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[Display omitted] An abundance of early warning graphene-based nano-materials and sensors have been developed to avoid and prevent the critical fire risk of combustible materials. However, there are still some limitations that should be addressed, such as the black color, high-cost and single fire warning response of graphene-based fire warning materials. Herein, we report an unexpected montmorillonite (MMT)-based intelligent fire warning materials that have excellent fire cyclic warning performance and reliable flame retardancy. Combining phenyltriethoxysilane (PTES) molecules, poly(p-phenylene benzobisoxazole) nanofiber (PBONF), and layers of MMT to form a silane crosslinked 3D nanonetwork system, the homologous PTES decorated MMT-PBONF nanocomposites are designed and fabricated via a sol–gel process and low temperature self-assembly method. The optimized nanocomposite paper shows good mechanical flexibility (good recovery after kneading or bending process), high tensile strength of ∼81 MPa and good water resistance. Furthermore, the nanocomposite paper exhibits high-temperature flame resistance (almost unchanged structure and size after 120 s combustion), sensitive flame alarm response (∼0.3 s response once exposure onto a flame), cyclic fire warning performance (>40 cycles), and adaptability to complex fire situations (several fire attack and evacuation scenarios), showing promising applications for monitoring the critical fire risk of combustible materials. Therefore, this work paves a rational way for design and fabrication of MMT-based smart fire warning materials that combine excellent flame shielding and sensitive fire alarm functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf senescence is a highly complex and coordinated process that involves ordered and continuous changes in the external environment and endogenous signaling pathways. Alternative oxidase (AOX), a key enzyme in the respiratory pathway, is involved in the regulation of plant senescence. Salicylic acid (SA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), two significant inducers of plant senescence, also play an important role in plant senescence, but the relationship between AOX, ROS and SA is unclear. In this study, an RNA interference and overexpression transgenic strain of AOX was constructed using tomato as experimental material. It was found that AOX was able to reduce the accumulation of ROS during dark-induced plant senescence, and that AOX suppressed the synthetic gene SALICYLIC ACID INDUCTION DEFICIENT 2 (SID2) in the SA signaling pathway and salicylate receptor gene NONEXPRESSER OF PR GENES 1 (NPR1), decreasing endogenous SA content and blunting SA perception in plant leaf cells, thereby inhibiting SA-induced leaf senescence. Also, spraying the plants with ROS and ROS scavengers revealed that the synthesis of endogenous SA was affected and that AOX eliminated excess ROS, which in turn affected the SA content and delayed plant senescence. Based on these results, we propose that AOX mediates SA synthesis by balancing ROS content and plays a key role in leaf senescence. • Expression of AOX can reduce leaf damage by ROS. • Expression of AOX can decrease the effect of SA on plant senescence. • AOX acts as a key node to regulate plant senescence by affecting ROS and SA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transfer learning-based damage identification is widely explored as it can utilize prior damage knowledge from finite element model (FEM) to identify damage without real structure damage labels. However, lacking a substantial amount of real structure data and overlooking the variances in conditional (local) distributions between source domain (data generated by FEM) and target domain (real structure data) severely restrict its practical application. This paper proposes a transfer learning-based damage identification method by combining Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Network with Gradient Penalty (WGAN-GP) and Dynamic Adversarial Adaptation Network (DAAN). Firstly, WGAN-GP generative model is employed to augment real structure samples to address the issue of insufficient data. Then, an optimization transfer model with the capability of balancing the importance of marginal and conditional distributions between FEM data and real structure data is proposed based on DAAN transfer model. It dynamically learns damage-invariant features for damage identification. Thirdly, damage identification procedures are provided by combining the generative model WGAN-GP and the transfer model DAAN with moving load induced responses as inputs. Numerical and experimental examples indicate that the proposed method achieves superior transfer effect with limited real structure data and maintains high damage identification accuracy compared to the traditional transfer learning-based methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES) is a catastrophic epileptic encephalopathy which developed the refractory status epilepticus following or during a nonspecific febrile illness. To analyze the short-term and long-term outcome of FIRES in the children, we retrospectively analyzed the related data. The motor outcome was evaluated by modified Rankin scale (mRS). Poor motor outcome was defined as a mRS score of 4 or higher at discharge. Significant motor decline was defined as the mRS difference more than 2 before hospital admission and at discharge. We totally enrolled 25 patients for analysis. Four patients were expired during hospitalization, and one patient was lost to follow-up after discharge. Therefore, a total 20 patients were finally analyzed. The age of disease onset ranged from 1.6 to 17.2 years (mean: 9.6 ± 4.4 years). Newly acquired epilepsy and cognitive deficit occurred in 100% and 61%, respectively. The duration of the anesthetic agents ranged from 7 to 149 days (mean: 34.2 ± 36.1 days). The duration of anesthetic agent usage (p = 0.011), refractory epilepsy (p = 0.003), and the use of ketogenic diet (p = 0.004) were significantly associated with the poor long-term motor outcome, and the number of anesthetic agents tended to be associated with the poor long-term motor outcome (p = 0.050). In-hospital mortality was 16%. Significant functional decline at discharge occurred in 100%. However, there was improvement in long-term follow-up. The outcome of FIRES is poor with significant mortality and morbidities. Refractory epilepsy with cognitive deficit in survived cases is common, but improvement is possible. • The FIRES is a epileptic encephalopathy which develops refractory status epilepticus following or during a febrile illness. • The duration of anesthetic agent usage and refractory epilepsy were associated with poor long-term motor outcome. • The outcome of FIRES is poor with significant mortality and morbidities. • Refractory epilepsy with cognitive deficit in survived cases is common, but improvement is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Seven new tirucallane triterpenoids were isolated from Picrasma quassioides. • Compound 1 contains a rare Δ17, 20 double bond. • Compound 2 possessing a novel 5/3 biheterocyclic ring system at the side chain. • All 27 isolates were screened for the cytotoxicity against HepG2 and Hep3B cells. • Compound 3 mediated its activity associated with induce apoptosis of HepG2 cells. Abstract Seven new tirucallane-type triterpenoids (1 – 7), kumuquassin A-G, along with 20 known analogues (8 – 27) were isolated from the stems of Picrasma quassioides. The structures and the absolute configurations of new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic data, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopic analyses and quantum ECD calculations. Notably, kumuquassin A (1) contains a rare Δ17, 20 double bond, kumuquassin B (2) is the first example of tirucallane triterpenoid possessing a 5/3 biheterocyclic ring system at the side chain. All the compounds were screened for the cytotoxicity against two human hepatoma cell lines, HepG2 and Hep3B, and several compounds exhibited promising activity. The most potential compound 3 was selected for cell cycle analysis, which showed that 3 could cause an accumulation of HepG2 cells at subG1 peak. