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The selective photoreactions under mild conditions play an important role in synthetic chemistry. Herein, efficient and mild protocols for switching the photoreactions of Ir(III)-diamine complexes between the interligand C-N coupling and dehydrogenation are developed in the presence of O

Background Deficiency in neuronal structural plasticity is involved in the development of major depressive disorder. TWIST1, a helix-loop-helix transcription factor that is essential for morphogenesis and organogenesis, is normally expressed at low levels in mature neurons. However, it is poorly understood what role TWIST1 plays in the brain and whether it is involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Methods Depressive-like behaviors in C57BL/6J mice were developed by chronic social defeat stress. Genetic and pharmacological approaches were used to investigate the role of the TWIST1–miR-214–PPAR-δ signaling pathway in depressive-like behaviors. Molecular biological and morphological studies were performed to define the molecular mechanisms downstream of TWIST1. Results The expression of TWIST1 was positively correlated with depressive behaviors in humans and mice. Chronic stress elevated TWIST1 expression in the medial prefrontal cortex of mice, which was reversed by fluoxetine treatment. While the overexpression of TWIST1 increased susceptibility to stress, the knockdown of TWIST1 prevented the defective morphogenesis of dendrites of pyramidal neurons in layer II/III of the medial prefrontal cortex and alleviated depressive-like behaviors. Mechanistically, this prodepressant property of TWIST1 was mediated, at least in part, through the repression of miR-214–PPAR-δ signaling and mitochondrial function, which was also mimicked by genetic and pharmacological inhibition of PPAR-δ. Conclusions These results suggest that TWIST1 in the medial prefrontal cortex mediates chronic stress–induced dendritic remodeling and facilitates the occurrence of depressive-like behavior, providing new information for developing drug targets for depression therapy.

Deficits in astrocytes function contribute to major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicide, but it remains unclear the therapeutic effect of directly reactivating astrocyte in depression. Here, specific gain and loss of astrocytic cell functions in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) bidirectionally regulates depression-like symptoms. Remarkably, recombinant human Thrombospondin-1 (rhTSP1), an astrocyte-secreted protein, exerted rapidly antidepressant-like actions through mPFC TH/dopamine/D2R pathways, but not D1R. TSP1 in the mPFC might have potential as a target for treating clinical depression.

A novel aromatic compound, grandiuvarone B (5-acetoxy-3-benzoyloxymethyl-5H-oxepin-4-one), along with a known compound grandiuvarone A (5-acetoxy-6-benzoyloxymethyl-5H-oxepin-4-one) were isolated from methanol extracts of Desmos chinensis leaves. Their structures were determined by various spectroscopic techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), high-resolution electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS) and circular dichroism (CD). Grandiuvarone A and grandiuvarone B are isomers and the S configuration of grandiuvarone B was reported for the first time. We then determined their antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus. Results revealed that grandiuvarone B exhibited better antifungal activity against A. flavus, with MIC values of 0.01 mg/mL compared to grandiuvarone A (MIC values of 0.02 mg/mL). In the presence of each active compound at 160 μg/g of aquafeed, A. flavus growth was completely inhibited. Grandiuvarone B also showed antibacterial activity against the plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum.

Mefloquine (MFQ) is widely used for the treatment of malaria clinically. Apart from antimalarial effect, psychiatric side effects such as depression and anxiety of MFQ have been reported. Interestingly, MFQ is also known as a broad-spectrum pannexin-1 (Panx1) inhibitor. Panx1 is a new gap junction channel in the brain which mediates efflux of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Although exogenous ATP has been known to produce a potential antidepressant-like effect, little is known about the role of Panx1 in pathophysiology of depression, especially the depression induced by administration of MFQ. Here, we used the chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) model and found a decrease in the expression and function of Panx1 in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of susceptible mice. Furthermore, pharmacological blockade of Panx1 in the mPFC with carbenoxolone (CBX) (100 mM) or 10Panx (100 μM) was sufficient to induce depressive-like behaviors and increase vulnerability to stress in mice, which were prevented by preconditioning with ATP (25 μM). Finally, systemic and intral-mPFC injection of MFQ both inhibited the activity of Panx1 and induced depressive-like and anxiety behaviors in mice with sub-threshold social defeat stress. Indeed, the behavioral abnormalities induced by MFQ were prevented by preconditioning with ATP in the mPFC. In conclusion, our study demonstrates a role of the Panx1 channel in chronic stress and MFQ-induced depressive-like and anxiety behaviors, which may provide a novel molecular mechanism for psychiatric side effects of MFQ.

