Multi-plane imaging based on cascade spintronic terahertz emitters with curved substrates.

As a novel terahertz (THz) source, a spintronic THz emitter (STE) has become a research hot topic recently due to its ultra-broadband emission, powerful scalability, simple fabrication, and ultrawide pump-wavelength range. To optimize the performance of a STE, its spintronic heterostructure has been extensively investigated and its accessories have been also appropriately improved. In this work, a curved substrate of a STE was proposed and utilized to achieve the modulation of the THz wave front as a new degree of freedom.

Phenotypic and spatial heterogeneity of CD8 tumour infiltrating lymphocytes.

CD8 T cells are the workhorses executing adaptive anti-tumour response, and targets of various cancer immunotherapies. Latest advances have unearthed the sheer heterogeneity of CD8 tumour infiltrating lymphocytes, and made it increasingly clear that the bulk of the endogenous and therapeutically induced tumour-suppressive momentum hinges on a particular selection of CD8 T cells with advantageous attributes, namely the memory and stem-like exhausted subsets. A scrutiny of the contemporary perception of CD8 T cells in cancer and the subgroups of interest along with the factors arbitrating their infiltration contextures, presented herein, may serve as the groundwork for future endeavours to probe further into the regulatory networks underlying their differentiation and migration, and optimise T cell-based immunotherapies accordingly.

Synthesis of 2,4-Disubstituted Oxazoles and Thiazoles via Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Cyclization of α-diazoketones with Amides.

A novel method is described for the synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted oxazole and thiazole derivates via the coupling of α-diazoketones with (thio)amides or thioureas using trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH) as a catalyst. This protocol is characterized by mild reaction conditions, metal-free, and simplicity and also features good functional group tolerance, good to excellent yields, and a broad substrate scope with more than 40 examples. Experimental studies suggest a mechanism involving 2-oxo-2-phenylethyl trifluoromethanesulfonate as the key intermediate.

Multiple influence of immune cells in the bone metastatic cancer microenvironment on tumors.

Bone is a common organ for solid tumor metastasis. Malignant bone tumor becomes insensitive to systemic therapy after colonization, followed by poor prognosis and high relapse rate. Immune and bone cells constitute a unique immune microenvironment, which plays a crucial role in the context of bone metastasis.

Enantioselective Tsuji-Trost α-Fluoroallylation of Amino Acid Esters with Gem-Difluorinated Cyclopropanes.

A novel enantioselective Tsuji-Trost-type cross coupling reaction between gem-difluorinated cyclopropanes and N-unprotected amino acid esters enabled by synergistic Pd/Ni/chiral aldehyde catalysis is presented herein. This transformation streamlined the diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) of optically active α-quaternary α-amino acid esters bearing a linear 2-fluoroallylic motif, which served as an appealing platform for the construction of other valuable enantioenriched compounds. The key intermediates were confirmed by HRMS detection, while DFT calculations revealed that the excellent enantioselectivity was attributed to the stabilizing non-covalent interactions between the Pd(II)-π-fluoroallyl species and the Ni(II)-Schiff base complex.

APIPred: An XGBoost-Based Method for Predicting Aptamer-Protein Interactions.

Aptamers are single-stranded DNA or RNA oligos that can bind to a variety of targets with high specificity and selectivity and thus are widely used in the field of biosensing and disease therapies. Aptamers are generated by SELEX, which is a time-consuming procedure. In this study, using in silico and computational tools, we attempt to predict whether an aptamer can interact with a specific protein target.

Cancer cells reprogram to metastatic state through the acquisition of platelet mitochondria.

Metastasis is the major cause of cancer deaths, and cancer cells evolve to adapt to various tumor microenvironments, which hinders the treatment of tumor metastasis. Platelets play critical roles in tumor development, especially during metastasis. Here, we elucidate the role of platelet mitochondria in tumor metastasis.

Characterization of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid methyltransferases in Liriodendron chinense provides insights into the phylogenic basis of angiosperm alkaloid diversity.

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are a class of plant secondary metabolites with great pharmacological value. Their biosynthetic pathways have been extensively elucidated in the species from the Ranunculales order, such as poppy and Coptis japonica, in which methylation events play central roles and are directly responsible for BIA chemodiversity. Here, we combined BIA quantitative profiling and transcriptomic analyses to identify novel BIA methyltransferases (MTs) from Liriodendron chinense, a basal angiosperm plant.

