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The cerebellum, a phylogenetically ancient brain region, has long been considered strictly a motor control structure. Recent studies have implicated the cerebellum in cognition, sensation, emotion and autonomic function, making it an important target for further investigation. Here, we show that cerebellar Purkinje neurons in mice are activated by the hormone asprosin, leading to enhanced thirst, and that optogenetic or chemogenetic activation of Purkinje neurons induces rapid manifestation of water drinking. Purkinje neuron-specific asprosin receptor (Ptprd) deletion results in reduced water intake without affecting food intake and abolishes asprosin’s dipsogenic effect. Purkinje neuron-mediated motor learning and coordination were unaffected by these manipulations, indicating independent control of two divergent functions by Purkinje neurons. Our results show that the cerebellum is a thirst-modulating brain area and that asprosin–Ptprd signaling may be a potential therapeutic target for the management of thirst disorders.

Polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP) and epoxy resins are combined as the main insulation for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable joint. In this paper, PPLP/epoxy resin interface discharge voltages in liquid nitrogen (LN2) and at room temperature were tested. Surface discharge voltages of PPLP and epoxy resin in the same conditions were taken as comparisons. Experimental results show that the interface discharge voltage is lower than that of the surface discharge voltages whether in air or LN2. The maximum electric field among air or LN2, epoxy resin and copper electrode is enhanced by the upper layer of PPLP, causing the discharge more easily to take place along the PPLP/epoxy resin interface. The redistribution of electrons among PPLP, epoxy resin and metal electrode due to the differences in their energy band structure forms space charge region, resulting in the increase of maximum electric field strength and causing the lower interface discharge voltage. The charges caught by the traps of PPLP and epoxy resin result in the electric field distortion during the development of discharge, which also promote the discharge of the interface under the coupling effects of PPLP and epoxy resin.

We aimed to create a question bank about clinical factors for predicting the diagnoses of psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis of various ancestries and skin tones, which can be completed entirely by patients. Utah Psoriasis Initiative participants without a psoriatic arthritis diagnosis at enrollment were observed for diagnosis during the study period. We inferred ancestry from exome sequencing data and performed Cox proportional hazards regression to identify clinical predictors of psoriatic arthritis in different ancestry groups. Based on results and literature review, we developed a question bank for assessing psoriatic arthritis risk among patients with psoriasis in various ancestries. Patient‐reported untreated psoriasis induration and history of fingernail psoriasis were associated with psoriatic arthritis in participants of European and non‐European ancestry. We developed the Psoriatic Arthritis Prediction and Identification Question Bank for Diverse Ancestries (PAPRIKA) version 1.0, which included questions regarding psoriasis characteristics, arthritis symptoms, comorbidities, family history, and demographics. PAPRIKA is accessible at http://bjfenglab.org/. The clinical features (untreated psoriasis induration and history of fingernail psoriasis) that can predict psoriatic arthritis in European individuals also work for non‐European individuals. PAPRIKA can be used to gather psoriatic arthritis predictive data from patients with psoriasis without provider assistance and is relevant for patients across ancestries.

Current cancer immunotherapy predominately focuses on eliciting type 1 immune responses fighting cancer; however, long-term complete remission remains uncommon1,2. A pivotal question arises as to whether type 2 immunity can be orchestrated alongside type 1-centric immunotherapy to achieve enduring response against cancer3,4. Here we show that an interleukin-4 fusion protein (Fc–IL-4), a typical type 2 cytokine, directly acts on CD8+T cells and enriches functional terminally exhausted CD8+T (CD8+TTE) cells in the tumour. Consequently, Fc–IL-4 enhances antitumour efficacy of type 1 immunity-centric adoptive T cell transfer or immune checkpoint blockade therapies and induces durable remission across several syngeneic and xenograft tumour models. Mechanistically, we discovered that Fc–IL-4 signals through both signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathways, augmenting the glycolytic metabolism and the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) concentration of CD8+TTEcells in a lactate dehydrogenase A-dependent manner. The metabolic modulation mediated by Fc–IL-4 is indispensable for reinvigorating intratumoural CD8+TTEcells. These findings underscore Fc–IL-4 as a potent type 2 cytokine-based immunotherapy that synergizes effectively with type 1 immunity to elicit long-lasting responses against cancer. Our study not only sheds light on the synergy between these two types of immune responses, but also unveils an innovative strategy for advancing next-generation cancer immunotherapy by integrating type 2 immune factors.

