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The push for environmentally benign and sustainable chemical processes has reinforced the demand to displace transition metals with cheap, nontoxic and naturally abundant metals. To fulfil this requirement, we endeavored to synthesize alkali- and alkaline earth-metal complexes and employ them as catalysts for organic transformations. Two lithium and one magnesium complexes, which are supported by pyridyl-pendanted unsymmetrical β-diketiminates, have been synthesized and characterized. They are formulated as [Li(L

A dinucleating bis(β-diketiminate) ligand with a flexible bridge has been employed to synthesize zinc complexes. The ligand, abbreviated H2L (H2L = N-(4-((2-((4-((2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imino)pent-2...

The objective of this study is to form a cancer stem cell index-based model to stratify HCC risk and predict survival. After screening the Tumor Genome Atlas (TCGA) of liver and normal liver tissue samples, we obtained differentially expressed genes (DEGs). We employed a weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) and differentially expressed genes were studied in HCC to find the modules most associated with cancer stem cells (mRNAsi). At the same time, gene ontology and Kyoto Genome Encyclopedia (KEGG) were used for functional annotation and combined with LASSO, univariate, and multivariate COX regression analyses, a prediction model of key module genes of cancer stem cells was developed. The model’s clinical efficacy was measured using the C index, calibration curve, multiindex ROC curve, and clinical decision curve. WGCNA found that black modules were most correlated with tumour stem cell index. Seven genes (CSDC2, GNA14, LGI2, MMRN1, PDE2A, SELP, and STK32B) were filtered by univariate, LASSO, and multivariate Cox regression analyses to establish the primary HCC model. The survival analysis and ROC curve in the TCGA training and validation cohort showed good performance. The independent prognostic factor of primary HCC was risk score, according to univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. It is found that the stem cell index model of 7 genes could predict factors independently, indicating that signatures of the stem cell will play a significant role in liver cancer survival prediction and risk stratification.

A series of aluminum complexes based on a β-diketiminate ligand HL (HL = N{-4-[(2,6-diisopropyl-phenylamino)pent-3-en-2-ylidene]-6-methyl}pyridin-2- amine) have been prepared and characterized spectroscopically and structurally. Reactions of the HL ligand with one equivalent of AlMe3, AlEt3 and AlEt2Cl, respectively, in toluene, gave complexes [LAlMe2] (1), [LAlEt2] (2) and [LAlEtCl] (3) in high yields. Complexes 1 and 2 contain four-coordinated mononuclear aluminum center. The aluminum center of 3 is five-coordinated. Complexes 1–3 were used to catalyze the ring-opening polymerization of e-caprolactone. Complexes 1–3 are very rare cases of aluminum alkyl compounds supported by β-diketiminate ligands, which show moderate activity toward the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of e-caprolactone (CL) in the absence of benzyl alcohol. However, in the presence of benzyl alcohol, the polymerization rate is remarkably accelerated and the conversions are greatly improved. The monomer conversion and number average molecular weight of poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) catalyzed by 1–3 shows a linear relationship. This result indicates that the polymerizations mediated by 1–3 exhibited controllable manner.

BackgroundUreaplasmaspp.are associated with various infectious diseases in females, but there is still limited evidence regarding whether they are related to nonspecific cervicitis. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) assay for the detection and quantification ofUreaplasmaspp. in cervical swabs.MethodsA total of 267 non-specific cervicitis (NSC) patients and 195 asymptomatic females were included in this study. We produced standard curves forUreaplasmaspp.to evaluate the analytical performance of the ddPCR assay. Then, we detected and quantified the bacterial load ofUreaplasmaspp. in cervical swabs.ResultsThe prevalences ofU. parvumwere 37.8% (101/267) and 29.7% (58/195), U. urealyticumwere 9.0% (24/267) and 8.7% (17/195) in the NSC group and control group, respectively. In addition, the median copy number ofU. parvumwas 2.5 × 104copies/ml (n = 101) in the NSC group and 9.2 × 103copies/ml (n = 58) in the control group. TheU. parvumload in the NSC group was significantly higher than that in the asymptomatic individuals (P U. urealyticumwas 8.4 × 103copies/ml (n = 24) and 1.4 × 103(n = 17) copies/ml in the two groups, respectively, , the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.450).ConclusionsOur study is the first to develop a droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) method for the detection and quantification ofUreaplasmaspp. in clinical samples, and the method has excellent analytical performance and a wide range of clinical application prospects.

