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Sinonasal malignant tumors are a group of uncommon malignancies that account for less than 1% of all tumors. These tumors often involve the maxillary sinus and nasal cavity, with less cumulative incidence in the ethmoidal sinus, sphenoidal sinus, and frontal sinus. The lack of consensus on the management of sinonasal malignancies is due to their rarity, diagnostic challenges, and the heterogeneity of treatments. In this paper, we present a case of endoscopic-assisted medial canthus incision combined with radiotherapy in the treatment of sinonasal malignant tumors, with the aim of providing valuable insights to clinicians on the management of these tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mood swings have been observed in patients with intracranial aneurysm (IA), but it is still unknown whether mood swings can affect IA. Aim: To explore the causal association between mood swings or experiencing mood swings and IA through a two‐sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study. Methods: Summary‐level statistics of mood swings, experiencing mood swings, IA, aneurysm‐associated subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), and non‐ruptured IA (uIA) were collected from the genome‐wide association study. Two‐sample MR and various sensitivity analyses were employed to explore the causal association between mood swings or experiencing mood swings and IA, or aSAH, or uIA. The inverse‐variance weighted method was used as the primary method. Results: Genetically determined mood swings (odds ratio [OR] = 5.23, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.65–16.64, p =.005) and experiencing mood swings (OR = 2.50, 95%CI: 1.37–4.57, p =.003) were causally associated with an increased risk of IA. Mood swings (OR = 5.67, 95%CI: 1.40–23.04, p =.015) and experiencing mood swings were causally associated with the risk of aSAH (OR = 2.91, 95%CI: 1.47–5.75, p =.002). Neither mood swings (OR = 1.95, 95%CI:.31–12.29, p =.478) nor experiencing mood swings (OR = 1.20, 95%CI:.48–3.03, p =.693) were associated with uIA. Conclusions: Mood swings and experiencing mood swings increased the risk of IA and aSAH incidence. These results suggest that alleviating mood swings may reduce IA rupture incidence and aSAH incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Among the Tujia people, the root or rhizome of Trillium tschonoskii Maxim.in Bull.Acad (TTM) is considered a miraculous herb for headaches. Previous studies have shown ethyl acetate extract (TTM1) can protect SH-SY5Y cells against glutamate injury. Objective: This study clarified TTM1's mechanism against glutamate-induced cell damage, focusing on the regulation of apoptosis. The compounds were separated, identified, and performed molecular docking with pro-apoptotic proteins. Materials and Methods: SH-SY5Y cells were treated with glutamate (2 mM) for 12 hour, and the effect of TTM1 (2.5, 5, 10, and 20 μg/mL) was evaluated with MTT and LDH release assays, taking EGb761(40 μg/mL) as a control. Cell apoptosis was detected with Hoechst 33258 and Annexin V-FITC and measurements of intracellular calcium and caspase-3. The major components were separated and identified by LCMS-IT-TOF and NMR, then the proapoptotic activity of TTM1 was confirmed by molecular docking method. Results: TTM1 protected SH-SY5Y cells by resisting apoptosis, TTM1 (10 and 20 μg/mL) decreased apoptotic bodies and nuclear fragments, increased the proportion of normal cells to 68.38 ± 5.63% and 92.80 ±.88%, decreased VA cells to 4.30 ±.76% and 3.58 ±.45% and caspase-3 to.365 ±.034 and.344 ±.047 ng/mL.TTM1 (10 μg/mL) decreased intracellular free calcium to 2.77 ±.40. Polyphyllin VI and pennogenin 3-O-β-chacotrioside were identified in TTM1 at 15.04% and 2.84%, and had potential anti-apoptosis activities. Discussion and Conclusions: Folk records of TTM for headache may be related to its anti-apoptosis of nerve cells. Identification and content determination of index components based on effective extract provides research paradigms for rare and endangered ethnic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galleria mellonella (greater wax moth) larvae are used widely as surrogate infectious disease models, due to ease of use and the presence of an innate immune system functionally similar to that of vertebrates. Here, we review G. mellonella– human intracellular bacteria pathogen infection models from the genera Burkholderia, Coxiella, Francisella, Listeria , and Mycobacterium. For all genera, G. mellonella use has increased understanding of host–bacterial interactive biology, particularly through studies comparing the virulence of closely related species and/or wild-type versus mutant pairs. In many cases, virulence in G. mellonella mirrors that found in mammalian infection models, although it is unclear whether the pathogenic mechanisms are the same. The use of G. mellonella larvae has speeded up in vivo efficacy and toxicity testing of novel antimicrobials to treat infections caused by intracellular bacteria: an area that will expand since the FDA no longer requires animal testing for licensure. Further use of G. mellonella –intracellular bacteria infection models will be driven by advances in G. mellonella genetics, imaging, metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomic methodologies, alongside the development and accessibility of reagents to quantify immune markers, all of which will be underpinned by a fully annotated genome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to numerically investigate the behaviour of corroded circular reinforced concrete (RC) columns strengthened by carbon-fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (C-FRCM) composites. Three-dimensional finite element (FE) models of the corroded circular RC columns with and without strengthening were set up and validated against previous experimental results. Based on the validated FE models, the parametric studies were carried out to investigate the effects of axial compression ratio, degree of corrosion and layer of carbon fabrics on the behaviour of corroded RC columns under cyclic loading. It shows that the lateral load resistance increased when the axial compression ratio ranged from 0.3 to 0.4, but decreased when the axial compression ratio ranged from 0.4 to 0.6; also the ductility of the corroded RC columns reduced with increasing axial compression ratio. The ultimate capacity of corroded RC columns decreased gradually with the increasing degree of corrosion. Based on the results of parametric studies, equations were developed to estimate the ultimate capacity and displacement of the corroded RC columns repaired by the C-FRCM. The proposed equations can well estimate the ultimate lateral load resisting capacity and ultimate displacement of the corroded circular RC columns strengthened by C-FRCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the role of sintering aids during microstructure evolution is critical to the manufacture of densified SiC fibers. A variety of TEM characterization techniques are combined to investigate grain growth behavior in iron-doped SiC fibers. Ultra-large SiC grains in micron size, as the self-assembly of nano sub-grains into a similar orientation, were consistently discovered at the surface and indicative of abnormal grain growth. The growth front consisted of polycrystalline nanograins wetted by iron-rich particles, where several sub-grains were found to unify their (111) planes with a misorientation angle less than 10°, indicating grain rotation at the growth front. It is proposed that iron-rich particles form a quasi-liquid interfacial phase during sintering, which facilitates coherent attachment of grains and results in fast grain growth using neighboring irregular-shaped nanograins as building blocks. The imperfect ordered coalescence of nanograins introduces structural heterogeneities, including low angle grain boundaries and porosities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of the microstructures is critical to the design of SiC fibers with excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties. We introduce a density-sensitive electron microscopy method, high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) imaging to study the microstructure of SiC fibers processed at a variety of temperatures ranging from 1200 to 1800 °C. It is revealed that, irrespective of their processing temperatures, SiC grains form the skeleton of SiC fibers that are surrounded by a multiple of zones with low HAADF contrast (low-density zones, LDZs). LDZs mainly consist of amorphous