edad de los pacientes de COVID-19 con EM fue significativamente mayor que la de los pacientes sin EM (53,0 años frente a 46,0 años, P=0,004). No hubo diferencias significativas en cuanto a los síntomas clínicos, las imágenes de TC torácica anormales y los fármacos de tratamiento entre los dos grupos. Hubo más pacientes con EM que tuvieron enfermedades graves (33,3% frente a 6,4%, P

The uniaxial tensile test of the 5A06-O aluminium–magnesium (Al–Mg) alloy sheet was performed in the temperature range of 20–300 °C to obtain the true stress–true strain curves at different temperatures and strain rates. The constitutive model of 5A06-O Al–Mg alloy sheet with the temperature range from 150 to 300°C was established. Based on the test results, a unique finite element simulation platform for warm hydroforming of 5A06-O Al–Mg alloy was set up using the general finite element software MSC.Marc to simulate warm hydroforming of classic specimen, and a coupled thermo-mechanical finite element model for warm hydroforming of cylindrical cup was built up. Combined with the experiment, the influence of the temperature field distribution and loading conditions on the sheet formability was studied. The results show that the non-isothermal temperature distribution conditions can significantly improve the forming performance of the material. As the temperature increases, the impact of the punching speed on the forming becomes particularly obvious; the optimal values of the fluid pressure and blank holder force required for forming are reduced.

Congenital hypospadias is a common congenital malformation of the urinary system in male children. However, the role of circRNA in congenital hypospadias remains unknown.Differentially expressed circRNAs and mRNAs were identified by RNA sequencing. GO and KEEG analysis were performed to uncover the key function and pathways. The interaction networks were constructed and analyzed by competing endogenous (ce)RNA analysis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and qRT-PCR were used to detect the expressions of androgen receptor (AR) and hsa_circ_0000417 in normal and hypospadias tissues. Further, the correlation between hsa_circ_0000417 and other clinical indicators were calculated.Compared with normal foreskin tissues, 1329 circRNAs and 978 mRNAs were significantly upregulated, 3176 circRNAs and 614 mRNAs were significantly downregulated in hypospadias tissues, respectively. MAPK and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways play important roles in congenital hypospadias. The expression of AR and hsa_circ_0000417 in 68 hypospadias tissues was significantly lower than that in 68 normal foreskin tissues (P 0.05). The expression of the AR, as analyzed using IHC, was consistent with the qPCR results. A significant correlation was noted between the expression of AR and hsa_circ_0000417 in 68 clinical samples (P 0.05). Furthermore, the expression level of hsa_circ_0000417 was associated with the incidence of other diseases and the location of the hypospadias site (P 0.05). Expression of hsa_circ_0000417 was significantly downregulated in hypospadias patients without other diseases (P 0.05).Hsa_circ_0000417 may regulate the expression of AR, and the expression of hsa_circ_0000417 in normal foreskin tissues is associated with the occurrence of hypospadias.

Biogas residues (BR) contaminated with potentially toxic metals pose environmental risks to soils and food chains, and strategies are needed to decrease the concentration and bioavailability of potentially toxic metals in BR. Here, metal fractions and removal mechanisms were quantified by synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared and micro X-ray fluorescence spectromicroscopies on BR and earthworms subject to vermicomposting. Vermicomposting resulted in decreases in concentrations of potentially toxic metals in BR and increases in metal removal efficiencies due to uptake by earthworms. Prior to vermicomposting, Zn, Cu and Pb were associated with N-H, O-H, aromatic C, aliphatic C, and amide functional groups, but following maturation during vermicomposting, metals were associated with N-H, O-H, aliphatic C and polysaccharide functional groups. Following vermicomposting, Zn and Cu were mainly distributed in the dermal portions of earthworms, whereas Pb was more homogeneously distributed among the inner and outer portions of the earthworms, revealing that different metals may have different uptake routes. These findings provide a new strategy for safe utilization of BR by using earthworms via vermicomposting to remove potentially toxic metals and in situ insights into how metals binding and distribution characteristics in BR and earthworms during compost and vermicomposting processes.

A novel diphenylamine/spiro[fluorene-9,9′-xanthene] (SFX) hybrid (SFX27DPA) was constructed successfully by incorporating diphenylamine into SFX via Pd-catalyzed C N cross-coupling to ingeniously develop state-of-the-art models of solution-processible small molecule host for uncovering the structure-property relationship of molecular structure change in the application of PhOLEDs, which is vital to rational cumulative enhancement in device performance by purposive and feasible structure modifications. SFX27DPA shows outstanding thermal stability (Td, 425 °C) compared to those of SFXDPA ((Spiro[fluorene-9,9′-xanthen]-2-yl)-diphenylamine) (Td, 338 °C) and SFX-Cz ((2-carbazolyl-spiro[fluorene-9,9′-xanthene]) (Td, 345 °C) by increasing the molecular weight but owns weak morphological stability due to its low melting point (Tc, 60.5 °C). The HOMO (−5.28 eV), LUMO (−2.08 eV), and energy gap (Eg, 3.20 eV) were obtained by cyclic voltammetry measurements (CVs). The high T1 (T1, 2.98 eV) and narrow energy gap (Eg, 3.20 eV) are beneficial to achieving high efficient device. The compound not only possesses a high triplet energy level but also exhibits good solubility in common solvents. Two SFX-based compounds (SFX27DPA, SFX-Cz) for red PhOLEDs have been fabricated successfully by solution process for deep researching the relationship between molecular structure and device performance. An enhanced performance of device based on SFX27DPA with maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 10.9% under lower driving voltage was obtained compared to that of SFX-Cz-based red PhOLEDs (1.5%). This investigation offers good reference for future molecular design to achieve high performance through accumulative structure modification.

Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is an immunosuppressive agent that is widely used in graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis because of its inhibitory function on T cells and B cells. However, the effect of MMF on natural killer cell reconstitution after allogenic hematological transplantation is largely unknown. The present study examined the effects of different MMF administration durations after haploidentical allo-HSCT on NK cell reconstitution. Ninety patients were enrolled in this study and defined into two groups in term of MMF duration. We found that MMF patients in the long-term MMF group were associated with a poor reconstitution of NK cells and a significantly lower cytotoxicity from day 30 to day 180 post-transplantation. Especially, the long-term MMF group inhibits reconstitution of NKp30 NK subsets, which correlated with higher risk of EBV viremia. Multivariate analysis showed that a better reconstitution of NKp30 cells was associated with lower EBV viremia (HR0.957, p = .04). In vitro experiments demonstrated that the active metabolite of MMF, mycophenolic acid (MPA), inhibited the proliferation and cytotoxicity of NK cells from healthy donors or patients at day 30 post-transplantation. In summary, our findings demonstrated that long-term MMF administration delayed the quality and quantity of NK cells, especially NKp30 subpopulations, which was associated with decreased EBV viremia post allogeneic HSCT.

A novel bulky 1,3,4-oxadiazole-based spirocyclic compound 2,5-bis(2-spiro[fluorene-9,9′-xanthene]-7-yl)phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (D- [2-SFXP]-o-OXD) has been synthesized successfully by incorporating spiro[fluorene-9,9′-xanthene] (SFX) into 2,5-biphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole reaction via Suzuki cross-coupling with Pd(PPh3)4 as catalyst. The electrochemical properties of the compound were researched via cyclic voltammetry (CV) and obtained the HOMO, LUMO, and energy gap (Eg, 3.57 eV). The green TADF OLEDs hosted D[2-SFXP]-o-OXD and D[2-SFXP]-o-OXD:mCP by solution-processing techniques with maximum current efficiency (CE) and EQE (external quantum efficiency) of 15.2 cd A−1/4.8% and 25.9 cd A−1/8.5% as the doping concentration increasing from 5% to 10%, respectively. The electroluminescent (EL) spectra are independent of the concentration changes, which exhibits the three dimensional bulky D[2-SFXP]-o-OXD with large steric hindrance could successfully suppress the concentration quenching and excimer emission.

Leukemia relapse is still the leading cause of treatment failure after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Relapsed patients with B-ALL after allo-HSCT have a very short median survival. Minimal residual disease (MRD) is predictive of forthcoming hematological relapse after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT); furthermore, eliminating MRD effectively prevents relapse. Donor lymphoblastic infusion (DLI) is the main established approach to treat B-ALL with MRD after allo-HSCT. However, about one-third of patients with MRD are non-responsive to DLI and their prognosis worsens. Although donor-derived cluster of differentiation (CD)19-directed chimeric antigen receptor-modified (CAR) T cells (CART19s) can potentially cure leukemia, the efficiency and safety of infusions with these cells have not yet been investigated in patients with MRD after HSCT. Between September 2014 and February 2018, six patients each received one or more infusions of CART19s from HSCT donors. Five (83.33%) achieved MRD-negative remission, and one case was not responsive to the administration of CAR T cells. Three of the six patients are currently alive without leukemia. No patient developed acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), and no patient died of cytokine release syndrome. Donor-derived CAR T cell infusions seem to be an effective and safe intervention for patients with MRD in B-ALL after allo-HSCT and for those who were not responsive to DLI. Keywords: Donor-derived CD19-targeted T cell infusion, Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Minimal residual disease

Background: Adoptive transfer of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific T cells (CTLs) from original transplant donors or third-party donors was effective for CMV infection after allogenic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT), but the safety and antiviral activity of CTL types have not been compared. Additionally, mechanisms driving sustained antiviral immunity induced by these CTLs need to be established and compared. Methods: i) We compared antiviral abilities of transplant donor and third-party CTLs for CMV infection in two mouse models, compared the in vivo recovery of CMV-specific immunity and analyzed underlying mechanisms driving sustained antiviral immunity induced by these CTLs therapies. ii) We collected data from 31 patients receiving third-party CTLs and selected matched pairs of 62 individuals who received donor CTLs for refractory CMV infection after allo-SCT, compared the safety and efficacy of the CTLs types for CMV infection, and evaluated the recovery of virus-specific immunity in patients. Findings: i) In mouse models, we observed that both donor and third-party CTLs effectively combated systemic CMV infection by reducing CMV pathology and tumor burden 28 days post-infusion. The in vivo recovery of CMV-specific immunity after CTLs infusion was comparable in both groups. A detailed analysis of the source of recovered CTLs showed the proliferation and expansion of graft-derived endogenous CTLs in both groups. ii) In patients, adoptive therapy with donor or third-party CTLs had comparable clinical responses without significant therapy-related toxicity. We observed strong expansion of CD8 + tetramer + T cells and the proliferation of recipient’s endogenous CTLs after CTLs infusion, which were associated with a reduced or cleared of viral load. Interpretation: Adoptive therapy with transplant donor or third-party CTLs triggered comparable antiviral responses to CMV infection by helping to restore CMV-specific immunity. Funding: National Key Research and Development Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China. Declaration of Interest: The authors have no competing financial interests to declare. Ethical Approval: This study was approved by the ethics committee of Peking University People's Hospital

