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A series of hierarchical Cd-Ni-MOF micro/nanostructures were fabricated, and the samples which were composed of thin nanosheets alone exhibited the best photocatalytic H2 evolution rate.

Dimethoxyethane-based electrolytes with high K salt concentration achieves stable cycling of SnS2-containing composite in potassium-ion batteries.

To suppress the edge crack of the magnesium alloy sheet during the ordinary rolling process, a new rolling process named width-limited rolling was proposed in this paper. Width-limited rolling is a rolling method in which the width of the alloy sheet is limited by modifying the shape of the rollers, allowing a compressive stress field to form at the edge portion of the alloy sheet during rolling, resulting in the reduction of edge cracks. At present work, magnesium alloy sheets were separately subjected to ordinary rolling and width-limited rolling. The microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of the rolled sheets were investigated by EBSD, TEM, and XRD. The results exhibited that under the same rolling conditions, the sheet after ordinary rolling exhibited obvious edge cracks while no crack was found at the edge of the sheet after width-limited rolling. The edge crack suppressing effect was attributed to the reduction of the tensile stress along rolling direction during WLR, promoting the synchronous extension of the edge and center regions to suppress edge crack tendency. Microstructure observation showed that the compressive twins formed in the sheet after ordinary rolling usually exhibited as thin plates and cannot continue to fully develop due to the premature generation of the edge cracks. However, the compressive twins developed maturely in some of which double twins formed and various slip systems with different dislocation Burgers vectors occurred in the rolled sheet after WLR. More twin intersections and shear bands, providing more potential recrystallization nucleation sites, which are beneficial to weaken basal texture. With the cooperation of twinning and dislocation slip, the texture of the sheet after the width-limited rolling is weakened and the mechanical properties are improved.

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Purpose:Flumatinib has been shown to be a more potent inhibitor of BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase than imatinib. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of flumatinib versus imatinib, for first-line treatment of chronic phase Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-CP).Patients and Methods:In this study, 394 patients were randomized 1:1 to flumatinib 600 mg once daily (n = 196) or imatinib 400 mg once daily (n = 198) groups.Results:The rate of major molecular response (MMR) at 6 months (primary endpoint) was significantly higher with flumatinib than with imatinib (33.7% vs. 18.3%; P = 0.0006), as was the rate of MMR at 12 months (52.6% vs. 39.6%; P = 0.0102). At 3 months, the rate of early molecular response (EMR) was significantly higher in patients receiving flumatinib than in those receiving imatinib (82.1% vs. 53.3%; P < 0.0001). Compared with patients receiving imatinib, more patients receiving flumatinib achieved molecular remission 4 (MR4) at 6, 9, and 12 months (8.7% vs. 3.6%, P = 0.0358; 16.8% vs. 5.1%, P = 0.0002; and 23.0% vs. 11.7%, P = 0.0034, respectively). No patients had progression to accelerated phase or blast crisis in the flumatinib arm versus 4 patients in the imatinib arm by 12 months. Adverse events of edema, pain in extremities, rash, neutropenia, anemia, and hypophosphatemia were more frequent in imatinib arm, whereas diarrhea and alanine transaminase elevation were more frequent in flumatinib arm.Conclusions:Patients receiving flumatinib achieved significantly higher rates of responses, and faster and deeper responses compared with those receiving imatinib, indicating that flumatinib can be an effective first-line treatment for CML-CP. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02204644.See related commentary by Müller, p. 3

AEs of interest and laboratory abnormalities: Forest plot comparing rate differences (all grades) for flumatinib and imatinib. AEs were assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse. Events (NCI-CTCAE version 4.03). Abbreviation: QTc, Electrocardiogram QT corrected interval.

KFSI salt as an additive in electrolyte can enable highly reversible and nondendritic plating–stripping of Na metal anodes.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. Aβ1‑42 is significantly associated with memory deficits and it can increase the level of acetylcholine, promote the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and cause cognitive dysfunction. Isorhapontigenin (ISO) is a stilbene derivative that has antioxidant, anti‑tumor, and anti‑inflammatory effects. However, it is still unclear whether ISO can affect β‑amyloid‑associated cognitive impairments. In this study, we found that ISO improved cognitive dysfunction induced by Aβ1‑42 in rats. It inhibited the Aβ‑induced activation of M1 microglia and reduced the release of inflammatory cytokines. It alleviated amyloid beta‑induced oxidative stress and led to an overall improvement in AD symptoms. Cellularly, we found that ISO alleviated Aβ‑induced inflammation and oxidative stress by activating the PI3K/AKT/GSK‑3β pathway and ultimately improved cognitive dysfunction in AD rats.

