Predicting lung cancer survival prognosis based on the conditional survival bayesian network.

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths and imposes an enormous economic burden on patients. It is important to develop an accurate risk assessment model to determine the appropriate treatment for patients after an initial lung cancer diagnosis. The Cox proportional hazards model is mainly employed in survival analysis. However, real-world medical data are usually incomplete, posing a great challenge to the application of this model. Commonly used imputation methods cannot achieve sufficient accuracy when data are missing, so we investigated novel methods for the development of clinical prediction models. In this article, we present a novel model for survival prediction in missing scenarios. We collected data from 5,240 patients diagnosed with lung cancer at the Weihai Municipal Hospital, China. Then, we applied a joint model that combined a BN and a Cox model to predict mortality risk in individual patients with lung cancer. The established prognostic model achieved good predictive performance in discrimination and calibration. We showed that combining the BN with the Cox proportional hazards model is highly beneficial and provides a more efficient tool for risk prediction.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel N-(3-amino-4-methoxyphenyl)acrylamide derivatives as selective EGFRL858R/T790M kinase inhibitors.

On the basis of N-(3-amino-4-methoxyphenyl)acrylamide scaffold, a series of novel compounds containing 3-substitutional-1-methyl-1H-indole, 2-substitutional pyrrole or thiophene moieties were synthesized and their in vitro antiproliferation activities against A549 and H1975 cell lines were evaluated. The results indicated that most of the compounds showed moderate to excellent antitumor activities. Especially, compounds 9a (A549 IC50 = 1.96 µM, H1975 IC50 = 0.095 µM), 17i (A549 IC50 = 4.17 µM, H1975 IC50 = 0.052 µM), 17j (A549 IC50 = 1.67 µM, H1975 IC50 = 0.061 µM) exhibited comparable antitumor activities and selectivity ratios compared to the positive control osimertinib (A549 IC50 = 2.91 µM, H1975 IC50 = 0.064 µM). In vitro inhibitory activities against EGFR kinases containing different mutations were also tested. Compound 17i showed remarkable inhibitory activity (with IC50 value of 1.7 nM) to EGFRL858R/T790M kinase and selectivity (22-folds compared to EGFRWT kinase). Furthermore, acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining assay, cell apoptosis assay, cell cycle distribution assay and wound-healing assay of the compounds 9a and 17i were performed on H1975 cell line. The results showed dose-dependent activities of the induction of apoptosis, G0/G1-phase arrestation and inhibition of migration, which were similar to the positive control osimertinib. Additionally, molecular docking analysis was performed to seek the possible binding mode between the selected compounds (9a, 17i-17j) and EGFRL858R/T790M kinase. The results demonstrated that compound 17i is a promising candidate and worth further study.

microRNA-665 is down-regulated in gastric cancer and inhibits proliferation, invasion, and EMT by targeting PPP2R2A.

Recently, microRNA-665 (miR-665) has been reported to function as both tumour suppressor and oncogene in several cancer types, including gastric cancer, hepatocellular cancer, and lung cancer. However, the biological function of miR-665 and its precise mechanisms in gastric cancer (GC) have not been well clarified. The aim of this study was to study the roles of miR-665/PPP2R2A axis in GC. The levels of PPP2R2A and miR-665 were detected by quantitative PCR assay in GC tissues and cell lines. Moreover, the biological roles of miR-665 and PPP2R2A in GC cells were assessed by cell proliferation, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The mRNA and protein levels of PPP2R2A were determined by using quantitative PCR and Western blotting assays. Luciferase assays were used to confirm that PPP2R2A was one target of miR-665. In this study, the miR-665 level was dramatically reduced in GC tissues and cell lines, and the PPP2R2A expression was significantly enhanced. What is more, the PPP2R2A expression was negatively related to the miR-665 level in GC tissues. Furthermore, up-regulation of miR-665 obviously restrained GC cells proliferation, invasion, and EMT. We confirmed that miR-665 could directly target PPP2R2A by luciferase reporter assay. Besides, knockdown of PPP2R2A also could markedly inhibit the proliferation, invasion and EMT of GC cells. Finally, overexpression of miR-665 in GC cells partially reversed the promoted effects of PPP2R2A up-regulation. Overexpression of miR-665 restrained GC cells proliferation, invasion and EMT via regulation of PPP2R2A. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: miR-665 has been reported to function as oncogene or tumour suppressor in different cancers. However, the precise roles of miR-665 in GC have not been elucidated. Our study for the first time demonstrated that miR-665 level was significantly down-regulated in GC. Additionally, miR-665 overexpression inhibited cell growth, invasion, and EMT of GC. Moreover, our data suggested a significant negative correlation between miR-665 and PPP2R2A expression in GC. MiR-665 suppressed GC cell proliferation, invasion, and EMT by directly targeting PPP2R2A, which suggested important roles for miR-665/PPP2R2A axis in the GC pathogenesis and its potential application in cancer therapy.

