Search

This comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the prevalence of Achilles tendinopathy (AT) in physical exercise (PE). Specifically, we estimate the overall risk of AT in physical exercise and compare sport-specific estimates of AT risk. PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and SPORTDiscus were searched before the 1

Tuning the morphology of supraparticles can crucially influence their final properties and is, thus, important for their application in chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. The present study reveals how varied nanoparticle sizes, concentrations, and weight ratios in multicomponent dispersions influence the morphology of supraparticles assembled by these nanoparticle building blocks via spray‐drying. In a droplet containing monodisperse nanoparticles, smaller nanoparticles form a coherent elastic shell due to lower cohesive forces. As the solvent enclosed in the shell evaporates less easily due to the narrow pores between the nanoparticles, this ultimately results in rather non‐spherical supraparticles, while larger nanoparticles tend to yield spherical supraparticles. When small nanoparticles outweigh large ones in binary or trinary dispersions, the small nanoparticles form the outer shell that shrinks into a mushroom cap‐like shape upon drying of the spray‐droplet, while larger nanoparticles stay in the center of the droplet, resulting in non‐spherical supraparticles. Furthermore, the findings give a more systematic insight into structures that potentially arise from multimodal‐sized building blocks, thus, paving the way to tune the supraparticle morphology upon spray‐drying, when working with more complex, multicomponent dispersions.

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the potential significance of CD26 expression in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) tissues and to investigate their relationship with classical clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. Methods Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining was used to explore the expression pattern of CD26 in PTC tissues and corresponding adjacent tissues in 86 patients. In addition, we searched GEPIA database to estimate the expression difference of CD26 mRNA in thyroid cancer and normal thyroid tissues, and download the expression bar graph of mRNA and Kaplan Meier curve of CD26 in PTC compared to normal thyroid tissues. Results We found that 89.53% (77/86) of PTC overexpressed CD26, on the contrary, we observed that CD26 was not expressed in normal thyroid tissues adjacent to the tumor. The expression of CD26 was strongly associated with lymph node metastasis (ꭓ2 = 7.59, P = 0.006), tumor size (ꭓ2 = 7.59, P = 0.006) and patients' age (ꭓ2 = 3.95, P = 0.047), but there had no association between CD26 expression and patients' gender, capsular invasion (P > 0.05). Moreover, CD26 mRNA level was extremely low in normal thyroid tissues and significantly increased in thyroid cancer tissues(P P = 0.048). Conclusion Our data demonstrated that CD26 might be promising biomarkers and therapeutic target for PTC.

The reservoir property of tight sandstones is closely related to the provenance and diagenesis, and multiprovenance system and complex diagenesis are developed in Hangjinqi area. However, the relationship between provenance, diagenesis, and physical characteristics of tight reservoirs in Hangjinqi area has not yet been reported. The Middle Permian Lower Shihezi Formation is one of the most important tight gas sandstone reservoirs in the Hangjinqi area of Ordos Basin. This research compared the diagenesis-porosity quantitative evolution mechanisms of Lower Shihezi Formation sandstones from various provenances in the Hangjinqi area using thin-section descriptions, cathodoluminescence imaging, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and homogenization temperature of fluid inclusions, along with general physical data and high-pressure mercury intrusion (HPMI) data. The sandstones mainly comprise quartzarenite, sublitharenite, and litharenite with low porosity and low permeability and display obvious zonation in the content of detrital components as a result of multiprovenance. Pore space of those sandstone mainly consists of primary pores, secondary pores, and microfractures, but their proportion varies in different provenances. According to HPMI, the order of the pore-throat radius from largest to smallest is central provenance, eastern provenance, and western provenance, which is consistent with the change tend of porosity (middle part>northern part>western part) in Hangjinqi region. The diagenetic evolution path of those sandstones is comparable, with compaction, cementation, dissolution, and fracture development. The central provenance has the best reservoir quality, followed by the eastern provenance and the western provenance, and this variation due to the diverse diagenesis (diagenetic stage and intensity) of different provenances. These findings reveal that the variations in detrital composition and structure caused by different provenances are the material basis of reservoir differentiation, and the main rationale for reservoir differentiation is varying degrees of diagenesis during burial process.

Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a zoonotic pathogen commonly found in humans and animals all over the world. Here, we investigated the occurrence and genotype constitute of E. bieneusi among the individuals from Haikou city of Hainan, China. A total of 1,264 fecal samples of humans were collected, including 628 samples from patients with diarrhea (325 adults and 303 children) and 636 samples from the asymptomatic population (383 college students and 253 kindergarten children). E. bieneusi was detected using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using a neighbor-joining tree construction method. The overall prevalence of E. bieneusi was 3.7% (47/1,264), while it was 5.6% in the patients with diarrhea (5.8% in adults and 5.3% in children) and 1.9% in the asymptomatic population (2.9% in college students and 0.4% in kindergarten children). The prevalence of E. bieneusi in humans with diarrhea was significantly higher than that in the asymptomatic population (χ2 = 36.9; P < 0.05). A total of 28 genotypes were identified, including ten known genotypes: CHG2 (n = 3), CHG3 (n = 5), CHG5 (n = 10), CM21 (n = 1), EbpA (n = 1), EbpC (n = 1), PigEBITS4 (n = 1), PigEBITS7 (n = 1), SHR1 (n = 4), Type IV (n = 2), and 18 novel genotypes (HNH-1 to HNH-18; one each). All these genotypes were categorized into three groups, including group 1 (n = 6), group 2 (n = 14), and group 13 (n = 8). This was the first study on the identification of E. bieneusi among humans in Hainan, China. The correlation between E. bieneusi infection and diarrhea was observed. The high diversity and distinctive distribution of E. bieneusi genotypes found in this study reflected the unique epidemic genetic characteristics of E. bieneusi in humans living in Hainan.

