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•The advance of post-synthetic modification (PSM) of MOFs in the past five years was reviewed.•Two increasingly apparent tendencies in PSM of exploring new types and tandem reactions ...were demonstrated.•Selected examples including several from China focus on new types and tandem PSM.
In the past five years, post-synthetic modification (PSM) has become a very useful strategy in systematically functionalizing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) by modifying the linker, metal node, pore character, and surface environment for the purpose of increasing the structural stability and introducing desired properties. In this review, we intend to demonstrate the two major trends in PSM including the mushrooming of new types of reaction and the combination of multi-steps PSM. The selected examples illustrate three promising PSM classes, post-synthetic metal exchange (PSME), post-synthetic ligand exchange (PSLE) and post-synthetic elimination and insertion (PSE&I). Combined with the well-developed covalent PSM and dative PSM, tandem PSM which constitutes of multistep and different types of reaction adds to the step-by-step improvement of catalytic activity, regulating magnetism and others. These recent advances in PSM not only open new paths to improve the function of MOFs, but also reveal the unprecedented reaction complexity of crystalline solids.
Background ands Aims
NAFLD is associated with elevation of many cytokines, particularly IL‐6; however, the role of IL‐6 in NAFLD remains obscure. The aim of this study was to examine how ...myeloid‐specific IL‐6 signaling affects NAFLD by the regulation of antifibrotic microRNA‐223 (miR‐223) in myeloid cells.
Approach and Results
Patients with NAFLD or NASH and healthy controls were recruited, and serum IL‐6 and soluble IL‐6 receptor α (sIL‐6Rα) were measured. Compared to controls, serum IL‐6 and sIL‐6Rα levels were elevated in NAFLD/NASH patients. IL‐6 levels correlated positively with the number of circulating leukocytes and monocytes. The role of IL‐6 in NAFLD was investigated in Il6 knockout (KO) and Il6 receptor A (Il6ra) conditional KO mice after high‐fat diet (HFD) feeding. HFD‐fed Il6 KO mice had worse liver injury and fibrosis, but less inflammation, compared to wild‐type mice. Hepatocyte‐specific Il6ra KO mice had more steatosis and liver injury, whereas myeloid‐specific Il6ra KO mice had a lower number of hepatic infiltrating macrophages (IMs) and neutrophils with increased cell death of these cells, but greater liver fibrosis (LF), than WT mice. Mechanistically, the increased LF in HFD‐fed, myeloid‐specific Il6ra KO mice was attributable to the reduction of antifibrotic miR‐223 and subsequent up‐regulation of the miR‐223 target gene, transcriptional activator with PDZ‐binding motif (TAZ), a well‐known factor to promote NASH fibrosis. In vitro, IL‐6 treatment up‐regulated exosome biogenesis‐related genes and subsequently promoted macrophages to release miR‐223‐enriched exosomes that were able to reduce profibrotic TAZ expression in hepatocytes by exosomal transfer. Finally, serum IL‐6 and miR‐223 levels were elevated and correlated with each other in NAFLD patients.
Conclusions
Myeloid‐specific IL‐6 signaling inhibits LF through exosomal transfer of antifibrotic miR‐223 into hepatocytes, providing therapeutic targets for NAFLD therapy.
Background and Aim
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has attracted increasing worldwide attention. While diabetes is known to aggravate COVID‐19 severity, it is not known whether nondiabetic ...patients with metabolic dysfunction are also more prone to more severe disease. The association of metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) with COVID‐19 severity in nondiabetic patients was investigated here.
Methods
The study cohort comprised 65 patients with (i.e. cases) and 65 patients without MAFLD (i.e. controls). Each case was randomly matched with one control by sex (1:1) and age (±5 years). The association between the presence of MAFLD (as exposure) and COVID‐19 severity (as the outcome) was assessed by binary logistic regression analysis.
Results
In nondiabetic patients with COVID‐19, the presence of MAFLD was associated with a four‐fold increased risk of severe COVID‐19; the risk increased with increasing numbers of metabolic risk factors. The association with COVID‐19 severity persisted after adjusting for age, sex, and coexisting morbid conditions.
Conclusion
Health‐care professionals caring for nondiabetic patients with COVID‐19 should be cognizant of the increased likelihood of severe COVID‐19 in patients with MAFLD.
Liver injury is common in patients with COVID‐19, but little is known about its clinical presentation and severity in the context of liver transplant. We describe a case of COVID‐19 in a patient who ...underwent transplant 3 years ago for hepatocellular carcinoma. The patient came to clinic with symptoms of respiratory disease; pharyngeal swabs for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were positive. His disease progressed rapidly from mild to critical illness and was complicated by several nosocomial infections and multiorgan failure. Despite multiple invasive procedures and rescue therapies, he died from the disease. The management of COVID‐19 in the posttransplant setting presents complex challenges, emphasizing the importance of strict prevention strategies.
This report presents the clinic features, treatment, and fatal outcome in a liver transplant recipient with COVID‐19.
Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), recently re‐defined and re‐classified as metabolic dysfunction‐associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), has become increasingly prevalent and emerged as a ...public health problem worldwide. To date, the precise pathogenic mechanisms underpinning MAFLD are not entirely understood, and there is no effective pharmacological therapy for NAFLD/MAFLD. As a newly discovered form of iron‐dependent programmed cell death, ferroptosis can be involved in the development and progression of various chronic diseases, but the pathogenic connections and mechanisms that link MAFLD and ferroptosis have not been fully elucidated. The main characteristics of ferroptosis are the accumulation of lipid peroxides and reactive oxygen species. In this brief narrative review, the mechanisms of ferroptosis and its putative pathogenic role in MAFLD are discussed to highlight potential new research directions and ideas for the prevention and treatment of MAFLD.
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), has been recently declared a pandemic by the World Health ...Organization. In addition to its acute respiratory manifestations, SARS‐CoV‐2 may also adversely affect other organ systems. To date, however, there is a very limited understanding of the extent and management of COVID‐19‐related conditions outside of the pulmonary system. This narrative review provides an overview of the current literature about the extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID‐19 that may affect the urinary, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, hematological, hematopoietic, neurological, or reproductive systems. This review also describes the current understanding of the extrapulmonary complications caused by COVID‐19 to improve the management and prognosis of patients with COVID‐19.
Highlights
SARS‐CoV‐2 appears to adversely affect not only the respiratory system but also several other organ systems, including the urinary, cardiovascular, GI, and neurological systems.
To date, however, there is very limited understanding of the extent and management of COVID‐19‐related conditions outside of the pulmonary system.
Further research is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms linking SARS‐CoV‐2 with the occurrence of multiple extra‐pulmonary complications.
Institutional diversity characterizing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from emerging economies holds critical but under-examined implications for their internationalization activities. Different types ...of SOEs can exhibit distinct motivations, strategic resources, and adaptive capabilities for penetrating foreign markets. To understand how such idiosyncratic differences emerge, we conceptualize the heterogeneity of SOEs as an outcome of multiple institutional reform processes – administrative and fiscal decentralization, industrial restructuring, and market liberalization – which create diversity between SOEs affiliated with central and local levels of government. Building on the idea of "institutions-asconfigurations", we elucidate how such reforms reconfigure SOEs' constellation of resources, capabilities, and priorities which shape the parameters of their ability to negotiate for home and host country institutional legitimacy. Specifically, we propose that the restructuring of central SOEs into "national champions" exposes them to stronger institutional pressures from home and host country governments while local SOEs which have fewer obligations to serve national strategic prerogatives display greater managerial autonomy and market orientation, but lower levels of monopolistic behavior. We discuss how such contrasting attributes contribute to variations in SOEs' international business diversification patterns, foreign subsidiary establishment and ownership modes, and overseas location preferences. Recognition of SOEs' organizational diversity holds important implications for theories on state-owned multinationals.
One important goal of the current electrocatalysis is to develop integrated electrodes from the atomic level design to multilevel structural engineering in simple ways and low prices. Here, a series ...of oxygen micro‐alloyed high‐entropy alloys (O‐HEAs) is developed via a metallurgy approach. A (CrFeCoNi)97O3 bulk O‐HEA shows exceptional electrocatalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), reaching an overpotential as low as 196 mV and a Tafel slope of 29 mV dec−1, and with stability longer than 120 h in 1 m KOH solution at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. It is shown that the enhanced OER performance can be attributed to the formation of island‐like Cr2O3 microdomains, the leaching of Cr3+ ions, and structural amorphization at the interfaces of the domains. These findings offer a technological‐orientated strategy to integrated electrodes.
A new class of bulk electrodes is designed by incorporating oxide microdomains into the so‐called high‐entropy alloys (HEAs). From these, unprecedented oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity is achieved, with an ultralow overpotential of 196 mV and a Tafel slope of 29 mV dec−1, and with stability longer than 120 h in 1 m KOH solution at current density of 10 mA cm−2.
To estimate the prevalence of established diabetes and its association with the clinical severity and in-hospital mortality associated with COVID-19.
We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus and Web ...of Science, from 1st January 2020 to 15th May 2020, for observational studies of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effects modeling. A total of 83 eligible studies with 78,874 hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were included. The pooled prevalence of established diabetes was 14.34% (95% CI 12.62–16.06%). However, the prevalence of diabetes was higher in non-Asian vs. Asian countries (23.34% 95% CI 16.40–30.28 vs. 11.06% 95% CI 9.73–12.39), and in patients aged ≥60 years vs. those aged <60 years (23.30% 95% CI 19.65–26.94 vs. 8.79% 95% CI 7.56–10.02). Pre-existing diabetes was associated with an approximate twofold higher risk of having severe/critical COVID-19 illness (n = 22 studies; random-effects odds ratio 2.10, 95% CI 1.71–2.57; I2 = 41.5%) and ~threefold increased risk of in-hospital mortality (n = 15 studies; random-effects odds ratio 2.68, 95% CI 2.09–3.44; I2 = 46.7%). Funnel plots and Egger's tests did not reveal any significant publication bias.
Pre-existing diabetes is significantly associated with greater risk of severe/critical illness and in-hospital mortality in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.
•Little is known about the association of diabetes with the clinical severity and in-hospital mortality associated with COVID-19.•We meta-analyzed 83 observational studies for a total of 78,874 in-patients with COVID-19.•Diabetes was associated with a greater risk of severe/critical illness and in-hospital mortality associated with COVID-19.
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