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To study the interaction of nanoparticles (NPs) and human serum albumin (HSA), we designed three different aminosubstituted hydrophobically cholesterol-modified pullulan NPs (CHPN NPs). Dynamic light scattering (DLS) revealed sizes of 145, 156, and 254 nm and zeta potentials of 0.835, 7.22, and 11.7 mV for CHPN1, CHPN2, and CHPN3 NPs, respectively. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) revealed that the binding constants were (1.59±0.45)×105 M−1, (2.08±0.26)×104 M−1, and (2.71±0.92)×104 M−1, respectively, and HSA coverage was (1.52±0.12), (0.518±0.316), and (0.092±0.015). Fluorescence spectroscopy of HSA revealed that the fluorescence intensity was quenched by CHPN NPs, which was maintained with a long final complexation period. Circular dichroism (CD) revealed a quick decrease in the α-helix content of HSA to 39.1% after the final complexation. NPs with a more positive charge led to a greater decrease in α-helix content than occurred in other NPs, so the NP surface charge played a role in the HSA–NP interaction. After HSA binding, the surface charge was −3.66±0.12 for CHPN1, −2.65±0.06 for CHPN2 and −1.12±0.28 mV for CHPN3 NPs. The NP surface property changed because of HSA binding, which is important for NP applications.

Background In bladder cancer, up to 70% of patients will relapse after resection within 5 years, in which the mechanism underlying the recurrence remains largely unclear. Methods Quantitative real-time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry were conducted. The assays of tumor sphere formation and tumor xenograft were further performed to assess the potential biological roles of ATF5 (activating transcription factor 5). Chromatin immunoprecipitation-qPCR and luciferase activity assays were carried out to explore the potential molecular mechanism. A two-tailed paired Student's t-test, χ2 test, Kaplan Meier and Cox regression analyses, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were used for statistical analyses. Results ATF5 is elevated in bladder urothelial cancer (BLCA) tissues, especially in recurrent BLCA, which confers a poor prognosis. Overexpressing ATF5 significantly enhanced, whereas silencing ATF5 inhibited, the capability of tumor sphere formation in bladder cancer cells. Mechanically, ATF5 could directly bind to and stimulate the promoter of DVL1 gene, resulting in activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Conclusions This study provides a novel insight into a portion of the mechanism underlying high recurrence potential of BLCA, presenting ATF5 as a prognostic factor or potential therapeutic target for preventing recurrence in BLCA.

In order to cut the costs and overcome the leakage current of batteries caused in traditional method, this study introduces an improved voltage transfer method for lithium battery string management chip. This proposed circuit based on the improved voltage transfer method is fabricated in 180‐nm Bipolar‐CMOS‐DMOS is correct technology, and has been successfully applied to a three lithium batteries string management chip. These measurements indicate that this circuit transfers each cell’s voltage reliably and adopt protection against abnormal conditions. Furthermore, analysis of 50 samples shows that the improved method can greatly eliminate the battery leakage. The circuit reduces the leakage current to nanoampere scale and is integrated into the lithium battery string management chip, which is helpful for battery voltage balance and low cost.

Chemoresistance is the most significant reason for the failure of cancer treatment following radical cystectomy. The response rate to the first-line chemotherapy of cisplatin and gemcitabine does not exceed 50%. In our previous research, elevated BMI1 (B-cell specific Moloney murine leukemia virus integration region 1) expression in bladder cancer conferred poor survival and was associated with chemoresistance. Herein, via analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas database and validation of clinical samples, BMI1 was elevated in patients with bladder cancer resistant to cisplatin and gemcitabine, which conferred tumor relapse and progression. Consistently, BMI1 was markedly increased in the established cisplatin- and gemcitabine-resistant T24 cells (T24/DDP&GEM). Functionally, BMI1 overexpression dramatically promoted drug efflux, enhanced viability and decreased apoptosis of bladder cancer cells upon treatment with cisplatin or gemcitabine, whereas BMI1 downregulation reversed this effect. Mechanically, upon interaction with p53, BMI1 was recruited on the promoter of miR-3682-3p gene concomitant with an increase in the mono-ubiquitination of histone H2A lysine 119, leading to transcription repression of miR-3682-3p gene followed by derepression of ABCB1 (ATP binding cassette subfamily B member 1) gene. Moreover, suppression of P-glycoprotein by miR-3682-3p mimics or its inhibitor XR-9576, could significantly reverse chemoresistance of T24/DDP&GEM cells. These results provided a novel insight into a portion of the mechanism underlying BMI1-mediated chemoresistance in bladder cancer.