Although major advances in genomics have initiated an exciting new era of research, a lack of information regarding cis-regulatory elements has limited the genetic improvement or manipulation of pigs as a meat source and biomedical model. Here, we systematically characterize cis-regulatory elements and their functions in 12 diverse tissues from four pig breeds by adopting similar strategies as the ENCODE and Roadmap Epigenomics projects, which include RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and ChIP-seq. In total, we generate 199 datasets and identify more than 220,000 cis-regulatory elements in the pig genome. Surprisingly, we find higher conservation of cis-regulatory elements between human and pig genomes than those between human and mouse genomes. Furthermore, the differences of topologically associating domains between the pig and human genomes are associated with morphological evolution of the head and face. Beyond generating a major new benchmark resource for pig epigenetics, our study provides basic comparative epigenetic data relevant to using pigs as models in human biomedical research., To date, little is known about the regulatory landscape of the pig genome. Here, the authors characterize cis-regulatory elements in the pig genome using RNA-seq, ChIP-Seq and ATAC-seq, finding a higher degree of usage conservation between pig and human than mouse and human.

Although numerous studies have explored the relationship between selenium intake and thyroid diseases, few epidemiological studies have investigated the association between selenium intake and thyroid hormones. Therefore, we conducted this analysis to investigate the association between dietary selenium intake and thyroid hormones. Our sample included 5,575 adults (age ≥ 20) years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2012. Thyroid hormones, including total triiodothyronine (T3), total thyroxine (T4), free T3 (FT3), free T4 (FT4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), were detected. Multivariable linear regression models showed that log10-transformed selenium intake (LogSe) was negatively correlated with TT4 (β = −0.383, 95% CI: −0.695, −0.070) and TT4/TT3 (β = −0.003, 95% CI: −0.006, −0.0004) in U.S. adults. Besides, additional stratified analyses by sex demonstrated that LogSe was negatively associated with TT4 (β = −0.007, 95% CI: −0.013, −0.001) and TT4/TT3 (β = −0.664, 95% CI: −1.182, −0.146) and positively associated with FT4/TT4 (β = 0.031, 95% CI: 0.004, 0.059) in male adults. Meanwhile, subgroup analysis by iodine status showed that LogSe was negatively associated with TT4 (β = −0.006, 95% CI: −0.011, −0.002), FT4/FT3 (β = −0.011, 95% CI: −0.023, −0.00002) and TT4/TT3 (β = −0.456, 95% CI: −0.886, −0.026) in iodine sufficiency but not in iodine deficiency adults. Our results demonstrated that the increased dietary selenium intake was negatively correlated with TT4 and TT4/TT3 in U.S. adults. Furthermore, the association between dietary selenium intake and thyroid hormones was more pronounced in males and iodine sufficiency adults.

Background: China is facing big pressure due to its high aging rate. Compared to other age groups, the elderly are characterized by a high number of multiple chronic diseases and need to frequently visit hospitals. However, most seniors are unable to independently complete medical treatments in smart hospitals with complex self-help integrated machines, scattered departments, popular appointment registration, and convenient mobile payment, and need to be accompanied by their adult children. Medical escorts might replace the offspring’s role, but their willingness to utilize elderly medical escort service (EMES) is associated with different factors.Methods: This sequential mixed-methods research was performed in communities across three cities in Jiangsu Province, China. It included a cross-sectional survey with a convenient sample size of 1936 participants having medical experiences with the elderly, and face-to-face interviews with 21 individuals. The quantitative survey was used to determine the participants’ expectations and acceptability of EMES. The semi-structured interview was performed to explore the barriers and facilitators of utilizing EMES.Results: Among 1936 individuals that responded to the questionnaire, 68.2% were willing to use the EMES. The willingness to utilize EMES was associated with long-distance separation from seniors [OR=0.79, 95% CI (0.63-0.98), p=0.033], difficulties in taking leaves to accompany the elderly to medical appointments [OR=1.39, 95% CI (1.11-1.73), p=0.003], outpatient satisfaction [OR=1.24, 95% CI (1.13-1.36), p＜0.001], payment for EMES [OR=2.56, 95% CI (2.07-3.18), p＜0.001], escorts being trained [OR=2.35, 95% CI (1.80-3.07), p＜0.001] and licensed [OR=1.31, 95%CI (1.01-1.72), p=0.044], and EMES being graded [OR=1.93, 95% CI (1.48-2.51), p＜0.001]. Both data suggested that regarding training, participants paid more attention to professional ethics. Additionally, the traditional Chinese culture of filial piety can not be ignored while using EMES.Conclusions: This survey indicated that the demands of the children’s willingness to utilize EMES are high and urgent. The results might guide EMES providers to improve their professional skills especially ethics and combine the need for children to do their filial duty that would be welcomed by users.

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) FOXD3 antisense RNA 1 (FOXD3-AS1) has been reported to participate in multiple processes that contribute toward the development of cancer. The present study aimed to explore the effect of lncRNA FOXD3-AS1 on anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer (BC) cells. FOXD3-AS1 was found to be highly expressed in BC cell lines. Moreover, FOXD3-AS1 was highly expressed in estrogen receptor-negative (ER−) cells compared to the ER-positive (ER+) cells. FOXD3-AS1 overexpression in T47D and MCF-7 (ER+) cells enhanced the resistance of cells to tamoxifen (TMX), whereas FOX3-AS1 downregulation reduced the TMX resistance in MDA-MB-231 (ER−) cells. Similar results were reproduced in vivo that FOXD3-AS1 inhibition reduced the growth of xenograft tumors formed by MDA-MB-231 cells following TMX treatment whereas FOXD3-AS1 overexpression in T47D cells facilitated tumor growth. The bioinformatic analysis and luciferase assays indicated that FOXD3-AS1 sponged microRNA-363 (miR-363) to restore expression of trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) mRNA. Overexpression of miR-363 reduced T47D cell proliferation induced by FOXD3-AS1, whereas overexpression of TFF1 restored growth of MDA-MB-231 cells reduced after FOXD3-AS1 silencing. The phosphorylation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) was increased by FOXD3-AS1 but attenuated by miR-363. Inhibition of PI3K/Akt blocked the role of FOXD3-AS1 and reduced the TMX resistance in T47D and MCF-7 cells. Taken together, the present study suggested that FOXD3-AS1 sponges miR-363 to upregulate TFF1 expression, leading to PI3K/Akt signaling activation and anti-estrogen resistance in BC cells., Graphical Abstract

