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Background : Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication in acute COVID-19 and those with hematologic malignancy (HM) may be at an even higher risk. We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with history of HM and acute COVID-19 to evaluate thrombotic and clinical outcomes. Methods : Patients with COVID-19 were identified by positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test. Our primary endpoints were rate of VTE and CVA in patients with HM compared to the general population (GP). Secondary outcomes included composite thrombotic events (CVA + VTE), COVID-19 fatality, respiratory support, ICU admission rates, and length of ICU stay Results : 833 patients were evaluated, 709 in the GP cohort, 124 patients in the HM cohort. CVA was more prevalent in the HM cohort (5.4% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.011). Rates of VTE were numerically higher for the HM cohort (8.0% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.069). The composite thrombotic rate was increased in the HM cohort (13.4% vs 5.2%, p = 0.005). Patients with HM had a higher inpatient fatality rate (35.5% vs 11.3%, p < 0.001), required more respiratory support (74.6% vs 46.5%, p < 0.001) and had a higher rate of ICU admission (31.9% vs 12.1%, p = 0.001). Conclusion : Our data demonstrated an increased rate of composite thrombotic (CVA + VTE) outcomes, indicating HM patients with acute COVID-19 are at increased risk of thrombosis. Irrespective of disease status, HM patients also have significantly increased need for intensive care, respiratory support, and have higher fatality rates., MicroAbstract: Background: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with history of HM and acute COVID-19 to evaluate thrombotic and clinical outcomes., Methods: We evaluated various clinical parameters in patients with HM (n=124) compared to the general population (GP; n=709)., Results: The composite thrombotic rate (VTE + CVA) was increased in the HM cohort (13.4% vs 5.2%, p = 0.005)., Conclusion: HM patients with acute COVID-19 are at increased risk of thrombosis and have significantly increased need for intensive care, respiratory support, and have higher fatality rates.

Mechanical properties and microstructural stability under the service temperature are important to the high temperature titanium alloy. In order to evaluate the potential in increase the service temperature of Ti alloy, two near-α Ti alloys with high content of Al as α-stabilizer and Ta, Nb and/or Re as β-stabilizers were designed and prepared by ingot metallurgy and thermomechanical processing, and the microstructure and mechanical properties before and after thermal exposure at 650 °C for 100 h were characterized. The results indicated that due to the weak β-stabilizing ability of Ta and Nb elements, only a small amount of β phase was formed in Ti-10Al-4Ta-2Nb alloy. With a trace Re addition, the β phase was obviously increased in Ti-10Al-4Ta-2Nb-0.25Re, indicating that the Re was a strong β-stabilizer. Under the same thermomechanical conditions, the Re addition decreased the volume fraction of primary α (αp) phase and refined the secondary α (αs) phase evidently. The primary α phase presented an obvious core-shell structure in the Ti-10Al-4Ta-2Nb alloy, with higher Al concentration in the shell. While the core-shell structure was not obvious in the Re-containing alloy due to the Re decreases the diffusion of Al, Ta and Nb elements. A large number of ordered α2 precipitates can be observed in the αp and αs phases of two alloys. The α2 precipitates continuously grew up during thermal exposure, however, their growth rate in the αs phase of Re-containing alloy were lower than that of Ti-10Al-4Ta-2Nb alloy. Although plenty of ordered α2 precipitates formed in the Ti-10Al-4Ta-2Nb alloy, the alloy had a certain plasticity at room temperature. The trace Re addition evidently increased the tensile strength but caused the decrease of the plasticity. After thermal exposure, the strength was further increased, while the plasticity was decreased for both of alloys.

