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Host–guest inclusion of a small-molecule fluorescent probe into human serum albumin enhances its sensitivity for ONOO− in aqueous solution and in cells.

Teniposide, as a more potent inhibitor of topoisomerase II compared with etoposide, shows less damage on hematopoietic stem cells. Few data are available on teniposide in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for high-risk or refractory recurrent hematopoietic malignant diseases, particularly for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).A retrospective single arm study was conducted to confirm the feasibility of teniposide (300 mg/m2) -intensified HSCT in the treatment of high-risk or refractory recurrent hematopoietic malignant disease by analysing the outcomes of 32 patients, who received transplantation between January 2016 and December 2018. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate prognostic factors of the endpoints. Statistically significant factors (P0.05) in multivariate analyses were regarded to be predictive.All patients achieved myeloid engraftment at a median of 13 days (range, 9-28 days), platelet engraftment at 15.5 days (range, 6-142 days), with a cumulative incidence (CI) of platelet engraftment of 93.75%±0.26%. The CI of grade II-IV acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) was 43.75%±0.80% and that of grade III-IV aGVHD 12.50%±0.35%. The CI of chronic (c)GVHD was 74.07%±0.82% and that of extensive cGVHD 33.33%±0.87%. The CI of relapse was 35.03%±0.76%. The one-year probability of overall survival (OS) was 62.50%±0.09%, while 2-year OS was 46.90%±0.09%, and those of 1- and 2-year leukemia-free-survival (LFS) were 56.30%±0.09% and 46.90%±0.09%, respectively. Generally, the OS and LFS until the end of our follow up were 43.50%±0.09% and 34.80%±0.11%, respectively. The probability of GVHD-free and relapse-free survival (GRFS) was 24.60%±0.08%. Multivariate analysis indicated that the probability of OS was significantly lower in patients with a disease duration of more than 280 days before receiving HSCT and in those with fewer mononuclear cells. For LFS, other than the above two factors, failure to achieve complete response (CR) before HSCT was another independent risk factor. Similarly, the probability of GRFS was significantly lower in patients with longer disease duration (≥280 days) and those receiving stem cells from female donors.For patients with high-risk or refractory recurrent hematopoietic malignant disease, teniposide-based conditioning regimens followed by allo-HSCT can be considered as an alternative therapy with encouraging prognoses.

Objectives Primary frontal sinus malignancies (FSMs) are the rarest sinonasal cancers. This study aimed to determine clinicopathologic characteristics of primary FSMs and provide long-term survival outcomes. Design This study is a retrospective review. Setting The study was conducted at a tertiary medical center. Participants Patients who participated in this study were diagnosed with primary FSMs. Main Outcome Measures Median survival time is the primary outcome measure of this study. Results In this series, the median age was 48 years (30–53 years) and all patients were male. There were five cases with squamous cell carcinoma and one with osteosarcoma. All cases presented with locally advanced disease without regional lymphatic metastasis, including five cases of stage III and one case of stage II. The two most common pathways of tumor invasion were as follows: local tumor broke posteriorly through bone wall and invaded dura mater, followed by frontal lobe; local tumor infiltrated downward through the floor of frontal sinus into ethmoid sinus, thereafter invaded laterally orbit and orbital contents. All patients received surgery followed by postoperative radiotherapy at the total doses of 50 to 75.95 Gy. Among them, only one patient underwent R0 resection, the rest of patients underwent R1/R2 resection. With a median survival time of 56 months (32–76 months), two patients receiving R1/R2 resection developed treatment failure and died within 5 years, including one case with local recurrence and one with local recurrence, thereafter distant metastasis. Conclusion The majority of FSMs presented with peripherally invasive progression lesions which led to a high ratio of R1/R2 resection. Surgery combined with postoperative radiotherapy might result in satisfactory efficacy.

Ethylene is an important intermediate during oxidation and pyrolysis process of higher hydrocarbons, and also serves as a fuel under practical engines. An experimental and modeling study is performed to investigate the combustion chemistry of ethylene–air mixtures under a wide range of conditions. The shock tube experiments are conducted at pressures of 1, 4, 10 and 19 atm with equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 to determine the ignition delay times by measuring the emission signal of excited methylidyne (CH*). The ignition data under 10 and 19 atm both span a wide temperature range varying from a low temperature of 721 K to a high temperature of 1320 K. No typical negative-temperature-coefficient is observed, but the ignition at low temperatures is much shorter than the extrapolation at high temperatures. Simulations are performed and compared to the experiments using contemporary core models with consideration of a linear pressure rise of 3% /ms, but no simulation could predict the ignition trend under low-to-intermediate temperatures. Therefore, a detailed model of ethylene oxidation is proposed based on AramcoMech2.0 in the present work. The modeling behavior at high temperatures is improved by revision of addition reaction between ethylene and oxygen atom (C2H4+Ӧ). The modeling behavior at the region of low-to-intermediate temperatures is improved by detailed updating of β-hydroxyethyl oxidation (PĊ2H4OH+O2). The effect of reactions at the potential energy surface of C2H4+HȮ2 and Ċ2H5+O2 is determined, and the second oxygen addition (Ċ2H4OOH+O2) is added into current model. The present model is extensively validated by ignition delay times, concentration profiles of stable species in jet-stirred reactors and laminar flame speed under various test conditions. Sensitivity analyses are carried out to identify the dominant reactions during the auto-ignition process and laminar premixed flame propagation. Additional simulations are performed to investigate the effect of model modifications on predictions of ethane and ethanol oxidation. The present model slightly promotes the low-temperature ignition of both ethane and ethanol, and its prediction on the concentration profiles of some stable species is also improved. The proposed model of ethylene oxidation can be used as a cornerstone to develop models of larger hydrocarbon fuels.

