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Multiple kernel clustering algorithms achieve promising performances by exploring the complementary information from kernel matrices corresponding to each data view. Most of the existing methods aim to construct a consensus kernel for the afterward clustering. However, they ignore that the desired kernel is supposed to reveal the cluster structure among samples and thus to be low rank. As a consequence, the corresponding clustering performance could decrease. To address this issue, we propose a low-rank kernel learning approach for multiple kernel clustering. Specifically, instead of regularizing the consensus kernel with low-rank constraints, we use a re-parameterize scheme for the kernel matrix. Meanwhile, the consensus kernel is located in the neighborhood area of the linear combination of base kernels. An alternate optimization strategy is designed to solve the resulting optimization problem. We evaluate the proposed method on 13 benchmark datasets with 9 state-of-the-art algorithms. As is demonstrated by experimental results, our proposed algorithm achieves superior clustering scores against the compared algorithms on the reported popular multiple kernel datasets.

During a 2018 antimicrobial resistance surveillance of Escherichia coli isolates from diarrheal calves in Xinjiang Province, China, an unexpectedly high prevalence (48.5%) of fosfomycin resistance was observed. This study aimed to reveal the determinants of fosfomycin resistance and the underlying transmission mechanism. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening showed that all fosfomycin-resistant E. coli carried the fosA3 gene. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and southern blot hybridization revealed that the 16 fosA3-positive isolates belonged to four different PFGE patterns (i.e., A, B, C, D). The fosA3 genes of 11 clonally related strains (pattern D) were located on the chromosome, while others were carried by plasmids. Whole-genome and long-read sequencing indicated that the pattern D strains were E. coli O101:H9-ST10, and the pattern C, B, and A strains were O101:H9-ST167, O8:H30-ST1431, and O101:H9 with unknown ST, respectively. Among the pattern C strains, the blaCTX-M-14 gene was co-localized with the fosA3 gene on the F18:A-:B1 plasmids. Interestingly, phylogenetic analysis based on core genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (cgSNPs) showed that the O101:H9-ST10 strains were closely related to a Australian-isolated Chroicocephalus-origin E. coli O101:H9-ST10 strain producing CTX-M-14 and FosA3, with a difference of only 11 SNPs. These results indicate possible international dissemination of the high-risk E. coli clone O101:H9-ST10 by migratory birds.

Src is a tyrosine kinase that plays a key role in cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis. Bcl-2 is an essential checkpoint for apoptosis, and its overexpression is important for tumor cells to escape apoptosis and further acquire drug resistance. The recent studies have shown that Src and Bcl-2 have synergistic effects in suppressing stem cell-like breast cancer. In this study, Src and Bcl-2 dual-target inhibitors were identified by computer-aided drug design. Six million molecules were screened by the pharmacophore model and molecular docking. Finally, 175 compounds were obtained. Based on the studies of Src and Bcl-2 inhibitors, the structural modification of the first ranked compound obtained QST101. Molecular dynamics simulations of compound 1 and QST101 showed that both compounds bind stably to both proteins, with QST101 having a stronger binding capacity than compound 1. The analysis of protein-compound interactions showed that QST101 has good properties and can be a potential inhibitor of Src and Bcl-2 receptors.

During a 2018 antimicrobial resistance surveillance of Escherichia coli isolates from diarrheal calves in Xinjiang Province, China, an unexpectedly high prevalence (48.5%) of fosfomycin resistance was observed. This study aimed to reveal the determinants of fosfomycin resistance and the underlying transmission mechanism. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening showed that all fosfomycin-resistant E. coli carried the fosA3 gene. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and southern blot hybridization revealed that the 16 fosA3-positive isolates belonged to four different PFGE patterns (i.e., A, B, C, D). The fosA3 genes of 11 clonally related strains (pattern D) were located on the chromosome, while others were carried by plasmids. Whole-genome and long-read sequencing indicated that the pattern D strains were E. coli O101:H9-ST10, and the pattern C, B, and A strains were O101:H9-ST167, O8:H30-ST1431, and O101:H9 with unknown ST, respectively. Among the pattern C strains, the blaCTX-M-14 gene was co-localized with the fosA3 gene on the F18:A-:B1 plasmids. Interestingly, phylogenetic analysis based on core genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (cgSNPs) showed that the O101:H9-ST10 strains were closely related to a Australian-isolated Chroicocephalus-origin E. coli O101:H9-ST10 strain producing CTX-M-14 and FosA3, with a difference of only 11 SNPs. These results indicate possible international dissemination of the high-risk E. coli clone O101:H9-ST10 by migratory birds.

