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Conventional reactive air brazing (RAB) of stainless steel (SS) to ceramic components usually encounters Cr oxidation and joint embrittlement problems due to high temperature and long dwelling time. Herein, 3 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (3YSZ) and 430 SS were joined using an Ag–CuO filler in seconds at relatively low temperatures (875 °C–1050 °C) with the assistance of a direct current passing through the seam. The applied current promoted the melting of the filler and rapid filling of the gap due to Joule heating effect. Also, it facilitated atomic/ionic transport and interfacial reaction. Key joining parameters including current density, joining time and furnace temperature were investigated, and a maximum joint strength of 158 ± 9 MPa was achieved at a current density of 4 A/cm2 for 30 s at 950 °C, which is approximately 50% higher than that of the RAB joints. The formation of AgCu4Zr and Zr-rich intermetallic phases at the 3YSZ/Ag and Ag/430 SS interfaces, respectively, together with the suppression of the growth of Cr-containing oxide, was responsible for the robust joining.

We investigated the wetting of a high-entropy rare-earth oxide, (La0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2Gd0.2)2Zr2O7, by a molten 71Ag–27Cu–2Ti (in wt%) alloy using a modified sessile drop method at 1073–1273 K. The wettability shows a first increase and then decrease with increasing temperature, depending on the competition among the adsorption and diffusion of active Ti atoms towards triple line, the consumption of Ti due to interfacial reaction and the migration of oxygen from the substrate bulk to the interface. In addition, the La cations in the high-entropy substrate exhibited noticeable outward diffusion while the other rare-earth cations remained stable due to their different bonding strengths in the lattice. Despite the occurrence of interfacial reaction and selective diffusion, the substrate maintained the high-entropy structure after the reactive wetting.

We achieved the densification of hydroxyapatite (HA) via cold sintering using CaHPO4·2H2O as an additive at temperatures lower than 200 °C and investigated the influences of CaHPO4·2H2O content and temperature on the relative density of cold-sintered HA and its composites. The elastic modulus, compressive strength and flexural strength of the cold-sintered specimens were comparable yet slightly inferior to the level of the dense HA prepared by conventional sintering at temperatures higher than 1000 °C. A possible densification mechanism was proposed for the formation of hydrogen bonds between the CaHPO4 fragments generated by the thermal decomposition of CaHPO4·2H2O and the phosphate groups in HA by water molecules, thus linking the HA particles together. This strategy of achieving dense target product from its hydrated precursors provides an important avenue for the development of cold sintering process.

Pyrochlore-type high-entropy oxides (HEOs) are usually sintered at high temperatures for a long time to achieve full density. Herein, we synthesized pyrochlore-structured (La0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2Gd0.2)2Zr2O7 HEOs with densities up to 99 % at a furnace temperature of 1200 °C in seconds via reactive flash sintering (RFS). The resultant HEOs achieved compositional uniformity at the atomic level and exhibited superior modulus, hardness and fracture toughness compared to the counterparts prepared by conventional solid-state sintering (at 1600 °C for 6 h). The underlying mechanisms for the ultrafast densification of the RFSed-HEOs were addressed in view of the roles of electric field, rapid heating, external pressure and internal reactions.

Objectives To investigate the effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) in patients diagnosed with mild or moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Design A prospective randomized, double-blinded control study with 6 months of follow-up. Setting Rehabilitation outpatient clinic of one single medical center. Subjects Thirty-five participants with mild or moderate CTS. Methods Participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to HA or control groups. The HA group received one ultrasound-guided perineural injection of 2.5 mL HA while the control group received 2.5 mL normal saline injection through in-plane, long-axis approach to separate the median nerve from the flexor retinaculum via nerve hydrodissection. Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ) scores were the primary outcome, while secondary outcomes included the numeric rating scale (NRS), electrophysiological domains, and the cross-sectional area of the median nerve. The assessment was conducted prior to injection and during the second week and 1-, 3-, and 6-months post-injection. Results Thirty-two patients (17 wrists in HA group and 15 wrists in control group) completed the study. Compared with the control group, the HA group did not show significantly superior outcomes, except in BCTQ and NRS at the second week post-injection (all P Conclusions A single ultrasound guided perineural HA injection may have short-term therapeutic efficacy for mild or moderate CTS; however, the 2-weeks superior efficacy was not beneficial for chronic neuropathy. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to verify its therapeutic efficacy.

Blue flowers, which are rare, have long been a focus for researchers engaged in colored flower breeding. In this study, Plumbago auriculata, a plant with blue flowers, and its white flower forma Plumbago auriculata f. alba were used as research materials. Flower color quantification, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) observation of petal epidermal cells, and determination of the cell sap pH were carried out; moreover, metabolomic analysis was used to analyze the flavonoid metabolites of both types of petals. The results showed that the flower color of P. auriculata was bluish violet, and there was no significant difference in the epidermal cell distribution of the white and blue petals. The key substance that determined the bluish violet flower color was cyanidin-3-O-(6″-p-coumaroylglucoside) (Cy3-pC·G). Compared to the white petal cells, the blue petal cells exhibited up to 40 upregulated flavonoid compounds that were copigments. Together with the significantly increased pH (5.92 ± 0.12) of the petal cell sap, these copigments affected the color presentation of Cy3-pC·G, causing the final petal color of P. auriculata to be bluish violet. The results of this study indicate that cyanidin is an important anthocyanidin in blue flowers, which provides new insights into the breeding of blue flowers.

Since the Anyue Gasfield, located in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift of the Sichuan Basin, was discovered, great efforts have been made to work on natural gas exploration and discovery in the Sinian–Lower Paleozoic in the north slope of present paleo-uplift which has similar depositional settings. It is verified by the breakthrough of natural gas exploration in the second Member of Upper Sinian Dengying Formation in the north slope of central Sichuan paleo-uplift by wildcat well PT1 and the new sign of natural gas exploration in the Canglangpu Formation of Lower Cambrian and the fourth Member of Dengying Formation by Well JT1 that there are also favorable conditions for the formation of large-scale gas province in the north slope. In order to determine the natural gas exploration potential of Sinian–Lower Paleozoic in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift and provide the guidance for the following exploration deployment, this paper analyzed the petroleum geological conditions of Sinian–Lower Paleozoic in the north slope. And the following research results were obtained. First, the marginal platform belts in the second and the fourth Member of Sinian Dengying Formation in the north slope are basically separated areally, and they are superior to the Gaoshiti–Moxi area in terms of marginal platform width and sedimentary thickness and are intrinsically advantageous in sedimentation. Second, compared with the Gaoshiti–Moxi area, the reservoirs of Sinian Dengying Formation in the north slope are better in reservoir conditions, and many sets of quality reservoirs are developed vertically in Sinian–Cambrian. Third, hydrocarbon accumulation elements of Sinian Dengying Formation are better allocated in the north slope. Lithological traps are developed with a larger cumulative area. Wells JT1 and PT1 verify that there is gas in the lithological trap of the fourth and the second Member of Dengying Formation and large-scale lithological gas reservoirs are developed in the slope setting. In conclusion, compared with the Gaoshiti–Moxi area, the Sinian–Lower Paleozoic in the north slope is superior in petroleum geological conditions and has the advantage of multi-layer stereoscopic exploration vertically, presenting a great natural gas exploration potential and promising exploration prospects, so it is a new important strategic zone of conventional natural gas exploration in the Sichuan Basin.