BACKGROUND Pneumonia of uncertain cause has been reported in Wuhan, China since the beginning of early December 2019. In early January 2020, a novel strain of β-coronavirus was identified by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention from the pharyngeal swab specimens of patients, which was recently named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). There is evidence of human-to-human transmission and familial cluster outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The World Health Organization(WHO) recently declared the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic a global health emergency. As of February 17, 2020, 71329 laboratory-confirmed cases (in 25 countries, including the United States and Germany) have been reported globally. Other than its rapid transmission, the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remain unclear. In December 2019, coronavirus disease (named COVID-19 by the WHO) associated with the SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Wuhan, China and spread quickly across the country. AIM To analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of confirmed cases of this disease in Liaoning province, a Chinese region about 1800 km north of Wuhan. METHODS The clinical data of 56 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases due to 2019-nCoV infection were analyzed. The cases originated from eight cities in Liaoning province. RESULTS The median age of the patients was 45 years, and 57.1% of them were male. No patient had been in direct contact with wild animals. Among them, 23 patients (41.1%) had resided in or traveled to Wuhan, 27 cases (48.2%) had been in contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients, 5 cases (8.9%) had been in contact with confirmed patients with a contact history to COVID-19 patients, and 1 case (1.8%) had no apparent history of exposure. Fever (75.0%) and cough (60.7%) were the most common symptoms. The typical manifestations in lung computed tomography (CT) included ground-glass opacity and patchy shadows, with 67.8% of them being bilateral. Among the patients in the cohort, 78.6% showed reduction in their lymphocyte counts, 57.1% showed increases in their C-reactive protein levels, and 50.0% showed decreases in their blood albumin levels. Eleven patients (19.6%) were admitted to intensive care unit, 2 patients (3.5%) progressed to acute respiratory distress syndrome, 4 patients (7.1%) were equipped with non-invasive mechanical ventilation, and 1 patient (1.8) received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. There were 5 mild cases (5/56, 8.9%), 40 moderate cases (40/56, 71.4%), 10 severe cases (10/56, 17.9%), and 1 critical case (1/56, 1.8%). No deaths were reported. CONCLUSION SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted among humans. Most COVID-19 patients show symptoms of fever, cough, lymphocyte reduction, and typical lung CT manifestations. Most are moderate cases. The seriousness of the disease (as indicated by blood oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, oxygenation index, blood lymphocyte count, and lesions shown in lung CT) is related to history of living in or traveling to Wuhan, underlying diseases, admittance to intensive care unit, and mechanical ventilation.

Background Human embryonic stem cells represent a potentially unlimited source of insulin-producing cells for diabetes therapy. While tremendous progress has been made in directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into IPCs in vitro, the mechanisms controlling its differentiation and function are not fully understood. Previous studies revealed that lysine-specific demethylase 1(LSD1) balanced the self-renewal and differentiation in human induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells. This study aims to explore the role of LSD1 in directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into insulin-producing cells. Methods Human embryonic stem cell line H9 was induced into insulin-producing cells by a four-step differentiation protocol. Lentivirus transfection was applied to knockdown LSD1 expression. Immunofluorescence assay and flow cytometry were utilized to check differentiation efficiency. Western blot was used to examine signaling pathway proteins and differentiation-associated proteins. Insulin/C-peptide release was assayed by ELISA. Statistical analysis between groups was carried out with one-way ANOVA tests or a student’s t test when appropriate. Results Inhibition or silencing LSD1 promotes the specification of pancreatic progenitors and finally the commitment of functional insulin-producing β cells; Moreover, inhibition or silencing LSD1 activated ERK signaling and upregulated pancreatic progenitor associated genes, accelerating pre-maturation of pancreatic progenitors, and conferred the NKX6.1+ population with better proliferation ability. IPCs with LSD1 inhibitor tranylcypromine treatment displayed enhanced insulin secretion in response to glucose stimulation. Conclusions We identify a novel role of LSD1 inhibition in promoting IPCs differentiation from hESCs, which would be emerged as potential intervention for generation of functional pancreatic β cells to cure diabetes.

Although addition reactions of β-hydroxypropyl radicals with O2 are important steps in the reaction pathways of propylene oxidation at low temperature, there is a lack of available accurate rate constants for these reactions in the literature. To obtain complete reaction channels and relatively accurate rate constants over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, a systematic method, which combines the high level ab initio calculation, the conventional transition state theory (TST), the variational transition state theory (VTST) and Rice-Ramsberger-Kassel-Marcus/Master-Equation theory (RRKM/ME), was used to investigate these reactions. The CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ method was applied to calculate potential energy surfaces. High-pressure limit rate constants of barrierless reactions and those reactions with tight transition states were obtained using the VTST and the TST, respectively. RRKM/ME theory was used to compute rate constants in the fall-off range for pressure-dependent reactions. Take CC•COH as an example, the peroxy adduct of CC•COH with O2 can further react to form more stable products, and subsequent reactions include H-shift reactions, HO2 elimination reactions, OH elimination reactions and Waddington reaction. In these reactions, Waddington reaction is one of the most competitive advantage paths, as it has the lowest barrier. This conclusion is similar to that of those reactions about O2 with products from OH addition to ethylene or isobutene. Rate constants of relevant reactions were fitted to the form of a modified Arrhenius expression, and were implemented into the existing mechanism to simulate concentration profiles of main species of propylene oxidation in a jet-stirred reactor. The results show that predicted results of the revised mechanism are closer to the experimental data than those of the original mechanism. Our calculated rate constants over a wide range of temperatures and pressures for these reactions are transferable and can be applied to a wider range of oxidation conditions.

