Confined Cu-OH single sites in SSZ-13 zeolite for the direct oxidation of methane to methanol.

The direct oxidation of methane to methanol (MTM) remains a significant challenge in heterogeneous catalysis due to the high dissociation energy of the C-H bond in methane and the high desorption energy of methanol. In this work, we demonstrate a breakthrough in selective MTM by achieving a high methanol space-time yield of 2678 mmol molCu-1 h-1 with 93% selectivity in a continuous methane-steam reaction at 400 °C. The superior performance is attributed to the confinement effect of 6-membered ring (6MR) voids in SSZ-13 zeolite, which host isolated Cu-OH single sites. Our results provide a deeper understanding of the role of Cu-zeolites in continuous methane-steam to methanol conversion and pave the way for further improvement.

Fit accuracy in the rest region of RPDs fabricated by digital technologies and conventional lost-wax casting: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Digital technologies have recently been introduced into the fabrication of removable partial dentures (RPDs). However, it is still unclear whether the digitally fabricated RPDs fit better than conventionally cast ones in the rest region. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fit accuracy in the rest region of RPDs fabricated by digital technologies and compare it to those made by conventional lost-wax (CLW) technique. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted in Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science and SpringerLink. Studies published up to August 2022 were collected. Two authors analyzed the studies independently and assessed the risk of bias on the modified methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS) scale. The mean values of gap distance between rests and corresponding rest seats of each study were extracted as outcome. A random-effects model at a significance level of P < 0.05 was used in the global comparison and subgroup analysis was carried out. RESULTS: Overall, 11 articles out of 1214 complied with the inclusion criteria and were selected, including 2 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 1 non-randomized clinical trial and 8 in vitro studies. Quantitative data from Meta-analysis revealed that fit accuracy in the rest region of RPDs fabricated with CLW showed no statistically significant difference with digital techniques (SMD = 0.33, 95%CI (-0.18, 0.83), P = 0.21). Subgroup analysis revealed a significantly better fit accuracy of CLW-fabricated RPDs in the rest region than either additive manufacturing (AM) groups or indirect groups (P = 0.03, P = 0.00), in which wax or resin patterns are milled or printed before conventional casting. While milled RPDs fit significantly better than cast ones in the rest region (P = 0.00). With digital relief and heat treatment, hybrid manufactured (HM) clasps obtained better fit accuracy in the rest region (P < 0.05). In addition, finishing and polishing procedure had no significant influence in the fit accuracy in all groups (P = 0.83). CONCLUSIONS: RPDs fabricated by digital technologies exhibit comparable fit accuracy in rest region with those made by CLW. Digital technologies may be a promising alternative to CLW for the fabrication of RPDs and additional studies are recommended to provide stronger evidence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CRD42020201313.

Comparative Analysis of the Therapeutic Effects of Fresh and Cryopreserved Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in the Treatment of Psoriasis.

Psoriasis, an inflammatory autoimmune skin disease, is characterized by scaly white or erythematous plaques, which severely influence patients' quality of life and social activities. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from the human umbilical cord (UCMSCs) represent a promising therapeutic approach for psoriasis because of its unique superiority in ethical agreeableness, abundant source, high proliferation capacity, and immunosuppression. Although cryopreservation provided multiple benefits to the cell therapy, it also greatly compromised clinical benefits of MSCs due to impaired cell functions. The current study aims to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of cryopreserved UCMSCs in a mouse model of psoriasis as well as in patients with psoriasis. Our results showed that cryopreserved and fresh UCMSCs have comparable effects on the suppression of psoriasis-like symptoms such as thickening, erythema, and scaling, and serum IL-17 A secretion in mice model of psoriasis. Moreover, psoriatic patients injected with cryopreserved UCMSCs had a significant improvement in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Physician Global Assessment (PGA), and Patient Global Assessments (PtGAs) scores compared to baseline values. Mechanically, cryopreserved UCMSCs markedly inhibit the proliferation of PHA-activated PBMCs, type 1 T helper (Th1) and type 17 T helper (Th17) cell differentiation and secretion of inflammatory cytokines including IFN-γ, TNF-a and IL-17 A in PBMCs stimulated by anti-CD3/CD28 beads. Taken together, these data indicated that cryopreserved UCMSCs exhibited great beneficial effect on psoriasis. Thus, cryopreserved UCMSCs can be systemically administered as ''off-the-shelf'' cell product for psoriasis therapy. Trial Registration ChiCTR1800019509. Registered on November 15, 2018-Retrospectively registered, http://www.chictr.org.cn/ .

