1T-type TiS2 has been recognized as a promising environmentally friendly thermoelectric material with a record ZT of around 0.4 so far. We hereby report the high thermoelectric performance of a ...series of TiS2–xAgSnSe2 composites with nano-AgSnSe2 as an ionized impurity for electron scattering. Electrical conductivities (σ) in the composites increased possibly due to intercalation; moreover, they showed an exceptional power law decay of σ ∝ Tm with m much increased in the temperature range of 400–580 K due to a significant contribution of ionized impurity scattering. Correspondingly, Seebeck coefficients (S) experience a much faster growth from ∼450 K to approach and even surpass that in pristine TiS2. The simultaneous enhancement of σ and S enabled a high power factor of ∼1.55 mW m−1 K−1 at 700 K. Besides, the lattice thermal conductivity was effectively reduced due to enhanced phonon scattering and intercalations, almost by half from 1.9 W m−1 K−1 to 1.0 W m−1 K−1 at 700 K. These synergistic effects renewed the record of ZT for TiS2-based thermoelectrics by almost doubling it to ∼0.8 at 700 K in the TiS2–4%AgSnSe2 composite.
Abstract
Background
Studies have suggested that glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonists such as tirofiban are beneficial for patients with acute coronary syndromes. However, it is still uncertain about the ...efficacy and safety of tirofiban in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).
Methods
In this prospective non-randomized study, 255 AIS patients were recruited from 4 comprehensive stroke centers in China between January, 2017 and May, 2018. Among them,169 patients were treated with aspirin plus clopidogrel and 86 patients were treated with tirofiban. The primary functional outcome was the distribution of the 90 days’ modified Rankin Scale (mRS). The safety outcomes included the incidence of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) at discharge and mortality at 3 months.
Results
In the propensity score matched cohort, tirofiban alone was noninferior to the dual antiplatelet with regard to the primary outcome (adjusted common odds ratio, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.46 to 2.04;
P
= 0.93). Mortality at 90 days was 10% in the dual antiplatelet group and 8% in the tirofiban group (adjusted odds ratio 0.75; 95% CI 0.08 to 7.40,
p
= 0.81). There was no difference of the ICH rate between two groups (adjusted odds ratio 0.44; 95% CI 0.13 to 1.48,
p
= 0.18). In the inverse probability of treatment weighting-propensity score-adjusted cohort, similar differences were found for functional and safety outcomes.
Conclusions
Our study suggested that tirofiban use appears to be safe as monotherapy in AIS treatment compared with common dual antiplatelet therapy, however, no improvement in functional outcomes was found.
Trial registration
Chinese clinical trial registry,
ChiCTR2000034443
, 05/07/2020. Retrospectively registered.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Brains organize behavior and physiology to optimize the response to threats or opportunities. We dissect how 21% O2, an indicator of surface exposure, reprograms C. elegans' global state, inducing ...sustained locomotory arousal and altering expression of neuropeptides, metabolic enzymes, and other non-neural genes. The URX O2-sensing neurons drive arousal at 21% O2 by tonically activating the RMG interneurons. Stimulating RMG is sufficient to switch behavioral state. Ablating the ASH, ADL, or ASK sensory neurons connected to RMG by gap junctions does not disrupt arousal. However, disrupting cation currents in these neurons curtails RMG neurosecretion and arousal. RMG signals high O2 by peptidergic secretion. Neuropeptide reporters reveal neural circuit state, as neurosecretion stimulates neuropeptide expression. Neural imaging in unrestrained animals shows that URX and RMG encode O2 concentration rather than behavior, while the activity of downstream interneurons such as AVB and AIY reflect both O2 levels and the behavior being executed.