Activation of acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) plays an important role in neuroinflammation. Macrophage recruitment to the sites of inflammation is an essential step in host defense. ASIC1 and ASIC3 have been reported to mediate the endocytosis and maturation of bone marrow derived macrophages. However, the expression and inflammation-related functions of ASICs in RAW 264.7 cells, another common macrophage, are still elusive. In the present study, we first demonstrated the presence of ASIC1, ASIC2a and ASIC3 in RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line by using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blotting and immunofluorescence experiments. The non-specific ASICs inhibitor amiloride and specific homomeric ASICla blocker PcTxl reduced the production of iNOS and COX-2 by LPS-induced activating RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, not only amiloride but also PcTxl inhibited the migration and LPS-induced apoptosis of RAW 264.7 cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that ASICs promote the inflammatory response and apoptosis of RAW 264.7 cells, and ASICs may serve as a potential novel target for immunological disease therapy.

The purpose of this article is to propose three new hybrid projection methods for a finite family of quasi-asymptotically pseudocontractive mappings. The strong convergence of the algorithms is proved in real Hilbert spaces. Some numerical experiments are also included to compare and explain the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Objectives Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is one of the most prevalent viruses in humans worldwide. Owing to limited therapeutic options mainly with acyclovir (ACV) and analogues and the emergence of ACV-resistant strains, new drugs with different modes of action and low toxicity are required. The aim of this study was to determine the anti-HSV-1 effect and mechanism of action of the flavonoid compound dihydromyricetin (DHM) from Ampelopsis grossedentata. Methods The HSV-1 inhibitory effect of DHM was evaluated by measuring plaque formation and generation of progeny virus as well as expression of HSV-1-related genes in Vero cells. The molecular mechanism of the antiviral activity of DHM against HSV-1 was explored by real-time quantitative PCR and ELISA. Results DHM presented a significant inhibitory effect on HSV-1 plaque formation and generation of progeny virus, with an EC50 (50% effective concentration) of 12.56 μM in Vero cells. Furthermore, expression of HSV-1 immediate-early genes (ICP4 and ICP22), early genes (ICP8 and UL42) and late genes (gB, VP1/2) was decreased by DHM at concentrations of 16 μM and 32 μM. DHM specifically suppressed mRNA levels of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), leading to inhibition of the inflammatory transcriptional factor NFκB and a decrease in TNFα. Conclusion These findings indicate that the effective inhibitory activity of DHM was achieved by suppressing TNFα production in a TLR9-dependent manner. Although further studies are needed to better characterise the activity of DHM in vivo, the results suggest this extract as a promising new anti-HSV-1 agent.

Background The basolateral amygdala (BLA) has been widely implicated in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder. A-kinase anchoring protein 150 (AKAP150) directs kinases and phosphatases to synaptic glutamate receptors, controlling synaptic transmission and plasticity. However, the role of the AKAP150 in the BLA in major depressive disorder remains poorly understood. Methods Depressive-like behaviors in C57BL/6J mice were developed by chronic restraint stress (CRS). Mice received either intra-BLA injection of lentivirus-expressing Akap5 short hairpin RNA or Ht-31, a peptide to disrupt the interaction of AKAP150 and protein kinase A (PKA), followed by depressive-like behavioral tests. Alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid glutamate receptor (AMPAR)–mediated miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents were recorded by whole-cell patch-clamp techniques. Results Chronic stress exposure induced depressive-like behaviors, which were accompanied by an increase in total and synaptic AKAP150 expression in the BLA. Accordingly, CRS facilitated the association of AKAP150 with PKA, but not of calcineurin in the BLA. Intra-BLA infusion of lentivirus-expressing Akap5 short hairpin RNA or Ht-31 prevented depressive-like behaviors and normalized phosphorylation of serine 845 and surface expression of AMPAR subunit 1 (GluA1) in the BLA of CRS mice. Finally, blockage of AKAP150-PKA complex signaling rescued the changes in AMPAR-mediated miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents in depressive-like mice. Conclusions These results suggest that AKAP150-PKA directly modulates BLA neuronal synaptic strength, and that AKAP150-PKA-GluA1 streamline signaling complex is responsible for CRS-induced disruption of synaptic AMPAR-mediated transmission and depressive-like behaviors in mice.

