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Abstract: Dissolving a complex compound (C1) synthesized with magnesium chloride and ethyl acetate in ionic liquid ChCl–ZnCl2 (molar ratio 1:2), a new ionic liquid ChCl–ZnCl2–MgCl2·2CH3COOCH2CH3·2H2O ( named ChCl–ZnCl2–C1 for short ) was prepared. Its structure was investigated using FTIR analysis, which shows that numerous O–H·O and O–H·Cl bonds exist in the new ionic liquid system. The viscosity, conductivity and thermal stability were measured. Preliminary electrochemical experiments exhibit that this new ionic liquid could be applied in electrochemical deposition of metallic zinc and probably in electrodeposition of zinc–magnesium alloy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

China's lubricant market was dominated by PetroChina and Sinopec. Foreign brands together controlled about 25% of the market, and these brands offered the higher-grade lubricants. Most vehicle lubricants used in China were low-grade lubricants. However, this was expected to change. Continued economic growth and rising incomes had led to increased demand for cars. New models and luxury cars would likely stimulate demand for higher-grade lubricants. The case focused on synthetic lubricants of which Mobil was the market leader. Mobil's leadership position here was being threatened. Local brands were gradually improving in quality, and a few have secured rights to supply joint venture car manufacturers. Armed with deep pockets, their aggressive advertising had helped their brands gain prominence. The case required some recommendations on how Mobil should respond. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In specific pathological conditions, addressing liver injury may yield favorable effects on renal function through the phenomenon of liver-kidney crosstalk. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) possesses the capability to trigger downstream pathways of inflammatory cytokines, ultimately leading to immune-mediated organ damage. Consequently, understanding the intricate molecular mechanisms governing mtDNA involvement in diseases characterized by liver-kidney crosstalk is of paramount significance. This study seeks to elucidate the role of mtDNA in conditions marked by liver-kidney crosstalk. In previous clinical cases, it has been observed that patients with Trichloroethylene Hypersensitivity Syndrome (TCE-HS) who experience severe liver injury often also exhibit renal injury. In this study, patients diagnosed with trichloroethylene hypersensitivity syndrome were recruited from Shenzhen Occupational Disease Control Center. And Balb/c mice were treated with trichloroethylene. The correlation between liver and kidney injuries in patients with TCE-HS was assessed using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Alterations in mtDNA levels were examined in mouse hepatocytes, red blood cells (RBCs), and renal tubular epithelial cells utilizing immunofluorescence and PCR techniques. TCE-sensitized mice exhibited a significant increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore in hepatocytes, resulting in the release of mtDNA. Furthermore, heightened levels of mtDNA and Toll-like Receptor 9 (TLR9) expression were observed in RBCs. Additional experiments demonstrated elevated expression of TLR9 and its downstream mediator MyD88 in renal tubule epithelial cells of TCE-sensitized mice. In vitro investigations confirmed that mtDNA activates the TLR9 pathway in TCMK-1 cells. Collectively, these results suggest that mtDNA released from mitochondrial damage in hepatocytes is carried by RBCs to renal tubular epithelial cells and mediates inflammatory injury in renal tubular epithelial cells through activation of the TLR9 receptor., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Human motor planning and control depend highly on optimal feedback control systems, such as the neocortex-cerebellum circuit. Here, diffusion tensor imaging was used to verify the disruption of the neocortex-cerebellum circuit in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), and the circuit's disruption correlation with SCA3 motor dysfunction was investigated., Methods: This study included 45 patients with familial SCA3, aged 17-67 years, and 49 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, aged 21-64 years. Tract-based spatial statistics and probabilistic tractography was conducted using magnetic resonance images of the patients and controls. The correlation between the local probability of probabilistic tractography traced from the cerebellum and clinical symptoms measured using specified symptom scales was also calculated., Results: The cerebellum-originated probabilistic tractography analysis showed that structural connectivity, mainly in the subcortical cerebellar-thalamo-cortical tract, was significantly reduced and the cortico-ponto-cerebellar tract was significantly stronger in the SCA3 group than in the control group. The enhanced tract was extended to the right lateral parietal region and the right primary motor cortex. The enhanced neocortex-cerebellum connections were highly associated with disease progression, including duration and symptomatic deterioration. Tractography probabilities from the cerebellar to parietal and sensorimotor areas were significantly negatively correlated with motor abilities in patients with SCA3., Conclusion: To our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal that disrupting the neocortex-cerebellum loop can cause SCA3-induced motor dysfunctions. The specific interaction between the cerebellar-thalamo-cortical and cortico-ponto-cerebellar pathways in patients with SCA3 and its relationship with ataxia symptoms provides a new direction for future research., (© 2024 The Author(s). European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology.)