Material instability issues, especially moisture degradation in ambient operating environments, limit the practical application of hybrid perovskite in photovoltaic and light-emitting devices. Very recent experiments demonstrate that ligand passivation can effectively improve the surface moisture tolerance of hybrid perovskites. In this work, the interfacial stability of as-synthesized pristine and alkylammonium-passivated methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) with liquid water is systematically investigated using molecular dynamics simulations and reaction kinetics models. Interestingly, the more hydrophilic [PbI2]0 surface is more stable than the less hydrophilic [MAI]0 surface because of the higher polarity of the former surface. Linear alkylammoniums significantly stabilize the [MAI]0 surface with highly reduced (by 1-2 orders of magnitude) dissociation rates of both MA+ and ligands themselves, while branched ligands, surprisingly, lead to higher dissociation rates as the surface coverage increases. Such anomalous behavior is attributed to the aggregation-assisted dissolution of surfactant-like ligands as micelles during the degradation process. Short-chain linear alkylammonium at the full surface coverage is found to be the optimal ligand to stabilize the [MAI]0 surface. This work not only provides fundamental insights into the ionic dissolution pathways and mechanisms of hybrid perovskites in water but also inspires the design of highly stable hybrid perovskites with ligand passivation layers. The computational framework developed here is also transferrable to the investigation of surface passivation chemistry for weak ionic materials in general.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to 4,255,892 deaths worldwide. Although COVID-19 vaccines are available, mutant forms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have reduced the effectiveness of vaccines. Patients with cancer are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than patients without cancer. Identification of new drugs to treat COVID-19 could reduce mortality rate, and traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) has shown potential in COVID-19 treatment. In this study, we focused on lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients with COVID-19. We aimed to investigate the use of curcumol, a TCM, to treat LUAD patients with COVID-19, using network pharmacology and systematic bioinformatics analysis. The results showed that LUAD and patients with COVID-19 share a cluster of common deregulated targets. The network pharmacology analysis identified seven core targets (namely, AURKA, CDK1, CCNB1, CCNB2, CCNE1, CCNE2, and TTK) of curcumol in patients with COVID-19 and LUAD. Clinicopathological analysis of these targets demonstrated that the expression of these targets is associated with poor patient survival rates. The bioinformatics analysis further highlighted the involvement of this target cluster in DNA damage response, chromosome stability, and pathogenesis of LUAD. More importantly, these targets influence cell-signaling associated with the Warburg effect, which supports SARS-CoV-2 replication and inflammatory response. Comparative transcriptomic analysis on in vitro LUAD cell further validated the effect of curcumol for treating LUAD through the control of cell cycle and DNA damage response. This study supports the earlier findings that curcumol is a potential treatment for patients with LUAD and COVID-19.

The macrophage CD163 surface glycoprotein is a member of the SRCR family class B, which has been identified as the key trigger in host–pathogen interactions, but its specific roles in sensing Glaesserella parasuis (G. parasuis) infection are largely unknown. Here, we investigated porcine CD163 in mediating the adhesion and immune response of G. parasuis using in vitro host–bacteria interaction models. CD163-overexpressing Chinese hamster ovary K1 cells (CHO-K1) showed obvious subcellular localization in the cytoplasm, especially in the cytomembrane. Although detection using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the bacterial adhesion, there was no significant difference in the adhesion of G. parasuis to CHO-K1 cells between the presence and absence of CD163. In addition, similar results were observed in 3D4/21 cells. Meanwhile, bindings of G. parasuis to nine synthetic peptides, the bacterial binding motifs within SRCR domains of CD163, were weak based on a solid-phase adhesion assay and agglutination assay. Moreover, CD163 had no effect on the expression of G. parasuis-induced inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, INF-γ, IL-10, IL-4 and TGF-β) in CHO-K1 cells. In conclusion, these findings indicate that porcine CD163 plays a minor role in sensing G. parasuis infection.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a kind of Fusarium toxin that can cause a variety of toxic effects. DON is mainly metabolized and detoxified by the liver. When the concentration of DON exceeds the metabolic capacity of the liver, it will trigger acute or chronic damage to the liver tissue. Previous studies demonstrated that bone marrow mesenchymal stem-cell-secreted exosomes (BMSC-exos) reduce liver injury. Therefore, we issue a hypothesis that in vitro-cultured rat BMSC-secreted exos could ameliorate liver damage after 2 mg/kg bw/day of DON exposure. In total, 144 lipids were identified in BMEC-exos, including high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels. BMSC-exos treatment alleviated liver pathological changes and decreased levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, inflammatory factors interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and lipid peroxidation. Otherwise, low or high BMSC-exos treatment obviously changes DON-induced hepatic oxylipin patterns. According to the results from our correlation network analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, and hierarchical clustering analysis, the top 10% oxidized lipids can be classified into two categories: one that was positively correlated with copper–zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD) and another that was positively correlated with liver injury indicators. Altogether, BMSC-exos administration maintained normal liver function and reduced oxidative damage in liver tissue. Moreover, it could also significantly change the oxylipin profiles under DON conditions.

Revealing the effect of transcriptomic regulation on behavioral differences is a fundamental goal in biology, but the relationship between gene regulatory networks and individual behavior differences remains largely unknown. Honey bees are considered as good models for studying the mechanisms underlying gene expression changes and behavioral differences since they exhibit strong and obvious differences in tasks between individuals. The cis-regulatory regions usually contain the binding sites of diverse transcription factor (TFs) influencing bee behavior. Thus, the identification of cis-regulatory elements in the brains across different behavioral states is important for understanding how genomic and transcriptomic variations affect different tasks in honeybees.In this study, we employed transcriptome and genome-wide chromatin accessibility assays to analyze brain tissues of honey bees in different behavioral states for examining the relationship between individual behavior differences and brain gene expression changes. We also used the obtained open chromatin regions to identify cis-motifs associating differentially expressed TFs and genes in order to reveal the transcriptional regulatory mechanism related to the different tasks.We identified genetic regulatory modules regulating different tasks that contained key TFs (CTCF, Trl and schlank) associated with open chromatin regions enriched for DNA sequence motifs belonging to the family of the corresponding TFs. The most prominent transcriptomic changes, which correlated with chromatin accessibility modifications within their proximal promoter regions, occurred in nervous system development, and were associated with behavior switch.Our results revealed the regulatory landscape among three behavioral stages in honeybees and identified interactive molecular networks regulating different tasks. These results provide a comprehensive insight into behavioral differences of honeybees, which offers reference for future study.

