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Background and Purpose: The constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), a known xenobiotic sensor, plays an important role in drug metabolism by regulating numerous genes. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pyrene, an environmental pollutant, is a CAR activator and induces mouse hepatotoxicity via CAR. Here, we investigate the molecular mechanisms of the inflammatory response in pyrene-caused mice liver injury.Experimental Approach: Effects of pyrene on the liver were investigated in wild-type and CAR knockout (KO) mice. Levels of pyrene and its urinary metabolite were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Inflammatory responses were measured by qRT-PCR, western blotting, and ELISA for cytokines.Key Results: Serum amyloid A proteins (SAAs) were markedly increased in the liver and serum of pyrene-exposed wild-type mice. IL-17-producing helper T cells (Th17 cells) and IL-17 levels were increased in the liver of pyrene-exposed wild-type mice. Hepatic mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, IL-6 and TNFα, and serum IL-6 levels were significantly elevated in pyrene-treated wild-type mice. However, these changes were not observed in CAR KO mice.Conclusion and Implications: CAR plays a crucial role in pyrene-caused mice liver inflammatory response with increased SAAs and Th17 cells. Our results suggest that serum SAAs may be a convenient biomarker for early diagnosis of liver inflammatory response caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including pyrene. CAR and Th17 cells may be potential targets for novel therapeutic strategies for xenobiotic-induced liver inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current low conversion efficiency of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS)‐based thin film solar cells is mainly blamed on the high carrier recombination via interface states at the absorber‐buffer. In this work, ZnO1−xSx solid solution is exploited as the potential buffer layer materials to solve this issue by using density functional theory calculations. With the varying of solid solubility, the lattice constant of ZnO1−xSx solid solution follows the first‐order Vegard's Law, while its bandgap follows the second‐order Vegard's Law. Based on the systematical analysis of crystal structure and electronic properties of ZnO1−xSx solid solution, ZnO0.375S0.625 is screened as the optimal buffer layer material for CZTS‐based thin film solar cells, owing to the suitable bandgap (2.33 eV) and the smallest lattice mismatch (<7%). The CZTS/ZnO0.375S0.625 interface has less harmful interface state, small conduction band offset (−0.02 eV) and band bending (−0.23 eV). Moreover, its band alignment belongs to the staggered Type‐II heterojunction, and its built‐in electric field is in the same direction as the carrier migration, which is very favorable for the efficient separation and fast transfer of photogenerated carriers. Therefore, these interface features and effects of CZTS/ZnO0.375S0.625 heterojunction can significantly boost the photovoltaic performance of CZTS‐based thin film solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) feature prominently in regulating the malignant biological behaviors of colorectal cancer (CRC), including cell viability, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, migration, invasion, and so on. This study is performed to probe into the biological function and molecular mechanism of circ_0087862 in CRC. The expression profile of GSE138589 was available from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and the differentially expressed circRNAs were analyzed by GEO2R. The expression of circ_0087862, miR‐142‐3p, and BACH1 mRNA in CRC tissues and cells was measured by qRT‐PCR. CCK‐8 assay was employed to determine the proliferation of CRC cells. Scratch wound healing and transwell assays were used to examine the migration and invasion of CRC cells. The targeting relationships between circ_0087862 and miR‐142‐3p, and between miR‐142‐3p and BACH1 3′UTR were verified by dual‐luciferase reporter gene assay and RIP assay. BACH1 protein expression was probed by western blot. Circ_0087862 was highly expressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. Knocking down circ_0087862 significantly restrained the multiplication, migration and invasion of CRC cells. miR‐142‐3p inhibition weakened the impact of circ_0087862 knockdown on CRC cells. Circ_0087862 regulated BACH1 expressions by targeting miR‐142‐3p. Circ_0087862 regulates BACH1 expressions through sponging miR‐142‐3p, and promotes the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between plants and insects are among the most important life functions for all organism at a particular natural community. Usually a large number of samples are required to identify insect diets in food web studies. Previously, Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing (NGS) with short DNA barcodes were used, resulting in low species‐level identification; meanwhile the costs of Sanger sequencing are expensive for metabarcoding together with more samples. Here, we present a fast and effective sequencing strategy to identify larvae of Lepidoptera and their diets at the same time without increasing the cost on Illumina platform in a single HiSeq run, with long‐multiplex‐metabarcoding (COI for insects, rbcL, matK, ITS and trnL for plants) obtained by Trinity assembly (SHMMT). Meanwhile, Sanger sequencing (for single individuals) and NGS (for polyphagous) were used to verify the reliability of the SHMMT approach. Furthermore, we show that SHMMT approach is fast and reliable, with most high‐quality sequences of five DNA barcodes of 63 larvae individuals (54 species) recovered (full length of 100% of the COI gene and 98.3% of plant DNA barcodes) using Trinity assembly (up‐sized to 1015 bp). For larvae diets identification, 95% are reliable; the other 5% failed because their guts were empty. The diets identified by SHMMT approach are 100% consistent with the host plants that the larvae were feeding on during our collection. Our study demonstrates that SHMMT approach is reliable and cost‐effective for insect‐plants network studies. This will facilitate insect‐host plant studies that generally contain a huge number of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this work, we have developed a state‐based peridynamics theory for nonlinear Reissener‐Mindlin shells to model and predict large deformation of shell structures with thick wall. The nonlocal peridynamic theory of solids offers an integral formulation that is an alternative to traditional local continuum mechanics models based on partial differential equations. This formulation is applicable for solving the material failure problems involved in discontinuous displacement fields. The governing equations of the state‐based peridynamic shell theory are derived based on the nonlocal balance laws by adopting the kinematic assumption of the Reissner and Mindlin plate and shell theories. In the numerical calculations, the stress points are employed to ensure the numerical stability. Several numerical examples are conducted to validate the nonlocal structure mechanics model and to verify the accuracy as well as the convergence of the proposed shell theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A series of combustion experiments of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plates with two shapes, three thicknesses, and different sizes was performed to investigate the effects of equivalent diameter on combustion characteristics of vertical PMMA in a natural convection environment. Two digital video cameras were used to record the burning process. The temporal variation of mass was recorded by an electronic balance. The influence of equivalent diameter on mass loss rate and flame height was then analyzed theoretically. Convection and radiation heat transfer were calculated and modeled in the theoretical analysis and compared to experiment. The result shows that the theoretical prediction of mass loss rate for each equivalent diameter is in good agreement with the experimental measurements. In addition, the relationship between flame height and heat release rate was analyzed using dimensionless analysis method. It was found that the flame height for vertical PMMA burning in a nature convection environment is dominated by heat release rate and equivalent diameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We herein report a case in which the trachea could be completely sealed only when the cuff pressure reached 100 cmH2O. An excessive cross‐sectional area of the trachea is a rare phenomenon, but we believe that our case will be helpful for clinicians who encounter similar situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The Runge‐Kutta discontinuous Galerkin method together with a refined real‐ghost fluid method is incorporated into an adaptive mesh refinement environment for solving compressible multifluid flows, where the level set method is used to capture the moving material interface. To ensure that the Riemann problem is exactly along the normal direction of the material interface, a simple and efficient modification is introduced into the original real‐ghost fluid method for constructing the interfacial Riemann problem, and the initial conditions of the Riemann problem are obtained directly from the solution polynomials of the discontinuous Galerkin finite element space. In addition, a positivity‐preserving limiter is introduced into the Runge‐Kutta discontinuous Galerkin method to suppress the failure of preserving positivity of density or pressure for the problems involving strong shock wave or shock interaction with material interface. For interfacial cells in adaptive mesh refinement, the data transfer between different grid levels is achieved by using a L2 projection approach along with the least squares fitting. Various numerical cases, including multifluid shock tubes, underwater explosions, and shock‐induced collapse of a underwater air bubble, are computed to assess the capability of the present adaptive positivity‐preserving RKDG‐GFM approach, and the simulated results show that the present approach is quite robust and can provide relatively reasonable results across a wide variety of flow regimes, even for problems involving strong shock wave or shock wave impacting high acoustic impedance mismatch material interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Delayed thrombolytic therapy with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) may exacerbate blood‐brain barrier (BBB) breakdown after ischemic stroke and lead to catastrophic hemorrhagic transformation (HT). Rosiglitazone(RSG), a widely used antidiabetic drug that activates peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ (PPAR‐γ), has been shown to protect against cerebral ischemia through promoting poststroke microglial polarization toward the beneficial anti‐inflammatory phenotype. However, whether RSG can alleviate HT after delayed tPA treatment remains unknown. In this study, we sort to examine the role of RSG on tPA‐induced HT after stroke. Methods and results: We used the murine suture middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) models of stroke followed by delayed administration of tPA (10 mg/kg, 2 hours after suture occlusion) to investigate the therapeutic potential of RSG against tPA‐induced HT. When RSG(6 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered 1 hour