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Photothermal synergistic catalysis (PTSC) offers promising potential for the dry reforming of methane (DRM) to produce syngas, but designing suitable catalysts suitable for photothermal processes poses significant challenges. In this study, we present a core-shell catalyst consisting of a SiO2 shell encapsulating Ni loaded on the CeO2–ZrO 2 support, which proved to be well-suited for PTSC-DRM under milder conditions. Compared to traditional thermal catalysis (TC), PTSC at 600 °C exhibited superior CH4/CO2 conversions (63.5 %/55.9 %) and higher H 2 /CO yields (137.0 mmol·g -1 ·h -1 /182.9 mmol·g -1 ·h -1). The TOFs under PTSC-DRM are 1.3–2.9 times higher than the corresponding TOFs in TC-DRM. The catalyst demonstrated strong stability during a 60-h aging test, which can be attributed to the restricted migration of Ni and the accelerated movement of oxygen induced by illumination via structure effect which also lead to the boosted activity benefited from a reduced bandgap of 2.2 eV and improved charge separation/migration efficiency during PTSC reaction. [Display omitted] • Boosted syngas production via photothermal synergistic dry reforming of CH 4. • A novel core-shell structured Ni/CeO 2 –ZrO 2 @SiO 2 catalyst tailored for photothermal synergistic reaction. • Enhanced activity and anti-carbon performance of the catalyst due to the encapsulation of SiO 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ OA) is a prevalent degenerative disease characterized by chronic pain and impaired jaw function. The complexity of TMJ OA has hindered the development of prognostic tools, posing a significant challenge in timely, patient-specific management. Addressing this gap, our research employs a comprehensive, multidimensional approach to advance TMJ OA prognostication. We conducted a prospective study with 106 subjects, 74 of whom were followed up after 2 to 3 y of conservative treatment. Central to our methodology is the development of an innovative, open-source predictive modeling framework, the Ensemble via Hierarchical Predictions through Nested cross-validation tool (EHPN). This framework synergistically integrates 18 feature selection, statistical, and machine learning methods to yield an accuracy of 0.87, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.72 and an F1 score of 0.82. Our study, beyond technical advancements, emphasizes the global impact of TMJ OA, recognizing its unique demographic occurrence. We highlight key factors influencing TMJ OA progression. Using SHAP analysis, we identified personalized prognostic predictors: lower values of headache, lower back pain, restless sleep, condyle high gray level-GL-run emphasis, articular fossa GL nonuniformity, and long-run low GL emphasis; and higher values of superior joint space, mouth opening, saliva Vascular-endothelium-growth-factor, Matrix-metalloproteinase-7, serum Epithelial-neutrophil-activating-peptide, and age indicate recovery likelihood. Our multidimensional and multimodal EHPN tool enhances clinicians' decision-making, offering a transformative translational infrastructure. The EHPN model stands as a significant contribution to precision medicine, offering a paradigm shift in the management of temporomandibular disorders and potentially influencing broader applications in personalized healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which developed an efficient molecular design strategy to construct ultra-narrow bandgap small-molecule semiconductors by introducing a cyano-contained, quinoid capping group, which shows much stronger electron-withdrawing property than those existing A groups. Topics include design strategy and properties of near-infrared (NIR) molecular semiconductor, device performance of NIR organic photodetectors (OPDs), and performance optimization of NIR OPDs.

Adult brains are functionally flexible, a unique characteristic that is thought to contribute to cognitive flexibility. While tools to assess cognitive flexibility during early infancy are lacking, we aimed to assess the spatiotemporal developmental features of “neural flexibility” during the first 2 y of life. Fifty-two typically developing children 0 to 2 y old were longitudinally imaged up to seven times during natural sleep using resting-state functional MRI. Using a sliding window approach, MR-derived neural flexibility, a quantitative measure of the frequency at which brain regions change their allegiance from one functional module to another during a given time period, was used to evaluate the temporal emergence of neural flexibility during early infancy. Results showed that neural flexibility of whole brain, motor, and high-order brain functional networks/regions increased significantly with age, while visual regions exhibited a temporally stable pattern, suggesting spatially and temporally