Phosphorus-doped h-boron nitride as an efficient metal-free catalyst for direct dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene

The N₂PO and N₃P–OH sites of PBN synergistically catalyzed the direct dehydrogenation reaction of ethylbenzene with a styrene production rate of 6.63 mmol_ST g⁻¹ h⁻¹ even after 100 h.

[MRI histogram texture analysis of lateral pterygoid muscle in patients with temporomandibular disorders]

Objective: To evaluate the functional changes of lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM) in the patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) using histogram texture analysis. Methods: A total of 28 TMD patients, including 15 males and 13 females, aged (26.2±12.1) years (15-62 years), were enrolled in the outpatient clinic of Department of Radiology, Hainan Hospital of Chinese PLA General Hospital from May 2016 to April 2020. At the same time, 13 volunteers with normal temporomandibular joint [6 males and 7 females, aged (23.5±3.3) years (20-30) years] were recruited. All participants were performed with temporomandibular joint MRI scan, and the subjects were classified into 3 groups according to the disc displacement: TMD with disc without displacement (TMD-DwoD), TMD with disc displacement without reduction (TMD-DDwoR) and NC with disc displacement without reduction (NC-DwoD) for each temporomandibular joint. The area, signal intensity, coefficient of variation (CV) of mean signal intensity and histogram texture of the superior belly of LPM (SBLPM) and inferior belly of LPM (IBLPM) were measured using regions of interests. Results: The area of SILPM presented significantly smaller in TMD-DwoD [(67.36±30.23) mm²] compared with that in NC-DwoD [(91.42±45.01) mm²] (P<0.05) and in TMD-DDwoR group [(72.27±37.53) mm²] (P>0.05). The mean signal intensity of SBLPM was identified significantly higher in TMD-DwoD (304.20±29.90) and TMD-DDwoR (315.06±40.20) compared with that in NC-DwoD (269.79±25.54) (P<0.05). The CV of mean signal intensity of SBLPM presented significantly higher in TMD-DwoD (8.89±2.60) compared with that in NC-DwoD (6.76±1.82) and TMD-DDwoR (7.63±1.62) (P<0.05). The skew and kurtosis showed no significantly differences among three groups for SBLPM (P>0.05). The mean signal intensity and CV for IBLPM presented significantly higher in TMD-DwoD (286.69±23.48 and 9.96±2.24, respectively) and TMD-DDwoR (275.98±30.55 and 10.25±1.96, respectively) compared with that in NC-DwoD (243.56±17.04 and 8.49±1.94, respectively) (P<0.05). The skewness showed significantly lower in TMD-DwoD (0.90±0.94) and TMD-DDwoR (0.73±0.97) compared with that in NC-DwoD (1.40±1.03) (P<0.05). The area and kurtosis for IBLPM showed no significant differences among three groups (P>0.05). Conclusions: The MR histogram texture analysis could primarily be considered as a tool to evaluate the LPM function in TMD patients.

[Analysis of pregnancy outcome of single and double blastocysts in the freeze-thaw cycle]

