π-Extension of Indoles Using Acrolein Linker: Synthesis of Indolo[3,2-a]carbazole-6-carbaldehydes and Racemosin B.

A simple method for the synthesis of indolo[3,2-a]carbazole-6-carbaldehydes by the π-extension of indoles with acrolein is reported. The scope of the method is demonstrated with 33 examples. The products exhibit high activities toward advanced synthesis and are proved to be able to produce valuable chemicals, such as natural products, dyes, and organic fluorescent materials. In addition, the alkaloid racemosin B can be prepared by this method in two steps in ∼50% overall yield.

Pushing Up the Size Limit of Boron-doped peri-Acenes: Modular Synthesis and Characterizations.

Heteroatom-doped peri-acenes (PAs) have recently attracted considerable attention considering their fascinating physical properties and chemical stability. However, the precise sole addition of boron atoms along the zigzag edges of PAs remains challenging, primarily due to the limited synthetic approach. Herein, we present a novel one-pot modular synthetic strategy toward unprecedented boron-doped PAs (B-PAs), including B-[4,2]PA (1 a-2), B-[4,3]PA (1 b-2) and B-[7,2]PA (1 c-3) derivatives, through efficient intramolecular electrophilic borylation. Their chemical structures are unequivocally confirmed with a combination of mass spectrometry, NMR, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Notably, 1 b-2 exhibits an almost planar geometry, whereas 1 a-2 displays a distinctive bowl-like distortion. Furthermore, the optoelectronic properties of this series of B-PAs are thoroughly investigated by UV/Vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy combined with DFT calculation. Compared with their parent all-carbon analogs, the obtained B-PAs exhibit high stability, wide energy gaps, and high photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 84 %. This study reveals the exceptional ability of boron doping to finely tune the physicochemical properties of PAs, showcasing their potential applications in optoelectronics.

Precision Graphene Nanoribbon Heterojunctions by Chain-Growth Polymerization.

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are considered promising candidates for next-generation nanoelectronics. In particular, GNR heterojunctions have received considerable attention due to their exotic topological electronic phases at the heterointerface. However, strategies for their precision synthesis remain at a nascent stage. Here, we report a novel chain-growth polymerization strategy that allows for constructing GNR heterojunction with N=9 armchair and chevron GNRs segments (9-AGNR/cGNR). The synthesis involves a controlled Suzuki-Miyaura catalyst-transfer polymerization (SCTP) between 2-(6'-bromo-4,4''-ditetradecyl-[1,1':2',1''-terphenyl]-3'-yl) boronic ester (M1) and 2-(7-bromo-9,12-diphenyl-10,11-bis(4-tetradecylphenyl)-triphenylene-2-yl) boronic ester (M2), followed by the Scholl reaction of the obtained block copolymer (poly-M1/M2) with controlled Mn (18 kDa) and narrow D (1.45). NMR and SEC analysis of poly-M1/M2 confirm the successful block copolymerization. The solution-mediated cyclodehydrogenation of poly-M1/M2 toward 9-AGNR/cGNR is unambiguously validated by FT-IR, Raman, and UV/Vis spectroscopies. Moreover, we also demonstrate the on-surface formation of pristine 9-AGNR/cGNR from the unsubstituted copolymer precursor, which is unambiguously characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).

Hydrophobic Modified Ceramic Aeration Membrane for Effective Treatment of Brine Wastewater.

A novel approach to evaporate brine wastewater using a ceramic aeration membrane was proposed. A high-porosity ceramic membrane was selected as the aeration membrane and was modified with hydrophobic modifiers to avoid undesired surface wetting. The water contact angle of the ceramic aeration membrane reached 130° after hydrophobic modification. The hydrophobic ceramic aeration membrane showed excellent operational stability (up to 100 h), high salinity (25 wt.%) tolerance, and excellent regeneration performance. The evaporative rate reached 98 kg m-2 h-1, which could be restored by ultrasonic cleaning after the membrane fouling occurred. Furthermore, this novel approach shows great promise for practical applications toward a low cost of only 66 kW·h·m-3.