nonuniform developmental features of neural flexibility. Additionally, the neural flexibility of the primary visual network at 3 mo of age was significantly and negatively associated with cognitive ability evaluated at 5/6 y of age. The “flexible club,” comprising brain regions with neural flexibility significantly higher than whole-brain neural flexibility, were consistent with brain regions known to govern cognitive flexibility in adults and exhibited unique characteristics when compared to the functional hub and diverse club regions. Thus, MR-derived neural flexibility has the potential to reveal the underlying neural substrates for developing a cognitively flexible brain during early infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For example, we found that the left ventricle of the heart showed the strongest correlations with microstructure metrics of cerebral white matter tracts, suggesting that adverse heart features were associated with poorer white matter microstructure. However, although recent large-scale analyses have been conducted on heart and brain MRI-derived traits separately, few studies have explored the potential for multi-organ MRI to examine heart-brain connections and identify shared genetic effects. INTRODUCTION: There is increasing evidence pointing to a close relationship between heart health and brain health, with cardiovascular diseases potentially leading to brain diseases such as stroke, dementia, and cognitive impairment. [Extracted from the article]

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are a potentially high-value lignin extraction methodology. DESs prepared from choline chloride (ChCl) and three hydrogen-bond donors (HBD)--lactic acid (Lac), glycerol, and urea--were evaluated for isolation of willow (Salix matsudana cv. Zhuliu) lignin. DESs types, mole ratio of ChCl to HBD, extraction temperature, and time on the fractionated DES-lignin yield demonstrated that the optimal DES-lignin yield (91.8 wt % based on the initial lignin in willow) with high purity of 94.5% can be reached at a ChCl-to-Lac molar ratio of 1:10, extraction temperature of 120 ¯C, and time of 12 h. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) , 13C-NMR, and 31P-NMR showed that willow lignin extracted by ChCl-Lac was mainly composed of syringyl and guaiacyl units. Serendipitously, a majority of the glucan in willow was preserved after ChCl-Lac treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are an important large class of two-dimensional (2D) anionic lamellar materials that possess flexible modular structure, facile exchangeability of inter-lamellar guest anions and uniform distribution of metal cations in the layer. Owing to the modular accessible gallery and unique inter-lamellar chemical environment, polyoxometalates (POMs) intercalated with LDHs has shown a vast array of physical properties with applications in environment, energy, catalysis, etc. Here we describe how polyoxometalate clusters can be used as building components for the construction of systems with important catalytic properties. This review article mainly focuses on the discussion of new synthetic approaches developed recently that allow the incorporation of the element of design in the construction of a fundamentally new class of materials with pre-defined functionalities in catalytic applications. Introducing the element of design and taking control over the finally observed functionality we demonstrate the unique opportunity for engineering materials with modular properties for specific catalytic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult twin neuroimaging studies have revealed that cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) are differentially influenced by genetic information, leading to their spatially distinct genetic patterning and topography. However, the postnatal origins of the genetic topography of CT and SA remain unclear, given the dramatic cortical development from neonates to adults. To fill this critical gap, this study unprecedentedly explored how genetic information differentially regulates the spatial topography of CT and SA in the neonatal brain by leveraging brain magnetic resonance (MR) images from 202 twin neonates with minimal influence by the complicated postnatal environmental factors. We capitalized on infant-dedicated computational tools and a data-driven spectral clustering method to parcellate the cerebral cortex into a set of distinct regions purely according to the genetic correlation of cortical vertices in terms of CT and SA, respectively, and accordingly created the first genetically informed cortical parcellation maps of neonatal brains. Both genetic parcellation maps exhibit bilaterally symmetric and hierarchical patterns, but distinct spatial layouts. For CT, regions with closer genetic relationships demonstrate an