Aims: Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 (SCA3) is a rare genetic ataxia that impacts the entire brain and is characterized as a neurodegenerative disorder affecting the neural network. This study explores how alterations in the functional hierarchy, connectivity, and structural changes within specific brain regions significantly contribute to the heterogeneity of symptom manifestations in patients with SCA3., Methods: We prospectively recruited 51 patients with SCA3 and 59 age-and sex-matched healthy controls. All participants underwent comprehensive multimodal neuroimaging and clinical assessments. In SCA3 patients, an innovative approach utilizing gradients in resting-state functional connectivity (FC) was employed to examine atypical patterns of hierarchical processing topology from sensorimotor to supramodal regions in the cerebellum and cerebrum. Coupling analyses of abnormal FC and structural connectivity among regions of interest (ROIs) in the brain were also performed to characterize connectivity alterations. Additionally, relationships between quantitative ROI values and clinical variables were explored., Results: Patients with SCA3 exhibited either compression or expansion within the primary sensorimotor-to-supramodal gradient through four distinct calculation methods, along with disruptions in FC and structural connectivity coupling. A comprehensive correlation was identified between the altered gradients and the clinical manifestations observed in patients. Notably, altered fractional anisotropy values were not significantly correlated with clinical variables., Conclusion: Abnormal gradients and connectivity in the cerebellar and cerebral cortices in SCA3 patients may contribute to disrupted motor-to-supramodal functions. Moreover, these findings support the potential utility of FCG analysis as a biomarker for diagnosing SCA3 and assessing treatment efficacy., (© 2024 The Author(s). CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The commercialized Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) crops accumulate Bt protein within cells, but the intracellular interactions of foreign protein with endogenous protein inevitably result in large or small unintended effects. In this study, the Bt gene Cry1Ca was linked with the sequences of extracellular secretion signal peptide and carbohydrate binding module 11 to constitute a fusion gene SP-Cry1Ca-CBM11, and the fusion gene driven by constitutive promoters was used for secreting and anchoring onto the cell wall to minimize unintended effects., Results: The transient expression in tobacco leaves demonstrated that the fusion protein was anchored on cell walls. The Cry1Ca contents of five homozygous rice transformants of single-copy insertion were different and descended in the order leaf > root > stem. The maximum content of Cry1Ca was 17.55 μg g -1 in leaves of transformant 21H037. The bioassay results revealed that the transformants exhibited high resistance to lepidopteran pests. The corrected mortality of pink stem borer (Sesamia inferens) and striped stem borer (Chilo suppressalis) ranged from 96.33% to 100%, and from 83.32% to 100%, respectively, and the corrected mortality of rice leaf roller (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis) was 92.53%. Besides, the agronomic traits of the five transformants were normal and similar to that of the recipient, and the transformants were highly resistant to glyphosate at the germination and seedling stages., Conclusion: The fusion Bt protein was accumulated on cell walls and endowed the rice with high resistance to lepidopteran pests without unintended effects in agronomic traits. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Toluene side-chain alkylation with methanol for the styrene monomer formation remains a great challenge. An optimal synergy between acidic and basic sites on zeolites is required for an efficient catalysis process. It is important to modulate the surface Lewis acid-base pairs precisely. Herein, we report a strategy to restructure the surface Lewis acid-base pairs in cesium-modified X zeolite (CsX) by N doping. In the process of toluene side-chain alkylation, the CsX-BN-600 catalyst, where N species is doped into the framework of the X zeolite, exhibits 2.7 times the styrene formation rate and a much better selectivity of 85.7% in comparison to the parent CsX of 70.1% selectivity to styrene at the same reaction conditions. The introduction of N species into zeolites acts as a new Lewis base site and optimizes the Lewis sites due to its ability of electron donation. Meanwhile, the frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) between the deprotonated framework nitrogen in X zeolite and positively polarized C species in the side-chain alkylation reaction is created. Furthermore, the N doping contributes to the generation of the active intermediates of HCOO* and H 3 CO*. These reasons favor the superiority of the catalyst through N doping.

