High expression of ACTL6A leads to poor prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients through promoting malignant progression.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to research ACTL6A's role in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). METHODS: OSCC and normal samples were obtained from patients and public databases. GSEA was performed. CIBERSORT was utilized to analyze immune landscape. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were conducted. After knocking down ACTL6A, we performed MTT assay, transwell assays, and flow cytometry to detect the impact of knockdown. RESULTS: ACTL6A expressed higher in OSCC samples than normal samples. The CNV and mutation rate of TP53 was higher in ACTL6A high-expression group. TFs E2F7 and TP63 and miRNA hsa-mir-381 were significantly related to ACTL6A. ACTL6A could influence immune microenvironment of OSCC. Knockdown of ACTL6A inhibited OSCC cells' proliferation, migration, and invasion. ACTL6A was able to predict OSCC prognosis independently. CONCLUSION: ACTL6A expressed higher in OSCC than normal samples and it could be used as an independent prognostic marker in OSCC patients.

Immunoprotection of FliBc chimeric fiber2 fusion proteins targeting dendritic cells against Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 infection.

Hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome (HHS) is a highly fatal disease in chickens caused by the highly pathogenic fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4), which has severe economic consequences. The fiber2 protein exhibits excellent potential as a candidate for a subunit vaccination against FAdV-4. Despite having a high safety profile, subunit vaccines have low immunogenicity due to their lack of infectivity, which leads to low levels of immune response. As a vaccine adjuvant, Salmonella flagellin possesses the potential to augment the immunological response to vaccinations. Additionally, a crucial strategy for enhancing vaccine efficacy is efficient presentation of immune antigens to dendritic cells (DC) for targeted vaccination. In this study, we designed FAdV-4-fiber2 protein, and a recombinant protein called FliBc-fiber2-SP which based on FAdV-4-fiber2 protein, was generated using the gene sequence FliBc, which retains only the conserved sequence at the amino and carboxyl termini of the flagellin B subunit, and a short peptide SPHLHTSSPWER (SP), which targets chicken bone marrow-derived DC. They were separately administered via intramuscular injection to 14-day-old specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens, and their immunogenicity was compared. At 21 d postvaccination (dpv), it was found that the FliBc-fiber2-SP recombinant protein elicited significantly higher levels of IgG antibodies and conferred a vaccine protection rate of up to 100% compared to its counterpart fiber2 protein. These results suggest that the DC-targeted peptide fusion strategy for flagellin chimeric antigen construction can effectively enhance the immune protective efficacy of antigen proteins.

GreenPhos, a universal method for in-depth measurement of plant phosphoproteomes with high quantitative reproducibility.

Protein phosphorylation regulates a variety of important cellular and physiological processes in plants. In-depth profiling of plant phosphoproteomes has been more technically challenging than that of animal phosphoproteomes. This is largely due to the need to improve protein extraction efficiency from plant cells, which have a dense cell wall, and to minimize sample loss resulting from the stringent sample clean-up steps required for the removal of a large amount of biomolecules interfering with phosphopeptide purification and mass spectrometry analysis. To this end, we developed a method with a streamlined workflow for highly efficient purification of phosphopeptides from tissues of various green organisms including Arabidopsis, rice, tomato, and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, enabling in-depth identification with high quantitative reproducibility of about 11 000 phosphosites, the greatest depth achieved so far with single liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) runs operated in a data-dependent acquisition (DDA) mode. The mainstay features of the method are the minimal sample loss achieved through elimination of sample clean-up before protease digestion and of desalting before phosphopeptide enrichment and hence the dramatic increases of time- and cost-effectiveness. The method, named GreenPhos, combined with single-shot LC-MS, enabled in-depth quantitative identification of Arabidopsis phosphoproteins, including differentially phosphorylated spliceosomal proteins, at multiple time points during salt stress and a number of kinase substrate motifs. GreenPhos is expected to serve as a universal method for purification of plant phosphopeptides, which, if samples are further fractionated and analyzed by multiple LC-MS runs, could enable measurement of plant phosphoproteomes with an unprecedented depth using a given mass spectrometry technology.

Modulating Electron Density of Ni-N-C Sites by N-doped Ni for Industrial-level CO2 Electroreduction in Acidic Media.

