Molecular Characterization of Polymer Networks.

Polymer networks are complex systems consisting of molecular components. Whereas the properties of the individual components are typically well understood by most chemists, translating that chemical insight into polymer networks themselves is limited by the statistical and poorly defined nature of network structures. As a result, it is challenging, if not currently impossible, to extrapolate from the molecular behavior of components to the full range of performance and properties of the entire polymer network.

A Note on the Likelihood Ratio Test in High-Dimensional Exploratory Factor Analysis.

The likelihood ratio test is widely used in exploratory factor analysis to assess the model fit and determine the number of latent factors. Despite its popularity and clear statistical rationale, researchers have found that when the dimension of the response data is large compared to the sample size, the classical Chi-square approximation of the likelihood ratio test statistic often fails. Theoretically, it has been an open problem when such a phenomenon happens as the dimension of data increases; practically, the effect of high dimensionality is less examined in exploratory factor analysis, and there lacks a clear statistical guideline on the validity of the conventional Chi-square approximation.

Radiological and Clinical Value of 7T MRI for Evaluating 3T-Visible Lesions in Pharmacoresistant Focal Epilepsies.

The recent FDA approval of the first 7T MRI scanner for clinical diagnostic use in October 2017 will likely increase the utilization of 7T for epilepsy presurgical evaluation. This study aims at accessing the radiological and clinical value of 7T in patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy and 3T-visible lesions. Patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy were included if they had a lesion on pre-operative standard-of-care 3T MRI and also a 7T research MRI.

Hybrid holographic Maxwellian near-eye display based on spherical wave and plane wave reconstruction for augmented reality display.

The holographic Maxwellian display is a promising technique for augmented reality (AR) display because it solves the vergence-accommodation conflict while presenting a high-resolution display. However, conventional holographic Maxwellian display has the inherent trade-off between depth of field (DOF) and image quality. In this paper, two types of holographic Maxwellian displays, the spherical wave type and the plane wave type, are proposed and analyzed.

Acceleration of fully computed hologram stereogram using lookup table and wavefront recording plane methods.

Lookup table (LUT) and wavefront recording plane (WRP) methods are proposed to accelerate the computation of fully computed hologram stereograms (HSs). In the LUT method, we precalculate large and complete spherical wave phases with varying depths, and each complex amplitude distribution segment of the object point can be obtained quickly by cropping a specific and small part of the precalculated spherical wave phases. Then, each hologram element (hogel) can be calculated by superposing all the related segments.

Network pharmacology and RNA-sequencing reveal the molecular mechanism of Xuebijing injection on COVID-19-induced cardiac dysfunction.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Up to 20%-30% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have evidence of cardiac dysfunction. Xuebijing injection is a compound injection containing five traditional Chinese medicine ingredients, which can protect cells from SARS-CoV-2-induced cell death and improve cardiac function.

Brain morphological abnormalities in children with cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 deficiency disorder.

Background: To quantitatively evaluate the brain MRI morphological abnormalities in patients with cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 deficiency disorder (CDD) on a group level and longitudinally.

Methods: We performed surface-based MRI analysis on high-resolution T1-weighted images on three CDD patients scanned at age of three years, and compared with 12 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. We further examined the longitudinal morphological changes in one patient with a follow-up of 5 years.

PolyDAT: A Generic Data Schema for Polymer Characterization.

Polymers are stochastic materials that represent distributions of different molecules. In general, to quantify the distribution, polymer researchers rely on a series of chemical characterizations that each reveal partial information on the distribution. However, in practice, the exact set of characterizations that are carried out, as well as how the characterization data are aggregated and reported, is largely nonstandard across the polymer community.

Advances in Ultra-Trace Analytical Capability for Micro/Nanoplastics and Water-Soluble Polymers in the Environment: Fresh Falling Urban Snow.

Discarded micro/nano-plastic inputs into the environment are emerging global concerns. Yet the quantification of micro/nanoplastics in complex environmental matrices is still a major challenge, notably for soluble ones. We herein develop in-laboratory built nanostructures (zinc oxide, titanium oxide and cobalt) coupled to mass spectrometry techniques, for picogram quantification of micro/nanoplastics in water and snow matrices, without sample pre-treatment.

Neurovascular networks in epilepsy: Correlating ictal blood perfusion with intracranial electrophysiology.

Perfusion patterns observed in Subtraction Ictal SPECT Co-registered to MRI (SISCOM) assist in focus localization and surgical planning for patients with medically intractable focal epilepsy. While the localizing value of SISCOM has been widely investigated, its relationship to the underlying electrophysiology has not been extensively studied and is therefore not well understood. In the present study, we set to investigate this relationship in a cohort of 70 consecutive patients who underwent ictal and interictal SPECT studies and subsequent stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) monitoring for localization of the epileptogenic focus and surgical intervention.

Effects of miR-672 on the angiogenesis of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells during bone regeneration.

Background: Sufficient vascular network plays an important role in the repair of bone defects. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) being a key regulator of angiogenesis has attracted the attention of researchers. In addition, evidence has suggested that BMP2 coordinates with microRNAs (miRNAs) to form intracellular networks regulating mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) angiogenesis.

PIF1 helicase promotes break-induced replication in mammalian cells.

Break-induced replication (BIR) is a specialized homologous-recombination pathway for DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair, which often induces genome instability. In this study, we establish EGFP-based recombination reporters to systematically study BIR in mammalian cells and demonstrate an important role of human PIF1 helicase in promoting BIR. We show that at endonuclease cleavage sites, PIF1-dependent BIR is used for homology-initiated recombination requiring long track DNA synthesis, but not short track gene conversion (STGC).

