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Aim: To examine (1) the mediating role of self‐efficacy between resilience and self‐management behaviours and (2) the moderating role of diabetes distress on the relationship between self‐efficacy and self‐management behaviours in patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Design: Cross‐sectional design. Methods: Totally, 195 patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for more than 5 months but less than 18 months were recruited from three endocrine clinics in Taiwan through convenience sampling. Self‐reported questionnaires including demographic and disease characteristics, resilience, self‐efficacy and self‐management behaviours were used to collect data from October 2020 to May 2021. Moderated mediation analysis was performed by Hayes's PROCESS macro. Result: According to bootstrapping results, the indirect effect of resilience on self‐management was significant, although the direct effect of resilience on self‐management was not. Participants were categorized into with and without diabetes distress groups. The results of moderated mediation analysis indicated self‐efficacy significantly correlated with self‐management behaviours in participants without diabetes distress, although self‐efficacy did not significantly correlate with self‐management in participants with diabetes distress. Conclusion: The association of resilience with self‐management behaviours was fully mediated through self‐efficacy with diabetes distress moderating the relationship between self‐efficacy and self‐management behaviours in patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Impact Improving resilience could enhance self‐efficacy leading to possible improvement in self‐management behaviour, although improving self‐efficacy might not benefit self‐management behaviours for those with high levels of diabetes distress. Healthcare providers need to first assess and address the diabetes distress before intervening to improve self‐efficacy to enhance self‐management behaviours in patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Patient or Public Contribution: When designing this study, two patients newly diagnosed with diabetes were consulted about the importance of self‐management behaviours for them personally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Nonalternating preference yields carbonyl-functionalized polyethylene. • Pd catalyst with electron donating substituents affords a uniform carbonyl dispersion. • The unique polyethylene exhibits comparable tensile properties with conventional HDPE. • The incorporated carbonyls in polyethylene main chains impart photodegradability. • Ni/Pd complexes are versatile for generating both of polyketone and keto-polyethylene materials. Polyethylenes are currently the most prevalent synthetic polymers in the world, and the introduction of functional groups into polyethylene backbone can reduce problematic environmental persistence and enhance compatibility with other materials. This target can be addressed by transition-metal-catalyzed nonalternating copolymerization of ethylene with carbon monoxide, but it is generally impeded by the facile formation of alternating polyketones in kinetics. The reduction of carbonyl density in polyketones could weaken their inter-chain dipolar interaction, thus gradually approaching to polyethylene materials in term of crystalline and tensile properties. In this contribution, we communicate our continued efforts to investigate on the electronic and steric nature of Ni- and Pd-coordinated cationic [P,O] type catalysts, and they were used for nonalternating carbonylative copolymerization of ethylene, which resulted carbonyl functionalized polyethylenes with comparable molecular weight and desirable mechanistic property similar to those of commercial high-density polyethylene, and the incorporated carbonyls in polyethylene chains impart photodegradability. Notably, Pd complex 5 with an electron donating substituent on phosphine moiety yielded polyethylene products with a uniform dispersion of isolated carbonyls and a high molecular weight of ∼100 kg/mol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition‐metal‐catalyzed copolymerization of ethylene with carbon monoxide affords polyketones materials with excellent mechanical strength, photodegradability, surface and barrier properties. Unlike the widely used and rather expensive Pd catalysts, Ni‐catalyzed carbonylative polymerization is very difficult since the strong binding affinity of CO to Ni deactivates the highly electrophilic metal center easily. In this study, various cationic P,O‐coordinated Ni complexes were synthesized using the electronic modulation strategy, and the catalyst with strong electron‐donating substituents exhibits an excellent productivity of 104 g polymer (g Ni)−1, which represents a rare discovery that a Ni complex could operate with such exceptional efficiency in comparison with Pd catalysts. Notably, those Ni catalysts were also efficient for terpolymerization of ethylene, propylene with CO for producing commercial polyketone materials with low melting temperatures and easy processibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition‐metal‐catalyzed copolymerization of ethylene with carbon monoxide affords polyketones materials with excellent mechanical strength, photodegradability, surface and barrier properties. Unlike the widely used and rather expensive Pd catalysts, Ni‐catalyzed carbonylative polymerization is very difficult since the strong binding affinity of CO to Ni deactivates the highly electrophilic