Design and Fabrication of Biomass Derived Black Carbon Modified g-C3N4/FeIn2S4 Heterojunction as Highly Efficient Photocatalyst for Wastewater Treatment.

The environmental deterioration caused by dye wastewater discharge has received considerable attention in recent decades. One of the most promising approaches to addressing the aforementioned environmental issue is the development of photocatalysts with high solar energy consumption efficiency for the treatment of dye-contaminated water. In this study, a novel low-cost π-π biomass-derived black carbon modified g-C3N4 coupled FeIn2S4 composite (i.e., FeInS/BC-CN) photocatalyst is successfully designed and fabricated that reveals significantly improved photocatalytic performance for the degradation of Eosin Yellow (EY) dye in aqueous solution. Under dark and subsequent visible light irradiation, the amount optimized composite reveals 99% removal performance for EY dye, almost three-fold compared to that of the pristine FeInS and BC-CN counterparts. Further, it is confirmed by means of the electron spin resonance spectrometry, quenching experiments, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, that the hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and superoxide radicals (•O2 -) are the dominant oxidation species involved in the degradation process of EY dye. In addition, a systematic photocatalytic degradation route is proposed based on the resultant degradation intermediates detectedduring liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. This work provides an innovative idea for the development of advanced photocatalysts to mitigate water pollution.

Knockdown of NCAPD3 inhibits the tumorigenesis of non-small cell lung cancer by regulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence indicates that aberrant non-SMC condensin II complex subunit D3 (NCAPD3) is associated with carcinogenesis of various cancers. Nevertheless, the biological role of NCAPD3 in the pathogenesis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were performed to assess NCAPD3 expression in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. The ability of cell proliferation, invasion, and migration was evaluated by CCK-8 assays, EdU assays, Transwell assays, and scratch wound healing assays. Flow cytometry was performed to verify the cell cycle and apoptosis. RNA-sequence and rescue experiment were performed to reveal the underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: The results showed that the expression of NCAPD3 was significantly elevated in NSCLC tissues. High NCAPD3 expression in NSCLC patients was substantially associated with a worse prognosis. Functionally, knockdown of NCAPD3 resulted in cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in NSCLC cells as well as a significant inhibition of proliferation, invasion, and migration. Furthermore, RNA-sequencing analysis suggested that NCAPD3 contributes to NSCLC carcinogenesis by regulating PI3K/Akt/FOXO4 pathway. Insulin-like growth factors-1 (IGF-1), an activator of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, could reverse NCAPD3 silence-mediated proliferation inhibition and apoptosis in NSCLC cells. CONCLUSION: NCAPD3 suppresses apoptosis and promotes cell proliferation via the PI3K/Akt/FOXO4 signaling pathway, suggesting a potential use for NCAPD3 inhibitors as NSCLC therapeutics.

Association of interleukin-6, ferritin, and lactate dehydrogenase with venous thromboembolism in COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is frequntly accompanied by venous thromboembolism (VTE), and its mechanism may be related to the abnormal inflammation and immune status of COVID-19 patients. It has been proved that interleukin-6 (IL-6), ferritin and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) may play an important role in the occurrence of VTE in COVID-19 infection. But whether they can server as predictors for VTE in COVID-19 is still unclear. In this study, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare IL-6, ferritin and LDH in VTE and non-VTE COVID-19 patients in order to shed light on the prevention and treatment of VTE. METHODS: Related literatures were searched in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Google Scholar, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANGFANG. COVID-19 patients were divided into VTE group and non-VTE group. Meta-analysis was then conducted to compare levels of IL-6, ferritin and LDH between the two groups. RESULTS: We finally included and analyzed 17 literatures from January 2019 to October 2022. There was a total of 7,035 COVID-19 patients, with a weighted mean age of 60.01 years. Males accounted for 62.64% and 61.34% patients were in intensive care unit (ICU). Weighted mean difference (WMD) of IL-6, ferritin and LDH was 31.15 (95% CI: 9.82, 52.49), 257.02 (95% CI: 51.70, 462.33) and 41.79 (95% CI: -19.38, 102.96), respectively. The above results indicated that than compared with non-VTE group, VTE group had significantly higher levels of IL-6 and ferritin but similar LDH. CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis pointed out that elevated levels of IL-6 and ferritin were significantly possitive associated with VTE, thus could be used as biological predictive indicators of VTE among COVID-19 patients. However, no association was found between level of LDH and VTE. Therefore, close monitoring of changes in IL-6 and ferritin concentrations is of great value in assisting clinicans to rapidly identify thrombotic complications among COVID-19 patients, hence facilitating the timely effective managment. Further studies are required in terms of the clinical role of cytokines in the occurrence of VTE among COVID-19 infection, with more reliable systematic controls and interventional trials.