RuIII@CMC/Fe3O4 hybrid: an efficient, magnetic, retrievable, self-organized nanocatalyst for green synthesis of pyranopyrazole and polyhydroquinoline derivatives.

RuIII incorporated with magnetic nanosized CMC/Fe3O4 hybrid (RuIII@CMC/Fe3O4) has readily developed by a very simple self-organized procedure of RuCl3 and Na-CMC/Fe3O4 organic/inorganic hybrid. The self-organized fresh and recovered catalyst was well characterized by ICP-AES, FTIR, XRD, TGA-DSC-DTG, SEM-EDS-mapping, TEM, and XPS techniques. The elemental maps confirmed that the RuIII species are well dispersed in a homogeneous manner on the surface of CMC/Fe3O4 magnetic hybrid nanoparticles. After full characterization, its catalytic activity was investigated in the synthesis of pyranopyrazole and polyhydroquinoline derivatives. Under optimal conditions, all reactions proceeded well and afforded the desired products in excellent yields. There was no significant effect of electron withdrawing or donating nature of substituent on aryl aldehydes in the formation of these target compounds. The salient features of the present new protocol are broad substrate scope, mild reaction conditions, good-to-excellent yields, operational simplicity, energy-efficiency, high atom-economy, easy isolation of products and no column chromatographic separation. Moreover, RuIII@CMC/Fe3O4 can be easily recovered by using a magnetic field and directly reused for several cycles without significant loss of its activity. The recovered catalyst was confirmed by TEM, XPS, XRD, and SEM-EDS analyses. One-pot multicomponent reactions for green synthesis of pyranopyrazole and polyhydroquinoline derivatives have been performed using a self-organized RuIII@CMC/Fe3O4 nanocatalyst.

Exploration of the structure-activity relationship and druggability of novel oxazolidinone-based compounds as Gram-negative antibacterial agents.

To gain further knowledge of the structure-activity relationship and druggability of novel oxazolidinone-based UDP-3-O-acyl-N-acetylglucosamine deacetylase (LpxC) inhibitors as Gram-negative antibacterial agents, compounds containing the hydrophobic tails with different lengths and terminal substitutions were synthesized and their antibacterial activities against standard and clinically isolated Gram-negative strains were evaluated. We summarized their structure-activity relationships and found that oxazolidinone-based compounds exhibited a narrower antibacterial spectrum compared with threonine-based compounds. Furthermore, we parallelly compared the metabolic stabilities of the compounds with the classic threonine scaffold and the novel oxazolidinone scaffold in liver microsomes. The results indicated that the druggability of the oxazolidinone scaffold may be inferior to the classic threonine scaffold in the design of LpxC inhibitors.

Phloroglucinol averts isoprenaline hydrochloride induced myocardial infarction in rats.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is indicated by the symptoms like sharp chest pain, sweating, palpitations, and nervousness finally leading to heart attack. MI occurs mainly due to the risk factors like smoking, elevated blood pressure, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, decreased HDL level, elevated LDL level, hyperlipoproteinemia and aging consequently leads to demandable coronary blood supply, oxidative stress, and acute necrosis of the myocardium. Cardioprotective potential of the phloroglucinol (PG) was assessed by treating isoprenaline hydrochloride (ISO; 85 mg/kg b.w., s.c.) induced MI model in rats. Pretreatment with PG in a dose of 30 mg/kg was done for 28 days and followed by ISO (for MI induction) on 29th and 30th days, exhibited decline in the abnormalities in the ECG patterns, cardiac marker enzymes, enzymic and nonenzymic antioxidants, lipid peroxidation, lipid profiles, and histopathological investigations compared to isoprenaline alone treated group. On the whole, the present investigations elucidate the significance of PG in alleviating the pathological process and appreciably prevent the induction of MI in experimental rats.