The daytime and nighttime precipitation proportions of daily total precipitation (especially extreme daily precipitation) are important indicators that help to understand the process of precipitation ...formation, which in turn helps to evaluate and improve models and reanalysis precipitation data. In this study, we used the Huai River Basin (HRB) as a case to explore the daytime and nighttime precipitation proportions of daily total precipitation based on 135 meteorological stations during 1961–2018. The total, daytime, and nighttime precipitation showed zonal distributions with high and low values in the southern and northern parts of the basin, respectively. The nighttime precipitation was slightly greater than the daytime precipitation. With the increase in precipitation intensity, the seasonal cycles of the total, daytime, and nighttime precipitation were more distinct, and precipitation mainly occurred in summer. The annual range of precipitation differences between daytime and nighttime in wet seasons showed a downward trend in 1961–2003 followed by an upward trend in 2003–2018. This reversal of annual range of precipitation around 2003 may be related to the changes in annual range of convective precipitation differences between daytime and nighttime in wet seasons. The decrease of light precipitation mainly depended on the decrease of nighttime precipitation. The contributions of nighttime precipitation events to torrential precipitation events were greater than those of daytime precipitation. The days of extreme precipitation events accounted for a very low proportion of total precipitation days, but their precipitation amount accounted for relatively high proportions of total precipitation amount. Annual extreme precipitation amount showed a slightly upward trend, which was caused by the increased nighttime precipitation. Under extreme precipitation conditions, large proportions of daytime precipitation were mainly concentrated in the southeastern parts of the HRB, whereas large proportions of nighttime precipitation were mainly concentrated in the northwestern parts of the basin. The concurrent daytime and nighttime precipitation showed slightly increasing trends, especially in the southeastern part of the basin. With the increase in daytime and nighttime precipitation, the risk of concurrent precipitation extremes in the southern part of the basin increased (shorter return period means higher risk).
The conserved pre-mRNA retention and splicing (RES) complex, which in yeast consists of Bud13p, Snu17p and Pml1p, is thought to promote nuclear retention of unspliced pre-mRNAs and enhance splicing ...of a subset of transcripts. Here, we find that the absence of Bud13p or Snu17p causes greatly reduced levels of the modified nucleoside N(4)-acetylcytidine (ac(4)C) in tRNA and that a lack of Pml1p reduces ac(4)C levels at elevated temperatures. The ac(4)C nucleoside is normally found at position 12 in the tRNA species specific for serine and leucine. We show that the tRNA modification defect in RES-deficient cells is attributable to inefficient splicing of TAN1 pre-mRNA and the effects of reduced Tan1p levels on formation of ac(4)C. Analyses of cis-acting elements in TAN1 pre-mRNA showed that the intron sequence between the 5' splice site and branchpoint is necessary and sufficient to mediate RES dependency. We also show that in RES-deficient cells, the TAN1 pre-mRNA is targeted for degradation by the cytoplasmic nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway, indicating that poor nuclear retention may contribute to the tRNA modification defect. Our results demonstrate that TAN1 pre-mRNA processing has an unprecedented requirement for RES factors and that the complex controls the formation of ac(4)C in tRNA.
Despite the importance of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) their biogenesis is poorly understood. Like vertebrates, C. elegans uses a large family of GPCRs as chemoreceptors. A subset of these ...receptors, such as ODR-10, requires the odr-4 and odr-8 genes to be appropriately localized to sensory cilia. The odr-4 gene encodes a conserved tail-anchored transmembrane protein; the molecular identity of odr-8 is unknown. Here, we show that odr-8 encodes the C. elegans ortholog of Ufm1-specific protease 2 (UfSP2). UfSPs are cysteine proteases identified biochemically by their ability to liberate the ubiquitin-like modifier Ufm1 from its pro-form and protein conjugates. ODR-8/UfSP2 and ODR-4 are expressed in the same set of twelve chemosensory neurons, and physically interact at the ER membrane. ODR-4 also binds ODR-10, suggesting that an ODR-4/ODR-8 complex promotes GPCR folding, maturation, or export from the ER. The physical interaction between human ODR4 and UfSP2 suggests that this complex's role in GPCR biogenesis may be evolutionarily conserved. Unexpectedly, mutant versions of ODR-8/UfSP2 lacking catalytic residues required for protease activity can rescue all odr-8 mutant phenotypes tested. Moreover, deleting C. elegans ufm-1 does not alter chemoreceptor traffic to cilia, either in wild type or in odr-8 mutants. Thus, UfSP2 proteins have protease- and Ufm1-independent functions in GPCR biogenesis.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The African swine fever virus is a virulent and communicable viral disease that can be transmitted by infected swine, contaminated pork products, or soft tick vectors. Nonstructural proteins encoded ...by ASFV regulate viral replication, transcription, and evasion. However, the mechanisms underlying the host response to ASFV infection remain incompletely understood. In order to enhance comprehension of the biology and molecular mechanisms at distinct time intervals (6, 12, 24 h) post infection, transcriptome analyses were executed to discern differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ASFV and mock-infected PAMs. The transcriptomic analysis unveiled a total of 1,677, 2,122, and 2,945 upregulated DEGs and 933, 1,148, and 1,422 downregulated DEGs in ASFV- and mock-infected groups at 6, 12, and 24 h.p.i.. The results of the transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that the infection of ASFV significantly stimulated host metabolism pathways while concurrently inhibiting the expression of various immune responses and cell death pathways. Our study offers crucial mechanistic insights into the comprehension of ASFV viral pathogenesis and the multifaceted host immune responses. The genes that were dysregulated may serve as potential candidates for further exploration of anti-ASFV strategies.
