Ordering Bimetallic Cu-Pd Catalysts onto Orderly Mesoporous SrTiO3-Crystal Nanotubular Networks for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Photoreduction

Artificial photosynthesis of fuels has garnered significant attention, with SrTiO3 emerging as a potential candidate for photocatalysis due to its exceptional physicochemical properties. However, selectively converting CO2 into fuels with desired reaction products remains a grand challenge. Herein, we design an updated method via an aging strategy based on the electrospinning technique to synthesize a single-crystalline Al-doped SrTiO3 nanotubular networks with self-assembled orderly mesopores, further modified by Cu-Pd alloy. It exhibits both high crystallinity and superior cross-linked mesoporous structures, effectively facilitating charge carrier transfer, photon utilization, and mass transfer, with a remarkable enhancement from 0.025 mmol·h-1·m-2 to 1.090 mmol·h-1·m-2 in the CO production rate. Meanwhile, the ordered arrangement of Cu and Pd atoms on the (111) surface can promote the rate-determining step (*CO2 to *COOH), which is also responsible for its good activity. The presence of CuO in the reaction confers a significant advantage for CO desorption, leading to a remarkable CO selectivity of 95.54%. This work highlights new insights into developing advanced heterogeneous photocatalysts.

Recent progresses in gut microbiome mediates obstructive sleep apnea-induced cardiovascular diseases

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a multifactorial sleep disorder with a high prevalence in the general population. OSA is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), particularly hypertension, and is linked to worse outcomes. Although the correlation between OSA and CVDs is firmly established, the mechanisms are poorly understood. Continuous positive airway pressure is primary treatment for OSA reducing cardiovascular risk effectively, while is limited by inadequate compliance. Moreover, alternative treatments for cardiovascular complications in OSA are currently not available. Recently, there has been considerable attention on the significant correlation between gut microbiome and pathophysiological changes in OSA. Furthermore, gut microbiome has a significant impact on the cardiovascular complications that arise from OSA. Nevertheless, a detailed understanding of this association is lacking. This review examines recent advancements to clarify the link between the gut microbiome, OSA, and OSA-related CVDs, with a specific focus on hypertension, and also explores potential health advantages of adjuvant therapy that targets the gut microbiome in OSA.

Enhancing emotion recognition in young autistic children with or without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Hong Kong using a Chinese App version of The Transporters

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This study was registered with the German Clinical Trials Register - Deutschen Register Klinischer Studien (DRKS) on 23 December 2018. The Trial Registration Number (TRN) is DRKS00016506.

LAY ABSTRACT

The Transporters App is an intervention programme with 15 animated episodes that teach emotion recognition skills to autistic children between 4 and 6 years of age. Each episode contains a story depicting social interactions between characters in the form of a vehicle, with human faces grafted on to each of them. Each episode teaches a specific emotion in a story context. Autistic children watched at least three episodes at home for about 15 min daily for a month, with parental guidance. Its automated, home-based format is cost-saving and readily accessible. This study translated The Transporters to a Cantonese-Chinese version. Results showed a significant improvement in emotion recognition following viewing The Transporters in a group of Hong Kong Chinese autistic children, between 4 and 6 years of age, with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (n = 48) relative to a control group (n = 24). A non-autistic group (n = 23) showed that the autistic children scored lower in emotion recognition pre-intervention. Post-intervention, the autistic children had improved in emotion recognition to the level of the non-autistic children. The autistic children in the intervention groups also generalized their learning to novel situations/characters not taught within The Transporters. There was no dosage effect, with the standard recommended number of episodes viewed being sufficient to achieve significant improvement. This study confirms the effectiveness of The Transporters for Chinese autistic children and contributes to the literature/practice by expanding the range of applicability of The Transporters to autistic children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which is important given the high rate of co-occurrence between autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Experimental Study on Gas-Solid Two-Phase Flow Characteristics of a Vertical Cyclone Combustor System

According to the design and operational parameters of the cyclone liquid slag-discharging boiler, an experimental platform for the cyclone burner was designed and constructed in a cold state based on the principle of similarity. The experimental study investigated the effects of parameters, such as swirl-vane angles, coal concentration, operating parameters, and particle size, on the flow distribution and vertical riser resistance characteristics of the vertical cyclone burner. The results showed that there were differences in flow distribution among the cyclone burners, and the most uniform flow distribution was achieved when the swirl-vane angle of the primary air was 30°. The concentration of pulverized coal significantly influenced the pressure drop in the vertical ascending section, which increased with higher concentrations of pulverized coal. When the concentration of pulverized coal remains constant, the pipeline pressure drop is minimized at a primary air velocity of 7.5 m/s. As the secondary wind speed increased, the pressure drop consistently rose; when the secondary wind speed is 22 m/s, the pressure drop of the pipeline is the maximum; however, excessively high secondary wind speeds were found to be detrimental to the formation of an optimal aerodynamic field in the burner. Furthermore, when the pulverized coal concentration was held constant, materials with larger particle sizes exhibited the highest pressure drop. When the particle size increases from 50 to 150 μm, the pressure drop of the vertical riser segment also increases. Finally, based on the Barth additional pressure drop theory, the pressure drop formula of the vertical riser is fitted by a dimensional analysis method, and the correlation formula of the pressure drop test of gas-solid two-phase flow in the vertical riser is obtained.

[Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier deficiency: 3 cases report and literature review]

Objective: To analyze the clinical and genetic features of patients with mitochondrial pyruvate carrier deficiency (MPYCD). Methods: This was a case series research. The clinical data, genetic characteristics, and glutamine treatment efficacy of 3 patients diagnosed with MPYCD at the Department of Neurology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University and Department of Pediatrics, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, from August 2019 to June 2023 were retrospectively collected. A literature search with "MPC1 gene" "MPC2 gene and" "mitochondrial pyruvate carrier deficiency" as keywords was conducted at the Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and PubMed (up to June 2023). Clinical and genetic characteristics of patients with MPYCD were summarized. Results: Case 1 was a 3 years and 11 months old boy, while case 2 was a 4 years and 10 months old boy and case 3 was an 8 years and 9 months old girl. Case 2 and case 3 were siblings from one consanguineous family. All 3 patients presented with general developmental delay, growth failure and elevated serum lactate. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed subtle bilateral symmetrical T2 signal hyperintensity in basal ganglia and thalamus in case 1, but normal in case 2 and 3. Trio-WES revealed case 1 harboring compound heterozygous missense variants c.208G>A (p.Ala70Thr) and c.290G>A (p.Arg97Gln) in MPC1 gene, while case 2 and 3 revealed a homozygous variant c.290G>A (p.Arg97Gln) in the same gene. All 3 cases were diagnosecl as MPYCD. Clinical symptoms including motor ability, cognition and activity endurance were improved in these 3 patients after taking glutamine for 2 years. A total of 5 articles published in English were reviewed, and no Chinese literature was found. Including these 3 cases, 15 cases were enrolled for analysis. Eleven patients carried MPC1 gene variants and 4 cases carried MPC2 gene variants. Except for 3 cases died during prenatal period, 9 of 12 enrolled born cases were onset before 6 months old. The most common clinical symptoms were mental and motor general developmental delay, microcephaly, growth failure and hypotonia. All patients had elevated blood lactate and pyruvate, but the ratio of lactate/pyruvate was normal. Seven patients performed cranial MRI, 3 exhibited non-specific changes, 2 showed bilateral symmetrical T2 signal hyperintensity in basal ganglia and thalamus, and 3 were normal. A total of 5 MPC1 gene missense variants and 2 MPC2 gene variants were identified in 15 cases. Conclusions: Onset age of patients with MPYCD is usually within 6 months. The main clinical characteristics are developmental delay, microcephaly and growth failure, accompanied by increased serum lactate and pyruvate. Glutamine supplement could lead to clinical improvements.

