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Golgi protein 73 (GP73) is a novel biomarker for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. We prepare a colorimetric aptasensor for GP73 detection based on the catalytic performance of the H-rGO-Mn3O4 nanozyme. The H-rGO-Mn3O4 nanozyme serves as a peroxidase mimetic which can enhance the reaction with the substrate (3, 3,’ 5, 5′-tetramethylbenzidine, TMB) and H2O2. The peroxidase-like activity of H-rGO-Mn3O4 features a 1.78-fold higher binding affinity value (Km) for TMB compared with that of horseradish peroxidase. The H-rGO-Mn3O4 nanozyme not only exhibits admirable peroxidase-like activities due to the synergistic effect of Mn3O4 NPs, rGO and hemin, but also has a large specific surface area to endow the GP73 aptamer with specific recognition capabilities. A sandwich colorimetric aptasensor is formed to realize the visual detection of GP73 through catalyzing the H2O2-mediated oxidation peroxidase substrate TMB to oxidized TMB accompanied by a color change from colorless to blue. Under optimal conditions, the logarithm of the GP73 concentration (0.05–50.0 ng/mL) shows a good linear relationship with the absorbance. The calibration equation is Y =−0.0383 lgC+0.4835, with R2 of 0.9964, and the lowest limit of detection is 36.94 pg/mL. Additionally, the content of GP73 in human serum samples is directly detected, and the relative standard deviation is 0.49–4.91%. Compared with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method, the relative error is 0.23–3.61%. All in all, colorimetric aptasensor is demonstrated to exhibit excellent specificity, stability, and reproducibility.

BnSIP1-1 is the first identified SIP1 (6b Interacting Protein1) subfamily gene of the trihelix transcription factor family from Brassica napus(B. napus). We previously used a reverse genetic method to reveal its abiotic stress response function in endowing plants resistance to drought and salinity, as well as ABA (Abscisic acid). However, the molecular mechanisms of BnSIP1-1 are unclear. In this study, the global transcriptome files of BnSIP1-1-overexpressing transgenic and wildtype B. napus seedlings under ABA treatment were constructed using RNA-seq. A total of 1823 and 5512 DEGs (Differentially Expressed Genes) were identified in OE vs. WT and OE_ABA vs. WT_ABA comparison groups, which included 751 and 2567 up-regulated DEGs, and 1072 and 2945 down-regulated DEGs, separately. The impact of overexpressed BnSIP1-1 on plants was amplified by ABA, indicating BnSIP1-1 was an ABA-conditioned responsive gene. More interestingly, we found the reasons for BnSIP1-1 increasing plants’ insensitivity to ABA were not by regulating ABA synthesis and catabolism, but by manipulating ABA transportation, ABA signal perception and transduction, inositol phosphate metabolism, as well as endomembrane trafficking, indirectly suggesting this gene may play roles upstream of the core ABA response pathway. Our results provided new insights into improving the knowledge about the function of BnSIP1-1 and the ABA signaling mechanism in B. napus.

The multisubunit Elongator complex plays key roles in transcription by interacting with RNA polymerase II and chromatin modeling. Kti proteins have been identified as the auxiliary protein for the Elongator complex. However, our knowledge of Kti proteins in woody plants remains limited. In this study, in total 16 KTI gene homologs were identified in Populus trichocarpa. Among them, the two KTI12 candidates were named PtKTI12A and PtKTI12B. Although PtKTI12A and PtKTI12B were largely different in gene expression level and tissue specificity, both genes were induced by heat and drought stresses. PtKTI12A and PtKTI12B RNAi transgenic poplar plants showed reduced levels of modified nucleosides, in particular 5-carbamoylmethyluridine and 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-2-thiouridine. Meanwhile, their tolerance to drought was improved when subjected to withdrawal of watering. Also, the protein products of PtKTI12A and PtKTI12B had similar subcellular localization and predicted tertiary structure. The results suggest that Kti12 proteins are involved in tRNA wobble uridine modification, stress response and drought stress tolerance in hybrid poplar.

