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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers and is responsible for the second cancer‐related death globally. Many treatment regimens have been developed to cure the disease; however, life expectancy is still low. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore new selective, specific, and robust diagnosis markers for efficient early recognition of the ailment. Along with the diagnosis, the treatment's effectiveness can be determined by prognostic markers, and miRNAs are excellent tools for the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC. In addition, the altered expression profile of a few miRNAs promotes HCC cell migration and invasion, and selective up‐ or downregulation of these responsible genes may help mitigate the disorder. On one hand, few of the miRNAs have been found to enhance angiogenesis, a crucial step of tumor growth; on the other hand, upregulation of specific miRNAs is reported to suppress angiogenesis and resulting tumor growth of HCC cells. Exosomal miRNAs have significant implications in promoting angiogenesis, increased endothelial cell permeability, tube formation, and metastasis to hepatic and pulmonary tissues. miRNA also attributes to drug resistance toward chemotherapy and the prevention of autophagy also. Identifying novel miRNA and determining their differential expression in HCC tissue may serve as a potential tool for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy to enhance the life expectancy and quality of life of HCC patients. In the present review, we have summarized the recent advances in HCC‐related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of cellulolytic enzyme lignin (CEL) prepared from three bamboo species (Neosinocalamus affinis, Bambusa lapidea, and Dendrocalamus brandisii) has been characterized by different analytical methods. The chemical composition analysis revealed a higher lignin content, up to 32.6% of B. lapidea as compared to that of N. affinis (20.7%) and D. brandisii (23.8%). The results indicated that bamboo lignin was a p-hydroxyphenyl-guaiacyl-syringyl (H-G-S) lignin associated with p-coumarates and ferulates. Advanced NMR analyses displayed that the isolated CELs were extensively acylated at the γ-carbon of the lignin side chain (with either acetate and/or p-coumarate groups). Moreover, a predominance of S over G lignin moieties was found in CELs of N. affinis and B. lapidea, with the lowest S/G ratio observed in D. brandisii lignin. Catalytic hydrogenolysis of lignin demonstrated that 4-propyl-substituted syringol/guaiacol and propanol guaiacol/syringol derived from β-O-4′ moieties, and methyl coumarate/ferulate derived from hydroxycinnamic units were identified as the six major monomeric products. We anticipate that the insights of this work could shed light on the sufficient understanding of lignin, which could open a new avenue to facilitate the efficient utilization of bamboo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increased incidence of wine fraud, a fast and reliable method for wine certification has become a necessary prerequisite for the vigorous development of the global wine industry. In this study, a classification strategy based on three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was proposed for oak-barrel and stainless steel tanks with oak chips aged wines. Principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares analysis (PLS-DA), and Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) were used to distinguish and evaluate the data matrix of the three-dimensional fluorescence spectra of wines. The results showed that FDA was superior to PCA and PLS-DA in classifying oak-barrel and stainless steel tanks with oak chips aged wines. As a general conclusion, three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy can provide valuable fingerprint information for the identification of oak-barrel and stainless steel tanks with oak chips aged wines, while the study will provide some theoretical references and standards for the quality control and quality assessment of oak-barrel aged wines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Daylily (Hemerocallis) is a perennial with high ornamental value. It is difficult to obtain innovative daylily germplasm by conventional crossbreeding. To enrich the genetic variation of Hemerocallis, daylily was used as male parent to cross with lycoris (Lycoris). Artificial pollination and embryo rescue were performed to overcome reproductive isolation. Cross‐compatibility and pollen germination were analysed to investigate interfamily reproductive isolation. Leaf morphological analysis and inter‐simple sequence repeat (ISSR) were performed to identify the hybrid at seedling stage. Results showed that most pollen grains failed to adhere to stigmas, and pollen tubes germinated in a disordered direction. Ten days after pollination, 77.19% of ovaries aborted. Ovaries were harvested only in 10 hybridization combinations, the fruit setting rates were 7.69%–42.86%, and the ovule numbers were 0–6.0 per ovary. One embryo developed into plantlets eventually, whose parental combination was L. aurea × H. 'My Complementary'. The hybrid was identified and exhibited both intermediate and novel characteristics of parents. This research is the first attempt to explore a protocol to obtain interfamily hybrid between daylily and lycoris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, global automotive industries are going through a significant revolution from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to electric vehicles (EVs) for CO2 emission reduction. Very similarly, the aviation industry is developing towards more electric aircraft (MEA) in response to the reduction in global CO2 emission. To promote this technology revolution and performance advancement, plenty of electronic devices with high heat flux are implemented on board automobiles and aircraft. To cope with the thermal challenges of electronics, in addition to developing wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors with satisfactory electric and thermal performance, providing proper thermal management solutions may be a much more cost-effective way at present. This paper provides an overview of the thermal management technologies for electronics used in automobiles and aircraft. Meanwhile, the active methods include forced air cooling, indirect contact cold plate cooling, direct contact baseplate cooling, jet impingement, spray cooling, and so on. The passive methods include the use of various heat pipes and PCMs. The features, thermal performance, and development tendency of these active and passive thermal management technologies are reviewed in detail. Moreover, the environmental influences introduced by vibrations, shock, acceleration, and so on, on the thermal performance and reliability of the TMS are specially emphasized and discussed in detail, which are usually neglected in normal operating conditions. Eventually, the possible future directions are discussed, aiming to serve as a reference guide for engineers and promote the advancement of the next-generation electronics TMS in automobile and aircraft applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we surveyed the ascomycetes from bamboo of Phyllostachys across Sichuan Province, China. A biphasic approach based on morphological characteristics and multigene phylogeny confirmed seven species, including one new genus, two new species, and five new host record species. A novel genus Paralloneottiosporina is introduced to accommodate Pa. sichuanensis that was collected from leaves of Phyllostachys violascens. Moreover, the newly introduced species Bifusisporella sichuanensis was isolated from leaves of P. edulis, and five species were newly recorded on bamboos, four species belonging to Apiospora, viz. Ap. yunnana, Ap. neosubglobosa, Ap. jiangxiensis, and Ap. hydei, and the last species, Seriascoma yunnanense, isolated from dead culms of P. heterocycla. Morphologically similar and phylogenetically related taxa were compared. Comprehensive descriptions, color photo plates of micromorphology are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Growing evidence suggests an association between Parkinson's disease (PD) and diabetes mellitus (DM). At the cellular level, long-term elevated levels of glucose have been shown to lead to nigrostriatal