Purpose: Deep learning (DL) is widely used in dose prediction for radiation oncology, multiple DL techniques comparison is often lacking in the literature. To compare the performance of 4 state-of-the-art DL models in predicting the voxel-level dose distribution for cervical cancer volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Methods and Materials: A total of 261 patients' plans for cervical cancer were retrieved in this retrospective study. A three-channel feature map, consisting of a planning target volume (PTV) mask, organs at risk (OARs) mask, and CT image was fed into the three-dimensional (3D) U-Net and its 3 variants models. The data set was randomly divided into 80% as training-validation and 20% as testing set, respectively. The model performance was evaluated on the 52 testing patients by comparing the generated dose distributions against the clinical approved ground truth (GT) using mean absolute error (MAE), dose map difference (GT-predicted), clinical dosimetric indices, and dice similarity coefficients (DSC). Results: The 3D U-Net and its 3 variants DL models exhibited promising performance with a maximum MAE within the PTV 0.83% ± 0.67% in the UNETR model. The maximum MAE among the OARs is the left femoral head, which reached 6.95% ± 6.55%. For the body, the maximum MAE was observed in UNETR, which is 1.19 ± 0.86%, and the minimum MAE was 0.94 ± 0.85% for 3D U-Net. The average error of the Dmean difference for different OARs is within 2.5 Gy. The average error of V40 difference for the bladder and rectum is about 5%. The mean DSC under different isodose volumes was above 90%. Conclusions: DL models can predict the voxel-level dose distribution accurately for cervical cancer VMAT treatment plans. All models demonstrated almost analogous performance for voxel-wise dose prediction maps. Considering all voxels within the body, 3D U-Net showed the best performance. The state-of-the-art DL models are of great significance for further clinical applications of cervical cancer VMAT., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Thyroid diseases such as low triiodothyronine syndrome (LT3S) are more common in the elderly population. Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) has been proposed as a supplementary tool for evaluating medical, functional, psychological, and frailty status and various geriatric syndromes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of thyroid diseases on overall health status using a novel CGA strategy., Material and Methods: 477 patients were enrolled between January 2019 and December 2022. A structured CGA was conducted by a multidisciplinary team to identify older high-risk patients. Multivariate regression was performed to assess independent factors associated with thyroid status and CGA., Results: The prevalence of abnormal thyroid hormone levels in the elderly was 34.2%. LT3S and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (anti-TgAb)-positivity or anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (anti-TPOAb)-positivity were the main manifestations of thyroid diseases in elderly patients. The patients with LT3S had a higher prevalence of diabetes (p = 0.023), were older (p = 0.000), more often female (p = 0.014), with higher C-reactive protein (p = 0.001), and with lower body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.002), albumin (Alb) (p = 0.000), and haemoglobin (Hb) (p = 0.000) than patients with normal thyroid function. The CGA results showed higher rates of malnutrition and depression in patients with LT3S. Further multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Hb [odds ratio (OR): 0.975; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.959-0.990; p = 0.002] and LT3S (OR: 2.213; 95% CI: 1.048-4.672; p = 0.037) were independently associated with depression. Female (OR: 0.393; 95% CI: 0.160-0.968; p = 0.042), Alb (OR: 0.892; 95% CI: 0.811-0.981; p = 0.018), Hb (OR, 0.964; 95% CI: 0.939-0.989; p = 0.006), and LT3S (OR: 3.749; 95% CI: 1.474-9.536; p = 0.006) were independently associated with malnutrition., Conclusions: LT3S was closely related to depression and malnutrition. Physicians should be more concerned about elderly patients with LT3S for their physical and mental status. Regular thyroid function checks might help to detect depression earlier.