metal center easily. In this study, various cationic P,O‐coordinated Ni complexes were synthesized using the electronic modulation strategy, and the catalyst with strong electron‐donating substituents exhibits an excellent productivity of 104 g polymer (g Ni)−1, which represents a rare discovery that a Ni complex could operate with such exceptional efficiency in comparison with Pd catalysts. Notably, those Ni catalysts were also efficient for terpolymerization of ethylene, propylene with CO for producing commercial polyketone materials with low melting temperatures and easy processibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: To construct a path model addressing influences of diabetes distress, self‐efficacy of injecting insulin, resilience and decisional balance of injecting insulin to quality of life (QoL) in insulin‐treated patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Background: Insulin regimens more negatively impact QoL than oral medication treatments in patients with T2DM. Understanding the factors and influencing pathways associated with subsequent QoL will help nurses design timely interventions to improve QoL of insulin‐treated T2DM patients. Design: A 9‐month prospective design was employed in this study. Methods: Self‐reported questionnaires were used to collect data from 185 insulin‐treated T2DM patients. At baseline, diabetes distress and self‐efficacy of injecting insulin were collected, while QoL, resilience and decisional balance of injecting insulin were collected 9 months later. Data were collected from February 2017 to February 2018. Structural equation modelling was used for analysis. This study was conducted based on the STROBE. Results: Low baseline diabetes distress and high 9‐month decisional balance of injecting insulin directly associated with high 9‐month QoL. High baseline self‐efficacy of injecting insulin and high 9‐month resilience directly associated with high 9‐month decisional balance of insulin injection and indirectly associated with high 9‐month QoL. High baseline diabetes distress directly and indirectly associated with poor 9‐month QoL. Conclusions: Diabetes distress, self‐efficacy of injecting insulin, resilience and decisional balance of injecting insulin play different roles in associating with QoL in insulin‐treated T2DM patients. Relevance to clinical practice: Nurses could provide educational programs focusing on enhancing decisional balance of injecting insulin to improve QoL in insulin‐treated patients. Improving self‐efficacy of injecting insulin and resilience could be promising strategies to improve the decisional balance of injecting insulin. More timely assessment of diabetes distress and intervention might be powerful strategies to improve subsequent QoL in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the determinants of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels in insulin-treated patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) based on demographic and disease characteristics, self-reported regimen adherence factors (adherence in insulin regimen and self-monitoring of blood glucose), and psychosocial factors (decisional balance for insulin injection, health literacy, self-efficacy for insulin injection, diabetes distress, and empowerment perceptions). Via convenience sampling, 255 insulin-treated patients with T2DM were recruited from two endocrinology clinics in Taiwan. A self-report questionnaire was used to collect demographic and disease characteristics, regimen adherence factors, and psychosocial factors. The first HbA1c level measured after completion of the questionnaire was the dependent variable. The last HbA1c level measured before patients started insulin therapy as well as body mass index (BMI) was collected from medical records. Results indicated that adherence in insulin regimen was relatively good. Regimen adherence factors did not significantly correlate with HbA1c levels, but empowerment perception, decisional balance for insulin injection, health literacy, and diabetes distress did. The hierarchical multiple regression models indicated that BMI, the last HbA1c levels before starting insulin therapy, empowerment perception, and diabetes distress were important determinants of HbA1c levels. Nurses could periodically assess the diabetes distress of insulin-treated patients with T2DM and refer to mental health professionals when needed. Furthermore, applying empowerment approaches such as enhancing self-awareness of improved glycemic control and sharing more decision-making power with insulin-treated patients with T2DM might have benefits for their glycemic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women with diabetes face a significantly elevated risk of developing depression. Clarifying the factors associated with depression is critical to designing more timely interventions for this vulnerable population. Purpose: This study was developed to examine the impact of Type D personality, diabetes-care-related role strain, and diabetes-related distress on depression in women with Type 2 diabetes. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 298 women aged 20–64 years who had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes for over 6 months from three outpatient endocrine clinics in Taiwan. Demographic and disease characteristics and Type D personality (negative affectivity and social inhibition), diabetes-care-related role strain, and diabetes-related distress and depression status information were collected using self-reported questionnaires and medical records. The important factors of influence on depression were examined using hierarchical multiple regression. Results: On the basis of the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis, age, negative affectivity, diabetes-care-related role strain, and diabetes-related distress were identified as significantly associated with depression, with negative affectivity explaining most (43.4%) of the variance in depression, followed by diabetes-care-related role strain and diabetes-related distress, which respectively explained 3% and 2.5% of the variance. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: The negative affectivity associated with the Type D personality was shown to be more significantly associated with depression than diabetes-related psychosocial factors such as diabetes-related distress and diabetes-care-related role strain. Timely assessment of negative affectivity and the provision of brief mindfulness intervention to reduce negative affectivity may be useful in preventing depression in women with Type 2 diabetes, whereas addressing diabetes-related distress and diabetes-care-related role strain should not be neglected when providing comprehensive depression-preventing interventions to young women with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Rough set theory (RST) and directed acyclic graph support vector machines (DAGSVM) are two emerging techniques in dealing with classification problems. The RST approach is able to select important features and generate rules from data. The SVM technique is powerful in solving classification problems with high generalization ability by applying the structure risk minimization principle. However, one particular model cannot capture all data patterns easily. This investigation presents a hybrid RST and DAGSVM model (RSTDAGSVM) to exploit the unique strengths of both RST and SVM in analyzing the movements of exchange rates. In the proposed hybrid model, the RST approach is used to extract the rules of exchange rate changes; and the DAGSVM technique is employed to deal with situations that cannot be included in the RST model. In addition, an immune algorithm and tabu search (IA/TS) method is applied to select parameters of SVM models. Experimental results reveal that the developed model achieves more accurate prediction results than either the RST model or the DAGSVM model on its own. Thus, the presented RSTDAGSVM model is a promising alternative for analyzing exchange rates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purposes: Women with diabetes (WD) are more severely impacted by the consequence of suboptimal diabetes control. This study aims to examine the impact of demographic and disease characteristics, baseline self-stigma, role strain, diabetes distress on Hemoglobin A1C (A1C) levels, quality of life (D-QoL) and 6-month A1C levels in younger WD. Methods: This study was a 6-month prospective study. In total, 193 WD aged 20–64 years were selected by convenience sampling from three outpatient clinics in Taiwan. Demographic and disease characteristics, self-stigma, role strain, diabetes distress, A1C levels, and D-QoL were collected at baseline. A1C levels were further collected 6 months later. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the hypothesized model. Results: The final model supported that higher baseline D-QoL directly associated with lower concurrent A1C levels and indirectly associated with lower 6-month A1C levels through baseline A1C levels. Higher baseline self-stigma, role strain, and diabetes distress directly associated with lower baseline D-QoL, and indirectly associated with higher 6-month A1C levels through D-QoL. Conclusion: Improving self-stigma, role strain, and diabetes distress should be considered as promising strategies to improve D-QoL in young WD. D-QoL plays a mediation role between baseline self-stigma, role strain, diabetes distress and subsequent glycemic control in younger WD. Enhancing baseline D-QoL is fundamental to improve subsequent glycemic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Insulin-naive patients are often reluctant to receive insulin treatment, and even insulin-treated patients frequently have poor rates of adherence to their prescribed insulin injection regimes. Assessing attitudes toward insulin injection may help in the design of interventions that improve the insulin injection behaviors of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The concept of decisional balance has been associated with behavior in many studies and may be useful in assessing the attitude of patients with T2DM toward insulin injection. Decisional balance for insulin injection (DBII) has not been widely assessed in patients with T2DM. Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop an insulin injection (DBII) scale that is valid for insulin-naive and insulin-treated patients and to test the psychometric characteristics of this scale based on the concept of decisional balance. Methods: This cross-sectional study administered an 18-item DBII scale, including pro and con subscales, to 95 insulin-naive and 237 insulin-treated patients in Taiwan. The decisional balance score was calculated as the mean score of the pro subscale minus the mean score of the con subscale. Construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis; concurrent validity was assessed by examining the association between the score of the DBII scale and the stages of behavioral change and of hemoglobin A1c for, respectively, insulin-naive patients and insulin-treated patients; and reliability was assessed using internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Results: A 13-item