A Superstrong and Reversible Ionic Crystal-Based Adhesive Inspired by Ice Adhesion

In this study, we developed a superstrong and reversible adhesive, which can possess a high bonding strength in the "adhesive" state and detach with the application of heating. An ionic crystal (IC) gel, in which an IC was immobilized within a soft-polymer matrix, were synthesized via in situ photo-crosslinking of a precursor solution composed of N, N-dimethyl acrylamide (DMAA) and a melted IC. The obtained IC gel is homogenous and transparent at melt point. When cooled to the phase transition temperature of the IC, the gel turns into the adhesive with the adhesion strength of 5.82 MPa (on glasses), due to the excellent wetting of melted gel and a thin layer of crystalline IC with high cohesive strength formed on the substrates. The synergistic effects between IC, polymer networks and substrates were investigated by solid state ¹ H NMR and molecular dynamics simulation. Such an adhesive layer is reversable and can be detached by heating and subsequent re-adhesion via cooling. This study proposed the new design of removable adhesives, which can be used in dynamic and complex environments.

[Clinical efficacy of anlotinib plus S-1 as a second-line therapy for recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the efficacy of anlotinib plus S-1 for treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with failed first-line chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE

Twenty-six patients with recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients who experienced progression after first-line paclitaxel plus platinum chemotherapy in our hospital between July, 2018 and February, 2020 were enrolled in this study. The patients received oral anlotinib along with S-1 treatment (anlotinib at 12 mg once daily and S-1 at 50 mg twice daily for two weeks; 3 weeks per cycle). The objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and adverse effects were evaluated for all the patients.

OBJECTIVE

No complete remission (CR) was observed in the 26 patients. Partial remission (PR) was achieved in 6 cases, stable disease (SD) in 12 cases, and progressive disease (PD) occurred in 8 cases, with an ORR of 23.1% and a DCR of 69.2% in these patients. The median PFS was 4.5 months (95%CI: 2.7-6.4 months). Univariate analysis showed that the patients with moderate or high tumor differentiation had significantly longer PFS than those with low tumor differentiation (6.1 months vs 1.9 months, P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis suggested that pathological differentiation grade (HR=6.778, 95%CI: 1.997-23.012) was an independent factor for a prolonged PFS. The adverse effects in the patients included mainly fatigue, hypertension and hand-foot syndrome, mostly of grade 1 to 2.

OBJECTIVE

Patients with recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma can benefit from a second-line anlotinib plus S-1 treatment, which has relatively mild adverse effects with a good safety profile.

[Long non-coding RNA UPK1A-AS1 promotes glycolysis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells via stabilization of HIF-1α]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of long non-coding RNA UPK1A-AS1 on glycolysis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and its underlying molecular mechanisms.

OBJECTIVE

A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line with lentivirus-mediated stable UPK1A-AS1 overexpression and the cells infected with a negative control lentiviral vector were cultured under normoxic (21% O₂) or hypoxic (1% O₂) conditions for 24 h. The effect of UPK1A-AS1 overexpression on glycolysis of the HCC cells was examined. The expressions of glycolysis-related genes HIF1A, GLUT1, HK1, HK2 and PGK1 were detected by qRTPCR, and the effect of UPK1A-AS1 overexpression on HRE activity was detected by dual luciferase report assay. The HCC cells were treated with cycloheximide to detect the effect of UPK1A-AS1 overexpression on the stability of HIF-1α protein. Immunoprecipitation assay was used to analyze the changes in ubiquitin modification of HIF-1α protein in response to UPK1A-AS1 overexpression. The effects of UPK1A-AS1 overexpression and RNA interference of HIF-1α expression on glucose consumption, lactate production and expressions of HRE activity and glycolysis-related genes (HK1, HK2 and PGK1) were examined in the HCC cells.