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the effects of bladder filling during cervical cancer radiotherapy on target volume and organs at risk (OARs) dose based on daily computed tomography (daily-CT) images and provide bladder-volume-based dose prediction models., Methods: Nineteen patients (475 daily-CTs) comprised the study group, and five patients comprised the validation set (25 daily-CTs). Target volumes and OARs were delineated on daily-CT images and the treatment plan was recalculated accordingly. The deviation from the planning bladder volume (DVB), the correlation between DVB and clinical (CTV)/planning (PTV) target volume in terms of prescribed dose coverage, and the relationship of small bowel volume and bladder dose with the ratio of bladder volume (RVB) were analyzed., Results: In all cases, the prescribed dose coverage in the CTV was >95% when DVB was <200 cm 3 , whereas that in the PTV was >95% when RVB was <160%. The ratio of bladder V 45 Gy to the planning bladder V 45 Gy (RBV 45 ) exhibited a negative linear relationship with RVB (RBV 45  = -0.18*RVB + 120.8; R 2  = 0.80). Moreover, the ratio of small bowel volume to planning small bowel volume (RVS) exhibited a negative linear relationship with RVB (RVS = -1.06*RVB +217.59; R 2  = 0.41). The validation set results showed that the linear model predicted well the effects of bladder volume changes on target volume coverage and bladder dose., Conclusions: This study assessed dosimetry and volume effects of bladder filling on target and OARs based on daily-CT images. We established a quantitative relationship between these parameters, providing dose prediction models for cervical cancer radiotherapy., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Carbapenem resistance mediated by metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) such as New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) has become a major factor threatening the efficacy of essential β-lactam antibiotics. Starting from hit fragment dipicolinic acid (DPA), 8-hydroxy- and 8-sulfonamido-quinoline-2-carboxylic acids were developed as inhibitors of NDM-1 with highly improved inhibitory activity and binding affinity. The most active compounds formed reversibly inactive ternary protein-inhibitor complexes with two zinc ions as proven by native protein mass spectrometry and bio-layer interferometry. Modification of the NDM-1 structure with remarkable entropic gain was shown by isothermal titration calorimetry and NMR spectroscopy of isotopically labeled protein. The best compounds were potent inhibitors of NDM-1 and other representative MBL with no or little inhibition of human zinc-binding enzymes. These inhibitors significantly reduced the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of meropenem for multidrug-resistant bacteria recombinantly expressing bla NDM-1 as well as for several multidrug-resistant clinical strains at concentrations non-toxic to human cells.

Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food that feeds over half of the world's population, and the contents of metallic elements in rice grain play important roles in human nutrition. In this study, the contents of important metallic elements were determined by ICP-OES, and included cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) in brown rice, in the first node from the top (Node 1), in the second node from the top (Node 2), and in roots of 55 hybrids and their parental lines. The heritability of metallic element contents (MECs), the general combining ability (GCA) for MEC, and the correlation between MECs in different organs/tissues of hybrids were also analyzed. The results indicated that: (1) there was a positive correlation between the contents of Cd and Zn in nodes and roots, but a negative correlation between the contents of Cd and Zn in brown rice of the hybrids(2) the GCA for MECs can be used to evaluate the ability of the parental lines to improve the metal contents in brown rice of the hybrids(3) the contents of Cd, Zn, Ca, and Mg in brown rice were mainly affected by additive genetic effects(4) the restorer lines R2292 and R2265 can be used to cultivate hybrids with high Zn and low Cd contents in the brown rice., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

More and more clinical evidence shows that occupational medicamentose-like dermatitis due to trichloroethylene (OMDT) patients often present immune kidney damage. However, the exact mechanisms of cell-to-cell transmission in TCE-induced immune kidney damage remain poorly understood. The present study aimed to explore the role of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB 1) in glomerular endothelial cell-podocyte transmission. 17 OMDT patients and 34 controls were enrolled in this study. We observed that OMDT patients had renal function injury, endothelial cell activation and podocyte injury, and these indicators were associated with serum HMGB 1. To gain mechanistic insight, a TCE-sensitized BALB/c mouse model was established under the interventions of sirtuin 1 (SIRT 1) activator SRT 1720 (0.1 ml, 5 mg/kg) and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) inhibitor FPS-ZM 1 (0.1 ml, 1.5 mg/kg). We identified HMGB 1 acetylation and its endothelial cytoplasmic translocation following TCE sensitization, but SRT 1720 abolished the process. RAGE was located on podocytes and co-precipitated with extracellular acetylated HMGB 1, promoting podocyte injury, while SRT 1720 and FPS-ZM 1 both alleviated podocyte injury. The results demonstrate that interventions to upstream and downstream pathways of HMGB 1 may