Objective: To compare the clinical outcomes of one and two blastocysts in the freeze-thaw transplantation cycle. Methods: Totally 3 675 cycles of frozen thawed blastocyst transplantation in Reproductive Medical Center of the Second Nanning People's Hospital from January 2012 to December 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. According to the quantity and quality of transferred blastocysts, all the patient were divided into two groups: (1) one embryo group, including the single excellent group (one high quality blastocyst) and the single non excellent group (one non high quality blastocyst); (2) two embryo groups, including the double excellent group (two high quality blastocysts), the one excellent and one non excellent group (one high quality blastocyst+one non high quality blastocyst), and the two non excellent group (two non high quality blastocysts were transplanted). Then the patients were divided into subgroups according to their ages: less than 35 years old, 35-40 years old and over 40 years old. On this basis, the implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, multiple birth rate and live birth rate were compared. Results: (1) The implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, multiple birth rate, preterm birth rate and live birth rate were all significantly increased, while the abortion rate was significantly reduced in the double blastocyst group (all P<0.05). (2) In the group of<35 years old, the rates of multiple birth and preterm birth in the double blastocyst group were significantly higher than those in the single optimal group (P<0.01). (3) In the 35-40 years old group, the clinical pregnancy rate, multiple birth rate and live birth rate of the double excellent group were significantly higher than those of the single excellent group (P<0.01); while the clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate of the one excellent and one non excellent group and the double non excellent group were not significantly different from those of the single excellent group (P>0.05), but the multiple birth rate and preterm birth rate were significantly increased (P<0.01). The clinical pregnancy rate, live birth rate and multiple birth rate of double non optimal group were significantly higher than those of single non optimal group (P<0.01). (4) In the group>40 years old, there were no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate between the two groups (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate between double non optimal group and single non optimal group (P>0.05). Conclusion: No matter the age of the patients, if the couple have high quality blastocysts, we should give priority to single high quality blastocyst transplantation; even if they have no high quality blastocysts, we should also consider single blastocyst transplantation, in order to reduce the risk of multiple pregnancy and improve the cumulative live birth rate, so as to improve the pregnancy outcome.

Sensitivity of in vitro digestible energy determined with computer-controlled simulated digestion system and its accuracy to predict dietary metabolizable energy for roosters

Two experiments were conducted to validate the sensitivity and accuracy of in vitro digestible energy (IVDE) determined with a computer-controlled simulated digestion system (CCSDS) to predict metabolizable energy (ME) of diets for roosters. In experiment 1, soybean hulls were added to a basal diet (calibration diet 1) at 2.06, 4.12, 6.17, 8.23, 10.28, 12.32, or 14.37% of the diets (calibration diets 2–8) to produce an interval of approximately 80 kcal ME/kg. The sensitivity was measured by comparing the determined and actual IVDE of the diets. With these data, a linear model was developed to predict ME from IVDE. In experiment 2, validation diets were identical except they were composed of different cereal ingredients. For each diet, the correlations and ratios between IVDE and ME were analyzed to test the sensitivity of IVDE to predict ME across different ingredients. In experiment 1, a slope of 0.9899 was calculated in a linear regression of determined IVDE on actual IVDE (R² = 0.9998; P < 0.01). The ratio of determined IVDE to actual IVDE was 0.9878. The ratio of IVDE to apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and to nitrogen-corrected AME (AMEn) was 1.03 and 1.05, respectively. The linear models to predict ME from IVDE were AME = 0.8449 × IVDE + 451 (R² = 0.9812, residual standard deviation [RSD] = 28 kcal/kg; P < 0.01) and AMEn = 0.8357 × IVDE + 436 (R² = 0.9821, RSD = 27 kcal/kg; P < 0.01). In experiment 2, a significant simple correlation was observed between the IVDE and AME or AMEn of validation diets (r > 0.97; P < 0.01). The ratio of IVDE to AME and to AMEn was 1.04 and 1.05, respectively. Predicted and determined AME or AMEn of 8 validation diets differed by less than 100 kcal/kg. The regression of determined AME or AMEn against predicted AME or AMEn (R² ≥ 0.9466; P < 0.01) resulted in an overlapped line where Y = X. These results suggest the IVDE determined with CCSDS is highly sensitive and can be used to accurately predict the ME of diets for roosters across a wide range of cereal grains.

SNHG7 mediates cisplatin-resistance in non-small cell lung cancer by activating PI3K/AKT pathway

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to clarify the function of long noncoding ribonucleic acids (lncRNAs) small nucleolar RNA host gene 7 (SNHG7) in cisplatin-resistant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to explore the potential mechanism.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

SNHG7 expression in NSCLC and para-cancerous tissues was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Meanwhile, the correlation between SNHG7 expression with clinical stage and cisplatin-resistance in NSCLC patients was analyzed. After transfection of si-SNHG7 or p-complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (pcDNA)-SNHG7, changes in cellular behaviors of A549/DDP cells were evaluated, including cell viability, apoptosis, migration, invasion and cell cycle. The regulatory effects of SNHG7 on the expressions of genes were determined by qRT-PCR as well. Furthermore, Western blot was conducted to determine the protein expressions of drug-resistance genes minimal residual disease1 (MRD1), P-glycoprotein (P-gp), BCRP and relative genes in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) pathway.