Hesperetin, a methoxylated flavanone, has numerous biological activities. Access to this compound is currently restricted by its low abundance in plants, which limits its practical applicability. To provide an alternative, eco-friendly production source, we developed a biosynthetic pathway of hesperetin in an engineered Escherichia coli consortium, which was fed with naringenin as a precursor and demonstrated good hesperetin production. The biosynthetic pathway was divided into two modules. The first recombinant host harbored the pathway genes from two different species: a flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase (F3'H) gene from Gentiana triflora and a cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) gene from Arabidopsis thaliana. The second strain heterologously expressed a gene encoding a flavonoid 4'-O-methyltransferase (MpOMT) from Mentha × piperita, which was N-terminally fused to a Sumo tag. A construct expressing a 29 aa N-terminally truncated F3'H and CPR was the most effective combination for the conversion of naringenin. The strain expressing the Sumo-tagged MpOMT protein exhibited an increase in the final hesperetin titer, reaching 5.9 mg/L. Simultaneous overexpression of metK (coding for the endogenous S-adenosyl-l-methionine [SAM] synthase) further improved the hesperetin titer by 25.1%. Finally, the designed E. coli consortium harboring the two modules efficiently converted naringenin to hesperetin (37.1 mg/L). This work reports the construction of a multi-step in vivo cascade biocatalyst for the biotransformation of naringenin to hesperetin. It also illustrates the potential of the E. coli consortium system for producing other O-methylated flavonoids.

Joining of Al2O3 ceramic to Cu has been conducted with Ag-26.7Cu-4.5Ti braze and refractory metal (W or Ta) foil. The interfacial microstructure in the joint with W foil is similar to that with Ta foil. The joining region in the joint consists of a reaction zone, braze zone I, refractory metal layer and braze zone II. The reaction zone of Cu3Ti3O with a thickness of about 5 μm develops close to Al2O3 side due to the reactions of Ti and Cu in the braze with Al2O3 substrate. The braze zones I and II are mainly composed of Ag- and Cu-based solid solutions. For the joint with W foil, the adsorption of Ti at the braze/W interfaces followed by the Ti diffusion into W foil occurs, whilst slight dissolution and diffusion of Ta into the brazes take place in the joint with Ta foil. The average shear strengths of joints with W and Ta foils are much higher than those without refractory metal foil, indicating the contribution of the refractory metal foil to the improvement of joint mechanical strength. Introduction of refractory metal foil in Al2O3/Cu joining is beneficial for the shift of joint residual stress distribution and the decrease of stress concentration in the joint since the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of refractory metal layer approximately approaches that of Al2O3. Furthermore, a slight thickness increase of the Cu3Ti3O reaction zone in the joint with refractory metal foil may also give rise to the joint strength promotion.

This study investigated the effects of representative co-substrate (corncob particles) and additive (brick granules) alone on antibiotic resistome of swine manure during composting and subsequent compost application. For relative abundances, four antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) types encoding resistance to aminoglycoside, multidrug, florfenicol-chloramphenicol-amphenicol-fluoroquinolone-quinolone, and sulfonamide increased remarkably during composting, whereas all the ARG types decreased after compost application. Interestingly, much more ARG subtypes (50.1% in total) were reduced in corncob addition treatment. Meanwhile, the addition of corncob particles lowered the relative abundance and diversity of ARGs more significantly. Microbial community exhibited conspicuous changes across the manure, compost, and soil samples where the dominant genera were completely different. Procrustes test proved the co-occurrence and driving effect of microbial community on resistome variation, especially in corncob addition treatment during composting. Network analysis demonstrated that the dissipation of the dominant genera such as Ruminofilibacter, Luteimonas, and Pseudidiomarina in the composts after application contributed greatly to the reduction in ARG relative abundance. Besides, the low abundance of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in soil also accounted for the attenuation of ARGs to some extent. Our findings clearly proved that co-composting materials can further affect the attenuation of antibiotic resistome in soil application, which can help in understanding the spread and control of ARGs during agricultural process.

Summary Sustainably recycling photovoltaic (PV) products at the end of their life cycle is essential for reducing environmental impact and saving costs on raw materials. Halide perovskite PVs currently suffer from a short lifespan, and recycling and remaking could equivalently extend their life cycle. Here, we report an effective and rapid “one-key reset” recycling paradigm to collect all the functional layer components from a used PV device at a high material extraction efficiency. A remade device incorporating all the layers, including recycled indium tin oxide/tin oxide substrate, perovskite, spiro-OMeTAD, and gold, exhibits an average power conversion efficiency of over 20%. This finding that the recycled device exhibits identical performance compared with the original, while providing enormous savings in cost, time, and energy, could lead to a recycling route that will dramatically lower the levelized cost of energy of perovskite PVs and enhance their competitiveness in future energy markets.

