Search

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of using metronomic S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LANPC)., Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected data on patients diagnosed with LANPC between January 2016 and December 2021. All patients were treated with induction chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiotherapy with or without metronomic chemotherapy (MC). Toxicities during MC were recorded. The chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier methods, propensity score matching (PSM), and Cox proportional hazards model were used for statistical analyses., Results: A total of 474 patients were identified, including 64 (13.5%) and 410 (83.5%) patients with or without receiving MC, respectively. Patients who received metronomic S-1 had significantly better 3-year locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) (100% vs. 90.9%, p=0.038), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) (98.5% vs. 84.1%, p=0.002), disease-free survival (DFS) (98.4% vs. 77.5%, p < 0.001), and overall survival (OS) (98.0% vs. 87.7%, p=0.008) compared to those without metronomic S-1. The multivariate prognostic analysis revealed that metronomic S-1 was identified as an independent prognostic factor associated with better DMFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.074; p=0.010), DFS (HR, 0.103; p=0.002) and OS (HR, 0.127; p=0.042), but not in LRFS (p=0.071). Similar results were found using PSM. Common adverse events observed in the metronomic S-1 group included leukopenia, neutropenia, increased total bilirubin, anorexia, rash/desquamation, and hyperpigmentation. All patients with adverse events were grade 1-2., Conclusion: It is worth conducting a randomized controlled trial to assess the effect of metronomic S-1 on survival outcomes and toxicities of LANPC.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) in women is the most common malignancy worldwide, but there is still a lack of validated tools to accurately assess patient prognosis and response to available chemotherapy treatment regimens. Method: We collected ultrasound images and transcriptome data of BC from our breast center and public database. Key ultrasound features were then identified by using the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm and correlated with prognostic genes. Long-term survival-related genes were identified through differential expression analysis, and a prognostic evaluation model was established by using Cox regression. In addition, VPS28 from the model was identified as a promising biomarker for BC. Results: Using univariate logistic regression and SVM algorithms, we identified 12 ultrasound features significantly associated with chemotherapy response. Subsequent correlation and differential expression analyses linked 401 genes to these features, from which five key signature genes were derived using Lasso and multivariate Cox regression models. This signature not only facilitates the stratification of patients into risk-specific treatment pathways but also predicts their chemotherapy response, thus supporting personalized medicine in clinical settings. Notably, VPS28 , in the signature, emerged as a significant biomarker, strongly associated with poor prognosis, greater tumor invasiveness, and differing expression across demographic groups. Conclusion: In this study, we use ultrasound genomics to reveal a signature that can provide an effective tool for prognostic assessment and predicting chemotherapy response in patients with BC.

Endocrine therapy has become the fundamental treatment option for hormone receptor-positive (HR + ) and receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2-negative (HER2 - ) metastatic breast cancer (mBC). While treatments incorporating cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)4 and 6 inhibitors are more prevalent than ever, comparisons among those regimens are scarce. The aim of the present study was to identify the most effective maintenance treatment for patients with HR + and HER2 - mBC. To this end, databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched from inception to August, 2023. The endpoints comprised overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS). For dichotomous variants, hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) were generated, while standard mean difference (SMD) was used for consecutive variants by Bayesian network meta-analysis to make pairwise comparisons among regimens, to determine the optimal therapy. These processes were conducted using Rstudio 4.2.2 orchestrated with STATA 17.0 MP. A total of 16 randomized controlled trials including 7,174 patients with 11 interventions were analyzed. Compared with aromatase inhibitor (AI), palbociclib plus AI (PalboAI) exhibited a significantly longer PFS up to the 36th month of follow-up [HR=1.7; 95% credible interval, 1.36-2.16], including on the 3rd [OR=2.22; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.10-4.47], 6th (OR=2.39; 95% CI, 1.21-4.69), 12th (OR=1.94; 95% CI, 1.34-2.79), 18th (OR=2.38; 95% CI, 1.65-3.44), 24th (OR=2.39; 95% CI, 1.67-3.43), 30th (OR=2.10; 95% CI, 1.62-2.74) and 36th (OR=2.66; 95% CI, 1.37-5.18) month of follow-up. Additionally, abemaciclib plus fulvestrant exhibited significant effects compared with AI alone between 12 and 36 months. Ribociclib plus fulvestrant, ribociclib plus AI and dalpiciclib plus AI exerted significant effects compared with AI alone between 12 and 30 months. Considering the effect on OS and PFS together with adverse reactions, safety, medical compliance and route of administration, PalboAI was found to be the optimal treatment for HR + /HER2 - mBC. However, additional head-to-head clinical trials are warranted to confirm these findings., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Jiang et al.)

Inadequate tissue volume at the lower pole of the breast following tumor excision can compromise aesthetic outcomes when employing the conventional inverted-T reconstruction technique. With the aim of reducing postoperative deformities, we have refined this technique. A total of 104 patients underwent the T technique, while 32 underwent the modified T technique and 72 underwent the traditional T technique. In this study, we present the surgical outcomes of the modified T technique group and compare both surgical and oncological outcomes with those of the traditional T technique group. In the modified T technique group, the average tumor size was 23.34 mm, and the mean operation duration was 107.75 min, which was significantly shorter than that of the traditional T technique ( p = 0.039). Additionally, the average blood loss was 95.93 mL, which was significantly lower than that of the traditional T technique ( p = 0.011). Although complication rates did not differ significantly between the two groups ( p = 0.839), the modified T technique yielded superior aesthetic outcomes compared to the traditional T technique ( p = 0.019). Survival analysis indicated no significant difference in 5-year recurrence-free survival between the two groups, both before and after propensity score matching ( p = 0.381 vs. p = 0.277). As part of our series of oncoplastic techniques for the lower breast quadrant, the modified inverted-T technique utilizes a cost-effective flap to address lower pole defects, mitigating deformities and restoring the breast's natural shape., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Shi, Li, Wang, Shi, Li, Torres-de La Roche, Xu and Zhuo.)

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent cell death that was discovered recently. For beneficial microbes to establish mutualistic relationships with hosts, precisely controlled cell death in plant cells is necessary. However, whether ferroptosis is involved in the endophyte‒plant system is poorly understood. Here, we reported that endophytic Streptomyces hygroscopicus OsiSh-2, which established a sophisticated and beneficial interaction with host rice plants, caused ferroptotic cell death in rice characterized by ferroptosis- and immune-related markers. Treatments with ferroptosis inhibitors and inducers, different doses of OsiSh-2, and the siderophore synthesis-deficient mutant ΔcchH revealed that only moderate ferroptosis induced by endophytes is essential for the establishment of an optimal symbiont to enhance plant growth. Additionally, ferroptosis involved in a defence-primed state in rice, which contributed to improved resistance against rice blast disease. Overall, our study provides new insights into the mechanisms of endophyte‒plant interactions mediated by ferroptosis and suggests new directions for crop yield promotion., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: There are no clear conclusions as to whether inflammatory proteins and plasma metabolites influence erectile dysfunction (ED)., Aim: In this research, we used Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to discover a causal relationship between inflammatory proteins, plasma metabolites, and ED., Methods: Raw data with ED, inflammatory proteins, and plasma metabolites were obtained from the MRC IEU OpenGWAS and FinnGen database. After a series of screenings, the remaining single nucleotide polymorphisms were selected as instrumental variables or MR analysis to assess the relationship between genetically predicted inflammatory proteins or plasma metabolites and the pathogenesis of ED., Outcomes: The relationship between inflammatory factors and ED was fully analyzed and elaborated., Results: In the inverse variance-weighted method, there exists a significant causal relationship between 4 types of genetically predicted inflammatory proteins and 50 types of plasma metabolites with the incidence of ED. The primary discovery is that 3 inflammatory proteins, fibroblast growth factor 5, interleukin-22 receptor subunit alpha-1, and protein S100-A12, can impact the risk of ED through plasma metabolites., Clinical Implications: ED metabolites and inflammatory proteins are also closely associated with cardiovascular diseases, warranting further exploration., Strengths and Limitations: Our analysis is based on a European population, limiting its generalizability, the genome-wide association study dataset for ED has a relatively small number of cases, and we hope for larger genome-wide association study datasets for future validation., Conclusion: This study has identified that inflammatory proteins can influence ED through plasma metabolites., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society of Sexual Medicine.)