RESULTS

Compared with adjacent normal tissues, SNHG7 was highly expressed in NSCLC tissues. Moreover, SNHG7 expression was significantly higher in advanced-stage NSCLC patients than those in early-stage. SNHG7 level remained significantly higher in DDP-resistant NSCLC tissues and cell lines as well. Knockdown of SNHG7 remarkably enhanced cisplatin-resistance in NSCLC cells, manifesting as decreased cell viability, migratory and invasive rates, DNA synthesis capacity, and promoted apoptosis. Meanwhile, SNHG7 knockdown down-regulated the mRNA levels of matrix metalloprotein2 (MMP2), MMP7 and MMP9 in vitro. After SNHG7 knockdown, the expressions of drug-resistant and relative genes in the PI3K/AKT pathway were notably down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONS

SNHG7 induces the development of cisplatin-resistance in NSCLC through upregulating MRD1 and BCRP via PI3K/AKT pathway.

[Evaluation of histological changes of retrodisc attached tissue in patients with temporomandibular disorders by texture analysis: a pilot study]

Objective: To evaluate the histological changes of the retrodiscal tissue in the patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Methods: Thirty-three TMD patients were performed with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) MRI examinations from April 2018 to April 2020 in TMD clinic, Hainan Hospital of General Hospital of Chinese PLA. The patients groups were classified according to the disc position as follows: normal position (NP) (29 TMJ), disk displacement with reduction (DDwR) (14 TMJ) and disk displacement without reduction (DDwoR) (23 TMJ). The gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) analysis was applied with the retrodiscal tissue on the open oblique sagittal proton weighted images. The texture parameters included as follows: angular second moment (ASM), contrast, correlation, inverse difference moment (IDM) and entropy. The statistical methods mainly included Kruskal-Wallis H test, one-way analysis of variance and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), to analyze the texture characteristic parameters of the retrodiscal tissue are statistically significant. Results: There was no significant difference of the retrodiscal tissue's ASM, contrast, correlation and IDM among 3 groups (P>0.05). The entropy in NP group (3.98±0.44) and DDwR group (4.20±0.52) presented significant higher than that in DDwoR group (3.70±0.38) (P<0.05). ROC analysis for the entropy demonstrated that the area under the curve was 0.70 when differentiating NP and DDwR (cut-off value 0.38, sensitivity 82.61%, specificity 55.17%), and was 0.79 when differentiating DDwR and DDwoR (cut-off value 0.47, sensitivity 82.61%, specificity 64.29%). Conclusions: Texture entropy could be primarily used to evaluate the histological and pathological changes of the retrodiscal tissue in the TMD patients.

Fluorination Enhances NIR-II Fluorescence of Polymer Dots for Quantitative Brain Tumor Imaging

Here, we describe a fluorination strategy for semiconducting polymers for the development of highly bright second near-infrared region (NIR-II) probes. Tetrafluorination yielded a fluorescence QY of 3.2 % for the polymer dots (Pdots), over a 3-fold enhancement compared to non-fluorinated counterparts. The fluorescence enhancement was attributable to a nanoscale fluorous effect in the Pdots that maintained the molecular planarity and minimized the structure distortion between the excited state and ground state, thus reducing the nonradiative relaxations. By performing through-skull and through-scalp imaging of the brain vasculature of live mice, we quantitatively analyzed the vascular morphology of transgenic brain tumors in terms of the vessel lengths, vessel branches, and vessel symmetry, which showed statistically significant differences from the wild type animals. The bright NIR-II Pdots obtained through fluorination chemistry provide insightful information for precise diagnosis of the malignancy of the brain tumor.

