The novel HLA-DPB1*1550:01 allele, identified by Sanger dideoxy nucleotide sequencing in a Chinese individual.

HLA-DPB1*1550:01 differs from HLA-DPB1*02:02:01:01 by one nucleotide in exon 2.

Amygdalin and exercise training exert a synergistic effect in improving cardiac performance and ameliorating cardiac inflammation and fibrosis in a rat model of myocardial infarction.

This study investigated the effects of amygdalin (AMY, a cyanogenic glycoside widely distributed in the fruits and seeds of Rosaceae plants) on cardiac performance and ventricular remodeling in a rat model of myocardial infarction (MI). We also investigated whether the combination of AMY with exercise training (ExT) has a beneficial synergistic effect in treating MI rats. MI was induced by the ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery in male SD rats. ExT or AMY treatment was started 1 week after MI and continued for 1 week (short-term) or 8 weeks (long-term). Cardiac function was evaluated by echocardiographic and hemodynamic parameters. Heart tissues were harvested and subjected to 2,3,5-triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride, Masson's trichrome, hematoxylin-eosin, and immunohistochemical staining. Gene expression was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Western blot gave a qualitative assessment of protein levels. AMY or ExT improved cardiac function and reduced infarct size in MI rats. AMY or ExT also suppressed myocardial fibrosis and attenuated inflammation in the infarct border zone of hearts from MI rats, as evidenced by inhibition of collagen deposition, inflammatory cell infiltration, and pro-inflammatory markers (interleukin 1ß, interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and cyclooxygenase 2). Notably, the effects of AMY combined with ExT were superior to those of AMY alone or ExT alone. Mechanistically, these beneficial functions were correlated with the inhibition of MI-induced activation of the transforming growth factor-ß/Smad pathway. Collectively, AMY and ExT exert a synergistic effect on improving cardiac performance and ameliorating cardiac inflammation and fibrosis after MI, and the effects of long-term intervention were better than short-term intervention.

Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF)-active Coinage-metal Sulfide Clusters for High-resolution X-ray Imaging.

The study of facile-synthesis and low-cost X-ray scintillators with high light yield, low detection limit and high X-ray imaging resolution plays a vital role in medical and industrial imaging fields. However, the optimal balance between X-ray absorption, decay lifetime and excitonic utilization efficiency of scintillators to achieve high-resolution imaging is extremely difficult due to the inherent contradiction. Here two thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF)-actived coinage-metal clusters M6 S6 L6 (M=Ag or Cu) were synthesized by simple solvothermal reaction, where the cooperation of heavy atom-rich character and TADF mechanism supports strong X-ray absorption and rapid luminescent collection of excitons. Excitingly, Ag6 S6 L6 (SC-Ag) displays a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 91.6 % and scintillating light yield of 17420 photons MeV-1 , as well as a low detection limit of 208.65 nGy s-1 that is 26 times lower than the medical standard (5.5 µGy s-1 ). More importantly, a high X-ray imaging resolution of 16 lp/mm based on SC-Ag screen is demonstrated. Besides, rigid core skeleton reinforced by metallophilicity endows clusters M6 S6 L6 strong resistance to humidity and radiation. This work provides a new view for the design of efficient scintillators and opens the research door for silver clusters in scintillation application.

Refinement of sensitive azides via in situ generated azole-based metal-organic frameworks towards stable energetic materials.

