This letter presents a novel compact dual-band dual-polarized antenna with filtering structures for Sub-6 GHz base station applications. It is operating at the LTE (2500-2690 MHz) and Sub-6 GHz of 5G ...(3300-3600 MHz) bands, where the center frequency of upper-band (UB) is 1.32 times of lower-band (LB). Mutual coupling between LB and UB is suppressed by the introduction of the filtering stubs near the feeding lines. A sufficiently high isolation between LB and UB (>25 dB) is also obtained. The size of the proposed antenna is only 0.43 λ 1 × 0.43 λ 1 × 0.26 λ 1 (λ 1 is the free-wavelength at 2.6 GHz). The half power beam widths are 650 ± 50 over both bands at horizontal planes. A four-element array, which consists of four hybrid antennas (the UB element is nested in the LB element) with a small array width (only 105 mm) is also studied. The proposed antenna and its array are suitable for wireless communication applications.
Water splitting is a great technology for alternative and sustainable energy storage and conversion without pollution. In recent years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown the most promise as ...multifunctional materials, due to their tunable pore channels, high specific surface areas, easy alteration of compositions, variety of morphological structures, and capability as precursors. Based on those merits, numerous MOFs and their derived materials have been exploited for water splitting. Herein, we have gleaned relative references in recent years on MOF-based materials for high electrocatalytic activity in water splitting. We have applied their strategies of design and synthesis, along with the challenges and perspectives on modulating the components of the catalytic active sites and their microenvironment to enhance their water splitting performance in this review article.
The review article discusses the recent progress of MOFs and MOF-derived materials, and the challenges in electrocatalytic water splitting.
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•Glyphosate (GLY) causes blood-testis barrier (BTB) damage and low-quality sperm.•GLY-induced BTB injury contributes to sperm quality decrease.•NOX1-derived oxidative stress results ...in the disruption of BTB integrity.•NOX1 upregulation may be due to the interaction of GLY with estrogen receptor-α.
Blood-testis barrier (BTB) creates a privileged niche indispensable for spermatogenesis. Glyphosate (GLY), the most commonly used herbicide worldwide, has been reported to decrease sperm quality. However, whether and how GLY destroys the BTB to affect sperm quality remains to be elucidated. Herein, this study was designed to investigate the influence of GLY on the BTB in vivo and in vitro experiments. The results showed that male rats exposed to GLY for 4 months exhibited a decrease in sperm quality and quantity, accompanied by BTB integrity disruption and testicular oxidative stress. Additionally, GLY-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributed to the downregulation of BTB-related proteins in primary Sertoli cells (SCs). Intriguingly, we identified a marked upregulation of oxidative stress-related gene NOX1 in GLY-exposed testis based on transcriptome analysis. NOX1 knockdown blocked the GLY-induced oxidative stress, as well as prevented BTB-related protein decrease in SCs. Furthermore, the estrogen receptor (ER)-α was significantly upregulated in vivo and in vitro models. An ER-α inhibitor decreased the expression levels of both ER-α and NOX1. Mechanistically, GLY directly interacted with ER-α at the site of Pro39 and Lys401 to promote ER-α activation, which boosted NOX1 expression to trigger ROS accumulation. Collectively, these results demonstrate that long-term GLY exposure adversely affects BTB integrity, which disrupts spermatogenesis via activation of ER-α/NOX1 axis. This study presents a better understanding of the risk of long-term GLY exposure to male fertility.
Atherosclerosis is a progressive, chronic inflammation in arterial walls. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in inflammation, but the exact mechanism in atherosclerosis is unclear. Our ...microarray analyses revealed that the levels of lncRNA-FA2H-2 were significantly decreased by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OX-LDL). Bioinformatics analyses indicated that mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) might be regulated by lncRNA-FA2H-2. In vitro experiments showed that lncRNA-FA2H-2 interacted with the promoter of the MLKL gene, downregulated MLKL expression, and the binding sites between -750 and 471 were necessary for lncRNA-FA2H-2 responsiveness to MLKL. Silencing lncRNA-FA2H-2 and overexpression of MLKL could activate inflammation and inhibited autophagy flux. Both lncRNA-FA2H-2 knockdown and overexpression of MLKL could significantly aggravate inflammatory responses induced by OX-LDL. We found that the 3-methyladenine (3-MA) and Atg7-shRNA enhanced inflammatory responses induced by knockdown of lncRNA-FA2H-2 and overexpression of MLKL. We demonstrated that the effects of MLKL on autophagy might be associated with a mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)-dependent signaling pathways. In vivo experiments with apoE knockout mice fed a western diet demonstrated that LncRNA-FA2H-2 knockdown decreased microtubule-associated expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 II and lysosome-associated membrane protein 1, but increased expression of sequestosome 1 (p62), MLKL, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and interleukin-6 in atherosclerotic lesions. Our findings indicated that the lncRNA-FA2H-2-MLKL pathway is essential for regulation of autophagy and inflammation, and suggested that lncRNA-FA2H-2 and MLKL could act as potential therapeutic targets to ameliorate atherosclerosis-related diseases.