HCV screening depends mainly on a one-assay anti-HCV testing strategy that is subject to an increased false-positive rate in low-prevalence populations. In this study, a two-assay anti-HCV testing strategy was applied to screen HCV infection in two groups, labelled group one (76,442 people) and group two (18,415 people), using Elecsys electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and an Architect chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA), respectively. Each anti-HCV-reactive serum was retested with the other assay. A recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) and HCV RNA testing were performed to confirm anti-HCV positivity or active HCV infection. In group one, 516 specimens were reactive in the ECL screening, of which CMIA retesting showed that 363 (70.3%) were anti-HCV reactive (327 positive, 30 indeterminate, 6 negative by RIBA; 191 HCV RNA positive), but 153 (29.7%) were not anti-HCV reactive (4 positive, 29 indeterminate, 120 negative by RIBA; none HCV RNA positive). The two-assay strategy significantly improved the positive predictive value (PPV, 64.1% & 90.1%, P P -assay testing strategy, the two-assay testing strategy may significantly reduce false positives in anti-HCV testing and identify inactive HCV infection in low-seroprevalence populations.

The characteristic nitrosyl stretching (NO) in the region of 1800-1900cm(-1) was used to study the geometric and ligand effect on two nitrosylruthenium complexes, namely [Ru(OAc)(2QN)2NO] (QN=2-chloro-8-quinolinol (H2cqn) or QN=2-methyl-8-quinolinol (H2mqn)). The NO stretching frequency (νNO) was found in the following order: νcis-1 (2cqn)>νcis-2 (2cqn)>νcis-1 (2mqn)>νtrans (2mqn). The results exhibited a spectral sensitivity of the NO mode to both charge distribution and ligand arrangement, which was supported by ab initio computations and natural bond orbital (NBO) analyses. Further, the vibrational population of the vibrationally excited NO stretching mode was found to relax on the order of 7-10ps, showing less than 30% variation from one isomer to another, which were explained on the basis of NO local structures and solute-solvent interactions in these isomeric nitrosylruthenium complexes.

Structures, electronic spectra, infrared and NMR spectra of three [Ru(OAc)(2mqn)2NO] (H2mqn = 2-methyl-8-quinolinol) isomers were calculated at the B3LYP level with 6-311++G(d,p) and Aug-cc-pVDZ-PP as the basis set. Good agreement between the optimized geometries and structural parameters from crystal structures had been achieved. UV–vis absorption and vibration spectra were experimentally measured and theoretically assigned with DFT calculations. The calculated spectra reasonably correspond to the recorded spectra and the results indicated that DFT calculation is reliable and helpful to analyze the geometries and spectra of isomers. With the gauge independent atomic orbital (GIAO) method, chemical shifts in 1H NMR of these isomers were also calculated, which could match with the experimental data. There was a large degree of mixing between NO orbitals and the metal d orbitals in the frontier orbitals, which suggested that the peculiarity of {Ru(II)-NO+} group affect the structure and reactivity of nitrosylruthenium(II) complexes containing 8-quinolinolate and its derivatives.

The [Ru(II)–NO+] group affects the structure and chemical reactivity of nitrosylruthenium(II) complexes. A characteristic infrared absorption band due to the nitrosyl (NO) stretching motion is shown in the frequency region 1800–1900 cm–1. In this work, linear infrared (IR) and nonlinear IR methods, including pump–probe and two-dimensional (2D) IR, were utilized to study the structures and dynamics of two isomeric nitrosylruthenium complexes [Ru(OAc)(2mqn)2NO] (H2mqn = 2-methyl-8-quinolinol) in cis and trans isomeric configurations in a weak polar solvent (CDCl3). Using the NO stretching mode as a vibrational probe, information about local structural dynamics of the Ru complex as well as solvent fluctuation dynamics was obtained. In particular, a “structured” solvent environment is believed to form in the vicinity of the NO group in the case of the cis isomer with the aid of a neighboring OAc ligand, which is the reason for more efficient vibrational relaxation but more inhomogeneously distributed solvent ...

Photo-induced NO-release and cytotoxic activities of three [(CH 3 ) 4 N][RuCl 3 (QN)(NO)] complexes with different ligands ( $\text{QN}=\text{qn},\ 2\text{mqn}$ and 2cqn) were investigated. Real-time NO release was proved through EPR spectroscopy. The qn and 2cqn complexes showed effective photocytotoxic activity.