Flux densities are basic observation parameters to describe pulsars. In the most updated pulsar catalog, 24% of the listed radio pulsars have no flux density measurement at any frequency. Here, we report the first flux density measurements, spectral indices, pulse profiles, and correlations of the spectral index with pulsar parameters for 19 pulsars employing the Ultra-Wideband Low (UWL) receiver system installed on the Parkes radio telescope. The results for spectral indices of 17 pulsars are in the range between -0.6 and -3.10. The polarization profiles of thirteen pulsars are shown. There is a moderate correlation between the spectral index and spin frequency. For most pulsars detected, the S/N ratio of pulse profile is not high, so DM, Faraday rotation measure (RM), and polarization can not be determined precisely. Twenty-nine pulsars were not detected in our observations. We discuss the possible explanations for why these pulsars were not detected., Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in RAA

To investigate the effect of quercetin, oleanolic acid, icariin and their compatibility on the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats cultured with high glucose medium and the possible mechanism.The extracts were purchased from China Food and Drug Control Institute and Sellect. Hippocampus was obtained from newborn 24 h SD rats. After culturing the hippocampus in different medium for 72 h, flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons, and Western blot was utilized to test the expressions of p-p38, p38, p-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and JNK.Compared with the control group (CG), the neuronal apoptosis rate and the ratios of p-p38/p38 and p-JNK/JNK were significantly increased in the high glucose group (GG) (P0.01); Compared with the GG, the apoptosis rate and the ratios of p-p38/p38 and p-JNK/JNK were significantly decreased in other drug groups (P0.01); Compared with the monomer groups respectively, the apoptosis rate and the ratios of p-p38/p38 and p-JNK/JNK in the two-drug groups and the three-drug group all decreased (P0.01); Compared with the two-drug groups, the neuronal apoptosis rate and the ratio of p-JNK/JNK of the three-drug group decreased (P0.05).Under the condition of high glucose, the quercetin, oleanolic acid and icariin can alleviate the apoptosis of hippocampus neurons, reduce the phosphorylation of p38 and JNK in p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases and JNK signaling pathway. And the efficacy of the three drugs in combination with each other can be strengthened.

This study optimizes three-dimensional (3D) culture conditions of HepG2 using response surface methodology (RSM) based on the VitroGel system to facilitate the cell modelHepG2 cell was 3D cultured on the VitroGel system. Cell viability was detected using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay of HepG2 lived cell numbers. The proliferation of HepG2 cell and clustering performance was measuredThe selected optimal culture conditions are as follows: concentration of inoculated cells was 4.44 × 10This study serves as a reference for the 3D HepG2 culture and constructs liver tissues

Pancreatic cancer belongs to lethal cancer with limited efficient treatment currently, and its main cause of death is rapid tumor growth and early metastasis. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is a new method of epigenetic gene regulation involved in tumor progression, in which methyltransferase-like 3(METTL3) is the sole catalytic subunit. However, the role of METTL3 in pancreatic cancer remains to be explored.m6A level was measured using MeRIP assay, and RT-qPCR and western blot were applied to determine mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Cellular behaviors were detected using CCK-8, EdU, wound healing and transwell assays. Xenograft assays were conducted to further verify the roles of METTL3 in pancreatic cancer.METTL3 was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer. However, downregulation of METTL3 restrained the viability, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells. Moreover, E2F5 was found to be positively regulated by METTL3. Intriguingly, the anti-tumor functions of METTL3 knockdown in the phenotype of pancreatic cancer cells were overturned by overexpression of E2F5. Silencing METTL3 resulted in the decreased stability of E2F5 by methylating E2F5.In conclusion, METTL3 can promote the malignant progression of pancreatic cancer by modifying E2F5 through m6A methylation to promote its stability.

This article reports two asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Both cases came from Hubei Province. One was a 63-year-old male and the other was a 29-year-old female. Both were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the screening of high-risk personnel from the affected areas. During the 14-day isolation medical observation, they had no symptoms, their blood lymphocyte count and lung CT examinations were normal. An asymptomatic infection had been diagnosed, however, it was not “asymptomatic infection” state in incubation period. Due to the timely and effective isolation measures taken for the two cases, no other persons have been infected by them. Therefore, effective control of the source of infection, cutting off the route of transmission, and protecting vulnerable populations are currently effective measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus infected disease.

Thrombocytopenia is associated with life-threatening bleeding and is common in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Robust molecular prognostic biomarkers need to be developed to improve clinical decision making for patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia. Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) and preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) are promising immunogenic antigen candidates for immunotherapy, and their clinical effects on patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia are still not well understood. We performed a multicenter observational study of adult patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia from 7 different tertiary medical centers in China. We examined bone marrow samples collected at diagnosis for WT1 and PRAME transcript levels and then analyzed their prognostic effect for patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia. In total, we enrolled 1110 patients diagnosed with MDS with thrombocytopenia. Overexpression of WT1 and PRAME was associated with elevated blast percentage, worse cytogenetics, and higher Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) risk. Further, both WT1 and PRAME overexpression were independent poor prognostic factors for acute myeloid leukemia evolution, overall survival, and progression-free survival. Together, the 2 genes overexpression identified a population of patients with MDS with substantially worse survival. On the basis of WT1 and PRAME transcript levels, patients with MDS with IPSS-R low risk were classified into 2 significantly divergent prognostic risk groups: a low-favorable group and a low-adverse group. The low-adverse group had survival similar to that of patients in the intermediate-risk group. Our study demonstrates that the evaluation of WT1/PRAME transcript analysis may improve the prognostication precision and better risk-stratify the patients.