Despite a high response rate in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL)1–3, approximately 50% of patients relapse within the first year4–6, representing an urgent question to address in the next stage of cellular immunotherapy. Here, to investigate the molecular determinants of ultralong CAR T cell persistence, we obtained a single-cell multi-omics atlas from 695,819 pre-infusion CAR T cells at the basal level or after CAR-specific stimulation from 82 paediatric patients with ALL enrolled in the first two CAR T ALL clinical trials and 6 healthy donors. We identified that elevated type 2 functionality in CAR T infusion products is significantly associated with patients maintaining a median B cell aplasia duration of 8.4 years. Analysis of ligand–receptor interactions revealed that type 2 cells regulate a dysfunctional subset to maintain whole-population homeostasis, and the addition of IL-4 during antigen-specific activation alleviates CAR T cell dysfunction while enhancing fitness at both transcriptomic and epigenomic levels. Serial proteomic profiling of sera after treatment revealed a higher level of circulating type 2 cytokines in 5-year or 8-year relapse-free responders. In a leukaemic mouse model, type 2highCAR T cell products demonstrated superior expansion and antitumour activity, particularly after leukaemia rechallenge. Restoring antitumour efficacy in type 2lowCAR T cells was attainable by enhancing their type 2 functionality, either through incorporating IL-4 into the manufacturing process or by priming manufactured CAR T products with IL-4 before infusion. Our findings provide insights into the mediators of durable CAR T therapy response and suggest potential therapeutic strategies to sustain long-term remission by boosting type 2 functionality in CAR T cells.

Palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1) is a lysosomal depalmitoylation enzyme that mediates protein posttranslational modifications. Loss-of-function mutation of PPT1 causes a failure of the lysosomal degradation of palmitoylated proteins and results in a congenital disease characterized by progressive neuronal degeneration referred to as infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (INCL). A mouse knock-in model of PPT1 (PPT1-KI) was established by introducing the R151X mutation into exon 5 of the PPT1 gene, which exhibited INCL-like pathological lesions. We previously reported that hippocampal γ oscillations were impaired in PPT1 mice. Hippocampal γ oscillations can be enhanced by selective activation of the dopamine D4 receptor (DR4), a dopamine D2-like receptor. In this study, we investigated the changes in DR expression and the effects of dopamine and various DR agonists on neural network activity, cognition and motor function in PPT1KI mice. Cognition and motor defects were evaluated via Y-maze, novel object recognition and rotarod tests. Extracellular field potentials were elicited in hippocampal slices, and neuronal network oscillations in the gamma frequency band (γ oscillations) were induced by perfusion with kainic acid (200 nM). PPT1KI mice displayed progressive impairments in γ oscillations and hippocampus-related memory, as well as abnormal expression profiles of dopamine receptors with preserved expression of DR1 and 3, increased membrane expression of DR4 and decreased DR2 levels. The immunocytochemistry analysis revealed the colocalization of PPT1 with DR4 or DR2 in the soma and large dendrites of both WT and PPT1KI mice. Immunoprecipitation confirmed the interaction between PPT1 and DR4 or DR2. The impaired γ oscillations and cognitive functions were largely restored by the application of exogenous dopamine, the selective DR2 agonist quinpirole or the DR4 agonist A412997. Furthermore, the administration of A412997 (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly upregulated the activity of CaMKII in the hippocampus of 5-month-old PPT1KI mice. Collectively, these results suggest that the activation of D2-like dopamine receptors improves cognition and network activity in PPT1KI mice and that specific DR subunits may be potential targets for the intervention of neurodegenerative disorders, such as INCL.

