Identification of biomarkers associated with clinical severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

We sought to identify the biomarkers related to the clinical severity of stage I to stage IV chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Gene expression profiles from the blood samples of COPD patients at each of the four stages were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus Database (GEO, accession number: GSE54837). Genes showing expression changes among the different stages were sorted by soft clustering.

Circular RNA hsa_circ_0007142 Is Upregulated and Targets miR-103a-2-5p in Colorectal Cancer.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a large class of endogenous noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression and mainly function as microRNA sponges. This study aimed to explore the aberrant expression of circRNAs in colorectal cancer (CRC). Using a circRNA microarray, we identified 892 differentially expressed circRNAs between six pairs of CRC and adjacent paracancerous tissues.

Electrochemical conversion of methane to ethylene in a solid oxide electrolyzer.

Conversion of methane to ethylene with high yield remains a fundamental challenge due to the low ethylene selectivity, severe carbon deposition and instability of catalysts. Here we demonstrate a conceptually different process of in situ electrochemical oxidation of methane to ethylene in a solid oxide electrolyzer under ambient pressure at 850 °C. The porous electrode scaffold with an in situ-grown metal/oxide interface enhances coking resistance and catalyst stability at high temperatures.

Highly efficient electrochemical reforming of CH/CO in a solid oxide electrolyser.

Reforming CH into syngas using CO remains a fundamental challenge due to carbon deposition and nanocatalyst instability. We, for the first time, demonstrate highly efficient electrochemical reforming of CH/CO to produce syngas in a solid oxide electrolyser with CO electrolysis in the cathode and CH oxidation in the anode. In situ exsolution of an anchored metal/oxide interface on perovskite electrode delivers remarkably enhanced coking resistance and catalyst stability.

Small nucleolar host gene 6 promotes esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell proliferation and inhibits cell apoptosis.

Esophageal cancer (ESCC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-associated mortality in China. The present investigation reveals that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), exert a significant effect on the initiation, development and metastasis of malignant tumors, including ESCC. However, to the best of our knowledge, the function of non-protein-coding genes that host small nucleolar RNAs has not been investigated in cancer, particularly in ESCC.

Nickel Cobalt Sulfide Double-Shelled Hollow Nanospheres as Superior Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Photovoltaics and Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution.

Transition metal chalcogenides with hollow nanostructures have been considered as promising substitutes as precious metal electrocatalysts for energy conversion and storage. We synthesized NiCoS double-shelled ball-in-ball hollow spheres (BHSs) via a simple solvothermal route and applied them in both dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs) at the same time, which were clean and sustainable ways to convert energy. Benefiting from their remarkable structure features and advantageous chemical compositions, NiCoS BHSs composed of tiny crystals possessed large surface area, well-defined interior voids, and high catalytic activity.

Hierarchical Porous CoS/Nitrogen-Doped Carbon@MoS Polyhedrons as pH Universal Electrocatalysts for Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

The development of highly active and stable earth-abundant electrocatalysts to reduce or eliminate the reliance on noble-metal based ones for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) over a broad pH range remains a great challenge. Herein, hierarchical porous CoS/N-doped carbon@MoS (CoS/NC@MoS) polyhedrons have been synthesized by a facile hydrothermal approach using highly conductive Co/NC polyhedrons composed of cobalt nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon matrices as both the structural support and cobalt source. The Co/NC polyhedrons were prepared by direct carbonization of Co-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) in Ar atmosphere.

Poly(C)-binding protein 1 mediates drug resistance in colorectal cancer.

Oxaliplatin (L-OHP) is standard treatment for colorectal cancer. However, resistance to L-OHP often leads to treatment failure or cancer relapse. Understanding of the mechanism underlying L-OHP resistance is important to overcome the resistance and improve colorectal cancer treatment.

Comprehensive profile of differentially expressed circular RNAs reveals that hsa_circ_0000069 is upregulated and promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in colorectal cancer.

Background: Nowadays, despite great progress in cancer research, the detailed mechanisms of colorectal cancer (CRC) are still poorly understood. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a new star of the non-coding RNA network, have been identified as critical regulators in various cancers, including CRC.

Methods And Results: In this study, by using unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis, a novel dysregulated circRNA, hsa_circ_0000069, was found.

Second-order nonlinear optical responses of carboranyl-substituted indole/indoline derivatives: impact of different substituents.

Carborane has been the subject of great interest over the last decades due to its high structural, chemical, biological stability and diverse applications. In the present work, carboranyl-substituted indole/indoline compounds and their functionalized derivatives have been systematically investigated by density functional theory (DFT) method with the view of assessing their electronic structures and first hyperpolarizabilities. Significantly, the first hyperpolarizabilities can be obviously enhanced by the introduction of a strong electron-withdrawing group for closed-ring forms, while the strong electron-donating group is beneficial for large first hyperpolarizabilities for open-ring forms.

Ion-π interaction in impacting the nonlinear optical properties of ion-buckybowl complexes.

Ion-buckybowl complexes have received considerable attention in modern chemical research due to its fundamental and practical importance. Herein, we performed density functional theory (DFT) to calculate the geometical structure, binding interactions, dipole moments and the first hyperpolarizabilities (βtot) of ion-buckybowl complexes (ions are Cl(-) and Na(+), buckybowls are quadrannulene, corannulene and sumanene). It is found that the stabilities of ion-buckybowl compounds primarily originate from the interaction energy, which was proved by a new isomerization energy decomposition analysis approach.

Ferrocene/fullerene hybrids showing large second-order nonlinear optical activities: impact of the cage unit size.

The electron donor-acceptor complexes, which undergo intramolecular charge transfer under external stimulus, are an emerging class of materials showing important application in nonlinear optics. Synthesizing ferrocene/fullerene complexes through face-to-face fusion would enjoy the merits of both ferrocene and fullerene due to their strong donor-acceptor interactions. Four ferrocene/fullerene hybrid complexes with the gradual extension of fullerene cage size, including CpFe(C60H5), CpFe(C66H5), CpFe(C70H5), and CpFe(C80H5) (Cp is cyclopentadienyl), have been investigated by density functional theory.

[A randomized trial of docetaxol plus cisplatin versus gemzar plus cisplatin in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer].

Background & Objective: Treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is difficult. The response rate (RR) of NSCLC patients to traditional chemotherapy regimen is about 40%. Now the RR has been improved with application of new drugs, such as taxol, docetaxal, and gemzar.