Rhizobium arenae sp. nov., isolated from the sand of Desert Mu Us, China.

A Gram-strain-negative, rod-shaped, motile bacterium, designated MIM27T, was isolated from the sand of the Mu Us Desert, PR China. The strain could grow at 4-45 °C (optimum, 37 °C), at pH 6.6-9.0 (optimum, 8.0) and in the presence of 0-3 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0 % in RNA liquid medium). The results of phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the strain represented a member of the genus Rhizobium, with the highest similarity (96.5 %) to Rhizobium pakistanense BN-19T. The results of analysis of the sequences of the nitrogen fixation gene nifH and three housekeeping genes, recA, atpD and glnII, also indicated that MIM27T was most closely related to the species of the genus Rhizobiumwith validly published names but the similarities were low (≤90.7 %). MIM27T did not form nodules on Pisum sativum, Vicia faba, Astragalus sinicus and Phaseolus vulgaris. The major respiratory quinone of MIM27T was Q-10. The genomic DNA G+C content was 59.8 mol%. Major fatty acids of MIM27T were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c), C18 : 1ω7c 11-methyl, C16 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) and summed feature 2 (C12 : 0 aldehyde and/or unknown ECL 10.9525). On the basis of the physiological, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data, MIM27T is suggested to represent a novel species of the genus Rhizobium, for which the name Rhizobium arenae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MIM27T (=KCTC 52299T=MCCC 1K03215T).

Effects of Atorvastatin on Serum High-Sensitive C-Reactive Protein and Total Cholesterol Levels in Asian Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.

Elevated serum levels of high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and total cholesterol (TC) correlate with atherosclerotic vascular disease and increased frequency of vascular events. In this study, we investigated the effect of atorvastatin treatment on serum hs-CRP and TC levels, and the recurrence rate of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients. Furthermore, a meta-analysis was performed to confirm the findings in this study. A total of 105 patients with AF were recruited to this study, including 55 patients with AF who were treated with amiodarone and atorvastatin (the treatment group) and 50 patients with AF who were treated with only amiodarone (the control group). Patients were treated for 12 months and followed up regularly for 1 year. Serum hs-CRP and TC levels in patients before and after treatment were recorded, and AF recurrence rate at 3, 6, and 12 months of treatment was obtained. Statistical analyses were performed with R 3.1.0 software and STATA 12.0 software. For patients in both treatment and control groups, serum hs-CRP and TC levels were high before the treatments began (both P < 0.05). However, after 12 months of treatment, serum hs-CRP and TC levels in the treatment group was dramatically reduced compared with the control group (hs-CRP: 3.63 ± 2.14 mg/L vs. 2.75 ± 1.89 mg/L, t = 2.24, P = 0.027; TC: 4.66 ± 1.13 mmol/L vs. 4.20 ± 1.06 mmol/L, t = 2.15, P = 0.034). After 12 months of treatment, the AF recurrence rate in the treatment group was significantly lower than the control group (16.4% vs. 34.0%; χ = 4.37; P = 0.037). In addition, 13 studies were selected for meta-analysis. Pooled results of the meta-analysis showed that serum hs-CRP and TC levels decreased significantly in the treatment group compared with the case group [hs-CRP: SMD = 0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.62-1.29, and P < 0.001; TC: SMD = 1.39, 95% CI = 0.65-2.13, and P < 0.001]. Our study presents compelling evidence that atorvastatin is highly effective in reducing serum hs-CRP and TC levels and lowering the recurrence rate of AF.

Combined surgery versus cataract surgery alone for eyes with cataract and glaucoma.