Background: Recent advances in the detection and treatment of prostate cancer (PCa) have reduced morbidity and mortality from this common cancer. Despite these improvements, PCa remains the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. Further understanding of the genetic underpinnings of lethal PCa is required to drive risk detection and prevention and ultimately reduce mortality. We therefore set out to identify germline variants associated with cases of lethal prostate cancer (LPCa). Methods: Using a two-stage study design, we compared whole-exome sequencing data of 550 LPCa patients to 488 healthy male controls. Men were classified as having LPCa based on medical record review. Candidate genes were identified using gene- and gene-set-based rare truncating variant association tests. Case-control burden testing through Firth’s penalized logistic regression and case-gnomAD allelic burden testing through a one-sided mid-p Fisher’s exact test were conducted. Each gene’s p-values from these tests were combined into an omnibus p-value for candidate gene selection. In the subsequent validation stage, genes were assessed using the UK Biobank and Firth’s penalized logistic regression for each ancestry, combined through meta-analysis. Results: Gene-based rare variant association tests identified 12 genes nominally associated with LPCa. Rare-variant association tests identified a gene set with a significantly higher burden of truncating germline mutations in LPCa patients than controls. Combining gene- and gene-set test results, four nominally significant genes (PPP1R3A, TG, PPFIBP2, and BTN3A3) were selected as candidates. Subsequent validation using the UK Biobank found that PPP1R3Awas significantly associated with LPCa risk (odds ratio 2.34, CI 1.20–4.59). Specifically, pGln662ArgfsTer7 was identified as the predominant variant in PPP1R3Aamong LPCa patients in our dataset. Conclusions: Both individual gene and gene-set analyses identified candidates associated with LPCa. The novel association of PPP1R3Aand LPCa risk merits further investigation.

Midbrain dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) neurons regulate motivated behaviors, including feeding, but less is known about how these circuits may interact. In this study, we found that DA neurons in the mouse ventral tegmental area bidirectionally regulate the activity of 5-HT neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), with weaker stimulation causing DRD2-dependent inhibition and overeating, while stronger stimulation causing DRD1-dependent activation and anorexia. Furthermore, in the activity-based anorexia (ABA) paradigm, which is a mouse model mimicking some clinical features of human anorexia nervosa (AN), we observed a DRD2 to DRD1 shift of DA neurotransmission on 5-HTDRNneurons, which causes constant activation of these neurons and contributes to AN-like behaviors. Finally, we found that systemic administration of a DRD1 antagonist can prevent anorexia and weight loss in ABA. Our results revealed regulation of feeding behavior by stimulation strength-dependent interactions between DA and 5-HT neurons, which may contribute to the pathophysiology of AN.

The reaction behavior of meta-xylene ammoxidation on a commercial V–Cr mixed oxide catalyst (NC-IV) were studied in a fixed bed reactor, by kinetic modeling of experimental data of designed conditions. Specially, the oxidation of NH3to N2was also involved in the kinetic model, which is vital in the ammoxidation reaction. The catalyst showed monoclinic CrVO4phase and spherical morphology with an average particle diameter of 45 μm. Nonlinear regression analysis of the evaluation data has been employed to determine the rate constant and the order of reaction. The results indicated that m-xylene, oxygen, and ammonia share similar kinetic reaction orders for the production of isophthalonitrile (IPN) and m-tolunitrile (MTN), while the NH3oxidation reaction shows the highest reaction order, indicating that the partial pressure of ammonia and O2requires a precise control. The calculation of activation energies implies that selective ammoxidation to IPN has the highest activation energy (170.6 kJ mol–1), which is higher than MTN formation (117.5 kJ mol–1). The oxidation of m-xylene to CO2has slightly higher activation energy (122.9 kJ mol–1) than MTN production, implying the production of m-tolunitrile is the dominant reaction under high reaction WHSV. The NH3oxidation shows the lowest activation energy (58.2 kJ mol–1) than the m-xylene participated reactions demonstrating a relatively easy NH3oxidation. These kinetic analyses are useful for a better understanding of the catalytic ammoxidation reaction of alkyl substituted aromatics over V–Cr mixed oxide catalysts.

Objective.Delays in the diagnosis and treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are common. These delays contribute to impairments in quality of life and joint damage. This study aims to calculate the incidence rate of PsA over time and identify clinical features that may be used for PsA prediction in patients with psoriasis (PsO).Methods.The study population for PsA incidence analysis included 1128 participants enrolled in the Utah Psoriasis Initiative between 2002 and 2014. Clinical evaluation and medical record review were performed to identify new cases of PsA after enrollment. To identify PsO features associated with PsA, the population was restricted to 627 participants who did not have PsA before PsO phenotyping and had been followed up for subsequent PsA diagnosis. We conducted Cox proportional hazard regressions to estimate the HR of PsA associated with PsO characteristics and other health-related features.Results.PsA incidence rate increased for > 60 years following PsO onset (trend P< 0.0001). There was a significant association between PsA and induration severity in untreated lesions (P< 0.001, HR 1.46), history of fingernail involvement (P< 0.001, HR 2.38), pustular PsO (P< 0.001, HR 3.32), fingernail involvement at enrollment (P< 0.001, HR 2.04), and Koebner phenomenon (P< 0.001, HR 1.90). Multivariate analysis yielded a model that included a history of fingernail involvement (P< 0.001, HR 2.16) and untreated induration (P< 0.001, HR 1.41).Conclusion.Risk of PsA increases steadily for > 60 years following PsO onset. Patient-reported history of PsO characteristics has greater predictive power than physician-measured features at enrollment visits. The characteristics identified in this study provide guidance for screening for PsA risk in patients with PsO.