Non-Lignin Constructing the Gas-Solid Interface for Enhancing the Photothermal Catalytic Water Vapor Splitting

The progress of solar-driven water-splitting technology has been impeded by the limited light response capability of semiconductor materials. Despite attempts to leverage nearly 50% of infrared radiation for photothermal synergy and catalytic reaction enhancement, heat loss during liquid phase reactions results in low energy conversion efficiency. Here, the photothermally driven catalytic water-splitting system, which designs K-SrTiO3 -loaded TiN silica wool at the water-air interface. Photocatalytic tests and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the thermal effect transforms liquid water into water vapor, thereby reducing the reaction free energy of catalysts and improving the transmission rate of catalytic products. Hence, the hydrogen evolution rate reaches 275.46 mmol m-2  h-1 , and the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency is 1.81% under 1 sun irradiation in this gas-solid system, which is more than twice that of liquid water splitting. This novel photothermal catalytic pathway, which involves a coupled reaction of water evaporation and water splitting, is anticipated to broaden the utilization range of the solar spectrum and significantly enhance the conversion efficiency of STH.

Carbazole and tetrahydro-carboline derivatives as dopamine D3 receptor antagonists with the multiple antipsychotic-like properties

Dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) is implicated in multiple psychotic symptoms. Increasing the D3R selectivity over dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) would facilitate the antipsychotic treatments. Herein, novel carbazole and tetrahydro-carboline derivatives were reported as D3R selective ligands. Through a structure-based virtual screen, ZLG-25 (D3R Ki = 685 nmol/L; D2R Ki > 10,000 nmol/L) was identified as a novel D3R selective bitopic ligand with a carbazole scaffold. Scaffolds hopping led to the discovery of novel D3R-selective analogs with tetrahydro-β-carboline or tetrahydro-γ-carboline core. Further functional studies showed that most derivatives acted as hD3R-selective antagonists. Several lead compounds could dose-dependently inhibit the MK-801-induced hyperactivity. Additional investigation revealed that 23j and 36b could decrease the apomorphine-induced climbing without cataleptic reaction. Furthermore, 36b demonstrated unusual antidepressant-like activity in the forced swimming tests and the tail suspension tests, and alleviated the MK-801-induced disruption of novel object recognition in mice. Additionally, preliminary studies confirmed the favorable PK/PD profiles, no weight gain and limited serum prolactin levels in mice. These results revealed that 36b provided potential opportunities to new antipsychotic drugs with the multiple antipsychotic-like properties.

[Pathological study on the relationship between nucleic acid oxidative stress and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in patients aged over 85 years]

Objective: To investigate the level of nucleic acid oxidation in myocardial tissue of patients aged over 85 with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and the correlation with myocardial amyloid deposition. Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study. Data of patients≥85 years old who underwent systematic pathological autopsy in Beijing Hospital from 2003 to 2017 were retrospectively collected. Twenty-six patients were included in the HFpEF group and 13 age-and sex-matched patients who had not been diagnosed with heart failure and died of non-cardiovascular diseases served as the control group. The left ventricular myocardium slices of both groups were semi-quantitatively analyzed using immunohistochemical staining of 8-oxidized guanine riboside (8-oxo-G) and 8-oxidized guanine deoxyriboside (8-oxo-dG) to evaluate the oxidation of RNA and DNA in cardiomyocytes. Using the median of the mean absorbance value of 8-oxo-G immunohistochemical staining as the cut-off value, patients were divided into high-absorbance group and low-absorbance group. Congo red staining was used to compare myocardial amyloid deposition between the two groups. Results: The mean age of patients in HFpEF group was (91.8±3.7) years, 24 (92.3%) were males. The mean age of patients in control group was (91.7±3.7) years old, 11 (84.6%) were males. The median mean optical absorbance value of 8-oxo-G immunohistochemical staining of myocardium was significantly higher in HFpEF patients than in control group (0.313 8 (0.302 2, 0.340 6) vs. 0.289 2 (0.276 7, 0.299 4), Z=-3.245, P=0.001). The median mean absorbance value of 8-oxo-dG immunohistochemical staining of myocardial tissue was similar between the two groups (0.300 0 (0.290 0, 0.322 5) vs. 0.300 0 (0.290 0, 0.320 0), Z=-0.454, P=0.661). Proportion of patients with moderate and severe cardiac amyloid deposition was significantly higher in the high-absorbance group than in the low-absorbance group ((85.0%, 17/20) vs. (31.6%, 6/19), P=0.001). Conclusion: The RNA oxidation degree of myocardium in HFpEF patients is higher than that in elderly people without heart failure. Degree of myocardial amyloid deposits is higher in patients with high levels of RNA oxidation.

Integrated Coupling Utilization of the Solar Full Spectrum for Promoting Water Splitting Activity over a CIZS Semiconductor

Most of the existing photocatalysts can only use ultraviolet light and part of visible light, so broadening the spectrum response range and realizing the full spectrum coverage are key measures to improve the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency of photocatalytic water splitting. A spatially separated photothermal coupled photocatalytic (PTC) reaction system was designed using carbonized melamine foam (C-MF) as a substrate to absorb visible and infrared light and Cu_0.04In_0.25ZnS_y@Ru (CIZS@Ru) as a photocatalyst to absorb UV-visible light (UV-vis). By comparing the three modes of bottom, liquid level, and self-floating, it is found that the surface temperature of the system has a significant effect on the hydrogen evolution activity. The monochromatic light and activation energy experiments verify that the enhancement of photocatalytic activity comes from the strengthened photothermal effect of the substrate. Combined with theoretical calculations, it is further confirmed that the introduction of photothermal materials provides additional kinetic energy for carrier transmission and promotes directional carrier transmission efficiency. Based on the photoenergy-thermal integrated catalytic strategy, the hydrogen production rate reaches 603 mmol h^-1 m^-2. The structural design of photocatalysis has potential application in the field of photoenergy-fuel conversion.

