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The structure of ZnO nanorods coated with fluorescent polymer poly(phenylene ethynylene) (PPE) have been fabricated for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) detection. In this structure, hydrothermally synthesized crystalline ZnO nanorod arrays were used as waveguides and supporting materials for the TNT sensitive polymer, PPE. The evanescent-wave guiding property of the ZnO nanorod waveguide considerably increased fluorescence intensity. The space between the adjacent nanorods and the larger surface-to-volume ratio of the nanorods enhanced the fluorescence response (quenching) to TNT vapor. This work will contribute to design of combining ZnO nanorod arrays with a functional polymer for sensor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is a highly conserved and regulated process in eukaryotic cells and remodels cytoplasm, recovers essential nutrients, and disposes of unwanted cytoplasmic components. Autophagy-related gene (ATG) 8, identified in Heortia vitessoides Moore, which is an oligophagous pest of Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.), was characterized (HvATG8). Multiple sequence alignment showed that HvATG8 possesses highly conserved domain structures. Stage- and tissue-specific expressions indicated that HvATG8 is highly expressed in prepupal, pupal, and adult stages and in the midgut of larvae and abdomen of adults. Lack of function of HvATG8 by RNA interference resulted in a significant decrease in survival rate and an increase in abnormal or nonviable phenotypes in H. vitessoides. Transition rate from larval to pupal stages was 33.0% and from pupal to adult stages was 15.0% after injection. Reduction of ATG8 expression reduced survival of H. vitessoides. Therefore, HvATG8 possibly plays a key role in normal growth stage of H. vitessoides. HvATG8 suppression downregulates HvATG3 expression, suggesting that the two genes are interconnected. Further, HvATG8 expression increased by 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment, starvation, and extreme temperature exposure. Starvation also altered expression of other ATGs in H. vitessoide. This study may be used to guide research on molecular mechanisms of autophagy in insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we prepared wool keratin/PET composite nanofiber membrane to adsorb the Cr(VI) in acidic solution due to its strong adsorption ability. The adsorption ability of the composite membrane with different ratios of keratin to PET was investigated. The optimum adsorption ability can be obtained when the keratin concentration was 50% in the solution with a pH value of 3. With the higher content of keratin, the membrane possessed higher hydrophilicity, larger pore ratio, and larger extent amino protonation. The maximum adsorption ability of the composite membranes was 75.86 mg/g, while that of the pure PET nanofiber membrane was 27.27 mg/g. The FTIR and XPS analysis results demonstrated that both the disulfide bond of the keratin and the amino were involved in the adsorption process. The process was achieved by the electrostatic adsorption of the amino and the redox reaction of disulfide bond in cystine oxide. The removal property of the electrospun keratin/PET composite membrane was 75.86 mg/g. Unlabelled Image • PET composite nanofiber membrane with keratin extracted from wool was used for Cr(VI) adsorption. • The nanostructured fiber membrane with keratin promotes adsorption and reuse. • The adsorption mechanism has been proposed and explained the full reversibility in the adsorption process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For alkaline aluminium/air battery, two original polyol compounds of butantetraol and dithiothreitol are proposed to act as electrolyte additives. It shows that they can retard the self-corrosion of aluminium anode, and enhance its performance effectively. Dithiothreitol has a stronger ability to increase the discharge capacity than butantetraol. The improvement is mainly attributed to the suppression of the side reaction of hydrogen evolution. The formation of the six-membered ring complexes formed by dithiothreitol and aluminium ions is certified by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The surface morphology and composition of the aluminium anode are characterised by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. It shows that dithiothreitol can form a uniform and stable protective layer through dynamic covalent bonds on aluminium anode surface. Image 1 • Dithiothreitol is a new green additive to retard the self-corrosion of aluminium anode. • Dithiothreitol has a greater interaction with aluminum ions for its hydrosulphonyl group. • A complex with six-membered ring is formed between dithiothreitol and aluminium ions. • Dynamic covalent bonds exist via the oxidation and reduction of the disulfide linkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Limited data are available on the responses of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and methylglyoxal (MG) metabolisms to low pH in roots and leaves. In China, quite a few of Citrus are cultivated in acidic soils (pH < 5.0). 