Energetic materials (EMs) have been widely employed in both military and civilian areas for nearly two centuries. The introduction of high-energy azide anions to assemble energetic metal-organic frameworks (EMOFs) is an efficient strategy to enhance energetic properties. However, azido-based EMOFs always suffer low stabilities to external mechanical stimulation. Herein, we employed an in situ hydrothermal reaction as a technique to refine azide anions with a neutral triazole-cyano-based ligand TrzAt (TrzAt = 2-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)acetonitrile) to yield two tetrazole-based EMOFs, namely, [ZnBr(trmetz)]n1 and [Cd(trmetz)2]n2 (Htrmetz = 5-(1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)-1H-tetrazole). Compound 1 features a closely packed 2D layered network, while compound 2 exhibits a 3D architecture. With azide anions inlaid into a nitrogen-rich and chelating ligand in the EMOFs, compounds 1 and 2 present remarkable decomposition temperatures (Tdec ≥ 300 °C), low impact sensitivities (IS ≥ 32 J) and low friction sensitivities (FS ≥ 324 N). The calculated heat of detonation (ΔHdet) values of 1 and 2 are 3.496 and 4.112 kJ g-1, respectively. In particular, the ΔHdet value of 2 is higher than that of traditional secondary explosives such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT, ΔHdet = 3.720 kJ g-1). These results indicate that EMOFs 1 and 2 may serve as potential replacements for traditional secondary explosives. This work provides a simple and effective strategy to obtain two EMOFs with satisfactory energy densities and reliable stabilities through an in situ hydrothermal technique for desensitization of azide anions.

The Extract of Pinellia Ternata-Induced Apoptosis of Leukemia Cells by Regulating the Expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 Protein Expression in Mice.

The study aims to lessen the monetary burden on patients and society by decreasing the price of proprietary drugs used in leukemia therapy. Flow cytometry, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, western blot, and a patient-derived xenograft mouse model were used to confirm the therapeutic effect of Pinellia ternata extract on leukemia. Three types of leukemia cells (K562, HL-60, and C8166 cell lines) were found to undergo early apoptosis (P ≤ .05) after being exposed to P. ternata extract, as measured by flow cytometry. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction results showed that P. ternata extract at both middle (300 µg/mL) and high (500 µg/mL) concentrations was able to down-regulate Bcl-2 and upregulate mRNA expression of Bax and caspase-3. In the patient-derived xenograft mouse model formed by BALB/c-nu/nu nude mice, immunohistochemistry indicated that P. ternata extract effectively suppressed the proliferation of leukemia cells. Therefore, P. ternata extract at 300 µg/mL and 500 µg/mL could effectively inhibit myeloid and lymphocytic leukemia cell proliferation and promote leukemia cell apoptosis by regulating Bax/Bcl-2 and caspase-3.

Highly Sensitive Direct X-Ray Detector Based on Copper(II) Coordination Polymer Single Crystal with Anisotropic Charge Transport.

Anisotropic charge transport plays a pivotal role in clarifying the conductivity mechanism in direct X-ray detection to improve the detection sensitivity. However, the anisotropic photoelectric effect of semiconductive single crystal responsive to X-ray is still lacking of theoretical and experimental proof. The semiconductive coordination polymers (CPs) with designable structures, adjustable functions, and high crystallinity provide a suitable platform for exploring the anisotropic conductive mechanism. Here,the study first reveals a 1D conductive transmission path for direct X-ray detection from the perspective of structural chemistry. The semiconductive copper(II)-based CP 1 single crystal detector exhibits unique anisotropic X-ray detection performance. Along the 1D π-π stacking direction, the single crystal device (1-SC-a) shows a superior sensitivity of 2697.15 µCGyair -1  cm-2 and a low detection limit of 1.02 µGyair  s-1 among CPs-based X-ray detectors. This study provides beneficial guidance and deep insight for designing high-performance CP-based X-ray detectors.

Improving X-ray Scintillating Merits of Zero-Dimensional Organic-Manganese(II) Halide Hybrids via Enhancing the Ligand Polarizability for High-Resolution Imaging.

Luminescent metal halides have been exploited as a new class of X-ray scintillators for security checks, nondestructive inspection, and medical imaging. However, the charge traps and hydrolysis vulnerability are always detrimental to the three-dimensional ionic structural scintillators. Here, the two zero-dimensional organic-manganese(II) halide coordination complexes 1-Cl and 2-Br were synthesized for improvements in X-ray scintillation. The introduction of a polarized phosphine oxide can help to increase the stabilities, especially the self-absorption-free merits of these Mn-based hybrids. The X-ray dosage rate detection limits reached up to 3.90 and 0.81 µGyair/s for 1-Cl and 2-Br, respectively, superior to the medical diagnostic standard of 5.50 µGyair/s. The fabricated scintillation films were applied to radioactive imaging with high spatial resolutions of 8.0 and 10.0 lp/mm, respectively, holding promise for use in diagnostic X-ray medical imaging.

