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Background. Recently, a large number of studies have sought personalized treatment for lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) by dividing patients into different molecular subtypes. Autophagy plays an important role in maintaining the tumor microenvironment and immune-related biological processes. However, the molecular subtypes mediated by autophagy in LUSC are not clear. Methods. Based on 490 LUSC samples, we systematically analyzed the molecular subtype modification patterns mediated by autophagy-related genes. The ssGSEA and CIBERSORT algorithm were utilized to quantify the relative abundance of TME cell infiltration. Principal component analysis was used to construct autophagy prognostic score (APS) model. Results. We identified three autophagy subtypes in LUSC, and their clinical outcomes and TME cell infiltration had significant heterogeneity. Cluster A was rich in immune cell infiltration. The enrichment of EMT stromal pathways and immune checkpoint molecules were significantly enhanced, which may lead to its immunosuppression. Cluster B was characterized by relative immunosuppression and relative stromal activation. Cluster C was activated in biological processes related to repair. Patients with high APS were significantly positively correlated with TME stromal activity and poor survival. Meanwhile, high APS showed an advantage in response to anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4 immunotherapy. Conclusion. This study explored the autophagy molecular subtypes in LUSC. We also discovered the heterogeneity of TME cell infiltration driven by autophagy-related genes. The established APS model is of great significance for evaluating the prognosis of LUSC patients, the infiltration of TME cells, and the effect of immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), as a new concept in surgery, has dramatically changed the mode of perioperative treatment for children with acute appendicitis. METHODS: The retrieval strategy developed by the Cochrane Collaboration was conducted using the CNKI database, Wanfang Medical Network, PubMed, EBSCO, Medline, and Cochrane database by combining subject headings and free words. A review of the randomized controlled trials on the use of the ERAS concept in the perioperative treatment of acute appendicitis in children was conducted between the establishment of the database and May 15, 2021. Keywords included enhanced recovery after surgery, fast track surgery, ERAS, FTS, child, infant, and appendicitis. The quality of the literature was evaluated according to the RevMan 5.3 software provided by the Cochrane Collaboration. RESULTS: Five randomized controlled trials on ERAS in children with acute appendicitis were finally included. The heterogeneity of postoperative stay time was tested in 4 studies using continuous variables, with Chi-squared test (Chi(2)) =221.52, degree of freedom (df) =3, I(2)=99%>50%. An overall analysis using a random effects model showed that the ERAS group was significantly different compared to the control group [Z=5.26; mean difference (MD) =−1.65; 95% CI: −2.27 to −1.03; P

Background. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a major component of lung cancer and is significantly correlated with poor prognosis. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation is closely related to the occurrence, progression, and prognosis of cancer. The potential biological functions and mechanisms of m6A RNA methylation in the immune microenvironment are still unclear. Methods. We assessed m6A RNA methylation modification patterns in 1326 NSCLC patient samples based on 20 m6A regulators, linking these clusters to the tumor microenvironment and immune cell infiltration. The m6Ascore was created to quantify the m6A modification patterns of individual tumors. We then assessed the value of NSCLC patients in terms of clinical prognosis and immunotherapy response. Results. According to different mRNA expression levels, two different m6A clusters were identified. m6A aggregation was significantly associated with clinical prognostic characteristics, the tumor microenvironment, and immune-related biological processes. Fifteen differential genes were screened based on these two m6A clusters, and to further investigate the mechanisms of action of these differential genes, they were subjected to unsupervised clustering analysis, which classified them into four different genomic isoforms. Prognostic analysis indicated that the survival advantage of the m6A gene cluster A modification mode was significantly prominent. We continued to construct the m6Ascore, which was used as a scoring tool to evaluate tumor typing, immunity, and prognosis. Patients with a low m6Ascore showed a significant survival advantage, and the group with a low m6Ascore had a better prognosis predicted by immunotherapy. The anti-PD-1/L1 immunotherapy cohort showed that a lower m6Ascore was associated with higher efficacy of immunotherapy. Conclusions. The results suggest that m6A RNA methylation regulators make an important difference in the tumor immune microenvironment of patients with NSCLC. m6A gene characterization and the construction of the m6Ascore provide us with a richer understanding of m6A RNA methylation modification patterns in NSCLC patients and help to predict clinical prognosis and immunotherapeutic response.

The ubiquitous occurrence of phthalate esters (PAEs) in agricultural soil results in their inevitable accumulation in crops, potentially increasing the risk of human exposure to PAEs via daily food intake. Dietary health risk of PAEs not only depends on locally produced food but also the imported food from other regions. However, the impact of interregional food trade on human dietary exposure to PAEs has been seldom assessed. Herein, we investigated the impact of interregional food trade on the dietary exposure to PAEs that contributed from soil contamination in China. The average daily dietary intake of PAEs for the Chinese general population was 24.3 μg/kg/day when assuming the total consumption of crops from local market only, while the average daily dietary intake of PAEs for the Chinese general population was decreased by 2.9% when the effects of interregional food trade were involved into the calculation. Additionally, the interregional food trade remarkably increased the daily dietary intake of PAEs in the regions of Beijing-Tianjin region (47.8%), North (21.4%) and Central (4.26%). As a result, the hazard quotient value of PAEs in the regions of Beijing-Tianjin region, North and Central increased by 29.4%, 11.0% and 5.0%, respectively, owing to the consumption of imported crops from the highly PAEs contaminated regions. In contrast, the daily intake and hazard quotient value of PAEs in the regions of Central Coast, Northwest, Northeast and South Coast decreased due to the interregional trade. These results indicated that the interregional food trade promoted the transfer of PAEs between regions and thus altered the potential risk to the local population. Overall, this study highlights the importance of taking the interregional food trade into account to provide a more accurate risk assessment of dietary exposure to pollutants.