Magnetic iron oxide（Fe(3)O(4)） nanoparticles were sythesized using solvothermal reaction and then coated with titanium oxide（TiO(2)） via sol-gel process of hydrolysis and condensation of tetrabutyl titanate（TBOT）. The obtained Fe(3)O(4)-TiO(2) particles were characterized with transmission electron microscope（TEM） and dynamic light scattering（DLS）. The loading and release of doxorubicin（DOX） were evaluated. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium（MTT） method was used to study the cytotoxicity and effect of chemo-photodynamic therapy. The obtained Fe(3)O(4)-TiO(2) particles were uniform and well dispersed. The loading capacity of DOX was 43%. A p H-sensitive release property of Fe(3)O(4)-TiO(2)-DOX was observed. In the cytotoxicity experiment, cytotoxicity was found upon combination of Fe(3)O(4)-TiO(2)-DOX and ultraviolet（UV）, while no obvious cytotoxicity was found in the blank Fe(3)O(4)-TiO(2) particles. In conclusion, the fabricated Fe(3)O(4)-TiO(2) nanoparticles exhibited a high loading capacity and excellent photodynamic therapeutic effect, suggesting that it may be used as a novel carrier for chemo-photodynamic therapy of cancer.

Orofacial pain is a common clinical symptom that is accompanied by tooth pain, migraine and gingivitis. Accumulating evidence suggests that acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), especially ASIC3, can profoundly affect the physiological properties of nociception in peripheral sensory neurons. The aim of this study is to examine the contribution of ASICs in trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons to orofacial inflammatory pain. A Western blot (WB), immunofluorescence assay of labelled trigeminal ganglion neurons, orofacial formalin test, cell preparation and electrophysiological experiments are performed. This study demonstrated that ASIC1, ASIC2a and ASIC3 are highly expressed in TG neurons innervating the orofacial region of rats. The amplitude of ASIC currents in these neurons increased 119.72% (for ASIC1-like current) and 230.59% (for ASIC3-like current) in the formalin-induced orofacial inflammatory pain model. In addition, WB and immunofluorescence assay demonstrated a significantly augmented expression of ASICs in orofacial TG neurons during orofacial inflammation compared with the control group. The relative protein density of ASIC1, ASIC2a and ASIC3 also increased 58.82 ± 8.92%, 45.30 ± 11.42% and 55.32 ± 14.71%, respectively, compared with the control group. Furthermore, pharmacological blockade of ASICs and genetic deletion of ASIC1 attenuated the inflammation response. These findings indicate that peripheral inflammation can induce the upregulation of ASICs in TG neurons, causing orofacial inflammatory pain. Additionally, the specific inhibitor of ASICs may have a significant analgesic effect on orofacial inflammatory pain.

An efficient approach for direct carbamoylation of terminal alkynes with formamides affording propiolamides has been developed by copper-catalyzed oxidative cross coupling of C(sp)-H and C(sp2)-H bonds in the presence of a pincer ligand with two imidazolyl groups. The catalytic reaction is compatible with diverse functional groups but sensitive to the electronic effect of terminal alkyne and the steric effect of formamides. KIE study indicates the cleavage of the carbamoyl C–H bond affording formamide radical is the rate-determining step.

A new triterpenoid saponin named esculentoside U(1), along with the five known compounds, was isolated and characterized from the roots of Phytolacca acinosa, a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine with anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatoid activities. The structure of the new saponin was elucidated as 3-O-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)]-β-D-xylopyranosyl]-2, 23-dihydroxyolean-11, 13(18)-diene-28, 29-dioic acid 29-methyl ester(1). The assignment of all NMR signals of 1 was performed by means of 2D-NMR experiments.

