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Chemical and physical properties of nanobio interface substantially affect the conformational transitions of adjacent biomolecules. Previous studies have reported the chiral effect and charge effect of nanobio interface on the misfolding, aggregation, and fibrillation of amyloid protein. However, the isomeric effect of nanobio interface on protein/peptides amyloidosis is still unclear. Here, three isomeric nanobio interfaces were designed and fabricated based on the same sized gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) modified with 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA), 3-mercaptobenzoic acid (m-MBA), and 2-mercaptobenzoic acid (o-MBA). Then three isomeric AuNCs were employed as models to explore the isomeric effect on the misfolding, aggregation, and fibrillation of Aβ40 at nanobio interfaces. Site-specific replacement experiments on the basis of theoretical analysis revealed the possible mechanism of Aβ40 interacting with isomeric ligands of AuNCs at the nanobio interfaces. The distance and orientation of -COOH group from the surface of AuNCs can affect the electrostatic interaction between isomeric ligands and the positively charged residues (R5, K16, and K28) of Aβ40, which may affect the inhibition efficiency of isomeric AuNCs on protein amyloidosis. Actually, the amyloid fibrillation kinetics results together with atomic force microscope (AFM) images, dynamic light scattering (DLS) results and circular dichroism (CD) spectra indeed proved that all the three isomeric AuNCs could inhibit the misfolding, aggregation and fibrillation of Aβ40 in a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibition efficiency was definitely different from each other. The inhibition efficiency of o-MBA-AuNCs was higher than that of m-MBA-AuNCs and p-MBA-AuNCs at the same dosage. These results provide an insight for isomeric effect at nanobio interfaces, and open an avenue for structure-based nanodrug design target Alzheimer's disease (AD) and even other protein conformational diseases.

The misfolding and abnormal amyloid fibrillation of proteins/peptides are associated with more than 20 human diseases. Although dozens of nanoparticles have been investigated for the inhibition effect on the misfolding and fibrillation of pathogenesis-related proteins/peptides, there are few reports on charge effects of nano inhibitors on amyloid fibrillation. Herein, same-sized gold nanoclusters modified with 2-aminoethanethiol hydrochloride (CSH-AuNCs, positively charged in pH 7.4) or 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA-AuNCs, negatively charged in pH 7.4) were synthesized and adopted as models to explore the charge effect of nano inhibitors on amylin fibrillation at the nano-bio interface. ThT fluorescence kinetics analysis, AFM images and circular dichroism (CD) spectra showed that electropositive CSH-AuNCs inhibited the misfolding and fibrillation of amylin in a dosage-dependent manner, but electronegative MPA-AuNCs accelerated the misfolding and fibrillation of amylin in a dosage-dependent manner. Moreover, the theoretical and experimental results revealed the interaction mechanism between amylin and ligands of AuNCs at the nano-bio interfaces. Electropositive CSH-AuNCs could be bound to the main nucleating region of amylin via hydrogen bonding and endowed the nanocomplex with more positive net charges (amylin monomer with a positive +26.23 ± 0.80 mV zeta potential), which would inhibit the misfolding and aggregation of amylin via electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance. In contrast, electronegative MPA-AuNCs could absorb electropositive amylin via strong electrostatic attractions, which accelerated the fibrillation process of amylin via enhancing local concentrations. Moreover, cell experiments showed that both the charged AuNCs had good biocompatibility and electronegetive MPA-AuNCs showed a better protective effect in the amylin-induced cell model than electropositive CSH-AuNCs. These results provide an insight into structure-based nanodrug design for protein conformational diseases.

1. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of acute heat stress on serum hormone levels and the expression of genes and proteins related to the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway and apoptotic process in the liver of broilers.2. A total of 144 Arbor Acres broilers (35-day-old) were randomly allocated to four different environmental-controlled chambers for acute heat exposure. The temperature of the four environmental chambers was adjusted to 26℃ (control), 29℃, 32℃, and 35℃ within one hour, respectively. The blood and liver samples were collected after six hours of constant heat exposure at set temperatures.3. The results showed that six hours of acute heat stress increased serum hormone levels and up-regulated the expression of heat shock protein. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers, GRP78 and GRP94 in the liver of broilers were significantly upregulated at the mRNA and protein levels. The PERK, IRE1, and XBP1 genes, which are involved in the unfolded protein response signalling, were significantly up-regulated at the mRNA levels. However, other pro-apoptotic genes showed no significant changes in the liver of broiler chickens in all groups except for upregulation of the anti-apoptotic gene BCL-xl.4. The results suggested that broilers have tolerance to acute heat stress to a certain extent. The UPR activation can alleviate ER stress and further prevent apoptosis in the liver of broilers under short-term exposure to high ambient temperatures.

The urgent need to understand the origin of chirality in a diverse scale has evoked a tremendous number of investigations for the control of metal nanoparticle self-aggregates and their tuning of s...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and analyse the clinical and immunological features of patients with myositis complicated with thromboembolism. METHODS: We identified a cohort of 390 myositis patients diagnosed with myositis admitted to People's Hospital of Peking University from 2003 to 2019. The patients were retrospectively enrolled in this investigation. According to the outcome of the color Doppler ultrasound, CT pulmonary angiography, pulmonary ventilation and perfusion scan patients were divided into myositis with and without thromboembolism group. Demographic, clinical (heliotrope rash, Gottron's sign/papules, periungual erythema, skin ulceration, subcutaneous calcinosis, Mechanic's hands, myalgia, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension), laboratory, immunological [anti-autoantibodies including melanoma differentiation associated gene 5 (anti-MDA5), anti-Mi-2, anti-transcription intermediary factor-1γ (anti-TIF-1γ, anti-nuclear matrix protein 2 (anti-NXP2), anti-small ubiquitin-like modifier activating enzyme (anti-SAE), anti-synthetase], imaging and therapeutic status data of the patients at the diagnosis of myositis with and without thromboembolism were collected and the differences in these data were analyzed. Logistic regressive analysis was used to identify the risk factors of thromboembolism. RESULTS: In the retrospective study, 390 myositis patients were investigated. The mean age of onset was (49.6±13.4) years, male to female ratio was 0.31 :1. Thromboembolism was identified in 4.62% (18/390) of the myositis patients, which was lower than the published reports. Out of 18 patients with thromboembolism, 55.6% (10/18) of them were deep venous thrombosis, followed by cerebral infarction (22.2%, 4/18), pulmonary embolism (11.1%, 2/18), renal artery embolism (5.6%, 1/18) and embolism of upper extremity (5.6%, 1/18). Fifty percent of thromboembolism events occurred 6 months after the diagnosis of myositis, 38.9% of thromboembolism events occurred 6 months within the diagnosis of myositis, 11.1% of thromboembolism events occurred 6 months before the diagnosis of myositis. As compared with the myositis patients without thromboembolism, the myositis patients complicated with thromboembolism were older [(58.3±11.7) years vs. (49.3±13.4) years, P=0.006]. C-reaction protein (CRP) (12.2 mg/L vs. 4.1 mg/L, P < 0.001), ferritin (20 085.5 μg/L vs. 216.6 μg/L, P < 0.001) and D-dimer (529.0 μg/L vs. 268.0 μg/L, P=0.002) were significantly higher in thromboembolism group. Diabetes (44.4% vs. 16.4%, P=0.006), coronary heart disease (22.2% vs. 3.0%, P=0.003) and surgery (16.7% vs. 3.5%, P=0.032) were observed more common in thromboembolism group than those without thromboembolism. Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (26.9 s vs. 28.7 s, P=0.049) and albumin (32.4 g/L vs. 36.5 g/L, P=0.002) was lower in thromboembolism group. The risk factors of thromboembolism in the myositis patients were low level of albumin (OR=0.831, 95%CI: 0.736-0.939, P=0.003), diabetes (OR=4.468, 95%CI: 1.382-14.448, P=0.012), and coronary heart disease (OR=22.079, 95%CI: 3.589-135.837, P=0.001) were independent significant risk factors for thromboembolism in the patients with myositis. There was no significant difference in clinical manifestations, myositis-specific antibodies or myositis-associated antibodies between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Thromboembolism is a complication of myositis. Lower levels of albumin, diabetes, and coronary heart disease might be risk factors of thromboembolism in myositis patients.