degeneration in PD models. However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Previously, we have elucidated the potential of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in facilitating PD progression, involving aggregation of both alpha-synuclein (α-syn) and islet amyloid polypeptide in the pancreatic and brain tissues. However, due to the complicated effect of insulin resistance on PD onset, the actual mechanism of hyperglycemia-induced dopaminergic degeneration remains unknown. Methods: We employed the type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) model induced by streptozotocin (STZ) injection in a transgenic mouse line (BAC-α-syn-GFP) overexpressing human α-syn, to investigate the direct effect of elevated blood glucose on nigrostriatal degeneration. Results: STZ treatment induced more severe pathological alterations in the pancreatic islets and T1DM symptoms in α-syn-overexpressing mice than in wild-type mice, at one month and three months after STZ injections. Behavioral tests evaluating motor performance confirmed the nigrostriatal degeneration. Furthermore, there was a marked decrease in dopaminergic profiles and an increase of α-syn accumulation and Serine 129 (S129) phosphorylation in STZ-treated α-syn mice compared with the vehicle-treated mice. In addition, more severe neuroinflammation was observed in the brains of the STZ-treated α-syn mice. Conclusion: Our results solidify the potential link between DM and PD, providing insights into how hyperglycemia induces nigrostriatal degeneration and contributes to pathogenic mechanisms in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper halide based organic–inorganic hybrid semiconductors exhibit great potential as light‐emitting materials with excellent structural variety and optical tunability. Among them, copper halide hybrid molecular compounds with discrete inorganic modules are particularly interesting due to their high quantum efficiency. However, synthesizing highly efficient blue‐emitting molecular clusters remains challenging. Here, we report a novel and facile strategy for the design and synthesis of highly luminescent copper halide hybrid structures by fabricating coordinated anionic inorganic modules in these ionic species. By using this approach, a family of strongly blue‐emitting copper halide hybrid ionic structures has been prepared with high internal quantum yields up to 98 %. Strong luminescence from the combination of ionic and covalent bonds in these compounds make them ideal candidates as alternative, rare‐earth‐element free light‐emitting materials for possible use in optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper halide based organic–inorganic hybrid semiconductors exhibit great potential as light‐emitting materials with excellent structural variety and optical tunability. Among them, copper halide hybrid molecular compounds with discrete inorganic modules are particularly interesting due to their high quantum efficiency. However, synthesizing highly efficient blue‐emitting molecular clusters remains challenging. Here, we report a novel and facile strategy for the design and synthesis of highly luminescent copper halide hybrid structures by fabricating coordinated anionic inorganic modules in these ionic species. By using this approach, a family of strongly blue‐emitting copper halide hybrid ionic structures has been prepared with high internal quantum yields up to 98 %. Strong luminescence from the combination of ionic and covalent bonds in these compounds make them ideal candidates as alternative, rare‐earth‐element free light‐emitting materials for possible use in optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olefin block copolymer is one class of promising high-end material that has the potential to combine the performance advantages of individual blocks. In this work, a series of isotactic polypropylene (i PP)-based diblock copolymers was designed and synthesized by coordinative chain transfer polymerization using a dimethyl(pyridylamido)hafnium/[Ph 3 C][B(C 6 F 5) 4 ]/Al i Bu 3 catalytic system. The prepared diblock copolymers were composed of the regular i PP segments and the propylene/1,5-hexadiene (1,5-HD) random segments. The incorporated 1,5-HD existed exclusively as methylene-1,3-cyclopentane units in the polymer chains, because of the complete cyclization selectivity of the employed dimethyl(pyridylamido)hafnium catalyst. These block copolymers possessed high melting temperatures over 158 °C. Moreover, the block copolymers exhibited remarkably improved mechanical properties with respect to i PP, which could be systematically tuned by adjusting the content of 1,5-HD. In the 1,5-HD content range of 3.4–11.0 mol%, the block copolymers exhibited both high yield stress and high elongations at break. The copolymerization approach of block copolymers provided an effective method to achieve the strength-ductility balance of i PP-based copolymers. [Display omitted] • The isotactic polypropylene-based block copolymers consist of hard and soft blocks. • The 1,5-hexadiene incorporated in the soft blocks underwent the complete cyclization. • The i PP-based block copolymers exhibit both high yield strength and elongation at break. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • C rosstalk between the secondary messenger and AHLs in granulation is studied. • c-di-GMP + AHLs accelerate the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle for yielding excess proteins. • AI-2 + AHLs accelerate the glyoxylate (GCA) cycle for stimulating polysaccharides secretion. • c-di-GMP and AI-2 compete with the AHLs to decline the EPS secretion. • c-di-GMP + AHLs recovered PN-rich granules from refrigerated-stored and dried-stored AGS. Efficient quorum sensing (QS) response is the premise for recovering the activities of stored aerobic granular sludge (AGS). This study aims to explore the crosstalk between the secondary messenger and the N-acylated-homoserine lactones (AHLs) to yield protein-rich granules efficiently from stored AGS by enhancing its QS efficiency selectively. 80 nmol/L cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) with 20 nmol/L AHLs could increase the activity of isocitrate lyase activity (ICD) by 89 % and isocitrate dehydrogenase activity (ICDHc) by 113.5 %, to accelerate the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle for yielding excess proteins by 166.4 %. In contrast, 80 nmol/L autoinducer-2 (AI-2) with 20 nmol/L AHLs could increase the activities of ICD and ICDHc by 485 % and 54.5 %, respectively, accelerating the glyoxylate (GCA) cycle to activate fat acid synthesis for stimulating polysaccharides (PS) secretion by 137.9 %. The strategy with c-di-GMP successfully recovers the refrigerated-stored and dried-stored AGS into proteins-rich AGS, with enriched functional strains for the PN secretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed at analyzing the diagnostic value of convolutional neural network models on account of deep learning for severe sepsis complicated with acute kidney injury and providing an effective theoretical reference for the clinical use of ultrasonic image diagnoses. 