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Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is derived from Carthamus tinctorius L. (Honghua in Chinese) and is used to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. However, the mechanism by which HSYA treats ischemic stroke following atherosclerosis (ISFA) remains unclear. The targets and pathways of HSYA against ISFA were obtained using network analysis. A total of 3335 potential IFSA-related targets were predicted using the GenCards and Drugbank databases, and a total of 88 potential HSYA-related targets were predicted using the Swiss Target Prediction database. A total of 62 HSYA-related targets against IFSA were obtained. The network was composed of HSYA, 62 targets, and 20 pathways. The top 20 targets were constructed via the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that the targets were involved in signal transduction, protein phosphorylation, the cytoplasm, the plasma membrane, the cytosol, zinc ion binding, ATP binding, protein kinase binding/activity, and enzyme binding. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the pathways were associated with cancer, inflammatory mediator regulation of the transient receptor potential channels, and microRNA in cancer. Additionally, molecular docking indicated that HSYA mainly interacts with five targets, namely interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), E1A-binding protein p300 (EP300), protein kinase C alpha (PRKCA), and inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B kinase subunit beta (IKBKB). In animal experiments, HSYA administration ameliorated the infarct size, neurological deficit score, histopathological changes, carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), and blood lipid level (total cholesterol and triglycerides). Immunochemistry and quantitative PCR showed that HSYA intervention downregulated the expression of STAT3, EP300, PRKCA, and IKBKB, and the enzyme-linked immunoassay showed reduced IL-1β levels. The findings of this study provide a reference for the development of anti-ISFA drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

µ-Conotoxin GIIIB (µ-CTX GIIIB) is a polypeptide containing three disulfide bridges, produced by the sea snail Conus geographus. This study was aimed to explored the cytotoxic effects of µ-CTX GIIIB on mouse skeletal musculoblast (Sol8). Sol8 cells were exposed to ouabain and veratridine to establish the cell injury model, and then treated with µ-CTX GIIIB. CCK-8 was adopted to evaluate the cytotoxicity of µ-CTX GIIIB. Then, proteomics and transcriptome were conducted, and the explore the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) affected by µ-CTX GIIIB were found. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis was used to investigate the affected signaling pathways. µ-CTX GIIIB increased the cell survival rate of injured Sol8 cells. We found and identified 1,663 DEGs and 444 DEPs influenced by µ-CTX GIIIB. 106 pairs of correlated DEGs and DEPs were selected by combining transcriptome and proteome data. The results of KEGG and GO analysis showed that µ-CTX GIIB affected the cell cycle, apoptosis, DNA damage and repair, lipid metabolism and other biological processes of Sol8 cells. µ-CTX GIIIB could affected cell cycle regulation, DNA damage repair, and activation of tumor factors, with potential carcinogenic effects. Our results provide an important basis for the study of in vitro toxicity, the mechanism of toxicity and injury prevention by µ-CTX GIIIB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhodium-catalyzed regio- and stereoselective three-component carboamidation of 1,3-enynes has been realized using indoles and dioxazolones as the functionalizing reagents. A wide range of multi-substituted skipped 1,4-dienes have been constructed in good yields and excellent stereoselectivity. The stereoselectivity is under substrate control. 1,3-Enynes bearing a relatively bulky alkyne terminus reacted with Z-selectivity. In contrast, a sterically less hindered alkyne terminus tends to predominantly give the E-configured skipped diene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of the study was to conduct a network meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and incidence of treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) of eltrombopag, romiplostim, avatrombopag, recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO), and hetrombopag for adult immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the five therapies from inception to June 1, 2022, were included. The efficacy outcome was the rate of platelet response, defined as the achievement of platelet counts above 50 × 109/L. Pairwise odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) was used to rank the included therapies for each outcome. Results: In total, 1,360 participants were analyzed in 14 eligible RCTs. All of the therapies showed a significantly better platelet response than the placebo, and avatrombopag (OR, 7.42; 95% CI: 1.74–31.69) and rhTPO (OR, 3.86; 95% CI: 1.62–9.18) were better than eltrombopag. Regarding TRAEs, no significant differences were found between patients receiving eltrombopag, romiplostim, and avatrombopag. Avatrombopag carried the highest platelet response rate with SUCRA value of 87.5, and carried the least TRAEs risk with SUCRA value of 37.0. Conclusions: These findings indicated that avatrombopag appeared to be the optimal choice as the second-line therapy for adult ITP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, joint triple extraction methods have received extensive attention because they have significantly promoted the progress of information extraction and many related downstream tasks in the field of natural language processing. However, due to the inherent complexity of language such as relation overlap, joint extraction model still faces great challenges. Most of the existing models to solve the overlapping problem adopt the strategy of constructing complex semantic shared encoding features with all types of relations, which makes the model suffer from redundancy and poor inference interpretability in the prediction process. Therefore, we propose a new model for entity role attribute recognition based on triple holistic fusion features, which can extract triples (including overlapping triples) under a limited number of relationships, and its prediction process is simple and easy explain. We adopt the strategy of low-level feature separation and high-level concept fusion. First, we use the low-level token features to perform entity and relationship prediction in parallel, then use the residual connection with attention calculation to perform feature fusion on the candidate triples in the entity-relation matrix, and finally determine the existence of triple by identifying the entity role attributes. Experimental results show that the proposed model is very effective and achieves state-of-the-art performance on the public datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the effects of phosphorus on the branching growth and the related physiology of Medicago sativa under the short-term cultivation, the non-fall dormancy variety WL525 HQ was used as the experimental material. The branching characteristics, photosynthetic indexes and root nutrients of Medicago sativa under different phosphorus levels were determined by field experiment and pot experiment. The results showed that phosphorus treatment had no significant effect on the number of root crown shoots and shoot branching of Medicago sativa, but significantly increased the single branch weight of root crown shoots and shoot branching (P<0.05), thus increasing the dry weight per plant. The phosphorus treatment improved the photosynthetic performance of Medicago sativa. Compared with the control group, the net photosynthetic rate of the first crop treated with 10 g, 15 g and 20 g P2O5 under the potted cultivation was significantly increased by 14.0%, 16.7% and 14.2%, respectively. The phosphorus treatment tended to increase the contents of soluble sugar, starch and total non-structural carbohydrate (TNC) in the roots of Medicago sativa, and significantly increased their storage capacity (P<0.05). The total nitrogen content and its storage capacity increased significantly with the increase of phosphorus application (P<0.05). The daily increment of dry matter of Medicago sativa after mowing was significantly increased with the increase of phosphorus application rate (P<0. 