Tin-based alloys have been regarded as promising anodes to replace commercial carbon materials for Li-ion batteries, but their Li-storage performance, especially cycle life, still fails to meet the requirements for electric vehicles and large-scale electricity storages. Herein, we propose a facile and scalable hydrogel-derived route for uniformly immobilizing sub-10 nm Sn-based alloys within three-dimensional (3D) carbon nanocorals, using polymer-hybridized cyano-bridged coordination polymer hydrogels (cyanogels) as precursors. As a representative example, 3D Sn–Fe@C nanocorals have been constructed through freeze-drying and thermal-autoreduction processes using polyethylene glycol (PEG) hybridized Sn(IV)–Fe(II) cyanogels as precursors. PEG plays critical roles in structural tailoring of hybrid cyanogels and size control of Sn–Fe alloys, and as a result, the average alloy size in optimized Sn–Fe@C nanocoral is only 5.9 nm. The ultrasmall alloy size, uniform dispersity of alloy, as well as coral-like framework structure, enable the Sn–Fe@C nanocorals to exhibit long-term cyclic life and high-rate performance.

Nanostructured gels have emerged as a unique material platform for various applications such as energy storage and catalysis thanks to the tunable composition and structure, porous framework for ma...

In this paper, an improved 4H-SiC U-shaped trench-gate metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (UMOSFETs) structure with low ON-resistance ( ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ ) and switching energy loss is proposed. The novel structure features an added n-type region, which reduces ON-resistance of the device significantly while maintaining the breakdown voltage ( ${V}_{\textsf {BR}}$ ). In addition, the gate of the improved structure is designed as a p-n junction to reduce the switching energy loss. Simulations by Sentaurus TCAD are carried out to reveal the working mechanism of this improved structure. For the static performance, the ON-resistance and the figure of merit (FOM $= {V}_{\textsf {BR}}^{\textsf {2}}/{R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ ) of the optimized structure are improved by 40% and 44%, respectively, as compared to a conventional trench MOSFET without the added n-type region and modified gate. For the dynamic performance, the turn-on time ( ${T}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ ) and turn-off time ( ${T}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}$ ) of the proposed structure are both shorter than that of the conventional structure, bringing a 43% and 30% reduction in turn-on energy loss and total switching energy loss ( ${E}_{\mathbf {SW}}$ ).

The possible adverse effects of organic pollutants entering vegetables have attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, research on the behavior of novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) in soil-vegetable systems is still limited. This work was initiated to investigate the uptake of seven representative NBFRs by vegetables from bulk soil and suspended soil particles under greenhouse and conventional conditions. The mean concentrations of the sum of seven NBFRs (Σ7 NBFRs) were 2.8 and 3.8 ng g−1 dw in greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers, respectively, and 1.1 and 1.7 ng g−1 dw in conventional tomatoes and cucumbers, respectively. Greenhouse vegetables had higher concentrations of Σ7 NBFRs than conventional vegetables. The root bioaccumulation factors (RBCFs) of tomatoes and cucumbers in response to NBFRs ranged from 0.6 to 6.3. The range of fruit bioaccumulation factors (FBCFs) was 0.3–7.0. The bioaccumulation factors (BCFs) in greenhouse vegetables were significantly higher than those in conventional vegetables, indicating that greenhouses increased the uptake of NBFRs by vegetables. To address human dietary exposure to NBFRs, the estimated dietary intake (EDI) and the amounts available for human absorption (EDIba) were calculated using vegetable consumption and gastrointestinal absorption, respectively. The mean EDI values of NBFRs from greenhouse and conventional tomato consumption were 344 ng d−1 and 109 ng d−1, respectively. The mean EDI values of NBFRs from greenhouse and conventional cucumber consumption were 445 ng d−1 and 217 ng d−1, respectively. The higher EDI values of NBFRs implied that consuming greenhouse vegetables was associated with higher health risks than consuming conventional vegetables. The mean EDIba values of the DBDPEs were 68 ng d−1 and 46 ng d−1 for tomatoes and cucumbers, respectively, and were significantly different from the EDI values due to lower bioaccessibility. Gastrointestinal absorption should not be neglected during risk assessments of human exposure to pollutants. Keywords: Greenhouse, Vegetables, Novel brominated flame retardants, Bioaccumulation factors, Estimated dietary intake