Environmental challenges arising from organic pollutants pose a significant problem for modern societies. Efficient microbial resources for the degradation of these pollutants are highly valuable. In this study, the bacterial community structure of sludge samples from Taozi Lake (polluted by urban sewage) was studied using 16S rRNA sequencing. The bacterial phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Chloroflexi, which are potentially important in organic matter degradation by previous studies, were identified as the predominant phyla in our samples, with relative abundances of 48.5%, 8.3%, and 6.6%, respectively. Additionally, the FAPROTAX and co-occurrence network analysis suggested that the core microbial populations in the samples may be closely associated with organic matter metabolism. Subsequently, sludge samples from Taozi Lake were subjected to enrichment cultivation to isolate organic pollutant-degrading microorganisms. The strain Sphingobacterium sp. GEMB-CSS-01, tolerant to sulfanilamide, was successfully isolated. Subsequent investigations demonstrated that Sphingobacterium sp. GEMB-CSS-01 efficiently degraded the endocrine-disrupting compound 17β-Estradiol (E2). It achieved degradation efficiencies of 80.0% and 53.5% for E2 concentrations of 10 mg/L and 20 mg/L, respectively, within 10 days. Notably, despite a reduction in degradation efficiency, Sphingobacterium sp. GEMB-CSS-01 retained its ability to degrade E2 even in the presence of sulfanilamide concentrations ranging from 50 to 200 mg/L. The findings of this research identify potential microbial resources for environmental bioremediation, and concurrently provide valuable information about the microbial community structure and patterns within Taozi Lake., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The global industrialization and modernization have witnessed a rapid progress made in agricultural production, along with the issue of soil heavy metal (HM) pollution, which has posed severe threats to soil quality, crop yield, and human health. Phytoremediation, as an alternative to physical and chemical methods, offers a more cost-effective, eco-friendly, and aesthetically appealing means for in-situ remediation. Despite its advantages, traditional phytoremediation faces challenges, including variable soil physicochemical properties, the bioavailability of HMs, and the slow growth and limited biomass of plants used for remediation. This study presents a critical overview of the predominant plant-based HM remediation strategies. It expounds upon the mechanisms of plant absorption, translocation, accumulation, and detoxification of HMs. Moreover, the advancements and practical applications of phyto-combined remediation strategies, such as the addition of exogenous substances, genetic modification of plants, enhancement by rhizosphere microorganisms, and intensification of agricultural technologies, are synthesized. In addition, this paper also emphasizes the economic and practical feasibility of some strategies, proposing solutions to extant challenges in traditional phytoremediation. It advocates for the development of cost-effective, minimally polluting, and biocompatible exogenous substances, along with the careful selection and application of hyperaccumulating plants. We further delineate specific future research avenues, such as refining genetic engineering techniques to avoid adverse impacts on plant growth and the ecosystem, and tailoring phyto-combined strategies to diverse soil types and HM pollutants. These proposed directions aim to enhance the practical application of phytoremediation and its integration into a broader remediation framework, thereby addressing the urgent need for sustainable soil decontamination and protection of ecological and human health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Soil arsenic (As) phytoremediation has long faced the challenge of efficiently absorbing As by plant accumulators while maintaining their health and fast growth. Even at low doses, arsenic is highly toxic to plants. Therefore, plant growth-promoting microorganisms that can mediate As accumulation in plants are of great interest. In this study, the endophyte Enterobacter sp. YG-14 (YG-14) was found to have soil mobilization activity. By constructing a siderophore synthesis gene deletion mutant (ΔentD) of YG-14, the endophyte was confirmed to effectively mobilize Fe-As complexes in mining soil by secreting enterobactin, releasing bioavailable Fe and As to the rhizosphere. YG-14 also enhances As accumulation in host plants via extracellular polymer adsorption and specific phosphatase transfer protein (PitA) absorption. The root accumulation of As was positively correlated with YG-14 root colonization. In addition, YG-14 promoted plant growth and alleviated oxidative damage in R. pseudoacacia L. under arsenic stress. This is the first study, from phenotype, physiology, and molecular perspectives, to determine the role of endophyte in promoting As phytostabilization and maintaining the growth of the host plant. This demonstrated the feasibility of using endophytes with high siderophore production to assist host plants in As phytoremediation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Addressing the environmental contamination from heavy metals and organic pollutants remains a critical challenge. This study explored the resilience and removal potential of Pleurotus ostreatus GEMB-PO1 for copper. P. ostreatus GEMB-PO1 showed significant tolerance, withstanding copper concentrations up to 2 mM. Its copper removal efficiency ranged from 64.56 % at 0.5 mM to 22.90 % at 8 mM. Transcriptomic insights into its response to copper revealed a marked upregulation in xenobiotic degradation-related enzymes, such as laccase and type II peroxidases. Building on these findings, a co-remediation system using P. ostreatus GEMB-PO1 was developed to remove both copper and organic pollutants. While this approach significantly enhanced the degradation efficiency of organic contaminants, it concurrently exhibited a diminished efficacy in copper removal within the composite system. This study underscores the potential of P. ostreatus GEMB-PO1 in environmental remediation. Nevertheless, further investigation is required to optimize the simultaneous removal of organic pollutants and copper., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aims: To describe the experiences and perceptions of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with a prolonged decision-making phase of treatment-seeking., Background: Previous attempts to reduce the treatment-seeking time of AMI have been less than optimal. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the situation of prehospital delay is possibly worse. Decisions to seek treatment are influenced by multiple factors and need individualised interventions. Understanding patients' external and internal experiences and psychological perceptions is essential., Design: Meta-synthesis., Data Sources: We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus and four Chinese databases from inception to April 2022., Methods: We screened the retrieved articles with predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, and reviewed articles using Thomas and Harden's (BMC Medical Research Methodology, 2008 8, 45) qualitative thematic synthesis approach. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool for qualitative research was used to assess the quality of studies., Results: Twenty-one studies were included, identifying four themes and nine sub-themes. The four primary themes were difficulty recognising and attributing symptoms, attempt to act, unwillingness to change and self-sacrifice., Conclusion: Deciding to seek treatment is a complex social and psychological process, which needs comprehensive interventions considering personal and sociocultural factors and factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic., Implications for the Profession And/or Patient Care: Details of interventions for decisions to seek treatment in AMI patients need to be further designed and evaluated., Impact: Results would help healthcare professionals to implement individualised management of decision-making of treatment-seeking among AMI patients, and improve medical records of patients' prehospital experiences., Reporting Method: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews 2020 checklist was used to report the findings., Patient or Public Contribution: Two AMI patients contributed to the data synthesis by giving simple feedback about the final themes., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Glioma is an incurable brain tumor with high recurrence due to the frequent invasion of neoplastic cells. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is a critical enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) whose aberrant expression drives the pathogenesis of various cancers. Recent research has identified other moonlight modes of enzymes besides the well-known regulation of metabolic reprogramming. Here, we identified previously unexplored roles of G6PD in glioma via gene set variation analysis (GSVA) based on the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database. Furthermore, survival analyses revealed that glioma patients with high G6PD expression had a worse outcome than patients with low G6PD expression (Hazard Ratio (95%CI): 2.96 (2.41, 3.64), p = 3.5E-22). Combined with functional assays, G6PD was shown to be related with the migration and invasion in glioma. G6PD knockdown could inhibit the migration in LN229 cells. And G6PD overexpression enhanced LN229 cell migration and invasion. Mechanically, the knockdown of G6PD reduced sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) protein stability under cycloheximide (CHX) treatment. Moreover, the overexpression of SQSTM1 rescued the impaired migrated and invasive phenotypes in G6PD-silenced cells. Clinically, we validated the role of G6PD-SQSTM1 axis in glioma prognosis by constructing the multivariate cox proportional hazards regression model. These results define a pivotal function of G6PD in modulating SQSTM1 to promote glioma aggressiveness. And G6PD may be a prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target in glioma. G6PD-SQSTM1 axis may be a potential prognostic biomarker in glioma., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Ultra-precise reflectors in the advanced light source facilities urgently call for local slope error measurements with nano-radian precision. However, the existing methods currently utilized in the long trace profiler systems struggle to meet the requirements. In this paper, we present a weak-value amplification enhanced absolute local slope measurement scheme, in which the surface height difference between two adjacent points can be measured directly with precision on the pico-meter level. As a result, the absolute local slope measurement reaches a record precision level of 9.7 nrad (RMS) with a small lateral separation of 0.5 mm. Comparing to the existing methods, our scheme is more disturbance-resistant, more compact and cost-effective. The local curvature measuring capability is also validated with two synchronously parallel local slope measurement paths, between which the separation is set as 2mm. A local curvature measurement is obtained with precision of 3.4 × 10 -6 m -1 (RMS) and its corresponding slope variation is 6.8 nrad. Our method exhibits important application prospects in the field of ultra-precise surface fabrication inspection.