High purity $$\hbox {In}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ nanopowders were subjected to different thermal treatments to investigate the role of defects on the lattice thermal conductivity. The powders were first treated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at $$700\,^{\circ}\hbox {C}$$ and annealed in air between 700 and $$1300\,^{\circ}\hbox {C}$$ . X-ray diffraction measurements show that the samples are single phase, and the diffraction peaks become sharper with increasing of annealing temperature, indicating improvement in crystallinity and increase in grain size. The $$\hbox {In}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ nanopowders were also treated by SPS sintering at different temperatures without subsequent annealing. On the contrary, the average grain size of $$\hbox {In}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ treated by SPS has no obvious change with the increase in sintering temperatures. Positron annihilation measurements reveal large amounts of monovacancies and vacancy clusters in the $$\hbox {In}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ nanocrystals. The monovacancies gradually recover and the vacancy clusters transform into smaller vacancies with increasing annealing or sintering temperatures. The lattice thermal conductivity increases with the increase in annealing or sintering temperature, which shows close correlation with the recovery of vacancy defects after heat treatment. This gives us strong evidence that vacancy defects play an important role on the suppression of lattice thermal conductivity in nanostructured thermoelectric materials.

Due to the ultrawide bandgap (4.9 eV), high carrier mobility (300 cm2V−1s−1), and high thermal stability, β−Ga2O3 can be a potential candidate for high-temperature thermoelectric materials. However, the intrinsically high thermal conductivity may hinder its application for thermoelectric conversion. In this work, porous β−Ga2O3 was prepared by the solvothermal method together with spark plasma sintering technology. Positron lifetime measurement and N2 adsorption confirm the introduction of pores by adding sucrose in the sample preparation. The sucrose-derived β−Ga2O3 sintered at a relatively low temperature of 600 °C remains highly porous, which results in an extremely low thermal conductivity of 0.45 W m−1K−1 at room temperature, and it further decreases to 0.29 W m−1K−1 at 600 °C. This is the lowest thermal conductivity for β−Ga2O3 reported so far. Our work provides an avenue to reduce the thermal conductivity for β−Ga2O3 and is believed to be widely applicable to many other thermoelectric materials.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of viscosity and fermentability of purified nonstarch polysaccharides (NSP) on intestinal nutrient and energy flow and hindgut fermentation in growing pigs. In Exp. 1, 15 ileal-cannulated pigs (50.5 ± 2.9 kg BW) were allotted to 5 diets in a 2-period incompletely randomized design. Pigs were provided a cornstarch N-free diet (CST) or a diet containing 5% inulin (INU), carboxymethylcellulose sodium (CMC), microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), or Solka-Floc (SFC). Apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of DM, ash, and GE were greater ( < 0.05) in the MCC and SFC diets than in the INU and CMC diets. Apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of DM, carbohydrates (CHO), and GE and the DE content in the CST and INU diets were greater ( < 0.01) than in the CMC, MCC, and SFC diets. Hindgut disappearance of DM, CHO, and GE in the INU diet was greater ( < 0.05) than in the other N-free diets. The ileal endogenous flow of His, Ile, Leu, Met, Thr, Val, and all dispensable AA in the CMC diet was greater ( < 0.05) than in the other diets. In Exp. 2, 6 ileal-cannulated pigs were allotted to 3 diets containing either a corn-soybean meal control diet or the control diet with 5% INU or CMC in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design. Standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of Ala, Arg, Asp, Cys, Gly, His, Ile, Leu, Lys, Phe, Ser, Thr, and Val were greater ( < 0.05) in the CMC diet than in the control and INU diets. Incorporation of 5% INU or CMC in the control diet reduced ( < 0.01) the AID of arabinoxylan and insoluble and total NSP. The ATTD of NSP and cellulose and the hindgut disappearance of NSP, β-glucan, and cellulose in the CMC diet were less ( < 0.01) than in the control and INU diets. Inclusion of 5% INU in the diet increased ( < 0.01) hindgut fermentation of insoluble and total NSP compared with the control and CMC diets. In conclusion, depending on the viscosity and fermentability of the NSP, different sources will have different effects on nutrient digestibility and hindgut fermentation. Addition of 5% INU to a corn-soybean meal diet reduced digestibility of the NSP component in the ileum and increased hindgut fermentation of total NSP. In contrast, the inclusion of CMC increased the AID and SID of the diet and reduced total tract digestion and hindgut fermentation of NSP component. Carboxymethylcellulose sodium is not recommended as a source of synthetic fiber in a N-free diet to determine the SID of AA of diets.