SiOC phases and turbostratic graphite. As a result, three important interfaces that dictate grain growth, namely, the SiC/amorphous SiOC interface, the SiC/turbostratic graphite phase boundary and the SiC high angle grain boundary (HAGBs) emerge. We find that, the SiC/turbostratic graphite interfaces and the SiC HAGBs are more effective in suppressing the growth of SiC grains than the SiC/a-SiOC interfaces on a basis of extensive TEM characterization. Aberration corrected TEM reveals marked differences in the atomic structures of those three interfaces, shedding light on how the interfacial structures affect grain growth of SiC fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ordinal optimization (OO) is a widely-studied technique for optimizing discrete-event dynamic systems (DEDS). It evaluates the performance of the system designs in a finite set by sampling and aims to correctly make ordinal comparison of the designs. A well-known method in OO is the optimal computing budget allocation (OCBA). It builds the optimality conditions for the number of samples allocated to each design, and the sample allocation that satisfies the optimality conditions is shown to asymptotically maximize the probability of correct selection for the best design. In this paper, we investigate two popular OCBA algorithms. With known variances for samples of each design, we characterize their convergence rates with respect to different performance measures. We first demonstrate that the two OCBA algorithms achieve the optimal convergence rate under measures of probability of correct selection and expected opportunity cost. It fills the void of convergence analysis for OCBA algorithms. Next, we extend our analysis to the measure of cumulative regret, a main measure studied in the field of machine learning. We show that with minor modification, the two OCBA algorithms can reach the optimal convergence rate under cumulative regret. It indicates the potential of broader use of algorithms designed based on the OCBA optimality conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophobic materials are promising next-generation waterproof materials due to their excellent self-cleaning, antifouling and additional capabilities. Herein, the superhydrophobic materials with excellent comprehensive performance were developed via a simple, low-cost, environmental, and scalable spray method with epoxy adhesive assistance. The epoxy adhesive enhanced the adhesion strength between spray coating and substrates significantly. Consequently, various properties of superhydrophobic coatings were improved greatly. The as-prepared superhydrophobic surfaces exhibited excellent mechanical durability. The water contact angle maintained unchanged basically and sliding angle only increased slightly even though sandpaper abrasion distance had extended to 2100 cm or tape-peeling test had reached 30 cycles. Moreover, the strong water repellence retained even after 72 h immersion in strong acid/alkali, 1 h treatment upon 280 °C, and 7 days exposure under 254 nm UV light. These indicated that the obtained superhydrophobic materials exhibited outstanding acid, alkali, high temperature, and UV light resistance and stability. Besides, the superhydrophobic materials demonstrated excellent self-cleaning and anti-icing performance. So the synthetic superhydrophobic materials were expected to have a wide range of applications in the industrial production and daily life. More importantly, they could be applied in a variety of harsh environments for long periods of time. [Display omitted] • Superhydrophobic surface with excellent comprehensive performance was fabricated by spray method. • The epoxy adhesive enhanced properties of superhydrophobic coatings significantly. • The superhydrophobicity maintained unchanged basically after 2100 cm sandpaper abrasion or 30 tape-peeling cycles. • The strong water repellence remained even after 72 h immersion in strong acid/alkali or 7 days exposure under UV light. • The superhydrophobic materials demonstrated excellent self-cleaning and anti-icing performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ranking and selection (R&S) is a popular model for studying discrete-event dynamic systems. It aims to select the best design (the design with the largest mean performance) from a finite set, where the mean of each design is unknown and has to be learned by samples. Great research efforts have been devoted to this problem in the literature for developing procedures with superior empirical performance and showing their optimality. In these efforts, myopic procedures were popular. They select the best design using a "naive" mechanism of iteratively and myopically improving an approximation of the objective measure. Although they are based on simple heuristics and lack theoretical support, they turned out highly effective, and often achieved competitive empirical performance compared to procedures that were proposed later and shown to be asymptotically optimal. In this paper, we theoretically analyze these myopic procedures and prove that they also satisfy the optimality conditions of R&S, just like some other popular R&S methods. It explains the good performance of myopic procedures in various numerical tests, and provides good insight into the structure and theoretical development of efficient R&S procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problems with serological cross-reactivity have led to development of a number of PCRs (individual and multiplex) for molecular typing of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae , the causative agent of porcine pleuropneumonia. Most of these assays were developed for detection of specific amplicons within capsule biosynthetic genes before the availability of complete sequences for the different serovars. Here we describe comparative analysis of the complete capsular loci for all 18 serovars of A. pleuropneumoniae , and development of two multiplex PCRs for comprehensive capsule typing of this important pig pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate isolates of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae previously designated serologically either as non-typable (NT) or as ‘K2:07’, which did not produce serovar-specific amplicons in PCR assays. We used whole genome sequencing to identify the capsule (CPS) loci of six previously designated biovar 1 NT and two biovar 1 ‘K2:O7’ isolates of A. pleuropneumoniae from Denmark, as well as a recent biovar 2 NT isolate from Canada. All of the NT isolates have the same six-gene type I CPS locus, sharing common cpsABC genes with serovars 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 13. The two ‘K2:O7’ isolates contain a unique three-gene type II CPS locus, having a cpsA gene similar to that of serovars 1, 4, 12, 14 and 15. The previously NT isolates share the same O-antigen genes, found between erpA and rpsU , as serovars 3, 6, 8, and 15. Whereas the ‘K2:O7’ isolates, have the same O-antigen genes as serovar 7, which likely contributed to their previous mis-identification. All of the NT and ‘K2:O7’ isolates have only the genes required for production of ApxII ( apxIICA structural genes, and apxIBD export genes). Rabbit polyclonal antisera raised against representative isolates with these new CPS loci demonstrated distinct reactivity compared to the 16 known serovars. The serological and genomic results indicate that the isolates constitute new serovars 17 (previously NT) and 18 (previously ‘K2:O7’). Primers designed for amplification of specific serovar 17 and 18 sequences for molecular diagnostics will facilitate epidemiological tracking of these two new serovars of A. pleuropneumoniae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: LiFePo4 battery is widely used in electric vehicles; however, its flatness and hysteresis of the open‐circuit voltage curve pose a big challenge to precise state of charge (SOC) estimation. The issue is discussed and addressed in this paper. First, a cell model with hysteresis is built to describe real‐time dynamic characteristics of the LiFePo4 battery. Second, the model parameters and SOC are estimated independently to avoid the possibility of cross interference between them. For model identification, an adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF) algorithm is used to identify the cell parameters as they change slowly. While SOC could change rapidly, wavelet transform AUKF algorithm is put forward to estimate SOC. In the novel algorithm, the measurement noise can be estimated and updated online. Finally, the performance of the proposed method is verified