Background: Gut microbiota plays a decisive role in the pathogenesis of obesity. Targeting the gut microbiota are potential therapies for obesity. Dihydromyricetin (DMY), a flavanonol compound isolated from vine tea (Ampelopsis grossedentata) in the traditional Chinese medicine, improves glucose and lipid metabolism despite of low bioavailability. Methods: Mice were fed with a normal chow diet (NCD) or high-fat diet (HFD), and HFD-fed mice was supplemented with DMY once daily by intragastric gavage for 13 weeks. Serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was measured by ELISA, and expressions of tight junction proteins in colon and pro-inflammatory cytokines in liver and epididymal adipose tissues were determined by quantitative PCR. The gut microbiota was analyzed by 16S rDNA sequencing. Using the method combined gut microbiota depletion and repopulation in HFD-fed mice, the causation that DMY reduces obesity by targeting the gut microbiota was explored. Results: DMY reduced body weight gain, fat accumulation and hepatic steatosis, and improved glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity in HFD-fed mice. The metabolic endotoxemia, chronic low-grade inflammation and leaky gut were alleviated. DMY reverses the gut microbiota of HFD-fed mice to the composition similar with that of NCD-fed mice. Moreover, the beneficial effects of DMY on HFD-induced obesity were eliminated by gut microbiota depletion, and were subsequently restored together with the modulation of gut microbiota composition after microbiota repopulation. Conclusions: Supplementation of DMY from vine tea represents an effective and implementable strategy that modulates the potentially beneficial gut commensal bacteria to prevent obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. Funding Statement: This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81503013) and Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (No. 2017CFB481). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: The animal experiment was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (IACUC No. S769).

Microglia, the major immune cells in central nervous system, act as the surveillance and scavenger of immune defense and inflammatory response. Previous studies suggest that there might be close relationship between acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) and inflammation, however, the exact role of ASICs in microglia during inflammation remains elusive. In the present study, we identified the existence of ASICs in the primary cultured rat microglia and explored their functions. By using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), western blotting, and immunofluorescence experiments, we demonstrated that ASIC1, ASIC2a, and ASIC3 were existed in cultured and in situ rat microglia. After lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, the expressions of microglial ASIC1 and ASIC2a were upregulated. Meanwhile, ASIC-like currents and acid-induced elevation of intracellular calcium were increased, which could be inhibited by the nonspecific ASICs antagonist amiloride and specific homomeric ASIC1a blocker PcTx1. In addition, both inhibitors reduced the expression of inflammatory cytokines, including inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase 2 stimulated by LPS. Furthermore, we also observed significant increase in the expression of ASIC1 and ASIC2a in scrape-stimulated microglial migration. Amiloride and PcTx1 prevented the migration by inhibiting ERK phosphorylation. Taken together, these results suggest that ASICs participate in neuroinflammatory response, which will provide a novel therapeutic strategy for controlling the inflammation-relevant neuronal diseases.

Extracellular acid can have important effects on cancer cells. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), which emerged as key receptors for extracellular acidic pH, are differently expressed during various diseases and have been implicated in underlying pathogenesis. This study reports that ASIC1 and ASIC3 are mainly expressed on membrane of pancreatic cancer cells and upregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues. ASIC1 and ASIC3 are responsible for an acidity-induced inward current, which is required for elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). Inhibition of ASIC1 and ASIC3 with siRNA or pharmacological inhibitor significantly decreased [Ca2+]i and its downstream RhoA during acidity and, thus, suppressed acidity-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of pancreatic cancer cells. Meanwhile, downregulating [Ca2+]i with calcium chelating agent BAPTA-AM or knockdown of RhoA with siRNA also significantly repressed acidity-induced EMT of pancreatic cancer cells. Significantly, although without obvious effect on proliferation, knockdown of ASIC1 and ASIC3 in pancreatic cancer cells significantly suppresses liver and lung metastasis in xenograft model. In addition, ASIC1 and ASIC3 are positively correlated with expression of mesenchymal marker vimentin, but inversely correlated with epithelial marker E-cadherin in pancreatic cancer cells. In conclusion, this study indicates that ASICs are master regulator of acidity-induced EMT. In addition, the data demonstrate a functional link between ASICs and [Ca2+]i/RhoA pathway, which contributes to the acidity-induced EMT.

In this paper, we consider hybrid algorithms for finding common elements of the set of common fixed points of two families quasi-ϕ-non-expansive mappings and the set of solutions of an equilibrium problem. We establish strong convergence theorems of common elements in uniformly smooth and strictly convex Banach spaces with the property (K).