To optimize the formability and strength of hot-rolled Fe-10Mn-0.4C-2Al-0.6 V medium Mn steel, intercritical quenching and tempering processes were carried out. The strength of the steel was enhanced, and the Ludders platform was eliminated. The higher strength of the steel was attributed to the occurrence of a complex twinning effect, martensitic transformation and V-carbide precipitation during tensile deformation. In particular, the twin martensite structure retained after the quenching-tempering process served as another previous twin to accelerate the generation of nanomechanical twins in recrystallized austenite grain. The occurrence of transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) of austenite with poor stability in non-recrystallized regions stimulated the TRIP and twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) effects in austenite with high stability in recrystallized regions. Therefore, two pathways to improve the formability and optimize the mechanical properties of medium Mn steel by adjusting the quenching and tempering processes were proposed in this paper: (1) Manufacturing more martensite twin structures and (2) regulating the balance of austenite stability in both recrystallized and non-recrystallized regions.

Aim: This study explored new immunoadjuvants with stronger immune activity to enhance therapeutic effects against leukemia. Materials & methods: Whole blood and bone marrow of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and healthy volunteers were collected. Isolated mononuclear cells were treated with two newly designed CpG oligodeoxynucleotides, CpG sequence 13 and 19, and known CpG oligodeoxynucleotides and analyzed via flow cytometry. Results: CpG Seq 13 and 19 possess strong immune activation and enhance the proliferation, degranulation and cytotoxicity of T cells. They also inhibit AML cell proliferation. When CpG Seq 13/19 are combined with anti-OX40 antibodies, the cytotoxicity of T cells on AML cells are further enhanced. Conclusion: CpG Seq 13 and 19 are strong immune adjuvant candidates for AML treatment.

Our previous research has shown that monocytic leukemia-associated antigen-34 (MLAA-34) was a novel antiapoptotic molecule with unique expression in acute monocytic leukemia (M5), making it an ideal target for T-cell-based immunotherapy. Here, we sought to identify HLA-A*0201-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitope of MLAA-34 by reverse immunology. In all, 10 HLA-A*0201 restricted epitopes of MLAA-34 were predicted by bioinformatics. MLAA-34324-332, MLAA-34293-301, and MLAA-34236-244 showed the strongest HLA-A*0201-binding affinity. The percentages of HLA-A*0201-MLAA-34236-244 tetramer+ CD8+ T cells in MLAA-34236-244-induced CTLs were raised apparently. Enzyme-linked immunospot showed that MLAA-34236-244 and MLAA-34324-332-specific CTLs produced a higher amount of interferon-γ. MLAA-34236-244-induced CTLs presented a stronger cytotoxic effect on THP-1 cells (HLA-A*0201+MLAA-34+) at various effector to target ratios. MLAA-34236-244 peptide vaccine could inhibit the tumor growth and improve mean survival time of leukemia-bearing human peripheral blood lymphocyte reconstituting severe combined immunodeficient mice. Mice immunized with MLAA-34236-244 vaccine had increased percentages of MLAA-34236-244 tetramer+ CD8+ T cells in the spleen after each round of immunization. High-purity CD8+ and CD4+ T cells were sorted by Dynabeads as effector cells. The killing activity of CD8+ T cells was higher than that of CD4+ T cells. CTLs derived from the MLAA-34 peptide vaccine group were significantly higher than other therapeutic groups and showed specific cytotoxicity to THP-1 cells. Increased interferon-γ and interleukin (IL)-2 and decreased IL-10 and IL-4 were seen in the MLAA-34236-244 peptide vaccine group. MLAA-34236-244 peptide (ILDRHNFAI) is an effective HLA-A*0201-restricted CTL epitope and that it may serve as a promising strategy in designing antigen-specific immunotherapy against MLAA-34-positive acute monocytic leukemia.

