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Recalcitrance of lignocellulosic feedstocks to depolymerization is a significant barrier for bioenergy production approaches that require conversion of monomeric carbohydrates to renewable energy sources. This study assesses how low‐cost modifications in the supply chain can be transformed into targeted pretreatments in the context of the entire bioenergy supply chain. This research aims to overcome the physiochemical barriers in corn stover that necessitate increased severity in downstream conversion in terms of chemical loading, temperature, and residence time. Corn stover samples were inoculated with a selective (Ceriporiopsis subvermispora) and nonselective (Phanerochaete chrysosporium) lignin‐degrading filamentous fungal strains, then stored aerobically to determine the working envelope for fungal pretreatment to achieve lignin degradation. Dry matter loss and gross chemical makeup of corn stover varied by the length of treatment (2 and 4 weeks) and by the moisture content of the treated corn stover samples (40% and 60%, wet basis). Dry matter loss in P. chrysosporium inoculated biomass was elevated compared to C. subvermispora inoculated biomass; however, treatment also induced additional chemical composition changes suggestive of depolymerization. These results highlight that fungal treatment approaches must balance the loss of convertible material with the potential for reduction in recalcitrance. Techno‐economic assessment (TEA) of fungal pretreatment in a short‐term queuing system indicated the viability of this approach compared to conventional queuing operations. Total queuing system cost was estimated at $1.65/ton of biomass stored. After applying the credit of $1.48/ton from energy savings in the conversion phase using fungal pretreated biomass, the total system cost was $0.80 lower than traditional biomass queuing approach. While the TEA results suggested that treating biomass with C. subvermispora is the most economically viable storage method in the designed fungal‐assisted queuing system, future research should focus on additional fungal depolymerization such as those observed in the P. chrysosporium inoculated biomass.

Background There is still little knowledge about the association of liver fibrosis with the clinical outcomes of COVID‐19 patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of the study was to determine the association of NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS)–determined liver fibrosis with clinical outcomes of COVID‐19 patients with NAFLD. Methods The NAFLD was diagnosed by the Hepatic Steatosis Index (HSI) in the absence of other causes of chronic liver diseases. NFS was used to evaluate the severity of liver fibrosis. Results A total of 86 COVID‐19 patients with NAFLD were included. The median age was 43.5 years, and 58.1% of patients were male. Thirty‐eight (44.2%) patients had advanced liver fibrosis according to the NFS. Multivariate analysis indicated that concurrent diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 8.264, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.202–56.830, p = 0.032) and advanced liver fibrosis (OR 11.057, 95% CI 1.193–102.439, p = 0.034) were independent risk factors of severe illness in COVID‐19 patients with NAFLD. Conclusion NAFLD patients with NFS‐determined advanced liver fibrosis are at higher risk of severe COVID‐19., Concurrent with NAFLD is common in COVID‐19 patients. The presence of advanced liver fibrosis was an independent risk factor of severe illness in COVID‐19 patients with NAFLD.

Zika Virus (ZIKV) has become a global public health concern because it causes fetal microcephaly and other neurological complications in humans. Currently, there are no approved treatments or vaccines for ZIKV infection. We describe here the detailed epitopes for six monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind to domain III of the envelope protein of ZIKV, some of which have therapeutic potential. We show that by using hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS), we can identify three spatially distinct epitopes for the six mAbs investigated. The HDX-MS approach identified epitopes for three mAbs that agreed well with recently reported X-ray crystallography data. The HDX-MS determined epitopes for the other three anti-ZIKV mAbs for which there were no crystal structures, and the epitopes were confirmed by structure-guided mutagenesis and biolayer interferometry (BLI) competition binding assay. Our results have implications for the design of vaccine and antibody therapeutics against ZIKV and demonstrate the use of HDX-MS as a rapid and valid approach for epitope mapping.

