Direct electrophilic and radical isoperfluoropropylation with i-C3F7-Iodine(III) reagent (PFPI reagent).

The isoperfluoropropyl group (i-C3F7) is an emerging motif in pharmaceuticals, agrichemicals and functional materials. However, isoperfluoropropylated compounds remain largely underexplored, presumably due to the lack of efficient access to these compounds. Herein, we disclose the practical and efficient isoperfluoropropylation of aromatic C-H bonds through the invention of a hypervalent-iodine-based reagent-PFPI reagent, that proceeds via a Ag-X coupling process. The activation of the PFPI reagent without any catalysts or additives was demonstrated in the synthesis of isoperfluoropropylated electron-rich heterocycles, while its activity under photoredox catalysis was shown in the synthesis of isoperfluoropropylated non-activated arenes. Detailed mechanistic experiments and DFT calculations revealed a SET-induced concerted mechanistic pathway in the photoredox reactions. In addition, the unique conformation of i-C3F7 in products, that involved intramolecular hydrogen bond was investigated by X-ray single-crystal diffraction and variable-temperature NMR experiments.

Monocyte at diagnosis as a prognosis biomarker in tuberculosis patients with anemia.

Background: Anemia leads to a lower cure rate and poor prognosis in tuberculosis patients. Effective predictors for the prognosis of tuberculosis with anemia (A-TB) are urgently needed. Monocyte has been proven to be a prognostic biomarker of many lung diseases. Whether monocyte that the predominant innate immune cell as early defense against tuberculosis can predict A-TB is not known. Methods: Data for A-TB patients with initial treatment in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Logistics regression analysis was used to study the correlation between peripheral blood cells and treatment outcomes. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the cut-off value. We estimated a 12-month prognosis using Kaplan-Meier techniques. The Cox proportional hazards model was used for the univariate and multivariate analyses to analyze the predictors of poor prognosis of A-TB. Results: Of 181 patients analyzed, 94 were cured and 87 non-cured. Logistic regression analysis identified monocyte as an independent immune-related risk factor for the prognosis of A-TB (OR: 7.881, 95% CI: 1.675-37.075, P = 0.009). The ROC curve analysis proved that the most discriminative cut-off value of monocyte was 0.535 × 10^9/L. K-M analysis demonstrated that the cumulative cure rates of A-TB were significantly higher in A-TB with monocyte < 0.535 × 10^9/L (69.62%) than that in those with monocyte ≥ 0.535 × 10^9/L (38.24%) (Log-rank, χ2 = 16.530, P < 0.0001). On univariate and multivariable analysis, monocyte was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in A-TB. Similarly, monocyte was also an independent predictor of poor pulmonary cavity closure in A-TB (HR: 3.614, 95% CI: 1.335-9.787, P = 0.011). Conclusion: In A-TB patients, elevated monocyte was associated with poor prognosis and poor cavity pulmonary closure. Monocyte may provide a simple and inexpensive prognostic biomarker in A-TB.

Factors affecting microvascular complications among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus / 预防医学

Objective @#To identify the factors affecting microvascular complications among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), so as to provide insights into the management of microvascular complications of T2DM.@*Methods@#T2DM patients hospitalized in the Department of Endocrinology of a tertiary hospital in Weifang City, Shandong Province from January 2021 to January 2022 were enrolled, and subjects' basic information, lifestyle and medical history were collected using questionnaire surveys. Fasting insulin, fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin were measured, and factors affecting microvascular complications were identified among T2DM patients using a multivariable logistic regression model and a decision tree model.@*Results@#Totally 1 003 T2DM inpatients were enrolled, including 515 men (51.35%) and 488 women (48.65%), and the prevalence of microvascular complications was 40.18%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that age of 60 years and older (OR=2.510, 95%CI: 1.441-4.374), T2DM duration of 10 years and longer (OR=3.205, 95%CI: 2.242-4.581), fasting insulin of lower than 3.21 μIU/mL (OR=1.749, 95%CI: 1.239-2.469), using of agents or insulin to control blood glucose (OR=1.880, 95%CI: 1.143-3.092), glycated hemoglobin level of 7% and higher (OR=1.751, 95%CI: 1.172-2.615) as factors affecting microvascular complications among T2DM patients. Decision tree analysis identified course of T2DM as a major factor affecting the risk of microvascular complications among T2DM patients, and the prevalence of microvascular complications was 70.22% among T2DM patients with disease course of 10 years and longer and fasting insulin of lower than 3.21 μIU/mL or 16.32 μIU/mL and higher, 44.23% among T2DM patients with disease course of 5 to 10 years and at ages of 60 years and older, and 43.10% among T2DM patients with disease course of less than 5 years and fasting insulin of lower than 3.21 μIU/mL. @*Conclusion@#Advanced age, long course of T2DM, low fasting insulin and high glycated hemoglobin may increase the risk of microvascular complications among T2DM patients.