'Xuegan' (Citrus sinensis) and 'Sour pummelo' (Citrus grandis) (C. sinensis were more tolerant to low pH than C. grandis) seedlings were irrigated daily with nutrient solution at a pH of 2.5, 3 or 5 for nine months. Thereafter, we examined low pH effects on growth, and superoxide anion production rate (SAP), malondialdehyde (MDA), MG, antioxidants, and enzymes related to ROS and MG detoxification in roots and leaves in order to (a) test the hypothesis that low pH affected ROS and MG metabolisms more in roots than those of leaves, and (b) understand the roles of ROS and MG metabolisms in Citrus low pH-tolerance and -toxicity. Results: Compared with control, most of the physiological parameters related to ROS and MG metabolisms were greatly altered at pH 2.5, but almost unaffected at pH 3. In addition to decreased root growth, many fibrous roots became rotten and died at pH 2.5. pH 2.5-induced changes in SAP, the levels of MDA, MG and antioxidants, and the activities of most enzymes related to ROS and MG metabolisms were greater in roots than those of leaves. Impairment of root ascorbate metabolism was the most serious, especially in C. grandis roots. pH 2.5-induced increases in MDA and MG levels in roots and leaves, decreases in the ratios of ascorbate/(ascorbate+dehydroascorbate) in roots and leaves and of reduced glutathione/(reduced+oxidized glutathione) in roots were greater in C. grandis than those in C. sinensis. Conclusions: Low pH affected MG and ROS metabolisms more in roots than those in leaves. The most seriously impaired ascorbate metabolism in roots was suggested to play a role in low pH-induced root death and growth inhibition. Low pH-treated C. sinensis roots and leaves had higher capacity to maintain a balance between ROS and MG production and their removal via detoxification systems than low pH-treated C. grandis ones, thus contribute to the higher acid-tolerance of C. sinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heortia vitessoides Moore is a notorious defoliator of Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg trees. Chitin deacetylases (CDAs) catalyze the N -deacetylation of chitin, which is a crucial process for chitin modification. Here, we identified and characterized HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 from H. vitessoides. HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 possess typical domain structures of CDAs and belong to the Group I CDAs. HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 were highly expressed before and after the larval–larval molt. In addition, both exhibited relatively high mRNA expression levels during the larval–pupal molt, the pupal stage, and the pupal–adult molt. HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 transcript expression levels were highest in the body wall and relatively high in the larval head. Significant increases in the HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 transcript expression levels were observed in the larvae upon exposure to 20-hydroxyecdysone. RNA interference-mediated HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 silencing significantly inhibited HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 expression, with abnormal or nonviable phenotypes being observed. Post injection survival rates of the larvae injected with dsHvCDA1 and dsHvCDA2 were 66.7% and 46.7% (larval–pupal) during development and 23.0% and 6.7% (pupal–adult), respectively. These rates were significantly lower than those of the control group insects. Our results suggest that HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 play important roles in the larval–pupal and pupal–adult transitions and represent potential targets for the management of H. vitessoides. Unlabelled Image • CDAs are involved in the enzymatic alteration of chitin via deacetylation. • We identified and characterized Group I CDAs from H. vitessoides. • 20E increased the expression levels of HvCDA1 and HvCDA2. • Deformed pupae and adults were observed after HvCDA1 and HvCDA2 silencing. • The survival rates decreased during the larval–pupal and pupal–adult transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanically stretchable piezoelectric materials are required by wearable devices, such as self-powering sensors and energy harvesters that can monitor human movement and vital biosignals. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a common choice for making flexible piezoelectric sensors but has limited stretchability (strain to failure). Herein we present a new method of significantly increasing the strain-to-failure of PVDF nanofibre membranes by incorporating amino-functionalised boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs). The PVDF-BNNS nanocomposites were prepared by firstly dispersing a small amount of BNNSs, less than 1.5 wt%, into a PVDF solution and electrospinning. Compared to the un-modified PVDF, the addition of BNNSs yielded increases of eleven times, twice, and forty times in strength, stretchability, and in-plane thermal conductivity, while piezoelectric performance remains unaffected. The higher thermal conductivity offers significantly better heat dissipation ability of piezoelectric sensors than the un-modified PVDF material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum (Al) treatment significantly decreased the dry weight (DW) of stem, shoot and whole plant of both Citrus sinensis and C. grandis, but did not change that of root. Al significantly decreased leaf DW of C. grandis, increased the ratio of root to shoot and the lignin