weaken glomerular endothelial cell-podocyte transmission, thereby alleviating TCE-induced immune renal injury., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The interaction of T-cell receptors with peptide-major histocompatibility complex molecules (TCR-pMHC) plays a crucial role in adaptive immune responses. Currently there are various models aiming at predicting TCR-pMHC binding, while a standard dataset and procedure to compare the performance of these approaches is still missing. In this work we provide a general method for data collection, preprocessing, splitting and generation of negative examples, as well as comprehensive datasets to compare TCR-pMHC prediction models. We collected, harmonized, and merged all the major publicly available TCR-pMHC binding data and compared the performance of five state-of-the-art deep learning models (TITAN, NetTCR-2.0, ERGO, DLpTCR and ImRex) using this data. Our performance evaluation focuses on two scenarios: 1) different splitting methods for generating training and testing data to assess model generalization and 2) different data versions that vary in size and peptide imbalance to assess model robustness. Our results indicate that the five contemporary models do not generalize to peptides that have not been in the training set. We can also show that model performance is strongly dependent on the data balance and size, which indicates a relatively low model robustness. These results suggest that TCR-pMHC binding prediction remains highly challenging and requires further high quality data and novel algorithmic approaches., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Deng, Ly, Abdollahi, Zhao, Prinz and Bonn.)

Background and Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease and have adverse impacts on the cardiac structure and function. Little is known about the effect of non-obese NAFLD upon cardiac function. We aimed to compare the echocardiographic parameters of left ventricle (LV) between non-obese NAFLD group and control group, and explore the correlation of non-obese NAFLD with LV diastolic dysfunction., Methods and Results: In this cross-sectional study, 316 non-obese inpatients were enrolled, including 72 participants with NAFLD (non-obese NAFLD group) and 244 participants without NAFLD (control group). LV structural and functional indices of two groups were comparatively analyzed. LV diastolic disfunction was diagnosed and graded using the ratio of the peak velocity of the early filling (E) wave to the atrial contraction (A) wave and E value. Compared with control group, the non-obese NAFLD group had the lower E/A〔(0.80 ± 0.22) vs (0.88 ± 0.35), t = 2.528, p = 0.012〕and the smaller LV end-diastolic diameter〔(4.51 ± 0.42)cm vs (4.64 ± 0.43)cm, t = 2.182, p = 0.030〕. And the non-obese NAFLD group had a higher prevalence of E/A < 1 than control group (83.3% vs 68.9%, X 2  = 5.802, p = 0.016) while two groups had similar proportions of LV diastolic dysfunction (58.3% vs 53.7%, X 2  = 0.484, p = 0.487). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that non-obese NAFLD was associated with an increase in E/A < 1 (OR = 6.562, 95%CI 2.014, 21.373, p = 0.002)., Conclusions: Non-obese NAFLD was associated with decrease of E/A, while more research will be necessary to evaluate risk of non-obese NAFLD for LV diastolic dysfunction in future., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Aim: The regulatory mechanism of m6A regulators in vascular endothelial function of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains largely unknown. We addressed this issue based on the data retrieved Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and experimental validations., Methods: Expression of m6A methylation regulators was evaluated in T2DM samples of GSE76894 dataset and GSE156341 dataset. Further analysis of candidate m6A methylation regulators was conducted in the thoracic aorta of db/db mice and high glucose (HG)-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Ectopic expression and depletion experiments were conducted to detect effects of m6A methylation regulators on vascular endothelial function in T2DM., Results: It emerged that three m6A methylation regulators (HNRNPC, RBM15B, and ZC3H13) were highly expressed in T2DM, which were related to vascular EC function, showing diagnostic values for T2DM. HNRNPC expression in the thoracic aorta of db/db mice was higher than that in heterozygous db mice, and HNRNPC expression in HG-induced HUVECs was upregulated when compared with normal glucose-exposed HUVECs. Furthermore, HNRNPC activated PSEN1-dependent Notch pathway to induce eNOS inactivation and NO production decrease, thereby causing vascular endothelial dysfunction in T2DM., Conclusions: HNRNPC impaired vascular endothelial function to enhance the development of vascular complications in T2DM through PSEN1-mediated Notch signaling pathway., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Genome-wide sequencing