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Starch is widely used to prepare biodegradable films due to its superior biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and renewability. In this work, a novel K

The atmospheric aerosol particles have a potential heavy burden on environment, climate, and human health, which were closely related to the surface physicochemical properties. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) technique is a powerful tool to obtain detailed surface chemical information since it has high surface sensitivity for both elements and molecular ions, and high mass resolution. In this work, size-fractioned aerosol particles in the range of 0.43–10 µm during a severe haze episode in Beijing were analyzed by TOF-SIMS, the variation characteristics of chemical species corresponding to particle size and air pollution level was investigated by the normalization of secondary ion intensities, the possible sources were identified through principal component analysis (PCA), and the influence of meteorological factors and air mass transmission were also investigated. The study results showed that the surface chemical components of PM2.5 were more complicated during haze episode than on clean days. A total of 17 organic and inorganic species were detected, including crustal elements, heavy metals, sulfate, nitrate, siliceous compounds, hydrocarbons, oxygen-containing organics, and nitrogen-containing organics. In general, the particle surface mainly contained crustal elements, hydrocarbons, and carbon-containing inorganics. Organic and secondary ions significantly increased in heavy-polluted days, indicating the aging process of particles. Inorganic compounds had a higher percentage in coarse mode, while organic compounds were higher in accumulation mode. PCA results indicated that urban aerosol during this haze episode mainly came from vehicle emissions (24.7%), coal-fired combustion (22.4%), organic aerosol (19.3%), and dust resuspension (19.6%). The northern air mass could facilitate the dilution of air pollutants with the surface secondary formed components of particles significantly decreased.

Restoration of lymphatic drainage across the bronchial anastomosis after lung transplantation requires several weeks. As donor antigen and antigen presenting cell trafficking via lymphatics into graft-draining lymph nodes is an important component of the alloresponse, alternative pathways must exist that account for rapid rejection after pulmonary transplantation. Here, we describe a novel allorecognition pathway mediated through donor extracellular vesicle (EV) trafficking to mediastinal lymph nodes via the pleural space. Pleural fluid collected early after lung transplantation in rats and humans contains donor-specific EVs. In a fully MHC mismatched rat model of lung transplantation, we demonstrate EVs carrying donor antigen preferentially accumulate in mediastinal lymph nodes and colocalize with MHC II expressing cells within 4 h of engraftment. Injection of allogeneic EVs into pleural space of syngeneic lung transplant recipients confirmed their selective trafficking to mediastinal lymph nodes and resulted in activation of T cells in mediastinal, but not peripheral lymph nodes. Thus, we have uncovered an alternative pathway of donor antigen trafficking where pulmonary EVs released into the pleural space traffic to locoregional lymph nodes via pleural lymphatics. This pathway obviates the need for restoration of lymphatics across the bronchial anastomosis for trafficking of donor antigen to draining lymph nodes.

To lower the operation temperature and increase the durability of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), increasing attentions have been paid on developing cathode materials with good oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity at intermediate-temperature (IT, 500–750 °C) range. However, most cathode materials exhibit poor catalytic activity, or they thermally mismatch with SOFC electrolytes and undergo severe degeneration. Infiltrating catalysts on existing backbone materials has been proved to be an efficient method to construct highly active and durable cathodes. In this mini-review, the advantages of infiltration-based cathode compared with new material-based cathodes are summarized. The merits and drawbacks of different backbones are illustrated. Different types of catalysts for infiltration are depicted in detail. Suggestions on the material/structure optimization of the infiltrated cathodes of IT-SOFC are provided.

Most countries in the world, including China, are experiencing serious aging problems. The decline of cognitive function seriously affects the quality of life of the elderly in their later years and brings an inevitable heavy burden to the family and society. Therefore, in order to achieve successful aging, the purpose of this study is to test the serial multiple mediation effect of anxiety and loneliness between leisure activity and cognitive function in Chinese elderly population.Using 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) dataset, we finally selected 6,525 Chinese elderly people over 65 years old after screening. Firstly, we described the basic social demographic information of the sample population. Secondly, Spearman correlation analysis was used to determine whether there is a correlation between leisure activity, anxiety, loneliness and cognitive function in Chinese elderly. Finally, the serial multiple mediation analysis was completed using the SPSS macro PROCESS program.Leisure activity, anxiety, loneliness and cognitive function were significantly correlated (p0.01). Leisure activity can not only have a direct positive impact on the cognitive function of the elderly (effect=0.2231; SE=0.0122; 95%CI: LL=0.1992, UL=0.2470), but also have an indirect impact on the cognitive function through three paths: the independent mediating role of anxiety (effect=0.0028; SE=0.0015; 95%CI: LL=0.0001, UL=0.0059), the independent mediating role of loneliness (effect=0.0032; SE=0.0016; 95%CI: LL=0.0002, UL=0.0065), and the chain mediating role of anxiety and loneliness (effect=0.0008; SE=0.0004; 95%CI: LL=0.0001, UL=0.0017).All items were self-reported and some results may have biased. In the future, it may be more instructive to explore the impact of specific leisure activity on the cognitive function of the elderly.The study suggests that leisure activity can improve cognitive function through decreasing anxiety and loneliness among the Chinese elderly. Diversified interventions aimed at increasing leisure activity participation in older adults would be beneficial for their mental health and cognitive function.