OBJECTIVE

Compared with the control group, overexpression of UPK1A-AS1 significantly promoted glucose consumption and lactate production in HCC cells under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions (P < 0.05). Overexpression of UPK1A-AS1 significantly increased the expression of glycolysis-related genes including HIF1A, GLUT1, HK1, HK2 and PGK1. Upregulation of UPK1A-AS1 obviously promoted the transcriptional activity of HRE (P < 0.05). Western blotting showed that UPK1A-AS1 overexpression obviously increased the stability of HIF-1α protein and significantly reduced ubiquitin modification of HIF-1α. Downregulation of HIF-1α obviously reversed the effect of UPK1A-AS1 overexpression in promoting glucose consumption, lactate production and HRE luciferase activity. Silencing HIF-1α also suppressed the upregulation of glycolysis-related gene expressions induced by UPK1A-AS1 overexpression (P < 0.05).

OBJECTIVE

The long noncoding RNA UPK1A-AS1 upregulates the expression of glycolysis-related genes by stabilizing the expression of HIF-1α, thereby promoting glycolysis level in HCC cells.

Applying a COVID Virtual Ward model, assessing patient outcomes and staff workload

A COVID virtual ward (CVW) is recommended by NHS England, but 'usual care' outcomes have not been reported. A retrospective study of all adults with COVID-19 attending Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham between 01/06/2020-31/01/2021, assessed against CVW criteria and followed for 28 days. Of 2301 COVID-19 patients, 571(25%) would have met CVW criteria. Of these, 325(57%) were discharged after review and 246(43%) admitted. Of admitted patients who met CVW criteria, 81% required hospital-supported therapies; 11% died. Of the 325 discharged, 13% re-presented, 9% with COVID-related symptoms, 2% required intensive care admission, and one died (0.3%). In this comparison, discharging patients without a CVW did not lead to more re-presentations, re-admissions, ITU escalations or deaths compared to published outcomes for hospitals with a CVW.

Childhood COVID-19: a multicentre retrospective study

Objectives

To investigate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of paediatric patients with coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19).

Methods

Paediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between January 15 and March 15, 2020, from seven hospitals in Zhejiang Province, China, were collected retrospectively and analysed.

Results

Thirty-two children with COVID-19, ranging in age from 3 months to 18 years, were enrolled. Family aggregation occurred in 87.5% of infant and preschool-aged children (7/8), and also school-aged children (14/16), but in only 12.5% (1/8) of adolescents (p < 0.05, p < 0.001). Most of these patients had mild symptoms: mainly fever (20/32) followed by cough (10/32) and fatigue (4/32). The average durations of viral RNA in respiratory samples and gastrointestinal samples were 15.8 d and 28.9 d, respectively. Detox duration in faeces decreased with age: 39.8 d, 27.5 d and 20.4 d in infants and preschool children, school children, and adolescents respectively (p_{0–6, –18} <0.01, p_{0–6, –14} <0.05). Pneumonia was found in 14 children, but there was no statistical significance in the incidence of pneumonia between different age groups. Thirty patients were treated with antiviral drugs, and all patients were stable and gradually improved after admission.

Conclusions

Most children with COVID-19 had a mild process and a good prognosis. More attention should be paid to investigation of household contact history in the diagnosis of COVID-19 in young children. Viral RNA lasts longer in the gastrointestinal system than in the respiratory tract, especially in younger children.

Phase dependent encapsulation and release profile of ZIF-based biocomposites

Biocomposites composed of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs) are generating significant interest due to their facile synthesis, and capacity to protect proteins from harsh environments. Here we systematically varied the composition (i.e. relative amounts of ligand (2-methylimidazole), metal precursor (Zn(OAc)2·2H2O), and protein) and post synthetic treatments (i.e. washes with water or water/ethanol) to prepare a series of protein@ZIF biocomposites. These data were used to construct two ternary phase diagrams that showed the synthesis conditions employed gave rise to five different phases including, for the first time, biocomposites based on ZIF-CO3-1. We examined the influence of the different phases on two properties relevant to drug delivery applications: encapsulation efficiency and release profile. The encapsulation efficiencies of bovine serum albumin and insulin were phase dependent and ranged from 75% to 100%. In addition, release profiles showed that 100% protein release varied between 40 and 300 minutes depending on the phase. This study provides a detailed compositional map for the targeted preparation of ZIF-based biocomposites of specific phases and a tool for the straightforward analysis of the crystalline phases of ZIF based materials (web application named "ZIF phase analysis"). These data will facilitate the progress of ZIF bio-composites in the fields of biomedicine and biotechnology.

