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The randomized base pairing in the interval of IBS2 and IBS1 of Tel3c/4c intron (−8 and −7 sites) in Thermotargetron (TMT) results in a low success rate and gene-targeting efficiency in bacteria. In the present work, we constructed a randomized gene-targeting plasmids pool (RGPP) to study whether there is a base preference in target sequences.

Even in the 21st century, female participants continue to be underrepresented in human physiology research. This underrepresentation is attributable in part to the perception that the inclusion of females is more time consuming, less convenient, and more expensive relative to males because of the need to account for the menstrual cycle in cardiovascular study designs. Accounting for menstrual cycle-induced fluctuations in gonadal hormones is important, given established roles in governing vascular function and evidence that failure to consider gonadal hormone fluctuations can result in misinterpretations of biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. Thus, for cardiovascular researchers, the inclusion of females in research studies implies a necessity to predict, quantify, and/or track indexes of menstrual cycle-induced changes in hormones. It is here that methodologies are lacking. Gold standard measurement requires venous blood samples, but this technique is invasive and can become both expensive and technically preclusive when serial measurements are required. To this end, saliva-derived measures of gonadal hormones provide a means of simple, noninvasive hormone tracking. To investigate the feasibility of this technique as a means of facilitating research designs that take the menstrual cycle into account, the purpose of this review was to examine literature comparing salivary and blood concentrations of the primary gonadal hormones that fluctuate across the menstrual cycle: estradiol and progesterone. The data indicate that there appear to be valid and promising applications of salivary gonadal hormone monitoring, which may aid in the inclusion of female participants in cardiovascular research studies.

Iron is an important metal element involved in the regulation of male reproductive functions and has dual effects on testicular tissue. A moderate iron content is necessary to maintain testosterone synthesis and spermatogenesis. Iron overload can lead to male reproductive dysfunction by triggering testicular oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and even testicular ferroptosis. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of cell death that is characterized by iron overload, lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial damage, and glutathione peroxidase depletion. This review summarizes the regulatory mechanism of ferroptosis and the research progress on testicular ferroptosis caused by endogenous and exogenous toxicants. The purpose of the present review is to provide a theoretical basis for the relationship between ferroptosis and male reproductive function. Some toxic substances or danger signals can cause male reproductive dysfunction by inducing testicular ferroptosis. It is crucial to deeply explore the testicular ferroptosis mechanism, which will help further elucidate the molecular mechanism of male reproductive dysfunction. It is worth noting that ferroptosis does not exist alone but rather coexists with other forms of cell death (such as apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagic death). Alleviating ferroptosis alone may not completely reverse male reproductive dysfunction caused by various risk factors.

Phonological biases suppose that language learners are predisposed toward certain sound patterns. A widely studied phonological bias is substantive bias, a bias that favors phonetically natural or motivated patterns. Experimental results for substantive bias have been mixed. Against this background, this study explores the possible factors influencing the effect of substantive bias, and the focus is on the input variability. An artificial language learning study on /n/~/l/ alternation by native speakers of Hong Kong Cantonese was conducted. There were two categorical learning conditions and two variable learning conditions. In the categorical learning conditions, all the initial /n/ changed to /l/ either in phonetically motivated or unmotivated contexts. In the variable learning conditions, the dominant percentage of initial /n/ changed to /l/ in phonetically motivated or unmotivated context. Substantive bias arose only in variable learning conditions, which suggests that the substantive bias effect is not global, but it is activated under certain circumstances. This study found that the shape and distribution of input could influence the effect of substantive bias.

An in situ generated AuIII catalyst is found to catalyze the direct oxidation of CH4 to C1 oxygenates in 1-ethylimidazolium bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide ([Eim][NTf2]) at 90 °C. The formation ...

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the photocatalytic activity of zinc doped MAO-TiO2 films under the optimum MAO treatment condition. Design/methodology/approach The coating was prepared by micro arc oxidation, and the influence of doping on the properties of the coating was also investigated. Findings The results show that the BET surface area is 78.25±0.03m2/g, total pore area is 76.32 ± 0.04m2/g, and the total pore volume is 0.2135 ± 0.0004cm3/g. The degradation ratio of the film electrode with Zn-doped in methyl orange solution is up to 94%. When the react circles is 10 times, the degradation ratio is up to more than 85% and remains steady. With the different reaction conditions, these kinetics of the reactions show some different formulas. Originality/value A kinetic equation for photocatalytic activity is established.