Cu3 (HHTP)2 c-MOF/ZnO Ultrafast Ultraviolet Photodetector for Wearable Optoelectronics.

Two-dimensional conductive metal-organic frameworks (2D c-MOFs) are a family of highly tunable and electrically conducting materials that can be utilized in optoelectronics. A major issue of 2D c-MOFs for photodetection is their poor charge separation and recombination dynamics upon illumination. This study demonstrates a Cu3 (HHTP)2 /ZnO type-II heterojunction ultraviolet (UV) photodetector fabricated by layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition, in which the charge separation of photogenerated carriers is enhanced. At optimized MOF layer cycles, the device achieves a responsivity of 78.2 A/W and detectivity of 3.8×109 Jones at 1 V. Particularly, the device can be operated in the self-powered mode with an ultrafast response time of 70 µs, which is the record value for MOF-based photodetectors. In addition, even after 1000-time bending of 180°, the flexible device maintains stable performance. This flexible MOF-based UV photodetector with anti-fatigue and anti-bending properties provides strong implication to wearable optoelectronics.

Poly(ionic liquid) composites.

Poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), as an innovative class of polyelectrolytes, are composed of polymeric backbones with IL species in each repeating unit. The combined merits of the polymers and ILs make them promising materials for composites in materials science. Particularly, the integration of PILs with functional substances (PIL composites) opens up a new dimension in utilizing ionic polymers by offering novel properties and improved functions, which impacts multiple subfields of our chemical society. This review summarizes recent developments of PIL composites with a special emphasis on the preparation techniques that are based on the intrinsic properties of the PILs and the synergistic effects between the PILs and substances of interest for diverse applications.

Molybdate-Tellurite Compounds with Capped-Kagomé Spin-Lattices.

Three new molybdate-tellurites, K2M9(TeO3)4(MoO4)4(OH)4 (M = NiII and CoII) and (NH4)2Cu9II(TeO3)4(MoO4)4(OH)4, have been successfully synthesized by conventional hydrothermal method. Due to the influence of the Jahn-Teller effect, these compounds crystallize in different space groups of rhombohedral R3̅m, monoclinic P21/c and triclinic P1̅ for Ni-, Co-, and Cu-analogues, respectively. The topological arrangements of magnetic ions in these compounds show that deficient capped-kagomé spin-lattices with kagomé positions exhibit different 1/6 depletion. Magnetic and specific heat measurements confirm that K2Ni9(TeO3)4(MoO4)4(OH)4 exhibits a spin-glass behavior at low temperature, while (NH4)2Cu9(TeO3)4(MoO4)4(OH)4 possesses a long-range canted antiferromagnetic ordering with TN ∼ 10.8 K and further shows a 3/5 magnetization plateau in the magnetization curve at low temperature.

Accelerating Crystallization of Open Organic Materials by Poly(ionic liquid)s.

The capability to significantly shorten the synthetic period of a broad spectrum of open organic materials presents an enticing prospect for materials processing and applications. Herein we discovered 1,2,4-triazolium poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) could serve as a universal additive to accelerate by at least one order of magnitude the growth rate of representative imine-linked crystalline open organics, including organic cages, covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and macrocycles. This phenomenon results from the active C5-protons in poly(1,2,4-triazolium)s that catalyze the formation of imine bonds, and the simultaneous salting-out effect (induced precipitation by decreasing solubility) that PILs exert on these crystallizing species.

Organic Molecule-Driven Polymeric Actuators.

Inspired by the motions of plant tissues in response to external stimuli, significant attention has been devoted to the development of actuating polymeric materials. In particular, polymeric actuators driven by organic molecules have been designed due to their combined superiorities of tunable functional monomers, designable chemical structures, and variable structural anisotropy. Here, the recent progress is summarized in terms of material synthesis, structure design, polymer-solvent interaction, and actuating performance. In addition, various possibilities for practical applications, including the ability to sense chemical vapors and solvent isomers, and future directions to satisfy the requirement of sensing and smart systems are also highlighted.

Amplified Visualization of Protein-Specific Glycosylation in Zebrafish via Proximity-Induced Hybridization Chain Reaction.