Comprehensive analysis of miRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs reveals potential players of sexually dimorphic and left-right asymmetry in chicken gonad during gonadal differentiation

Despite thousands of sex-biased genes being found in chickens, the genetic control of sexually dimorphic and left-right asymmetry during gonadal differentiation is not yet completely understood. This study aimed to identify microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), messenger RNAs (mRNAs), and signaling pathways during gonadal differentiation in chick embryos (day 6/stage 29). The left and right gonads were collected for RNA sequencing. Sex-biased, side-biased miRNAs, lncRNAs, mRNAs, and shared differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNA)–differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNA)–differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNA) interaction networks were performed. A total of 8 DEmiRNAs, 183 DElncRNAs, and 123 DEmRNAs were identified for the sex-biased genes, and 7 DEmiRNAs, 189 DElncRNAs, and 183 DEmRNAs for the side-biased genes. The results of quantitative real-time PCR were generally consistent with the RNA-sequencing results. The study suggested that miRNAs and lncRNAs regulation were novel gene-specific dosage compensation mechanism and they could contribute to left-right asymmetry of chicken, but sex-biased and side-biased miRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs were independent of each other. The competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks showed that 17 target pairs including miR-7b (CYP19A1, FSHR, GREB1, STK31, CORIN, and TDRD9), miR-211 (FSHR, GREB1, STK31, CORIN, and TDRD9), miR-204 (FSHR, GREB1, CORIN, and TDRD9), and miR-302b-5p (CYP19A1 and TDRD9) may play crucial roles in ovarian development. These analyses provide new clues to uncover molecular mechanisms and signaling networks of ovarian development.

Hexahydroxytriphenylene for the synthesis of group 13 MOFs - a new inorganic building unit in a β-cristobalite type structure

Two new, microporous MOFs of framework composition ((CH3)2NH2)2[M3O(HHTP)(HHTP˙)], M = Al3+, Ga3+, H6HHTP = 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene, are described. Electron diffraction combined with molecular simulations show that these compounds crystallize in the β-cristobalite structure, containing a new type of trinuclear inorganic building unit for MOFs and radical anions.

A control hardware based on a field programmable gate array for experiments in atomic physics

Experiments in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) physics require precise and accurate control of digital, analog, and radio frequency (RF) signals. We present control hardware based on a field programmable gate array core that drives various modules via a simple interface bus. The system supports an operating frequency of 10 MHz and a memory depth of 8 M (2²³) instructions, both easily scalable. Successive experimental sequences can be stacked with no dead time and synchronized with external events at any instructions. Two or more units can be cascaded and synchronized to a common clock, a feature useful to operate large experimental setups in a modular way.