Six new complexes [Zn2(L1)4]·2H2O·DMF (1), [Zn2(L2)4]3·13H2O (2), [Zn1.5(L3)3]2 (3), Zn(L4)2·2H2O (4), Zn(L5)2·2CHCl3 (5), and [Zn(L6)2]2 (6) (where HL1 = 1-(4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)butane-1,3-dione, HL2 = 1-(4-(1H-benzimidazol-1-yl)phenyl)butane-1,3-dione, HL3 = 1-(4-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)phenyl)butane-1,3-dione, HL4 = 1-(3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)butane-1,3-dione, HL5 = 1-(3-(1H-benzimidazol-1-yl)phenyl)butane-1,3-dione and HL6 = 1-(3-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)phenyl)butane-1,3-dione) have been synthesized by the reaction of the bifunctional ligands and Zn(II) salts under similar experimental conditions. Structural analyses show that the ligands act as a tridentate and bind to two Zn(II) ions as a two-connected linker, generating a variety of geometries from discrete binuclear [2 + 2] metallomacrocycles (3 and 6) to a one-dimensional looped-chain coordination polymer (4) and two-dimensional (4,4) network (5) as well as three-dimensional frameworks with lvt (1) and NbO (2) topologies. The results demonstrate that ...

In this paper, some new iterative schemes for approximating the common element of the set of fixed points of strongly relatively nonexpansive mappings and the set of zero points of maximal monotone operators in a real uniformly smooth and uniformly convex Banach space are proposed. Some weak convergence theorems are obtained, which extend and complement some previous work.

In this paper, we continue to discuss the properties of iterates generated by a strict pseudocontraction or a finite family of strict pseudo-contractions in a real q-uniformly smooth Banach space. The results presented in this paper are interesting extensions and improvements upon those known ones of Marino and Xu [Marino, G., Xu, H. K.: Weak and strong convergence theorems for strict pseudo-contractions in Hilbert spaces. J. Math. Anal. Appl., 324, 336–349 (2007)]. In order to get a strong convergence theorem, we modify the normal Mann’s iterative algorithm by using a suitable convex combination of a fixed vector and a sequence in C. This result extends a recent result of Kim and Xu [Kim, T. H., Xu, H. K.: Strong convergence of modified Mann iterations. Nonl. Anal., 61, 51–60 (2005)] both from nonexpansive mappings to λ-strict pseudo-contractions and from Hilbert spaces to q-uniformly smooth Banach spaces.

In this paper, some iterative schemes for approximating the common element of the set of zero points of maximal monotone operators and the set of fixed points of relatively nonexpansive mappings in a real uniformly smooth and uniformly convex Banach space are proposed. Some strong convergence theorems are obtained, to extend the previous work.

Chronic stress induces altered energy metabolism and plays important roles in the etiology of depression, in which the glucocorticoid negative feedback is disrupted due to imbalanced glucocorticoid receptor (GR) functions. The mechanism underlying the dysregulation of GR by chronic stress remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the key enzyme regulating cellular energy metabolism, and related signaling pathways in chronic stress-induced GR dysregulation. In cultured rat cortical astrocytes, glucocorticoid treatment decreased the level, which was accompanied by the decreased expression of liver kinase B1 (LKB1) and reduced phosphorylation of AMPK. Glucocorticoid-induced effects were attenuated by glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) inhibitor GSK650394, which also inhibited glucocorticoid induced phosphorylation of Forkhead box O3a (FOXO3a). Furthermore, glucocorticoid-induced down-regulation of GR was mimicked by the inhibition of AMPK and abolished by the AMPK activators or the histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) inhibitors. In line with the role of AMPK in GR expression, AMPK activator metformin reversed glucocorticoid-induced reduction of AMPK phosphorylation and GR expression as well as behavioral alteration of rats. Taken together, these results suggest that chronic stress activates SGK1 and suppresses the expression of LKB1 via inhibitory phosphorylation of FOXO3a. Downregulated LKB1 contributes to reduced activation of AMPK, leading to the dephosphorylation of HDAC5 and the suppression of transcription of GR.

In this paper, most of classical and modern convergence theorems of iterative schemes for nonexpansive mappings are presented and the main results in the paper generalize and improve the corresponding results given by many authors.