For hydrocarbon fuels, reliable chemical mechanisms play an essential role towards improving the simulations of combustion process. However, in most of the previous modeling studies for alkylcycloalkanes combustion, the kinetic parameters are taken from acyclic alkanes based on the similarities between the reaction classes of alkylcycloalkanes and acyclic alkanes. Among the reaction families for alkylcycloalkanes, the intramolecular H-migration reactions of normal-alkyl cyclohexylperoxy radicals are one of the most important reaction families in the low temperature oxidation mechanisms. High-pressure limit rate rules and pressure-dependent rate rules for this reaction family have been developed based on quantum chemical computations at the CBS-QB3 level in combination with the transition state theory (TST) and Rice–Ramsberger–Kassel–Marcus/Master-Equation (RRKM/ME) theory. The reactions in this family involve a bicyclic transition state and can be divided into classes depending upon the cycle size of the newly formed cycle in the transition states and the types of the carbons from which the H atoms are migrated and if the H-migration occurs on the alkyl side chain, or on the cycle, or from the side chain to the cycle, or from the cycle to the side chain. For each reaction class, a representative set of reactions are chosen from methylcyclohexane to n-butylcyclohexane and the energy barriers of all chosen reactions are calculated and the average value for each class is obtained and compared with the value of the similar reaction class in alkanes. The high-pressure limit rate constants and the pressure-dependent rate constants of all reactions at pressures varying from 0.01 to 100 atm are calculated and the high-pressure limit rate rules and pressure-dependent rate rules for each class are derived from the average rate constants of reactions within each class. All calculated rate constants are fitted by a nonlinear least-squares method to the form of a modified Arrhenius rate expression. It is shown that there are large differences of the rate constants between alkylcycloalkanes and alkanes no matter if the H-migration occurs on the alkyl side chain, on the cycle or between the side chain and the cycle. Therefore, the construction of rate rules for alkylcycloalkanes, instead of taking values from similar reactions in alkanes, is necessary and significant to the low-temperature combustion modeling of alkylcyclohexanes.

Nitramine compounds are typical high-energy-density materials (HEDMs) and are widely used as explosives because of their superior explosive performance over conventional energetic materials. In this work, the thermal properties of 1-nitropiperidine (NPIP), 1,4-dinitropiperazine (DNP), and 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (RDX) were investigated from quantum mechanics (QM) and reactive force field (ReaxFF) molecular dynamics simulations. We found that the bond dissociation energy of the N-NO

Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have been proven to act as highly active catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Recently, single-phase ternary NiCoP electrocatalysts have been shown through experiments to display remarkable catalytic activity for the HER during water splitting. But, the inherent mechanism is not well understood. Herein, the HER activity of NiCoP with low-Miller-index facets, including (111), (100), (001)-NiP-t, and (001)-CoP-t, was systematically investigated using periodic density functional theory (DFT). The calculated Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption (ΔGH) values reveal that all calculated facets have good catalytic activity for the HER. The (111) facet with the lowest surface energy in a vacuum has optimal ΔGH values close-to-zero for a range of hydrogen coverage. Ab initio thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen coverage was conducted to obtain the stabilities of surfaces, which follow the trend: (111) > (001)-CoP-t > (100) > (001)-NiP-t at 1 atm H2 and 298 K. We hope that this work can shed new light on further understanding the HER in relation to NiCoP and can give guidance for the design and synthesis of transition bimetal phosphide-based catalysts.

To explore interleukin-6 (IL-6) production and characterize lipid accumulation in L02 hepatocytes induced by sodium oleate. L02 hepatocytes were incubated with 0, 37.5, 75, 150, 300, 600, or 1,200 μmol/L sodium oleate for 24 h, and the supernatant was collected to detect the concentration of IL-6. L02 hepatocytes were incubated with 300, 150, 75, or 0 μmol/L sodium oleate for 0-24 h. The supernatant was collected for detection of IL-6 and free fatty acids. L02 hepatocytes treated with 300 μmol/L sodium oleate for 0-24 h were stained with Oil Red O. With extended sodium oleate incubation time, IL-6 levels increased, and free fatty acids decreased. After 24 h incubation, IL-6 levels increased as sodium oleate increased from 37.5 to 300 μmol/L (