before MCAO in tPA‐treated MCAO mice, HT in the ischemic territory was significantly attenuated 1 day after stroke. In the tPA‐treated MCAO mice, we found RSG significantly mitigated BBB disruption and hemorrhage development compared to tPA‐alone‐treated stroke mice. Using flow cytometry and immunostaining, we confirmed that the expression of CD206 was significantly upregulated while the expression of iNOS was down‐regulated in microglia of the RSG‐treated mice. We further found that the expression of Arg‐1 was also upregulated in those tPA and RSG‐treated stroke mice and the protection against tPA‐induced HT and BBB disruption in these mice were abolished in the presence of PPAR‐γ antagonist GW9662 (4 mg/kg, 1 hour before dMCAO through intraperitoneal injection). Conclusions: RSG treatment protects against BBB damage and ameliorates HT in delayed tPA‐treated stroke mice by activating PPAR‐γ and favoring microglial polarization toward anti‐inflammatory phenotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Objective: We aimed to investigate the six susceptibility loci of GD identified from European population in Chinese Han population and further to estimate the genetic heterogeneity of them in stratification of our GD patients. Design: Dense mapping studies based on GWAS. Patients: A total of 1536 GD patients and 1516 controls in GWAS stage and 1994 GD patients and 2085 controls and 5033 GD patients and 5389 controls in two replication stages. Measurements: Based on our previous GWAS data, independently GD‐associated SNPs in each region were identified by TagSNP analysis and logistic regression analysis. The association of these SNPs was investigated in 1994 GD patients and 2085 controls, and then, the significantly associated SNPs (P < 0.05) were further genotyped in a second cohort including 5033 GD patients and 5389 controls. Results: After the first replication stage, four SNPs from three regions with Pfirst < 0.05 were further selected and genotyped in another independent cohort. The association of two SNPs with GD was confirmed in combined Chinese cohorts: rs12575636 at 11q21 (Pcombined = 7.55 × 10−11, OR = 1.27) and rs1881145 in TRIB2 at 2p25.1 (Pcombined = 5.59 × 10−8, OR = 1.14). Further study disclosed no significant difference for these SNPs between GD subsets. However, eQTL data revealed that SESN3 could be a potential susceptibility gene of GD in 11q21 region. Conclusions: Out of the six susceptibility loci of GD identified from European population, two risk loci were confirmed in a large Chinese Han population. There is variability in GD genetic susceptibility in different ethnic groups. SESN3 is a potential susceptible gene of GD in 11q21. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may account for resistance after a period of targeted therapies because drugs destroy only a portion of tumor cells. The recognition of ITH helps identify high-risk patients to make effective treatment decisions. However, ITH studies are confounded by interpatient heterogeneity in NSCLC and a large amount of passenger mutations. To address these issues, we recruited NSCLC patients carrying TP53 mutations and selected driver mutations within recurrently mutated genes in NSCLC. A total of 12-paired normal-tumor tissues were subjected to whole-genome/whole-exome sequencing. From these, 367 non-silent mutations were selected as driver mutations and deeply sequenced in 61 intratumoral microdissections. We identified a universal prevalence of heterogeneity in all 12 tumors, indicating branched evolution. Although TP53 mutations were observed in single biopsy of all 12 tumors, most tumors consist of both TP53 mutated and non-mutated cells in separate regions within the same tumor. This suggests the late molecular timing of the acquisition of TP53 mutations; therefore, the detection of TP53 mutations in a single biopsy may simply not reflect the early malignant potential. In addition, we identified regions of loss of heterozygosity surrounding TP53 and CDKN2A mutations in tumor 711, which also exhibited heterogeneity in different regional samples. Because the ITH of driver mutations likely has clinical consequences, further efforts are needed to limit the impact of ITH and to improve therapeutic efficiency, which will benefit NSCLC patients receiving targeted treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron oxychloride (FeOCl) supported on mesoporous silica (SBA-15), as a Fenton-like solid catalyst for phenol degradation, showed supreme activity for production of hydroxyl radical (HO·) by H2O2 decomposition, and the generation capacity was comparable to the conventional Fenton reagent (Fe2++H2O2). The structure of FeOCl was characterized with spectroscopies. The generation of HO· species during the reaction was detected using 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide trapped electron paramagnetic resonance. Furthermore, the kinetics in detail was driven for the creation and diffusion of HO· by H2O2 decomposition over FeOCl, which follows a first-order rate through a two-step reaction. With the combination of the catalyst structure and kinetic parameters, the plausible mechanism for H2O2 decomposition during the oxidative degradation of phenol was rationalized. As a Fenton-like solid catalyst, FeOCl/SBA-15 is a promising alternative for the removal of low-level organic contaminates from water. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 166-176, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrospinning has been employed to fabricate uniform polyacrylonitrile and polyacrylonitrile copolymer nanofiber mats supporting metalloporphyrins (MTPP; M: Zn(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II), Fe(III) and Pd(II); TPP: meso-tetraphenylporphyrin). The nanofiber mat-supported metalloporphyrins are shown as efficient photocatalysts for the degradation of various azo-dyes in aqueous solutions under visible light irradiation. The effect of transition metals on azo-dye photodegradation has been examined. The nanofiber mat-supported copper-porphyrin and iron-porphyrin complexes are among the most effective photocatalysts for azo-dye degradation. Immobilization of the metalloporphyrins onto the nanofiber mats greatly facilitates the recovery and reuse of the expensive and toxic photocatalysts. Most interestingly, there are no significant degradations of the photocatalytic activities of the recycled photocatalysts. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated a new chemoradiotherapy (CRT) regimen for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 240 patients were randomly assigned to three different CRT regimens: sequential CRT [1 cycle chemotherapy + Phase I radiotherapy (RT) + 1 cycle chemotherapy + Phase II RT + 2 cycles chemotherapy] with a cisplatin-gemcitabine (GC) regimen (800 mg/m2 gemcitabine on Days 1 and 8 and 20 mg/m2 cisplatin on Days 1-5, every 4 weeks) (sGC-RT); sequential chemoradiotherapy with a cisplatin-fluorouracil (PF) regimen (20 mg/m2 DDP and 500 mg/m2 5-FU on Days 1-5, every 4 weeks) (sPF-RT) and cisplatin-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy plus adjuvant PF chemotherapy (Con-RT + PF). The complete response rate was higher in the sGC + RT group than in the other two groups (98.75% vs. 92.50%, p < 0.01). The 3-year overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rates in the sGC-RT group were significantly higher than those observed in the Con-RT group (OS, 95.0% vs. 76.3%, p < 0.001; DFS, 89.9% vs. 67.5%, p < 0.001; DMFS, 92.5% vs. 76.0%, p = 0.004) and in the sPF + RT group (OS, 95.0% vs. 73.6%, p < 0.001; DFS, 89.9% vs. 63.3%, p < 0.001; DMFS, 92.5% vs. 74.7%, p = 0.002). There were no significant differences in 3-year OS, DFS and MFS rates between the Con-RT and the sPF-RT groups. The GC-RT group experienced more hematologic toxicity, constipation and rash; however, there were no differences in late RT toxicity between the groups. These results demonstrate that a sGC-RT regimen is effective and well tolerated in patients with locoregionally advanced NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental approach was developed to determine the intrinsic thermolysis rate constants of the central carbon-carbon bond during the dl/ meso isomerization of diethyl 2,3-dicyano-2,3-di( p-substituted phenyl)succinates (G=H, Me, OMe, Cl, and NO2) at temperatures ranging from 80 to 120 °C. The obtained rate constants are significantly affected by the polarity of the para substituents, in sharp contrast to their negligible effects on the dl/ meso isomerization equilibrium constants. Moreover, the substituent effects on the activation enthalpies can be linearly correlated with the Hammett substituent resonance constants and the homolytic dissociation enthalpies (bond dissociation energies) of the benzylic C-H bonds of ethyl 2-cyano-2-( p-substituted phenyl)acetates. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which examined the preparation of a series of epoxy resin (EP) composites using ground pearl shell powders. It notes that the highest impact strength was found in the EP composite with calcined pearl shell powder. Results of the study showed that the properties such as specific surface area, surface morphological structure and chemical composition of the powder have influenced the impact strengths of the EP composites.

Sterically hindered phenols have been widely used as chain‐breaking antioxidants in chemical and polymeric industries, and the remarkable stabilities of their phenoxyl radicals are generally attributed to the steric effects and resonance stabilization of the unpaired electron into the aromatic ring. Non‐covalent interaction (NCI) analysis shows that there are four intramolecular C―H···O hydrogen bonds between oxygen atom and the ortho t‐butyl C―H bonds for the sterically hindered phenoxyl radicals and their phenolic precursors. The C―H···O hydrogen bonds can be directly visualized and quantified from the reduced density gradient NCI isosurfaces and atoms‐in‐molecules analysis, respectively. Furthermore, the phenolic O―H bond strength decreases gradually with increasing volume of the ortho alkyl substituents in three different phenol model systems (Table 5). The nice linear correlation of the O―H bond dissociation enthalpies with the Taft's steric parameters (Figure 8) provides additional evidences to support formation of the intramolecular C―H···O hydrogen bonds between oxygen atom and the ortho t‐alkyl C―H bonds. Reduced density gradient vs sign(λ2) ρ plot (a) and RDG isosurfaces plot (b) for 2,6‐di‐t‐butylphenol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cover image is based on the Original Article A dense mapping study of six European AITD susceptibility regions in a large Chinese Han Cohort of Graves' disease by Wei Liu et al., DOI: 10.1111/cen.13847. Design Credit: Qianyue Zhang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A direct cyanation of alkyl trifluoroborates by tosyl cyanide provides the corresponding nitriles under mild reaction conditions via a radical pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented which discusses successful liver donation from an infant donor after cardiac death and strategies for encouraging the use of pediatric liver from donation after cardiac death (DCD) in pediatric liver transplantation in China.

A range of 2H-naphthalene and -chromene derivatives are synthesized via efficient Cu-catalyzed intramolecular hydroarylation reactions of appropriate alkynes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]