Interaction in Li@Fullerenes and Li+@Fullerenes: First Principle Insights to Li-Based Endohedral Fullerenes

This work reveals first principle results of the endohedral fullerenes made from neutral or charged single atomic lithium (Li or Li⁺) encapsulated in fullerenes with various cage sizes. According to the calculated binding energies, it is found that the encapsulation of a single lithium atom is energetically more favorable than that of lithium cation. Lithium, in both atomic and cationic forms, exhibits a clear tendency to depart from the center in large cages. Interaction effects dominate the whole encapsulation process of lithium to carbon cages. Further, the nature of the interaction between Li (or Li⁺) and carbon cages is discussed based on reduced density gradient, energy decomposition analysis, and charge transfer.

[The comparison of liver inflammation and fibrosis between chronic HBV and HCV infection]

Objective: To explore the difference of liver inflammation and fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and to investigate the relationship between hepatic pathology and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Methods: 57 patients with chronic HCV infection and 346 patients with chronic HBV infection who were hospitalized at Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from January 2012 to September 2016 were enrolled. In chronic HBV infection, including 88 cases whose ALT were more than two times of upper limited of normal (ALT≥2×ULN) and 258 cases whose ALT were less than two times of upper limited of normal (ALT < 2×ULN).All the patients were underwent liver biopsy. Chronic HBV infection (ALT≥2×ULN and ALT < 2×ULN) and chronic HCV infection were compared respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using a Univariate χ²-test and Mann-Whitney U test for comparison. Correlations between variables were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation. Results: In chronic HBV infection group, 169 cases (48.8%) had inflammation grade≥2 (G≥2), 98 cases (28.3%) had fibrosis stage≥2 (S≥2), 81 cases (23.4%) with G≥2 and S≥2.In the ALT < 2×ULN group, there were 109 cases (42.2%) with G≥2, 62 cases (24%) with S≥2, 49 cases (19%) with G≥2 and S≥2. In the ALT≥2×ULN group, 60 cases (68.2%) with G≥2, 35 cases (39.8%) with S≥2, 31 cases (35.2%) with G≥2 and S≥2. The grade of inflammation and fibrosis have significantly different between ALT≥2×ULN group and ALT < 2×ULN group (χ² = 17.66, χ² = 8.06, P < 0.01). In chronic HCV infection group, 47 cases (82.5%) with G≥2, 20 cases (35.1%) with S≥2, 20 cases (35.1%) with G≥2 and S≥2. ALT had no correlation with inflammation and fibrosis (P > 0.05). The grade of inflammation was significantly different between chronic HCV infection and chronic HBV infection whose ALT < 2×ULN (χ² = 30.19, P < 0.01) but the fibrosis have no difference (χ² = 2.96, P > 0.05). Compared with chronic HBV infection whose ALT≥2×ULN, both inflammation and fibrosis had no significantly different (χ² = 3.65, χ² = 0.32, P > 0.05 respectively). Conclusion: In chronic HBV infection whose ALT < 2×ULN, about 30%-40% liver tissue with significant necroinflammation and /or fibrosis. About 80% chronic HCV infection with significant necroinflammation, and the grade of inflammation has no correlation with ALT. The grade of inflammation has significantly different between chronic HCV infection group and chronic HBV infection group whose ALT < 2×ULN.

[AKR1B10 inhibitor enhances the inhibitory effect of sorafenib on liver cancer xenograft]

Objective: To investigate the inhibitory effect of AKR1B10 inhibitor combined with sorafenib on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) xenograft growth. Methods: HepG2 xenograft model was established in nude mice. The mice were then randomly divided into four groups: control group, epalrestat monotherapy group, sorafenib monotherapy group and combination treatment group. Tumor volume, tumor weight, T/C ratio and the change in body weight of nude mice in each group were compared to evaluate the curative effect. Immunohistochemistry staining was used to detect the expression of Ki-67 in tumor tissues to evaluate the proliferation status of tumor cells. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the differences between the groups. Student's t-test was used to test means of two groups and chi-square test was used for multiple samples. Results: The differences of the grafted tumor volume before and after treatment between the control group, epalrestat group, sorafenib group and combined therapy group was 238.940 ± 39.813, 124.991 ± 84.670, -26.111 ± 11.518, and -54.072 ± 17.673(mm(3)), respectively, (F = 37.048, P < 0.001). The tumor mass were 0.273 ± 0.140, 0.158 ± 0.078, 0.079 ± 0.054, 0.045 ± 0.024 (g), (F = 16.594, P < 0.001); T/C ratio were 100%, 57.9%, 28.9%, 16.5%, and Ki-67 positive rate were 23.295 ± 6.218, 13.503 ± 3.392, 7.325 ± 2.257, 4.664 ± 1.189 (%), (χ(2) = 822.203, P < 0.001) . The tumor volume (t = -3.579, P = 0.002) and Ki-67 positive rate (t = -10.003, P < 0.001) in epalrestat monotherapy group were significantly lower than control group. The tumor volume (t = 2.056, P = 0.025), tumor mass (t = 2.101, P = 0.043), and Ki-67 positive rate (t = -2.850, P = 0.005) in combination treatment group were significantly lower than sorafenib monotherapy group. Compared with the control group, the body weight of nude mice in the treatment group decreased to a certain extent, but there was no statistically significant difference between epalrestat monotherapy group and control group (t = -1.599, P = 0.262), and combined therapy and sorafenib monotherapy group (t = -0.051, P = 0.96). Conclusion: AKR1B10 inhibitor enhanced the inhibitory effect of sorafenib on hepatocellular carcinoma xenograft.