Endophytes play an important role in shaping plant growth and immunity. However, the mechanisms for endophyte-induced disease resistance in host plants remain unclear. Here, we screened and isolated the immunity inducer ShAM1 from the endophyte Streptomyces hygroscopicus OsiSh-2, which strongly antagonizes the pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. Recombinant ShAM1 can trigger rice immune responses and induce hypersensitive responses in various plant species. After infection with M. oryzae, blast resistance was dramatically improved in ShAM1-inoculated rice. In addition, the enhanced disease resistance by ShAM1 was found to occur through a priming strategy and was mainly regulated through the jasmonic acid-ethylene (JA/ET)-dependent signaling pathway. ShAM1 was identified as a novel α-mannosidase, and its induction of immunity is dependent on its enzyme activity. When we incubated ShAM1 with isolated rice cell walls, the release of oligosaccharides was observed. Notably, extracts from the ShAM1-digested cell wall can enhance the disease resistance of the host rice. These results indicated that ShAM1 triggered immune defense against pathogens by damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP)-related mechanisms. Our work provides a representative example of endophyte-mediated modulation of disease resistance in host plants. The effects of ShAM1 indicate the promise of using active components from endophytes as plant defense elicitors for the management of plant disease. IMPORTANCE The specific biological niche inside host plants allows endophytes to regulate plant disease resistance effectively. However, there have been few reports on the role of active metabolites from endophytes in inducing host disease resistance. In this study, we demonstrated that an identified α-mannosidase protein, ShAM1, secreted by the endophyte S. hygroscopicus OsiSh-2 could activate typical plant immunity responses and induce a timely and cost-efficient priming defense against the pathogen M. oryzae in rice. Importantly, we revealed that ShAM1 enhanced plant disease resistance through its hydrolytic enzyme (HE) activity to digest the rice cell wall and release damage-associated molecular patterns. Taken together, these findings provide an example of the interaction mode of endophyte-plant symbionts and suggest that HEs derived from endophytes can be used as environmentally friendly and safe prevention agent for plant disease control., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Effective degradation of sulfonamides (SAs) in water is of global importance for decreasing its pathogenicity and bioaccumulation. In this study, Mn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 was used as a carrier to fabricate a novel and high-efficient catalyst with Co 3 O 4 anchored (Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 ) for the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade SAs. Surprisingly, the catalyst exhibited superior performance, and nearly 100% of SAs (10 mg L -1 ) including sulfamethazine (SMZ), sulfadimethoxine (SDM), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and sulfisoxazole (SIZ) was degraded by Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 -activated PMS within 10 min. A series of characterization of the Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 composite were conducted and the main operational parameters of SMZ degradation were investigated. SO 4 •- , •OH, and 1 O 2 were determined to be the dominating reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsible for the degradation of SMZ. Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 also exhibited excellent stability and the removal rate of SMZ still maintained over 99% even in the fifth cycle. The plausible pathways and mechanisms of SMZ degradation in the system of Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 /PMS were deduced on the basis of the analyses of LCMS/MS and XPS. This is the first report on high-efficient heterogeneous activating PMS by mooring Co 3 O 4 on Mn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 to degrade SAs, which provides us with a strategy to structure novel bimetallic catalysts for PMS activation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are a class of highly efficient pollution remediation technologies that produce oxidising radicals under specific conditions to degrade organic pollutants. The Fenton reaction is a commonly applied AOP. To combine the advantages of AOPs and biodegradation in the remediation of organic pollutants, some studies have developed coupled systems between Fenton AOPs and white rot fungi (WRF) for environmental organic pollutant remediation and have achieved some success. Moreover, a promising system, termed as advanced bio-oxidation processes (ABOPs), mediated by the quinone redox cycling of WRF, has attracted increasing attention in the field. In this ABOP system, the radicals and H 2 O 2 produced through the quinone redox cycling of WRF can strengthen Fenton reaction. Meanwhile, in this process, the reduction of Fe 3+ to Fe 2+ ensures the maintenance of Fenton reaction, leading to a promising application potential for the remediation of environmental organic pollutants. ABOPs combine the advantages of bioremediation and advanced oxidation remediation. Further understanding the coupling of Fenton reaction and WRF in the degradation of organic pollutants will be of great significance for the remediation of organic pollutants. Therefore, in this study, we reviewed recent remediation techniques for organic pollutants involving the coupled application of WRF and the Fenton reaction, focusing on the application of new ABOPs mediated by WRF, and discussed the reaction mechanism and conditions of ABOPs. Finally, we discussed the application prospects and future research directions of the joint application of WRF and advanced oxidation technologies for the remediation of environmental organic pollutants., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Based on the complex aging background, more and more older people have to live in an institution in later life in China. The prevalence of cognitive frailty (CF) is more higher in institutions than in communities. Rarely studies were conducted on the relationship between institutional residence and CF. Hence, this study were performed to determine the relationship between institutional residence (living in a nursing home) and CF in older adults. A total of 1004 older community residents and 111 older nursing home residents over 50 years of age from Hefei, Anhui Province, China were recruited. CF included physical frailty (PF) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). PF was assessed using the Chinese version of the Fried frailty scale, MCI was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and the common associated factors including sedentary behavior, exercise, intellectual activity, comorbidity, medication, chronic pain, sleep disorders, nutritional status and loneliness were analyzed using regression logistic models. Multivariate regression logistic analysis showed that exercise ( P  = .019, odds ratio [OR] = 0.494, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.274-0.891), intellectual activity ( P  = .019, OR = 0.595, 95% CI: 0.380-0.932), medication use ( P  = .003, OR = 2.388, 95% CI: 1.339-4.258), chronic pain ( P  = .003, OR = 1.580, 95% CI: 1.013-2.465) and loneliness ( P  = .000, OR = 2.991, 95% CI: 1.728-5.175) were significantly associated with CF in community residents; however, only sedentary behavior ( P  = .013, OR = 3.851, 95% CI: 1.328-11.170) was significantly associated with CF in nursing home residents. Our findings suggest that nursing homes can effectively address many common risk factors for CF, including lack of exercise and intellectual activity, medication use, chronic pain, and loneliness, better than the community setting. Thus, residing in a nursing home is conducive to the intervention of CF., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) is a well-known protein family that is widely distributed in many organisms. Members of this family have been implicated in a broad range of reactions involved in the metabolism of various organic compounds. Recently, an increasing number of studies have shown that the CYP450 enzyme also participates in the elimination and degradation of organic pollutants, by white rot fungi (WRF), a famous group of natural degraders. This paper reviews previous investigations of white rot fungal CYP450 involved in the biodegradation of organic pollutants, with a special focus on inhibitory experiments, and the direct and indirect evidence of the role of white rot fungal CYP450 in bioremediation. The catalytic mechanisms of white rot fungal CYP450, its application potential, and future prospect for its use in bioremediation are then discussed., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Legionellosis remains a public health problem. The most common diagnostic method to detect Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is culture. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a fast and accurate method for this detection in environmental samples., Methods: Four databases were searched for studies that evaluated the detection efficiency of PCR in L. pneumophila. The quality evaluation was conducted using Review Manager 5.3. We used Meta-DiSc 1.4 software and the Stata 15.0 software to create forest plots, a meta-regression, a bivariate boxplot and a Deeks' funnel plot., Results: A total of 18 four-fold tables from 16 studies were analysed. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of PCR was 94% and 72%, respectively. The positive likelihood ratio (RLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) was 2.73 and 0.12, respectively. The result of the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 22.85 and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.7884., Conclusion: Establishing a laboratory diagnostic tool for L. pneumophila detection is important for epidemiological studies. In this work, PCR demonstrated a promising diagnostic accuracy for L. pneumophila., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Here, we describe an innovative oncoplastic technique for small to medium volume breasts with a tumor in the lower quadrant and this technique could provide sufficient tissue to avoid visible defects after tumor removal and help reshape the natural shape of the breast., Methods: A detailed procedure for the folding flap technique is described step by step. Then, the results of a retrospective analysis of patients treated using this technique, including complications and disease recurrence rate, between January 2017 and November 2021 are reported. Aesthetic outcomes were evaluated on a 5-point scale proposed by the Paris Breast Center., Results: A total of 52 patients underwent surgery with the folding flap technique, The average operation time was 98.4 min (range, 75-120 min), and the mean bleeding volume was 56.5 mL (range, 20-100 mL). A margin-positive result was confirmed in 1 patient who underwent re-excision. Short-term postoperative complications were observed in 7 patients, including 4 with fat liquefaction, 2 with seroma, and 1 with skin redness and swelling. No flap necrosis was observed. The median follow-up time was 28.6 months (range, 9-58 months), and 2 patients experienced local recurrence. The mean aesthetic score was 4.7 points, with 36 patients scoring 5 points and 26 patients scoring 4 points, respectively., Conclusions: The folding flap technique, as an innovative and favorable oncoplastic technique for treating small- to medium-volume breasts with a tumor in the lower quadrant, could retain sufficient tissue to fill the residual cavity after the operation while improving the aesthetic outcome of the breast., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Shi, Wang, Torres-de la Roche, Shi, Gong, Dong, Chen, Zeng, Jiang, Chen, Wu, Zhuo and De Wilde.)