05), and the regeneration rate was significantly positively correlated with the storage capacity of root nutrients (P<0.05). The comprehensive test results showed that: the phosphorus treatment has improved the dry matter yield of Medicago sativa mainly by increasing the single branch weight of branches, and the reason why phosphorus could increase the single branch weight of branches was that the phosphorus has promoted the flow of nutrients between roots and newborn branches! thus accelerating the growth of newborn branches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nb3Sn superconductor is of significant interest for applications in constructing high-field magnets beyond the limit of NbTi. However, its critical current density decreases rapidly at high magnetic fields ( > 12 T) and the state-of-the-art level of Nb3Sn superconductors still cannot meet the requirements of the planned future accelerator magnets. The primary flux pinning centers for Nb3Sn wire mainly arise from the grain boundaries (GBs). In the present paper, we theoretically investigate, through time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory and with graphics-processing unit parallel technique, the vortex pinning and the critical current density in large-scale polycrystalline Nb3Sn superconductor by varying the pinning potential of GB and grain size at various magnetic fields. Unlike the conventional dot-like pinning systems, it is found that the critical current is not a monotonous function by suppressing the superconductivity of the GBs. The optimal pinning potential of GB for maximum critical current density strongly depends on magnetic fields. Furthermore, we find that the critical current density can be significantly enhanced by reducing grain size at low magnetic fields, while increase of critical current density cannot always be observed at high magnetic fields. Actually, critical current density even decreases by reducing grain size, which depends on the superconductivity of GBs. The findings in the paper provide theoretical foundations to achieve further improvement of Nb3Sn with optimizing the flux pinning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focused on the microstructure evolution under different thermal aging times at 650 °C and its effect on creep behavior in 11Cr-3W-3Co heat-resistant steel. After short-term thermal aging at 650 °C (>750 h), a Laves phase was found in the regions adjacent to the PAG boundaries, martensitic lath boundaries, and M23C6 carbides, and gradually swallowed adjacent M23C6 carbides with the aging time increased. Higher contents of Si and P are good promoters of the nucleation of the Laves phase during long-term aging. In addition, the coarsening behavior of the Laves phase, M23C6, and MX were investigated. As the aging time increases, the coarsening behavior among precipitated phases in the above-mentioned example exhibits remarkable variability, which is discussed in detail in this paper, and the evolution of the subgrain size was also analyzed in detail. The increasing rate of subgrain size is, in general, consistent with that of the M23C6 carbide size. The evolution of dislocation density in different aging times shows an obvious difference, and the decreasing rate of dislocation density is significantly affected by the precipitated phase after long-term aging time. The creep performance of the material decreases significantly as the aging time increases, which is closely related to the coarsening of the precipitates such as M23C6 carbides and subgrain during long-term aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To explore the interhemispheric functional coordination following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its association with posttraumatic anxiety and depressive symptoms. Methods. This was a combination of a retrospective cohort study and a cross-sectional observational study. We investigated the functional coordination between hemispheres by voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC). Grey matter volumes were examined by voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and microstructural integrity of the corpus callosum (CC) was assessed by diffusion tension imaging (DTI). The anxiety and depressive symptoms were evaluated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results. The VMHC values of the bilateral middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and orbital middle frontal gyrus (MFG) were significantly decreased in TBI patients versus the healthy controls. Weakened homotopic functional connectivity (FC) in the bilateral orbital MFG is moderate positively correlated with anxiety and depressive symptoms. The white matter integrity in the CC was extensively reduced in TBI patients. In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the VMHC value of the orbital MFG could distinguish TBI from HC with an area under the curve of 0.939 (sensitivity of 1 and specificity of 0.867). Conclusion. TBI disrupts the interhemispheric functional and structural connection, which is correlated with posttraumatic mood disorders. These findings may serve as a clinical indicator for diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of pepsinogen C (PGC) is considered an ideal negative biomarker of gastric cancer, but its pathological mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to analyze competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks related to PGC expression at a post-transcriptional level and build an experimental basis for studying the role of PGC in the progression of gastric cancer. RNA sequencing technology was used to detect the differential expression (DE) profiles of PGC-related long non-coding (lnc)RNAs, circular (circ)RNAs, and mRNAs. Ggcorrplot R package and online database were used to construct DElncRNAs/DEcircRNAs co-mediated PGC expression–related ceRNA networks. In vivo and in vitro validations were performed using quantitative reverse transcription–PCR (qRT-PCR). RNA sequencing found 637 DEmRNAs, 698 DElncRNAs, and 38 DEcircRNAs. The PPI network of PGC expression–related mRNAs consisted of 503 nodes and 1179 edges. CFH, PPARG, and MUC6 directly interacted with PGC. Enrichment analysis suggested that DEmRNAs were mainly enriched in cancer-related pathways. Eleven DElncRNAs, 13 circRNAs, and 35 miRNA–mRNA pairs were used to construct ceRNA networks co-mediated by DElncRNAs and DEcircRNAs that were PGC expression–related. The network directly related to PGC was as follows: SNHG16/hsa_circ_0008197–hsa-mir-98-5p/hsa-let-7f-5p/hsa-let-7c-5p–PGC. qRT-PCR validation results showed that PGC, PPARG, SNHG16, and hsa_circ_0008197 were differentially expressed in gastric cancer cells and tissues: PGC positively correlated with PPARG (r = 0.276, P = 0.009), SNHG16 (r = 0.35, P = 0.002), and hsa_circ_0008197 (r = 0.346, P = 0.005). PGC-related DElncRNAs and DEcircRNAs co-mediated complicated ceRNA networks to regulate PGC expression, thus affecting the occurrence and development of gastric cancer at a post-transcriptional level. Of these, the network directly associated with PGC expression was a SNHG16/hsa_circ_0008197–mir-98-5p/hsa-let-7f-5p/hsa-let-7c-5p – PGC axis. This study may form a foundation for the subsequent exploration of the possible regulatory mechanisms of PGC in gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Memory impairment and mood disorders are among the most troubling sequelae following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The relationships between comorbid psychiatric disorders and memory function have not been well illustrated. The aim of the study was to explore the relationships of comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms with memory function following TBI. Methods: A total of 46 TBI participants across all levels of injury and 23 healthy controls were enrolled in this case-control study. Wechsler Memory Scale-Chinese Revision (WMS-CR) picture, recognition, associative learning, comprehension memory, and digit span were administered to evaluate several categories of memory capacity. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was employed to evaluate the anxiety and depressive symptoms. Stepwise multiple linear regressions were conducted. Results: Compared to healthy controls, the participants with TBI reported more anxiety and depressive symptoms. In the meanwhile, they performed more poorly on memory tests, showing 1.84 SDs, 1.07 SDs, and 0.68 SDs below healthy participants on visuospatial memory, working memory, and verbal memory, respectively. A variety of variables, including HADS depression, HADS anxiety, age, GCS, and education were associated with posttraumatic memory function in the bivariate models. The stepwise multiple linear regressions demonstrated a negative association between HADS depression and posttraumatic memory function, especially performance on visuospatial and verbal memory and a positive association between education and posttraumatic memory function. Conclusion: More depressive symptoms rather than anxiety symptoms and less years of education are significant predictors for posttraumatic memory dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence suggests that miR‐143 plays an important role in the regulation of tumor sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. The study explores the underlying mechanism of miR‐143 in reversing cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer. The cisplatin‐resistant ovarian cancer cell line A2780/CDDP was induced and established via treating A2780 cells by gradually increasing cisplatin concentrations. The IC50 values of A2780/CDDP and A2780 to cisplatin were 218.10 ± 1.12 and 21.99 ± 1.12 μM, respectively. Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) results showed that miR‐143 was significantly decreased in A2780/CDDP cells compared with A2780 cells. miR‐143 overexpression decreased cisplatin resistance in A2780/CDDP, and miR‐143 inhibition decreased A2780 sensitivity to cisplatin. Results of qRT‐PCR, Western blot analysis, and luciferase reporter assay indicated that the direct target of miR‐143 was DNMT3A, which, in turn, was upregulated in A2780/CDDP. DNMT3A overexpression antagonized the sensitizing effect of miR‐143 on A2780/CDDP to cisplatin. Knocking down of DNMT3A reduced cisplatin resistance in A2780/CDDP, while overexpression of DNMT3A increased cisplatin resistance in A2780. Methylation‐specific polymerase chain reaction results showed that the methylation level in the promoter region of the miR‐143 precursor gene was higher in A2780/CDDP cells than in A2780 cells. DNMT3A mediated the hypermethylation of the miR‐143 precursor gene, resulting in miR‐143 downregulation in A2780/CDDP. miR‐143 inhibited cell growth of A2780/CDDP cell in nude mice. Our findings indicated the negative feedback between miR‐143 and DNMT3A as a crucial epigenetic modifier of cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical studies have indicated that the long-term use of topical antiglaucoma drugs, such as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs), may lead to meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). We hypothesize that these adverse effects involve a direct influence on human MG epithelial cells (HMGECs). The purpose our present investigation was to test our hypothesis and determine whether exposure to dorzolamide, a CAI, impacts the proliferation, intracellular signaling and differentiation of HMGECs. We cultured immortalized (i) HMGECs with vehicle or various concentrations of dorzolamide for 6 days. Cells were enumerated with a hemocytometer, and examined for their morphology, Akt signaling activity, accumulation of neutral lipids, phospholipids and lysosomes, and the expression of protein biomarkers for lipogenesis regulation, lysosomes and autophagosomes. Our results show that a high, 500 µg/ml concentration of dorzolamide causes a significant decrease in Akt signaling and the proliferation of iHMGECs. However, the high dose of dorzolamide also promotes the differentiation of iHMGECs. This response features increases in the number of lysosomes, the accumulation of phospholipids, and the expression of the light chain 3A biomarker for autophagosomes. In contrast, the therapeutic amount (50 µg/ml) of dorzolamide has no impact on the proliferative or differentiative abilities of iHMGECs. Our results support our hypothesis and demonstrate that the CAI dorzolamide does exert a direct influence on the proliferation and differentiation of iHMGECs. However, this effect is elicited only by a high, and not a therapeutic, amount of dorzolamide. Abbreviations: AKT: phosphoinositide 3-kinase-protein kinase B; BPE: bovine pituitary extract; CAD: cationic amphiphilic drug; DED: dry eye disease; DMEM/F12: 1:1 mixture of Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium and Ham's F-12; EGF: epidermal growth factor; FBS: fetal bovine serum; iHMGECs: immortalized human meibomian gland epithelial cells; KSFM: keratinocyte serum-free medium; LAMP-1: lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1; LC3A: light chain 3A; MGD: meibomian gland dysfunction; SREBP-1: sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) could play carcinogenic roles in gastric cancer (GC) and have potential to be biomarkers for GC early diagnosis, which needs to be further excavated and supported by more evidence.Aims: The study aims to identify more authentic circRNA expression profiles that could function as potential biomarkers in GC.Methods: circRNA expression data in three microarrays were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus datasets. A systematic meta-analysis based on an integrated dataset pre-processed from the three microarrays was conducted to identify a panel of differentially expressed circRNAs (DEcircs) by using the metaDE package. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes term enrichment were used to note the corresponding functions of DEcircs. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was applied to verify the DEcircs expression in cancer tissues and adjacent paracancerous tissues. A GC risk-related circRNAs-miRNAs-mRNAs network was further constructed and analyzed.Results: MetaDE analysis suggested 64 DEcircs between cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues. GO and KEGG analysis showed that the parental genes of these DEcircs were mainly associated with histone methylation, Wnt signalosome and histone methylation activity. Hsa_circ_0005927 and hsa_circ_0067934 were verified in GC tissues, and a GC risk-related network was constructed.Conclusion: MetaDE-based circRNA expression profiles revealed a series of potential biomarkers involved in GC. Two circRNAs, hsa_circ_0005927 and hsa_circ_0067934, could be more authentic biomarkers for GC screening. The GC risk-related network of hsa_circ_0005927/hsa_circ_0067934 and their downstream targets will provide new genetic insights for GC research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asiatic acid (AA) is generally recognized in the treatment of various diseases and has significant advantages in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases. The treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with AA is a completely new entry point. RA is a complex autoimmune inflammatory disease, and despite the involvement of different immune and nonimmune cells in the pathogenesis of RA, fibroblast‐like synoviocytes (FLS) play a crucial role in the progression of the disease. si‐Nrf2 was transfected in RA‐FLS and the cells were treated with AA. MTT assay and colony formation assay were used to detect the effect of AA on the viability and formation of clones of RA‐FLS, respectively. Moreover, the apoptosis of RA‐FLS was observed by Hoechst 33342 staining and flow cytometry. Western blot was applied to measure the expression of the Nrf2/HO‐1/NF‐κB signaling pathway‐related proteins. Compared with the control group, RA‐FLS proliferation, and clone formation were significantly inhibited by the increase of AA concentration, and further experiments showed that AA‐induced apoptosis of RA‐FLS. In addition, AA activated the Nrf2/HO‐1 pathway to inhibit NF‐κB protein expression. However, the knockdown of Nrf2 significantly offsets the effects of AA on the proliferation, apoptosis, and Nrf2/HO‐1/NF‐κB signaling pathway of RA‐FLS cells. AA can treat RA by inhibiting the proliferation and inducing the apoptosis of RA‐FLS. The mechanism may be related to the activation of the Nrf2/HO‐1/NF‐κB pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhodium(III)-catalyzed mild and oxidative [4+1] spiroannulation has been realized via C–H activation of oximes and benzoic acids with 1-diazonaphthelen-2(1H)-ones as coupling reagents. This transformation integrates C–H activation and dearomatization and provides a direct approach to spirocyclic isoindole N-oxides and isobenzofuranones with functional group tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major health problem that has high morbidity and mortality around the world. In recent years, long noncoding RNA H19 has been reported to affect the proliferation and apoptosis of vascular cells, which directly or indirectly results in atherosclerosis. We performed a case-control study to explore the relationship between H19 gene polymorphisms (rs2735971, rs2839698, and rs3024270) and the risk of CAD. Methods. We collected 732 samples from Liaoning