Light-Assisted Semi-Hydrogenation of 1,3-Butadiene with Water.

Sustainable processes for semi-hydrogenation of alkynes/alkadienes impurities in alkenes feedstocks are in great demand in industry as the utilization of excessive hydrogen, high temperature and unsatisfactory alkenes selectivity of the current thermo-catalytic route, however, their development is still challenging. Herein, we innovate a light-assisted semi-hydrogenation process in gas-feed fixed bed reactor, with water as hydrogen atom source by in situ photocatalysis. Using Pd/TiO2 as model catalyst, this process shows an excellent catalytic performance for the semi-hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene, with 100 % of butenes selectivity at ≈99 % of conversion over 180 h of reaction at ambient temperature driven by 66 mW cm-2 of irradiation intensity. This light-driven, H2 -free, ambient temperature semi-hydrogenation process, with superior performance to that of thermocatalytic route, shows attractive to bring an evolution in industrial hydrogenation technology to an economical and safe way.

lncRNA NEAT1 aggravates sepsis-induced lung injury by regulating the miR-27a/PTEN axis.

Sepsis is an acute inflammatory reaction and a cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In the present study, we explored the roles and underlying mechanism of the lncRNA Nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) in ARDS. The expression levels of genes, proteins and pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients with ARDS, LPS-stimulated cells and septic mouse models were quantified using qPCR, western blotting and ELISA assays, respectively. The molecular targeting relationship was validated by conducting a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Cell proliferation was assessed using the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. The cell cycle phase was determined by flow cytometry assay. The expression levels of NEAT1 and pro-inflammatory cytokines were higher in patients with ARDS and septic models than in controls. Knockdown of NEAT1 significantly increased cell proliferation and cycle progression and prolonged mouse survival in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, miR-27a was identified as a downstream target of NEAT1 and directly inhibited PTEN expression. Further rescue experiments revealed that inhibition of miR-27a impeded the promoting effects of NEAT1 silence on cell proliferation and cycle progression, whereas inhibition of PTEN markedly weakened the inhibitory effects of NEAT1 overexpression on cell proliferation and cycle progression. Altogether, our study revealed that NEAT1 plays a promoting role in the progression of ARDS via the NEAT1/miR-27a/PTEN regulatory network, providing new insight into the pathologic mechanism behind ARDS.

Unexplained elevation of erythrocyte sedimentation rate in a patient recovering from COVID-19: A case report.

BACKGROUND: A disease caused by a novel coronavirus virus, named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), broke out in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and spread around the word. As of March 4, 2020, 93090 confirmed cases and 2984 deaths have been reported in more than 80 countries and territories. It has triggered global public health security. However, the features and prognosis of COVID-19 are incompletely understood. CASE SUMMARY: We here report that the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) increased in a confirmed COVID patient. The high level of ESR sustained for a long time even after the patient recovered from COVID-19, while all results related to tumor, tuberculosis, rheumatic diseases, anemia, etc. cannot explain the abnormal elevation of ESR presented in this case. CONCLUSION: Although the increased ESR cannot be explained by all existing evidence, it possibly links the abnormal pathologic change in some COVID-19 patients and negative prognosis, and provides the clue to dissect the mechanism of illness progressing in COVID-19 and its prognosis.

The expression of microRNA-324-3p as a tumor suppressor in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its clinical significance.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the expression, clinical significance, and possible biologic function of microRNA-324-3p in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues. METHODS: In total, 54 NPC and 35 control tissues were collected. The correlation between miR-324-3p expression and the clinicopathologic characteristics was analyzed. A dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was employed to examine the predicted target gene of miR-324-3p. The miR-324-3p expression level in 5-8F cells was determined with quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction following the transfection of miR-324-3p mimics and inhibitors. Cell proliferation and the percentage of apoptosis were measured with MTT and flow cytometry. Cell invasion ability was assessed by Transwell invasion assay. RESULTS: Our results showed that miR-324-3p was downregulated in the NPC tissues. The expression level of miR-324-3p in poorly differentiated NPC was significantly reduced in comparison with that in well/moderately differentiated NPC. The expression level in clinical stages III/IV was lower than that in clinical stages I/II. Moreover, the expression level of miR-324-3p was significantly lower in NPC patients with lymph node metastasis than that in NPC patients without lymph node metastasis. NPC patients with higher levels of miR-324-3p expression also demonstrated a longer survival time. Predictions from bioinformatics indicated the Hedgehog pathway transcription gene GLI3 as the target gene of miR-324-3p, and the dual- luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-324-3p is directly combined with the 3'-untranslated region of GLI3. The overexpression of miR-324-3p suppressed cell proliferation and invasion, and it enhanced apoptosis in 5-8F cells. CONCLUSION: miR-324-3p can act as a tumor suppressor in NPC cells by the negative regula- tion of GLI3 gene.

Mesoscopic simulation of the self-assembly of the weak polyelectrolyte poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymers.

