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The emergence of solid-state battery technology presents a potential solution to the dissolution challenges of high-capacity small molecule quinone redox systems. Nonetheless, the successful integration of argyrodite-type Li 6 PS 5 Cl, the most promising solid-state electrolyte system, and quinone redox systems remains elusive due to their inherent reactivity. Here, a library of quinone derivatives is selected as model electrode materials to ascertain the critical descriptors governing the (electro)chemical compatibility and subsequently the performances of Li 6 PS 5 Cl-based solid-state organic lithium metal batteries (LMBs). Compatibility is attained if the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level of the quinone derivative is sufficiently higher than the highest occupied molecular orbital level of Li 6 PS 5 Cl. The energy difference is demonstrated to be critical in ensuring chemical compatibility during composite electrode preparation and enable high-efficiency operation of solid-state organic LMBs. Considering these findings, a general principle is proposed for the selection of quinone derivatives to be integrated with Li 6 PS 5 Cl, and two solid-state organic LMBs, based on 2,5-diamino-1,4-benzoquinone and 2,3,5,6-tetraamino-1,4-benzoquinone, are successfully developed and tested for the first time. Validating critical factors for the design of organic battery electrode materials is expected to pave the way for advancing the development of high-efficiency and long cycle life solid-state organic batteries based on sulfides electrolytes., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) porous microspheres with very high specific surface area and drug loading capacity, as well as excellent biocompatibility, have been widely used in tumour therapy. Mg 2+ is considered to be a key factor in bone regeneration, acting as an active agent to stimulate bone and cartilage formation, and is effective in accelerating cell migration and promoting angiogenesis, which is essential for bone tissue repair, anti-cancer, and anti-infection. In this study, abalone shells from a variety of sources were used as raw materials, and Mg 2+ -doped abalone shell-derived mesoporous HAP microspheres (Mg-HAP) were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis as Mg 2+ / icariin smart dual delivery system (ICA-Mg-HAP, IMHA). With increasing of Mg 2+ doping, the surface morphology of HAP microspheres varied from collapsed macroporous to mesoporous to smooth and non-porous, which may be due to Mg 2+ substitution or coordination in the HAP lattice. At 30% Mg 2+ doping, the Mg-HAP microspheres showed a more homogeneous mesoporous morphology with a high specific surface area (186.06 m2/g). The IMHA microspheres showed high drug loading (7.69%) and encapsulation rate (83.29%), sustained Mg 2+ release for more than 27 days, sustained and stable release of icariin for 60 hours, and good responsiveness to pH (pH 6.4 > pH 5.6). In addition, the IMHA delivery system stimulated the rapid proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and induced apoptosis in MG63 cells by blocking the G2 phase cycle of osteosarcoma cells and stimulating the high expression of apoptotic genes (Bcl-2, caspase-3, -8, -9). This suggests that the abalone shell-based IMHA may have potential applications in drug delivery and tumour therapy., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Two-dimensional electrically conducting metal-organic frameworks (2D-e-MOFs) have emerged as a class of highly promising functional materials for a wide range of applications. However, despite the significant recent advances in 2D-e-MOFs, developing systems that can be postsynthetically chemically functionalized, while also allowing fine-tuning of the transport properties, remains challenging. Herein, we report two isostructural 2D-e-MOFs: Ni 3 (HITAT) 2 and Ni 3 (HITBim) 2 based on two new 3-fold symmetric ligands: 2,3,7,8,12,13-hexaaminotriazatruxene (HATAT) and 2,3,8,9,14,15-hexaaminotribenzimidazole (HATBim), respectively, with reactive sites for postfunctionalization. Ni 3 (HITAT) 2 and Ni 3 (HITBim) 2 exhibit temperature-activated charge transport, with bulk conductivity values of 44 and 0.5 mS cm -1 , respectively. Density functional theory analysis attributes the difference to disparities in the electron density distribution within the parent ligands: nitrogen-rich HATBim exhibits localized electron density and a notably lower lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy relative to HATAT. Precise amounts of methanesulfonyl groups are covalently bonded to the N-H indole moiety within the Ni 3 (HITAT) 2 framework, modulating the electrical conductivity by a factor of ∼20. These results provide a blueprint for the design of porous functional materials with tunable chemical functionality and electrical response.