anterior- posterior (A-P) division, while for SA, regions with greater genetic proximity are typically within the same lobe. Certain genetically informed regions exhibit strong similarities between neonates and adults, with the most striking similarities in the medial surface in terms of SA, despite their overall substantial differences in genetic parcellation maps. These results greatly advance our understanding of the development of genetic influences on the spatial patterning of cortical morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A ruthenium-catalyzed intermolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition of 2H-azirines and activated alkynes is reported, which provides polysubstituted pyrroles in moderate to good yields. This approach features a C-N bond cleavage of 2H-azirines by a ruthenium catalyst. The results of this study would provide a complementary method to synthesize polysubstituted pyrroles from the known 2H-azirine approaches and advance 2H-azirine chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: miR-199a-3p was significantly downregulated in the majority of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and HCC cell lines. Yes associated protein 1 (YAP1) was overexpressed in human HCC, which promoted HCC development and progression by upregulating Jagged1 and activating the Notch pathway. We searched potential targets of miR-199a-3p with DIANA, TargetScan and PicTar tools, and found that YAP1 is one of the potential targets. Based on these findings, we speculated that miR-199a-3p might suppress HCC growth by targeting YAP1, downregulating Jagged1 and suppressing the Notch pathway. Results: We determined the expression of miR-199a-3p and YAP1 by quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot assays, respectively, and found downregulation of miR-199a-3p and upregulation of YAP1 in HCC cell lines. Cell proliferation and apoptosis assays showed that miR-199a-3p suppresses HCC cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis, and knockdown of YAP1 has similar role. Furthermore, we verified that miR-199a-3p can directly target YAP1. We further investigated and confirmed that miR-199a-3p and YAP1 regulate HCC cell proliferation and apoptosis through Jagged1-Notch signaling. Conclusion: miR-199a-3p targets YAP1, downregulates Jagged1 and suppresses the Notch signaling to inhibit HCC cell proliferation and promote apoptosis. These findings provide new insights into the mechanism by which miR-199a-3p suppresses HCC cell proliferation and induces apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three types of trivalent rare-earth-metal complexes supported by a monoanionic tris(pyrazolyl)methanide ligand were synthesized and structurally characterized, and the catalytic activity of the dialkyl derivatives for isoprene polymerization was investigated. Reactions of the lithium salt of tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)methanide LLi(THF) with 1 equiv of ScCl3(THF)3, YCl3, or LuCl3 in THF provided the ion-pair complexes [LLnCl3][Li(THF)4] (Ln = Sc (1), Y (2), Lu (3)). Dialkyl complexes LLn(CH2SiMe3)2(THF) (Ln = Y (4), Lu (5)) were prepared by salt metathesis of LLi(THF) with 1 equiv of [Y(CH2SiMe3)2(THF)3][BPh4] or [Lu(CH2SiMe3)2(THF)3][BPh4] in toluene. Reaction of 5 with PhSiH3 provided the unexpected alkylidene-bridged dinuclear complex L2Lu2(μ-η¹:η¹-3,5-(CH3)C3HN2)2(μ-CHSiMe3) (6). Complexes 1-6 were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, showing that the tris(pyrazolyl)methanide ligand acts as a κ³-coordinating six-electron donor in all complexes. The dialkyl complexes catalyzed 1,4-cis polymerization of isoprene with high selectivity upon activation with borate and alkylaluminum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc oxide (ZnO) microrods were fabricated on graphene/SiO2/Si substrate by a simple hydrothermal route. The obtained products were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, photoluminescence and UV-visible spectrometry. Microrods exhibits hexagonal wurzite structure. Some ZnO clusters and twinned ZnO structures were found to spread on the microrod array layer. The formation mechanism of ZnO microrods is discussed, emphasizing the formation mechanism of isolated clusters and twinned ZnO structures. Furthermore, microrods demonstrated a good photocatalytic performance towards rhodamine B degradation as ascribed to oxygen vacancies and interstitials considered as the photocatalytical active sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Electroencephalogram (EEG) provides a non-invasive approach to measure the electrical activities of brain neurons and has long been employed for the development of brain-computer interface (BCI). For this purpose, various patterns/features of EEG data need to be extracted and associated with specific events like cue-paced motor