The visualization of glycosylation states of specific proteins in vivo is of great importance for uncovering their roles in disease development. However, the ubiquity of glycosylation makes probing the glycans on a certain protein as difficult as looking for a needle in a haystack. Herein, we demonstrate a proximity-induced hybridization chain reaction (HCR) strategy for amplified visualization of protein-specific glycosylation. The strategy relies on designing two kinds of DNA probes, glycan conversion probes and protein recognition probes, which are attached to glycans and target proteins, respectively. Upon sequential binding to the targets, the proximity-induced hybridization between two probes occurs, which leads to the structure-switching of protein recognition probes, followed by triggering of HCR assembly. This strategy has been used to visualize tyrosine-protein kinase 7-specific sialic acid in living CEM cells and zebrafish and to monitor its variation during drug treatment. It provides a potential tool for investigating protein-specific glycosylation and researching the relation between dynamic glycans state and disease process.

Imaging of Receptor Dimers in Zebrafish and Living Cells via Aptamer Recognition and Proximity-Induced Hybridization Chain Reaction.

On cell-membrane surfaces, receptor-protein dimers play fundamental roles in many signaling pathways that are crucial for normal biological processes and cancer development. Efficient and sensitive analysis of receptor dimers in the native environment is highly desirable. Herein, we present a strategy for amplified imaging of receptor dimers in zebrafish and living cells that relies on aptamer recognition and proximity-induced hybridization chain reaction. Taking advantage of specific aptamer recognition and enzyme-free signal amplification, this strategy is successfully applied to the visualization of c-Met-receptor dimers in an HGF-independent or -dependent manner. Therefore, the developed imaging strategy paves the way for further investigation of the dimerization or oligomerization states of cell-surface receptors and their corresponding activation processes in zebrafish and living cells.

Synthesis, Structure, and Magnetic Properties of A2Cu5(TeO3)(SO4)3(OH)4 (A = Na, K): The First Compounds with a 1D Kagomé Strip Lattice.

Two new tellurite-sulfates A2Cu5(TeO3)(SO4)3(OH)4 (A = Na, K) have been synthesized by a conventional hydrothermal method. Both compounds feature 1D kagomé strip structure built by distorted CuO6 octahedra, which can be regarded as the dimensional reduction of kagomé lattice. Magnetic measurements confirmed that the titled compounds possess antiferromagnetic ordering at low temperature, while a field-induced magnetic transition can be observed at critical field. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to obtain distorted kagomé strip compounds.

Syntheses and magnetic properties of new tellurite-sulfate compounds M2(TeO3)(SO4)·H2O (M = Co, Mn) with a layer structure showing a distorted honeycomb spin-lattice.

New tellurite-sulfate compounds M2(TeO3)(SO4)·H2O (M = Co, Mn) are synthesized by a conventional hydrothermal method. Two compounds are found to exhibit a similar structure, which both crystallize in the orthorhombic system of space group Pbcm. Te(4+) ions are coordinated by three O atoms, forming a quite distorted TeO3 trigonal pyramid with lone-pair electrons, while magnetic Co(2+) or Mn(2+) ions construct a wavelike layer with a distorted honeycomb spin-lattice. Magnetic measurements confirm that two isostructural compounds display different magnetic behaviors, in which Co2(TeO3)(SO4)·H2O shows a canted antiferromagnetic ordering at ∼15 K, while Mn2(TeO3)(SO4)·H2O shows a collinear antiferromagnetic ordering at ∼28 K. The nature of different magnetic behaviors between two isostructural compounds is also discussed.

Current status and progress of research on the ADP-dependent glucokinase gene.

ADP-dependent glucokinase (ADPGK) produces glucose-6-phosphate with adenosine diphosphate (ADP) as the phosphate group donor, in contrast to ATP-dependent hexokinases (HKs). Originally found in archaea, ADPGK is involved in glycolysis. However, its biological function in most eukaryotic organisms is still unclear, and the molecular mechanism of action requires further investigation. This paper provides a concise overview of ADPGK's origin, biological function and clinical application. It aims to furnish scientific information for the diagnosis and treatment of human metabolic diseases, neurological disorders, and malignant tumours, and to suggest new strategies for the development of targeted drugs.