In order to suppress leakage current caused in the traditional multi-cells series Li-ion battery pack protection system, a new battery voltage transfer method is presented in this paper, which uses the current generated in the transfer process of one of the batteries to compensate for the leakage of itself and other cells except the top cell. Based on the 0.18 µm Bipolar and CMOS and DMOS technology, this proposed circuit has been integrated into a 7-cells Li-ion battery charge and discharge protection chip successfully. The experimental results of cell balancing confirm that the balancing algorithm can help with the shortage of the voltage transfer circuit. Furthermore, analysis of 20 samples shows that the new method can greatly suppress the battery leakage. Compared with the traditional solution, the voltage transfer circuit proposed in this paper greatly reduces the leakage current, which helps to extend the service life of the battery.

Ketoreductases have shown considerable potential as biocatalysts in the asymmetric synthesis of chiral alcohols. However, compared to the widely studied ketoreductases for chiral alcohols, limited knowledge is available about ketoreductases for efficient dynamic reductive kinetic resolution (DYRKR) of bulky α-amino β-keto esters. In this study, structure-guided rational direct evolution was applied to a ketoreductase (WTEA) from Exiguobacterium sp. F42 for the asymmetric reduction of bulky α-amino β-keto esters. A number of mutants were then obtained with remarkably improved activity toward various bulky α-amino β-keto esters with excellent stereoselectivity by performing structure-guided rational design. In particular, mutant M30 (W82L/F88V/V121A/A138L/R142M/A190V/S193A/Y201F/N204A) exhibited excellent stereoselectivity (>99% dr, >99% de) and high conversion (>99%) for six α-amino β-keto esters. Furthermore, novel and practical chemoenzymatic routes were developed for the synthesis of chloramphenicol and florfenicol, which featured the application of enzymatic DYRKR to establish the two stereocenters of amino alcohols 4-NO2-substituted (2S, 3R)-5b and 4-SO2Me-substituted (2S, 3R)-8b with > 99% dr, > 99% de and >99% conversion from 100 g L−1 α-amino β-keto esters 5a and 8a (highest substrate loading reported), respectively. Crystal structure and molecular dynamics studies revealed the potential molecular basis for activity improvement and the stereoselectivity control mechanism at the atomic level. These results provide important insights into the evolution of ketoreductases for the asymmetric synthesis of chiral vicinal amino alcohols and establish a solid foundation for further large-scale industrial applications in the future.

We first developed a novel and efficient chemoenzymatic process to prepare (S)-1-(pyridin-4-yl)-1,3-propanediol, a vital HepDirect prodrug intermediate, from inexpensive and commercially available ...

BACKGROUND Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most aggressive malignancies, with a high incidence and poor prognosis worldwide. Recently, accumulating evidence has illustrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play pivotal roles in many cancers. It has been reported that LINC00511 contributes to tumorigenesis in various diseases. However, the role of LINC00511 in GC cell growth remains mostly unknown. AIM To determine whether the lncRNA LINC00511 exerted its carcinogenic function in GC via the miR-124-3p/PDK4 axis. METHODS Cell culture and transfection, RNA extraction and quantitative real-time PCR, CCK-8 assay, Colony formation assay, Luciferase reporter assay, RIP assay, RNA pull-down assay, and Western blot analysis were used to show expression and mechanisms of LINC00511 in GC progression and apoptosis. Rescue assays were performed to verify the relationships among LINC00511, miR-124-3p and PDK4 further. RESULTS The expression of LINC00511 was remarkably upregulated in GC cells compared to that in corresponding normal cell lines. Compared to the controls, cell proliferation was inhibited, and cell apoptosis was increased upon LINC00511 knockdown, demonstrating that LINC00511 influenced GC cell growth. An exploration of the molecular mechanism revealed that LINC00511 functioned as a molecular sponge of miR-124-3p and that PDK4 was a downstream target of miR-124-3p in GC. Rescue assays showed that the overexpression of PDK4 could partly restore the inhibitory function of si-LINC00511 in GC. CONCLUSION These data demonstrate that LINC00511 promotes gastric cancer cell growth by acting as a ceRNA to regulate the miR-124-3p/PDK4 axis, which may be a promising therapeutic target for GC.

