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Sulfoxides and sulfinamides play important roles in the pharmaceutical industry, organic synthesis and fine chemicals. This review will demonstrate that, under catalysis by transition metals, β-sulfinyl esters, as nucleophilic reagents, react with a variety of electrophilic reagents to produce sulfoxides and sulfinamides. The important prospect of the asymmetric catalytic synthesis of chiral sulfur-containing molecules in this field is described.

Studies have shown that thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) is associated with increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between TAI and embryo quality in euthyroid women undergoing in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI).This retrospective cohort study included euthyroid infertile women with and without TAI (defined as a serum thyroperoxidase concentration ≥ 34 IU/mL or thyroglobulin concentration ≥ 115.0 IU/mL) who underwent their first complete IVF/ICSI treatment cycles at a tertiary referral center between April 2016 and February 2022. Embryo quality measurements and clinical outcomes were compared between women with (TAI-positive) and without TAI (TAI-negative). The high-quality cleavage embryo rate and cumulative live birth rate (cLBR) were the primary outcomes.A total of 499 TAI-positive and 2,945 TAI-negative women were included in this study, and their mean (standard deviation) ages were 31.6 (4.5) and 30.9 (4.4) years, respectively (p = 0.001). The overall analysis showed no significant differences between TAI-negative and TAI-positive women in the high-quality cleavage embryo rate (n/N: 11,139/22,553 vs. 1,971/3,820; adjusted rate: 52.8% vs. 51.6%, p = 0.66) and cLBR (1,917/2,945 vs. 327/499; 53.4% vs. 56.2%, p = 0.31). Moreover, no significant differences were observed between TAI-negative and TAI-positive women in the rates of oocyte retrieval (35,078/51,978 vs. 5,853/8,628; 69.1% vs. 67.4%; p = 0.65), fertilization (23,067/34,197 vs. 3,902/5,728; 61.1% vs. 62.2%, p = 0.34), embryo utilization (18,233/22,553 vs. 3,156/3,820; 80.2% vs. 80.8%, p = 0.61), blastocyst formation (7,051/13,721 vs. 1,192/2,330; 48.5% vs. 48.4%, p = 0.97) and high-quality blastocysts (4,819/13,721 vs. 799/2,330; 29.9% vs. 29.4%, p = 0.73). Furthermore, no significant differences were observed between TAI-negative and TAI-positive women in the clinical pregnancy rate (1,524/2,808 vs. 248/482; 46.7% vs. 44.6%, p = 0.40), early pregnancy loss rate (156/1,524 vs. 23/248; 13.5% vs. 11.5%, p = 0.44) and live birth rate (1,338/2,808 vs. 218/482; 37.4% vs. 36.0%, p = 0.55) of the first transfer cycle.This study demonstrated that TAI in women was not associated with embryo quality or the cLBR following IVF/ICSI. Future large prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

Early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cells are a newly defined subset of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in breast cancer tissues and related to poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. Compared with classical myeloid-derived suppressor cells, early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cells display exceptional immunosuppressive ability and accumulate in the tumor microenvironment to suppress innate and adaptive immunity. Previously, we demonstrated that early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cells were SOCS3 deficiency dependent and correlated with differentiation arrest in the myeloid lineage. Autophagy is a major regulator of myeloid differentiation, but the mechanism by which autophagy regulates the development of early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cells has not been elucidated. Here, we constructed EO771 mammary tumor-bearing conditional myeloid SOCS3 knockout mice (SOCS3MyeKO) characterized by abundant tumor-infiltrating early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cells and exacerbated immunosuppression in vitro and in vivo. We found that early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cells isolated from SOCS3MyeKO mice showed differentiation arrest in the myeloid lineage, which was caused by limited autophagy activation in an Wnt/mTOR-dependent manner. RNA sequencing and microRNA microarray assays revealed that miR-155–induced C/EBPβ downregulation activated the Wnt/mTOR pathway and promoted autophagy repression and differentiation arrest in early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Furthermore, inhibition of Wnt/mTOR signaling suppressed both tumor growth and the immunosuppressive functions of early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Thus, SOCS3 deficiency-dependent autophagy repression and their regulatory mechanisms could contribute to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Our study proposes a novel mechanism for promoting early-stage myeloid-derived suppressor cell survival, which might shed new light on a potential target of oncologic therapy.