A fibered laser system for the MIGA large scale atom interferometer

We describe the realization and characterization of a compact, autonomous fiber laser system that produces the optical frequencies required for laser cooling, trapping, manipulation, and detection of 87Rb atoms - a typical atomic species for emerging quantum technologies. This device, a customized laser system from the Muquans company, is designed for use in the challenging operating environment of the Laboratoire Souterrain à Bas Bruit (LSBB) in France, where a new large scale atom interferometer is being constructed underground - the MIGA antenna. The mobile bench comprises four frequency-agile C-band Telecom diode lasers that are frequency doubled to 780 nm after passing through high-power fiber amplifiers. The first laser is frequency stabilized on a saturated absorption signal via lock-in amplification, which serves as an optical frequency reference for the other three lasers via optical phase-locked loops. Power and polarization stability are maintained through a series of custom, flexible micro-optic splitter/combiners that contain polarization optics, acousto-optic modulators, and shutters. Here, we show how the laser system is designed, showcasing qualities such as reliability, stability, remote control, and flexibility, while maintaining the qualities of laboratory equipment. We characterize the laser system by measuring the power, polarization, and frequency stability. We conclude with a demonstration using a cold atom source from the MIGA project and show that this laser system fulfills all requirements for the realization of the antenna.

The temporal-spatial patterns, polymorphisms and association analysis with meat quality traits of FABP1 gene in domestic pigeons (Columba livia)

1. Fatty acid-binding proteins (FABP) are members of lipid-binding proteins, which participate in the metabolism and intracellular transportation of lipids. This study was designed to investigate the expression patterns, polymorphisms and associations with meat quality traits of the FABP1 gene in pigeons. 2. The temporal-spatial expression patterns showed FABP1 was widely expressed in all eleven tissues from 0-4 weeks of age, the expression level in the liver was the highest, followed by the small intestine and subcutaneous fat. 3. Five novel SNPs were found; all of them were synonymous and in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Association analysis revealed that for the SNP of G161C, the AB and BB genotypes had higher (P ≤ 0.01) inosinic acid concentrations in breast muscle than the AA genotype. The BB genotype showed the highest (P < 0.01) intramuscular fat among the three genotypes, and significantly greater FABP1 mRNA levels were observed in the breast muscle of the BB genotype than in the AA and AB genotypes (P < 0.01). In the SNP C1376T, the AB and BB genotypes showed higher (P < 0.01) intramuscular fat than the AA genotype, and the relative mRNA expression level of the BB (P < 0.01) and AB (P < 0.05) genotypes was higher than that of the AA genotype in breast muscle. Correlation analysis implied that the FABP1 mRNA expression level was closely related to the inosinic acid (P < 0.05) and intramuscular fat content (P < 0.01). Oil red O staining of frozen sections of breast muscle on d 28 for SNPs G161C and C1376T also indicated that the BB genotype had the highest intramuscular fat content in both SNPs. In addition, correlation analysis implied the FABP1 mRNA expression level was closely related to inosinic acid (P < 0.05) and intramuscular fat content (P < 0.01). 4. The results suggested that FABP1 could be a potential candidate gene in marker-assisted selection for breeding pigeons with high-quality meat.

Effects of sodium butyrate on intestinal health and gut microbiota composition during intestinal inflammation progression in broilers

Butyric acid is a beneficial feed additive used in animal production, including poultry production. However, there are few reports on butyric acid as a prophylactic treatment against intestinal inflammation in broilers. The current study explored the effect of sodium butyrate (SB) as a prophylactic treatment on the intestinal health and gut microbiota of broilers with intestinal inflammation induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) by monitoring changes in intestinal histopathology, gut leakiness indicators, inflammatory cytokines, and gut microbiota composition. Sodium butyrate supplementation prior to DSS administration significantly reduced the lesion scores of intestinal bleeding (P < 0.05) and increased villus height and the total mucosa of the ileum (P < 0.05). Regardless of intestinal inflammation, supplementation with SB at 300 mg/kg significantly decreased the levels of D (-)-lactate (P < 0.05), interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β (P < 0.05) but increased the level of interleukin-10 (P < 0.05). The SB treatment did not affect the alpha diversity of intestinal microbiota during intestinal inflammation progression but altered their composition, and the microbial community structure of treated broilers was similar to that of control broilers. Taken together, our results reveal the importance of SB in improving intestinal development, inducing an anti-inflammatory effect during intestinal inflammation progression, and modulating the microbial community in broilers. Sodium butyrate seems to be optimized for anti-inflammatory effects at higher doses (300 mg/kg SB).