Chromosomal instabilities (CIN) of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) are common in breast cancer. We aimed to investigate the value of cfDNA CIN in monitoring the breast cancer relapse and additionally to compare it with the traditional biomarkers (CA15-3 and CEA). Overall 62 recurrent breast cancer patients and 20 healthy controls were recruited. Low-pass whole-genome sequencing (LPWGS) was performed to detect cfDNA CIN. A CIN score was calculated. The performance of CA15-3, CEA, and CIN score in monitoring the recurrence was investigated with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under curve (AUC). Multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was established to analyze the correlations between copy number gain/loss and disease-free survival (DFS). cfDNA CIN achieved the positive rate of 77.6% [(95% confidence interval (CI) 73.4–95.3%)] among recurrent breast cancer patients, with an AUC value of 0.933, superior to CA15-3 (positive rate: 38.7%; AUC: 0.864) and CEA (positive rate: 41.93%; AUC: 0.878) (P

The physical property heterogeneity of tight sandstones was mainly caused by complex alteration of various diagenesis combinations during burial process. However, diagenetic evolution of different diagenesis combinations which generally result in the strong difference and heterogeneity of physical property and pore structure is rarely well understood. The Middle Permian lower Shihezi Formation is one of the most important tight gas sandstone reservoirs in the Hangjinqi area of Ordos Basin, China. The reservoir heterogeneity of lower Shihezi Formation, which was caused by the differential diagenesis combination, is crucial to efficient exploration and development. Evolution mechanism of differential diagenesis combination and its effect on the reservoir quality in the tight lower Shihezi Formation sandstone in the Hangjinqi area of Ordos Basin was investigated by means of thin-section description, cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and homogenization temperature of fluid inclusions. The lower Shihezi Formation sandstones can be divided into four diagenesis combination types according to the reservoir characteristics and diagenetic relationship. The main diagenetic sequence was mechanical compaction-chlorite rim-early pore-filling calcite cementation-dissolution-authigenic kaolinite-quartz cementation-late calcite cementation. Differential diagenesis combination was mainly controlled by the petrological characteristics, microfacies, and fault. Low content of rock fragment and high content of detrital quartz were beneficial to the compaction resistance and cementation. The moderate content of pore-filling calcite was conducive to pore space protection and feldspar dissolution. The faults control dissolution and differential diagenesis combination by influencing the migration of acid fluids. Moderate compaction-moderate cementation-moderate dissolution type (BBB type) and weak compaction-moderate cementation-strong dissolution type (CBA type) were in favour of high-quality reservoir development.

Background The CD4 protein is an important surface marker of T lymphocytes, which can mediate the antigen presentation process by interacting with MHC II and TCR molecules in human and mouse. Results In this study, two haplotypes (A and B) of the CD4 gene were found within Chinese indigenous and Western commercial pig breeds. These two haplotypes were defined by 22 fully linked SNPs in the CDS region of the CD4 gene. The expression level and localization of the CD4 protein were significantly different between haplotypes A and B. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the immune response-related genes and signaling pathways were down-regulated in genotype AA. Finally, three linked functional SNPs were identified, which affected the expression level and membrane localization of the CD4 protein in pigs. These three SNPs led to the replacements of two amino acids in the IgV1 domain of the CD4 protein, and related to the function of the CD4 protein in the immune response. Conclusion These three linked SNPs were the key functional mutation sites in the CD4 gene, which played important roles in the immune response, and could be utilized as new molecular markers in breeding for disease resistance in pigs.

Background Rodents, globally overpopulated, are an important source for zoonotic disease transmission to humans, including Enterocytozoon bieneusi (one of the most prevalent zoonotic pathogens). Here, we studied the prevalence and performed genetic analyses of E. bieneusi in rodents from the Hainan Province of China. Methods A total of 603 fresh fecal samples were gathered from 369 wild rats, 117 bamboo rats, 93 Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine and 24 red-bellied squirrels. The wild rats were identified to the species level by amplification of a 421-bp region of the cytb gene from fecal DNA using PCR. Genotype analysis was performed by amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA of E. bieneusi using PCR. Results Seven wild rat species were identified. The average rate of infection with E. bieneusi was 15.8% (95/603) with 18.7% (69/369) in wild rats, 11.9% (25/210) in farmed rodents and 4.2% (1/24) in red-bellied squirrels. Sixteen E. bieneusi genotypes were identified, including 9 known genotypes (D, Type IV, PigEBITS7, Peru8, Peru11, ESH02, S7, EbpA and CHG5), and 7 novel genotypes (HNR-I to HNR-VII). Genotype D (44.2%, 42/95) predominated, followed by PigEBITS7 (20.0%, 19/95), HNR-VII (15.8%, 15/95), Type IV (5.3%, 5/95), HNR-III (2.1%, 2/95), HNR-VI (2.1%, 2/95) and each of the remaining 10 genotypes (1.1%, 1/95). The phylogenetic analysis of the ITS region of E. bieneusi divided the identified genotypes into the following four groups: Group 1 (n = 13), Group 2 (n = 1), Group 12 (n = 1), and the novel Group 13 (n = 1). Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first report on the identification of E. bieneusi in rodents from Hainan, China. The zoonotic potential of the identified E. bieneusi genotypes suggested that the rodents poses a serious threat to the local inhabitants. Thus, measures need to be taken to control the population of wild rats in the areas investigated in this study, along with identification of safe methods for disposal of farmed rodent feces. Additionally, the local people should be made aware of the risk of disease transmission from rodents to humans.

miRNAs reportedly participate in various biological processes, such as skeletal muscle proliferation and differentiation. However, the regulation of differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs and their function in myogenesis remain unclear. Herein, miRNA expression profiles and regulation during C2C12 differentiation were analyzed in relation to chromatin states by RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and ChIP-seq. We identified 19 known and nine novel differentially expressed miRNAs at days 0, 1, 2, and 4. The expression of the differentially expressed miRNAs was related to the chromatin states of the 113 surrounding open chromatin regions defined by ATAC-seq peaks. Of these open chromatin regions, 44.25% were colocalized with MyoD/MyoG binding sites. The remainder of the above open chromatin regions were enriched with motifs of the myoblast-expressed AP-1 family, Ctcf, and Bach2 transcription factors (TFs). Additionally, the target genes of the above differentially expressed miRNAs were enriched primarily in muscle growth and development pathways, especially the Hippo signaling pathway. Moreover, via combining a loss-of-function assay with Q-PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence, we confirmed that the Hippo signaling pathway was responsible for C2C12 myoblast differentiation. Thus, our results showed that these differentially expressed miRNAs were regulated by chromatin states and affected muscle differentiation through the Hippo signaling pathway. Our findings provide new insights into the function of these differentially expressed miRNAs and the regulation of their expression during myoblast differentiation.

