Downregulation of NUP93 aggravates hypoxia-induced death of cardiomyocytes in vitro through abnormal regulation of gene transcription.

Nuclear pore complex in the nuclear envelope plays an important role in controlling the transportation of RNAs, proteins and other macromolecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm. The relationship between abnormal expression of nucleoporins and cardiovascular diseases is unclear. In this study we investigated how myocardial infarction affected the expression and function of nucleoporins in cardiomyocytes. We separately knocked down 27 nucleoporins in rat primary myocardial cells. Among 27 nucleoporins, knockdown of Nup93, Nup210 and Nup214 markedly increased the expression of ANP and BNP, two molecular markers of cardiomyocyte function. We showed that Nup93 was significantly downregulated in hypoxic cardiomyocytes. Knockdown of Nup93 aggravated hypoxia-induced injury and cell death of cardiomyocytes, whereas overexpression of Nup93 led to the opposite effects. RNA-seq and bioinformatics analysis revealed that knockdown of Nup93 did not affect the overall transportation of mRNAs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, but regulated the transcription of a large number of mRNAs in cardiomyocytes, which are mainly involved in oxidative phosphorylation and ribosome subunits. Most of the down-regulated genes by Nup93 knockdown overlapped with the genes whose promoters could be directly bound by Nup93. Among these genes, we demonstrated that Nup93 knockdown significantly down-regulated the expression of YAP1. Overexpression of YAP1 partially rescued the function of Nup93 knockdown and attenuated the effects of hypoxia on cell injury and cardiomyocyte death. We conclude that down-regulation of Nup93, at least partially, contributes to hypoxia-induced injury and cardiomyocyte death through abnormal interaction with the genome to dynamically regulate the transcription of YAP1 and other genes. These results reveal a new mechanism of Nup93 and might provide new therapeutic targets for the treatment of ischemia-induced heart failure.

A case of acute pancreatitis induced by voriconazole during treatment of cryptococcal meningitis.

Acute pancreatitis refers to pancreatic enzyme activation caused by a variety of aetiologies, and mainly characterized by local inflammation of the pancreas, with or without diseases of other organ function changes. The main clinical features are abdominal pain and elevated trypsin levels in the blood. Common causes of acute pancreatitis include cholelithiasis, alcohol consumption and hyperlipidaemia, among which drugs are considered to be one of the rare causes of pancreatitis. The patient in this case was a 16-year-old adolescent female who developed acute severe pancreatitis during the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis with voriconazole for 35 days. Following diagnosis that pancreatitis was induced by voriconazole, the drug was immediately stopped and the patient was discharged after symptomatic treatment. The phenomenon of voriconazole-induced pancreatitis is extremely rare, but we hope that this report can arouse greater attention and vigilance of the majority of medical personnel to improve the safety of patients' medication, especially for children or minors.

Kinesin family member 23 (KIF23) contributes to the progression of bladder cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

The aim of our study was to detect the expression of KIF23 in human bladder cancer tissues and to assess the potential role of KIF23 in bladder cancer progression. The expression of KIF23 and the correlation with bladder cancer patients were explored using the TCGA database. Additionally, IHC assays were also performed to detect KIF23 expression in 95 bladder cancer tissues and corresponding non-tumor tissues collected in our hospital. Colony formation, MTT, and flow cytometry (FCM) assays were performed to detect its effects on bladder cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. An animal model was developed to found the effects of KIF23 on tumor growth in mice. Data showed that the KIF23 expression was upregulated in human bladder cancer tissues. The expression of KIF23 was correlated with the prognosis and clinicopathological features, including T stage (p=0.022) and recurrence (p=0.020), of bladder cancer patients. KIF23 depletion inhibited the proliferation of bladder cancer cells, stimulated apoptosis, and suppressed tumor growth in mice. We demonstrated the involvement of KIF23 in bladder cancer progression and provided a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of bladder cancer.