under dynamic current condition. The experimental results show that estimated value based on the proposed method is more accurate than unscented Kalman filter‐based method and AUKF‐based algorithm. Meanwhile, the proposed estimator also has the merits of fast convergence and good robustness against the initialization uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal models have long been used in tuberculosis research to understand disease pathogenesis and to evaluate novel vaccine candidates and anti-mycobacterial drugs. However, all have limitations and there is no single animal model which mimics all the aspects of mycobacterial pathogenesis seen in humans. Importantly mice, the most commonly used model, do not normally form granulomas, the hallmark of tuberculosis infection. Thus there is an urgent need for the development of new alternative in vivo models. The insect larvae, Galleria mellonella has been increasingly used as a successful, simple, widely available and cost-effective model to study microbial infections. Here we report for the first time that G. mellonella can be used as an infection model for members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. We demonstrate a dose-response for G. mellonella survival infected with different inocula of bioluminescent Mycobacterium bovis BCG lux, and demonstrate suppression of mycobacterial luminesence over 14 days. Histopathology staining and transmission electron microscopy of infected G. mellonella phagocytic haemocytes show internalization and aggregation of M. bovis BCG lux in granuloma-like structures, and increasing accumulation of lipid bodies within M. bovis BCG lux over time, characteristic of latent tuberculosis infection. Our results demonstrate that G. mellonella can act as a surrogate host to study the pathogenesis of mycobacterial infection and shed light on host-mycobacteria interactions, including latent tuberculosis infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim This study was designed to determine the risk factors of lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with tumors ≤ 2 cm, using the Shanghai Chest Hospital Lung Cancer Database. Methods Five hundred and eighteen patients with NSCLC ≤ 2 cm were included in this study, and were classified into lymph node-positive and lymph node-negative groups. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to select the independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis in NSCLC patients. Results No evidence of metastasis was found in tumors ≤ 1 cm, all positive results were in tumors sized 1-2 cm. Imaging characteristics, including solid and part-solid nodules, were strongly associated with lymph node metastasis (odds ratio [ OR] 24.959, 95% confidence interval [ CI] 5.999-103.835, P < 0.001; OR 12.559, 95% CI 3.564-44.259, P < 0.001) and subgroup logistic analysis ( OR 21.384, 95% CI 5.058-90.407, P < 0.001; OR 11.632, 95% CI 3.290-41.126, P < 0.001). Greater lymph node metastasis was observed in non-adeno non-squamous carcinoma. The presence of pleural invasion and carcinoembryonic antigen levels indicated lymph node dissection. Similar results were revealed in subgroup analysis in tumors ≤ 2 to > 1 cm. Conclusion Size had a great impact on lymph node metastasis, especially tumors of 1-2 cm. Preoperative imaging, non-adeno non-squamous carcinoma, pleural invasion, and carcinoembryonic antigen all indicated lymph node dissection. There was no discrepancy between N1 and N2 positive lymph nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Battery model is crucial for the accurate estimation of the state of charge (SOC) in a battery management system of electric vehicles. However, differences exist within optimal battery models corresponding to different types of batteries. Even for the same type of battery, the corresponding optimal battery model may vary with the change of the battery status. To solve the problem, this paper proposes a multi-model probability fusion estimation (MMPFE) method to realize an accurate description of battery characteristics and a precise SOC estimation. An improved adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF) approach is developed for measurement noise variance online update based on the idea of orthogonality between residual and innovation during the SOC estimation. Finally, the proposed MMPFE method was verified by experiments using LiFeO 4 and LiMnO 2 batteries, respectively. Results indicate that when a voltage drift of +3 mV was applied on the LiFeO 4 battery under UDDS condition and an initial SOC error was applied on LiMnO 2 battery under FUDS condition at different temperatures, the proposed method still can estimated the precise SOC. Comparing with the results obtained by the other methods under the same conditions, the method presented in the paper shows a higher SOC estimation accuracy and better robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with input-to-state stability (ISS) of coupled retarded systems on networks (CRSNs). By incorporating Razumikhin method with generalized Kirchhoff’s Matrix Tree Theorem, sufficient conditions are established to guarantee ISS of CRSNs. For the convenience of application, sufficient conditions in the form of coefficients are also obtained. What is more, a sufficient criterion on ISS of the coupled retarded oscillators system on networks is derived. Finally, as an illustration, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physicochemical properties of a self-developed, waterborne, saline-based hydrophobic agent and the chloride resistance of concrete treated with the waterborne hydrophobic agent are presented in this paper. The low penetration depth of the waterborne hydrophobic agent is found to be primarily determined by the large micelle size. Moreover, the capillary water absorption is significantly suppressed by the surface treatment of the cement-based substrates with the waterborne hydrophobic agent. In terms of the water penetrability, the waterborne hydrophobic agent has remarkable thermal, low-temperature, ultraviolet, alkali and acid resistances. The compactness of the mortar specimen impregnated with the waterborne hydrophobic agent is improved, resulting in the unexpected increase in the water impermeability of the impregnated mortar. In addition, the impregnated concrete specimen has a pronounced chloride resistance. The penetration depth of the waterborne hydrophobic agent developed in this work is as low as 0.43 mm, yet it is still more than qualified to serve as a waterproofing product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physicochemical properties of a self-developed, waterborne, saline-based hydrophobic agent and the chloride resistance of concrete treated with the waterborne hydrophobic agent are presented in this paper. The low penetration depth of the waterborne hydrophobic agent is found to be primarily determined by the large micelle size. Moreover, the capillary water absorption is significantly suppressed by the surface treatment of the cement-based substrates with the waterborne hydrophobic agent. In terms of the water penetrability, the waterborne hydrophobic agent has remarkable thermal, low-temperature, ultraviolet, alkali and acid resistances. The compactness of the mortar specimen impregnated with the waterborne hydrophobic agent is improved, resulting in the unexpected increase in the water impermeability of the impregnated mortar. In addition, the impregnated concrete specimen has a pronounced chloride resistance. The penetration depth of the waterborne hydrophobic agent developed in this work is as low as 0.43 mm, yet it is still more than qualified to serve as a waterproofing product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polo-like kinase (Plk) plays a central role in centrosome cycle and is closely associated with the oncogenesis of lung cancer. The protein consists of a catalytic kinase domain (KD) and a regulatory polo-box domain (PBD); either direct inhibition of the KD's catalytic activity or indirect disruption of the PBD-substrate interaction can be used to potentially suppress the pathological activation of lung cancer Plk. Here, we reported a successful molecular design and engineering of phosphopeptide ligands to target Plk PBD domain by integrating in silico modeling and in vitro assay. In the procedure, a helical peptide segment hps was derived from dimerization interface of the complex crystal structure of domain dimer using bioinformatics approach, which was then used as sequence template to generate potent phosphopeptide binders of Plk PBD domain in terms of a systematic