We designed twelve types of weak polyelectrolytes (i.e., PEO-b-PMMA copolymers (BCP) in multi-arm structures, where six include EO blocks as joint points and the other six have MMA blocks as joint points). All of the BCPs with EO as the joint points form disordered phases with the exception of long-chained and four-armed BCP. The main mesophases of all of the BCPs with MMA as joint points are micelle-like and bicontinuous phases. In particular, the short-chained BCP with four-arms and EO segments outside form a new phase type (i.e., crossed lamellar phase). Using MesoDyn, we provide a comprehensive representation of the micelle and crossed lamellar phase formation mechanisms based on both thermodynamic and dynamic analyses. A shear force on a micelle-like phase could promote a hexagonal columnar phase, which is a good technique for generating an ordered arrangement of nanotube arrays. Blending homopolymers with the same constituents could promote uniformity of the micelle size and decrease the polydispersity, especially for blends with a high BCP concentration, which may provide a new approach for regulating the properties of materials.

Morphology of lipid-like structured weak polyelectrolyte poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymers induced by confinements.

Combined with quantum calculations and mesoscale simulations, the self-assembly of twelve lipid-structured PEO-b-PMMA copolymers (BCPs) with six types of molecular topologies was investigated. The BCPs with MMA species as the connecting center of the other arms present ample mesoscale structures, such as micelles and lamellae or curved lamellar phases, and even macrophase separation occurs for the long-chained BCPs. The excluded volume effect of confinements helps form vesicle-like structures, which proved to be a possible method of confinement to regulate phase morphologies or segment distributions and, ultimately, the properties of materials. An analysis of the phase formation process of short-chained BCP with two hydrophilic EO segments and one hydrophobic MMA segment indicated that four stages were found in both neutral and non-neutral wall confinement, all of which present a hexagonal columnar phase. Surprisingly, when the repulsion effect of the wall to the EO segment is greater than that of the MMA segment, such BCP self assembles into a crossed columnar phase, and the intersection angle of the orientation of these two sets of cylinder arrays is 75 degrees, which can be used to produce heterogeneous nanotube arrays. For the short-chained BCP with four arms joined at MMA species and EO segments in the outer region, we found a novel method of exchanging the repulsive preference of the wall to the EO or MMA species that can control the adsorption or desorption of the lamellar phase with the interval of EO or MMA segments.

Mesoscale simulation of the formation and dynamics of lipid-structured poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymers.

Twelve poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PEO-b-PMMA) copolymers with lipid-like structures were designed and investigated by MesoDyn simulation. Spherical and worm-like micelles as well as bicontinuous, lamellar and defected lamellar phases were obtained. A special structure, designated B2412, with two lipid structures connected by their heads, was found to undergo four stages prior to forming a spherical micelle phase. Two possible assembly mechanisms were found via thermodynamic and dynamic process analyses; namely, the fusion and fission of micelles in dynamic equilibrium during the adjustment stage. Water can be encapsulated into these micelles, which can affect their size, particularly in low concentration aqueous solutions. The assignment of weak negative charges to the hydrophilic EO blocks resulted in a clear effect on micelle size. Surprisingly, the largest effect was observed with EO blocks with -0.5 e, wherein an ordered perfect hexagonal phase was formed. The obtained results can be applied in numerous fields of study, including adsorption, catalysis, controlled release and drug delivery.

[Protective effect of ulinastatin on pulmonary function after cardiopulmonary bypass].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Ulinastatin with different doses on pulmonary protection after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). METHODS: Ninety patients after CPB were brought into this study and divided into low doses Ulinastatin group (L group, n=30, 5 000 U/kg), high doses Ulinastatin group (H group, n=30, 20 000 U/kg) and control group (C group, n= 30), respectively. When the patients were transferred into ICU after CPB, Ulinastatin was given intravenously to those in L and H group, while saline was given in C group. Blood samples were harvested at the time before the treatments (T0) and 12 hours (T1), 24 hours (T2) after the treatments, for the measurements of arterial pressure of oxygen (PaO2), arterial pressure of carbon monoxide (PaCO2),difference of alveoli-arterial oxygen pressure (PO(2A), oxygenation index (Ol),and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) level. Pulmonary dynamic compliance (Cd), plat pressure (Pplat) and peak pressure (Ppeak) were determined at the time of To and wean (Tw). The durations of ventilation and intubation were recorded. RESULTS: At T0, the levels of PaO2, PaCO2, PO2A-a, OI and TNF-alpha in each group showed no significantly difference (P> 0. 05). At T1 and T2, the patients in H group had higher levels of PO2, PO2A-a. and OI, lower level of TNF-alpha, shorter duration of ventilation and intubation than the patients in other two groups(P<0. 05). The parameters in L group were better than those in C group, but the differences were not stastically significant (P>0. 05). There was no significantly difference in the levels of Cd, Pplat, and Ppeak at T0 and Tw between any two groups (P>0. 05). The intubation and ventilation time in H group were shorter than that in L and C group (P<0. 05). CONCLUSION: The application of Ulinastatin could achieve pulmonary protective effect after CPB, and it seems the effect could be better with high dose (20 000 U/kg) of Ulinastatin.