Electro-chemically reducing CO2 in a highly acidic medium is promising for addressing the issue of carbonate accumulation. However, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) typically dominates the acidic CO2 reduction. Herein, we construct an efficient electro-catalyst for CO formation based on a core-shell structure, where nitrogen-doped Ni nanoparticles coexist with nitrogen-coordinated Ni single atoms. The optimal catalyst demonstrates a significantly improved CO faradaic efficiency (FE) of 96.7 % in the acidic electrolyte (pH=1) at an industrial-scale current density of 500 mA cm-2 . Notably, the optimal catalyst maintains a high FE of CO exceeding 90 % (current density=500 mA cm-2 ) in the electrolyte with a wide pH range from 0.67 to 14. In-situ spectroscopic characterization and density functional theory calculations show that the local electron density of Ni-N-C sites is enhanced by N-doped Ni particles, which facilitates the formation of *COOH intermediate and the adsorption of *CO. This study demonstrates the potential of a hybrid metal/Ni-N-C interface in boosting acidic CO2 electro-reduction.

Anchoring ultra-small molybdenum oxide species on covalent triazine frameworks for efficient electrochemical nitrogen fixation.

We report a smart ion-exchange strategy to anchor molybdenum oxide particles on charge-modulated conjugated triazine frameworks (Mo/CTF-I) for electrochemically fixing nitrogen. The strong interaction between MoOx and CTF-I is conducive to the activation of the inert N2 molecule in the electro-chemical process. As a result, 5% Mo/CTF-I exhibited an excellent faradaic efficiency of 27.3% and an NH3 yield rate of 7.23 µg h-1 mgcat.-1 at -0.405 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M KOH, surpassing most previous reports.

Glowing plants can light up the night sky? A review.

Luminescence, a physical phenomenon that producing cool light in vivo, has been found in bacteria, fungi, and animals but not yet in terrestrial higher plants. Through genetic engineering, it is feasible to introduce luminescence systems into living plant cells as biomarkers. Recently, some plants transformed with luminescent systems can glimmer in darkness, which can be observed by our naked eyes and provides a novel lighting resource. In this review, we summarized the bioassay development of luminescence in plant cells, followed by exampling the successful cases of glowing plants transformed with diverse luminescent systems. The potential key factors to design or optimize a glowing plant were also discussed. Our review is useful for the creation of the optimized glowing plants, which can be used not only in scientific research, but also as promising substitutes of artificial light sources in the future.

Enhancement of thermal and mechanical properties of silicone rubber with γ-ray irradiation-induced polysilane-modified graphene oxide/carbon nanotube hybrid fillers.

In this study, a polysilane-modified graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite (GO/CNTs-Si) was prepared as a thermal conductive nanofiller to enhance the thermal and mechanical properties of silicone rubber composites. By γ-ray-radiation 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxy silane (MPTMS) was polymerized on the surface of GO and CNTs to improve the interfacial interaction between the GO/CNTs-Si and SR matrix. FTIR characterization results demonstrated that polysilane modified the GO/CNTs successfully. The pristine GO/CNTs and resultant GO/CNTs-Si were individually incorporated into α,ω-dihydroxypolydimethylsiloxane to vulcanize SR composites. Compared with SR-GO/CNTs, SR-GO/CNT-Si exhibited better mechanical and thermal performance. Moreover, the time-dependent complex modulus of SR-GO/CNTs-Si was much higher than that of SR-GO/CNTs, which indicates longer service time and more stable performance. In terms of electronic packaging, SR-GO/CNTs exhibited better performance than the 1180B counterpart. The low value of warpage of chip packaged by SR-GO/CNTs implied that SR-GO/CNTs-Si could have potential application as the thermal interface electronic packaging material.

Enhancing room-temperature NO2 gas sensing performance based on a metal phthalocyanine/graphene quantum dot hybrid material.

Metal phthalocyanine (MPc) has a great saturation response value, but its low conductivity and slow response speed limit its practical application. A novel hybrid material composed of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and metal phthalocyanine derivatives has been obtained. GQDs can be anchored onto the surface of MPc nanofibers through π-π stacking. The response to NO2 can be significantly enhanced under certain component proportion matching, which is much better than their respective response to NO2. The introduction of GQDs greatly increases the conductivity of phthalocyanine fibers, leading to a faster response of the hybrid material. In addition, the reproducibility, selectivity and stability of the hybrid materials are excellent, and the minimum response concentration can reach 50 ppb. Ultra-low-power laser irradiation was used to solve the problem of slow recovery of metal phthalocyanine. Overall, we present the advantages of combining MPc nanofibers with GQDs and pave a new avenue for the application of MPc-GQD hybrids in the gas sensing field.

Enhanced dimethyl methylphosphonate detection based on two-dimensional WSe2 nanosheets at room temperature.

