Single-Molecule Cross-Plane Conductance of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Derivatives.

In the cross-plane single-molecule junctions, the correlation between molecular aromaticity and conductance remained puzzling. Cross-plane break junction (XPBJ) provides new insight into understanding the role of aromaticity and conjugation to molecules on charge transport through the planar molecules. In this work, we investigated the modulation of cross-plane charge transport in pyrene derivatives by hydrogenation and substituents based on the XPBJ method that differs from those used in-plane transport. We measured the electrical conductance of the hydrogenated derivatives of the pyrenes and found that hydrogenation reduces conductance, and the fully hydrogenated molecule has the lowest conductance. Conductance of pyrene derivatives increased after substitution by both electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups. By calculating, the trend in decreased conductance of hydrogenated pyrene was found to be consistent with the change in aromaticity. Electron-withdrawing substituents reduce the aromaticity of the molecule and narrow the HOMO-LUMO gap, while electron-donating groups increase the aromaticity but also narrow the gap. Our work reveals the potential of fine-tuning the structure of the pyrene molecule to control the cross-plane charge transport through the single-molecule junctions.

An improved system to generate recombinant canine distemper virus.

BACKGROUND: Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a pathogen with the capability of cross-species transmission. It has crossed the species barrier to infect many other species, and its host range is expanding. The reverse genetic platform, a useful tool for scientific research, allows the generation of recombinant viruses from genomic cDNA clones in vitro. METHODS: To improve the reverse genetic system of CDV, a plasmid containing three independent expression cassettes was constructed for co-expression of the N, P, and L genes and then transfected with a full-length cDNA clone of CDV into Vero cells. RESULTS: The results indicated that the established rescue system has the advantages of being more convenient, easy to control the transfection ratio, and high rescue efficiency compared with the conventional reverse genetics system. CONCLUSION: This method not only reduces the number of transfection plasmids, but also improves the rescue efficiency of CDV, which could provide a reference for the recovery of other morbilliviruses.

Superelastic Cobalt Silicate@Resorcinol Formaldehyde Resin Core-Shell Nanobelt Aerogel Monoliths with Outstanding Fire Retardant and Thermal Insulating Capability.

The practical applications of resorcinol formaldehyde resin (RFR) aerogels are prevented by their poor mechanical properties. Herein, a facile template-directed method is reported to produce macroscopic free-standing cobalt silicate (CS)@RFR core-shell nanobelt aerogels that display superelastic behavior and outstanding thermal insulating and fire-resistant capability. The synthesis relies on the polymerization of RFR on pre-formed CS nanobelts which leads to in situ formation of hydrogel monoliths that can be transformed to corresponding aerogels by a freeze-drying method. The composite nanobelt aerogel can withstand a compressive load of more than 4000 times of its own weight and fully recover after the removal of the weight. It can also sustain 1000 compressive cycles with 6.9% plastic deformation and 91.8% of the maximum stress remaining, with a constant energy loss coefficient as low as 0.16, at the set strain of 30%. The extraordinary mechanical properties are believed to be associated with the structural flexibility of the nanobelts and the RFR-reinforced joints between the crosslinked nanobelts. These inorganic-organic composite aerogels also show good thermal insulation and excellent fire-proof capability. This work provides an effective strategy for fabricating superelastic RFR-based aerogels which show promising applications in fields such as thermal insulation, energy storage, and catalyst support.

Room-temperature logic-in-memory operations in single-metallofullerene devices.