(S)-2-Chloro-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl) ethanol (3) is a chiral intermediate in the synthesis of luliconazole ((R)-E-1). Here, we report a novel biopreparation of 3 by bioreduction of 2-chloro-1-(2,4-d...

The drug response sensitivity and related prognosis of prostate cancer varied from races, while the original mechanism remains rarely understood. In this study, the comprehensive signature including transcriptomics, epigenome and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 485 PCa cases- including 415 Whites, 58 Blacks and 12 Asians from the TCGA database were analyzed to investigate the drug metabolism differences between races. We found that Blacks and Whites had a more prominent drug metabolism, cytotoxic therapy resistance, and endocrine therapy resistance than Asians, while Whites were more prominent in drug metabolism, cytotoxic therapy resistance and endocrine therapy resistance than Blacks. Subsequently, the targeted regulation analysis indicated that the racial differences in cytotoxic therapy resistance, endocrine therapy resistance, might originate from drug metabolisms, and 19 drug metabolism-related core genes were confirmed in the multi-omics network for subsequent analysis. Furthermore, we verified that CYP1A1, CYP3A4, CYP2B6, UGT2B17, UGT2B7, UGT1A8, UGT2B11, GAS5, SNHG6, XIST significantly affected antineoplastic drugs sensitivities in PCa cell lines, and these genes also showed good predictive efficiency of drug response and treatment outcomes for PCa in this cohort of patients. These findings revealed a comprehensive signature of drug metabolism differences for the Whites, Blacks and Asians, and it may provide some evidence for making individualized treatment strategies.

Lithium-ion battery as an efficient, sustainable, and clean energy for electric vehicles (EVs) and smart devices becomes more popular with the worldwide demand for reduction of greenhouse gas emission. In all kinds of applications, an accurate real-time estimation for state of charge (SOC) of battery is necessary. Some conventional methods usually need to sample both battery currents and voltages. This article presents a novel SOC estimation algorithm without current detection. This algorithm just acquires the port voltages of cell to calculate the open-circuit voltage (OCV) which is related to SOC. By extracting a large number of battery voltages based on a step response, some important parameters that can track battery working process are determined. In order to verify the algorithm feasibility and accuracy, it has been tested on a commercial common field-programmable gate array (FPGA) in different application conditions. The algorithm accuracy is mainly limited by model accuracy and sampling sensor accuracy. The maximum error between ideal SOC and calculated SOC by this algorithm is within 4%, and the mean error is about 0.99%. So, this high-feasibility, accredited accuracy, easy integration, and low-cost solution has bright potential in smarter future.

Increasing availability of reactive nitrogen (N) threatens plant diversity in diverse ecosystems. While there is mounting evidence for the negative impacts of N deposition on one component of diversity, species richness, we know little about its effects on another one, species evenness. It is suspected that ecosystem management practice that removes nitrogen from the ecosystem, such as hay-harvesting by mowing in grasslands, would mitigate the negative impacts of N deposition on plant diversity. However, empirical evidence is scarce. Here, we reported the main and interactive effects of N deposition and mowing on plant diversity in a temperate meadow steppe with 4-year data from a field experiment within which multi-level N addition rates and multiple N compounds are considered. Across all the types of N compounds, species richness and evenness significantly decreased with the increases of N addition rate, which was mainly caused by the growth of a tall rhizomatous grass, Leymus chinensis. Such negative impacts of N addition were accumulating with time. Mowing significantly reduced the dominance of L. chinensis, and mitigated the negative impacts of N deposition on species evenness. We present robust evidence that N deposition threatened biodiversity by reducing both species richness and evenness, a process which could be alleviated by mowing. Our results highlight the changes of species evenness in driving the negative impacts of N deposition on plant diversity and the role of mowing in mediating such negative impacts of N deposition.