Balancing photovoltaic parameters is very challenging to optimize the device performance of nonfullerene small-molecule acceptor (SMA)-based polymer solar cells (PSCs). We herein employed electron-withdrawing fluorinated or chlorinated 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone (ICF or ICCl) as the terminal acceptor (A) group to develop two acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A) SMAs, DTCFO-ICF and DTCFO-ICCl, with an electron-rich fluorene-fused dithienocyclopentafluorene as the identical central donor (D) core. Compared with the nonhalogenated counterpart (DTCFO-IC), the two halogenated SMAs possessed a red-shifted absorption spectrum, reduced optical bandgap, and increased charge carrier mobility, but these were accompanied by down-shifted HOMO and LUMO levels, especially for the chlorinated molecule (DTCFO-ICCl). Accordingly, with respect to DTCFO-IC, PSCs based on the two halogenated SMAs with polymer PBDB-T as a donor exhibited an improved Jsc, but a dropped Voc, thus leading to a commensurate power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.80% for DTCFO-ICF and an increased PCE of 8.55% for DTCFO-ICCl. To further improve the device performance by means of balancing photovoltaic parameters, polymer PBDB-TF with a lower-lying HOMO level relative to PBDB-T was used to replace PBDB-T as the donor. The PCEs of PBDB-TF-based PSCs were further improved mainly due to the significantly enhanced Voc. Importantly, the DTCFO-ICCl-based PSCs achieved a high PCE of up to 11.03% along with an increased Voc (0.93 V), a further increased Jsc (18.80 mA cm−2), and almost retained FF (63.1%). The enhanced device performance could be attributed to better charge transport and collection abilities, less charge recombination and more optimal active layer morphology. These results argue that combining the halogenation on the A group of an A–D–A acceptor and variation of the paired polymer donor could be an effective strategy to enhance the device efficiency by balancing photovoltaic parameters.

Different cyclization reaction sites on the benzene ring will produce isomers during the cyclization process for the synthesis of small-molecule acceptors. Herein, we developed a structural unit (named BTMe) that can prevent isomerization during cyclization by introducing a methyl into a benzo[b]benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (BTBT) unit. Two fused ring electron acceptors (BTMe-C6-2F and BTMe-C8-2F) with the BTMe core were synthesized by changing the length of the side chain. When they were blended with donor PM6, the active layer PM6:BTMe-C8-2F exhibited a more excellent charge transport, phase morphology and π–π stacking, which are beneficial to improve the short-circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor (FF). Compared with BTMe-C6-2F, the organic solar cell (OSC) based on BTMe-C8-2F exhibited a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.72% with a Voc of 0.97 V, a Jsc of 19.65 mA cm−2 and a FF of 66.76%. These results proved that it is a promising approach to achieve a high-performance small-molecule acceptor by changing the length of the side chain and introducing methyl groups to prevent the isomerization of the fused ring core owing to special reaction sites.

Cytochrome c (Cyt c), as an important biomarker, plays an important role in cell apoptosis and the mitochondrial electron transport chain. Here, we have developed a novel biosensor for a Cyt c assay based on polydopamine nanotubes (PDANTs) and an exonuclease I (Exo I) cyclic amplification strategy. The PDANTs can quickly adsorb FAM labeled Cyt c aptamer (P1) and quench its labeled fluorophore groups. When the Cyt c was introduced into the system, Cyt c can specifically bind to the FAM-labeled aptamer with high affinity and cause the recovery of the fluorescence signal due to the formation of a Cyt c-P1 complex. Exo I then could catalyze the cleavage of the aptamer sequence from the Cyt c-P1 complex and release the target Cyt c, and the released Cyt c could continue to bind to the Cyt c aptamer to achieve fluorescence signal amplification. The developed method demonstrates good sensitivity for Cyt c assays in the range from 0.01 to 100 μM with the detection limit of 0.003 μM. Moreover, the aptasensor has been successfully applied to detect Cyt c in a complex system.

In nature, many different factors cause plants to present variegated leaves. The purpose of this study was to reveal the changes in the green and albino leaves of Hydrangea macrophylla 'Maculata'. It was found that in the albino zone, the leaves became thinner, the chloroplast structure disappeared, and a large number of leucoplasts replaced chloroplasts. In addition, the albino zone of the leaves contained almost no chlorophyll and showed no function related to transforming and utilizing light energy, and more intense oxidative stress was observed in the albino zone of the leaves than in the green zone. RNA-seq analysis showed that the chlorophyll synthesis pathway of the albino zone of leaves was blocked. Upregulated expression of the hydrangea ringspot virus (HdRSV) coat protein (CP) gene was detected in albino tissue by RT-qPCR. Finally, combined UPLC-MS/MS and RNA-seq analyses revealed metabolic changes involving multiple pathways in albino leaf tissue, centered on the TCA cycle. We hypothesize that HdRSV may alter energy metabolism in the albino zone of leaves, including increased lipid metabolism, reduced sugar metabolism, and increased synthesis of amino acids and the viral capsid protein from ribosomes.

Development of high-performance small-molecular acceptors (SMAs) and an eco-friendly and simple device fabrication procedure is very crucial for scalable production of polymer solar cells (PSCs) in...

Semitransparent polymer solar cells (ST-PSCs) have attracted worldwide attention owing to unique superiority in multiple utilization of incident light. However, the color of ST-PSCs is relatively uniform after fabrication, cannot be dynamically tuned in terms of application requirement. Herein, we demonstrate a high-efficiency ST-PSCs as a smart window, which can be reversibly switched on and off by a gasochromic tungsten trioxide/platinum (WO3/Pt) back reflector layer. The ST-PSCs can be switchable between colored and bleached states with fast response speed of sub-second during hydrogen exposure. Meanwhile, the color and transparency-switching enable light trapping enhancement in long wavelength range, which can systematically improve power conversion efficiency (PCE). As a result, the ST-PSCs contribute a PCE of 10.2% and 9.1% as well as corresponding average visible transmission (AVT) of 25.4% and 33.8% at colored state and bleached state, respectively, which can meet the visual aesthetics requirement well in building integrated photovoltaics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example for ST-PSCs that achieve both color-switching and light trapping. Furthermore, the smart windows facing to automobile sunroof are proposed to prove a practical application towards commercialization. We believe that smart windows with gasochromic functions can promise potential opportunities and directions for the future development of ST-PSCs.

Pterostilbene is a derivative of resveratrol with a higher bioavailability and biological activity, which shows antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antiaging activities. Here, directed evolution and host strain engineering were used to improve the production of pterostilbene in Escherichia coli. First, the heterologous biosynthetic pathway enzymes of pterostilbene, including tyrosine ammonia lyase, p-coumarate: CoA ligase, stilbene synthase, and resveratrol O-methyltransferase, were successively directly evolved through error-prone polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Four mutant enzymes with higher activities of in vivo and in vitro were obtained. The directed evolution of the pathway enzymes increased the pterostilbene production by 13.7-fold. Then, a biosensor-guided genome shuffling strategy was used to improve the availability of the precursor L-tyrosine of the host strain E. coli TYR-30 used for the production of pterostilbene. A shuffled E. coli strain with higher L-tyrosine production was obtained. The shuffled strain harboring the evolved pathway produced 80.04 ± 5.58 mg/l pterostilbene, which is about 2.3-fold the highest titer reported in literatures.