ObjectivesTo obtain the normal values of fractional concentration of nasal nitric oxide in Chinese children aged 6–18 years, so as to provide reference for clinical diagnosis.Methods2,580 out of 3,200 children (1,359 males and 1,221 females), whom were included from 12 centers around China were taken tests, their height and weight were also recorded. Data were used to analyze the normal range and influencing factors of fractional concentration of nasal nitric oxide values.MeasurementsData was measured using the Nano Coulomb Breath Analyzer (Sunvou-CA2122, Wuxi, China), according to the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) recommendations.Main ResultsWe calculated the normal range and prediction equation of fractional concentration of nasal nitric oxide values in Chinese children aged 6–18 years. The mean FnNO values of Chinese aged 6–18 yrs was 454.5 ± 176.2 ppb, and 95% of them were in the range of 134.5–844.0 ppb. The prediction rule of FnNO values for Chinese children aged 6–11 yrs was: FnNO = 298.881 + 17.974 × age. And for children aged 12–18 yrs was: FnNO = 579.222–30.332 × (male = 0, female = 1)—5.503 × age.ConclusionsSex and age were two significant predictors of FnNO values for Chinese children(aged 12–18 yrs). Hopefully this study can provide some reference value for clinical diagnosis in children.

Gastrointestinal cancers are the most common type of cancer affecting humans. High expression of HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR), a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), in various types of different tumors may be associated with poor prognosis. In the present study, we performed a meta-analysis of the relationship between HOTAIR expression and gastrointestinal cancers. Five databases were comprehensively searched for all literature until January 2023. Moreover, the target genes of HOTAIR were predicted by coexpression analysis based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) gene expression matrix for six gastrointestinal cancer types. Finally, the mechanism through which HOTAIR affects tumors of the digestive system was systematically reviewed. Our results showed that the high HOTAIR expression group had worse outcomes with a pooled hazard ratio (HR) of 1.56 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.38–1.75, P

MiRNAs as a series of small noncoding RNAs that play a crucial part in regulating coat color and hair follicle development. In the previous Solexa sequencing experiments, there were many miRNAs expressed differentially in alpacas with different coat color, including miR-193b.But the mechanism of miR-193b in mammalian pigmentation is still unknown. In this study, bioinformatics analysis showed that WNT10A and GNAI2 might be the target genes of miR-193b. qRT-PCR showed the expression of miR-193b in white Cashmere goats' skins was obviously lower than that in browns, and the expression of WNT10A and GNAI2 were similar with miR-193b. The protein levels of WNT10A and GNAI2 indicated the same findings. Furthermore, the expression of WNT10A and GNAI2 in keratinocytes were analyzed from mRNA and protein levels, the results manifested that the group of overexpression of miR-193b in HaCaT cells increased the expressions of target genes, and miR-193b inhibition group reduced expressions. Luciferase report assays confirmed that the targeting relationship between miR-193b and target genes (WNT10A and GNAI2), the results showed that miR-193b was positively correlated with target genes. These experimental data showed that miR-193b might participate in adjustment of coat color in skin tissue of Cashmere goat by targeting WNT10A and GNAI2.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs), a group of tumour cells with stem cell characteristics, have the ability of self‐renewal, multi‐lineage differentiation and tumour formation. Since CSCs are resistant to conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy, their existence may be one of the root causes of cancer treatment failure and tumour progression. The elimination of CSCs may be effective for eventual tumour eradication. Because of the good therapeutic effects without major histocompatibility complex (MHC) restriction and the unique characteristics of CSCs, chimeric antigen receptor T‐cell (CAR‐T) therapy is expected to be an important method to eliminate CSCs. In this review, we have discussed the feasibility of CSCs‐targeted CAR‐T therapy for cancer treatment, summarized current research and clinical trials of targeting CSCs with CAR‐T cells and forecasted the challenges and future direction from the perspectives of toxicity, persistence and potency, trafficking, infiltration, immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, and tumour heterogeneity.

Centralized coded caching schemes have been widely studied in wireless networks. Placement delivery array (PDA) can be used to generate a coded caching scheme with low subpacketization when all the requested files are different. However, all existing schemes based on PDA design treat the request of each user as an independent file, without leveraging the multicast opportunities when one file is requested by several users. In this letter, for any existing scheme based on PDA design, after its coded multicast messages generation, we proposed an approach to remove the redundant multicast messages.

Sauce-flavor Daqu is an important source of fermentation power in baijiu brewing. Revealing carbohydrate metabolism will help to explore the underlying reasons for the difference in fermentation performance of Daqu. In this study, metagenomic and metaproteomic technologies were performed to explore the carbohydrate metabolism network and its active functional microorganisms of Sauce-flavor Daqu. The sugar profile was analyzed using LC-MS to confirm the metabolic network. The results showed that 23 fungi and 5 bacteria were involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Starch metabolism, cellulose metabolism, and glucan metabolism were the main metabolic pathways, in which fungi especially Aspergillus were more involved than bacteria. Among these active microorganisms, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, Aspergillus oryzae, Monascus purpureus, Byssochlamys spectabilis, Lichtheimia ramosa, Thermomyces lanuginosus, and Thermoascus aurantiacus were significant functional microorganisms with the ability to produce multiple enzymes. Lichtheimia ramosa, Lichtheimia corymbifera and Kroppenstedtia eburnea were biomarkers of Daqu in the first round, granting it a better liquefaction ability. β-amylase derived from wheat also played an important role in starch degradation, and the synergistic effect with α-amylase endowed Daqu with higher liquefaction power in the first two rounds. The results of this study are of great significance for the analysis of the mechanism of Daqu fermentation and provide a reliable theoretical basis for strengthening the fermentation performance of Daqu.