The immune mechanism underlying graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains unclear. Natural killer (NK) cells play a crucial role in mediating pathogen-specific immunity and are the first donor-derived lymphocytes reconstituted post-HSCT. However, NK cells vary at different stages after HSCT. Here, we found that the absolute NKG2A+ subset cell counts and the percentages of NKG2A+ among NK cells were significantly reduced in GVHD patients after HSCT compared with those from non-GVHD patients. Moreover, the reduction in NKG2A+ NK cells in post-HSCT GVHD patients was ascribed to increased apoptosis and a decreased proliferation capacity while retaining a strong graft-versus-leukemia effect. In vitro assays showed that co-culture of T cells with NKG2A+ NK cells significantly reduced IFN-γ secretion by T cells and increased IL-4 secretion. Moreover, the CD25 expression level was decreased, whereas the number of cells with the CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ phenotype was increased. In addition, the NKG2A+ NK cells induced T cell apoptosis and decreased T cell proliferation during the co-culture process. Importantly, NKG2A+ NK cells mainly regulated activated but not resting T cells. In vivo assays showed that the serologic IL-10 level was evidently lower in GVHD than in non-GVHD patients, whereas the IL-1β, IFN-γ, and tumor necrosis factor-α levels were higher in GVHD patients. Furthermore, the NKG2A+ NK cell ratio from GVHD patients was markedly increased by the presence of exogenous IL-10 but not by other cytokines. In contrast, the NKG2A+ cell ratio from non-GVHD patients was not increased by IL-10. Therefore, post-HSCT GVHD may be ascribed to the reduced induction of NKG2A+ NK cells by IL-10, which further overactivates T cells.

Two low-dimensional transition metal coordination polymers (CPs), namely, Co(TDC)(Hdmea)2 (1), [Mn(TDC)(5,5′‑dmbpy)(H2O)]n (2) (H2TDC = thiophene‑2,5‑dicarboxylic acid, Hdmea = N,N‑dimethylethanolamine, 5,5′‑dmbpy = 5,5′‑dimethyl‑2,2′‑dipyridyl) have been synthesized and characterized. Compound 1 which is the first coordination compound containing the H2TDC and chelating Hdmea ligands so far features an isolated structure containing the centrosymmetric dinuclear [Co(TDC)(Hdmea)2]2 unit. Notably, the imidazole ligand as one of the reactants is not incorporated into the final structure of compound 1, but it is important to obtain the single crystals suitable for single–crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 2 possesses a one-dimensional (1D) zigzag chain based on the [Mn(TDC)(5,5′‑dmbpy)(H2O)] building unit. In addition, the magnetic property of compound 2 is investigated.

A spiroconfigured phenothiazine dioxide compound 10-(2- spiro [fluorenyl-9,9′-xanthen])-phenothiazine 5,5-dioxide (SFX-PzO2) was successfully synthesized via C–N cross-coupling with Pd(PPh3)4 as a catalyst, to set up the state-of-the-art models of spiroconfigured phenothiazine dioxide-based small molecular host, which was systemically researched to understand the structure-property relationships deeply to accumulate the increase of device performance rationally and accelerate the commercialization of OLEDs. The high thermal (Td, 394 °C) and morphological stabilities of SFX-PzO2 were obtained due to its rigid spiroconfigured structure and 3D steric hindrance effect. The twisted non-conjugation connection between spiro [fluoren-9,9′-xanthen] and phenothiazine dioxide ensures the compound possesses high triplet energy level (2.87 eV), which is vital to achieve high performance devices. A blue TADF device used SFX-PzO2 as a host with the maximum EQE and lowest driving voltage of 13.9% and 6.5 V at a luminance of 1000 cd m−2, respectively, for phenothiazine dioxide derivative hosted device.

Curcumin has been reported to have anti-fibrotic effect. However, the anti-fibrotic mechanism of curcumin for liver fibrosis remains obscure. In the presenting study, we aimed to investigate whether curcumin reduce chemokines secretion by inhibiting kupffer cells (KCs) activation to decrease Ly6Chi monocyte infiltration in the treatment of liver fibrosis. Liver fibrosis was induced by intraperitoneal carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-injection in mice. Mice in curcumin group received curcumin treatment by gavage. Pretreatment with curcumin significantly protected mice from liver inflammation and fibrosis. Compared to CCl4 group, mice in the curcumin group showed significantly less intrahepatic infiltration of Ly6Chi monocytes, but no difference of other leucocyte subtypes. Moreover, curcumin significantly reduced Ly6Chi monocytes associated pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrogenic cytokines, which was in line with the decreased numbers of intrahepatic Ly6Chi monocytes. Further study found that curcumin is able to decrease KCs activation and monocyte chemokines, which explains why curcumin can reduce Ly6Chi monocytes infiltration during liver fibrosis. In vitro, we discovered that curcumin prevents the polarization of macrophages toward M1 and reduces monocyte chemokines secretion, which is involved with ERK1/2 and p38 pathways. Taken together, for the first time, we verified that curcumin can reduce chemokines secretion by inhibiting KCs activation to decrease Ly6Chi monocyte infiltration in the treatment of liver fibrosis. These results suggested that curcumin may be considered a promising candidate in the prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis.