Hydrazine is a widely used but highly toxic chemical reagent, and the development of a fluorescent probe for hydrazine detection is very meaningful. In this study, a novel coumarin-derived fluorescent probe containing a 1,4-enedione moiety for hydrazine detection was developed. The recognition of hydrazine with the probe brings about obvious fluorescence enhancement over other environmentally relevant ions and amine-containing species. The limit of detection for hydrazine is 2.7×10-8 M in aqueous solution. The fluorescence enhancement was ascribed to the cyclization reaction of the 1,4-enedione moiety of the probe and hydrazine which form a six-membered pyridazine ring and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism. The mass spectrometry (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis and theoretical calculations confirmed the recognition produced. The probe can be used to determine trace hydrazine in real water samples. More importantly, the probe also showed good potential in detecting hydrazine by imaging of living HeLa cells.

α-Pinene is an important monoterpene that is widely used as a pharmaceutical product, biofuel, and so forth. We first established a cell-free system with modular cocatalysis for the production of pinene from glucose. After optimization of the compositions of the cell-free reaction mixture using the Plackett-Burman experimental design and the path of steepest ascent, the production of pinene increased by 57%. It was found that ammonium acetate, NAD+, and NADPH are the three most important parameters for the production of pinene. Mix-and-match experiments showed that the simultaneous addition of the lysate of Escherichia coli overexpressing native 4-hydroxy-3-methylbut-2-enyl diphosphate reductase, SufBCD Fe-S cluster assembly protein, isopentenyl-diphosphate isomerase, and Pinus taeda pinene synthase improved the production of pinene. Increasing the enzyme concentration of the extract further enhanced the production of pinene to 1256.31 ± 46.12 mg/L with a productivity of 104.7 mg/L h, almost 1.2-fold faster than any system reported thus far. This study demonstrates that a cell-free system is a powerful and robust platform for biomanufacture.

Fused-ring electron acceptors (FREAs) have attracted immense interest owing to their ability for facile structural modification and good thermal and optical characteristics. Among these acceptors, isomerized building blocks originating from multiple reaction sites affect the electronic structures, morphological properties and resulting photovoltaic performance, but have rarely been studied. Herein, three isomeric FREAs, Z1-aa, Z1-ab, and Z1-bb, were synthesized using different reaction sites of benzo[b]benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (BTBT)-based fused-ring cores and were used in organic solar cells (OSCs). As compared to Z1-aa and Z1-ab, Z1-bb exhibited red-shifted absorption and a higher maximum molar extinction coefficient. When blended with PM6, Z1-bb-based OSCs exhibited more balanced charge transport compared to those with the PM6:Z1-aa and PM6:Z1-ab blend films, which favored higher short-circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor (FF). As a result, the OSC devices based on Z1-bb exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.66% with Voc = 0.98 V, Jsc = 18.52 mA cm−2, and FF = 70.05%, respectively, which are significantly higher than the values recorded for the Z1-ab-based (PCE of 9.60%) and Z1-aa-based (PCE of 4.56%) devices. These results indicate that the isomerization of a fused-ring core originating from a special reaction site could be a promising approach to achieve high-performance OSCs with high Jsc, Voc, and FF.

A new simple, sensitive and specific strategy for microRNA analysis has been described based on a hybridization chain reaction with hemin/G-quadruplex enzymatic catalysis-induced MoS2 quantum dots via the inner filter effect. The target microRNA triggers the hybridization chain reaction between two DNA probes to generate long dsDNA with many hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzymes in the presence of hemin. With the assistance of H2O2, the produced hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzyme could oxidize o-phenylenediamine (OPD) to 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP) directly, resulting in the fluorescence quenching of MoS2 quantum dots via the inner filter effect. As an example, the fluorescence response of MoS2 quantum dots is linearly related with the logarithm of the microRNA let-7a concentration with a detection limit of 42 fM. The proposed label-free assay has promising potential to be applied in practical diagnosis.

In this contribution, a series of A−π–D−π–A small molecules (SMs), IPY-T-IC, IPY-T-ICCl, and IPY-T-ICF, containing the central donor unit (D) of 6,12-dihydro-diindolo[1,2-b:10,20-e]pyrazine (IPY), the π-conjugated bridge of thiophene, and the end-accepting group (A) of 3-(dic yanomethylidene)indol-1-one, 5,6-dichloro-3-(dicyanomethylidene)indol-1-one, or 5,6-difluoro-3-(dicyanomethylene)indol-1-one, were developed, characterized, and employed as the acceptor materials for polymer solar cells (PSCs). Influences of the different end-accepting groups on thermal properties, spectral absorption, energy levels, photovoltaic performance, and film morphology of these small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) were investigated in detail. These SMAs exhibit an excellent thermal stability and strong crystallization. The absorption spectra of these SMs mainly locate the wavelength between 400 and 700 nm, associated with the optical band gaps in the range of 1.75–1.90 eV. Compared with nonhalogenated IPY-T-IC, the halogenated S...

This study highlights a green approach for the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) using the ultraviolet/sulfite advanced reduction process (UV/sulfite process). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provided a strong evidence on the efficient reduction of GO by increasing the C/O ratio from 2.0 to 4.8, and the successful reduction was also characterized by UV–Vis, XRD and Raman spectrometry. The reduction of GO was attributed to the hydrated electrons generated from both sulfite photolysis (major, contributed by 71.4%) and GO photolysis (minor, contributed by 21.6%) under UV irradiation. The dissolved oxygen in water exhibited inhibitory effect on GO reduction through scavenging of the hydrated electrons. Moreover, the reduction efficiency of GO decreased with the increasing UV wavelength from 254 nm to 365 nm, because of the reduced molar absorptivity of sulfite at higher UV wavelength. By using this green photo-reduction method, high-purity of reduced graphene oxide can be easily obtained by water-rinse, since soluble sulfite are the only by-products. In conclusion, the research outcomes provide mechanistic insights on the GO reduction by the hydrated electron-based advanced reduction processes, which has great potential for the environmental-friendly and cost-effective reduction of GO.

In the present study, the wettability between liquid iron with two different Al contents and MgO Al2O3 binary substrates was studied in reducing atmosphere. The contact angles between liquid iron with 18 ppm Al and MgO, MgO·Al2O3, Al2O3 were 133.5°, 113.7°, 126.9° respectively. With the variation of the substrate composition, the contact angles for the intermediate binary phases of the three components (MgO, MgO·Al2O3, Al2O3) obeyed the Cassie theory. In the experiment using iron with 370 ppm Al, all the contact angles were higher than that using low Al-containing iron. The surface of the iron drop was covered with an oxide layer, which mainly consisted of many small particles. With the variation of the substrate gradually from MgO to Al2O3, the composition of the oxide layer changed from MgO·Al2O3 to CaO Al2O3. The formation of the oxide layer prevented the spreading of liquid iron, leading to the increase of the contact angle.