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining further confirmed that compound 3 caused death of hepatoma cells through apoptosis induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Both refractory convulsive status epilepticus (SE) and super-refractory SE are medical emergencies. However, there are limited data on super-refractory SE in children. Thus, this study focuses on characterizing the demographics, outcomes, and prognostic factors for super-refractory SE in children. Methods This study was a retrospective analysis of super-refractory SE treated in a tertiary referral center in Taiwan. The functional outcome was evaluated by modified Rankin scale (mRS). Significant functional decline was defined as an mRS difference (before hospital admission and at discharge) of more than 2. The variates and the follow-up mRS values were then analyzed statistically. Results We enrolled 134 patients with 191 episodes of convulsive SE and identified 30 patients with 38 episodes of convulsive super-refractory SE. The incidence of convulsive super-refractory SE in the group with SE was 19.9%, and the age ranged from 2.5 months to 17 years. In-hospital mortality was 13.3%, which was much lower than that of adult cohorts. Newly acquired epilepsy and cognitive deficit occurred in 100% and 88.5%, respectively. Newly acquired epilepsy, as a sequel of super-refractory SE, was observed in all 18 patients (100%) who survived and had no history of epilepsy. Significant functional decline (mRS difference of more than 2) at discharge occurred in 76.7%. Poor functional outcome was associated with acute symptomatic etiology (P < 0.001) and the number of anesthetic agents (P = 0.002). The functional outcome improved after 1 year of follow-up in our population. Conclusions Super-refractory SE is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in children. However, the in-hospital mortality rate is much lower compared with adults. The functional outcome in children is associated with acute symptomatic etiology and the number of anesthetic agents and may improve after long-term follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Novel unit prediction method for efficient HEVC-to-SHVC transcoding is proposed. • Two proposed techniques are early termination and adaptive confidence interval. • We are among the first to propose a fast HEVC-to-SHVC transcoding framework. • Proposed method reduces encoding time of SHVC by 74.14% almost without quality loss. To support good video quality of experiences in heterogeneous environments, transcoding an existed HEVC (high efficiency video coding) video bitstream to a SHVC (scalability extension of HEVC) bitstream with quality scalability is highly required. A straightforward way is to first fully decode the input HEVC bitstream and then fully re-encode it with the SHVC encoder, which requires a tremendous computational complexity. To solve the problem, in this paper, a coding unit complexity (CUC)-based prediction method for predictions of CU (coding unit) depth and PU (prediction unit) mode for efficient HEVC-to-SHVC transcoding with quality scalability is proposed to significantly reduce the transcoding complexity. The proposed method contains two prediction techniques, including (i) early termination and (ii) adaptive confidence interval, and predicts the CU depth and PU mode relying on the decoded information from the input HEVC bitstream. Experimental results have shown that the proposed method significantly outperforms the traditional HEVC-to-SHVC method by 74.14% on average in reductions of encoding time for SHVC enhancement layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) is of great significance. To achieve this, we propose a novel computational method for PPIs prediction based on a similarity network fusion (SNF) model for integrating the physical and chemical properties of proteins. Specifically, the physical and chemical properties of protein are the protein amino acid mutation rate and its hydrophobicity, respectively. The amino acid mutation rate is extracted using a BLOSUM62 matrix, which puts the protein sequence into block substitution matrix. The SNF model is exploited to fuse protein physical and chemical features of multiple data by iteratively updating each original network. Finally, the complementary features from the fused network are fed into a label propagation algorithm (LPA) for PPIs prediction. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieves promising performance and outperforms the traditional methods for the public dataset of H. pylori, Human , and Yeast. In addition, our proposed method achieves average accuracy of 76.65%, 81.98%, 84.56%, 84.01% and 84.38% on E. coli, C. elegans, H. sapien, H. pylori and M. musculus datasets, respectively. Comparison results demonstrate that the proposed method is very promising and provides a cost-effective alternative for predicting PPIs. The source code and all datasets are available at http://pan.baidu.com/s/1dF7rp7N . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate identification of moving load is one of the main tasks in the field of bridge health monitoring. Due to the uncertainty in practical bridge, moving load identified via deterministic method is bound to be inconsistent with reality. As statistical information on the uncertain parameters is usually limited for actual bridges, this paper proposes a time-domain moving load identification method considering the uncertainty in the finite element model. Firstly, the moving load identification is divided into nominal value and interval radius identification. Then the deterministic methods based on shape function and second-order interval analysis are presented to identify the nominal value and interval radius, respectively. Finally, the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method are verified through numerical and experimental examples, and the influence of the measurement point number, measurement noise, and vehicle velocity is investigated. The outcomes indicate that the results obtained by the deterministic method may deviate seriously from the actual one, and the calculation efficiency can be enhanced markedly compared with the probability method. The identification accuracy of the proposed method is higher than that of the first-order method at the same computational cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural damage could be localized through comparing the quasi-static moving load induced response before (taken as baseline) and after damage. However, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain the baseline (information from the undamaged structure) for some structures. On this hand, structural response in damaged state only is not sufficient for such methods. On the other hand, only single type response (acceleration, strain or displacement) is employed for moving load based damage localization, i.e., multi-type response is inefficiently utilized. In this paper, a baseline-free damage localization method for statically determinate beam structures is proposed by using dual-type response (strain and displacement) excited by quasi-static moving load. It makes full use of the property that local damage causes no change on the static strain response of statically determinate beam structures except the damaged regions. The baseline displacement response in undamaged state is estimated through the strain response in damaged state. Then the measured displacement response in damaged state is compared with the estimated baseline displacement response, and the area change of the zone encircled by the displacement response and each sub-region (ADRC) is calculated to localize damage. Only the strain response and the displacement response in damaged state are required, and their comprehensive utilization avoids the need for a baseline. Numerical and experimental studies are conducted to investigate the feasibility, effectiveness, and limitations of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of companions renders decreases in cocaine-stimulated dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens and cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) magnitude. Limbic systems are widely believed to underlie the modulation of accumbal dopamine release and cocaine conditioning. Thus, this study aimed to assess whether intact basolateral nucleus of amygdala (BLA), dorsal hippocampus (DH), and dorsolateral striatum (DLS) is required for the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine-induced CPP. Three cage mates, serving as companions, were arranged to house with the experimental mice in the cocaine conditioning compartment throughout the cocaine conditioning sessions. Approximately 1 week before the conditioning procedure, intracranial ibotenic acid infusions were done in an attempt to cause excitotoxic lesions targeting bilateral BLA, DH and DLS. Albeit their BLA, DH, and DLS lesions, the lesioned mice exhibited comparable cocaine-induced CPP magnitudes compared to the intact and sham lesion controls. Bilateral BLA, but not DH or DLS, lesions abolished the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine-induced CPP. Intact mice receiving intra-BLA infusion of raclopride, a selective D2 antagonist, 30 min prior to the cocaine conditioning did not exhibit the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine-induced CPP. Intra-BLA infusion of Sch23390, a selective D1 antagonist, did not affect the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the CPP. These results, taken together, prompt us to conclude that the intactness of BLA is required for the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine-induced CPP. Importantly, activation of D2 receptor in the BLA is required for such suppressive effect on the CPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“What is this” and “where am I” are two common questions that arise when people travel abroad. Recently, landmark image identification has shown great promise for the addressed problems, where most previous approaches are either visual-based or location-based. However, regarding city-view image location identification, there could be a number of buildings in a close proximity. Moreover, it is common that photos were taken indoors. The conditions may degrade the performance of previous approaches. To remedy the deficiencies, this paper unifies visual features, geo-tags, and check-in data, based on cross-domain social media, for city-view image location identification. Besides, this paper shows an effective and memory-efficient implementation based on sparse coding, where a new dictionary selection approach is presented. Further, this paper proposes a location-aware graph-based regrouping approach, leveraging spanning graph construction, on clusters of photos to refine clustering results. Experimental results show the improvement over the baselines (location-based, visual-based, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three cadmium coordination polymers, [Cd(bismip)] n ( 1 ), {[Cd(bismip)(phen)]·H 2 O} n ( 2 ) and {[Cd 2 (bismip) 2 (4,4′-bipy)]·2H 2 O} n ( 3 ) (H 2 bismip=5-(1H-benzoimidazol-2-ylsulfanylmethyl)-isophthalic acid, phen=1,10-phenanthroline, 4,4′-bipy=4,4′-bipyridine) have been prepared under solvothermal conditions. In 1 , the [Cd 4 (bismip) 3 ] units are jointed by bismip ligands to afford a three-dimensional (3D) architecture. Complex 2 exhibits a 3D supramolecular framework based on the interconnection of 1D chains through hydrogen bonding interactions and π-π packing interactions. 