DBII scale supported by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was developed. The stages of behavioral change and hemoglobin A1c levels were found to be significantly associated with the scores of decisional balance of the 13-item DBII scale for both insulin-naive and insulin-treated patients. The Cronbach's α ranged between.78 and.92. Conclusions: The 13-item DBII scale is appropriately short and possesses satisfactory validity and reliability for both insulin-naive and insulin-treated patients with T2DM. Healthcare providers may use this scale as a checklist to guide clinical discussions related to insulin therapy with both insulin-naive and insulin-treated patients with T2DM across time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To explore the risk factors of falls and the gender differences based on demographic and disease characteristics, physical capability, and fear of falling in older adults with diabetes visiting outpatient clinics in Taiwan. Design: Cross‐sectional design. Methods: A total of 485 patients with type 2 diabetes aged between 65 and 80 years were recruited from three endocrine outpatient clinics in Taiwan. Demographic and disease characteristics, fall history in the previous one year and fear of falling were collected by a self‐reported questionnaire. Calf circumference, handgrip strength, one‐leg standing and time up‐and‐go tests were all performed to assess the physical capability of participants. Data were collected from May 2019 to May 2020. Results: Female gender (OR = 1.75), handgrip strength (OR = 2.43) and fear of falling (OR = 3.38) were important risk factors of falls overall, although fear of falling (OR = 4.69) was the only important risk factor of falls in males, while handgrip strength (OR = 3.48) and fear of falling (OR = 2.86) were important risk factors of falls in females. The sensitivity of simultaneous screening handgrip strength and fear of falling were 85.7, 86.4 and 86.2 in males, females and older adults overall with diabetes, respectively. Conclusion: Fear of falling was an important risk factor of falls in both genders, especially in males. Handgrip strength was an important risk factor of falls specifically for females. By simultaneously screening fear of falling and handgrip strength, risk of falls in older adults with diabetes at outpatient clinics could be identified in a more timely manner. Impact Nurses could periodically and simultaneously assess fear of falling and handgrip strength of older adults with diabetes at outpatient clinics. For those are identified at risk of falls on either fear of falling or handgrip strength, nurses could provide corresponding interventions to reduce the fear of falling or improve muscle strength to prevent such falls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unprecedented enantioselective resolution copolymerization of racemic cis‐internal epoxides and anhydrides was mediated by dinuclear aluminum complexes with multiple chirality, affording optically active polyesters with two contiguous stereogenic centers, and the unreacted substrates in good enantioselectivity. Unexpected stereoconvergence is observed in this resolution copolymerization, where the selectivity factor for the enantioselective formation of copolymer significantly exceeds the kinetic resolution coefficient based on the unreacted epoxide at various conversions. Catalytic activity and copolymer enantioselectivity are strongly influenced by the phenolate ortho‐substituents of the ligand set, as well as the axial linker and its chirality. An enantiopure binaphthol‐linked bimetallic AlIII complex allows stereoconvergent access to the stereoregular semi‐crystalline polyesters and a concomitant kinetic resolution of the epoxide substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unprecedented enantioselective resolution copolymerization of racemic cis‐internal epoxides and anhydrides was mediated by dinuclear aluminum complexes with multiple chirality, affording optically active polyesters with two contiguous stereogenic centers, and the unreacted substrates in good enantioselectivity. Unexpected stereoconvergence is observed in this resolution copolymerization, where the selectivity factor for the enantioselective formation of copolymer significantly exceeds the kinetic resolution coefficient based on the unreacted epoxide at various conversions. Catalytic activity and copolymer enantioselectivity are strongly influenced by the phenolate ortho‐substituents of the ligand set, as well as the axial linker and its chirality. An enantiopure binaphthol‐linked bimetallic AlIII complex allows stereoconvergent access to the stereoregular semi‐crystalline polyesters and a concomitant kinetic resolution of the epoxide substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To develop and psychometrically test Character Strengths Use in Diabetes Self‐management Scale in people with type 2 diabetes. Design: Cross‐sectional design. Methods: Based on literature reviews and examination by experts, a 20‐item scale was developed and administered to 350 participants with type 2 diabetes who were enrolled from two endocrine clinics by convenience sampling in Taiwan. Item analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), concurrent and predictive validity as well as reliability were used to examine the psychometric characteristics of the scale. Data were collected from November 2021 to March 2022. Results: EFA and CFA supported a 12‐item scale with three factors, namely learning proactively, taking on challenges and thinking positively, fit the data well. The total