Anti-CRISPRdb v2.2: an online repository of anti-CRISPR proteins including information on inhibitory mechanisms, activities and neighbors of curated anti-CRISPR proteins.

Unlabelled: We previously released the Anti-CRISPRdb database hosting anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) and associated information. Since then, the number of known Acr families, types, structures and inhibitory activities has accumulated over time, and Acr neighbors can be used as a candidate pool for screening Acrs in further studies. Therefore, we here updated the database to include the new available information.

Deep Fractional Max Pooling Neural Network for COVID-19 Recognition.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a form of disease triggered by a new strain of coronavirus. This paper proposes a novel model termed "deep fractional max pooling neural network (DFMPNN)" to diagnose COVID-19 more efficiently. This 12-layer DFMPNN replaces max pooling (MP) and average pooling (AP) in ordinary neural networks with the help of a novel pooling method called "fractional max-pooling" (FMP).

Horienoids A and B, Two Heterocoupled Sesquiterpenoid Dimers from .

Two eudesmane-guaiane/lindenane heterocoupled sesquiterpenoid dimers, horienoids A () and B () with new carbon skeletons, from were characterized by a combined method. Compound featured a unique 2,10-dioxabicyclo[6.2.

Computed tomography-guided implantation of I radioactive seeds in patients with malignant airway compression induced by advanced lung cancer: effectiveness and safety in 40 patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of computed tomography (CT)-guided I radioactive seed implantation in patients with malignant airway compression induced by advanced lung cancer.

Material And Methods: Between June 2015 and June 2018, 40 patients from three medical institutions with malignant airway compression induced by advanced lung cancer were treated with I seed implantation. The outcomes were measured in technical success and safety, objective response rate, complications, Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score, and survival time.

Morindolestatin, Naturally Occurring Dehydromorpholinocarbazole Alkaloid from Soil-Derived Bacterium of the Genus .

Novel antilipid peroxidative carbazole alkaloids, antiostatin A (), antiostatin A (), and (±)-morindolestatin (), were isolated from a new soil-derived sp. Compound possesses an unusual cyclohexene side chain. Compound was a pair of enantiomers featuring an unprecedented [1,4]oxazino[2,3-]carbazole ring system.

Lycodine-type alkaloids from Lycopodiastrum casuarinoides and their acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity.

Five previously undescribed lycodine-type alkaloids, named huperzine Y (1), 8,15-epoxy-N-demethylhuperzinine (2), 7-hydroxyl-huperzinine (3), huperzine Z (4), and huperzine D N-oxide (5), were isolated from the aerial parts and roots of Lycopodiastrum casuarinoides (Lycopodiaceae), along with ten known analogues. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by means of spectroscopic technique (IR, UV, MS and NMR). The absolute configurations of the new compounds were established on the basis of comparison of their experimental and TD-DFT (time-dependent density functional theory) calculated ECD spectra.

High hemoglobin is associated with increased in-hospital death in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease: a retrospective multicenter population-based study.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common comorbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although high hemoglobin (Hb) is detrimental to CKD patients, its relationship with poor outcomes in the COPD population has not been reported. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between high Hb and in-hospital mortality and to explore reference Hb intervals in patients with COPD and CKD.

Prevalence of Concomitant Coronary Artery Disease and Its Impact on Acute Kidney Injury for Chinese Adult Patients Undergoing Valvular Heart Surgery.

Introduction: Significant coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients undergoing valvular heart surgery (VHS) is an indication for combined valvular heart surgery and coronary artery bypass grafting. However, the impact of nonsignificant CAD on postoperative outcomes is not well understood. This study illustrated the epidemiological characteristics of CAD in China and investigated the impact of CAD on postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI), intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and postoperative mortality.

Euphorkanlide A, a Highly Modified Ingenane Diterpenoid with a C Appendage from Euphorbia kansuensis.

Euphorkanlide A (1), a highly modified ingenane diterpenoid with a C appendage forming an additional hexahydroisobenzofuran-fused 19-membered macrocyclic bis-lactone ring system was isolated from the roots of Euphorbia kansuensis. Its structure was determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis and quantum-chemical calculations. Compound 1 showed significant cytotoxicities against a panel of cancer cell lines (IC < 5 μM).