Wetting of SiC by Al alloys is a key issue in the preparation of SiC-reinforced Al matrix composites. The wettability could be improved by alloying of Al, yet controversial results widely exist in the literature. We investigated the effects of four important alloying elements (Si, Cu, Ti and Mg) and their concentrations on the wettability in the Al/SiC system using a dispensed sessile-drop method. The results demonstrate that Si could weaken or even inhibit the formation of Al4C3 and substantially improve the wettability via an adsorption effect; Cu slightly deteriorates the wettability, but alleviates the formation of Al4C3 by decreasing the activity of Al; Ti strongly adsorbs at the solid−liquid interface, forming TiCx instead of Al4C3, and thus significantly improves the wettability; Mg may also favor the wettability due to its help in the disruption of the oxide film covering the Al surface via evaporation and its strong affinity for the silica film on the SiC surface; but for a clean Al/SiC system, the effect of Mg is essentially limited. In addition, the evaporation of Mg always leads to a reduction in the drop volume, which causes a decrease in the apparent contact angle, but this effect is usually neglected.

Thiocyanate (SCN−) can be naturally produced by some plant species during assimilation of endogenous cyanide at very low levels, but higher concentration is detected in the environment from various industrial activities, which poses a potential threat to living organisms. In this study, uptake, transport, subcellular distribution and assimilation of SCN− were investigated using rice seedlings exposed to 13C- and 15N-labbled potassium thiocyanate. Our results showed that rice seedlings had a higher potential for SCN− uptake, and more was recovered in roots than shoots. Analysis of subcellular partition revealed that SCN− were mainly deposited in cell wall, and followed by cytosol and organelle fractions. Analysis of stable isotopes in rice tissues showed that the molar ratios of 13C to 15N content were inconsistent in roots (0.66) and shoots (0.98). PCR analysis revealed different expression arrangements to 20 selected genes in rice tissues, suggesting that involvements of genes encoding with different enzymes in SCN− assimilation are tissue specific. These unique genes should regulate and determine degradation pathway of SCN−. Data from stable isotopes and PCR analysis suggests that “TMT (thiol methylation) pathway”, “COS (carbonyl sulfide) pathway” and “CNO (cyanate) pathway” are involved in detoxification of SCN− in rice tissues concurrently at the first-degradation phase; Rice seedlings are also able to degrade both CNO and COS in roots effectively, while innate pools of enzymes cyanase (CYN) and carbonyl sulfide hydrolase (COSase) are non-sufficient for further degrade both intermediates in shoots. Our results presented here provide convincing evidence to clarify transport and detoxification pathways of SCN− in rice seedlings.

The Hongguleleng Cu deposit is a Manto-type deposit in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, located in the east section of West Junggar, Xinjiang, China. It is hosted by Middle Ordovician volcano-sedimentary sequence, especially for porous units. Specifically, the orebodies of this Manto-type deposit are hosted in basalt, andesite, and andesitic breccia host rocks (the particular volcano-sedimentary sequence). The occurrence of these orebodies is controlled by normal faults. Chalcopyrite, pyrite, calcite, chlorite, and epidote are most common minerals of the Hongguleleng deposit. Three alternation belts and six ore related stages have been recognised. The epidote-chalcopyrite stage, quartz-calcite-chalcopyrite stage, and chlorite stage are ore forming stage. The δ34S of chalcopyrite in ore depositing stages varies from 0.94‰ to 2.59‰, indicating that the origin of sulfur is either magma or host volcanic rock. Further, the 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, and 208Pb/204Pb values of the chlorite-chalcopyrite and quartz-calcite-chalcopyrite stages exist in the range of 17.443–17.847 and 17.855–17.973; 15.472–15.495 and 15.493–15.620; and 37.616–37.666 and 37.689–38.114, respectively, indicating that the metal originates from the Middle Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB). The δ13CPDB value of calcite for the epidote-chalcopyrite stage ores, quartz-calcite-chalcopyrite ores with veinlet characteristics, quartz-calcite-chalcopyrite ores with brecciated characteristics, and chlorite-chalcopyrite ores range from −1.40 to −1.50‰, −2.01 to 0.41‰, −1.15 to 0.75‰, and −0.80 to 1.58‰, respectively, while the 18OSMOW ranges from 8.94–10.42‰, 11.83–13.17‰, 13.59–14.04‰, and 12.34–14.18‰, respectively. The C O isotope of calcite of the Hongguleleng deposit indicates that seawater is an essential fluid for ore formation and that modified seawater interacts with the host rock extensively. The hydrothermal magnetite in the quartz-magnetite stage and chlorite in the ore forming stages indicate that temperature decreases from its early to late stages. High Zn and Pb concentrations over four stages of pyrite, with a relatively stable contents, indicate that the content of Zn and Pb in fluid is also high. The concentration of Cu in these four stages of pyrite of the Hongguleleng deposit follow a decreasing trend, indicating that the concentration of Cu in the ore forming fluid decreases from the early to late stage. Based on information mentioned above, we argue that this deposit is a Manto-type deposit with modified seawater driving forces.

Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae strains are typically associated with severe infections and susceptible to most antimicrobial agents. In 2017, a carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (CR-hvKP) strain was isolated from the sputum of a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient in Zhejiang, China. The goal of the present study was to characterize the molecular features of the CR-hvKP isolate ZJ27003 and its blaKPC-2-harboring plasmid p27003_KPC. Antimicrobial susceptibility was evaluated using the broth microdilution and agar dilution methods. String tests, serum-killing and mouse survival assays were performed to assess virulence, and plasmid conjugation was performed by filter mating. The complete genome sequence of ZJ27003 was acquired using a hybrid assembly of Illumina and Nanopore platform data. The sequence type (ST) of this CR-hvKP isolate was identified as ST23, which exhibits hypervirulence with high serum resistance and murine infection model. The strain is also resistant to carbapenems (imipenem, meropenem and ertapenem), aztreonam and cephalosporins. Additionally, the CR-hvKP isolate carries a 36,708-bp blaKPC-2-harboring plasmid, named p27003_KPC, belonging to the P1 incompatibility (Inc) group. The backbone of p27003_KPC is similar to that of a blaGES-5-harboring Pseudomonas aeruginosa plasmid, in which the blaGES-5 and its surrounding regions were replaced by a blaKPC-2-containing translocatable unit derived from Enterobacteriaceae. The results of a conjugation assay revealed that p27003_KPC can be transferred from K. pneumoniae to P. aeruginosa PAO1 and make the recipient resistant against carbapenem. The identification of a carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent K. pneumoniae isolate carrying and disseminating the blaKPC-2 gene highlights a severe threat to public health.