imagery. However, this is a challenging task since EEG data are usually non-stationary time series with a low signal-to-noise ratio. New method:In this study, we propose a novel method, called structure constrained semi-nonnegative matrix factorization (SCS-NMF), to extract the key patterns of EEG data in time domain by imposing the mean envelopes of event-related potentials (ERPs) as constraints on the semi-NMF procedure. The proposed method is applicable to general EEG time series, and the extracted temporal features by SCS-NMF can also be combined with other features in frequency domain to improve the performance of motor imagery classification. Results:Real data experiments have been performed using the SCS-NMF approach for motor imagery classification, and the results clearly suggest the superiority of the proposed method. Comparison with existing methods: Comparison experiments have also been conducted. The compared methods include ICA, PCA, Semi-NMF, Wavelets, EMD and CSP, which further verified the effectivity of SCS-NMF. Conclusions: The SCS-NMF method could obtain better or competitive performance over the state of the art methods, which provides a novel solution for brain pattern analysis from the perspective of structure constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibodies normally do not cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and cannot bind an intracel-lular cerebral antigen. We demonstrate here for the first time that a new class of antibodies can cross the BBB without treatment. Camelids produce native ho-modimeric heavy-chain antibodies, the paratope being composed of a single-variable domain called VHH. Here, we used recombinant VHH directed against human glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a specific marker of astrocytes. Only basic VHHs (e.g., pl=9.4) were able to cross the BBB in vitro (7.8 vs. 0% for VHH with pi=7.7). By intracarotid and intravenous injections into live mice, we showed that these basic VHHs are able to cross the BBB in vivo, diffuse into the brain tissue, penetrate into astrocytes, and specifically label GFAP. To analyze their ability to be used as a specific transporter, we then expressed a recombinant fusion protein VHH-green fluorescent protein (GFP). These "fluobodies" specifically labeled GFAP on murine brain sections, and a basic variant (pl=9.3) of the fusion protein VHH-GFP was able to cross the BBB and to label astrocytes in vivo. The potential of VHHs as diagnostic or therapeutic agents in the central nervous system now deserves attention. Li, T., Bourgeois, J.-P., Celli, S., Glacial, F., Le Sourd, A.M., Mecheri, S., Weksler, B., Romero, I., Couraud, P.-O., Rougeon, F., and Lafaye, P. Cell-penetrating anti-GFAP VHH and corresponding fluorescent fusion protein VHH-GFP spontaneously cross the blood-brain barrier and specifically recognize astrocytes: application to brain imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population-based genetic association analysis may suffer from the failure to control for confounders such as population stratification (PS). There has been extensive study on the influence of PS on candidate gene-disease association analysis, but much less attention has been paid to its influence on marker-disease association analysis. In this paper, we focus on the Pearson χ2 test and the trend test for marker-disease association analysis. The mean and variance of the test statistics are derived under presence of PS, so that the power and inflated type I error rate can be evaluated. It is shown that the bias and the variance distortion are not zero in the presence of both PS and penetrance heterogeneity (PH). Unlike candidate gene-disease association analysis, when PS is present, the bias is not zero no matter whether PH is present or not. This work generalises the published results, where only the fully recessive penetrance model is considered and only the bias is calculated. It is shown that candidate gene-disease association analysis can be treated as a special case of marker-disease association analysis. Consequently, our results extend previous studies on candidate gene-disease association analysis. A simulation study confirms the theoretical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient diamination reaction of alkenes has been developed for the synthesis of bromoalkyl-branched imidazolines by using CuI–PPh3 as the catalyst and N, N-dibromo- p-toluenesulfonamide as the nitrogen/halogen sources. A good scope of alkene substrates, including α,β-unsaturated ketones, α,β-unsaturated esters and simple olefins, was achieved for this reaction. Meanwhile, various nitriles were utilized as nucleophilic nitrogen sources. Modest to good yields and excellent regio- and stereoselectivity have been obtained. The stereochemistry was unambiguously confirmed by X-ray structural analysis. A new mild condition was found for the opening of resulting imidazolines by using SnCl4 as the promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs that common genetic variation influencing human white matter microstructure, which in human brain, serves a critical role in organizing distributed neural networks. Topics include diffusion magnetic resonance imaging has enabled the study of whitematterin vivo in white matter microstructure are associated with a clinical outcomes; and white matter affecting gene regulation in glia observed genetic correlations with various neurological and psychiatric diseases.