Here, we describe a step-by-step novel level I oncoplastic technique and present the aesthetic results of 58 breast cancer patients who underwent the spoon-shape technique for primary tumor resection. The Paris Breast Center's 5-point scale was used to evaluate the aesthetic outcomes. The median age of the participants was 52 years old. The average size of the resected tumor was 22.1 mm; two intraoperative re-excisions were required due to positive margins. Postoperative localized seroma was observed in four patients, and one patient presented signs of wound infection. Skin flap necrosis and fat liquefaction were not observed. The average aesthetic score was 4.86. None of the patients presented cancer recurrence in the following two years. The spoon-shape technique showed good aesthetic results because it provided the surgeons an adequate amount of surrounding tissue from which to reshape the breast after tumor removal. We encourage surgeons to apply this approach in early-stage breast cancer, regardless of the quadrant where the tumor is located.

Molecular analysis facilitates the prediction of overall survival (OS) of breast cancer and decision-making of the treatment plan. The current study was designed to identify new prognostic genes for breast cancer and construct an effective prognostic signature with integrated bioinformatics analysis. Differentially expressed genes in breast cancer samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset were filtered by univariate Cox regression analysis. The prognostic model was optimized by the Akaike information criterion and further validated using the TCGA dataset ( n = 1014) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset ( n = 307). The correlation between the risk score and clinical information was assessed by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Functional pathways in relation to high-risk and low-risk groups were analyzed using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Four prognostic genes ( EXOC6 , GPC6 , PCK2 , and NFATC2 ) were screened and used to construct a prognostic model, which showed robust performance in classifying the high-risk and low-risk groups. The risk score was significantly related to clinical features and OS. We identified 19 functional pathways significantly associated with the risk score. This study constructed a new prognostic model with a high prediction performance for breast cancer. The four-gene prognostic signature could serve as an effective tool to predict prognosis and assist the management of breast cancer patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Xiaoyu Zhao et al.)