In an attempt to evaluate the behavior of Dechlorane plus (DP) in soil-vegetable systems, this work investigated the uptake and translocation of DP by vegetables and the dissipation of DP in soil under greenhouse and conventional conditions. To address human dietary exposure to DP, estimated dietary intake via vegetable consumption was calculated. The uptake potential indexes of DP from soil into root for tomato and cucumber cultivated under different conditions ranged from 0.089 to 0.71. The ranges of uptake potential indexes of DP from resuspended soil particles into stem, leaf and fruit were 0.68-0.78, 0.27-0.42 and 0.39-0.75, respectively. The uptake potential indexes in greenhouse vegetables were generally higher than those in conventional vegetables when the vegetables had been planted in contaminated soil, indicating that greenhouse enhanced the uptake of DP with a high soil concentration by vegetables. The translocation factor (TF) values of DP in vegetables were in the range of 0.022-0.17, indicating that DP can be transported from root to fruit even though it has a high octanol water partition coefficient (KOW). The half-lives of DP dissipation in soil ranged from 70 to 102 days. The dissipation of DP in greenhouse soil was slightly slower than that in conventional soil. Higher estimated dietary intake (EDI) values of DP via greenhouse vegetables were observed due to the higher concentration of DP in greenhouse vegetables than conventional vegetables. These results suggested that greenhouses should not be adopted for vegetable production in contaminated regions.

As a ubiquitous carcinogen, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are closely related to anthropogenic activities. The process of urbanization leads to the spatial interlacing of farmlands and urbanized zones. However, field evidence on the influence of urbanization on the accumulation of PAHs in crops of peri-urban farmlands is lacking. This study comparatively investigated the urbanization-driven levels, compositions, and sources of PAHs in 120 paired plant and soil samples collected from the Yangtze River Delta in China and their species-specific human intake risks. The concentrations of PAHs in crops and soils in the peri-urban areas were 2407.92 ng g−1 and 546.64 ng g−1, respectively, which are significantly higher than those in the rural areas. The PAHs in the root were highly relevant to those in the soils (R2 = 0.63, p < 0.01), and the root bioconcentration factors were higher than 1.0, implying the contributions of root uptake to plant accumulations. However, the translocation factors in the peri-urban areas (1.57 ± 0.33) were higher than those in the rural areas (1.19 ± 0.14), indicating the enhanced influence through gaseous absorption. For the congeners, the 2- to 3-ring PAHs showed a higher plant accumulation potential than the 4- to 6-ring PAHs. Principal component and source analyses show that the PAHs in the peri-urban plants predominantly resulted from urbanization parameters, such as coal combustion, vehicle emissions, and biomass burning. The mean values of estimated dietary intake of PAHs from the consumption of peri-urban and rural crops were 9116 ng d−1 and 6601.83 ng d−1, respectively. The intake risks of different crops followed the order rice > cabbage > carrot > pea. Given the significant input of PAHs from urban to farmland, the influence of many anthropogenic pollutants arising from rapid urbanization should be considered when assessing the agricultural food safety.

Nonylphenol (NP), an environmental estrogen, is actually a complicated mixture of isomers, although it is commonly considered to be a single compound. There are many routes for crops to come into contact with NP; however, little is known about the plant uptake and metabolism of NP, especially at the isomer level. This study comparatively evaluated the uptake and in-planta metabolism of 4-n-NP and its 10 isomers using both carrot cells and intact plants. The rapid metabolism of 4-n-NP was observed in the callus tissues and intact plants with half-lives of 2 h and 4.72 d, respectively. Six conjugates of 4-n-NP were identified in the cell extracts using high resolution mass spectrometry. The primary transformation pathway was found to be the direct conjugation (Phase II metabolism) with the parent compound at the hydroxyl. Furthermore, 4-NP isomers with short side chains and/or bulky α-substituents were more resistant to plant metabolism and showed a greater tendency for accumulation. The influence of the side chains to the isomer selectivity was verified by the molecular docking between glycosyltransferase and 4-NP isomers. This study highlighted the necessity to consider isomer-specificity in the plant accumulation of NP and the environmental and human health implications of NP conjugates.

We report on direct label-free protein detection in high ionic strength solution and human plasma by a dual-gate nanoribbon-based ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (NR-ISFET) biosensor system with excellent sensitivity and specificity in both solution-gate (SG) and dual-gate (DG) modes. Compared with previously reported results, the NR-ISFET biosensor enables selective prostate specific antigen (PSA) detection based on antibody-antigen binding in broader detection range with lower LOD. For the first time, real-time specific detection of PSA of 10 pM to 1 μM in 100 mM phosphate buffer (PB) was demonstrated by conductance measurements using the polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified NR-ISFET biosensors in DG mode with the back-gate bias (VBG) of 20 V. Due to larger maximum transconductance value resulting from the modulation of NR-ISFET channel by the back gate in DG mode, the detection range can be broadened with larger linear detection region (100 pM to 100 nM) and lower limit of detection (LOD, 10 pM) as compared to those in SG mode. Moreover, the influence of different back-gate bias from VBG = 5 V to VBG = 25 V on the biosensor performance has been investigated. Furthermore, direct PSA detection of 100 pM to 1 μM in human plasma was demonstrated by using the PEG-modified NR-ISFET in DG mode, enabling direct detection of protein in human blood for clinical applications since the LOD of 100 pM PSA can meet the clinical requirements.

