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In this work, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) including Fe-MIL-101 and Ti-MIL-125 were prepared and fixed on the melamine foam (MF) by polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to prepare MF/PVDF/MOFs, which was used as adsorbents in pipette-tip solid-phase extraction (PT-SPE) for rapid extraction of organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs). Then, a gas chromatograph-flame thermionic detector (GC-FTD) was used for simultaneous analysis of Dimethoate (DMT), Iprobenfos (IBF), Parathion-methyl (PAM), and Chlorpyrifos (CPF). The morphology, crystal structure, and functional groups of MF/PVDF/MOFs were characterized, indicating that Ti-MIL-125 and Fe-MIL-101 were successfully synthesized and distributed on MF. The Fe-MIL-101 and Ti-MIL-125 showed good extraction ability for OPPs, which was mainly due to the π-π interaction and the multiple porous structures. Under the optimal conditions, the limit of detection (LODs) of four OPPs was 0.03-0.14 μg L -1 and the RSDs were less than 9.9%. The developed PT-SPE method showed a short extraction time (<3 min). The recoveries in fruits and vegetables (Celery, cabbages, and oranges) ranged from 75.3%-118.8% (RSDs<9.6%). The prepared MF/PVDF/MOFs demonstrated the efficient extraction performance of OPPs, contributing to the rapid pretreatment of OPPs from food and the environment., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Although previous studies have revealed that synonymous mutations contribute to various human diseases, distinguishing deleterious synonymous mutations from benign ones is still a challenge in medical genomics. Recently, computational tools have been introduced to predict the harmfulness of synonymous mutations. However, most of these computational tools rely on balanced training sets without considering abundant negative samples that could result in deficient performance. In this study, we propose a computational model that uses a selective ensemble to predict deleterious synonymous mutations (seDSM). We construct several candidate base classifiers for the ensemble using balanced training subsets randomly sampled from the imbalanced benchmark training sets. The diversity measures of the base classifiers are calculated by the pairwise diversity metrics, and the classifiers with the highest diversities are selected for integration using soft voting for synonymous mutation prediction. We also design two strategies for filling in missing values in the imbalanced dataset and constructing models using different pairwise diversity metrics. The experimental results show that a selective ensemble based on double fault with the ensemble strategy EKNNI for filling in missing values is the most effective scheme. Finally, using 40-dimensional biology features, we propose a novel model based on a selective ensemble for predicting deleterious synonymous mutations (seDSM). seDSM outperformed other state-of-the-art methods on the independent test sets according to multiple evaluation indicators, indicating that it has an outstanding predictive performance for deleterious synonymous mutations. We hope that seDSM will be useful for studying deleterious synonymous mutations and advancing our understanding of synonymous mutations. The source code of seDSM is freely accessible at https://github.com/xialab-ahu/seDSM.git., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Improving green total factor productivity (GTFP) is a fundamental solution to help the strategic mineral industry to achieve green and sustainable development. This study incorporates the dual negative externalities of resource depletion and environmental pollution into the GTFP measurement to capture the 'green' elements. By employing a truncated third-order (TTO) translog cost function and the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) approach, we evaluate the GTFP growth performance and its components in China's strategic minerals industry from 1998 to 2017. Moreover, we explore the bias of technological progress toward the resource and environmental factors to grasp the green factor saving effects. The results show that: (1) during the sample period, the average GTFP growth rate of China's strategic minerals industry was 0.46%, but there were variances between mineral sectors. Nevertheless, after 2012, the GTFP of all mineral sectors experienced different degrees of decrease. (2) The main driver of adjustments in GTFP growth shifted from technological progress to changes in scale efficiency, with technological progress contributing less to GTFP growth. This is particularly evident in the metal and energy minerals sectors. (3) Green technological progress is biased toward saving environmental factor input but enhancing resource extraction. Therefore, the current development of China's strategic minerals industry falls into a non-sustainable mode of being environmentally friendly but not resource-saving.