In this paper, using hollow silica microspheres as carriers, we developed a facile one-pot method for the preparation of hollow SiO 2 @MnO 2 composite microparticles. Under a certain proportion of hollow silica microspheres and manganese salt, a novel kind of hollow urchin-like SiO 2 @γ-MnO 2 microparticles was obtained. The structure and morphology of the composite microparticles were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM. On this basis, using rhodamine B and methyl orange as model molecules, the oxidative degradation ability of the hollow SiO 2 @γ-MnO 2 microparticles for organic dyes in water was investigated through UV-vis analysis technology. The urchin-like SiO 2 @γ-MnO 2 microparticles showed excellent performance for the rapid oxidative degradation of organic dyes under acidic conditions. This study indicated that γ-MnO 2 loaded on hollow materials can be used as an efficient tool for treating organic dye wastewater, and shows broad application prospects for solving environmental problems in the related industry., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Arsenite (As(III)) is more toxic and difficult to remove than arsenate (As(V)). In this study, an S-doped Cu-La bimetallic oxide (S-CuLaO) decorated with metal-organic framework (MOF) composite (S-CuLaO@UIO-66) was synthesized and applied for the adsorption of As(III). The maximum adsorption capacity of As(III) by S-CuLaO@UIO-66 was as high as 171 mg/g, which was much higher compared with other MOF compounds reported to date. The UIO-66 support improved the dispersion and reduced the size of the S-CuLaO particles, which increased the number of exposed adsorption reactive sites. Study of the mechanism revealed that the synchronous oxidation and adsorption significantly increased the removal of As(III). O 2 ∙- was produced by the receiving electron from the dissolved oxygen from Cu(I) in S-CuLaO, which converted As(III) to As(V). Furthermore, the stability and reusability S-CuLaO@UIO-66 (without regeneration) was investigated at a low As(III) concentration (approximately 1000 µg/L) in deionized water and well water. The residual arsenic concentration ranged from 0.8 to 2.8 μg/L in deionized water and 3-58.2 μg/L in well water within 240 min during three cycles. Generally, this study suggests that combining an optimal oxide with a stable MOF is a promising approach for the fabrication of composite adsorbents., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Robinia pseudoacacia L., a pioneer woody legume grown in mining areas, has been recognized as a remarkable accumulator of various heavy metals. Compared with other hazardous heavy metals (HMs), it is of low capacity in accumulating Cd, which, as a result, may hinder the phytoremediation efficiency. To enhance R. pseudoacacia's uptake efficiency of Cd, the individual effects of various rhizobia and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have been reported, however, the combined influence of endophytes and biochar receives little attention. In the current study, a Cd-adsorbing endophyte Enterobacter sp. YG-14 was inoculated to R. pseudoacacia, and its extraordinary effect on increasing R. pseudoacacia's Cd uptake was found, which was ascribed to the reinforced root Cd chelation by the strain through secreting siderophores/LMWOAs. Further, P-enriched sludge biochar was applied along with YG-14 to form a combined biochar-endophyte-accumulator system, in which biomineralization were reinforced (i.e. CdCO 3 and Cd 2 P 2 O 7 were generated), as the total and acid-soluble Cd in rhizosphere were reduced by 61.75% and 69.01% respectively, and soil's bacterial diversity was further improved with diversified N 2 -fixing microbial biomarkers. Multiple synergistic effects (E > 0) were also found, with the optimum performance on plant growth parameters (increased by 39.61%-561.91%) in comparison to the control group. Moreover, the system exhibited a preferable Cd phytostabilization capacity with the highest increase (81.42%) in Cd accumulation and a significant reduction (72.73%) in Cd root-to-shoot translocation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study evaluated the effect of enarodustat on cardiac repolarization in healthy subjects. Enarodustat (20 and 150 mg [supratherapeutic dose]), placebo, and moxifloxacin (positive control, 400 mg) were administered orally to males and females (N = 54) in a crossover fashion. Continuous 12-lead Holter electrocardiogram (ECG) data were obtained before and after dosing, and blood samples were obtained for pharmacokinetic assessments of enarodustat, its circulating metabolite (R)-M2, and moxifloxacin. Central tendency analysis was performed for relevant ECG parameters, the relationship between individual-corrected interval from beginning of the QRS complex to end of the T wave in the frontal plane (QTcI, the primary end point) and plasma concentrations of enarodustat and (R)-M2 were assessed, and ECG waveforms were evaluated for morphological changes. The supratherapeutic dose resulted in 7- and 9-fold higher geometric mean maximum concentrations for enarodustat and (R)-M2, respectively, than the 20 mg dose. Based on time point analysis, the upper bound of the 2-sided 90% confidence interval (CI) for QTcI did not exceed 10 milliseconds at any of the time points for either dose. Based on QTcI-concentration analysis, the slopes for enarodustat and (R)-M2 were not statistically different than 0, and the upper bounds of the 2-sided 90% CI for QTcI at the geometric mean maximum concentrations for the supratherapeutic dose were 1.97 and 1.68 milliseconds for enarodustat and (R)-M2, respectively. The lower bound of the 2-sided 90% CI for moxifloxacin was ≥5 milliseconds, demonstrating assay sensitivity. The study demonstrated no clinically relevant effect of enarodustat and (R)-M2 on cardiac repolarization. There was no evidence of any clinically significant effect on the PR interval and QRS duration, and ECG waveforms showed no new clinically relevant morphological changes., (© 2021, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.)

Vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 28 (VPS28), one of the four cytosolic proteins comprising the endosomal sorting complex required for the transport I (ESCRT-I) component, has been reported to be linked to various cancers. However, less evidence is available regarding the involvement of VPS28 in breast cancer. To this end, this study focused on exploring the function of VPS28 in breast cancer cells using the in silico analysis. VPS28 expression pattern data in breast cancer tissues were collected using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) databases and analyzed to assess the association of VPS28 with breast cancer prognosis. The elevated VPS28 expression was found in breast cancer tissues and was associated with a poor prognosis ( p < 0.001). A higher VPS28 expression indicated a short survival duration (HR = 2.43; 95% CI: 1.44-4.1; p < 0.001). The CCLE database showed that VPS28 was expressed in breast cancer cell lines. The upstream targets of VPS28 were identified using the mirDIP, starBase, and TargetScan online tools. The correlation and binding relationship between miR-491-5p and VPS28 was analyzed. VPS28 or miR-491-5p gain and loss of function experiments were performed to verify their potential effect on the biological functions of breast cancer cells. Knockdown of VPS28 was shown to suppress the biological functions and enhance the apoptosis of breast cancer cell lines. Micro RNA-491-5p, identified as a posttranscriptional regulator of VPS28, was downregulated in breast cancer tissues. In contrast to the miR-491-5p inhibitor, the miR-491-5p mimic could suppress the migration, wound healing ability, and proliferation, while accelerating apoptosis. However, co-transfection of VPS28 and miR-491-5p counteracted the effect of the miR-491-5p mimic on breast cancer cell functions. Thus, our in silico analysis demonstrates that miR-491-5p can suppress breast cancer progression by attenuating the expression of VPS28., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Shi, Hu, Xing, Zhuo, Lao, Liu and Pang.)

Background: Insufficient glandular tissue in the lower quadrant of the breast is the main source of difficulty in repairing defects after oncoplastic surgery. Especially in small to medium sized breasts, this issue is more common. Here, we describe a novel oncoplastic approach that could help to solve this problem., Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of breast cancer patients with tumors in the lower inner quadrants, who underwent Zhuo's technique between January 2017 and August 2019. Aesthetic outcomes were evaluated in terms of the Paris Breast Center's 5-point scale. The work was reported according to the STROCSS criteria., Results: Nine patients (mean age 54 years) with small to medium volume breast received Zhuo's oncoplastic technique after tumor excision. The mean size tumor was 18.0 mm. The median follow-up time was 27.0 months. Sentinel lymph node biopsy results for all patients were negative. None of the patients had local recurrences or metastases and postoperative complications were not observed. Seven patients (77.8%) achieved aesthetic scores of 5 and two patients (22.2%) achieved 4 points., Conclusions: Zhuo's oncoplastic technique could provide a favorable and flexible surgical approach for small to medium volume breast with tumors of the lower inner quadrant with a low risk of recurrence and good aesthetic results., Protocol Register: Chinese clinical trial register No. ChiCTR2100043484., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IJS Publishing Group Ltd.)

Environmental problems resultant from organic pollutants are a major current challenge for modern societies. White rot fungi (WRF) are well known for their extensive organic compound degradation abilities. The unique oxidative and extracellular ligninolytic systems of WRF that exhibit low substrate specificity, enable them to display a considerable ability to transform or degrade different environmental contaminants. In recent decades, WRF and their ligninolytic enzymes have been widely applied in the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs), pesticides, synthetic dyes, and other environmental pollutants, wherein promising results have been achieved. This review focuses on advances in WRF-based bioremediation of organic pollutants over the last 10 years. We comprehensively document the application of WRF and their lignocellulolytic enzymes for removing organic pollutants. Moreover, potential problems and intriguing observations that are worthy of additional research attention are highlighted. Lastly, we discuss trends in WRF-remediation system development and avenues that should be considered to advance research in the field., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Seven undescribed withanolides (1-7) and six artificial withanolides (8-13), along with 20 known compounds (14-33) were isolated from the aerial parts of Tubocapsicum anomalum. Their structures were confirmed by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. The absolute configuration of compound 1 was defined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. All isolates were evaluated for their antiproliferative effects against five human tumor cell lines (Hep3B, MDA-MB-231, SW480, HCT116 and A549), among which compound 24 (tubocapsanolide A) exhibited the highest activities against the MDA-MB-231 cells with an IC 50 value of 1.89 ± 1.03 μM. Further studies showed that 24 exhibited significant damage to mitochondria in MDA-MB-231 cells, including excess reactive oxygen species, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and apoptosis initiation. In addition, compound 24 also inhibited cell migration. These findings show that tubocapsanolide A may be a promising molecule for triple-negative breast cancer treatment and merit further evaluation., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We firstly discover the enhanced catalytic activity of magnetic noble metal nanoparticles mediated by surface plasmon resonance. Under light irradiation with certain wavelength, the catalytic performance of magnetic noble metal nanoparticles shows changes with different degrees and directions that are associated with the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the noble metal. Moreover, the coupling of silver and gold allows the catalytic performance of magnetic bimetallic Ag-Au nanoparticles to show more positive response to surface plasmon resonance. The magnetic bimetallic Ag-Au nanoparticles show excellent catalytic performance toward the reduction reaction of aromatic nitro group, and corresponding rate constant of the catalytic reduction reaction increases about three times with light irradiation.