NAFLD is a liver disease that is caused by liver damage or extreme lipid deposition but not alcohol. Nrf2 could mediate resistance to oxidative stress injury. Autophagy can degrade metabolic waste and accumulated toxic endogenous substances. Pterostilbene (PTE) is an active compound extracted from blueberry, and grape, that exhibits many biological effects, such as antiinflammation and antitumor.This study provides a mechanism of PTE affecting on oxidative stress and autophagy in NAFLD mice. Tyloxapol, oil acid (OA) and palmitic acid (PA) were used to induce lipid accumulation in mice and HepG2 cells.Western blotting, CRISPR/Cas 9 and other molecular biological approaches were applied to explore the mechanisms of PTE effected on NAFLD.PTE pretreatment effectively reduced the lipid accumulation in OA and PA induced HepG2 cells and tyloxapol induced mice, and significantly promoted the expression of nNrf2, PPAR-α and HO-1, and AMPK activity, but inhibited the expression of mTORC 1 and SREBP-1c. PTE activated phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and proteins in the autophagy-related gene (ATG) family, and promoted the transformation of LC3Ⅰ to LC3Ⅱ which indicated the activation of autophagy, however, these effects were abolished after Nrf2 knockout.PTE effectively alleviated oxidative stress damage induced by excessive lipid accumulation in hepatocytes, thus promoting the metabolism and decomposition of fatty acids to improve NAFLD.

Gastric cancer (GC)is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in China and immunotherapy emerging as a revolutionary treatment for GC recently. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is a predictive biomarker of immunotherapy in multiple cancers. However, the prognostic significance and subtype of TMB in GC is not fully understood.This study aims to evaluate the prognostic value of TMB in Chinese GC and further classify TMB-high GC (GCGenomic profiling of 435 cancer-gene panel was performed using 206 GC samples from Chinese people. Actionable genetic alterations were compared across all the samples to generate actionable subtyping. The prognostic value of TMB in Chinese GC was evaluated. Mutational signatures were analyzed on TMB-H subtype to stratify the prognosis of TMB. Transcriptomic analysis was applied to compare the distributed immunocytes among different subtypes.88.3% (182/206) of GC samples had at least one mutation, while 45.1% (93/206) had at least one somatic copy number alteration (SCNA). 29.6% (61/206) of GC samples were TMB-H, including 13 MSI-H and 48 MSS tumors. According to distinct genetic alteration profiles of 69 actionable genes, we classified GC samples into eight molecular subtypes, including TMB-H, ERBB2 amplified, ATM mutated, BRCA2 mutated, CDKN2A/B deleted, PI3KCA mutated, KRAS mutated, and less-mutated subtype. TMB-H subtype presented a remarkable immune-activated phenotype as determined by transcriptomic analysis that was further validated in the TCGA GC cohort. GCThe Signature 1-high GC

Genkwa flos (yuanhua in Chinese), the dried flower buds of the plant Daphne genkwa SieboldZucc., as a traditional herb widely used for the treatment of inflammation-related symptoms and diseases, with the efficacies of diuretic, phlegm-resolving and cough suppressant.Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is presumed to be of immense potential against pathogens infection. Whereas, the potential efficacy and mechanisms of Genkwa flos against L. monocytogenes infection has not been extensively explored. The present study aimed to identify the bioactive ingredients of Genkwa flos against L. monocytogenes infection and to delineate the underlying mechanisms of action.Bioinformatics approach at protein network level was employed to investigate the therapeutic mechanisms of Genkwa flos against L. monocytogenes infection. And hemolysis inhibition assay, cytoprotection test, western blotting, oligomerization assay and molecular docking analysis were applied to substantiate the multiple efficacies of Genkwa flos and the bioactive ingredient genkwanin. Histopathological analysis and biochemistry detection were conducted to evaluate the in vivo protective effect of genkwanin.Network pharmacology and experimental validation revealed that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Genkwa flos exhibited anti-L. monocytogenes potency and was found to inhibit the hemolytic activity of LLO. Bioactive ingredient genkwanin interfered with the pore-forming activity of LLO by engaging the active residues Tyr414, Tyr98, Asn473, Val100, Tyr440 and Val438, and thereby attenuated LLO-mediated cytotoxicity. Consistent with the bioinformatics prediction, exposed to genkwanin could upregulate the Nrf2 level and promote the translocation of Nrf2. In vivo, genkwanin oral administration (80 mg/kg) significantly protected against systemic L. monocytogenes infection, as evidenced by reduced myeloperoxidase (MPO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, increased mice survival rate by 30% and decreased pathogen colonization.Our study demonstrated that Genkwa flos is a potential anti-L. monocytogenes TCM, highlighted the therapeutic potential of Genkwa flos active ingredient genkwanin by targeting the pore-forming cytolysin LLO and acting as a promising antioxidative candidate against L. monocytogenes infection.