50 patients with severe sepsis complicated with acute kidney injury and 50 healthy volunteers were selected in this study. They all underwent ultrasound scans. Different deep learning convolutional neural network models dense convolutional network (DenseNet121), Google inception net (GoogLeNet), and Microsoft's residual network (ResNet) were used for training and diagnoses. Then, the diagnostic results were compared with professional image physicians' artificial diagnoses. The results showed that accuracy and sensitivity of the three deep learning algorithms were significantly higher than professional image physicians' artificial diagnoses. Besides, the error rates of the three algorithm models for severe sepsis complicated with acute kidney injury were significantly lower than professional physicians' artificial diagnoses. The areas under curves (AUCs) of the three algorithms were significantly higher than AUCs of doctors' diagnosis results. The loss function parameters of DenseNet121 and GoogLeNet were significantly lower than that of ResNet, with the statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in training time of ResNet, GoogLeNet, and DenseNet121 algorithms under deep learning, as the convergence was reached after 700 times, 700 times, and 650 times, respectively (P > 0.05). In conclusion, the value of the three algorithms on account of deep learning in the diagnoses of severe sepsis complicated with acute kidney injury was higher than professional physicians' artificial judgments and had great clinical value for the diagnoses and treatments of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Identifying young individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are unaware of their status is a major challenge for HIV control in China. To address this, an innovative, anonymous vending machine–based urine self-collection for HIV testing (USCT) program was implemented in 2016 in colleges across China. Methods From June 2016 to December 2019, 146 vending machines stocked with urine self-collection kits were distributed on 73 college campuses across 11 provinces of China. Urine samples were collected, delivered, and tested in an anonymous manner. We analyzed the returned rate, reactive rate (likelihood of HIV screening positive), testing effectiveness (the annual number of college students living with HIV screened by USCT or other testing methods), and the spatiotemporal relationship between USCT usage and student activity per college generated from the usage of a social networking application. Results Among the 5178 kits sold, 3109 (60%) samples were returned; of these, 2933 (94%) were eligible for testing. The HIV reactive rate was 2.3% (66 of 2933). The average effectiveness ratio among the 34 participating Beijing colleges was 0.39 (12:31) between USCT and conventional testing methods. A strong spatiotemporal correlation between USCT numbers and online student activity was observed during school semesters in Beijing. Conclusions USCT is a powerful complement to current interventions that target at-risk students and promote HIV testing. The social networking–based evaluation framework can be a guide in prioritizing at-risk target populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Segmentation of cerebral vasculature on MR vascular images is of great significance for clinical application and research. However, the existing cerebrovascular segmentation approaches are limited due to insufficient image contrast and complicated algorithms. This study aims to explore the potential of the emerging four-dimensional arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance angiography (4D ASL-MRA) technique for fast and accurate cerebrovascular segmentation with a simple machine-learning approach. Nine temporal features were extracted from the intensity-time signal of each voxel, and eight spatial features from the neighboring voxels. Then, the unsupervised outlier detection algorithm, i.e. Isolation Forest, is used for segmentation of the vascular voxels based on the extracted features. The total length of the centerlines of the intracranial arterial vasculature, the dice similarity coefficient (DSC), and the average Hausdorff Distance (AVGHD) on the cross-sections of small- to large-sized vessels were calculated to evaluate the performance of the segmentation approach on 4D ASL-MRA of 18 subjects. Experiments show that the temporal information on 4D ASL-MRA can largely improve the segmentation performance. In addition, the proposed segmentation approach outperforms the traditional methods that were performed on the 3D image (i.e. the temporal average intensity projection of 4D ASL-MRA) and the previously proposed frame-wise approach. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that accurate and robust segmentation of cerebral vasculature is achievable on 4D ASL-MRA by using a simple machine-learning approach with appropriate features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-like 2 (NRF2) participates in the activation of the antioxidant cytoprotective pathway and other important physiological processes to maintain cellular homeostasis. The dysregulation of NRF2 activity plays a role in various diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Thus, NRF2 activity is tightly regulated through multiple mechanisms, among which phosphorylation by kinases is critical in the posttranslational regulation of NRF2. For instance, PKC, casein kinase 2, and AMP-activated kinase positively, while GSK-3 negatively regulates NRF2 activity through phosphorylation of different sites. Here, we provide an overview of the phosphorylation regulation pattern of NRF2 and discuss the therapeutic potential of interventions targeting NRF2 phosphorylation. [Display omitted] • Protein kinases phosphorylate Nrf2 to modulate its stability and/or activity. • Phosphorylation regulation of NRF2 bridges NRF2 activity to a series of biological events. • Targeting NRF2 phosphorylation regulation shows therapeutic potential for multiple inflammation-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate predictors of pathological invasiveness and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma in patients with pure ground-glass nodules (pGGNs).Methods: Clinical and computed tomography (CT) features of invasive adenocarcinomas (IACs) and pre-IACs were retrospectively compared in 641 consecutive patients with pGGNs and confirmed lung adenocarcinomas who had undergone postoperative CT follow-up. Potential predictors of prognosis were investigated in these patients.Results: Of 659 pGGNs in 641 patients, 258 (39.1%) were adenocarcinomas in situ, 265 (40.2%) were minimally invasive adenocarcinomas, and 136 (20.6%) were IACs. Respective optimal cutoffs for age, serum carcinoembryonic antigen concentration, maximal diameter, mean diameter, and CT density for distinguishing pre-IACs from IACs were 53 years, 2.19 ng/mL, 10.78 mm, 10.09 mm, and - 582.28 Hounsfield units (HU). Univariable analysis indicated that sex, age, maximal diameter, mean diameter, CT density, and spiculation were significant predictors of lung IAC. In multivariable analysis age, maximal diameter, and CT density were significant predictors of lung IAC. During a median follow-up of 41 months no pGGN IACs recurred.Conclusions: pGGNs may be lung IACs, especially in patients aged > 55 years with lesions that are > 1 cm in diameter and exhibit CT density > - 600 HU. pGGN IACs of < 3 cm in diameter have good post-resection prognoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is difficult to distinguish atypical cancerous nodule from cirrhosis nodule. Purpose: To investigate the value of spectral computed tomography (CT) imaging parameters in differentiating hepatic cancerous nodules from cirrhosis nodules. Material and Methods: Forty-six patients with hepatic nodules underwent contrast-enhanced CT scans in spectral mode. Monochromatic CT images and iodine/water-based material-decomposition images were synthesized. CT values were measured at 70 keV monochromatic images and the difference of CT value in the arterial phase (AP) and delayed phase (DP) (△CT1); AP and portal venous phase (PP) (△CT2) were calculated. Normalized to the iodine concentration in the aorta (NIC), lesion to normal liver parenchyma iodine concentration ratio (LNR) was calculated. Slope of the spectral HU curve (λHU) was obtained. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used for consistency test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were also generated. Results: There were 23 hepatic cancerous nodules and 23 cirrhosis nodules. All gemstone spectral imaging (GSI) parameters had significantly larger value in cancerous nodules than in cirrhosis nodules, except NIC in DP. The LNR in AP had the largest area under the curve (AUC) of 0.96, indicating its highest ability to differentiate hepatic cancerous nodules from cirrhosis nodules. Using 1.99 as a threshold value for LNR in AP we could obtain sensitivity of 95.65% and specificity of 91.30%. Conclusion: We have demonstrated in this feasibility study that spectral CT imaging provides multiple quantitative parameters which may be used to help differentiating hepatic cancerous nodules from cirrhosis nodules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nanoscale electrical properties of self-assembled GeSi quantum rings (QRs) were investigated by conductive scanning probe microscopy at room temperature. The current distribution of individual GeSi QRs measured by conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) shows a low conductivity at the central hole as compared to the rim; however, the QRs' composition