In-memory computing provides an opportunity to meet the growing demands of large data-driven applications such as machine learning, by colocating logic operations and data storage. Despite being regarded as the ultimate solution for high-density integration and low-power manipulation, the use of spin or electric dipole at the single-molecule level to realize in-memory logic functions has yet to be realized at room temperature, due to their random orientation. Here, we demonstrate logic-in-memory operations, based on single electric dipole flipping in a two-terminal single-metallofullerene (Sc2C2@Cs(hept)-C88) device at room temperature. By applying a low voltage of ±0.8 V to the single-metallofullerene junction, we found that the digital information recorded among the different dipole states could be reversibly encoded in situ and stored. As a consequence, 14 types of Boolean logic operation were shown from a single-metallofullerene device. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the non-volatile memory behaviour comes from dipole reorientation of the [Sc2C2] group in the fullerene cage. This proof-of-concept represents a major step towards room-temperature electrically manipulated, low-power, two-terminal in-memory logic devices and a direction for in-memory computing using nanoelectronic devices.

Study of dynamic biasing InGaAs/InAlAs avalanche photodiodes with different active areas.

In this work, by comparing and analyzing dynamic biasing InGaAs/InAlAs avalanche photodiodes(APDs) with different active areas, it is found that they have different noise suppression frequency ranges. The upper limit frequency(defined as the frequency at which the noise suppression effect begins to fail) of InGaAs/InAlAs APDs with active area diameter of 50 µm, 100 µm and 200 µm are 2400 MHz, 1990MHz and 1400 MHz respectively. In addition, for InGaAs/InAlAs APDs with an active area diameter of 50 µm, 100 µm and 200 µm, their optimal frequencies of dynamic biasing (defined as the frequency corresponding to the optimal SNR) are 1877MHz, 1670 MHz and 1075 MHz respectively. At last, applying dynamic biasing technology, it achieves a useful gain of 6698.1, which is much greater than that of DC bias (47.2), and this technology has the potential to be applied in high sensitivity laser radar receivers.

Comparison of heterologous prime-boost immunization strategies with DNA and recombinant vaccinia virus co-expressing GP3 and GP5 of European type porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus in pigs.

Vaccination is principally used to control and treat porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection. This study investigated immunogenicity and protective efficacy of heterologous prime-boost regimens in pigs, including recombinant DNA and vaccinia virus vectors coexpressing PRRSV European genotype (EU) isolate GP3 and GP5: group A, pVAX1-EU-GP3-GP5 prime and rddVTT-EU-GP3-GP5 boost; group B, rddVTT-EU-GP3-GP5 prime and pVAX1-EU-GP3-GP5 boost; group C, empty vector pVAX1; group D, E3L gene-deleted vaccinia virus E3L- VTT. Vaccine efficacy was tested in an EU-type PRRSV (Lelystad virus strain) challenge pig model based on evaluating PRRSV-specific antibody responses, neutralizing antibodies, cytokines, T lymphocyte proliferation, CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, clinical symptoms, viremia and tissue virus loads. Plasmid DNA was delivered as chitosan-DNA nanoparticles, and Quil A (Quillaja) was used to increase vaccine efficiency. All piglets were boosted 21 days post the initial inoculation (dpi) and then challenged 14 days later. At 14, 21, 28 and 35 dpi, groups A and B developed significantly higher PRRSV-specific antibody responses compared with control groups C and D. Two weeks after the boost, significant differences in neutralizing antibody and IFN-γ levels were observed between groups A, C, D and B. At 49 dpi, groups A and B had markedly increased peripheral blood CD3+CD4+ T cell levels. Following virus challenge, group A showed viremia, but organ virus loads were lower than those in other groups. Thus, a heterologous prime-boost vaccine regimen (rddVTT-EU-GP3-GP5 prime, pVAX1-EU-GP3-GP5 boost) can improve humoral- and cell-mediated immune responses to provide resistance to EU-type PRRSV infection in vivo.

Safety of sugammadex for reversal of neuromuscular block: A postmarketing study based on the World Health Organization pharmacovigilance database.