A KOH-promoted unusual deoxidative coupling reaction of β-sulfinyl esters with benzylic trimethylammonium salts to produce thioethers is discovered for the first time. If quaternary ammonium salts synthesized from enantiomerically enriched amines are adopted, highly enantiomerically enriched benzyl thioethers (>95-99% ee) with configurations opposite to those of the enantiomerically enriched amines are obtained.

Octanes in alkylation products obtained from industrial alkylation were studied by batch experiments. More than eight octane isomers were identified and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Based on a classic carbenium ion mechanism, the carbocation transition states in concentrated sulfuric acid catalyzed alkylation were investigated using quantum-chemical simulations and predicted the concentration and octane isomerization products including trimethylpentane and dimethylhexane as well as the formation of heavier compounds that resulted from the oligomerization of octane and butene. The agreement between model calculations and experimental data was quite satisfactory. Calculation results indicated that composition and content of trimethylpentanes in the alkylation products were 2,2,4-trimethylpentane > 2,3,3-trimethylpentane > 2,3,4-trimethylpentane > 2,2,3-trimethylpentane whether the 2-butene or i-butene acts as olefin. Heavier compounds in the alkylate were primarily formed by the oligomerization of dimethylhexane with 1-butene. Hopefully, the carbocation transition state models developed in this work will be useful for understanding the product distributions of octane in alkylation products.

In this study, the impinging stream-rotating packed bed and precipitation method were used to continuously prepare Fe and Co co-doped Titanium Dioxide by in-situ modification. With TiOSO4 solution ...

Sulfinamides, especially enantiopure sulfinamides, are widely used in organic and medicinal synthesis. Syntheses and transformations of racemic and enantioenriched sulfinamides have achieved great progress. Especially sulfinamides demonstrate interesting and valuable reactivity, which deserves to be pertinent. This review summarizes the latest development in the synthesis and transformation of sulfinamides and will be helpful for future related research.1 Introduction2 Synthesis of Sulfinamides2.1 Synthesis of Racemic Sulfinamides2.2 Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Sulfinamides2.3 Synthesis of Other Sulfinamides3 Transformations of Sulfinamides3.1 Condensation with Aldehydes and Ketones3.2 Reaction with Alkynes3.3 Reaction with Alkenes3.4 Reaction with Aryl and Alkyl Halides3.5 Reaction with Alcohols, Dibenzyl Ether, and Benzyl Mercaptan3.6 Synthesis of tert-Butyldisulfanyl-Substituted Hetarenes3.7 Synthesis of Asymmetric Sulfides3.8 Synthesis of N-Phosphino-sulfinamide Ligands3.9 Asymmetric Synthesis of γ-Amino Acids3.10 Sulfonylation of Heterocyclic Compounds4 Summary and Outlook

It is indicated that the solder joint of the metal fibrous materials is a critical factor impacting the heat conduction. To reveal the mechanism by which solder joint sizes, solder joint skips, solder flux materials, and filling media affect the thermal conductivity of fibres, pore-scale numerical simulation is employed to study the thermal transport in two-directional (2-D) random fibres. Satisfactory agreement with existing data validates the numerical model. The dimensionless effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of the porous fibres increases with the solder joint sizes. As the solder joint size (i.e., solder joint ratio) increases by 3.06%, the in-plane (ke-in) and out-of-plane (ke-out) dimensionless ETC increase by 9.0% and 437.2%, respectively. However, the solder joint skips will weaken the thermal conductivity of the fibres. For the same fibre, the ETC of the fibre increases as the thermal conductivity of solders increases. Further, when the dissimilarity in thermal conductivity between the filling medium and the fibre is reduced, the fibre is less affected by the solder joint skips. Finally, it should be supplemented that the in-plane and out-of-plane ETC (ke-in and ke-out) of the fibre without any solder joint are reduced by an average of 14.3% and 98.8%, respectively.

Nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is among the most prevalent malignant tumours threatening human health. In the tumour microenvironment (TME), cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) induce M2-polarized macrophages, which strongly regulate tumour progression. However, little is known about the association between CAFs and M2 macrophages. CD248 is a transmembrane glycoprotein found in several cancer cells, tumour stromal cells, and pericytes. Here, we isolated CAFs from tumour tissues of NSCLC patients to detect the relationship between CD248 expression and patient prognosis. We knocked down the expression of CD248 on CAFs to detect CXCL12 secretion and macrophage polarization. We then examined the effects of CD248-expressing CAF-induced M2 macrophage polarization to promote NSCLC progression in vitro and in vivo. We found that CD248 is expressed mainly in NSCLC-derived CAFs and that the expression of CD248 correlates with poor patient prognosis. Blocking CXCL12 receptor (CXCR4) drastically decreased M2 macrophage chemotaxis. CD248 promotes CAFs secreting CXCL12 to mediate M2-polarized macrophages to promote NSCLC progression both in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our data suggest that CD248-positive CAFs induce NSCLC progression by mediating M2-polarized macrophages.

Background Numerous studies have found that subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) may increase adverse pregnancy outcomes; however, the benefit of levothyroxine (LT4) treatment remains controversial. The 2017 guidelines of the American Thyroid Association weakly recommended LT4 therapy for serum antithyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb)-negative women with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations greater than the pregnancy-specific reference range and below 10.0 mU/L. Therefore, the primary goal of this study was to investigate the correlation between thyroid autoantibody-negative SCH with or without LT4 treatment and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Methods We prospectively enrolled 1868 consecutive pregnant women. Finally, 1344 women were involved in the study according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Assays for TSH, free thyroxine (FT4), TPOAb, anti-thyroglobulin antibody, and laboratory indicators were performed. The participants were divided into the euthyroid (ET) group (n = 1250) and the SCH group(n = 94). The SCH group was further divided into LT4 group (n = 40) and non-LT4 group(n = 54). The laboratory indicators and pregnancy outcomes were evaluated during follow-ups. Results Maternal age, BMI, parity, and the history of spontaneous abortion did not differ significantly between the ET group and the different SCH groups. There were no significant differences in lipid profile and homocysteine levels between ET and SCH group in the first and third trimester of pregnancy. After adjusting the confounding factors, the non-LT4 group was a risk factor for spontaneous abortion (odds ratio: 3.141, 95% CI: 1.060–9.302). Survival analysis showed that the time of abortion was different between the ET group and SCH group (log-rank P= 0.042). The spontaneous abortion in SCH, especially in non-LT4, group mainly occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy. Conclusions Thyroid autoantibody negative-SCH seems to be associated with increased risk of spontaneous abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. LT4 therapy in this patient population might be beneficial to reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Objective To establish the predicted value of pulmonary function determined by impulse oscillometry (IOS) in children (4–17 years old) in China. Methods A total of 6270 healthy children aged 4–17 years in China were included. The Master Screen IOS pulmonary function device (Jaeger Co, Germany) was used to detect the respiratory impedance (Zrs), resonant frequency (Fres), respiratory system resistance (Rrs) and respiratory system reactance (Xrs) at various oscillation frequencies, and the indices above were analysed. Stepwise multivariate regression was used to establish the regression equation of related parameters of IOS in different sexes, ages, height, and weight. Results The differences in the main IOS parameters between different age stages were statistically significant regardless of sex (P 5, R5, R20, R5–R20, and Fres decreased, while the value of X5 increased. Through height, age, and weight, we obtained the normal predicted values equation of children’s IOS parameters. Compared with the other reference equations, our reference equation is more suitable for Chinese children. Conclusions The study revealed the reference values of IOS parameters in healthy Chinese children. In the evaluation of results for lung function measurements, this predicted value equation is more consistent with the characteristics of Chinese children than other reference equations. Clinical Trial: ChiCTR: 1800019029.

Ovarian cancer is associated with a high mortality rate. In this study, we established a new immune-related signature that can stratify ovarian cancer patients. First, we obtained immune-related genes through IMMUPORT, and DEGs (Differential Expression Genes) by analyzing the GSE26712 dataset. The APP (Antigen Processing and Presentation) and DEG signatures were established using univariate and multivariate Cox models. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed the signatures’ prognostic value in training and validation cohorts (HR: 0.379 VS. 0.450; 0.333 VS. 0.327). Nomogram analysis was used to assess the signatures’ ability to predict the 30-month prognosis, which was evaluated using the calibration curve and time-dependent ROC curve (30-month AUC: 0.665 VS. 0.743). Time-dependent ROC, Decision Curve Analysis (DCA) and Integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) was used to compare the new model to previously published gene signatures. 30-month AUC composite variable (0.736) was higher than 9-gene signature (0.657), and composite variable had a larger net benefit and a higher IDI (+2.436%) relative to the 9-gene signature. Tumor immune infiltration and tumor microenvironment scores of the 2 groups separated by APP signature were compared. GSEA was used to identify enriched KEGG pathways. Conclusively, the proposed signature can stratify ovarian cancer patients by risk-score and guide clinical decisions.