Extracellular acid can have important effects on cancer cells. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), which emerged as key receptors for extracellular acidic pH, are differently expressed during various diseases and have been implicated in underlying pathogenesis. This study reports that ASIC1 and ASIC3 are mainly expressed on membrane of pancreatic cancer cells and upregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues. ASIC1 and ASIC3 are responsible for an acidity-induced inward current, which is required for elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). Inhibition of ASIC1 and ASIC3 with siRNA or pharmacological inhibitor significantly decreased [Ca2+]i and its downstream RhoA during acidity and, thus, suppressed acidity-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of pancreatic cancer cells. Meanwhile, downregulating [Ca2+]i with calcium chelating agent BAPTA-AM or knockdown of RhoA with siRNA also significantly repressed acidity-induced EMT of pancreatic cancer cells. Significantly, although without obvious effect on proliferation, knockdown of ASIC1 and ASIC3 in pancreatic cancer cells significantly suppresses liver and lung metastasis in xenograft model. In addition, ASIC1 and ASIC3 are positively correlated with expression of mesenchymal marker vimentin, but inversely correlated with epithelial marker E-cadherin in pancreatic cancer cells. In conclusion, this study indicates that ASICs are master regulator of acidity-induced EMT. In addition, the data demonstrate a functional link between ASICs and [Ca2+]i/RhoA pathway, which contributes to the acidity-induced EMT.

Let E be a real uniformly smooth Banach space and T : E → E a strong pseudocontraction with a bounded range. We prove that the Mann and Ishikawa iteration procedures are T -stable. Some related results deal with the stability of these procedures for the iteration approximation of solutions of nonlinear equations involving accretive operators. Our results improve and/or extend those corresponding results announced by Osilike.

Photodegradation of nonylphenol ethoxylates (NP10EO) was investigated in laboratory scale under UV irradiation. The intermediate photodegradation products were analyzed by LC–ESI-MS. Three kinds of intermediate products including aldehydic compounds, carboxylic compounds and cyclohexanyl compounds were identified. Five main degradation routes involving the oxidation of the alkyl chain and ethoxylate unit, shortening of the alkyl chain and ethoxylate unit, hydrogenation of the benzene ring were proposed.

In the present note, we give a short proof of a theorem due to Xu and Roach.

Four new ruthenium(II) complexes [Ru(bpy)2(TMBiimH2)](ClO4)2 (Ru-5; bpy is 2,2'-bipyridine and TMBiimH2 is 4,5,4',5'-tetramethyl-2,2'-biimidazole), [Ru(bpy)2(L1H2)](ClO4)2·H2O (Ru-6; L1H2 is 4,5-dimethyl-2-(N,N-diacetyl)carboximidamide-1H-imidazole), [Ru(bpy)2(L2H2)](ClO4)2 (Ru-7; L2H2 is N(1),N(1),N(2),N(2)-tetrakis(acetyl)ethanediimidamide), and [Ru(phen)2(TMBiimH2)](ClO4)2 (Ru-8; phen is 1,10'-phenanthroline) have been synthesized and characterized. Their photophysical and electrochemical properties have been studied and compared to the previously reported [Ru(bpy)2(BiimH2)](PF6)2 (Ru-1), [Ru(bpy)2(BbimH2)](PF6)2 (Ru-2), [Ru(bpy)2(DMBbimH2)](PF6)2 (Ru-3), and [Ru(bpy)2(TMBbimH2)](PF6)2 (Ru-4). Under irradiation with either sunlight or household light in atmosphere, Ru-5 reacts with molecular oxygen to produce Ru-6 in an acetonitrile solution with a relatively high concentration and Ru-7 in a methanol or dilute acetonitrile solution, respectively. The mechanism studies show that singlet oxygen is the reactive oxygen species in the ring-opening reaction and the photooxidation reaction is solvent- and concentration-dependent. The photoreaction product Ru-6 is an intermediate, which has been isolated and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Ru-6 is stable in the solid state and an acetonitrile solution with a high concentration, but can be further oxidized to Ru-7 in a methanol or dilute acetonitrile solution.

Microglia, the major immune cells in central nervous system, act as the surveillance and scavenger of immune defense and inflammatory response. Previous studies suggest that there might be close relationship between acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) and inflammation, however, the exact role of ASICs in microglia during inflammation remains elusive. In the present study, we identified the existence of ASICs in the primary cultured rat microglia and explored their functions. By using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), western blotting, and immunofluorescence experiments, we demonstrated that ASIC1, ASIC2a, and ASIC3 were existed in cultured and in situ rat microglia. After lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, the expressions of microglial ASIC1 and ASIC2a were upregulated. Meanwhile, ASIC-like currents and acid-induced elevation of intracellular calcium were increased, which could be inhibited by the nonspecific ASICs antagonist amiloride and specific homomeric ASIC1a blocker PcTx1. In addition, both inhibitors reduced the expression of inflammatory cytokines, including inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase 2 stimulated by LPS. Furthermore, we also observed significant increase in the expression of ASIC1 and ASIC2a in scrape-stimulated microglial migration. Amiloride and PcTx1 prevented the migration by inhibiting ERK phosphorylation. Taken together, these results suggest that ASICs participate in neuroinflammatory response, which will provide a novel therapeutic strategy for controlling the inflammation-relevant neuronal diseases.