The misfolding, aggregation and fibrillation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) has been acknowledged as a hallmark event in type-II diabetes. Hence, inhibiting the misfolding, aggregation and fibrillation of hIAPP have been accepted as a vital factor to treat the disease. Here cichoric acid was extracted from witloof to explore its inhibition effects on misfolding, aggregation and fibrillation of hIAPP. Thioflavin-T (ThT) fluorescence assay, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images showed that cichoric acid inhibited the aggregation and fibrillation of hIAPP in a dosage-dependent manner. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra showed that cichoric acid inhibited the misfolding of hIAPP from unfolded to β-sheet. Molecular docking and further experiments revealed interactions between hIAPP and cichoric acid. Cichoric acid could bind to K1 and R11 of hIAPP via electrostatic interaction. In addition, cichoric acid could form π-π stacking with hIAPP residues F15 and F23. These interactions inhibited the misfolding, aggregation and fibrillation of hIAPP. These results, together with cichoric acid's good cytocompatibility and significant protective effects in hIAPP lesioned cell models, not only showed that cichoric acid could be used to fight against amyloidosis, but also brought a new perspective for Chinese herbal medicine as natural compound's medical potential.

Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs) are negative regulators of the cell cycle. They can bind to cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-cyclin complexes and inhibit CDK activities. We identified a single homologous gene of the CDK interacting protein/kinase inhibitory protein (Cip/Kip) family, BmCKI, in the silkworm, Bombyx mori. The gene transcribes two splice variants: a 654-bp-long BmCKI-L (the longer splice variant) encoding a protein with 217 amino acids and a 579-bp-long BmCKI-S (the shorter splice variant) encoding a protein with 192 amino acids. BmCKI-L and BmCKI-S contain the Cip/Kip family conserved cyclin-binding domain and the CDK-binding domain. They are localized in the nucleus and have an unconventional bipartite nuclear localization signal at amino acid residues 181-210. Overexpression of BmCKI-L or BmCKI-S affected cell cycle progression; the cell cycle was arrested in the first gap phase of cell cycle (G1). RNA interference of BmCKI-L or BmCKI-S led to cells accumulating in the second gap phase and the mitotic phase of cell cycle (G2/M). Both BmCKI-L and BmCKI-S are involved in cell cycle regulation and probably have similar effects. The transgenic silkworm with BmCKI-L overexpression (BmCKI-L-OE), exhibited embryonic lethal, larva developmental retardation and lethal phenotypes. These results suggest that BmCKI-L might regulate the growth and development of silkworm. These findings clarify the function of CKIs and increase our understanding of cell cycle regulation in the silkworm.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of viscosity and fermentability of purified nonstarch polysaccharides (NSP) on intestinal nutrient and energy flow and hindgut fermentation in growing pigs. In Exp. 1, 15 ileal-cannulated pigs (50.5 ± 2.9 kg BW) were allotted to 5 diets in a 2-period incompletely randomized design. Pigs were provided a cornstarch N-free diet (CST) or a diet containing 5% inulin (INU), carboxymethylcellulose sodium (CMC), microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), or Solka-Floc (SFC). Apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of DM, ash, and GE were greater (P < 0.05) in the MCC and SFC diets than in the INU and CMC diets. Apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of DM, carbohydrates (CHO), and GE and the DE content in the CST and INU diets were greater (P < 0.01) than in the CMC, MCC, and SFC diets. Hindgut disappearance of DM, CHO, and GE in the INU diet was greater (P < 0.05) than in the other N-free diets. The ileal endogenous flow of His, Ile, Leu, Met, Thr, Val, and all dispensable AA in the CMC diet was greater (P < 0.05) than in the other diets. In Exp. 2, 6 ileal-cannulated pigs were allotted to 3 diets containing either a corn–soybean meal control diet or the control diet with 5% INU or CMC in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design. Standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of Ala, Arg, Asp, Cys, Gly, His, Ile, Leu, Lys, Phe, Ser, Thr, and Val were greater (P < 0.05) in the CMC diet than in the control and INU diets. Incorporation of 5% INU or CMC in the control diet reduced (P < 0.01) the AID of arabinoxylan and insoluble and total NSP. The ATTD of NSP and cellulose and the hindgut disappearance of NSP, β-glucan, and cellulose in the CMC diet were less (P < 0.01) than in the control and INU diets. Inclusion of 5% INU in the diet increased (P < 0.01) hindgut fermentation of insoluble and total NSP compared with the control and CMC diets. In conclusion, depending on the viscosity and fermentability of the NSP, different sources will have different effects on nutrient digestibility and hindgut fermentation. Addition of 5% INU to a corn–soybean meal diet reduced digestibility of the NSP component in the ileum and increased hindgut fermentation of total NSP. In contrast, the inclusion of CMC increased the AID and SID of the diet and reduced total tract digestion and hindgut fermentation of NSP component. Carboxymethylcellulose sodium is not recommended as a source of synthetic fiber in a N-free diet to determine the SID of AA of diets.