Chemical warfare agents, particularly nerve agents such as sarin, are exceptionally harmful and incredibly perilous to people. Thus, the sensitive detection of these gases is indispensable for reducing the risk of chemical weapons. Herein, we fabricated a room-temperature chemiresistive gas sensor based on two-dimensional few-layer tungsten diselenide (WSe2) nanosheets, which were prepared through a facile liquid-phase exfoliation method. The WSe2-based sensor has demonstrated sensitive and selective detection of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), which is a well-known simulant of the nerve agent sarin. The sensor based on WSe2 nanosheets revealed a high response reaching 8.91% to 10 ppm DMMP with a fast response time of 100 s. Furthermore, the sensor displayed reliable stability, excellent selectivity, and a low theoretical limit of detection of about 122 ppb. The enhanced sensing performance of WSe2 nanosheets can be ascribed to the increase of the specific surface area, which provides more active adsorption sites for DMMP molecules, thereby facilitating the charge transfer process between DMMP molecules and WSe2 nanosheets. Overall, our results indicate that two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide materials have the potential for the design and fabrication of high-performance nerve agent sensing devices.

Enhancing room-temperature NO2 detection of cobalt phthalocyanine based gas sensor at an ultralow laser exposure.

Metal phthalocyanines (MPcs) have attracted great interest in the gas sensing field, but the long recovery time with hard desorption of gas has hindered their further practical application. The combination of cobalt and carboxyl groups increases the electron concentration. Herein, cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc-COOH) modified with carboxyl groups was prepared and applied to detect nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and its sensing performance at room temperature was determined. These CoPc-COOH nanofibres have demonstrated outstanding recovery performance at an ultralow laser exposure. In particular, UV-Vis and FTIR results indicate no change in the molecular structure of CoPc-COOH powders before and after laser exposure. The enhancement in the recovery properties of the laser-assisted method can be attributed to the generation of electron and hole pairs in the CoPc-COOH nanofibres, where the adsorbed NO2 molecules transformed from NO2- to NO2 by taking one hole with faster desorption. Thus, our study provides a valuable gas sensing recovery mode and mechanism for constructing practical gas sensors.

A Validated Model to Predict Postoperative Symptom Severity After Mandibular Third Molar Removal.

PURPOSE: The individualized prediction of postoperative symptom severity is essential for selecting interventions after mandibular third molar (M3M) removal. The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a nomogram for personal prediction of postoperative symptom severity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed in the Stomatology Hospital of Tianjin Medical University. The sample was divided into training and testing data sets by time. The demographic, anatomic, radiographic, and operative variables were recorded. The self-reported postoperative symptom severity was recorded and defined as the primary outcome variable. Stepwise forward algorithms were applied to informative predictors based on Akaike's information criterion. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to develop the nomogram. An independent testing data set was used to validate the nomogram. Receiver operating characteristic curves and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test were used to assess model performance. P < .05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS: The sample included 321 subjects who had undergone M3M removal. An independent validation data set included 103 consecutive patients. The median operation time was 15.0 minutes (interquartile range, 8.3 to 21.6 minutes) in the training data set (n = 218). Patients with serious postoperative symptoms accounted for 48.6 and 47.6% of the training and testing data sets, respectively. Gender, age, smoking status, operation time, Pell-Gregory ramus classification, and preoperative symptoms were identified as predictors and assembled into the nomogram. The area under curve demonstrated adequate discrimination in the validation data set (0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.59 to 0.80). The nomogram was well calibrated, with a Hosmer-Lemeshow χ2 statistic of 6.33 (P = .78) in the testing data set. The confusion matrix was also summarized, and the accuracy was 63.3 and 65.1% in the training and testing data set, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study has proposed an effective nomogram with potential application in facilitating the individualized prediction of postoperative symptom severity after M3M removal.

[Comparison of two types of T-shaped coronectomy applied in extraction of impacted mandibular third molars].

PURPOSE: To compare the clinical efficiency of two types of T-shaped coronectomy applied in extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. METHODS：One hundred and twenty patients meeting with the criteria were randomly divided into 2 groups. Two types of T-shaped coronectomy were applied in extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. Indexes including operation time, intraoperative anxiety, postoperative pain and limitation of mouth opening were recorded and analyzed with SPSS 22.0 software package. RESULTS: Patients with transverse method experienced more time in operation [(17.41±3.72) vs (15.22±2.53) min], with less intraoperative anxiety (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in postoperative pain and limitation of mouth opening(P>0.05) between two methods. CONCLUSIONS: Transverse T-shaped method can alleviate intraoperative anxiety, while longitudinal method is more conducive to shortening operation time.