In this study, dual-cooled solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME) using a modified Clevenger-type apparatus was attempted and developed for the extraction of essential oil from S. officinalis. The parameters of dual-cooled SFME were investigated by Box-Behnken design with response surface methodology. Well-fitting model for the dual-cooled SFME was successfully established and verified. The proposed procedure highly accelerated the extraction process and was highlighted with high yield by reducing the heat loss. Moreover, higher amounts of more odoriferous oxygenated monoterpenes and lower amounts of terpene hydrocarbons were present in the essential oils extracted by SFME and dual-cooled SFME in comparison with hydrodistillation (HD), and dual-cooled SFME better prevented the thermal reaction. The essential oils obtained showed outstanding activity against Bacilus subtillis and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Accordingly, dual-cooled SFME represents a more effective and excellent alternative for the preparation of plant essential oil, and S. officinalis essential oil was a potential natural source of antimicrobial.

Effectively identifying and analyzing materials are key procedures for breeding novel crop varieties because of the large quantities of materials and their combinations. This paper presents an approach for crop breeding material management, improvement of crop breeding efficiency, and genealogical tracking through the golden seed breeding cloud platform (GSBCP). The system was developed with Java on an Eclipse integrated development environment. To support a large number of users, security, credibility, and expandability, we selected a cloud-based architecture for the system, in which material attribute, pedigree, and trait information were customized by a template. An intelligent retrieval function was provided for the rapid search of breeding materials, and material trait information, historical data, genealogical information, trial data analysis results and material images can be retrieved in the system. For the analysis of the materials’ genealogy, the rules of genealogy were regulated. The genealogy of the breeding materials was automatically generated on the basis of these rules, which support many breeding methods, such as selfing, hybridization, double cross, three-way cross, and backcross. The developed system has been successfully applied in many Chinese breeding enterprises and scientific research institutions. The system provided a low-cost and highly efficient solution for crop material information management and genealogical tracking.

Introduction Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKTs) are a rare but vital subset of immunomodulatory T cells and play an important role in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell trans-plantation (HSCT). The association of donor characteristics with the number and frequency of the iNKTs subsets in allografts remains poorly understood. In this paper, we prospectively investigate the association of donor characteristics with iNKTs dose and frequency in granulocyte–colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilized marrow and peripheral blood harvests. Materials and methods 100 bone marrow (BM) units and 100 peripheral blood (PB) units from 100 healthy donors were examined. Parameters including donor age, sex, weight, height, BMI and blood count [including white blood cells (WBCs), lymphocytes and monocytes] at three time points [donor's steady state before G-CSF administration, the day of G-BM harvesting and the day of G-PB apheresis] were analyzed to explore the impact of donor characteristics on iNKTs composition in BM and PB grafts. Results Multivariate analysis showed monocyte counts before G-BM harvest could predict higher frequency of iNKTs in WBC (OR = 2.593, 95%CI: 1.128–5.961, p = 0.025), higher total CD4+ iNKTs dose (OR = 2.250, 95%CI: 1.011–5.008, p = 0.047) and higher total iNKTs dose (OR = 2.662, 95%CI: 1.187–5.970, p = 0.017) in mixture allografts. Discussion The results suggested that monocyte counts pre G-BM harvest could predict the yield of total CD4+ iNKTs and total iNKTs in mixture allografts. The male and older donors were associated with a higher dose of total CD4− iNKTs in mixture allografts.

Background: CircRNAs are a new subset of noncoding RNAs formed by covalent closed loops and play crucial roles in the regulation of cancer gene expression. However, the roles and underlying mechanisms of circRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) remain indistinct. This study aimed to explore the role and mechanism of hsa_circ_0006421 (circPTK2) in GC.Methods: The differential expression of circRNAs between GC tissues and adjacent normal tissues were identified by a circRNA expression profiling. Associations of circPTK2 or miR-134-5p expression with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of GC patients were analyzed by chi-square of Fisher’s exact tests and Kaplan-Meier analysis. CCK8, colony formation, EdU assays and animal models were performed to assess the effects of circPTK2 on proliferation and invasion of GC cells. CircPTK2-specific probes were used to purify the RNA pulled down from the circPTK2, and enrichment of circPTK2 and miR-134-5p was detected by qRT-PCR. The effects of circPTK2 on miR-134-5p expression and CELF2/PTEN signaling were examined by qRT-PCR and Western blotting analysis. Results: Low expression of circPTK2 and high expression of miR-134-5p were related to the poor survival, and high expression of miR-134-5p was related to the tumor recurrence in GC patients. Overexpressing circPTK2 suppressed the proliferation, colony formation, DNA synthesis and cell invasion as well as xenograft tumor growth and lung metastasis in vitro and in vivo, whereas silencing circPTK2 had the opposite effects. Moreover, circPTK2 was negatively correlated and co-localized with miR-134-5p in the cytoplasm of GC tissue cells. circPTK2 bound to and sponged miR-134-5p in GC cells, and miR-134-5p facilitated cell growth and invasion but attenuated circPTK2 induced tumor suppressive effects and CELF2/PTEN signaling activation in GC cells. Conclusions: circPTK2 functions as a tumor suppressor in GC by sponging miR-134-5p and activating the CELF2/PTEN axis.