Thermoelectric Zn4Sb3 prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) method has been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and positron annihilation spectroscopy. A reversible structural transformation between β-Zn4Sb3 and ZnSb was confirmed by XRD measurements. It was found that the as-milled powder is composed of the pure β-Zn4Sb3 phase, but after SPS, one side of the sintered sample changes to the ZnSb phase. Upon annealing at 300 °C, the ZnSb phase converts back to β-Zn4Sb3 phase. During these phase transition processes, Zn migration driven by direct current and Zn diffusion activated by annealing play important roles. Another interesting finding is that excess Zn can suppress the decomposition of β-Zn4Sb3 into ZnSb and Zn. Positron annihilation lifetime measurements confirm that the diffusion of Zn introduces large amounts of vacancy clusters in the ZnSb-side, and most of them are recovered when the ZnSb phase converts back to β-Zn4Sb3 due to the migration of Zn driven by annealing. The positron lifetime results further show the acceleration of Zn migration at about 150 °C. The existence of Zn vacancies is also observed in the β-Zn4Sb3 structure.

Clathrate Ba 6 Ge 25 is prepared by melt method and spark plasma sintering. Structural transition below room temperature is studied by positron annihilation and X-ray diffraction measurements. There is a pronounced transition in the temperature range of 200–250 K which might be involved with the movement of Ba atoms in Ge cages and result in disordered structure. This transition is further confirmed by the theoretical calculation of positron annihilation states. Thus our results confirm the structural models proposed by Carrillo-Cabrera et al. (2005). The measured specific heat capacity, electric resistivity and magnetic susceptibility all show anomalous transition in the same temperature range, indicating that the movement of Ba atoms in the cage has influence on the thermal, electric as well as magnetic properties of Ba 6 Ge 25 .

In this work, Bi2Te3 nanocrystals were synthesized via a hydrothermal method. They were treated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 350 °C and further annealed between 350 and 500 °C. The crystal structures and morphologies of these annealed Bi2Te3 samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurements. SEM observation indicates an obvious increase of particle size with increasing annealing temperature, but the grain size estimated from HRTEM observation and the broadening of X-ray diffraction lines show little change in the annealing temperature range between 350 and 500 °C. Positron annihilation lifetime measurements reveal vacancy defects in all of the samples, which exist most probably in the grain boundary region. The average positron lifetime shows a monotonic decrease from 301 to 273 ps with increasing annealing temperatures up to 500 °C. Detailed analysis of the positron lifetime indicates ...