Outcome of a 980-nm diode laser coagulation in women with radiation-induced hemorrhagic cystitis: a single-center retrospective study.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a 980-nm diode laser coagulation in women with radiation-induced hemorrhagic cystitis (RHC). We conducted a retrospective study of 21 RHC patients treated with a 980-nm diode laser between July 2014 and December 2017 at our institution. Data was collected with regard to age, sex, lower urinary tract symptoms, use of transfusions, a drop in hemoglobin levels, indication of radiotherapy, median time between radiation therapy and presentation, previous treatments, operative time, mean energy used, number of coagulated areas, catheterization time, discharge time after treatment, hospital stay, and surgical outcome. All 21 patients were women with a median age of 52 years (range 36-68 years). Eighteen patients complained of frequency and urgency, four patients had dysuria, and one patient developed urinary retention. Radiation therapy was primarily indicated in the treatment of cervical cancer in 18 patients (85.7%) and endometrial cancer in three patients (14.3%). Nine patients (42.8%) received blood transfusion before surgery and three patients (14.3%) needed blood transfusion after the procedure. The mean decrease in hemoglobin prior to the procedure was 4.08 ± 2.04 g/dL. The median length of time from completion of radiotherapy to the presentation of hematuria was 38 months (range 8-65 months). All patients had failed an adequate trial of conservative treatment which included adequate hydration, hemostatics, continuous bladder irrigation (CBI), and clot evacuation at the bedside. Eleven patients (52.4%) had previously been treated with endoscopic electrocoagulation; the mean number of procedures was 1.73 ± 0.78 (range 1-3 sessions). Six patients (28.6%) underwent HBO, and sodium hyaluronate solution irrigation was administered to 3 patients (14.3%). The mean number of HBO sessions was 26.3 ± 16.8 (range 8-50), and the mean number of sodium hyaluronate solution irrigation procedures was 4.33 ± 1.53 (range 3-6). All operations were successful. The mean operative time was 45.6 ± 12.3 min, the mean number of coagulated areas was 11.7 ± 4.4, the mean energy used was 2.74 ± 1.14 kJ, the mean catheterization time was 6.2 ± 0.9 days, the mean discharge time after treatment was 6.8 ± 1.2 days, and the average length of a hospital stay was 7.4 ± 1.3 days. In 16 patients (76.2%), hematuria was completely resolved after one session of diode laser coagulation. Four patients (19.0%) underwent multiple sessions of laser treatment due to recurrent gross hematuria (three patients required two sessions and one patient required three sessions). Only one patient (4.8%) who had persistent gross hematuria after diode laser treatment (two sessions) underwent a radical cystectomy, which resolved the hematuria. The median hematuria-free interval of patients who had multiple procedures was 9 months (range 1-13 months). In total, 21 patients underwent 27 sessions of diode laser coagulation, and the median hematuria-free interval was 16 months (range 1-45 months) with a median follow-up of 25 months (range 7-48 months). Our study shows promising results for the management of patients with RHC; however, further evaluation with a larger cohort is required to confirm the efficacy of this treatment.

Intrinsically Safe and Shelf-Stable Diazo-Transfer Reagent for Fast Synthesis of Diazo Compounds.

We report a crystalline compound 2-azido-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine (ADT) as an intrinsically safe, highly efficient, and shelf-stable diazo-transfer reagent. Because the decomposition of ADT is an endothermal process (Δ H = 30.3 kJ mol-1), ADT is intrinsically nonexplosive, as proved by thermal, friction, and impact tests. The diazo-transfer reaction based on ADT gives diazo compounds in excellent yields within several minutes at room temperature. ADT is very stable upon >1 year storage under air at room temperature.

The direct observation of electron backflow in an organic heterojunction formed by two n-type materials.