[Clinical characteristics and short-term prognosis of 22 cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated acute encephalopathy]

Objective: To investigate the clinical features and short-term prognosis of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated acute encephalopathy (AE). Methods: Retrospective cohort study. The clinical data, radiological features and short-term follow-up of 22 cases diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated AE in the Department of Neurology, Beijing Children's Hospital from December 2022 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into cytokine storm group, excitotoxic brain damage group and unclassified encephalopathy group according to the the clinicopathological features and the imaging features. The clinical characteristics of each group were analyzed descriptively. Patients were divided into good prognosis group (≤2 scores) and poor prognosis group (>2 scores) based on the modified Rankin scale (mRS) score of the last follow-up. Fisher exact test or Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the two groups. Results: A total of 22 cases (12 females, 10 males) were included. The age of onset was 3.3 (1.7, 8.6) years. There were 11 cases (50%) with abnormal medical history, and 4 cases with abnormal family history. All the enrolled patients had fever as the initial clinical symptom, and 21 cases (95%) developed neurological symptoms within 24 hours after fever. The onset of neurological symptoms included convulsions (17 cases) and disturbance of consciousness (5 cases). There were 22 cases of encephalopathy, 20 cases of convulsions, 14 cases of speech disorders, 8 cases of involuntary movements and 3 cases of ataxia during the course of the disease. Clinical classification included 3 cases in the cytokine storm group, all with acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE); 9 cases in the excitotoxicity group, 8 cases with acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures and late reduced diffusion (AESD) and 1 case with hemiconvulsion-hemiplegia syndrome; and 10 cases of unclassified encephalopathy. Laboratory studies revealed elevated glutathione transaminase in 9 cases, elevated glutamic alanine transaminase in 4 cases, elevated blood glucose in 3 cases, and elevated D-dimer in 3 cases. Serum ferritin was elevated in 3 of 5 cases, serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurofilament light chain protein was elevated in 5 of 9 cases, serum cytokines were elevated in 7 of 18 cases, and CSF cytokines were elevated in 7 of 8 cases. Cranial imaging abnormalities were noted in 18 cases, including bilateral symmetric lesions in 3 ANE cases and "bright tree appearance" in 8 AESD cases. All 22 cases received symptomatic treatment and immunotherapy (intravenous immunoglobulin or glucocorticosteroids), and 1 ANE patient received tocilizumab. The follow-up time was 50 (43, 53) d, and 10 patients had a good prognosis and 12 patients had a poor prognosis. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of epidemiology, clinical manifestations, biochemical indices, and duration of illness to initiate immunotherapy (all P>0.05). Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 infection is also a major cause of AE. AESD and ANE are the common AE syndromes. Therefore, it is crucial to identify AE patients with fever, convulsions, and impaired consciousness, and apply aggressive therapy as early as possible.

[Clinical features of 6 children with uridine-responsive developmental epileptic encephalopathy 50 caused by CAD gene variants]

Objective: To analyze the clinical features of children with uridine responsive developmental epileptic encephalopathy 50 (DEE50) caused by CAD gene variants. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 6 patients diagnosed with uridine-responsive DEE50 caused by CAD gene variants at Beijing Children's Hospital and Peking University First Hospital from 2018 to 2022. The epileptic seizures, anemia, peripheral blood smear, cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), visual evoked potential (VEP), genotype features and the therapeutic effect of uridine were descriptively analyzed. Results: A total of 6 patients, including 3 boys and 3 girls, aged 3.5(3.2,5.8) years, were enrolled in this study. All patients presented with refractory epilepsy, anemia with anisopoikilocytosis and global developmental delay with regression. The age of epilepsy onset was 8.5 (7.5, 11.0) months, and focal seizures were the most common seizure type (6 cases). Anemia ranged from mild to severe. Four patients had peripheral blood smears prior to uridine administration, showing erythrocytes of variable size and abnormal morphology, and normalized at 6 (2, 8) months after uridine supplementation. Two patients suffered from strabismus, 3 patients had VEP examinations, indicating of suspicious optic nerve involvement, and normal fundus examinations. VEP was re-examined at 1 and 3 months after uridine supplementation, suggesting significant improvement or normalization. Cranial MRI were performed at 5 patients, demonstrating cerebral and cerebellar atrophy. They had cranial MRI re-examined after uridine treatment with a duration of 1.1 (1.0, 1.8) years, indicating significant improvement in brain atrophy. All patients received uridine orally at a dose of 100 mg/(kg·d), the age at initiation of uridine treatment was 1.0 (0.8, 2.5) years, and the duration of treatment was 2.4 (2.2, 3.0) years. Immediate cession of seizures was observed within days to a week after uridine supplementation. Four patients received uridine monotherapy and were seizure free for 7 months, 2.4 years, 2.4 years and 3.0 years respectively. One patient achieved seizure free for 3.0 years after uridine supplementation and had discontinued uridine for 1.5 years. Two patients were supplemented with uridine combined with 1 to 2 anti-seizure medications and had a reduced seizure frequency of 1 to 3 times per year, and they had achieved seizure free for 8 months and 1.4 years respectively. Conclusions: The clinical manifestations of DEE50 caused by CAD gene variants present a triad of refractory epilepsy, anemia with anisopoikilocytosis, and psychomotor retardation with regression, accompanied by suspected optic nerve involvement, all of which respond to uridine treatment. Prompt diagnosis and immediate uridine supplementation could lead to significant clinical improvement.

Efficacy of topical application of hyaluronic acid in reducing complications after mandibular third molar surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review aimed to assess if topical application of hyaluronic acid (HA) reduced complication rates after mandibular third molar (M3) surgery.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PubMed, CENTRAL, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy of topical hyaluronic acid for mandibular third molar surgery. Gray literature was also searched.

RESULTS

12 RCTs were included. Meta-analysis showed that pain scores were significantly reduced after M3 surgery with the use of HA on the 1st, 2nd/3rd, and 7th postoperative days. Using postoperative maximal mouth opening (MMO) data, we noted that MMO was significantly better in the HA group on the 2/3rd post-operative day but not on the 7th postoperative day. Meta-analysis of just three studies showed that swelling was significantly reduced on the 1st postoperative day with the use of HA, however, no such difference was noted on the 2nd/3rd and 7th postoperative days. Alveolitis and infection data were not reported by the majority of studies which precluded a meta-analysis. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) certainty of evidence was low to moderate.

CONCLUSIONS

Low-moderate quality of evidence suggests that topical application of HA may reduce pain as well as early trismus and swelling in patients undergoing M3 surgeries. The effect size of pain reduction is small thereby raising questions about its clinical significance. High inter-study heterogeneity and low-quality of trials are significant limitations. High-quality RCTs are needed to generate quality evidence.

Novel Loss of Function (G15D) Mutation on RAC2 in a Family with Combined Immunodeficiency and Increased Levels of Immunoglobulin G, A, and E

Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 2 (RAC2) is a small guanine nucleotide binding molecule that is exclusively expressed in hematopoietic cell lineages as a switcher. Based on in vivo and/or in vitro model experiments, RAC2 plays important roles in different cells through proliferation, secretion, and phagocytosis. It also performs a suppressing function in immunoglobulin (Ig) switching in Rac2-/- animals or cells. Several RAC2 natural mutations have been described in patients with primary immunodeficiency. RAC2 mutations can be classified into loss-of-function inactivating (LoF-I) and gain-of-function activating mutations according to their functional effects. Only two LoF-I mutations on RAC2 have been reported, including a dominant D57N mutation in several cases that exhibit granulocyte function defects and a recessive D56X mutation in cases with common variable immunodeficiency. Regardless of the type of mutation, most of the reported RAC2 mutant cases have shown reduced IgG, IgA, and IgM levels. Herein, we report on a family with three members that suffer from persistent HPV infection, recurrent respiratory infections, bronchiectasis, and autoimmune disease. The immunologic profile suggests that the family was affected by combined immunodeficiency (CID) with increased serum levels of IgG, IgA, and IgE. Exome sequencing identified a de novo RAC2 mutation (c.44G > A/p.G15D) that was co-segregated with the disease in the family. Gene functional experiments identified that such mutation results in reduced guanosine triphosphate binding activity and RAC2 protein expression. In patients' lymphocytes, impaired aggregation and proliferation effects, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and increased levels of cell apoptosis were observed, although no functional abnormalities were detected in neutrophils. To our knowledge, this study was the first to identify a LoF-I mutation of RAC2 affecting lymphocyte function that consequently led to CID and increased levels of serum IgG, IgE, and IgA. This study presents a novel subtype of RAC2-related immune disorder.