Background and Aims: Previous studies reported that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was likely to result in liver injury. However, few studies investigated liver injury in COVID-19 patients with chronic liver diseases. We described the clinical features in COVID-19 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: Confirmed COVID-19 patients from hospitals in 10 cities of Jiangsu province, China were retrospectively included between January 18, 2020, and February 26, 2020. Hepatic Steatosis Index (HSI) was used to defined NAFLD. Results: A total of 280 COVID-19 patients were enrolled. Eighty-six (30.7%) of 280 COVID-19 patients were diagnosed as NAFLD by HSI. 100 (35.7%) patients presented abnormal liver function on admission. The median ALT levels (34.5 U/L vs. 23.0 U/L, P 40 U/L) (40.7% vs. 10.8%, P

Background Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence and different diagnostic methods of breastmilk (BM)‐acquired cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in a pathologically jaundiced cohort. Methods A total of 400 infants confirmed with pathological jaundice at The People's Hospital of Qingyang City were screened for BM‐acquired CMV infection between February 2018 and February 2019. A total of 300 infants were finally enrolled in our study. CMV infection was confirmed by detecting both CMV‐DNA in various samples using FQ‐PCR and CMV‐IgM with chemiluminescence. Clinical and other laboratory data were collected from these infants during their hospitalization or regular visits. Results Ninety‐eight (32.67%) subjects were confirmed to be BM CMV‐DNA–positive, and 18 (18.37%) were diagnosed with a BM‐acquired CMV infection. All 18 (100%) infants with a BM‐acquired CMV infection were CMV‐DNA–positive in urine, while 5 (27.78%) cases and 11 (61.11%) cases were confirmed in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), respectively. Only 6 (33.33%) infants were CMV‐IgM–positive. Birthweight, direct bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, and the viral load in BM of the BM‐acquired CMV group were higher than those in the non‐infected group (P

The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of discriminating harvest seasons of tea by the multi‐elemental fingerprinting technique. A total of 162 tea leaf samples were collected in spring, summer and autumn of 2015 and 2016 respectively. The concentrations of 25 elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Analysis of variance and linear discriminant analysis were performed to analyse the differences of tea leaves of different harvest seasons and years and identify the seasons and years of tea leaves. The results showed that tea leaves of different harvest seasons and years had their own elemental profiles. For tea leaves of 2015 and 2016, using the established discriminant models, the total accuracy of season‐based identification reached 95.1% and 87.7% respectively. The classifications of tea leaves of different years were 100% accurate. Therefore, the multi‐elemental fingerprinting technique can be used to identify harvest seasons of tea.

Background Studies have found lower well-being among prisoners than in the general population. Positive psychological interventions provide fruitful ways of enhancing people's well-being, but little is known about whether these contribute to prisoners' well-being. Aims To test the effects of two typical positive psychological interventions - kindness and gratitude - on Chinese prisoners' well-being. Methods One hundred and forty-four participants were randomly assigned to three conditions: kindness or gratitude groups in addition to 'treatment as usual' and a control condition of treatment as usual alone, with 48 men in each condition. Participants completed established well-being measures before and after the 6-week intervention and a similar period in control conditions. Results Both kindness and gratitude interventions significantly increased prisoners' well-being compared to the control group. The kindness intervention promoted higher well-being than the gratitude intervention. Conclusions Although both kindness and gratitude interventions enhanced prisoners' happiness and mitigated negative affect, the weaker effect of the gratitude condition reflects Chinese strongly communal culture, so further cross-cultural studies would be of interest. Future research should also include longer term follow-up and expand the work to include women in prison.

A ligand-controlled regiodivergent and enantioselective copper-catalyzed intermolecular hydroallylation of alkynes with allylic phosphates and hydrosilanes has been achieved for the first time. The chiral bidentate sulfonate-containing N-heterocyclic carbene ligated CuCl complex leads to enantioenriched SN2′-type products, whereas the use of the IMesCuCl catalyst affords SN2-type products. Thus a range of chiral branched and achiral linear 1,4-dienes could be facilely synthesized from readily available alkynes in a regiodivergent manner.

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a highly complex autoimmune disease caused by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a vital role in the pathogenesis of SLE. Previously, a total of 29 miRNAs were identified to be down-regulated in SLE patients, in which miR-410 was likely to be involved in the signalling transduction pathways in regulating the pathogenesis of SLE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of miR-410 in LN and to find out whether miR-410 regulates the expression of interleukin (IL)-6 and fibrosis in LN. It was found that the expression level of miR-410 in kidney tissue of MRL/lpr mice was decreased compared to that in BALB/C mice, whereas the level of IL-6 was overexpressed in MRL/lpr mice. Luciferase assay showed that miR-410 binds directly to the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of IL-6, with the results showing that overexpression of miR-410 significantly decreased the expression level of IL-6 in SV40MES13 cells. Moreover, overexpression of miR-410 significantly reduced the expression levels of fibrosis factors such as transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and collagen I/III in SV40MES13 cells; Inhibition of the expression of miR-410 with miR-410 inhibitor resulted in increased levels of IL-6 as well as fibrosis factors. The results identify that miR-410, as a novel and critical factor in the pathogenesis of LN, decreases IL-6 expression by binding directly to the 3'UTR and suppresses fibrosis through down-regulation of TGF-β1 in SV40MES13 cells. Our study brings new insight into understanding the complex mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of lupus disease.