MED1 Ablation Promotes Oral Mucosal Wound Healing via JNK Signaling Pathway.

Mediator complex subunit 1 (MED1) is a coactivator of multiple transcription factors and plays a key role in regulating epidermal homeostasis as well as skin wound healing. It is unknown, however, whether it plays a role in healing oral mucosal wounds. In this study, we investigate MED1's functional effects on oral mucosal wound healing and its underlying mechanism. The epithelial-specific MED1 null (Med1epi-/-) mice were established using the Cre-loxP system with C57/BL6 background. A 3 mm diameter wound was made in the cheek mucosa of the 8-week-old mice. In vivo experiments were conducted using HE staining and immunostaining with Ki67 and uPAR antibodies. The in vitro study used lentiviral transduction, scratch assays, qRT-PCR, and Western blotting to reveal the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that ablation of MED1 accelerated oral mucosal wound healing in 8-week-old mice. As a result of ablation of MED1, Activin A/Follistatin expression was altered, resulting in an activation of the JNK/c-Jun pathway. Similarly, knockdown of MED1 enhanced the proliferation and migration of keratinocytes in vitro, promoting re-epithelialization, which accelerates the healing of oral mucosal wounds. Our study reveals a novel role for MED1 in oral keratinocytes, providing a new molecular therapeutic target for accelerated wound healing.

ARDformer: Agroforestry Road Detection for Autonomous Driving Using Hierarchical Transformer.

Road detection is a crucial part of the autonomous driving system, and semantic segmentation is used as the default method for this kind of task. However, the descriptive categories of agroforestry are not directly definable and constrain the semantic segmentation-based method for road detection. This paper proposes a novel road detection approach to overcome the problem mentioned above. Specifically, a novel two-stage method for road detection in an agroforestry environment, namely ARDformer. First, a transformer-based hierarchical feature aggregation network is used for semantic segmentation. After the segmentation network generates the scene mask, the edge extraction algorithm extracts the trail's edge. It then calculates the periphery of the trail to surround the area where the trail and grass are located. The proposed method is tested on the public agroforestry dataset, and experimental results show that the intersection over union is approximately 0.82, which significantly outperforms the baseline. Moreover, ARDformer is also effective in a real agroforestry environment.

A randomized controlled trial for evaluating pain response in patients with spinal metastases following local versus whole vertebral radiotherapy: study protocol for phase II clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Patients with bone metastasis often experience severe pain that is difficult to control and seriously affects quality of life. Radiotherapy is an effective way to relieve pain in these patients. Currently, there is no standard recommended range of radiotherapy targets for vertebral metastasis. The effect of radiotherapy on pain relief varies among patients, and some patients with metastases have serious side effects. METHODS: This study aims to verify whether reducing the radiotherapy range for vertebral metastases can achieve the same effect as whole vertebral radiotherapy while minimizing side effects. Sixty-six patients with pain caused by vertebral metastasis were randomly divided into two groups. The study group is receiving partial vertebrae body radiotherapy at the regions of abnormal signal, suspected invasion, and adjacent subclinical focus of vertebral metastasis, and the control group is receiving the same dose of radiotherapy on whole vertebrae body where metastasis occurred. After radiotherapy, along-term follow-up of patients will determine pain relief and side effects. DISCUSSION: The expected results of this study are that local irradiation of vertebral metastases can achieve a palliative effect of pain control not less than total vertebral irradiation with fewer side effects. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (No: ChiCTR1900023401 ).