3 is a two-fold interpenetrating 3D architecture with a (4·8 2 )(4 2 ·8 4 ) Schläfli symbol in which 2D layers are interlinked by 4,4′-bipy ligands. The diverse structures of compounds 1 – 3 indicate that the auxiliary ligands have significant effects on the final structures. The photoluminescent properties and photocatalytic properties of these coordination polymers in the solid state were also investigated. Remarkably, 3 shows the wide gap semiconductor nature and exhibit excellent photocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although varenicline has had a significant effect on smoking cessation in randomized clinical trials, the dose-effect of varenicline treatment for smoking cessation in real-world settings remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the duration of varenicline prescription and smoking cessation in Taiwan after adjusting for potential confounding effects and endogeneity bias. A total of 5106 Taiwanese participants received varenicline monotherapy for smoking cessation between March 2012 and September 2016. Multinomial logistic regression (MLR) was used to analyze the association between varenicline prescription duration and smoking cessation, stratified by the frequency of smoking clinic visits and propensity scores of early stopping of smoking cessation treatment. Compared to the reference of nonquitting, longer durations of varenicline prescription were associated with the greater likelihood of immediate and complete quitting (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.02-1.14) and late quitting (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.07-1.20). Among those who were more likely to continue visiting smoking clinics, longer use of varenicline was significantly associated with an increase in immediate-and-complete quitting (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.15-1.23) and late quitting (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.20-1.28). Varenicline prescription duration was not associated with smoking cessation among smokers who visited smoking clinics once. The relationship between varenicline prescription duration and smoking cessation was modified by the frequency of smoking clinic visits and was dependent on quitting process patterns. Encouraging smokers to continue visiting the smoking cessation clinic and use medication will help smoking cessation efforts in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Recent findings showed advantages of a novel pyruvate-enriched oral rehydration solution (Pyr-ORS) in resuscitation of burns. This study focused on effects of Pyr-ORS on the visceral blood perfusion (VBP), gastrointestinal function, and survival rate, compared with the bicarbonate-based World Health Organization-guided oral rehydration solution (WHO-ORS), during intragastric rehydration of lethal hemorrhagic shock in rats. Methods Sixty adult rats were subjected to 45% total blood volume loss and were randomly allocated to the following three groups (n = 20): group NR (no fluid resuscitation), group PORS (oral Pyr-ORS rehydration), and group BORS (oral WHO-ORS rehydration), respectively. Other 10 rats were served as group NH (the sham group). Enteral rehydration lasted for 4 h after hemorrhage. The mean arterial pressure (MAP), VBP, and plasma enzymes activities of heart, liver, and kidney, and intestinal fatty acid binding protein were measured. Liver, kidney, and ileum were harvested for the evaluation of activities of oxidative enzymes and intestinal barrier protein (ZO-1). Other 84 rats with identical procedures without sampling were observed for their 24-h survival rates. Results Pyr-ORS was more effective in enhancing the MAP and VBP, inhibiting tissue oxidative damage, and improving organ function, compared with WHO-ORS. Hypoxic lactic acidosis was fully corrected in group PORS in 4 h, whereas it worsened in group BORS, and the 24-h survival rate was twice higher in group PORS than in group BORS (45.8 versus 20.8%, P < 0.05). Conclusions A small amount of pyruvate in Pyr-ORS was more therapeutically beneficial than equivalent bicarbonate in WHO-ORS and greatly raised survival in enteral rehydration of lethal hemorrhagic shock. The Pyr-ORS may be an ideal oral fluid in resuscitation of hypovolemic shock, especially in prehospital and resource-poor settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel MFI method based on learning dictionary with double sparsity is proposed. • Dictionary learning technique is employed to design a better fit force dictionary based on the measured response data. • The force dictionary is assumed to be expressed sparsely over the base dictionary, and the moving force is sparse over the force dictionary simultaneously. • Sparse K-SVD algorithm is employed to realize the learning process through alternatively updating between double sparse codes. Moving force identification (MFI) is essential for the bridge safety as it is one of the major loads acting on the bridge deck. MFI techniques based on force dictionary are promising owing to their prominent performance in solving ill-posed problems and calculation efficiency. Since the specific forms of authentic moving forces are complex and unknown, a fixed dictionary normally adopted tends to fail in expressing moving forces sparsely enough. In this study, dictionary learning (DL) is introduced into the field of MFI to design a better fit force dictionary based on the measured response data. A novel MFI method based on learning dictionary with double sparsity is proposed. Firstly, the MFI equation in time domain which describes the relationship between moving force and measured structural responses is established. Then a sparse dictionary model is designed in which the force dictionary is assumed to be expressed sparsely over the base dictionary, and the moving force is sparse over the force dictionary simultaneously. Moreover, the sparse K-singular-value-decomposition (K-SVD) algorithm is employed to realize the learning process through alternatively updating between double sparse codes. Finally, the learned force dictionary and moving forces are estimated through base force dictionary and double sparse codes. Numerical simulations and experimental studies are carried out to investigate the performance of the proposed method, and the results clearly certify its effectiveness and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late-onset myasthenia gravis (LOMG) has become the largest MG subgroup, but the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms remain mysterious. Among the few etiological clues are the almost unique serologic parallels between LOMG and thymoma-associated MG (TAMG), notably autoantibodies against acetylcholine receptors, titin, ryanodine receptor, type I interferons or IL-12. This is why we checked LOMG patients for two further peculiar features of TAMG - its associations with the CTLA4high/gain-of-function +49A/A genotype and with increased thymic export of naïve T cells into the blood, possibly after defective negative selection in AIRE-deficient thymomas. We analyzed genomic DNA from 116 Caucasian LOMG patients for CTLA4 alleles by PCR/restriction fragment length polymorphism, and blood mononuclear cells for recent thymic emigrants by quantitative PCR for T cell receptor excision circles. In sharp contrast with TAMG, we now find that: i) CTLA4low +49G(+) genotypes were more frequent (p = 0.0029) among the 69 LOMG patients with age at onset ≥60 years compared with 172 healthy controls; ii) thymic export of naïve T cells from the non-neoplastic thymuses of 36 LOMG patients was lower (p = 0.0058) at diagnosis than in 77 age-matched controls. These new findings are important because they suggest distinct initiating mechanisms in TAMG and LOMG and hint at aberrant immuno-regulation in the periphery in LOMG. We therefore propose alternate defects in central thymic or peripheral tolerance induction in TAMG and LOMG converging on similar final outcomes. In addition, our data support a 60-year-threshold for onset of 'true LOMG' and an LOMG/early-onset MG overlapping group of patients between 40 and 60. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are thought to form fear memory more robust than men do and testosterone is suspected to play a role in determining such a sex difference. Mouse cued fear freezing was used to study the sex-related susceptibility and the role of testosterone in fear memory in humans. A 75-dB tone was found to provoke weak freezing, while 0.15-mA and 0.20-mA footshock caused strong freezing responses. No sex differences were noticed in the tone- or footshock-induced (naïve fear) freezing. Following the conditionings, female mice exhibited greater tone (cued fear)-induced freezing than did male mice. Nonetheless, female mice demonstrated indistinctive cued fear freezing across the estrous phases and ovariectomy did not affect such freezing in female mice. Orchidectomy enhanced the cued fear freezing in male mice. Systemic testosterone administrations and an intra-lateral nucleus of amygdala (LA) testosterone infusion diminished the cued fear freezing in orchidectomized male mice, while pretreatment with flutamide (Flu) eradicated these effects. Long-term potentiation (LTP) magnitude in LA has been known to correlate with the strength of the cued fear conditioning. We found that LA LTP magnitude was indeed greater in female than male mice. Orchidectomy enhanced LTP magnitude in males' LA, while ovariectomy decreased LTP magnitude in females' LA. Testosterone decreased LTP magnitude in orchidectomized males' LA and estradiol enhanced LTP magnitude in ovariectomized females' LA. Finally, male mice had lower LA GluR1 expression than female mice and orchidectomy enhanced the GluR1 expression in male mice. These findings, taken together, suggest that testosterone plays a critical role in rendering the sex differences in the cued fear freezing and LA LTP. Testosterone is negatively associated with LA LTP and the cued fear memory in male mice. However, ovarian hormones and LA LTP are loosely associated with the cued fear memory in female mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposures to multiple air pollutants during pregnancy have been associated with the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). However, their combined effects are unclear. We aimed to evaluate the combined associations of five air pollutants from pre-pregnancy to the 2nd trimester with GDM. This study included 20,113 participants from the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study (BIGCS). The inverse distance-weighted models were used to estimate individual air pollutant exposure, namely ozone (O 3), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO 2), particulate matter less than 10 μm in diameter (PM 10), and less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM 2.5). We estimated stage-specific associations of air pollutants with GDM using generalized estimating equation, and departures from additive joint effects were assessed using the relative excess risk (RERI) and the joint relative risk (JRR). Of the 20,113 participants, 3440 women (17.1%) were diagnosed with GDM. In the adjusted model, increased concentrations of O 3 and SO 2 3–6 months before pregnancy were associated with GDM occurrence, as well as O 3 and PM 10 in the 1st trimester, the adjusted relative risk (95% confident intervals) [RRs (95%CI)] ranged from 1.05 (1.00, 1.09) to 1.21 (1.04, 1.40). The largest JRR for GDM was the combination of SO 2 , NO 2 , and PM 10 in the 1st trimester (JRR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.59). The JRR for O 3 and SO 2 was less than their additive joint effects [RERI = -0.25 (−0.47, −0.04), P for interaction = 0.048]. Associations of air pollutants with GDM differed somewhat by pre-pregnancy BMI and season. This study added new evidence to the current understanding of the combined effects of multiple air pollutants on GDM. Public health strategies were needed to reduce the adverse effects of air pollution exposure on pregnant women. • Air pollutant exposure before pregnancy and in the 1st trimester increased GDM risk. •JRRs of combined exposure were often higher than RRs of single exposure models. •We found an antagonistic effect of O 3 and SO 2 in the 1st trimester on GDM. •Overweight/obese women were more susceptible to O 3 than other women. •Associations of air pollutants with GDM differed by season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Semi-supervised learning (SSL) is widely-used to explore the vast amount of unlabeled data in the world. Over the decade, graph-based SSL becomes popular in automatic image annotation due to its power of learning globally based on local similarity. However, recent studies have shown that the emergence of large-scale datasets challenges traditional methods. On the other hand, most previous works have concentrated on single-label annotation, which may not describe image contents well. To remedy the deficiencies, this paper proposes a new graph-based SSL technique with multi-label propagation, leveraging the distributed computing power of the MapReduce programming model. For high learning performance, the paper further presents both a multi-layer learning structure and a tag refinement approach, where the former unifies both visual and textual information of image data during learning, while the latter simultaneously suppresses noisy tags and emphasizes the other tags after learning. Experimental results based on a medium-scale and a large-scale image datasets show the effectiveness of the proposed methods. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a fast mode decision to accelerate the encoding process of scalable video coding (SVC) through coded block pattern (CBP) analysis. CBP contains residual information of each macroblock (MB) and provide cues for mode prediction in encoding process. The proposed algorithm makes use of the existing mode information in base layer (BL), enhancement layer (EL) and CBP to remove invalid modes for the mode prediction of the current MB in EL coding. Also, the EL’s modes in the highest temporal level of a group of picture are determined by high correlation exists in adjacent frames. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm saves an average of 68% of EL motion estimation time with minor degradation in PSNR and with few bitrate increase of SVC quality and spatial scalabilities when compared to JSVM 9.19.14. Our algorithm outperforms the best-known method by 17% EL motion estimation time saving in average. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Two hypotheses were tested in this study. First, blockade of neural activity by lidocaine immediately following the retrieval of a memory may impair the reconsolidation and subsequent expression of that memory. Second, a non-retrieved memory would not be affected by this lidocaine treatment. Since the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) is involved in emotion-related memory, an intra-BLA lidocaine infusion was used immediately after the retrieval of two emotion-related memories, the step-through passive avoidance response (PA) and cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP). Intra-BLA lidocaine infusion immediately after cocaine-induced CPP retrieval diminished CPP magnitude in retests. However, intra-BLA lidocaine infusion alone did not affect cocaine-induced CPP performance. Intra-BLA lidocaine infusion immediately after PA retrieval decreased PA performance in retests. Omission of PA retrieval procedure, intra-BLA lidocaine infusion did not affect subsequent PA performance. Surprisingly, intra-BLA lidocaine infusion immediately following the retrieval of PA or cocaine-induced CPP diminished both PA and cocaine-induced CPP performance in the retests. Finally, Fos-staining results revealed that a number of BLA neurons were activated by the retrieval of both cocaine-induced CPP and PA. We conclude that inactivation of neural activity in BLA immediately following retrieval of a fear or cocaine-conditioned memory can impair subsequent expression of both memories. More importantly, retrieval of a memory does not seem to be an absolute condition for rapidly changing the memory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This work investigated the detailed interparticle interactions in a concentrated polymer-coated colloidal system in which the bare colloidal particles and the adsorbed polymers are of comparable size and, hence, the polymer adsorption cannot be foreseen to induce repulsive or attractive interactions. Specifically, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) chains (Rg ∼10nm) adsorbed onto fine silica colloidal particles (SAXS-determined radius ∼7.4nm; width of log-normal size distribution ∼0.28) were considered as a model system, for which the impact of a small amount of polymer adsorption () in controlling the interactions of the PEO-coated silica particles was systematically explored by analyzing the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data against three interaction potentials—the equivalent hard-sphere (EHS) potential, the