AIM: Residual neuromuscular blockade is a common complication after general anaesthesia. Sugammadex can reverse the action of aminosteroid neuromuscular blockers. This study aimed to explore sugammadex safety issues in the real world and determine the spectrum of adverse reactions. METHODS: All sugammadex-related adverse events reported in VigiBase between 2010 and 2019 were classified by group queries according to the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities. A disproportionality analysis of data was performed using the information component (IC); positive IC values were deemed significant. RESULTS: Overall, 16 219 410 adverse events were reported and 2032 were associated with sugammadex. The frequent reactions were recurrence of neuromuscular blockade (n = 54, IC 6.74, IC025 6.33), laryngospasm (n = 53, IC 6.05, IC025 5.64), bronchospasm (n = 119, IC 5.63, IC025 5.36) and bradycardia (n = 169, IC 5.13, IC025 4.90). Fatal cases were more likely among patients with cardiac disorders, especially those over 65 years. In addition, the common adverse drug reactions (ADRs) differed between different age groups (P < .01). ADRs were higher in the 0-17 years age group than in other age groups. The onset time of common ADRs was typically within 1 day and 68.9% occurred within half an hour after sugammadex administration. CONCLUSIONS: Anaesthesiologists should carefully monitor the anaesthesia recovery period to correct the ADRs caused by sugammadex and recommend monitoring neuromuscular function throughout the anaesthesia process. Sugammadex should be used carefully in patients with cardiovascular diseases, and electrocardiography and hemodynamic changes should be monitored after medication.

Analysis of surgical treatment of appendix neuroendocrine neoplasms-17 years of single-center experience.

BACKGROUND/AIM: This study investigated the clinicopathological characteristics and treatment of appendix neuroendocrine neoplasms in appendectomy specimens of our center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinicopathological data, including age, sex, preoperative clinical manifestation, surgical method, and histopathological examination results of 11 patients with appendix neuroendocrine neoplasms confirmed by surgery and pathology between November 2005 and January 2023, were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: In the histopathological examination of 7277 appendectomy specimens, 11 cases (0.2%) had appendix neuroendocrine neoplasms. Among the 11 patients, 8(72.7%) were males, and 3(27.3%) were females, with an average age of 48.1 years. All patients underwent emergency surgery. A total of 9 patients underwent open appendectomy, including 1 patient who underwent second-stage simple right hemicolectomy after an appendectomy, and two who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. All 11 patients were followed up for a period of 1 to 17 years. All patients survived without any indication of tumor recurrence. CONCLUSION: Appendiceal neuroendocrine neoplasms are low-grade malignant tumors originating from neuroendocrine cells. They are rarely seen in clinical practice and are often treated based on acute and chronic appendicitis symptoms. These tumors are challenging to diagnose before surgery due to the lack of specificity in clinical manifestations and auxiliary examinations. The diagnosis generally depends on postoperative pathology and immunohistochemistry. Despite the diagnostic challenges, these tumors have a favorable prognosis.

A rapid and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of zanubrutinib in beagle plasma and its application in pharmacokinetics.

A reliable and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of zanubrutinib in the plasma of beagle dogs. The column used was an Acquity BEH C18 column (2.1 mm × 50 mm, 1.7 µm), maintained at 40°C with an injection volume of 2 µl. The gradient elution program was as follows: 0-1 min, 10-10% A; 1-1.1 min, 10-90% A; 1.1-2.1 min, 90-90% A; 2.1-2.2 min, 90-10% A; 2.2-3.0 min, 10-10% A. Mobile phase A was 0.1% formic acid, B was acetonitrile, and the total analysis time was 3 min. The mass spectrometry was performed in positive ion mode, and the scanning mode was multi-reaction monitoring mode with electrospray ionization as the ion source; m/z 472.2 → 455.01 for zanubrutinib and m/z 441.03 → 137.99 for ibrutinib (internal standard). The plasma samples were processed by protein precipitation. The standard curve showed good linearity (r2 = 0.999 8) in the range of 1.0-1,000 ng/ml (zanubrutinib) with a low limit of quantification of 1 ng/ml. Also, the intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD) was <5.88% and the accuracy (RE) ranged from -1.56 to 1.08%; the recoveries of zanubrutinib in beagle plasma ranged from 90.12 to 93.53% (RSD 1.67-6.42%) and the ME values of zanubrutinib were 98.70-101.06% (RSD 5.37-8.49%, n = 6). All values meet US Food and Drug Administration requirements. A rapid, highly selective and sensitive method for the determination of zanubrutinib concentration in plasma by UPLC-MS/MS was successfully developed. This method is suitable for pharmacokinetic studies in beagle dogs by following oral administration of zanubrutinib.