Electrowinning is regarded as a clean process to recover neodymium metal from secondary sources such as spent Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets, but the current methods are severely limited by a high energy consumption (molten salts), or by the high costs and environmental impact of the electrolyte components (ionic liquids). Therefore, there is a demand for more sustainable electrowinning methods for the recovery of neodymium metal. Inspired by our own previous work and the work of others, we developed new fluorine-free organic electrolytes that enable the electrodeposition of neodymium metal at room temperature. The electrolytes consist of solvated neodymium borohydride, Nd(BH 4 ) 3 , dissolved in the ether solvents tetrahydrofuran (THF), 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF), 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) and diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (diglyme, G2), and these complexes can be prepared entirely from non-fluorinated precursors such as neodymium(III) chloride (NdCl 3 ) and sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ). In contrast to our previous bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide-containing electrolytes, electrodeposition of neodymium proceeds over time without significant loss of current density, indicating a higher stability against unwanted side-reactions that lead to passivation of the deposit on the electrode. Characterization of the deposits by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) unambiguously indicated the presence of neodymium metal.

Increasingly, tropical studies based on aboveground traits have suggested that lianas have a more acquisitive strategy than trees, thereby possibly explaining the increase in lianas relative to trees in many tropical forests under global change. However, few studies have tested whether this pattern can be extended to root traits and temperate forests. In this study, we sampled 61 temperate liana-host tree pairs and quantified 11 commonly studied functional traits representative of plant economics in roots, stems, and leaves; we aimed to determine whether root, stem and leaf traits are coordinated across lifeforms, and whether temperate lianas are also characterized by more fast and acquisitive traits than trees. Our results showed that leaf and stem traits were coordinated across lifeforms but not with root traits, suggesting that aboveground plant economics is not always correlated with belowground economics, and leaf and stem economic spectra cannot be expanded to the root directly. Compared with host trees, lianas had more acquisitive leaf and stem traits, such as higher specific leaf area and lower leaf dry matter content, leaf carbon content, leaf mass per area, and wood density, suggesting that lianas have a more acquisitive strategy than host trees in the temperate forest. The differences between lianas and trees in plant strategy may drive their contrasting responses to the changing temperate forest environment under global change.

The rapid and accurate identification of pathogenic agents is the key to guide clinicians on diagnosis and medication, especially for intractable diseases, such as neurosyphilis. It is extremely challenging for clinicians to diagnose neurosyphilis with no highly sensitive and specific test available. It is well known that the early transmission and immune evasion ability of Treponema pallidum have earned it the title of "stealth pathogen." Neurosyphilis has complex clinical manifestations, including ocular involvement, which is infrequent and often overlooked, but its neuroimaging results may be normal. Therefore, it is important to find a new test that can detect the presence or absence of Treponema pallidum immediately for the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. We reviewed all the patients admitted to the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital between 2021 and 2022 who had ocular involvement and whose clinical samples were examined via metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), and we found 10 candidates for further analysis. The results of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were normal for four patients, and three of them met the diagnostic criteria for neurosyphilis confirmed by mNGS. In addition, the results of mNGS from the three patients were further validated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Five of the 10 patients had diplopia manifestations; two (20%) experienced abducens nerve palsies, two (20%) had eyelid drooping, and one (10%) had decreased vision. One of the 10 patients (10%) who was HIV positive and five patients had abnormal MRI results. To our knowledge, Treponema pallidum was detected by mNGS in patients with ocular involvement and normal MRI results for the first time. Given this situation, we recommend mNGS as a potential and supplementary tool for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of neurosyphilis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhou, Peng, Song, Tie, Tao, Jiang and Zhang.)

Habitat selection behaviour is an effective strategy adopted by clonal plants in heterogeneous understorey light environments, and it is likely regulated by the parental environment's ultraviolet-B radiation levels (UV-B) due to the photomorphogenesis of UV-B and maternal effects. Here, parental ramets of Duchesnea indica were treated with two UV-B radiation levels [high (UV5 group) and low (UV10 group)], newborn offspring were grown under a heterogeneous light environment (ambient light vs shade habitat), and the growth and DNA methylation variations of parents and offspring were analysed. The results showed that parental UV-B affected not only the growth of the parent but also the offspring. The offspring of different UV-B-radiated parents showed different performances. Although these offspring all displayed a tendency to escape from light environments, such as entering shade habitats earlier, and allocating more biomass under shade (33.06% of control, 42.28% of UV5 and 72.73% of UV10), these were particularly obvious in offspring of the high UV-B parent. Improvements in epigenetic diversity (4.77 of control vs 4.83 of UV10) and total DNA methylation levels (25.94% of control vs 27.15% of UV10) and the inhibition of shade avoidance syndrome (denser growth with shorter stolons and internodes) were only observed in offspring of high UV-B parents. This difference was related to the eustress and stress effects of low and high UV-B, respectively. Overall, the behaviour of D. indica under heterogeneous light conditions was regulated by the parental UV-B exposure. Moreover, certain performance improvements helped offspring pre-regulate growth to cope with future environments and were probably associated with the effects of maternal DNA methylation variations in UV-B-radiated parents.