Many physical processes such as exciton interfacial dissociation, exciton interfacial recombination, and exciton-electron and exciton-hole interactions coexist at the interface of organic solar cells (OSC). In this study, the direction of free charge generation is defined as the direction from the interface to the side where free charges are left. For a p-n type device, the direction of free electron (hole) generation from exciton dissociation at the donor/accepter (D/A) interface is the same as the subsequent transportation direction under the built-in electric field. However, the direction of free electron (hole) generation from exciton-exciton recombination across the D/A interface is opposite to the direction of free charge transportation. Both free charges generated from exciton interfacial dissociation and recombination are contributed to the photocurrent for a p-n type device. In a device with a heterojunction formed by two n-type materials (here it is defined as an n-n type device), the direction of free electron (hole) generation from exciton recombination across the interface is also the same as the subsequent free charge transportation. At the same time, there are also some free electrons (free holes) generated by exciton interfacial dissociation. The direction of free charge generation from exciton dissociation for this n-n type device is also opposite to the direction of free charge transportation. However, only free charges generated from exciton interfacial recombination are contributed to the photocurrent for an n-n type device. But so far there has been no direct experimental evidence to prove the above theories. In this work, an NPB interfacial layer with a high LUMO was introduced in an n-n type OSC to inhibit the backflow of electrons, which are generated from exciton dissociation at the heterojunction formed by two n-type materials, enhancing the device performance accordingly. This work is conducive to interfacial engineering in an OSC to further improve its performance.

Time-dependent response of A549 cells upon exposure to cadmium.

Cadmium is considered one of the most harmful carcinogenic heavy metals in the human body. Although many scientists have performed research on cadmium toxicity mechanism, the toxicokinetic process of cadmium toxicity remains unclear. In the present study, the kinetic response of proteome in/and A549 cells to exposure of exogenous cadmium was profiled. A549 cells were treated with cadmium sulfate (CdSO4 ) for different periods and expressions of proteins in cells were detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The kinetic expressions of proteins related to cadmium toxicity were further investigated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Intracellular cadmium accumulation and content fluctuation of several essential metals were observed after 0-24 hours of exposure by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Fifty-four protein spots showed significantly differential responses to CdSO4 exposure at both 4.5 and 24 hours. From these proteins, four expression patterns were concluded. Their expressions always exhibited a maximum abundance ratio after CdSO4 exposure for 24 hours. The expression of metallothionein-1 and ZIP-8, concentration of total protein, and contents of cadmium, zinc, copper, cobalt and manganese in cells also showed regular change. In synthesis, the replacement of the essential metals, the inhibition of the expression of metal storing protein and the activation of metal efflux system are involved in cadmium toxicity.

Gaussian Guided Self-Adaptive Wolf Search Algorithm Based on Information Entropy Theory.

Nowadays, swarm intelligence algorithms are becoming increasingly popular for solving many optimization problems. The Wolf Search Algorithm (WSA) is a contemporary semi-swarm intelligence algorithm designed to solve complex optimization problems and demonstrated its capability especially for large-scale problems. However, it still inherits a common weakness for other swarm intelligence algorithms: that its performance is heavily dependent on the chosen values of the control parameters. In 2016, we published the Self-Adaptive Wolf Search Algorithm (SAWSA), which offers a simple solution to the adaption problem. As a very simple schema, the original SAWSA adaption is based on random guesses, which is unstable and naive. In this paper, based on the SAWSA, we investigate the WSA search behaviour more deeply. A new parameter-guided updater, the Gaussian-guided parameter control mechanism based on information entropy theory, is proposed as an enhancement of the SAWSA. The heuristic updating function is improved. Simulation experiments for the new method denoted as the Gaussian-Guided Self-Adaptive Wolf Search Algorithm (GSAWSA) validate the increased performance of the improved version of WSA in comparison to its standard version and other prevalent swarm algorithms.