Photon-Trapping Microstructure for InGaAs/Si Avalanche Photodiodes Operating at 1.31 µm.

With the rapid development of photo-communication technologies, avalanche photodiode (APD) will play an increasingly important role in the future due to its high quantum efficiency, low power consumption, and small size. The monolithic integration of optical components and signal processing electronics on silicon substrate chips is crucial to driving cost reduction and performance improvement; thus, the technical research on InGaAs/Si APD is of great significance. This work is the first to demonstrate the use of a photon-trapping (PT) structure to improve the performance of the InGaAs/Si APD based on an SOI substrate, which exhibits very high absorption efficiency at 1310 nm wavelength while the thickness of the absorption layer is kept at 800 nm. Based on the optical and electrical simulations, an optimized InGaAs/Si PT-APD is proposed, which exhibits a better performance and a higher responsivity compared to the original InGaAs/Si APD.

Effects of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium sseK1 on macrophage inflammation-related cytokines and glycolysis.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium), an important virulent intracellular pathogen, causes inflammatory gastroenteritis or typhoid. Macrophages play a key role in innate immunity against Salmonella. Salmonella secreted effector K1 (SseK1) encoded by SPI2 has been identified a novel translocated protein. To investigate the role of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium sseK1 about the inflammation and glycolysis in macrophages, the levels of IL-1ß, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IFN-γ and Nitric Oxide in macrophages infected by S. Typhimurium SL1344 wild-type (WT) group, ΔsseK1 mutant group and sseK1-complemented group were measured. And the glycolysis level was determined in RAW 264.7 cells infected with these different Salmonella strains. The results showed that groups infected by wild-type strain, sseK1 mutant and sseK1-complemented strain upregulated the production of IL-1ß, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IFN-γ and NO at 3 h, 6 h and 12 h, respectively. The production of IL-1ß, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IFN-γ and NO in wild-type strain group were significantly decreased compared with the ΔsseK1 mutant group, which suggested that sseK1 down-regulated the production of related inflammatory factors. Moreover, hexokinase, lactic acid and pyruvic acid levels significantly decreased by infection with sseK1 mutant compared to the wild-type strain. The ATP level of ΔsseK1 mutant group was remarkably increased than WT group and sseK1-complemented group. These indicated that the sseK1 enhanced the level of glycolysis of macrophages infected by S. Typhimurium. In summary, the results demonstrated that sseK1 can down-regulate the inflammation-related cytokines and enhance the glycolysis level in macrophages infected by S. Typhimurium, which may be beneficial for S. typhimurium survival in macrophages.

Simultaneous detection and differentiation of canine parvovirus and feline parvovirus by high resolution melting analysis.

BACKGROUND: Canine parvovirus (CPV) and feline parvovirus (FPV) are causative agents of diarrhea in dogs and cats, which manifests as depression, vomiting, fever, loss of appetite, leucopenia, and diarrhea in young animals. CPV and FPV can single or mixed infect cats and cause disease. To diagnose sick animals effectively, an effective virus diagnostic and genome typing method with high sensitivity and specificity is required. RESULTS: In this study, a conserved segment containing one SNP A4408C of parvovirus was used for real-time PCR amplification. Subsequently, data were auto-analyzed and plotted using Applied Biosystems® High Resolution Melt Software v3.1. Results showed that CPV and FPV can be detected simultaneously in a single PCR reaction. No cross-reactions were observed with canine adenovirus, canine coronavirus, and canine distemper virus. The assay had a detection limit of 4.2 genome copies of CPV and FPV. A total of 80 clinical samples were subjected to this assay, as well as to conventional PCR-sequence assay and virus isolation. Results showed that the percentage of agreement of the assay and other methods are high. CONCLUSIONS: In short, we have developed a diagnostic test for the accurate detection and differentiation of CPV and FPV in fecal samples, which is also cost effective.