Nitrogen (N) enrichment has great consequences on several fundamental ecological processes through its impacts on plant nutrition traits (i.e. nutrient concentration and stoichiometric ratios); however, the extent to which the effects of N enrichment depend on phosphorus (P) availability are less well understood. While there is mounting evidence for the species-specific responses of plant nutrition traits to nutrient enrichment, we know little about the changes at the community-level. Here, we measured community-level biomass weighted (CWM) and non-weighted (CM) plant N and P concentrations and N:P ratio in a temperate meadow steppe after four years factorial N and P addition, with biomass and nutrition traits of each species in each plot being recorded. Nitrogen addition significantly increased community-level N concentration, decreased P concentration, and enhanced community N:P ratio. Phosphorus addition had no impacts on community-level N concentration, significantly increased P concentration, and reduced community N:P ratio. The impacts of N addition on community nutrition traits were not dependent on P addition and the community-level nutrition trait responses to N and P additions were primarily driven by intraspecific trait variation (ITV) rather than by species turnover. Community-level nutrition traits in the temperate meadow steppe were sensitive to the projected N and P enrichment. While nutrient enrichment had substantially changed community composition, its impacts on community nutrition traits were driven by ITV. Nitrogen deposition would result in imbalance of N and P in plant community, as indicated by the substantial increase in community-level N:P, which was not affected by increased P availability.

Utilization of g-C3N4 as a single photocatalyst material without combination with other semiconductor remains challenging. Herein, we report a facile green method for synthesizing a metal free modified g-C3N4 photocatalyst. The modification process combines four different strategies in a one-pot thermal reaction: non-metal doping, porosity generation, functionalization with amino groups, and thermal oxidation etching. The as-prepared amino-functionalized ultrathin nanoporous boron-doped g-C3N4 exhibited a high specific surface area of 143.2 m2 g−1 which resulted in abundant adsorption sites for CO2 and water molecules. The surface amino groups act as Lewis basic sites to adsorb acidic CO2 molecules, which can also serve as active sites to facilitate hydrogen generation. Besides, the simultaneous use of ammonium chloride as a dynamic gas bubble template along with thermal oxidation etching efficiently boosts the delamination of the g-C3N4 layers to produce ultrathin sheets; this leads to stronger light–matter interactions and efficient charge generation. Consequently, the newly modified g-C3N4 achieved selective gas-phase CO2 reduction into CO with a production yield of 21.95 µmol g−1, in the absence of any cocatalyst. Moreover, a high hydrogen generation rate of 3800 µmol g-1h−1 and prominent apparent quantum yield of 10.6% were recorded. This work opens up a new avenue to explore different rational modifications of g-C3N4 nanosheets for the efficient production of clean energy.

Background To primarily evaluate the effects and safety of a selective angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor blocker (ARB) allisartan isoproxil combined with amlodipine or indapamide in the treatment of patients with essential hypertension who failed allisartan monotherapy. Methods Patients aged 18–75 years with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension [office systolic blood pressure (SBP) 140 to Results A total of 2,212 patients were enrolled, among them 2,126 patients were included in the efficacy analysis, with an average age of 55.1 ± 10.2 years. A total of 1,463 cases (68.8%) were effective after 4 weeks allisartan treatment, and the mean SBP and DBP were significantly decreased by 14.7 ± 12.2 and 8.0 ± 8.4 mm Hg compared with the baseline levels (all P < 0.001). In nonachievers, allisartan combined with indapamide for 8 weeks significantly lowered the sitting BP (SBP/DBP) by 14.0 ± 12.2/8.3 ± 9.2 mm Hg, respectively, compared with 4 weeks monotherapy with allisartan with a BP targeting rate of 57.7% (169/293). In the allisartan + amlodipine group, the SBP/DBP were significantly decreased by (14.4 ± 12.1/8.2 ± 8.2) mm Hg, respectively, with a BP targeting rate of 62.8% (181/288). There was no statistical significance in BP reduction, targeting rate, or adverse reactions between the 2 combined therapies. Conclusions Allisartan isoproxil combined with indapamide or amlodipine can further improve the BP targeting rate when allisartan monotherapy failed in essential hypertension. The 2 combined therapies have similar efficacy and safety.