T cell exhaustion presents one of the major hurdles to cancer immunotherapy. Among exhausted CD8+tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, the terminally exhausted subset contributes directly to tumor cell killing owing to its cytotoxic effector function. However, this subset does not respond to immune checkpoint blockades and is difficult to be reinvigorated with restored proliferative capacity. Here, we show that a half-life-extended interleukin-10–Fc fusion protein directly and potently enhanced expansion and effector function of terminally exhausted CD8+tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes by promoting oxidative phosphorylation, a process that was independent of the progenitor exhausted T cells. Interleukin-10–Fc was a safe and highly efficient metabolic intervention that synergized with adoptive T cell transfer immunotherapy, leading to eradication of established solid tumors and durable cures in the majority of treated mice. These findings show that metabolic reprogramming by upregulating mitochondrial pyruvate carrier-dependent oxidative phosphorylation can revitalize terminally exhausted T cells and enhance the response to cancer immunotherapy.

ABSTRACTBladder cancer is a common and widespread cancer of the human urinary system, and its incidence is increasing. Gene therapy is a promising treatment of bladder cancer. In our study, a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV9-UPII-TK-EGFP) driven by a UPII promoter was constructed. The efficacy and safety of infection of bladder cells was tested in vivo and in vitro. The ability of rAAV9-UPII-TK-EGFP to penetrate the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer on the surface of bladder cells and to transduce the bladder cells in vivo was very high. Additionally, we confirmed that the TK/GCV system has a powerful cytotoxic effect on bladder tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. Thus, our data indicate that rAAV9-UPII-TK-EGFP is a precise gene drug delivery system for the treatment of bladder cancer, and the TK/GCV therapeutic strategy has a powerful antitumor effect. These findings can be widely used in clinical and scientific studies.

Background: Previous studies reported that magnesium deficiency was associated with vascular calcifications, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, which might play an independent pathogenic role in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. However, the results of these studies were somewhat underpowered and inconclusive. Methods: Literature was identified by searching PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). We included studies that investigated the association between serum magnesium with mortality risk in CKD and ESRD patients. Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were pooled. Results: Twenty studies involving 200,934 participants were included, and the results showed that there was a strong association between hypomagnesemia and the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with CKD and ESRD (HR 1.32; 95% CI 1.19–1.47; p?&lt;?0.00001) (hypomagnesemia vs. normal magnesium or hypermagnesemia) after multivariable adjusted. On the contrary, hypermagnesemia was inversely associated with all-cause mortality in patients with CKD and ESRD (HR 0.86; 95% CI 0.79–0.94; p?=?0.001) (per unit increase). Moreover, a significant association between hypermagnesemia and decreased risk of cardiovascular mortality was observed (HR 0.71; 95% CI 053–0.97, p?=?0.03) in the adjusted model. In addition, subgroup analysis found that hypomagnesemia was strongly associated with increased all-cause mortality in hemodialysis patients (HR 1.29; 95% CI 1.12–1.50; p?=?0.0005) (hypomagnesemia vs. normal magnesium or hypermagnesemia). Conclusions: Our results indicate that hypomagnesemia is significantly associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in patients with CKD and ESRD. Further studies evaluating benefits of magnesium correction in CKD and dialysis patients with hypomagnesemia should be performed.

X-ray fluorescence microtomography (μXFCT) is a nondestructive analytical technique and has been widely used to nondestructively detect and quantify the elemental composition and distributions in samples. Usually, synchrotron radiation X-rays are used for μXFCT, due to its high flux density. In this paper, a laboratory-source-based μXFCT system was developed, in which a polycapillary lens is employed to focus the X-ray beam and improve the flux density. The maximum likelihood expectation maximization algorithm was used to reconstruct the computed tomography slices at a limited number of projections. The experimental results demonstrated that the developed system could reveal the elemental distribution inside the test sample, with an elemental sensitivity of 1000 ppm.