SiCp/Mg composites, where a minor amount of SiCp was added to the pure Mg, were fabricated in this work to eliminate the influence of precipitates and determine the effect of the particle deformation zone on the microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of the Mg matrix. The results show that the dynamically recrystallized ratio in the SiCp/Mg composite obviously improved because SiCp promoted the nucleation of DRX. Compared with those of the pure Mg, the SiCp/Mg composite had finer grain sizes and weaker basal textures. Even when only 1 vol.% SiCp was added to the pure Mg, the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation of pure Mg could be increased to 247.3 MPa, 260.36 MPa and 6.85%, respectively. Such high strength of the SiCp/Mg composite might attribute to the fine grain size as well as nano-MgO precipitates after the addition of a minor amount of SiCp.

Objective Studies have shown that the expression of CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is significantly upregulated in the airway epithelial cells of asthmatic patients, suggesting that CTCF may play an important role in the progression of asthma. Material/methods Human bronchial epithelial cells BEAS-2B were stimulated with transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) at a concentration of 10 ng/ml, and CTCF overexpression plasmid and CTCF small interfering RNA were transfected into the cells. The proliferation, apoptosis, inflammatory factor secretion, and airway remodeling marker protein expression of injured cells were detected. We bidirectionally regulated Galectin-7 expression in TGF-β1-induced BEAS-2B cells and overexpress CTCF, while interfering with Galectin-7 to further explore the regulatory effect of CTCF on Galectin-7. We introduced SP600125, a c-Jun N-terminal kinase c-Jun (JNK) pathway inhibitor, to investigate whether CTCF affects asthma progression through the JNK pathway. Results The expression of CTCF in BEAS-2B cells induced by TGF-β1 was significantly upregulated, interfering with CTCF expression promoted cell proliferation, inhibited apoptosis, reduced inflammatory factors secretion, and decreased the expression of airway remodeling marker protein. Luciferase reporter gene analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation verified that CTCF directly bound to Galectin-7 promoter. The effect of Galectin-7 on cells is consistent with the effect of CTCF on cells. The regulatory effect of CTCF on injured cells was indeed mediated by activation of the JNK/STAT3 axis. Conclusions CTCF transcriptionally regulated Galectin-7 and activated JNK/STAT3 axis to aggravate bronchial epithelial cell injury.

Determining the preferred orientation of plating film is of practical importance. In this work, the Rietveld method and quantitative texture analysis (RM+QTA) are used to analyze the preferred orientation of plating silver film with XRD profile, whose &lt, 311&gt, axial texture can be completely described by a set of exponential harmonics index, extracted from a single XRD profile, C41,1(0.609), C61,1(0.278), C81,1(−0.970). The constructed pole figures with the index of the exponential harmonic are following those measured by the multi-axis diffractometer. The method using exponential harmonic index can be extended to characterize the plating by electroplating in a quantitative harmonic description. In addition, a new dimension involving crystallite shape and size is considered in characterizing the preferred orientation.

Acute monocytic leukaemia (AML-M5) associated antigen-34 (MLAA-34) is a novel antigen overexpressed in patients with acute monocytic leukaemia. RNA interference is a promising therapy in oncology, especially for refractory acute leukaemia. In this study, we delivered MLAA-34 siRNA into AML-M5 THP-1 cells using CpG(B)-MLAA-34 siRNA conjugates, in the absence of any other transfection reagent. The uptake efficiency and the rate of apoptosis were measured by using flow cytometry. The level of relevant mRNAs was measured by quantitative PCR. THP-1 cell invasion was assessed by transwell assay. Protein expression was analysed by western blotting. The spleen and liver of AML-M5 nude mice were measured and weighted after euthanisation. Spleen sections were analysed by immunohistochemistry. We found that MLAA-34 siRNA was successfully delivered into THP-1 cells and induced MLAA-34 gene silencing via the blockade of JAK2/STAT3 and Wnt/-catenin signalling pathways. In addition, CpG(B)-MLAA-34 siRNA upregulated Gsk3β protein expression, resulting in retraining of the JAK2/STAT3 and Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathways. Importantly, CpG(B)-MLAA-34 siRNA reduced the survival and invasiveness of THP-1 cells. We further demonstrated that CAB39L was effectively downregulated by CpG(B)-MLAA-34 siRNA