Objective The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship among vitamin D nutritional status, bone mineral density, and other factors in elderly patients with brittle hip fractures. Methods The present study was a retrospective analysis of 268 patients, 102 men (38.06%) and 166 women (61.94%), with brittle hip fractures admitted to the Hip Joint Center of Tianjin Hospital from February 2016 to June 2018. The median age of the patients was 74 years (range, 50–93 years). The patients were divided into three groups based on age: ≤69 years, 70–79 years, and ≥80 years. Serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH) D3), parathyroid hormone (PTH), body mass index (BMI), and bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and hip were measured and statistically analyzed. Results The median serum 25(OH)D3 level of patients was 9.90 (range, 2.60–42.70) ng/mL; the proportion of deficiency was 89.18% and the deficiency was severe in 136 cases (49.25%). The proportion of vitamin D deficiency was significantly lower in men than in women (P = 0.013). With the increase of age, 25(OH)D3 levels gradually decreased (P = 0.044) and PTH levels gradually increased (P, Hip fracture patients admitted to the Tianjin Hospital Hip Center were enrolled in this study from February 2016 to June 2018. The exclusion critera were: (i) patients with chronic liver disease, renal insufficiency, malignant tumor, active rheumatic immune disease, active tuberculosis, thyroid and parathyroid disease, Parkinson's disease, or other metabolic bone diseases; (ii) history of surgery or disease that might cause vitamin D deficiency, including postoperative gastrectomy, postoperative bowel resection, gastrointestinal spasm, and inflammatory bowel disease; and (iii) patients with systematic anti‐osteoporosis treatment before admission, including oral vitamin D, calcium tablets, and diphosphate drugs. A total of 268 hip fracture patients entered this study. The following data were collected: (i) gender, age, height, weight, BMI; (ii) 25(OH)D3, PTH, Ca, phosphorus, and magnesium; and (iii) BMD in the lumbar spine, the contralateral femoral neck, and hip. The patients were divided in three groups by age: group A: ≤69 (n = 87), group B: 70–79 (n = 102) and group C: ≥80 (n = 79). They were also divided in two groups by gender: group A, male (n = 102), and group B, female (n = 166). 25(OH)D3, PTH, incidence of vitamin D deficiency, and BMD of the patients were compared among different age groups and between genders, and were analyzed by SPSS 21.0 statistical software. Vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with brittle hip fractures, especially women. With the increase of age, vitamin D continues to decrease and PTH to increase. The decrease of BMD in patients with hip fractures is the results of a combination of age, gender, BMI, and vitamin D content.

We study the formation of quantum droplets in the mixture of a single-component Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), and a two-species Fermi superfluid across a wide Feshbach resonance. With repulsive boson-boson and attractive boson-fermion interactions, we show that quantum droplets can be stabilized by attractive fermion-fermion interactions in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schieffer (BCS) side of the resonance, and can also exist in deep BEC regime under weak boson-fermion interactions. We map out the phase diagram for stable droplets with respect to the boson-boson and boson-fermion interactions, and discuss the role of different types of quantum fluctuations in the relevant regions of the BCS-BEC crossover. Our work reveals the impact of fermion pairing on the formation of quantum droplets in Bose-Fermi mixtures, and provides a useful guide for future experiments., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

Background. Diabetic cognitive impairment (DCI), a serious complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), is gaining more acceptance and attention. The learning and memory function of diabetics always decreases. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been demonstrated to be effective in treating the symptoms in China, and thereinto Chinese medicinal herbs (CMH) are the most widely used. The objective of the present study was to review and analyze the existing data about reducing the symptoms in CMH treatment for DCI. Methods. Electronic literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, SinoMed, and Wan fang) were searched for randomized controlled trials conducted in China, comparing CMH with western medicines in the treatment of DCI, up to April 1, 2018. We applied standard meta-analytic techniques to analyze data from papers that reached acceptable criteria. Result. Nine randomized controlled trials (n = 576) on CMH were included. We found moderate evidence that CMH used alone or in combination with western medicines was more effective than western medicines alone in reliving the symptoms for DCI (total effective rate, odds radio (OR) = 4.64 (2.60, 8.29), and 95% confidence interval, P Conclusions. These findings demonstrated that CMH used alone or in combination with western medicines were apparently better than western medicines alone in the treatment of DCI. Because of the poor quality of the studies that were available for the present meta-analysis, further researches are still needed to support these early findings.

Indene is an important intermediate in the ring growth process of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are soot precursors in the fuel combustion. Ignition delay times of indene/3.3% O2/Ar and indene/air mixtures were measured behind reflected shock waves over temperatures of 1098–1618 K, pressures of 2.5–10.0 atm, and equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0. An Arrhenius-type formula can describe all the measured indene/3.3% O2/Ar ignition delay data. But three Arrhenius-type formulas were used to describe the measured indene/air ignition delay data for three pressures because the activation energy varies with different ignition pressures. Indene ignition characteristics in different dilution conditions were compared and discussed. Current results show that the indene ignition delay follows τ ∝ Φ+n diluted in Ar with fuel-lean mixture igniting the fastest and τ ∝ Φ−n at real fuel-air condition with fuel-rich mixture igniting the fastest. For indene/air, when the pressure increases, the effect of equivalence ratio on ignition becomes stronger and the sensitivity of ignition to the variation of temperature becomes weaker. Furthermore, an indene combustion mechanism was developed. The predictions of the developed mechanism are in good agreement with the measured data. Reaction pathway and sensitivity analyses were carried out to determine reaction pathways during the ignition process and dominate reactions which affect ignition delay times. Current experimental results are useful for understanding the ignition properties of indene and studying the formations of larger PAHs and soot. To our knowledge, experimental ignition delay times and a detailed combustion mechanism for indene are firstly reported in this work.