Comparative genomics, evolutionary biology, and cancer researches require tools to elucidate the evolutionary trajectories and reconstruct the ancestral genomes. Various methods have been developed to infer the genome content and gene ordering of ancestral genomes by using such genomic structural variants. There are mainly two kinds of computational approaches in the ancestral genome reconstruction study. Distance/event-based approaches employ genome evolutionary models and reconstruct the ancestral genomes that minimize the total distance or events over the edges of the given phylogeny. The homology/adjacency-based approaches search for the conserved gene adjacencies and genome structures, and assemble these regions into ancestral genomes along the internal node of the given phylogeny. We review the principles and algorithms of these approaches that can reconstruct the ancestral genomes on the whole genome level. We talk about their advantages and limitations of these approaches in dealing with various genome datasets, evolutionary events, and reconstruction problems. We also talk about the improvements and developments of these approaches in the subsequent researches. We select four most famous and powerful approaches from both distance/eventbased and homology/adjacency-based categories to analyze and compare their performances in dealing with different kinds of datasets and evolutionary events. Based on our experiment, GASTS has the best performance in solving the problems with equal genome contents that only have genome rearrangement events. PMAG++ achieves the best performance in solving the problems with unequal genome contents that have all possible complicated evolutionary events.

Spurred on by recent progress in nanotechnology and precision medicine, smart drug carriers are entering an entirely new era. Smart drug carriers have been widely studied in recent years as a result of their ability to control drug release under different microenvironments (such as pH, redox, and enzyme) in vivo. Host–guest interactions based on cyclodextrins have proven to be an efficient tool for fabricating smart drug carriers. Because of the application of host–guest interactions, many kinds of biological molecules or supramolecular building blocks can combine into an organic whole at the molecular level. In this review, the features, mechanisms of action, and potent applications of biological stimuli-responsive drug carriers based on cyclodextrins are discussed. In addition, some personal perspectives on this field are presented.

Melatonin, a natural compound, was first found in animals. It is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland and plays a role in regulating circadian rhythm. In recent years, many studies have shown that melatonin plays a significant role in delaying the senescence of postharvest fruits and vegetables (F&V), maintaining the postharvest quality of F&V, and prolonging the shelf life of postharvest F&V. This paper reviews recent research progress in melatonin and expounds on the content of melatonin in F&V and the effect of exogenous melatonin on F&V. The mechanism of melatonin on maintaining the postharvest quality of F&V and prolonging their shelf life is discussed. The positive effects of exogenous melatonin on the postharvest preservation of F&V are summarized, mainly including increasing endogenous melatonin content, improving quality indicators, enhancing antioxidant capacity, alleviating chilling injury, and inhibiting bacterial growth. We conclude by discussing the applicability and potential of melatonin while highlighting future perspectives in this research field.

Celadons were prepared in the reducing atmosphere with purple clay and other natural elements. Different concentrations of silicon powder, silicon carbide, and tin dioxide were used as auxiliary reducing agents to investigate their effects on celadons. The results showed that the brightness value of celadons increased and subsequently declined when Si and SiC were introduced, and the glaze color gradually shifted from yellowish-green to bluish-green. On the other hand, samples with SnO2had an opaque yellowish-green tint. According to XPS data, the reducing ability of SiC was added, followed by Si and SnO2. The structural colors of samples containing Si, SnO2, and without reducing agents were weak. Otherwise, celadons with SiC could yield blue structural colors conforming to the “Rayleigh scattering” effect. In conclusion, the reducing atmosphere raised the quantity of Fe2+in celadons, resulting in blue colors, and additives created a variety of chemical and structural color coupling effects, leading to different aesthetic effects.

Nanomedicine has shown good potentials for cancer diagnosis and treatment since the last decades. Among the various nanoparticles exploited for cancer management so far, gold nanomaterials (e.g., spherical gold nanoparticles and gold nanorods) were extensively investigated due to their unique chemo-physical properties. We herein summarize the emerging application and discuss the challenges of using gold nanomaterials for therapy of metastatic cancer.