In this paper, another new iterative algorithm is proposed for approximating a common element of the common fixed point set for a family of quasi-φ-asymptotically nonexpansive mappings and the solution set of equilibrium problems in Banach spaces. Then a strong convergence theorem is proved by using the propsoed algorithm, which generalizes and improve the recent related results.

The photolysis of nonylphenol ethoxylates with an average oligomers length of ten ethoxylate units (NPEO(10)) in aqueous solution under UV, as well as the influence of humic acid (HA) on the photolysis was studied. A 125W high-pressure mercury lamp was employed as the light source. The intermediate products from the photolysis were determined by LC-MS. The results indicated that NPEO(10) underwent direct photolysis upon exposed to UV. The degradation pathway was complex. Besides the generally proposed degradation pathway of ethylene oxide (EO) side chains shortening, the oxidation of alkyl chain and EO chain led to intermediates having both a carboxylated (as well as carbonylated) ethoxylate and alkyl chain of varying lengths. The hydrogenation of benzene ring was also detected. The kinetics data showed that the first order reaction kinetics could be well used to describe the kinetics of NPEO(10) degradation. In the presence of dissolved organic matter by HA addition, the performance of NPEO(10) photodegradation was reduced. The photolysis rate decreased with increased HA concentration.

The evolvable hardware (EHW) enables the system to be self-adaptive, self-organizing and self-repairing by incorporating evolutionary algorithm (EAs). EHW has a great application potential in weapon equipment system. However, the evolutional speed is slow which impedes its application and development and there lacks theoretical results on optimization speed of evolutionary algorithm in EHW. Mutation has been regarded as one of the key features of EAs. It is important to understand in depth the effect of the mutation operator on evolution speed of EAs. The paper gives some theoretical results by deriving the estimation upper limit of the optimization speed and the mean first hitting time of a given problem. It is shown that estimation upper limit of the optimization speed is completely determined by the transition probability and initial distribution of the population. It is also shown that the mutation probability can have a drastic impact on the optimization speed. For a given problem, the range of mutation probability can be decided quantitatively.

The homochiral self-assembly of [M(H2biim)3]SO4 (M2+ = Ru, 1; Co, 2; Ni, 3; Mn, 4; Fe, 5; and Zn, 6; H2biim = 2,2′-biimidazole) complexes have been systematically observed. For complexes 1 and 2, the spontaneous resolution processes not only depend on the counter anion but are also impacted by the pH value of the reaction solution. The enantiomers Δ-1 and Λ-1, and Δ-2 and Λ-2 were isolated in acidic conditions, while rac-1 and rac-2·5H2O were obtained in neutral conditions, respectively. For complexes 3–6, however, the spontaneous resolution processes are independent on the pH value of the reaction solution. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals the enantiomers Δ and Λ are homochiral (10,3)-b three-dimensional networks constructed by the hydrogen bonds between the sulfate and H2biim ligand, whereas rac-1 assembles into (6,3) two-dimensional layers (see CrystEngComm, 2009, 11, 1114–1121) and rac-2 into one-dimensional chains. The data observed here seem to suggest that the hydrogen bonding modes between the sulfate and H2biim ligand play a crucial role in spontaneous resolution of the enantiomers. Furthermore, the solid state CD spectra and powder XRD patterns were also used to diagnose the obtained complexes.

Two NbO frameworks are constructed by the reaction of Co(OAc)2·4(H2O)/Zn(OAc)2·2(H2O) with 1-(4-(1H-benzimidazol-1-yl)phenyl)butane-1,3-dione in the ratio of 1:2, in which they are isostructural and the NbO net exhibits a two-fold interpenetration featuring hexameric 1D channels. Theses channels are occupied by unprecedented tetrahedral tetramer water clusters.