We study a single vortex in a two-dimensional $p+ip$ Fermi superfluid interacting with a Bose-Einstein condensate. The Fermi superfluid is topologically non-trivial and hosts a zero-energy Majorana bound state at the vortex core. Assuming a repulsive $s$-wave contact interaction between fermions and bosons, we find that fermions are depleted from the vortex core when the bosonic density becomes sufficiently large. In this case, a dynamically-driven local interface emerges between fermions and bosons, along which chiral Majorana edge states should appear.We examine in detail the variation of vortex-core structures as well as the formation of chiral Majorana edge states with increasing bosonic density. In particular, when the angular momentum of the vortex matches the chirality of the Fermi superfluid, the Majorana zero mode and normal bound states within the core continuously evolve into chiral Majorana edge states. Otherwise, a first-order transition occurs in the lowest excited state within the core, due to the competition between counter-rotating normal bound states in forming chiral Majorana edge states. Such a transition is manifested as a sharp peak in the excitation gap above the Majorana zero mode, at which point the Majorana zero mode is protected by a large excitation gap.Our study presents an illuminating example on how topological defects can be dynamically controlled in the context of cold atomic gases., Comment: 6 pages 6 figures

AIM To detect the expression of type I inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3RI) in the kidney of rats with hepatorenal syndrome (HRS). METHODS One hundred and twenty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups to receive an intravenous injection of D-galactosamine (D-GalN) plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS; group G/L, n = 50), D-GalN alone (group G, n = 25), LPS alone (group L, n = 25), and normal saline (group NS, n = 25), respectively. At 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 h after injection, blood, liver, and kidney samples were collected. Hematoxylin-eosin staining of liver tissue was performed to assess hepatocyte necrosis. Electron microscopy was used to observe ultrastructural changes in the kidney. Western blot analysis and real-time PCR were performed to detect the expression of IP3RI protein and mRNA in the kidney, respectively. RESULTS Hepatocyte necrosis was aggravated gradually, which was most significant at 12 h after treatment with D-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide, and was characterized by massive hepatocyte necrosis. At the same time, serum levels of biochemical indicators including liver and kidney function indexes were all significantly changed. The structure of the renal glomerulus and tubules was normal at all time points. Western blot analysis indicated that IP3RI protein expression began to rise at 3 h (P < 0.05) and peaked at 12 h (P < 0.01). Real-time PCR demonstrated that IP3RI mRNA expression began to rise at 3 h (P < 0.05) and peaked at 9 h (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION IP3RI protein expression is increased in the kidney of HRS rats, and may be regulated at the transcriptional level.

We study the interaction-modulated tunneling dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a deep double-well potential, where the tunneling between the two wells is modulated by another BEC trapped in a harmonic potential symmetrically positioned at the center of the double-well potential. The inter-species interactions couple the dynamics of the two BECs, which give rise to interesting features in the tunneling oscillations. Adopting a two-mode approximation for the BEC in the double-well potential and coupling it with the Gross-Pitaevskii equation of the harmonically trapped BEC, we numerically investigate the coupled dynamics of the BEC mixture, and map out the phase diagram of the tunneling dynamics. We show that the dynamical back action of the BEC in the harmonic trap leads to strong non-linearity in the oscillations of the BEC in the double-well potential, which enriches the system dynamics, and enhances macroscopic self trapping. The transition between the Josephson oscillation and the self-trapping dynamics can be identified by monitoring the oscillation frequency of the double-well BEC. Our results suggest the possibility of tuning the tunneling dynamics of BECs in double-well potentials., Comment: 8 page,8 figures

Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the lung (HAL) is a rare type of lung cancer. Its diagnosis and treatment may be difficult due to the varied presentation; however, immunohistochemical analysis facilitates the diagnosis. The present study presents a case of HAL. The patient was a 48-year-old male who presented with a primary complaint of back pain. A chest computed-tomography scan revealed a lobulated soft-tissue mass that extended from the left lung apex to the middle and posterior mediastinum. The area of the largest cross-section was 7.9×10.0 cm and the lymph nodes did not demonstrate metastasis. Immunohistochemical staining of a transbronchial lung biopsy revealed that the tumor cells were α-fetoprotein (AFP)(positive) and hepatocytes(positive) and a diagnosis of hepatoid carcinoma of the left lung was established. The level of serum AFP, a tumor marker, was elevated (6,283 ng/ml). The patient presented with mediastinal metastases and was classified as stage IIIA (N2); following diagnosis, the patient received concurrent chemoradiation. Subsequent to chemoradiation, the left lung lump with the largest cross-section was 3.3×4.2 cm and the serum AFP had fallen to its lowest level (23.11 ng/ml). However, when the patient relapsed, the serum AFP level elevated markedly (57,800 ng/ml). Furthermore, the nodules of metastasis increased in number and enlarged, with the largest measuring 2.1 cm. The patient succumbed as a result of a lung infection.

Background: B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) with t(v;11q23)/MLL-rearrangement (MLL-r) in children (1 year or older) is rare, and its outcome and optimal treatment options remain controversial. This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of these patients, and to explore the role of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), especially haploidentical HSCT (haplo-HSCT) in the treatment of these patients. Methods: At the time of the last follow-up (July 1, 2019), we retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 42 non-infant children with t(v;11q23)/MLL-r B-ALL. Comparison of outcomes was made between patients received allo-HSCT in the first complete remission (CR1) and chemotherapy only. Results: The median follow-up was 41 (1-106) months. The median age at diagnosis was 4.5(1-14) years and the median leukocyte count was 56.0 (2.2-735.2)×109/L. One was excluded for death during induction. For the remaining 41 patients, the complete remission rate after induction therapy was 40/41 (97.6%), the estimated 4-year probabilities of overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS) and cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) were 59.7%, 51.6% and 43.4%, respectively. 19 patients received allo-HSCT in CR1 (HSCT in CR1 cohort), notably, 18/19 cases in this cohort received haplo-HSCT, and the remaining 22 patients continued the consolidation therapy (Non-HSCT in CR1 cohort). The estimated 4-year probabilities of OS, EFS and CIR in the HSCT in CR1 cohort were 86.6%, 89.2% and 5.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, the estimated 4-year probabilities of OS, EFS and CIR in the Non-HSCT in CR1 cohort were 37.5%, 19.9% and 75.6%, respectively. They were considered to be statistically significant. Of the 17 patients who relapsed during consolidation chemotherapy, 9 patients who underwent chemotherapy only (Non-HSCT after relapse cohort) all died within 44 months. For the remaining 8 patients who chose allo-HSCT (HSCT in CR2 cohort) when they achieved the second complete remission (CR2), the estimated 4-year probability of OS was 47.6% (P=0.002). Multivariate analysis showed that HSCT in CR1 was the only independent protective factor for OS, EFS and CIR, and age at diagnosis (≥10 years) was an independent risk factor of OS. Conclusions: Allo-HSCT (especially haplo-HSCT) in CR1 may reduce the risk of relapse and improve prognosis in non-infant children with MLL-r B-ALL. In addition, allo-HSCT also seemed to be an effective approach to improve the prognosis of relapsed patients. Thus, haplo-HSCT could be an alternative approach for non-infant children with MLL-r B-ALL. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