Bone metastasis is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death and remains incurable in spite of great efforts. Bone-targeted nanoparticle-based drug carriers can overcome the difficulties in delivering therapeutic agents to metastatic bone and endowing them with a stimuli-responsive feature for controllable drug release can further maximize their therapeutic outcome. In light of hypoxic microenvironment of bone metastasis, we herein reported a bone-targeted and hypoxia-responsive polymeric micelle system for effective treatment of bone metastatic prostate cancer. The micelles were self-assembled from a polyethylene glycol and poly-l-lysine based copolymer using alendronate as a bone-targeted moiety and azobenzene as a hypoxia-responsive linker, showing a high affinity to metastatic bone and a high sensitivity in responding to hypoxia in vitro. In vivo studies further showed that after a selective accumulation in metastatic bone, the micelles could respond to hypoxic bone metastasis for rapid drug release to an effective therapeutic dosage. As a result, the micelles could suppress tumor growth in bone and inhibit bone destruction by inhibiting osteoclast activity and promoting osteoblast activity, achieving an enhanced therapeutic outcome with relieved bone pain and prolonged survival time. Bone-targeted and hypoxia-responsive nanocarriers therefore represent a promising advancement for treating bone metastasis. To our best knowledge, it might be the first example of the application of hypoxia-responsive nanocarriers in treating bone metastasis.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising material processing method which gains significant momentum in the aerospace and biomedical industries. However, the anisotropy in the mechanical properties of additively-manufactured materials is still poorly understood. This study was aimed at elucidating crystallographic feature-anisotropy-mechanical property relationship for a Ti-6Al-4V alloy manufactured via selective electron beam melting (SEBM). Abundant α lamellae with six variants were present inside the columnar prior-β grains with a fiber texture during β→α phase transformation. The six α variants followed the Burgers orientation relationship of {110}β//{0001}α and β// α. Multiple sub-variants in each α variant were observed for the first time. The anisotropy in the mechanical properties was mainly related to the relative amount of six α variants. While the horizontally-oriented samples had a lower yield strength, they exhibited a higher ductility and longer fatigue life than the vertically-oriented samples. Cyclic softening occurred at higher strain amplitudes, and cyclic stabilization sustained at lower strain amplitudes. Fatigue crack mainly initiated from the specimen surface at lower strain amplitudes, while multiple crack initiation tended to occur at higher strain amplitudes. Crack propagation was characterized by fatigue striations along with some secondary cracks.

Desiccation tolerance (DT) is gradually lost during seed germination, while it can be re-established by pre-treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and/or abscisic acid (ABA). Increasing knowledge is available on several stress-related proteins in DT re-establishment in herb seeds, but limited information exists on novel proteins in wood seeds. This study aimed to investigate the role of metallothionein CkMT4, a protein species with the highest fold increase in abundance in Caragana korshinskii seeds on PEG treatment. The fluctuation in mRNA levels of CkMT4 during seed development was consistent with the changes in DT, and the expression of CkMT4 could be up-regulated by ABA. Besides metal-binding capacity, CkMT4 might supply Cu2+/Zn2+ to superoxide dismutase (SOD) under high redox potential provided by PEG treatment for excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging. The overexpression of CkMT4 in yeast results in enhanced oxidation resistance. Experimentally, this study demonstrated the overexpression of CkMT4 in Arabidopsis seeds benefited the re-establishment of DT and enhanced the activity of SOD. On the whole, these findings suggested that CkMT4 facilitated the re-establishment of DT in C. korshinskii seeds mainly through diminishing excess ROS, which put the mechanism underlying the re-establishment of DT in xerophytic wood seeds into a new perspective.