Objectives We performed a national cross-sectional survey to determine the epidemiologic characteristics of patients with sepsis in ICU in China. Design A cross-section survey study. Setting Forty-four hospitals in mainland China from December 1, 2015, to January 31, 2016. Patients All septic patients diagnosed according sepsis-1 criteria admitted to participating ICU. Interventions None. Measurements and main results We recorded demographic, physiologic, and microbiological data with follow-up for 90 days or death, if sooner. The frequency of sepsis and 90-day mortality rate were computed, and the relationship with gross domestic product determined. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine risk factors for 90-day mortality in patients with sepsis. Two-thousand three-hundred twenty-two patients with sepsis were included in the analysis, of whom 786 patients (33.9%) had hospital-acquired sepsis. The most common infection site was the lung (68.2%), followed by abdomen (26.6%) and bloodstream (7.8%). The frequency of sepsis in the ICU was 20.6 cases per 100 ICU admissions (95% CI, 15.8-25.4) with a 90-day mortality of 35.5%. The proportion of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock were 3.10%, 43.6%, and 53.3% with a 90-day mortality of 2.78%, 17.69%, and 51.94%, respectively. Older age, low body weight, higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, the number of systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria, comorbid with heart failure, hematologic cancer, immunosuppression, higher level of lactate, infection site (pneumonia and bloodstream) were associated with 90-day mortality. Conclusions Sepsis affects a fifth of patients admitted to ICUs in mainland China with a 90-day mortality rate of 35.5%. Our findings indicate that a large burden of sepsis, and we need to focus on sepsis as a quality improvement target in China given the high mortality. In addition, further studies are needed to delineate the epidemiology of sepsis outside the ICU.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the cancers with a high incidence and mortality rate.. Its existence poses a great threat to people’s life and health. Recently, Glypican-3 (GPC3) has became one of the valuable markers for the diagnosis of HCC. In this study, a GPC3 aptasensor was constructed based on AuNPs@Fc-rGO and the specific recognition of GPC3 aptamer. AuNPs@Fc-rGO had electrochemical activity, signal amplification and biocompatibility. Under the optimized conditions, the value of peak current correlate linearly with the concentration of GPC3 from 0.01 to 10.0 μg/mL, the linear equation was Y = 6.8223-0.3225X with R2 = 0.9925, and the LOD was 3.16 ng/mL. In addition, the experimental results show that the sensor has excellent stability and specificity. It provides a simple detection method for patients with early HCC.

LHP@MOFs composites, combined lead halide perovskite (LHP) nanocrystals (NCs) with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), show great potential in the field of optoelectronic applications. Meanwhile, the stability of LHP NCs is improved by encapsulating them in MOFs. The recent progress of LHP@MOFs composites in terms of synthesis and applications is first summarized in this paper. Thereafter, a brief outlook is given for the possible future prospects of LHP@MOFs composites, which may provide the further development of stable LHP@MOFs.

The cocrystal of 1,10-phenanthrolin-1-ium 1-hydroxy-[5,5'-bitetrazol]-1'-olate (BTO·Phen) from 5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diol dehydrate (BTO) and 1,10-Phenanthroline (Phen) was synthesized in a simple, straightforward manner and was characterized by IR, elemental analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction of several salts (Ni2+ and Zn2+) were also given. The X-ray structures show that in the title compounds, the metal atoms are bonded to the nitrogen atom in the Phen ring and the oxygen atom in the bistetrazole ring to form the sandwich structure. Thermal stabilities of all title compounds were determined with Differential scanning Calorimetry (DSC), showing good thermostability. In addition, thermokinetic parameters including the apparent activation energies (E K and E O) and pre-exponential factor (A) were also calculated.

Background Xuebijing (XBJ) is a traditional Chinese patent medicine for sepsis. However, the mechanism of action (MoA) of XBJ on sepsis remain unclear. Purpose Elucidate the MoA of XBJ for treating sepsis based on network pharmacology. Study design Integrate computational prediction, experimental validation and literature reported clinical results analysis based on network pharmacology. Methods Computationally, representative compounds of XBJ were characterized by LC-MS/MS and the target profiles of each compound were identified using network-based method. Compounds from XBJ were compared with FDA approved drugs or experimental agents for sepsis by hierarchical clustering of target profile. Key biological functional modules of XBJ for treating sepsis were identified by enrichment analysis. Differential expressed analysis for each biological functional module was conducted from sepsis related public omics datasets. Herb-biological functional module network was constructed to reveal part of the traditional combinatorial rules of herbs for modules. Experimentally, the action of XBJ compounds on genes in biological functional module was validated by detecting quantitative transcriptional profiling and sepsis animal model. Clinically, combined with the clinical results recorded in literature, computational and experimental results were used to interpret the anti-inflammatory effect of XBJ for treating sepsis. Results The target profiles of compound cover most of the compound's related biomolecules reported in literature, which can characterize the comprehensive function of compound. XBJ has similar pharmacological effect as FDA approved drugs or experimental agents. Four key biological functional modules including inflammation, immune, cell apoptosis and coagulation of XBJ for treating sepsis were identified. Cell line experimental results show that part of ingredients in XBJ regulate the expression of genes in inflammation modules as predicted. Animal experiments show that compounds from XBJ could reduce the expression level of IL-1β. Combined with literature reported clinical results, XBJ was found to exert anti-inflammatory effect through regulating the NF-kappa B signaling pathway. Conclusion The network pharmacology framework integrating computational prediction, experimental validation and literature reported clinical results analysis provides a novel approach for analyzing MoA of XBJ for treating sepsis.