This study aimed to explore the mechanism of action of Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) with its multiple components and targets in the synergistic regulation of hematopoiesis. Mouse models of hematopoiesis were established using antibiotics. Metabolomics was used to detect body metabolites and enriched pathways. The active ingredients, targets, and pathways of DBT were analyzed using system pharmacology. The results of metabolomics and system pharmacology were integrated to identify the key pathways and targets. A total of 515 metabolites were identified using metabolomics. After the action of antibiotics, 49 metabolites were markedly changed: 23 were increased, 26 were decreased, and 11 were significantly reversed after DBT administration. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that these 11 metabolites were related to bile secretion, cofactor biosynthesis, and fatty acid biosynthesis. The results of the pharmacological analysis showed that 616 targets were related to DBT-induced anemia, which were mainly enriched in biological processes, such as bile secretion, biosynthesis of cofactors, and cholesterol metabolism. Combined with the results of metabolomics and system pharmacology, we found that bile acid metabolism and biotin synthesis were the key pathways for DBT. Forty-two targets of DBT were related to these two metabolic pathways. PPI analysis revealed that the top 10 targets were CYP3A4, ABCG2, and UGT1A8. Twenty-one components interacted with these 10 targets. In one case, a target corresponds to multiple components, and a component corresponds to multiple targets. DBT acts on multiple targets of ABCG2, UGT1A8, and CYP3A4 through multiple components, affecting the biosynthesis of cofactors and bile secretion pathways to regulate hematopoiesis.

Type 2 immunity and inflammation underlie allergic skin disorders, such as atopic dermatitis (AD). In type 2 inflammation, IL-4, IL-13, and IL-5, which are signature type 2 cytokines, are mainly produced by type 2 helper T (Th2) cells and form the characteristic features of AD. Epithelial cell-derived cytokines such as IL-25, IL-33, and TSLP initiate type 2 inflammation by modulating various cells, including group 2 innate lymphoid cells. Moreover, IL-31, a newly identified type 2 cytokine produced mainly by Th2 cells, induces pruritus by acting on sensory neurons in the skin. Based on both basic and clinical findings, several biologics targeting Th2 cytokines have been developed and exhibited significant efficacy as therapeutic reagents for AD. We have summarized the roles of each cytokine (IL-4, 5, 13, 25, 31, and 33, and TSLP) in the development of type 2 inflammation, especially AD, from the view of basic studies in mice and clinical trials/observation in humans., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The responses of plants to recurrent stress may differ from their responses to a single stress event. In this study, we investigated whether clonal plants can remember past environments. Parental ramets of Glechoma longituba (Nakai) Kuprian were exposed to UV-B stress treatments either once or repeatedly (20 and 40 repetitions). Differences in DNA methylation levels and growth parameters among parents, offspring ramets and genets were analysed. Our results showed that UV-B stress reduced the DNA methylation level of parental ramets, and the reduction was enhanced by increasing the number of UV-B treatments. The epigenetic variation exhibited by recurrently stressed parents was maintained for a long time, but that of singly stressed parents was only short-term. Moreover, clonal plants responded to different UV-B stress treatments with different growth strategies. The one-time stress was a eustress that increased genet biomass by increasing offspring leaf allocation and defensive allocation in comparison to the older offspring. In contrast, recurring stress was a distress that reduced genet biomass, increased the biomass of storage stolons, and allocated more defensive substances to the younger ramets. This study demonstrated that the growth of offspring and genets was clearly affected by parental experience, and parental epigenetic memory and the transgenerational effect may play important roles in this effect.

