Red fluorescent zwitterionic naphthalenediimides with di/mono-benzimidazolium and a negatively-charged oxygen substituent.

The C-H/C-X cross-coupling of a benzimidazolium salt with 2Br-NDI afforded two unprecedented zwitterionic NDIs with di/mono-benzimidazolium and an extra negatively-charged oxygen substituent. They exhibited intensified red fluorescence in polar solvents and negative solvatochromism due to an intramolecular charge transfer process, and could specifically label lysosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum in living A549 cells, respectively. They represent a rare case of NDI-derived ionic fluorophores.

First measurements of the radiation dose on the lunar surface.

Human exploration of the Moon is associated with substantial risks to astronauts from space radiation. On the surface of the Moon, this consists of the chronic exposure to galactic cosmic rays and sporadic solar particle events. The interaction of this radiation field with the lunar soil leads to a third component that consists of neutral particles, i.e., neutrons and gamma radiation. The Lunar Lander Neutrons and Dosimetry experiment aboard China's Chang'E 4 lander has made the first ever measurements of the radiation exposure to both charged and neutral particles on the lunar surface. We measured an average total absorbed dose rate in silicon of 13.2 ± 1 µGy/hour and a neutral particle dose rate of 3.1 ± 0.5 µGy/hour.

One-pot synthesis of chiral alcohols from alkynes by CF3SO3H/ruthenium tandem catalysis.

A practical one-pot synthesis of chiral alcohols from readily available alkynes via tandem catalysis by the combination of CF3SO3H and a fluorinated chiral diamine Ru(ii) complex in aqueous CF3CH2OH is described. Very interestingly, the combination of fluorinated catalysts and solvent exhibits a positive fluorine effect on the reactivity and enantioselectivity. A range of chiral alcohols with wide functional group tolerance was obtained in high yield and excellent stereoselectivity under simple and mild conditions.

Iridium-Catalyzed Highly Enantioselective Transfer Hydrogenation of Aryl N-Heteroaryl Ketones with N-Oxide as a Removable ortho-Substituent.

A highly enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of non-ortho-substituted aryl N-heteroaryl ketones, using readily available chiral diamine-derived iridium complex (S,S)-1f as a catalyst and sodium formate as a hydrogen source in a mixture of H2O/i-PrOH (v/v = 1:1) under ambient conditions, is described. The chiral aryl N-heteroaryl methanols were obtained with up to 98.2% ee by introducing an N-oxide as a removable ortho-substituent. In contrast, no more than 15.1% ee was observed in the absence of an N-oxide moiety. Furthermore, the practical utility of this protocol was also demonstrated by gram-scale asymmetric synthesis of bepotastine besilate in 51% total yield and 99.9% ee.

High Ki-67 Immunohistochemical Reactivity Correlates With Poor Prognosis in Bladder Carcinoma: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis with 13,053 Patients Involved.

Ki-67 is considered as one of prime biomarkers to reflect cell proliferation and immunohistochemical Ki-67 staining has been widely applied in clinical pathology. To solve the widespread controversy whether Ki-67 reactivity significantly predicts clinical prognosis of bladder carcinoma (BC), we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis by combining results from different literature. A comprehensive search was conducted in the Chinese databases of WanFang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Chinese VIP as well as English databases of PubMed, ISI web of science, EMBASE, Science Direct, and Wiley online library. Independent studies linking Ki-67 to cancer-specific survival (CSS), disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were included in our meta-analysis. With the cut-off values literature provided, hazard ratio (HR) values between the survival distributions were extracted and later combined with STATA 12.0. In total, 76 studies (n = 13,053 patients) were eligible for the meta-analysis. It was indicated in either univariate or multivariate analysis for survival that high Ki-67 reactivity significantly predicted poor prognosis. In the univariate analysis, the combined HR for CSS, DFS, OS, PFS, and RFS were 2.588 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.623-4.127, P < 0.001), 2.697 (95%CI: 1.874-3.883, P < 0.001), 2.649 (95%CI: 1.632-4.300, P < 0.001), 3.506 (95%CI: 2.231-5.508, P < 0.001), and 1.792 (95%CI: 1.409-2.279, P < 0.001), respectively. The pooled HR of multivariate analysis for CSS, DFS, OS, PFS, and RFS were 1.868 (95%CI: 1.343-2.597, P < 0.001), 2.626 (95%CI: 2.089-3.301, P < 0.001), 1.104 (95%CI: 1.008-1.209, P = 0.032), 1.518 (95%CI: 1.299-1.773, P < 0.001), and 1.294 (95%CI: 1.203-1.392, P < 0.001), respectively. Subgroup analysis of univariate analysis by origin showed that Ki-67 reactivity significantly correlated with all 5 clinical outcome in Asian and European-American patients (P < 0.05). For multivariate analysis, however, the pooled results were only significant for DFS, OS, and RFS in Asian patients, for CSS, DFS, PFS, and RFS in European-American patients (P < 0.05). In the subgroup with low cut-off value (<20%), our meta-analysis indicated that high Ki-67 reactivity was significantly correlated with worsened CSS, DFS, OS, PFS, and RFS on univariate analysis (P < 0.05). For multivariate analysis, the meta-analysis of literature with low cut-off value (<20%) demonstrated that high Ki-67 reactivity predicted shorter DFS, PFS, and RFS in BC patients (P < 0.05). In the subgroup analysis of high cut-off value (≥20%), our meta-analysis indicated that high Ki-67 reactivity, in either univariate or multivariate analysis, significantly correlated with all five clinical outcomes in BC patients (P < 0.05). The meta-analysis indicates that high Ki-67 reactivity significantly correlates with deteriorated clinical outcomes in BC patients and that Ki-67 can be considered as an independent indicator for the prognosis by the meta-analyses of multivariate analysis.

A short-term study of corneal collagen cross-linking with hypo-osmolar riboflavin solution in keratoconic corneas.

AIM: To report the 3mo outcomes of collagen cross-linking (CXL) with a hypo-osmolar riboflavin in thin corneas with the thinnest thickness less than 400 µm without epithelium. METHODS: Eight eyes in 6 patients with age 26.2±4.8y were included in the study. All patients underwent CXL using a hypo-osmolar riboflavin solution after its de-epithelization. Best corrected visual acuity, manifest refraction, the thinnest corneal thickness, and endothelial cell density were evaluated before and 3mo after the procedure. RESULTS: The mean thinnest thickness of the cornea was 408.5±29.0 µm before treatment and reduced to 369.8±24.8 µm after the removal of epithelium. With the application of the hypo-osmolar riboflavin solution, the thickness increased to 445.0±26.5 µm before CXL and recover to 412.5±22.7 µm at 3mo after treatment, P=0.659). Before surgery, the mean K-value of the apex of the keratoconus corneas was 57.6±4.0 diopters, and slightly decreased (54.7±4.9 diopters) after surgery (P=0.085). Mean best-corrected visual acuity was 0.55±0.23 logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution, and increased to 0.53±0.26 logarithm after surgery (P=0.879). The endothelial cell density was 2706.4±201.6 cells/mm(2) before treatment, and slightly decreased (2641.2±218.2 cells/mm(2)) at last fellow up (P=0.002). CONCLUSION: Corneal collagen cross-linking with a hypo-osmolar riboflavin in thin corneas seems to be a promising treatment. Further study should be done to evaluate the safety and efficiency of CXL in thin corneas for the long-term.