[Analysis of Gene Mutation Types in 920 Cases of Thalassemia].

Objective: To investigate the gene mutation types and distribution features of α- and β-thalassemia in reproductive population of Xing bin district of Guangxi Lai bin city so as to provide the scientific basis for formulating the preventive and control measures.

Methods: The high risk population with thalassemia in 6 498 people of child-bearing age admited in department of antenatal care of our hospital from January 2017 to December 2017 were screened by blood cell test and hemoglobin electrophoresis. The gene mutation types and mutation frequency in αandβthalassemia positive cases were diagnosed and analyzied by Gap-PCR and PCR-RDB.

Benzofurans from Eupatorium chinense enhance insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in C2C12 myotubes and suppress inflammatory response in RAW264.7 macrophages.

Fourteen acetylbenzofuran derivatives, including three undescribed carbon skeletons with a newly formed hexane or benzene ring on the other side of the benzofuran ring, (±)-eupatonin A (1), (±)-eupatonin B (2), and eupatonin C (3), two new benzofurans (-)-12β-hydroxygynunone (4) and (+)-12-hydroxyl-13-noreuparin (5), as well as 9 known ones (6-14), were isolated from 95% ethanol extract of the roots of Eupatorium chinense. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods and quantum chemical DFT and TDDFT calculations of the NMR chemical shifts and ECD spectra, which helped in the determination of the relative configurations of 1 and 2 and the absolute configurations of 4 and 5, respectively. 1 and 2 were further identified to be racemic mixtures by chiral HPLC analysis.

Euphorhelipanes A and B, Triglyceride-Lowering Euphorbia Diterpenoids with a Bicyclo[4.3.0]nonane Core from Euphorbia helioscopia.

Euphorhelipanes A (1) and B (2), two Euphorbia diterpenoids with a new 4-(5,5-dimethylheptan-2-yl)-2,7-dimethylbicyclo[4.3.0]nonane skeleton, were isolated from a 95% ethanol extract of the whole plants of Euphorbia helioscopia.

Insecticide Resistance Status and Mechanisms of Anopheles sinensis (Diptera: Culicidae) in Wenzhou, an Important Coastal Port City in China.

Although scaled-up interventions and effective control efforts have drastically reduced malaria morbidity and mortality, malaria remains a serious threat to public health worldwide. Anopheles sinensis Wiedemann 1828 is a historically important vector of Plasmodium vivax (Haemosporida: Plasmodiidae) malaria in China. Insecticide resistance has become a major obstacle to vector-borne disease control.

A stoichiometric CdS interlayer for the photovoltaic performance enhancement of quantum-dot sensitized solar cells.

The CdS interlayer plays an important role as the seed layer and energy barrier in photovoltaic performance enhancement of CdSe quantum-dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). However, the CdS (CdS-CBD) interlayer is generally synthesized by the chemical bath deposition method (CBD) and suffers from excessive Cd2+ due to the poor controllability of interfacial chemical reactions. Here, we employed a sol-gel method to prepare a CdS interlayer (CdS-SG) with a stoichiometric ratio of Cd2+ to S2- on a TiO2 mesoporous photoanode and then fabricated CdSe QDSCs.

Cycloartane triterpenoids from Actaea vaginata with anti-inflammatory effects in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages.

Five undescribed cycloartane triterpenoids, including two cycloartane trinor-triterpenoids, were isolated from a 70% ethanol extract of the whole plant of Actaea vaginata (Ranunculaceae), together with thirteen known cycloartane triterpenoids. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic techniques and quantum chemical calculations for intramolecular noncovalent interactions with reduced density gradient method. All compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory effects by a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production model in RAW264.

Comparative Study of Choke Vessel Reconstruction With Single and Multiple Perforator-Based Flaps on the Murine Back Using Delayed Surgery.

Objective: Choke vessels, vascular anastomosis between adjacent angiosome, play an important role in flap expansion and survival. Here we established a flap model with single and multiple perforators to detect and compare the changes in choke vessels, discuss the effect of hemodynamics on the vascular morphology, and explore the underlying mechanism.

Methods: One hundred mice (7-8 weeks) were subjected to a "choke zone" surrounded by 4 perforators on their backs.