The number of stomach cancer (SC) patients is increasing sharply every year, and gastroscope is a common method to check stomach-related diseases. A bulging lesion in the stomach is encountered during a gastroscopy. Due to the change in eating habits, the enhancement of health awareness, and the wide application of gastroscopy, the detection rate and cure rate of tumors have been significantly improved. This has certain clinical value for the early diagnosis and treatment of early SC. In this paper, based on the background of artificial intelligence, image segmentation technology is used to analyze and process the detection results of SC, so as to judge the effect of drug treatment. A total of 1408 gastric bulge lesions were investigated in 11023 patients during the one-year period 2019-2020. It also analyzed the age, lesion location, size, pathological type, and tumor detection results of 1408 patients. The experiment showed that among the 289 cases of submucosal bulging lesions, the detection rates of the young group, middle-aged group, and elderly group were 14.9% (43/289), 67.5% (195/289), and 17.6% (51/289), respectively. Among them, middle-aged people aged 41-65 have the highest detection rate. The incidence of gastric polyps was similar between different age groups. But with age, the rate of fundic gland polyps increases. The incidence of SC is not related to the age of the patient, but to its pathological type. The incidence of SC in middle-aged and elderly people is significantly higher than that in young people. SC is more common in the cardia, and gastrointestinal stromal tumors are most common with submucosal protrusion., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Shengyong Zhai et al.)

Aberrant activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway is considered in many malignant tumors and plays a crucial role in mediating malignancy progression, metastasis, and chemoresistance. Consequently, development of PI3K/AKT pathway targeted drugs is currently an attractive research field for tumor treatment. In this study, twenty-six flavonoid-based amide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferation effects against seven cancer cell lines, including MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, HCC1937, A549, HepG2, GTL-16 and HeLa. Among them, compound 7t possessed the best specific cytotoxicity against triple negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells with an IC 50 value of 1.76 ± 0.91 μM and also presented inhibitory ability on clonal-formation, migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. Further cell-based mechanistic studies demonstrated that compound 7t caused cell cycle arrest of MDA-MB-231 cells at the G 0 /G 1 phase and induced apoptosis. Meanwhile, the western blot assay revealed that compound 7t could down-regulate the expression of p-PI3K, p-AKT, and Bcl-2 and up-regulate the production of PTEN, Bax, and caspase-3. Molecular docking also showed a possible binding mode of 7t with PI3Kα. Together, compound 7t was eligible as a potential TNBC therapeutic candidate for further development., 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., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Based on the brushless DC motor system with DC-link small capacitance powered by a single-phase AC power source, a boosting DC-link voltage strategy to reduce the commutation torque ripple of brushless DC motors is proposed in this paper. The control strategy utilizes the special topology of the motor system to boost the DC-link capacitor voltage in a specific zone during the non-commutation period. During the commutation period, the high voltage of the DC-link capacitor is released to meet the voltage requirement of the brushless DC motor during commutation. In order to reduce the commutation torque ripple and ensure the normal operation of the brushless DC motor, each rectifier cycle is divided into three zones according to the characteristics of the periodic change of the rectifier output voltage. Different operation modes are proposed for different zones. In DC-link capacitor boost voltage mode, the DC-link capacitor boosts the voltage to meet the voltage of the motor demand during the commutation period for achieving the purpose of reducing the commutation torque ripple. In this paper, the controller of the brushless DC motor system is designed and the experimental platform is built. The experimental results verified the correctness of the theoretical analysis and the feasibility of the proposed method.