Modular Synthesis of Structurally Diverse Azulene-Embedded Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Knoevenagel-Type Condensation.

The research interest in azulene-embedded polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has significantly increased recently, but the lack of efficient synthetic strategies impedes the investigation of their structure-property relationships and further opto-electronic applications. Here we report a modular synthetic strategy towards diverse azulene-embedded PAHs by a tandem Suzuki coupling and base-promoted Knoevenagel-type condensation with good yields and great structural versatility, including non-alternant thiophene-rich PAHs, butterfly- or Z-shaped PAHs bearing two azulene units, and the first example of a two-azulene-embedded double [5]helicene. The structural topology, aromaticity and photophysical properties were investigated by NMR, X-ray crystallography analysis and UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy assisted by DFT calculations. This strategy provides a new platform for rapidly synthesizing unexplored non-alternant PAHs or even graphene nanoribbons with multiple azulene units.

Helical Bilayer Nonbenzenoid Nanographene Bearing a [10]Helicene with Two Embedded Heptagons.

The precision synthesis of helical bilayer nanographenes (NGs) with new topology is of substantial interest because of their exotic physicochemical properties. However, helical bilayer NGs bearing non-hexagonal rings remain synthetically challenging. Here we present the efficient synthesis of the first helical bilayer nonbenzenoid nanographene (HBNG1) from a tailor-made azulene-embedded precursor, which contains a novel [10]helicene backbone with two embedded heptagons. Single-crystal X-ray analysis reveals its highly twisted bilayer geometry with a record small interlayer distance of 3.2 Šamong the reported helical bilayer NGs. Notably, the close interlayer distance between the two layers offers intramolecular through-space conjugation as revealed by in situ spectroelectrochemistry studies together with DFT simulations. Furthermore, the chiroptical properties of the P/M enantiomers of HBNG1 are also evaluated by circular dichroism and circularly polarized luminescence.

Differences of resting-state brain functional connectivity in patients with early-onset and late-onset obsessive compulsive disorder and their correlation with cognitive flexibility / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective:To explore the differences of the resting-state functional connectivity(FC) between goal-directed network and habituation networks in patients with early- and late-onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and the correlation between the strength of FC in the differential brain regions and cognitive flexibility.Methods:From October 2019 to April 2021, 40 patients with OCD were included in this study, including 22 patients with early-onset OCD and 18 patients with late-onset OCD.The cognitive flexibility of all subjects was assessed using the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST), the Stroop task and the trail making test (TMT). The brain regions which were associated with goal-directed network(caudate, orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex) and the brain regions which were associated with habituation network(putamen, supplementary motor area and insula) were selected as FC regions of interest (ROI). The DPABI and SPM12 plug-ins in the matlab2011a platform were used for whole brain FC analysis to compare the difference of FC between patients with early-onset OCD and patients with late-onset OCD on the two networks.The data were analyzed by SPSS 25.0 with χ2 test, independent samples t-test, and Pearson correlation analysis. Results:Compared with patients with early-onset OCD, patients with late-onset OCD had significantly enhanced FC of the left supplementary motor area with the left putamen and left insula.The total number of persistent errors of WCST in patients with late-onset OCD was greater than that in patients with early-onset OCD ((20.61±11.30), (14.95±8.94), P<0.05). The FC of the left putamen-left supplementary motor area was significantly and positively correlated with the total number of sustained responses ( r=0.678, P=0.003) and the total number of incorrect responses ( r=0.590, P=0.013) in patients with late-onset OCD.The FC of the left supplementary motor area-left insula was significantly positively correlated with the number of responses required to complete the first classification in patients with late-onset OCD ( r=0.485, P=0.049). Conclusion:Patients with late-onset OCD have stronger habituation network FC than patients with early-onset OCD, and the enhanced FC correlates with patients' cognitive flexibility performance, while late-onset OCD has more impaired cognitive flexibility than early-onset OCD.