Inflammation-related parameters have been revealed to have prognostic value in multiple caners. However, the significance of some inflammation-related parameters, including the peripheral blood ...neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI), remains controversial in T1-2 rectal cancer (RC).
Clinical data of 154 T1-2 RC patients were retrospectively reviewed. The cut-off values for NLR, PLR, LMR, and PNI were determined by receiver operating characteristic curves. The relationships of these parameters with postoperative morbidities and prognosis were statistically analysed.
The optimal cut-off values for preoperative NLR, PLR, LMR and PNI were 2.8, 140.0, 3.9, and 47.1, respectively. Significant but heterogeneous associations were found between NLR, PLR, LMR and PNI and clinicopathological factors. In addition, high NLR, high PLR, and low PNI were correlated with an increased postoperative morbidity rate. Patients with high NLR/PLR or low LMR/PNI had lower OS and DFS rates. On multivariate analysis, only high NLR was identified as an independent risk factor for poor DFS.
NLR, PLR, and PNI are valuable factors for predicting postoperative complications in T1-2 RC patients. A preoperative NLR of more than 2.8 is an independent prognostic factor for poor DFS in T1-2 RC patients.
Controlling toxigenic Fusarium graminearum (FG) is challenging. A bacterial strain (S76-3, identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) that was isolated from diseased wheat spikes in the field ...displayed strong antifungal activity against FG. Reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analyses revealed that S76-3 produced three classes of cyclic lipopeptides including iturin, plipastatin and surfactin. Each class consisted of several different molecules. The iturin and plipastatin fractions strongly inhibited FG; the surfactin fractions did not. The most abundant compound that had antagonistic activity from the iturin fraction was iturin A (m/z 1043.35); the most abundant active compound from the plipastatin fraction was plipastatin A (m/z 1463.90). These compounds were analyzed with collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry. The two purified compounds displayed strong fungicidal activity, completely killing conidial spores at the minimal inhibitory concentration range of 50 µg/ml (iturin A) and 100 µg/ml (plipastatin A). Optical and fluorescence microscopy analyses revealed severe morphological changes in conidia and substantial distortions in FG hyphae treated with iturin A or plipastatin A. Iturin A caused leakage and/or inactivation of FG cellular contents and plipastatin A caused vacuolation. Time-lapse imaging of dynamic antagonistic processes illustrated that iturin A caused distortion and conglobation along hyphae and inhibited branch formation and growth, while plipastatin A caused conglobation in young hyphae and branch tips. Transmission electron microscopy analyses demonstrated that the cell walls of conidia and hyphae of iturin A and plipastatin A treated FG had large gaps and that their plasma membranes were severely damaged and separated from cell walls.
Summary
Fusarium head blight (FHB) and Fusarium seedling blight (FSB) of wheat, caused by Fusarium pathogens, are devastating diseases worldwide. We report the expression of RNA interference (RNAi) ...sequences derived from an essential Fusarium graminearum (Fg) virulence gene, chitin synthase (Chs) 3b, as a method to enhance resistance of wheat plants to fungal pathogens. Deletion of Chs3b was lethal to Fg; disruption of the other Chs gene family members generated knockout mutants with diverse impacts on Fg. Comparative expression analyses revealed that among the Chs gene family members, Chs3b had the highest expression levels during Fg colonization of wheat. Three hairpin RNAi constructs corresponding to the different regions of Chs3b were found to silence Chs3b in transgenic Fg strains. Co‐expression of these three RNAi constructs in two independent elite wheat cultivar transgenic lines conferred high levels of stable, consistent resistance (combined type I and II resistance) to both FHB and FSB throughout the T3 to T5 generations. Confocal microscopy revealed profoundly restricted mycelia in Fg‐infected transgenic wheat plants. Presence of the three specific short interfering RNAs in transgenic wheat plants was confirmed by Northern blotting, and these RNAs efficiently down‐regulated Chs3b in the colonizing Fusarium pathogens on wheat seedlings and spikes. Our results demonstrate that host‐induced gene silencing of an essential fungal chitin synthase gene is an effective strategy for enhancing resistance in crop plants under field test conditions.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the key factors providing protective immunity against lung tumors and clinical trials have proven that DC ...function is reduced in lung cancer patients. It is evident that the immunoregulatory network may play a key role in the failure of the immune response to terminate tumors. Lung tumors likely employ numerous strategies to suppress DC‐based anti‐tumor immunity. Here, we summarize the recent advances in our understanding on lung tumor‐induced immunosuppression in DCs, which affects the initiation and development of T‐cell responses. We also describe which existing measures to restore DC function may be useful for clinical treatment of lung tumors. Furthering our knowledge of how lung cancer cells alter DC function to generate a tumor‐supportive environment will be essential in order to guide the design of new immunotherapy strategies for clinical use.