The structure-based optimization of 3-substituted indolin-2-one derivatives as potent and isoform-selective c-Jun N-terminal kinase 3 (JNK3) inhibitors and biological evaluation

An indolin-2-(4-thiazolidinone) scaffold was previously shown to be a novel chemotype for JNK3 inhibition. However, more in vivo applications were limited due to the unconfirmed configuration and poor physicochemical properties. Here, the indolin-2-(4-thiazolidinone) scaffold validated the absolute configuration; substituents on the scaffold were optimized. Extensive structure activity relationship (SAR) studies were performed using kinase activity assays, thus leading to potent and highly selective JNK3 inhibitors with neuroprotective activity and good oral bioavailability. One lead compound, A53, was a potent and selective JNK3 inhibitor (IC₅₀ = 78 nM) that had significant inhibition (>80% at 1 μM) to only JNK3 in a 398-kinase panel. A53 had low inhibition against JNK3 and high stability (t_1/2(α) = 0.98 h, t_1/2(β) = 2.74 h) during oral administration. A modeling study of A53 in human JNK3 showed that the indolin-2-(4-thiazolidinone)-based JNK3 inhibitor with a 5-position-substituted hydrophilic group offered improved kinase inhibition.

Trace Cu+-dominated band structure engineering in CuxIn0.25ZnSy for promoting photocatalytic H2 evolution

As an attractive semiconductor photocatalyst, (CuInS₂)_x-(ZnS)_y has been intensively studied in photocatalysis, due to its unique layered structure and stability. Here, we synthesized a series of Cu_xIn_0.25ZnS_y photocatalysts with different trace Cu⁺-dominated ratios. The results show that doping with Cu⁺ ions leads to an increase in the valence state of In and the formation of a distorted S structure, simultaneously inducing a decrease in the semiconductor bandgap. When the doping amount of Cu⁺ ions is 0.04 atomic ratio to Zn, the optimized Cu_0.04In_0.25ZnS_y photocatalyst with a bandgap of 2.16 eV shows the highest catalytic hydrogen evolution activity (191.4 μmol.h^-1). Subsequently, among the common cocatalysts, Rh loaded Cu_0.04In_0.25ZnS_y gives the highest activity of 1189.8 μmol·h^-1, corresponding to an apparent quantum efficiency of 49.11 % at 420 nm. Moreover, the internal mechanism of photogenerated carrier transfer between semiconductors and different cocatalysts is analyzed by the band bending phenomenon.

hsa_circ_0006916 Exerts Effect on Amyloid Beta-Induced Neuron Injury by Targeting miR-217/HOMER1

OBJECTIVE

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are rich in miRNA-binding sites, which serve as miRNA sponges or competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). In the central nervous system, circRNAs are relevant to many neurological disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Dementia associated with AD is correlated with the conversion of the β-Amyloid (Aβ) peptides from soluble monomers to aggregated oligomers and insoluble fibrils. Downregulation of circHOMER1 (circ_0006916) expression level is observed in AD female cases. Thus, this study investigates whether circHOMER1 prevents fibrillar Aβ (fAβ)-induced cell damage.

METHODS

The levels of sAβ₄₂ in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of amyloid-positive normal cognition (NC) individuals, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals, and AD patients were measured. For in vitro studies, the SH-SY5Y cells were treated with 10 μM of fAβ₄₂ or soluble Aβ₄₂ (sAβ₄₂). RNase R treatment and actinomycin D treatment were used to identify the characteristics of circHOMER1. Gene expression was measured by RT-qPCR. Protein levels were measured using western blotting. Cell viability and apoptosis were estimated by MTT assays and flow cytometry. The binding relationship of miR-217 and circHOMER1 (HOMER1) was verified by luciferase reporter assays.

RESULTS

CircHOMER1 was more stable in SH-SY5Y cells than linear HOMER1. CircHOMER1 upregulation ameliorates the fAβ₄₂-induced cell apoptosis and circHOMER1 downregulation reversed the anti-apoptotic roles of sAβ₄₂. Mechanistically, miR-217 interacted with circHOMER1 (HOMER1). Moreover, miR-217 upregulation or HOMER1 downregulation exacerbates the fAβ₄₂-induced cell damage.

CONCLUSIONS

CircHOMER1 (hsa_circ_0006916) ameliorates the fAβ₄₂-induced cell injury via the miR-217/HOMER1 axis.

A longitudinal study of perinatal depression and the risk role of cognitive fusion and perceived stress on postpartum depression

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To explore fluctuations in perinatal depression based on physiological, psychological and interpersonal dimensions to analyse risk factors across three time points: in the third trimester and at weeks 1 and 6 postpartum.

BACKGROUND

Pregnant women experience depression at multiple time points and require screening. Studies have shown protective and negative factors related to postpartum depression. Cognitive fusion refers to an individual's emotions and behaviours that are regulated and influenced by that individual's own cognitive overregulation, especially when facing stress. This is an important psychological factor related to depression, but little is known about it in pregnant women.

DESIGN

A longitudinal study was conducted from June 2019-July 2020, and the findings are reported following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines.

METHODS

Pregnant women (n = 207) were recruited, and a questionnaire survey was performed at 32-34 weeks of pregnancy and at weeks 1 and 6 postpartum. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was performed to analyse the changes in depression over time. Regression analysis and linear mixed modelling were used to identify risk factors. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to analyse the relationships between variables.

RESULTS

Of the pregnant women, 36.70% experienced antenatal depression and prolonged depression with the onset of postpartum depression (12.21%). Some depressive moods disappeared spontaneously after delivery (47.37%). Perceived stress was the highest risk predictor of postpartum depression (β = 0.332), followed by cognitive fusion (β = 0.178), which remained stable over time and might have been positively related to having a vulnerable personality (0.2 < r < 0.4). Social support plays a positive role in lowering postpartum depression (β = -0.027).

CONCLUSIONS

Changes in depression were influenced by multiple factors with stability and predictability across time. Psychological dimensions, such as perceived stress and cognitive fusion, are risk factors for developing postpartum depression and antenatal depression.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Pregnant women can be divided into depressive cohorts according to screening at different time points to provide targeted interventions.

Nitrogen dioxide detection using tandem integrating spheres as a gas absorption cell based on gas absorption spectroscopy

This paper presents a nitrogen dioxide detection device based on gas absorption spectroscopy by connecting two integrating spheres as a gas cell, observing the feasibility of the tandem integrating spheres as a gas cell, and taking a single integrating sphere as a gas cell for comparison experiments. Theoretical knowledge of the effective path length of tandem integrating spheres was established, and the theoretical derivation was further verified by experiments investigating the relationship between absorbance and gas concentration. This work makes it possible to develop a gas sensor that can reduce the volume of the gas cell and keep the effective optical path length unreduced.

The J-shape Association between Total Bilirubin and Stroke in Older Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A Multicenter Study

OBJECTIVES

To explore the relationship between total bilirubin (TBil) and stroke risk in older patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

METHODS

A total of 1,007 patients with OSAS without stroke history aged ≥ 60 years and with complete serum TBil records were enrolled in this study. The median follow-up was 42 months. Participants were divided into four groups based on the quartile of the baseline serum TBil concentration. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis and restricted cubic spline (RCS) were used to investigate the association of TBil with the incidence of new-onset stroke.