This study investigates the hypothesis that tone alternation directionality becomes a basis of structural bias for tone alternation learning, where “structural bias” refers to a tendency to prefer uni-directional tone deletions to bi-directional ones. Two experiments were conducted. In the first, Mandarin speakers learned three artificial languages, with bi-directional tone deletions, uni-directional, left-dominant deletions, and uni-directional, right-dominant deletions, respectively. The results showed a learning bias toward uni-directional, right-dominant patterns. As Mandarin tone sandhi is right-dominant while Cantonese tone change is lexically restricted and does not have directionality asymmetry, a follow-up experiment trained Cantonese speakers either on left- or right-dominant deletions to see whether the right-dominant preference was due to L1 transfer from Mandarin. The results of the experiment also showed a learning bias toward right-dominant patterns. We argue that structural simplicity affects tone deletion learning but the simplicity should be grounded on phonetics factors, such as syllables’ contour-tone bearing ability. The experimental results are consistent with the findings of a survey on other types of tone alternation’s directionality, i.e., tone sandhi across 17 Chinese varieties. This suggests that the directionality asymmetry found across different tone alternations reflects a phonetically grounded structural learning bias.

Despite various work which aimed to identify the phonetic and structural underpinning of tone sandhi directionality, the underlying mechanism that governs tone sandhi remains unknown. We note that the two widely discussed properties of tone sandhi, their phonetic grounds and directionality, correspond to two types of cognitive biases widely investigated in segmental phonology, namely substantive bias and structural bias respectively. This study examines structural simplicity and phonetic naturalness of tone sandhi patterns across seventeen Chinese varieties. Based on a structure-based analysis, we show that tone sandhi patterns are overwhelmingly uni-directional (i.e. structurally simple) either throughout a sandhi system or within each grammatical category. Crucially, uni-directionality is largely right-dominant, which could be attributed to its phonetic grounding. We argue that structural simplicity grounded on phonetic substance better captures tone sandhi asymmetries and such phonetically-grounded structural simplicity bias is reflected in the asymmetries of Chinese tone sandhi directionality.

In emerging communication systems, such as 5G 6G, millimeter wave and terahertz communication, OFDM and MIMO are indispensable technologies. However, the cross-modulation among different subchannel would greatly degrade the performance of system due to the non-linearity of the large-scale amplifier array. Hybrid precoding technology is a general candidate for this problem due to its capability for linearization, and the predistortion matrix would be the key factor for its performance. In this paper, a memory polynomial model is adopted for modelling nonlinear power amplifier (PA) and Recursive Least Square based digital predistortion (RLS-DPD) algorithm is proposed for parameter training for hybrid predistortion module. The proposed RLS algorithm extracts the parameters of the digital predistortion module through adaptive learning in the training phase. Adaptive learning refers to the process of using the filter parameters obtained at the previous moment to automatically adjust the parameters at the current moment according to the estimated error, which minimizes the cost function. The simulation results show that the RLS-DPD algorithm can reduce the system bit error rate by 27.778%, error vector magnitude (EVM) by 67.961 % at 8dB SNR, and enable the nonlinear OFDM signal to be demodulated correctly at the terminal.

A acetyl-substituted tetrahydrobenzofuran, 1-(4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-benzofuran-6-yl)ethenone (6-AcBZOF) and a acetyl-substituted tetrahydronaphthalene, 1-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-2-yl)ethenone (2-AcTNAPH) were conveniently synthesized from renewable furanics by cascade Diels–Alder and dehydration reactions. The Diels-Alder cycloaddition of 4-(2-Furyl)-3-buten-2-one (4-FB) with ethylene followed by dehydration in presence of zeolites was studied. Sn grafted Beta zeolite exhibited high performance with 69% yield of 2-AcTNAPH starting from 4-FB. In this reaction, 6-AcBZOF was produced as intermediate. Further, it was found that this acetyl-substituted tetrahydrobenzofuran could be formed in high yield, 86%, in the absence of catalyst. For the first time in the literature, we report the synthesis of a renewable acetyl-substituted tetrahydronaphthalene in high yield from biomass-derived 4-FB in a tandem approach. While a acetyl-substituted tetrahydrobenzofuran could be prepared without a catalyst, catalyst was essential for the successful synthesis of the acetyl-substituted tetrahydronaphthalene.