Province, China, and three polymorphisms in long noncoding RNA H19 were genotyped using the KASP platform. Results. Our data showed that H19 rs2735971 and rs3024270 variant genotypes were associated with a decreased risk of CAD (rs2735971, P = 0.003 , odds ratio OR = 0.6195 , 95 % confidence interval = 0.44 − 0.84 ; rs3024270, P = 0.030 , OR = 0.65 , 95 % confidence interval = 0.44 − 0.96). No significant association with the risk of CAD was found for H19 rs2839698 polymorphism (P > 0.05). In haplotype analysis, H19 polymorphisms of rs2735971-rs2839698-rs3024270 A-C-C haplotype reduced the risk of CAD by 0.61-fold (P = 0.004 , OR = 0.61 , 95 % confidence interval = 0.43 – 0.86). In addition, we found that rs2839698 interacted with smoking ( P interaction = 0.027), and according to multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis, the three-factor model including H19 rs2839698-smoking-drinking was the best model for the risk of CAD (testing balanced accuracy = 0.6979). Conclusion. Our study demonstrated that some genotypes of H19 rs2735971 and rs3024270 polymorphisms, as well as rs2735971-rs2839698-rs3024270 A-C-C haplotype, were associated with the risk of CAD in a Chinese population, and these genotypes have the potential to be biomarkers for predicting CAD risk. We also found that rs2735971-rs2839698-rs3024270 A-C-C may have a significantly lower risk of CAD. The recessive genetic model of rs3024270 could predict the severity of CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axial‐to‐central chirality transfer is an important strategy to construct chiral centers, where the axially chiral reagents are mostly limited to atropomerically stable ones. Reported herein is a RhIII‐catalyzed enantioselective spiroannulative synthesis of nitrones. The coupling proceeds via C−H arylation to give an atropomerically metastable biaryl, followed by intramolecular dearomative trapping under oxidative conditions with high degree of chirality transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axial‐to‐central chirality transfer is an important strategy to construct chiral centers, where the axially chiral reagents are mostly limited to atropomerically stable ones. Reported herein is a RhIII‐catalyzed enantioselective spiroannulative synthesis of nitrones. The coupling proceeds via C−H arylation to give an atropomerically metastable biaryl, followed by intramolecular dearomative trapping under oxidative conditions with high degree of chirality transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Protein activity is a significant characteristic for recombinant proteins which can be used as biocatalysts. High activity of proteins reduces the cost of biocatalysts. A model that can predict protein activity from amino acid sequence is highly desired, as it aids experimental improvement of proteins. However, only limited data for protein activity are currently available, which prevents the development of such models. Since protein activity and solubility are correlated for some proteins, the publicly available solubility dataset may be adopted to develop models that can predict protein solubility from sequence. The models could serve as a tool to indirectly predict protein activity from sequence. In literature, predicting protein solubility from sequence has been intensively explored, but the predicted solubility represented in binary values from all the developed models was not suitable for guiding experimental designs to improve protein solubility. Here we propose new machine learning (ML) models for improving protein solubility in vivo. Results We first implemented a novel approach that predicted protein solubility in continuous numerical values instead of binary ones. After combining it with various ML algorithms, we achieved a R 2 of 0.4115 when support vector machine algorithm was used. Continuous values of solubility are more meaningful in protein engineering, as they enable researchers to choose proteins with higher predicted solubility for experimental validation, while binary values fail to distinguish proteins with the same value—there are only two possible values so many proteins have the same one. Availability and implementation We present the ML workflow as a series of IPython notebooks hosted on GitHub (https://github.com/xiaomizhou616/protein%5fsolubility). The workflow can be used as a template for analysis of other expression and solubility datasets. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bupleurum and Paeonia are common compatibilities for the treatment of depression, most of which are used in classical prescriptions. The main active ingredients saikosaponin A (SSA) and paeoniflorin (PF) have significant therapeutic effects on poststroke depression (PSD). However, the pharmacokinetic (PK) behavior based on the combination of the two components has not been reported in rats. The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetic characteristics of combined administration of SSA and PF in normal and PSD rats. Plasma samples were collected after SSA and PF were injected into the rat tail vein, and plasma pretreatments were analyzed by HPLC. Based on the concentration levels of SSA and PF in plasma, Drug and Statistics 3.2.6 (DAS 3.2.6) software was used to establish the blood drug concentration model. PK data showed that compared with the normal rats, the values of related parameters t 1/2α , AUC (0−t) , AUC (0-∞) were decreased in diseased rats, while the values of CL 1 was increased. These findings suggest that PSD can significantly affect the PK parameters of SSA-PF. This study established a PK model to explore the time-effect relationship, in order to provide experimental and theoretical support for clinical application. • In this study, according to the Bioanalytical Method Validation Guidance of FDA, a sensitive and highly selective HPLC method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of SSA and PF in rat plasma. • The pharmacokinetics of combined administration of SSA and PF in normal and diseased rats were studied, the results showed that the metabolism of SSA and PF was accelerated in the diseased rats. • A rat model of poststroke depression was established to study its pharmacokinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we report the rational design of amorphous LaCoO x modified Co nanoparticles confined in both nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) matrix and two-dimensional (2D) mesoporous silica (LaCoO x /Co@NC/SBA-15(2D)) via in situ confined pyrolysis of nano-sized La doped ZIF-67 in the mesopores of SBA-15(2D) as a novel dual-spatially-confined composite catalyst with superior activity and stability toward ammonia decomposition to produce hydrogen. It achieves a NH 3 conversion efficiency close to 100 % at a high gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 60,000 g cat -1 h-1 with an encouraging H 2 production rate of 446 mmol g Co -1 min-1 at 600 ℃ and can maintain stable catalytic activity for 200 h, almost outperforming all Co-based catalysts reported so far. Various characterizations and theoretical calculation results reveal that the outstanding ammonia decomposition performance mainly origins from the dual-spatially-confined configuration, fully exposed active sites and high mass transfer efficiency, and the synergy of amorphous LaCoO x , Co nanoparticles and NC matrix. [Display omitted] • A novel dual confined Co-based catalyst of LaCoO x /Co@NC/SBA-15(2D) is fabricated. • The catalyst exhibits superior catalytic performance toward NH 3 decomposition. • The confinement effect of SBA-15(2D) and NC matrix improves catalyst stability. • The synergy of Co, LaCoO x , and NC optimizes the electronic sates of Co to promote catalyst activity. • The NH 3 decomposition reaction mechanism over catalyst is clarified by DFT calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient synthesis of 2-naphthols was realized by Ru(ii)-catalyzed C–H activation of aryl nitrones and intermolecular [3+3] annulation with α-diazo sulfonyl ketones under redox-neutral conditions. Easily available α-diazo sulfonyl ketones act as a three-carbon component in the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Social media is increasingly popular among LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) who have a higher risk of depression and dis-identification in China. However, it is unclear whether psychological dependency on social media and social media use behavior have beneficial offline effects. We conducted an online survey of 1391 valid LGBT recruited in China and also interviewed five LGBT Weibo users to better explain some results. We found LGBT