score of the 12‐item scale significantly and positively correlated with diabetes‐specific quality of life, and significantly and negatively correlated with baseline and 9‐month haemoglobin A1c levels. Cronbach's α for overall scale and subscales ranged between.78 and.91. Conclusion: The 12‐item Character Strengths Use in Diabetes Self‐management Scale demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability in people with type 2 diabetes. Impact: Nurses could apply this new scale to identify the degree of using character strengths in self‐management in people with type 2 diabetes; accordingly, character strength‐based interventions could be provided to improve self‐management in such patients with diabetes. Furthermore, the 12‐item Character Strengths Use in Diabetes Self‐management Scale has the potential to be used to measure the effectiveness of strength‐based interventions in people with Type 2 diabetes. Patient or Public Contribution: Five patients with type 2 diabetes were invited to take the original 20‐item scale to evaluate the clarity, readability and comprehensiveness of the 20 items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work elucidates the way polymer gate dielectrics affect the accumulation and transport of charge carriers in the active layer of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). Incorporating a poly(vinyl alcohol) polymer interfacial film and another cross-linked poly(4-vinyl phenol) layer as a double-layer gate dielectric causes the pentacene-based OFETs to exhibit effective n-channel conduction of a saturated, apparent pinch-off drain-source current with the electron mobility of ∼0.012 cm2 V-1 s-1. The formation of an n channel in the pentacene layer is supported by the increased capacitance that is identified by the quasistatic capacitance-voltage measurements of devices with the metal-insulator-semiconductor configuration, biased at a positive gate voltage, in the n-type accumulation regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To model the pathways of patient empowerment (PE) and health literacy (HL) to glycemic control specific to insulin-treated patients by prospective design.Methods: Insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (N = 185) were recruited by convenience sampling. Data of personal characteristics, PE, and HL were collected by questionnaires at baseline and 9 months later. The 9-month glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of each participant were collected from medical records. Structural equation modeling was used to test a hypothesized model.Results: Baseline and 9-month communicative HL and critical HL significantly and negatively correlated with 9-month HbA1c levels. Structural equation modeling supported that baseline and 9-month PE significantly affected HL at corresponding time points. Baseline PE indirectly affected 9-month HL through 9-month PE. The 9-month HL directly affected 9-month HbA1c. Baseline HL indirectly affected 9-month HbA1c through 9-month HL.Conclusion: Communicative HL and critical HL rather than functional HL were crucial in improving glycemic control. PE is essential to improve HL in insulin-treated patients.Practice Implications: Healthcare providers could apply the empowerment approach to educate insulin-treated patients. Through reciprocal dynamic process of PE, insulin-treated patients with T2DM might improve their communicative and critical HL; and finally, glycemic control could be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhein is a key ingredient in many herbal remedies and is widely used. However, herbs containing rhein are frequently associated with poisoning incidents, especially in elderly subjects. Acute and subchronic toxicity of rhein in Kunming mice (KM) was investigated in this experiment. Acute toxicity tests showed a 40% lethality at a given rhein dose of 4000 mg/kg, and the LD50 of rhein was calculated by the bliss method to be greater than 2185.6 mg/kg. In subchronic toxicity, d-gal-induced aged and immature animals were randomized into three groups that were exposed to rhein of 0, 175, and 375 mg/kg/d for 75 days, respectively. No mortality was observed in immature mice group, whereas 55.5% (5/9) subjects in aged mice groups died in the high dosage group. AST, ALT, IL-6, TNF-α levels and typical histopathological changes indicate that rhein causes liver injury. In addition, our investigation explored possible hepatotoxic mechanisms of rhein and experimental results showed increased ROS production, NRF-2 and MDA levels and decreased SOD levels, demonstrating that rhein causes oxidative stress. MMP and mitochondrial swelling levels were able to assess the impact of rhein on mitochondrial function. Furthermore, the effect of rhein on apoptosis can be detected by flow cytometry. Our studies suggested that rhein induces oxidative stress leading to mitochondria dysfunction and apoptotic activation. Multidrug resistance protein (MRP) is an efflux transporter protein and is capable of transporting cellular oxidative stress-related substances. To further clarify the role of MRP in rhein induced oxidative stress, we examined MRP expression in the liver. However, the expression of MRP has no statistical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have demonstrated the powerful neuroprotection abilities of multiple traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) against NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated ischemic cerebral injury. These TCMs may be in the form of TCM prescriptions, Chinese herbal medicines and their extracts, and TCM monomers. This