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy is a novel cellular immunotherapy that is widely used to treat hematological malignancies, including acute leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. Despite its remarkable clinical effects, this therapy has side effects that cannot be underestimated. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is one of the most clinically important and potentially life-threatening toxicities. This syndrome is a systemic immune storm that involves the mass cytokines releasing by activated immune cells. This phenomenon causes multisystem damages and sometimes even death. In this study, we reported the management of a patient with recurrent and refractory multiple myeloma and three patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia who suffered CRS during CAR-T treatment. The early application of tocilizumab, an anti-IL-6 receptor antibody, according to toxicity grading and clinical manifestation is recommended especially for patients who suffer continuous hyperpyrexia, hypotensive shock, acute respiratory failure, and whose CRS toxicities deteriorated rapidly. Moreover, low doses of dexamethasone (5-10 mg/day) were used for refractory CRS not responding to tocilizumab. The effective management of the toxicities associated with CRS will bring additional survival opportunities and improve the quality of life for patients with cancer.

Co-doped TiO2 were usually synthesized by chemical method, which need complex steps and easily cause secondary pollution and not suitable for TiO2 nanotube arrays preparation. In this study, Cu,N co-doped TiO2 nanotube arrays (Cu,N-TNT) are prepared by a novel magnetron sputtering method. The morphology, structure and physicochemical property of the nanotubes was analyzed by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS and UV–vis-DR. The results indicate that the evenly doped copper is beneficial to the transformation from anatase to rutile and play a key role in the morphology of the Cu,N-TNT. Cu and N doping in the TNT not only influence the growth orientation of the TiO2 crystals, but also cause lattice distortion and result in wider interplanar spacing. Increasing the copper content promotes the orientation of anatase (004) crystal plane. However, excess copper content for Cu,N-TNT samples inhibits the nanotubes growth. The nanotube with proper Cu,N doping has less band gap and strongest absorption intensity in visible region, which benefit its physicochemical property. This study provides a new method for co-doping of TiO2 nanotubes.

Understanding the mechanisms of malignancy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell is important for the targeted treatment and drug development. We found that visfatin, a 52-kDa adipokine, can positively regulate the proliferation of AML cells. Targeted inhibition of visfatin via its specific siRNAs or inhibitor can suppress the proliferation of AML cells. Further, knockdown of visfatin can increase the doxorubicin (Dox) and cisplatin (CDDP) sensitivity of AML cells. Among the tested six cytokines, si-visfatin can decrease the expression of interleukin-17 (IL-17). Over expression of IL-17 can reverse si-visfatin suppressed cell proliferation and increased Dox sensitivity. The upregulation of IL-17 was also involved in visfatin induced activation of PI3K/Akt signals in AML cells. The inhibitor of PI3K/Akt can synergistically suppress the proliferation of HL60 cells which were transfected with si-visfatin. Knockdown of visfatin can increase the expression of miR-135a, which can bind to the 3'UTR of IL-17 and decrease its expression. The inhibitor of miR-135a can attenuate si-visfatin suppressed expression of IL-17 and proliferation of AML cells. Collectively, our data suggested that visfatin can increase the malignancy of AML cells via regulation of miR-135a/IL-17/PI3K/Akt signals.

The effects of cooling manner on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 27Cr–4Mo–2Ni ferritic stainless steel were investigated. It was found that the Laves phase (except for the TiN and N...

In this work, we report the synthesis of TiO2 nanotube arrays with Au nanocrystals (Au@TiO2) via magnetron sputtering and thermal annealing at 450 °C. The prepared TiO2 nanotube arrays are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The annealing leads to the formation of a layer of Au nanocrystals on the surface of TiO2 nanotubes and the dewetting of Au nanofilms on the top of TiO2 nanotube arrays. Using the Au@TiO2 nanotube arrays as anode material, we prepare lithium-ion half cells, and study the electrochemical performance of the lithium-ion half cells. The experimental results show that the lithium-ion half cells with the Au@TiO2 nanotube arrays prepared with the thickest Au film of 160 nm have the smallest charge-transfer resistance and the lithium-ion half cells with TiO2 nanotube arrays have the largest charge-transfer resistance. The specific capacity of the lithium-ion half cells with the Au@TiO2 nanotube arrays prepared with Au nanofilm of 120 nm is ~185 mAh·g−1, about twice of those with TiO2 nanotube arrays after 200 cycles. The Au nanocrystals in TiO2 nanotube arrays improve the cycle stability of the lithium-ion half cells with the Au@TiO2 nanotube arrays as anode material.

