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Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by refractory hypoxemia caused by accumulation of pulmonary fluid with a high mortality rate, but the underlying mechanism is not yet fully understood, causing absent specific therapeutic drugs to treat with ARDS. In recent years, more and more studies have applied proteomics to ARDS. Non-targeted studies of proteomics in ARDS are just beginning and have the potential to identify novel drug targets and key pathways in this disease. This paper will provide a brief review of the recent advances in the application of non-targeted proteomics to ARDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by refractory hypoxemia caused by accumulation of pulmonary fluid with a high mortality rate, but the underlying mechanism is not yet fully understood, causing absent specific therapeutic drugs to treat with ARDS. In recent years, more and more studies have applied proteomics to ARDS. Non-targeted studies of proteomics in ARDS are just beginning and have the potential to identify novel drug targets and key pathways in this disease. This paper will provide a brief review of the recent advances in the application of non-targeted proteomics to ARDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the effect of the oxygenic groups on activated carbon on its hemocompatibility was studied by liquid-phase oxidation to introduce oxygenic groups on its surface and subsequent heat treatment under a nitrogen environment to remove these groups. Hemocompatibility was assessed through coagulation, hemolysis, platelet adhesion, and protein adsorption using rabbit blood samples. Results showed that an increasing presence of oxygenic groups improved hemocompatibility, evidenced by enhanced coagulation, reduced hemolysis, better platelet adhesion, and decreased fetal bovine serum protein adsorption. Conversely, the removal of oxygenic groups diminished hemocompatibility, except for coagulation when groups were removed at 250 ℃ for 15 min. Therefore, this research presents a promising route to enhance the hemocompatibility of activated carbon, offering insights into surface modification for improved biomaterial design. • Present a promising route to enhance the hemocompatibility of activated carbon. • An increasing presence of oxygenic groups improves hemocompatibility. • Removal of oxygenic groups confirmed effect oxygenic groups. • The improved hemocompatibility was discussed. • Removal of oxygenic groups at 250 ℃ for 15 min reduces blood coagulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metastasis is a major obstacle in treatment of cervical cancer, and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) mediated regulatory effect on associated genes expression is found to be involved in metastasis. However, its mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Materials and methods: Specimens from patients with cervical cancer metastasis and non-metastasis were used to screen out candidate non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and possible downstream targets. And then, effects were determined in vitro and in vivo through knockdown and overexpression techniques. Results: LINC00636 was significantly higher in serum and solid tumor cells of metastatic cervical cancer patients than non-metastatic patients. And knockdown of LINC00636 significantly suppressed invasion, proliferation of cervical cancer cells. NM23 expression was negatively regulated by LINC00636 and it mediated anti-tumor effects was partially blocked by overexpression of LINC00636. Conclusion: LINC00636 might promote metastasis of cervical cancer cells through inhibiting NM23 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C18H20ON4F12P2, triclinic, P1̄ (no. 2), a = 9.393(8) Å, b = 10.894(10) Å, c = 13.716(12) Å, α = 107.741(14)°, β = 100.379(15)°, γ = 92.869(14)°, V = 1306.7(19) Å3, Z = 2, Rgt(F) = 0.0916, wRref(F2) = 0.1970, T = 296(2) K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scutellarin (1) has been widely used to treat acute cerebral infarction in clinic, but poor aqueous solubility decreases its bioavailability. Interestingly, scutellarin (1) could be metabolized into scutellarein (2) in vivo. In this study, a sulfonic group was introduced at position C-8 of scutellarein (2) to enhance the aqueous solubility of the obtained derivative (3). DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl)-radical scavenging ability and antithrombic activity were also conducted to determine its bioactivity. The result showed that scutellarein derivate (3) could be a better agent for ischemic cerebrovascular disease treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To diagnose the state of stay cables, a vibration-based model-free damage diagnosis method of stay cables using the changes in natural frequencies is further proposed and validated. The structural frequency is rapidly and easily acquired; moreover, it is simple and reliable for damage diagnosis. The frequency would change after the stay cable is damaged, so the frequency change could be used as the damage index. However, the stay cables are very long in long-span cable-stayed bridges, and their frequencies are very small; the frequency change due to small damage of the stay cable would be submerged by the surrounding noise and error of parameter identification process. A temporary diagonal steel bar--based method is used to solve this issue. The steel bar is installed with one end on the stay cable close to the bottom anchor head and the other end on the bridge deck; thus, the stay cable is divided into a short part and a long part by the steel bar. The frequency of a stay cable with a given tension force increases with the decrease in its length; according to the qualitative analysis, the frequency of the short part increases dramatically, and the local frequency change of the short part due to the same damage in the whole stay cable is amplified dramatically; thus, the small damage of a stay cable can be diagnosed easily. Numerical simulations of a stay cable selected from a cable-stayed bridge and a laboratorial stay cable are used to validate the method and also give a recommended rule for design of the temporary diagonal steel bar; experimental validation has also been conducted. All the results indicate that the proposed method works very well in damage diagnosis of stay cables. The proposed method is an output-only, model-free, fast and economical damage diagnosis method for stay cables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of supersaturation induced by micelle formation during dissolution on the bioavailability of itraconazole (ITZ)/Soluplus® solid dispersion. Solid dispersions prepared by hot melt extrusion (HME) were compressed into tablets directly with other excipients. Dissolution behavior of ITZ tablets was studied by dissolution testing and the morphology of micelles in dissolution media was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Drug