with higher levels of depression and dis-identification were more likely to be psychologically dependent on social media. Higher levels of social media dependency were predictive of social media use, and both online social support seeking and offering activities contributed individually as predictor of perceived online social support. Perceived online social support was not negatively related to offline depression and dis-identification, which meant what happens online may stay online. LGBT who has a longer history of using Weibo would be less dependent on social media, perceive less online social support and have better offline psychological wellbeing. The mechanism of how social media use affects offline life of LGBT needs to be further examined. Limitations, future directions and recommendations are discussed. Highlights • Worse mental health is positively related to social media dependency for LGBT. • Social media dependency is related to online support seeking and offering activities for LGBT. • Online support seeking and offering activities are positively correlated with perceived online social support for LGBT. • Perceived online support is not related to better offline mental health, while having a longer history of using Weibo predicts better mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing popularity of social media, many people who live with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) seek social support via Weibo in China. The question arises here as to whether PLWHA perceive higher levels of social support via Weibo than in offline relationships, whether perceived online social support (PSS-ON) is associated with enacted social support, and whether it is effective in predicting better health outcomes. Based on self-reported data from 432 Chinese PLWHA, the authors investigated perceived offline social support (PSS-OFF), PSS-ON, enacted social support, and health outcomes. The empirical results indicate that PSS-ON is significantly associated with employment status, CD4 cell counts, and PSS-OFF. PSS-ON is higher than PSS-OFF for PLWHA, and close Weibo friends are the main source of PSS-ON. Enacted receiving social support and giving social support are relevant, and they contribute as individual predictors of PSS-ON. PSS-ON and PSS-OFF are distinct constructs in predicting the subjective well-being of PLWHA, while PSS-ON is not related to adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and risky sexual behavior in this study. Limitations and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical heat sink of endothermic hydrocarbon fuel has been used to solve the thermal protection problem caused by the high temperature of the scramjet combustion chamber. The fuel is usually in a supercritical state in the cooling channel, so we studied the cracking of n-decane initiated by nitromethane under supercritical pressure in an electrically heated flow reactor. Based on the experimental results, the published low-pressure cracking model and the latest theoretical results, a detailed kinetic reaction model under supercritical conditions of n-decane cracking initiated by nitromethane, including 271 species and 1863 reactions, was established. Through the simulation of the experimental results and the experimental results in the literature, it was proven that this model had good simulation accuracy. The formation rate of n-decane was analyzed to obtain the consumption path of n-decane under supercritical pressure, especially the generation process of C 3 above alkanes. The influence of nitromethane on n-decane consumption and product distribution and the cause of its range of action were also analyzed, which provided a theoretical and model basis for the engineering application of fuel. • The initiation pyrolysis model of n-decane/nitromethane was developed. • The influence of nitromethane on n-decane consumption was analyzed. • The influence of nitromethane on product distribution was analyzed. • The reason for the action range of nitromethane was analyzed. • Model analysis reveals the initiation mechanism of nitromethane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently discovered that the anti-glaucoma pharmaceuticals timolol, a β adrenergic antagonist, and pilocarpine, a cholinergic compound, negatively influence the morphology, proliferative capacity and survival of human meibomian gland epithelial cells (HMGECs). We hypothesize that another class of anti-glaucoma drugs, the α2 adrenergic agonists, also acts directly on HMGECs to affect their structure and function. We tested this hypothesis. Immortalized (i) HMGECs were cultured with brimonidine, as well as clonidine (α2 agonist), phenylephrine (α1 agonist), RX821002 (inverse α2 agonist) and MK912 (neutral α2 agonist) for up to 7 days. Cells were counted with a hemocytometer, and evaluated for morphology, signaling pathway activity, protein biomarker expression, and the accumulation of neutral lipids, phospholipids and lysosomes. Our findings demonstrate that brimondine treatment induces a dose-dependent decrease in Akt signaling and proliferation of iHMGECs. In contrast, brimonidine also promotes a dose-dependent differentiation of iHMGECs, including an increase in neutral lipid, phospholipid and lysosome levels. These effects were paralleled by an inhibition of p38 signaling, and duplicated by cellular exposure to clonidine, but not phenylephrine. Brimonidine also enhanced the cellular content of sterol regulatory binding protein-1, a master regulator of lipid synthesis. Of particular interest, the putative α2 antagonists, RX821002 and MK912, did not interfere with brimonidine action, but rather stimulated IHMGEC differentiation. Our results support our hypothesis and demonstrate that α2 adrenergic agonists act directly on iHMGECs. However, these compounds do not elicit an overall negative effect. Rather, the α2 agonists promote the differentiation of iHMGECs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports a 640 × 512 long wavelength infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) with 15 × 15 μm 2 pixels pitch based on the type II InAs/GaSb superlattice. Material grown on a 3 in. GaSb substrate exhibits a 50% cutoff wavelength of 10.2 μm across the entire wafer. The peak quantum efficiency of the detector reaches 28% at 9.1 μm without anti-reflecting coating. Maximal resistance-area products of 8.95 Ω·cm 2 at 77 K and 24.4 Ω·cm 2 at 45 K are achieved in a single element device indicating that the generation-recombination and tunneling mechanisms dominate the device dark current, respectively. The peak Johnson Detectivity reaches 9.66 × 10 11 cm Hz 1/2 /W at 9.1 μm with the bias voltage of 80 mV. In the whole zone, the operability and non-uniformity for the responsivity are 97.74% and 6.41% respectively. The average noise equivalent temperature difference of 31.9 mK at 77 K is achieved with an integration time of 0.5 ms, a 300 K background and f/2 optics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the growth of high quality GaSb-based AlInAsSb quaternary alloy by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to fabricate avalanche photodiodes (APDs). By means of high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), phase separation phenomenon of AlInAsSb random alloy with naturally occurring vertical superlattice configuration was demonstrated. To overcome the tendency for phase segregation while maintaining a highly crystalline film, a digital alloy technique with migration-enhanced epitaxy growth method was employed, using a shutter sequence of AlSb, AlAs, AlSb, Sb, In, InAs, In, Sb. AlInAsSb digital alloy has proved to be reproducible and consistent with single phase, showing sharp satellite peaks on HRXRD rocking curve and smooth surface morphology under atomic force microscopy (AFM). Using optimized digital alloy, AlInAsSb separate absorption, grading, charge, and multiplication (SAGCM) APD was grown and fabricated. At room temperature, the device showed high performance with low dark current density of ∼14.1 mA/cm 2 at 95% breakdown and maximum stable gain before breakdown as high as ∼200, showing the potential for further applications in optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mud logging system presents the most promising tool for exploring oil and gas resources, which relies on the multi-component analysis of gases to evaluate the hydrocarbon reservoirs. Higher detection efficiency, especially relating to the high-throughput analysis, can offer an important means to enhance the oil and gas recovery of hydrocarbon reservoirs. However, fewer technologies can measure both hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in a timely manner. In the present work, a method based on data driven Raman spectroscopy (DDRS), which allows simultaneously accurate analysis of 12 hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases, has been proved. By developing a data driven strategy that incorporates higher-density discrete wavelet transform (HDWT) and template oriented frog algorithm (TOFA), the spectral resolution of Raman spectroscopy was significantly improved in both time and frequency domains to extract the target gas information from the Raman spectra, facilitating the detection of hydrocarbon reservoir. Theoretically, it is considered that the DDRS represents a promising tool for extracting the quantitative information from multi-component gases in the presence of dominantly uncontrolled variance. Our work has tested and refined the DDRS by performing a comprehensive analysis of three gas mixtures established to yield challenges representative of those encountered in a common mud logging analysis. The DDRS compared favorably with the gas chromatography (GC) method. The satisfactory results indicated that the DDRS has the capability to continuously detect 12 hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in real time, which could be extended to online multi-component analysis of any other gas and fuel systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a mid-/long-wave dual-band detector which combined PπMN structure and unipolar barrier was developed based on type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice. A relevant 320 × 256 focal plane array (FPA) was fabricated. Unipolar barrier and PπMN structure in our dual band detector structure were used to suppress cross-talk and dark current, respectively. The two channels, with respective 50% cut-off wavelength at 4.5 μm and 10 μm were obtained. The peak quantum efficiency (QE) of mid wavelength infrared (MWIR) band and long wavelength infrared (LWIR) band are 53% at 3.2 μm under no bias voltage and 40% at 6.4 μm under bias voltage of −170 mV, respectively. And the dark current density under 0 and −170 mV of applied bias are 1.076 × 10 −5 A/cm 2 and 2.16 × 10 −4 A/cm 2 . The specific detectivity of MWIR band and LWIR band are 2.15 × 10 12 cm·Hz 1/2 /W at 3.2 μm and 2.31 × 10 10 cm·Hz 1/2 /W at 6.4 μm, respectively, at 77 K. The specific detectivity of LWIR band maintains above 10 10 cm·Hz 1/2 /W at the wavelength range from 4.3 μm to 10.2 μm under −170 mV. The cross-talk, selectivity parameter at 3.0 μm, about 0.14 was achieved under bias of −170 mV. Finally, the thermal images were taken by the fabricated FPA at 77 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When paired with sophisticated multivariate calibration methods, spectroscopy techniques stand out conspicuously for high-throughput analysis of complex samples. However, despite the identification capability of multivariate analysis, fluctuant spectral interference and complicated chemometrics procedure often combine to limit conventional spectroscopy techniques. In this regard, we proposed a novel strategy, higher-density multiscale regression (HDMR), to adaptively process Raman spectra for quantitative analysis. HDMR firstly splits the Raman spectra into frequency components at different scales using higher-density discrete wavelet transform (HDDWT), yielding a larger number of subbands to benefit a good separation of spectral bands. Parallel member models constructed with these decomposed components are then fused into a final prediction through partial least square (PLS) reweighting strategy. With HDMR, the pre-treatment process and multivariate calibration are integrated into a unified calibration model for Raman spectra at hand, regardless of its structural characteristics. This would definitely avoid of information leakage in multivariate calibration, thus promoting the application of Raman spectroscopy technique as a general tool for analytical chemistry. To validate the performance of the HDMR, two industrial Raman spectral data sets were investigated to yield challenges representative of those encountered in Raman spectroscopy. This proposed strategy has improved calibration performance through the reweighting way. Satisfactory calibration results suggest that HDMR provides a universal tool for reliable Raman spectral analysis, which may well extend to other spectral data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study of our established synthetic approaches to hexasubsituted triphenylenes 2,3-dicarboxylic esters containing four identical β-alkoxy and two adjacent β-alkoxycarbonyl side chains shows that the phase behaviours of small-sized discotic liquid crystals can be tailored over a wide range by simply varying the length of the peripheral alkyl chains. All the prepared esters in two series were observed to form a single hexagonal columnar phase, except forTp4-1having four β-butyloxy and two adjacent β-methoxycarbonyl chains which displays two columnar mesophase behaviours with a transition from the columnar plastic phase to hexagonal columnar phase. A significant difference between the two mesophase was observed in the variable temperature X-ray diffraction studies, and the mesophase assignment was also confirmed by polarising optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Moreover, the prepared esters in each series display the general trend of decreasing clearing temperature upon increasing alkoxy or alkoxycarbonyl chains length. The intermediate triphenylene 2,3-dicarboxylic acids were also found not only to exhibit columnar hexagonal mesophase over a narrower temperature range by maintaining high melting and clearing points but also to form organogel on mixing with toluene or dichloromethane with the assistance of hydrogen bonding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many microRNAs (miRs) are dysregulated in cancers, and aberrant miR expression patterns have been suggested to correlate with chemo-resistance of cancer cells. We aim to study the role of miR-30 family members in cisplatin-resistance of ovarian cancer cells. Methods: qRT-PCR was used to compare differential expression levels of miR-30 family members in ovarian cancer cell line A2780 and its cisplatin-resistant derivative CP70. Changes of cisplatin-sensitivity in miR-30a-5p- and miR-30c-5p-overexpressed-CP70 cells and miR- 30a-5p- and miR-30c-5p-inhibited-A2780 cells were examined by CCK8 assay and apoptosis analysis using flow cytometry; targets of miR-30a/c-5p were analyzed by western blotting and luciferase reporter assay; methylation regulation of pre-miR-30a/c-5p was examined by methylation specific PCR. Results: miR-30a-5p and miR-30c-5p, in contrast to other miR-30 family members, dramatically decreased in cisplatin-resistant CP70 cells due to overexpressed- DNMT1 induced aberrant methylation. miR-30a/c-5p in turn directly inhibited DNMT1 as well as Snail. Forced expression of miR-30a/c-5p or knocking down of DNMT1 and Snail promoted cisplatin susceptibility and partially reversed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in CP70 cells, while inhibition of miR-30a/c-5p or ectopic expression of DNMT1 and Snail induced cisplatin resistance and partial EMT in cisplatin-sensitive A2780 cells. Conclusions: A feedback loop between miR-30a/c-5p and DNMT1 is a potent signature for cisplatin-resistance and EMT in ovarian cancer, promising a potential target for improved anti-cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-/Mid-Wavelength dual-color infrared focal plane arrays based on Type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice are demonstrated on GaSb substrate. The material is grown with 50% cut-off wavelength of 2.9 μm and 5.1 μm for the blue channel and red channel, separately at 77 K. 320 × 256 focal plane arrays fabricated in this wafer is characterized. The peak quantum efficiency without antireflective coating is 37% at 1.7 μm under no bias voltage and 28% at 3.2 μm under bias voltage of 130 mV. The peak specific detectivity are 1.51 × 10 12 cm·Hz 1/2 /W at 2.5 μm and 6.11x10 11 cm·Hz 1/2 /W at 3.2 μm. At 77 K, the noise equivalent difference temperature presents average values of 107 mK and 487 mK for the blue channel and red channel separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of chemo-resistance impairs the outcome of the first line platinum-based chemotherapies for ovarian cancer. Deregulation of DNA methylation/demethylation provides a critical mechanism for the occurrence of chemo-resistance. The ten-eleven translocation (TET) family of dioxygenases including TET1/2/3 plays an important part in DNA demethylation, but their