We reported the clinical characteristics of a case series of 10 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) aged from 1 year to 18 years. Seven patients had contact with confirmed COVID‐19 family members before onset. Fever (4 [40.0%]) and cough (3 [30.0%]) were the most common symptoms. No patient showed leucopenia and lymphopenia on admission. Pneumonia was observed in chest CT images in 5 (50.0%) patients. Five (50.0%) patients received antiviral treatment. No patient had severe complications or developed a severe illness in our study. Our study indicated that COVID‐19 children present less severe symptoms and have better outcomes.

A capillary-electrophoresis-based method for the screening of tyrosinase inhibitors in traditional Chinese medicines was developed. The method integrated electrophoretically mediated microanalysis with sandwich mode injection, partial filling, and rapid polarity switching techniques, and carried out on-column enzyme reaction and the separation of substrate and product. The conditions were optimized including the background electrolyte, mixing voltage, and the incubation time. Finally, the screening of nine standard natural compounds of traditional Chinese medicines was carried out. The inhibitors can be directly identified from the reduced peak area of the product compared to that obtained without any inhibitor. Chlorogenic acid (100 μM) showed inhibitory activity with the inhibitory percentage of 19.8%, while the other compounds showed no inhibitory activity. This method has great application potential in drug discovery from traditional Chinese medicines.

An electrophoretically mediated microanalysis method with partial filling technique was developed for screening aromatase inhibitors in traditional Chinese medicine. The in-capillary enzymatic reaction was performed in 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), and sodium phosphate buffer (20 mM, pH 8.0) was used as a background electrolyte. A long plug of coenzyme reduced β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide 2'-phosphate hydrate dissolved in the reaction buffer was hydrodynamically injected into a fused silica capillary followed by the injection of reaction buffer, enzyme, and substrate solution. The reaction was initiated with a voltage of 5 kV applied to the capillary for 40 s. The voltage was turned off for 20 min to increase the product amount and again turned on at a constant voltage of 20 kV to separate all the components. Direct detection was performed at 260 nm. The enzyme activity was directly assayed by measuring the peak area of the produced β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and the decreased peak area indicated the aromatase inhibition. Using the Lineweaver-Burk equation, the Michaelis-Menten constant was calculated to be 50 ± 4.5 nM. The method was applied to the screening of aromatase inhibitors from 15 natural products. Seven compounds were found to have potent AR inhibitory activity.

Designing and implementing an interoperable and flexible service process collaboration strategy is one of key issues for business to business integrations. To better support service process collaboration, an event view model is proposed, which is composed of a set of event types and their dependency relationships. It provides a general and flexible way to define a public view of a service process model and serves as the basis for defining service process collaboration protocols. In the paper, the basic concepts and a system framework for event-based service process collaboration are first introduced. The definitions of event and the dependency relationships among event types are then presented. Especially, how to identify dependency relationships among composite event types is studied in detail. After discussing the definition of event view and its specifying approach, a procedure for transforming a BPEL process model into an event model and deriving dependencies among events is given. Finally, a case study is presented, and some implementation issues for defining and publishing an event view are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

α-Synuclein (α-syn) can be secreted from neurons into the extracellular space, affecting the homeostasis of neighboring cells, but the pathophysiology of secreted α-syn remains largely unknown. We found that when exogenously applied to COS-7 cells, α-syn secreted from differentiated SH-SY5Y cells was taken up by dynamin-dependent endocytosis. Upon internalization, α-syn significantly increased the rate of transferrin receptor (TfR) internalization and recycling, and subsequently the surface levels of TfR. The effects are attributable to the oligomeric form, but not monomeric or fibrillar form, of extracellular α-syn. Together, multiple alterations in membrane trafficking by secreted oligomeric α-syn may contribute to the early stages of pathogenesis in Parkinson’s disease.