COX II containing a dual core CuA active site is one of the three core subunits of mitochondrial Cco, which plays a significant role in the physiological process. In this report, the full-length cDNA of COXⅡ gene was cloned from Sitophilus zeamais, which had an ORF of 684 bp encoding 227 amino acids residues. The predicted COXⅡ protein had a molecular mass of 26.2 kDa with pI value of 6.37, and multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Sitophilus zeamais COXⅡ had high sequence identity 78.51% with the COXⅡ of other insect species, especially similarity to sitophilus oryzae. This gene was subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a, and induced by IPTG in E.coli Transetta (DE3) expression system. Finally the COXⅡ with 6-His tag was purified using affinity chromatography with Ni2+-NTA agarose. WB showed the recombinant COXⅡ was about 44 kD, and the concentration of fusion protein was 50μg/mL. UV-spectrophotometer and infrared spectrometer analysis showed that recombinant COXⅡ could catalyze the oxidation of substrate Cytc, and influenced by AITC. It was found that AITC could form a hydrophobic region with COXⅡ protein via molecular docking, besides, a sulfur atom of AITC structure could form a length of 2.9 Å hydrogen bond with Leu-31. These results will provide valuable information for elucidating the role of COXⅡ in Sitophilus zeamais responses to AITC, meanwhile, it will helpful to carry out a point mutation in AITC binding sites for the future research.

• Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use is a major patient safety concern for the elderly. • Using explicit criteria, previous studies found that 23.5% and 21.3% of the U.S. communitydwelling elderly used at least one PIM in 1987 and 1996, respectively.1 • The Beers criteria, Zhan criteria, and Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality measure have been widely used for evaluation of health care quality and medication safety in older population.1-6

The initiation mechanisms and kinetics of pyrolysis and combustion of n-dodecane are investigated by using the reactive molecular dynamics (ReaxFF MD) simulation and chemical kinetic modeling. From ReaxFF MD simulations, we find the initiation mechanisms of pyrolysis of n-dodecane are mainly through two pathways, (1) the cleavage of C–C bond to form smaller hydrocarbon radicals, and (2) the dehydrogenation reaction to form an H radical and the corresponding n-C12H25 radical. Another pathway is the H-abstraction reactions by small radicals including H, CH3, and C2H5, which are the products after the initiation reaction of n-dodecane pyrolysis. ReaxFF MD simulations lead to reasonable Arrhenius parameters compared with experimental results based on first-order kinetic analysis of n-dodecane pyrolysis. The density/pressure effects on the pyrolysis of n-dodecane are also analyzed. By appropriate mapping of the length and time from macroscopic kinetic modeling to ReaxFF MD, a simple comparison of the conversion of n-dodecane from ReaxFF MD simulations and that from kinetic modeling is performed. In addition, the oxidation of n-dodecane is studied by ReaxFF MD simulations. We find that formaldehyde molecule is an important intermediate in the oxidation of n-dodecane, which has been confirmed by kinetic modeling, and ReaxFF leads to reasonable reaction pathways for the oxidation of n-dodecane. These results indicate that ReaxFF MD simulations can give an atomistic description of the initiation mechanism and product distributions of pyrolysis and combustion for hydrocarbon fuels, and can be further used to provide molecular based robust kinetic reaction mechanism for chemical kinetic modeling of hydrocarbon fuels.

AIM: To investigate the mechanism of calcyclin binding protein/Siah-1 interacting protein (CacyBP/SIP) nuclear translocation in promoting the proliferation of gastric cancer (GC) cells. METHODS: The effect of CacyBP/SIP nuclear translocation on cell cycle was investigated by cell cycle analysis. Western blot analysis was used to assess the change in expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins and proteasome-mediated degradation of p27Kip1. Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) analysis was performed to examine the binding of CacyBP/SIP with Skp1. A CacyBP/SIP truncation mutant which lacked the Skp1 binding site was constructed and fused to a fluorescent protein. Subsequently, the effect on Skp1 binding with the fusion protein was examined by co-IP, while localization of fluorescent fusion protein observed by confocal laser microscopy, and change in p27Kip1 protein expression assessed by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: CacyBP/SIP nuclear translocation induced by gastrin promoted progression of GC cells from G1 phase. However, while CacyBP/SIP nuclear translocation was inhibited using siRNA to suppress CacyBP/SIP expression, cell cycle was clearly inhibited. CacyBP/SIP nuclear translocation significantly decreased the level of cell cycle inhibitor p27Kip1, increased Cyclin E protein expression whereas the levels of Skp1, Skp2, and CDK2 were not affected. Upon inhibition of CacyBP/SIP nuclear translocation, there were no changes in protein levels of p27Kip1 and Cyclin E, while p27Kip1 decrease could be prevented by the proteasome inhibitor MG132. Moreover, CacyBP/SIP was found to bind to Skp1 by immunoprecipitation, an event that was abolished by mutant CacyBP/SIP, which also failed to stimulate p27Kip1 degradation, even though the mutant could still translocate into the nucleus. CONCLUSION: CacyBP/SIP nuclear translocation contributes to the proliferation of GC cells, and CacyBP/SIP exerts this effect, at least in part, by stimulating ubiquitin-mediated degradation of p27Kip1.