(1) Background Recently, the issue of environmental pollution by wastewater containing dye molecules attracted researcher's attention. It is urgent that seeking high efficiency visible-light driven photocatalyst leads to mitigating environmental contamination. (2) Methods In this work, the novel Tb2O3/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts have been successfully synthesized, and the enhanced photocatalytic performance has been thoroughly discussed based on the fully characterization. The X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy exhibited crystalline phases and morphologies of obtained samples. The chemical states and composition of composite photocatalysts were characterized by the X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. The photoluminescence and photocurrent results proved that Tb2O3/g-C3N4 composite samples possessed higher separation efficiency than that of pure C3N4. The decomposition of organic contaminant and cycle experiment demonstrated that 0.8%Tb2O3/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst possessed the best photo-degradation performance and had a good chemical stability. The trapping experiment illustrated that the significantly elevated photocatalytic performance could attribute to the loading of Tb2O3. (3) Significant findings The in-built redox centers of Tb4+/Tb3+ efficiently promoted the utilization of photo-generated electrons and proliferated the hydroxyl radical. Simultaneously, the mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic performance of obtained composite samples was proposed. This work provides a promising strategy to design novel visible-light-driven photocatalysts and further improve the photocatalysis mechanism survey.

Many patients with type 2 diabetes treated with premixed insulin gradually have inadequate glycemic control and switch to a basal-bolus regimen, which raises some concerns for weight gain and increased hypoglycemic risk. Switching to combination use of glp-1 agonist and basal insulin may be an alternative option.After a 12-week premixed human insulin 70/30 dosage optimization period, 200 patients with HbA1c of 7.0% to 10.0% were randomized into 24-week treatment groups with exenatide twice a day plus glargine or with aspart 70/30 twice a day.After 24 weeks, the patients receiving exenatide plus glargine (n = 90) had improved HbA1c control compared with those receiving aspart 70/30 (n = 90) (least squares mean change: ‒0.59 vs ‒0.13%; difference [95% CI]: ‒0.45 [‒0.74 to ‒0.17]) in the full analysis set population. Weight decreased 3.5 kg with exenatide and decreased 0.4 kg with aspart 70/30 (P.001). The insulin dose was reduced 10.7 units/day (95% CI, ‒12.2 to ‒9.2 units; P.001) with exenatide, and increased 9.7 units/day (95% CI, 8.2 to 11.2 units; P.001) with aspart 70/30. The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal adverse effects in the exenatide group (nausea [21%], vomiting [16%], diarrhea [13%]). The incidence of hypoglycemia was similar in 2 groups (27% for exenatide and 38% for aspart 70/30; P = .1).In premixed human insulin‒treated patients with type 2 diabetes with inadequate glycemic control, switching to exenatide twice a day plus glargine was superior to aspart 70/30 twice a day for glycemic and weight control.

Exploring natural diversity of functional genes/proteins from environmental DNA (eDNA) in a high-throughput fashion remains challenging. In this study, we developed a sequence-based functional metagenomics procedure for mining the diversity of copper resistance gene copA in global microbiomes, by combining the metagenomic assembly technology, local BLAST, evolutionary trace analysis (ETA), chemical synthesis, and conventional functional genomics. In total, 88 metagenomes were collected from a public database and subjected to copA detection, resulting in 93,899 hits. Manual curation of 1214 hits of high-confidence led to the retrieval of 517 unique CopA candidates, which were further subjected to ETA. Eventually 175 novel copA sequences of high-quality were discovered. Phylogenetic analysis showed that almost all of these putative CopA proteins are distantly related to known CopA proteins, with 55 sequences from totally unknown species. Ten novel and three known copA genes were chemically synthesized for further functional genomic tests using the Cu-sensitive Escherichia coli (ΔcopA). Growth test and Cu uptake determination showed that five novel clones had positive effects on host Cu resistance and uptake. One recombinant harboring copA-like 15 (copAL15) successfully restored Cu resistance of host with a substantially enhanced Cu uptake. Two novel copA genes were fused with the gfp gene and expressed in E. coli for microscopic observation. Imaging results showed that they were successfully expressed and their proteins were localized to the membrane. The results here greatly expand the diversity of known CopA proteins, and the sequence-based procedure developed overcomes biases in length, screening methods, and abundance of conventional functional metagenomics.