Background: Due to a scarcity of national epidemiologic data on sepsis, we performed a national cross-sectional survey to determine the epidemiologic characteristics of patients with sepsis in intensive care units (ICUs) in China. Methods: A national survey was performed in 44 hospitals which were selected by randomization according to the population from each province in mainland China. All septic patients in participating ICUs from December 1, 2015 to January 31, 2016 were included in the analysis. We recorded demographic, physiological and bacteriological data and followed up for 90 days or until death after inclusion. The incidence of and mortality due to sepsis in the ICU was calculated. The relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and incidence of sepsis was also determined. Findings: Of 2,322 patients with sepsis included in the analysis, 786 (33.85%) patients had hospital-acquired sepsis with the most common infection site being the lung. The incidence of sepsis in the ICU was 20.6[95%CI 15.83-25.37] cases per 100 ICU admissions were diagnosed as sepsis. There was significant variation in the incidence of sepsis in the ICUs of different geographic regions. Ninety-day mortality due to sepsis was 35.49%, which yielded about 81,876 deaths in patients with ICU-treated sepsis every year in the mainland China. There was a significant relationship between the incidence of sepsis in the ICU and GDP per capita (R2=0.304, p=0.001) and the ratio of ICU beds to hospital beds (R2=0.270, p=0.003). Interpretation: Sepsis is a frequently occurring, life-threatening syndrome in the ICU with a high mortality in the mainland of China. Clinical Trial Number: This study was also registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02448472). Funding Statement: This study was supported by a grant from the Development Center for Medical Science and Technology National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China (WH2015-01-01), a grant from Jiangsu Provincial Key Medical Discipline (grant number: ZDXKA2016025) and a grant from Jiangsu Provincial Medical Talent (grant number: ZDRCA2016082). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The protocol of this study was approved by the ethics committees of Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University (No. 2015ZDSYLL044.0), and every enrolled hospital. Patients admitted into the ICU were enrolled in this study following informed consent from the patient or their guardian.

Severe pneumonia (SP) is associated with high mortality and morbidity and increased antibiotics resistance in the past decades further deteriorate its prognosis. Xuebijing, a Chinese medicine extract infusion formula, which has been in market since 2004 for sepsis treatment, has shown significant effects on cytokine reduction, anti-coagulation, and neutralization of released bacteria cytotoxins in various infectious disease including pneumonia. To confirm the previous findings, a multiple center, randomized clinical trial has been conducted in 31 tertiary hospitals in China since Jun 2013 to Apr 2016 after approval from IRB. A total of 710 SP patients who met criteria of SP based on 2007 ATS/IDSA guideline were enrolled into the study after consent (with registration at clinical trials website, number : ChiCTR-TRC-13003534 ). They were assigned into two arms after central randomization, one arm as control, and one arm with Xuebijing injection (100 ml twice daily) for 5-7 days. Clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded and analyzed for efficacy and safety. Results showed Xuebijing infusion significantly reduced mortality (24.63% vs 15.87% in control and treatment group separately, P

Background Severe pneumonia is associated with high mortality and morbidity, and increased antibiotics resistance in the past decades has further deteriorated its prognosis. In view of the limited range of antibiotics, there is an urgent need to develop new non-antibiotics-based strategies to improve the outcome of severe pneumonia. Furthermore, mortality from severe pneumonia has been largely independent of insulting microbes. Xuebijing, a Chinese medicine extract infusion formula, has been shown to have effects on cytokine reduction, anti-coagulation, and neutralisation of released bacterial cytotoxins. Results of clinical studies show improved outcomes after Xuebijing infusion, including increased survival, reduced hospital admissions, and improved clinical presentations. Methods To confirm previous findings, we did a multicenter, double-blinded, randomised trial. Patients who met criteria of severe pneumonia (on the basis of 2007 ATS/IDSA guidelines) were enrolled from 32 tertiary hospitals in China between Dec 1, 2013, and May 30, 2016, after approval from the Institutional Review Board of Zhongshan Hospital. Consent was obtained from all participants. The trial was registered at the Chinese clinical trial registry (ChiCTR-TRC-13003534). Findings 710 patients were randomly allocated to receive intravenous injections (100 mL) of 0·9% NaCl BID (control) or Xuebijing (in 0·9% NaCl) BID for 5–7 days. Clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded and analysed for efficacy and safety. Xuebijing infusion reduced mortality compared with control solution (25% in the control group vs 16% in the Xuebijing group; p=0·009), and some patients showed an improved pneumonia severity index (46% in the control group vs 61% in the treatment group; p Interpretation Taken together, Xuebijing infusion combined with standardised treatment could reduce mortality in patients with severe pneumonia, suggesting that Xuebijing could be a potential and promising adjunct therapy in severe pneumonia. Funding This study was supported by Tianjin Science and Technology committee grant (14ZXLJSY00230) and Tianjin Chase Sun Pharmaceutical.