distribution obtained by selective chemical etching combined with AFM observation reveals that within the QRs' central holes, the Ge content is high, which should lead to a high conductivity instead of a low one as observed. Together with the results obtained by scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) and electrostatic force microscopy (EFM), it is supposed that the GeSi QRs' electrical properties are mainly determined by the ring-shaped topography, rather than by the complete oxidation of the QRs' central hole or their composition distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Creep-fatigue damage mechanisms under multi-axial stress state are investigated. • The features of ratcheting deformation in a multi-axial stress state are captured. • A ratcheting modified life prediction model is developed within ± 2.0 error band. Multi-axial stress states are common in the most high-temperature components. In this paper, a ratcheting modified strain energy density exhaustion (RM-SEDE) model is developed to predict creep-fatigue life for hole structures. Afterwards, the numerical procedures are perfected to provide in-depth understandings in cyclic deformation, damage evolution and life prediction under multi-axial stress states. Some abnormal results contrary to uniaxial common sense, in terms of creep-fatigue life distributions and geometrically necessary dislocation accumulations, are well resolved based on the RM-SEDE. Among them, not only life prediction accuracy is improved, but also deterioration mechanism of ratcheting on creep-fatigue damage is explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The intergeneric hybrid between Lycoris and Clivia was obtained. • The hybrid was identified by the molecular marker. • The hybrid exhibited absolute unilateral parent dominance that was few reported. Distant hybridization can expand genetic variations and is widely applied in plant breeding. Lycoris has high economic value, but the ornamental period is short. To prolong the florescence and leaf period of Lycoris , intergeneric hybridization between Lycoris and Clivia was conducted. The offspring bloomed 7–8 years after sowing. The characteristics of the offspring were observed from three dimensions: annual growth rhythm, morphological feature, and foliage anatomy structure. The hybrids were similar to the maternal plants (L. haywardii) with some variation, but did not show any paternal (C. nobilis) characteristics. The hybrid was identified by molecular marker, only a few paternal bands were amplified. The intergeneric hybrid exhibited absolute unilateral parent dominance that was few reported. This study offers innovative insight into the characteristics of distant hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li-ion capacitor as a kind of new-style energy storage devices has attracted growing attention due to its high power and energy density. In this study, the stereoscopic honeycomb-like porous carbon nanofiber (PCNF) was used as a carrier of TiO 2 nanoparticles via simple immersion and calcination. The equally distributed anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles filling in the stereoscopic honeycomb-like PCNF skeleton provided large reaction sites, and the stereoscopic honeycomb-like PCNFs acting as support materials offered shorter electrical paths. The composite material presented unique fiber morphology, high specific surface area (268.32 m2g-1) and preferable electrical conductivity (1.31 S cm−1) which was used as an anode in Li-ion capacitor, and the large energy density versus power density (69.46 Wh kg−1 at 0.15 kW kg−1, 18.33 Wh kg−1 at 30 kW kg−1) and good cycle stability (retains 79.4% after 4000 cycles at 1 A g−1) were achieved, which had broad application prospect in the energy storage field. • A stereoscopic honeycomb-like PCNF loading TiO 2 nanoparticles material is designed. • The TiO 2 nanoparticles uniformly distribute and fill in stereoscopic carbon skeleton. • The stereoscopic honeycomb-like PCNF skeleton offers electrical conductivity to TiO 2. • The LIC with TiO 2 @PCNF anode exhibits good electrochemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TSO-to-TSO linearizability is a variant of linearizability for concurrent libraries on the total store order (TSO) memory model. It is proved in this paper that TSO-to-TSO linearizability for a bounded number of processes is undecidable. We first show that the trace inclusion problem of a classic-lossy single-channel system, which is known undecidable, can be reduced to the history inclusion problem of specific libraries on the TSO memory model. Based on the equivalence between history inclusion and extended history inclusion for these libraries, we then prove that the extended history inclusion problem of libraries is undecidable on the TSO memory model. By means of extended history inclusion as an equivalent characterization of TSO-to-TSO linearizability, we finally prove that TSO-to-TSO linearizability is undecidable for a bounded number of processes. Additionally, we prove that all variants of history inclusion problems are undecidable on TSO for a bounded number of processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Synthetic biology aims to endow living cells with new functions by incorporating functional gene networks into them. By overexpressing, blocking and rewiring native gene pathways, synthetic biologists have harnessed this promising technology to reprogram cells to perform diverse tasks such as drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing, gene therapy and tissue engineering, etc. In this review, we focus on current technologies of synthetic biosensors for disease detection. We start with the design principle of synthetic biosensors. Then we move towards the characteristics of simple synthetic biosensors, which can respond to a single input signal, and complex synthetic biosensors including Boolean gate biosensors, cascade biosensors, time-delay biosensors, oscillator biosensors and hysteretic biosensors, which can respond to more than two input signals and perform complex tasks. Synthetic biosensor has showed great potential in disease detection, but it is still in its infancy stage. More efforts should be made in identifying and constructing clinically relevant regulation systems. Computational tools are also needed in the design process in order to guarantee the precision of the synthetic biosensor. The ultimate goal of a synthetic biosensor is to act as a therapeutic sensor-effector device that connects diagnostic input with therapeutic output and therefore provides all-in-one diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for future gene- and cell-based therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) plays a very important role in energy conversion process. Thus, it is urgent to find high property and low price electrocatalysts for HER. In this work, CoSe 2 /WSe 2 /WO 3 hybrid nanowires (NWs) on carbon cloth (CC) as a highly efficient HER catalyst is reported at the first time. It can be found that the obtained CoSe 2 /WSe 2 /WO 3 NWs/CC catalyst exhibits superior catalytic properties toward HER with small onset potential and Tafel slope. To achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2, CoSe 2 /WSe 2 /WO 3 NWs/CC only requires an overpotential of 115 mV, which is more outstanding than the WSe 2 /WO 3 NWs/CC. It also shows superior stability with a slight drop in alkaline condition for a duration of 48 h. Such excellent catalytic activity of HER might attribute to the synergistic effect between cobalt (Co) and tungsten (W) elements. The results of all these Experimental performance tests clearly reveal that CoSe 2 /WSe 2 /WO 3 NWs/CC intrinsically improves HER electrocatalytic activity and thus has potential electrochemical applications in water splitting. Highlights • The synthesis of CoSe 2 /WSe 2 /WO 3 NWs/CC is convenient and simple. • The CoSe 2 /WSe 2 /WO 3 NWs/CC shows outstanding catalytic activity and durability. • The synergistic effect of two elements is important to improve catalytic activity. • The conductivity of material is improved by using carbon cloth as substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Thermal resistance network model based on an analytic method is established. • Active optical fiber is discretized into multiple eccentric heat sources. • Analytic values are consistent