Objective This study aims to clarify the mechanisms underlying transcriptional regulation and regulatory roles of lncRNAs in skeletal muscle cell differentiation. Methods We analysed the expression patterns of lncRNAs via time‐course RNA‐seq. Then, we further combined the ATAC‐seq and ChIP‐seq to investigate the governing mechanisms of transcriptional regulation of differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs. Weighted correlation network analysis and GO analysis were conducted to identify the transcription factor (TF)‐lncRNA pairs related to skeletal muscle cell differentiation. Results We identified 385 DE lncRNAs during C2C12 differentiation, the transcription of which is determined by chromatin states around their transcriptional start sites. The TF‐lncRNA correlation network showed substantially concordant changes in DE lncRNAs between C2C12 differentiation and satellite cell rapid growth stages. Moreover, the up‐regulated lncRNAs showed a significant decrease following the differentiation capacity of satellite cells, which gradually declines during skeletal muscle development. Notably, inhibition of the lncRNA Atcayos and Trp53cor1 led to the delayed differentiation of satellite cells. Those lncRNAs were significantly up‐regulated during the rapid growth stage of satellite cells (4‐6 weeks) and down‐regulated with reduced differentiation capacity (8‐12 weeks). It confirms that these lncRNAs are positively associated with myogenic differentiation of satellite cells during skeletal muscle development. Conclusions This study extends the understanding of mechanisms governing transcriptional regulation of lncRNAs and provides a foundation for exploring their functions in skeletal muscle cell differentiation., Schematic of TF (MyoD, MyoG, Mef2c and Heyl) and lncRNA (Atcayos and Trp53cor1) regulatory interactions in differentiating C2C12 and ageing satellite cells.

Block copolyelectrolytes are solid-state single-ion conductors which phase separate into ubiquitous microdomains to enable both high ion transference number and structural integrity. Ion transport in these charged block copolymers highly depends on the nanoscale microdomain morphology; however, the influence of electrostatic interactions on morphology and ion diffusion pathways in block copolyelectrolytes remains an obscure feature. In this paper, we systematically predict the phase diagram and morphology of diblock copolyelectrolytes using a modified dissipative particle dynamics simulation framework, considering both explicit electrostatic interactions and ion diffusion dynamics. Various experimentally controllable conditions are considered here, including block volume fraction, Flory–Huggins parameter, block charge fraction or ion concentration, and dielectric constant. Boundaries for microphase transitions are identified based on the computed structure factors, mimicking small-angle X-ray scattering p...

Lei Zheng,1,2,* Huanhuan Zhou,1,2,* Liwei Guo,3 Xiaoling Xu,2 Shengjie Zhang,2 Weizhen Xu,2,4 Weimin Mao1,2,4 1Department of Oncology, The First Clinical Medical College of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China; 2Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; 3State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; 4Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Previously, we reported that high expression of nipped-B-like protein (NIPBL) was strongly correlated with poor prognosis, tumor differentiation, and lymph node metastasis. Survival analysis indicated that NIPBL expression was a potential prognostic factor for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Moreover, loss of NIPBL decreased lung cancer cells proliferation, migration, invasion and promoted apoptosis as well as sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. However, the deep mechanisms were not explored.Purpose: The objective of this study was to identify the role of NIPBL in DNA damage response, as well as autophagy pathway, so as to interpret the mechanisms of how NIPBL knockdown enhances the chemosensitivity of lung cancer cell.Methods: Cells (NCI-H1299 and NCI-H1650) were transfected by specific siRNAs before immunofluorescence and single-cell gel electrophoresis, which were mainly used to observe the differences of DNA damage in different groups. Additionally, protein were obtained and then analyzed by western blot and mass spectroscopy.Results: In this study, we found that knockdown of NIPBL resulted in accumulation of phosphorylated H2AX (γ-H2AX) foci and higher levels of DNA damage, as revealed by comet assay. Western blot assay revealed that loss of NIPBL decreased expression of ATM/ATR, Rad3-related protein and Ku70/Ku80, but increased expression of LC3-B and depletion of p62. Using mass spectroscopy, we identified eight proteins that were significantly differentially expressed upon NIPBL knockdown. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that these proteins are mainly involved in DNA repair, mismatch repair, and binding to damaged DNA. The expression changes in two of the proteins, MSH2 and STAT1, were verified by Western blotting in NIPBL-knockdown cells.Conclusions: In summary, these results reflected that loss of NIPBL impairs the DNA damage response and promotes autophagy. And NIPBL suppression may represent a novel strategy for preventing chemotherapy resistance in lung cancer. Keywords: nipped-B-like protein, lung cancer, DNA damage response, double-strand break, autophagy

Soybean root rot is a worldwide soil-borne fungal disease threatening soybean production, causing large loss in yield and quality of soybean. Fusarium species are well recognized as the important causal agent of Fusarium root rot, which are often distinct with respect to various factors in different soybean-producing regions around the world. Recently, Fusarium root rot has been frequently reported in Sichuan Province of China, where is unique in its climate and diverse cropping patterns, but it is still unclear about the predominant Fusarium species and their pathogenicity on soybean. In this study, diseased soybean roots were collected from three regions of Sichuan Province during 2014–2015. Based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region and the translation elongation factor 1-α gene, 78 isolates of Fusarium were identified as nine distinct species. Pathogenicity tests showed that seven species of Fusarium were able to infect soybean, but differed in pathogenicity. F. oxysporum, F. equiseti and F. graminearum were the most aggressive species to soybean, whereas F. fujikuroi and F. verticillioides were not pathogenic to soybean. There was a strong positive correlation of the pathogenicity of Fusarium species with seedling emergence and fresh root weight. In addition, the diversity of Fusarium species varied among soybean-growing regions. To our knowledge, this report on population and pathogenicity of Fusarium species, in particular, F. graminearum, associated with soybean root rot in Sichuan Province of southwest China, will be helpful to provide effective control strategies for the disease.