roles in cisplatin resistance have not been elucidated. Using cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cell models, we found that TET1 was significantly upregulated in cisplatin-resistant CP70 cells compared with that in cisplatin-sensitive A2780 cells. Ectopic expression of TET1 in A2780 cells promoted cisplatin resistance and decreased cytotoxicity induced by cisplatin, while inhibition of TET1 by siRNA transfection in CP70 cells attenuated cisplatin resistance and enhanced cytotoxicity of cisplatin. Increased TET1 induced re-expression of vimentin through active DNA demethylation, and cause partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal (EMT) in A2780 cells. Contrarily, knocking down of TET1 in CP70 cells reduced vimentin expression and reversed EMT process. Immunohistochemical analysis of TET1 in human ovarian cancer tissues revealed that TET1 existed in nucleus and cytoplasm in ovarian cancer tissues. And the expression of nuclear TET1 was positively correlated with residual tumor and chemotherapeutic response. Thus, TET1 expression causes resistance to cisplatin and one of the targets of TET1 action is vimentin in ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanohoops with unique structure and potential applications have successfully attracted attention from the fields of chemistry and material science. However, synthesizing carbon nanohoops is still a great challenge. Currently, we report hydrogenated amorphous carbon films with spontaneously forming carbon nanohoops were prepared through radio frequency (R.F) magnetron sputtering deposition, and the content of carbon nanohoops in the films was adjusted by varying R.F power. Raman spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy were used to determine the formation of carbon nanohoops. It was found that the tribological and mechanical performances of the films depended on the content of carbon nanohoops in the films. The film with the maximum relative content of carbon nanohoops exhibits a low friction coefficient (0.028) and a low wear rate (3.54 × 10 − 7 mm 3 /Nm) as well as a high elastic recovery (66%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two nanoscale Ta/W mixed-addendum polyoxometalates, Cs5K2[(Si2W18Ta6O78)Cr(H2O)4]·8H2O and Cs3K4H2[(Si2W18Ta6O78)FeCl2(H2O)2]·15H2O involving [SiTa3W9O40]7− fundamental building units, have been synthesized, both of which show photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic variations that influence DNA repair efficiency may contribute to coronary artery disease (CAD) susceptibility. Previous studies have investigated whether there was evidence of an association between polymorphisms at the X-ray repair cross complementing 1 (XRCC1) gene and susceptibility to CAD, but findings have been inconclusive. We identified eligible studies through a comprehensive literature search to determine whether an association exists between XRCC1 gene polymorphisms and CAD susceptibility. Findings were assessed using the odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI), which were calculated using a fixed- or random-effects model, based on the heterogeneity of the studies. Ten eligible studies were finally included in this meta-analysis. Our pooled analysis found that XRCC1 polymorphisms were significantly associated with CAD susceptibility under recessive (Arg194Trp: OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.13–1.93; Arg399Gln: OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.12–1.89), homozygous (Arg194Trp: OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.03–1.81; Arg399Gln: OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.19–2.05), and allele (Arg399Gln: OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.06–1.32) genetic models. Following subgroup analysis by ethnicity, in Asian populations, we found evidence of associations between the XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism and CAD under recessive and homozygous genetic models, and between the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and CAD under recessive, homozygous, and allele genetic models. Subgroup analysis stratified by control source revealed associations between the Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln polymorphisms and susceptibility to CAD under recessive and homozygous modes of inheritance, respectively. In addition, subgroup analysis stratified by sample size found that findings of the Arg194Trp polymorphism in large sample sizes were comparable to those found using pooled eligible studies. Based on our meta-analysis, we concluded that the XRCC1 gene polymorphisms, Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln, are associated with CAD susceptibility, specifically in Asian populations. However, additional, comprehensive and well-designed studies are warranted to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel Ni/Na – containing inorganic-organic hybrid supramolecule {(PW 12 O 40 )·[Na 2 (NiH 2 EDTA·H 2 O)(H 4 EDTA)·2H 2 O]·2H 2 O·H 3 O} n (short for NiEDTA-PW 12 ) has been successfully synthesized by solution method, and investigated by thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), photoluminescence (PL), ultraviolet visible diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV-vis DRS) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). NiEDTA-PW 12 exhibits intriguing infinite supramolecular structure with Na + ions as linker. Furthermore, NiEDTA-PW 12 displays a fast-responsive reversible photochromism under ultraviolet or visible light. The photochromic property of NiEDTA-PW 12 has been investigated by techniques of UV-vis DRS and PL, and the impact of the O 2 on fading of the colored NiEDTA-PW 12 has been investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two 3-D organic–inorganic hybrid supermolecular complexes, Na(BiHEDTA·2H2O)3(PW12O40)·2H3O (BiPW) and Na(BiHEDTA·2H2O)3(PMo12O40)·2H3O·2H2O (BiPMo) ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) have been synthesized by solution method and characterized by ultraviolet visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis, photoluminescence, cyclic voltammetry, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD analysis reveals thatBiPWandBiPMoare isostructural with 3-D architectures assembled by 2-D layer tetranuclear cation and a Keggin-type polyoxoanion. Although these two hybrids exhibit similar structures, the properties depend on the nature of polyoxoanion [PM12O40]3−(M = W, Mo). Under UV irradiation,BiPWandBiPMoshow fast response of reversible and irreversible photochromism, respectively.BiPWexhibits excellent photocatalytic activity in degradation of methyl orange dyes under irradiation of UV–visible light. It can be reused for at least six cycles without obvious loss of activity in the degradation experiments;BiPMoshows catalytic activity in elimination of methanol. The elimination rate of methanol reaches 56.9% when the concentration of methanol is 2.3 g·m−3and the flow velocity is 10 mL·min−1at 100 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Polliwog-like Sn/Zn2SnO4 (P-Sn/ZTO) heterostructures have been fabricated by reducing cube-like ZnSnO3 nanoparticles in the mixed solvent of oleic acid (OA) and 1-octylamine. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry indicates that the stems of P-Sn/ZTO nanostructures are composed by ZTO, and the tips of the P-Sn/ZTO nanostructures are formed by the core of Sn and the shell of ZTO. And the position of Sn can be controlled at the tip of Zn2SnO4 nanowires. Adequate evidences demonstrate that 1-octylamine in the mixed solvent acts as the reducing agent to salt out elementary substance Sn, and the OA plays the important role in controlling the morphology of Zn2SnO4. In addition, the P-Sn/ZTO structures exhibited excellent gas sensing properties toward ethanol, and the P-Sn/ZTO is a promising potential gas sensing material. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