To investigate the potential roles of gallstones and cholecystectomy in pancreatic carcinogenesis, we performed the first meta-analysis of all currently published studies by pooling relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Stratified analysis by ethnicity, study design, and common adjusted factors were also conducted. Individuals with a history of gallstones and cholecystectomy were at increased risk of pancreatic cancer (RR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.28–1.52; P< 0.001). Gallstones and cholecystectomy were also associated with an elevated risk of pancreatic cancer, respectively (for gallstones: RR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.30–2.21; P< 0.001; for cholecystectomy: RR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.19–1.43; P< 0.001). The positive association is observed among not only the Asian population but also whites. The pooled findings were further confirmed by sensitivity analysis and stratified analyses in case-control and cohort studies. Stratified analyses by different adjusted factors further showed that the increased risk of pancreatic cancer was independent of confounders including diabetes, obesity, smoking, and follow-up years of postcholecystectomy. A history of gallstones and cholecystectomy is a robust risk factor for pancreatic cancer. Gallstone disease or cholecystectomy alone is also an independent risk factor for pancreatic carcinogenesis.

The intrinsic or acquired drug resistance is the main challenge for cancer chemotherapy today. So far, many nanosized drug delivery systems (NDDS) have been exploited to combat cancer drug resistance. However, the therapy efficacy of current NDDS is severely impaired by the limited tumor penetration of the nanoparticles due to the existence of physiological and pathological barriers in the solid tumor. In this study, we report on the design and fabrication of intracellularly acid-switchable multifunctional micelles for combinational photo- and chemotherapy of the drug-resistant tumor. The micelles were composed of a pH-responsive diblock copolymer, a photosensitizer, and a polymeric prodrug of doxorubicin. The micelle displayed silenced fluorescence and photoactivity during the blood circulation and switched to an active state in weakly acid conditions (i.e., pH ≤ 6.2) in the endocytic vesicles to dramatically induce a 7.5-fold increase of the fluorescence signal for fluorescence imaging. Upon near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, the micelle induced notable reactive oxygen species generation to trigger cytosol release of the chemotherapeutics and perform photodynamic therapy (PDT). Moreover, the micelle efficiently converted the NIR light to local heat for enhancing tumor penetration of the anticancer drug, tumor specific photothermal therapy, and photoacoustic (PA) imaging. Furthermore, the micelles could generate amplified magnetic resonance (MR) signal in an acidic microenvironment to perform MR imaging. Collectively, this study presents a robust nanoplatform for multimodal imaging and combinational therapy of the drug-resistant tumor, which might provide an insight for developing polymer-based NDDS for cancer therapy.

Multi-component hetero-nanostructures exhibit multifunctional properties or synergistic performance and are thus considered as attractive materials for energy conversion applications. There is a long-standing demand to construct more sophisticated heterostructures for steering charge-carrier flow in semiconductor systems. Herein we fabricate a large-scale quantity of three-dimensional (3D) branched CuxO/ZnO@Au heterostructure consisting of CuO nanowires (NWs) and grafted ZnO nanodisks (NDs) decorated with Au nanoparticles via sequential hierarchical assemblies. This treelike hetero-nanostructure ensures well-steered transfer of photogenerated electrons to the exposed ZnO NDs, while holes to the CuO backbone NWs with concerted efforts from multi-node p–n junctions, polar ZnO facets, and Au plasmon, resulting in the significantly enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance.

Objective To evaluate the correlation between Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score and plasma concentrations of copeptin, C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin in patients with sepsis.Methods Patients with sepsis were prospectively enrolled. APACHE II scores were determined during the first 24 h after admission to the intensive care unit. Plasma copeptin, CRP and procalcitonin were quantified at admission, 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h. Survival at 28 days after admission was recorded.Results APACHE II score was significantly positively correlated with plasma copeptin, CRP and procalcitonin concentrations. Survivors (n= 15) had significantly lower APACHE II scores and copeptin, CRP and procalcitonin concentrations than nonsurvivors (n= 26). APACHE II score, copeptin at 72 h, CRP at 48 h and procalcitonin at 24 h were independent risk factors for death.Conclusion Plasma copeptin, CRP and procalcitonin concentrations were positively correlated with APACHE II score in patients with sepsis, and reflected disease severity.

Did property evaluation of engine test on shelf with the synthetic aircraft lubricating oil of corrosion inhibiting, detect the systematical parameters of engine, and the viscosity, acid number, flashing point, change of metal element of test oil. The results show that the new developed product has excellent antioxidation at high temperature, antiwear and lubricating performance, corrosion inhibition and anti-foam performance. And also has excellent long-term storage stability and service performance.