The preparation of poly(n-butyl acrylate)/poly(acrylonitrile-co-styrene), i.e., poly(BA)/poly(AN-co-St) (PBAS) core-shell structured modifier with controlled particle size was reported, and the mechanical properties of AS/PBAS blends were investigated. The modifier was prepared at a solid content of 50 wt % by a two-stage sequential emulsion polymerization. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was used to monitor the particle diameters and showed that the particles grew without significant secondary nucleation occurring. The morphology was confirmed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). According to the research on mechanical properties of the AS/PBAS blends, a remarkable toughening effect of PBAS on AS resin was found. By means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation, the toughening mechanism was proposed to be crazing caused by rubber particles and shear yielding of AS matrix. Uniform dispersion of rubber particles in AS matrix was attributed to the good compatibility between AS and PBAS modifier. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

A conductive carbon paste electrode (CPE) comprised of a new copper-complex of [Cu2(Dpq)2(Ac)2(H2O)2](ClO4)2⋅H2O (Dpq=dipyrido[3,2-d : 2′,3′-f]quinoxaline, Ac=acetate) and carbon powder, was fabricated by the direct mixing method. The electrochemical behavior and electrocatalysis of the new copper-complex modified CPE (Cu-CPE) have been studied in detail. Cyclic voltammograms showed that the Cu-CPE had a favorable electrochemical response of a reversible redox couple of Cu(II)/Cu(I). The Cu-CPE showed good electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of the bromate, nitrite and hydrogen peroxide. The electrocatalytic reduction peak current of KBrO3, KNO2 and H2O2 showed a linear dependent on their concentrations. All of the results revealed that the Cu-CPE had a good reproducibility, remarkable long term stability and especially good surface renewability by simple mechanical polishing in the event of surface fouling, which is important for practical application.

We have investigated the expression and regulation of the Na+–K+–2Cl− cotransporter (NKCC) by insulin and hyperosmotic stress in L6 rat skeletal muscle cells. NKCC was identified by immunoblotting as a 170 kDa protein in L6 myotubes and mediated 54% of K+ (86Rb+) influx based on the sensitivity of ion transport to bumetanide, a NKCC inhibitor. The residual 86Rb+ influx occurred via the Na+,K+-ATPase and other transporters not sensitive to bumetanide or ouabain. NKCC-mediated 86Rb+ influx was enhanced significantly (∼1.6-fold) by acute cell exposure to insulin, but was inhibited significantly by tyrosine kinase inhibitors, wortmannin and rapamycin, consistent with a role for the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase, phosphoinositide 3 (PI3)-kinase and mTOR, respectively, in cotransporter activation. In contrast, the hormonal activation of NKCC was unaffected by inhibition of the classical Erk-signalling pathway. Subjecting L6 myotubes to an acute hyperosmotic challenge (420 mosmol l−1) led to a 40% reduction in cell volume and was accompanied by a rapid stimulation of NKCC activity (∼2-fold). Intracellular volume recovered to normal levels within 60 min, but this regulatory volume increase (RVI) was prevented if bumetanide was present. Unlike insulin, activation of NKCC by hyperosmolarity did not involve PI3-kinase but was suppressed by inhibition of tyrosine kinases and the Erk pathway. While inhibition of tyrosine kinases, using genistein, led to a complete loss in NKCC activation in response to hyperosmotic stress, immunoprecipitation of NKCC revealed that the cotransporter was not regulated directly by tyrosine phosphorylation. Simultaneous exposure of L6 myotubes to insulin and hyperosmotic stress led to an additive increase in NKCC-mediated 86Rb+ influx, of which, only the insulin-stimulated component was wortmannin-sensitive. Our findings indicate that L6 myotubes express a functional NKCC that is rapidly activated in response to insulin and hyperosmotic shock by distinct intracellular signalling pathways. Furthermore, activation of NKCC in response to hyperosmotic-induced cell shrinkage represents a critical component of the RVI mechanism that allows L6 muscle cells to volume regulate.

The electronic structure inheritance of lanthanide-solvent atoms in lanthanide-based metallic glasses has been proposed. Is a polyamorphism possible in lanthanide-solute metallic glasses? So far, polyamorphic phase transitions in metallic glass containing lanthanide have been observed only in lanthanide-solvent metallic glasses. Here, a pressure-induced transition between two distinct amorphous states, accompanied by a 7% volume collapse at ambient pressure, was observed in La43.4Pr18.6Al14Cu24 metallic glass, with low lanthanide content, by using in situ X-ray total scattering method. The transformation also indicated by changes in short range and medium range order. Thus, it is proposed that the lanthanide-solute metallic glasses also inherit 4f electronic transition from pure lanthanide element in polyamorphic transition. This discovery offers a supplement to research on lanthanide-based metallic glasses, which further provides a new perspective of the polyamorphic transformation in metallic glasses containing lanthanide element.