Refrigerants with low global warming potential (GWP) are much needed in automotive air conditioning systems. This paper compares two refrigerants, R134a (GWP=1300) and R513A (GWP=573) experimentally. The results show that the latter has lower cooling capacity, lower COP and lower discharge temperature than the former, revealing that R513A is a promising replacement of its high GWP partner.

Previous studies in Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) patient‐derived fibroblasts showed that inhibition of autophagy suppresses adipogenic differentiation. Autophagy activation is associated with inflammation, production of reactive oxygen species and fibrosis. Neferine is an alkaloid extracted from Nelumbo nucifera, which induces Nrf2 expression and inhibits autophagy. Here, we have elucidated the role of neferine on interleukin (IL)‐13‐induced autophagy using patient‐derived orbital fibroblasts as an in vitro model of GO. GO patient‐derived orbital fibroblasts were isolated and cultured to generate an in vitro model of GO. Autophagy was determined by Western blot detection of the markers such as Beclin‐1, Atg‐5 and LC3 and by immunofluorescence detection of autophagosome formation. Analysis of differentiation towards an adipogenic lineage was performed by Oil red O staining. The expression of inflammatory factors was detected by ELISA and semiquantitative RT‐PCR. Neferine inhibited autophagy in GO orbital fibroblasts, as indicated by the suppression of IL‐13‐induced autophagosome formation, overexpression of autophagy markers, increased LC3‐II/LC3‐I levels and finally down‐regulation of p62. Neferine suppressed IL‐13‐induced inflammation, ROS generation, fibrosis and adipogenic differentiation in GO patient‐derived orbital fibroblasts. The anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant and antiadipogenic effects of neferine were accompanied by the up‐regulation of Nrf2. These results indicated that orbital tissue remodelling and inflammation in GO may be mediated by autophagy, and neferine suppressed autophagy‐related inflammation and adipogenesis through a mechanism involving Nrf2.

The ground source heat pump system is a promising technology for building heating and cooling by using underground energy, however, many technical problems, e. g. low energy utilization rate and inefficiency operation, have greatly hindered its wide applications. This paper studies the key technologies of vertical U-shaped heat exchangers in construction engineering to solve the bottleneck problem and optimizes the system. Three commonly used backfill methods are analyzed, and a double U-shaped branch pipe is recommended to improve construction efficiency. The paper sheds a bright light on green energy utilization with high-efficiency, energy-saving, and environmental protection.

Background Uric acid is the end product of purine metabolism. Previous studies have found that serum uric acid (SUA) levels are associated with the total cancer risk. However, due to the dual effect of uric acid on cancer, the relationship between the SUA levels and most specific-site cancer remains unclear. Aim To investigate the associations between the SUA levels and incidence of hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer. Methods In this prospective cohort study, 444462 participants free of cancer from the UK Biobank were included. The SUA levels were measured at baseline, and the incidence of hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer was determined by contacting the cancer registry. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between the SUA levels and hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer were investigated using multiple adjusted Cox regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Results In total, 920 participants developed liver, gallbladder, biliary tract or pancreatic cancer during a median of 6.6 yrs of follow-up. We found that the HR of pancreatic cancer in the highest SUA group was 1.77 (95%CI: 1.29-2.42) compared with that in the lowest group. After stratifying by gender, we further found that SUA was associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer only among the females (highest quartile vs lowest quartile HR 2.04, 95%CI: 1.35-3.08). Among the males, the SUA levels were positively associated with the gallbladder cancer risk (highest quartile vs lowest quartile HR 3.09, 95%CI: 1.28-7.46), but a U-shaped association with the liver cancer risk was observed (P-nonlinear = 0.03). Conclusion SUA is likely to have gender-specific effects on hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer. High SUA levels are a risk factor for pancreatic cancer in females and gallbladder cancer in males. A U-shaped association with the liver cancer risk was identified.