A series of highly active MnO2@REOx (RE = Gd, Sm, Ce, and La) catalysts were successfully synthesized via in situ growth on the surface of MnO2, wherein the rare earth oxides were planted on the defect sites left by hydrogen peroxide etching of the surface of MnO2. Their physicochemical performance was investigated by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed reduction with hydrogen (H2-TPR), and temperature-programmed desorption of oxygen (O2-TPD). The catalytic properties are compared through the catalytic oxidation of chlorobenzene. Among all catalysts, MnO2@GdOx showed better mobility of surface lattice oxygen and higher molar ratios of Mn4+/Mn3+ (1.10) and Oads/Olatt (0.45), which promoted the superior low-temperature catalytic activity for chlorobenzene oxidation. The long-term chlorobenzene oxidation test (18 h) at different temperatures and the experiments with a mixture of VOCs showed that the as-prepared catalyst not only possessed a high stability but also was suitable for the efficient and simultaneous removal of multicomponent VOCs (toluene, benzene, acetone, and chlorobenzene). This work also provided an idea for the further development of high-efficiency catalysts for the purification of VOCs from complex atmosphere environment.

Coded caching scheme provides us an effective framework to realize additional coded multicasting gain by exploiting coding into multiple transmitted signals. The goal of coded caching design is to jointly optimize the placement and delivery scheme so as to minimize the amount of transmitted coded signals. However, few research efforts consider multiple-round coded caching design problem, in which fixed and mobile users may coexist in one network different number of active users present in successive rounds. Obviously, such dynamic network configurations may lead to undesired frequent placement caching content updating at user sides, if we assume coded caching scheme for each round separately. Thus how to tailor the coded caching design, such that the frequent caching content updating in the placement phase can be avoided, and simultaneously retaining full caching gain in delivery phase in multiple rounds will become highly desirable. In this paper, by carefully examining the bipartite graph representation of the coded caching scheme, a dynamic centralized coded caching design is proposed on the basis of the concatenating-based placement and the saturating matching based delivery scheme. Our analysis unveils that, the proposed dynamic coded caching scheme can realize the flexible coded multicast, and is order optimal., Comment: 15 pages

In this paper, a multi-hypothesis square-root cubature Kalman particle filter (MH-SRCKPF) is proposed for speaker tracking in noisy and reverberant environments with distributed microphone arrays. The conventional cubature Kalman particle filter (CKPF) uses the cubature Kalman filter (CKF) to generate its proposal for particle sampling. Such a proposal incorporates only one observation from a certain localization function for the state estimation, which is vulnerable to noise or reverberation, yielding the degraded tracking performance. To tackle the problem, by incorporating multiple possible observations into CKF for the proposal, a multi-hypothesis CKPF (MH-CKPF) algorithm is first developed. Furthermore, to improve the numerical stability, an MH-SRCKPF algorithm is developed, where the state estimate and the square root of the error covariance are propagated at each time. Finally, the MH-SRCKPF is applied to the speaker tracking problems in distributed microphone arrays. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed MH-SRCKPF outperforms the competing methods in the presence of noise and reverberation. Meanwhile, by propagating the square root of the state covariance, the proposed method exhibits attractive numerical characteristics.

Sauce-flavor Daqu determines the quality of Baijiu because its core functional community (CFC) can produce abundant enzymes and aroma. However, complex environmental factors make it difficult to accurately control the fermentation quality of Daqu. In this study, we constructed a functional gene database to identify CFC based on multi-omics technology and explore controllable environmental factors of CFC to improve the quality of Daqu. The results showed that the CFC is mainly composed of 7 bacterial and 4 fungal genera, including Kroppenstedtia, Thermoactinomyces, Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Brevibacterium, Saccharopolyspora, Ochrobactrum, Aspergillus, Byssochlamys, Thermoascus, and Thermomyces. Most of them are thermostable microorganisms that can provide the power of fermentation and saccharification (α-amylase, glucoamylase, and protease). In CFC, Acinetobacter and Saccharopolyspora were strongly positively correlated with typical flavor substances, while fungi were negatively correlated, particularly with furans. Therefore, the bacterial genera contributed more to the significant flavors. The CFC was significantly influenced by high temperature and total titrate acid based on RDA. In addition, high-temperature conditions were also strongly positively correlated with flavors that can be quickly produced at high temperatures, such as 2-Furancarboxaldehyde, 2-Furanmethanol, and Tetramethylpyrazine. As a controllable factor, the temperature can be adjusted to improve the quality of Daqu directionally, which will provide theoretical guidance for the production of high-quality Daqu.