Concerns regarding carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-Kp), especially in bloodstream infections (BSIs), are continuing to increase worldwide. Several novel agents with activity against BSI CR-Kp have been approved or are in late-stage clinical development. In this study, the antibacterial effects of ceftazidime/avibactam (CZA), aztreonam/avibactam (AZA), meropenem/vaborbactam (MEV), imipenem-cilastatin/relebactam (ICR) and eravacycline (ERV) against three colistin-resistant CR-Kp (COLR-Kp) and four CZA-resistant CR-Kp (CZAR-Kp) were tested by time-kill assay. Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC® BAA-1705TM was used as a control strain. Two COLR-Kp isolates carried the blaKPC-2 gene and four CAZR-Kp isolates carried metallo-β-lactamase genes. The results revealed that ERV resulted in re-growth of seven tested isolates. CZA and MEV showed a bactericidal effect against isolates harbouring blaKPC-2. ICR reduced the population of six isolates to >5 log10 CFU/mL compared with the initial count. AZA showed a bactericidal effect (>5 log10 CFU/mL) against seven isolates and a bacteriostatic effect (

Profiling of polyphenolics in four types of brown macroalgae, namely Laminaria japonica (L. japonica), Undaria pinnatifida (U. pinnatifida), Sargassum fusiforme (S. fusiforme), and Ascophyllum nodosum (A. nodosum), and their effect on oxidation resistance were investigated for the first time. Polyphenolic extracts from marine brown macroalgae were shown to effectively remove oxidants from cells and cellular systems. A. nodosum showed the highest antioxidant activity among evaluated brown macroalgae, showing a better scavenging effect on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and alleviating oxidative damage caused by hydrogen peroxide to human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cells. Through Q-Exactive HF-X mass spectrometry analysis, 12 polyphenolic compounds were preliminarily identified, including phlorotannins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. Significant differences in content and variety of polyphenolics were found in evaluated brown macroalgae, which could be related to differences in antioxidant activity in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, the antioxidant activity might be related to the total phenolic content and the types of polyphenolics, especially phlorotannins. The findings presented in this study indicate that A. nodosum could be used as an important substitute for functional ingredients in foods and pharmaceutical preparations, as well as a raw material for phlorotannins research.

Background 4-Hydroxyphenylacetic acid (4HPAA) is an important raw material for the synthesis of drugs, pesticides and biochemicals. Microbial biotechnology would be an attractive approach for 4HPAA production, and cofactors play an important role in biosynthesis. Results We developed a novel strategy called cofactor engineering based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat interference (CRISPRi) screening (CECRiS) for improving NADPH and/or ATP availability, enhancing the production of 4HPAA. All NADPH-consuming and ATP-consuming enzyme-encoding genes of E. coli were repressed through CRISPRi. After CRISPRi screening, 6 NADPH-consuming and 19 ATP-consuming enzyme-encoding genes were identified. The deletion of the NADPH-consuming enzyme-encoding gene yahK and the ATP-consuming enzyme-encoding gene fecE increased the production of 4HPAA from 6.32 to 7.76 g/L. Automatically downregulating the expression of the pabA gene using the Esa-PesaS quorum-sensing-repressing system further improved the production of 4HPAA. The final strain E. coli 4HPAA-∆yfp produced 28.57 g/L of 4HPAA with a yield of 27.64% (mol/mol) in 2-L bioreactor fed-batch fermentations. The titer and yield are the highest values to date. Conclusion This CECRiS strategy will be useful in engineering microorganisms for the high-level production of bioproducts.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, affecting over 700,000 people per year. The treatment effect in advanced HCC is still disappointing and prognosis of advanced HCC remains poor. Hence, to find more effective therapeutic targets to improve the treatment outcome of HCC is of urgent need. In this study, we reported the novel oncogenic function of SAAL1 (serum amyloid A-like 1) in HCC, which previously is considered as an inflammation-related gene. We found that SAAL1 was significantly upregulated in HCC tumor tissues when compared to the adjacent normal tissues and high expression of SAAL1 correlated with shorter overall survival in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) HCC database. Functionally, we showed that the depletion of SAAL1 significantly reduced cell proliferation, 3D colony formation, and migration/invasion abilities of HCC cancer cells. Furthermore, suppression of SAAL1 impaired the HGF/Met-driven Akt/mTOR phosphorylation cascade and increased the chemosensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib and foretinib treatment. Our data indicated that SAAL1 plays an important role in HCC via mediating oncogenic HGF/Met-driven Akt/mTOR signaling and could serve as an independent prognostic marker, as well as a promising therapeutic target for HCC patients.

BackgroundSalvianolate, a compound mainly composed of salvia magnesium acetate, is extracted from the Chinese herb Salvia miltiorrhiza. Because of its biological activity, easy quality control and certain efficacy, salvianolate is widely used in treating ischemic cardiocerebral vascular disease, liver damage, renal injury, diabetes, and its complications. Particularly, it has potential protective effects on diabetic nephropathy (DN).ObjectiveThis meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of salvianolate when combined with western medicine in patients affected with DN.MethodsWe searched Pubmed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data knowledge service platform (Wanfang Data), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and China Biology Medicine Disc (SinoMed) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of salvianolate in combination with western medicine on DN, including results from the foundation of each database until November 30, 2019. Two reviewers independently performed literature screening, data extraction, and quality evaluation. This meta-analysis was carried out using RevMan5.3 software.ResultsFrom the 12 RCTs, 1,030 patients from China were involved. Compared with single-use western medicine, the combination of salvianolate and western medicine for the treatment of DN could reduce levels of serum creatinine (Scr) [MD=−16.53, 95% CI (−28.79, −4.27), P=0.008], blood urea nitrogen (BUN) [MD=−1.40, 95% CI (−2.17, −0.62), P=0.0004], urinary albumin excretion rate (UARE) [SMD=−1.84, 95% CI (−2.70, −0.98), P < 0.0001], 24-hour urinary protein (24h Upro) [MD=–0.37, 95% CI (–0.47, –0.26), P < 0.00001], albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) [SMD=–1.43, 95% CI (–2.64, –0.23), P=0.02], hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) [MD=−5.69, 95% CI (−7.09, −4.29), P < 0.00001], interleukin-6 (IL-6) [MD=−12.53, 95% CI (−18.55, −6.52), P < 0.0001], malondialdehyde (MDA) [SMD=−2.05, 95% CI (−3.67, −0.43), P=0.01], as well as improve clinical efficacy [RR=1.21, 95% CI (1.12,1.31), P < 0.00001], and increase superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels [SMD=1.12, 95% CI (0.86,1.38), P < 0.00001]. No increase in the occurrence of serious adverse events were observed in the treatment group compared with the control group.ConclusionThis study indicated that salvianolate combined with western medicine contributes to protecting renal function, inhibiting inflammation, and exhibiting anti-oxidative properties, thereby improving clinical efficacy. Thus, salvianolate can be considered as a potential complementary therapy for DN patients. However, due to the low quality of methodology and small sample sizes, more rigorous and larger trials are essential to validate our results.

Aromatic compounds derived from aromatic amino acids are an important class of diverse chemicals with a wide range of industrial and commercial applications. They are currently produced via petrochemical processes, which are not sustainable and eco-friendly. In the past decades, significant progress has been made in the construction of microbial cell factories capable of effectively converting renewable carbon sources into value-added aromatics. Here, we systematically and comprehensively review the recent advancements in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology in the microbial production of aromatic amino acid derivatives, stilbenes, and benzylisoquinoline alkaloids. The future outlook concerning the engineering of microbial cell factories for the production of aromatic compounds is also discussed.

Herein, a novel fluorescence method is reported for the detection of T4 polynucleotide kinase (T4 PNK) based on a FRET between dye-labeled DNA and polydopamine nanotubes (PDANTs). PDANTs can bind and quench the fluorescent dye-labeled single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) probes, whereas they have low affinity towards double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). In the presence of T4 PNK and ATP, λ exonuclease initiated the hydrolysis of the 5-phosphoryl termini of dsDNA and released ssDNA, which could strongly adsorb on the PDANTs and decrease the fluorescence intensity; on the basis of this concept, we successfully established a method for the detection of T4 PNK. The method displayed the detection limit of 0.01 U mL−1 with a linear range from 0.01 to 50 U mL−1. In addition, we investigated the effect of several inhibitors including Na2HPO4, (NH4)2SO4 and NaCl. The method provides a platform for the detection of T4 PNK and evaluation of inhibitors.