Advances in online two-dimensional liquid chromatography for natural product screening / 药学学报

As a treasure resource of novel drug lead compounds, how to rapidly and high-efficiently screen and isolate active components from natural products is critical. Thanks to its high resolution, high automation and flexible integration, online two-dimensional liquid chromatography has great potential for screening active ingredients from complex matrices by integrating a highly specific bio-recognition process into a two-dimensional liquid chromatography system before, on or after the column separation. This review comprehensively summarized recent developments, applications and shortcomings of online two-dimensional liquid chromatography for natural product screening from different integration modes, including pre-column, on-column and post-column screening methods.

Advances in diagnosis,prevention and treatment of flexible flatfoot in children / 中国学校卫生

Abstract@#Flexibleis an important classification of flat foot. Flatfoot occurs due to a variety of reasons and causes the medial longitudinal arch to collapse or disappear. However, many children still do not develop a normal foot arch as the grow, and a failure to intervene in a timely manner will greatly harm a child s normal mobility development. Timely detection and intervention are the key to improve the prognosis. There is a lack of uniform quantitative criteria for the diagnosis of flexible flatfoot. Currently, the commonly used diagnostic methods include physical examination, foot printing, plantar pressure test and imaging examination. This article reviews the risk factors, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of Flexible Flatfoot.

Non-Steady State NMR Effect and Application on Time-Varying Magnetic Field Measurement.

The measurement of a time-varying magnetic field is different from a constant magnetic field, due to its field intensity variation with time. Usually, the time-varying magnetic field measurement converts the solution of the magnetic induction intensity into the calculation of the induced electromotive force (EMF); then, the magnetic induction intensity is obtained by the time integration of the EMF, but the process is vulnerable to external interference. In this paper, a non-steady state nuclear magnetic resonance (NSS-NMR) scheme for the measurement of a time-varying magnetic field is proposed. In a time-varying magnetic field environment, an RF excitation signal with a certain frequency bandwidth is applied to excite the nuclear spin system. The NSS-NMR signal, which varies with time in the frequency range corresponding to the frequency bandwidth of the RF excitation, could finally be obtained after a series of processing of the probe output signal. During the NSS-NMR experiment, an orthogonal dual-coil probe is adopted to synchronously generate the RF excitation and induce the probe output signal. Moreover, a directional coupler that utilized in the experiment outputs a reference signal from the coupling port for the subsequent signal processing. The experimental results show that the weak NSS-NMR signal is indeed observed. The longitudinal time-varying magnetic field ranges from 0.576 T to 0.582 T, which is inverted by the Larmor precession relationship, have been successfully detected based on the so-called NSS-NMR effect.

Cutaneous Metastasis from Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Cutaneous metastases are rare and often portend the aggressive malignancy and poor prognosis. We report a case of a 62-year-old man with a rapidly growing nodule on the left back for 2 months. The patient was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma shortly before the skin lesion presented. Physical examination showed a dome-shaped purplish red nodule, with ulceration and hemorrhagic crust. Excision of the skin lesion was performed, and the histopathology showed tumor cells infiltrate with immunohistochemistry (TTF-1+CK7+CD20-) favoring primary lung adenocarcinoma.

The efficacy and safety of intrapleural hyperthermic perfusion in patients with malignant pleural effusion undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery: a single-arm clinical trial.