Volatile organic sulfide compounds (VOSCs) are usually resistant to biodegradation, thereby limiting the performance of traditional biotechnology dealing with waste gas containing such pollutants especially in mixture. In this study, a solid composite microbial inoculant (SCMI) was prepared to remove dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and propanethiol (PT). Given that the DMS degradation activity of Alcaligenes sp. SY1 is inducible and the PT-degradation activity of Pseudomonas putida S-1 is constitutive, different strategies are designed for cell cultivation to obtain high VOSC removal rates of SCMI. Compared with the microbial suspension, the prepared SCMI exhibited better storage stability at 4 and 25°C. Inoculation of the SCMI in biotrickling filters (BTFs) could effectively shorten the start-up period and enhance the removal performance. Microbial analysis by Illumina MiSeq indicated that Alcaligenes sp. SY1 and P. putida S-1 might be dominant and persistent among the microbial communities of the BTF during the operation.

Background Early identification of acute pancreatitis (AP) patients at high-risk of developing persistent organ failure (persistent OF) is a vital clinical goal. This research intends to assess the ability of apolipoprotein A-I (APO A-I) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) to predict persistent OF. Methods Between January 2011 and September 2016, a total of 102 adult AP patients with organ failure, local complications or deterioration of former comorbidities disease during hospitalization were included in this study retrospectively. Serum lipids were tested and computed the correlation with clinical outcomes or scoring systems. The AUCs to predict persistent OF were also calculated and compared with each other. Results Serum APO A-I and HDL-C levels were negatively associated with scoring systems. Meanwhile, serum lipids were negatively correlated with poor clinical outcomes. The AUCs of APO A-I, HDL-C, the combination of APO A-I and BISAP, or the combination of APO A-I and MCTSI to predict persistent OF among Moderately severe acute pancreatitis (MSAP) and Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) patients were 0.886, 0.811, 0.912, and 0.900 or among those with organ failure were 0.915, 0.859, 0.933, and 0.933, respectively. Conclusions The concentrations of APO A-I, HDL-C, and the combinations of APO A-I and scoring systems have high predictive value to predict persistent OF.

Fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-conjugated amino acids, especially Fmoc-phenylalanine (Fmoc-F), are promising antibacterial agents with self-assembly capabilities. However, they possess weak antibacterial activities against gram-negative bacteria, which restricts their wide range of biomedical applications. In this study, Fmoc-F-based self-assembled supramolecular hydrogels were fabricated through a facile incorporation of silver ions. The prepared supramolecular hydrogels showed antibacterial properties (>98.0%) against both Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (E. coli, gram-negative) bacteria. Moreover, the hydrogels were biocompatible, and the cell viability against mouse fibroblast cells was more than 85.0%. These results indicate that the Fmoc-F@Ag hydrogel can be used effectively for antibacterial applications.

Two spiro-configured phenyl acridophopsphine-based oxide and sulfide host materials, named 5-phenyl-5H-spiro[acridophosphine- 10,9′-fluorene]-5-oxide (PSAFO) and 5-phenyl-5H-spiro [acridopho-sphine-10,9′-fluorene]5-sulfide (PSAFS), were synthesized by convenient method. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level and electron mobility could be decreased and improved as the S-atom replaced O-atom, respectively. Then, the electron injecting/transporting ability of PSAFS is expected to be enhanced. Moreover, the S-atom would provide PSAFS with better electron-donating capability and heavier molecular weight compared with that of PSAFO. Thus, a higher HOMO (the highest occupied molecular orbital) energy level and thermal stability can be achieved due to the shallower onset of oxidation potential and increased molecular weight. Consequently, a narrower energy gap between HOMO and LUMO of PSAFS would be obtained, and its thermal stability could be improved, which is beneficial to constructing high performance device. Although the frontier molecular orbitals and thermal stability were finely controlled by molecular modification, the high triplet (T1) energy level was still retained due to the limited π-conjugation. With the high T1, HOMO and LUMO energy levels of 2.83/2.82, −6.19/-5.66 and −2.12/-2.19 eV, PSAFO and PSAFS based blue TADF OLEDs with low driving voltages of 2.9/3.1 V and maximum EQEs of 12.4/13.8% are successfully realized.