may extensively identify potential pathogenic variants, which helps to understand mechanisms of tumorigenesis, but such study has not been reported in benzene-induced leukemia (BIL)., Methods: We recruited 10 BIL patients and conducted the whole-exome sequencing on their peripheral blood samples. The obtained sequencing data were screened for potential pathogenic and novel variants, then the variants-located genes were clustered to identify cancer-related pathways. Shared or recurrent variants among the BIL cases were also identified and evaluated for their potential functional impact., Results: We identified 48,802 variants in exons in total, 97.3% of which were single nucleotide variants. After filtering out variants with minor allele frequency ≥ 1%, we obtained 8667 potentially pathogenic variants, of which 174 were shared by all the BIL cases. The identified variants located in genes that could be significantly enriched into certain cancer-related pathways such as PI3K-AKT signaling pathway and Ras signaling pathway. We also identified 1010 novel variants with no record in the Genome Aggregation Database and in dbSNP, and one of them was shared by 90% cases. The recurrent and novel variant caused a missense mutation in SESN3., Conclusions: We examined variations of the whole exome in BIL patients for the first time. The commonly shared variants implied a relation with BIL, and the recurrent and novel variant might be specifically related to BIL. The related variants may help unravel the carcinogenic mechanisms of BIL., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Although molybdenum phosphide (MoP) has attracted increasing attention as an electrocatalyst in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), it is still worth exploring an effective approach to further improve the HER activities of MoP. To date, the generation and effect of P vacancies (Pv) on MoP have been rarely investigated for the HER in both alkaline and acidic media and remain unclear. Here, MoP rich in P vacancies (MoP-Pv) was prepared by hydrogen reduction to improve the HER catalytic performances. As a result, the overpotentials of MoP-Pv were 70 mV and 62 mV lower than those of pristine MoP in 1 M KOH and 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 electrolytes, respectively. What's more, the TOFs of MoP-Pv were 3.14 s -1 and 1.19 s -1 at an overpotential of 200 mV in 1 M KOH and 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 , respectively, which are 4.1-fold and 2.5-fold higher than those of pristine MoP. Even when compared with other corresponding catalysts, the TOFs of MoP-Pv still ranked at the top. Due to the surface P vacancies, MoP-Pv possesses more electrochemically active sites and faster charge transfer capability, which all favor higher HER catalytic activities. Overall, our work validates a straightforward and vigorous strategy for improving the intrinsic HER catalytic activities of P vacancies, and also provides guidance for the development of vacancy engineering in electrocatalysts.

Background: Vγ9Vδ2 + T cells are a major innate T cell subset in human peripheral blood. Their Vδ2 + VDJ-rearrangements are short and simple in the fetal thymus and gradually increase in diversity and CDR3 length along with development. So-called "public" versions of Vδ2 + TCRs are shared among individuals of all ages. However, it is unclear whether such frequently occurring "public" Vγ9Vδ2 + T cell clones are derived from the fetal thymus and whether they are fitter to proliferate and persist than infrequent "private" clones., Methods: Shared "public" Vδ2 + TCRs were identified from Vδ2 + TCR-repertoires collected from 89 individuals, including newborns (cord blood), infants, and adults (peripheral blood). Distance matrices of Vδ2 + CDR3 were generated by TCRdist3 and then embedded into a UMAP for visualizing the heterogeneity of Vδ2 + TCRs., Results: Vδ2 + CDR3 distance matrix embedded by UMAP revealed that the heterogeneity of Vδ2 + TCRs is primarily determined by the J-usage and CDR3aa length, while age or publicity-specific motifs were not found. The most prevalent public Vδ2 + TCRs showed germline-like rearrangement with low N-insertions. Age-related features were also identified. Public Vδ2 + TRDJ1 TCRs from cord blood showed higher N-insertions and longer CDR3 lengths. Synonymous codons resulting from VDJ rearrangement also contribute to the generation of public Vδ2 + TCRs. Each public TCR was always produced by multiple different transcripts, even with different D gene usage, and the publicity of Vδ2 + TCRs was positively associated with expansion status., Conclusion: To conclude, the heterogeneity of Vδ2 + TCRs is mainly determined by TRDJ -usage and the length of CDR3aa sequences. Public Vδ2 + TCRs result from germline-like rearrangement and synonymous codons, associated with a higher expansion status., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Deng, Harms, Ravens, Prinz and Tan.)