Heavy metals detection is of great significance to the environment and human health, and most of the detection methods require expensive instruments and laborious operation. Herein, we present a coordination array for accurate and rapid colorimetric heavy metal ions sensing. The array was composed of six chelates and has cross response to Hg 2+ , Cd 2+ , Pb 2+ and Cu 2+ . The results could be observed by naked eyes or detected by plate reader combined with pattern analysis. Linear discrimination analysis was applied for the pattern analysis and the four heavy metal ions (Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ , Hg 2+ and Cu 2+ ) generated a clustering map at 1 μM. The coordination array demonstrates a great potential for sensing heavy metal ions simultaneously., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Both omacetaxine (HHT) and curcumin were shown to exhibit anti-proliferative effect on lymphoma cells. However, the role of combination of HHT with curcumin (HHT/curcumin combination) on lymphoma cells remains unclear. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of HHT/curcumin combination on the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of lymphoma cells., Methods: Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), Ki67 immunofluorescence and transwell assays were used to assess the viability, proliferation and migration of U937 and Raji cells respectively. In addition, tube formation assay was used to determine the effects of HHT/curcumin combination on angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)., Results: In this study, we found that HHT/curcumin combination significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion in U937 and Raji cells (all P < 0.01). In addition, combination treatment markedly inhibited the secreted levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-(A-D) (all P < 0.01) in Raji cells. Moreover, combination treatment exhibited anti-tumor effects in Raji cells, as shown by the decreased signals of phosphorylated VEGF receptor 2 (p-VEGFR2) and phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-Akt) (all P < 0.01). Meanwhile, combination treatment inhibited VEGFA levels (P < 0.01) in exosomes derived from Raji cells. Application of exosomes with downregulated VEGF to HUVECs notably inhibited proliferation, migration and tube formation of HUVECs, evidenced by the decreased signals of p-Akt, angiogenin-1, matrix metallopeptidase 2 (MMP2) and matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) (all P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Our findings indicated that combination of HHT and curcumin could inhibit lymphoma cell growth and angiogenesis via inhibition of VEGF/Akt signaling pathway. These results suggested that HHT combined with curcumin might be regarded as a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of lymphoma., 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 © 2021 Zhang, Xiang, Zhu, Ge, Sheng, Deng, Chen, Yu, Zhou and Shen.)

TF IIB-related factor 1 (Brf1) is a key transcription factor of RNA polymerase III (Pol III) genes. Our early studies have demonstrated that Brf1 and Pol III genes are epigenetically modulated by histone H3 phosphorylation. Here, we have further investigated the relationship of the abnormal expression of Brf1 with a high level of phosphorylated AMPK α (pAMPK α ) and explored the role and molecular mechanism of pAMPK α -mediated dysregulation of Brf1 and Pol III genes in lung cancer. Brf1 is significantly overexpressed in lung cancer cases. The cases with high Brf1 expression display short overall survival times. Elevation of Brf1 expression is accompanied by a high level of pAMPK α . Brf1 and pAMPK α colocalize in nuclei. Further analysis indicates that the carcinogen MNNG induces pAMPK α to upregulate Brf1 expression, resulting in the enhancement of Pol III transcription. In contrast, inhibiting pAMPK α decreases cellular levels of Brf1, resulting in the reduction of Pol III gene transcription to attenuate the rates of cell proliferation and colony formation of lung cancer cells. These outcomes demonstrate that high Brf1 expression reveals a worse prognosis in lung cancer patients. pAMPK α -mediated dysregulation of Brf1 and Pol III genes plays important roles in cell proliferation, colony formation, and tumor development of lung cancer. Brf1 may be a biomarker for establishing the prognosis of lung cancer. It is a new mechanism that pAMPK α mediates dysregulation of Brf1 and Pol III genes to promote lung cancer development., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Teng Wu et al.)