To develop a practical and reproducible rat model of hepatorenal syndrome for further study of the pathophysiology of human hepatorenal syndrome.Sprague-Dawley rats were intravenously injected with D-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) via the tail vein to induce fulminant hepatic failure to develop a model of hepatorenal syndrome. Liver and kidney function tests and plasma cytokine levels were measured after D-galactosamine/LPS administration, and hepatic and renal pathology was studied. Glomerular filtration rate was detected in conscious rats using micro-osmotic pump technology with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled inulin as a surrogate marker.Serum levels of biochemical indicators including liver and kidney function indexes and cytokines all significantly changed, especially at 12 h after D-galactosamine/LPS administration [alanine aminotransferase, 3389.5 ± 499.5 IU/L; blood urea nitrogen, 13.9 ± 1.3 mmol/L; Cr, 78.1 ± 2.9 μmol/L; K(+), 6.1 ± 0.5 mmol/L; Na(+), 130.9 ± 1.9 mmol/L; Cl(-), 90.2 ± 1.9 mmol/L; tumor necrosis factor-α, 1699.6 ± 599.1 pg/mL; endothelin-1, 95.9 ± 25.9 pg/mL; P0.05 compared with normal saline control group]. Hepatocyte necrosis was aggravated gradually, which was most significant at 12 h after treatment with D-galactosamine/LPS, and was characterized by massive hepatocyte necrosis, while the structures of glomeruli, proximal and distal tubules were normal. Glomerular filtration rate was significantly decreased to 30%-35% of the control group at 12 h after D-galactosamine/LPS administration [Glomerular filtration rate (GFR)1, 0.79 ± 0.11 mL/min; GFR2, 3.58 ± 0.49 mL/min·kgBW(-1); GFR3, 0.39 ± 0.99 mL/min·gKW(-1)]. The decreasing timing of GFR was consistent with that of the presence of hepatocyte necrosis and liver and kidney dysfunction.The joint use of D-galactosamine and LPS can induce liver and kidney dysfunction and decline of glomerular filtration rate in rats which is a successful rat model of hepatorenal syndrome.

During the course of pathogens penetrating the plant cell, besides of chemical secretion, the pathogens may cause mechanical signal by the physical pressure on the plant cell. In the current study, we use the pressure as the stress signal to study the induction in plant resistance and the effect of accumulation of phytoalexin. We found that stress can induce the resistance in cucumber seeding significantly. Peptides contained RGD motif can specific block the adhesion between plant cell wall and plasma membrane. When breaking the plant cell wall and plasma membrane by using RGD peptides, the stress induction effect is almost absolutely eliminated. The results of assay with TLC and HPLC showed that stress stimulation could increase the accumulation of cucumber seeding phytoalexin. So, we can conclude that the accumulation of phytoalexin is one possible reason of improve the stress induced resistance. When block the adhesion between plant cell wall and plasma membrane by RGD, there are only part of accumulation of phytoalexin. The results suggest that stress induced resistance and accumulation of phytoalexin of plant is required for the adhesion of plant cell wall-plasma membrane.

Up to date, the studies of plant induced resistance have become the focus in plant pathology and physiology. During the course of pathogens penetrating the plant cell, besides of chemical secretion, the pathogens may generate mechanical signal caused by the physical pressure on the plant cell. In the non-host resistance, both the chemical signal and the mechanical stress signal are considered to have contribution to the entire defense reaction acted by the plant. The penetration of pathogen Cladosporium cucumerinum to cucumber is thought to be one of the model in research of plant induced resistance. In the current study, as a mechanical signal elicitor, the appropriate stress stimulus was proved to effectually induce the resistance of cucumber seedling to C. cucumerinum. After the treatment of the stress stimulus on leaves, the activities of resistance-related enzymes were significantly increased, such as phenylanine ammonia lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POD). Also, we found that stress stimulation may cause synthesis of lignin, which acts as the physical barrier to defense the pathogens. The results suggest that stress stimulation may not only enhance ability of the plant cell resistance to pathogen penetration but also elicit the accumulation of pathogens suppression or antimicrobial chemical substance in the plant cell.

In the current study, we found that the stress stimulus can act as a kind of elicitor, which can efficiently induce the resistance of cucumber against fungal pathogen. After the treatment of the stress stimulus on leaves, the activities of resistance-related enzymes were increased significantly. Such as phenylamine ammonia lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POD) and polyphenoloxidase (PPO), which are strongly associated with the plant disease resistance. Also the expression of pathogenesis-related protein (PR protein) were activated by stress stimulus, with the results that the activities of chitinase and beta-l,3-glucanase were increased obviously. The data showed that one of the mechanism of stress stimulus induction plant resistance may act via eliciting the metabolism related disease resistance within plant, which can produce many suppressing and antimicrobial compounds to against pathogens infection efficiently.