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in gene regulation. In Arabidopsis, mature miRNAs are processed from primary miRNA transcripts by the Dicing complex that contains Dicer-like 1 (DCL1), SERRATE (SE), and Hyponastic Leaves 1 (HYL1). The Dicing complex can form nuclear dicing bodies (D-bodies) through SE phase separation. Here, we report that Cyclophilin71 (CYP71), a peptidyl-prolyl isomerase (PPIase), positively regulates miRNA processing. We show that CYP71 directly interacts with SE and enhances its phase separation, thereby promoting the formation of D-body and increasing the activity of the Dicing complex. We further show that the PPIase activity is important for the function of CYP71 in miRNA production. Our findings reveal orchestration of miRNA processing by a cyclophilin protein and suggest the involvement of peptidyl-prolyl cis–trans isomerization, a structural mechanism, in SE phase separation and miRNA processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria within a few minutes is the key to control infectious disease. However, rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria in clinical samples is quite a challenging task due to the complex matrix, as well as the low abundance of bacteria in real samples. Herein, we employ a label-free single-particle imaging approach to address this challenge. By tracking the scattering intensity variation of single particles in free solution, the morphological heterogeneity can be well identified with particle size smaller than the diffraction limit, facilitating the morphological identification of single bacteria from a complex matrix in a label-free manner. Furthermore, the manipulation of convection in free solution enables the rapid screening of low-abundance bacteria in a small field of view, which significantly improves the sensitivity of single-particle detection. As a proof of concept demonstration, we are able to differentiate the group B streptococci (GBS)–positive samples within 10 min from vaginal swabs without using any biological reagents. This is the most rapid and low-cost method to the best of our knowledge. We believe that such a single-particle imaging approach will find wider applications in clinical diagnosis and disease control due to its high sensitivity, rapidity, simplicity, and low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface area of the human cerebral cortex expands extremely dynamically and regionally heterogeneously from the third trimester of pregnancy to 2 y of age, reflecting the spatial heterogeneity of the underlying microstructural and functional development of the cerebral cortex. However, little is known about the developmental patterns and regionalization of cortical surface area during this critical stage, due to the lack of high-quality imaging data and accurate computational tools for pediatric brain MRI data. To fill this critical knowledge gap, by leveraging 1,037 high-quality MRI scans with the age between 29 post-menstrual weeks and 24 mo from 735 pediatric subjects in two complementary datasets, i.e., the Baby Connectome Project (BCP) and the developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP), and state-of-the-art dedicated image-processing tools, we unprecedentedly parcellate the cerebral cortex into a set of distinct subdivisions purely according to the developmental patterns of the cortical surface. Our discovered developmentally distinct subdivisions correspond well to structurally and functionally meaningful regions and reveal spatially contiguous, hierarchical, and bilaterally symmetric patterns of early cortical surface expansion. We also show that highorder association subdivisions, where cortical folds emerge later during prenatal stages, undergo more dramatic cortical surface expansion during infancy, compared with the central regions, especially the sensorimotor and insula cortices, thus forming a distinct central-pole division in early cortical surface expansion. These results provide an important reference for exploring and understanding dynamic early brain development in health and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The AdEasy system is a fast-track system for generating recombinant adenoviruses using the efficient