Interplay between cofactors and transcription factors in hematopoiesis and hematological malignancies.

Hematopoiesis requires finely tuned regulation of gene expression at each stage of development. The regulation of gene transcription involves not only individual transcription factors (TFs) but also transcription complexes (TCs) composed of transcription factor(s) and multisubunit cofactors. In their normal compositions, TCs orchestrate lineage-specific patterns of gene expression and ensure the production of the correct proportions of individual cell lineages during hematopoiesis.

Ionic Current Extraction in an Electrostatic-Fluid-Based Tripolar System for Ethanol Sensing.

We report a microfluidics-based tripolar system to extract the ionic current from the gas discharge process for gas sensing, which is structurally and fluidically compatible with the gas chromatography (GC) systems. The tripolar system was fabricated based on the microelectromechanical systems technology and tested as a gas detector with the assistance of a GC column under different external factors, that is, the applied voltages and the gas flow rates. An analytical model is proposed to address the ion extraction behavior under the coupling effect of the electric field and flow field.

Expression, purification and characterization of the RhoA-binding domain of human SHIP2 in E.coli.

Human SH2-containing inositol 5-phosphatase 2 (SHIP2) is a multi-domain protein playing essential roles in various physiological and pathological processes. In cell polarization and migration, SHIP2 serves as a RhoA effector for manipulating the level of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate. The domain between SH2 and a potential PH-R domain of SHIP2 was suggested to bind with GTP-bound form of RhoA.

Panax quinquefolium saponins protect against cisplatin evoked intestinal injury via ROS-mediated multiple mechanisms.

Background: Cisplatin is one of the most common chemotherapeutic drugs. Cisplatin-induced toxicity gives rise to gastrointestinal cell damage, subsequent diarrhea and vomiting, leading to the discontinuation of its clinical application in long-term cancer chemotherapy. Panax quinquefolium L.

Immune characteristics of renal allograft donors with mesangial IgA deposition.

Background: There are few studies describing the prevalence and immune features of people with subclinical mesangial immunoglobulin A (IgA) deposition in the Chinese population. We sought to investigate the prevalence of mesangial IgA deposition among kidney donors and the immune characteristics of donors with mesangial IgA deposition.

Methods: Fifty blood-related living donors with zero-hour allograft biopsies obtained at Peking University First Hospital were enrolled.

Comparison of survival between adolescent and young adult older patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Due to the special clinical features and biologic characteristics of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers, AYA cancers are different from cancers in children and elderly individuals. However, there are few reports on AYA hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Aim: To investigate the overall survival (OS) of AYA (15-39 years) and elderly (40-74 years) patients with HCC.

Distal conformational locks on ferrocene mechanophores guide reaction pathways for increased mechanochemical reactivity.

Mechanophores can be used to produce strain-dependent covalent chemical responses in polymeric materials, including stress strengthening, stress sensing and network remodelling. In general, it is desirable for mechanophores to be inert in the absence of force but highly reactive under applied tension. Metallocenes possess potentially useful combinations of force-free stability and force-coupled reactivity, but the mechanistic basis of this reactivity remains largely unexplored.

Topological alterations in older adults with temporal lobe epilepsy are distinct from amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Epilepsy incidence and prevalence peaks in older adults, yet systematic studies of brain aging and epilepsy remain limited. We investigated topological network disruption in older adults with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE; age > 55 years). Additionally, we examined the potential network disruption overlap between TLE and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), the prodromal stage of Alzheimer disease.

Epileptic seizures in multiple sclerosis: prevalence, competing causes and diagnostic accuracy.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is accompanied by an increased risk of epileptic seizures, but data with a detailed description of the competing causes are lacking.

Methods: We aimed to describe a cohort of patients with both MS and epileptic seizures in a retrospective, population-based study.

Results: We included 59 out of 2285 MS patients who had at least one epileptic seizure.

MiR-223 levels predicting perioperative bleeding in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: To investigate the predictive value of platelet-related microRNAs (miRNAs) for bleeding during and after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) and the influence of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) on miRNAs.

Methods: This prospective study included 59 patients scheduled for OPCABG. The plasma miR-126 and miR-223 levels were measured and platelet aggregation was determined by thromboelastography during DAPT.

α-Sulfo alkyl ester surfactants: Impact of changing the alkyl chain length on the adsorption, mixing properties and response to electrolytes of the tetradecanoate.

Hypothesis: The α-sulfo alkyl ester, AES, surfactants are a class of anionic surfactants which have potential for improved sustainable performance in a range of applications, and an important feature is their enhanced tolerance to precipitation in the presence of multivalent counterions. It is proposed that their adsorption properties can be adjusted substantially by changing the length of the shorter alkyl chain, that of the alkanol group in the ester.

Experiments: Surface tension and neutron reflectivity have been used to investigate the variation in the adsorption properties with the shorter alkyl chain length (methyl, ethyl and propyl), the impact of NaCl on the adsorption, the tendency to form surface multilayer structures in the presence of AlCl, and the effects of mixing the methyl ester sulfonate with the ethyl and propyl ester sulfonates on the adsorption.

Increased sensitivity of BCR-ABL-induced B-ALL to imatinib by releasing leukemia B cell differentiation blockage.

Aims: In B cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL), B cells are blocked mainly at the pro/pre-B phase, making them poorly responsive to imatinib. We aimed to investigate whether it was possible to promote pro/pre-B cell maturation beyond this phase and make them sensitive to imatinib treatment by overexpressing immunoregulatory tyrosine activation motif (ITAM) with BCR-ABL in a Ph+ B-ALL mouse model.

Materials & Methods: Ph+ B-ALL mouse models were induced by BCR-ABL using retroviral transduction/transplantation.