Nucleophilic hydrolysis enables HF-etched MXene kilofarad specific capacitance and excellent rate performance.

Here, an unusual MXene with a high ratio of oxygen functional groups was prepared by hydrothermal treatment of HF-etched MXene in aqueous KOH solution. The prepared MXene (H-220) exhibits ultrahigh specific capacitance (1030 F g-1 in a potential window of 0.85 V), and excellent rate and cycling performance simultaneously in a sulfuric acid electrolyte, and can act as an anode material of proton batteries.

Conditional Distribution Function Estimation Using Neural Networks for Censored and Uncensored Data.

Most work in neural networks focuses on estimating the conditional mean of a continuous response variable given a set of covariates. In this article, we consider estimating the conditional distribution function using neural networks for both censored and uncensored data. The algorithm is built upon the data structure particularly constructed for the Cox regression with time-dependent covariates. Without imposing any model assumptions, we consider a loss function that is based on the full likelihood where the conditional hazard function is the only unknown nonparametric parameter, for which unconstrained optimization methods can be applied. Through simulation studies, we show that the proposed method possesses desirable performance, whereas the partial likelihood method and the traditional neural networks with L2 loss yields biased estimates when model assumptions are violated. We further illustrate the proposed method with several real-world data sets. The implementation of the proposed methods is made available at https://github.com/bingqing0729/NNCDE.

The impact of alfentanil supplementation on the sedation of bronchoscopy: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of alfentanil supplementation for the sedation of bronchoscopy remains controversial. We conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the influence of alfentanil supplementation on the sedation during bronchoscopy. METHODS: We search PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases through December 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of alfentanil supplementation versus placebo for the sedation during bronchoscopy. This meta-analysis is performed using the random-effect model. RESULTS: Five RCTs are included in the meta-analysis. Overall, compared with control group for bronchoscopy, alfentanyl supplementation is associated with significantly reduced coughing scores (Std. MD = -0.55; 95% CI = -0.96 to -0.14; P = 0.009) and dose of propofol (Std. MD = -0.34; 95% CI = -0.64 to -0.04; P = 0.03), but reveals the increase in hypoxemia (RR = 1.56; 95% CI = 1.17 to 2.08; P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Alfentanyl supplementation benefits to reduce coughing scores and dose of propofol for bronchoscopy, but increases the incidence of hypoxemia. The use of alfentanyl supplementation for bronchoscopy should be with caution.

Sertad1 promotes prostate cancer progression through binding androgen receptor ligand binding domain.

Androgen receptor (AR) signaling is involved in the initiation and progression of prostate cancer (PCa), which is the most frequently diagnosed nonskin cancer and remains a leading cause of cancer-related death in men. Further investigation of the involvement of AR signaling in PCa progression is urgently needed. In the present study, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen and demonstrated that SERTA domain-containing protein 1 (Sertad1) is a novel AR-binding protein that binds to the AR ligand binding domain (LBD). The binding between AR-LBD and Sertad1 was confirmed by glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assays and immunoprecipitation (IP) and confocal immunofluorescence co-localization experiments. Furthermore, we demonstrated that DHT inhibited Sertad1 protein degradation in prostate cancer cell lines and that Sertad1 knockdown inhibited the proliferation of prostate cancer cells in vitro. In human PCa tumor tissues, Sertad1 expression is positively correlated with AR expression and the Gleason score. Taken together, this report is the first to show that Sertad1 is a novel AR-LBD-binding protein, and DHT-liganded AR-LBD inhibits Sertad1 degradation. Thus, Sertad1 may represent a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of AR-positive PCa.

Spatiotemporal ablation of CXCR2 on oligodendrocyte lineage cells: Role in myelin repair.

BACKGROUND: Residual CXCR2 expression on CNS cells in Cxcr2 (+/-) →Cxcr2 (-/-) chimeric animals slowed remyelination after both experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and cuprizone-induced demyelination. METHODS: We generated Cxcr2 (fl/-) :PLPCre-ER(T) mice enabling an inducible, conditional deletion of Cxcr2 on oligodendrocyte lineage cells of the CNS. Cxcr2 (fl/-) :PLPCre-ER(T) mice were evaluated in 2 demyelination/remyelination models: cuprizone-feeding and in vitro lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) treatment of cerebellar slice cultures. RESULTS: Cxcr2 (fl/-) :PLPCre-ER(T)(+) (termed Cxcr2-cKO) mice showed better myelin repair 4 days after LPC-induced demyelination of cerebellar slice cultures. Cxcr2-cKOs also displayed enhanced hippocampal remyelination after a 2-week recovery from 6-week cuprizone feeding. CONCLUSION: Using 2 independent demyelination/remyelination models, our data document enhanced myelin repair in Cxcr2-cKO mice, consistent with the data obtained from radiation chimerism studies of germline CXCR2. Further experiments are appropriate to explore how CXCR2 function in the oligodendrocyte lineage accelerates myelin repair.

MyD88-dependent interplay between myeloid and endothelial cells in the initiation and progression of obesity-associated inflammatory diseases.

Low-grade systemic inflammation is often associated with metabolic syndrome, which plays a critical role in the development of the obesity-associated inflammatory diseases, including insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. Here, we investigate how Toll-like receptor-MyD88 signaling in myeloid and endothelial cells coordinately participates in the initiation and progression of high fat diet-induced systemic inflammation and metabolic inflammatory diseases. MyD88 deficiency in myeloid cells inhibits macrophage recruitment to adipose tissue and their switch to an M1-like phenotype. This is accompanied by substantially reduced diet-induced systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and atherosclerosis. MyD88 deficiency in endothelial cells results in a moderate reduction in diet-induced adipose macrophage infiltration and M1 polarization, selective insulin sensitivity in adipose tissue, and amelioration of spontaneous atherosclerosis. Both in vivo and ex vivo studies suggest that MyD88-dependent GM-CSF production from the endothelial cells might play a critical role in the initiation of obesity-associated inflammation and development of atherosclerosis by priming the monocytes in the adipose and arterial tissues to differentiate into M1-like inflammatory macrophages. Collectively, these results implicate a critical MyD88-dependent interplay between myeloid and endothelial cells in the initiation and progression of obesity-associated inflammatory diseases.

Novel photocatalytic antibacterial activity of TiO2 microspheres exposing 100% reactive {111} facets.

TiO(2) microspheres constructed by well-crystallized faceted nanorods with high aspect ratios expose 100% photocatalytic reactive {111} facets on the spherical surface. The microspheres demonstrated excellent photocatalytic antibacterial activity towards Staphylococcus aureus due to effective suppression of photoinduced electron-hole pair recombination and active TiO(2)@˙OH core-shell structure.