residue mutation profile. Fluorescence anisotropy assays were conducted to substantiate the findings and conclusions obtaining from the molecular engineering. Consequently, three helical phosphopeptides, including the native hps and its two mutants hps-m and hps-m , were successfully designed that can independently rebind to Plk PBD domain with a moderate or high affinity ( K = 127, 26, and 5 μM, respectively). These peptide ligands can be considered as potent self-competitors to disrupt PBD dimerization in lung cancer metastasis. Structural and energetic analysis revealed that hydrophobic forces and van der Waals contacts confer strong stability for domain-peptide complex system, while hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions contribute specificity and selectivity to the complex recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate battery State of Charge estimation plays an important role in battery electric vehicles. This paper makes two contributions to the existing literature. (1) A recursive least squares method with fuzzy adaptive forgetting factor has been presented to update the model parameters close to the real value more quickly. (2) The statistical information of the innovation sequence obeying chi-square distribution has been introduced to identify model uncertainty, and a novel combination algorithm of strong tracking unscented Kalman filter and adaptive unscented Kalman filter has been developed to estimate SOC (State of Charge). Experimental results indicate that the novel algorithm has a good performance in estimating the battery SOC against initial SOC errors and voltage sensor drift. A comparison with the unscented Kalman filter-based algorithms and adaptive unscented Kalman filter-based algorithms shows that the proposed SOC estimation method has better accuracy, robustness and convergence behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), is a leading cause of infectious disease mortality. Animal infection models have contributed substantially to our understanding of TB, yet their biological and non-biological limitations are a research bottleneck. There is a need for more ethically acceptable, economical, and reproducible TB infection models capable of mimicking key aspects of disease. Here we demonstrate and present a basic description of how Galleria mellonella (the greater wax moth, Gm) larvae can be used as a low cost, rapid and ethically more acceptable model for TB research. This is the first study to infect Gm with the fully virulent MTB H37Rv, the most widely used strain in research. Infection of Gm with MTB resulted in a symptomatic lethal infection, the virulence of which differed from both attenuated Mycobacterium bovis BCG and auxotrophic MTB strains. The Gm-MTB model can also be used for anti-TB drug screening, although CFU enumeration from Gm is necessary for confirmation of mycobacterial load reducing activity of the tested compound. Furthermore, comparative virulence of MTB isogenic mutants can be determined in Gm. However, comparison of mutant phenotypes in Gm against conventional models must consider the limitations of innate immunity. Our findings indicate that Gm will be a practical, valuable and advantageous additional model to be used alongside existing models to advance tuberculosis research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of bioactive components is an important area of research in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula. The reported identification methods only consider the interaction between the components and the target proteins, which is not sufficient to explain the influence of TCM on the gene expression. Here, we propose the Initial Transcription Process-based Identification (ITPI) method for the discovery of bioactive components that influence transcription factors (TFs). In this method, genome-wide chip detection technology was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The TFs of DEGs were derived from GeneCards. The components influencing the TFs were derived from STITCH. The bioactive components in the formula were identified by evaluating the molecular similarity between the components in formula and the components that influence the TF of DEGs. Using the formula of Tian-Zhu-San (TZS) as an example, the reliability and limitation of ITPI were examined and 16 bioactive components that influence TFs were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete nucleotide sequence of a 7.7 kb mobilisable plasmid (pM3446F), isolated from a florfenicol resistant isolate of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae , showed extended similarity to plasmids found in other members of the Pasteurellaceae containing the floR gene as well as replication and mobilisation genes. Mobilisation into other Pasteurellaceae species confirmed that this plasmid can be transferred horizontally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) has been confirmed to be involved in multiple myeloma (MM) progression, and basic leucine zipper and W2 domains 2 (BZW2) is considered to be a regulator for MM development. However, whether METTL3 mediates MM progression by regulating BZW2 remains unclear. The messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels of METTL3 and BZW2 in MM specimens and cells were determined using quantitative real-time PCR and western blot analysis. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed by cell counting kit 8 assay, 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine assay, colony formation assay, and flow cytometry. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation-qPCR was used to detect the m6A modification level of BZW2. Xenograft tumor models were constructed to confirm the effect of METTL3 knockdown on MM tumor growth in vivo. Our results showed that BZW2 was upregulated in MM bone marrow specimens and cells. BZW2 downregulation reduced MM cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis, while its overexpression enhanced MM cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis. METTL3 was highly expressed in MM bone marrow specimens, and its expression was positively correlated with BZW2 expression. BZW2 expression was positively regulated by METTL3. Mechanistically, METTL3 could upregulate BZW2 expression by modulating its m6A modification. Additionally, METTL3 accelerated MM cell proliferation and restrained apoptosis via increasing BZW2 expression. In vivo experiments showed that METTL3 knockdown reduced MM tumor growth by decreasing BZW2 expression. In conclusion, these data indicated that METTL3-mediated the m6A methylation of BZW2 to promote MM progression, suggesting a novel therapeutic target for MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Paired box 6 (PAX6), a highly conserved transcriptional factor, has been implicated in tumorigenesis. Aim: We aimed to explore the roles and molecular mechanisms of PAX6 and microRNA (miR-7) in colorectal cancer cells. Methods: Tissue microarray immunohistochemistry and Western blot were applied to examine the PAX6 expression. Real-time RT-PCR and Western blot were performed to determine the expression of miR-7 and PAX6. Luciferase reporter assay was used to determine whether PAX6 was a target of miR-7. Effects of miR-7 and PAX6 on colorectal cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, colony formation and invasion were then investigated. Western blot was used to determine the activities of the ERK and PI3K signal pathways, as well as the protein expression of MMP2 and MMP9. Results: The protein levels of PAX6 were gradually increased, while the expression of miR-7 was gradually reduced with malignancy of colorectal cancer. PAX6 was further identified as a target of miR-7, and its protein expression was negatively regulated by miR-7 in human colorectal cancer cells. Overexpression of PAX6 in Caco-2 and SW480 cells enhanced cellular proliferation, cell cycle progression, colony formation, and invasion, while miR-7 upregulation repressed these biological processes. Furthermore, the activities of ERK and PI3K signal pathways, as well as the protein levels of MMP2 and MMP9, were upregulated in PAX6-overexpressed Caco-2 and SW480 cells but deregulated in miR-7-overexpressed Caco-2 and SW480 cells. Conclusions: Our study suggests that as a novel target of miR-7, PAX6 may serve as a promising therapeutic target for colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The novel magnetic fluid shock absorber used the composite magnet structure and was attached with different inner surface materials. • To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time to consider the relationship between inner surface materials and damping performance of the magnetic fluid shock absorber. • The capillary force not only consumed energy as resistance, but also changed the flow velocity in the magnetic fluid layer. • Our experiments proved that we must take into account both the densities of materials and the damping performance when selecting inner surface materials. Suffering low frequency and small amplitude shaking, energy dissipation of long overhanding structures on the spacecraft under weightless environment is a key research topic for the safety of such spacecraft. The paper presented a novel magnetic fluid shock absorber to reduce the vibration of low frequency and small amplitude. The proposed shock absorber had the composite magnet structure including three magnets in the working element and it was attached with different inner surface materials. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time to consider the relationship between inner surface materials and damping performance of the shock absorber. First, the damping performance of the shock absorber with various magnetic fluid volume percentage and gap size was investigated by reducing the free oscillations of the brass plate. Meanwhile, the magnetic restoring force between the working element and the repulsion magnet was measured. The experimental results showed that the magnetic restoring force versus the distance was almost linear, under small amplitude. When the distance was greater than 20 mm, the approximate calculation formula of the equivalent stiffness could be obtained. We analyzed the influence of the different internal surface materials of the shock absorber on the damping performance by calculating the fluid resistance which was determined by both the viscous shear force and the capillary force. Experimental results verified that the capillary force had a significant influence on fluid resistance and couldn't be ignored. In terms of the vibration decay time, the damping efficiency of chemigum was 61.39% and 57.87% better than that of fluororubber for the gap of 2 mm and 3 mm respectively. According to the logarithmic decay rate, the damping efficiency of chemigum was 2.965 times that of fluororubber under the gap of 2 mm and was 2.515 times under the gap of 3 mm. For the reason that the shock absorber was used in aerospace, weight was an important factor. Our experiments proved that we must take into account both the densities of materials and the damping performance when selecting inner surface materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embrittlement of polycrystalline aluminum by liquid gallium represents a classic example of liquid metal embrittlement, whereas the interfacial atomic structure of Ga penetration front remains elusive despite decades of investigation. We performed aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy characterization to uncover the atomistic structure of Ga-enriched complexion within Al general grain boundaries. Multiple-layer adsorption of Ga with ordering gradients is revealed, consisting of disordered Ga layers at the GB core that are sandwiched by two more ordered adsorbate layers connecting to both aluminum grains. The ordering gradients within the interfacial complexion are further verified by the hybrid Monte Carlo and molecular dynamic simulations. This study advances our fundamental understandings of complexion structures within general grain boundaries. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galectin-3 is expressed and secreted by immune cells and has been implicated in multiple aspects of the inflammatory response. It is a glycan binding protein which can exert its functions within cells or exogenously by binding cell surface ligands, acting as a molecular bridge or activating signalling pathways. In addition, this lectin has been shown to bind to microorganisms. In this study we investigated the interaction between galectin-3 and Neisseria meningitidis, an important extracellular human pathogen, which is a leading cause of septicaemia and meningitis. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that galectin-3 is expressed during meningococcal disease and colocalizes with bacterial colonies in infected tissues from patients. We show that galectin-3 binds to N. meningitidis and we demonstrate that this interaction requiresfull-length, intact lipopolysaccharide molecules. We found that neither exogenous nor endogenous galectin-3 contributes to phagocytosis of N. meningitidis; instead exogenous galectin-3 increases adhesion to monocytes and macrophages but not epithelial cells. Finally we used galectin-3 deficient ( Gal-3−/−) mice to evaluate the contribution of galectin-3 to meningococcal bacteraemia. We found that Gal-3−/− mice had significantly lower levels of bacteraemia compared with wild-type mice after challenge with live bacteria, indicating that galectin-3 confers an advantage to N. meningitidis during systemic infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cysteine proteases (CPs) were associated with the pathogenicity and excystment of Clonorchis sinensis. Most of them were potential antigens for the immunodiagnosis of clonorchiasis. More researches on CPs will let us know more about their functions, and further employ them for the development of more efficient diagnostic reagent and prevention strategies. In the current study, a full-length sequence encoding cathepsin L from C. sinensis (CsCL41.5) was identified from our adult cDNA library. Bioinformatic analysis showed that CsCL41.5 included typical motifs of cathepsin L (ERFNIN and GNFD motifs) and conserved amino acid positions which constituted the active center of the enzyme. The identity of its amino acid sequence with the cathepsin L of Schistosoma japonicum was 49.6 %. Recombinant CsCL41.5 (rCsCL41.5) was highly expressed in the form of inclusion body in Escherichia coli, and soluble rCsCL41.5 was obtained after purification and renaturation. Western blotting analysis indicated that CsCL41.5 is an excretory-secretory antigen of C. sinensis adult. Immunolocalization demonstrated that CsCL41.5 is distributed in the intestine and eggs in the uterus of adult worm, tegument of metacercaria, oral suck, and tail of cercaria. ELISA assays showed that IgG4 was the predominant IgG isotype responding to rCsCL41.5 in sera from clonorchiasis patients. The sensitivity and specificity of specific IgG4 detection with rCsCL41.5 was 62.5 % (15/24) and 81.7 % (49/60), respectively. It was concluded that there were differences in biological function, efficiency of serodiagnosis, and characterization of immune reactivity between CsCL41.5 and other CPs of C. sinensis, combining with previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clonorchiasis is a common zoonosis in southern and northeastern parts of China, especially in Guangdong, Guangxi and Jilin province. Anti- Clonorchis sinensis antibody detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been used for epidemiological surveys of clonorchiasis for its convenience and celerity, but it is still a meaningful work to screen ideal diagnostic antigen or antibody subtype for improvement of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity and for judgement of curative effect. In the present study, recombinant CsCatL-propeptide (rCsCatL-propeptide) was highly expressed in form of inclusion body in Escherichia coli. Soluble rCsCatL-propeptide with high purity were obtained after purification in denatured condition by using His Bind Purification kit, and then renatured. The major antibody subtypes responding to rCsCatL-propeptide in sera from clonorchiasis patients were IgG1 and IgG4, but the level of IgG4 was more predominant ( P < 0.05). The sensitivity of specific IgG4 detection (91.7%) was statistically significantly higher than that of IgG1 (25.0%) with rCsCatL-propeptide ( P < 0.01). The specificities of IgG1 and IgG4 detection with rCsCatL-propeptide were 83.3% and 88.5%, respectively, and the difference between them was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05). Cross-reactions took place when we detected IgG1 of sera from patients infected with Schistosoma japonicum, Paragonimus westermani, hookworm, Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides with rCsCatL-propeptide, while cross-reactions only took place in sera from patients infected with S. japonicum and P. westermani when we detected specific IgG4. The positive rate of IgG4 detection in sera from clonorchiasis patients with <1,000, 1,000-4,999, 5,000-9,999, and ≥10,000 eggs per gram faeces (EPG) were 76.9%, 89.3%, 