Optimising Non-Patterned MoO3/Ag/MoO3 Anode for High-Performance Semi-Transparent Organic Solar Cells towards Window Applications

Semi-transparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs) have attracted significant research attention, as they have strong potential to be applied in automobiles and buildings. For ST-OSCs, the transparent top electrode is an indispensable component, where the dielectric/metal/dielectric (D/M/D) structured electrode displayed a promising future due to its simplicity in the fabrication. In this work, by using the MoO3-/Ag-/MoO3-based D/M/D transparent electrode, we fabricated ST-OSCs based on the PM6:N3 active layer for the first time. In the device fabrication, the D/M/D transparent electrode was optimised by varying the thickness of the outer MoO3 layer. As a result, we found that increasing the thickness of the outer MoO3 layer can increase the average visible transmittance (AVT) but decrease the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the device. The outer MoO3 layer with a 10 nm thickness was found as the optimum case, where its corresponding device showed the PCE of 9.18% with a high AVT of 28.94%. Moreover, the colour perception of fabricated ST-OSCs was investigated. All semi-transparent devices exhibited a neutral colour perception with a high colour rendering index (CRI) over 90, showing great potential for the window application.

Delocalization of exciton and electron wavefunction in non-fullerene acceptor molecules enables efficient organic solar cells

A major challenge for organic solar cell (OSC) research is how to minimize the tradeoff between voltage loss and charge generation. In early 2019, we reported a non-fullerene acceptor (named Y6) that can simultaneously achieve high external quantum efficiency and low voltage loss for OSC. Here, we use a combination of experimental and theoretical modeling to reveal the structure-property-performance relationships of this state-of-the-art OSC system. We find that the distinctive π-π molecular packing of Y6 not only exists in molecular single crystals but also in thin films. Importantly, such molecular packing leads to (i) the formation of delocalized and emissive excitons that enable small non-radiative voltage loss, and (ii) delocalization of electron wavefunctions at donor/acceptor interfaces that significantly reduces the Coulomb attraction between interfacial electron-hole pairs. These properties are critical in enabling highly efficient charge generation in OSC systems with negligible donor-acceptor energy offset.

[Clinical characteristics and prognosis of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries]

Objective: To investigate the clinical features and prognosis in myocardial infarction patients with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA). Methods: The data were obtained from consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University from January 2005 to October 2016. The coronary angiography (CAG) showed that the coronary artery of the AMI patients was normal or near normal (<50% stenosis). The general clinical conditions and prognosis were analyzed. Composite endpoints included all-cause death, myocardial reinfarction, and re-admission to hospital for angina. Results: There were 5 474 patients diagnosed with AMI undergoing CAG examination during this 11 years. Among them, 139 cases were with MINOCA (2.5%). The age of the patients with MINOCA was (55.8±12.2) years, and most of them were men (69.1%). Among them, 52.5% (73 cases) were with hypertension, 43.2% (60 cases) were smoker, 9.4% (13 cases) were with diabetes, respectively. There are a variety of causes, however, 64.0% (89 cases) patients were with unclear etiology. After 1 year followed-up, 3 cases (2.2%) suffered death, 3 cases (2.2%) were developed to nonfatal myocardial reinfarction and 8.6% (12 cases) were re-admitted to hospital for angina. Conclusions: The prevalence of MINOCA is relatively low. Hypertension and smoking are the main risk factors. Patients are relatively young and most of them are male.