RESULTS

The PRIMARY part: the third quantile TBil level group had the lowest prevalence of stroke among the four groups. The RCS functions depicted a J-type curve relationship between TBil (3.3-33.3 µmol/L) and stroke (nonlinear P < 0.05). When the TBil level was in the range of 3.3 to 11.5 µmol/L, the possible protective influence of bilirubin against stroke in patients with OSAS enhanced with an increasing TBil level. However, when the TBil level exceeded 11.5 µmol/L and gradually increased, the effect of TBil on stroke risk became more and more pronounced. The SECONDARY part: for every 1 µmol/L increase in TBil levels in the range of 11.5 to 33.3 µmol/L, the risk of stroke in patients with OSAS increased by 16.2% (P < 0.001). In addition, there was a higher risk in women with OSAS (hazard ratio (HR)=1.292, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.093-1.528; P = 0.003). Moreover, an increased TBil level alone was significantly associated with stroke in subjects aged < 75 years (HR: 1.190, 95%CI: 1.069-1.324), patients with mild-to-moderate OSAS (HR: 1.215, 95%CI: 1.083-1.364), and individuals without atrial fibrillation (AF) (HR: 1.179, 95%CI: 1.083-1.285) within a TBil level in the range of 11.5 to 33.3 µmol/L.

CONCLUSIONS

Both lower and higher bilirubin levels may increase the risk of stroke in older persons with OSAS, and there was a J-type dose-response relationship. The risk of stroke was lowest when the TBil level was approximately 11.5 µmol/L.

[Analysis of clinical and imaging features of 6 cases of linear scleroderma en coup de sabre with central nervous system involvement in children]

Objective: To summarize the clinical and imaging features of linear scleroderma en coup de saber (LSCS) with central nervous system involvement in children. Methods: The clinical data(clinical manifestations and imaging features) of 6 children diagnosed with LSCS with central nervous system involvement who were admitted to Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University from May 2019 to November 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The 6 patients were all female, aged 6.8 (3.3, 11.0) years at the time of diagnosis, and aged 3.0 (1.7, 4.1) years at the time of discovery of facial skin lesions. Facial skin lesions appeared before neurological symptoms in 5 cases, and neurological symptoms appeared 2 months before skin lesions in 1 case. All the patients had "sword wound" skin lesions on the forehead with alopecia. Neurological manifestations included epileptic seizures in 6 cases, focal neurological defects in 5 cases, and headaches in 2 cases. The intracranial lesions were all ipsilateral to the skin lesions. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 6 cases showed abnormal signals mainly involving white matter in 1 hemisphere, and 3 cases showed local encephalomalacia. The scattered low signal was observed in 5 cases on susceptibility weighted imaging. Localized brain parenchyma or leptomeninges enhancement was seen on Gadolinium-enhanced sequences in 5 cases. Scattered foci of calcification on the affected side were seen on cranial CT in 4 cases. Skin biopsy was performed in 2 cases. Part of the lesion of the brain was removed in 1 case, and the pathological findings suggested small vasculitis, which was consistent with skin pathological changes. All patients received symptomatic treatment with antiepileptic drugs. Oral prednisone combined with methotrexate was given in 4 cases, and 1 case was given oral prednisone only. One case was presumed to be in the resting stage of the disease due to significant cerebral atrophy in half of the brain, and only antiepileptic drugs were added. The patients were followed up for 6-36 months. The skin lesions of scleroderma and alopecia did not progress in 5 cases, and hemifacial atrophy was developed in 1 case, which was considered to be combined with Parry-Romberg syndrome. The seizures were controlled in 4 cases. One case had reduced seizure frequency but left hemiplegia. One patient still had intractable epilepsy and paroxysmal headache. Conclusions: LSCS with central nervous system involvement is more common in girls, with seizures and neurological defects as the main manifestations. Intracranial lesions are mostly ipsilateral to the skin lesions. Cerebral microbleeds, calcification, and encephalomalacia foci are common, and the pathological changes in skin and intracranial lesions are consistent with small-vessel vasculitis. Prednisone combined with methotrexate treatment has shown some efficacy, but some children remain with refractory epilepsy and neurological deficit symptoms.

Enhancing the stability of environmental resistance of alloyed CdZnSeS@ZnS quantum dots by doping Ti ions into shell layer

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are promising luminescent materials for display and lighting, but their stability has long been an issue. Here, we designed a passivation strategy of doping Ti ions into the shell of alloyed CdZnSeS@ZnS QDs. The results showed that Ti ions were successfully doped into the ZnS shell and the stability of QDs was improved. In the aging test, the Ti ions doped QDs maintained 51.4% of the initial performance after 90 h of aging, while the pristine QDs decreased to less than 25% of the initial value. In addition, we discuss the reasons why Ti ions doping improves the stability of QDs. Ti ions are found to form Ti-S bonds in the ZnS shell, which has high binding energy and strong oxidation resistance. Most importantly, since there is no external physical insulating coating, the optimized QDs can also be directly used in electroluminescent devices, showing great potential in electroluminescence applications.

[RHPN2 is highly expressed in osteosarcoma cells to promote cell proliferation and migration and inhibit apoptosis]

OBJECTIVE

To screen for aberrantly expressed genes in osteosarcoma cells and investigate the role of RHPN2 in regulating the proliferation, apoptosis, migration and tumorigenic abilities of osteosarcoma cells.

METHODS

We used GEO2R to analyze the differential gene expression profile between osteosarcoma cells and normal cells in the GSE70414 dataset. RTqPCR and Western blotting were performed to detect RHPN2 expression in osteosarcoma cell lines MG-63, 143B and SAOS2. Two RHPN2-shRNA and a control NC-shRNA were designed to silence the expression of RHPN2 in 143B cells, and CCK8 assay, colony-forming assay, annexin V-FITC/PI staining and scratch assays were carried out to examine the changes in proliferation, apoptosis and migration of the cells. We also established nude mouse models bearing osteosarcoma xenografts derived 143B cells and RHPN2-shRNA-transfected 143B cells, and assessed the effect of RHPN2 silencing on osteosarcoma cell tumorigenesis using HE staining. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze the correlation between RHPN2 expression and survival outcomes of patients with osteosarcoma.

RESULTS

RHPN2 expression was significantly upregulated in osteosarcoma cell lines MG-63, 143B and SAOS2 (P < 0.01). Silencing of RHPN2 significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration of 143B cells in vitro, promoted cell apoptosis (P < 0.01), and suppressed tumorigenic capacity of the cells in nude mice. A high expression of RHPN2 was significantly correlated with a poor prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

RHPN2 is highly expressed in osteosarcoma cells to promote cell proliferation and migration and inhibits cell apoptosis. A high expression of RHPN2 is associated with a poorer prognosis of the patients with osteosarcoma.