Dual channel distribution benefits upstream manufacturers but may irritate downstream retailers. The channel conflict only seems to aggravate when retailers are put at information disadvantage. We show this need not be the case. (i) We demonstrate upstream private information can improve channel efficiency and consumer surplus. The main mechanism is the offsetting interplay of signaling distortion and double marginalization: with private selling cost, the manufacturer may signal her cost by cutting the wholesale price; the price cut encourages the retailer to buy more, thereby reducing double marginalization and improving channel efficiency. (ii) We qualify the received wisdom. The general insight that cost information asymmetry reduces efficiency does not work in dual-channel settings. We show incorporating cost information asymmetry can change dual-channel equilibrium substantially — it can turn the retailer and channel from the victims of manufacturer encroachment to its beneficiaries. Also, we rationalize why the retailer can benefit from his information disadvantage, and when he can gain from the manufacturer's selling cost improvement, despite retail competition. (iii) We demonstrate our results are robust for other prevailing arrangements, e.g., two-part tariffs, price competition, imperfect substitution, and simultaneous moves. Our results suggest a more nuanced view of manufacturer encroachment: as private cost information can ease channel conflict and improve consumer surplus, previous studies may have overestimated the harm of encroachment. By highlighting the critical role of cost information asymmetry, this study sharpens our understanding of dual-channel theory and practice.

BackgroundHelicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is the main cause of chronic gastritis and duodenal ulcer in children. Little is known about the effect of H. pylori on gastric microbiota in children with duodenal ulcer. This study is aimed at the characteristics of gastric microbiota in children with duodenal ulcer on H. pylori infection.MethodsWe studied 23 children diagnosed with duodenal ulcer by gastric endoscopy because of the gastrointestinal symptoms, 15 children were diagnosed with H. pylori infection, while 8 children were without H. pylori infection. Endoscopic mucosal biopsy samples were obtained for DNA extraction. Microbiomes were analyzed by 16S rRNA profiling and microbial functions were predicted using the software Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt).ResultsBacterial richness and diversity of gastric microbiota in duodenal ulcer with H. pylori-positive were lower than those negative. The gastric microbiota in H. pylori-positive group significantly reduced proportions of six phyla and fifteen genera; only Helicobacter taxa were more abundant in H. pylori-positive group. Co-expression network analysis showed a more complex network of interactions in the H. pylori-positive group than that in the H. pylori-negative group. For the predicted functions, lower abundance in the pathways of carbohydrate metabolism, signal transduction, amino acid metabolism, and lipid metabolism were found in H. pylori-positive group than the H. pylori-negative group. H. pylori colonization reduces a microbial community with genotoxic potential in the gastric mucosa of children with duodenal ulcer.ConclusionsThe presence of H. pylori significantly influences gastric microbiota and results in a lower abundance of multiple taxonomic levels in children with duodenal ulcer. Children with duodenal ulcer exhibit a dysbiotic microbial community with genotoxic potential, which is distinct from that of children with H. pylori infection.Clinical Trial Registration[http://www.chictr.org.cn], identifier [ChiCTR1800015190].

The immune checkpoint programmed cell death-ligand 1(PD-L1)-mediated immunosuppression is among the important features of tumor. PD-L1, an immunosuppressant, can induce T cell failure by binding to programmed cell death-1(PD-1). Thus, the key to restoring the function of T cells is inhibiting the expression of PD-L1. The Chinese medicinal Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma(AMR) has the anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and hypoglycemic activities, and the polysaccharide in AMR(PAMR) plays a crucial role in immunoregulation, but the influence on the immune checkpoints which are closely related to immunosuppression has not been reported. MicroRNA-34 a(miR-34 a) expression in esophageal carcinoma tissue is significantly lower than that in normal tissue. This study aims to investigate the inhibitory effect of PAMR on esophageal carcinoma cells, and the relationship between its inhibitory effect on PD-L1 expression and miR-34 a, which is expected to clarify the anti-tumor mechanism of PAMR. Firstly, different human esophageal carcinoma cell lines(EC9706, EC-1, TE-1, EC109 cells) were screend out, and expression of PD-L1 was determined. Then, EC109 cells, with high expression of PD-L1, were selected for further experiment. The result showed that PAMR suppressed EC109 cell growth. According to the real-time quantitative PCR(qPCR) and Western blot, it significantly suppressed the mRNA and protein expression of PD-L1, while promoting the expression of tumor suppressor miR-34 a. The confocal microscopy and luci-ferase assay proved that PAMR alleviated the inhibitory effect of PD-L1 while blocked miR-34 a. Additionally, the expression of PD-L1 was controlled by miR-34 a, and the combination of miR-34 a inhibitor with high-dose PAMR reversed the inhibitory effect of PAMR on PD-L1 protein expression. Thus, the PAMR may inhibit PD-L1 by increasing the expression of miR-34 a and regulating its downstream target genes. In conclusion, PAMR inhibits the expression of PD-L1 mainly by inducing miR-34 a.