content in roots of both species. The higher content of Al in leaves and stems and lignin in roots of C. grandis than that of C. sinensis might be due to the over-expression of Al sensitive 3 (ALS3) and cinnamyl alcohol deaminase (CAD) in roots of C. grandis, respectively. By using yeast-two-hybridazation (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) techniques, we obtained the results that glutathione S-transferase (GST), vacuolar-type proton ATPase (V-ATPase), aquaporin PIP2 (PIP2), ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 13 (UCT13), putative dicyanin blue copper protein (DCBC) and uncharacterized protein 2 (UP2) were interacted with ALS3 and GST, V-ATPase, Al sensitive 3 (ALS3), cytochrome P450 (CP450), PIP2, uncharacterized protein 1 (UP1) and UP2 were interacted with CAD. Annotation analysis revealed that these proteins were involved in detoxification, cellular transport, post-transcriptional modification and oxidation-reduction homeostasis or lignin biosynthesis in plants. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis further revealed that the higher gene expression levels of most of these interacting proteins in C. grandis roots than that in C. sinensis ones were consistent with the higher contents of lignin in C. grandis roots and Al absorbed by C. grandis. In conclusion, our study identified some key interacting components of Al responsive proteins ALS3 and CAD, which could further help us to understand the molecular mechanism of Al tolerance in citrus plants and provide new information to the selection and breeding of tolerant cultivars, which are cultivated in acidic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dihydromyricetin (DMY), a flavanonol compound found as the most abundant and bioactive constituent in Ampelopsis grossedentata (Hand-Mazz) W.T. Wang, possesses numerous pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammation, anticancer, anti-microbial, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects, and so on. Recently, DMY shows a promising potential to develop as an agent for the prevention and treatment of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the low oral bioavailability of DMY was one of the special concerns to be resolved for its clinical applications. In this study, DMY phospholipid complex (DMY-HSPC COM) was prepared by the solvent evaporation technique and optimized with DMY combination ratio. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FT-IR) were carried to characterize the formation of DMY-HSPC COM. The particle size, zeta potential, drug loading and solubility of DMY-HSPC COM were further investigated. The phospholipid complex technology could significantly improve the solubility of DMY. Pharmacokinetic study results of DMY-HSPC COM in healthy SD rats and T2DM rats demonstrated that the oral bioavailability was significantly increased when compared with pure DMY as well, which could be attributed to the improvement of the aqueous solubility of the complex, absorption promotion and a probable decrease in intestinal and hepatic metabolism. In addition, when compared with healthy SD rats, pharmacokinetic parameters of pure DMY and DMY-HSPC COM showed significant difference in T2DM rats. Thus, phospholipid complex technology holds a promising potential for increasing the oral bioavailability of DMY. Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juvenile hormone diol kinase (JHDK) is a critical enzyme involved in juvenile hormone degradation in insects. In this study, HvJHDK in the Heortia vitessoides Moore (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) transcriptional library was cloned. Stage-specific expression patterns of HvJHDK, HvJHEH, and HvJHE as well as juvenile hormone titers were determined. The three tested enzymes participated in juvenile hormone degradation. Moreover, juvenile hormone titers peaked after larval–larval molts, consistent with a role for juvenile hormone in inhibition of metamorphosis. HvJHDK was subsequently suppressed using RNA interference (RNAi) to reveal its functions. Different concentrations of dsJHDK elicited the optimal interference efficiency at different life stages of H. vitessoides. Suppression of HvJHDK decreased HvJHDK content and increased the juvenile hormone titer, thereby resulting in reduced triglyceride content, sharply declined survival rate, clearly lethal phenotypes, and extended larval growth. Moreover, suppression of HvJHDK upregulated HvJHEH and HvJHE expression levels, suggesting that there is feedback regulation in the juvenile hormone metabolic pathway. Taken together, our findings provide molecular references for the selection of novel insecticidal targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structure and magnetic properties of melt-spun Nix(Fe0.5Co0.5)73.5-xSi13.5B9Nb3Cu alloys (x = 5,10,15,20,25,30) annealed at different temperatures were investigated. Microstructure has been analyzed from XRD patterns. Magnetic properties were mainly studied by the evolution of initial permeability from room temperature to 740 °C. All the 500 °C-annealed samples gave rise to an ultrafine structure composed of a residual amorphous matrix andα-FeCoNi(Si) crystals (tens of nanometers in size). It was found that Ni content had a significant impact on the Curie temperature of amorphous phaseTcam and initial permeabilityμi. There was