This study is the first attempt to comprehensively investigate deca-BDE and alternative flame retardants in a wastewater treatment plant in such a long term in China (2009-2016). Influent, effluent and sludge samples were collected. The mean concentration of deca-BDE, Σ19NBFRs and ΣDPs in influent were 311.5, 76.0 and 1.4ng/L, respectively, which were at the low end of the global range. The levels of deca-BDE, Σ19NBFRs and ΣDPs in effluent were range from 9.5-68.6, 4.1-38.5 and BLD-1.6ng/L, respectively. In sludge samples, the mean concentrations were 406.7, 510.5 and 6.9ng/g dw for deca-BDE, Σ19NBFRs and ΣDPs. The concentration of temporal trends in this study may reflected the release of those compounds. Compared to the beginning year of this study, the usage of deca-BDE was decreased but the usage of total NBFRs and DPs presented sustained increase over the sampling period. There were no significant variation of deca-BDE, NBFRs and DPs in the wastewater treatment plant in Harbin was observed in the four seasons except for NBFRs in influents, which the Σ19NBFRs mean concentration in influents in the summer was statistically significantly higher than that in winter indicating that NBFRs was easier impacted by temperature compared to deca-BDE and DPs. In addition, sorption and accumulation to sludge was the major removal mechanism for those compounds, accounting for 73.3% to 89.0%.

Synchronous colorectal cancers (syCRCs), which present two or more lesions at diagnosis, are rare and pose a great challenge for clinical management. Although some predisposing factors associated with syCRCs have been studied with limited accession, the full repertoire of genomic events among the lesions within an individual and the causes of syCRCs remain unclear. We performed whole-exome sequencing of 40 surgical tumour samples of paired lesions from 20 patients to characterize the genetic alterations. Lesions from same patient showed distinct landscapes of somatic aberrations and shared few mutations, which suggests that they originate and develop independently, although they shared the similar genetic background. Canonical genes, such as APC, KRAS, TP53 and PIK3CA, were frequently mutated in the syCRCs, and most of them show different mutation profile compared with solitary colorectal cancer. We identified a recurrent somatic alteration (K15fs) in RPL22 in 25% of the syCRCs. Functional analysis indicated that mutated RPL22 may suppress cell apoptosis and promote the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). Potential drug targets were identified in several signalling pathways, and they present great discrepancy between lesions from the same patient. Our data show that the syCRCs within the same patient present great genetic heterogeneity, and they may be driven by distinct molecular events and develop independently. The discrepancy of potential drug targets and mutation burden in lesions from one patient provides valuable information in clinical management for patients with syCRCs., The syCRCs within the same patient present great genetic heterogeneity and may be driven by distinct molecular events and develop independently. The discrepancy of potential drug targets in lesions from one patient provides valuable information in clinical management.

Vitiligo is an immune-related disease with patchy depigmentation of skin and hair caused by selective destruction of melanocytes. In recent decades, many studies have shown the association between vitiligo and HLA genes; however, the results of Han Chinese are scarce. In this study, we performed a fine-mapping analysis of the MHC region in 2818 Han Chinese subjects through a widely used HLA imputation method with a newly built large-scale Han-MHC reference panel. Three new four-digit HLA alleles (HLA-DQB1 ∗ 02:02, HLA-DQA1 ∗ 02:01 and HLA-DPB1 ∗ 17:01) were identified to be associated with the risk of vitiligo, and four previously reported alleles were confirmed. Further conditional analysis revealed that two important variants, HLA-DQβ1 amino acid position 135 (OR = 1.79, P = 1.87 × 10−11) and HLA-B amino acid positions 45–46 (OR = 1.44, P = 5.61 × 10−11), conferred most of the MHC associations. Three-dimension ribbon models showed that the former is located within the β2 domain of the HLA-DQβ1 molecule, and the latter lies in the α1 domain of the HLA-B molecule, while both are involved in specific antigen presenting process. Finally, we summarized all significant signals in the MHC region to clarify their complex relationships, and 8.60% of phenotypic variance could be explained based on all reported variants in Han Chinese so far. Our findings highlight the complex genetic architecture of the MHC region for vitiligo in Han Chinese population and expand our understanding of the roles of HLA coding variants in the etiology of vitiligo.