Background PTEN is one of the most frequently mutated genes in human cancer. Although the roles of canonical PTEN protein and PTEN isoforms have been extensively explored, the current understanding of PTEN family members cannot fully illustrate the diversity of their roles in biological processes and tumor development. Notably, the function of noncoding RNAs arising from PTEN has been less elucidated. Methods We searched circBase and circInteractome to analyze the potential of PTEN for generating circRNAs. Then, Sanger sequencing, RNase R and Actinomycin D assays were used to verify the ring structure of circPTEN1. In situ hybridization and qRT-PCR were used to determine the level of circPTEN1 in peritumor and tumor tissues of colorectal cancer (CRC). Furthermore, functional experiments, including Transwell assay, 3D multicellular tumor spheroid invasion assay and metastasis models, were performed using circPTEN1 knockdown and overexpression cell lines in vitro and in vivo to investigate the effects of circPTEN1 on tumor metastasis in CRC. Mechanistically, luciferase reporter assay, fluorescence in situ hybridization, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, RNA immunoprecipitation, RNA pull-down and mass spectrometry were executed. Results We identified a circular RNA generated from the PTEN gene, designated circPTEN1, that is frequently downregulated in colorectal cancer, and decreased expression of circPTEN1 predicts poor survival. Low expression of circPTEN1 promotes metastasis in PDX models in vivo and accelerates cancer cell invasion in vitro, whereas overexpression of circPTEN1 reveals opposite roles. Mechanically, we found that circPTEN1 is capable of binding the MH2 domain of Smad4 to disrupt its physical interaction with Smad2/3, which reduces the formation and subsequent nucleus translocation of Smad complexes and consequently suppresses the expression of its downstream genes associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition upon TGF-β stimulation. Furthermore, we found that eIF4A3 suppresses the cyclization of circPTEN1 by directly binding to the circPTEN1 flanking region. Conclusions Our study uncovered a novel PTEN gene-generated circRNA with a tumor suppression function, and further revealed the mechanism of circPTEN1 in CRC metastasis mediated by TGF-β. The identification of circPTEN1 provides a new direction for PTEN investigation, and elucidation of circPTEN1/TGF-β/Smad signaling may pave the way for the development of a potential therapeutic strategy for the suppression of cancer progression.

Sauce-flavored Daqu exhibits different colors after being stacked and fermented at high temperatures. Heiqu (black Daqu, BQ) with outstanding functions is difficult to obtain because its formation mechanism is unclear. In this study, we compared the metabolites in different types of Daqu using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry to explore the formation process of BQ. We found that 251 differential metabolites were upregulated in BQ. Metabolic pathway analysis showed that “tyrosine metabolism” was enriched, and most metabolites in this pathway were differential metabolites upregulated in BQ. The tyrosine metabolic pathway is related to enzymatic browning and melanin production. In addition, the high-temperature and high-humidity fermentation environment of sauce-flavored Daqu promoted an increase in the melanoidin content via a typical Maillard reaction; thus, the melanoidin content in BQ was much higher than that in Huangqu and Baiqu. By strengthening the Maillard reaction precursor substances, amino acids, and reducing sugars, the content of Daqu melanoidin increased significantly after simulated fermentation. Therefore, the enzymatic browning product melanin and Maillard reaction product melanoidin are responsible for BQ formation. This study revealed the difference between BQ and other types of Daqu and provides theoretical guidance for controlling the formation of BQ and improving the quality of liquor.

ObjectivesApproximately 20~30% of all traffic accidents are caused by fatigue driving. However, limited practicability remains a barrier for the real application of available techniques to detect driving fatigue. Use of pupillary light reflex (PLR) may be potentially effective for driving fatigue detection.MethodsA 90 min monotonous simulated driving task was utilized to induce driving fatigue. During the task, PLR measurements were performed at baseline and at an interval of 30 min. Subjective rating scales, heart rate variability (HRV) were monitored simultaneously.ResultsThirty-two healthy volunteers in China participated in our study. Based on the results of subjective evaluation and behavioral performances, driving fatigue was verified to be successfully induced by a simulated driving task. Significant variations of PLR and HRV parameters were observed, which also showed significant relevance with the change in Karolinska Sleepiness Scale at several timepoints (|r| = 0.55 ~ 0.72, P < 0.001). Furthermore, PLR variations had excellent ability to detect driving fatigue with high sensitivity and specificity, of which maximum constriction velocity variations achieved a sensitivity of 85.00% and specificity of 72.34% for driving fatigue detection, vs. 82.50 and 78.72% with a combination of HRV variations, a nonsignificant difference (AUC = 0.835, 0.872, P > 0.05).ConclusionsPupillary light reflex variation may be a potential indicator in the detection of driving fatigue, achieving a comparative performance compared with the combination with heart rate variability. Further work may be involved in developing a commercialized driving fatigue detection system based on pupillary parameters.