a general reduced tendency ofTcam with Ni content increasing. For higher Ni content alloys (x≥25) annealed at 500 °C, theμi can be enhanced to the order of 104, which is much higher than that of Ni-free FeCo-based Finemet-type alloys. The reason for the enhancement inμi was systematically analyzed in terms of the effective anisotropy model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Recombinant human interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a potent cancer immunotherapeutic candidate due to its excellent immune stimulating effects. Previous work demonstrated that IL-15 appeared with short half-life in circulation system, while the complex with its receptor can prolong the half-life as well as benefit its activities in vivo. Therefore, IL-15 complex was more favorably considered for clinical development. Herein we developed IL-15·sIL-15Rα/Fc, a complex comprising of IL-15 and the extracellular region of its receptor alpha subunit which fused to Immunoglobulin G (IgG1) Fc to further prolong the half-life in plasma. Through transient gene expression in HEK293 cells, we expressed the superagonist by co-transfection of plasmids encoding IL-15 and sIL-15Rα/Fc respectively, yielding 36 mg/L of product after purification. Pharmacokinetic study demonstrated that the combination profoundly prolonged the half-life of IL-15 to 13.1 h in mice, about 18 folds longer than that of IL-15 monomer which is around 0.7 h. The bioactivity of the superagonist was characterized by CTLL-2 cells proliferation assay in vitro , showing its capability of stimulating the expansion of memory CD8+ T cells (cluster of differentiation) in mouse spleen. Using a HT-29 xenograft NOD-SCID mouse model, we observed tumor growth inhibition in all groups that received the superagonist, indicating its anti-tumor efficacy via stimulating infused human immune cells. In addition, combo cancer treatment by IL-15·sIL-15Rα/Fc and programmed death-1 (PD-1) antibody have shown stronger inhibitory effects as compared with treatment with either single molecule. Therefore, we developed IL-15·sIL-15Rα/Fc to be a long half-life potential cancer immunotherapy candidate that can be applied alone or in synergy with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Magnesium (Mg)-deficiency is one of the most prevalent physiological disorders causing a reduction in Citrus yield and quality. 'Xuegan' (Citrus sinensis) seedlings were irrigated for 16 weeks with nutrient solution containing 2 mM (Mg-sufficiency) or 0 mM (Mg-deficiency) Mg(NO3)2. Thereafter, we investigated the Mg-deficient effects on gas exchange and chlorophyll a fluorescence in the upper and lower leaves, and Mg, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and methylglyoxal (MG) metabolisms in the roots, lower and upper leaves. The specific objectives were to corroborate the hypothesis that the responses of ROS and MG metabolisms to Mg-deficiency were greater in the lower leaves than those in the upper leaves, and different between the leaves and roots. Results: Mg level was higher in the Mg-deficient upper leaves than that in the Mg-deficient lower leaves. This might be responsible for the Mg-deficiency-induced larger alterations of all the measured parameters in the lower leaves than those in the upper leaves, but they showed similar change patterns between the Mg-deficient lower and upper leaves. Accordingly, Mg-deficiency increased greatly their differences between the lower and upper leaves. Most of parameters involved in ROS and MG metabolisms had similar variation trends and degrees between the Mg-deficient lower leaves and roots, but several parameters (namely glutathione S-transferase, sulfite reductase, ascorbate and dehydroascorbate) displayed the opposite variation trends. Obviously, differences existed in the Mg-deficiency-induced alterations of ROS and MG metabolisms between the lower leaves and roots. Although the activities of most antioxidant and sulfur metabolism-related enzymes and glyoxalase I and the level of reduced glutathione in the Mg-deficient leaves and roots and the level of ascorbate in the leaves were kept in higher levels, the levels of malonaldehyde and MG and/or electrolyte leakage were increased in the Mg-deficient lower and upper leaves and roots, especially in the Mg-deficient lower leaves and roots. Conclusions: The ROS and MG detoxification systems as a whole did not provide sufficient detoxification capacity to prevent the Mg-deficiency-induced production and accumulation of ROS and MG, thus leading to lipid peroxidation and the loss of plasma membrane integrity, especially in the lower leaves and roots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) are incurable childhood brainstem tumors with frequent histone H3 K27M mutations and recurrent alterations in PDGFRA and TP53. We generated genetically engineered inducible mice and showed that H3.3 K27M enhanced neural stem cell self-renewal while preserving regional identity. Neonatal induction of H3.3 K27M cooperated with activating platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRα) mutant and Trp53 loss to accelerate development of diffuse brainstem gliomas that recapitulated human DIPG gene expression signatures and showed global changes in H3K27 posttranslational modifications, but relatively restricted gene expression changes. Genes upregulated in H3.3 K27M