Innate immune pathways early after pulmonary transplantation have been shown to cause primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and also predispose to late graft failure. Recent studies in animal models have elucidated critical mechanisms governing such innate immune responses. Here, we discuss pathways of inflammatory cell death, triggers for sterile and infectious inflammation, and signaling cascades that mediate lung injury early after transplantation. These studies highlight potential avenues for lung-specific therapies early following lung transplantation to dampen innate immune responses and improve outcomes.

Given a graph G of n vertices and an integer k, the Dual Coloring problem determines if G is ( n − k ) -colorable, i.e., if we can color vertices of G with at most n − k colors so that every vertex obtains exactly one color and every two adjacent vertices have different colors. We derive a kernelization for the Dual Coloring problem with respect to the parameter k. In particular, for any fixed ϵ > 0 , our kernelization yields a kernel of at most ( 2 + ϵ ) k vertices, improving the currently best result 3 k − 3 .

Two-dimensional transition metal disulfides (TMDs) has attracted considerable attention due to its excellent physicochemical properties. In order to detect the SF6 decomposition products, transition metal Pt cluster doping was chosen to enhance the adsorption property of intrinsic WSe2 monolayer. The adsorption of SO2, SOF2 and SO2F2 on Ptn (n = 1–3) doped WSe2 monolayer is studied based on the first-principle calculation. The adsorption energy, charge transfer, and density of states of the interaction between the target gas molecules and Ptn-WSe2 were studied. The calculation results showed that Pt3 doping dramatically enhances the adsorption of WSe2 to SO2 and SOF2 and SO2F2 molecules. Meanwhile, electrons transfer from Ptn-WSe2 surface to these three kinds of target gas molecules, reducing the conductivity of the adsorption system in different degrees. The results of this study not only have important significance for explaining the sensing mechanism of Ptn-WSe2 adsorption to SF6 gas decomposition products, but also provide a potential material for further development of gas sensing sensors.

Herein, we utilized nucleic acids induced peptide co-assembly strategy to develop novel nucleic acids induced peptide-based AIE (NIP-AIE) nanoparticles. Strong fluorescent of AIE could be observed when a little amount of nucleic acids was added into the peptide solution, and the intensity could be regulated by the concentration of nucleic acids. This AIE nanoparticle with good biocompatibility could achieve fast cell imaging. It is also proved that the fluorescence intensity of AIE decreased with time, which indicates that the reducible cross-linkers of Wpc peptide by GSH and nanoparticles gradually disintegrate in cell. Based on the different of AIE fluorescence signals which regulated by the formation and disintegration of nanoparticles, this AIE system is expected to be used for real-time monitoring of drug release from peptide-based nano carriers in vivo or in vitro, and may provide a new platform for the construction of other organic AIE nanoparticles.

A hidden graph is a graph whose edge set is hidden. A distance oracle of a graph G is a black-box that receives two vertices of G and outputs the distance between the two vertices. Given a hidden graph, the reconstruction problem aims to identify the edges of the hidden graph by accessing a distance oracle, and the verification problem aims to check whether the hidden graph is equal to another given graph (not hidden). If the hidden graph G is a connected chordal graph, a Las Vegas reconstruction algorithm using O ( Δ 3 2 Δ ⋅ n ( 2 Δ + log 2 ⁡ n ) log ⁡ n ) distance queries is known, where Δ is the maximum degree of G and n is the number of vertices of G. Improving upon this result, we present a reconstruction algorithm using only O ( Δ 2 n log 2 ⁡ n ) distance queries. As a byproduct, we obtain a deterministic algorithm for the verification of chordal graphs with O ( Δ 2 n log ⁡ n ) distance queries. Additionally, we derive a deterministic algorithm of reconstructing connected interval graphs using only O ( Δ n ) distance queries, and prove that reconstructing or verifying a connected interval graph needs Ω ( Δ n ) distance queries, which implies that this algorithm is the best possible in terms of the number of distance queries needed.

Background Depression have become a widespread health concern in Chinese society. Methods We analyzed the factors influencing the risk of depression among residents aged 16 and over using data from the 2016 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), in which depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D20) scale. A total of 26,464 individuals were sampled in a weighted manner to represent the entire country. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to explore the risk factors for depression and the odds of depression in people with different characteristics. Results A total of 76.6% of adult residents were mentally healthy. Females had higher rates of depression than males (OR=1.515). There was an “inverted U-shaped” distribution between age and risk of depression. Higher levels of education and better physiological health were associated with a lower risk of depression. Self-evaluated income and social status were not linearly related to the risk of depression but rather had a “U-shaped” distribution. For social capital, better social relationships and a higher level of social trust were associated with a lower risk of depression. Nonsmokers had a lower risk of depression than smokers (OR=0.818). Limitations All items were self-reported and some results depend on single item responses. This is a cross-sectional survey so that causative interpretations cannot be drawn. Conclusion These findings suggest potential public health measures whose efficacy needs to be tested and confirmed.