[Diagonal root separation method for extracting impacted double-root mandibular third molars].

Double-root mandibular third molars are the common types of mandibular third molars that are prone to impac-tion. Based on the summary of clinical cases and experience, the commonly used crown-root separation technique is improved as diagonal root separation technique that divides the roots by the line connecting the distal axis angle to the root furcation. This new method improves the efficiency of the operation and reduces surgical trauma. This paper details the surgical method, minimally invasive mechanics, and key points of this technique, compares the technique with the crown-root separation tech-nique, and discusses their joint applications.

Nitrification/denitrification shaped the mercury-oxidizing microbial community for simultaneous Hg0 and NO removal.

A denitrifying/nitrifying membrane biofilm reactor for simultaneous removal of Hg0 and NO was investigated. Hg0 and NO removal efficiency attained 94.5% and 86%, respectively. The mercury-oxidizing microbial community was significantly shaped by nitrification/denitrification after the supply of gaseous Hg0and NO continuously. Dominant genera Rhodanobacter and Nitrosomonas participated in Hg0 oxidation, nitrification and denitrification simultaneously. Hg0 oxidizing bacteria (Gallionella, Rhodanobacter, Ottowia, Nitrosomonas and etc.), nitrifying bacteria (Nitrosomonas, Rhodanobacter, Diaphorobacte and etc.) and denitrifying bacteria (Nitrosomonas, Rhodanobacter, Castellaniella and etc.) co-existed in the MBfR, as shown by metagenomic sequencing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) confirmed the formation of a mercuric species (Hg2+) from mercury bio-oxidation. Mechanism of mercury oxidation can be described as the bacterial oxidation of Hg0 in which Hg0 serves as electron donor, NO serves as electron donor in nitrification and electron acceptor in denitrification, oxygen serves as electron acceptor.

Selective conversion of coconut oil to fatty alcohols in methanol over a hydrothermally prepared Cu/SiO2 catalyst without extraneous hydrogen.

A novel one-pot approach selects a hydrothermally synthesized Cu/SiO2 catalyst (consisting of Cu2O·SiO2 and Cu0 surface species) to catalyze the reduction of a series of fatty esters, fatty acids, and coconut oil to fatty alcohols at 240 °C in methanol without extraneous hydrogen, attaining around 85% conversion and 100% selectivity.

[Effects of long time different negative pressures on osteogenic differentiation of rabbit bone mesenchymal stem cells].

Objective: To investigate the effects of long time different negative pressures on osteogenic diffe-rentiation of rabbit bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Methods: The rabbit BMSCs were isolated and cultured by density gradient centrifugation. Flow cytometry was used to analyze expression of surface markers. The third passage cells cultured under condition of osteogenic induction and under different negative pressure of 0 mm Hg (control group), 75 mm Hg (low negative pressure group), and 150 mm Hg (high negative pressure group) (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa), and the negative pressure time was 30 min/h. Cell growth was observed under phase contrast microscopy, and the growth curve was drawn; alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was detected by ELISA after induced for 3, 7, and 14 days. The mRNA and protein expressions of collagen type I (COL-I) and osteocalcin (OC) in BMSCs were analyzed by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot. Results: The cultured cells were identified as BMSCs by flow cytometry. The third passage BMSCs exhibited typical long shuttle and irregular shape. Cell proliferation was inhibited with the increase of negative pressure. After induced for 4 days, the cell number of high negative pressure group was significantly less than that in control group and low negative pressure group ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the low negative pressure group and the control group ( P>0.05); at 5-7 days, the cell number showed significant difference between 3 groups ( P<0.05). The greater the negative pressure was, the greater the inhibition of cell proliferation was. There was no significant difference in ALP activity between groups at 3 days after induction ( P>0.05); the ALP activity showed significant difference ( P<0.05) between the high negative pressure group and the control group at 7 days after induction; and significant difference was found in the ALP activity between 3 groups at 14 days after induction ( P<0.05). The greater the negative pressure was, the higher the ALP activity was. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot detection showed that the mRNA and protein expressions of COL-I and OC protein were significantly higher in low negative pressure group and high negative pressure group than control group ( P<0.05), and in the high negative pressure group than the low negative pressure group ( P<0.05). Conclusion: With the increase of the negative pressure, the osteogenic differentiation ability of BMSCs increases gradually, but the cell proliferation is inhibited.