In this work, a target-triggered three-way junction (3-WJ) structure was combined with enzyme-powered cascade amplification strategy for ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detection of microRNA via free-running DNA walker. In the presence of target microRNA-21 (miRNA-21), a three-way junction structure was formed to trigger enzyme-aided multiple DNA amplification, and thus exponentially amplified triggers were generated. Then, the trigger DNA could hybridize with the blocking DNA on the electrode to release walker DNA, which specifically combined with the quantum dots (QDs)-DNA probe, and formed a recognition site for Nt.BbvCI. The movement of DNA walker is powered by the nicking endonuclease that cleaves specific QDs-DNA probes on the track. Thus one walker DNA can automatically cleave multiple QDs probes on the electrode during the movement, resulting in significantly amplified changes of ECL signal, which could be used for the highly sensitive detection of target miRNA-21. Under the optimal conditions, the ECL signal change is linear with the concentration of miRNA-21 in the range from 10−14 M to 10-7 M with a detection limit of 1.5 fM. This newly established strategy could achieve rapid, isothermal, and homogeneous signal amplification for specific nucleic acids in complicated biomatrix, which hold great potential for application in early clinical diagnosis.

Porous titanium oxide layers, which are important features for improving the biological activity of Ti implants with bone tissues, have been obtained through the technique of micro-arc oxidation (M...

In this work, hybrid laser-arc welding process was applied to X90 pipeline steel which has wide potential applications in the future pipeline project. The effect of different laser power (1.0, 1.5 and 2.5 kW) on microstructure and mechanical properties of weld joints was investigated. It has been found that a macroscopic morphology of “wine cup like” is observed in the weld joint with increasing laser power, where fusion zone (FZ) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) can be clearly identified. The FZ microstructure mainly includes massive ferrite, acicular ferrite (AF), and increased laser power resulting in a decrease in AF content. The HAZ consists of coarse-grained HAZ (CGHAZ), fine-grained HAZ (FGHAZ) and mixed-grained HAZ (MGHAZ). The hardness ranging from the weld center to base metal decreases and then increases, and the effect of laser power on hardness is not significant. The increased laser power leads to an evident decrease in the ultimate tensile strength and impact toughness of weld joint. The highest ultimate tensile strength and impact energy are 815 MPa, 239.1 J respectively at a laser power of 1.0 kW. A number of inclusions are observed at the bottom of dimples, which may be the (Ti,Mn)2O3 particles.

Multiple factors including host–microbiota interaction could contribute to the conversion of healthy mucosa to sporadic precancerous lesions. An imbalance of the gut microbiota may be a cause or consequence of this process. The goal was to investigate and analyze the composition of gut microbiota during the genesis of precancerous lesions of colorectal cancer. To analyze the composition of gut microbiota in the genesis of precancerous lesions, a rat model of 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) was established. The feces of these rats and healthy rats were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing. The diversity and density of the rat intestinal microbiota were significantly different between ACF-bearing and non-bearing group. ACF were induced in rats treated with DMH and showed increased expression of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α. Firmicutes was the most predominant phylum in both ACF-bearing and non-bearing group, followed by Bacteroidetes. Interestingly, although the density of Bacteroidetes decreased from the fifth week to the 17th week in both groups, it was significantly reduced in ACF-bearing group at the 13th week (P

Herein, we successfully devised a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) platform for ultrasensitive detection of adenosine by target-triggering cascade multiple cycle amplification based on the silver nanoparticles-assisted ion-exchange reaction with CdTe quantum dots (QDs). In the presence of target adenosine, DNA s1 is released from the aptamer and then hybridizes with hairpin DNA (HP1), which could initiate the cycling cleavage process under the reaction of nicking endonuclease. Then the product (DNA b) of cycle I could act as the “DNA trigger” of cycle II to further generate a large number of DNA s1, which again go back to cycle I, thus a cascade multiple DNA cycle amplification was carried out to produce abundant DNA c. These DNA c fragments with the cytosine (C)-rich loop were captured by magnetic beads, and numerous silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) were synthesized by AgNO3 and sodium borohydride. The dissolved AgNCs released numerous silver ions which could induce ion exchange reaction with the CdTe QDs, thus resulting in greatly amplified change of photocurrent for target detection. The detection linear range for adenosine was 1.0 fM ~10 nM with the detection limit of 0.5 fM. The present PEC strategy combining cascade multiple DNA cycle amplification and AgNCs-induced ion-exchange reaction with QDs provides new insight into rapid, and ultrasensitive PEC detection of different biomolecules, which showed great potential for detecting trace amounts in bioanalysis and clinical biomedicine.