95.6%, and 100.0%, respectively. The positive rates of serodiagnosis correlated well with the EPG ( r = 0.93). Overall, rCsCatL-propeptide is a valuable candidate for specific IgG4 detection in sera from clonorchiasis patients by the method of ELISA for its few cross-reaction and acceptable sensitivity. In addition, specific IgG4 detection can be used to valuate infected degree and therapeutic effect of clonorchiasis patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE--Hyperglycemia induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis in cardiomyocytes, which contributes to diabetic cardiomyopathy. The present study was to investigate the role of Rac1 in ROS production and cardiomyocyte apoptosis during hyperglycemia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--Mice with cardiomyocyte-specific Rac1 knockout (Rac1-ko) were generated. Hyperglycemia was induced in Rac1-ko mice and their wild-type littermates by injection of streptozotocin (STZ). In cultured adult rat cardiomyocytes, apoptosis was induced by high glucose. RESULTS--The results showed a mouse model of STZ-induced diabetes, 7 days of hyperglycemia-upregulated Rac1 and NADPH oxidase activation, elevated ROS production, and induced apoptosis in the heart. These effects of hyperglycemia were significantly decreased in Rac1-ko mice or wild-type mice treated with apocynin. Interestingly, deficiency of Rac1 or apocynin treatment significantly reduced hyperglycemia-induced mitochondrial ROS production in the heart. Deficiency of Rac1 also attenuated myocardial dysfunction after 2 months of STZ injection. In cultured cardiomyocytes, high glucose upregulated Rac1 and NADPH oxidase activity and induced apoptotic cell death, which were blocked by overexpression of a dominant negative mutant of Rac1, knockdown of gp91[sup phox] or p47[sup phox], or NADPH oxidase inhibitor. In type 2 diabetic db/db mice, administration of Rac1 inhibitor, NSC23766, significantly inhibited NADPH oxidase activity and apoptosis and slightly improved myocardial function. CONCLUSIONS--Rac1 is pivotal in hyperglycemia-induced apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. The role of Rac1 is mediated through NADPH oxidase activation and associated with mitochondrial ROS generation. Our study suggests that Rac1 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for cardiac complications of diabetes. Diabetes 58:2386-2395, 2009 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We addressed the hypothesis that meningococcal secreted proteins (MSPs) can elicit protective immunity against meningococcal disease. Endotoxin-depleted MSP preparations were used to immunise a group of 15 six-week-old BALB/c mice (25μg MSPs/dose mixed with Freund''s complete adjuvant) on days 0, 14 and 21. Mice were challenged 2 weeks later with 107 colony forming units of live Neisseria meningitidis strain MC58 (serogroup B, ET-5). Negative and positive control groups of 15 mice each were injected with adjuvant only, or a live attenuated strain of MC58, respectively. Seven out of 15 mice (47%) from the negative control group died after 72h of challenge, whereas none of test or positive control group died. Protection afforded by the anti-MSP immune response can be at least partly attributed to complement-mediated bacterial lysis, detectable in vitro using the serum of immunised mice. Murine anti-MC58 MSP sera were bactericidal against homologous and five unrelated ET-5 serogroup B strains. However, failed to kill strains from other hypervirulent clonal lineages belonging to the same or different serogroups, despite the presence of cross-reactive antibodies detectable by immunoblotting. Similar sera raised against MSPs from an isolate belonging to the ET-37 electropherotype lineage were bactericidal against all tested isolates of this lineage and, in addition, against some but not all isolates belonging to the ET-5 lineage. FACS analysis of intact bacteria treated with anti-MSPs confirmed surface-binding of antibodies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Exposing collagen to a sinusoidally fluctuating strain, dynamic denaturation temperature (T dd) of collagen was obtained by measuring its dynamic viscoelasticity changes depended on temperature using a dynamic rheometer, and it was compared with static denaturation temperature (T sd), which was determined both by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and measuring specific viscosity changes of collagen only depended on temperature using an Ubbelohde viscosimeter. The results showed that T dd was 31.1°C and was about 4°C lower than T sd. The changes of apparent viscosity caused by increasing shear rate were reversible when collagen was sheared at 28.5°C, but they were irreversible when sheared at 33°C. The results of sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), circular dichroism (CD) and fibril formation experiments showed collagen sheared at 28.5°C could keep its triple helical structure but the triple helix of collagen sheared at 33°C was transformed to random coils, indicating it was heat-denatured. However collagen only heated at 33°C did not denature and kept its native configuration. The results revealed that shearing could induce a decrease of denaturation temperature of collagen. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Systemic infection with Neisseria meningitidis leads to a devastating, septicaemic illness with a high mortality, particularly in children. Currently, there are no vaccines to prevent disease caused by strains of N. meningitidis serogroup B, the commonest isolate in developed countries. Here, we describe the identification of vaccine candidates that protect mice against lethal challenge with this bacterium. A total 11 meningococcal proteins that are necessary for establishing systemic infection were expressed as recombinant antigens and assessed for their ability to protect animals against live bacterial challenge; the lactate permease (LctP) and ExbB, which is required for iron acquisition, elicited protective immunity. Both LctP and ExbB are expressed by a wide range of pathogenic isolates of N. meningitidis. Targeting bacterial factors required for pathogenesis may lead to new vaccines to protect individuals from this important human pathogen. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The association of enteroviruses with myocardial disease has been investigated extensively by molecular biological techniques to detect viral RNA, but remains controversial. This retrospective study investigated the involvement of enterovirus in myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by detection of viral antigens in myocardial samples from a new patient series using an optimized immunohistochemical technique. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsy, autopsy or explanted myocardial tissue samples were obtained from 136 subjects. These comprised histologically proven cases of acute fatal myocarditis (n=10), DCM (n=89, including 10 patients with healing/borderline myocarditis) and a comparison group of samples from 37 unused donor hearts and cases with other conditions. A monoclonal antibody 5-D8/1 directed against a conserved, non-conformational epitope in capsid protein VP1 was employed for broad detection of different enterovirus serotypes. Investigations were performed blindly. Histological sections from 7 of 10 fatal myocarditis cases, 47 of 89 patients (52.8%) with DCM were positive for the viral capsid protein VP1 by immunohistochemical staining. Consecutive sections of positive samples were negative when the antibody was omitted or replaced with subclass- and concentration-matched normal mouse IgG. In contrast, only 3 of 37 samples (8.1%) in the comparison group were positive (Yates corrected χ2=19.99, P<0.001: odds ratio =12.68). VP1 staining was distributed in individual or grouped myofibers and localized in the cytoplasm of myocytes. In some cases, VP1 was detected in only a few myofibers within an entire section. These results provide further evidence of enterovirus involvement in a high proportion of DCM cases and demonstrate that VP1 is present in disease stages from acute myocarditis, healing myocarditis to end-stage DCM requiring cardiac transplantation, indicating translation of viral protein during persistent enterovirus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the interface bonding performance of carbon-fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (C-FRCM) composites with the impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) technique. Single shear tests and pull-out tests on the C-FRCM composites are