transferring from stomach into intestine was simulated to obtain a supersaturated drug solution. Bioavailability studies were performed on the ITZ tablets and Sporanox® in beagle dogs. The morphology of micelles in the dissolution media was observed to be spherical in shape, with an average size smaller than 100 nm.The supersaturated solutions formed by Soluplus® micelles were stable and no precipitation took place over a period of 180 min. Compared with Sporanox®, ITZ tablets exhibited a 2.50-fold increase in the AUC(0-96) of ITZ and a 1.95-fold increase in its active metabolite hydroxyitraconazole (OHITZ) in the plasma of beagle dogs. The results obtained provided clear evidence that not only the increase in the dissolution rate in the stomach, but also the supersaturation produced by micelles in the small intestine may be of great assistance in the successful development of poorly water-soluble drugs. The micelles formed by Soluplus® enwrapped the molecular ITZ inside the core which promoted the amount of free drug in the intestinal cavity and carried ITZ through the aqueous boundary layer (ABL), resulting in high absorption by passive transportation across biological membranes. The uptake of intact micelles through pinocytosis together with the inhibition of P-glycoprotein-mediated drug efflux in intestinal epithelia contributed to the absorption of ITZ in the gastrointestinal tract.These results indicate that HME with Soluplus®, which can induce supersaturation by micelle formation, may be of great assistance to the successful development of poorly watersoluble drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we reported an effective microfluidic-based method for fast continuous synthesis of monodisperse PEG/SiO2hybrid microspheres. The T-junction microfluidic chip equipped with rounded channels and the online photopolymerization system were applied for the microspheres microfabrication. The size of the microspheres was well controlled by the rounded channels and flow rate ratios of immiscrible fluids. We can obtain porous PEG microspheres when the hybrid microspheres were corroded by hydrofluoric acid. What's more, the interpenetrating polymer network structures of SiO2microspheres were obtained after the hybrid microspheres treated via a calcination process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Overexpression of foreign genes in Escherichia coli cells is an efficient means to obtain recombinant proteins. The technique is, however, often hampered by misfolding, degradation, aggregation and formation in inclusion bodies of products. Results In this study, we reported that in vivo solubility of overexpressed arginine deiminases (ADI) improved by changing the cultivation conditions. ADI is enzymes that convert L-arginine to L-citrulline. After codon optimization, we synthesized the ADI gene of Pseudomonas putida and constructed it for overexpression in E. coli cells. The rADI products were mainly in inclusion body forms. We performed a series of optimization to enhance solubility of the protein. Co-expression with the GroEL-GroES chaperone team increased approximately 5- fold of the rADI activity. In addition the combination of L-arginine and D-glucose in the Luria-Bertani (LB) growth medium further increased the total activity to about 15 times. Separate L-arginine and D-glucose or the addition of other saccharides or amino acids had no such effects. The solubilization effects of the combination of L-arginine and D-glucose were further confirmed in the overexpression of another ADI from Listeria welshimeri. The enzymatic and conversion characteristics of the rADI products were further determined. Conclusions Combined addition of L-arginine and D-glucose in the LB medium significantly improved in vivo solubility of rADI proteins. The present study suggested a new strategy to increase the solubilization of overexpressed recombinant proteins in E. coli cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new organic-inorganic hybrid materials based on Mo-polyoxometalates and N-heterocycle templates, namely [Ag3(DIE)6][Mo12O36·ClO4]2·Cl (1), and [(IM)4NH4] [Mo12O36·ClO4] (2) [DIE = 1,2-diimidazoloethane, IM = imidazole] have been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 1 and 2 possess the classical keggin-type heteropolyoxoanion with Cl as the center atom, and this is the first case. IR spectroscopy and gravimetric analysis were performed to further characterize these compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines and compares the two loading systems and their associated energy and basic stress fields in elastic crustal rock mass for the cause of tectonic earthquakes. The first loading system is an external loading system and associated with the conventional earthquake cause hypothesis of active fault elastic rebounding. The second is a combined loading system where the first external loading system is added with a dense gas loading in the interior of deep crustal rock faults/defects. It is associated with the methane gas hypothesis for the cause of tectonic earthquakes. Five elastic stresses in rock solids with some idealized faults and caverns are presented to illustrate the similarities and differences of the stress fields and the possible rupture failure modes in association of the two loading systems. The theoretical results can show that any changes in the local stress concentrations due the external loading alone can be reflected and noticed in the corresponding stresses at the far field. On the other hand, any changes in the local stress concentrations due to the internal gas loading cannot be observed and distinguished in the tectonic stress field at the far distance. These theoretical results can be used to well explain the consensus of earthquake unpredictability with present technology. The theoretical results can further show that the external tectonic loading alone can only cause shear ruptures in crustal fault rocks with high compressive stresses, and such shear rupture or frictional failure is also difficult to occur because its shear plane has extremely high compressive normal stress. The combined loading can cause not only shear ruptures, but also tensile ruptures in crustal fault rocks, and such shear and tensile ruptures occur much easier since the rupture plane can have very low compressive or even high-tensile normal stress. It is argued that the earthquake energy is the volumetric expansion energy of dense gas mass escaped from the deep traps along crustal rock faults. The migration and expansion of the escaped dense gas mass in the crustal rock faults and defects cause the seismic body waves, the ground sounding, the seismic surface waves, the ground co-seismic ruptures and damages. Its rapid migration and expansion in thick water cause tsunamis in lakes and oceans. Its rapid migration and expansion in the atmosphere cause the sky to become cloudy. The dense methane gas is produced every day in the mantle and core of the Earth, migrates outward and accumulates