Nowadays, personal privacy disclosure issues become increasingly prominent in the process of data publishing. Targeting at this issue, a secure blockchain-based personal privacy protection scheme is proposed. In this paper, firstly, the information is stored in cloud service, and its hash value is used for the index, which is encrypted and stored on the blockchain. Secondly, based on the principles of cryptography and the characters of blockchain technology, we propose our scheme and use it to provide an access control mechanism for personal privacy. It can make the personal privacy protection easier and more efficient. At last, through our analysis, this scheme can sufficiently protect personal privacy in using mobile devices and provide a safe and trustworthy information acquisition method for data mining. More importantly, this proposed scheme also can provide a reliable and unique source tracing for multimedia copyright protection in terms of multimedia security.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare tumor that arises from cholangiocytes, the epithelial cells of the bile duct. The tumor is characterized by insidious onset, high degree of malignancy, poor prognosis and high recurrence rate. Due to the lack of specific biomarkers, it is difficult to diagnose CCA early and evaluate prognosis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), which include apoptotic bodies, microvesicles and exosomes, have emerged as having important roles in cell-to-cell communication in both normal physiology and pathological conditions. Some research has found that EVs play a crucial role in the occurrence and development of CCA. EVs can carry specific molecular substances such as nucleic acids and proteins, which have potential for the diagnosis and therapy of CCA. This article reviews the current knowledge on the role of EVs in CCA. We highlight EVs and their functions in the physiology and pathophysiology of CCA, and discuss their therapeutic potential and their role as biomarkers.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a heterogeneous malignancy, which is a major cause of cancer morbidity and mortality worldwide. Thus, the aim of the present study was to identify the hub genes and underlying pathways of HCC via bioinformatics analyses. The present study screened three datasets, including GSE112790, GSE84402 and GSE74656 from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and downloaded the RNA-sequencing of HCC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in both the GEO and TCGA datasets were filtered, and the screened DEGs were subsequently analyzed for functional enrichment pathways. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed, and hub genes were further screened to create the Kaplan-Meier curve using cBioPortal. The expression levels of hub genes were then validated in different datasets using the Oncomine database. In addition, associations between expression and tumor grade, hepatitis virus infection status, satellites and vascular invasion were assessed. A total of 126 DEGs were identified, containing 70 upregulated genes and 56 downregulated genes from the GEO and TCGA databases. By constructing the PPI network, the present study identified hub genes, including cyclin B1 (CCNB1), cell-division cycle protein 20 (CDC20), cyclin-dependent kinase 1, BUB1 mitotic checkpoint serine/threonine kinase β (BUB1B), cyclin A2, nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 C (UBE2C) and ZW10 interactor. Furthermore, upregulated CCNB1, CDC20, BUB1B and UBE2C expression levels indicated worse disease-free and overall survival. Moreover, a meta-analysis of tumor and healthy tissues in the Oncomine database demonstrated that BUB1B and UBE2C were highly expressed in HCC. The present study also analyzed the data of HCC in TCGA database using univariate and multivariate Cox analyses, and demonstrated that BUB1B and UBE2C may be used as independent prognostic factors. In conclusion, the present study identified several genes and the signaling pathways that were associated with tumorigenesis using bioinformatics analyses, which could be potential targets for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

An aptamer affinity column (AAC) was applied to specific identification and enrichment of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Aptamer was used as a novel recognition element for the target with high affinity and strong specificity. By optimizing the loading of organic solvent, volume of loading and washing conditions of AFB1 in the sample, maximum sample capacity of AFB1 AAC was (334.6 ± 18.2) ng. Meanwhile, the AAC could be reused at least twenty times. The content of AFB1 lotus seeds was analyzed by photo chemical reactor for enhanced high-performance liquid chromatography combined with fluorescence detection (HPLC-PCD-FLD) combined with the AAC clean-up, with an LOD of 0.05 ng/mL and excellent recoveries in the range of 91.8% to 108.6%. This work provided a new method for the enrichment and purification of trace toxins in complex matrices such as food, agricultural products and traditional Chinese medicines.

The nanocrystalline CO-Ni-graphene composite coating were successfully fabricated onto the mild steel substrate by electrochemical co-deposition technique. The coating was prepared by changing the amount of added graphene at the bath temperature of 50°C, PH value of 4 and current density of 2A/dm2. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) were used to analyze the surface morphology, composition and phase structure of the coating. The prepared composite coating was then subjected to an impedance map in a 3.5% NaCl solution by a VersaSTAT3 electrochemical analyzer. The results show that the surface morphology of the coating was coarsened with the increase of graphene content in the electrolyte. The corrosion rate of the coating in the 3.5% NaCl solution first decreased and then increased, and the corrosion rate was 0.1998mA/cm2 at a content of 1.0 g/L.