In the present research, we produced porous silicon carbide (SiC) scaffolds with lamellar and uniformly distributed structures by unidirectional and quick freeze casting, respectively. Subsequently, we prepared the ZL205A/SiC composites with lamellar and uniformly distributed structures by infiltrating a molten ZL205A alloy into the porous SiC scaffolds. The influence of freezing speed on the damage-tolerance behavior and the toughening mechanism of the resultant composites were investigated. We found that because of multiple toughening mechanisms, the layered composites exhibited much higher strength and toughness as compared with the uniformly distributed composites. The lamellar composites manifested superior specific modulus and a unique combination of specific strength and toughness, which was comparable to those of titanium and magnesium alloys. We also observed that the thicknesses of alloy layers and SiC lamellae of the composites reduced with decreasing cooling temperature in freeze casting. Furthermore, the refinement of lamellae size at higher freezing speeds caused a decrease in the damage-tolerance ability of the composites because of weak toughening effect.

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a common chronic disease. Previous studies have shown a link between 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (vitamin D3) concentration and liver disease. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been attributed to the inappropriate functioning of cell-mediated immunity. However, the effects of vitamin D3, immune cell, and HBeAg status on HBV viral load in CHB patients are still unclear. We investigated the relationship between the serum concentration of vitamin D3, percentage of immune cells in peripheral blood, and the HBV viral load of CHB patients. Sixty CHB patients were recruited, and their blood samples were collected and analyzed. Vitamin D level was measured using a chemiluminescence assay. A level of 30 ng/mL or above was defined as a vitamin D3 sufficiency. We assigned vitamin D3 status as either normal (&ge, 30 ng/mL), insufficient (20&ndash, 30 ng/mL), or deficient (&lt, 20 ng/mL). T-lymphocyte and B-lymphocyte surface markers in peripheral blood were detected using flow cytometry. The factors associated with HBV viral load were analyzed using univariate and multivariate-adjusted models. The mean serum vitamin D3 concentration in the subjects was 20.9&plusmn, 5.6 ng/mL. Up to 88.3% of the patients were either deficient in or had insufficient vitamin D3. The gender, BMI, hepatitis B surface antigen levels, and ALT levels were significantly related to serum vitamin D3 levels. Serum vitamin D3 concentration, HBe status, HBs levels, ALT, and AST levels showed a statistically significant correlation with the HBV DNA levels. Serum vitamin D3 concentrations and hepatitis B surface antigen levels were strongly correlated with HBV DNA levels. Vitamin D3 levels were significantly associated with CD19 numbers (&beta, &minus, 6.2, 95% CI: &minus, 10.5). In multivariate analysis, vitamin D3 levels in the deficient and insufficient groups, and the CD8, HBeAg, and WBC counts were significantly associated with HBV DNA levels. In the immune tolerance phase of HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection, vitamin D3 may be a modulator of immune function via CD8, CD19, and HBV DNA.

Solanum nigrum L. (Longkui) is one the most widely used anticancer herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. α‑Solanine is an important ingredient of S. nigrum L. and has demonstrated anticancer properties in various types of cancer. However, the effects of α‑solanine on colorectal cancer remain elusive. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of α‑solanine on human colorectal cancer cells. The results demonstrated that α‑solanine inhibited the proliferation of RKO cells in a dose‑ and time‑dependent manner. In addition, α‑solanine arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase and suppressed the expression levels of cyclin D1 and cyclin‑dependent kinase 2 in RKO cells. α‑Solanine induced apoptosis of RKO cells, as indicated by morphological changes and positive Annexin‑FITC/propidium iodide staining. Additionally, α‑solanine activated caspase‑3, ‑8 and ‑9 in RKO cells, which contributed to α‑solanine‑induced apoptosis. α‑Solanine also increased the generation of reactive oxygen species, which contributed to caspase activation and induction of apoptosis. α‑Solanine inhibited the migration, invasion and adhesion of RKO cells, as well as the expression levels and activity of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‑2 and MMP‑9. In addition, α‑solanine inhibited cell proliferation, activated caspase‑3, ‑8 and ‑9, induced apoptosis, and inhibited the migration and invasion of HCT‑116 cells. Furthermore, α‑solanine inhibited tumor growth and induced apoptosis in vivo. These findings demonstrated that α‑solanine effectively suppressed the growth and metastatic potential of human colorectal cancer.

A novel technique termed cold sintering process (CSP) was introduced for the preparation of high-performance chitosan/hydroxyapatite bulk materials. The chitosan/hydroxyapatite nanocomposite powders were first synthesized by co-precipitation in an alkaline aqueous solution and then pressed at 100°C under 600 MPa to yield a relative density over 90%. The effects of key processing parameters including sintering temperature, pressure, dwelling time and composition on the densification behavior were investigated and the densification mechanisms were explored. The flexural and compressive strengths of the cold-sintered samples were significantly higher than those prepared by conventional cold pressing. Moreover, the cold-sintered samples showed good biological activity in a simulated body fluid environment. Overall, this work demonstrates that CSP is a simple yet effective and economical method for the development of high-performance organic/inorganic bio-composites.

Development of task-specific ionic liquids (TSILs) with delicately designed chemical functionalities allow selective chemisorption of specific gas components for separation applications based on membrane or sorbent systems. The present study explored syntheses of various types of TSILs for biomimetic dioxygen binding for room-temperature air separation. IL ligands composed of different combinations of phosphonium-type cations [PC1C2C3C4]+ (C1 = C2 = C3 = 2, 4, or 6; C4 = 5, 8, or 16) and anions including N-methylglycinate ([NmGly]−) or/and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide ([Tf2N]−) were synthesized and complexed with Co(II)salen to yield 11 TSIL samples. Material characterizations (NMR, CHN, FT-IR, and UV–vis) confirmed the formations of the expected material structures and the coordination bonds between IL ligands and Co(II) metal centers. The dioxygen sorption capacity and reversibility of the as-synthesized TSILs were investigated via both gravimetric and volumetric approaches under various gas sorpt...