Influenza C Virus in Cattle with Respiratory Disease, United States, 2016-2018.

We identified influenza C virus (ICV) in samples from US cattle with bovine respiratory disease through real-time PCR testing and sequencing. Bovine ICV isolates had high nucleotide identities (≈98%) with each other and were closely related to human ICV strains (≈95%). Further research is needed to determine bovine ICV's zoonotic potential.

Genome-wide analysis of differentially expressed genes and the modulation of PEDV infection in Vero E6 cells.

PEDV remains one of the most important swine diseases that infects pigs of all ages. It causes devastating viral enteric disease in piglets with a high mortality rate, leading to significant threats and huge economic loss to the pork industry. In this study, a transcriptomic shotgun sequencing (RNA-Seq) procedure was used to study gene responses against PEDV infection. Genome-wide analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was performed in Vero E6 cells post-PEDV infection. mTOR signaling pathway activator-MHY1485, and inhibitor-PP242 were used to study the antiviral function. Results revealed that the IRF3 was significantly up-regulated post-PEDV infection. Although most of the IFN-regulatory and -related genes evaluated in this study were either down-regulated or remained unchanged, IL11 behaved significantly up-regulated, with the peak at 16 hpi. Nearly 90% of PEDV infections were suppressed in the PP242 pretreated cells whereas the reverse effect was observed in the MYH1485 pretreated cells. Results indicated that the mTOR signaling pathway played a vital role in the PEDV antiviral regulation in the Vero E6 cells. Future studies will contribute to better understand the cellular antiviral mechanism against PEDV.

Isolation, molecular characterization and an artificial infection model for a variant porcine epidemic diarrhea virus strain from Jiangsu Province, China.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a causative agent of porcine intestinal disease, which causes vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration in piglets. PEDV is associated with the most severe pathogenesis in one-week-old piglets, with mortality rates reaching 100%. A PEDV strain was isolated from the intestinal tract of diarrheic piglets from a pig farm in Jiangsu Province in March 2016, termed the JS201603 isolate. The isolated virus was confirmed to be PEDV via RT-PCR, electron microscopy, a cytopathic effect assay and sequence analysis. The S and ORF3 genes of the JS201603 isolate were sequenced, revealing that the S gene was associated with a 15-base insertion at 167 nt, 176 - 186 nt, and 427 - 429 nt, as well as a six-base deletion in 487 - 492 nt, indicating that it was a current epidemic variant compared with the classical strain, CV777. No deletion occurred between 245 - 293 nt of the ORF3 gene in the JS201603 isolate compared with the vaccine isolates YY2013 and SQ2014. An experimental infection model indicated that the piglets in the challenge group successively developed diarrhea, exhibiting yellow-colored loose stools with a foul odor. The piglets in the JS201603 isolate challenge group displayed reduced food consumption, lost weight, and in severe cases even died. No abnormalities were observed in the control group. The JS201603 variant isolated in this study contributes to the evolutionary analysis of diarrhea virus. The experimental infection model has established a foundation for further studies on vaccine development.

Isolation, molecular characterization and evaluation of the pathogenicity of a porcine rotavirus isolated from Jiangsu Province, China.

In this study, a porcine rotavirus was isolated from a fecal sample from a diarrheic piglet in Jiangsu Province, China. Rotavirus-specific cytopathic effects were observed after 12 blind passages on MA-104 cells, yielding a virus titer of 10(6.125) TCID50/ml. By applying an 80 % nucleotide cutoff value and the RotaC(2.0) automated genotyping tool, the Vp4 genotype of the new isolate was identified as P[7]. The Vp7 genotype was identified as G[9], lineage VI, and sublineage c. Experimentally infected piglets showed severe diarrhea symptoms 16-24 h post-inoculation, indicating that this new porcine rotavirus isolate is a pathogenic strain.