[Transurethral diode laser enucleation versus transurethral electrovaporization resection of the prostate for benign prostatic hyperplasia with different prostate volumes].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effect of diode laser enucleation of the prostate (DIOD) with that of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) on benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) with different prostate volumes. METHODS: This retrospective study included 256 BPH patients treated by DIOD (n = 141) or TURP (n = 115) from March 2012 to August 2015. According to the prostate volume, we divided the patients into three groups: <60 ml (42 for DIOD and 31 for TURP), 60－80 ml (51 for DIOD and 45 for TURP), and >80 ml (48 for DIOD and 39 for TURP). We obtained the relevant data from the patients before, during and at 6 months after surgery, and compared the two surgical strategies in operation time, perioperative levels of hemoglobin and sodium ion, post-operative urethral catheterization time and bladder irrigation time, pre- and post-operative serum PSA levels, International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS), post-void residual urine (PVR) volume and maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), and incidence of post-operative complications among different groups. RESULTS: In the <60 ml group, there were no remarkable differences in the peri- and post-operative parameters between the two surgical strategies. In the 60－80 ml group, DIOD exhibited a significant superiority over TURP in the perioperative levels of hemoglobin (ï¼»3.25 ± 1.53ï¼½ g/L vs ï¼»4.77 ± 1.67ï¼½ g/L, P <0.05) and Na+ (ï¼»3.58 ± 1.27ï¼½mmol/L vs ï¼»9.67 ± 2.67ï¼½ mmol/L, P <0.01), bladder irrigation time (ï¼»30.06 ± 6.22ï¼½h vs ï¼»58.32 ± 10.25ï¼½ h, P <0.01), and urethral catheterization time (ï¼»47.61 ± 13.55ï¼½ h vs ï¼»68.01 ± 9.69ï¼½ h, P <0.01), but a more significant decline than the latter in the postoperative PSA level (ï¼»2.34 ± 1.29ï¼½ ng/ml vs ï¼»1.09 ± 0.72ï¼½ ng/ml, P <0.05), and similar decline was also seen in the >80 ml group (ï¼»3.35 ± 1.39ï¼½ ng/ml vs ï¼»1.76 ± 0.91ï¼½ ng/ml, P <0.05). No blood transfusion was necessitated and nor postoperative transurethral resection syndrome or urethral stricture observed in DIOD. However, the incidence rate of postoperative pseudo-urinary incontinence was significantly higher in the DIOD (22.7%, 32/141) than in the TURP group (7.83%, 9/115) (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: DIOD, with its obvious advantages of less blood loss, higher safety, faster recovery, and more definite short-term effectiveness, is better than TURP in the treatment of BPH with medium or large prostate volume and similar to the latter with small prostate volume.

Effect of levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives on the apoptosis and autophagy of HCC SMMC-7721 cells.

The aim of present research work is study the effect of levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives on apoptosis and autophagy of HCC SMMC-7721 cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The HCC SMMC-7721 cells in the logarithmic phase growth were inoculated, and the proliferation of SMMC -7721 cells was detected by MTT assay. The effect of levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives on SMMC-7721 cell cycle and apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry. Cells were treated by autophagy inhibitor chloroquine to validate the effect of levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives on cell proliferation and apoptosis. Levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives could significantly inhibit the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells. Compared with the control group, the apoptosis rate of cells treated with levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives was increased significantly in 24h, showing significant difference between groups. Chloroquine could increase the inhibitory effect of low-dose levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives on SMMC-7721 cell proliferation, and decrease the inhibitory effect of high-dose levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives on SMMC-7721 cell proliferation. Levofloxacononone chalcone derivatives can obviously induce the apoptosis and autophagy of SMMC-7721 cells, at a low dose, its autophagy can protect cells; and at a high dose, the autophagy can decrease the cell proliferation rate, to promote cell apoptosis.

The association between RASSF1A promoter methylation and prostate cancer: evidence from 19 published studies.