homologous recombination machinery between shuttle and adenovirus backbone plasmids in Escherichia coli BJ5183 cells. The key step is homologous recombination in BJ5183 cells, which is driven by RecA activity. However, culture time is stringently limited to reduce the damage to recombinant plasmids by RecA activity. Therefore, rapid identification of recombinant adenoviruses within the limited time-period is critical. Results: We developed a simple negative selection method to identify recombinant adenoviruses using colony PCR, which improves the efficiency of adenovirus recombination screening and packaging. Conclusions: The negative selectionmethod to identify AdEasy adenovirus recombinants by colony PCR can identify the recombined colony within a short time-period, and maximally avoid damage to the recombinant plasmid by limiting recombination time, resulting in improved adenovirus packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first 2 postnatal years, cortical thickness of the human brain develops dynamically and spatially heterogeneously and likely peaks between 1 and 2 y of age. The striking development renders this period critical for later cognitive outcomes and vulnerable to early neurodevelopmental disorders. However, due to the difficulties in longitudinal infant brain MRI acquisition and processing, our knowledge still remains limited on the dynamic changes, peak age, and spatial heterogeneities of cortical thickness during infancy. To fill this knowledge gap, in this study, we discover the developmental regionalization of cortical thickness, i.e., developmentally distinct regions, each of which is composed of a set of codeveloping cortical vertices, for better understanding of the spatiotemporal heterogeneities of cortical thickness development. We leverage an infant-dedicated computational pipeline, an advanced multivariate analysis method (i.e., nonnegative matrix factorization), and a densely sampled longitudinal dataset with 210 serial MRI scans from 43 healthy infants, with each infant being scheduled to have 7 longitudinal scans at around 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 mo of age. Our results suggest that, during the first 2 y, the whole-brain average cortical thickness increases rapidly and reaches a plateau at about 14 mo of age and then decreases at a slow pace thereafter. More importantly, each discovered region is structurally and functionally meaningful and exhibits a distinctive developmental pattern, with several regions peaking at varied ages while others keep increasing in the first 2 postnatal years. Our findings provide valuable references and insights for early brain development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring of low levels of chlorsulfuron in environmental water samples is important. Although several detection methods have been developed, they all have some drawbacks, such as being time-consuming, requiring expensive instruments and experienced operators, and consuming large volumes of organic solvents. There is an urgent need for a simple, rapid, and inexpensive detection method for chlorsulfuron. Herein, such a method was developed using anti-aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the presence of acetamiprid in agricultural irrigation water samples. Aggregation of the AuNPs was induced by acetamiprid, and this produced a distinct color change from Bordeaux red to blue. However, the strong hydrogen bonding interaction between chlorsulfuron and acetamiprid could inhibit AuNP aggregation. The effect of chlorsulfuron on the anti-agglomeration behavior of AuNPs was monitored by ultraviolet-visiblespectroscopy (UV-Vis) and the naked eye over a concentration range 0.1-100 mg/L. The detection limit for chlorsulfuron was 0.025 mg/L (signal-to-noise ratio of three). This colorimetric method was successfully applied to the determination of chlorsulfuron in spiked tap water and agricultural irrigation water with satisfactory recoveries (76.3%-94.2%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UV light is found to trigger the decomposition of MClx or M(NO3)x (where M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, or Zn) to form uniform, amorphous films of metal oxides. This process does not elevate the temperature of the substrate and thus conformal films can be coated on a range of substrates, including rigid glass and flexible plastic. The formation of the oxide films were confirmed by a combination of powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Amorphous oxide films of iron, nickel and a combination of iron and nickel demonstrated oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalytic activities commensurate with films of the same compositions prepared by widely used electrodeposition and sputtering methods. These results illuminate a potential route to amorphous oxides at scale