Spatial-temporal features-based EEG emotion recognition using graph convolution network and long short-term memory.

Objective. Emotion recognition on the basis of electroencephalography (EEG) signals has received a significant amount of attention in the areas of cognitive science and human-computer interaction (HCI). However, most existing studies either focus on one-dimensional EEG data, ignoring the relationship between channels, or only extract time-frequency features while not involving spatial features.Approach. We develop spatial-temporal features-based EEG emotion recognition using a graph convolution network (GCN) and long short-term memory (LSTM), named ERGL. First, the one-dimensional EEG vector is converted into a two-dimensional mesh matrix, so that the matrix configuration corresponds to the distribution of brain regions at EEG electrode locations, thus to represent the spatial correlation between multiple adjacent channels in a better way. Second, the GCN and LSTM are employed together to extract spatial-temporal features; the GCN is used to extract spatial features, while LSTM units are applied to extract temporal features. Finally, a softmax layer is applied to emotion classification.Main results. Extensive experiments are conducted on the A Dataset for Emotion Analysis using Physiological Signals (DEAP) and the SJTU Emotion EEG Dataset (SEED). The classification results of accuracy, precision, and F-score for valence and arousal dimensions on DEAP achieved 90.67% and 90.33%, 92.38% and 91.72%, and 91.34% and 90.86%, respectively. The accuracy, precision, and F-score of positive, neutral, and negative classifications reached 94.92%, 95.34%, and 94.17%, respectively, on the SEED dataset.Significance. The above results demonstrate that the proposed ERGL method is encouraging in comparison to state-of-the-art recognition research.

Coordination polymerization of nitrogen-rich linkers and dicyanamide anions toward energetic coordination polymers with low sensitivities.

The design and synthesis of energetic materials (EMs) with high energy and reliable stabilities has attracted much attention in the field of EMs. In this work, we employed a strategy of the coordination polymerization of mild dicyanamide ions (DCA-), two isomeric ligands 1-methyl-5-aminotetrazole (1-MAT) and 2-methyl-5-aminotetrazole (2-MAT) to construct energetic coordination polymers (ECPs). Four new ECPs {[Co(DCA)2(1-MAT)2]·H2O}n1, [Cu(DCA)2(1-MAT)]n2, [Cd(DCA)2(1-MAT)2]n3 and [Cd(DCA)2(2-MAT)2]n4 were successfully synthesized through solvent evaporation routes. Compounds 1 and 4 display 1D chains, while 2 and 3 exhibit 2D-layered structures. Compounds 1-3 with the 1-MAT ligand all exhibit reliable thermal stabilities (> 200 °C). The calculated heats of detonation (ΔHdet) of 1-3 are all higher than 1.4 kJ g-1, which are higher than traditional explosive TNT (1.22 kJ g-1) and the reported ECP AgMtta (HMtta = 5-methyl-1H-tetrazole, ΔHdet = 1.32 kJ g-1). Furthermore, sensitivity testing demonstrates that 1-4 features low mechanical sensitivity to external mechanical action in contrast with the extremely sensitive azide-based ECPs [Cu3(2-MAT)2(N3)6]n. In addition, compound 2 shows hypergolic properties via an 'oxidizer-fuel' drop experiment, demonstrating its application prospects in the field of propellants. This work details an approach of synthesizing multipurpose ECPs with reliable stabilities by introducing mild dicyanamide anions into nitrogen-rich skeletons.

Cardioprotective effects of sinomenine in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in a rat model.