review aimed to analyze and summarize the existing knowledge on the assembly and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and its role in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke (IS). We also summarized the mechanism of action of the various TCMs on the NLRP3 inflammasome, which may provide new insights for the management of IS. We reviewed recently published articles by setting the keywords "NLRP3 inflammasome" and "traditional Chinese medicines" along with "ischemic stroke"; "NLRP3 inflammasome" and "ischemic stroke" along with "natural products" and so on in Pubmed and GeenMedical. According to recent studies, 16 TCM prescriptions (officially authorized products and clinically effective TCM prescriptions), 7 Chinese herbal extracts, and 29 TCM monomers show protective effects against IS through anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress, anti-apoptotic, and anti-mitochondrial autophagy effects. In this review, we analyzed studies on the involvement of NLRP3 in IS therapy. Further, we comprehensively and systematically summarized the current knowledge to provide a reference for the further application of TCMs in the treatment of IS. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Pd catalysts are used for nonalternating copolymerization of ethylene with CO. • Alkyl substituents on phosphorus moiety exhibits 29.2 mol% extra C2 incorporation. • T m value of nonalternating polyketone was reduced to 162 °C. • Such Pd catalyst exhibits high thermally robust nature in this copolymerization. Production of polyketone realizes the direct conversion of cost effective and abundant olefin and carbon monoxide (CO) monomers. However, copolymerization of ethylene with CO shows a high tendency for the formation of strictly alternating structures, and they feature a high melting temperature (T m) of 260 °C that impedes the processing by using the conventional injection molding and extrusion. Nonalternating preference in such copolymerization is a very promising method to circumvent the processability issues. In this study, we present a series of phosphine-sulfonate Pd catalysts for nonalternating copolymerization of ethylene and CO, since rare study has investigated the electronic and steric nature systematically in such ligand platform in this field. The usage of dicyclohexyl substituents on phosphorus moiety exhibits unexpected nonalternating preference with up to 29.2 mol% extra ethylene incorporation, thus lowing the T m values to 162 °C. Notably, such alkyl substituted phosphine sulfonate Pd catalyst exhibits high thermally robust nature in this nonalternating copolymerization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Typical N -heterocyclic thiols can unexpectedly activate H 2 O 2 to produce •OH. • It's an unprecedented sulfenic-acid dependent •OH production. • The •OH production is moderate, long-lasting, and covers a broad pH range. • Free –SH group, electron-withdrawing N atom, and ortho -location are essential. The decomposition of H 2 O 2 to produce the highly-reactive hydroxyl radical (•OH) is one of most well-known pathways to generate •OH, which can be readily activated by transition metal ions and haloquinones, but rarely by N -heterocyclic thiol compounds. Here we found, unexpectedly, that DNA oxidative damage can be induced by H 2 O 2 together with 2-mercaptopyridine (PySH), a typical N -heterocyclic thiol compound widely-used in industry, agriculture, medicine and organic synthesis, which was found to be mainly due to production of •OH independent of transition metal ions. 2,2′-Dithiodipyridine, pyridine-2-sulfenic acid (PySOH), pyridine-2-sulfinic acid and pyridine-2-sulfonic acid were step-wisely produced during the reaction of PySH/H 2 O 2 , and the source and origin of the oxygen atoms inserted into these intermediates and products were found to be from H 2 O 2 by oxygen-18 isotope labeling technique coupled with ESI-Q-TOF-MS analysis. More importantly, among all the transient intermediates, PySOH was found to be the key one directly responsible for •OH production from PySH/H 2 O 2. Analogous results were observed with several PySH derivatives. This is the first report on an unprecedented sulfenic acid-dependent •OH production from the activation of H 2 O 2 by N -heterocyclic thiol compounds, which may have important chemical, biological and biomedical implications for future study of these widely-used compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfur dioxide (SO 2) is an important marker in the human body, and maintaining its balance is very significant for human health. The high concentration of SO 2 will cause harm to human health because of the transient nature of SO 2. To measure the level of SO 2 , it is urgent to find a suitable detection method for the real-time monitoring of sulfite. Herein, we designed and exploited a Near-Infrared (NIR) turn-on fluorescent probe L derived from rhodamine for the detection of SO 3 2− in living cells and zebrafish. The addition of sulfite would attack the 4-position of the carbonyl group of levulinic acid, resulting in the cleavage of the ester bond and the formation of the fluorophore. The intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) was restored thus the monitoring system emitted the corresponding long NIR fluorescence at 646 nm. Probe L had high selectivity, a short response period within 10 min, and the detection limit of 0.6 μM. Besides, Probe L had a long excitation wavelength (>580 nm), which was in favor of more deeply biological imaging properties. Moreover, Probe L had low cell cytotoxicity through MTT