To investigate the diversity and distribution of rhizobia associated with Sophora davidii in habitats with different light and soil conditions at the Loess Plateau, we isolated rhizobia from root nodules of this plant grown at 14 sites at forest edge or understory in Shaanxi Province. Based on PCR-RFLP and phylogenies of 16S rRNA gene, housekeeping genes (atpD, dnaK, recA), and symbiosis genes (nodC and nifH), a total of 271 isolates were identified as 16 Mesorhizobium genospecies, belonging to four nodC lineages, and three nifH lineages. The dominance of M. waimense in the forest edge and of M. amorphae/Mesorhizobium sp. X in the understory habitat evidenced the illumination as a possible factor to affect the diversity and biogeographic patterns of rhizobia. However, the results of Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) among the environmental factors and distribution of rhizobial genospecies illustrated that soil pH and contents of total phosphorus, total potassium and total organic carbon were the main determinants for the community structure of S. davidii rhizobia, while the illumination conditions and available P presented similar and minor effects. In addition, high similarity of nodC and nifH genes between Mesorhizobium robiniae and some S. davidii rhizobia under the forest of Robinia pseudoacacia might be evidence for symbiotic gene lateral transfer. These findings firstly brought an insight into the diversity and distribution of rhizobia associated with S. davidii, and revealed illumination conditions a possible factor with impacts less than the soil traits to drive the symbiosis association between rhizobia and their host legumes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

A biodegradable metallic ureteral stent with suitable mechanical properties and antibacterial activity remains a challenge. Here we reveal the scientific significance of a biodegradable Mg-Sr-Ag alloy with a favorable combination of balanced mechanical properties, adjustable indwelling time in urinary tract and evident antibacterial activity via in vivo experiments in a swine model. Attributed to the rheo-solidification process, equiaxial microstructure and significantly refined grains (average grain size: 27.1 μm) were achieved. Mg 17 Sr 2 and Mg 4 Ag were found as the primary precipitates in the matrix, due to which the alloy obtained ca. 111% increase in ultimate tensile strength in comparison to pure magnesium. Both the in vitro and in vivo results demonstrated the satisfactory biocompatibility of the alloy. Histological evaluation and bioindicators analysis suggested that there was no tissue damage, inflammation and lesions in the urinary system caused by the degradation process. The stent also improved the post-operative bladder functions viewed from the urodynamic results. Our findings highlight the potential of this alloy as antibacterial biodegradable urinary implant material., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: none., (© 2021 The Authors.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has the function of supporting Qi and enriching blood. Antibiotics can cause Gut microbiota disorder and affect efficacy of DBT., Aim of the Study: Explore the manner in which Gut microbiota affects the efficacy of Danggui Buxue Tang., Materials and Methods: In this study, antibiotics were used to destroy gut microbiota. The changes of DBT efficacy were detected to verify the effect of gut microbiota on DBT efficacy. The changes of gut microbiota was detected using 16S rRNA sequencing, and UPLC-MS/MS was used to analyze the plasma concentration of active ingredients. Correlation analysis was used to establish the relationship between gut microbiota, blood components and drug efficacy, and to explore the role of gut microbiota in the efficacy of DBT., Results: The results showed that the efficacy in the DBT group was significantly improved compared with the control group (p<0.05). Compared with DBT group, the efficacy in antibiotic DBT treatment (ABXDBT) group was significantly reduced, 194 plasma metabolites and 18 DBT blood components were significantly altered in ABXDBT group, and 11 DBT blood components such as caffeic acid and formononetin were significantly decreased. Correlation analysis showed that 6 DBT blood components were related with the decrease of efficacy. Network pharmacology analysis showed that the above 6 DBT blood components participated in the hematopoietic regulation through PI3K-Akt and HIF-1 signaling pathways. Correlation analysis showed that Bacteroides and other intestinal bacteria were related to the absorption of DBT active ingredients. The drug metabolic pathway of gut microbiota was significantly decreased after antibiotic treatment (p = 0.033)., Conclusions: Gut microbiota such as Bacteroides affects the efficacy of DBT by affecting the metabolism and absorption of DBT active ingredients such as caffeic acid and formononetin., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Clonal plants in heterogeneous environments can benefit from their habitat selection behavior, which enables them to utilize patchily distributed resources efficiently. It has been shown that such behavior can be strongly influenced by their memories on past environmental interactions. Epigenetic variation such as DNA methylation was proposed to be one of the mechanisms involved in the memory. Here, we explored whether the experience with Ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation triggers epigenetic memory and affects clonal plants' foraging behavior in an UV-B heterogeneous environment. Parental ramets of Glechoma longituba were exposed to UV-B radiation for 15 days or not (controls), and their offspring ramets were allowed to choose light environment enriched with UV-B or not (the species is monopodial and can only choose one environment). Sizes and epigenetic profiles (based on methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism analysis) of parental and offspring plants from different environments were also analyzed. Parental ramets that have been exposed to UV-B radiation were smaller than ramets from control environment and produced less and smaller offspring ramets. Offspring ramets were placed more often into the control light environment (88.46% ramets) than to the UV-B light environment (11.54% ramets) when parental ramets were exposed to UV-B radiation, which is a manifestation of "escape strategy." Offspring of control parental ramets show similar preference to the two light environments. Parental ramets exposed to UV-B had lower levels of overall DNA methylation and had different epigenetic profiles than control parental ramets. The methylation of UV-B-stressed parental ramets was maintained among their offspring ramets, although the epigenetic differentiation was reduced after several asexual generations. The parental experience with the UV-B radiation strongly influenced foraging behavior. The memory on the previous environmental interaction enables clonal plants to better interact with a heterogeneous environment and the memory is at least partly based on heritable epigenetic variation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Quan, Latzel, Tie, Zhang, Münzbergová, Chai, Liu and Yue.)