Experimental study on the influence of fuel-rich and fuel-lean coal/airflow ratio on aerodynamic characteristics of a 300MWe foster wheeler down-fired boiler

To address the problem of late ignition and poor burnout of Foster-Wheeler down-fired boilers, this study proposed a new combustion technology, which combines adding on arch secondary air and alternately arranging the fuel-lean coal/airflow (FLCA) and fuel-rich coal/airflow (FRCA). The coal particle trajectories of FLCA and FRCA and overall aerodynamic characteristics in the furnace were studied at FRCA and FLCA ratio (R RL) of 5:5, 7:3, and 9:1. The results showed that even at a low FRCA ratio, the new combustion technology could still effectively ensure the penetration depth of pulverised coal/airflow. At different R RL values, the main airflow from the arch appeared in the near-wall area and could penetrate downwards into the cold ash hopper area. With an increase in the value of R RL, the deflection degree of FLCA towards the furnace wall increased, while that of FRCA decreased. At R RL of 7:3, both the penetration depth and deflection degree of FRCA and FLCA were at a high level, which was conductive to promoting the burnout and recommended in practical applications.

Experimental Investigation on Combustion and NO x Formation Characteristics of Low-Ash-Melting-Point Coal in Cyclone Furnace

Slag tapping cyclone furnace is suitable and promising for the utilization of low-ash-melting-point coals without worrying about the fouling and slagging problems, but its high NO _x emission has limited its application. In this study, the temperature profiles, species concentration distributions, and slag tapping behavior of the cyclone barrel were explored on a self-built 100 kW cyclone furnace system. A reasonable slag capture ratio of 0.70 can be achieved for the cyclone barrel even under air-staged conditions. The coincidence of high temperature and high O₂ concentration in the annular near-wall area of the cyclone barrel can lead to a large amount of NO _x formation, while a NO _x reduction area with high CO concentration is formed in the central and lower zones of the cyclone barrel due to strong swirling effect. The NO _x emission of cyclone staged combustion is lower than that of laminar drop-tube staged combustion in either air-staged or nonstaged cases, which could be attributed to the swirling effect. The NO _x reduction area can be expanded by decreasing the cyclone stoichiometric ratio (SR) or reducing the primary air rate (PAR). Compared with the limit effects on the reduction of NO _x emission by overall-SR, NO _x formation can be greatly dropped by 56% when the cyclone-SR decreases from 1.1 to 0.7. The swirling intensity in cyclone barrel increases from 1.23 to 12.81 as PAR reduces from 0.4 to 0.2, which results in a reduction of NO _x formation at the outlet of the cyclone barrel by half. Besides, the O₂ concentration in the annular near-wall region can be remarkably reduced by the decentralized secondary air supply, resulting in a 23% reduction in NO _x formation in the cyclone barrel.

Experimental investigation on controlling of airflow trajectories and flow-field of down-fired boiler by adding on arch secondary air

To effectively control the flow and combustion of pulverised coal in down-fired boilers and improve their thermal efficiency while ensuring low NO x emissions, on arch secondary air (OASA) combustion technology and a smoke-tracing analysis were proposed. The aerodynamic characteristics of a 300-MWe Foster Wheeler (FW) down-fired boiler with the OASA ratios (R OASA) of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, the flow trajectories and mixing characteristics of OASA, and fuel-rich coal/air flow (FRA) and fuel-lean coal/air flow (FLA) were studied experimentally. For the R OASA of <10%, FRA and FLA flow to furnace centre soon after they are injected into the furnace. OASA and FLA may mix with FRA before ignition. For the R OASA of 20% or higher, FRA and FLA flow to the near-wall area soon after being injected into the furnace. FRA mixes with OASA after ignition. With the increase in R OASA, the mixing distance between OASA and FRA increases first and then decreases. The penetration depth of coal/air flow and furnace airflow fullness increases. For the R OASA of 30%, the dimensionless penetration depth of coal/air flow can exceed 0.7. Furnace dimensionless airflow fullness at all the dimensionless heights can exceed 0.6. In real operation, the recommended R OASA is between 20 and 30%.

Preparation of the 1-Methylimidazole Borane/Tetrazole System for Hypergolic Fuels

Based on the acid–base neutralization, the (1-methylimidazolium)(tetrazol-1-yl)borane was successfully synthesized by taking advantage of the acidity of the tetrazole and the basicity of the 1-methylimidazole borane complex. Through HRMS, NMR, and FT−IR, the structure of synthetic compounds was characterized in detail. Concerning about the (1-methylimidazolium)(tetrazol-1-yl)borane, it had an ignition−delay time of about 25 ms and a density specific impulse over 351 s·g/cm³, making it a suitable candidate for green hypergolic fuels. Moreover, it also demonstrated that introducing tetrazole into the borane could be an appropriate strategy to adjust the performance of the energy of those borane compounds.

Thermally Processed Quantum-Dot Polypropylene Composite Color Converter Film for Displays

Quantum dots (QDs) have attracted much attention as one of the most promising candidates for next-generation display materials. However, stability is still a big challenge for QDs. Herein, we encapsulated QDs in a thermoplastic polypropylene (PP) matrix by thermal processing technology to prepare a stabler color conversion film for the first time. Thermal processing technology expands the packaging materials of QDs from traditional soluble polymers to thermoplastic polymers such as PP with easy processing and a low cost. We showed that the QDs in the PP film exhibited longer-lasting stability than the traditional PMMA film. After 216 h of blue light accelerated aging test, the QDs maintained more than 90% of the initial performance in the PP film but dropped to less than 25% in the PMMA film. Moreover, the reasons for the improved stability have been further discussed. It was found that the PP-H film not only possessed better barriers to moisture and oxygen, but the absence of ester groups also led to a milder environment around the QDs. The results show that ester groups have stronger electronegativity and easily cause the ligands on the surface of QDs to fall off, which lead to performance degradation.

Probing ^{93m}Mo Isomer Depletion with an Isomer Beam

The isomer depletion of ^{93m}Mo was recently reported [Chiara et al., Nature (London) 554, 216 (2018)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/nature25483] as the first direct observation of nuclear excitation by electron capture (NEEC). However, the measured excitation probability of 1.0(3)% is far beyond the theoretical expectation. In order to understand the inconsistency between theory and experiment, we produce the ^{93m}Mo nuclei using the ^{12}C(^{86}Kr,5n) reaction at a beam energy of 559 MeV and transport the reaction residues to a detection station far away from the target area employing a secondary beam line. The isomer depletion is expected to occur during the slowdown process of the ions in the stopping material. In such a low γ-ray background environment, the signature of isomer depletion is not observed, and an upper limit of 2×10^{-5} is estimated for the excitation probability. This is consistent with the theoretical expectation. Our findings shed doubt on the previously reported NEEC phenomenon and highlight the necessity and feasibility of further experimental investigations for reexamining the isomer depletion under low γ-ray background.

AB0379 DOSE-DEPENDENT SUPPRESSION OF T CELL-DEPENDENT ANTIBODY RESPONSE IN HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS BY KPL-404, AN ANTI-CD40 MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY, SUPPORTS CHRONIC DOSING STUDY IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Background

An unmet need remains in patients with failure and/or inadequate response (IR) to biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD-IR) and/or Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi-IR). The CD40/CD40L (CD154) costimulatory pathway is linked to inflammation and joint destruction in RA via production of autoantibodies and inflammatory mediators. KPL-404 is a humanized IgG4 antibody engineered to bind CD40 without triggering Fc effector functions (Muralidharan, 2019), which are known to have been associated with thromboembolic events seen in the first generation of CD40L-targeting therapies.