with the change trend of experimental data. • Fiber placement has a certain effect on the temperature uniformity of fiber lasers. Abstract Long optical fiber is usually coiled on the surface of the substrate. Spreading thermal resistance is an important factor affecting thermal properties of optical fiber in this encapsulation way. This paper adopts a concise general analytic method to calculate spreading thermal resistance of the eccentric heat source formed in the rectangular channel. The on-site testing of active doped double clad fiber(DDCF)laser is also carried out. It is observed that the output light efficiency is high after the fiber loses heat through the plate which conforms to the needs of normal fiber laser light output efficiency of 70%–80%. The analytic value is in line with the changing trend of the experimental value, with the error of the temperature measurement points within ±8.8%. The third segment rules out the influence of the optical fiber coupler location and the temperature of coupling point. When the pump power ranges from 4.4 W to 31.07 W, the error range between the experiment and analytics is within −4.14% to −0.82%. The layout plan of the fiber has a certain effect on the temperature uniformity of the fiber laser. It is demonstrated that the analytic method and mathematical assumption are reliable in the cooling design of the optical fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dehydrated aerobic granules, if can be sufficiently recovered without significant loss of structural stability and biological activities, presents a promising long-time storage option in practical use. This study dehydrated aerobic granules by six protocols: air drying at 25 or 50 °C, freeze-dry, acetone or ethanol dehydration, and microwave heating, and then recovered them in liquid medium, with the measured characteristics being reported. The granule stability has no correlation with measured settleability, hydrophobicity or extracellular polymeric substances compositions; instead, is correlated with the functional strains presented in the recovered granules. Air dry dehydration minimally damage the functional strains including genus Brevundimonas and genus Comamonas and markedly deteriorated structural breaker such as Acinetobacter of Moraxellaceae to lead to stable and tough recovered granules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

V 3+ and F − co-doped LiFePO 4 /C cathode materials are prepared via a facile wet milling-spray drying-carbothermal reduction (WSC) process. The obtained products have bowl-like morphologies with the diameters from 5 to 10 μm, which are composed of numerous nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm integrated by carbon network. The effects of ion doping are studied. V 3+ and F − co-doped LiFePO 4 /C shows improved electrochemical performance, which delivers a discharge capacity of 136 mAh·g −1 (10 C) at 20 °C. At 0 °C, a capacity of 86 mAh·g −1 (10 C) can be obtained, which is 20 mAh·g −1 higher than LiFePO 4 /C. In addition, the V 3+ and F − co-doped LiFePO 4 /C shows excellent cycle performances. The improved performance of V 3+ and F − co-doped LiFePO 4 /C is due to the low charge transfer resistance, enhanced electrical conductivity and the holes on the surface of particles which can provide more ion transport channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enlarging the specific surface area and increasing the number of active sites of catalysts have been the key factors to improve the properties of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. Herein, we report a novel remarkable octopus tentacles-like tungsten oxide and carbon coated cobalt oxide (WO 3 /C@CoO) catalyst on Ni foam (NF) for HER at the first time, which is synthesized via simple hydrothermal process and immersion method. The obtained Ar/H 2 -treated WO 3 /C@CoO/NF catalyst exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity toward HER with an onset potential of 40 mV (vs. RHE) and a Tafel slope of 115 mV dec −1 in 1 M KOH, which is significantly better than the Ar-treated WO 3 /C@CoO/NF and the CoO/NF NWs. In addition, the prepared Ar/H 2 -treated WO 3 /C@CoO/NF electrode has an outstanding electrocatalytic durability in a long period of stability test for 110 h. Such outstanding property of the Ar/H 2 -treated WO 3 /C@CoO/NF electrocatalyst is attributed to its 3D conductive substitute, carbon coating, strong synergistic effect of between WO 3 and CoO and the unique octopus tentacles-like structure making it a very excellent catalyst for hydrogen production. All these experimental results clearly suggest that Ar/H 2 -treated WO 3 /C@CoO/NF electrocatalyst can improve HER catalytic activity and thus has potential practical applications in water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether convective heat transfer on the upper surface of the substrate is used or not, the thermal resistance network models of optical fiber embedded in the substrate are established in this research. These models are applied to calculate the heat dissipation in a high power ytterbium doped double-clad fiber (YDCF) power amplifier. Firstly, the temperature values of two points on the fiber are tested when there is no convective heat transfer on the upper surface. Then, the numerical simulation is used to verify the temperature change of the fiber with the effective convective heat transfer coefficient of the lower surface h e f f increasing when the upper surface is subjected to three loading conditions with h u as 1, 5 and 15 W/(m 2 K), respectively. The axial temperature distribution of the optical fiber is also presented at four different values for h u when h e f f is 30 W/(m 2 K). Absolute values of the relative errors are less than 7.08%. The results show that the analytical models can accurately calculate the temperature distribution of the optical fiber when the fiber is encapsulated into the substrate. The corresponding relationship is helpful to further optimize packaging design of the fiber cooling system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, three different kinds of In 2 S 3 : hierarchical microspheres A, B and C (HMa, HMb and HMc), which were synthesized by a hydrothermal method in the sodium dodecyl sulfate-thiourea (SDS-thiourea) system. XRD, SEM and BET were used to characterize the prepared In 2 S 3 materials. Compared with the other two kinds of In 2 S 3 , the as-prepared In 2 S 3 hierarchical microspheres B (In 2 S 3 HMb) exhibit the best cataluminescence response to ammonium sulfide. The response and recovery times of the home-made ammonium sulfide gas sensor with In 2 S 3 hierarchical microspheres B as sensing materials were about 8 s and 24 s, respectively. The linear dependence of the sensitivity on the ammonium sulfide concentration was observed in the range of 4–200 ppm with an excellent selectivity. These results indicated that In 2 S 3 hierarchical microspheres B would be a good candidate for fabricating practical cataluminescence ammonium sulfide sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an important brain disease. It alters the brain structure. Recently, scholars tend to use computer vision based techniques to detect AUD. We collected 235 subjects, 114 alcoholic and 121 non-alcoholic. Among the 235 image, 100 images were used as training set, and data augmentation method was used. The rest 135 images were used as test set. Further, we chose the latest powerful technique-convolutional neural network (CNN) based on convolutional layer, rectified linear unit layer, pooling layer, fully connected layer, and softmax layer. We also compared three different pooling techniques: max pooling, average pooling, and stochastic pooling. The results showed that our method achieved a sensitivity of 96.88%, a specificity of 97.18%, and an accuracy of 97.04%. Our method was better than three state-of-the-art approaches. Besides, stochastic pooling performed better than other max pooling and average pooling. We validated CNN with five convolution layers and two fully connected layers performed the best. The GPU yielded a 149× acceleration in training and a 166× acceleration in test, compared to CPU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer in the world and the third leading cause of cancer-related death. Critical roles for long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently been demonstrated for