Case report: Translational treatment of unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: Tislelizumab, Lenvatinib, and GEMOX in one case.

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma (ICC) is one of the most common invasive malignancies. Currently, ICC is treated with radical surgical resection. However, the majority of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, making surgery ineligible for them. Case presentation: We present a case of advanced ICC, which could not undergo radical surgery due to tumor invasion of liver blood vessels. The gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX) regimen combined with Tislelizumab immunotherapy and Lenvatinib targeted therapy for 8 cycles resulted in significant tumor shrinkage significantly and the vascular invasion disappeared. CA19-9 levels were reduced to normal levels. Partial remission and successful tumor transformation were achieved. The patient underwent a successful radical surgical resection, including cholecystectomy, resection of liver segments IV, V, and VIII, as well as a regional lymphatic dissection procedure, resulting in complete pathological remission. Conclusion: Tumor-free surgical margins (R0) resection of patients with advanced ICC after combination of immune, targeted and chemotherapy is rare, and there are almost no cases of complete postoperative remission. The GEMOX regimen in combination with Tislelizumab and Lenvatinib has a good antitumor efficacy and safety profile, and may be a feasible and safe translational treatment option for advanced ICC.

Weakly supervised localization model for plant disease based on Siamese networks.

Problems: Plant diseases significantly impact crop growth and yield. The variability and unpredictability of symptoms postinfection increase the complexity of image-based disease detection methods, leading to a higher false alarm rate. Aim: To address this challenge, we have developed an efficient, weakly supervised agricultural disease localization model using Siamese neural networks. Methods: This model innovatively employs a Siamese network structure with a weight-sharing mechanism to effectively capture the visual differences in plants affected by diseases. Combined with our proprietary Agricultural Disease Precise Localization Class Activation Mapping algorithm (ADPL-CAM), the model can accurately identify areas affected by diseases, achieving effective localization of plant diseases. Results and conclusion: The results showed that ADPL-CAM performed the best on all network architectures. On ResNet50, ADPL-CAM's top-1 accuracy was 3.96% higher than GradCAM and 2.77% higher than SmoothCAM; the average Intersection over Union (IoU) is 27.09% higher than GradCAM and 19.63% higher than SmoothCAM. Under the SPDNet architecture, ADPL-CAM achieves a top-1 accuracy of 54.29% and an average IoU of 67.5%, outperforming other CAM methods in all metrics. It can accurately and promptly identify and locate diseased leaves in crops.

Development and validation of a prognostic signature of breast cancer based on drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME)-related genes.

The individual variation of carcinogenesis and drug response is influenced by the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of drugs. The utilization of signatures derived from ADME-related genes holds potential for predicting prognosis and treatment response across diverse cancer types. Further investigation is required to completely understand the role of ADME-associated genes in breast cancer. A signature was constructed through the application of a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression model, employing prognostic differentially expressed genes found in both cancer tissue and normal tissue. To assess the robustness of the signature, verification analyses were carried out. RT-qPCR was utilized for the validation of gene expression related to risk. Subsequently, a nomogram was developed to enhance the clinical utility of our prognostic tool. The ADME signature, comprising four genes, was established and exhibited a robust association with the prognoses of individuals diagnosed with breast cancer. The nomogram was created by fusing the clinicopathological characteristics with the ADME signature. The ADME signature demonstrated remarkable superiority when compared to the performance of the other individual predictors. Additionally, the analysis of the immune microenvironment revealed that the ImmuneScores of the low-risk group were elevated. The variation in both the infiltration of immune cells and the expression of immune-related genes in the tissues differed among the two groups. For patients with breast cancer, the utilization of ADME signatures as biomarkers presents a significant reference point for prognosis and individualized treatment strategies.