BACKGROUND: Cataract and glaucoma are leading causes of blindness worldwide, and their co-existence is common in elderly people. Glaucoma surgery can accelerate cataract progression, and performing both surgeries may increase the rate of postoperative complications and compromise the success of either surgery. However, cataract surgery may independently lower intraocular pressure (IOP), which may allow for greater IOP control among patients with co-existing cataract and glaucoma. The decision between undergoing combined glaucoma and cataract surgery versus cataract surgery alone is complex. Therefore, it is important to compare the effectiveness of these two interventions to aid clinicians and patients in choosing the better treatment approach. OBJECTIVES: To assess the relative effectiveness and safety of combined surgery versus cataract surgery (phacoemulsification) alone for co-existing cataract and glaucoma. The secondary objectives include cost analyses for different surgical techniques for co-existing cataract and glaucoma. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (2014, Issue 10), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE (January 1946 to October 2014), EMBASE (January 1980 to October 2014), PubMed (January 1948 to October 2014), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database (LILACS) (January 1982 to October 2014), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov), and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We last searched the electronic databases on 3 October 2014.We checked the reference lists of the included trials to identify further relevant trials. We used the Science Citation Index to search for references to publications that cited the studies included in the review. We also contacted investigators and experts in the field to identify additional trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of participants who had open-angle, pseudoexfoliative, or pigmentary glaucoma and age-related cataract. The comparison of interest was combined cataract surgery (phacoemulsification) and any type of glaucoma surgery versus cataract surgery (phacoemulsification) alone. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed study eligibility, collected data, and judged risk of bias for included studies. We used standard methodological procedures expected by the Cochrane Collaboration. MAIN RESULTS: We included nine RCTs, with a total of 655 participants (657 eyes), and follow-up periods ranging from 12 to 30 months. Seven trials were conducted in Europe, one in Canada and South Africa, and one in the United States. We graded the overall quality of the evidence as low due to observed inconsistency in study results, imprecision in effect estimates, and risks of bias in the included studies.Glaucoma surgery type varied among the studies: three studies used trabeculectomy, three studies used iStent® implants, one study used trabeculotomy, and two studies used trabecular aspiration. All of these studies found a statistically significant greater decrease in mean IOP postoperatively in the combined surgery group compared with cataract surgery alone; the mean difference (MD) was -1.62 mmHg (95% confidence interval (CI) -2.61 to -0.64; 489 eyes) among six studies with data at one year follow-up. No study reported the proportion of participants with a reduction in the number of medications used after surgery, but two studies found the mean number of medications used postoperatively at one year was about one less in the combined surgery group than the cataract surgery alone group (MD -0.69, 95% CI -1.28 to -0.10; 301 eyes). Five studies showed that participants in the combined surgery group were about 50% less likely compared with the cataract surgery alone group to use one or more IOP-lowering medications one year postoperatively (risk ratio (RR) 0.47, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.80; 453 eyes). None of the studies reported the mean change in visual acuity or visual fields. However, six studies reported no significant differences in visual acuity and two studies reported no significant differences in visual fields between the two intervention groups postoperatively (data not analyzable). The effect of combined surgery versus cataract surgery alone on the need for reoperation to control IOP at one year was uncertain (RR 1.13, 95% CI 0.15 to 8.25; 382 eyes). Also uncertain was whether eyes in the combined surgery group required more interventions for surgical complications than those in the cataract surgery alone group (RR 1.06, 95% CI 0.34 to 3.35; 382 eyes). No study reported any vision-related quality of life data or cost outcome. Complications were reported at 12 months (two studies), 12 to 18 months (one study), and two years (four studies) after surgery. Due to the small number of events reported across studies and treatment groups, the difference between groups was uncertain for all reported adverse events. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is low quality evidence that combined cataract and glaucoma surgery may result in better IOP control at one year compared with cataract surgery alone. The evidence was uncertain in terms of complications from the surgeries. Furthermore, this Cochrane review has highlighted the lack of data regarding important measures of the patient experience, such as visual field tests, quality of life measurements, and economic outcomes after surgery, and long-term outcomes (five years or more). Additional high-quality RCTs measuring clinically meaningful and patient-important outcomes are required to provide evidence to support treatment recommendations.

Thermoactinomyces daqus sp. nov., a thermophilic bacterium isolated from high-temperature Daqu.