Transformation of follicular lymphoma (FL) into B-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (B-ALL/LBL) is rare and results in greatly increased aggressiveness of clinical course. Here we present extensive molecular analysis of this unusual transformation, including immunoglobulin (Ig) gene rearrangement studies, cytogenetic analysis, and whole-exome sequencing (WES) of the patient's FL, B-ALL/LBL, and normal cells. Although FL showed marked somatic hypermutation (SHM) of the Ig genes, SHM appeared to be even more extensive in B-ALL/LBL. Cytogenetically, at least three translocations were identified in the B-ALL/LBL involving the BCL2, BCL6, and MYC genes; two of these, the BCL6 and BCL2 gene rearrangements, were already seen at the FL stage. WES identified 751 single-nucleotide variants with high allelic burden in the patient's cells, with the vast majority (575) present exclusively at the B-ALL/LBL stage. Of note, a TAF3 gene mutation was shared by normal, FL, and B-ALL/LBL tissue. A KMT2D nonsense mutation was identified in both FL and B-ALL/LBL and therefore may have contributed directly to lymphomagenesis. Mutations in KDM6A, SMARCA4, CBX1, and JMY were specific to the B-ALL/LBL stage, possibly contributing to the B-ALL/LBL transformation. Functionally, these identified mutations may lead to dysregulation of DNA repair, transcription, and cell differentiation. Thus, these genetic changes, together with the identified chromosomal translocations, may have contributed to lymphoma development and progression. Our findings may improve the mechanistic understanding of the FL-B-ALL/LBL transformation and may have therapeutic implications for this aggressive disease.

In this paper, we propose a user centric bandwidth allocation scheme for low latency data transmission in ultra dense vehicular networks. Various mobile devices such as mobile phones, sensors of vehicles or autonomous driving systems,require low latency and bandwidth intensive packet delivery between the devices and the Internet aiming to support real-time applications. In the ultra dense vehicular network, small base stations (SBSs) are densely deployed in a fixed geographic area to provides higher date rate. In further, each SBS cooperates with others to form clusters to better support seamless wireless data transmissions, and each mobile device dynamically plans its wireless connectivity for data transmission when it moves in the network. Specifically, each mobile device pre-allocates the amount of bandwidth from a cluster, formed by several SBSs, based on its expected movement, the delay and band-width requirement of the packet transmission and the resource availability of each cluster. Moreover, to effectively utilize the available network resource, each cluster also redistributes its residual bandwidth to the mobile devices pre-allocate bandwidth from it. Consequently, the latency of the data transmission can be better sustained in the ultra dense vehicular network.

Two new hybrid compounds with chemical formulas [Co(L1)2(H2O)2]2[SiW12O40]·6H2O (1) and [Cu2(C9H22 N)2(L2)2][SiW12O40]·2H2O (2) (L1 = 3,3′-diamino-5,5′-bis(1H-1,2,4-triazole), L2 = 1,2-bis(3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazole-1-ylmethyl)benzene, C9H22 N = tripropylamine) were prepared in a hydrothermal reaction system containing Keggin-type polyoxometalates (POMs), transition metal (TM) salts (cobalt salts and copper salts), and chelate L1/L2 ligands. X-ray structural analysis reveals that 1 and 2 possess 3-D supramolecular host frameworks with large cavities and the polyoxoanions SiW12 reside in these cavities as the guest templates. The photocatalytic activities of 1 and 2 were investigated. Both compounds show efficient catalytic activity for degradation of RhB with 1 > 2. The loading amount of the POM units and the structural features of these POM-based organic-inorganic hybrid compounds may be necessary factors that affect the activity of catalysts in the photocatalytic degradation.