Background: Ischemia reperfusion (I/R) play an imperative role in the expansion of cardiovascular disease. Sinomenine (SM) has been exhibited to possess antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and anticarcinogenic properties. The aim of the study was scrutinized the cardioprotective effect of SM against I/R injury in rat. Methods: Rat were randomly divided into normal control (NC), I/R control and I/R + SM (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg), respectively. Ventricular arrhythmias, body weight and heart weight were estimated. Antioxidant, inflammatory cytokines, inflammatory mediators and plasmin system indicator were accessed. Results: Pre-treated SM group rats exhibited the reduction in the duration and incidence of ventricular fibrillation, ventricular ectopic beat (VEB) and ventricular tachycardia along with suppression of arrhythmia score during the ischemia (30 and 120 min). SM treated rats significantly (P < 0.001) altered the level of antioxidant parameters. SM treatment significantly (P < 0.001) repressed the level of creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), creatine kinase (CK) and troponin I (Tnl). SM treated rats significantly (P < 0.001) repressed the tissue factor (TF), thromboxane B2 (TXB2), plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) and plasma fibrinogen (Fbg) and inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory mediators. Conclusion: Our result clearly indicated that SM plays anti-arrhythmia effect in I/R injury in the rats via alteration of oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction.

Two d10 2D Cathode-Ray Scintillation Coordination Polymers with High Efficiency and High-Voltage Stability.

Two examples of efficient cathode-ray scintillation coordination polymers with good stability at high voltage were prepared by conjugating luminescent groups with d10 metal ions. The synergistic effect of inorganic metal and organic ligand suppresses the self-quenching of the conjugated luminescent groups and enhances the scintillation performance. This work provides new ideas for the design of new field-emission displays and cathode-ray scintillation materials.

Semiconductor-Metal Phase Transition and Emergent Charge Density Waves in 1T-ZrX2 (X = Se, Te) at the Two-Dimensional Limit.

A charge density wave (CDW) is a collective quantum phenomenon in metals and features a wavelike modulation of the conduction electron density. A microscopic understanding and experimental control of this many-body electronic state in atomically thin materials remain hot topics in materials physics. By means of material engineering, we realized a dimensionality and Zr intercalation induced semiconductor-metal phase transition in 1T-ZrX2 (X = Se, Te) ultrathin films, accompanied by a commensurate 2 × 2 CDW order. Furthermore, we observed a CDW energy gap of up to 22 meV around the Fermi level. Fourier-transformed scanning tunneling microscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy reveal that 1T-ZrX2 films exhibit the simplest Fermi surface among the known CDW materials in TMDCs, consisting only of a Zr 4d derived elliptical electron conduction band at the corners of the Brillouin zone.

Therapeutic effect of Cistanche deserticola on defecation in senile constipation rat model through stem cell factor/C-kit signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Constipation is one of the chronic gastrointestinal functional diseases. It seriously affects the quality of life. Cistanche deserticola (C. deserticola) can treat constipation obviously, but its mechanism has not been clarified. We supposed that mechanism of it improved the intestinal motility by stimulating interstitial Cajal cells (ICC). Activation of the C-kit receptor on the surface of ICC is closely related to ICC function, and the stem cell factor (SCF)/C-kit signaling pathways plays an important role on it. To investigate the mechanism of how C. deserticola treats constipation, this study aimed to establish a constipation model in rats and explore the role of SCF/C-kit signaling pathway in the treatment. AIM: To explore the SCF/C-kit signaling pathways in the role of C. deserticola for treatment of constipation by a constipation rat model. METHODS: Forty-eight 8-mo-old Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups by random weight method: Normal group (n = 12), model group (n = 12), C. deserticola group (n = 12) and blocker group (n = 12). The normal group received normal saline by gavage; the model group received loperamide by gavage; the blocker group received loperamide and C. deserticola by gavage, and STI571 was injected by intraperitoneally. During treatment, the weight, fecal granules and fecal quality were recorded every 10 d. On day 20 after model induction, the colon tissues of each group were removed. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to observe pathological changes. Expression levels of SCF, C-kit and Aquaporin genes were detected by immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and real-time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The colonic epithelial mitochondria and goblet cells were observed by transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, as treatment progressed, the weight of rats in the model and blocker groups decreased significantly, the stool weight decreased, and the stool quality was dry (P < 0.05). C. deserticola reversed the decrease in body weight and stool weight and improved stool quality. Histopathological analysis indicated that the colonic mucosal epithelium in the model group was incomplete, and the arrangement of the glands was irregular or damaged. Treatment with C. deserticola improved the integrity and continuity of the epithelial cells and regular arrangement of the glands. The blocking agents inhibited the effects of C. deserticola Immunohistochemistry and real-time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that expression of SCF and C-kit protein or genes in the colonic tissue of the model group was decreased (P < 0.05), while treatment with C. deserticola increased protein or gene expression (P < 0.05). Western blotting showed that expression of aquaporin APQ3 was increased, while the expression of Cx43 decreased in the model group. Treatment with C. deserticola inhibited expression of APQ3 and promoted expression of Cx43. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the mitochondria of the colonic epithelium in the model group were swollen and arranged disorderly, and microvilli were sparse. The condition was better in the C. deserticola group. Mice treated with STI571 blocker confirmed that blocking the SCF/C-kit pathway inhibited the improvement of constipation by C. deserticola. CONCLUSION: C. deserticola improved defecation in rats with constipation, and the SCF/C-kit signaling pathway, which is a key link of ICC function, played an important role of the treatment.