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an important foodborne pathogen that has become a major worldwide factor affecting the public safety of food. Bacteriophage has gradually attracted attention because of its ability to kill specific pathogens. In this study, a lytic phage of E. coli O157:H7, named FEC14, was isolated from hospital sewage. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that phage FEC14 had an isometric head 80 ± 5 nm in diameter and a contractile tail whose terminal spikes present an umbrella-like structure. Phage FEC14 revealed 158,639 bp double-stranded DNA, with the G+C content of 44.6%, 209 ORFs and four tRNAs. Genome DNA of FEC14 could not be digested by some endonucleases. Many of the features of phage FEC14 are very similar to those of the newly classified genus "Kuttervirus", including morphology, genome size and organization, etc. Phage FEC14 is proposed to be a new isolate of genus "Kuttervirus" within the family Ackermannviridae, moreover, the endonuclease resistance of phage FEC14, has priority over other genera of bacteriophages for its use in biocontrol of foodborne pathogens.

Self-assembled supramolecular dispersive liquid-phase microextraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed and introduced for simultaneous extraction and determination of the trace level rhein, chrysophanol, and physcion in Rhubarb. Compared with conventional dispersive liquid-phase microextraction, the proposed method used a self-assembled ternary supramolecular consisting of the mixed extraction solvent (heptanol and nonanol) and dispersant (acetone) to achieve high enrichment factors of target analytes. Several factors affecting performance were investigated and optimized, including the mixed extraction solvent, type and volume of the dispersant, the pH of sample phase, salt concentration, shaking time, volume of sample phase, centrifugation time, and rate. Meanwhile, the method mechanism of self-assembled supramolecular dispersive liquid-phase microextraction was analyzed and described. Under the optimized extraction conditions, the enrichment factors of rhein, chrysophanol, and physcion were 116.5, 325.9, and 356.1, respectively. Good linearities (r ≥ 0.9952) for all analytes, low limits of detection (less than 0.04 ng/mL), satisfactory precisions (0.1-8.9%), and accuracies (recoveries, 88.2-104.1%) were achieved. The experimental results showed that the approach was simple, fast, with short extraction time, high enrichment factors, good linearities, and low limits of detection., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Today, ureteral stent technology is making progress towards the reduction of complications and patient discomfort. Therefore, magnesium alloys have become excellent candidate materials for manufacturing ureteral stents due to their biodegradability and antibacterial activity. Built on our previous work on biodegradable magnesium alloys, this article reports a semisolid rheo-formed magnesium implant that displays degradability and biocompatibility in vivo, and feasibility as ureteral stents in a pig model. Refined non-dendritic microstructure was observed in the rheo-formed alloy, whose grain size and shape factor were ca. 25.2 μm and ca. 1.56 respectively. Neither post-interventional inflammation nor pathological changes were observed in the urinary system during the implantation period of 14 weeks, and the degradation profile (14 weeks) meets the common requirement for the indwelling time of ureteral stents (8 to 16 weeks). Furthermore, histopathological observation and urinalysis results confirmed that the alloy had significantly higher antibacterial activity than the medical-grade stainless steel control. To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo study of biodegradable magnesium alloy as urinary implants in large animal models. Our results demonstrate that magnesium alloys may be a reasonable option for manufacturing biodegradable ureteral stents., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Low-cost heat-resistant Al-Sc-Zr-Fe conductor wires were successfully manufactured by continuous rheo-extrusion process, and the mechanical and conductive properties of the materials were analyzed and compared after three different thermo-mechanical treatment methods. The coarse plate-shape Al 3 Fe phase transformed to small sized rod-like phase after solid solution treatment at 630 °C for 21 h. Direct aging treatment at 300 °C for 24 h led to the refinement and spheroidization of Al 3 Fe phase with a diameter of 200 nm. After the subsequent aging treatment at 300 °C for 24 h, the tensile strength and conductivity of the alloy wire significantly increased due to the homogeneous precipitation of the coherent spherical Al 3 (Sc, Zr) phase with an average size of 15 nm. The tensile strength, elongation, and conductivity of the alloy conductor wire after optimized thermo-mechanical treatment reached 165.7 MPa, 7.3%, and 60.26% International Annealed Copper Standard (IACS), respectively. The thermal resistance of the present alloy wire was superior to that of standard AT1 type alloy conductor according to IEC international standard.