Background: Female breast cancer (FBC) is a malignancy involving multiple risk factors and has imposed heavy disease burden on women. We aim to analyze the secular trends of mortality rate of FBC according to its major risk factors., Methods: Death data of FBC at the global, regional, and national levels were retrieved from the online database of Global Burden of Disease study 2017. Deaths of FBC attributable to alcohol use, high body-mass index (BMI), high fasting plasma glucose (FPG), low physical activity, and tobacco were collected. Estimated average percentage change (EAPC) was used to quantify the temporal trends of age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) of FBC in 1990-2017., Results: Worldwide, the number of deaths from FBC increased from 344.9 thousand in 1990 to 600.7 thousand in 2017. The ASMR of FBC decreased by 0.59% (95% CI, 0.52, 0.66%) per year during the study period. This decrease was largely driven by the reduction in alcohol use- and tobacco-related FBC, of which the ASMR was decreased by 1.73 and 1.77% per year, respectively. In contrast, the ASMR of FBC attributable to high BMI and high FPG was increased by 1.26% (95% CI, 1.22, 1.30%) and 0.26% (95% CI, 0.23, 0.30%) per year between 1990 and 2017, respectively., Conclusions: The mortality rate of FBC experienced a reduction over the last three decades, which was partly owing to the effective control for alcohol and tobacco use. However, more potent and tailored prevention strategies for obesity and diabetes are urgently warranted.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of ceRNAs in breast cancer (BC) and construct a new five-mRNA prognostic signature., Methods: The ceRNA network was constructed by different RNAs screened by the edgeR package. The BC prognostic signature was built based on the Cox regression analysis. The log-rank method was used to analyse the survival rate of BC patients with different risk scores. The expression of the 5 genes was verified by the GSE81540 dataset and CPTAC database., Results: A total of 41 BC-adjacent tissues and 473 BC tissues were included in this study. A total of 2,966 differentially expressed lncRNAs, 5,370 differentially expressed mRNAs, and 359 differentially expressed miRNAs were screened. The ceRNA network was constructed using 13 lncRNAs, 267 mRNAs, and 35 miRNAs. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) methods showed that two lncRNAs (AC037487.1 and MIR22HG) are related to prognosis. Five mRNAs ( VPS28 , COL17A1 , HSF1 , PUF60 , and SMOC1 ) in the ceRNA network were used to establish a prognostic signature. Survival analysis showed that the prognosis of patients in the low-risk group was significantly better than that in the high-risk group ( p = 0.0022). ROC analysis showed that this signature has a good diagnostic ability (AUC = 0.77). Compared with clinical features, this signature was also an independent prognostic factor (HR: 1.206, 95% CI 1.108-1.311; p < 0.001). External verification results showed that the expression of the 5 mRNAs differed between the normal and tumour groups at the chip and protein levels ( p < 0.001)., Conclusions: These ceRNAs may play a key role in the development of BC, and the new 5-mRNA prognostic signature can improve the prediction of survival for BC patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Wenjie Shi et al.)

Purpose: Breast cancer is a major public health concern worldwide and shows significant heterogeneity between male and female. Knowing the global incidence landscape in both sexes is critical for the breast cancer prevention and the reduction in disease burden., Methods: We retrieved the incidence data of breast cancer in both sexes from the Global Burden of Disease 2017 database. Average annual percentage change was used to quantify the temporal trends of breast cancer incidence., Results: Between 1990 and 2017, the number of newly diagnosed female breast cancer (FBC) cases increased from 870.2 thousand to 1937.6 thousand, with the age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) significantly increased from 39.2/100,000 to 45.9/100,000. A total of 166 countries experienced a significant increase in FBC-ASR. The most pronounced increase was mainly found in developing countries. The decrease was mostly detected in several developed countries, such as the USA and the UK. Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare carcinoma and has no evident cluster across the world. Worldwide, the number of newly diagnosed MBC cases increased from 8.5 thousand in 1990 to 23.1 thousand in 2017, with the ASR significantly increased from 0.46/100,000 to 0.61/100,000. A total of 123 countries showed a significant increasing trend in MBC-ASR., Conclusions: Breast cancer incidence rates are increasing in most countries in both sexes, although the epidemiological features were not completely shared between FBC and MBC. More emphases should be placed on breast cancer primary prevention and the prevention strategies might need to be tailored for both FBC and MBC.

Fungal laccases have shown great potential in industrial and environmental applications. They are generally produced as laccase isoenzymes. Thus, to further study the properties of different laccase isoenzymes and their performance in bio-remediation is essential for a deep understanding of laccase function and application. In this study, three Pleurotus ostreatus HAUCC 162 laccase isoenzymes were heterologously expressed, and the effects of different inhibitors, metal ions, and organic solvents on the activity of recombinant laccases were evaluated. In the dye decolorization test, LACC6 showed the highest ability to remove Malachite green (MG), Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR), Bromophenol blue (BB), and Methyl orange (MO) among the three recombinant laccases. Removal rates within 24 h were 91.5%, 84.9%, 79.1%, and 73.1% for MG (100 mg/L), RBBR (100 mg/L), BB (100 mg/L), and MO (100 mg/L), respectively. The MG and RBBR transformation pathways were proposed by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. Based on the results of this work, the production of recombinant LACC6 or improving the portion of LACC6 in the crude extracellular laccase may advance synthetic dye removal., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Endo-xylanase and β-xylosidase are the major enzymes for hemicellulose hydrolysis, which play a significant role in biomass conversion. In our previous work, the white-rot fungi Pleurotus ostreatus HAUCC 162 and Irpex lacteus CD2 were demonstrated to have strong ability in lignocellulose degradation, and the related lignin degradation enzymes were characterized. However, little was known about their hemicellulases. In this work, a novel endo-1, 4-xylanase and a β-xylosidase from Pleurotus ostreatus HAUCC 162 and Irpex lacteus CD2 were heterologously expressed and characterized. The optima of pH and temperature were 5.0 and 55 °C for rXyn162, and 6.5 and 30 °C for rXylCD2. rXyn162 showed high tolerance to metal ions such as Ca 2+ , Cr 3+ , Zn 2+ , Na + , and Al 3+ . The recombinant rXyn162 and rXylCD2 exhibited synergistic hydrolysis of oat spelts xylan and sodium hydroxide pretreated cornstalk (SHPC), where the degree of synergy (DS) was 2.26 for SHPC hydrolysis. MALDI-TOF-MS and HPLC analysis showed that xylooligosaccharides (XOS) with small degrees of polymerization (DP2-DP4) were the major XOS hydrolyzate during SHPC degradation by rXyn162 and rXylCD2. In addition, rXyn162 and rXylCD2 could efficiently improve the hydrolysis of SHPC by commercial cellulase. The present study suggested the potential application of rXyn162 and rXylCD2 in the field of biomass pretreatment and biofuel production., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Owing to the capability of integrating the information storage and computing in the same physical location, in-memory computing with memristors has become a research hotspot as a promising route for non von Neumann architecture. However, it is still a challenge to develop high performance devices as well as optimized logic methodologies to realize energy-efficient computing. Herein, filamentary Cu/GeTe/TiN memristor is reported to show satisfactory properties with nanosecond switching speed (<60 ns), low voltage operation (<2 V), high endurance (>10 4 cycles) and good retention (>10 4 s @85 °C). It is revealed that the charge carrier conduction mechanisms in high resistance and low resistance states are Schottky emission and hopping transport between the adjacent Cu clusters, respectively, based on the analysis of current-voltage behaviors and resistance-temperature characteristics. An intuitive picture is given to describe the dynamic processes of resistive switching. Moreover, based on the basic material implication (IMP) logic circuit, we proposed a reconfigurable logic method and experimentally implemented IMP, NOT, OR, and COPY logic functions. Design of a one-bit full adder with reduction in computational sequences and its validation in simulation further demonstrate the potential practical application. The results provide important progress towards understanding of resistive switching mechanism and realization of energy-efficient in-memory computing architecture.