In this paper, a new high-voltage level shifter (HVLS) structure is proposed, which has a significantly improved transient response over existing structures. To overcome signal transfer delay of the conventional HVLS caused by parasitic capacitance due to high-voltage MOSFETs, this structure employs a novel circuit module "inverse Schmitt trigger" to drive the pull-up transistors of conventional HVLS. As a result, the "Miller Plateau" caused by parasitic capacitance can be minimized. Hence, the overall transfer delay of the structure is significantly reduced. The simulation results based on SPECTRE and 0.5 $$\upmu $$μm high-voltage CMOS process show that compared to other currently available structures whose transfer delays are several nanoseconds on average, the proposed structure is able to provide a nanosecond transfer delay without using large boost capacitors which are impractical to be integrated or using complex logic units which decrease reliability of circuit. Also, the typical transfer delay of the proposed structure is a constant 1.3 ns, which is irrelevant to parasitic capacitance and insensitive to transfer voltage level.

Two new polyoxometalate(POM)-based entangled coordination networks with chemical formula of [Mn2(H2O)2(BBPTZ)5][SiW12O40] (1) and [Ni2(H2O)2(BBPTZ)5][SiMo12O40]·6H2O (2) (BBPTZ = 4.4′-bis(1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)biphenyl), were prepared in a hydrothermal reaction system. Compounds 1–2 were characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In compound 1, dangling arms thread in quadrangular window of the adjacent 2-D layers, thus resulting in a rare 2-D → 3-D polythreading motif. Compound 2 exhibits a rare 2-D → 3-D zipper-closing motif. Using the degradation of methylene blue (MB) as the model, the photocatalytic activities of compounds 1–2 were investigated. Both compounds show efficient catalytic activity for the degradation of MB with the order of 2 > 1. It is found that the POM species of compounds 1–2 play the main role in the photocatalytic degradation process.

To assist various intelligent applications, IoT devices send their monitored data to Internet for further process. WiFi access points (APs) would be a candidate to support data transmission in IoTs due to its large wireless service coverage and low cost. An AP connects to the Internet through Ethernet to provide Internet connectivity to its connected IoT devices. However, data transmission may be failed when an AP loses its Ethernet connectivity. To resolve this problem, a software define networking (SDN) and wireless distribution system (WDS) assisted fault recovery automation scheme, SDWDS, is proposed. In SDWDS, packets can be directly and wirelessly forwarded between two APs when the Ethernet link fails at one of the APs. Specifically, when the Ethernet link failure of an AP is detected by the SDN controller, the AP will switch to WDS mode to wirelessly connect to its neighboring APs. The SDN controller in further reroutes corresponding packets through the newly associated AP. Consequently, the IoT devices can sustain Internet access even though their associated AP cannot directly communicate with the Internet via Ethernet. Additionally, the proposed SDWDS is implemented in commercial APs for performance evaluation. Preliminary results show the SDWDS can automatically recover more than one Ethernet link failures in the network. However, due to the limitation of the commercial AP, the creation of WDS requires rebooting the AP which costs about 20 seconds recovery latency. In the future, we will introduce virtualization or multi- connectivity techniques to more efficiently support the fault recovery automation in IoTs.

After convolutional neural network has been simulated by neuroscience in deep learning, Label-Free Supervision with domain knowledge can also tell us that we shall take advantage of shoulders of giants like Newton in the development of AI. In fact, AI’s development has been on the shoulders of giants, such as Optimization Theory, Calculus. This paper explores whether some of Maslow's Theory can serve as the other (or next) giant of AI's shoulders, and tries to discuss the AI and security issues with Maslow's Theory. The human ego has the basic need that be extended to the security requirements of things in the IoT. Finally, learning from the unity of "natural science", "social science" and "harmony between humanity and nature (Yang-ming WANG’s Cognitive idea)", a mutual development for human intelligence, the intelligence of things and the natural intelligence with respect of each other is discussed.

This paper provides a solution for a self-powered light direction detection with digitized output. Light direction sensors, energy harvesting photodiodes, real-time adaptive tracking digital output unit and other necessary circuits are integrated on a single chip based on a standard 0.18 µm CMOS process. Light direction sensors proposed have an accuracy of 1.8 degree over a 120 degree range. In order to improve the accuracy, a compensation circuit is presented for photodiodes' forward currents. The actual measurement precision of output is approximately 7 ENOB. Besides that, an adaptive under voltage protection circuit is designed for variable supply power which may undulate with temperature and process.