Hayter–Penfold–Yukawa (HPY) potential, and the square-well (SW) potential. Moreover, the SAXS analysis was enforced by dynamic light scattering (DLS) for predetermining the adsorption behavior, as well as for evaluating the possibility of polymer bridging. Under a dilute condition, the DLS analysis showed no sign of forming colloidal multiplets. In concentrated dispersions, both the HPY and SW potentials clearly revealed a systematic decrease of colloidal repulsions with increased PEO coverage, ascribed to a partially “screened” electrostatic interaction and/or the formation of PEO-bridged silica doublets. The present findings have interesting implications for controlling the colloidal interactions and microstructures of fine polymer-coated particles in dense or condensed phases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cytosine DNA methylation, covalent histone modifications, and RNA-mediated gene regulation are the major aspects of epigenetic regulation. Natural antisense transcripts (NATs), as a new member of regulatory RNAs, occur ubiquitously in prokaryote and eukaryote, and play significant roles in physiological or pathological processes. NATs, mostly non-coding RNAs, are involved in transcriptional interference, genomic imprinting, X inactivation, RNA editing, translational regulation, RNA export, DNA methylation, histone modifications, and so on. NATs regulate gene expression through direct interaction with the sense transcripts or indirect interaction with other targets, such as DNA methyltransferases, histone acetylases and histone deacetylases. There may be a direct link among NATs, DNA methylaton and histone modifications. Through formation of sense–antisense duplex structures, NATs exert a widespread impact on conventional gene expression at the mRNA and/or protein level and regulate sense transcripts in a concordant or discordant manner. As one of the important components in epigenetics, NATs could be a potentially rich source for scientists to exploit in the therapy of cancers and other diseases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this study, the K. pneumoniae MrkD adhesin was identified an immunodominant antigen which correlated with protection against infection by K. pneumoniae. The mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against MrkD adhesin were produced by the hybridoma technique using recombinant MrkD-GST as the immunogen and were immunoscreened against phage-displayed random dodecapeptide library (Ph.D.-12). After three rounds of biopanning, 36 phage clones were randomly selected and their specificity to mAb was verified by sandwich and competitive inhibition ELISA. Sixteen phage clones were sequenced and their amino acids were deduced. One mimotope (QKTLAKSTYMSA) showed good match with MrkD adhesion at 148–159 aa and the serum of mice induced by the phage clone clearly recognized MrkD adhesion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on the research model, language anxiety, prior non-native language experience, Internet self-efficacy and language self-efficacy are analyzed for the intention to use non-native language commercial web sites, respectively. Prior non-native language experience has affected language anxiety, language self-efficacy and intention to use non-native language commercial web sites, respectively. By the same token, whether or not Internet self-efficacy and language self-efficacy affected by language anxiety is also examined. A valid sample of 418 undergraduates was tested in this study. Regression analysis results fully supported the model tested. These results suggest that language anxiety, prior non-native language experience, language self-efficacy and Internet self-efficacy have an effect on the intention to use non-native language commercial web sites. Prior non-native language experience has significantly affected language anxiety, language self-efficacy and the intention to use the non-native language commercial web sites, respectively. Furthermore, language anxiety has significantly affected language self-efficacy and Internet self-efficacy, respectively. Educational research and practitioner implications are provided at the end of the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Vanillin is one of the most widely used flavor compounds in food and personal products. It has been reported that vanillin is able to inhibit mutagenesis induced by chemical and physical mutagens, and to suppress the invasion and migration of cancer cells. Herein we used the oligonucleotide microarray approach to study gene expression profile of vanillin-treated human hepatocarcinoma cells. Microarray data followed by gene ontology (GO) investigation displayed that vanillin-affected clusters of genes involved in cell cycle and apoptosis. Genes down-regulated by vanillin were grouped into three GO categories, regulation of cellular process, cell cycle, and death. Furthermore, most of the down-regulated genes were associated with cancer progression. Knowledge-based analysis further indicated that Fos may play a central role in the regulation of gene expression network. Analysis of Fos-related transcription factor, activator protein 1 (AP-1), showed that vanillin inhibited AP-1 activity in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) was diminished with increasing concentrations of vanillin, indicating that vanillin-regulated AP-1 activity via ERK pathway. In conclusion, our data suggested that vanillin exhibited the anticancer potential by the regulations of cell cycle and apoptosis. Moreover, its regulation may involve the suppression of a central molecule, AP-1. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Eight osteoporosis related inflammatory cytokines were identified with a protein microarray. • BLC, OPN and IGFBP4 were validated and replicated in two independent subgroups. • Functional study showed that BLC plays important roles in bone metabolism. Inflammatory cytokines were involved in pathological conditions of osteoporosis (OP). However, the specific OP-associated inflammatory cytokines are still awaiting to be detected by using a systemic method. Herein, we adopted an extreme sampling scheme and examined inflammatory cytokines between subjects with low and high bone mineral density (BMD) through protein microarray. First, 8 candidate cytokines including B lymphocyte chemoattractant (BLC), osteopontin (OPN) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 (IGFBP4) were identified in the discovery extreme sampling subgroup. Then, the different expressions for BLC, OPN and IGFBP4 were validated and replicated in two independent extreme sampling subgroups. Further functional experiments showed that the cytokine BLC was involved in bone metabolism by inhibiting bone formation and promoting bone resorption. Together, this study further revealed that inflammatory cytokines were closely related with OP, and that they highlighted critical roles of BLC in the pathogenesis of OP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• I. japonica extract (IJE) ameliorated BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. • IJE could regulate GSK3β signaling pathway. • IJE displayed the inhibition of sEH activity with an IC 50 value of 0.98 μg/mL. • I. japonica could be regarded as a candidate resource for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive, irreversible, and fatal fibrotic lung disease with a high mortality and morbidity, and commonly nonresponsive to conventional therapy. Inula japonica Thunb. is a traditional Chinese medicine, known as " Xuan Fu Hua " in Chinese, and has been widely applied to relieve cough and dyspnea and eliminate retained phlegm with a long history. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the anti-fibrosis effect and action mechanism of I. japonica extract (IJE) for the treatment of bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. IJE treatment significantly restored BLM-induced alterations in body weight loss and lung function decline, decreased the collagen deposition induced by BLM in lung tissues, and inhibited fibrotic and inflammatory factors, such as α-SMA, TGF-β1, TNF-α, IL-6, COX-2, NF-κB, and GSK3β, in a dose-dependent manner. We found that IJE could enhance the concentration of 8,9-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (8,9-EET) and decrease concentrations of 8,9-dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid (8,9-DHET), 11,12-DHET, and 14,15-DHET in BLM-induced mice. Meanwhile, IJE suppressed protein and mRNA expression levels of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), and significantly displayed the inhibition of sEH activity with an IC 50 value of 0.98 μg/mL. Our results indicated that IJE exerted remarkable anti-fibrosis effect on BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice via inhibiting sEH activity, resulting in the regulation of GSK3β signaling pathway. Our findings revealed the underlying action mechanism of I. japonica , and suggested that I. japonica could be regarded as a candidate resource for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A dynamic force identification approach based on composite trigonometric wavelet. • The challenge task of determining the time unit length in