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a highly sensitive technique that provides complete information on chemical compositions. The IR spectra of proteins or peptides give rise to nine characteristic IR absorption bands. The amide I bands are the most prominent and sensitive vibrational bands and widely used to predict protein secondary structures. The interference of H

MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of target genes. Previous research has demonstrated that microRNA-200a regulates cell apoptosis, tumor progression, and autoimmune disease. Preliminary studies found that microRNA-200a was differently expressed in the skin of Cashmere goats of various coat colors. However, the role of microRNA-200a in skin pigmentation remained poorly understood. In the current study, we investigated the effect of microRNA-200a on pigmentation in Cashmere goats. The expression of target genes was detected by real-time quantitative PCR, western blot, and immunohistochemistry staining both in vivo and in vitro. Luciferase reporter assays were used to demonstrate the relationship between microRNA-200a and its target genes Wnt family member 5A and frizzled class receptor 4 (WNT5A and FZD4) in HEK293T cells. BALB/c mice were injected with antagomiR-200a to detect melanin content and the expression of microRNA-200a and its target genes. The results demonstrated that the expression of microRNA-200a was significantly higher in brown tissue. Luciferase reporter assays confirmed that microRNA-200a targeted WNT5A and FZD4. The expression of WNT5A and FZD4 in the skin of brown Cashmere goats was significantly lower than that in white Cashmere goats by the detection of mRNA and protein levels. Overexpression/inhibition of microRNA-200a in keratinocytes decreased/increased the mRNA and protein expression of WNT5A and FZD4, respectively. In addition, the expression of WNT5A and FZD4 increased in the skin of BALB/c mice injected with antagomiR-200a, but the melanin content decreased. In summary, this study indicated that microRNA-200a regulates skin pigmentation by targeting WNT5A and FZD4 in Cashmere goats.

With the development of miRNAs identification technology, more and more miRNAs have been discovered, and the role of miRNAs in the development of animal hair follicles has become a focus of research on hair-producing animals. In the previous experiment, compare the microRNA (miRNA) trancriptomes of goats and sheep skin using Solexa sequencing and differentially expressed miR-125b was screened. However, the mechanism of miR-125b regulating hair follicle development is not clear. Therefore, in the present study, the expression of miR-125b, MXD4 and FGFR2 in skin tissue of Fine-wool Sheep and Cashmere goats and HEK-293T cells was examined by qPCR and Western blot. Furthermore, the correlation between miR-125b and the predicted target gene (MXD4, FGFR2) was verified using the Dual-luciferase Reporter assay. We demonstrated that the expression of MXD4 and FGFR2 in Cashmere goats was significantly higher than that of Fine-wool Sheep, and the expression was opposite to that of miR-125b. miR-125b can down-regulate the levels of MXD4 and FGFR2. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay showed that miR-125b could bind to the 3'-UTR region of target genes FGFR2 and MXD4, suggesting that MXD4 and FGFR2 were target genes of miR-125b. This study has shown that the growth and development of hair follicles in skin tissue of Fine-wool Sheep and Cashmere goats from the new regulatory levels of miRNAs, and clarified the mechanism of miR-125b and its target genes in the development of hair follicles in the skin.

The purpose of this paper is to study the existence of periodic solutions for the first-order nonlinear neutral differential equation on time scales. Burton–Krasnoselskii’s fixed point theorem will be sufficiently general for application to the considered equation. An example has been carried out to show our results. It should be pointed out that the problem of periodic solutions is one of the current hot topics in the study of dynamic equations, which contains rich symmetry ideas and methods.

Genomic instability (GI), which leads to the accumulation of DNA loss, gain, and rearrangement, is a hallmark of many cancers such as lung cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer. However, the clinical significance of GI has not been systematically studied in the meningeal metastasis (MM) of solid tumors. Here, we collected both cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma samples from 56 solid tumor MM patients and isolated cell-free ctDNA to investigate the GI status using a next-generation sequencing-based comprehensive genomic profiling of 543 cancer-related genes. According to the unfiltered heterozygous mutation data-derived GI score, we found that 37 (66.1%) cases of CSF and 3 cases (6%) of plasma had a high GI status, which was further validated by low-depth whole-genome sequencing analysis. It is demonstrated that a high GI status in CSF was associated with poor prognosis, high intracranial pressure, and low Karnofsky performance status scores. More notably, a high GI status was an independent poor prognostic factor of poor MM-free survival and overall survival in lung adenocarcinoma MM patients. Furthermore, high occurrences of the co-mutation of TP53/EGFR, TP53/RB1, TP53/ERBB2, and TP53/KMT2C were found in MM patients with a high GI status. In summary, the GI status in CSF ctDNA might be a valuable prognostic indicator in solid tumor patients with MM.