Situation Element Extraction Based on Fuzzy Rough Set and Combination Classifier.

Generalized network security situation awareness technology is divided into three processes: situation element extraction, situation understanding, and situation prediction. Situation element extraction is the most critical step in the whole process, and its extraction quality will directly affect the accuracy of situation understanding and prediction. In view of the shortcomings of current situation element extraction methods, this study makes an in-depth study on the network security situation element extraction algorithm and proposes a situation element extraction model based on the fuzzy rough set and combined classifier, which is used to improve the accuracy of situation elements acquisition, so as to provide a better data basis for situation understanding and prediction. In this study, the theory of fuzzy rough set is used to reduce the attributes of data without reducing the ability of data classification, which reduces the complexity of data; using the combination classifier theory and particle swarm optimization algorithm, a framework of situation element extraction is built, which can extract situation elements more accurately. The experimental results show that the network security situation element extraction framework proposed in this study can effectively shorten the extraction time of situation elements and improve the accuracy of situation element acquisition under the premise of ensuring the ability of data classification, thus proving the effectiveness and feasibility of the situation element extraction framework proposed in this study.

Impact of anemia on prognosis in tuberculosis patients.

Background: Anemia is one of the risk factors for tuberculosis (TB), and more than 90% of TB patients suffer from anemia. The majority tuberculosis patients who had poor prognosis experienced anemia during the course of treatment. The objective of our study is to analyse the influences of anemia on the prognosis of tuberculosis patients in terms of pulmonary M. tuberculosis loads, lung pathology, and clinical factors. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, 155 TB patients in Shanghai were divided into the anemia-tuberculosis (A-TB) group and non-anemia-tuberculosis (NA-TB) group. We analysed bacteria counts in sputum smear and sputum smear conversion time between two groups. We evaluated the pulmonary pathology of cavity and effusion in A-TB patients. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the potential correlations of anemia with sputum bacterial load and pulmonary pathology. We compared clinical factors including the immune factors and inflammatory cells. Results: Compared with the NA-TB (n=89) group, the A-TB group (n=66) had poorer improvement of lung injury in terms of cavity closure (4.7±3.59 vs. 10.56±7.42; P=0.036) and fluid improvement [4 (30.77%) vs. 12 (92.31%); P=0.001] during conventional treatment. At the start of treatment, the immune factors complement 4 (C4) [0.25 (0.19, 0.295) vs. 0.3086±0.076; P=0.006] and C-reactive protein (CRP) [3.2 (3.2, 21.5) vs. 19.5 (6.25, 78.35); P=0.016] were significantly higher in A-TB with NA-TB. During the course of treatment, the gradual decrease in the absolute number of lymphocytes (LYM#) (P=0.0012, r=-0.3400) and the gradual increase in the absolute number of monocytes (MONO#) (P=0.0050, r=0.2968), the absolute number of basophils (BASO#) (P=0.0213, r=0.2451), the red blood cell distribution width-coefficient (RDW-CV) (P=0.0136, r=0.2651), suggesting poor prognosis in anemic TB patients. Conclusions: Anemia is a risk factor for lung injury in TB patients. Inflammatory factors and inflammatory cells are increased during treatment in A-TB patients.

Solid Phase Deposition Pattern Concerning Formation Oil in YD 7 Reservoir of Tarim Oilfield and Its Application: A Case Study.