High-performance thermoelectric BiCuSeO ceramics have been prepared by solid state reaction combined with plasma activated sintering (PAS). Phase compositional and microstructural studies indicate composites having refined grain sizes (600–700 nm) with nanostructured ZnSe secondary phase. Our results reveal that Zn doping can lead to a large change in the carrier concentration (from 0.036 × 1020 cm−3 to 1.50 × 1020 cm−3), thus resulting in an increased electrical conductivity of three orders of magnitude at room temperature. The highest power factor of 4.21 µWcm−1K−2 at 873 K has been achieved by 10% Zn doping. On the other hand, the lattice thermal conductivity has been suppressed significantly due to refined grains, point defects and the nano-inclusions of ZnSe phase. The dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) could reach up to 0.90 at 873 K in the BiCuSeO oxyselenides by the 10% Zn doping, which makes Zn-doped BiCuSeO to be a promising candidate for thermoelectric applications.

Two mesoporous In 2 O 3 were prepared with different pore size by using KIT-6 template synthesized at temperature of 50 ° C and 100 ∘ C (designated as 50 ° C– In 2 O 3 and 100 ∘ C– In 2 O 3 ), respectively. Small angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscope measurements all confirm ordered pore structure in the synthesized In 2 O 3 . N 2 adsorption/desorption analysis indicates that the pore size in these two In 2 O 3 is about 11.06 nm and 8.737 nm, respectively. Positron lifetime measurements suggest existence of both micropores and mesopores in the porous In 2 O 3 samples, and the mesopore size in 100 ∘ C– In 2 O 3 is smaller than that in 50 ∘ C– In 2 O 3 . The porosity of 50 ° C– In 2 O 3 and 100 ∘ C– In 2 O 3 is about 44% and 40%, respectively. Comparing with the bulk In 2 O 3 obtained by SPS sintering of the commercial In 2 O 3 nanopowders at high temperature of 900 ∘ C, the thermal conductivity of porous In 2 O 3 decreases by more than an order of magnitude. For the 100 ∘ C– In 2 O 3 , the thermal conductivity is as low as 0.58 W m − 1 K − 1 at room temperature of 25 ∘ C, which is below the amorphous limit. On the other hand, the electrical conductivity of the porous In 2 O 3 is deteriorated by the pore structure, but it is partially compensated by the increase of Seebeck coefficient. The overall ZT factor increases to higher than 0.08 at 300 ∘ C for 50 ∘ C– In 2 O 3 , which is almost three times that of the bulk In 2 O 3 .

In this study, polycrystalline SnSe was synthesized via a rapid, cost-effective, and large-scale synthesis route. The obtained SnSe powders were pressed into pellets via spark plasma sintering (SPS) at different temperatures. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to characterize the crystal structures and morphology of the SnSe samples. The XRD results indicate that the orientation factors increase monotonously with the increase of sintering temperature. The FESEM images show that sintering temperatures have no obvious influence on the particle size. Positron annihilation measurements indicate that vacancy defects exist in all the sintered SnSe samples, and they recover gradually with increasing sintering temperatures. These vacancy defects are responsible for the lower lattice thermal conductivity in samples sintered at lower temperatures. The electrical conductivity, power factor, thermal conductivity, and figure of merit ZT show nearly the same variation trend, which increases initially with the increasing sintering temperature up to 550 °C then decreases with further increase of the sintering temperature, which is possibly due to slight oxidation of SnSe. A maximum ZT value of ∼0.47 at 430 °C was achieved for the 550 °C sintered sample, which is higher than those reported for undoped polycrystalline SnSe around this temperature. Thus, we provide a simple, energy-saving, and effective method to synthesize polycrystalline SnSe in large quantities, and SPS is an effective method to optimize thermoelectric performance.