using simple metal precursors without vacuum or heat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: LncRNA metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) was reported to be highly expressed in an in vitro mimic of ischemic stroke conditions. However, the exact biological role of MALAT1 and its underlying mechanism in ischemic stroke remain to be elucidated. Methods: The roles of MALAT1 and miR-30a on cell death and infarct volume and autophagy were evaluated in experimental ischemic stroke. The relationships between miR-30a and MALAT1, Beclin1 were confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. The autophagy inhibitor 3-methyadenine (3-MA) was used to examine the impact of autophagy on ischemic injury. Results: We found that MALAT1, along with the levels of conversion from autophagy-related protein microtubule-associated protein light chain 3-I (LC3-I) to LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate (LC3-II), as well as Beclin1 were upregulated and miR-30a was down-regulated in cerebral cortex neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) and mouse brain cortex after middle cerebral artery occlusion-reperfusion (MCAO). Down-regulation of MALAT1 suppressed ischemic injury and autophagy in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, MALAT1 may serve as a molecular sponge for miR-30a and negatively regulate its expression. In addition, MALAT1 overturned the inhibitory effect of miR-30a on ischemic injury and autophagy in vitro and in vivo, which might be involved in the derepression of Beclin1, a direct target of miR-30a. Mechanistic analyses further revealed that autophagy inhibitor 3-methyadenine (3-MA) markedly suppressed OGD-induced neuronal cell death and MCAO-induced ischemic brain infarction. Conclusion: Taken together, our study first revealed that down-regulation of MALAT1 attenuated neuronal cell death through suppressing Beclin1- dependent autophagy by regulating miR-30a expression in cerebral ischemic stroke. Besides, our study demonstrated a novel lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network that is MALAT1- miR-30a-Beclin1 in ischemic stroke, contributing to a better understanding the pathogenesis and progression of ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: LncRNA metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) was reported to be highly expressed in an in vitro mimic of ischemic stroke conditions. However, the exact biological role of MALAT1 and its underlying mechanism in ischemic stroke remain to be elucidated. Methods: The roles of MALAT1 and miR-30a on cell death and infarct volume and autophagy were evaluated in experimental ischemic stroke. The relationships between miR-30a and MALAT1, Beclin1 were confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. The autophagy inhibitor 3-methyadenine (3-MA) was used to examine the impact of autophagy on ischemic injury. Results: We found that MALAT1, along with the levels of conversion from autophagy-related protein microtubule-associated protein light chain 3-I (LC3-I) to LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate (LC3-II), as well as Beclin1 were upregulated and miR-30a was down-regulated in cerebral cortex neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) and mouse brain cortex after middle cerebral artery occlusion-reperfusion (MCAO). Down-regulation of MALAT1 suppressed ischemic injury and autophagy in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, MALAT1 may serve as a molecular sponge for miR-30a and negatively regulate its expression. In addition, MALAT1 overturned the inhibitory effect of miR-30a on ischemic injury and autophagy in vitro and in vivo, which might be involved in the derepression of Beclin1, a direct target of miR-30a. Mechanistic analyses further revealed that autophagy inhibitor 3-methyadenine (3-MA) markedly suppressed OGD-induced neuronal cell death and MCAO-induced ischemic brain infarction. Conclusion: Taken together, our study first revealed that down-regulation of MALAT1 attenuated neuronal cell death through suppressing Beclin1- dependent autophagy by regulating miR-30a expression in cerebral ischemic stroke. Besides, our study demonstrated a novel lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network that is MALAT1- miR-30a-Beclin1 in ischemic stroke, contributing to a better understanding the pathogenesis and progression of ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy is a newly developed adoptive antitumor treatment. Theoretically, CAR-T cells can specifically localize and eliminate tumor cells by interacting with the tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) expressing on tumor cell surface. Current studies demonstrated that various TAAs could act as target antigens for CAR-T cells, for instance, the type III