The design of a homogeneous sample plate to solve the sweet heating spot issues is the key step to expand the applicability of surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI MS). Herein, large-scale and highly oriented Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of uniform silver nanocrystals have been fabricated as a highly efficient and matrix-free sample plate for SALDI MS. Three individual silver nanocrystals (cubes, cuboctahedra and octahedra) assembled LB films have been applied as the sample plates for glucose detection by SALDI MS without an additional matrix. The results show that the signal intensity, background noise, signal-to-noise ratio and reproducibility have been significantly improved using LB films as the sample plate in comparison with commercial matrixes of CHCA and DHB. In particular, a relative signal of 5.7% was obtained for LB films of silver cuboctahedra. The significant improvement in the SALDI MS measurement could be attributed to the homogenous dissipation of laser irradiation energy to create a large area of the sweet heating spot on well-oriented silver cuboctahedra-based LB film. This ready-to-use sample plate has the potential for widespread commercial applications in SALDI MS.

In recent years, the construction of subway in China is in a period of an rapid development. The passengers are in high density within the subway during the operation time, the problem of safety in emergencies has attracted more and more attentions. The structure of atrium metro station is special, fire partition area in the station is difficult to divide. And there is a hidden danger of fire, which is not easy to realize effective exhaust and smoke control. Once there is a fire the magnitude of injuries will be overwhelmingly disastrous. Therefore, more attention should be paid on pedestrian’s evacuation in subway stations. Therefore, an atrium subway station in Beijing is selected, hot smoke test and STEPS software simulation were carried out. We also analyzed the escape environment and escape routes, reasonable evacuation time is obtained, as well as a reasonable escape strategy.

Our preliminary results show that huperzine A, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in China, exhibits different pharmacokinetic features in elderly and young healthy subjects. However, its pharmacokinetic data in elderly subjects remains unavailable to date. Thus, we developed a population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model of huperzine A in elderly Chinese people, and identified the covariate affecting its pharmacokinetics for optimal individual administration.A total of 341 serum huperzine A concentration records was obtained from 2 completed clinical trials (14 elderly healthy subjects in a phase I pharmacokinetic study; 35 elderly AD patients in a phase II study). Population pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using the non-linear mixed-effect modeling software Phoenix NLME1.1.1. The effects of age, gender, body weight, height, creatinine, endogenous creatinine clearance rate as well as drugs administered concomitantly were analyzed. Bootstrap and visual predictive checks were used simultaneously to validate the final population pharmacokinetics models.The plasma concentration-time profile of huperzine A was best described by a one-compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination. Age was identified as the covariate having significant influence on huperzine A clearance. The final PPK model of huperzine A was: CL (L/h)=2.4649(*)(age/86)((-3.3856)), Ka=0.6750 h(-1), V (L)=104.216. The final PPK model was demonstrated to be suitable and effective by the bootstrap and visual predictive checks.A PPK model of huperzine A in elderly Chinese subjects is established, which can be used to predict PPK parameters of huperzine A in the treatment of elderly AD patients.

Objectives. To understand the current risk of HIV infection and transmission and further elucidate the underlying risk factors among men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) in China.Methods. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of searching through Chinese and English available literature databases between January 2000 and June 2014 to identify articles.Results. Thirty-six articles (including 19,730 MSMW and 53,536 MSMO) met the selection criteria and the aggregated results found that MSMW have significantly higher HIV prevalence than MSMO (6.6% versus 5.4%, OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.01–1.58). A higher proportion of MSMW had commercial male partners in the past 6 months (18.3% versus 12.2%, OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.01–2.42). Additionally, substance use in the past 6 months was significantly more frequent among MSMW than MSMO (alcohol use: 27.1% versus 13.1%, OR = 2.53, 95% CI = 2.14–2.99; illicit drug use: 5.3% versus 2.5%, OR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.48–2.95).Conclusion. A higher proportion of commercial sex and substance use among MSMW may be a potentially indicative factor for significantly higher HIV prevalence compared to MSMO. Targeted interventions should aim at increasing the frequency of HIV/STIs screening and preventing high risk commercial sex and substance use among MSMW to decrease their HIV transmission to the general population.