Bound rubber plays a key role in the mechanical reinforcement of elastomer nanocomposites. In the present work, we reveal the formation mechanism of bound rubber in elastomer nanocomposites, using the coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. For the polymer-nanoparticle system, the "chain bridge" connected with neighboring nanoparticles forms, once the gap between two neighboring nanoparticles is less than the polymer size. The polymer-nanoparticle-solvent systems, mimicking the oil-swollen rubber in the experiment, are simulated with three models. From the analysis of the potential energy, the static structure and dynamic diffusing processes, all the models indicate that the increase of the volume fraction of the nanoparticles and the polymer-nanoparticle interaction strength could promote the formation of the bound rubber. The existence of solvent disrupts the bound rubber, and eventually deteriorates the mechanical properties. These simulations could provide some theoretical guidance for a better understanding of the formation mechanism of the bound rubber, which is helpful for designing the elastomer materials with excellent mechanical properties.

Self-discharge is an important factor to be considered for practical applications of supercapacitors (SCs). While the transport of electrolyte ions largely determines the rate performance of SCs, it also affects their self-discharge rate. In this work, three carbon materials, namely stacking carbon nanosheets (S-CNSs), double-layer carbon nanosheets (DL-CNSs), and flower-like carbon nanosheets (FL-CNSs), with similar pore sizes but different pore structures were synthesized. Due to the different pore structures and correspondingly different ion transport resistances, the rate performances increased from S-CNS, FL-CNS, to DL-CNS SCs. On the other hand, the self-discharge rates increased following the same order – the open circuit voltage dropped from 2.0 to 0.99, 0.74, and 0.53 V after 24 h for S-CNS, FL-CNS, and DL-CNS SCs, respectively. Analysis of the self-discharge processes indicates a combined diffusion-controlled and ohmic leakage self-discharge mechanism and a larger diffusion constant was found for DL-CNS than that of FL-CNS and S-CNS SCs, consistent with their order of self-discharge rates. The results of this work suggest that although fast ion transport is beneficial to the rate performance of SCs, it may also lead to fast self-discharge and limit the duration of energy storage.

Azobenzene-doped glassy polyimides (azo-polyimides) offer some of the most efficient optomechanical power densities to date rivaling electrostrictive polymers. Despite such potential attributes, the optomechanical efficiency remains low in comparison to other smart materials. Using high-fidelity coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, the authors reconcile both experimental and theoretical challenges to understand the limiting factors for the optomechanical conversion in photostrictive polymers. Interestingly, the ideal optomechanical efficiency of 10–24% for a single-chain azo-imide monomer predicted here is equal to or a little higher than experimental reports, suggesting experimental design space. The time-dependent optomechanical efficiency of bulk azo-polyimide is quantified, for the first time, to be strongly correlated with the initial free volumes, a measure of polymer conformational freedom. This trend is elaborated by conformational order parameters and viscoelastic relaxation moduli. Resembling the role of porosity in azobenzene-contained metal/covalent organic frameworks to enhance the photo-switching efficiency, a larger conformational freedom enables >10 times increase in optomechanical efficiency comparing to existing experiments. This is primarily due to facilitated viscoelastic relaxation after photo-switching which alleviates residual stresses quickly and reduces heat dissipation. These findings suggest opportunities to improve the optomechanical performance through targeted strategies, such as porosity control and thermal annealing.

Understanding interfacial mass transfer processes, such as the water vapor adsorption-induced degradation of hybrid perovskites, is vital for improving the durability and performance of their optoelectronic devices in the ambient atmosphere with humidity. In this paper, vapor adsorption on prototypical MAPbI3, terminated by [MAI]0 and [PbI2]0 surface, at different relative humidity (RH) levels is studied using grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The resulting vapor adsorption isotherms match the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) adsorption model with heats of adsorption of 0.510 and 0.609 eV, respectively, for water monolayers on [MAI]0 and [PbI2]0. The formation of water monolayer on [MAI]0 (for RH ≥ 30%) is consistent with its lower hydrophilicity compared to [PbI2]0 (for RH ≥ 10%), reflected from the larger water contact angle predicted. Based on predicted water surface coverages at various RHs, the moisture-induced surface degradation kinetics is studied using MD simulations and transition-state theory. Humidity has a minor impact on the degradation energy barriers due to the similar ion removal pathway by water solvation, but strongly affects the ion dissociation rates through the frequency of attempts to attack surface ions. [MAI]0 is more vulnerable against water than [PbI2]0, despite its lower hydrophilicity, implying that long-term exposed MAPbI3 are mostly terminated by [PbI2]0. Furtherly, averaged degradation material loss rates of 5.8 ~ 13.1 μm/s are estimated at 30 ~ 80% RH levels and 300 K, which is consistent with experiment observations. Finally, we offer a picture for the water-diffusion-based degradation mechanism and elucidate interesting hydrogen-bonding features at the vapor-MAPbI3 interface. This research provides quantitative insights into the inherent vapor-perovskite interactions and addresses the moisture instability mechanisms in metal halide perovskites towards the rational design of water-resistant, long term stable and efficient optoelectronic devices.

Objective To examine the association of carotid artery plaque with the incident coronary heart disease and stroke events in Chinese patients and explore whether the association differs between patients with and without hyperglycemia. Methods We evaluated plaque, and blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting serum insulin, fasting plasma glucose, 2 h postprandial glucose and Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance in 253 Chinese patients. T-test and X2 test were used to compare the clinical characteristics and Binary logistic regression was applied to analyze the association of coronary heart disease and stroke between patients with and without hyperglycemia. Results Among 253 patients, 162 patients had hyperglycemia (i. e., diabetes, impaired glucose regulation and stress induced hyperglycemia) and 155 (61.3%) patients had plaque. Fasting plasma glucose, 2 h postprandial glucose and Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, triglycerides, plaque were significantly higher in the hyperglycemia group than non-hyperglycemia. The incident coronary heart disease and stroke events in patients with plaque were 2.254 (95%CI,1.203–4.224) and 2.437 (95%CI,1.042–5.701) times higher than those without plaque, respectively. Among hyperglycemia subgroup, plaque was an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease (OR,3.075,95%CI,1.353–6.992) and stroke (OR,3.571,95%CI,1.460–8.737). The slopes (associations between coronary heart disease/stroke and plaque) were steeper in the hyperglycemia group than those in the non-hyperglycemia group (coronary heart disease OR,3.075 vs. 2.614; stroke OR,3.571 vs. 3.307). Conclusions The incident coronary heart disease and stroke events in patients with plaque were higher than those without plaque, and this difference was more pronounced for patients with hyperglycemia vs. those without hyperglycemia.