A acquisition system is developed with multitag-based identification technologies.The system provides four kinds of data acquisition modes for different requirements.Images and data are related, and image information is automatically generated.Field maps are created after planting directly via reading the RFID/NFC tags. This paper aims to establish a crop trait information acquisition system by combining barcode and radio frequency-based electronic identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) technology applications. The system was devised to ensure (a) correct identification of each crop material and plot, (b) quick query and positioning for information collection, (c) correct combination of crop phenotypic data and images, and (d) reliable recording of periodic crop trait data with dependable transmission to the main server. This system, with multitag-based identification technology, was developed on an Android platform using the Java language. A type of RFID/NFC tag with a high-frequency chip was applied in the core, and a quick response (QR) code was used on the surface for material identification. A smartphone with NFC function can be used as an RFID reader, and its built-in camera can be used to decode QR codes. The system was used in some seed industries commercial breeding and in national crop variety regional trial, with its functions including reading/writing of RFID/NFC tags, decoding QR codes, acquiring crop trait information, creating field maps, and uploading data. This system provided a low-cost and highly efficient solution for crop trait information collection.

Chemical doping is adopted to tune the work function and electrical conductivity of carbon counter electrode (CE) in HTM-free organometallic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this work, the boron and phosphorus co-doped carbon (BPC) CE is constructed by coating a B doped carbon layer onto the P-doped carbon (PC). The work function of BPC CE with B/P co-doping (B: 2.68 at.%, P: 2.23 at.%) is thus regulated to 5.12 eV from the 5.01 eV of pure carbon and 4.81 eV of PC, and the sheet resistance is modulated to 8.41 Ω sq −1 from 14.75 Ω sq −1 of pure carbon and 7.89 Ω sq −1 of PC. As a consequence, the BPC-based PSCs deliver a power conversion efficiency of 6.78%, higher than those of pristine carbon (3.72%), PC (5.39%) and BC (5.20%) based PSCs, and even comparable to that of conventional Au-based device (7.22%), due to the enhanced hole extraction ability and the maintained high electronic conductivity. Moreover, the good stability in ambient condition over a period of 720 h is also demonstrated in the BPC-based PSCs. The successful application of BPC CE in PSCs shows a promising way for fabricating low-cost, large-scale and highly efficient PSCs in future.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of soy isoflavone daidzein on growth performance, serum metabolites, nutrient digestibility, and fecal bacterial community in bull calves. Twenty bull calves (138.9 ± 12.1 kg) were used in a 60-d feeding study. These calves were stratified by weight into groups and randomly allotted by group to one of four dietary groups including supplemental 0 (control), 100, 200, and 400 mg daidzein/kg feed, respectively. The average daily gain was increased significantly by supplemental daidzein (P

We quantified the serum levels of 34 cytokines/chemokines in 30 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Elevated levels of IP-10 and IL-7 were detected in the acute and convalescent stages of the infection and were highly associated with disease severity.

With the global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the important role of natural killer (NK) cells in the control of various viral infections attracted more interest, via non-specific activation, such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and activating receptors, as well as specific activation, such as memory-like NK generation. In response to different viral infections, NK cells fight viruses in different ways, and different NK subsets proliferate. For instance, cytomegalovirus (CMV) induces NKG2C + CD57 + KIR+ NK cells to expand 3–6 months after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), but human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induces KIR3DS1+/KIR3DL1 NK cells to expand in the acute phase of infection. However, the similarities and differences among these processes and their molecular mechanisms have not been fully discussed. In this article, we provide a summary and comparison of antiviral mechanisms, unique subset expansion and time periods in peripheral blood and tissues under different conditions of CMV, HIV, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), COVID-19 and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. Accordingly, we also discuss current clinical NK-associated antiviral applications, including cell therapy and NK-related biological agents, and we state the progress and future prospects of NK cell antiviral treatment.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a substrate material with high purity and robust mechanical strength, but due to its small pore size and relatively expensive price, it is restricted as an oil-/water separation membrane. In this study, cheaper plant cellulose needle-leaf bleached kraft pulp (NBKP) was added to BC to increase the pore size of the composite membrane, and a superhydrophobic/superoleophilic membrane was prepared for oil-/water separation. The modified membrane surface displayed a petal-like micro-structure and a water contact angle (WCA) of 162.3°, while the oil contact angle was decreased to 0°. What's more, the membrane exhibited excellent oil-/water separation under gravity, recyclability, and a separation efficiency (>95 %), and it was both pH and salt resistant. The membrane also remained durably hydrophobic after 10 separation cycles. And the separation methodology is expected to be highly energy-efficient.

Several 2D vector map reversible data hiding schemes presented in the literature are not capable of preserving the directional relations between map objects. This weakness may lead to the exposure of the camouflaged secret data to unauthorized parties and attract malicious attacks. In this paper, we propose a method that preserves the directional relations between points in 2D vector maps while sustaining the original content recovery property of reversible data hiding schemes. In particular, we propose sorting the coordinates of each axis, separating the sorted coordinate lists into segments, adding two boundary coordinates to each segment, and embedding data into eligible intervals. While the selection of eligible intervals ensures directional relations preservation between points, the segment division and the addition of boundary coordinates provide good invisibility and high capacity. We provide experimental results to demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.