The Tuwu porphyry copper deposit is located in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China. Lentiform-like ore bodies are hosted in the Early Carboniferous Qi'eshan group, and Cu mineralization shows a close association with tonalite porphyry. Porphyry and country rocks have undergone extensive potassic, chlorite-sericite, phyllic and propylitic alteration. The mineralized veins in the Tuwu deposit can be divided into: earlier quartz–biotite ± magnetite ± chalcopyrite veins (stage I), quartz–chalcopyrite ± bornite ± pyrite veins (stage II) and quartz ± molybdenite ± chalcopyrite ± pyrite ± calcite veins (stage III), and later calcite ± quartz veins (stage IV). The Stage II and III are the main Cu mineralization stages. At the Tuwu deposit, three types of fluid inclusions have been distinguished: liquid-rich (L-type), vapor-rich (V-type) and halite-bearing (S-type), respectively. Laser Raman spectra identified magnetite, hematite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite at S-type inclusions. The quartz veins in stage I and II contain all inclusion types. L-type and V-type inclusions are recognized in stage III quartz minerals, but only L-type inclusions are present in stage IV quartz minerals. Fluid inclusions in quartz of stage I, II, III and IV are characterized by homogenization temperature vary of 275–492 °C, 232–477 °C, 199–287 °C and 133–227 °C, with corresponding NaCl equiv. salinities of 2.2–58.7 wt% NaCl equiv., 1.4–58.3 wt% NaCl equiv., 1.1–6.0 wt% NaCl equiv., and 1.1–4.2 wt% NaCl equiv., respectively. Initial ore-forming fluids of the Tuwu deposit belong to relatively oxidized H2O-NaCl system with moderate-high temperature and salinity. Sulfur isotope data from chalcopyrite and pyrite suggest a magmatic source. Two types of chlorite (type 1 and type 2) are recognized based on the relationship with metal sulfides. Electron microprobe analysis shows that chlorites are plotted in ripidolite and pycnochlorite. Decreasing Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios of chlorites indicate that the meteoric water was involved in the magmatic water, combined with the positive correlation with AlIV, implying that the chlorite formed in a relatively reduced and acidic environment. The hydrothermal fluids in type 1 chlorite bring large quantities of reduced metallic minerals compared to the barren fluids in type 2 chlorite. The formation temperatures of chlorite are roughly coincident with the results that obtained from fluid inclusion studies, which show a decrease trend. Changes in temperature, redox, pH, and fluid-rock interaction likely play an important role in the transportation and precipitation of metal sulfides of the Tuwu deposit.

The Aktogai Group (more than 12.5Mt of Cu and 80t of Au) is located in the western part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The mineralization of the Aktogai deposit is associated with the Early Carboniferous tonalite porphyry which intruded into the Koldar complex. The ore-forming tonalite porphyry has higher oxygen fugacity and sulfur contents than those of wall rocks based on results of mineralogical chemistry analyses. Hydrothermal fluid activities result in the potassic, sericite(-chlorite) and propylitic alteration, and are associated with disseminated and/or vein mineralization. The alteration and mineralization include three stages. Potassic stage is characterized by hydrothermal K-feldspar, biotite, magnetite, “A” veins and disseminated mineralization. Sericite(-chlorite) stage that partly overprinted on potassic stage is characterized by sericite, chlorite, “C” veins and disseminated mineralization. Propylitic stage is characterized by chlorite, epidote and “C” veins, and develops in the tonalite porphyry and wall rocks. Five types of fluid inclusions have been recognized in the Aktogai deposit, including liquid-rich (L-type), vapor-rich (V-type), daughter mineral-bearing (S-type), CO2-bearing (C-type) and minor SO2-bearing fluid inclusions. In the potassic stage, ore-forming fluid belongs to H2O-NaCl-CO2 system with four types fluid inclusions, homogeneous temperatures and salinities of fluid inclusions are 320 °C to 448 °C and 0.35 wt% to 51.08 wt%, respectively. In the sericite(-chlorite) stage, the fluid belongs to H2O-NaCl-CO2 system with L-type, V-type and C-type fluid inclusions, homogeneous temperatures and salinities of fluid inclusions are 243 °C to 315 °C and 1.22 wt% to 13.27 wt%, respectively. In the propylitic stage, the fluid belongs to H2O-NaCl system with L-type and V-type fluid inclusions, homogeneous temperatures and salinities of fluid inclusions are 211 °C to 328 °C and 0.35 wt% to 11.46 wt%, respectively. A relatively negative δ34S‰ values (−4.61‰ to −3.18‰) indicate that the sulfur derived from a high oxygen fugacity magma. Decreases of the temperature, pressure and oxygen fugacity of the ore-forming fluid result in metal precipitation in the Aktogai deposit.

Catalpol, a major bioactive component from Rehmannia glutinosa, which has been used to treat diabetes. The present study was designed to elucidate the anti-diabetic effect and mechanism of action for catalpol in db/db mice. The db/db mice were randomly divided into six groups (10/group) according to their blood glucose levels: db/db control, metformin (positive control), and four dose levels of catalpol treatment (25, 50, 100, and 200 mg·kg-1), and 10 db/m mice were used as the normal control. All the groups were administered orally for 8 weeks. The levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), random blood glucose (RBG), glucose tolerance, insulin tolerance, and glycated serum protein (GSP) and the globe gene expression in liver tissues were analyzed. Our results showed that catalpol treatment obviously reduced water intake and food intake in a dose-dependent manner. Catalpol treatment also remarkably reduce fasting blood glucose (FBG) and random blood glucose (RBG) in a dose-dependent manner. The RBG-lowering effect of catalpol was better than that of metformin. Furthermore, catalpol significantly improved glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance via increasing insulin sensitivity. Catalpol treatment significantly decreased GSP level. The comparisons of gene expression in liver tissues among normal control mice, db/db mice and catalpol treated mice (200 and 100 mg·kg-1) indicated that there were significant increases in the expressions of 287 genes, whichwere mainly involved in lipid metabolism, response to stress, energy metabolism, and cellular processes, and significant decreases in the expressions of 520 genes, which were mainly involved in cell growth, death, immune system, and response to stress. Four genes expressed differentially were linked to glucose metabolism or insulin signaling pathways, including Irs1 (insulin receptor substrate 1), Idh2 (isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (NADP+), mitochondrial), G6pd2 (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase 2), and SOCS3 (suppressor of cytokine signaling 3). In conclusion, catalpol ecerted significant hypoglycemic effect and remarkable therapeutic effect in db/db mice via modulating various gene expressions.

Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common disease, which involves a disruption of the skin barrier function. Skin ceramide (CER) composition, which plays crucial roles in maintaining the barrier function of the stratum corneum, is changed in patients with AD. Objective The aim of this study was to identify and quantify skin CER subclasses in association with disease severity in pediatric patients with AD. Methods Two hundred thirteen patients were entered into the observational study. We compared their CER profiles using normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with dynamic multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry. Results In total, 12 subclasses of CERs were identified. We found that 2 subclasses, that is, CER[AS] and CER[NS], were elevated (P = 0.007 and 0.012, respectively) and correlated with Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (P = 0.004 and 0.004, respectively). Conclusions Skin CER abundances are changed in children with AD compared with control subjects.

To develop new conjugated polymers (CPs) based on heteroepines, a soluble azepine moiety of benzo [d]-dithieno [3,2-b; 2′,3′-f]azepine was copolymerized with different building blocks to obtain a series of CPs. A broad absorption range of 300–850 nm and the desired optical bandgaps (1.54–2.42 eV) are easily accessible by varying different copolymerization units. The HOMO levels of polymers are observed as an almost identical value of −5.21 eV and the LUMO levels range from −2.82 to −3.52 eV. Polymer solar cells (PSCs) with these polymers as donor materials were fabricated to explore application potentials in organic photovoltaics. Preliminary study exhibits the best power conversion efficiency of 1.28% for PSCs based on these polymers with a relatively high Voc of 0.84 V. Although photovoltaic performance of these new polymers is not as high as our expected, the first daring attempt provides some good references to expand application fields of azepine-based polymers.