The present study sought to understand the spatiotemporal characteristics, associated with changes in drought disasters during the Ming and Qing Dynasties in North China. The grade sequence of ...drought disasters at 21 sites for the given period (1470-1912 AD) in North China was studied herein. An ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) was used to analyze the multiple time-scales towards generating a simple and stable intrinsic modal function component. Comparisons and analysis of the frequency and intensity of drought disasters were made using polynomial fitting curves to understand the temporal variations of drought disasters. Two aspects were explored to study the spatial distribution and characteristics of drought disasters. The reconstruction of the sequence of drought disasters was based on the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) and Rotated Empiric Orthogonal Function (REOF). The drought disaster was divided into several space modes and sensitive areas. Drought frequency was recurrent in the northern and low in the southern part of North China. Findings revealed drought frequency and intensity were high in southeast and low in the southwestern part of North China. The study would inform decisions on disaster prevention and mitigation thereby serving as a baseline print for predicting modern drought disasters.
Concurrent meteorological droughts and consecutive cold events can significantly impact local ecosystems, socio‐economies, and human health. The respective characteristics of droughts and cold ...extremes have been extensively studied, however, their concurrent extremes have received very little attention. In this study, we used the Huai River Basin as a case to build a magnitude index of concurrent meteorological droughts and consecutive cold events (CDCMI) based on daily minimum temperature data and a 1‐month standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) from 1961 to 2018. Results show that the magnitude of meteorological droughts increased over the observation period, while consecutive cold events significantly decreased. CDCMI showed a significant downward trend at a rate of −0.14 per decade. Large differences were observed between 1990–2018 and 1961–1989—especially in the southern parts of the basin (around −50%). The frequency of mild and moderate concurrent meteorological droughts and consecutive cold events showed no significant upward or downward trends, but severe and extreme concurrent events showed pronounced decreasing trends at rates of −0.03 events/decade and − 0.036 events/decade, respectively. Under the same return period, high CDCMI values are present in the southeastern part of the basin, indicating that the concurrent events in this region are more serious. When CDCMI = 1.79 (extreme grade), the return period in the southeastern part of the basin (5–10 years) is much lower than that in the northwestern part of the basin (>100 years), indicating that this part is harmed to a greater extent by the concurrent extremes than elsewhere in the basin. The spatial pattern of maximum CDCMI again indicates that the southeastern part of the basin is at a high risk for concurrent events. The proposed magnitude index may be a useful tool for analysing concurrent (compound) droughts and cold events as well as their potential impacts.
CDCMI definition based on drought indicator (DI) and daily minimum temperature (Tmin). DI0 and T0 are the thresholds of drought and cold events (DI0 represents SPEI = −0.8, T0 = 10th percentile of Tmin). The red line marks the DI series and the blue polyline is the daily Tmin series. DIm is the absolute value of the difference between the DI and the drought threshold for the mth month. |△Ti| is the absolute value of the difference between daily Tmin and the threshold for day i during the mth month.
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