Spiro[fluorene-9,9′-xanthene] (SFX) bipolar hosts bearing one, two and three quinolyl substituents, namely SFX-bPy, SFX-DbPy and SFX-TbPy, were designed and synthesized for phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). The successive substitution of quinoline at 2′, 2 and 7′ positions of SFX results in reduced LUMO energy levels while leaving the HOMO energy levels nearly intact. The impact of quinoline substitution in these SFX-based hosts on PhOLED performance was investigated in detail through green and red model devices. For the green emitting devices, the device based on SFX-bPy host showed better performance (23.6 cd A−1, 23.4 lm W−1, 6.3%) due to high triplet energy level (T1) and balanced carriers-transporting ability. In contrast, for the red PhOLED devices, the device hosted by SFX-DbPy displayed higher performance (15.8 cd A−1, 16.0 lm W−1, 9.1%), attributable to the well matched T1 and separated frontier molecular orbitals. This work thus sheds light on the rational design of SFX-based bipolar hosts for more efficient PhOLEDs.

Matrix factorization based techniques, such as nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) and concept factorization (CF), have attracted a great deal of attentions in recent years, mainly due to their ability of dimension reduction and sparse data representation. Both techniques are of unsupervised nature and thus do not make use of a priori knowledge to guide the clustering process. This could lead to inferior performance in some scenarios. As a remedy to this, a semi-supervised learning method called Pairwise Constrained Concept Factorization (PCCF) was introduced to incorporate some pairwise constraints into the CF framework. Despite its improved performance, PCCF uses only a priori knowledge and neglects the proximity information of the whole data distribution; this could lead to rather poor performance (although slightly improved comparing to CF) when only limited a priori information is available. To address this issue, we propose in this paper a novel method called Constrained Neighborhood Preserving Concept Factorization (CNPCF). CNPCF utilizes both a priori knowledge and local geometric structure of the dataset to guide its clustering. Experimental studies on three real-world clustering tasks demonstrate that our method yields a better data representation and achieves much improved clustering performance in terms of accuracy and mutual information comparing to the state-of-the-arts techniques.

Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) and Concept Factorization (CF) are two popular methods for finding the low-rank approximation of nonnegative matrix. Different from NMF, CF can be applied not only to the matrix containing negative values but also to the kernel space. Based on NMF and CF, many methods, such as Graph regularized Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (GNMF) and Locally Consistent Clustering Factorization (LCCF) can significantly improve the performance of clustering. Unfortunately, these are unsupervised learning methods. In order to enhance the clustering performance with the supervisory information, a Semi-Supervised Concept Factorization (SSCF) is proposed in this paper by incorporating the pairwise constraints into CF as the reward and penalty terms, which can guarantee that the data points belonging to a cluster in the original space are still in the same cluster in the transformed space. By comparing with the state-of-the-arts algorithms (KM, NMF, CF, LCCF, GNMF, PCCF), experimental results on document clustering show that the proposed algorithm has better performance in terms of accuracy and mutual information.

Hydrogels mimic the tissue environment because of their hydrophilic and porous network structures. They are widely investigated in biomedical and biotechnological fields, however, due to the poor mechanical properties and limited functions, their further applications are restricted. In order to tackle these problems, an emerging approach is focused on the development of nanocomposite hydrogels. Numerous nanoparticles, including carbon-based, silica, polymeric, and metal-based nanoparticles have been incorporated into hydrogels. The combination of the two different materials results in a hybrid material with synergistic properties of both components. Nanocomposite hydrogels are designed to possess superior physicochemical and biological properties. Therefore, they are rapidly developing new materials, which have predominant applications in biological and material sciences. In this manuscript, we intended to summarize recent development in the nanocomposite hydrogels and their applications in the biomedical field.

2,2,4,4-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) has received considerable attention because of its high detection level in biological samples and potential developmental toxicity. Here, using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as the experimental animal, we investigated developmental effects of BDE-47 and explored the potential mechanism. Zebrafish embryos at 4 h post-fertilization (hpf) were exposed to 0.312, 0.625 and 1.25 mg/L BDE-47 to 74–120 hpf. We found that BDE-47 instigated a dose-related developmental toxicity, evidenced by reduced embryonic survival and hatching rate, shortened body length and increased aberration rate. Meanwhile, higher doses of BDE-47 reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP production but increased apoptosis in zebrafish embryos. Expression of genes involved in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) (ndufb8, sdha, uqcrc1, cox5ab and atp5fal) were negatively related to BDE-47 doses in zebrafish embryos. Moreover, exposure to BDE-47 at 0.625 or 1.25 mg/L impaired mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial dynamics. Our data further showed that BDE- 47 exposure induced excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress, which was accompanied by the activation of c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK). Antioxidant NAC and JNK inhibition could mitigate apoptosis in embryos and improve embryonic development in BDE-47-treated zebrafish, suggesting the involvement of ROS/JNK pathway in embryonic developmental changes induced by BDE-47. Altogether, our data suggest here that developmental toxicity of BDE-47 may be associated with mitochondrial ROS-mediated JNK signaling in zebrafish embryo.