and stores beneath the lower crustal rock in high compression. It forms a thin spherical layer of dense methane gas separating the cold crustal rocks and the hot mantle materials. Its leaking along deep faults or plate boundaries causes earthquakes and supplies to shallow gas and oil reservoirs beneath secondary traps in adjacent basins of the upper crustal rock mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Eleven polyoxometallates were synthesized by the cation-templated self-assembly. [•] These compounds were all composed of methylimidazolium cations and polyacid anions. [•] The anion fraction could take on α-, β-, γ-[Mo8O26]4− or [Mo6O19]2− anion cluster. [•] In complexes 10 and 11 there coexist two kinds of polyoxomolybdate anions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trication-templated assembly of POMs resulted in an unprecedented ι-type octamolybdate configuration. The ι-[Mo8O26]4− cluster is composed of five {MoO6} octahedra and three {MoO4} tetrahedra via an edge-sharing and corner-sharing arrangement to form a cabas-like cluster, which represents the ninth isomer of octamolybdates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six novel molybdenum hybrid materials based on a flexible multidentate ligand, namely (H3tib)4(β-Mo8O26)3·5H2O (1), (H3tib)2[Cu(H2O)2(γ-Mo8O26)2]·2H2O (2), [Cu(Htib)2(δ-Mo8O26)]·4H2O (3), [Cu2(tib)2(H2O)2(γ-Mo8O26)]·H2O (4), (H3tib)2[Co(H2O)2(γ-Mo8O26)2]·2H2O (5), and Zn(tib)(MoO4)·3H2O (6) (where tib = 1,3,5-tris(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene), have been synthesized at different pH values under hydrothermal conditions. Their structures have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and further characterized by PXRD, TGA, IR spectra, and electrochemistry. Compound 1 is a supramolecule with classical β-Mo8O26 cages. Compounds 2 and 5 exhibit a rare one-dimensional (1D) molybdenum oxide duplex chain. We have not yet found any other examples of the two adjacent 1D molybdenum oxide chains linked together through the centers of the Cu/Co cations. In 3, the CuII cations are bridged by Htib+ ligands and (δ-Mo8O26)4− anions to form an interesting two-dimensional (2D) layer. In 4, the CuIIcations, tib ligands and (γ-Mo8O26)4− anions are connected to form a 2D layer, which is further reinforced by the tib ligands through an Mo–N bond. Compound 6 is a 2D coordination polymer possessing a high thermal stability. The structural diversities of 2–4 reveal that the pH value of the reaction system, the metal coordination preference and the ligand configuration play a crucial role in the assembly of POM-based complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self-assembly reaction of metal halides with DDTD dication (DDTD = 5,8 -Diazoniadispiro[4.2.4.2] tetradecane) yielded three novel organic-inorganic hybrid mental halides (DDTD)[Zn(N3)3Cl] (1), (DDTD)[Hg2Br6] (2), and (DDTD)[Cd4(N3)6(Cl)8] (3), which are characterized by X-ray crystallography and IR spectroscopy. The crystal structures of 1–3 show that they all crystallize in monoclinic systems. Compound 1 is mononuclear complex, compound 2 is binuclear complex, and compound 3 is a tetranuclear polymer. These compounds contained a variety of inorganic frameworks, due to the different coordinated modes of metal centers with halogen, which accordingly led to the change of the C-H···Cl(Br) interactions in the complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kato theorem for abstract differential equations is applied to establish the local well-posedness of the strong solution for a nonlinear generalized Novikov equation in space C([0,T),Hs(R)) ∩ C1([0,T),Hs-1(R)) with s>(3/2). The existence of weak solutions for the equation in lower-order Sobolev space Hs(R) with 1 ≤ s ≤ (3/2) is acquired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of intermittent high glucose (IHG) and sustained high glucose (SHG) on inducing β-cell apoptosis and the potential involved mechanisms, INS-1 beta cells were incubated for 72 h in the medium containing different glucose concentrations: control (5.5mmol/L), SHG (33.3mmol/L), and IHG (5.5mmol/L and 33.3mmol/L glucose alternating every 12 h). Cell viability, apoptosis rate, and oxidative-stress markers were determined. The results showed that the apoptosis induced by IHG was more obvious than that by SHG. Simultaneously, the intracellular level of oxidative stress was more significantly increased in INS-1 cells exposed to IHG. These findings suggest that intermittent high glucose could be more deleterious to β-cell than a constant high concentration of glucose, this may be due to the aggravation of oxidative stress triggered by intermittent high glucose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Rock mass characterization is one of the most basic and important tasks in rock mechanics and engineering. Literature review indicates that although there are many publications available on weathered rocks, there are few reports in English on weathered argillaceous limestone rocks and their chemical and mechanical properties. This paper presents a case study of characterizing a group of highly weathered thick argillaceous limestone rocks. Most importantly, they can be easily and quickly decomposed into soils after they are exposed due to excavation. Consequently, they would substantially lose their mechanical strengths. Geohazards such as landslides and sinkholes could occur in uncovered highly weathered argillaceous limestone rocks. The problematic weathered rocks were found during the development of a new town in upper mountains above the Three Gorges Reservoir on Yangtze River in Central China in the past 20 years. The factual data are presented on the changes of chemical compositions and mechanical properties of the weathered argillaceous limestone rocks due to chemical weathering. Some empirical correlations are given to quantify the changes in their uniaxial compressive strength and deformation moduli in terms of their contents of calcium carbonate. The data and findings presented in the paper can be useful to future urban development in geologically poor mountainous environments occupied by highly weathered argillaceous limestone rocks in the world. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The soil–rock mixture (SRM) is a kind of inhomogeneous geomaterial, which poses difficulties of in situ sample acquisition and in laboratory geomaterial tests; hence, the study of the SRM''s mechanical properties is still at an early stage. In this paper, the technique of digital image processing based on the finite element method (DIP-FEM) is introduced to study SRMs in the Leaping Tiger Gorge Reservoir Area, China. Based on the DIP, the mesostructural characteristics of the SRM are analyzed statistically. The mesostructural concept model of SRM that can actually represent the inhomogeneity of SRM is built. By using geometry vectorizaiton transformation, the mesostructural model of SRM in the binary image format has been translated into a vector format (such as DWG or DXF format) which can be imported into the finite element software. By using the finite element method, two large-scale direct shear tests of inhomogeneous SRM and homogeneous soil are simulated. The numerical results indicate that the existence of “rock” blocks in SRM will greatly influence the distribution and the failure models of the internal stress field. As a result, three kinds of failure models of the SRM are put forward. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Terephthalic acid, which is a main component in alkali-decrement wastewater, is efficiently removed using ferric chloride in high pH solutions. About 90% removal of terephthalic acid is achieved at pH between 8 and 11. Especially, the removal reached 94.3% at pH 11. However, as the pH increased from pH 12 and 13, the low removal of terephthalic acid were found. The increasing ferric chloride dosage had a dramatic positive impact on the achieved removal of terephthalic acid. Further increase in the ferric chloride dosage did not produce better removal rate. The increase of terephthalic acid concentration also led to the increase of ferric chloride dosage in order to get the same removal of terephthalic acid. There was approximately a negative linear relationship between terephthalic acid concentration and removal of terephthalic acid. Compared with other coagulants, it can be seen that ferric chloride is more effective in a high pH solution and the amount of ferric chloride required is also less as compared with aluminum chloride, magnesium chloride and calcium chloride. Our results clearly showed that terephthalate anions strongly binds to positive Fe(OH)3 flocs and forms insoluble complexes, probably through a mechanism involving electrostatic attraction. The electrostatic attraction may be particularly useful means of purifying wastewater in high pH solutions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cellulolytic myxobacterium Sorangium can efficiently degrade cellulose materials. The cellulolytic activities are linked to cellular surfaces and organized into a large complex, which is presumed to be the protuberant structures that were found on the growing cell surfaces. The separated cellulolytic complex was determined to be 1000–2000kDa from gel chromatogram, and contained at least cellulase and xylanase activities. The separated complex was unstable and could release smaller fractions when they stored in solution at refrigerator. There were more than ten bands on SDS-PAGE after the complex was heat-treated with SDS. The HPLC chromatogram of the complex on DIOL-300 column also supports the result. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether)s 7a–f were directly synthesized by aromatic nucleophilic polycondensation of bisphthalazinone 4 with the mixture of sulfonated dihalide 5 and non-modified dihalide 6 via N–C coupling reaction. The sulfonated polymers were characterized by 1H NMR, elemental analysis and other technologies. Because of their specially designed molecular structure, the novel sulfonated polymers showed excellent thermal and oxidative stability. The sulfonated polymers also had reasonable water affinity and moderate proton conductivity for the usage in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Display Omitted [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reactive Red 195, which is an azoic anionic dye characterized by the presence of five sulfonic groups and one azoic group, is efficiently removed using chitosan. The increasing chitosan dose had a dramatic positive impact on the achieved color removal, there was approximately a linear relationship between chitosan dose and color removal of dye before color removal reach maximum. Also, the increase of dye concentration led to the increase of chitosan dosage in order to get the same color removal. 92 mg/L of chitosan dosage was sufficient to achieve complete remove of dye at initial concentration of dye at 200 mg/L. For the higher concentrations of dye, high dosages were necessary to reach complete color removal. On the other hand, the use of adsorption interferents (Fe^{2+}, Na^+, HCO_3^- and others) can be interesting, addition of ions had effect on the color removal of Reactive Red 195. Comparing with blank, addition of chemical species approximately decreased the color removal except Na^+ and combination of Fe^{2+} + HCO_3^-. However, comparing with Fe^{2+} alone and HCO_3^- alone, combination of Fe^{2+} + HCO^-_3 increased the color removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth, morphology, and life cycle of two marine myxobacterial isolates, halotolerant Myxococcus fulvus strain HW-1 and halophilic Haliangium ochraceum strain SMP-2, were studied as models to determine the living patterns of myxobacteria in the ocean. The growth, morphology, and development of halotolerant strain HW-1 shifted in response to salinity. The optimal seawater concentration for growth of HW-1 was 0 to 80% (salinity, 0.1 to 2.9%), and the strain grew poorly in media with a salinity of more than 4%. The cells became shorter as the seawater concentration increased. The fruiting body structure was complete only on agar prepared with low concentrations of seawater or salts (less than 60% seawater; salinity, 2.1%), and rudimentary structures or even simple cell mounds appeared as the seawater concentration increased. In contrast, the halophilic strain SMP-2 was unable to grow without NaCl. The cell length and the morphology of the fruiting body-like structure did not change in response to salts. In seawater liquid medium, the cells of both strains were confirmed to be able to form myxospores directly from vegetative cells, but they could not do so in medium containing a Iow seawater concentration (10% or less). HW-1 cells from medium containing a high concentration of seawater grew independent of cell density, while cells from medium containing a Iow concentration of seawater (10% or less) showed density-dependent growth. SMP-2 cells showed density-dependent growth under all salinity conditions. The results suggest that the halotolerant myxobacteria are the result of degenerative adaptation of soil myxobacteria to the marine environment, while the halophilic myxobacteria form a different evolutionary group that is indigenous to the ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of β-cyclodextrins (β-CDs) on the enzymatical hydrolysis of chiral dichlorprop methyl ester (DCPPM) was studied.Four kinds of β-cyclodextrins (β-cyclodextrin, Partly methylated-CD (PM-β-CD), hydroxypropyl-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and carboxymethyl-cyclodextrin (CM-β-CD) ) were used. Compared with 100% DCPPM in the absence of β-cyclodextrins, the activity of lipase decreased with the increase of β-cyclodextrin and PM-β-cyclodextrin. However, CM-β-cyclodextrin stimulated the lipase activity. The inhibition effect of β-cyclodextrin and PM-β-cyclodextrin on the hydrolysis of DCPPM is affected by many factors other than