De novo sequencing derives the peptide sequence from a tandem mass spectrum without the assistance of protein databases. This analysis has been indispensable for the identification of novel or modified peptides in a biological sample. Currently, the speed of de novo sequencing algorithms is not heavily affected by the number of post-translational modification (PTM) types in consideration. However, the accuracy of the algorithms can be degraded due to the increased search space. Most peptides in a proteomics research contain only a small number of PTMs per peptide, yet the types of PTMs can come from a large number of choices. Therefore, it is desirable to include a large number of PTM types in a de novo sequencing algorithm, yet to limit the number of PTM occurrences in each peptide to increase the accuracy. In this paper, we present an efficient de novo sequencing algorithm, DeNovoPTM, for such a purpose. The implemented software is downloadable from . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ibuprofen micronization with dry coating is investigated to examine its influence on passivation/stabilization of high-surface-energy sites and reduced cohesion. A fluid energy mill was used to micronize ibuprofen particles down to 5-28 μm with or without simultaneous nanosilica coating. Powder flow property and dispersibility were characterized using FT4 powder tester and Rodos/Helos laser diffraction particle sizer. Surface energy was characterized using a next generation inverse gas chromatography instrument. Uncoated micronized ibuprofen showed an increased Lifshitz-van der Waals (LW) dispersion component of surface energy with increasing milling intensity. In contrast, dry-coated milled powders showed a significant reduction in the LW component, whereas physical mixture of uncoated micronized ibuprofen and silica exhibited no reduction in surface energy, indicating that dry coating is necessary for the passivation of high-energy sites of ibuprofen created during micronization. Surface energy of pure micronized ibuprofen was highly heterogeneous, whereas dry-coated ibuprofen had greatly reduced heterogeneity. Micronization with dry coating also improved flowability and bulk density as compared with pure active pharmaceutical ingredient micronization without coating, or just blending with silica. Overall, dry coating leads to decreased cohesion and improved flowability because of reduced LW dispersive component of surface energy and creating nanoscale surface roughness. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 102:2282-2296, 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Highly dispersed MoN/Mo 2 N nanocrystals anchored on in-situ assembled SBA-15/rGO hybrid nanosheets. • Ammonia decomposition reaction of SBA-15/rGO supported MoN x nanoparticles was studied. • Mesoporous SBA-15 suppresses the aggregation of molybdenum nitride nanocrystals during the reaction process. • The function of rGO as an electron donor to molybdenum nitride optimizes Mo–N bonding energies. • DFT calculations revealed that the elementary catalytic processes on Mo 2 N surface are more favorable than MoN surface. Advanced catalysts for ammonia (NH 3) decomposition reaction hold great promise in the area of renewable energy. In this work, highly dispersed molybdenum nitride (MoN/Mo 2 N) nanocrystals anchored on in-situ assembled two-dimensional (2D) mesoporous silica/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hybrid nanosheets (MoN/SBA-15/rGO and Mo 2 N/SBA-15/rGO) were designed and synthesized as active and stable catalysts for CO x -free H 2 generation via NH 3 decomposition. Benefiting from well-defined molybdenum nitride nanocrystals and moderate Mo N band strength, the nanohybrids exhibited superior catalytic property, especially Mo 2 N/SBA-15/rGO with the highest NH 3 decomposition rate of 30.58 mmol g−1 cat min−1 among any Mo-based catalysts reported to date. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the superior catalytic activity for Mo 2 N compared to MoN stemmed from a large reduction of kinetic energy barriers of dehydrogenation and nitrogen desorption. Moreover, the introduction of rGO can effectively weaken the associative desorption of adsorbed N atoms and thus improve NH 3 decomposition activity. This study highlights the importance of designing spatially confined metal nitrides for enhancing energy catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates the impact of composition on the electrocaloric effect in lead-free (1-x)BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3-xBa0.7Ca0.3TiO3 ceramics, especially on the morphotropic phase boundary. The samples exhibited typical diffused ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition, which was diffused the most around the tricritical point of rhombohedral, tetragonal, and cubic phases at x = 0.3. The x = 0.3 sample had the highest ΔTmax of 0.30 K under 20 kV/cm field and the widest cooling peak within a wide composition range, which endowed it with the best refrigeration capacity. Although the x = 0.7 sample had even higher ΔTmax, less diffused phase transition narrowed the cooling peak, which reduced the refrigeration capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Segregation is one of the common problems associated with low drug load formulations, particularly for those made by a direct compression process. Segregation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) from excipients can lead to variation in content uniformity, which in turn may result in failure to meet product specification. Segregation not only stems from variation of material properties such as differences of API and excipient particle size, shape and cohesion, but also is highly specific to process handling and specific equipment used. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of particle size and cohesion on the segregation tendency of pharmaceutical powders measured by bench scale sifting and fluidization segregation testers. The test blends consisted of 5% aspirin, 64.5% lactose, 30% microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and 0.5% magnesium stearate with various aspirin particle size and cohesion value. Aspirin cohesion was varied by coating aspirin particles with Cab-O-Sil M5P. The blends were compressed into tablets by a high speed rotary press using a specially designed hopper, which was intended to simulate segregation tendency at large scale tablet manufacturing. The segregation tendency of the blends was also assessed using bench scale sifting and fluidization segregation testers. Near Infrared (NIR) methods were developed to analyze aspirin content uniformity of blends, segregation samples and tablets. The sifting segregation tester and testing protocol (ASTM D 6940-04) were modified to provide better correlation between the test results and tablet content uniformity. It was found that coating aspirin with Cab-O-Sil M5P can significantly reduce aspirin''s cohesion but had little impact on its segregation tendency. The effect of particle size on segregation tendency was quite intriguing. It is commonly believed that large particle size difference between the drug and excipients is a primary factor contributing to segregation. However, our study indicated that one has to consider not only just the particle size difference but also the interaction between aspirin and excipients. Contrary to the common belief, the batch with larger particle size difference had lower segregation potential, which was probably attributed to favorable interaction between aspirin and MCC. In addition to identify the critical physical properties of the blends that influence segregation tendency, the study also highlighted the usefulness of NIR for quantitative analysis as well as the importance of using performance based approach to establish correlation between bench scale powder testing and larger scale manufacturing performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Motivated by our recent study showing improved flow and dissolution rate of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) powders (20μm) produced via simultaneous micronization and surface modification through continuous fluid energy milling (FEM) process, the performance of blends and direct compacted tablets with high drug loading is examined. Performance of 50μm API powders dry coated without micronization is also considered for comparison. Blends of micronized, non-micronized, dry coated or uncoated API powders at 30, 60 and 70% drug loading, are examined. The results show that the blends containing dry coated API powders, even micronized ones, have excellent flowability and high bulk density compared to the blends containing uncoated API, which are required for direct compaction. As the drug loading increases, the difference between dry coated and uncoated blends is more pronounced, as seen in the proposed bulk density-FFC phase map. Dry coating led to improved tablet compactibility profiles, corresponding with the improvements in blend compressibility. The most significant advantage is in tablet dissolution where for all drug loadings, the t 80 for the tablets with dry coated APIs was well under 5min, indicating that this approach can produce nearly instant release direct compacted tablets at high drug loadings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]