Ammonia in poultry houses not only affects worker health but also induces a variety of poultry diseases. Alpha-lipoic acid (LA) is an effective antioxidant that protects cells against oxidative injury during various toxic and pathological processes. This study was designed to evaluate the mitigating effects of LA supplementation on ammonia stress and hepatic proteome changes in broilers. Male broilers (22 d old) were allocated to 3 groups: (1) a control group without ammonia stress (CTRL); (2) exposure to 70 ppm ammonia (AM); and (3) exposure to 70 ppm ammonia and dietary administration of 300 mg/kg LA (AM+LA). Ammonia exposure significantly decreased broiler growth performance and plasma glutathione peroxidase activity (P 0.05), and increased plasma malondialdehyde content and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase activity (P 0.05). These negative effects were eliminated by LA supplementation. Comparative proteomic analyses revealed 291 differentially expressed proteins in the AM group compared to the CTRL and AM+LA groups. A total of 30 proteins were differentially expressed between the AM/CTRL and (AM+LA)/AM groups. The addition of LA restored 24 of these proteins to control levels; these proteins were mainly related to transcription regulation, detoxification, protein translation and degradation, and immune and stress responses. The differentially expressed proteins included the high mobility group box (HMGB) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), which is closely related to immune response and oxidative stress, and collagens, which are implicated in liver injury. The addition of LA to broiler diet may reduce ammonia toxicity by maintaining the antioxidant system, xenobiotic metabolism, and metabolic pathways.

The new antifungal agents provide further opportunities for effective prophylaxis for fungal infections during stem cell transplantation for patients with hematologic malignancies; however, the efficacy of these antifungal prophylactic drugs has not yet been established. This study was to compare the newer antifungal agents micafungin and voriconazole for prophylaxis effects on the clinical outcomes.We electronically searched the database of Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Pubmed, EMbase, and relevant database articles (1996.01-2013.12). Comparative studies were carried out on proved fungal infections, mortality, and adverse effects. Meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager 5.1.6 software and the funnel plot regression was adopted to assess the publication bias.We found 1508 records and 13 studies totaling 3767 patients included in analyses. Pooled comparisons of studies found that antifungal prophylaxis with the new agents does reduce the incidence of invasive fungal infections than fluconazole or itraconazole. The reduction in invasive fungal infections was achieved by using micafungin, voriconazole for antifungal prophylaxis. Using voriconazole prophylaxis can decrease the transplant mortality compared with fluconazole or itraconazole prophylaxis. Voriconazole had higher rates of liver dysfunction, lower gastrointestinal side effects over fluconazole, and lower rates of nephrotoxic effects than amphotericin B. Both micafungin and voriconazole had a significant decrease in adverse events requiring drug discontinuation compared with itraconazole.This analysis indicated the 2 agents appear to be well tolerated with manageable side effects and beneficial in the prophylaxis of IFI. Further work is needed with a large scale of random controlled trials on the effect of these drugs.

Based on molecular dynamics simulations, we propose using nanostructure-patterned silicon for thermoelectric applications. Three typical examples are (i) fractal-like nanoporous Si, (ii) etched Si nanofilm, and (iii) quasi-periodic layered SiGe. All of them can exhibit very low thermal conductivity (less than 1.0 W m−1 K−1) and may be mass produced with standard fabrication techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy or Czochralski process. By maintaining good electronic transport of bulk Si, it is possible to achieve ZT∼5.0 at room temperature.

Using density functional calculations, we study the structural, energetic, and electronic properties of a triplet form of (5,0) carbon nanotube. In contrast to the weak tube–tube interactions found in a bundle of large diameter nanotubes, the ultrasmall (5,0) tubes within the triplet are covalently connected and appear like a three-blade electric fan from a top view. The triplet is energetically most favorable and is the only semiconductor among all the small bundles of (5,0) tubes. Due to its unique atomic configuration, chemisorptions of hydrogen on the triplet show interesting site dependence. When the physisorptions are also included in the system, the hydrogen storage capacity can reach 10.4 wt %.