Ras-associated domain family 1A (RASSF1A) is a putative tumor suppressor gene located at 3p21.3, and the epigenetic inactivation of RASSF1A by hypermethylation of CpG islands within the promoter region has been observed in various cancer types, including prostate cancer (PCa). However, results from published studies on the association between RASSF1A promoter methylation and PCa risk are conflicting and inconclusive. Hence, we conducted a meta-analysis of 19 eligible studies with odds ratio (OR) and its corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) in order to investigate the strength of relationship of RASSF1A promoter methylation with PCa risk and its clinicopathological variables. Overall, the RASSF1A promoter methylation was significantly associated with PCa risk (OR = 9.58, 95% CI 5.64-16.88, P heterogeneity <0.001) and Gleason score (GS) (OR = 2.58, 95% CI 1.64-4.04, P(heterogeneity) = 0.019). In addition, subgroup analysis by testing material demonstrated the significant association between RASSF1A methylation and GS (OR = 3.09, 95% CI 1.92-4.97, P heterogeneity =0.042), PSA level (OR = 2.75, 95% CI 1.67-4.52, P(heterogeneity) = 0.639), and tumor stage (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.05-2.87, P(heterogeneity) = 0.026) in tissue rather than urine samples. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggested that RASSF1A promoter methylation was significantly associated with an increased risk for PCa; furthermore, the RASSF1A methylation status in tissue rather than urine was positively correlated with GS, serum PSA level, and tumor stage, which can be utilized for the early detection and prognosis prediction of PCa.

Association of polymorphisms in estrogen receptors (ESR1 and ESR2) with male infertility: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

PURPOSE: Estrogens play an important role in male reproduction via interacting with estrogen receptors (ERs), whose expression can be regulated by the polymorphisms in different regions of ESR1 and ESR2 genes. However, results from published studies on the association between four well-characterized polymorphisms (PvuII, XbaI, RsaI, and AluI) in the gene of ERs (ESR1 and ESR2) and male infertility risk are inconclusive. METHODS: To investigate the strength of relationship of PvuII and XbaI in ESR1 and RsaI and AluI in ESR2 with male infertility, we conducted a meta-analysis of 12 eligible studies with odds ratio (OR) and its corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). RESULTS: Overall, ESR1 PvuII and ESR2 RsaI polymorphisms were significantly associated with male infertility risk. The subgroup analyses by ethnicities demonstrated that in Asians, ESR1 PvuII, XbaI and ESR2 RsaI polymorphisms were significantly associated with a decreased infertility risk, while in Caucasians both ESR1 PvuII and ESR2 RsaI polymorphisms increased the susceptibility to male infertility. As for ESR2 AluI polymorphism, no significant association was detected in either overall analysis or subgroup analyses by ethnicities/genotyping methods. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggested that polymorphisms in the genes of ERs (ESR1 and ESR2) may have differential roles in the predisposition to male infertility according to the different ethnic backgrounds. Further well-designed and unbiased studies with larger sample size and diverse ethnic backgrounds should be conducted to verify our findings.

Abnormal expression of PRKAG2-AS1 in endothelial cells induced inflammation and apoptosis by reducing PRKAG2 expression.

PRKAG2 is required for the maintenance of cellular energy balance. PRKAG2-AS1, a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), was found within the promoter region of PRKAG2. Despite the extensive expression of PRKAG2-AS1 in endothelial cells, the precise function and mechanism of this gene in endothelial cells have yet to be elucidated. The localization of PRKAG2-AS1 was predominantly observed in the nucleus, as revealed using nuclear and cytoplasmic fractionation and fluorescence in situ hybridization. The manipulation of PRKAG2-AS1 by knockdown and overexpression within the nucleus significantly altered PRKAG2 expression in a cis-regulatory manner. The expression of PRKAG2-AS1 and its target genes, PRKAG2b and PRKAG2d, was down-regulated in endothelial cells subjected to oxLDL and Hcy-induced injury. This finding suggests that PRKAG2-AS1 may be involved in the mechanism behind endothelial injury. The suppression of PRKAG2-AS1 specifically in the nucleus led to an upregulation of inflammatory molecules such as cytokines, adhesion molecules, and chemokines in endothelial cells. Additionally, this nuclear suppression of PRKAG2-AS1 facilitated the adherence of THP1 cells to endothelial cells. We confirmed the role of nuclear knockdown PRKAG2-AS1 in the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and lumen formation through flow cytometry, TUNEL test, CCK8 assay, and cell scratching. Finally, it was determined that PRKAG2-AS1 exerts direct control over the transcription of PRKAG2 by its binding to their promoters. In conclusion, downregulation of PRKAG2-AS1 suppressed the proliferation and migration, promoted inflammation and apoptosis of endothelial cells, and thus contributed to the development of atherosclerosis resulting from endothelial cell injury.