launched. Three current densities of 0, 100 and 150 mA/m2 in the ICCP technique are considered. The resistance–slip relationships for all the composites are presented. It is found that the maximum resistance of the specimens in the pull-out tests decreases significantly with the increase of current density in the ICCP technique. Moreover, numerical analyses are conducted to obtain a simplified interface bonding stress–slip relationship of the specimens in the pull-out tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palmitoylated proteins are important proteins that regulate several biological processes in cells, including protein localization, protein trafficking, and protein-protein interactions. The identification of palmitoylated proteins may therefore contribute to our understanding of important molecular mechanisms and biological functions. In this paper, a simple but effective computational method named MRMD-Palm is proposed for identifying palmitoylated proteins. In developing the method, first, palmitoylated and non-palmitoylated proteins were collected to construct a benchmark dataset. Next, some typical sequence-based feature-encoding schemes related to the amino acid composition, pseudo amino acid composition and physico-chemical properties were extracted. To avoid noise and reduce information redundancy, a feature selection technique named MRMD (Max-Relevance-Max-Distance) was introduced to obtain the optimal feature subset. Finally, the random forest algorithm was utilized as the predictor. Under 10-fold cross-validation, the method achieved a sensitivity of 97.1%, a specificity of 95.9% and a MCC of 73.7%, representing better performance than most current counterparts. Additionally, the experimental results showed that the use of hydrophobicity to encode palmitoylated sequences can improve the performance of the predictor. This finding is consistent with the biological phenomenon that palmitoylation is highly hydrophobic. It is believed that the results of this study will lead to the determination of the protein palmitoylation mechanism. • Novel analytical method is developed to analysis and identify palmitoylated proteins. • A feature selection technique named MRMD (Max-Relevance-Max-Distance) was introduced to obtain the optimal feature subset. • Results showed that the hydrophobicity feature can improve the performance of the predictor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The obscure theory of passive subambient daytime radiative cooling (PSDRC) was deduced in a more understandable way using an arithmetic formula rather than integro-differential equations. Based on two boundary conditions of the equations, an innovative radiative cooler was successfully developed to qualitatively observe PSDRC phenomena and quantitatively characterize the cooling effect and cooling power of radiative cooling coatings (RC coatings). The remarkable subambient temperature reduction over 4.0 °C was successfully achieved in a completely open environment without minimizing the parasitic conduction and convection from the ambient. Prominent PSDRC phenomena could even be observed in such an open environment on very cloudy days, which generally compromise the RC. A much more prominent subambient cooling depression of 10.0 °C was observed when a wind shield was employed to minimize the convection. With suppression of convection, the subambient daytime cooling effect on cloudy days was even more noticeable than that occurred on clear sunny days. The subambient cooling effect was still very remarkable even on clear sunny days in the winter. The average cooling power measured on a clear sunny day was 154.8 ± 9.7 W/m2, corresponding to an average solar irradiance of 680 ± 90 W/m2 with a peak value of ∼820 W/m2. Both the subambient RC effect and the cooling power measured under real weather conditions using the radiative cooler agreed excellently with the theoretical prediction, sufficiently demonstrating the great innovation, validity, and effectiveness of the device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Tests were conducted on the hysteretic behavior of seven corroded circular RC columns strengthened by C-FRCM. • The effects of AC ratio and layer of C-FRCM on the hysteretic behavior of corroded RC columns were studied. • Large AC ratio has detrimental effect on the hysteretic behavior of corroded RC columns. • The C-FRCM can effectively enhance the hysteretic behavior of corroded RC columns. • Two layers of C-FRCM is considered to be desirable for the C-FRCM strengthening Approach. This study presents an experimental investigation on the seismic behavior of corroded reinforced concrete (RC) columns strengthened by carbon-fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (C-FRCM). To this end, cyclic loading tests were conducted on seven circular RC columns, six of which were suffered from corrosion with duration of 360 days. Four of the corroded specimens were afterwards strengthened by C-FRCM composites. Among these, two specimens were externally bounded with two layers of C-FRCM, the other two specimens were externally bounded with three layers of C-FRCM. After the corrosion process, cyclic loading tests were conducted on the specimens, wherein various axial compression (AC) ratios were considered. The test results show that the secant stiffness, strength, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of corroded specimens were significantly reduced compared with those of the uncorroded counterparts. This phenomenon is severer with larger AC ratio. The C-FRCM can effectively enhance the stiffness, strength, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the corroded RC columns, wherein two layers of C-FRCM is considered to be desirable for the C-FRCM strengthening approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional way to fabricate current sub-ambient daytime radiative cooling (SDRC) systems is to maximally suppress the cooler's solar absorption and substantially improve its selective emissivity only in the atmospheric transparency window. This greatly limits the selection of materials and their practical applications. In this paper, an alternative method, which combines sunlight-triggered fluorescent cooling, particle scattering, and broadband infrared radiation, was presented for creating serial eco-friendly coatings with the SDRC effect with conventional cost-effective building materials. The presence of conventional fluorescent pigments in the coating composition increased the effective direct-normal solar reflectance via sunlight-excited fluorescent emissions to the level required for SDRC. When applied to various substrates, the serial coatings exhibited distinct SDRC effects under direct and strong sunlight in typical temperate monsoon climate regions such as Beijing. The observed sub-ambient temperature reduction of the coating with yellow–green fluorescence over an aluminium plate was 3.5 °C under a peak solar intensity of 996 W/m2, yielding a cooling power of 45.7 W/m2 under a peak solar intensity of 981 W/m2. Compared with the conventional cool white coatings, the large-scale application of the coating to urban surfaces is predicted to reduce a city's air temperature by approximately 1 °C and thereby decrease the Heat Island Intensity. Additionally, the method proposed in this paper was generic and expanded the SDRC design paradigm, thereby promoting SDRC as a viable energy-efficient technology. Image 1 • Fluorescent emissions increase the effective solar reflectance to an ideal level. • Fluorescent cooling is crucial for sub-ambient daytime radiative cooling (SDRC). • FR coatings over various substrates exhibit distinct SDRC effect. • The SDRC effect on an aluminium plate is 3.5 °C on a clear hot sunny day. • The cooling power is 45.7 W/m2 under a peak solar intensity of 981 W/m2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current sub-ambient daytime radiative cooling (SDRC) designs are generally evaluated in a well-insulated apparatus to suppress heat convection and conduction with the surrounding environment. In a companion study, we experimentally demonstrated that serial waterborne coatings, which combined particle scattering, sunlight-excited fluorescence, and mid-infrared broadband radiation, exhibited pronounced SDRC effects on various substrates installed on a well-designed rooftop setup under different climatic conditions. In this study, we experimentally show that the coating with yellow-green fluorescence (termed as the FR coating) can achieve meaningful SDRC under real working conditions. When applied to a concrete scale-model building, the