Chlorophenols (CPs), nitrophenols (NPs), and sulfonamide antibiotics (SAs) are three types of environmental pollutants that are of great concern because of their prevalence and toxicity. In this study, three laccase isoenzymes obtained from Pleurotus ostreatus HAUCC 162 were heterologously expressed and characterized with respect to their ability to degrade CPs, NPs, and, SAs. The three recombinant laccases can efficiently degrade the three types of considered pollutants using a laccase-mediator system (LMS). Their specific efficiencies for the removal of 2NP, 3NP, 4NP, 4CP, 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP), 2,6-DCP, sulfadiazine (SDZ), sulfamethazine (SMZ), and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) over 60min were 59.21%, 47.91%, 60.24%, 74.9%, 28.9%, 35.1%, 98.1%, 97.5%, and 97.8%, respectively. Based on the analysis of the oxidation products of the CPs, NPs, and SAs, pollutant removal pathways are proposed, namely, the production of 3-nitromuconate and 3-chloromuconate as the key intermediates of 4-NP and 2, 4-DCP; and oxidative coupling for the transformation of SDZ by LMS. The results of present work indicated the laccases could efficiently remove NPs, CPs, and SAs in LMS, which offers an opportunity to apply P. ostreatus HAUCC 162 laccase in the field of environmental biotechnology., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The effect of phosphate on the ammonium removal performance of iron-manganese co-oxide film coated quartz sands in surface water treatment was investigated in a pilot-scale filtration system. The experimental results showed that the removal efficiency of ammonium decreased with reaction time without phosphate, while it stabilized at a level over 95.3% with phosphate dosing of 5-15 μg·L -1 at a temperature between 17.2-21.9℃. The effluent ammonium concentration of the filter columns exceeded the permitted limits for drinking water, when the water temperature was below 10.5℃. Fortunately, it can meet the water standards by increasing the amount of dosed phosphate to 30 μg·L -1 or increasing the height of the filter layer. However, the ammonium concentration in the effluent of the filter when only increasing the height of the filter layer exceeded the water standards after running for several days. The maximum safe concentration of ammonium in the influent of the filters with 120 cm and 80 cm height active filter beds were 2.34 and 1.95 mg·L -1 with the condition of 30 μg·L -1 phosphate, respectively. Microorganism inactivation experiments indicated that the ammonium removal capability of the activated oxide film included catalytic oxidation and biological nitrification simultaneously. The total activity and catalytic oxidation activity of the activated oxide film were 1.36 times and 1.79 times higher than those without phosphate, respectively, which suggested that phosphate can facilitate the catalytic oxidation activity of the activated oxide film.

Myostatin is an important member of the transforming growth factor (TGF) family that functions to regulate muscle growth in animals. In this study, the myostatin gene (FmMstn) and two slightly different (short and long forms) cDNAs of the banana shrimp Fenneropenaeus merguiensis were cloned and characterized. Similar to Mstn gene of the scallop, fish and mammal, FmMstn gene consists of 3 exons and 2 introns. The 2kb upstream promoter region of the FmMstn gene consists of putative response elements for myocyte enhancing factor (MEF2) and E-box factors. The longest open reading frame of the short Mstn consists of 1260bp encoding for a protein with 420 amino acid residues. The long FmMstn is almost identical to the short FmMstn with the exception of 8 amino acid insertions. FmMstn is most similar to the Mstn of Litopenaeus vannamei and Penaeus monodon sharing >92-98% amino acid sequence identity. Multiple sequence alignment results revealed high degree of amino acid conservation of the cysteine residues and mature peptide of the FmMstn with Mstn from other animals. FmMstn transcript was detected in the heart, muscle, optic nerve and thoracic ganglion. FmMstn transcript level in muscle is higher in early postmolt, decreases in intermolt and increases again towards ecdysis. Higher expression level of FmMstn is also observed in smaller shrimp of the same age. Knock-down of FmMstn gene by RNAi can cause a significant increase in molt cycle duration and failure of some shrimp to undergo ecdysis. Direct DNA sequencing results revealed that FmMstn gene is highly polymorphic and several potential SNPs have been identified. Some SNPs are associated with the size difference of the shrimp. In summary, the result of this study indicates that shrimp FmMstn gene is molt/growth-related and the presence of SNP suggests that it could be a candidate gene for shrimp genetic improvement research., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) based reconfigurable logic provides a temporal programmable dimension to realize Boolean logic functions and is regarded as a promising route to build non-von Neumann computing architecture. In this work, a reconfigurable operation method is proposed to perform nonvolatile sequential logic in a HfO 2 -based RRAM array. Eight kinds of Boolean logic functions can be implemented within the same hardware fabrics. During the logic computing processes, the RRAM devices in an array are flexibly configured in a bipolar or complementary structure. The validity was demonstrated by experimentally implemented NAND and XOR logic functions and a theoretically designed 1-bit full adder. With the trade-off between temporal and spatial computing complexity, our method makes better use of limited computing resources, thus provides an attractive scheme for the construction of logic-in-memory systems.

Background: Some oleaginous fungi can produce large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) which serve many physiological functions. Numerous desaturases are critical for the synthesis of PUFAs. This study aimed to investigate the regulation of lipid production and desaturase gene expression in Mortierella sp. AGED in response to different environmental factors, and the relationships between lipid production and desaturase gene expression., Results: The fatty acid composition and mRNA levels of desaturase genes were significantly changed under low temperatures. With the exception of Δ5-desaturase, the transcript levels of all desaturase genes increased at a temperature of 20 °C. Changes in content of lipid and PUFAs responding to low temperature were consistent with desaturase gene expression. Time course studies on gene expression showed that mRNA levels of four desaturase genes increased rapidly after transferring the cells to low temperature. Ethanol (1.5% v/v) increased the transcript levels of Δ9-, Δ6- and Δ5-desaturase genes significantly and of Δ12-desaturase gene slightly. Different metal ions such as Ca 2+ , Zn 2+ and Fe 3+ could stimulate PUFA synthesis and up-regulate desaturase gene transcription, while Cu 2+ inhibited desaturase gene expression and lipid accumulation., Conclusion: This study should enable us to understand the regulatory mechanism of desaturase gene expression and lipid synthesis. It is helpful to improve PUFA productivity in Mortierella sp. AGED. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Nonvolatile stateful logic computing in memristors is a promising paradigm with which to realize the unity of information storage and processing in the same physical location that has shown great feasibility for breaking the von Neumann bottleneck in traditional computing architecture. How to reduce the computational complexity of memristor-based logic functions is a matter of concern. Here, based on a general logic expression, we proposed a method to implement the arbitrary logic of complete 16 Boolean logic in two steps with one memristor in the crossbar architecture. A representative functional complete NAND logic is successfully experimentally demonstrated in the filamentary Ag-AgGeTe-Ta memristors to prove the validity of our method. We believe our work may promote the development of the revolutionary logic in memory architectures.