degree of the methylation blocking the active site of lipase. UV-Vis and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy studies of the complexation of aqueous DCPPM with β-CDs provide fresh insight into the molecular structure of the complex and explain the effects of β-CDs on enzymatical hydrolysis of chiral DCPPM. Data showed that inclusion complexes had formed by complexation of the CM-β-CD with DCPPM and the solubility of DCPPM was increased in water, which leaded to the increased lipase activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrolytic degradation of the herbicide diclofop-methyl was investigated in the multi-pH deionized water, natural aquatic systems and soil suspensions. Resulting data indicated that the herbicide was stable in the acidic and nearly neutral solutions for at least 15 d. The herbicide diclofop-methyl rapidly dissipated in the natural aquatic systems and soil suspensions with half-lives less than 4 d. Methyl-CD (partially methylated β-cyclodextrin) improved its hydrolytic degradation in the pH 8 deionized water and natural aquatic systems while humic acid inhibited its hydrolytic degradation at the same conditions. But dissolved organic matter in the natural aquatic systems and soil suspensions increased its hydrolysis. Two catalysis mechanisms were introduced to describe the effects of cyclodextrin and organic matter on its hydrolytic metabolism. Though inorganic ions maybe improved its hydrolysis reaction in the natural aquatic systems, Fe^{2+} and Cu^{2+} did not form complexes with the herbicide and had poor influences on its hydrolytic degradation whether cyclodextrin was added or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acute and chronic toxic effects of bifenthrin on Daphnia magna were studied. The results showed that 24 h-EC50, 48 h-LC50 and 96 h-LC50 of bifenthrin on D. magna were 3.24, 12.40 and 1.40 μg/L respectively. And the LOEC and NOEC of bifenthrin were 0.02 and 0.004 μg/L respectively. The recovery test of bifenthrin on Daphnia magna was presented. Daphnia magna ( F0 generation) were exposed during 21 d to different bifenthrin concentrations. Offspring (animals from the first and third brood: F1 (1st) and F1 (3rd), respectively) were transferred to a free pesticide medium during a 21 d recovery period. In this recovery study, survival, growth, reproduction( mean total young per female, onset of reproduction and number broods per female) and the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) were assessed as parameters. Reproduction such as number of young per female as well as length was still reduced in F1 (1st) generation daphnids from parentals ( F0) exposed to the bifenthrin. However F1 (3rd) individuals from parentals exposed to pesticide concentrations were able to restore reproduction when a recovery period of 21 d was allowed, but the length of F1 (3rd) from parentals exposed to the 0.5 and 0.75 μg/L bifenthrin concentration was still significantly effected( P < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ebola virus (EBOV) is a lethal pathogen causing hemorrhagic fever syndrome which remains a global health challenge. In the EBOV, two multifunctional proteins, VP35 and VP40, have significant roles in replication, virion assembly, and budding from the cell and have been identified as druggable targets. In this study, we employed in silico methods comprising molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulations, and pharmacological properties to identify prospective drugs for inhibiting VP35 and VP40 proteins from the myxobacterial bioactive natural product repertoire. Cystobactamid 934-2, Cystobactamid 919-1, and Cittilin A bound firmly to VP35. Meanwhile, 2-Hydroxysorangiadenosine, Enhypyrazinone B, and Sorangiadenosine showed strong binding to the matrix protein VP40. Molecular dynamic simulations revealed that, among these compounds, Cystobactamid 919-1 and 2-Hydroxysorangiadenosine had stable interactions with their respective targets. Similarly, molecular mechanics Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MMPBSA) calculations indicated close-fitting receptor binding with VP35 or VP40. These two compounds also exhibited good pharmacological properties. In conclusion, we identified Cystobactamid 919-1 and 2-Hydroxysorangiadenosine as potential ligands for EBOV that target VP35 and VP40 proteins. These findings signify an essential step in vitro and in vivo to validate their potential for EBOV inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covering: 2017.01 to 2023.11 Natural products biosynthesized by myxobacteria are appealing due to their sophisticated chemical skeletons, remarkable biological activities, and intriguing biosynthetic enzymology. This review aims to systematically summarize the advances in the discovery methods, new structures, and bioactivities of myxobacterial NPs reported in the period of 2017–2023. In addition, the peculiar biosynthetic pathways of several structural families are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a simple method for the isolation of salt-tolerant myxobacteria from marine conditions. As the results show in this paper, salt-tolerant myxobacteria are found to be able to grow, but unable to form fruiting bodies at high salt concentrations. The fruiting body structures of the salt-tolerant strains were all formed in conditions with lower seawater content, i.e. lower than 60% seawater (about 2.0% salt content) or distilled water supplemented with MgCl2. The method picked up the fruiting bodies for isolation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the practice of reclamation engineering, surcharge loading is gradually applied to preconsolidate soft clayed soil. The in situ drainage boundaries are usually not perfect and can be in a state between fully impermeable and permeable with time. Traditional consolidation theories for homogenous soil with drainage boundaries under instantaneous loading thus cannot provide accurate prediction of the consolidation behavior. This paper extends the one-dimensional consolidation solution by considering the multilayered inhomogeneity of soil, general time-dependent loading and continuous drainage boundaries. Laplace transform and a novel transfer matrix formulation developed in this paper are used to solve the problem. Analytical solutions of excess pore water pressure and average degree of consolidation are derived and expressed in term of inverse Laplace transform. Numerical results in the physical domain are obtained with the aid of Crump's algorithm. The present solutions are verified by comparing with the results in the literatures for some special cases, including multilayered soil and two-layered soils with continuous drainage boundaries under instantaneous loading. For the limiting case of homogenous soil, the present solution can analytically reduce to closed-form Terzaghi's solution. Parametric studies are performed using the new solutions to investigate the consolidation behavior of a four-layered