Background
The Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI‐RADS) is widely adopted for noninvasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It's updated to version 2018 recently, with some major ...changes compared with v2017. However, the diagnostic performance of LI‐RADS v2018 and its difference with v2017 are yet to be validated.
Purpose
To compare the diagnostic performances of LI‐RADS on MR for diagnosing HCC between v2017 and v2018.
Study Type
Retrospective.
Subjects
In all, 181 patients with 217 hepatic observations (146 HCCs, 16 non‐HCC malignancies and 55 benign lesions) with liver MRI and pathological or follow‐up imaging diagnoses.
Field Strength/Sequence
1.5 T or 3 T MRI. Dual‐echo T1WI, T2WI, diffusion‐weighted imaging, and a liver acquisition with volume acceleration.
Assessment
Images were independently interpreted by three radiologists, and then in consensus for observations with different LR categories, according to LI‐RADS v2017 and v2018, separately.
Statistical Tests
Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive likelihood ratio (+LR), and Youden index.
Results
When adopting LR‐5 as a predictor of HCC, the sensitivity (80.8% vs. 71.2%), NPV (69.6% vs. 60.7%), and accuracy (83.9% vs. 77.9%) were all increased for LI‐RADS v2018 compared with v2017, with a greater Youden index (0.709 vs. 0.627). However, the diagnostic performances of MRI for diagnosing HCC were not changed while adopting LR‐4/5 as a predictor. The threshold growths of 76% (19/25) observations in v2017 were revised to subthreshold growth in v2018, and 16 LR‐4 observations in v2017 were changed to LR‐5 based on v2018.
Data Conclusion
The diagnostic performance of LI‐RADS v2018 for diagnosing HCC is superior to v2017, with a greater sensitivity, NPV, and accuracy. The revisions in v2018 mainly affect the categorization when adopting LR‐5 as a predictor of HCC.
Level of Evidence: 4
Technical Efficacy Stage: 2
J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:746–755.
Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinases (MAPKKKs) are significant components in the MAPK signal pathway and play essential roles in regulating plants against drought stress. To explore MAPKKK ...gene family functioning in cotton response and resistance to drought stress, we conducted a systematic analysis of GhMAPKKKs.
In this study, 157 nonredundant GhMAPKKKs (including 87 RAFs, 46 MEKKs and 24 ZIKs) were identified in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). These GhMAPKKK genes are unevenly distributed on 26 chromosomes, and segmental duplication is the major way for the enlargement of MAPKKK family. Furthermore, members within the same subfamily share a similar gene structure and motif composition. A lot of cis-elements relevant to plant growth and response to stresses are distributed in promoter regions of GhMAPKKKs. Additionally, these GhMAPKKKs show differential expression patterns in cotton tissues. The transcription levels of most genes were markedly altered in cotton under heat, cold and PEG treatments, while the expressions of some GhMAPKKKs were induced in cotton under drought stress. Among these drought-induced genes, we selected GhRAF4 and GhMEKK12 for further functional characterization by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) method. The experimental results indicated that the gene-silenced cotton displayed decreased tolerance to drought stress. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content was higher, but proline accumulation, relative leaf water content and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) were lower in the gene-silenced cotton, compared with those in the controls, under drought stress.
Collectively, a systematic survey of gene structure, chromosomal location, motif composition and evolutionary relationship of MAPKKKs were performed in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). The following expression and functional study showed that some of them take important parts in cotton drought tolerance. Thus, the data presented here may provide a foundation for further investigating the roles of GhMAPKKKs in cotton response and resistance to drought stress.
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