Background: Patients with malignant pleural effusion (MPE) are usually treated with an indwelling pleural catheter (IPC) or pleurodesis. However, most do not achieve a satisfactory control rate of pleural effusion and have poor prognosis. Distilled water has cytocidal effects of hypotonic shock and can result in the lysis of cancer cells which was used in surgery to eradicate cancer cells. However, there is no study focusing on the efficacy of intrapleural hyperthemic perfusion for MPE under video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). This study explored the efficacy and safety of intrapleural hyperthermic perfusion (IHP) with distilled water in patients with MPE. Methods: In this retrospective, single-arm trial, patients admitted to department of cardiothoracic surgery of Taizhou hospital and diagnosed with MPE caused by non-small cell lung cancer from January 2014 and December 2018 were included. The clinical characteristics including age, gender smoking history, Karnofsky score, volume of pleural effusion, TNM cancer stage, pathology, genetic test of patients were collected. Patients were treated with hyperthermic perfusion. The pleural cavity was perfused with 43.0 ℃ distilled water for 60 minutes under video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). The efficacy of treatment was defined as follows: (I) complete remission (CR; no recurrence of pleural effusion after IHP for at least four weeks); (II) partial remission (PR; pleural effusion was decreased by 50% and the condition lasted for 4 weeks; or (III) no remission (NR; no decrease in pleural effusion). Kaplan-Meier method with a log-rank test was used for survival analysis. Cox proportional hazards regression models were applied to perform univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: From January 2014 through December 2018, 30 patients with MPE caused by non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were treated with hyperthermic perfusion. There were no serious reportable clinical complications associated with the procedure. The response rate was 96.7%, with 63.3% experiencing PR and 33.3% achieving CR. The overall survival (OS) ranged from 2 to 46 months. The median survival was 12 months. Conclusions: IHP proved to be a feasible and safe strategy for patients with MPE in our study but it still needs to be verified with a larger, prospective and randomized trial in the future.

Ursolic Acid Protects Neurons in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Cognitive Impairment by Repressing Inflammation and Oxidation.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is characterized as an impaired ability of learning and memory with periodic and unpredictable seizures. Status epilepticus (SE) is one of the main causes of TLE. Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are directly involved in epileptogenesis and neurodegeneration, promoting chronic epilepsy and cognitive deficit. Previous studies have shown that ursolic acid (UA) represses inflammation and oxidative stress, contributing to neuroprotection. Herein, we demonstrated that UA treatment alleviated seizure behavior and cognitive impairment induced by epilepsy. Moreover, UA treatment rescued hippocampal neuronal damage, aberrant neurogenesis, and ectopic migration, which are commonly accompanied by epilepsy occurrence. Our study also demonstrated that UA treatment remarkably suppressed the SE-induced neuroinflammation, evidenced by activated microglial cells and decreased inflammation factors, including TNF-α and IL-1ß. Likewise, the expression levels of oxidative stress damage markers and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) enzyme complexes of mitochondria were also remarkably downregulated following the UA treatment, suggesting that UA suppressed the damage caused by the high oxidative stress and the defect mitochondrial function induced by SE. Furthermore, UA treatment attenuated GABAergic interneuron loss. In summary, our study clarified the notable anti-seizure and neuroprotective properties of UA in pilocarpine-induced epileptic rats, which is mainly achieved by abilities of anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation. Our study indicates the potential advantage of UA application in ameliorating epileptic sequelae.

[Research Progress on Enzyme-free Blood Glucose Sensor].

Blood glucose monitoring is of great significance to diabetic patients, and the development of rapid, accurate and real-time glucose detection technology has become a research hotspot nowadays. This study introduces the concept and classification of the enzyme-free glucose sensor, expounds enzymefree glucose sensor electrode characterization methods and the application progress of different materials in enzyme-free blood glucose sensors. Meanwhile, some problems of enzyme-free glucose sensor existing in the current research and its future application prospects also will be discussed.

First case report of complete paternal isodisomy of chromosome 10 harbouring a novel variant in COL17A1 that causes junctional epidermolysis bullosa intermediate.

BACKGROUND: Uniparental disomy (UPD) is a condition in which both chromosomes are inherited from the same parent, except for imprinting disorders. Uniparental isodisomy (UPiD) may result in a homozygous variant contributing to an autosomal recessive disorder in the offspring of a heterozygous carrier. Junctional epidermolysis bullosa intermediate (JEB intermediate) is an autosomal recessive inherited disease that is associated with a series of gene variants, including those of COL17A1. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the first case of complete paternal UPiD of chromosome 10 harbouring a novel homozygous variant in COL17A1: c.1880(exon23)delG (p.G627Afs*56). This variant led to the clinical phenotype of junctional epidermolysis bullosa intermediate in a 5-year-old child. Trio-whole exome sequencing (Trio-WES) and in silico data analysis were used for variant identification, Sanger sequencing was performed for variant validation, and pathological examination was performed as the gold standard for phenotype confirmation. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend the use of WES as a first-tier test for the diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa, especially for paediatric patients. Moreover, UPD events should be detected and analysed routinely through WES data in the future.

