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The strong Ti-O bonds in TiO2 and poor compatibility with Sb2Se3 result in poor performance when used as electron transport layers (ETL) for Sb2Se3 solar cells. Therefore, cadmium sulfide is usually used as a buffer layer to improve its compatibility. In the present work, we deposited a layer of CdS by spin coating method on TiO2 ETL and fabricated TiO2/CdS dual ETL. The CdS layer improved the electronic properties of TiO2 and grain orientation of Sb2Se3 thin films. As a result, the average short circuit current and fill factor of Sb2Se3 solar cells were improved, and the final champion power conversion efficiency was enhanced from 2.6% to 4.71%. This study supplied a route for the application of titanium dioxide as a broad band gap electron transfer material for Sb2Se3 solar cells. Highlights: We adopt a facile spin-coating method to fabricated CdS buffer layer on TiO2 electron transport layer. The CdS buffer layer altered the orientation of Sb2Se3 film and enhanced its performance. The champion PCE of Sb2Se3 solar cells was enhanced to 4.71% from 2.60% by inserting the CdS buffer layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEH) is extremely rare, and CT features have never been analyzed in a large group of patients. Methods: A retrospective study was designed to review the contrast-enhanced CT images of HEH patients. Intrahepatic lesions were categorized into three types: nodular, locally coalescent (coalescent lesion contained in one segment) or diffusely coalescent (coalescent lesion occupied more than one segment). CT features were compared among lesions of different sizes and patients with different lesion types. Results: A total of 93 HEH patients were included in this study, and 740 lesions were analyzed. The results of per-lesion analysis showed that medium lesions (2–5 cm) had the highest rate of lollipop sign (16.8%) and target-like enhancement (43.1%), while lesions in large group (> 5 cm) had the highest rate of capsular retraction (38.8%) and vascular invasion (38.8%). The differences on enhancement pattern and the rates of lollipop sign and capsular retraction were significant among lesions of different sizes (p < 0.001, respectively). The results of per-patient analysis showed that patients in locally coalescent group had the highest rates of lollipop sign (74.3%) and target sign (94.3%). All patients in diffusely coalescent group had capsular retraction and vascular invasion. CT appearances of capsular retraction, lollipop sign, target sign and vascular invasion differed significantly among patients with different lesion types (p < 0.001, p = 0.005, p = 0.006 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: CT features variated among HEH patients with different lesion types, and radiological appearances of HEH should be classified into nodular type, locally coalescent type and diffusely coalescent type. Key points: CT appearances of HEH differed significantly among lesions of different sizes. HEH lesions were categorized into three types: nodular, locally and diffusely coalescent. CT characteristics of HEH variated greatly among the three lesion types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEH) is extremely rare and the MRI features have never been investigated in a large group of patients. Methods: A retrospective study was designed to review the MRI images of HEH patients. Two radiologists separately evaluated signal intensity (SI) on unenhanced imaging, morphological features, contrast-enhancement pattern at dynamic study. The MRI features were compared between patients with HEH and hepatic metastatic tumor (HMT). Results: Fifty-seven HEH patients were included in this study and a total of 412 lesions were evaluated. On per-lesion analysis, the rate of coalescent lesion and subcapsular lesion were 18.2% and 39.8%, respectively. Capsular retraction and lollipop sign were observed in 47 lesions (11.4%) and 60 lesions (14.6%), respectively. Large lesions (> 5 cm) had the highest rate of coalescent lesion, subcapsular lesion, capsular retraction and lollipop sign. Target sign appeared in 196 lesions (47.6%) on T2 weighted (T2W) and 146 lesions (35.4%) on portal phase. Medium lesions (2–5 cm) had the highest rate of target sign on both T2W (72.9%) and portal phase (55.2%). On per-patient analysis, compare with HEH patients, HMT patients seldom had the appearance of lollipop sign (66.7% versus 6.4%, p < 0.01), capsular retraction (59.6% versus 3.2%, p < 0.01) and target appearance on both T2Wand portal phase (64.9% versus 12.7%, p < 0.01). Conclusion: MRI features of HEH correlated with the lesion size. Capsular retraction, lollipop sign and coexistence of target sign on both T2W and portal phase were relatively specific MRI features of HEH, which could be helpful in suggesting the diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Konjac glucomannan oligosaccharide has attracted much attention due to its broad biological activities. Specific glucomannan degrading enzymes are effective tools for the production of oligosaccharides from konjac glucomannan. However, there are still few reports of commercial enzymes that can specifically degrade konjac glucomannan. The gene ppgluB encoding a glucomannanase consisting of 553 amino acids (61.5 kDa) from Paenibacillus polymyxa 3–3 was cloned and heterologous expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant PpGluB showed high specificity for the degradation of konjac glucomannan. Moreover, the hydrolytic products of PpGluB degrade konjac glucomannan were