Two proposed syringe membrane filter solid phase microextraction and syringe membrane filter liquid/solid phase microextraction, coupled separately with high performance liquid chromatography, were developed for simultaneous enrichment and determination of the trace level of flavonoids in traditional Chinese medicine. In syringe membrane filter solid phase microextraction, the membrane of syringe membrane filter was served as a solid adsorption film to adsorb target analytes. And in syringe membrane filter liquid/solid phase microextraction, the membrane of syringe membrane filter was used as not only an adsorption phase, but also as a holder of extraction solvent to realize liquid-solid synergistic extraction. The simple operation, rapid extraction, and little or no organic solvent consumption make the two approaches very interesting. To evaluate the two proposed approaches, the crucial parameters affecting the enrichment factors of target analytes were investigated and optimized, and the two microextractions were intercompared. Moreover, their microextraction mechanisms were analyzed and described. Under the optimized conditions, both the new approaches achieved good linearities, accuracies, precisions, and low limits of detection, and the two methods were successfully applied for concentration of the flavonoids in traditional Chinese medicines., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Modulating the interlayer spacing and Na + /vacancy disordering can significantly affect the electrochemical behavior of P2-type cathode materials. In this work, we prepare a series of P2-Na 0.67 MnO 2 cathodes (Na 0.67 Ni 0.2- x Mn 0.8 Mg x O 2 ) with varying doping amounts of Mg and Ni to realize the maximization of the interlayer spacing within the experimental range and optimize the Na + /vacancy ordering. Consequently, the as-prepared Na 0.67 Ni 0.1 Mn 0.8 Mg 0.1 O 2 illustrates an excellent rate performance of 193 mA h g -1 discharge capacity at 0.1 C (1 C = 180 mA g -1 ), and even at a high rate of 8 C, the battery can deliver a capacity of 70 mA h g -1 . The kinetics analysis indicates the raising of Na + mobility, which could due to the reduced Na + /vacancy ordering and the enhanced Na interlayer spacing. The codoping of Ni and Mg also enhances the stability of the layered structure, leading to improved cycling performance of 74.7% capacity retention after 100 cycles.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the formation of blisters, in which autoantibodies mainly target type XVII collagen (ColXVII) expressed in basal keratinocytes. BP IgG is known to induce the internalization of ColXVII from the plasma membrane of keratinocytes through macropinocytosis. However, the cellular dynamics following ColXVII internalization have not been completely elucidated. BP IgG exerts a precise effect on cultured keratinocytes, and the morphological/functional changes in BP IgG-stimulated cells lead to the subepidermal blistering associated with BP pathogenesis. Based on the electron microscopy examination, BP IgG-stimulated cells exhibit alterations in the cell membrane structure and the accumulation of intracellular vesicles. These morphological changes in the BP IgG-stimulated cells are accompanied by dysfunctional mitochondria, increased production of reactive oxygen species, increased motility, and detachment. BP IgG triggers the cascade leading to metabolic impairments and stimulates cell migration in the treated keratinocytes. These cellular alterations are reversed by pharmacological inhibitors of Rac1 or the proteasome pathway, suggesting that Rac1 and proteasome activation are involved in the effects of BP IgG on cultured keratinocytes. Our study highlights the role of keratinocyte kinetics in the direct functions of IgG in patients with BP.