Aescin, a natural mixture of triterpene saponins, has been reported to exert anticancer effect. Recent studies show that aescin increases intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. However, whether the increased ROS play a role in the anticancer action of aescin remains to be explored. In this study, we demonstrated that aescin (20-80 μg/mL) dose-dependently induced apoptosis and activated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-independent autophagy in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and colon carcinoma HCT 116 cells. The activation of autophagy favored cancer cell survival in response to aescin, as suppression of autophagy with ATG5 siRNAs or 3-methyladenine (3-MA), a selective inhibitor of autophagy, promoted aescin-induced apoptosis in vitro, and significantly enhanced the anticancer effect of aescin in vivo. Meanwhile, aescin dose-dependently elevated intracellular ROS levels and activated Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated kinase/AMP-activated protein kinase/UNC-51-like kinase-1 (ATM/AMPK/ULK1) pathway. The ROS and ATM/AMPK/ULK1 pathway were upstream modulators of the aescin-induced autophagy, as N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) or ATM kinase inhibitor (KU-55933) remarkably suppressed aescin-induced autophagy and consequently promoted aescin-induced apoptosis, whereas overexpression of ATG5 partly attenuated NAC-induced enhancement in aescin-induced apoptosis. In conclusion, this study provides new insights into the roles of aescin-mediated oxidative stress and autophagy in cancer cell survival. Our results suggest that combined administration of the antioxidants or autophagic inhibitors with aescin might be a potential strategy to enhance the anticancer effect of aescin.

A simple and new A-π-D-π-A small molecule denoted as STFTYT was designed and synthesized employing spiro[cyclopenta[1,2-b:5,4-b′]dithiophene-4,9′-fluorene] (STF) as the central donor (D) unit, ethylhexylthiophene as the π-conjugated bridge, indenedione as the acceptor (A) unit, for application as an electron donor material in solution-processable organic solar cells (OSCs). Results demonstrate that the target material exhibits an incredibly broad absorption extended to 813 nm, a small bandgap of 1.53 eV, and a low-lying HOMO energy level of −5.26 eV. Theory calculations reveal that the shortened π-bridge is beneficial to improving molecular planarity and enhancing the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) effect between the donor and acceptor groups, and ultimately contributing to a broad absorption and small bandgap. Bulk-heterojunction OSCs based on STFTYT as donor and PC71BM as acceptor were prepared and the photovoltaic properties were optimized. A considerable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.17% was achieved along with an extremely high open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.97 V and a very low energy loss (Eloss) of 0.56 eV.

We have synthesized two photovoltaic molecules (HEX-3TVT-ID and EH-3TVT-ID) based on vinylene-bridged oligothiophene applied as donor for the solution-processable bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs). Vinylene unit was introduced as π-bridge in the oligothiophenes with 1,3-indenedione as end group and 4,4′-dihexyl-2,2′:5′,2′-terthiophene or 3′,4′-di(octan-3-yl)-2,2′:5′,2′-terthiophene as core, respectively. Due to the different substituent positions of the alkyl group relative to the vinylene unit in the terthiophene, HEX-3TVT-ID and EH-3TVT-ID show different optical and electrochemical properties, corresponding to the photovoltaic performance of the OSCs devices. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the OSCs based on a blend of HEX-3TVT-ID and PC71BM (1:0.8, weight ratio, 0.5% CN) reached 2.3%. In comparison, the OSCs based on the blend of EH-3TVT-ID and PC71BM in the weight ratio of 1:1 without the additive show a higher PCE of 2.7%, with a typically high VOC of 0.93 V, under the illumination of AM 1.5, 100 mW cm−2.

Electron transporting layers (ETLs) existing between active layers and an electrode play a critical role in improving the performance parameters of polymer solar cells (PSCs). Traditional wide bandgap semiconductor metal oxides as ETLs usually require high temperature fabrication process, which is incompatible with flexible substrates as well as roll-to-roll manufacturing technology. Herein, we demonstrate high-efficiency PSCs with integrated low temperature solution-processed tin dioxide (SnO2) nanocrystals and a poly-[(9,9-bis(3′-(N,N-dimethylamino)propyl)-2,7-fluorene)-alt-2,7-(9,9-dioctylfluorene)] (PFN) stacked structure as an ETL with excellent photoelectric performance. A combination of characterizations including ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, transient photovoltage and transient photocurrent measurements, and impedance spectroscopy were used to systematically study the interfacial effects induced by the SnO2/PFN ETL. It shows that SnO2 nanocrystals can serve as an efficient electron-selective buffer except for an unmatched energy level, while the PFN interlayer can intentionally reduce the energy misalignment of devices through forming dipoles at the interface and effectively reduce the work function. With these dual functions, the-state of the-art PSCs based on SnO2/PFN outperform those based on SnO2-only in power conversion efficiency, from 4.31% to 11.05%. We believe that the SnO2/PFN bilayer structure integrating the function of enhanced electron extraction and reduced charge recombination can be applied to produce higher performance devices by using a low temperature solution-processed technique.

Estuarine oxygen depletion is one of the worldwide problems, which is caused by the freshwater-input-derived severe stratification and high nutrients loading. In this study we presented the horizontal and vertical distributions of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the Pearl River estuary, together with temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a concentration and heterotrophic bacteria abundance obtained from two cruises during the summer (wet) and winter (dry) periods of 2015. In surface water, the DO level in the summer period was lower and varied greater, as compared to the winter period. The DO remained unsaturated in the summer period if salinity is 12; while in the winter period it remained saturated throughout the estuary. In subsurface (>5m) water, the DO level varied from 0.71 to 6.65mgL-1 and from 6.58 to 8.20mgL-1 in the summer and winter periods, respectively. Particularly, we observed an area of ~1500km2 low DO zone in the subsurface water with a threshold of 4mgDOL-1 during this summer period, that located at the fresh- and saline-water intersection where is characterized with severe stratification and high heterotrophic bacteria abundance. In addition, our results indicate that spatial DO variability in surface water was contributed differently by biological and physio-chemical variables in the summer and winter periods, respectively.

In this work, we report a supramolecular polymer based on the host–guest interaction between β-cyclodextrin groups in β-CD-PEG and azobenzene groups in PAE-g-Azo. The supramolecular polymer PAE-g-Azo@β-CD-PEG could self-assemble into a regular nanostructure in aqueous solution due to its proper amphiphilicity. Benefiting from the pH-responsiveness of PAE and the photo-responsive trans-to-cis isomerization of Azo, the supramolecular assemblies apparently show pH and photo responsive properties. Furthermore, the combination of the pH regulation and the irradiation of UV light or visible light induced the recurrent disassembly and reassembly of the supramolecular polymer. This dual-responsive supramolecular polymer has great prospects in various practical applications such as intelligent nanomaterials and nanotechnology.

A star-shaped organic molecule (TPA-bHTV-DT) with triphenylamine (TPA), 4,4′-dihexyl-2,2′-bithiophenevinylene (bHTV) and 1,3-diethyl-2-thiobarbituric acid has been synthesized. TPA-bHTV-DT film shows a broad absorption from 400 nm to 700 nm in the visible range. The solution-processable organic solar cells based on a blend of TPA-bHTV-DT and [6,6]-phenyl-C-71-butyric acid methyl ester (1:3, w/w) exhibited a power conversion efficiency of 3.07%, with a short-circuit current density of 7.87 mA·cm− 2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.92 V and a fill factor of 42.4%.