Role and mechanism of NCAPD3 in promoting malignant behaviors in gastric cancer.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the major malignancies threatening human lives and health. Non-SMC condensin II complex subunit D3 (NCAPD3) plays a crucial role in the occurrence of many diseases. However, its role in GC remains unexplored. Materials and Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, clinical samples, and cell lines were used to analyze NCAPD3 expression in GC. NCAPD3 was overexpressed and inhibited by lentiviral vectors and the CRISPR/Cas9 system, respectively. The biological functions of NCAPD3 were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Gene microarray, Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) were performed to establish the potential mechanisms. Results: NCAPD3 was highly expressed in GC and was associated with a poor prognosis. NCAPD3 upregulation significantly promoted the malignant biological behaviors of gastric cancer cell, while NCAPD3 inhibition exerted a opposite effect. NCAPD3 loss can directly inhibit CCND1 and ESR1 expression to downregulate the expression of downstream targets CDK6 and IRS1 and inhibit the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Moreover, NCAPD3 loss activates IRF7 and DDIT3 to regulate apoptosis in gastric cancer cells. Conclusion: Our study revealed that NCAPD3 silencing attenuates malignant phenotypes of GC and that it is a potential target for GC treatment.

Fabrication and characterization of curcumin-loaded nanoparticles using licorice protein isolate from Radix Glycyrrhizae.

Licorice was widely used in food and herbal medicine. In its extract industry, a substantial amount of licorice protein was produced and discarded as waste. Herein, we extracted Licorice Protein Isolate (LPI) and explored its potential as a curcumin nanocarrier. Using a pH-driven method, we fabricated LPI-curcumin nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 129.30 ± 3.21 nm to 75.03 ± 1.19 nm, depending on the LPI/curcumin molar ratio. The formation of LPI-curcumin nanoparticles was primarily driven by hydrophobic interactions, with curcumin entrapped in LPI being in an amorphous form. These nanoparticles significantly enhanced curcumin properties in terms of solubility, photochemical stability, and stability under varying pH, storage, and physiological conditions. Moreover, the loaded curcumin exhibited a 2.58-fold increase in cellular antioxidant activity on RAW 264.7 cells and a 1.86-fold increase in antitumor activity against HepG2 cells compared to its free form. These findings suggested that LPI could potentially serve as a promising novel delivery material.

A Versatile Strategy for the Generation of Air-stable Radical-functionalized Materials.

The exploration of a facile approach to create structurally versatile substances carrying air-stable radicals is highly desired, but still a huge challenge in chemistry and materials science. Herein, a non-contact method to generate air-stable radicals by exposing pyridine/imidazole ring-bearing substances to volatile cyanuric chloride vapor, harnessed as a chemical fuel is reported. This remarkable feat is accomplished through a nucleophilic substitution reaction, wherein an intrinsic electron transfer event transpires spontaneously, originating from the chloride anion (Cl- ) to the cationic nitrogen (N+ ) atom, ultimately giving rise to pyridinium/imidazolium radicals. Impressively, the generated radicals exhibit noteworthy stability in the air over one month owing to the delocalization of the unpaired electron through the extended and highly fused π-conjugated pyridinium/imidazolium-triazine unit. Such an approach is universal to diverse substances, including organic molecules, metal-organic complexes, hydrogels, polymers, and organic cage materials. Capitalizing on this versatile technique, surface radical functionalization can be readily achieved across diverse substrates. Moreover, the generated radical species showcase a myriad of high-performance applications, including mimicking natural peroxidase to accelerate oxidation reactions and achieving high-efficiency near-infrared photothermal conversion and photothermal bacterial inhibition.

Effect of anticoagulation on the incidence of venous thromboembolism, major bleeding, and mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients: an updated meta-analysis.