soil. It is shown that the drainage boundary condition, loading path, and loading rate can have a considerable effect on the excess pore water pressure and average degree of consolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by refractory hypoxemia caused by accumulation of pulmonary fluid, which is related to inflammatory cell infiltration, impaired tight junction of pulmonary epithelium and impaired Na, K-ATPase function, especially Na, K-ATPase α1 subunit. Up until now, the pathogenic mechanism at the level of protein during lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced ARDS remains unclear. Methods: Using an unbiased, discovery and quantitative proteomic approach, we discovered the differentially expressed proteins binding to Na, K-ATPase α1 between LPS-A549 cells and Control-A549 cells. These Na, K-ATPase α1 interacting proteins were screened by co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) technology. Among them, some of the differentially expressed proteins with significant performance were identified and quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD032209. The protein interaction network was constructed by the related Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Several differentially expressed proteins were validated by Western blot. Results: Of identified 1598 proteins, 89 were differentially expressed proteins between LPS-A549 cells and Control-A549 cells. Intriguingly, protein–protein interaction network showed that there were 244 significantly enriched co-expression among 60 proteins in the group control-A549. while the group LPS-A549 showed 43 significant enriched interactions among 29 proteins. The related GO and KEGG analysis found evident phenomena of ubiquitination and deubiquitination, as well as the pathways related to autophagy. Among proteins with rich abundance, there were several intriguing ones, including the deubiquitinase (OTUB1), the tight junction protein zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), the scaffold protein in CUL4B-RING ubiquitin ligase (CRL4B) complexes (CUL4B) and the autophagy-related protein sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1). Conclusions: In conclusion, our proteomic approach revealed targets related to the occurrence and development of ARDS, being the first study to investigate significant differences in Na, K-ATPase α1 interacting proteins between LPS-induced ARDS cell model and control-A549 cell. These proteins may help the clinical diagnosis and facilitate the personalized treatment of ARDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hospice nurses may devote more emotional labor during the empathy process with patients, and this empathy can be used as a form of psychological behavior of emotional labor in the hospice care model. The aim of this study was to analyze hospice nurses' empathy characteristics in the context of emotional labor theory, and explore the impact of empathy on patient care. Methods: We conducted semi-participant observations from three hospitals and multicenter in-depth interviews with n = 26 hospice nurses from eight cities. Interviews were transcribed, and directed content analysis was applied. Results: Two categories with four sub-categories were extracted from the data analysis. Category 1 described the "empathic labor" process which covers cognitive empathy (including empathic imagination, empathic consideration, and empathic perception) and affective empathy (including natural empathy, surface empathy, and deep empathy). The second category concerns the outcome of nurses' "empathic labor" which incorporates both positive and negative effects. Conclusions: The findings indicated that hospice nurses' empathy process should be understood as emotional labor. Nursing managers should pay more attention to raising the ability of deep empathy with hospice nurses, and explore more sufficient active empowerment strategies to alleviate the negative impact of empathy on nurses and to strengthen nurses' deep empathy with terminal ill patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents case study of a 43-year-old man with hypertension and chest pain lasting for 3 hours. Electrocardiography revealed Q wave and ST segment elevation, and Thrombus aspiration and stent implantation was successfully performed in left anterior descending artery (LAD). The patient was treated with drugs including aspirin, clopidogrel, and tirofiban, and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) was used.

Aim: Glycoside hydrolases (GHs) encoded by prokaryotes play a crucial role in the degradation of carbohydrates, which is a key step in the carbon cycle. However, their global distribution remains poorly understood. Here, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of the global biogeographic patterns of prokaryotic‐encoded GHs. Location: Global. Time period: Present. Major taxa studied: Prokaryotes. Methods: We conducted a global survey of GH distribution based on 10,000 samples from the Earth Microbiome Project (EMP) and 17,923 completely sequenced prokaryotic genomes. The samples were retrieved from seven continents, covering all 17 EMP Ontology environments. We evaluated the assembly process and influencing factors of GH functional genes within prokaryotic communities, and analysed the rank abundance distributions (RADs), occupancy frequency distributions (OFDs), and taxonomic sources of GH families across various environments. Results: The median number of GH genes per thousand genes encoded by global prokaryotic communities was 9.11 (7.16–11.58), with a higher GH abundance in host‐associated communities than in free‐living communities. The median number of GH families in prokaryotic communities was 105 (86–121), with fewer families but tighter functional connections between families in host‐associated communities compared to free‐living communities. In any environment, the RAD of GH families followed a lognormal model, and their OFD was bimodal, with a strong positive correlation between the two. In addition, most GH families had complex and diverse taxonomic sources across different environments. Main conclusions: This study provides a panoramic view of the functional potentials for carbohydrate degradation across prokaryotic communities under diverse environmental conditions. The composition of GHs encoded by prokaryotic communities exhibits clear habitat specificity, which is driven by a combination of biotic and abiotic factors and generated through highly deterministic assembly processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on a case involving a 68-year-old Chinese woman with a replaced metal mitral valve who developed severe tricuspid valve insufficiency. Topics include the patient's history of mechanical mitral valve replacement, the transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) procedure using the LuX-Valve system, and the positive changes observed in the patient six months after TTVR through heart color ultrasound, chest computed tomography (CT).