Yudong (YD) 7 reservoir in the Yingmaili area of Tarim Oilfield is one of the key areas of oil and gas exploration in the Tarim Basin. However, due to the serious plugging problem caused by solid phase precipitation particles such as wax and paraffin, it is necessary to study the well flow phase behavior and solid phase precipitation law of typical high-production wells in this block to obtain the phase enveloping line and provide theoretical support for preventing solid phase precipitation of formation crude oil. In this study, the PVT tester and the self-designed microscopic solid deposition tester are used to obtain the phase enveloping line of formation crude oil, and the change law of the "gas-liquid-solid" phase behavior when the formation crude oil changes with temperature and pressure is observed. The morphological process of solid precipitation is recorded and analyzed through a microscopic visualization window. Finally, the solid phase precipitation point of formation crude oil is verified using a laser solid phase deposition tester. The experimental results show that under atmospheric pressure, the solid phase precipitation temperature point of surface crude oil is 34.05 °C, the maximum instantaneous precipitation is 0.01178%, and the maximum cumulative precipitation is 8.34%. The solid phase precipitation point of formation crude oil changes under different temperatures and pressures. Under different pressures and temperatures, it shows multiphase changes such as liquid-solid, liquid phase, gas-liquid-solid, gas-liquid, and gas phases. Limited by equipment, we can only observe the first four phase behaviors in the laboratory. In the process of solid phase precipitation, formation crude oil shows a fine needle shape at the initial stage and finally adhesions and aggregations in the form of an increasing crystal nucleus as the center, thus blocking the formation or wellbore. Combined with the analysis of production data, it can be seen that there is a solid precipitation problem in well YD 702 over 1200 m in the wellbore and the solid phase precipitation problem from the wellbore to the surface pipeline. This study provides theoretical support for preventing solid phase precipitation in the YD 7 reservoir and provides a reference for other oil fields with solid phase precipitation blocking problems.

Two new species of Steccherinum (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) from southern China based on morphology and DNA sequence data.

Two new wood-inhabiting fungal species, Steccherinum hirsutum and S. yunnanense spp. nov., are proposed based on a combination of morphological features and molecular evidence. Sequences of internal transcribed spacer and large subunit region of nuculear ribosomal RNA gene of the studied samples were generated, and phylogenetic analyses were performed using maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and bayesian inference methods. Steccherinum hirsutum is characterized by an annual growth habit, stipitate basidiocarps with scarlet to red, odontioid hymenial surface, a dimitic hyphal system with clamped generative hyphae negative in Melzer's reaction, and acyanophilous basidiospores measuring 2.5-3.5 × 1.5-2.5 µm. Steccherinum yunnanense is distinguished by resupinate basidiomata with odontioid hymenial surface, a dimitic hyphal system with clamped generative hyphae, strongly encrusted cystidia and ellipsoid, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth basidiospores (3.5-4.5 × 2-3.5 µm). The phylogenetic analyses comfirmed that two new species nest in Steccherinum, in the residual polyporoid clade.

Triclinic boron nanosheets high-efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting.

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) boron nanosheets have been predicted to exhibit exceptional physical and chemical properties, which is expected to be widely used in advanced electronics, optoelectronic, energy storage and conversion devices. However, the experimental application of 2D boron nanosheets in hydrogen evolution reactiuon (HER) has not been reported. Here, we have grown ultrathin boron nanosheets on tungsten foils via chemical vapor deposition. The prepared triclinic boron nanosheets are highly crystalline, which perfectly match the structure in the previous theoretical calculations. Notably, the boron nanosheets show excellent HER performance. The Tafel slope is only 64 mV dec-1and the nanosheets can maintain good stability under long-time cycle in acidic solution. The improvement of performance is mainly due to the metal properties and a large number of exposed active sites on the boron nanosheets, which is confirmed by first-principle calculations.

rs12537 Is a Novel Susceptibility SNP Associated With Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer in Chinese Han Population.

Genetic testing is widely used in breast cancer and has identified a lot of susceptibility genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, for many SNPs, evidence of an association with breast cancer is weak, underlying risk estimates are imprecise, and reliable subtype-specific risk estimates are not in place. A recent genome-wide long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) association study in Chinese Han has verified a genetic association between rs12537 and breast cancer. This study is aimed at investigating the association between rs12537 and the phenotype. We collected the clinical information of 5,634 breast cancer patients and 6,308 healthy controls in the early study. And χ2 test was used for the comparison between different groups in genotype. The frequency of genotypic distribution among SNP rs12537 has no statistically significant correlation with family history (p = 0.8945), menopausal status (p = 0.3245) or HER-2 (p = 0.2987), but it is statistically and significantly correlated with ER (p = 0.004006) and PR (p = 0.01379). Most importantly, compared to the healthy control, rs12537 variant is significantly correlated with ER positive patients and the p-value has reached the level of the whole genome (p = 1.66E-08 <5.00E-08). Furthermore, we found rs12537 associated gene MTMR3 was lower expressed in breast cancer tissues but highly methylated. In conclusion, our findings indicate that rs12537 is a novel susceptibility gene in ER positive breast cancer in Chinese Han population and it may influence the methylation of MTMR3.

Steccherinum tenuissimum and S. xanthum spp. nov. (Polyporales, Basidiomycota): New species from China.