Crucial transitions in cancer-including tumor initiation, local expansion, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance-involve complex interactions between cells within the dynamic tumor ecosystem. Transformative single-cell genomics technologies and spatial multiplex in situ methods now provide an opportunity to interrogate this complexity at unprecedented resolution. The Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN), part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Moonshot Initiative, will establish a clinical, experimental, computational, and organizational framework to generate informative and accessible three-dimensional atlases of cancer transitions for a diverse set of tumor types. This effort complements both ongoing efforts to map healthy organs and previous large-scale cancer genomics approaches focused on bulk sequencing at a single point in time. Generating single-cell, multiparametric, longitudinal atlases and integrating them with clinical outcomes should help identify novel predictive biomarkers and features as well as therapeutically relevant cell types, cell states, and cellular interactions across transitions. The resulting tumor atlases should have a profound impact on our understanding of cancer biology and have the potential to improve cancer detection, prevention, and therapeutic discovery for better precision-medicine treatments of cancer patients and those at risk for cancer.

Modern structural design requires the nonlinear characteristics within structural behaviors to be considered in analysis. Due to the limited deformation capacity of the conventional cubic Hermite beam-column element, a frame member has to be finely meshed into a number of the beam-column elements for nonlinear analysis, leading to a huge computational expense. Moreover, the tedious modeling process makes the use of advanced analysis approaches, such as the direct analysis method, impossible for complicated structures. In this paper, a fourth-order displacement function and an advanced beam-column element with 16 independent degrees of freedom are proposed for elastic geometrically nonlinear analysis. The element formulation is developed based on the compatibility conditions at the end and internal nodes. The potential energy function is adopted to derive the element stiffness matrices, and the matrices are presented in the Gauss integral form for easy programming. The verification examples presented in this paper demonstrate the significant deformation capacity of this innovative element. The one-element-per-member modeling method can accurately and effectively capture the structural buckling capacity and post-buckling behaviors. The proposed method can considerably reduce modeling and computational efforts in engineering practices.

In order to meet the diverse and multilevel health service needs of the people, following the implementation of the “multi-point practice” of registered physicians by the government in 2009, many pilot projects on the legality of “shared nurses” have been carried out, but there are many difficulties in the process. Through reviewing and researching the relevant literature inland and abroad, this study explores the application of family-community-hospital integrated medical and nursing management model in order to provide a reference for the development and management of “shared nurses” in China.

Benzoxepane derivatives were designed and synthesized, and one hit compound emerged as being effective in vitro with low toxicity. In vivo, this hit compound ameliorated both sickness behavior through anti-inflammation in LPS-induced neuroinflammatory mice model and cerebral ischemic injury through anti-neuroinflammation in rats subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Target fishing for the hit compound using photoaffinity probes led to identification of PKM2 as the target protein responsible for anti-inflammatory effect of the hit compound. Furthermore, the hit exhibited an anti-neuroinflammatory effect in vitro and in vivo by inhibiting PKM2-mediated glycolysis and NLRP3 activation, indicating PKM2 as a novel target for neuroinflammation and its related brain disorders. This hit compound has a better safety profile compared to shikonin, a reported PKM2 inhibitor, identifying it as a lead compound in targeting PKM2 for the treatment of inflammation-related diseases.

Inorganic perovskite CsPbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as a promising candidate for optoelectronic applications due to their narrow emission and color purity, among other things. However, it remains a challenge to produce QDs with the desired brightness and stability. Here, a one-step synthesis with a doping agent Co(AC)2 is demonstrated to produce CsPbBr3 QDs the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and stability of which improve to almost 90% and by over 65% to 50 days, respectively. It has been elucidated by microscopy and XRD results that the Co2+ doping optimizes the quantum dot octahedron structure, indicating more passivated QD defects. As a result, LED devices using doped CsPbBr3 QDs as the luminescent layer show about 47% improvement in luminance. We postulate that, owing to the weaker electronegativity of COO− than that of Br−, the electrovalent bond on Pb is stronger, resulting in the inhibition of defect formation.