Background Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease, characterized by progressive loss of skin pigmentation, which is caused by the interactions of multiple factors, such as heredity, immunity and environment. Recently, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs638893 at 11q23.3 region was identified as a risk factor for vitiligo in genome-wide association studies and multiple SNPs in this region have been associated with other autoimmune diseases. Objective This study aims to identify additional susceptibility variants associated with vitiligo at 11q23.3 in the Chinese Han population. Methods We selected and genotyped 26 SNPs at 11q23.3 in an independent cohort including 2924 cases and 4048 controls using the Sequenom MassArray iPLEX® system. Bonferroni adjustment was used for multiple comparisons and P value

Interface trapping is one of the most notorious effects that limit device performance in GaN-based MIS high electron mobility transistors (MISHEMTs). In this paper, we present a comprehensive study on interface traps in AlGaN/GaN MISHEMTs using low pressure chemical vapor deposition SiNx as gate dielectric. We combined the trapping analysis in MIS diodes and actual MISHEMTs to estimate the interface trap state densities ( $\text{D}_{\mathrm {it}})$ and their distributions in the device, and to investigate their influence on device electrical properties. Two types of interface traps with different emission time constants, designated as “slow” and “fast” traps, were identified and characterized by means of pulse-mode current-voltage measurements and a frequency dependent conductance method. It was found that “fast” traps located in the device access region could be effectively restrained by passivation using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition SiNx. However, “slow” traps, no matter whether located beneath the metal gate or in the access region, were less influenced by passivation. Due to the strong interference of traps in the access region, $\text{D}_{\mathrm {it}}$ extraction using the conventional conductance method was not accurate for the lateral GaN-based MIS diodes. A modified small-signal equivalent circuit that includes the impedance of traps in the access region is proposed. Proper passivation for the device access region is essential when using the conductance method for GaN-based MIS devices.

A novel type of ternary oxide nanohybrids, i.e., nanoporous Sn–Fe–Ni ternary oxide network, has been designed and constructed through facile thermal-oxidation route using a cyano-bridged Sn(IV)–Fe(II)–Ni(II) ternary metallic coordination polymer hydrogel (Sn–Fe–Ni cyanogel) as a precursor. The nanoporous ternary oxide network is assembled by numerous interconnected SnO2, Fe2O3, and NiO nanocrystal building blocks, and these oxide components are homogeneously distributed within the nanoporous network. The unique structural and compositional features are beneficial for enhanced lithium storage performances, and thus the nanoporous Sn–Fe–Ni ternary oxide network manifests much higher reversible capacities and markedly improved capacity retention in comparison with bare SnO2 nanocyrstals.

This study investigated the occurrence of 8 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners from homes (n = 20), offices (n = 20), air conditioners (n = 6), and computers (n = 6). High detection frequencies for most of the congeners were observed, indicating continued widespread use of Penta-, Octa- and Deca-BDE mixtures. The median concentrations of ∑PBDEs were 119 and 194 pg m−3 for home air and office air, respectively. Regarding dust, the median concentrations of ∑PBDEs were 239 and 437 ng g−1 for home and office dust, respectively. The ratios of the median concentrations of BDE-209 to ∑PBDEs were approximately 0.95 and 0.87 for home dust and office dust, respectively. The median concentrations of ∑PBDEs were 359 ng g−1 and 350 ng g−1 for dust on air conditioner filters and the back cabinet of the computer, respectively. The ratios of the median concentrations of BDE-209 to ∑PBDEs were approximately 0.58 and 0.46 for air conditioner and computer samples. Running air conditioners contributed to ΣPBDEs in office air through direct and indirect pathways. The daily intake of PBDEs was estimated to be 2630 pg (kg bw)−1 day−1 for toddlers in homes and 319 pg (kg bw)−1 day−1 for adults in homes and offices.

Metallic matrix materials have emerged as an ideal platform to hybridize with next-generation electrode materials such as silicon for practical applications in Li-ion batteries. However, these metallic species commonly exist in the form of isolated particles, failing to provide enough free space for silicon volume changes as well as continuous charge transport pathways. Herein, three-dimensional (3D) metallic frameworks with interconnected pore channels and conductive skeletons, have been synthesized from inorganic gel precursors as buffering/conducting matrices to boost lithium storage performance of silicon anodes. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, commercial Si particles are in situ immobilized within the Sn-Ni alloy framework via a facile gel-reduction route, and the rearrangement of Si particles during cycling increases the dispersity of Si in the Sn-Ni framework as well as their synergic effects toward lithium storage. The Si@Sn-Ni all-metallic framework manifests high structural integrity, 3D Li

Three-dimensional (3D) graphene has emerged as an ideal platform to hybridize with electrochemically active materials for improved performances. However, for lithium storage, current anodic guests often exist in the form of nanoparticles, physically attached to graphene hosts, and therefore tend to detach from graphene matrices and aggregate into large congeries, causing considerable capacity fading upon repeated cycling. Herein, we develop a facile double-network hydrogel-enabled methodology for chemically binding anodic scaffolds with 3D graphene architectures. Taking tin-based alloy anodes as an example, the double-network hydrogel, containing interpenetrated cyano-bridged coordination polymer hydrogel and graphene oxide hydrogel, is directly converted to a physical-intertwined and chemical-bonded Sn−Ni alloy scaffold and graphene architecture (Sn−Ni/G) dual framework. The unique dual framework structure, with remarkable structural stability and charge-transport capability, enables the Sn−Ni/G anode to exhibit long-term cyclic life (701 mA h g −1 after 200 cycles at 0.1 A g −1 ) and high rate performance (497 and 390 mA h g −1 at 1 and 2 A g −1 , respectively). This work provides a new perspective towards chemically binding scaffolded low-cost electrode and electrocatalyst materials with 3D graphene architectures for boosting energy storage and conversion.