Regulation of Hippo signaling and triple negative breast cancer progression by an ubiquitin ligase RNF187.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy for women worldwide, while Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) accounts for 20% in all patients. Compared with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, which could be effectively controlled via endocrine therapy, TNBC is more aggressive and worse in prognosis. It is therefore urgent and necessary to develop a novel therapeutic strategy for TNBC treatment. Recent studies identified Hippo signaling is highly activated in TNBC, which could be a driving pathway for TNBC progression. In our study, we determine RNF187 as a negative regulator for Hippo signaling activation. RNF187 depletion significantly decreases cell migration and invasion capacity in TNBC. These effects could be rescued by further YAP depletion. Depletion of RNF187 increases the YAP protein level and Hippo signaling target genes, such as CTGF and CYR61 in TNBC. Immuno-precipitation assay shows that RNF187 associates with YAP, promoting its degradation possibly via inducing YAP K48-dependent poly-ubiquitination. Interestingly, Our clinical data reveals that RNF187 reversely correlates with YAP protein level and Hippo target genes. RNF187 tends to correlate with good prognosis in TNBC patients. Our study provides evidence to establish a proteolytic mechanism in regulation Hippo signaling activation in TNBC.

Bacteria-activated chlorin e6 ionic liquid based on cation and anion dual-mode antibacterial action for enhanced photodynamic efficacy.

With the increase in antibiotic resistance, the development of new antibacterial agents is urgent. Photosensitizers with no detectable resistance are promising antibacterial agents. However, most photosensitizers are insoluble, structurally unstable and ineffective against Gram-negative bacteria due to their negatively charged cell wall that hinder their use. In this study, a novel bacteria-activated photosensitizer ionic liquid was designed and assembled to improve the solubility, stability and antibacterial ability of photodynamic therapy. The cation 1-vinyl-3-dodecyl imidazole has been designed, which has strong binding energy with the major constituent of the cell wall. The anion selected was chlorin e6 (Ce6) since it could respond to the acidic microenvironment of bacterial infection. The Ce6 ionic liquid (Ce6-IL) composed of 1-vinyl-3-dodecyl imidazole and Ce6 not only exhibited bacteria-activated ability because its cation could firmly bond with peptidoglycan in the cell wall, but also had excellent acid responsive ability due to the protonation reaction of COO- in its anion. The binding energy of the cation with peptidoglycan was calculated via molecular dynamics simulation, and the pH-responsive behavior of Ce6-IL was verified via HR-MS. The surface potential, mechanical property, morphology and uptake rate results indicated that the cation could destroy the cell wall and promote the anion Ce6 to enter the bacteria. Due to the dual-mode antibacterial action of its cation and anion, Ce6-IL was more effective against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria than Ce6 alone and had wide-spectrum antibacterial ability. The in vitro studies showed that the IC50 of Ce6-IL against E. coli and S. aureus was reduced by 100 and 10 times, respectively. Furthermore, the in vivo studies indicated that Ce6-IL was more effective for eliminating bacterial infection and could accelerate wound healing. The compatibility test showed that Ce6-IL had low toxicity and exhibited excellent biocompatibility.

Separation and purification of thymopentin with molecular imprinting membrane by solid phase extraction disks.

The synthesis and performance of molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) as a solid phase extraction packing materials for the separation and purification of thymopentin from crude samples was described. In order to increase structural selectivity and imprinting efficiency, surface-initiated ATRP and ionic liquid (1-vinyl-3-ethyl acetate imidazolium chloride) were used to prepare molecularly imprinting membranes. The results demonstrated that solid phase extraction disks stuffed by MIMs with ionic liquids as functional monomer demonstrated high isolation and purification of performance to the thymopentin. The molecular recognition of thymopentin was analyzed by using molecular modeling software.