This paper presents a class model for neutral-type bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks (NNS) with infinite distributed delay. The model extends and improves some recent works for BAM-NNS. Based on the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional (LKF) theory, the linear matrix inequality (LMI) method and some analysis techniques, the novel stability criteria for such model are obtained. Four numerical examples prove the validity and less conservativeness of the proposed criteria. The developed results are helpful to design of an actual system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 20-year-old man with fever and chest pain complaints who was taken to the emergency room due to pulmonary artery pseudoaneurysm, an uncommon disease entity. It notes that the patient had previously diagnosed with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) during his early childhood.

Whey protein powder (PP), which is mainly derived from bovine milk, is rich in milk fat globule membrane (MFGM). The MGFM has been shown to play a role in promoting neuronal development and cognition in the infant brain. However, its role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has not been elucidated. Here, we showed that the cognitive ability of 3×Tg-AD mice (a triple-transgenic mouse model of AD) could be improved by feeding PP to mice for 3 mo. In addition, PP ameliorated amyloid peptide deposition and tau hyperphosphorylation in the brains of AD mice. We found that PP could alleviate AD pathology by inhibiting neuroinflammation through the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ)–nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway in the brains of AD mice. Our study revealed an unexpected role of PP in regulating the neuroinflammatory pathology of AD in a mouse model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex polysaccharides (e.g. cellulose, xylan, and chitin), the most abundant renewable biomass resources available on Earth, are mainly degraded by microorganisms in nature. However, little is known about the global distribution of the enzymes and microorganisms responsible for the degradation of cellulose, xylan, and chitin in natural environments. Through large‐scale alignments between the sequences released by the Earth Microbiome Project and sequenced prokaryotic genomes, we determined that almost all prokaryotic communities have the functional potentials to degrade cellulose, xylan, and chitin. The median abundances of genes encoding putative cellulases, xylanases, and chitinases in global prokaryotic communities are 0.51 (0.17–1.01), 0.24 (0.05–0.57), and 0.33 (0.11–0.71) genes/cell, respectively, and the composition and abundance of these enzyme systems are environmentally varied. The taxonomic sources of the three enzymes are highly diverse within prokaryotic communities, and the main factor influencing the diversity is the community's alpha diversity index rather than gene abundance. Moreover, there are obvious differences in taxonomic sources among different communities, and most genera with degradation potentials are narrowly distributed. In conclusion, our analysis preliminarily depicts a panorama of cellulose‐, xylan‐, and chitin‐degrading enzymatic systems across global prokaryotic communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigated the association between abnormal matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression and bladder cancer (BC) development.Materials and Methods: In a retrospective analysis, this study used tissue samples derived from 92 patients pathologically diagnosed with BC (experimental group), who were hospitalized between September 2012 and June 2014 at the Urinary Surgery of Department of Urology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital. As controls (control group), 63 normal pericancerous bladder mucosal tissues (3 cm distant form edge of BC foci) with confirmed pathology were selected from the same time period. Immunohistochemistry was employed to detect MMP-9 protein expression in the tissues and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to measure MMP-9 protein levels in tissue samples of patients and control subjects. Finally, a meta-analysis was conducted to understand the overall impact of MMP-9 on BC pathogenesis. STATA 12.0 software (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA) was used for all statistical analyses.Results: The MMP-9 positive expression rate in tissue samples and MMP-9 levels were significantly greater in the experimental group compared to the control group (both P < 0.001). The frequency of MMP-9 positive status showed statistically significant differences between G1 (low-grade) and G3 (high-grade) (P < 0.001), between G2 and G3 (P < 0.05), and between G1/G2 and G3 (P = 0.001). Our meta-analysis findings provided further evidence that MMP-9 positive expression status and MMP-9 levels in the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group (positive expressions: Odds ratio [OR] = 18.59, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 11.63-29.71, P < 0.001; expression levels: Standard mean difference = 1.51, 95%CI = 0.63-2.39, P = 0.001). The positive expression status of MMP-9 was notably lower in G1/G2 compared to G3 (OR = 0.24, 95%CI = 0.15-0.36, P < 0.001).Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that both positive expression status in tumor tissue and expression levels of MMP-9 are significantly elevated in BC patients and correlate with disease progression. Thus, MMP-9 can serve as a biomarker to determine the degree of BC malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To examine the associations of Intimate partner violence (IPV) with stress-related sleep disturbance (measured using the Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test [FIRST]) and poor sleep quality (measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) during early pregnancy. Methods This cross-sectional study included 634 pregnant Peruvian women. In-person interviews were conducted in early pregnancy to collect information regarding IPV history, and sleep traits. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated using logistic regression procedures. Results Lifetime IPV was associated with a 1.54-fold increased odds of stress-related sleep disturbance (95% CI: 1.08-2.17) and a 1.93-fold increased odds of poor sleep quality (95% CI: 1.33-2.81). Compared with women experiencing no IPV during lifetime, the aOR (95% CI) for stress-related sleep disturbance associated with each type of IPV were: physical abuse only 1.24 (95% CI: 0.84-1.83), sexual abuse only 3.44 (95%CI: 1.07-11.05), and physical and sexual abuse 2.51 (95% CI: 1.27-4.96). The corresponding aORs (95% CI) for poor sleep quality were: 1.72 (95% CI: 1.13-2.61), 2.82 (95% CI: 0.99-8.03), and 2.50 (95% CI: 1.30-4.81), respectively. Women reporting any IPV in the year prior to pregnancy had increased odds of stress-related sleep disturbance (aOR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.17-3.67) and poor sleep quality (aOR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.30-3.97) during pregnancy. Conclusion Lifetime and prevalent IPV exposures are associated with stress-related sleep disturbance and poor sleep quality during pregnancy. Our findings suggest that sleep disturbances may be important mechanisms that underlie the lasting adverse effects of IPV on maternal and perinatal health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(propylene carbonate phthalate) (PPC-P) is a chemically modified poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) biodegradable thermoplastic by introducing phthalic anhydride (PA) as the third monomer into the copolymerization of propylene oxide (PO) and CO2. To enhance the thermal and mechanical properties of PPC-P, a branching agent pyromellitic anhydride (PMDA) was introduced into the terpolymerization of PO, PA and CO2. The resulting copolymers with branched structure, named branched PPC-P, can be obtained using metal-free Lewis pair consisting of triethyl borane (TEB) and bis(triphenylphosphine)iminium chloride (PPNCl) as catalyst. The products obtained were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy and their thermal, mechanical properties and melt processability were evaluated by DSC, TGA, tensile test and melt flow index (MFI) measurement. The obtained branched PPC-P has a high molecular weight up to 156.0 kg·mol−1. It shows an increased glass transition temperature (Tg) higher than 50 °C and an enhanced tensile strength as high as 38.9 MPa. Noteworthily, the MFI value decreases obviously, indicative of an improved melt strength arising from the branched structure and high molecular weight. What is more, the branched PPC-P exhibits reasonable biodegradability, which demonstrates the great potential as a new green thermoplastic for the family of biodegradable plastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection and characterization of low-level protein modifications in a complex system without a methodology for modification enrichment is a very challenging task. This study describes a high-resolution LC/MS-based background subtraction methodology for the unbiased detection and identification of acetaminophen-bound proteins formed in incubations with mouse liver microsomes. The microsomal incubations were conducted using both acetaminophen and [13C2,15N]acetaminophen at a drug concentration of 200 μM. After tryptic digestion and high-resolution LC/MS analysis, data from the two drug treatment groups were each background-subtracted against the other. Thus, peptide signals that were identical in both groups were effectively canceled out, and drug-bound peptide peaks, differing in masses between the groups because of the isotopic mass shift, were retained after background subtraction and became highlighted in the resultant base peak ion chromatograms. Follow-up MS/MS experiments with these drug-bound peptides led to the identification of three acetaminophen-bound proteins: microsomal glutathione S-transferase, oligosaccharyltransferase subunit ribophorin I, and argininosuccinate synthetase. These initial findings demonstrate the utility of the methodology and may shed new light on the mechanism of acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity. The approach is potentially applicable to similar tasks of identification of protein modifications in other complex biological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Antepartum depression is one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in the prenatal period. There is accumulating evidence for the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the pathophysiology of depression. The present study examines the extent to which maternal early pregnancy serum BDNF levels are associated with antepartum depression. Method: A total of 968 women were recruited and interviewed in early pregnancy. Antepartum depression prevalence and symptom severity were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale. Maternal serum BDNF levels were measured using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Logistic regression procedures were performed to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) adjusted for confounders. Results: Maternal early pregnancy serum BDNF levels were significantly lower in women with antepartum depression compared to women without depression (mean ± standard deviation [SD]: 20.78 ± 5.97 vs. 21.85 ± 6.42 ng/ml, p = 0.024). Lower BDNF levels were associated with increased odds of maternal antepartum depression. After adjusting for confounding, women whose serum BDNF levels were in the lowest three quartiles (<17.32 ng/ml) had 1.61-fold increased odds (OR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.30) of antepartum depression as compared with women whose BDNF levels were in the highest quartile (>25.31 ng/ml). There was no evidence of an association of BDNF levels with depression symptom severity. Conclusions: Lower maternal serum BDNF levels in early pregnancy are associated with antepartum depression. These findings may point toward new therapeutic opportunities and BDNF should be assessed as a potential biomarker for risk prediction and monitoring response to treatment for antepartum depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Metagenomics can tap the untapped biosynthetic potential of uncultivable microbes. • Metagenomic sequencing facilitates the discovery of microbial specialized metabolites. • We highlight the compounds discovered by metagenomics in recent five years. • We suggest approaches to realize the metagenomic sequencing-predicted chemistry. The advantage of metagenomics over the culture-based natural product (NP) discovery pipeline is the ability to access the biosynthetic potential of uncultivable microbes. Advances in DNA sequencing are revolutionizing conventional metagenomics approaches for microbial NP discovery. The genomes of (in)cultivable bugs can be resolved straightforwardly from environmental samples, enabling in situ prediction of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). The predicted chemical diversities could be realized not only by heterologous expression of gene clusters originating from DNA synthesis or direct cloning, but also potentially by bioinformatic-directed organic synthesis or chemoenzymatic total synthesis. In this review, we suggest that metagenomic sequencing in tandem with multidisciplinary approaches will form a versatile platform to shed light on a plethora of microbial 'dark matter'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the lack of supramolecular hybrids induced by the multivalent interactions, we conducted three integrations of trication or tetracation with thiocyanate via strict templated self-assembly. These compounds represent the first type of 2–3 dimensional multi-threading polypseudorotaxanes based on Cu6(SCN)6 macrocycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]