As a most promising low-cost substitute for the current lithium-ion batteries technology, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have aroused particular attentions over the past few years. However, the performance of SIBs is still far from our expectations due to the lack of suitable electrode materials with excellent electrical conductivity, high energy density, long-term cycling stability, and high-rate performance. Herein, ultrafine ZnSe nanoparticles homogeneously confined within N,Se-codoped carbon matrix were constructed via a facile solid state reaction route. By directly using zinc acetate dihydrate, o-vanillin and o-phenylenediamine as starting raw materials, a self-assembly solid state reaction occurred to give rise to a bis-Schiff base complex with zinc (II) at room temperature. After subsequent calcination in the presence of selenium powder at elevated temperature, simultaneous carbonization and selenization took place, resulting to the in-situ formation of ultrafine ZnSe nanoparticles (∼6.5 nm) encapsulated in N,Se-codoped carbon matrix (named as ZnSe⊂NSeC). The unique ZnSe⊂NSeC hybrid demonstrated an impressive sodium storage performance in terms of long-term cycling stability (282 mA h g−1 of charging capacity after 500 cycles at 0.1 A g−1) and excellent rate capability (198 mA h g−1 of charging capacity at 5 A g−1). More importantly, a superb stable charging capacity of 238 mA h g−1 still maintained even after 1200 cycles at 1.0 A g−1. Such strategy may also be used to explore other nanocomposites to boost their energy storage performance.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of lubiprostone in the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). Patients and Methods We performed a literature search of the MEDLINE, Cochrane, Google Scholar, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases (from January 1, 2005, through January 31, 2015). Relevant studies meeting the inclusion criteria were manually searched by 2 independent reviewers. Efficacy outcomes evaluated at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months of intervention were weekly frequency of spontaneous bowel movements, severity of constipation, consistency of stools, degree of abdominal pain/discomfort, degree of straining, and abdominal bloating. Results Of 246 studies identified, data from 9 trials comprising 1468 patients (63.6%) in the lubiprostone group and 841 (36.4%) in the placebo group were analyzed. We found that lubiprostone treatment significantly improved the severity of constipation, stool consistency, abdominal pain, degree of straining, and abdominal bloating at 1 week ( P ≤.03) and 1 month ( P ≤.004), except for abdominal pain at 1 month, which was similar to that when treated with placebo ( P =.21). At 3 months, except for abdominal bloating ( P =.03), there was no difference between lubiprostone and placebo groups in all other outcomes ( P ≥.05). Adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea were common (incidence rate, 2.4%-75%); however, the incidence of serious adverse effects was low ( Conclusion Lubiprostone is a safe and efficacious drug for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, with limited adverse effects in 3 months of follow-up.

A novel graphene–metal contact structure that an extra layer of graphene square flake (GSF) array sandwiched between the graphene channel and the metal to reduce contact resistance is designed for the first time. This structure reduces the contact resistance (Rc) by 74.3% for single layer graphene. For a graphene channel length of 3 millimeters and width of 10 μm an average Rc of 485 Ω μm is obtained. Using this method, even a small Rc of lower than 100 Ω μm was observed for some samples. The dangling bonds at the edges of the sandwiched GSF array are used to both surely decrease the contact resistance and prevent etching of the graphene channel from the attenuating transmission current.

Inhalation of atmospheric particulates is an significant way for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and substituted PAHs (SPAHs) to enter the human lungs. Some SPAHs are more virulent than parent PAHs. Atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) samples were obtained at Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in Harbin, China. This study provided the first description, source apportionment, and health risk for PM2.5-bound 16 PAHs and 16 nitrated PAHs (NPAHs) in cold regions of China. On average, the PM2.5, PM2.5-bound PAHs and NPAHs concentrations were 80.8 μg/m3, 86.9 ng/m³ and 5.48 ng/m³. Significant increases in PM2.5 (274 μg/m³) and PM2.5-bound NPAHs (24.7 ng/m³) concentrations were measured during the straw burning in autumn, while the concentration of PM2.5-bound PAHs (215 ng/m³) increased obviously in winter. Source apportionment showed that the main source of PAHs was combustion, while besides direct emissions, about 20% of NPAHs came from the secondary formation. Controlling coal combustion and biomass burning might be an effective measure to improve air quality during the heating period in Harbin. The influence of meteorological conditions on PAHs and NPAHs concentration indicated that pollutants were more susceptible to meteorological conditions during the heating period than during the non-heating period, especially for PAHs. The health risk analysis indicated that the highest health risk caused by exposure to the PM2.5-bound PAHs and NPAHs was in winter, and this was inconsistent with the trend of PM2.5 pollution. Cancer risk assessments demonstrated the potential cancer risk at this PAHs and NPAHs concentration level.