Serum and glucocorticoid-regulated protein kinase 1 (SGK1) that can promote the growth of tumor cells is highly expressed in many tumors. Sarcoma gene (Src), a class of oncogenes, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cancer and is an important kinase in tumor cell expression pathways. Research has shown that SGK1, as a key regulator, is involved in Src-induced tumor formation, and tumor progression can be inhibited by inhibiting SGK1/Src in combination. In this study, SGK1/Src dual inhibitors were designed by computer-aided drug design. Seven million molecules were screened via the pharmacophore model and molecular docking. Finally, 6 compounds were selected. The results of molecular dynamics simulation of compound 1 showed that it has good binding stability to both receptors. According to the binding site of compound 1 with two receptors, corresponding modifications were made, and 6 novel designed compounds were obtained. The docking energies of the novel designed compounds were lower than that of compound 1.

In this work, Span 60 and Span 80, two representatives of nonionic surfactants, were evaluated as clean flow improvers for crude oil. The results show that both of these two nonionic surfactants can improve the flow properties of crude oil samples, especially the Span 80. In a certain condition, maximum viscosity reduction ratio of crude oil with Span 80 was up to 70.0% and the maximum pour points decrease was 9.0°C. DSC thermograms and microphotographs discover the co-crystallization of Span 80 and saturated hydrocarbon component of the crude oil, which causes the wax crystal accumulation not closely and reduces the wax peak temperature and wax precipitation point of crude oil. Combined with the steady conformations analysis, mechanism of Span surfactants as clean flow improvers for crude oil was further discussed. Due to the cis-double bonds in Span 80 and crystal form transition of wax crystal growth with Span 80, Span 80 was superior to Span 60 as flow improvers for crude oil.

In this work, we proposed a new strategy for structuring white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) using all exciplex emissions, where the white devices can be fabricated by simply depositing several exciplex acceptor layers on the same exciplex donor layer in a vertical direction, and complementary exciplex emissions can be realized in the same exciplex donor layer interface for forming white emission. Based on this new strategy, a series of WOLEDs with different array arrangements of different exciplex acceptor layers on the same exciplex donor layer were demonstrated. The device with a bisected blue-yellow exciplex acceptor layer on the same exciplex donor layer realizes good two-color white emission with a high color rendering index of 71, and also achieves a high current efficiency of 3.17 cd A−1. Moreover, the emission spectra and device performance of white devices can be adjusted and improved by simply changing the array arrangements of different exciplex acceptor layers on the same exciplex donor layer. More importantly, the proposed new strategy can effectively solve the interface problem induced by employing interface exciplexes to realize multi-color white emission, which provides a new approach to accomplish all exciplex emission WOLEDs.

Stem-cell therapy has been proved as a promising strategy for myocardial infarction (MI) treatment. However, the therapeutic efficacy is mainly limited by the cellular activity of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). In this study, a novel bioglass (BG)/γ-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA)/chitosan (CS) hydrogel was obtained by in situ adding BG to stimulate the imine bond formation. And the effect of the composite hydrogel on MI therapeutic efficacy was evaluated in a rat acute myocardial infarction (AMI) model in vivo and the possible mechanism of the BG/γ-PGA/CS hydrogel for the stimulation of the intercellular interaction between MSCs and cardiomyocytes (CMs) was explored by a MSC and CM co-culture experiment in vitro. The implantation of the MSC loaded BG/γ-PGA/CS composite hydrogel in the mice AMI model showed a significant improvement in the therapeutic efficacy with improved cardiac function, attenuation of heart remodeling, reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and accelerated vascularization. The in vitro cell experiments demonstrated that the BG/γ-PGA/CS hydrogel activated the intercellular interaction between MSCs and CMs, which resulted in reduced cell apoptosis and enhanced angiogenesis. Silicate based bioactive hydrogels activated MSCs and cell-cell interactions in cardiac tissue after AMI and significantly enhanced the efficacy, which suggests that this bioactive hydrogel based approach is an effective way to enhance stem-cell therapy.

Efficient hole injection layers (HILs) are crucial for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) to achieve high performance. In this work, we report that doping PEDOT:PSS with semi-conductive antimonene quantum sheets (AMQSs) can effectively adjust the work function from −5.2 eV to −4.9 eV, and it exhibits a significantly higher hole injection performance and transmittance than those of the pure PEDOT:PSS layer. Consequently, the Ir(ppy)3-based green OLEDs adopting PEDOT:PSS:AMQSs as the HIL show a lower turn-on voltage of 3.0 V and achieve a dramatically higher device efficiency. Particularly, the optimized AMQS-based OLED realizes the maximum current efficiency (CE), power efficiency (PE) and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 69.88 cd A−1, 48.28 lm W−1 and 19.91%, respectively, which are 14.86%, 68.99% and 13.32% higher than those of the reference device. The remarkable improvements are mainly ascribed to the two-dimensional electronic structure of AMQSs, which enhances the hole injection, transport capability, and boosts the light extraction efficiency. These findings point out a novel strategy to develop high-performance OLEDs by using two-dimensional quantum sheets.