advance can be avoided. • The trigonometric wavelet performances better than the polynomial functions. • The identification accuracy can be enhanced progressively according to actual needs. The shape function-based methods are promising in dynamic force identification. However, the selection of shape function is still an issue as it determines the identification accuracy and efficiency to a large extent. This paper proposes a dynamic force identification approach by using the composite trigonometric wavelet as shape function which takes advantage of its 'wave' property in dynamic force expression. The whole domain of the dynamic force time history is segmented into different time units following the thought of finite element discretization and the local force is approximated by linear shape functions. Subsequently the force-response equation is established by assembling the calculated responses induced by shape function forces and the corresponding measured responses of all time units. Then trigonometric wavelet shape function is added to enhance the approximation capability of shape function and improve the identification accuracy progressively. Examples are employed to illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance and antifouling properties of polyethersulfone (PES) membrane incorporated with dual nanofiller, zinc oxide (ZnO) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT). The synergistic effect of the these nanofillers in PES membrane is studied by blending different ratio of ZnO/MWCNT nanofiller into the PES membrane. The fabricated membranes were characterized in terms of cross-section and surface morphology, surface hydrophilicity, pore size and porosity. The filtration performance of the membranes was tested using 50 mg/L humic acid (HA) solution as model solution. SEM image and gravimetric evaluation reported that the incorporation of both MWCNT and ZnO into the PES membrane improved porosity significantly up to 46.02%. Lower water contact angle of PES membrane incorporated with equal ratio of MWCNT and ZnO (PES 3) revealed that it has neat PES membrane properties and more hydrophilic membrane surface than single filler. PES 3 outperform other membranes with excellent HA permeate flux of 40.00 L/m2.h and rejection of 88.51%. Due to hydrophilic membrane surface, PES 3 membrane demonstrate efficient antifouling properties with lower relative flux reduction (RFR) and higher flux recovery ratio (FRR). PES 3 also showed notable antibacterial properties with less bacterial attached to the membrane compared to neat PES membrane (PES 0). • Blending of MWCNT improved membrane porosity by formation of macrovoid. • Membrane flux increase with decreased in selectivity. • Present of ZnO in PES matrix reduced bacteria attachment on the membrane surface. • Synergistic of ZnO and MWCNT improved the membrane filtration perforance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two entangled MOFs based on rigid 1,6-naphthalenedisulfonate (1,6-NDS) mixed with flexible 1,4-bis(benzoimidazol-1-yl)butane (bbimb) ligands, [Zn(1,6-NDS)(bbimb) 1.5 ]·2H 2 O (1) and [Cd 2 (1,6-NDS) 2 (bbimb) 3 (H 2 O) 4 ]·2H 2 O (2), have been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric and photoluminescent analyses. In 1 , the Zn(II) ions are connected by bbimb ligands into a 2D (6,3) brick wall structure with the 1,6-NDS2- as dangling arms threaded into the voids of two adjacent layers up and down, and finally generates a 2D→3D polythreading framework. While the Cd(II) centers in 2 are connected by bbimb ligands into a 3D (10,3)-b network, and four (10,3)-b networks interweave to generate a 4-fold interpenetrating structure. 1 and 2 dispay similar photoluminescence at 343 nm (λ ex = 302 nm) and 342 nm (λ ex = 293 nm), respectively. And both MOFs display selective sensing of Fe3+ through the luminescent quenching experiments. Two new MOFs of 1,6-naphthalenedisulfonate and bis-benzimidazole ligands are discribed. Zn MOF 1 shows a 2D → 3D polythreading framework based on 2D (6,3) brick wall. Cd MOF 2 displays a 4-fold interpenetrating network based on 3D (10,3)-b net. Both MOFs have the ability of efficient detection of Fe3+. Image 1 • Two Zn(II)/Cd(II) MOFs of 1,6-naphthalenedisulfonate and 1,4-bis(benzoimidazol-1-yl)butane are described. • 1 shows a 2D.→3D polythreading framework based on 2D (6,3) brick wall. • 2 shows a 4-fold interpenetrating (10,3)-b network. • Both MOFs have the ability of efficient detection of Fe3+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibroblast migration is closely regulated by the mechanical characteristics in surrounding microenvironment. While increased interstitial hydrostatic pressure (HP) is a hallmark in many pathological and physiological conditions, little is known about how the HP affects fibroblast motility. Using cell-culture chips with elevated HP conditions, we showed that 20 cmH 2 O HP significantly accelerated fibroblast migration. The HP-induced migration acceleration was dependent on the augmentation of transforming growth factor-β 1 , and correlated with the activation of filamin A via the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. Our results suggest that interstitial HP elevation associated with various pathological states could significantly regulate fibroblast migration. • Increased hydrostatic pressure (HP) accelerates fibroblast migration. • The increased HP-induced migration acceleration is dependent on the augmentation of transforming growth factor-β 1. • The HP-induced migration acceleration correlates with the p38 MAPK phosphorylation-dependent activation of filamin-A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Profiting from the sustained clinical improvement and prolonged patient survival, immune checkpoint blockade of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) axis has emerged as a revolutionary cancer therapy approach. However, the anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies only achieve a clinical response rate of approximately 20%. Herein, we identified a novel combination strategy that Chinese medicine ginseng-derived ginsenoside Rh2 (Rh2) markedly improved the anti-cancer efficacy of anti-PD-L1 antibody in mice bearing MC38 tumor. Rh2 combined with anti-PD-L1 antibody (combo treatment) further triggered the infiltration, proliferation and activation of CD8+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Depletion of CD8+ T cells by mouse CD8 blocking antibody abolished the anti-cancer effect of combo treatment totally. Mechanistically, combo treatment further increased the expression of CXCL10 through activating TBK1-IRF3 signaling pathway, explaining the increased infiltration of T cells. Employing anti- CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) blocking antibody prevented the T cells infiltration and abolished the anti-cancer effect of combo treatment. Meanwhile, combo treatment increased the percentage of M1-like macrophages and raised the ratio of M1/M2 macrophages in TME. By comparing the anti-cancer effect of combo treatment among MC38, CT26 and 4T1 tumors, resident T cells were considered as a prerequisite for the effectiveness of combo treatment. These findings demonstrated that Rh2 potentiated the anti-cancer effect of PD-L1 blockade via promoting the T cells infiltration and activation, which shed a new light on the combination strategy to enhance anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy by using natural product Rh2. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] All inorganic CsPbX 3 perovskite has aroused broad interests in building efficient light-emitting devices with wide color gamut and flexible fabrication process. So far, the realization of high-performance blue perovskite light-emitting devices (PeLEDs) is still a critical challenge. Herein, we propose an interfacial induction strategy to generate low-dimensional CsPbBr 3 with sky blue emission by employing γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) modified poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The interaction between GABA and Pb2+ inhibited the formation of bulk CsPbBr 3 phase. Further assisted by the polymer networks, the sky-blue CsPbBr 3 film exhibited much improved stability under both photoluminescence and electrical excitation. This can be ascribed to the scaffold effect and the passivation function of the polymer. Consequently, the obtained sky-blue PeLEDs exhibited an average external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 5.67% (maximum of 7.21%) with a maximum brightness of 3308 cd/m2 and a working lifespan reaching 0.41 h. The strategy in this work provides a new opportunity for exploitation the full potential of blue PeLEDs towards application in lighting and display devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing efficient absorbents for multi-gas adsorption and separation is of critical significance for gas purification in chemical engineering. Multi-cage structure enables sufficient interactions with multi-gas through the restriction effects, which is promising to achieve high multi-gas separation performance. In this work, two isomorphic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) (SNNU-275, M ​= ​Cu, and SNNU-276, M ​= ​Ni) with three types of cages (octahedral M 6 L 4 , cuboctahedral M 12 L 8 , and M 12 L 24), which are (3,4)-linked three-dimensional microporous structures formed by stacking M 6 (TPA) 4 octahedral coordination molecular cages are synthesized by using tri(4-pyridyl) amine (TPA) ligands and Cu/Ni metals. TPA is selected as the central ligand due to the small size and flexible characteristics. The synthesized SNNU-275 exhibits a good combination of high C 2 H 2 /CO 2 adsorption selectivity (28), while high C 2 H 2 uptake capacity (68 ​cm3 ​g−1) is achieved for SNNU-276 with high stability. In addition, SNNU-275 and SNNU-276 exhibited superior uptake capacity for benzene and water vapor. Overall, this work not only provides new triangular tripyridine-based MOFs with multiple cages for efficient gas purification, but also demonstrated that the multicage engineering is a promising strategy for the multicomponent gas separation. Two isomorphic metal organic frameworks (MOF) with three types of cages were designed and synthesized, which have exhibits a good combination of high C 2 H 2 /CO 2 adsorption selectivity and superior take capacity for benzene and water vapor. [Display omitted] • MOFs with three types of metal-organic cages. • MOFs with tripyridine amine ligands. • MOFs have high C 2 H 2 /CO 2 separation selectivity. • MOFs have high water and benzene vapor adsorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of bacteriophage as an alternative to antibiotics to control pathogenic bacteria has attracted attention. Here, a novel virulent Salmonella bacteriophage JNwz02 capable of cross-infecting E. coli O157:H7 was isolated and characterized. The complete genome of JNwz02 was composed of 114390 bp double-stranded DNA molecules encoding 164 open reading frames (ORFs) with a G + C content of 40.22%. JNwz02 belongs to the Siphoviridae family and has high homology with T5-type phages. The eclipse period and latency of JNwz02 infection with Salmonella were 10 min and 10–15 min, respectively. The burst size and adsorption rate constant K were 200 plaque-forming unit (PFU)/colony-forming unit (CFU) and 6.71 × 10−9 ml/min, respectively. JNwz02 was relatively stable in the range of temperature (30°C-50 °C) and pH (2–11). The viable Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 were significantly reduced in ready-to-eat duck neck meat and milk after treatment with JNwz02 at 4 °C for 2 d. The results suggested that JNwz02 has potential for application against Salmonella and E. coli in food. [Display omitted] • A novel Salmonella phage JNwz02 capable of cross-infecting E. coli O157:H7 was isolated and identified. • JNwz02 contains 114390-bp double-stranded DNA encoding 164 ORFs. • JNwz02 belongs to the Siphoviridae family and has high homology with T5-type phages. • JNwz02 could significantly reduce Salmonella and E. coli O157: H7 in foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solubility of 4-chloro-2,5-dimethoxynitrobenzene (CDMB) and 4-chloro-2,5-dimethoxyaniline (CDMA) in methanol, ethanol, xylene and toluene was measured over the temperatures range from (278 to 338) K by the dynamic method using a laser monitoring observation technique. The solubility in all solvents increased with temperature and the greatest solubility of both systems was obtained in toluene. The Wilson and the NRTL models were applied to correlate the experimental results. The root-mean-square deviations for the system of (CDMB + solvent) ranged from T = (0.11 to 0.34) K and (0.08 to 0.33) K calculated by the Wilson and the NRTL models, respectively, while for the system of (CDMA + solvent) the root-mean-square deviations ranged from T = (0.11 to 0.32) K and (0.14 to 0.33) K. The melting points and enthalpies of fusion of CDMA and CDMB were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Toluene was found to be the preferred solvent for the reduction of CDMB to CDMA from the point of view of reaction and product separation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, we identified the Th epitopes in MrkD of Klebsiella pneumoniae, an excellent vaccine candidate antigen. By using the RANKPEP prediction algorithm, we have identified and characterized three Th epitopes within the MrkD antigen, which can be recognized by CD4+ T cells from BALB/c (H-2d) mice. They were M221-235, M175-189, and M264-278. These epitopes have important value for studying the immune response of K. pneumoniae infection and for designing effective vaccine against K. pneumoniae. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Methotrexate (MTX) is a dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitor widely used for treating human cancers, and overexpression of histone deacetylase (HDAC) is usually found in tumors. HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) can reactivate tumor suppressor genes and serve as potential anti-cancer drugs. In this study, we found that MTX shared structural similarity with some HDACi and molecular modeling showed that MTX indeed docks into the active site of HDLP, a bacterial homologue of HDAC. Subsequent in vitro assay demonstrated MTX’s inhibition on HDAC activity in human cancer cells. The global acetylation of histone H3 was also induced by MTX. Moreover, MTX inhibited immunoprecipitated HDAC1/2 activity but not their protein levels. This study provides evidence that MTX inhibits HDAC activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Human cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2A6 and 2A13 play an important role in catalyzing the metabolism of many environmental chemicals including coumarin, nicotine, and several tobacco-specific carcinogens. Both CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 proteins are composed of 494 amino acid residues. Although CYP2A13 shares a 93.5% identity with CYP2A6 in the amino acid sequence, it is only about one-tenth as active as CYP2A6 in catalyzing coumarin 7-hydroxylation. To identify the key amino acid residues that account for such a remarkable difference, we generated a series of CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 mutants by site-directed mutagenesis/heterologous expression and compared their coumarin 7-hydroxylation activities. In CYP2A6, the amino acid residues at position 117 and 372 are valine (Val) and arginine (Arg), respectively; whereas in CYP2A13, they are alanine (Ala) and histidine (His). Kinetic analysis revealed that the catalytic efficiency (Vmax/Km) of the CYP2A6 Val117 → Ala and Arg372 → His mutants was drastically reduced (0.41 and 0.64 versus 3.23 for the wild-type CYP2A6 protein). In contrast, the catalytic efficiency of the CYP2A13 Ala117 → Val and His372 → Arg mutants was greatly increased (2.65 and 2.60 versus 0.31 for wild-type CYP2A13 protein). These results clearly demonstrate that the Val at position 117 and Arg at position 372 are critical amino acid residues for coumarin 7-hydroxylation. Based on the crystal structure of CYP2C5, we have generated the homology models of CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 and docked the substrate coumarin to the active site. Together with the kinetic characterization, our structural modeling provides explanations for the amino acid substitution results and the insights of detailed enzyme–substrate interactions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An unprecedented 15- spiro diterpenoid dimer bisandrographolide G (1) was isolated from A. paniculata with a Ki value of 8.88 μM human CES 2 based on the inhibition kinetics result. • A novel 15- spiro diterpenoid dimer bisandrographolide G (1) was isolated from A. paniculata. • Compound 1 showed potent inhibitory activity against human CES 2 with an IC 50 value of 4.61 ± 0.23 μM. • Compound 1 was defined as a mixed-competitive type inhibitor with a Ki value of 8.88 μM. The phytochemical investigation of Andrographis paniculata resulted in the isolation of a novel 15- spiro diterpenoid dimer bisandrographolide G (1). Its structure was determined by 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS, electronic circular dichroism (ECD), and TD DFT calculations of ECD spectra. It showed potent inhibitory activity against human carboxylesterase 2 (CES 2) with an IC 50 value of 4.61 ± 0.23 μM, and it was defined as a mixed-competitive type inhibitor with a Ki value of 8.88 μM based on the inhibition kinetics result. This finding gave us a hit to develop new generation of human CES 2 inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A small library of protostane-type triterpenoids (1 – 25) were isolated from A. orientale. • Compounds 1 , 4 , 5 , and 15 showed potential inhibitory activities against sEH. • The interaction of compound 5 with sEH were investigated by molecular docking and dynamics. • The Ki value of compound 5 was 3.48 μM. The inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is a promising therapeutic approach to treat inflammation and other disorders. In our present investigation on searching for sEH inhibitors from traditional Chinese medicines, we found that Alisma orientale displayed inhibition of sEH. We constructed a small library of protostane-type triterpenoids (1 – 25) isolated from A. orientale , and screened their inhibitory activities. Alismanin B (1), 