a variety of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the effect and mechanism of lncRNAs in HCC tumorigenesis and chemoresistance have not been extensively characterized. Methods: In the current study, we have identified a HCC-expressed lncRNA termed as HANR (HCC associated long non-coding RNA). We identified HANR by microarray analysis and validated its up-regulated expression by quantitative PCR. RNA pull-down and pathway analyses were conducted to evaluate physical and functional interactions with HANR. In vivo experiments were performed to assess tumorigenesis and increase of chemoresistance. In addition, the HANR expression in HCC specimens was detected by FISH. Xenograft and orthotopic mice model was constructed to observe the effect of HANR on tumorigenesis and chemoresistance in vivo. Results: HANR was demonstrated to be up-regulated in HCC patients and HCC cell lines. Increased HANR expression in HCC predicted short survival of patients. Knock-down of HANR markedly retarded cell proliferation, suppressed HCC xenograft/orthotopic tumor growth, induced apoptosis and enhanced chemosensitivity to doxorubicin, while overexpression of HANR showed the opposite effects. It was found that HANR bind to GSKIP for regulating the phosphorylation of GSK3ß in HCC. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that HANR contributes to the development of HCC and is a promising therapeutic target for chemosensitization of HCC cells to doxorubicin, which may represent a promising therapeutic target in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly more attention has been paid to morphological studies of biomaterials and the physicochemical and biological properties thereof in various applications. Herein, the morphology of hydroxyapatite (HAP) has been evolved into three morphologies (short rod-, flake flower-, and dandelion-like) by using different surfactants under hydrothermal treatments. Moreover, the influences of morphology on selective adsorption of heavy metal ions and antibacterial activity were evaluated in detail. The results showed that selective adsorption of heavy metal ions by HAP was dependent on the morphology, but was independent of the antibacterial activity. Also, morphological evolution mechanism, influencing factors for adsorption, kinetics, isotherms and possible adsorption mechanisms were discussed in this study. The maximum adsorption capacities under the Langmuir model were also shown to depend on the morphology of HAP, with the highest adsorption capacity reaching up to 819.7 mg g − 1 for dandelion-like structures, which may resulted from such structures having multi-adsorbing sites. In sum, the study provides a material having specific morphologies for high-efficient and selective removal of Pb 2 + , and offers guidance for modification of antibacterial activity of biomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] An electrochemical radical relay method for direct access to 5-(2,2,2-trifluoro)ethyl dihydrobenzimidazo[2,1- a ]isoquinoline derivatives from benzimidazole-tethered pendent unactivated alkenes in an undivided cell is developed. This method is applicable to Langlois reagent and difluoro analog, tolerates a wide range of functional groups and activated sp3 C H bonds, and obviates the need for external oxidants. The so-formed heterocycles display good fungicidal activities, especially against Botrytis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lung injury (ALI) is associated with high morbidity and mortality and is partly driven promoted by ferroptosis. Proanthocyanidins (PAs) is a natural bioactive flavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. PAs can also significantly protect against acute lung inflammation and ferroptosis in alveolar epithelial cells. However, it is unclear whether PAs can alleviate ALI by reducing ferroptosis. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of PAs and the potential mechanisms against Influenza A virus (IAV)-induced ALI. Mice were inoculated nasally with IAV to induce ALI. IAV-induced pulmonary inflammation and ferroptosis was tested by measuring the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) and acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member (ACSL4) in lung tissue. The potential targets that PAs protect against IAV-induced ALI were determined via a systemic pharmacological analysis. The molecular mechanism of PAs in ALI treatment was investigated by assessing the level of inflammation and ferroptosis markers using Western Blot and quantitative real-time PCR. Systemic pharmacological analysis suggested that PAs protect against IAV-induced pneumonia thorough TGF-β1 and its relative signaling pathway. PAs effectively alleviated histopathological lung injury, reduced inflammatory cytokines and chemokines secretion, which were increased in IAV-infected mice. Meanwhile, PAs further prevented mouse airway inflammation in ALI, concomitant with the decreased expression TGF-β1, smad2/3, p-Smad2, p-Smad3 and ferroptosis mediator IFN-γ. Furthermore，IFN-γ promotes cell lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis，PAs significantly reduced MDA and ACSL4 levels and upregulated GSH, GPX4, and SLC7A11. Overall, PAs can attenuate ferroptosis against IAV-induced ALI via the TGF-β1/Smad2/3 pathway and is a promising novel therapeutic candidate for ALI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To make application of hydrate based desalination technology practical, the kinetic behaviors and separation capability were examined for cyclopentane hydrates formed from brine in cyclopentane dispersion systems at 274.1 K/277.1 K with initial salinity of 3 to 5 wt% for water fractions from 20.0 to 90.0 vol% and rpms from 300 to 500. The excess cyclopentane addition into brine and cyclopentane dispersion significantly increased the yield of dissociated water when the removal efficiency stayed around 80%. This implies enhanced kinetics and controlled encapsulation of residual brine into the hydrate phase for brine in cyclopentane dispersion systems. More hydrates formed under lower temperature or initial salinity. Higher rpm could further promote hydrate formation but would adversely affect the removal efficiency. Desalination efficiency was enhanced with washing during vacuum filtration and effects of ratio of washing water/dissociated water on the removal efficiency were considerable. An inverse correlation exists between the removal efficiency and the yield of dissociated water under the same conditions. Lower temperature (274.1 K) and 60% water cut should be optimal for higher yield of dissociated water from brine in cyclopentane dispersion. The ratio of washing water/dissociated water and rpm conditions should be adjusted depending on the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • LaFeO 3 can converts toluene to high-purity syngas in a fixed bed reactor. • LaFeO 3 prepared by TS performs the best among the five wet chemistry methods. • A new in-situ CLPO process for tar-containing syngas purification is proposed. • Tunable H 2 /CO ratio for syngas is achieved by adjusting toluene catalytic cracking. • A reverse flow design is proposed to achieve ∼100 % toluene conversion ratio. Tar is the by-product of coal and biomass gasification which decreases the purity of the primary syngas and causes blockages in the pipes. Chemical looping partial oxidation (CLPO) is a promising technology to convert tar to high-purity syngas in a sustainable way. Here, we synthesized LaFeO 3 perovskites as oxygen carriers with five different wet chemistry synthesis methods and tested their performance for toluene CLPO in a fixed-bed reactor. The template synthesis method presents the highest purity, the most oxygen species adjacent to oxygen vacancy, the best resistance to the carbon deposition, and exhibits the best performance in CLPO, with up to ∼100 % toluene conversion efficiency, up to ∼100 % CO selectivity, and the best recyclability. The H 2 /CO ratio in the syngas products varies between 0.86 and 2.2 in different stages of the toluene CLPO process. By adjusting the reaction time of toluene catalytic cracking, the H 2 /CO ratio is tunable within this range. Based on these results, we designed a new in-situ CLPO process for tar-containing syngas purification that can achieve tunable H 2 /CO ratio for syngas. In the process, toluene cracking occurs in front of toluene partial