In a first-in-human Phase 1 single ascending dose study, 52 healthy volunteers received single doses of KPL-404 administered either subcutaneously (SC) or intravenously (IV) with no dose-limiting safety findings, infectious episodes, or toxicities (Samant, 2021). The study demonstrated that with 10 mg/kg IV, full receptor occupancy (RO) was observed through day 71, and there was complete suppression of T-cell dependent antibody response (TDAR) to keyhole limpet hemocyanin challenge on day 1 and re-challenge on day 29 through day 57. With 5 mg/kg SC, full RO was observed through day 43, and there was complete suppression of TDAR through at least day 29. Complete suppression of ADA to KPL-404, an independent indicator of target engagement, was also observed while KPL-404 serum concentrations were above approximately 0.1 to 0.2 µg/mL and continued for at least 50 days and 57 days after 5 mg/kg SC and 10 mg/kg IV administration, respectively.

Objectives

Using Phase 1 and nonclinical data, identify chronic dosing regimens anticipated to yield PK in the sub-therapeutic, therapeutic, and supra-therapeutic ranges to be utilized in a Multiple Ascending Dose Phase 2 Study.

Methods

A PK model was used to simulate multiple dosing scenarios, including: 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg SC qwk, q2wk, and q4wk, as well as 10 mg/kg IV q4wk. The model was used to identify optimal Phase 2 dosing schedules by generating 1000 virtual subjects using the typical parameter estimates with between-subject variability included.

Results

Following SC administration, all subjects were predicted to achieve complete ADA suppression for the full dosing interval at/above 2.5 mg/kg SC q2wk. At 2 mg/kg SC q2wk (starting dose level), simulated steady-state 8-week data predicted PK in a sub-therapeutic range for most subjects and an approximately 31- and 18-fold safety margin relative to preclinical NOAEL dose. At 5 mg/kg SC q2wk, 100% of patients were predicted to be in a therapeutic range, indicating a potential practical efficacious dose level. At 10 mg/kg SC q2wk, 100% of patients were predicted to be in the supratherapeutic range.

These results support a Multiple Ascending Dose (MAD) Phase 2 study design, with PK lead-in comprised of 3 Cohorts at 2, 5, or 10 mg/kg SC q2wk (each randomized 6:2) and Proof-of-Concept phase (Cohort 4) comprised of 48-60 subjects randomized 1:1:1 to 10 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg, and placebo SC q2wk. The ongoing study will evaluate efficacy (Disease Activity of 28 joints using C-reactive protein [DAS28-CRP]), safety, PK, and pharmacodynamics (PD) of escalating doses levels of KPL-404 compared with placebo in patients with moderate to severe RA (bDMARD-IR or JAKi-IR). The study also allows the flexibility of optional cohorts including additional dosing regimens and/or subpopulations identified based on clinical response and biomarkers.

Conclusion

Inhibition of the CD40-CD154 co-stimulatory interaction holds promise for the management of a spectrum of autoimmune diseases. KPL-404 demonstrated prolonged absorption/excretion capable of suppressing TDAR for extended periods allowing for use of extended dosing intervals irrespective of IV or SC dosing. These analyses supported the design of the ongoing Phase 2 study assessing the efficacy and safety KPL-404 in RA.

References

[1]Muralidharan S et al. 2019. Poster at Keystone Symposia

[2]Samant M et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2021; 73(suppl 10)

Disclosure of Interests

Anastassia Papandrikopoulou Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Gerd Rüdiger Burmester Speakers bureau: Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Consultant of: Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Kiniksa, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Fang Fang Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Alan Kivitz Shareholder of: Amgen, Gilead Sciences, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi,, Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Celgene, Flexion, Genzyme, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, UCB, Horizon, Consultant of: AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Flexion, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Janssen, Pfizer, Sanofi, SUN Pharma Advanced Research, Moses Njenga Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Arian Pano Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Costantino Pitzalis Speakers bureau: Abbott/AbbVie, Astra-

Zeneca/MedImmune, BMS, Janssen/J&J, MSD, Pfizer, Roche/Genentech/Chugai, UCB.,, Consultant of: Abbott/AbbVie, Astellas, Astra-Zeneca/MedImmune, BMS, CelGene, Grunenthal, GSK,

Janssen/J&J, Kiniksa, MSD, Pfizer, Sanofi, Roche / Genentech / Chugai, UCB., Grant/research support from: Abbott/AbbVie, Astellas, Astra-Zeneca/MedImmune, BMS, Janssen/J&J, MSD, Pfizer, Roche/Genentech/Chugai, UCB., Manoj Samant Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Steve Schmitz Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Madeline Spiers Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Eben Tessari Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., John Ziemniak Consultant of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., John F. Paolini Shareholder of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Employee of: Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp.

Poly(cyclosilane) Connectivity Tunes Optical Absorbance

We report herein the influence of skeletal connectivity on the conformation-dependent optical properties of cyclosilane homo- and copolymers. 1,3-Linked cyclosilanes were bathochromically shifted by 20 nm in solution relative to 1,4-linked cyclosilanes, an effect reproduced by quantum chemical calculations on oligomeric model systems. Polysilane optical properties are conformation-dependent, and 1,3-linked cyclosilanes were hypothesized to adopt a favorable conformation unavailable to 1,4-linked cyclosilanes constrained to an endocyclic gauche conformation. Copolymerization of the isomeric cyclosilanes 1,3Si₆ and 1,4Si₆ afforded linear statistical copolymers, as characterized by ¹H and ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopies. The distinct connectivity of each comonomer was found to give rise to tunable absorption spectra, where the position of the absorption band systematically increased with the increased corporation of 1,3Si₆. Computational studies pointed to conformation-dependent changes in orbital symmetry in shifting the most intense transition from the low-energy highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) → lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) transition to a higher-energy HOMO → LUMO + n transition. The results of these studies demonstrate for the first time the role of silicon skeletal connectivity in controlling conformation and optoelectronic properties and provide new insight into the structure-based design of solution-processable silicon-based polymeric materials.

[Analysis of clinical and genetic characteristics of epilepsy associated with chromosome 16p11.2 microdeletion]

Objective: To investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics of epilepsy associated with chromosome 16p11.2 microdeletion. Methods: The patients (n=10) with 16p11.2 microdeletion found in children with epilepsy treated in Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University from January 2018 to January 2021 were collected. The clinical manifestations, gene variations and prognosis were analyzed retrospectively. Results: A total of 10 children's data were collected, including 5 male and 5 female. The onset age of epilepsy was 4.5 (4.1,5.0) months. Regarding the seizure types, 7 cases had focal seizures with secondary generalization, 2 cases had generalized seizures, and 1 case had tonic seizures and spasms. Nine cases had cluster seizure attacks and 3 cases had status epilepticus. Seven cases had focal or multifocal epileptiform discharges in interictal electroencephalogram (EEG), 3 cases had borderline or normal EEG. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed polymicrogyria in 1 case, paraventricular leukomalacia in 1 case, delayed myelination of white matter in 3 cases, and no obvious abnormalities in the other 5 cases. The patients were followed up for 0.5-3.5 years, with 1-3 kinds of antiepileptic drugs taken orally. The case with polymicrogyria still had seizures, however the other 9 cases had seizures controlled. The age of the last seizure attack was 8 (6, 12) months. There were 6 cases with mental and motor developmental delay before epilepsy onset. During the follow-up, 7 cases were retarded to varying degrees, while 3 cases had normal development. Regarding the genetic detection methods, 7 cases underwent whole exome sequencing, 2 cases underwent whole genome copy number variation detection, and 1 case underwent whole genome sequencing. The length of the 16p11.2 deletion in 10 cases ranged from 525 to 951 kb, and all contained the PRRT2 gene intact. Six cases were de novo variants, 1 case was inherited from the mother who had a history of convulsions in early childhood, and the source of variant was not verified in 3 cases, none of whose parents had relevant phenotype. Conclusions: The epilepsy associated with 16p11.2 microdeletion is mainly induced by the heterozygous deletion of PRRT2 gene in this region, however the phenotype is usually severe, and often combined with developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. Detection of copy number variation should be emphasized in children whose etiology is considered genetic but second-generation sequencing result is negative.