tumors were enriched for those associated with neural development where H3K27me3 loss released the poised state of apparently bivalent promoters, whereas downregulated genes were enriched for those encoding homeodomain transcription factors. Graphical Abstract Highlights • H3.3 K27M mutation enhances neural stem cell self-renewal • Neonatal PDGFRα activation and Trp53 loss induces supratentorial and brainstem glioma • H3.3 K27M preferentially accelerates hindbrain tumorigenesis • H3.3 K27M drives bivalent gene activation associated with neurodevelopment in DIPG Larson et al. show that H3.3 K27M cooperates with active PDGFRα mutant and loss of p53 to induce brainstem gliomas molecularly resembling human DIPG in mice. These tumors show global H3K27 modification but restricted gene expression changes, including upregulation of genes associated with neural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional aerosol filters typically have homogeneous wettability with limited filtration ability especially for small oil mists. Increasing filtration efficiency using thicker filter pad or finer fibers both result in considerable increase of pressure drop, which adversely increases energy consumption. It remains a challenge to develop effective filter materials that can effectively remove oil mists from air at a low flow resistance. Here, a novel concept about improving oil mist filtration efficiency without apparently increasing pressure drop using a fibrous filter with asymmetric wettability across the thickness is demonstrated. Dip‐coating and single‐side electrospraying are used to make fibrous filter have a homogeneous superoleophobicity or directional oil‐transport function. When the two are combined together, they show a filtration efficiency as high as 99.45% for small oil mists (size 0.01–0.8 µm) and nearly 100% for large oil mists (size 0.5–20 µm) with a pressure drop of 9.29 kPa. With the same thickness and fibrous structure, our directional oil‐transport/superoleophobic filter has higher quality factor than those with homogeneous oleophilic, superoleophobic, and asymmetric wettability of other superoleophilic/superoleophobic combinations, for both small and large oil mists. Directional oil transport‐superoleophobic filters may lead to a novel, high‐performance, low energy consumption oil mist separation technology. A novel concept about improving oil mist filtration efficiency without increasing pressure drop has been developed based on fibrous filter with asymmetric wettability across the thickness. The dual‐layer filter consisting of a directional oil‐transport layer and a superoleophobic layer shows incredible filtration performance surplus to the dual layers filters with various wettability features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rare data are available on the molecular responses of higher plants to low pH. Seedlings of ‘Sour pummelo’ (Citrus grandis) and ‘Xuegan’ (Citrus sinensis) were treated daily with nutrient solution at a pH of 2.5, 3, or 6 (control) for nine months. Thereafter, we first used 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) to investigate low pH-responsive proteins in Citrus leaves. Meanwhile, we examined low pH-effects on leaf gas exchange, carbohydrates, ascorbate, dehydroascorbate and malondialdehyde. The objectives were to understand the adaptive mechanisms of Citrus to low pH and to identify the possible candidate proteins for low pH-tolerance. Results: Our results demonstrated that Citrus were tolerant to low pH, with a slightly higher low pH-tolerance in the C. sinensis than in the C. grandis. Using 2-DE, we identified more pH 2.5-responsive proteins than pH 3-responsive proteins in leaves. This paper discussed mainly on the pH 2.5-responsive proteins. pH 2.5 decreased the abundances of proteins involved in ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activation, Calvin cycle, carbon fixation, chlorophyll biosynthesis and electron transport, hence lowering chlorophyll level, electron transport rate and photosynthesis. The higher oxidative damage in the pH 2.5-treated C. grandis leaves might be due to a combination of factors including higher production of reactive oxygen species, more proteins decreased in abundance involved in antioxidation and detoxification, and lower ascorbate level. Protein and amino acid metabolisms were less affected in the C. sinensis leaves than those in the C. grandis leaves when exposed to pH 2.5. The abundances of proteins related to jasmonic acid biosynthesis and signal transduction were increased and decreased in the pH 2.5-treated C. sinensis and C. grandis leaves, respectively. Conclusions: This is the first report on low pH-responsive proteins in higher plants. Thus, our results provide some novel information on low pH-toxicity and -tolerance in higher plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Needleless electrospinning is expected to produce nanofibers with a large productivity. In this study, a sprocket wheel disk was used as spinneret to electrospin nanofibers. The sprocket disk shows reliable electrospinning process. In comparison with the conventional disk spinneret, which has no sprocket on the edge, the sprocket wheel produced more uniform nanofibers with smaller fiber diameter. The electric field analysis results indicated that the sprocket wheel generates higher intensity of electric field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has been suggested that risk in longitudinal studies may drop with time, but clear-cut documentation has been sparse. The purpose of this investigation was to determine risks at several time points in a recently completed/published longitudinal study to further evaluate this hypothesis. Methods: A population-based sample of 11,533 Bangladeshsis aged 18 to 75 was recruited and followed for 11-12 years and all-cause mortality was evaluated in those with and without baseline dyspnea. Dyspnea, the exposure, was ascertained by trained physicians by questionnaire. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox Proportional Hazard models were used to determine differences between groups at 3, 6, and 11-12 years. Results: The Kaplan-Meier curves revealed a clear increase in mortality between dyspnea versus no dyspnea groups at the 3, 6, and 11.2 year time periods. The logrank test was significant with a p value less than 0.01 for all three time periods. At 3 years (3-yrs) the unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 3.43 (95% C.I.; 2.36 - 5.00). The 3-yrs HR adjusted for age, sex, arsenic well water concentration, education, blood pressure, BMI, and smoking was 2.58 (1.77 - 3.76)-for increased mortality in those with dyspnea versus no dyspnea. At 6-yrs, the crude and adj. HRs were 2.98 (2.28 - 3.88) and 2.23 (1.71 - 2.92), respectively. At 11.2 years, the crude and adj. HRs were 2.73 (2.27 - 3.28) and 2.10 (1.74 - 2.52) in those with dyspnea (relative to no dyspnea), respectively. Conclusions: Risk appears to drop over time in longitudinal studies of all-cause mortality, consistent with greater loss of those with the exposure relative to the unexposed. This phenomena might be expected. Therefore, longer longitudinal studies may actually underestimate and probably do not overestimate exposure risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at parts-per-billion (ppb) level is one of the most challenging tasks for miniature gas sensors because of the high requirement on sensitivity and the possible interference from moisture. Herein, for the first time, we present a novel platform based on a hybrid photonic cavity with metal-organic framework (MOF) coatings for VOCs detection. We have fabricated a compact gas sensor with detection limitation ranging from 29 to 99 ppb for various VOCs including styrene, toluene, benzene, propylene and methanol. Compared to the photonic cavity without coating, the MOF-coated solution exhibits a sensitivity enhancement factor up to 1000. The present results have demonstrated great potential of MOF-coated photonic resonators in miniaturized gas sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-strain elastic superhydrophobicity is highly desirable for its enhanced use performance and functional reliability in mechanically dynamic environments, but remains challenging to develop. Here we have, for the first time, proven that an elastic fibrous membrane after surface hydrophobization can maintain superhydrophobicity during one-directional (uniaxial) stretching to a strain as high as 1500% and two-direction (biaxial) stretching to a strain up to 700%. The fibrous membrane can withstand at least 1,000 cycles of repeated stretching without losing the superhydrophobicity. Stretching slightly increases the membrane air permeability and reduces water breakthrough pressure. It is highly stable in acid and base environments. Such a permeable, highly-elastic superhydrophobic membrane may open up novel applications in membrane separation, healthcare, functional textile and energy fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKL) has heterogeneous clinical manifestations and prognosis. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic impact of absolute monocyte count (AMC) in ENKL, and provide some immunologically relevant information for better risk stratification in patients with ENKL.Methods: Retrospective data from 163 patients newly diagnosed with ENKL were analyzed. The absolute monocyte count (AMC) at diagnosis was analyzed as continuous and dichotomized variables. Independent prognostic factors of survival were determined by Cox regression analysis.Results: The AMC at diagnosis were related to overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with ENKL. Multivariate analysis identified AMC as independent prognostic factors of survival, independent of International Prognostic Index (IPI) and Korean prognostic index (KPI). The prognostic index incorporating AMC and absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), another surrogate factor of immune status, could be used to stratify all 163 patients with ENKL into different prognostic groups. For patients who received chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy (102 cases), the three AMC/ALC index categories identified patients with significantly different survivals. When superimposed on IPI or KPI categories, the AMC/ALC index was better able to identify high-risk patients in the low-risk IPI or KPI category.Conclusion: The baseline peripheral monocyte count is shown to be an effective prognostic indicator of survival in ENKL patients. The prognostic index related to tumor microenvironment might be helpful to identify high-risk patients with ENKL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]