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Clearance of comedone is challenging in the treatment of acne, as it is very likely to develop into inflammatory lesions. However, there is lack of effective treatments for dense comedones. Comedone extractor has been widely employed by dermatologists, but the effect is temporary and may cause irritation. CO2 laser is a potential method for dense comedones, but the efficacy and safety need to be explored. In this single-center, randomized, single-blind, self-controlled study, the faces of patients with dense comedones were randomly assigned into two sides receiving either ultra-pulse dynamic CO2 laser or comedone extraction at an interval of 2 weeks for 4 sessions. After 4 treatments, the average comedone reduction rate of the CO2 laser was 64.49%, which was higher than that by the extractor (46.36%) (P <.001). 79.16% of the patients reached over 50% reduction by CO2 laser, while only 37.5% on extractor treated side reached 50% clearance. Texture index, porphyrin index, red zone, erythema index, and transepidermal water loss decreased after both treatments, and CO2 laser showed more improvement. There was no difference in hydration index and melanin index between the two treatments. No permanent or severe side effects were observed on both sides. The CO2 laser showed higher comedone clearance with lower pain scores than the comedone extractor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional Haber–Bosch process in industry to produce NH3 leads to excessive CO2 emissions and a large amount of energy consumption. Ambient electrochemical N2 reduction is emerging as a green and sustainable alternative method to convert N2 to NH3, but is in sore need of efficient and stable electrocatalysts. Herein, we propose using Pd-doped TiO2 nanoparticles as a high-efficiency electrocatalyst to synthesize NH3 under ambient conditions. The Pd–TiO2 catalyst delivers a large NH3 yield (17.4 μg h−1 mgcat.−1) and a high faradaic efficiency (12.7%) at −0.50 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode in a neutral electrolyte, outperforming most Pd- and Ti-based electrocatalysts recently reported for N2 reduction. Most importantly, it also demonstrates extraordinary long-term electrochemical stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key links lo realize industrialization in China are reducing the emission intensity of industrial pollutant and treating industrial pollutant effectively. The relationship between industrial waster gas emission and control investment was focused- and the pollution control investment index (PCII) was put forward; 31 provinces, cities and autonomous regions were taken as an example, emissions of SO2and smoke (powder) dust in industrial waster gas were used lo calculate the corresponding PCII values, and then were contrasted. The results show that the more PCII value is, the greater pollution control investment is, and vice versa; the relationships between industrial waste gas control investment and corresponding PCII value for 31 provinces, cities and autonomous regions are positive; pollution control lags behind the industrialization; industrial waste gas control investment was insufficient or unbalance in some regions. PCII value can show the environmental pollution control condition, and plays an important role on evaluating the relationship between economic and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptomyces bingchenggensis is an industrial producer of milbemycins, which are important anthelmintic and insecticidal agents. Two-component systems (TCSs), which are typically situated in the same operon and are composed of a histidine kinase and a response regulator, are the predominant signal transduction pathways involved in the regulation of secondary metabolism in Streptomyces . Here, an atypical TCS, AtcR/AtcK, in which the encoding genes (sbi&#95;06838/sbi&#95;06839) are organized in a head-to-head pair, was demonstrated to be indispensable for the biosynthesis of multiple secondary metabolites in S. bingchenggensis . With the null TCS mutants, the production of milbemycin and yellow compound was abolished but nanchangmycin was overproduced. Transcriptional analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that AtcR regulated the biosynthesis of these three secondary metabolites by a MilR3-mediated cascade. First, AtcR was activated by phosphorylation from signal-triggered AtcK. Second, the activated AtcR promoted the transcription of milR3 . Third, MilR3 specifically activated the transcription of downstream genes from milbemycin and yellow compound biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) and nanR4 from the nanchangmycin BGC. Finally, because NanR4 is a specific repressor in the nanchangmycin BGC, activation of MilR3 downstream genes led to the production of yellow compound and milbemycin but inhibited nanchangmycin production. By rewiring the regulatory cascade, two strains were obtained, the yield of nanchangmycin was improved by 45-fold to 6.08 g/L and the production of milbemycin was increased twofold to 1.34 g/L. This work has broadened our knowledge on