FR coating showed a significant SDRC effect compared with other substrates installed on the rooftop cooling device and an assembled corrugated steel house. The average decrease in sub-ambient temperature under direct sunlight was 10.1 ± 1.4 °C with a maximum value of 12.4 °C under a peak solar intensity of 999 W/m2. Moreover, during the coldest day in winter, the maximum sub-ambient temperature reduction during the midday hours was 5.3 °C. The maximum difference between the lowest temperatures of the coated and uncoated scale-model buildings' room interiors was 1.5–1.6 °C. Therefore, excessive heating energy consumption in the winter might be completely compensated for or exceeded by the cooling energy savings in the summer in areas that require both heating and cooling depending on the season. Additionally, the coating possesses excellent weather and salt spray resistance, self-cleaning capabilities, and excellent visible appearance, which are essential for practical applications. Image 1 • The FR coating exhibits a distinct SDRC effect under real working conditions. • The FR coating over a concrete roof surface shows a more notable SDRC effect. • The SDRC design does not necessarily result in detrimental effects in winter. • The FR coating has excellent durability and outstanding self-cleaning properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Furanasperterpenes A (1) and B (2) with a novel 6/6/6/6/5 pentacyclic skeleton. • The absolute configuration of 3 was established by ECD calculations. • The structure of 3 was confirmed by X-ray analysis. • Furanasperterpene A (1) showed good activity in reducing TG levels at 5 μM. Furanasperterpenes A (1) and B (2) with a novel 6/6/6/6/5 pentacyclic skeleton and a new 11-acetoxy-terretonin E (3), were isolated from the marine-derived Aspergillus terreus GZU-31-1. Their structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic methods, and the absolute configurations were determined by X-ray diffraction and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. A possible biogenetic pathway was proposed. These compounds were evaluated for their lipid-lowering effects in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Furanasperterpene A (1) showed the equivalent activity in reducing TG levels to positive control (berberine) at the concentration of 5 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the authors and the Editor-in-Chief due to insurmountable scientific disagreements over the authorship and section 3.1 in the linked first part of this article, which is being also retracted: "Generic method for creating waterborne coatings with sub-ambient daytime cooling–part I: Optical properties and rooftop cooling effect measurements", Solar Energy Material and Solar Cells 204 (2019):110205. 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110205. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the authors and the Editor-in-Chief due to insurmountable scientific disagreements over the authorship and section 3.1. The linked second part of this article is also being retracted: "Generic method for creating waterborne coatings with sub-ambient daytime cooling–Part II: Cooling effect under real working conditions and key physical properties", Solar Energy Material and Solar Cells 204 (2019):110220. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian infection models have contributed significantly to our understanding of the host-mycobacterial interaction, revealing potential mechanisms and targets for novel antimycobacterial therapeutics. However, the use of conventional mammalian models such as mice, are typically expensive, high maintenance, require specialised animal housing, and are ethically regulated. Furthermore, research using Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), is inherently difficult as work needs to be carried out at biosafety level 3 (BSL3). The insect larvae of Galleria mellonella (greater wax moth), have become increasingly popular as an infection model, and we previously demonstrated its potential as a mycobacterial infection model using Mycobacterium bovis BCG. Here we present a novel BSL2 complaint MTB infection model using G. mellonella in combination with a bioluminescent ΔleuDΔpanCD double auxotrophic mutant of MTB H37Rv (SAMTB lux) which offers safety and practical advantages over working with wild type MTB. Our results show a SAMTB lux dose dependent survival of G. mellonella larvae and demonstrate proliferation and persistence of SAMTB lux bioluminescence over a 1 week infection time course. Histopathological analysis of G. mellonella, highlight the formation of early granuloma-like structures which matured over time. We additionally demonstrate the drug efficacy of first (isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol) and second line (moxifloxacin) antimycobacterial drugs. Our findings demonstrate the broad potential of this insect model to study MTB infection under BSL2 conditions. We anticipate that the successful adaptation and implementation of this model will remove the inherent limitations of MTB research at BSL3 and increase tuberculosis research output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the authors and the Editor-in-Chief due to insurmountable scientific disagreements over the authorship and section 3.1 in the linked first part of this article, which is being also retracted: "Generic method for creating waterborne coatings with sub-ambient daytime cooling–part I: Optical properties and rooftop cooling effect measurements", Solar Energy Material and Solar Cells 204 (2019):110205 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the authors and the Editor-in-Chief due to insurmountable scientific disagreements over the authorship and section 3.1. The linked second part of this article is also being retracted: "Generic method for creating waterborne coatings with sub-ambient daytime cooling–Part II: Cooling effect under real working conditions and key physical properties", Solar Energy Material and Solar Cells 204 (2019):110220. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the MISTEACHING (microbiome, immunity, sex, temperature, environment, age, chance, history, inoculum, nutrition, genetics) framework to describe the outcome of host−pathogen interaction, has been applied to human pathogens. Here, we show, using Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae as an exemplar, that the MISTEACHING framework can be applied to a strict veterinary pathogen, enabling the identification of major research gaps, the formulation of hypotheses whose study will lead to a greater understanding of pathogenic mechanisms, and/or improved prevention/therapeutic measures. We also suggest that the MISTEACHING framework should be extended with the inclusion of a 'strain' category, to become MISTEACHINGS. We conclude that the MISTEACHINGS framework can be applied to veterinary pathogens, whether they be bacteria, fungi, viruses, or parasites, and hope to stimulate others to use it to identify research gaps and to formulate hypotheses worthy of study with their own pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAcetone is produced from fat metabolism which is increased in diabetic patients due to the disruption of glucose metabolism. Therefore, urinary acetone is expected to be a biomarker for noninvasive diagnosis of diabetes. Although several techniques have been developed for urinary acetone, none meet the clinical needs of automated multi-injection for numerous samples. In this study, we developed automated multi-injection gas chromatography-photoionization detection (AMI-GC-PID) to determine urinary acetone. First, we optimized the sample preprocessing during urine collection and storage before detection and established a standard protocol. The urine was immediately sealed in headspace bottles, stored at 20 °C for 1 h, and equilibrated for 20 min at 80 °C before analysis. Next we evaluated the repeatability of the method and the influence of the urine matrix. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the intra-day (nine measurements) and inter-day (three days) measurements were less than 5%. The recovery rate was 97.4% ± 4.6%. AMI-GC-PID was applied to determine urinary acetone in 44 diabetic patients and 29 healthy subjects. The median concentration of urinary acetone was much higher in diabetic patients than in healthy controls (2019 μg/L compared 699 μg/L). The results show that AMI-GC-PID possesses suitable analytical figures of merit for urinary acetone with broad applications in the noninvasive diagnosis of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]