11-deoxy-25-anhydro alisol E (4), 11-deoxy alisol B (5), and 25- O -ethyl alisol A (15) displayed concentration-dependently inhibitory activities against sEH with IC 50 values from 3.40 ± 0.57 μM to 9.57 ± 0.88 μM. 11-Deoxy-25-anhydro alisol E (4) and 11-deoxy alisol B (5) were defined as mixed-type competitive inhibitors with Ki values of 12.6 and 3.48 μM, respectively, based on the result of inhibition kinetics. The potential interaction mechanism of 11-deoxy alisol B (5) with sEH was analyzed by molecular docking and molecular dynamics, revealing that amino acid residues Trp336 and Tyr466 were vital for its inhibitory activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Solvothermal reactions of CdCl 2 ·2.5H 2 O and 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (1,4-H 2 bdc) with 1,3-bis(1-imidazolyl)-5-[2-(1-imidazolyl)-phenoxymethyl]-benzene (otim), 1,3-bis(1-imidazolyl)-5-[3-(1-imidazolyl)-phenoxymethyl]-benzene (mtim) or 1,3-bis(1-imidazolyl)-5-[4-(1-imidazolyl)-phenoxymethyl]-benzene (ptim) at 150 °C gave rise to three cadmium(II) coordination polymers [Cd 3 (1,4-bdc) 3 (otim) 2 (H 2 O)] n (1), {[Cd(1,4-bdc)(mtim)]·0.5H 2 O} n (2) and {[Cd(1,4-bdc)(ptim)]·1.5H 2 O} n (3). Complexes 1 – 3 were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, powder X-ray diffraction, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In Compound 1 , 3D [Cd(otim)] n units are reinforced by 1D helical chains [Cd(1,4-bdc)] n , resulting in 3-fold interpenetrating 3D framework. Compound 2 exhibits a 4-fold interpenetrating 3D framework formed by linking ladderlike [Cd(mtim)] n units with two pairs of 1,4-bdc bridges. Compound 3 can be considered as a 2-fold interpenetrating 3D pillared-layer framework in which 2D [Cd(ptim)] n layers are interconnected by 1,4-bdc pillars. The Schläfli symbols for these three 3D nets are (5·102)(5·7·82·102) (1), (42·6)(42·65·83) (2), and (63)(69·8) (3). The formation of 1 – 3 provided an interesting insight into coordinated group site effect on the construction of Cd(II)/tri-imidazolyl/dicarboxylate CPs under solvothermal conditions. The solid state luminescent properties of 1 – 3 at ambient temperature were also investigated, and 3 showed a high selectivity and sensitivity for acetone because of the quenching effect. Graphical abstract Reactions of CdCl 2 with tri-imidazolyl ligands and 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate resulted in the formation of three CPs and their luminescent properties were investigated. fx1 Highlights • Three Cd(II) CPs based on tri-imidazolyl ligands and 1,4-H 2 BDC were synthesized. • Complexes 1–3 exhibit 3D supramolecular structures. • Complex 3 can selectively sense acetone by the luminescence quenching method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most prevalent cancer worldwide. Specially, Hepatitis B viurs X protein (HBx) is a leading factor in the progression of Hepatitis B viurs-related HCC. Nutrient-deprived tumor microenvironment also contributes to tumor development. However, the role of HBx in nutrient-deprived HCC has received little investigation. Here, we show that HBx elevates PINK1-Parkin mediating mitophagy in starvation. HBx not only increases the PINK1/Parkin gene expression but also accelerates Parkin recruitment to partial mitochondria. Further analysis indicates that, HBx either promotes mitochondrial unfolded protein response, with remarkable mitochondrial LONP1 increases, or reduces LONP1 expression in cytosol inducing LONP1-Parkin pathway, both consequently enhancing mitophagy. Moreover, the enhanced mitophagy lowers mitochondrial apoptosis in starved hepatoma cells, and Bax is implied in the machinery. In addition, we define differential centrifuge, 3000  g or 12,000  g to pellet mitochondria, as an effective method to obtain distinct mitochondria. In collect, HBx regulates diverse aspects of LONP1 and Parkin, enhancing mitophagy in starvation. This study may shed new insights into the machinery development of hepatocellular carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Camellia should be taxonomically revisited. • Seven well-supported monophyletic clades were identified in Camellia. • Topological relationships among these clades were influenced by the data set. • There is extensive hybridization and introgression among early Camellia lineages. Camellia (Theaceae) is a morphologically highly diverse genus of flowering plants and includes many famous species with high economic value, and the phylogeny of this genus is not fully resolved. We used 95 transcriptomes from 87 Camellia species and identified 1481 low-copy genes to conduct a detailed analysis of the phylogeny of this genus according to various data-screening criteria. The results show that, very different from the two existing classification systems of Camellia , 87 species are grouped into 8 main clades and two independent species, and that all 8 clades except Clade 8 were strongly supported by almost all the coalescent or concatenated trees using different gene subsets. However, the relationships among these clades were weakly supported and different from analyses using different gene subsets; furthermore, they do not agree with the phylogeny from chloroplast genomes of Camellia. Additional analyses support reticulate evolution (probably resulting from introgression or hybridization) among some major Camellia lineages, providing explanation for extensive gene tree conflicts. Furthermore, we inferred that together with the formation of East Asian subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests, Camellia underwent a radiative divergence of major clades at 23 ∼ 19 Ma in the late Miocene then had a subsequent species burst at 10 ∼ 5 Ma. Principal component and cluster analyses provides new insights into morphological changes underlying the evolution of Camellia and a reference to further clarify subgenus and sections of this genus. The comprehensive study here including a nuclear phylogeny and other analyses reveal the rapid evolutionary history of Camellia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite past extensive studies on B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA)-mediated negative regulation of T cell activation, the role of BTLA in antigen presenting cells (APCs) in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (ATB) remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that BTLA expression on CD11c APCs increased in patients with ATB. Particularly, BTLA expression in CD11c APCs was likely associated with the attenuated stimulatory capacity on T cells (especially CD8+ T cell) proliferation. BTLA-expressing CD11c APCs showed lower antigen uptake capacity, lower CD86 expression, higher HLA-DR expression, and enhanced IL-6 secretion, compared to counterpart BTLA negative CD11c APCs in healthy controls (HC). Interestingly, BTLA-expressing CD11c APCs from ATB patients displayed lower expression of HLA-DR and less IL-6 secretion, but higher expression of CD86 than those from HC volunteers. Mixed lymphocyte reaction suggests that BTLA expression is likely associated with positive rather than conventional negative regulation of CD11c APCs stimulatory capacity. This role is impaired in ATB patients manifested by low expression of HLA-DR and low production of IL-6. This previous unappreciated role for BTLA may have implications in the prevention and treatment of patients with ATB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loose-leaf dark tea fermented by Eurotium cristatum has increasingly gained favor in the market due to its unique fungal aroma and soft mouthfeel. In this study, the dynamic changes in the metabolite profile and taste characteristics of loose-leaf dark tea were investigated. Ninety-two critical metabolites were identified during fermentation by ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with Q-Exactive Orbitrap tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap/MS). Among these metabolites, catechin derivatives were converted to numerous other metabolites, such as fuzhuanin A and teadenol A, by the metabolic activity of E. cristatum , which were significantly increased in the later stages of fermentation. Taste evaluation and targeted metabolomics demonstrated that the intensities of astringency, bitterness, umami and sourness of the tea infusions gradually weakened with declines in the contents of ester-catechins and amino acids, while the intensities of color, sweetness and stale taste gradually developed during fermentation with increases in the contents of theabrownins and tea polysaccharides. These results revealed the important contribution of E. cristatum to the formation of the compounds that impart the unique taste of loose-leaf dark tea and provide a chemical basis for quality control during dark tea processing. [Display omitted] • Loose-leaf green tea was fermented with the fungus E. cristatum. • Taste and metabolites were tested in loose-leaf dark tea during fermentation. • Fermentation increased sweetness and decreased astringencyandbitterness of tea. • Ninety-two chemical compounds were significantly altered during fermentation. • Catechin analogs were related to the conversion of critical metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]