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Correction for 'Exploring high-energy and low-sensitivity energetic compounds based on experiments and DFT studies' by Qiaoli Li et al., New J. Chem., 2023, 47, 19523–19528, https://doi.org/10.1039/D3NJ03514J. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria play diverse roles in mammalian physiology. The architecture, activity, and physiological functions of mitochondria in oocytes are largely different from those in somatic cells, but the mitochondrial proteins related to oocyte quality and reproductive longevity remain largely unknown. Here, using whole-exome sequencing data from 1,024 women (characterized by oocyte maturation arrest and degenerated or morphologically abnormal oocytes) and 2,868 healthy controls, we performed a population and gene-based burden test for mitochondrial genes and identified a candidate gene, cytochrome c oxidase assembly protein 15 ( COX15). We report that biallelic COX15 pathogenic variants cause human oocyte ferroptosis and female infertility in a recessive inheritance pattern. COX15 variants impaired mitochondrial respiration in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and led to reduced protein levels in HeLa cells. Oocyte-specific deletion of Cox15 led to impaired Fe 2+ and reactive oxygen species homeostasis that caused mitochondrial dysfunction and ultimately sensitized oocytes to ferroptosis. In addition, ferrostatin-1 (an inhibitor of ferroptosis) could rescue the oocyte ferroptosis phenotype in vitro and ex vivo. Our findings not only provide a genetic diagnostic marker for oocyte development defects but also expand the spectrum of mitochondrial disorders to female infertility and contribute to unique insights into the role of ferroptosis in human oocyte defects., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

Introduction: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an autosomal recessive ectopic calcification disorder clinically affecting the skin, eyes, and vascular system. Most cases of PXE are caused by inactivating pathogenic variants in the ABCC6 gene encoding a hepatic transmembrane efflux transporter, which facilitates the extracellular release of ATP, the precursor of inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), a potent endogenous inhibitor of calcification. Pathogenic variants in GGCX , encoding γ-glutamyl carboxylase required for activation of vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors as well as matrix Gla protein (MGP) and Gla-rich protein (GRP), two inhibitors of ectopic calcification, have also been reported to cause cutaneous changes like those seen in PXE. While ectopic calcification in ABCC6 deficiency has been associated with reduced plasma levels of PPi due to loss of ABCC6 transport activity in the liver, plasma PPi levels have not been reported in patients with GGCX-associated phenotypes., Methods: We analyzed five patients from three unrelated families on their clinical, laboratory, and molecular findings who carry biallelic variants in GGCX and present with phenotypic characteristics associated with PXE. The variants were identified using a next-generation sequencing panel consisting of 29 genes associated with ectopic calcification., Results and Conclusion: This study demonstrates that in addition to ABCC6 , GGCX variants can cause the PXE phenotype, expanding PXE and perhaps other heritable ectopic calcification disorders' clinical and genetic heterogeneity. The results also show that the plasma concentrations of PPi in these patients are not reduced compared to healthy control individuals, suggesting that plasma PPi does not govern ectopic calcification in GGCX deficiency., Competing Interests: Authors CT, MP, TW, and ST were employed by PXE International, Inc. The remaining author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Li, Troutman, Peckiconis, Wurst and Terry.)

Background: Previous studies comparing the efficacy and safety of different treatment regimens for lupus nephritis are scarce. Moreover, confounding factors such as the duration of follow-up were hardly adjusted in those studies, potentially compromising the results and their extents to clinical settings., Objective: To rigorously investigate the efficacy and safety of biologics in patients with lupus nephritis using Bayesian network meta-regression analyses that adjust for the follow-up period, in order to provide more robust evidence for clinicians., Methods: Databases comprising PubMed, Embase, MedlinePlus, Cochrane Library, Google Scholars, and Scopus were retrieved for eligible articles from inception to February 29, 2024. The primary endpoint was the complete response rate, the secondary endpoint was the partial response rate, the tertiary endpoints were the adverse events, and infection-related adverse events. Napierian Logarithm of hazard ratio (lnHR) and the standard error of lnHR (selnHR) were generated for dichotomous variants by STATA 18.0 MP and then put into Rstudio 4.3.2 to conduct Bayesian network meta-analysis as well as network meta-regression analysis to yield hazard ratio (HR) as pairwise effect size., Results: Ten studies involving 2138 patients and 11 treatment regimens were ultimately included. In the original analysis, for the primary endpoint, compared to the control group, obinutuzumab (22.6 months), abatacept-30mg (20.5 months), abatacept-10mg (17.8 months), and belimumab (23.3 months) demonstrated significant superiority (HR ranged from 1.6 to 2.5), more ever, their significance regarding relative efficacy was correlated with follow up period, namely "time window" (shown in parentheses above). For the secondary endpoint, compared to the control group, obinutuzumab and abatacept-30mg showed conspicuous preponderance (HR ranged from 1.6 to 2.4), "time window" was also detected in abatacept-30mg (20.5 months), whereas obinutuzumab remained consistently obviously effective regardless of the follow-up period (shown in parentheses above). For the tertiary endpoint, there were no differences among active regimens and control., Conclusions: Considering the efficacy and safety and "time window" phenomenon, we recommend obinutuzumab as the preferred treatment for LN. Certainly, more rigorous head-to-head clinical trials are warranted to validate those findings., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liu, Chen, Yang, Li, Chen and Li.)