[Clinical characteristics and gene analysis of GRIN2B gene related neurological developmental disorders in children]

Objective: To analyse the clinical and gene characteristics of GRIN2B gene related neurological developmental disorders in children. Methods: The data of 11 children with GRIN2B gene related neurological developmental disorders from November 2016 to February 2021 were collected from Department of Neurology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health and analyzed retrospectively. The clinical features, electroencephalogram (EEG), brain imaging and gene testing results were summarized. Results: Among 11 children 6 were boys and 5 were girls. Two of them were diagnosed with developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. The ages of seizures onset were 3 months and 9 months, respectively. Seizure types included epileptic spasm, tonic seizures, tonic spasm and focal seizures, and 1 patient also had startle attacks. EEG showed interictal multifocal epileptiform discharges. Both of them were added with more than 2 anti-seizure drugs, which were partially effective but could not control. They had moderate to severe mental and motor retardation. The phenotype of 9 cases was developmental delay or intellectual disability without epilepsy, age of visit 1 year to 6 year and 4 months of whom 5 cases had severe developmental delay, 2 cases had moderate and 2 cases had mild delay. Multi-focal epileptiform discharges were observed in 3 cases, no abnormality was found in 3 cases, and the remaining 3 cases did not undergo EEG examination. Ten cases underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 6 cases had nonspecific abnormalities and 4 cases were normal. Nine GRIN2B gene heterozygous variants were detected by next-generation sequencing in these 11 patients, 8 cases had missense variants and 1 case had nonsense variant, all of which were de novo and 3 of which were novel. Missense variants were found in 10 patients, among them 6 cases had severe developmental delay, 3 cases had moderate and 1 case had mild developmental delay, but the patient with nonsense variant showed mild developmental delay without epilepsy. Conclusions: The phenotypes of GRIN2B gene related neurological developmental disorders in children are diverse, ranging from mild intellectual impairment without epilepsy to severe epileptic encephalopathy. Patients with epileptic phenotype usually have an onset age of infancy, and spasm and focal seizures are the most common seizure types. And the epiletice episodes are refractory. Most of the patients with missense variants had severe developmental delay.

Effects of various preservation treatments on diversity and abundance of microbial community in rice product (MiBa) during storage

To determine the most effective preservation method for MiBa (a traditional Chinese rice product), MiBa treated with 75% alcohol, 75% alcohol + inhibitor, ozone treatment; untreated (control); and raw rice were subjected to 16S rRNA gene and ITS three-generation sequencing by High-throughput Sequencing Technology. According to the results the preservation effects of different treatment methods ranked as follows: ozone treatment >75% alcohol treatment >75% alcohol+inhibitor > control. Bacterial composition analysis showed that the bacterial community on the surface of MiBa treated with ozone was dominated by genera Leuconostoc and Serratia. The fungal community consisted mainly of Aspergillus and Alternaria. In summary, ozone treatment proved to be the most effective in inhibiting microbial contamination during the storage of MiBa, effectively extending its shelf life.

Network Structure and Community Evolution Online: Behavioral and Emotional Changes in Response to COVID-19

Background: The measurement and identification of changes in the social structure in response to an exceptional event like COVID-19 can facilitate a more informed public response to the pandemic and provide fundamental insights on how collective social processes respond to extreme events. Objective: In this study, we built a generalized framework for applying social media data to understand public behavioral and emotional changes in response to COVID-19. Methods: Utilizing a complete dataset of Sina Weibo posts published by users in Wuhan from December 2019 to March 2020, we constructed a time-varying social network of 3.5 million users. In combination with community detection, text analysis, and sentiment analysis, we comprehensively analyzed the evolution of the social network structure, as well as the behavioral and emotional changes across four main stages of Wuhan's experience with the epidemic. Results: The empirical results indicate that almost all network indicators related to the network's size and the frequency of social interactions increased during the outbreak. The number of unique recipients, average degree, and transitivity increased by 24, 23, and 19% during the severe stage than before the outbreak, respectively. Additionally, the similarity of topics discussed on Weibo increased during the local peak of the epidemic. Most people began discussing the epidemic instead of the more varied cultural topics that dominated early conversations. The number of communities focused on COVID-19 increased by nearly 40 percent of the total number of communities. Finally, we find a statistically significant "rebound effect" by exploring the emotional content of the users' posts through paired sample t-test (P = 0.003). Conclusions: Following the evolution of the network and community structure can explain how collective social processes changed during the pandemic. These results can provide data-driven insights into the development of public attention during extreme events.

Enhancement of metal ion-induced hole transfer on water oxidation performance of BiVO4 photoanode

The introduction of metal ions as carrier transport media in acidic electrolytes significantly enhanced the water oxidation performance of the BiVO4 photoanode. In particular, the BiVO4 electrode in the Co2+...

Insight into the regulation between crystallinity and oxygen vacancies of BiVO4 affecting the photocatalytic oxygen evolution activity

The oxygen defects and crystallinity of BiVO4 were matched and regulated by heat treatment, which improved the crystallinity and the photocorrosion resistance, and ensured the existence of certain oxygen defects as reactive sites to improve the oxygen evolution activity.

Limonitum Ameliorates Castor Oil-Induced Diarrhoea in Mice by Modulating Gut Microbiota

Diarrhoea is a common clinical condition; its pathogenesis is strongly associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis. Limonitum is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that exerts appreciable benefits regarding the amelioration of diarrhoea. However, the mechanism through which Limonitum ameliorates diarrhoea remains unclear. Here, the efficacy and underlying mechanism of Limonitum decoction (LD) regarding diarrhoea were explored from the aspect of gut microbiota. Castor oil (CO) was used to induce diarrhoea in mice, which were then used to evaluate the effects of LD regarding the timing of the first defecation, diarrhoea stool rate, degree of diarrhoea, diarrhoea score, intestinal propulsive rate, and weight of intestinal contents. The concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetic, propionic, isobutyric, butyric and valeric acids, were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology was applied to evaluate changes in the gut microbiota under exposure to LD. LD was found to effectively ameliorate the symptoms of diarrhoea, and the diversity and relative abundance of gut microbiota were restored to normal levels following LD treatment. Additionally, LD significantly restored the observed reductions in SCFAs. These results provide strong evidence that LD can sufficiently ameliorate diarrhoea in mice by regulating their gut microbiota. The findings presented here highlight that Limonitum may constitute a prospective remedy for diarrhoea.

Size-dependent Al-doped SrTiO3 affecting solar-driven overall water splitting

The equilibrium relationship between the charge transfer and gas evolution capacities of reasonable size Al-STO nanoparticles induces the balance point of HER and OER half-reactions.