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Abstract Approximately 70% of treatment failures in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients are attributed to distant metastasis, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. RNA 5-methylcytosine (m5C) is an emerging regulatory modification that controls gene expression and plays a critical role in tumor progression. However, there is little information on the potential roles of RNA m5C modification in NPC metastasis. In this study, we found that the m5C reader Aly/REF export factor (ALYREF) is significantly upregulated in NPC, whereby its high expression is associated with metastasis and poor prognosis. ALYREF overexpression was found to promote tumor metastasis of NPC cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, m5C-modified NOTCH1 mRNA was identified as a target of ALYREF. Moreover, ALYREF was found to upregulate NOTCH1 expression by enhancing its RNA stability in an m5C modification-dependent manner, thereby promoting the activation of the NOTCH signaling pathway and facilitating NPC metastasis. Overall, our data reveal the crucial role of ALYREF in NPC metastasis and provide a potential therapeutic target for NPC.

Dihydroxyacetone isomerization is a fundamental reaction for the production of lactic acid using different feedstocks. However, achieving excellent catalytic activity and resistance against leaching in water is challenging. Herein, we devised a Sn doped zirconium phosphate as effective heterogeneous catalyst. The incorporation of Sn could remarkably aggrandize the content of strong Lewis acid sites while retain relatively high surface areas. Gratifyingly, this catalyst exhibits enhanced activity and reusability for selective dihydroxyacetone isomerization into lactic acid with water as solvent. High lactic acid yields of 70.30 and 76.25% were achieved in water and water/acetone under optimal reaction conditions, respectively. The composition and activity of catalyst are reserved with reduced ions leaching. The excellent catalytic performance is attributed to accelerated conversion of pyruvaldehyde to lactic acid by the strong Lewis acid sites. Nuclear magnetic resonance revealed that the reaction is proceeded via a keto-enol tautomerization process.

The Chinese stock market is replete with numerous omitted variables that can introduce biases in the standard estimation of risk premiums when traditional linear asset pricing models are applied. The three-pass method enables the estimation of risk premiums for observable factors even when not all relevant factors are explicitly specified or observed within the model. Accordingly, we have applied this method to construct portfolios with stocks from China’s A-share market as the test assets. Empirical research findings indicate that the three-pass method could be more effective than traditional linear asset pricing models in estimating risk premiums.

Abstract Distant metastasis remains the major cause for treatment failure in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Thus, it is necessary to investigate the underlying regulation mechanisms and potential biomarkers for NPC metastasis. Nogo-B (neurite outgrowth inhibitor B), encoded by reticulon-4, has been shown to be associated with the progression and advanced stage of several cancer types. However, the relationship between Nogo-B and NPC remains unknown. In this study, we found that higher expression of Nogo-B was detected in NPC cells and tissues. Higher expression of Nogo-B was statistically relevant to N stage, M stage, and poor prognosis in NPC patients. Further functional investigations indicated that Nogo-B overexpression could increase the migration, invasion, and metastasis ability of NPC cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, Nogo-B promoted epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and enhanced the invasive potency by interacting directly with its receptor NgR3 in NPC. Additionally, overexpression of Nogo-B could upregulate the protein levels of p-RhoA, SRF, and MRTFA. A positive relationship was found between the expression of Nogo-B and the p-RhoA in NPC patients as well as in mouse lung xenografts. Nogo-Bhigh p-RhoAhigh expression was significantly associated with N stage, M stage, and poor prognosis in NPC patients. Notably, CCG-1423, an inhibitor of the RhoA-SRF-MRTFA pathway, could reverse the invasive potency of Nogo-B and NgR3 in NPC cell lines, and decrease the expression of N-Cadherin, indicating that CCG-1423 may be a potential target drug of NPC. Taken together, our findings reveal that Nogo-B enhances the migration and invasion potency of NPC cells via EMT by binding to its receptor NgR3 to regulate the RhoA-SRF-MRTFA pathway. These findings could provide a novel insight into understanding the metastasis mechanism and targeted therapy of advanced NPC.