Ou-gon, an extract from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi root, has been shown to exhibit pronounced antifungal activity. The present study aimed to identify antifungal components of Ou-gon and to determine their mechanism of action against pathogenic fungi. Antifungal activity was assessed by the microbroth dilution method using four common human pathogenic fungi, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Candida albicans. Components of crude Ou-gon extract were separated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Active antifungal components were identified by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end-labelling assay, SYTOX ® green uptake assay, determination of intracellular reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial membrane potential as well as microscopy (confocal laser microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy) were used to probe the mode of action. Two components with potent antifungal activity, baicalein and wogonin, were identified in Ou-gon. Baicalein showed potent antifungal activity against the four fungi tested. Wogonin displayed antifungal activity against all four fungi except C. albicans. The components are considered to induce apoptosis-like programmed cell death via hyperproduction of reactive oxygen species. This study enhances our understanding of the antifungal activity of Kampo medicine, and may contribute to the development of new and safe antifungal therapeutics.

To optimize the potential window and maximize the utilization of the capacity of both negative and positive electrodes, rational design of electrode materials are critically important in full-cell construction of rechargeable batteries. In this work, we propose and fabricate a carbon-confined V 2 O 3 /Ni 2 P/C composite structure for excellent performance lithium ion batteries by taking advantage of the high capacity of V 2 O 3 and low potential of Ni 2 P. The full cell constructed with V 2 O 3 /Ni 2 P/C as anode and commercial LiMn 2 O 4 as cathode offers a record high energy density of 361.5 Wh kg -1 and excellent cycle stability, outperforming the state-of-the-art work reported in literature.

In previous studies, Mg-Sr alloys exhibited great biocompatibility with regard to test animals, and enhanced peri-implant bone formation. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of heat treatments on the mechanical and corrosion properties of Mg-Sr alloys. Various heat-treated Mg-xSr (x = 0.5, 1, and 2wt%, nominal composition) alloys were prepared using homogenization and aging treatments. Mechanical tests were performed at room temperature on the as-cast, homogenized, and peak-aged alloys. As the Sr content increased, the volume fraction of Mg 17 Sr 2 phases within the as-cast alloys increased; in addition, the mechanical strength of the alloys initially increased and subsequently decreased, while the ductility decreased. Following the homogenization treatment, the mechanical strength of the alloys decreased, and the ductility increased. Nano-sized Mg 17 Sr 2 phases were re-precipitated during the aging treatment. The age-hardening response at 160°C was enhanced as the Sr content increased. Following the aging treatment, there was an increase in the mechanical strength of the alloys; however, there was a slight reduction in the ductility. Immersion tests were conducted at 37°C for 360h, using Hank's buffered salt solution (HBSS), to study the degradation behavior of the alloys. As the Sr content of the Mg-Sr alloys increased, the corrosion rate (CR) increased owing to the galvanic effect. The homogenization treatment consequently reduced the CR dramatically, and the aging treatment had a slight effect on the CR. The peak-aged Mg-1Sr (wt%) alloy exhibited the best combination of properties. The tensile yield strength (TYS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation, compressive yield strength (CYS), ultimate compressive strength (UCS), compressibility, and CR of the as-cast Mg-1Sr (wt%) alloy were 56.0MPa, 92.67MPa, 1.27%, 171.4MPa, 243.6MPa, 22.3%, and 1.76mm/year, respectively. The respective results obtained for the peak-aged Mg-1Sr (wt%) alloys were 69.7MPa, 135.6MPa, 3.22%, 183.1MPa, 273.6MPa, 27.6%, and 1.33mm/year. Following immersion in HBSS, the primary corrosion products of the peak-aged Mg-1Sr (wt%) alloy were Mg(OH) 2 , MgO, MgCO 3 , Mg 3 (PO 4 ) 2 , MgHPO 4 , and Mg(H 2 PO 4 ) 2 , which enhanced the corrosion resistance by forming a composite corrosion film., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A 79-year-old Japanese woman had clinical and histopathological features of bullous pemphigoid, while direct immunofluorescence test revealed C3 and immunoglobulin G depositions in the lower cell surfaces of the epidermis in addition to those in the dermoepidermal junction. Chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassays were positive for desmoglein-1 and -3 antibodies in addition to anti-BP180 antibodies. In an immunoblotting study, antibodies against both 180-kDa bullous pemphigoid antigen and 130-kDa pemphigus vulgaris antigen were detected. Based on these results, bullous pemphigoid coexisting with anti-desmoglein autoantibodies was diagnosed in this case., (© 2017 Japanese Dermatological Association.)