The shuttle effect of soluble lithium polysulfides during the charge/discharge process is the key bottleneck hindering the practical application of lithium-sulfur batteries. Herein, a multifunctional interlayer is developed by growing metallic molybdenum disulfide nanosheets on both outer and inner walls of cotton cloth derived carbon microtube textile (MoS 2 @CMT). The hollow structure of CMT provides channels to favor electrolyte penetration, Li + diffusion and restrains polysulfides via physical confinement. The hydrophilic and conductive 1T-MoS 2 nanosheets facilitate chemisorption and kinetic behavior of polysulfides. The synergic effect of 1T-MoS 2 nanosheets and CMT affords the MoS 2 @CMT interlayer with an efficient trapping-diffusion-conversion ability toward polysulfides. Therefore, the cell with the MoS 2 @CMT interlayer exhibits enhanced cycling life (765 mAh g -1 after 500 cycles at 0.5 C) and rate performance (974 mAh g -1 at 2 C and 740 mAh g -1 at 5 C). This study presents a pathway to develop low-cost multifunctional interlayers for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: C-Myc overexpression is associated with poor prognosis and aggressive progression of natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL). Matrine, a main alkaloid of the traditional Chinese herb Sophora flavescens Ait, has been shown to inhibit cellular proliferation and induce apoptosis of various cancer cells. The present study investigated the effects and possible mechanisms of matrine inhibiting the growth of natural killer/T-cell lymphoma cells., Methods: The effects of matrine on the proliferation, apoptosis and expression of apoptotic molecules, STAT3, LMP1, RUNX3, EZH2 and activation of CaMKIIγ/c-Myc pathway were examined in cultured NKTCL cell line NK92 cells., Results: In cultured NK92 cells, matrine inhibited the proliferation in a dose and time dependent manner. The IC 50 value of matrine was 1.71 mM for 72 h post exposure in NK92 cells. Matrine induced apoptosis with decreased Bcl-2 expression and the proteasome-dependent degradation of c-Myc protein in NK92 cells. c-Myc protein half-life in NK92 was reduced from 80.7 min to 33.4 min after matrine treatment, which meant the stability of c-Myc was decreased after matrine exposure. Furthermore, we found that matrine downregulated c-Myc phosphorylation at Ser62 together with the inhibition of CaMKIIγ, a key regulator of c-Myc protein in NKTCL. The downregulation of c-Myc transcription by matrine was mediated through LMP1 inhibition. We also observed that anti-proliferative activity of matrine was irrelevant to STAT3, RUNX3 and EZH2., Conclusions: The results of the present study indicated that matrine inhibits the growth of natural killer/T-cell lymphoma cells by modulating LMP1-c-Myc and CaMKIIγ-c-Myc signaling pathway.

Exposure to concentrated ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The barrier function of vascular endothelial cells is critical for the development of CVDs. Here, we employed human umbilical vein endothelial cells to clarify the function of ambient PM2.5 pollution in the regulation of membrane permeability of vascular endothelial cells. The results show that a high concentration of PM2.5, which mainly includes heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, induces barrier dysfunction of vascular endothelial cells. This was mediated in part by promoting IL-6 expression, which then increases the transcriptional activity of HIF-1α by promoting its translocation to the nucleus. Our findings indicate that concentrated PM2.5 can destroy membrane integrity and promote permeability in vascular endothelial cells, thereby contributing to the development of CVDs.

In the article, an iterative reconstruction algorithm based on total variation minimization and POCS optimization for non-Cartesian K-space data is proposed. The proposed algorithm interpolates non-Cartesian data onto a 2D Cartesian grid using gridding method first, and then during the iterative process of total variation minimization, the frequency values on grid points near the measured data are replaced with the interpolated ones according to POCS. The experiments on simulated and real data show that the proposed method can reconstruct image more accurately and rapidly than constrained total variation minimization method.

A nanocrystalline Li[Li(0.12)Ni(0.32)Mn(0.56)]O(2) powder was synthesized via the pyrolysis of polyacrylate salt precursors prepared by in situ polymerization of the metal salts and acrylate acid. The pyrolysis mechanism of the polymeric precursor is discussed by use of thermal analysis. Layered crystalline structure of the resulting compound was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron (TEM) micrographs. The results revealed that the Li[Li(0.12)Ni(0.32)Mn(0.56)]O(2) as prepared has nanosized morphology and good crystallinity even if calcined at 900 degrees C, and the electrodes made from these nanoparticles exhibited high-rate characteristics and can deliver stable discharge capacity (163 mA.h/g) with excellent capacity retention at appropriate charge-discharge voltage interval. Since this preparation method is simple and particularly suitable for preparation of mixed metal oxides, it can be used for industrial production of highly homogeneous metal oxide cathode materials of the lithium-ion batteries.