A sulfone-functionalized metal-organic framework (MOF), USTC-253, has been synthesized that exhibits a much higher CO2 uptake capacity (168-182 %) than the corresponding unfurnished MOFs. The introduction of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) during the synthesis of USTC-253 affords defect-containing USTC-253-TFA with exposed metal centers, which has an increased CO2 uptake (167 %) compared to pristine USTC-253. USTC-253-TFA exhibits a very high ideal adsorption solution theory selectivity (S=75) to CO2 over N2 at 298 K. In addition, USTC-253-TFA demonstrates good catalytic activity and recyclability in the cycloaddition of CO2 and epoxide at room temperature under 1 bar CO2 pressure as a result of the presence of Lewis and Brønsted acid sites, which were evaluated by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy with a CO probe molecule. We propose that the CO2 adsorption capability has a positive correlation with the catalytic performance toward CO2 conversion., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Laccase is useful for various biotechnological and industrial applications. The white-rot fungus Trametes velutina 5930 and its laccase, isolated from the Shennongjia Nature Reserve in China by our laboratory, has great potential for practical application in environmental biotechnology. However, the original level of laccase produced by Trametes velutina 5930 was relatively low in the absence of any inducer. Therefore, in order to enhance the laccase production by Trametes velutina 5930 and make better use of this fungus in the field of environmental biotechnology, the regulation of laccase production and laccase gene expression in Trametes velutina 5930 were investigated in this study. Different metal ions such as Cu(2+) and Fe(2+) could stimulate the laccase synthesis and laccase gene transcription in Trametes velutina 5930. Some aromatic compounds structurally related to lignin, such as tannic acid, syringic acid, cinnamic acid, gallic acid and guaiacol, could also enhance the level of laccase activity and laccase gene transcription. We also found that there existed a positive synergistic effect of aromatic compound and metal ion on the laccase production and laccase gene transcription in Trametes velutina 5930. Taken together, our study may contribute to the improvement of laccase productivity by Trametes velutina 5930.

We used 2D-PAGE to isolate a light-induced protein (AL-A) that is expressed abundantly in light-growth alfalfa sprouts. The seven amino acids of the N-terminal region of the protein were identified, and we searched for the protein in GenBank using the BLAST program. The results of the homology analysis showed that the amino acid sequence of the isolated protein is most similar to one from a pea plastocyanin. To identify the protein, we amplified and sequenced the DNA fragment encoding AL-A from genomic alfalfa DNA. We found that the AL-A gene was highly homologous (90%) to the sequences from the pea plastocyanin via multiple alignments, and the deduced protein precursor was predicted to be chloroplast-specific via the ChloroP computer program. The protein was named alfalfa-plastocyanin (AL-P). It was characterized as being a light-inducible protein, and RT-PCR analysis showed that AL-P mRNA transcription only occurred in the leaves of the alfalfa plant and the alfalfa seedlings growth in lighted conditions. PCR was also used to amplify the DNA fragment encoding the AL-P promoter (AL-Pp) from genomic alfalfa DNA. PlantCARE analysis of the promoter sequence indicated that both a typical TATA box and a CAAT box were located in the promoter sequence, and some of the cis-elements that are responsible for light responsiveness were also identified within this promoter region. The AL-P gene promoter fused to the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene has been examined for expression in transgenic alfalfa seedlings. Our findings have a potential application in plant genetic engineering; the AL-Pp may be used to drive the expression of heterologous genes in transgenic alfalfa plants., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Laccase is a copper-containing polyphenol oxidase that has great potential in industrial and biotechnological applications. Previous research has suggested that fungal laccase may be involved in the defense against oxidative stress, but there is little direct evidence supporting this hypothesis, and the mechanism by which laccase protects cells from oxidative stress also remains unclear. Here, we report that the expression of the laccase gene from white rot fungus in Pichia pastoris can significantly enhance the resistance of yeast to H(2)O(2)-mediated oxidative stress. The expression of laccase in yeast was found to confer a strong ability to scavenge intracellular H(2)O(2) and to protect cells from lipid oxidative damage. The mechanism by which laccase gene expression increases resistance to oxidative stress was then investigated further. We found that laccase gene expression in Pichia pastoris could increase the level of glutathione-based antioxidative activity, including the intracellular glutathione levels and the enzymatic activity of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase. The transcription of the laccase gene in Pichia pastoris was found to be enhanced by the oxidative stress caused by exogenous H(2)O(2). The stimulation of laccase gene expression in response to exogenous H(2)O(2) stress further contributed to the transcriptional induction of the genes involved in the glutathione-dependent antioxidative system, including PpYAP1, PpGPX1, PpPMP20, PpGLR1, and PpGSH1. Taken together, these results suggest that the expression of the laccase gene in Pichia pastoris can enhance the resistance of yeast to H(2)O(2)-mediated oxidative stress by stimulating the glutathione-based antioxidative system to protect the cell from oxidative damage.

Objective: To observe the expression of receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) and its decoy receptor osteoprotegerin (OPG) during unloading period of dental implants., Methods: An animal model of dental implants was established in Beagle dogs. Bone remodeling was tested at 3, 7, 15, 30, 60 and 90 days after the placement of implants. RANKL and OPG mRNA expression were quantified by real-time PCR. Then mandibular bones were resected and some sections were observed., Results: The most prominent period of bone remodeling occurred at 7 day after the placement of implants (OPG/RANKL mRNA, 2.15 ± 0.1). The expression of RANKL and OPG increased in a time-dependent manner in both soft and hard tissue. After 7 days they gradually decreased., Conclusions: Both OPG and RANKL were expressed in peri-implant tissues, and the changing tendency of RANKL and OPGmRNA was consistent with the change of bone remodeling. The active stage for bone remodelling in peri-implant tissues during unloading period is about 7 days after implantation.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and the satisfaction on aesthetic effectiveness of application of guided bone regeneration (GBR) technique in maxillary lateral incisor implant site., Methods: Ninety patients were selected who only lost maxillary lateral incisor and placed with 101 implants(the implant systems were 3i, Osstem, ITI, Ankylos, BLB). The final restorations were porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns. Clinical and X-ray examinations were conducted and esthetic results were observed at 3, 6,12 months after dental implant prosthetics., Results: The follow-up time was 12 months, all patients achieved successful implantation and good osseointegration around the implant. The esthetic results were perfect .Among the 90 cases, 90.7%, 92.8% and 95.5% of the patients were satisfied with the final outcomes 3,6,12 months after prosthetics., Conclusions: Good clinical effectiveness and satisfaction on aesthetic effectiveness can be obtained with GBR technique applied in maxillary lateral incisor implant site. Appropriate use of GBR technique is the solution of bone defect of maxillary lateral incisor implant site.

A laccase-producing white-rot fungi strain Ganoderma sp.En3 was newly isolated from the forest of Tzu-chin Mountain in China. Ganoderma sp.En3 had a strong ability of decolorizing four synthetic dyes, two simulated dye bath effluents and the real textile dye effluent. Induction in the activity of laccase during the decolorization process indicated that laccase played an important role in the efficient decolorization of different dyes by this fungus. Phytotoxicity study with respect to Triticum aestivum and Oryza sativa demonstrated that Ganoderma sp.En3 was able to detoxify four synthetic dyes, two simulated dye effluents and the real textile dye effluent. The laccase gene lac-En3-1 and its corresponding full-length cDNA were then cloned and characterized from Ganoderma sp.En3. The deduced protein sequence of LAC-En3-1 contained four copper-binding conserved domains of typical laccase protein. The functionality of lac-En3-1 gene encoding active laccase was verified by expressing this gene in the yeast Pichia pastoris successfully. The recombinant laccase produced by the yeast transformant could decolorize the synthetic dyes, simulated dye effluents and the real textile dye effluent. The ability of decolorizing different dyes was positively related to the laccase activity. In addition, the 5'-flanking sequence upstream of the start codon ATG in lac-En3-1 gene was obtained. Many putative cis-acting responsive elements were predicted in the promoter region of lac-En3-1., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)