Previous studies indicated that local delivery of strontium effectively increased bone quality and formation around osseointegrating implants. Therefore, implant materials with long-lasting and controllable strontium release are avidly pursued. The central objective of the present study was to investigate the in vivo biocompatibility, metabolism and osteogenic activity of the bioabsorbable Mg-1Sr (wt.%, nominal composition) alloy for bone regeneration. The general corrosion rate of the alloy implant as a femoral fracture fixation device was 0.55±0.03mm·y(-1) (mean value±standard deviation) in New Zealand White rabbits which meet the bone implantation requirements and can be adjusted by material processing methods. All rabbits survived and the histological evaluation showed no abnormal physiology or diseases 16 weeks post-implantation. The degradation process of the alloy did not significantly alter 16 primary indexes of hematology, cardiac damage, inflammation, hepatic functions and metabolic process. Significant increases in peri-implant bone volume and direct bone-to-implant contact (48.3%±15.3% and 15.9%±5.6%, respectively) as well as the expressions of four osteogenesis related genes (runt-related transcription factor 2, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and collagen, type I, alpha 1) were observed after 16 weeks implantation for the Mg-1Sr group when compared to the pure Mg group. The sound osteogenic properties of the Mg-1Sr alloy by long-lasting and controllable Sr release suggesting a very attractive clinical potential., Statement of Significance: Sr (strontium) has exhibited pronounced effects to reduce the bone fracture risk in osteoporotic patients. Nonetheless, long-lasting local Sr release is hardly achieved by traditional methods like surface treatment. Therefore, a more efficient Sr local delivery platform is in high clinical demand. The stable and adjustable degradation process of Mg alloy makes it an ideal Sr delivery platform. We combine the well-known osteogenic properties of strontium with magnesium to manufacture bioabsorbable Mg-1Sr alloy with stable Sr release based on our previous studies. The in vitro and in vivo results both showed the alloy's suitable degradation rate and biocompatibility, and the sound osteogenic properties and stimulation effect on bone formation suggest its very attractive clinical potential., (Copyright © 2015 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Methazolamide is used to lower intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma. Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) associated with methazolamide treatment have been diagnosed in Korean, Japanese, and Japanese-American patients. According to recent research, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele HLA-B*59:01 is strongly linked to SJS/TEN associated with methazolamide treatment., Objective: A patient of Chinese-Korean ethnicity was diagnosed with TEN associated with methazolamide treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential genetic basis of this disease., Methods: A polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) typing system was used to genotype this patient's peripheral blood DNA for HLA-B*59., Results: The genotype HLA-B*59:01 was detected in the patient., Conclusions: This study demonstrates the genotype of HLA-B*59:01 in a patient with TEN associated with methazolamide treatment and thus supports the possible correlation between genetic background and methazolamide-associated SJS/TEN., (© 2015 The International Society of Dermatology.)

A new biodegradable magnesium-zinc-strontium (Mg-Zn-Sr) alloy was developed and studied for medical implant applications. This first study investigated the alloy processing (casting, rolling, and heat treatment), microstructures, mechanical properties, and degradation properties in simulated body fluid (SBF). Aging treatment of the ZSr41 alloy at 175 °C for 8h improved the mechanical properties when compared to those of the as-cast alloy. Specifically, the aged ZSr41 alloy had an ultimate tensile strength of 270 MPa, Vickers hardness of 71.5 HV, and elongation at failure of 12.8%. The mechanical properties of the ZSr41 alloy were superior as compared with those of pure magnesium and met the requirements for load-bearing medical implants. Furthermore, the immersion of the ZSr41 alloy in SBF showed a degradation mode that progressed cyclically, alternating between pitting and localized corrosion. The steady-state average degradation rate of the aged ZSr41 alloy in SBF was 0.96 g/(m(2)·hr), while the pH of SBF immersion solution increased. The corrosion current density of the ZSr41 alloy in SBF solution was 0.41 mA/mm(2), which was much lower than 1.67 mA/mm(2) for pure Mg under the same conditions. In summary, compared to pure Mg, the mechanical properties of the new ZSr41 alloy improved while the degradation rate decreased due to the addition of Zn and Sr alloying elements and specific processing conditions. The superior mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the new ZSr41 alloy make it a promising alloy for next-generation implant applications., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)