Hydrogen Clathrate Structures in Uranium Hydrides at High Pressures.

Room-temperature superconductivity has always been an area of intensive research. Recent findings of clathrate metal hydrides structures have opened up the doors for achieving room-temperature superconductivity in these materials. Here, we report first-principles calculations for stable H-rich clathrate structures of uranium hydrides at high pressures. The clathrate uranium hydrides contain H cages with stoichiometries of H24, H29, and H32, in which H atoms are bonded covalently to other H atoms, and U atoms occupy the centers of the cages. Especially, a UH10 clathrate structure containing H32 cages is predicted to have an estimated T c higher than 77 K at high pressures.

A critical review on energy recovery and non-hazardous disposal of oily sludge from petroleum industry by pyrolysis.

This review systematically reports the pyrolysis of oily sludge (OS) from petroleum industry in regards to its dual features of the energy recovery potential and the environmental risks. The petroleum hydrocarbons are the nonbiodegradable fractions in OS that possess hazardous properties, i.e. ignitability and toxicity. Besides, complicated hazardous elements (i.e. N, S and Cl) and heavy metals inherently existing in OS further aggravate the environmental risks. However, the high oil content and heating value of OS contribute to its huge energy resource potential. Considering the energy demand and the environmental pressure, the ultimate purposes of the OS management are to enhance the oil recovery efficiency to minimize the oil content as well as to stabilize the hazardous elements and heavy metals into the solid residue. Among various OS management technologies, pyrolysis is the most suitable approach to reach both targets. In this review paper, the pyrolysis principle, the kinetics and the product distribution in three-phases are discussed firstly. Then the effects of operating parameters of the pyrolysis process on the quality and the application potential of the three-phase products, as well as the hazardous element distribution are discussed. To further solve the dominant concerns, such as the oil content in the solid residue, the pyrolytic oil quality and the migration of hazardous elements and heavy metals, the potentials of the catalytic pyrolysis and the co-pyrolysis with additives are also summarized. Also, the typical pyrolysis reactors are then presented. From the perspective of the energy efficiency and the non-hazardous disposal, the integrated technology combining the pyrolysis and the combustion for the OS management is recommended. Finally, the remaining challenges of OS pyrolysis encountered in the research and the industrial application are discussed and the related outlooks are itemized.

Hazardous elements flow during pyrolysis of oily sludge.

