In the foreseen decommissioning plans of damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors, submicron aerosol particles will be generated when retrieving fuel debris from reactor buildings by cutting it into small pieces. A multi-nozzle spray system will be used to scavenge these aerosol particles inside the primary containment vessel. To improve the aerosol removal efficiency of the multi-nozzle spray system, it is now necessary to study the aerosol removal performance by different single spray nozzles with different spray...

This paper considers a single-machine scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times and energy-generation and storage systems. Each job requires a sequence-dependent setup to be processed on the machine, and both setup and processing of the job require job-dependent amounts of energy. The energy consumed by the machine can be bought from an Electric Power Company (EPC) or generated by own Distributed Energy Resource (DER), such as solar photovoltaic or wind, and the energy can be...

A new highly oxygenated cycloheptane derivative crustane (1), along with fourteen known compounds (2–15) were isolated from Penicillium crustosum JT-8. The structure of compound 1 was determined by extensive spectroscopic data, DP4+ probability analyses and dimolybdenum CD method. Compound 1 exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with MIC of 4.0 μg/mL.

Four new cembrane diterpenes, 1,13-di-epi-13-acetoxy launine P (1), 13-oxo-thunbergol (2), isocrassumol B (3) and 7α, 8α-sarcophine (4), together with two known launine P (5) and sarcophytonin B (6), were isolated from the extract of the South China Sea soft coral Sarcophyton trocheliophorum. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, ECD analysis and comparison with literature data. All compounds were tested for their antimicrobial activity and antiviral activity. Compounds 1, 2 and 5 were found to...

5-Methylcytosine (m5C) is a type of RNA modification that exists in tRNAs and rRNAs and was recently found in mRNA. Although mRNA m5C modification has been reported to regulate diverse biological process, its function in adipogenesis remains unknown. Here, we demonstrated that knockdown of NOL1/NOP2/Sun domain family member 2 (NSUN2), a m5C methyltransferase, increased lipid accumulation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes through accelerating cell cycle progression during mitotic clonal expansion (MCE) at the early stage of adipogenesis....

The present study explored the cooperative effect of both alanine (Ala) and gentamicin (Gent) on metabolic mechanisms by which exogenous Ala potentiates Gent to kill antibiotic-resistant Vibrio alginolyticus. To test this, GC-MS-based metabolomics was used to characterize Ala-, Gent- and both-induced metabolic profiles, identifying nitric oxide (NO) production pathway as the most key clue to understand metabolic mechanisms. Gent, Ala and both led to low, lower and lowest activity of total nitric oxide synthase (tNOS)...

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs), and 100% fruit juices are frequently consumed and have been documented that they could lead to serious disease burden. However, inconsistent evidence on the association between SSBs, ASBs, and 100% fruit juices consumption and mortality have been presented. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO were systematically searched. We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis and dose-response meta-analysis to assess the association and calculated...

Additional file 2 Supplementary Figure S1. The expression levels of LTRs in the Cluster L4 of Figure 3A. Supplementary Figure S2. The primers used to validate the expressions of 13 MacERV3 LTRs. (A) The alignment of the forward primer MacERV3_LTR2_34_F and the 13 MacERV3 LTRs. (B) The alignment of the reverse primer MacERV3_LTR2_34_R and the 13 MacERV3 LTRs. (C) The precise loci of the two primers in one of the selected MacERV3 LTRs, MacERV3_LTR2_34. Supplementary...

It was found that bisphenol F (BPF) could be anaerobically transformed to 4,4-dihydroxybenzophenone using nitrate as an electron acceptor by Pseudomonas sp. LS. However, BPF removal was a slow process under anaerobic conditions. In the present study, effects of graphene oxide (GO) and graphene on the anaerobic transformation of BPF were studied in detail. Results showed that GO (2–10 mg/L) and graphene (2–20 mg/L) could increase the anaerobic biotransformation rate of BPF. For GO-mediated system,...

For coronaviruses, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is an essential enzyme that catalyses the replication from RNA template and therefore remains an attractive therapeutic target for anti-COVID drug discovery. In the present study, we performed a comprehensive in silico screening for 16,776 potential molecules from recently established drug libraries based on two important pharmacophores (3-amino-4-phenylbutan-2-ol and piperazine). Based on initial assessment, 4042 molecules were obtained suitable as drug candidates, which were following Lipinski’s rule. Molecular docking...

We conducted a meta-analysis to systematically review the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab for advanced NSCLC. Databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) treated with pembrolizumab till July 2021. Seven RCTs and 3988 patients were included. Our analysis suggests that pembrolizumab was more effective at improving PFS (HR, 0.59; 95% CI: 0.43–0.79; p = 0.0005), OS (HR, 0.65; 95% CI: 0.55–0.76; p ＜ 0.00001) and ORR (RR, 1.85; 95% CI: 1.64–2.09; p ＜ 0.00001)...

To obtain additional insight into the genetic factors of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). First, we performed a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) integrating human cerebellum-specific variant-expression/splicing correlations to identify ADHD susceptibility genes. Then, the associations between expression/splicing quantitative trait loci (eQTLs/sQTLs) of the transcriptome-wide significant genes and ADHD were observed in a case-control study of Han Chinese children. Furthermore, dual luciferase reporter gene assays were performed to validate the regulatory function of ADHD risk variants....