Hybrid flocculant polyacrylamide-ferric chloride (PAM-FeCl 3 ) was developed to improve the dewaterability of sewage sludge and the dewatering performance, properties of treated sludge, composition and morphology distribution of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) were investigated. The physicochemical properties of the PAM-FeCl 3 were characterized, and its effectiveness as a sludge conditioner was evaluated. The results indicated that PAM-FeCl 3 conditioning was able to promote sludge dewaterability. Simultaneously, PAM-FeCl 3 neutralized the negative charges on the surface of sludge particles and increased the sludge floc size. Besides, PAM-FeCl 3 also formed a rough and porous floc structure that reduced sludge compressibility. Meanwhile, the exciting emission matrix analysis suggested that PAM-FeCl 3 can effectively disintegrate of EPS fraction in sludge and decompose the aromatic protein-like substances as well as the humic acid-like substances in EPS. Additionally, the larger sludge floc formation, electrostatic interaction and adsorption bridging effect resulted in compression of sludge structure and the decomposition of EPS fractions and improved sludge dewatering performance., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery (AAOCA) is a rare congenital heart disease, characterized by the coronary artery inappropriately originates from the aorta. It is usually classified according to the sinus where the coronary artery arises from, while anomalous origin of the right coronary being the most common type., Case Presentation: In this case report, we described a rare case of Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) in a 1-year-old boy, who also had the anomalous right coronary artery that originated from the left coronary sinus without an intramural segment. Besides TOF repair, lateral pulmonary translocation was undertaken in order to avoid risks of myocardial ischemia., Conclusion: We successfully completed a one-stage operation consisting of TOF repair and pulmonary artery translocation in a 1-year-old boy. We advocated early operation of pulmonic translocation for AAOCA patients without an intramural segment instead of unroofing procedure., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Understanding the persistence of antibody in convalescent COVID-19 patients may help to answer the current major concerns such as the risk of reinfection, the protection period of vaccination and the possibility of building an active herd immunity. This retrospective cohort study included 172 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in Wuhan. A total of 404 serum samples were obtained over six months from hospitalization to convalescence. Antibodies in the specimens were quantitatively analyzed by the capture chemiluminescence immunoassays (CLIA). All patients were positive for the anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG at the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, and the IgG antibody persisted in all the patients during the convalescence. However, only approximately 25% of patients can detect the IgM antibodies, IgM against N protein (N-IgM) and receptor binding domain of S protein (RBD-IgM) at the 27th week. The titers of IgM, N-IgM and RBD-IgM reduced to 16.7%, 17.6% and 15.2% of their peak values respectively. In contrast, the titers of IgG, N-IgG and RBD-IgG peaked at 4-5th week and reduced to 85.9%, 62.6% and 87.2% of their peak values respectively at the end of observation. Dynamic behavior of antibodies and their correlation in age, gender and severity groups were investigated. In general, the COVID-19 antibody was sustained at high levels for over six months in most of the convalescent patients. Only a few patients with antibody reducing to an undetectable level which needs further attention. The humoral immune response against SARS-CoV-2 infection in COVID-19 patients exhibits a typical dynamic of acquired immunity., (© 2021. Wuhan Institute of Virology, CAS.)