assay, thus it was confirmed with good biocompatibility. In addition, probe L could successfully real-time monitor exogenous and endogenous sulfite in living cells, and be applied in zebrafish. The confocal results suggested that probe L had strong potential application prospect of outstanding capabilities for detecting sulfite in clinical diagnostics. Image 1 • A Near-Infrared fluorescent probe for real-time detection of sulfite. • The probe showed low cytotoxicity, long excitation and emission wavelength. • Exhibiting short reaction time, high selectivity and low detection limit to sulfite. • The probe could image exogenous and endogenous sulfite in living cells. • The probe could monitor exogenous sulfite in zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since DeepMind's AlphaZero, Zero learning quickly became the state-of-the-art method for many board games. It can be improved using a fully convolutional structure (no fully connected layer). Using such an architecture plus global pooling, we can create bots independent of the board size. The training can be made more robust by keeping track of the best checkpoints during the training and by training against them. Using these features, we release Polygames, our framework for Zero learning, with its library of games and its checkpoints. We won against strong humans at the game of Hex in 19 × 19 , including the human player with the best ELO rank on LittleGolem; we incidentally also won against another Zero implementation, which was weaker than humans: in a discussion on LittleGolem, Hex19 was said to be intractable for zero learning. We also won in Havannah with size 8: win against the strongest player, namely Eobllor, with excellent opening moves. We also won several first places at the TAAI 2019 competitions and had positive results against strong bots in various games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shewanella xiamenensis is an emerging pathogen causing intra‐abdominal infection and intestinal colonization. Epidemiologic clues suggest its role as a potential food‐borne zoonotic agent. To date, four genome sequences of S. xiamenensis have been made publicly available. All of them were isolated from water samples. In this study, we characterized the genome of a S. xiamenensis strain isolated from a giant grouper in Taiwan. The genome of S. xiamenensis ZYW1 is 4,827,717 bp in length and encodes 4,239 open reading frames. Its genomic sequence shares high homology with other S. xiamenensis strains. blaOXA‐416 was identified. This is the first detection of S. xiamenensis in Taiwan. These genomic data and analyses contribute to our understanding of S. xiamenensis and may help to elucidate disease‐causing mechanisms in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shewanella algae is an emerging pathogen widely distributed in aquatic environment. Bacteremia is a major manifestation of S. algae infections, and there are increasing reports of antibiotic-resistant strains. However, little is known about the genomic characteristics of human bacteremic S. algae. Here, we report the results of the whole-genome sequencing of colistin-resistant S. algae TYL, a blood isolate. Chromosome-encoded pmrC associated with colistin resistance and blaOXA-55 gene intrinsic to S. algae was identified. Continuous surveillance for the emergence of S. algae is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Shewanella algae is an aquaculture pathogen and an emerging human pathogen. There are increasing reports of carbapenem resistance S. algae from different hosts. However, little is known about the carbapenem-resistant S. algae in aquaculture and the genetic basis of these resistant bacteria in the special niche remains largely unknown. With the progress of sequencing technologies, it became possible to detect the multiple molecular mechanisms leading to antimicrobial resistance using whole genome sequencing data. In this study, we conduct a genome-scale investigation of S. algae SYT4, a carbapenem-resistant bacterium from cultured Asian hard clam in Taiwan. Whole-genome sequencing of Shewanella algae SYT4 was performed using Illumina MiSeq platform. The genome size of Shewanella algae SYT4 is 4,838,024 bp in length. The DNA G + C content is 53.09%. It encodes 4207 proteins and 104 RNA genes. The phylogenetic relationships of S. algae SYT4 and related Shewanella strains were determined using average nucleotide identity and 16S rRNA gene sequence. Candidate genes for antimicrobial resistance and virulence were identified. S. algae SYT4 carries bla OXA-55 and multiple genes encoding efflux pumps. In addition, genes related to chemotaxis, biofilm formation, and stress response were identified, suggesting potential pathogenic mechanism. We demonstrate that whole-genome sequencing is capable to decipher the resistance determinants of carbapenem-resistant bacterium associated with aquaculture. The panoply of antibiotics resistance genes found suggests the organisms can act as a reservoir of antimicrobial drug resistance determinants in seafood, which is an issue of considerable concern. Highlights • Shewanella algae is a zoonotic pathogen causing diseases in aquaculture and humans. • Whole genome sequence of the first carbapenem-resistant Shewanella algae from cultured Asian hard clam was analyzed. • bla OXA-55 and multiple genes encoding efflux pumps were detected by whole genome sequencing. • The results suggested Shewanella algae could act as a reservoir of antimicrobial drug resistance in aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevention of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) by