Daqu is a fermentation starter used in the production of Chinese liquors. A thermophilic bacterium, designated strain H-18(T), was isolated from a high-temperature Daqu sample collected from the manufacturing process of a sesame-flavoured liquor in Shandong province, China. It was investigated in a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. Strain H-18(T) formed white aerial mycelium and greyish-yellow substrate mycelium, bearing single endospores on aerial and substrate hyphae or on unbranched short sporophores. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0. The predominant menaquinone was MK-7. These chemotaxonomic properties are similar to those of members of the genus Thermoactinomyces. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 49.1 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons indicated that strain H-18(T) was most closely related to Thermoactinomyces vulgaris KCTC 9076(T) (96.42 % similarity), Thermoactinomyces intermedius KCTC 9646(T) (96.06 %), Laceyella putida KCTC 3666(T) (96.32 %) and Laceyella sacchari KCTC 9790(T) (95.55 %). Strain H-18(T) showed low DNA-DNA relatedness (40.8, 33.4, 20.0 and 14.4 %) with the above strains. Based on morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics, DNA-DNA hybridization data and physiological properties, strain H-18(T) represents a novel species of the genus Thermoactinomyces, for which the name Thermoactinomyces daqus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is H-18(T) ( = DSM 45914(T) = CICC 10681(T)).

The roles of long noncoding RNA NEAT1 in cardiovascular diseases.

The morbidity of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) gradually increases worldwide. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a large class of non-(protein)-coding RNAs with lengths beyond 200 nucleotides. Increasing evidence suggests that lncRNA NEAT1 plays important roles in the pathogenesis of CVDs, such as myocardial infarction, heart failure, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, atherosclerosis, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, and others. We summarized the current studies of NEAT1 in CVDs, which shed light on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of CVDs and understanding the therapeutic potential of NEAT1.

Preparation Strategies, Functional Regulation, and Applications of Multifunctional Nanomaterials-Based DNA Hydrogels.

With the extensive attention of DNA hydrogels in biomedicine, biomaterial, and other research fields, more and more functional DNA hydrogels have emerged to match the various needs. Incorporating nanomaterials into the hydrogel network is an emerging strategy for functional DNA hydrogel construction. Surprisingly, nanomaterials-based DNA hydrogels can be engineered to possess favorable properties, such as dynamic mechanical properties, excellent optical properties, particular electrical properties, perfect encapsulation properties, improved magnetic properties, and enhanced antibacterial properties. Herein, the preparation strategies of nanomaterials-based DNA hydrogels are first highlighted and then different nanomaterial designs are used to demonstrate the functional regulation of DNA hydrogels to achieve specific properties. Subsequently, representative applications in biosensing, drug delivery, cell culture, and environmental protection are introduced with some selected examples. Finally, the current challenges and prospects are elaborated. The study envisions that this review will provide an insightful perspective for the further development of functional DNA hydrogels.

Roles of BOCu sites and graphite nitrogen on persulfate non-radical activation for tetracycline degradation.

The activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) by carbon-based catalysts is deemed to be a promising method for the degradation of refractory organic contaminants in wastewater. Herein, a Cu-doping strategy in B and N co-doped carbon nanotubes with highly dispersed BOCu sites and graphite nitrogen were successfully synthesized for activating PMS to degradate tetracycline. The best removal rate of tetracycline within 60 min (97.63 %) was obtained by the 1.5 % Cu-BNC and the degradation rate was increased by 17.9 times. The enhanced catalyst activity was attributed to the promoting the cycle of the Cu(I)/Cu(II) redox pair by the formed BOCu sites, and the accelerating the electron transfer process by the adsorption of graphitic N for PMS. The non-free radical pathway including 1O2 and electron transfer played a dominant role in the 1.5 % Cu-BNC/PMS system. The degradation intermediates of TC were identified and three possible degradation pathways were proposed. Further toxicity analysis of the intermediates showed that the 1.5 % Cu-BNC/PMS system had a significant effect on weakening and reducing the biological toxicity and mutagenicity of TC. Moreover, it presented an excellent degradation performance in raw natural water. In general, the proposed regulation of carbon-based catalysts via the coordination-driven effect provides ideas for efficient wastewater treatment.