a series of oligosaccharides with degrees of polymerisation of 2–12. Furthermore, the biochemical properties indicated that PpGluB is the optimal active at 45 to 55 °C and pH 5.0–6.0, and shows highly pH stability over a very broad pH range. The present characteristics indicated that PpGluB is a potential tool to be used to produce oligosaccharides from konjac glucomannan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a promising bio-based building block as a green alternative to petroleum-based terephthalate in polymer production. Most of FDCA is produced by the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which is derived from hexose. Although the chemical conversion is widely applied, the biocatalytic conversion is expected due to the relatively mild condition and fewer toxic chemicals consumption. However, it's difficult to catalyze the conversion of HMF to FDCA by a single enzyme. Here, a newly enzymatic cascade reaction process was introduced with a yield of 94.0% by the combination of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidase (HMFO) and lipase. Briefly, a flavine adenosine dinucleotide independent (FAD-independent) HMFO of Methylovorus sp. MP688 was used to convert HMF to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) and 5-formylfuroic acid (FFA), which consecutively transformed to FDCA by a lipase Novozym 435. To facilitate the purification, a coupled alkali precipitation was developed to recover FDCA from organic solvent with an improved purity from 84.4 to 99.0% and recovery of 78.1%. This work will help to construct the green biorefinery route for the bulk FDCA from biomass by enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanoid robots are a hot topic in the field of robotics research. The walking system is the critical part of the humanoid robot, and the dynamic simulation of the walking system is of great importance. In this paper, the stability of the walking system and the rationality of its structural design are considered in the study of dynamics for a humanoid robot. The dynamic model of humanoid robot walking system is established by using the Lagrange dynamics method. Additionally, the three-dimensional model of CATIA is imported into ADAMS. The humanoid robot walking system is added with the movement of the deputy and the driving force in the ADAMS. The torque and angular velocity of the ankle joint and hip joint are analyzed in the process of knee bends. The simulation results show that the overall performance of the humanoid robot walking system is favorable and has a smooth movement, and the specified actions can be completed, which proves the rationality of the humanoid robot walking system design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have benefited cancer patients with multiple tumor types. However, their efficacy for CRC is low and this treatment in melanoma patients results in adaptive resistance through upregulation of VISTA, another checkpoint inhibitory pathway. Thus, there is an urgent need to explore additional co-inhibitory molecular pathways such as VISTA for CRC treatment. In this study, C10orf54 (encoding VISTA) expression was analyzed by RNA-seq data from 367 CRC patients in human cancer datasets. Moreover, 28 clinical CRC specimens were used to assess VISTA protein expression. Human cancer datasets showed that CRC tumors expressed higher levels of C10orf54 than CD274 (encoding PD-L1). Moreover, C10orf54 mRNA expression was significantly correlated with genes responsible for tumor immune evasion. VISTA protein expression was high in tumors compared with para-tumors and normal tissues, which is similar to PD-L1 expression. However, in contrast to PD-L1, VISTA was mainly expressed by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. This study is the first investigation of VISTA expression in human resected CRC tumors, and the results justify the need for future studies on the role of VISTA in anti-CRC immunity in clinical samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past decade, a number of studies were published to evaluate the association between murine double minute 2 (MDM2) T309G polymorphism and risk of liver cancer. However, the association between MDM2 T309G polymorphism and risk of liver cancer was still unclear owing to the conflicting results from those published studies. An undated meta-analysis of all eligible studies was carried out to comprehensively assess the association. The pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) was used to evaluate the association between MDM2 T309G polymorphism and risk of liver cancer. Finally, ten studies with a total of 2,243 cases and 3,471 controls were finally included into the meta-analysis. Overall, there was an association between MDM2 T309G polymorphism and risk of liver cancer (G vs. T: OR = 1.39, 95 % CI 1.17-1.64, P < 0.001; GG vs. TT: OR = 1.87, 95 % CI 1.34-2.62, P < 0.001; GG/GT vs. TT: OR = 1.61, 95 % CI 1.24-2.08, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis in Europeans showed that there was also an association between MDM2 T309G polymorphism and risk of liver cancer in Europeans (G vs. T: OR = 1.81, 95 % CI 1.45-2.27, P < 0.001; GG vs. TT: OR = 3.26, 95 % CI 1.99-5.32, P < 0.001; GG/GT vs. TT: OR = 2.20, 95 % CI 1.58-3.07, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis in Asians showed that there was also an association between MDM2 T309G polymorphism and risk of liver cancer in Asians (G vs. T: OR = 1.27, 95 % CI 1.06-1.52, P = 0.010; GG vs. TT: OR = 1.59, 95 % CI 1.11-2.27, P = 0.011; GG/GT vs. TT: OR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.07-1.87, P = 0.016). The meta-analysis provides a strong evidence for the association between MDM2 T309G polymorphism and risk of liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green fluorescent protein (GFPuv) has been widely used as a reporter fused to individual targeting sequences. However, its state in liquid and its effect on other proteins are still unclear. The conformational polymorphisms of glutathione-S-transferase-green fluorescent protein (GST-GFPuv), GFPuv and GST were analyzed by native polyacrylamide gel, indicating that GST was in many different states while GFPuv and GST-GFPuv were only in four and two slightly different states. Four different circular dichroism spectra were obtained from the GFPuv polymorphisms. The single molecular behavior of GST-GFPuv and GFPuv was also characterized by MALDI-TOF MS. Thus, we demonstrated that: (1) there might be four different structural polymorphisms for the native GFPuv; (2) GFPuv could reduce its partner's polymorphism as a fusion protein. Although GFPuv had many merits as a reporter, its unreliability was found in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report an improved method for targeted gene disruption with high efficiency in S. cerevisiae, where the selection markers with long homologous arms are defined by the choice of the primer binding sites at the target locus and the disruption cassettes are constructed by restriction-free (RF) cloning strategy. Three genes, SAM1, IDH1 and IDH2, were disrupted with this method and the disruption efficiencies of SAM1 was improved several folds with much lower false-positive rates compared to the conventional one-step PCR-based gene disruption method. This approach for gene disruption cassettes construction with long flanking homologous arms may be readily applicable to facilitate targeted gene disruption in other non-conventional yeasts and fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides is an excellent microbial lipid producer. Therefore, it is important to develop molecular biology tools to understand the basic mechanism for lipid accumulation and further manipulate the microorganism. High-quality RNA extraction from R. toruloides is particularly challenging due to high level of polysaccharides, lipids, and other secondary metabolites. To obtain an optimal protocol for RNA extraction from R. toruloides, four methods were evaluated. Large difference in RNA yield and quality among these protocols was found. The optimum method was modified RNAiso procedure, where RNA was isolated using liquid nitrogen-RNAiso method with salt precipitation and the addition of β-mercaptoethanol. This method consistently recovered RNA in good quality with high yield. Around 297 μg total RNA per gram of cells was obtained with an average purity measured as A/A of 2.09. A titer of 10 cfu/ml could be harvested to construct a full-length cDNA library with the RNA sample in this quality. Electrophoresis gel analysis indicated the fragments ranged from 200 bp to 4.0 kb, with the average size of 1000 bp. Randomly picked clones showed the recombination efficiency at 80%. These results showed that RNA of R. toruloides was successfully extracted for the first time using the modified RNAiso method, and the cDNA library was appropriate for screening the genes related to lipid accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The malic enzyme-encoding cDNA (GQ372891) from the oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi AS 2.1560 was isolated, which has an 1719-bp open reading frame flanked by a 290-bp 5′ untranslated sequence and a 92-bp 3′ untranslated sequence. The proposed gene, LsME1, encoded a protein with 572 amino acid residues. The protein presented 58% sequence identity with the malic enzymes from Yarrowia lipolytica CLIB122 and Aspergillus fumigatus Af293 . The LsME1 gene was cloned into the vector pMAL-p4x to express a fusion protein (MBP-LsME1) in Escherichia coli TB1. The fusion protein was purified and then cleaved by Factor Xa to give the recombinant LsME1. This purified enzyme took either NAD+ or NADP+ as the coenzyme but preferred NAD+. The Km values for malic acid, NAD+ and NADP+ were 0.85 ± 0.05 mM, 0.34 ± 0.08 mM, and 7.4 ± 0.32 mM, respectively, at pH 7.3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mature human interleukin-11 (HuIL-11) is a cytokine consisting of 178 amino acid residues that results from scission of the N-terminal signal peptide, consisting of 21 amino acid residaues, from the corresponding nascent polypeptide. A DNA fragment encoding a truncated HuIL-11 (trHuIL-11), with an additional 5 amino acid residues removed from the N-terminus, was cloned into vector pGEX-2T between the BamHI site and the EcoRI site. Upon transformation with Escherichia coli BL21, the construct over-produced a glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fused protein in a soluble form after IPTG induction. The fusion protein was initially fractionated with butyl-Sepharose 4 fast flow column and by affinity chromatography using a GSH-Sepharose 4B column. On-site enzymatic release with thrombin gave the target protein at 96% purity as judged by SDS-PAGE and HPLC. Expression of the interleukin as a GST-fused protein thus greatly improved downstream processing. Subsequent biological activity assay suggested that trHuIL-11 had similar activity profile to the naturally produced sample and may be a promising candidate for further development as biopharmaceutical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]