Corticosterone regulation of ovarian follicular development is dependent on the energy status of laying hens.

Glucocorticoids participate in the arousal of stress responses and trigger physiological adjustments that shift energy away from reproduction toward survival. Ovarian follicular development in avians is accompanied by the supply of yolk precursors, which are mainly synthesized in the liver. Therefore, we hypothesized energy status and hepatic lipogenesis are involved in the induction of reproductive disorders by glucocorticoids in laying hens. The results show that corticosterone decreased the laying performance by suppressing follicular development in energy-deficit state, rather than in energy-sufficient state. In corticosterone-treated hens, the suppressed follicular development was associated with the reduced availability of yolk precursor, indicated by the plasma concentration of VLDL and vitellogenin and the decreased proportion of yolk-targeted VLDL (VLDLy). Corticosterone decreased the expression of apolipoprotein B and apolipoprotein VLDL-II in the liver. A drop in VLDL receptor content and an increase in the expression of tight junction proteins occludin and claudin1 were also observed in hierarchical follicles. The results suggest corticosterone-suppressed follicular development is energy dependent. The decreased apolipoprotein synthesis and VLDLy secretion by liver are responsible for the decreased availability of circulating yolk precursor, and the upregulation of occludin and claudin expression further prevents yolk deposition into oocytes.

An Adaptive Injection Model for Pansharpening.

Pansharpening technology is used to acquire a multispectral image with high spatial resolution from a panchromatic (PAN) image and a multispectral (MS) image. The detail injection model is popular for its flexibility. However, the accuracy of the injection gain and the extracted details may greatly influence the quality of the pansharpened image. This paper proposes an adaptive injection model to solve these problems. For detail extraction, we present a Gaussian filter estimation algorithm by exploring the intrinsic character of the MS sensor and convolving the PAN image with the filter to adaptively optimize the details to be consistent with the character of the MS image. For the adaptive injection coefficient, we iteratively adjust the coefficient by balancing the spectral and spatial fidelity. By multiplying the optimized details and injection gain, the final HRMS is obtained with the injection model. The performance of the proposed model is analyzed and a large number of tests are carried out on various satellite datasets. Compared to some advanced pansharpening methods, the results prove that our method can achieve the best fusion quality both subjectively and objectively.

Group theoretic particle swarm optimization for multi-level threshold lung cancer image segmentation.

Background: Image segmentation is an important step during the processing of medical images. For example, for the computer aid diagnostic systems for lung cancer image analysis, the segmented regions of tumors would help doctors in early diagnosis to determine timely and appropriate treatment possibilities and thereby improve the survival rate of the patients. However, general clinical routines of manual segmentation for large number of medical images are very difficult and time consuming, which is the challenge we aim to tackle using our proposed method. Methods: A novel image segmentation method with evolutionary learning technique named Group Theoretic Particle Swarm Optimization is proposed. It can tackle multi-level thresholding optimization problem during the segmentation process and rebuild the search paradigm according to the solid mathematical foundation of symmetric group from four designable aspects, which are particle encoding, solution landscape, neighborhood movement and swarm topology, respectively. The Kapur's entropy of multi-level thresholds is assessed as the objective function. Results: In contrast to those conventional metaheuristics methods for lung cancer image segmentation, this newly presented method generates the best performance result among them. Experimental results show that its Kapur's entropy has the value of 9.07, which is 16% higher than the worst case. Computational time is acceptable at the cost of 173.730 seconds, average level of evaluation metrics [Kappa, Precision, Recall, F1-measure, intersection over union (IoU) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC)] is over 90%, and search process of multi-level threshold combination would finally converge in the later phase of iterations after 700. The ablation study indicates that all components are significant to the contributions of our proposed method. Conclusions: Group Theoretic Particle Swarm Optimization for multi-level threshold segmentation is an efficient way to split a medical image into distinct regions and extract tumor tissues regions from the background. It maintains the balanced relationship between diversification and intensification during the search process and helps clinicians to make the diagnosis more accurately. Our proposed method processes potential medical value and clinical meanings.