Advancing charge carriers separation and transformation by nitrogen self-doped hollow nanotubes g-C3N4 for enhancing photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.

The rapid recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes, low utilization of visible light and weak oxidation capacity significantly limit the photocatalytic activity for the degradation of organic pollutants. Doping is used as a conventional strategy for regulating the electronic structure of photocatalysts to obtain a wider light absorption, but also suffers from the problems of reduced charge mobility and oxidation capacity, which is not conducive to photocatalytic degradation of pollutants. To address this issue, a nitrogen self-doped hollow nanotubes g-C3N4 (N-PCN) was synthesized by synergistic self-doping and quantum confinement effects. The N-PCN exhibits excellent efficiency in photocatalytic degradation of TC compared to the pristine g-C3N4. The synthesized N-PCN has a more positive conduction band minimum and can generate more photogenerated electrons to reduce oxygen to superoxide radicals. In addition, experimental and theoretical evidence shows that N-self-doping not only suppresses the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers but also facilitates the adsorption of oxygen molecules. Consequently, more superoxide radicals and singlet oxygen are generated through oxygen activation process.

"Turn-off" photoelectrochemical aptasensor based on g-C3N4/WC/WO3 composites for tobramycin detection.

Tobramycin (TOB), as a widely used antibiotic, poses severe unpredictable risks to ecology and health. Here, a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor based on a "turn-off" PEC mode was constructed for TOB detection. The working electrode could be modified by g-C3N4/WC/WO3 composites and TOB aptamer probes in turn. The TOB aptamer probes could anchor on the g-C3N4/WC/WO3 through π-π stacking interaction to avoid interference from other modifications. When TOB was captured by the aptamer probes anchored on the modified fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode, a decreased photocurrent was obtained owing to steric hindrance and hinder electron transfer. Under optimal conditions, 0.005-5 ng mL-1 of TOB could be detected with a detection limit as low as 2 pg mL-1. Meanwhile, actual samples were investigated as well. The proposed sensor shows high specificity, satisfactory detectability, great reproducibility, and may provide a new thought for detecting other pollutants.

Self-powered photoelectrochemical aptasensor based on hollow tubular g-C3N4/Bi/BiVO4 for tobramycin detection.

A highly sensitive photoelectrochemical aptasensor based on phosphorus-doped hollow tubular g-C3N4/Bi/BiVO4 (PT-C3N4/Bi/BiVO4) for tobramycin (TOB) detecting was developed. This aptasensor is a self-powered sensing system which could generate the electrical output under visible light irradiation with no external voltage supply. Based on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect and unique hollow tubular structure of PT-C3N4/Bi/BiVO4, the PEC aptasensor exhibited an enhanced photocurrent and favorably specific response to TOB. Under the optimized conditions, the sensitive aptasensor presented a wider linearity to TOB in the range of 0.01-50 ng mL-1 with a low detection limit of 4.27 pg mL-1. This sensor also displayed a satisfying photoelectrochemical performance with optimistic selectivity and stability. In addition, the proposed aptasensor was successfully applied to the detection of TOB in river water and milk samples.

Efficient photocatalytic inactivation of Microcystis aeruginosa by a novel Z-scheme heterojunction tubular photocatalyst under visible light irradiation.

The design of a photocatalyst for efficient algal inactivation under visible light is essential for the application of photocatalysis to the control of harmful algal blooms. In this study, a novel Z-scheme heterojunction tubular photocatalyst, Ag2O@PG, was synthesized by chemically depositing silver oxide compounded with P-doped hollow tubular graphitic carbon nitride for the photocatalytic inactivation of Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa). The photocatalytic algal inactivation experiments showed that the photocatalytic activity of Ag2O@PG was influenced by the ratio of the composition of the obtained materials. The optimal algal inactivation efficiency was observed when using Ag2O@PG-0.4 at a dosage of 0.2 g/L. It was able to achieve a 99.1 % M. aeruginosa inactivation at an initial concentration of 4.5 × 106 cells/mL following 5 h' visible light irradiation. During the process, the cell membrane permeability and cell morphology changed. Furthermore, under the constant attack of superoxide radicals and holes caused by Ag2O@PG, the superoxide dismutase, glutathione and malondialdehyde of algae cells increased during the experiments to alleviate oxidative damage. Eventually, the antioxidant system of algae cells was destroyed. To further validate the potential application of Ag2O@PG-0.4 in real algal bloom environment, an experiment in real water samples was carried out. Overall, the Ag2O@PG-0.4 as an efficient photocatalyst has a promising potential for emergency treatment measures to alleviate algal blooms.

Highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of norfloxacin via Bi2Sn2O7/PDIH Z-scheme heterojunction: Influence and mechanism.

The severe pollution caused by antibiotics has prompted considerable concerns in recent decades. In this study, the Bi2Sn2O7/PDIH Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized and highly photocatalytic activity on norfloxacin was obtained. The degradation of norfloxacin reached 98.71% in 90 min under visible light. The apparent rate constant of norfloxacin (0.4 903 min-1) was 3.65 and 20 times that of PDIH and the Bi2Sn2O7. Meanwhile, XPS, electrochemical, Photoluminescence spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance results showed that Z-scheme charge-transfer process facilitated the spatial carrier separation and preserve redox capability. Furthermore, the degradation intermediates of norfloxacin and their toxicities were evaluated. Finally, in the view of the survey about the impact of different water matrices, it was found that the Bi2Sn2O7/PDIH maintained high efficiency in raw natural water. This work enriched inorganic/organic heterojunction engineering for PDIH, and provided the enormous potential for combining the Bi2Sn2O7 with PDIH to address the antibiotic pollution issues in the actual water treatment.

Designing a Stable g-C3N4/BiVO4-Based Photoelectrochemical Aptasensor for Tetracycline Determination.

The excessive consumption of tetracycline (TC) could bring a series of unpredictable health and ecological risks. Therefore, it is crucial to develop convenient and effective detection technology for TC. Herein, a "signal on" photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor was constructed for the stable detection of TC. Specifically, the g-C3N4/BiVO4 were used to promote the migration of photo-generated charges to an enhanced photocurrent response. TC aptamer probes were stably fixed on the g-C3N4/BiVO4/FTO electrode as a recognition element via covalent bonding interaction. In the presence of TC, the aptamer probes could directly recognize and capture TC. Subsequently, TC was oxidized by the photogenerated holes of g-C3N4/BiVO4, causing an enhanced photocurrent. The "signal on" PEC aptasensor displayed a distinguished detection performance toward TC in terms of a wide linear range from 0.1 to 500 nM with a low detection limit of 0.06 nM, and possessed high stability, great selectivity, and good application prospects.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel osimertinib derivatives as reversible EGFR kinase inhibitors.

A series of osimertinib derivatives without acrylamide groups were synthesized and their inhibitory rates against L858R/T790M/C797S mutated EGFR kinase and antiproliferation activities against non-small cell lung cancer cell lines (A549, H1975) were evaluated. The preferred compounds were selected and their in vitro inhibitory activities against various EGFR kinases (wild-type, L858R/T790M, L858R/T790M/C797S) and c-Met kinase were tested. Compound 9h showed remarkable inhibitory activity against the wild type (IC50 = 29 nM), L858R/T790M mutant type (IC50 = 10 nM) and L858R/T790M/C797S mutant type (IC50 = 242 nM) as reversible EGFR kinase inhibitor, which was selected to further perform the AO/EB staining assays, cell cycle distribution assays and wound-healing assays on A549 and/or H1975 cell lines. The results showed dose-dependent activities of the induction of cell apoptosis, G1/G0-phase arrestation and inhibition of migration. Compound 22a showed remarkable inhibitory activity against the L858R/T790M/C797S mutant EGFR kinase (IC50 = 137 nM), which was nearly three times compared to osimertinib (IC50 = 410 nM). It's worth noting that 22a exhibited excellent kinase selectivity against the L858R/T790M/C797S mutant EGFR kinase rather than the wild-type, which reached 5.4 times and far more than the 0.012 times of osimertinib. Additionally, molecular docking analyses were performed to explain the action modes between the compounds and the corresponding EGFR kinases. In conclusion, compounds 9h and 22a have been demonstrated as promising candidates and worth further study.