A bioretention medium has considerable influence on the removal of pollutants, especially phosphorus pollutants. In this paper, the phosphorus adsorption properties of three bioretention media (sand, iron powder, and aluminum powder) are studied, and the effects of pH and ionic strength on the phosphorus adsorption are analyzed. Results show that the phosphorus adsorption isotherm can be well modeled by the Langmuir equation. The experimental results show the monolayer adsorption capacity of sand is the highest, while the iron powder the lowest. The pH of the solution has a considerable influence on the phosphorus adsorption of sand and iron powder, but has a minimal effect on aluminum powder.

Yanyi Zhang, Yi Wen, Qiulin Xiao, Wei Zheng, Gao Long, Bo Chen, Xiaoli Shu, Mizu Jiang Department of Gastroenterology, Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Mizu JiangDepartment of Gastroenterology, Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine,National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-571-86670046Fax +86-571-86658653Email mizu@zju.edu.cnPurpose: This study aimed to characterize common mutations of antibiotic-resistant gene of clarithromycin, metronidazole and levofloxacin in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and determine their association with antibiotic resistance of H. pylori for providing a strategy for eradication therapy of H. pylori infection in children.Patients and Methods: The antibiotic resistance to clarithromycin, metronidazole and levofloxacin for H. pylori strains isolated from children was determined by E-test. The mutation of domain V of 23S rRNA, rdxA and frxA genes, gyrA and gyrB genes was performed by PCR-based sequencing of DNA fragments.Results: Out of the 79 H. pylori strains examined, 66 (83.5%) were resistant to at least one of the tested antibiotics and 13 (16.5%) were fully sensitive. A total of 29 (36.7%) strains were resistant to clarithromycin. Analysis of the 23S rRNA gene showed that most mutations occurred at the A2143G and T2182C sites, showing a frequency of 82.8% (24/29) and 89.7% (26/29) respectively. In the 11 sensitive strains to clarithromycin, the frequency of A2143G mutation was only 45.5%, which was significantly lower than that in resistant strains (P< 0.05). There were 54 strains (68.4%) resistant to metronidazole, with most mutations occurring at G47A and T184G in the rdxA gene. T184G mutation was recognized in metronidazole-sensitive strains, but no G47A mutation was identified. Twelve strains (15.2%) were resistant to levofloxacin. Position 91 mutation of the gyrA gene occurred only in resistant strains, whereas position 87 mutations were detected in both sensitive and resistant strains to levofloxacin.Conclusion: In H. pylori resistant strains isolated from children in China, most mutations occurred at A2143G of the 23S rRNA gene for clarithromycin; G47A mutation of rdxA gene for metronidazole; and at 91 mutation of gyrA gene for levofloxacin. It is suggested that susceptibility testing together with screening the mutation of antimicrobial-resistant gene prior to treatment is important for the eradication of H. pylori in children.Keywords: Helicobacter pylori, Metronidazole, Clarithromycin, Levofloxacin, antibiotic resistant, gene

SUMMARYRibosomal RNAs (rRNAs) are the most abundant cellular RNAs, and their synthesis from rDNA repeats by RNA Polymerase I accounts for the bulk of all transcription. Despite substantial variation in rRNA transcription rates across cell types, little is known about cell-type-specific factors that bind rDNA and regulate rRNA transcription to meet tissue-specific needs. Using hematopoiesis as a model system, we mapped about 2200 ChIP-Seq datasets for 250 transcription factors (TFs) and chromatin proteins to human and mouse rDNA, and identified robust binding of multiple TF families to canonical TF motifs on rDNA. Using a 47S-FISH-Flow assay developed for nascent rRNA quantification, we demonstrated that targeted degradation of CEBPA (C/EBP alpha), a critical hematopoietic TF with conserved rDNA binding, caused rapid reduction in rRNA transcription due to reduced Pol I occupancy. Our work identifies numerous potential rRNA regulators, and provides a template for dissection of TF roles in rRNA transcription.HIGHLIGHTSMultiple cell-type-specific transcription factors (TFs) bind canonical motifs on rDNA.The hematopoietic TF CEBPA binds to active rDNA alleles at a conserved site.CEBPA promotes Polymerase I occupancy and rRNA transcription in myeloid progenitors.We present ‘47S-FISH-Flow,’ a sensitive assay to quantify nascent rRNA.