Two new wood-inhabiting fungal species, Steccherinum tenuissimum and S. xanthum spp. nov. are described based on a combination of morphological features and molecular evidence. Steccherinum tenuissimum is characterized by an annual growth habit, resupinate basidiomata with an odontioid hymenial surface, a dimitic hyphal system with clamped generative hyphae, strongly encrusted cystidia and basidiospores measuring 3-5 × 2-3.5 µm. Steccherinum xanthum is characterized by odontioid basidiomata and a monomitic hyphal system with generative hyphae bearing clamp connections and covering by crystals, colourless, thin-walled, smooth, IKI-, CB-and has basidiospores measuring 2.7-5.5 × 1.8-4.0 µm. Sequences of the ITS and nLSU nrRNA gene regions of the studied samples were generated, and phylogenetic analyses were performed with maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference methods. The phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data of ITS + nLSU sequences showed that two new Steccherinum species felled into the residual polyporoid clade. Further investigation was obtained for more representative taxa in Steccherinum based on ITS + nLSU sequences, which demonstrated that S. tenuissimum and S. xanthum were sister to S. robustius with high support (100% BP, 100% BS and 1.00 BPP).

Loss-of-function variants in FSIP1 identified by targeted sequencing are associated with one particular subtype of mucosal melanoma.

BACKGROUND: Mucosal melanoma is a tumor caused by the malignant transformation of pigment-producing cells and can arise from any mucosal tissue where melanocytes are present. Due to its rarity, the mucosal melanoma subtype is poorly described, and its genetic characteristics are infrequently studied. The discovery or confirmation of new mucosal melanoma susceptibility genes will provide important insights for the study of its pathogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed deep targeted sequencing of 100 previously reported melanoma-related genes in 39 mucosal melanoma samples and a gene-level loss-of-function (LOF) variant enrichment analysis for mucosal melanoma from different incidence sites. RESULTS: We detected 7,589 variants in these samples, and 484 were LOF variants (gain or loss of a stop codon, missense, and splice site). Four different gene-level enrichment analyses revealed that FSIP1 (fibrous sheath interacting protein 1) is a susceptibility gene for oral mucosal melanoma (OR = 0.33, PChi = 4.05 × 10-2, Pburden = 3.06 × 10-2, Pskat = 3.01 × 10-2, Pskato = 3.01 × 10-2), whereas the different methods did not detect a significant susceptibility gene for the other subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, a susceptibility gene for oral mucosal melanoma was confirmed in a Chinese Han population, and these findings contribute to a better genetic understanding of mucosal melanoma of different subtypes.

Halogen substitution regulates the phase transition temperature and band gap of semiconductor compounds.

(CH3CH2NH3)3BiX6 and (CH2ClCH2NH3)3BiX6 (X = Cl, Br) obtained by halogen substitution not only realize the adjustment of the phase transition in a relatively wide temperature range, but also optimize the semiconductor performance. This will promote the exploration and construction of semiconductor materials with tunable temperatures and lower band gaps.

Identification of novel Kv1.3 targeting venom peptides by a single round of autocrine-based selection.

Venom peptides are an excellent source of pharmacologically active molecules for ion channels that have been considered as promising drug targets. However, mining venoms that interact with ion channel remains challenging. Previously an autocrine based high throughput selection system was developed to screen venom peptide library but the method includes repetitious selection rounds that may cause loss of valuable hits. To simplify the selection process, next generation sequencing was employed to directly identify the positive hits after a single round of selection. The advantage of the improved system was demonstrated by the discovery of 3 novel Kv1.3 targeting venom peptides among which Kappa-thalatoxin-Tas2a is a potent Kv1.3 antagonist. Therefore, this simplified method is efficient to identify novel venom peptides that target ion channels.

High-throughput reformatting of phage-displayed antibody fragments to IgGs by one-step emulsion PCR.

Single-chain variable fragment (scFv) is the most common format for phage display antibody library. The isolated scFvs need to be reformatted to full-length IgGs for further characterization. High throughput reformatting of scFv to IgG without disrupting VH-VL pairing is of great demanding for exhaustive screening of all antibodies in IgG format. Herein, we developed a strategy based on the overlap extension PCR in emulsion to reformat scFv to IgG while maintain the accuracy and complexity of variable region pairing. Using CD40 as an example target, we reformatted phage display derived CD40 binding scFv library to IgG mammalian display library and isolated high affinity CD40 binding IgGs. This robust and reliable antibody reformatting approach could be integrated into any phage display based antibody drug discovery.