Neuroinflammation is one of the important factors aggravating brain injury after ischemic stroke. We aimed to investigate the effects of cerebrolysin (CBL) on neuroinflammation in vivo and in vitro and the underlying mechanisms. The gene expressions of pro-inflammatory factors and anti-inflammatory factors were analyzed by real time PCR in rat transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) model, lipopolysaccharides-induced neuroinflammatory mice model and LPS-treated mouse primary microglia cells. The neuroprotective effects of CBL were evaluated by infarct size, Longa test and Rotarod test for long-term functional recovery in rats subjected to ischemia. The role of CREB/PGC-1α pathway in anti-neuroinflammatory effect of CBL was also determined by real time PCR and Western blotting. In the tMCAO model, administration of CBL at 3 h post-ischemia reduced infarct volume, promoted long-term functional recovery, decreased the gene expression of pro-inflammatory factors and increased the gene expression of anti-inflammatory factors. Correspondingly, in LPS-induced neuroinflammatory mice model, CBL treatment attenuated sickness behavior, decreased the gene expression of pro-inflammatory factors, and increased the gene expression of anti-inflammatory factors. In in vitro and in vivo experiments, CBL increased the protein expression levels of PGC-1α and phosphorylated CREB to play anti-inflammatory effect. Additionally, the application of the specific CREB inhibitor, 666-15 compound could effectively reverse the anti-inflammatory effect of CBL in primary mouse microglia cells and anti-ischemic brain injury of CBL in rats subjected to tMCAO. In conclusion, CBL ameliorated cerebral ischemia injury through reducing neuroinflammation partly via the activation of CREB/PGC-1α pathway and may play a therapeutic role as anti-neuroinflammatory agents in the brain disorders associated with neuroinflammation.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, and is the most common type of cognitive impairment and dementia. There is a pressing need to improve the clinical efficacy and quality of life for AD patients, as limited treatments options for AD patients have been developed until now. In this study, we aim to investigate the protective effect of CH(II), a cerebroprotein hydrolysate consisted of abundant biological peptides, on preclinical model of AD. We found that CH(II) treatment effectively protects oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced N2A cell viability impairment and cell apoptosis. In addition, CH(II) significantly reduces H2O2-induced ROS accumulation and exhibits the protective activities against H2O2-induced oxidative injury. Intriguingly, we found that CH(II) treatment can effectively promote neurite outgrowth of N2A cells. Moreover, CH(II) obviously improve the cognitive and memorial function in scopolamine-induced amnesia mice model. Taken together, this study provides evidences of the neuroprotective activities of CH(II) and offers a potential therapeutic strategy for AD patients.

High methane dissolution capacity in a liquid is important for methane storage and transformation. In this work, methane solubility in different ionic liquids (ILs) was studied and was found associated with IL’s structural and physical properties. In imidazolium-based ILs, ILs containing C–F and long alkyl chain showed high methane solubility mainly due to lower surface tension and molar density. Reducing the surface tension of solvent by adding 0.16 mol of trimethyl-1-propanaminium iodide (FC-134) with respect to [Bmim][NTf2] increased methane solubility by 39.3%. In situ high-pressure attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic results indicated a reversible process of methane dissolution in the ILs. The antisymmetric C–H stretching band of dissolved methane in ILs showed highly prominent rotational–vibrational bands with high intensity and narrow half-peak width compared to gaseous methane. Induced interaction between methane and IL resulted in increased dipole variation streng...

Ionic liquids have been widely studied as effective reaction media for the conversion of glucose or cellulose to 5-hydroxymethhylfurfural (5-HMF). However, the recovery of 5-HMF from ionic liquids, typically carried out by extraction, has been encountered with very low extraction efficiency, which limited the reusability of the solvents. Through this work, based on the model biphasic system that consists of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) as the ionic liquid phase and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) as the extractant phase, the dominant force that suppresses the extraction efficiency of 5-HMF was identified as being the strong hydrogen bonding between 5-HMF and [BMIM]Cl. Solvent mediation with functional promoters have been established as a new strategy to shift this force, resulting in improved extraction efficiency of 5-HMF from the ionic liquid. For example, with ethanol as a promoter, the distribution coefficient of 5-HMF was about 10 times higher than that without a promoter.

A novel silver-cysteine hybrid nanowires (SCNWs) with many reactive carboxyl and amine groups were prepared, which enable them to be used as idea signal amplifying labels in bioassays. A large number of CdSe quantum dots (QDs) were loaded on the SCNWs to develop amplified SCNWs-QDs electrochemiluminescence (ECL) signal probe. The PAMAM dendrimer-SCNWs nanohybrids covered on the electrode constructed an effective antibody immobilization matrix and made the immobilized biomolecules hold high stability and bioactivity. Based on the specific sandwich immunoreaction strategy, the detection antibody (Ab2)-SCNWs-QDs ECL signal probe was applied to the sensitive signal-on ECL immunoassay of human IgG. The SCNWs-QDs ECL not only opens promising new ECL emitting species, but also promotes the development of novel ECL signal-transition platforms for biosensing devices.