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the impacts of team health education on radiodermatitis in patients undergoing head and neck radiotherapy., Data Sources: A total of 118 patients undergoing radiotherapy at the Oncology Department of Qingdao Municipal Hospital under the Joint Committee International (JCI) accreditation standards of medical and health institutions were divided into two groups according to the order of the admission: the intervention group (n = 66) and the control group (n = 52). The patients in the control group were given routine nursing, while those in the intervention group received team health education based on the control group. The incidence and satisfaction of radiodermatitis were observed and compared between the groups, and the EORTC QLQ-C30 and General Quality of Life Inventory-74 were used to evaluate the patients' quality of life when after radiotherapy and when after 6 months post the radiotherapy, respectively., Conclusion: The incidence of radiodermatitis was 100% in both groups, and the difference in the grade of radiodermatitis and quality of life was significant (P < .05) between them., Implications for Nursing Practice: Team health education under the JCI standards team can reduce the degree of skin injury due to radiodermatitis and improve the quality of life., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study is aimed at verifying the effect of specific management modalities aimed at reducing or preventing the incidence of infections in the blood flow in relation to the use of the central venous catheter (CRBSI = catheterrelated bloodstream infection) in patients undergoing chemotherapy., Methods: 36 patients (n = 36) with a peripherally inserted venous catheter (PICC) were enrolled in the integrated medical treatment group, while 128 patients with an internal central venous catheter were enrolled in the control group. The patients in the control group underwent routine nursing, while the patients in the treatment group underwent integrated surveillance control infection treatment by doctors and were compared between these two groups l incidence of complications, CRBSI., Results: The incidence of complications of the CRBSI type was significantly lower in the whole treatment group than in the control group and the difference was statistically significant (p <0.05)., Conclusion: It is concluded that the implementation of the infection control management modality within the integration of medical care for PICC chemotherapy patients in the Oncology Department can effectively reduce the incidence of infectious complications in the bloodstream, and improve the level of nursing care in peripheral venous catheterization (PICC) with improved patient satisfaction., Key Words: Chemotherapy, Individualized management, Infection control management mode under medical care integration/Nursing, Peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC).

Objectives: We aimed to report virulence-associated genes and molecular characteristics of non-O1/non-O139 Vibrio cholerae isolated from hepatitis B cirrhosis patients in China., Methods: Patient clinical data including course of disease, laboratory tests, antibiotic treatment and outcomes were collected. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed and virulence-associated genes were detected by PCR. Genetic relatedness among non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae strains was investigated by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST)., Results: All three strains in this study harbored pathogenicity related genes like rtxA, rtxC, toxR, hapA, hlyA and ompW whereas they lacked ctxA, ctxB, tcpA, ompU and zot genes. None of them showed resistance to any antibiotic detected. A new allele of gyrB was submitted to the MLST database and designated as 97. Two novel sequence types (ST518 and ST519) and ST271 were identified by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). PFGE indicated considerable diversity among three non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae strains., Conclusions: Three sporadic cases highlight that non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae can cause opportunistic invasiveness infection in cirrhosis patients. Pathogenicity may be related to virulence-associated genes. Timely detection and antibiotic therapy should be paid more attention to in clinic., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To analyze the cause of misdiagnosis of occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning and to investigate the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of this disease., Methods: The clinical data of 16 patients with occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning who had been misdiagnosed with other diseases were collected. The hospital they first visited, cause of misdiagnosis, clinical features, and the misdiagnosis rate among inpatients during the same period were retrospectively analyzed., Results: Sixteen of 62 patients hospitalized during the same period were misdiagnosed at the first visit; 11 cases were in the upper first-class hospitals, and 5 cases in the upper second-class hospitals; 5 cases were misdiagnosed as Green Barry syndrome, 2 cases as motor neuron disease, 2 cases as drug-induced peripheral neuropathy, 3 cases as periodic paralysis, and 4 cases had uncertain diagnosis., Conclusion: Most doctors who work in ordinary hospitals do not know occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning, which is often misdiagnosed as general neuropathies or difficult diseases. The key to correct diagnosis is to know the patient's occupational history and clinical features.