BACKGROUND Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an immune-mediated chronic liver disease that can lead to severe fibrosis and cirrhosis. Transient elastography (TE, FibroScan) can assess the fibrotic stages of chronic liver diseases by liver stiffness measurement (LSM). Studies on the diagnostic accuracy of FibroScan for the detection of fibrosis in AIH patients are still limited. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study enrolled 108 AIH patients who underwent liver biopsies. Using the METAVIR scoring system as the reference, Spearman's rank correlation was performed to explore the relationship between the markers and stages of fibrosis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy. The optimal LSM cut-off values for predicting the stages of fibrosis were calculated. RESULTS LSM was superior to other non-invasive markers in differentiating the stages of fibrosis in AIH patients. AUROC value of LSM was 0.885 for stage F2, 0.897 for stage F3, and 0.878 for stage F4. The optimal LSM cut-off value was 6.27 kPa for stage F2, 8.18 kPa for F3, and 12.67 kPa for F4. CONCLUSIONS FibroScan is a valuable non-invasive method for the evaluation of liver fibrosis of AIH patients.

Diabetes-related distress is one of the psychological disorders affecting patients with diabetes, yet there are few studies about diabetes-related distress in Chinese patients. To assess the level of psychological distress and examine its associated factors, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from a Chinese tertiary hospital. The Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS) and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) were administered. There were 210 (57.85%) patients with little or no diabetes-related distress, 84 (23.14%) with moderate diabetes-related distress and 69 (19.01%) with high diabetes-related distress. Stepwise multiple linear regression showed that sleep time was significantly related to the DDS total score and the subscale scores of emotional burden (EB) (β=-0.190, -0.379), respectively. GSES was associated with the DDS total score (β=-0.128) and the EB score (β=-0.153). Oral medication plus insulin was significantly related to regimen-related distress (RD) (β=0.137), physician-related distress (PD) (β=0.152) and interpersonal distress (ID) (β=0.103). Physical activity (β=-0.185) and making meal plan with health care professionals(HCP) (β=-0.169) were associated with RD. The prevalence of diabetes-related distress among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus was high in China. DDS and EB were associated with poorer sleep time and lower self-efficacy. Interventions to improve sleep are needed. Qualitative and longitudinal studies are required to understand why type 2 diabetic patients are not getting enough sleep.

RTT is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by growth regression, motor dysfunction, stereotypic hand movements, and autism features. Typical Rett syndrome (RTT) is predominantly caused by mutations in X-linked MeCP2 gene which encodes methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2). The brain-abundant MeCP2 protein mainly functions as a transcriptional regulator for neurodevelopment-associated genes. Specific functions of MeCP2 in certain neuron types remain to be known. Although cholinergic system is an important modulating system in brain, how MeCP2 in cholinergic neurons contribute to RTT has not been clearly understood. Here we use a mouse model with selectively activated endogenous MeCP2 in cholinergic neurons in otherwise MeCP2stop mice to determine the cholinergic MeCP2 effects on rescuing the RTT-like phenotypes. We found cholinergic MeCP2 preservation could reverse some aspects of the RTT-like phenotypes in mice including hypolocomotion and increased anxiety level, and delay the onset of underweight, instead of improving the hypersocial abnormality and the poor general conditions such as short lifespan, low brain weight, and increasing severity score. Our findings suggest that selective activation of cholinergic MeCP2 is sufficient to reverse the locomotor impairment and increased anxiety-like behaviors at least in early symptomatic stage, supporting future development of RTT therapies associated with cholinergic system.

Additional file 6: Table S3. Primers used for Q-PCR in this study.

Additional file 4: Table S1. Top 20 of up-regulated genes and down-regulated genes in pigs with genotype AA.

Additional file 8: Table S5 Primers used for vector construction in this study.

Additional file 7: Table S4 Primers used for vector construction in this study.

Additional file 5: Table S2. Primers used for haplotype identification in this study.

Background To investigate the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and assess the 10-year risk of CVD in non-menopausal and postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A total of 569 patients with T2DM at a Chinese tertiary hospital were investigated using the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). We evaluated the 10-year risk of CVD, clinical and menopause characteristics in all subjects. Results Among the 569 diabetic patients, the incidence of smoking, dyslipidemia, hypertension, overweight or obesity, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was 0.7, 36.2, 38.1 56.6 and 58.2%, respectively. The usage rate of hypoglycemic agents, antihypertensive agents, lipid modulators and antithrombotic drugs was 88.6, 78.3, 50.0 and 27.1%, respectively. However, only 1.2% of inpatients achieved the three target goals for the control of blood glucose (HbA1c F = 27.726, P n = 569), multiple linear regression analysis showed that menopause (β = 0.275, P β = 0.212, P β = 0.093, P = 0.018) and waist-to-hip-ratio (β = − 0.078, P = 0.047) were risk factors of 10-year risk of CVD, which may explain the variance of 14.3%. In the postmenopausal group (n = 397), LDL-C (β = 0.227, P β = 0.139, P = 0.003) and time since menopause (β = 0.230, P Conclusion The incidence of dyslipidmia, hypertension, overweight or obesity and NAFLD is high. The level of control of blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids was found to be extremely low and the treatment status was not ideal. Besides menopause, LDL-C, FPG and time since menopause were found to be independent risk factors for the 10-year risk of CVD. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on comprehensive control of multiple risk factors, such as plasma glucose, blood pressure and serum lipid.