Summary: Various recycling technologies have been developed to deal with plastic problems, but they face considerable economic and technological challenges in practice. An attractive alternative is upcycling, which aims to dig out the embedded value to incentivize large-scale valorization of plastic wastes. The degradation of nonrecoverable plastic wastes is another necessity to treat the omnipresent pollution. This review presents an overview on the conversion of plastic wastes toward value-added products and the catalytic degradation of nonrecoverable plastic wastes. Based on an examination of traditional recycling technologies and products, we summarize the state-of-the-art design and development of plastic conversion to high-value and high-performance fuels, chemicals, and materials. Subsequently, we highlight the advances in catalytic degradation of plastics to environmentally benign or degradable products and mineralization into carbon dioxide and water. We conclude with our perspective on the ongoing challenge and opportunities.

Forecasting the significant wave heights (Hs) is indispensable in HS-related engineering studies and is exceedingly important in the assessment of wave energy in future. As a technique essential for the future of clean energy systems, reducing the forecasting errors related to Hs has always been a vital research subject. In this paper, an optimized hybrid method based on the back propagation neural network (BP) and the cuckoo search algorithm (CS) is proposed to forecast the Hs in the South China Sea. This approach employs the CS as an intelligent optimization algorithm to optimize the parameters of the BP model, which develop a hybrid model that is suit for the data set, reducing the forecasting errors. The proposed method is subsequently tested based on nine prediction points selected in the South China Sea, where the proposed hybrid model is proved to perform effectively and steadily.

Nowadays, the world is facing the dual crisis of the energy and environment, and renewable energy, such as wave energy, can contribute to the improvement of the energy structure of the world, enhance energy supply and improve the environment in the framework of sustainable development. Long-term prediction of the significant wave height (SWH) is indispensable in SWH-related engineering studies and is exceedingly important in the assessment of wave energy in the future. In this paper, the spatial and temporal characteristics of wave energy in the South China Sea (SCS), and adjacent waters are analyzed. The results show that there are abundant wave energy resources in the waters around the Taiwan Strait, the Luzon Strait, and the north part of the SCS with annual average SWH (SWH) of over 1.4 m and obvious increasing trend. Then, the SARIMA approach considers the relationship between the current time and the values, residuals at some previous time and the periodicity of the SWH series are proposed to forecast the SWH in the SCS and adjacent waters. The results obtained are promising, showing good performance of the prediction of monthly average SWH in the SCS and adjacent waters.

Bmi1 is overexpressed in multiple human cancers. We previously reported the oncogenic function and the transcription regulation mechanisms of Bmi1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In this study, we observed that the mRNA and the protein levels of Bmi1 were strictly inconsistent in NPC cell lines and cancer tissues. The inhibitors of proteasome and lysosome could not enhance the protein level of Bmi1, indicating that Bmi1 may be post-transcriptionally regulated. The IRESite analysis showed that there were two potential internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs) in the 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR) of Bmi1. The luciferase assay demonstrated that the 5′-UTR of Bmi1 has IRES activity, which may mediate cap-independent translation. The IRES activity of the Bmi1 5′-UTR was significantly reduced after the mutation of the two IRES elements. Taken together, these results suggested that the IRES elements mediating translation is a novel post-transcriptional regulation mechanism of Bmi1.

Ion transport plays an important role in various biological processes because of the ability of ions to move rapidly in biological ion channel‐confined spaces. For example, rapid proton transport in ATPases is attributed to confined channel spaces and conjugated sites. According to molecular dynamics simulations, the confined spaces and conjugated sites in nanochannels can enhance ion transport. Herein, it is demonstrated that the ATPase‐like structures of sulfonic acid‐modified covalent organic framework nanochannels, which promote the formation of highly ordered and continuous water molecular chains and confined spaces, can support ion (H+, Li+, Na+, and K+) transport rates that are an order of magnitude higher than those of bulk water. The ion transport rates in the nanochannel are superior to those in other artificial channels. Moreover, the selectivity of cations in the nanochannel is evaluated using the diffusion potential with a concentration gradient. The simulations and experimental results demonstrate that confined spaces and conjugated sites are crucial for efficient ion transport in nanochannels modified by sulfonic acid groups as cation conductor materials.