atypical TCSs and provided practical strategies to engineer strains for the production of secondary metabolites in Streptomyces .IMPORTANCE Streptomyces bingchenggensis is an important industrial strain that produces milbemycins. Two-component systems (TCSs), which consist of a histidine kinase and a response regulator, are the predominant signal transduction pathways involved in the regulation of secondary metabolism in Streptomyces . Coupled encoding genes of TCSs are typically situated in the same operon. Here, TCSs with encoding genes situated in separate head-to-head neighbor operons were labeled atypical TCSs. It was found that the atypical TCS AtcR/AtcK played an indispensable role in the biosynthesis of milbemycin, yellow compound, and nanchangmycin in S. bingchenggensis . This atypical TCS regulated the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites in a cascade mediated via a cluster-situated regulator, MilR3. Through rewiring the regulatory pathways, strains were successfully engineered to overproduce milbemycin and nanchangmycin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on atypical TCS, in which the encoding genes of RR and HK were situated in separate head-to-head neighbor operons, involved in secondary metabolism. In addition, data mining showed that atypical TCSs were widely distributed in actinobacteria., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Objectives: Dense comedones are common in patients with acne vulgaris, and promoting treatment can prevent the progression of acne lesions. However, the efficacy-time conflict makes the treatment challenging and the medication options are limited by the side effects., Materials and Methods: Thirty-five patients with symmetrical dense comedones were enrolled and the two sides of the face were randomly assigned to receive 30% supramolecular salicylic acid (SSA) combined with CO 2 laser or CO 2 laser monotherapy at an interval of 2 weeks for six treatment sessions. Comedones count, porphyrin index (PI), texture index (TI), melanin index, erythema index, hydration index (HI), transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and side effects were recorded at each visit till the 12th week., Results: Thirty-one patients completed the study. Comedones on the combined-SSA side were reduced more after six treatments, that the mean reduction rate of the combined-SSA side was 85.76%, and that of the CO 2 laser-treated side was 62.32% (P between  < 0.001). Combining SSA also showed a better effect on reducing PI and TI than CO 2 laser singly (P between  < 0.001). TEWL and HI between the two sides showed no significant differences after treatments. No permanent or severe side effects were observed on both side., Conclusions: The treatment combined CO 2 laser with 30% SSA dealt with the efficacy-time conflict while significantly reducing comedones and improving skin texture in 12 weeks and no serious adverse reactions occurred., Limitations: It is a single-center study and the number of subjects was small., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Caffeine, identified as a central nervous system stimulant in foods, beverages (coffee, tea, chocolate), and medications, has been focused on its ergogenic properties, enhancing physical performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the caffeine intake (from coffee) and fat-free mass index (FFMI)., Materials and Methods: We carried out a cohort study that included 3,466 women and 3,145 men aged ≥20 years who were intaking caffeine. Caffeine intake from coffee were obtained from two 24-hour dietary recall interviews. The FFMI was calculated as FFM (kg) divided by height in m 2 . The caffeine intake was classified into quartiles and combined into 4 groups. Multiple linear regression model analysis and multiple logistic regression model analysis were used to assess associations between the caffeine and FFMI adjusted for potential confounders., Results: Among the 2,427 participants, males accounted for 52.4%, and females 47.6%. In multiple linear regression model, Model 1 (unadjusted Model ( p  = 0.041)) and Model 2 (adjusted for age, race, and BMI ( p  = 0.006)) in women showed a significant relationship between caffeine intake and FFMI. In multivariable models, caffeine intake and FFMI were significantly different ( p  < 0.05). In sex subgroups, among females, each quartile of caffeine intake was positively correlated with FFMI levels in the average FFMI group in Model 3 ( p  < 0.001). In age subgroups, each quartile of caffeine intake was positively correlated with FFMI levels in the average FFMI group in Model 3 for individuals aged 20-40 ( p  = 0.039) and those aged above 40 ( p  = 0.016). In drinking status subgroups, if they drunk alcohol, each quartile was positively correlated with FFMI levels in the average FFMI group in Model 3 ( p  < 0.001)., Conclusion: Caffeine intake was mainly positively associated with FFMI, especially in women with above levels of FFMI. Longitudinal studies and randomized controlled trials are needed to establish causality and provide evidence-based recommendations regarding caffeine intake to optimize muscle health.