High-intensity interval training (HIT) has been proposed to exert multiple beneficial effects and positively affect gut microbiota, while how HIT would affect gut microbiota profiles in middle-aged mice remain unreported. Male ICR mice (12 months old) were divided into two groups, i.e., control group (CON) and HIT exercise group (HIT) given HIT running with a total of 7 weeks. Fecal content from the gut was collected eventually and gut microbiota were determined via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Compared with CON group, mice from HIT group exhibited improved gut microbial diversity including increased Shannon index. Compared with the CON group, at the phylum level, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and TM7 was significantly decreased and increased, respectively, from HIT group. At the genera level, HIT group had significantly increased Dorea and Dehalobacterium, while decreased Candidatus Arthromitus. PICRUSt analysis at level 2 and level 3 of KEGG pathways demonstrated that the cecal microbiota of mice from HIT group had significantly enriched pathways involved in carbohydrate metabolism, signal transduction mechanisms, and transcription, while reduced pathways involved in renal cell carcinoma, Huntington's disease, pathways in cancer, various types of N-glycan biosynthesis, Alzheimer's disease, glycan biosynthesis and metabolism, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, cell motility and secretion, and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis proteins. In conclusion, HIT could dynamically alter gut microbiota profiles in middle-aged mice. How altered gut microbiota profiles could affect the biological functions of HIT need to be further explored.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients who achieve a pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) have better prognoses. This study aimed to develop an intuitive nomogram based on simple laboratory indexes to predict the pCR of standard NAC in TNBC patients. A total of 80 TNBC patients who received eight cycles of thrice-weekly standard NAC (anthracycline and cyclophosphamide followed by taxane) and subsequently underwent surgery in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital were retrospectively enrolled, and data on their pretreatment clinical features and multiple simple laboratory indexes were collected. The optimal cut-off values of the laboratory indexes were determined by the Youden index using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. Forward stepwise logistic regression (likelihood ratio) analysis was applied to identify predictive factors for a pCR of NAC. A nomogram was then developed according to the logistic model, and internally validated using the bootstrap resampling method. pCR was achieved in 39 (48.8%) patients after NAC. Multivariate analysis identified four independent indicators: clinical tumor stage, lymphocyte to monocyte ratio, fibrinogen level, and D-dimer level. The nomogram established based on these factors showed its discriminatory ability, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.803 (95% confidence interval 0.706–0.899) and a bias-corrected AUC of 0.771. The calibration curve and Hosmer–Lemeshow test showed that the predictive ability of the nomogram was a good fit to actual observation. The nomogram proposed in the present study exhibited a sufficient discriminatory ability for predicting pCR of NAC in TNBC patients.

As the main carrier of regional residential sewage, industrial wastewater and surface runoff emissions, urban rivers are most vulnerable to pollution and destruction. Taking the Dongsha River in the city of Baoji in Northwest China as an example, four river pollutants were monitored, and the improved Nemero index and factor information model were established to for risk assessment of river water pollution. While compared with other methods, the method is verified, and it is believed that this method is a good tool to evaluate the water pollution of urban rivers. Moreover, the source load mechanism of urban river pollution is discussed. Evaluation results show that for TP, risk of upstream is highest, and for COD and NH3N, risks of the middle are highest, while for PH, risk of downstream is highest. Overall, COD and ammonia nitrogen are a major pollutant in urban rivers, which pollutants originate from industry and agricultural wastewater discharge. The domestic sewage, solid waste and agricultural wastewater overflows also play an important role in the change of river water quality. These studies provide the basis for urban environmental planning and pollution control.

The indispensable transformation to a (more) sustainable human society on this planet heavily relies on innovative technologies and advanced materials. The merits of nanoparticles (NPs) in this context are demonstrated widely during the last decades. Yet, it is believed that the impact of particle‐based nanomaterials to sustainability can be even further enhanced: taking NPs as building blocks enables the creation of more complex entities, so‐called supraparticles (SPs). Due to their evolving phenomena coupling, emergence, and colocalization, SPs enable completely new material functionalities. These new functionalities in SPs can be utilized to render six fields, essential to human life as it is conceived, more sustainable. These fields, selected based on an entropy‐rate‐related definition of sustainability, are as follows: 1) purification technologies and 2) agricultural delivery systems secure humans “fundamental needs.” 3) Energy storage and conversion, as well as 4) catalysis enable the “basic comfort.” 5) Extending materials lifetime and 6) bringing materials back in use ensure sustaining “modern life comfort.” In this review article, a perspective is provided on why and how the properties of SPs, and not simply properties of individual NPs or conventional bulk materials, may grant attractive alternative pathways in these fields.

The self-discharge of supercapacitors was investigated using electrodes composed of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) of three different diameters: 20, 30, and 50 nm, respectively. A combined self-discharge mechanism including both ohmic leakage and diffusion-controlled faradaic reaction was employed to fit the open circuit voltage (OCV) decays of the supercapacitors. The existence of both large inter-bundle pores and small intra-bundle pores in the MWCNT electrodes led to a two-stage diffusion-controlled faradaic reaction process - while the first stage can be described as a divided diffusion-controlled (DDC) process due to the diffusion of ions from both inter- and intra-bundle pores, and the second stage corresponds to a single diffusion-controlled (SDC) process mainly due to the diffusion of ions from the intra-bundle pores. The diffusion parameters obtained based on this model were consistent with the measured self-discharge rates which increased with the size of the MWCNTs. The results of this work demonstrate that electrode materials with wide pore size distributions may be associated with more complex self-discharge processes.

Benzophenone-3 (BP3 or oxybenzone) is an organic UV filter that has been widely used in personal care products. Its frequent detection in the environment and humans as well as its structural similarity to estradiol have prompted most research focus on its endocrine effect. However, these effects are usually associated with concentrations 10-100 fold higher than its environmental relevant concentrations. Few studies explore its adverse effects at environmental relevant concentrations. In the present study, we evaluated the developmental neurotoxic (DNT) effects of low concentration BP3 exposure during a sensitive developmental window in zebrafish. Our findings revealed that BP3 exposure at 10 μg/L (0.04 μM) during 6-24 h post fertilization (hpf) led to various DNT effects such as increased spontaneous movement at 21 and 24 hpf, decreased touch response at 27 hpf, heightened hyperactivity in locomotor response at 5 day post fertilization (dpf), decreased shoaling behavior at 11 dpf and decreased mirror attacks at 12 dpf. These effects were accompanied with decreased axonal growth at 27 hpf, decreased cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis in the head region of larval zebrafish immediately after BP3 exposure at 24 hpf, and increased expression of retinoid X receptor gene rxrgb at 5 dpf. Interestingly, rxrgb knockdown through morpholino injection largely restored most of BP3-induced DNT effects, axonal growth delay, cell proliferation and cell apoptosis, suggesting that BP3-induced DNT effects are likely mediated through the Rxrgb receptor. In considering with recent findings on the endocrine effects of BP3, we conclude that BP3 at environmental relevant concentrations has limited estrogenic effect, but is neurotoxic to developing embryos in zebrafish.