A novel cationic iridium(III) complex [(ppy)

In order to ascertain the distribution characteristics of soil heavy metal pollution and main pollution sources in a small watershed in the southern mountainous area of Ningxia and to ensure the quality of the soil environment, the contents of heavy metals Pb, Ni, Zn, Mn, Cu, Cr, and Cd in 260 surface soil samples (0-20 cm) were collected and determined. Based on the soil background value in Ningxia, the soil heavy metal pollution status and potential ecological risk were evaluated through the single factor index, Nemera composite index, and potential ecological risk index, and the method of combining positive definite matrix factor analysis (PMF) and Kriging interpolation was used to analyze the soil heavy metal spatial distribution and source. The results showed that the average contents of

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) in octogenarians (age of ≥80 years) has a high risk of mortality and high medical expenses. Research shows that the prevalence of CAD is higher among octogenarians than that among younger people, but few such patients undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This study aimed to evaluate different treatments with respect to their clinical effects and impacts on quality of life of octogenarians with CAD. Methods: Data of 519 octogenarians with CAD consecutively treated at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University (Beijing, China) from January 2010 to January 2016 were collected in this study. The patients were categorized into three groups based on the treatments they received: the PCI group (n = 292), CABG group (n = 110), and medical treatment group (n = 117). The followings were recorded during follow-up: clinical data, death (all-cause and cardiovascular-related), re-hospitalization time, Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) score, and occurrence of hemorrhagic events (cerebral bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, and dermal ecchymosis). Results: The median follow-up duration was 25.0 (25th, 75th percentile: 17.0, 55.5) months among 417 patients. The all-cause death rates (28.2% vs. 12.0% and 14.6%, respectively) and cardiovascular-related death rates (15.4% vs. 3.8% and 6.4%, respectively) were significantly higher in the medical treatment group than those in the PCI group and CABG group (all P < 0.05). The re-hospitalization rate for cardiovascular events was significantly lower in the CABG group than those in the PCI group and medical treatment group (3.8% vs. 12.8% and 14.9%, respectively) (χ2 = 8.238, P = 0.018). The SAQ scores of physical limitation, angina frequency, treatment satisfaction, and disease perception were significantly higher in the PCI group and CABG group than those in the medical treatment group (all P < 0.05). No significant difference in the angina stability score was observed among the three groups (F = 3.179, P = 0.204). Conclusion: PCI and CABG result in reduced mortality and better quality of life in octogenarians with CAD. Key words: Coronary artery disease; Octogenarian; Percutaneous coronary intervention; Coronary artery bypass graft; Death; Life quality

Three-dimensional (3D) chromatin organization maps help to dissect cell type-specific gene regulatory programs. Furthermore, 3D chromatin maps have contributed to elucidating the pathogenesis of complex genetic diseases by connecting distal regulatory regions and genetic risk variants to their respective target genes. To understand the cell type-specific regulatory architecture of diabetes risk, we generated transcriptomic and 3D epigenomic profiles of human pancreatic acinar, alpha, and beta cells using single-cell RNA-seq, single-cell ATAC-seq, and high-resolution Hi-C of sorted cells. Comparisons of these profiles revealed differential A/B (open/closed) chromatin compartmentalization, chromatin looping, and transcriptional factor mediated control of cell type-specific gene regulatory programs. We identified a total of 4,750 putative causal-variant-target-gene pairs at 194 type 2 diabetes GWAS signals using pancreatic 3D chromatin maps. We found that the connections between candidate causal variants and their putative target effector genes are cell-type stratified and emphasize previously underappreciated roles for alpha and acinar cells in diabetes pathogenesis.

To explore the genetic basis for a child with 46,XY disorders of sex development (DSD) and explore its genotype-phenotype correlation.The child was subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES), and exons 1 to 7 of NR5A1 were subjected to multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) analysis.The patient presented with rudimentary vulva of a female with Tanner stage 1. B-mode ultrasonography has detected ovary and uterus. The child was found to have a chromosome karyotype of 46,XY. WES revealed that the patient has harbored heterozygous deletion of exon 5 of the NR5A1 gene, which was a novel pathogenic variant inherited from the mother. No abnormality was found in the father.The main symptoms of 46,XY DSD children are insufficient external genitalia masculinization, for which variants of the NR5A1 gene are an important cause. WES has improved the detection rate of genetic variants and provided a solid basis for genetic counseling of the affected families.