Nanocellulose-Assisted Construction of Multifunctional MXene-Based Aerogels with Engineering Biomimetic Texture for Pressure Sensor and Compressible Electrode.

Multifunctional architecture with intriguing structural design is highly desired for realizing the promising performances in wearable sensors and flexible energy storage devices. Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is employed for assisting in building conductive, hyperelastic, and ultralight Ti3C2Tx MXene hybrid aerogels with oriented tracheid-like texture. The biomimetic hybrid aerogels are constructed by a facile bidirectional freezing strategy with CNF, carbon nanotube (CNT), and MXene based on synergistic electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding. Entangled CNF and CNT "mortars" bonded with MXene "bricks" of the tracheid structure produce good interfacial binding, and superior mechanical strength (up to 80% compressibility and extraordinary fatigue resistance of 1000 cycles at 50% strain). Benefiting from the biomimetic texture, CNF/CNT/MXene aerogel shows ultralow density of 7.48 mg cm-3 and excellent electrical conductivity (~ 2400 S m-1). Used as pressure sensors, such aerogels exhibit appealing sensitivity performance with the linear sensitivity up to 817.3 kPa-1, which affords their application in monitoring body surface information and detecting human motion. Furthermore, the aerogels can also act as electrode materials of compressive solid-state supercapacitors that reveal satisfactory electrochemical performance (849.2 mF cm-2 at 0.8 mA cm-2) and superior long cycle compression performance (88% after 10,000 cycles at a compressive strain of 30%).

Photothermal-enabled single-atom catalysts for high-efficiency hydrogen peroxide photosynthesis from natural seawater.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a powerful industrial oxidant and potential carbon-neutral liquid energy carrier. Sunlight-driven synthesis of H2O2 from the most earth-abundant O2 and seawater is highly desirable. However, the solar-to-chemical efficiency of H2O2 synthesis in particulate photocatalysis systems is low. Here, we present a cooperative sunlight-driven photothermal-photocatalytic system based on cobalt single-atom supported on sulfur doped graphitic carbon nitride/reduced graphene oxide heterostructure (Co-CN@G) to boost H2O2 photosynthesis from natural seawater. By virtue of the photothermal effect and synergy between Co single atoms and the heterostructure, Co-CN@G enables a solar-to-chemical efficiency of more than 0.7% under simulated sunlight irradiation. Theoretical calculations verify that the single atoms combined with heterostructure significantly promote the charge separation, facilitate O2 absorption and reduce the energy barriers for O2 reduction and water oxidation, eventually boosting H2O2 photoproduction. The single-atom photothermal-photocatalytic materials may provide possibility of large-scale H2O2 production from inexhaustible seawater in a sustainable way.

Randomized control study of the use of faropenem for treating patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVES: Faropenem has antituberculosis activity in vitro but its utility in treating patients with tuberculosis (TB) is unclear. METHODS: We conducted an open-label, randomized trial in China, involving newly diagnosed, drug-susceptible pulmonary TB. The control group was treated with the standard 6-month regimen. The experimental group replaced ethambutol with faropenem for 2 months. The primary outcome was the treatment success rate after 6 months of treatment. Noninferiority was confirmed if the lower limit of a 95% one-sided confidence interval (CI) of the difference was greater than -10%. RESULTS: A total of 227 patients eligible for the study were enrolled in the trial group and the control group in a ratio of 1:1. Baseline characteristics of participants were similar in both groups. In the modified intention-to-treat population, 88.18% of patients in the faropenem group achieved treatment success, and 85.98% of those in the control group were successfully treated, with a difference of 2.2% (95% CI, -6.73-11.13). In the per-protocol population, treatment success was 96.04% in the faropenem group and 95.83% in the control group, with a difference of 2.1% (95% CI, -5.31-5.72). The faropenem group showed noninferiority to the control group in the 6-month treatment success rates. The faropenem group had significantly fewer adverse events (P <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our study proved that oral faropenem regimen can be used for the treatment of TB, with fewer adverse events. (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800015959).