A growing body of evidence suggests the pivotal role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in influenza virus infection. Based on next-generation sequencing, we previously demonstrated that Lnc45 was distinctively stimulated by H5N1 influenza virus in mice. In this study, we systematically investigated the specific role of Lnc45 during influenza A virus (IAV) infection. Through qRT-PCR, we first demonstrated that Lnc45 is highly up-regulated by different subtypes of IAV strains, including H5N1, H7N9, and H1N1 viruses....

Antarctica plays an important role in research on global change, and its unique geography, ocean, climate, and environment provide an ideal place for humankind to understand Earth’s evolution. Remote sensing provides an effective means to monitor and observe large-scale processes on the continent. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in particular provides the capability for all-weather Earth observation. The Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B SAR satellites have ideal ground coverage and imaging frequency for observing Antarctica. This study developed...

Antarctica plays an important role in research on global change, and its unique geography, ocean, climate, and environment provide an ideal place for humankind to understand Earth’s evolution. Remote sensing provides an effective means to monitor and observe large-scale processes on the continent. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in particular provides the capability for all-weather Earth observation. The Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B SAR satellites have ideal ground coverage and imaging frequency for observing Antarctica. This study developed...

Coal-fired power plays a critical role in China’s compliance with the Paris Agreement. This research quantifies China’s stranded coal assets under different coal capacity expansion scenarios with an integrated approach and high-precision coal-fired power database. From a top-down perspective, firstly, the pathway of China’s coal-fired power capacity consistent with the global 2°C scenario is outlined and then those stranded coal-fired power plants are identified with a bottom-up perspective. Stranded value is estimated based upon a...

The medical community has been keen on developing disease-modifying (DM) products that can delay the underlying pathological or pathophysiological disease processes when treating chronic progressive diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. The DM effects can be established through the delayed-start design, which first randomizes patients to new treatment and control (first phase), and at some timepoint, crosses over the control to new treatment (second phase). If patients initially on control then...

It is urgently needed to develop novel adjuvants for improving the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), with high surface area, play an important role in drug delivery. With perfect biocompatibility and green preparation process, the γ-cyclodextrin metal-organic framework (γ-CD-MOF) fabricated with cyclodextrin and potassium suitable for antigen delivery. In this study, we modified γ-CD-MOF with span-85 to fabricate the SP-γ-CD-MOF as animal vaccine adjuvants. The ovalbumin (OVA) as the model antigen was...

The incidence and the risk factors of in-hospitalized acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients hospitalized for atrial fibrillation (AF) were unclear. The Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China-AF (CCC-AF) project is an ongoing registry and quality improvement project, with 240 hospitals recruited across China. We selected 4527 patients hospitalized for AF registered in the CCC-AF from January 2015 to January 2019. Patients were divided into the AKI and non-AKI groups according to the changes...

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the predictive value of diabetic retinopathy (DR) on further diabetic nephropathy (DN) risk in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) based on the prospective cohort studies. PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for eligible prospective cohort studies through March 2020. The predictive value of DR was assessed using sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and...

Macroautophagy/autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved process, plays an important role in the regulation of immune inflammation and nervous system homeostasis. However, the exact role and mechanism of autophagy in pain is still unclear. Here, we showed that impaired autophagy flux mainly occurred in astrocytes during the maintenance of neuropathic pain. No matter the stage of neuropathic pain induction or maintenance, activation of autophagy relieved the level of pain, whereas inhibition of autophagy aggravated pain. Moreover, the...

Macroautophagy/autophagy and necroptosis represent two opposing cellular s tress responses. Whereas autophagy primarily fulfills a cyto-protective function, necroptosis is a form of regulated cell death induced via death receptors. Here, we aimed at investigating the molecular crosstalk between these two pathways. We observed that RIPK3 directly associates with AMPK and phosphorylates its catalytic subunit PRKAA1/2 at T183/T172. Activated AMPK then phosphorylates the autophagy-regulating proteins ULK1 and BECN1. However, the lysosomal degradation of autophagosomes is blocked...

Kindlin-2 is a member of the FERM-containing cytoskeletal protein family that regulates cell–matrix interactions. Previous studies have shown that Kindlin-2 recruits focal adhesion proteins and regulates integration by binding to the focal adhesion region of the integrin β-segment. Although Kindlin-2 has been reported to be involved in various skin diseases and many kinds of tumors, its role in the skin wound healing process remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the...

The present study was aimed to evaluate the expression profile of Zinc finger C3H1 domain-containing protein (ZFC3H1) using bioinformatic analysis of public datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas database (TCGA). The results showed that the expression levels of ZFC3H1 were notably lower than the corresponding non-cancerous tissues in prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD), and patients in the high ZFC3H1-expression group showed poor survival. We hypothesized that the low expression of ZFC3H1 in tumor tissue might have be...

Thymoma is the most common primary mass in anterior mediastinum. Although associated with low malignancy, it is often accompanied by myasthenia gravis resulting in poor prognosis. Due to the dual factors of tumor immune tolerance and autoimmune reaction, it is urgent to understand the immune status of MG with thymoma. In this study, RNA sequencing data were obtained from the TCGA and GEO cohorts to identify differentially expressed messenger RNAs and infiltrated immune cells. A...