High tensile strength and large elongation are obtained by applying the Q&P process to the hot rolled or directly cold rolled AISI 430 ferritic stainless steels characterized by ferrite, twin martensite and retained austenite. Both the prior formed martensite during the quenching and the TRIP effect of the retained austenite account for the improved tensile strength and the retained austenite gives a promotion to the large elongation.

Hot-rolled 430 ferritic stainless steel samples were annealed at 840–1150 °C together with water or air cooling to study their microstructural evolutions, mechanical properties and corrosion resistances via a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD), tensile tests and immersion tests. The experimental results demonstrate that after annealing below 880 °C, the microstructure consists of ferrite grains and (Fe, Cr)23C6 particles at the grain boundaries, whereas abundant martensitic phase is observed at the grain boundaries after annealing above 950 °C. The ferrite grains coarsen as the annealing temperature increases. Martensitic transformation after high-temperature annealing results in a sharp increase in both the tensile strength and Vickers hardness and a substantial decrease in the elongation. Both the formation of (Fe, Cr) 23C6 particles and martensitic transformation at the grain boundaries are detrimental to the corrosion resistance in Cl-rich environments due to the Cr depletion in the ferrite among the (Fe, Cr) 23C6 particles. The annealed samples with water quenching show higher hardness and better corrosion resistance than that with air cooling. Annealing at intermediate temperatures (900–950 °C) and then cooling in air is an appropriate method for fabricating 430 ferritic stainless steel with good mechanical properties and high corrosion resistance.

Apoptosis of epithelial cells is regarded as the initial pathological process of many lung diseases, including asthma. Previous studies have identified that galectin-7 (Gal-7), a regulator of apoptosis, was overexpressed in bronchial epithelial cells in asthma. However, the effect and mechanism of Gal-7 in the progression of asthma is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the expression and role of Gal-7 in the apoptosis of bronchial epithelial cells BEAS-2B upon TGF-β1 stimulation. TGF-β1 significantly induced apoptosis of BEAS-2B cells, as determined by flow cytometry. Western blot results revealed that the mRNA and protein expression of Gal-7 were obviously increased after TGF-β1 stimulation. Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of Gal-7 abrogated TGF-β1-evoked cell apoptosis. Simultaneously, increased Bcl-2 expression, decreased Bax expression and the cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) and caspase-3 activity were also monitored in TGF-β1-treated cells after Gal-7 siRNA transfection. Gal-7 silence also inhibited TGF-β1-induced c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation in BEAS-2B cells. Furthermore, anisomycin, a specific activator for JNK, reversed the effect of Gal-7 siRNA on cell apoptosis induced by TGF-β1. These results demonstrate that Gal-7 silence attenuates TGF-β1-induced apoptosis in bronchial epithelial cells through the inactivation of JNK pathway. Therefore, Gal-7 may act as a potential target for asthma treatment.

Considering the widespread applications of TiO2 nanotube arrays in industry, we study the anodic growth of TiO2 nanotube arrays in an organic electrolyte consisting of water, NH4F, and ethylene glycol in the temperature range of 30 to 60 °C and in the voltage range of 30 to 50 V. The kinetic analysis reveals that the dominant mechanism controlling the growth of the TiO2 nanotubes is “field-induced dissolution”. The temperature dependence of the growth rates for the nanotube length and diameter follows the Arrhenius relationship. The activation energy for the length growth of the TiO2 nanotubes is much larger than that for the diameter growth, and is a linearly decreasing function of the anodization voltage. A power law relationship between the growth rate for the nanotube length and the anodization voltage is used to describe the length growth of the TiO2 nanotubes at steady state, which is supported by the experimental results. The diffraction patterns obtained from the fast Fourier transform analysis of the SEM images of the TiO2 nanotube arrays reveal the narrow-spatial distribution of the TiO2 nanotubes.