Oily sludge (OS) is a hazardous waste and pyrolysis is a promising technology to achieve energy recovery and non-hazardous disposal simultaneously. However, the distribution of hazardous elements, including N/S/Cl and heavy metals, in pyrolytic products possibly causes secondary pollution. This study conducted a systematic research on hazardous elements flow during OS pyrolysis under variant temperature. Results showed that N/S/Cl in OS were distributed 44.77-15.51 wt%, 83.29-80.22 wt%, and 78.59-73.41 wt% into the solid residues after pyrolysis, respectively. Elevating pyrolysis temperature facilitated more N/S/Cl flowing into pyrolytic oil and gas. The macromolecular N-/S-/Cl-containing compounds, including amides, amines, nitriles, sulfonates, chloroalkanes, etc., were widely distributed in pyrolytic oil and gas products. The micromolecular N-/S-/Cl-containing pollutants released between 200 and 400 °C included HCN, NH3, NOx, H2S, CH4S, CS2, SO2, and HCl, which originated from the decomposition of the amine N, organic sulfide and sulfone-S, and inorganic Cl, respectively. The main pollutants released at above 400 °C included NH3, HCN, NOx, CS2, and SO2, which were derived from the decomposition of heterocyclic N and inorganic pyritic-S and sulfate-S. Moreover, the solid residues intercepted more than 60.0 wt% of total heavy metals, which should be concerned in the future.

Soft-Mode-Phonon-Mediated Unconventional Superconductivity in Monolayer 1T

Recent experiments have tuned the monolayer 1T^{'}-WTe_{2} to be superconducting by electrostatic gating. Here, we theoretically study the phonon-mediated superconductivity in monolayer 1T^{'}-WTe_{2} via charge doping. We reveal that the emergence of soft-mode phonons with specific momentum is crucial to give rise to the superconductivity in the electron-doping regime, whereas no such soft-mode phonons and no superconductivity emerge in the hole-doping regime. We also find a superconducting dome, which can be attributed to the change of Fermi surface nesting conditions with electron doping. By taking into account the experimentally established strong anisotropy of temperature-dependent upper critical field H_{c2} between the in-plane and out-of-plane directions, we show that the superconducting state probably has the unconventional equal-spin-triplet pairing in the A_{u} channel of the C_{2h} point group. Our studies provide a promising understanding to the doping dependent superconductivity and strong anisotropy of H_{c2} in monolayer 1T^{'}-WTe_{2}, and can be extended to understand the superconductivity in other gated transition metal dichalcogenides.

Heat-resistant Pb(ii)-based X-ray scintillating metal-organic frameworks for sensitive dosage detection via an aggregation-induced luminescent chromophore.

The synergy of unusual X-aggregation induced luminescent chromophores and heavy Pb(ii) ions has facilitated excellent X-ray scintillation of two structurally similar Pb-SMOFs, which are heat-resistant due to solvent-free lattices. Owing to their higher Pb(ii) contents, Pb-SMOFs with larger X-ray absorption coefficients are more sensitive for X-ray dosage detection than powdered CsPbBr3.

Calcium-based efficient cathode-ray scintillating metal-organic frameworks constructed from π-conjugated luminescent motifs.

Efficient cathode-ray scintillating metal-organic frameworks are constructed from a π-conjugated luminescent motif and light Ca(ii) ions. The luminescence self-quenching pathway has been effectively hindered through coordination. In situ vacuum ultraviolet fluorescent spectra have shown the excitons recombining in the scintillation process for the first time.

Highly Stable Energetic Coordination Polymer Assembled with Co(II) and Tetrazole Derivatives.

A solvothermal reaction of Co(CH3COO)2·4H2O and 5-mercapto-1-methyl-tetrazole (Hmmtz) in methanol (MeOH) yielded a one-dimensional solvent-free energetic coordination polymer, namely, [Co(mmtz)2] n 1, which was structurally characterized. The enthalpy of formation (Δf H°) of 1 (907 kJ mol-1) is much larger than that of commercial 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (-59 kJ mol-1). The impact sensitivity and the friction sensitivity are greater than 40 J and 360 N, respectively, indicating that compound 1 exhibits a potential application as a safe explosive. Temperature-dependent molar magnetic susceptibilities show that weak antiferromagnetic behavior exists in 1.