statins remains controversial. Therefore, the present meta-analysis including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed to assess the effect of perioperative statin on CSA-AKI. Methods: Two reviewers independently searched for RCTs about perioperative statin for prevention of CSA-AKI. The primary endpoint was CSA-AKI. Relative risk was calculated between statin and placebo for preventing CSA-AKI using the random-effect model or fixedeffect model according to different heterogeneity. Results: Eight RCTs met inclusion criteria, including five studies with atorvastatin, two with rosuvastatin, and one with simvastatin. There were 1,603 patients receiving statin treatment and 1,601 with placebo. Perioperative statin therapy did not reduce the incidence of CSA-AKI (relative risk =1.17, 95% CI: 0.98-1.39, p=0.076). Furthermore, perioperative statin increased the risk of CSA-AKI in the subgroup analysis with clear definition of CSA-AKI and those with JADAD score >3. Perioperative rosuvastatin produced slightly significantly higher risk of AKI than atorvastatin therapy (p=0.070). Statin intervention both pre and post surgery slightly increased the risk of CSA-AKI versus preoperative statin therapy alone (p=0.040). Conclusions: Perioperative statin therapy might increase the risk of CSA-AKI after cardiac surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effect of elevated ammonia loading rate (ALR) and increasing salinity on the operation of membrane bioreactor (MBR) and the response of microbial community were investigated. Results showed that MBR started up with 1% NaCl stress achieved amazing nitrification performance at high salinity up to 4% when treating wastewater containing 1000 mg/L NH + 4 -N. Further increasing salinity to 7% led to failure of MBR unrecoverably. Steep decline of sludge activity contributed to the extremely worse performance. High-throughput sequencing analysis showed that both ALR and salinity had selective effects on the microbial community structure. In genus level, Methyloversatilis and Maribacter were enriched during the operation. Survival of salt-resistant microbes contributed to the rising of richness and diversity at 2% and 4% NaCl stress. Analysis of amo A-gene-based cloning revealed Nitrosomonas marina are chiefly responsible for catalyzing ammonia oxidation in high ALR at high salinity stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cysteine (Cys) is an indispensable small organic molecule containing sulfhydryl groups, which has essential regulatory effects on the physiological process of human body. In this work, a red emission fluorescent probe TCFQ-Cys was designed and exploited based on 2-(3-cyano-4,5,5-trimethylfuran-2(5 H)-ylidene) malononitrile-derivatives. The probe could effectively monitor Cys through the typical acrylate cleavage. The detecting system showed a red emission at 633 nm and the fluorescence was stable within the pH range of 6–9. The detection could be completed in 30 min. TCFQ-Cys presented high sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.133 μM and high selectivity towards Cys from other biological mercaptans. The most important feature was that the system had a wide linear range of 0–300 μM, which covered the physiological requirements of Cys detection. Subsequently, we conducted the biological imaging of Cys in MCF-7 cells and Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Therefore, TCFQ-Cys had a practical application prospect for further investigating the physiological function of Cys. A red emission fluorescent probe TCFQ-Cys was develop to monitor the Cys level through the typical acrylate cleavage. The detecting system showed a red emission at 633 nm and the fluorescence was stable within the pH range of 6–9. The detection could be complete in 30 min. TCFQ-Cys presented high sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.133 μM and high selectivity towards Cys than other biological mercaptans. The most important feature was that the system had a wide linear range of 0–300 μM, which covered the physiological requirements of Cys detection. Subsequently, we conducted the biological imaging of Cys in MCF-7 cells and Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Therefore, TCFQ-Cys had a practical application prospect in further investigating the physiological function of Cys. Image 1 • A red emission fluorescent probe for real-time detection of cysteine. • The probe could semiquantitatively determine the cysteine level in living cells. • The probe could image endogenous cysteine in situ in Caenorhabditis elegans. • Exhibiting wide linear range, long wavelength emission and low detection limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Shewanella algae has been recognized as an emerging human pathogen. However, not much is known about the mechanism of its pathogenesis and its adaptation to a special niche such as the hepatobiliary tract. Results: In this study, we isolated the S. algae ACCC strain from human bile and performed whole genome sequencing. S. algae ACCC consists of a circular 4,743,354-bp chromosome with a GC content of 53.08%, within 4080 protein coding sequences. The genome of strain ACCC contains a number of candidate genes which have been reported to be associated with bile adaption, including htpB, exbBD, wecA, galU, adeFGH and phoPQ regulon. Conclusions: Our results highlight the association of S. algae with a rare disease profile. Further studies are needed to shed light on the evolution of pathogenesis and the niche adaptation of S. algae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]