Burn-In Degradation Mechanism Identified for Small Molecular Acceptor-Based High-Efficiency Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have again become a hot research topic in recent years. The record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OSCs has boosted to over 17% in 2020. Apart from the high PCE, the stability of OSCs is also critical for their future applications and commercialization. Recently, many studies have proposed that burn-in degradation can be considered as an ineluctable barrier to long-term stable OSCs. However, there is still lack of studies to explain the detailed mechanism of this burn-in process. In this work, we first investigated the mechanism of the burn-in process in the high-efficiency PM6:N3-based nonfullerene OSCs. The PM6:N3-based device achieved a profound average PCE of 14.10% but also showed a significant performance loss after the burn-in degradation. Following characterizations such as dark J-V, photoluminescence (PL), time-resolved PL, Urbach energy estimation, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy reveal that the burn-in degradation observed is closely related to the current extraction, energy transfer, nonradiative recombination, and charge transport process in the PM6:N3-based device. At the same time, it has small effects on the exciton dissociation process and energetic disorder in the PM6:N3-based device. Atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements gratifyingly found that the morphology of the PM6:N3 active layer is relatively stable during the burn-in degradation. Therefore, these observed degradations are suspected results from the instability of interfaces and electrodes. The atoms in carrier transport layers and electrodes may diffuse to the active layer during the degradation, which changes the energy levels of each layer and causes traps at the interface and in the active layer. Conquering the instability of interfaces and electrodes is proposed as the prior task for PM6:N3-based OSCs to achieve long-term stability. Our study provides insights into the mechanism behind the burn-in degradation of the PM6:N3-based OSCs, which takes the first step to conquer this barrier.

Compiling Magnetosheath Statistical Data Sets Under Specific Solar Wind Conditions: Lessons Learnt From the Dayside Kinetic Southward IMF GEM Challenge

The Geospace Environmental Modelling (GEM) community offers a framework for collaborations between modelers, observers, and theoreticians in the form of regular challenges. In many cases, these challenges involve model-data comparisons to provide wider context to observations or validate model results. To perform meaningful comparisons, a statistical approach is often adopted, which requires the extraction of a large number of measurements from a specific region. However, in complex regions such as the magnetosheath, compiling these data can be difficult. Here, we provide the statistical context of compiling statistical data for the southward IMF GEM challenge initiated by the "Dayside Kinetic Processes in Global Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Interaction" focus group. It is shown that matching very specific upstream conditions can severely impact the statistical data if limits are imposed on several solar wind parameters. We suggest that future studies that wish to compare simulations and/or single events to statistical data should carefully consider at an early stage the availability of data in context with the upstream criteria. We also demonstrate the importance of how specific IMF conditions are defined, the chosen spacecraft, the region of interest, and how regions are identified automatically. The lessons learnt in this study are of wide context to many future studies as well as GEM challenges. The results also highlight the issue where a global statistical perspective has to be balanced with its relevance to more-extreme, less-frequent individual events, which is typically the case in the field of space weather.

Distinct clinical features and serum cytokine pattern of elderly atopic dermatitis in China

BACKGROUND

Elderly atopic dermatitis (AD) is a newly defined subtype of AD stratified by age-related clinical pictures.

OBJECTIVES

To analyse the clinical features and molecular profile of elderly AD patients in China, comparing with infantile, childhood and adolescent/adult AD.

METHODS

A total of 1312 patients diagnosed by Hanifin and Rajka diagnostic criteria of AD from Huashan Hospital, Shanghai, China, were divided into four groups by age (2-18, 19-40, 41-60 and >60 years), and clinical features were evaluated by questionnaire and physical examination. Serum total IgE, eosinophil counts and various cytokines were further analysed in some of the patients and healthy controls.

RESULTS

Elderly AD showed significantly higher male/female ratio and rural/urban ratio than other age groups, and more than half of elderly AD first appeared after 60 years old. Skin lesions of elderly AD were more often seen in the trunk and extensor sites of the extremities. Level of serum IgE and eosinophil counts were significantly lower in elderly AD than those in other age groups. Serum levels of IL-4, TARC, IL-17A, IL-6, IL-22, IL-33 and TSLP were significantly higher in elderly AD patients than those of healthy controls, indicating a mixed Th2/Th17/Th22 inflammation.

CONCLUSIONS

Elderly AD demonstrated unique clinical characteristics compared with other age groups and showed mixed Th2/Th17/Th22 skewing, indicating a unique pathogenesis for elderly AD.