variant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRvIII) was considered as an ideal target for its aberrant expression on the cell surface of several tumor types. CAR-T cell therapy has achieved gratifying breakthrough in hematological malignancies and promising outcome in solid tumor as showed in various clinical trials. The third generation of CAR-T demonstrates increased antitumor cytotoxicity and persistence through modification of CAR structure. In this review, we summarized the preclinical and clinical progress of CAR-T cells targeting EGFR, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and mesothelin (MSLN), as well as the challenges for CAR-T cell therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The SIX family homeobox genes have been demonstrated to be involved in the tumor initiation and progression, but their clinicopathological features and prognostic values in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have not been well defined. We analyzed relevant datasets and performed a systemic review and a meta-analysis to assess the profile of SIX family members in NSCLC and evaluate their importance as biomarkers for diagnosis and prediction of NSCLC. Methods: This meta-analysis included 17 studies with 2358 patients. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) were calculated to represent the prognosis of NSCLC with expression of the SIX family genes. Heterogeneity of the ORs and HRs was assessed and quantified using the Cochrane Q and I2 test. Begg's rank correlation method and Egger's weighted regression method were used to screen for potential publication bias. Bar graphs of representative datasets were plotted to show the correlation between the SIX expression and clinicopathological features of NSCLC. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to validate our prognostic analysis by pooled HR. Results: The systematic meta-analysis unveiled that the higher expressions of SIX1-5 were associated with the greater possibility of the tumorigenesis. SIX4 and SIX6 were linked to the lymph node metastasis (LNM). SIX2, SIX3, and SIX4 were correlated with higher TNM stages. Furthermore, the elevated expressions of SIX2, SIX4, and SIX6 predicted poor overall survival (OS) in NSCLC (SIX2: HR = 1.14, 95 % CI, 1.00-1.31; SIX4: HR = 1.39, 95 % CI, 1.16-1.66; SIX6: HR = 1.18, 95 % CI, 1.00-1.38) and poor relapse-free survival (RFS) in lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) (SIX2: HR = 1. 42, 95 % CI, 1.14-1.77; SIX4: HR = 1.52, 95 % CI, 1.09-2.11; SIX6: HR = 1.25, 95 % CI, 1.01-1.56). Conclusions: Our report demonstrated that the SIX family members play distinct roles in the tumorigenesis of NSCLC and can be potential biomarkers in predicting prognosis of NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A planar fused-ring electron acceptor (IC-C6IDT-IC) based on indacenodithiophene is designed and synthesized. IC-C6IDT-IC shows strong absorption in 500-800 nm with extinction coefficient of up to 2.4 × 105 M-1 cm-1 and high electron mobility of 1.1 × 10-3 cm² V-1 s-1. The as-cast polymer solar cells based on IC-C6IDT-IC without additional treatments exhibit power conversion efficiencies of up to 8.71%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient bifunctional cinchona alkaloid derived thiourea-promoted enantioselective conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to indolylidenecyanoacetates has been developed under neat conditions. The process leads to synthetically interesting densely functionalized 3,3′-disubstituted oxindoles with creation of up to three stereogenic centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pregnant women develop protective anti-VSA IgG1 and IgG3 when infected by Plasmodium falciparum. The major target of IgG from serum of infected pregnant women is VAR2CSA. Methods: In this study, ELISA was used to compare the level of VAR2CSA DBL5ε- specific IgG subclasses at enrolment and at delivery in a cohort of pregnant women in Senegal. All antibody measures were analysed in relation to placental infection according to parity. Results: The results show an interaction between immune response to placental malaria and parity. A higher level of anti- DBL5ε- IgG3 at enrolment and a higher increase between enrolment and delivery were found in primigravidae who presented with uninfected placenta at delivery in comparison to those who presented with an infection of the placenta. However, high antibody level at delivery was associated with the infection of the placenta in multigravidae. Conclusion: This high level of IgG3 in uninfected primigravidae suggests a protective role of these antibodies in this susceptible group, highlighting the importance of VAR2CSA in general and of some of its variants still to be defined, in the induction of protective immunity to pregnancy malaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]