Improvement of SO2 Resistance of Low-Temperature Mn-Based Denitration Catalysts by Fe Doping

The influence of vapor and SO₂ in coal firing flue gas on the selective catalytic reduction activity of Mn/γ-Al₂O₃ and Mn-Fe/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts was investigated at 150-275 °C. Denitration experiments and detailed characterization of catalysts were conducted. Vapor had no chemical effects on denitration, and the mechanism of SO₂ deactivating the Mn/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts was investigated in detail. This is due to the reaction between MnO₂ and SO₂ and the ammonium sulfate deposits forming on the surface. Sulfation of the Mn-active component was significantly reduced by doping the Mn/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst with Fe. Iron doping also lowered the stability of the ammonium sulfate surface deposits, forcing them to rapidly decompose. Thus, iron doping significantly improved SO₂ resistance and the denitration efficiency of Mn-Fe/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts was not clearly decreased.

Stabilities and electronic properties of nanowires made of single atomic sulfur chains encapsulated in zigzag carbon nanotubes

Theoretical investigations are carried out on the recently synthesized one-dimensional nanowires made of atomic sulfur chains encapsulated in carbon nanotubes (called S@CNTs). Special attention is paid to stability, electronic property and transport properties of these combined nanowires. It is found that the encapsulation is exothermic when S@CNTs are built from the tubes with diameter larger than 6.4 Å. Thus the experimental results are energetically favorable since the diameters of the CNTs are about 6 Å in the obtained S@CNTs. The combined nanowires can be stabilized by van der Waals interaction between sulfur chain and tube as indicated from radial distribution function and reduced density gradient descriptions. All S@CNTs studied in this work exhibit metallic property with the partially filled bands. However, the conducting component and the pathway of charge carriers are various. For instance, only the sulfur chain is the conducting pathway for S@CNT(8, 0), while both the sulfur chain and tube are the conducting pathways for S@CNT(9, 0). This interesting feature was understood based on the band structures and crystal orbital analysis. The electronic transport properties of the systems are performed by investigating and analyzing the transmission spectra, current-voltage (I-V) curves and transmission eigenstate, which confirm that the sulfur chains can improve the electronic transport of CNTs. Moreover, the electrostatic interaction resulted from the charge transfer between the two components of S@CNTs should be favorable to the stability of the combined nanowires.

Genome-wide detection of CNVs associated with beak deformity in chickens using high-density 600K SNP arrays

Beak deformity (crossed beaks) is found in several indigenous chicken breeds including Beijing-You studied here. Birds with deformed beaks have reduced feed intake and poor production performance. Recently, copy number variation (CNV) has been examined in many species and is recognized as a source of genetic variation, especially for disease phenotypes. In this study, to unravel the genetic mechanisms underlying beak deformity, we performed genome-wide CNV detection using Affymetrix chicken high-density 600K data on 48 deformed-beak and 48 normal birds using penncnv. As a result, two and eight CNV regions (CNVRs) covering 0.32 and 2.45 Mb respectively on autosomes were identified in deformed-beak and normal birds respectively. Further RT-qPCR studies validated nine of the 10 CNVRs. The ratios of six CNVRs were significantly different between deformed-beak and normal birds (P < 0.01). Within these six regions, three and 21 known genes were identified in deformed-beak and normal birds respectively. Bioinformatics analysis showed that these genes were enriched in six GO terms and one KEGG pathway. Five candidate genes in the CNVRs were further validated using RT-qPCR. The expression of LRIG2 (leucine rich repeats and immunoglobulin like domains 2) was lower in birds with deformed beaks (P < 0.01). Therefore, the LRIG2 gene could be considered a key factor in view of its known functions and its potential roles in beak deformity. Overall, our results will be helpful for future investigations of the genomic structural variations underlying beak deformity in chickens.

Characterization of porcine sapelovirus isolated from Japanese swine with PLC/PRF/5 cells

Porcine sapelovirus (PSV) is a causative agent of neurological disorders, fertility disorders and dermal lesions of swine. In this study, we isolated two PSV strains, Jpsv477 and Jpsv1315, from swine faecal specimens using a PLC/PRF/5 cell culture system. The PSV infection of PLC/PRF/5 cells induced a cytopathic effect (CPE). Two types of virus particles with identical diameter (~35 nm) but different densities (1.300 and 1.285 g/cm³ ) were observed in the cell culture supernatants. Analysis of the entire genome sequence of Jpsv477 and Jpsv1315 revealed that both strains possess 7,558 nucleotides and the poly (A) tail and have a typical PSV genome organization consisting of a 5' terminal untranslated region (5'UTR), a large open reading frame (ORF), and a 3' terminal untranslated region (3'UTR). The ORF encodes a single polyprotein that is subsequently processed into a leader protein (L), four structural proteins (VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4) and seven functional proteins (2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D). The structural proteins VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4 have molecular masses of ~35, ~26, ~25 and ~6 kDa. The N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4 confirmed that the cleavage sites between VP4 and VP2, VP2 and VP3, and VP3 and VP1 are K/A, Q/G and Q/G, respectively. We further confirmed that HepG2/C3A, Vero E6 and primary green monkey kidney cells (PGMKC) were also susceptible to PSV infection. The stability assay demonstrated that PSV was inactivated by heating at 60°C for 10 min or 65°C for 5 min. The virus also lost infectivity by incubation with 62.5 ppm of NaClO for 30 min.