Objective: Anticoagulation is crucial for patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to the high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, the optimal anticoagulation regimen needs further exploration. Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of diverse anticoagulation dosage dosages for COVID-19. Methods: An updated meta-analysis was performed to assess the effect of thromboprophylaxis (standard, intermediate, and therapeutic dose) on the incidence of VTE, mortality and major bleeding among COVID-19 patients. Literature was searched via PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for effect estimates. Results: Nineteen studies involving 25,289 participants without VTE history were included. The mean age of patients was 59.3 years old. About 50.96% were admitted to the intensive care unit. In the pooled analysis, both therapeutic-dose and intermediate-dose anticoagulation did not have a significant advantage in reducing VTE risk over standard dosage (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.58-2.02, and OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.70-1.12, respectively). Similarly, all-cause mortality was not further decreased in either therapeutic-dose group (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.75-1.67) or intermediate-dose group (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.83-2.17). While the major bleeding risk was significantly elevated in the therapeutic-dose group (OR = 2.59, 95%CI: 1.87-3.57) as compared with the standard-dose regimen. Compared with intermediate dosage, therapeutic anticoagulation did not reduce consequent VTE risk (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.52-1.38) and all-cause mortality (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.60-1.17), but significantly increased major bleeding rate (OR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.58-3.70). In subgroup analysis of patients older than 65 years, therapeutic anticoagulation significantly lowered the incidence of VTE in comparation comparison with standard thromboprophylaxis, however, at the cost of elevated risk of major bleeding. Conclusion: Our results indicated that for most hospitalized patients with COVID-19, standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation might be the optimal choice. For elderly patients at low risk of bleeding, therapeutic-dose anticoagulation could further reduce VTE risk and should be considered especially when there were other strong risk factors of VTE during hospital stay. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier, CRD42023388429.

Fabrication, in-vitro digestion and pH-responsive release behavior of soy protein isolate glycation conjugates-based hydrogels.

Hydrogel made by glycated soy protein isolate (SPI) conjugates is a promising gastrointestinal targeted delivery system for bioactives. In this study, SPI conjugates were prepared with dextran molecules at various molecular weights by Maillard reaction -based heating, and then used to fabricate hydrogel aided by transglutaminase. The modification on the structure, interfacial and rheological properties of SPI by dextran was studied. The physicochemical properties, digestion behavior and curcumin-encapsulation capacity of resultant SPI-dextran hydrogels were comprehensively studied. As compared to SPI and SPI-glucose conjugates-based hydrogels, SPI-dextran hydrogels showed lower mechanical properties but more homogeneous gel network. Dextran with higher molecular weight showed lower grafting degree on SPI, but was more effective on improving the thermos-set gel performance, and resistance to in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. The contribution of glycinin and ß-conglycinin, two major individual proteins of SPI, in the dextran conjugates formation were predicated by molecular docking for the first time. The impact of molecular weight of dextran on glycated SPI hydrogel-based delivery systems was comprehensively investigated, which is promising for development of functional food applications.

Effects of glycation methods on the interfacial behavior and emulsifying performance of soy protein isolate-gum Arabic conjugates.

Glycated conjugation of plant protein such as soy protein isolate (SPI) with saccharides is one popular strategy to modify the physicochemical characteristics of these plant protein resources, which may be affected by the glycation methods including dry-heating and wet-heating. In this study, the impact of these two glycation methods on the rheological and emulsifying properties of a binary system made by SPI-gum Arabic (GA) was studied. The results indicated that dry-heating conjugates had higher viscosity and more elastic characteristics than those wet-heating conjugates. The emulsifying properties of SPI-GA conjugates by different preparation routes were evaluated by various oil phases including eugenol, cinnamaldehyde and soybean oil. Overall, emulsions stabilized by dry-heating conjugates showed lower zeta-potential value than those with wet heating conjugates. The interfacial properties of these conjugates were compared using soybean oil emulsion as a model. Higher emulsifying ability and stability were obtained by emulsions with dry-heating conjugates, which was attributed to their more compact structures, higher protein adsorption capacity and thicker viscoelastic films formed at the interface, and therefore enhanced electrostatic repulsion between droplets. The findings in this study are useful for fabrication and utilization of protein-polysaccharide glycation conjugates as emulsifiers in functional foods.

Case report: Clinical management of recurrent small cell lung cancer transformation complicated with lung cancer-induced acute pancreatitis after lung adenocarcinoma surgery.

In the diagnosis and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the histological type may change from lung adenocarcinoma to lung squamous cell cancer or small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Pancreatic metastasis is extremely rare in advanced lung cancer, and pancreatitis characterized by lung cancer metastasis-induced acute pancreatitis (MIAP) is more rare. This paper reports in detail the clinical diagnosis and treatment of a female patient with lung adenocarcinoma who relapsed after radical surgery and progressed after multiple treatments. A second pathological biopsy revealed SCLC transformation, and the patient developed pancreatic metastasis and lung cancer MIAP during follow-up treatment. This paper mainly suggests that clinicians should pay attention to the possibility of pathological type transformation in the progression of advanced NSCLC, closely observe the dynamic changes of tumor markers and pay attention to the re-biopsy pathological analysis. In addition, it provides clinical experience and scientific reference for the discovery, diagnosis and treatment of transforming SCLC and lung cancer MIAP.