The emissions of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from consumer products have been considered the major to the ubiquitous occurrence of contaminants in indoor environments. Direct contact with dust covering the surface of source materials in a real environment could introduce significant uncertainty. This study investigated the effects of dust coverage on the emissions of four BFRs, including 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, and 10-hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), bis(2-ethyl-1-hexyl) tetrabromophthalate (BEHTBP), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and hexabromobenzene (HBBZ), from decorative laminate, cotton sound insulation, PVC floor, and carpet. Direct contact with dust was confirmed to increase the total emissions by 30.8-98.1% compared with the emissions in the non-dust group. The emissions of HBCD, TBBPA, and HBBZ from cotton sound insulation were obviously enhanced by dust with smaller particles but did not linearly increase along with the dust amounts. Thus, these findings have practical implications in that the frequent removal of dust could be important to minimize the exposure risk from indoor emissions of BFRs.

With the rapid development of urban construction, excavation depth and scale with the economic development significantly increased, which there are some security risks. Combined with the concrete engineering example, the Abaqus finite element software is used to calculate the fluid - solid coupling function, which indicates that the software is feasible in engineering practice.

A cathartic colon is characteristic of slow transit constipation (STC), which can result following the long-term use of irritant laxatives. In the present study, the involvement of three opioid receptor subtypes (μ, MOR; δ, DOR; and κ, KOR), regulator of G protein signaling 4 (RGS-4) and β-arrestin-2 were investigated in the cathartic colon of rats. A rat model of a cathartic colon was established by feeding the animals with phenolphthalein, while normal rats were used as a control. The mRNA and protein expression levels of the opioid receptors, RGS-4 and β-arrestin-2 were detected in the rat colon using semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis, respectively. The rat model of a cathartic colon was successfully established using the phenolphthalein stimulus, and was shown to result in shrunken myenteric neurons and loose muscle fibers in the intestinal wall. The mRNA and protein expression levels of the three opioid receptor subtypes, RGS-4 and β-arrestin-2 were significantly higher in the cathartic colon group when compared with the levels in the normal control group (all P

Nanoporous networks of tin-based alloys immobilized within carbon matrices possess unique structural and compositional superiorities toward lithium-storage, and are expected to manifest improved strain-accommodation and charge-transport capabilities and thus desirable anodic performance for advanced lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, a facile and scalable hybrid aerogel-derived thermal-autoreduction route has been developed for the construction of nanoporous network of SnNi alloy immobilized within carbon/graphene dual matrices (SnNi@C/G network). When applied as an anode material for LIBs, the SnNi@C/G network manifests desirable lithium-storage performances in terms of specific capacities, cycle life, and rate capability. The facile aerogel-derived route and desirable Li-storage performance of the SnNi@C/G network facilitate its practical application as a high-capacity, long-life, and high-rate anode material for advanced LIBs.

MicroRNA-107 (miR-107) has been demonstrated to regulate proliferation and apoptosis in many types of cancers. Nevertheless, its biological function in gastric cancer remains largely unexplored. Here, we found that the expression level of miR-107 was increased in gastric cancer in comparison with the adjacent normal tissues. The enforced expression of miR-107 was able to promote cell proliferation in NCI-N87 and AGS cells, while miR-107 antisense oligonucleotides (antisense miR-107) blocked cell proliferation. At the molecular level, our results further revealed that expression of FOXO1 was negatively regulated by miR-107. Therefore, the data reported here demonstrate that miR-107 is an important regulator in gastric cancer, which will contribute to a better understanding of the important mis-regulated miRNAs in gastric cancer.

There are many studies performed to assess the associations of CD95 A670G and G1377A polymorphisms with gastric cancer, and the association of CD95L T844C polymorphism with gastric cancer risk, but the data are remaining controversial. To get a comprehensive assessment of the association above, we performed a meta-analysis of published studies. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Wanfang Medicine databases were searched for eligible studies. There were eight studies including 3,790 subjects on CD95 A670G polymorphism, eight studies including 4,563 subjects on CD95 G1377A polymorphism, and eight studies including 4,563 subjects on CD95L T844C polymorphism. Overall, CD95 G1377A polymorphism was associated with a significantly increased risk of gastric cancer (for AA versus GG: odds ratio (OR) = 1.24, 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) = 1.02–1.52, P = 0.030; for AA versus GG + GA: OR = 1.27, 95 % CI = 1.05–1.53, P = 0.012). However, there were no associations of CD95 A670G and CD95L T844C polymorphisms with gastric cancer. Subgroup analysis by ethnicity found similar associations in Asians, but the associations in Caucasians were still unclear owing to the lack of relevant data. Therefore, the outcomes of this meta-analysis show that there is a significant association between CD95 G1377A polymorphism and risk of gastric cancer.

In September 2009, we investigated the residues, enantiomer fractions (EFs) and biological risks of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), in three different depth ranges (0–5 cm, 5–10 cm and 10–15 cm) of sediments from 15 sites in Hangzhou, China. The concentration (ng g −1 dry weight) ranges of HCHs and DDTs in surface sediments were 0.74–5.8 and 0.76–17, respectively. The vertical distribution of mean OCP concentrations was in the order of 10–15 cm > 5–10 cm > 0–5 cm and implied that the residues of HCHs and DDTs gradually decreased after they were banned. The residues of OCPs in the study area mainly originated from the historical OCP use. The isomer ratios of -HCH ( α -HCH)/ -HCH ( γ -HCH) (0.10–7.6) implied that HCH residues were derived not only from historical technical HCH use but also from additional use of lindane in this area. The isomer ratios of o,p′-DDT/p,p′-DDT (51% of samples were in the range of 0.3–1.3) suggested that both dicofol-type DDT and technical DDT applications may be present in most study areas. The (+)-enantiomers of α -HCH and o,p′-DDT were more prevalent than (−)-enantiomer in most samples with the fractions contain different enantiomers greater than 0.5. DDTs, especially p,p′-DDE, are the main OCP species of more ecotoxicological concern in Hangzhou.

Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) is an important method to find the hidden or incipient insulation faults of oil-immersed power transformer. However, code deficiency exists in the gas ratio methods specified by the IEC standard and complexity of fault diagnosis for power transformer. Hence a new model based on optimized weighted degree of grey slope incidence was put forward. Firstly, the entropy weight is used to determine objective weight of indices; then the model fault types are obtained by weighted degree of grey slope incidence. The combination of entropy weight with grey slope incidence analysis can fully utilize over all information of DGA and give full play to the superiority of grey slope incidence, which overcomes shortcomings of original grey slope incidence analysis. The experimental results also demonstrate that the improved method has higher accuracy compared with three-ratio method and general grey slope incidence analysis method. The diagnosis accuracy is 92.8%.

We extended our previous genome-wide association study for psoriasis with a multistage replication study including 8,312 individuals with psoriasis (cases) and 12,919 controls from China as well as 3,293 cases and 4,188 controls from Germany and the United States and 254 nuclear families from the United States. We identified six new susceptibility loci associated with psoriasis in the Chinese study containing the candidate genes ERAP1, PTTG1, CSMD1, GJB2, SERPINB8 and ZNF816A (combined P < 5 × 10⁻⁸) and replicated one locus, 5q33.1 (TNIP1-ANXA6), previously reported (combined P = 3.8 × 10⁻²¹) in the European studies. Two of these loci showed evidence for association in the German study at ZNF816A and GJB2 with P = 3.6 × 10⁻³ and P = 7.9 × 10⁻³, respectively. ERAP1 and ZNF816A were associated with type 1 (early onset) psoriasis in the Chinese Han population (test for heterogeneity P = 6.5 × 10⁻³ and P = 1.5 × 10⁻³, respectively). Comparisons with the results of previous GWAS of psoriasis highlight the heterogeneity of disease susceptibility between the Chinese and European populations. Our study identifies new genetic susceptibility factors and suggests new biological pathways in psoriasis.

Research increasingly suggests that enantiomer selectivity may be a part of the toxicological effects of chiral contaminants. In this study, we selected Japonica rice variety Xiushui 63 seedlings to evaluate the enantioselectivity of imazethapyr (IM). Significant differences in rice seedling morphology, antioxidant enzyme, oxidant marker and gene transcription were observed between the two IM enantiomers. In the seedling morphological assay, IM enantiomers inhibited elongation of primary roots and shoots, and reduced the number of adventitious roots and the density of root hairs. The inhibitory effects were enhanced with increasing concentrations of IM. The maximal root relative inhibition rate reached 80.4%, 67.0%, and 73.5% for R-(-)-IM, S-(+)-IM and racemate at the concentration of 0.5 mg L(-1), respectively, and the maximal shoot relative inhibition rate reached 77.7%, 26.9%, and 61.7%, respectively. The activities of SOD, POD and CAT and the content of MDA increased at 0.5 mg L(-1) of R-(-)-IM treatment, and were 1.8, 3.3, 1.4, and 2.2 times, respectively, over the activities S-(+)-IM. Real-time PCR showed that R-(-)-IM minimized the transcript abundance of ALS in shoot tissue to 12.2% of the S-(+)-IM, and minimized the transcript abundance of PC in seed to 9.2% of the S-(+)-IM. R-(-)-IM maximized the transcript abundance of beta-amylase in shoots to 8.6-time of the S-(+)-IM. Results from this study imply that R-(-)-IM has stronger toxicity on the growth of rice than S-(+)-IM.

The receptor tyrosine kinase EPHB2 has recently been identified as a TCF4 transcriptional target that controls the intestinal epithelial architecture through repulsive interactions with Ephrin-B ligands. Many reports have demonstrated that most human colorectal cancers lose EPHB2 expression despite constitutive Wnt activation. Therefore, we investigated the mechanisms that cause EPHB2 down-regulation in colorectal cancer. In this study, we demonstrate that DNA hypermethylation was not responsible for the frequent loss of EPHB2 expression in colorectal cancer. Cloning and functional characterization of the EPHB2 gene 5'-flanking region revealed a potential negative regulatory element in the distal regulatory region. In vitro electrophoretic gel mobility shift and in vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that c-Rel directly binds to the putative element. Inhibiting c-Rel activity or knocking down c-Rel expression by RNA interference in colon cancer cells was sufficient to induce EPHB2 expression. Furthermore, transient transfection assays demonstrated that c-Rel over-expression repressed endogenous EPHB2 expression in colon cancer cells. We demonstrate for the first time that c-Rel acts as a transcriptional repressor of EPHB2 and plays an active role in EPHB2 down-regulation in colorectal cancers.