Primary Cutaneous Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Arising in a Patient with Rhupus Syndrome and Sjogren's Syndrome.

Rhupus syndrome, as an overlap syndrome of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is relatively rare because of their substantially different immunopathological mechanisms. Herein, we report the first case of primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (PC-ALCL) in a patient with rhupus syndrome and Sjogren's syndrome and review the relevant literature. A 52-year-old Chinese woman with a history of rhupus syndrome and Sjogren's syndrome was treated with methotrexate, who developed gradually increasing nodules on the waist. Histopathological studies showed that the dermis and subcutaneous tissue were infiltrated with medium-to-large, atypical lymphocytes with the oval nucleus. The tumor cells showed CD3-, CD4-, CD8-, CD30+, LCA+, and EBV-encoded RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization (ISH) was positive. Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with PC-ALCL. Both immune disorders and EBV infection may be related to the onset of PL-ALCL, and further studies are needed to clarify the pathogenesis.

Triple Perovskite Nd1.5Ba1.5CoFeMnO9-δ-Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9 Composite as Cathodes for the Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.

Triple perovskite has been recently developed for the intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC). The performance of Nd1.5Ba1.5CoFeMnO9-δ (NBCFM) cathodes for IT-SOFC is investigated in this work. The interfacial polarization resistance (RP) of NBCFM is 1.1273 Ω cm2~0.1587 Ω cm2 in the range of 700-800 °C, showing good electrochemical performance. The linear thermal expansion coefficient of NBCFM is 17.40 × 10-6 K-1 at 40-800 °C, which is significantly higher than that of the electrolyte. In order to further improve the electrochemical performance and reduce the thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of NBCFM, Ce0.8Sm0.2O2-δ (SDC) is mixed with NBCFM to prepare an NBCFM-xSDC composite cathode (x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 wt.%). The thermal expansion coefficient decreases monotonically from 17.40 × 10-6 K-1 to 15.25 × 10-6 K-1. The surface oxygen exchange coefficient of NBCFM-xSDC at a given temperature increases from 10-4 to 10-3 cm s-1 over the po2 range from 0.01 to 0.09 atm, exhibiting fast surface exchange kinetics. The area specific resistance (ASR) of NBCFM-30%SDC is 0.06575 Ω cm2 at 800 °C, which is only 41% of the ASR value of NBCFM (0.15872 Ω cm2). The outstanding performance indicates the feasibility of NBCFM-30% SDC as an IT-SOFC cathode material. This study provides a promising strategy for designing high-performance composite cathodes for SOFCs based on triple perovskite structures.

Bullous Pilomatricoma After Influenza Vaccination.

Pilomatricoma, also known as "benign calcifying epithelioma", is an uncommon slow-growing benign adnexal skin tumor, which originates from primitive cells of the hair matrix and usually appears as a solitary, firm, and asymptomatic nodule beneath the skin. Bullous pilomatricoma is a rare form of pilomatricoma, always presenting with firm subcutaneous nodules with a bullous appearance. In this study, we report a 9-year-old Chinese presenting girl with bullous pilomatricoma after influenza vaccination.

Large Acene Derivatives with B-N Lewis Pair Doping: Synthesis, Characterization, and Application.

Here, we report the synthesis of a novel class of B-N Lewis pair (LPB/N)-doped large acene derivatives (1a-1d) from the well-designed phenanthridine-based precursors. The resultant LPB/N-doped benzo-tetracene (1a), dibenzo-heptacene (1b), dibenzo-octacene (1c), and V-shaped tribenzo-nonacene (1d) are thoroughly characterized by X-ray crystallography, cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopies together with DFT calculations. As a proof of concept, a 1a-based organic light-emitting diode device is fabricated to demonstrate the promising application in organic optoelectronics.