Increasing the glucose loading in the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) ionic liquid containing a dissolved CrCl3 catalyst system led to excessive formation of humins and a serious decrease in the 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) yield. A biphasic system containing glycol dimethyl ether (GDE) as the extraction phase, and [BMIM]Cl/CrCl3/glucose in combination with a partitioned amount of GDE and an appropriate amount of water as the reaction phase was found to be highly efficient for the reaction; CrCl3 catalyzed the formation of 5-HMF in 64.5 mol% yield from a very high glucose concentration (80 wt% with respect to the ionic liquid) at 108 °C. This 5-HMF yield in the [BMIM]Cl–GDE–H2O ternary biphasic system nearly doubled that obtained in the single [BMIM]Cl/CrCl3/glucose reaction phase. Importantly, the GDE phase contained about 56% of the generated 5-HMF without detectable contamination by the ionic liquid or carbohydrates. GDE served multiple functions: as a hydrogen-bond acceptor, it exhibited excellent extraction performance for 5-HMF; due to its low boiling point and suitable solubility saturation point in the ionic liquid, a sustained GDE bubbling phenomenon in the ionic liquid phase was observed that promoted the rate of inter-phase mass-transfer of 5-HMF in reactions; and GDE mediated the [BMIM]Cl phase to a reduced viscosity. In addition, an appropriate amount of water in the ternary system promoted the extraction efficiency of 5-HMF and also lowered the viscosity of [BMIM]Cl/glucose. The ionic liquid–organics–water ternary biphasic system has been demonstrated for high 5-HMF productivity and separation efficiency.

Objective: To develop the characterization of the polymorphs and the best preparation method of two forms of the title compound (SU2162). After SU2162 was prepared in accordance with the patent process, the crystal form I was recrystallized by ethyl acetate and the crystal form II was obtained by the recrystal in acetone. And the two crystal forms were characterized with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffraction (PXRD). The melting point of crystal form I (triclinic) is at 158°C, and the melting point of crystal form II (monoclinic) is at 163°C. The PXRD studies of the two crystalline samples indicate that they have the distinct diffraction patterns. The method herein can be stably prepared for the two crystal forms of the title compound.

The catalytic isomerization of aldoses to ketones is an important fundamental step for the transformation of cellulosic biomass to biobased chemicals and liquid fuels. The results of this work reveal for the first time the distinctive coordination chemistry features of four classes of metal chlorides, CrCl3, VCl3, FeCl3, and PtCl2 in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl), that are well correlated to the drastically different catalytic performances of the metal chlorides in the isomerization of glucose. The relative bond strengths and the number of ligands to which the metal ions are coordinated by oxygen atoms of different sources and by chloride were studied by probing model compounds with in situ far-infrared (FIR) and by reaction studies. The superior performance of CrCl3 for this reaction is now distinguished from that of other metal chlorides, on the basis of its selective Cr(III) ene-diol coordination chemistry. We also offer new insights into the mechanism involved in the conversion of gl...

Objective: To determine the transformation between two known crystal forms of the title compound (C18H23NO3, Mr = 301.37). Methods: To recrystallize or heat the crystals and determine the crystal form by testing the melting points. Results: Both the two known crystal forms of the title compound can be changed by dissolving into different organic solvents such as acetone and ethyl acetate. Crystal form I was not influenced by heating while crystal form II can be transformed to crystal form I through melting method. Conclusion: Organic solvents have significant influences on the two crystal forms of title compound. Crystal form I shows a better thermal stability than crystal form II.

A novel TiO 2 /CdS nanocomposite was prepared and used to fabricate an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor for the detection of cancer cells for the first time. The nanocomposite exhibited a strong cathodic ECL signal. Folic acid for targeting cell membranes was bound to a TiO 2 /CdS/3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane film, and specific recognition of folic acid to targeting cells was achieved, leading to a significant decrease in ECL intensity. The decrease in ECL signal was logarithmically related to the cell concentration in the range of 150–9600 cells mL -1 . The ECL biosensor could provide a sensitive, selective, and convenient approach for early and accurate detection of cancer cells.

This paper will report on the accessible OpenStudy e-learning project that aims to narrow the digital divide of people with disabilities in Taiwan. Not only does the project deploy accessible e-learning infrastructure and service, it also applies an innovative experiential coe-tutoring technique in order to fulfill the objectives and the challenges of multi-cultural and multi-scenario e-learning. We also describe the methodologies that we use, and some of the results.

In the weak basis with diagonalized up quark mass matrix and Hermitian down quark mass matrix, the sequential product of the off diagonal elements is a phase-convention-independent quantity. The idea of using the argument of this product to define maximal CP violation is examined, along with other definitions. The argument in reality is not allowing experimental and theoretical uncertainties.