oxidation by using reverse flow design to simultaneously achieve ∼100 % toluene conversion ratio and high conversion rate. This work shows that LaFeO 3 is highly efficient in converting toluene to high-purity syngas, and it has the potential to convert tar-containing syngas in-situ to achieve energy- and cost-effective manufacture for high-value-added syngas products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the exploration of underground energy such as oil and gas and the application of geothermal energy, more deep drilling wells are developed. To meet the increasingly multifunctional demand of downhole equipment, many high-temperature sensitive electronics should be integrated and operate under deep downhole environment at the temperature over 200 °C. In this regard, the application of cost-effective thermal management strategies for the electronics is critical to ensuring the stable and reliable operation of downhole tools. This paper presents a review on applicable thermal management systems (TMSs) of electronics operating under deep downhole environment. Firstly, the structural characteristics, thermal performance and applicable restrictions of active and passive thermal management strategies used for downhole devices are detailly discussed. The merits and demerits of various TMS are also summarized. Meanwhile, due to the high heat flux transferred from the external environment, reviews on the thermal insulation shielding are also emphasized. As a result, the thermal management methods are divided into two categories based on the heat sources and heat dissipation terminals. Meanwhile, future developments of various thermal management approaches are discussed, aiming to serve as a reference guide for engineers and promote the progress of the next-generation equipment TMS in downhole environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antagonistic Bacillus sp. (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens QSB-6, Bacillus vallismortis HSB-2, Bacillus licheniformis XNRB-3, Bacillus velezensis XC1, Bacillus siamensis 2RS-9, Bacillus subtilis 4R-5, and Bacillus atrophaeus 9R-5) with common pathogens (Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Fusarium proliferatum, Fusarium moniliforme, Alternaria alternata, Rhizoctonia solani, Albifimbria verrucaria, Phoma asparagi , and Phytophthora cactorum) which cause apple replant disease (ARD) were screened, and a composite microbial culture was prepared. The composite bacterial broth fermentation conditions were optimized by single factor and orthogonal experiments. When 2.6 × 109 amount composite microbial culture (at CFU·g−1) was added to the soil together with manure carrier (cow manure:straw=3:1) (T3), it significantly increased the biomass of Malus hupehensis Rehd. seedlings and young apple trees (Fuji New2001/M9T337), the population of soil bacteria, and activities of antioxidant enzymes as well as soil enzymes, and significantly reduced the population of soil fungi and the abundance of Fusarium sp. In conclusion, composite microbial culture could thus be used as a biological control agent for the management of ARD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlSiC composites is a common material to make IGBT substrate due to its adjustable coefficient of thermal expansion which can be well matched with the chip and ceramic substrate to prevent the fatigue failure. Understanding the role of SiC surface morphology or crystal orientation might have an important influence on the proper control of the solid-liquid interface transmission in the process of preparing SiC reinforced aluminum matrix composites. To quantify the solid-liquid interaction, the molecular dynamics study is performed on the wetting characteristics of molten aluminum droplets on the 4H–SiC surface. Two SiC surface structures including rectangular-groove and wedge-groove are firstly adopted to analyze the effect of surface morphology on the wettability. Then, the wetting characteristics of Al droplets on two SiC crystal orientations including (110) plane and (111) plane are studied. The corresponding contact angles θ in the four Al/SiC systems are 124.81°, 126.65°, 105.72° and 97.35° respectively. It is found that the atomic surface morphology and crystal orientation playing important roles in the wettability of 4H–SiC. High hydrophobic is observed on the rectangular-groove and wedge-groove surface, while the wettability of the (110) plane and (111) plane is between wetting and hydrophobicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlSiC composites is an irreplaceable material for high temperature semiconductor devices due to its unique performance of high thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion coefficient and bending strength. Understanding of the atomic level interactions between SiC and Al is paramount important. This leads to appropriate control on the transport process at the solid-liquid interface in the preparation of SiC reinforced aluminum matrix composites. To characterize the solid-liquid interaction, the aim is to perform molecular dynamics study on the wetting behavior of molten aluminum droplets on the 3C–SiC surface. The wettability of four crystal surface structure including Si-terminated, C-terminated, rectangular groove, wedge groove was characterized. The corresponding contact angles θ were 113.52°, 80.11°, 108.93° and 132.83° respectively. It was found that the atomic surface terminals and crystal surface morphology play an important role in the wetting behavior of 3C–SiC. High hydrophilic was observed on the C-terminated surface, while the wedge-shaped surface showed high hydrophobic. These theoretical findings demonstrate the effective modeling strategies when using wetting behavior as an interface modeling framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Durable polymer sirolimus-eluting stents (DP-SES) are associated with a low risk of stent thrombosis; biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents (BP-DES) were designed to reduce these risks. However, their benefits are still variable. Method: We undertook a meta-analysis of randomized trials identified by systematic searches of Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Database. Results: Eleven studies (9,676 patients) with a mean follow-up of 22.6 months were included. Overall, compared with DP-SES, BP-DES significantly lowered the rate of definite or probable stent thrombosis (RR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.55-0.97; p = 0.03; I2 = 0.0%) due to a decreased risk of very late stent thrombosis (RR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.11-0.63; p = 0.00; I2 = 0.0%). However, BP-DES were associated with a comparable rate of early and late stent thrombosis. Meanwhile, BP-DES were associated with a broadly equivalent risk of target vessel revascularization (RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.78-1.03; p = 0.13; I2 = 0.0%), cardiac death (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.72-1.09; p = 0.24; I2 = 0.0%), myocardial infarction (RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.84-1.26; p = 0.79; I2 = 0.0%), and major adverse cardiac events (MACE; RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83-1.0; p = 0.08; I2 = 0.0%). Furthermore, angiographic data showed that in-stent and in-segment late luminal loss were similar between the two groups. Conclusions: Compared with DP-SES, BP-DES were associated with a lower rate of very late stent thrombosis and an equivalent risk of MACE. Larger randomized studies are needed to confirm this finding. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNAzymes are a series of functional oligonucleotides obtained through in vitro selection and able to catalyze the reaction of substrates with the help of some special cofactors such as metal ions, L-histidine and hemin. Compared with naturally occurring bio-enzymes, DNAzymes are more stable and amenable to modification and preparation. Due to their outstanding properties, DNAzymes have been widely used in biological applications, such as target detection and signal amplification. Nanomaterials, with special characteristics including quantum size effect, high biocompatibility, large surface-to-volume ratio and overall structural robustness, exhibit important application prospects in nanotechnology. By combining with a variety of nanomaterials, DNAzyme achieves a lot of special applications in biochemistry. This review summarizes recent achievements in the field of DNAzyme-conjugated nanomaterials for biosensing applications. For a brief demonstration, nanomaterials including gold nanoparticles, carbon nanomaterials, magnetic nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots are taken as examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerobic granulation is an advanced biological wastewater treatment technology. This study for the first time identified the microbial communities of sliced samples of mature granules by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) technique and those of whole growing granules by high-throughput sequencing technique. The sliced sample study revealed that mature granules have a spherical core with anaerobic Rhodocyclaceae covered by an outer spherical shell with both aerobic and anaerobic strains. The growing granule study showed that the flocculated flocs were first transited to young granules with increased abundances of Flavobacteriaceae , Xanthomonadaceae , Rhodobacteraceae and Microbacteriaceae , then the abundances of anaerobic strains were increased owing to the formation of anaerobic core. Since the present granules were cultivated from flocculated flocs, the microbial community data suggested that granules were formed via a deterministic rather than via a random aggregation–disintegration mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Blue-emitting; Copper halide; Crystal structures; Organic--inorganic hybrid; Phosphor EN Blue-emitting Copper halide Crystal structures Organic--inorganic hybrid Phosphor 1 1 1 02/09/22 20220214 NES 220214 Organisch-anorganische Hybridstrukturen auf Kupferhalogenidbasis haben ein großes Potenzial als lichtemittierende Materialien. In ihrem Forschungsartikel (e202115225) berichten Wei Liu, Gangfeng Ouyang et al. über eine einfache Strategie für die Synthese von stark lumineszierenden Kupferhalogenid-Hybridstrukturen durch Herstellung eines koordinierten anionischen anorganischen Moduls mit einem neutralen organischen Ligandenmolekül. Titelbild: Coordinated Anionic Inorganic Module - An Efficient Approach Towards Highly Efficient Blue-Emitting Copper Halide Ionic Hybrid Structures (Angew. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of comprehensive sleep management on sleep quality in university students in mainland China. Eighty-four full-time university students were randomly allocated to the intervention group ( n = 42), which received comprehensive sleep management, and the control group ( n = 42) with no intervention. The comprehensive sleep management program was delivered by a researcher in lecture sessions (45 min per session) over a consecutive 3-day period. The first session included sleep hygiene education and music therapy, the second session included stimulus control therapy, and the third session included progressive muscle relaxation training. Based on sleep hygiene education, the students were instructed to do music therapy and progressive muscle relaxation training (i.e. taking a deep breath, and contracting and relaxing 16 muscle groups) within 1 h before night-time sleep daily, 30 min per session; stimulus control therapy was conducted through six steps and repeated daily. Sleep quality was assessed using the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. After 1 month, between-group comparisons showed that the intervention group had improvement in subjective sleep quality (mean difference: −0.31, 95% confidence interval: −0.58, −0.04) ( P = 0.027), sleep latency (−0.60 [−0.86, −0.33]) ( P < 0.001), daytime dysfunction (−1.14 [−1.39, −0.89]) ( P < 0.001), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index total score (−1.98 [−2.64, −1.31]) ( P < 0.001). The comprehensive use of sleep hygiene education, music therapy, stimulus control therapy, and progressive muscle relaxation training has positive effects on improving sleep quality in university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To determine whether a potential rat model of bladder pain syndrome could be developed through long-term intermittent intravesical hyaluronidase. Methods A total of 64 female Sprague- Dawley rats were divided into a control group, a low-dose hyaluronidase (1 mg/mL) group, a high-dose hyaluronidase (4 mg/mL) group and a hyaluronic acid-treated group. Hyaluronidase was given intravesically three times a week for 1 month. Hyaluronic acid (0.5 mL, 0.8 mg/mL) was introduced intravesically to hyaluronidase-treated rats' bladders. Histological changes, cystometry, nociceptive behaviors, and messenger ribonucleic acid levels of inflammatory factors were evaluated and compared between groups. Results All hyaluronidase-treated rats showed chronic inflammation and fibrosis, increased and activated mast cells, thinned bladder epithelium with abnormal expressions of uroplakin III and zonula occluden-1, and increased levels of interleukin-6 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 messenger ribonucleic acid. However, the inflammatory score and levels of interleukin-6 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 were more significant in the high-dose hyaluronidase group than in the low-dose hyaluronidase group ( P < 0.01). Furthermore, hyaluronidase-treated rats showed markedly decreased intercontraction intervals, bladder capacity and increased sensitivity to pain compared with controls ( P < 0.01). Hyaluronic acid treatment significantly decreased the inflammatory level, number of mast cells, sensitivity to pain, levels of interleukin-6 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and increased intercontraction intervals and bladder capacity ( P < 0.01). Conclusions Long-term intermittent intravesical hyaluronidase could develop a severe chronic cystitis with diffused fibrosis accompanied by altered histology and bladder function. This chronic cystitis rat model can resemble the clinical and histopathological features of human bladder pain syndrome, and might be a potential valuable model for investigation of this troublesome disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum bile acid and fetal distress in patients with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. Methods The clinical data of 120 patients with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy were retrospectively analyzed during January 2007 to October 2013. Patients were divided into mild and severe groups according to serum bile acid value. The information of delivery mode and the incidence of fetal distress were collected. Results There was no statistically significant difference in age of patients between the two groups. The caesarean section rate and incidence of fatal distress in severe group was significantly higher than those of mild patients. Conclusion In the late pregnancy of patients with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy requires close monitoring of serum bile acid value. High-risk patients should be prepared to grasp the opportunity to terminate the pregnancy to ensure maternal and child health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To avoid the biases associated with PCR amplification in analysis of microbial communities, a new method has been tested for direct sequencing of the cDNA of full-length Small-subunit Ribosomal RNA withOut specific PCR amplification (SROP). In silico analysis of the SROP method demonstrated that more than 99 % of the SROP sequences could be correctly annotated. Two environmental samples (activated sludge and anaerobic sludge) with complex microbial communities were used for comparison in this study. The SROP results demonstrated that the families Rhodocyclaceae and Nitrosomonadaceae in activated sludge and the phyla Synergistetes and Spirochaetes in anaerobic sludge were underestimated by PCR-based detection. One third of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences obtained by the SROP method covered the V3 amplicon region, and they are suitable for phylogenetic and diversity index analyses. The microbial diversity index calculated from the rRNA sequences by the SROP was much higher than that calculated by conventional PCR, particularly for the anaerobic sludge. The metatranscriptome-based SROP method will contribute to our better understanding of the diversity of complex microbial communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]