In this paper, a 53 Gbps widely tunable transmitter is experimentally demonstrated for the first time, to our knowledge. An InGaAlAs/InP multiple-quantum-well (MQW) wafer is used with an identical layer structure for both the V-coupled cavity laser (VCL) and the electro-absorption modulator (EAM). The VCL uses a shallow-etched waveguide to reduce loss, while the EAM uses a deep-etched waveguide to increase the 3-dB modulation bandwidth. With the temperature varying from 19.5 to 30°C, the transmitter achieves wavelength tuning of 42 channels with a spacing of 100 GHz, corresponding to a tuning range of 32.6 nm from 1538.94 to 1571.54 nm. The static extinction ratio (ER) for all channels is higher than 14 dB. The measured 3-dB electro-optic (E0) bandwidth of the transmitter is over 40 GHz, which fits well with the calculated 3-dB bandwidth. At a fixed peak-to-peak driving voltage of 2.4 V, all channels exhibit clearly an open eye diagram with a 53 Gbps non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signal, while the dynamic ER is higher than 4.5 dB.

Purpose: To describe the ocular findings of murine pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) models with ATP-binding cassette subfamily C member 6 (Abcc6) gene knockout., Methods: This experiment was conducted in four Abcc6-/- rats and compared with six wild-type Abcc6+/+ control rats. The animals underwent necropsy at 6 months of age. Histological examination of the eyes was performed., Results: Histological examination of eight eyes from four Abcc6-/- rats revealed multiple nodular foci of calcification in the uvea, sclera, and conjunctiva, focally in perivascular distribution, as well as linear and nodular calcification of Bruch's membrane. Calcific foci were not associated with inflammation in the knockout rats. There was no evidence of calcification in control eyes., Discussion: The Abcc6-/- rat model shows that PXE can affect multiple ocular tissues beyond the calcification in Bruch's membrane noted in human eyes. Nodular calcific foci probably correspond to comet lesions seen in patients with PXE. The presence of ectopic calcium without inflammation distinguishes it from inflammatory calcium deposition in atherosclerosis. Further studies are needed to determine why PXE does not cause inflammatory infiltration., Translational Relevance: The Abcc6-/- murine model may be suitable for studying ocular PXE pathophysiology and ectopic calcification and developing effective therapies.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed on the energetic molecular perovskite (C 6 H 14 N 2 )[NH 4 (ClO 4 ) 3 ], with excellent detonation properties, thermal stability, and high specific impulse, which is a potential replacement for AP as the next generation propellants. The cohesive energy density, binding energy, pair correlation function, maximum bond length ( L max ) of the N-H trigger bond, and mechanical properties of the (C 6 H 14 N 2 )[NH 4 (ClO 4 ) 3 ] were reported. The calculated cohesive energy density and binding energy decrease with increasing temperature, indicating a gradual decrease in the thermal stability with temperature. In addition, H···O hydrogen bonding interactions have been found based on the results of pairwise correlation functions. The maximum length ( L max ) of the N-H trigger bond was calculated and used as a criterion to theoretically judge the impact sensitivity. The maximum bond length of the N-H trigger bond grows gradually with temperature; however, it does very slightly yet gradually above 373 K. This suggests that an increase in temperature leads to a higher impact sensitivity and lower thermal stability. However, this effect becomes less pronounced when the temperature surpasses 373 K. Moreover, the calculated mechanical data indicate that as the temperature rises, the material's stiffness, hardness, yield strength, and fracture strength all decrease. The material's ductility shows an upward trend with increasing temperature, reaching its peak at 373 K and subsequently declining as the temperature continues to rise., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)