In order to reveal the roles of stress in the thermal shock failure of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) TBCs were prepared via atmospheric plasma spraying and then remelted by a laser remelting process. Subsequently, thermal cycling tests of the as-sprayed YSZ TBCs and remelted YSZ TBCs were carried out at 1100 °C. The thermal shock failure mechanism of the two TBCs was investigated comparatively from the perspective of stress, i.e., phase transformation stress of ceramic coating, growth stress and thermal mismatch stress generated by thermally grown oxide (TGO). The results showed that, compared with the as-sprayed YSZ TBCs, there was no m-ZrO2 in the remelted YSZ TBCs, which avoided the ceramic coating phase transformation stress produced by the transformation between m-ZrO2 and t-ZrO2 during thermal cycling. Therefore, the thermal shock failure mode of the as-sprayed YSZ TBCs was severe buckling driving delamination, while that of the remelted YSZ TBCs was slight edge delamination. In addition, the TGO growth stress and the thermal mismatch stress between the TGO and the bonding coating were reduced by the laser remelting treatment, leading to the spallation tendency of YSZ TBCs was decreased. Consequently, the remelted YSZ TBCs exhibited superior thermal shock resistance to the as-sprayed YSZ TBCs. Therefore, the phase transformation stress, growth stress and thermal mismatch stress determined the thermal shock failure mode and thermal shock life of these two YSZ TBCs.

In the present work, ZrO2–Y2O3 thermal barrier coatings (YSZ TBCs) and La2Zr2O7/ZrO2–Y2O3 thermal barrier coatings (LZ/YSZ TBCs) were prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) respectively, and then were surface remelted by laser remelting process. Thereupon, high temperature oxidation experiment was carried out at 1100 °C. The results showed that the compactness of these two kinds of as-sprayed TBCs was enhanced by remelting treatment. Hence, compared with the as-sprayed TBCs, the weight gains of the remelted TBCs were smaller, the thermally grown oxide (TGO) was thinner, and no obvious holes formed in the TGO. Al2O3, oxides of Cr, Co, Ni elements formed successively, eventually CS (spinel type oxides) formed in TGO of the remelted YSZ TBCs. However, due to the presence of La3+ in the remelted LZ/YSZ TBCs, the oxidation rate of Al, Cr, Co, Ni elements was slowed down, thus the formation of CS was delayed accordingly. Therefore, the high temperature oxidation resistance of the YSZ TBCs and the LZ/YSZ TBCs was improved by laser remelting treatment, and the remelted LZ/YSZ TBCs was superior to the remelted YSZ TBCs.

A new 9-phenylfluorene functionalized 2,6-bis(N-carbazolyl)-pyridine compound 2,6-bis(3-(9-phenyl-fluoren- 9-yl)-carbazol-9-yl)pyridine (2,6-PFCzPy) with large steric hindrance and high triplet energy level has been successfully prepared by introducing 3-(9-phenyl-fluoren-9-yl)-carbazole unit into the 2,6-position of pyridine group via Ullmann reaction. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to study the electrochemical properties of the compound and obtain HOMO (−5.85 eV), LUMO (−2.09 eV), and energy gap (Eg, 3.57 eV). The 2,6-CzPy-based compound was employed as host to fabricate blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) for the first time with the maximum EQEs of 6.2% at the doping concentration as high as 30%. The electroluminescent (EL) spectra show almost no changes along with the driving voltage ranging from 5.1 to 15.1 V at high doping concentration, which indicates the 2,6-CzPy-based three dimensional bulky compound could successfully suppress the excimer emission of the guest in high doping ratio.

U–Pb ages and Hf isotopes of zircons in Late Triassic and Cretaceous intrusive rocks from the Zhongdian arc, SW China, are used to decipher the tectonic, magmatic, and metallogenic processes that occurred during this period. New U–Pb dating of zircons from Late Triassic porphyries yielded ages of ca. 216 Ma and eHf(t) values of −2.1 to +6.1. Combined with previous results, the data indicate that these Late Triassic rocks were most likely derived from a juvenile mafic lower-crust with minor old crust material. However, the Cretaceous granites (∼80 Ma) have lower eHf(t) values (−7.6 to −2.4) than the Late Triassic rocks, indicating that the former originated from old crust. Based on the new data and previous studies of Mesozoic magmatic activity, a plausible model for the tectono-magmatism and metallogenesis of the Zhongdian arc is proposed. The westwards subduction of the Ganzi–Litang oceanic crust began before ∼230 Ma, resulting in the formation of a juvenile lower crust beneath the Zhongdian arc due to the underplating of mafic arc magmas during ca. 230–216 Ma. At ca. 216 Ma, break-off or slab-tearing of the west-dipping Ganzi–Litang oceanic slab led to partial melting of the juvenile lower crust, which gave rise to Cu-bearing porphyries. In the Late Cretaceous, the Zhongdian arc probably underwent post-collision extension, triggering the partial melting of the old middle–upper crustal materials and producing various granites and related Mo–Cu deposits. According to this model, the crust beneath the Zhongdian arc probably has a double-layer structure, with older crust at shallow levels and juvenile crust at deeper levels.

With the rapid development of breeding equipments, large scale breeding becomes possible, massive data evaluation has to be done by software automatically. In this circumstance, this paper tries to evaluate variety with the collected informative data through data mining technologies. According to the characteristics, plant breeding evaluation is considered as an ordinal classification task, and a rank entropy-based decision tree algorithm is proposed to do this classification. The algorithm uses historical trait phenotype and evaluation data to construct decision trees, which are then used to generate evaluations for future cultivars with their trait phenotype. To demonstrate the effectiveness, experiments are carried out on three groups of soybean variety comparison tests (early-maturity, medium-maturity, and green soybean). This work can free breeders from a large number of basic work while increase the efficiency of plant breeding.