It is well established that epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly co-occur; however, the underlying biological mechanisms of the co-occurence from their genetic susceptibility are not ...well understood. Our aim in this study is to characterize genetic modules of subgroups of epilepsy and autism genes that have similar phenotypic manifestations and biological functions. We first integrate a large number of expert-compiled and well-established epilepsy- and ASD-associated genes in a multiplex network, where one layer is connected through protein-protein interaction (PPI) and the other layer through gene-phenotype associations. We identify two modules in the multiplex network, which are significantly enriched in genes associated with both epilepsy and autism as well as genes highly expressed in brain tissues. We find that the first module, which represents the Gene Ontology category of ion transmembrane transport, is more epilepsy-focused, while the second module, representing synaptic signaling, is more ASD-focused. However, because of their enrichment in common genes and association with both epilepsy and ASD phenotypes, these modules point to genetic etiologies and biological processes shared between specific subtypes of epilepsy and ASD. Finally, we use our analysis to prioritize new candidate genes for epilepsy (i.e. ANK2, CACNA1E, CACNA2D3, GRIA2, DLG4) for further validation. The analytical approaches in our study can be applied to similar studies in the future to investigate the genetic connections between different human diseases.
Like other socialist institutions surviving in China's market reforms, the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF or WF when referring to its local branches), as the only state-sponsored organisation ...representing women's interests, has been constantly refashioning itself to meet new existential challenges. In July 2015, the central leadership of the Chinese Communist Party commanded a new wave of mass organisational reforms, in which the Women's Federation's alienation from the grassroots and a weakening representation of women's interests were questioned. After three years of intensive reform, are the local structures of the ACWF being substantially improved to reconnect to its mass base? Drawing from extensive fieldwork in three provinces and a neo-institutional analysis, this article argues that in the short term, although the reform serves principally as a consolidation of Party authority, local Women's Federations are creatively using the reform to expand their popular base and broaden their representativeness. In the long term, however, local WFs are facing unreformed institutional problems such as political marginalisation, bureaucratisation, and ineffective implementation, which stagnate further development of China's state feminism.
Visualized sensing through fluorescence signals is a powerful method for chemical and physical detection. However, the utilization of fluorescent molecular probes still suffers from lack of precise ...signal self-calibration in practical use. Here we show that fluorescence and thermally activated delayed fluorescence can be simultaneously produced at the single-molecular level. The thermally activated delayed fluorescence serves as a sensing signal with its wavelength and lifetime both altered correlating to polarity, whereas the fluorescence always remains unchanged as an internal reference. Upon the establishment of a three-dimensional working curve upon the ratiometric wavelength and photoluminescence lifetime vs. polarity, disturbance factors during a relevant sensing process can be largely minimized by such a multiple self-calibration. This strategy was further applied into a precise detection of the microenvironmental polarity variation in complex phospholipid systems, towards providing new insights for convenient and accurate diagnosis of membrane lesions.
In nanoscience, chirality has shown a significant ability to tune materials’ electronic properties, whereas imposing macrochirality into the regulation of singlet–triplet features of organic ...optoelectronics remains a challenging research topic. Since the tuning for singlet and triplet excited-state properties in a single π-functional molecule connects to its multicolor luminescent application and potential improvement of internal quantum efficiency, we here report that supramolecular chirality can be employed to toggle the singlet and triplet emissions in a well-designed asterisk-shaped molecule. Employing a hexathiobenzene-based single luminophore as a prototype and functionalizing it with chiral α-lipoiate side groups, we find that helical nanoarchitectures can accordingly form in mixed DMF/H2O solution. On this basis, switching between fluorescence and phosphorescence of the material can be realized upon helical self-assembly and dissociation. Such a behavior can be attributed to a helical-conformation-dependent manipulation of the intersystem crossing. Furthermore, reversible mechanoluminescence of the corresponding solid sample was also observed to rely on an analogous molecular self-assembly alternation. These results can probably provide new visions for the development of next-generation supramolecular chiral functional materials.
•SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be detected on the surfaces of pagers and in drawers in the isolation wards 28 days after exposure.•First report of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in isolation ward environment ...28 days after exposure.•The thorough disinfection of the ward environment included air and surface disinfection.•After thorough disinfection, SARS-CoV-2 RNA tested negative in the isolation ward environment.
Recent studies have reported that surfaces and objects in the rooms of infected patients that are frequently touched by both medical staff and patients could be contaminated with SARS-CoV-2. In December 2019, Wuhan China suffered the earliest from this COVID-19 pandemic, and we took that opportunity to investigate whether the SARS-CoV-2 RNA exists in the ward environment after a long time from exposure. We found that on the 28th day following the discharge of COVID-19 patients, SARS-CoV-2 RNA could still be detected on the surfaces of pagers and in drawers in the isolation wards. Thorough disinfection of the ward environment was subsequently performed, after which these surfaces in the isolation wards tested negative for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The findings remind us that the contaminated environment in the wards may become potential infectious resources and that despite a long time from exposure, the thorough disinfection in the COVID-10 units after is still necessary.
Long-standing radical species have raised noteworthy concerns in organic functional chemistry and materials. However, there remains a substantial challenge to produce long-standing radicals by light, ...because of the structural dilemmas between photoproduction and stabilization. Herein, we present a pyrrole and chloride assisted photochromic structure to address this issue. In this well-selected system, production and stabilization of a radical species were simultaneously found accompanied by a photochemical process in chloroform. Theoretical study and mechanism construction indicate that the designed π-system provides a superior spin-delocalization effect and a large steric effect, mostly avoiding possible consumptions and making the radical stable for hours even under an oxygen-saturated condition. Moreover, this radical system can be applied for a visualized and quantitative detection towards peroxides, such as 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl, hydrogen peroxide, and ozone. As the detection relies on a radical capturing mechanism, a higher sensing rate was achieved compared to traditional redox techniques for peroxide detection.
This review shows the unusual physicochemical properties and wide application of azulene and its derivatives. The recent synthesis strategies of kinds of substituted azulene are also listed.
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Azulene, an isomer of naphthalene, has become one of hot chemical structures in the research field of functional materials, due to its anti-Kasha’s rule emissions and unusual physicochemical properties (e.g., photophysical, electrochemical, and photoelectrochemical properties). In the past, the synthesis of azulene-based compounds is relatively inconvenient. Recently, there have been more and more reports about the synthesis strategies of the azulene-based compounds for finely tuning the physicochemical properties. In this article, we introduce several synthetic methods for kinds of azulene-based compounds which has unusual physicochemical properties. With these convenient methods and unique physicochemical properties, azulene-based compounds can be applied into many fields such as specific bioimaging, advanced molecular switches, organic field-effect transistor (OFET), organic light emitting diode (OLED), solar cells, and so forth. And these properties are also summarized here.
We constructed a lung cancer-specific database housing expression data and clinical data from over 6700 patients in 56 studies. Expression data from 23 genome-wide platforms were carefully processed ...and quality controlled, whereas clinical data were standardized and rigorously curated. Empowered by this lung cancer database, we created an open access web resource-the Lung Cancer Explorer (LCE), which enables researchers and clinicians to explore these data and perform analyses. Users can perform meta-analyses on LCE to gain a quick overview of the results on tumor vs non-malignant tissue (normal) differential gene expression and expression-survival association. Individual dataset-based survival analysis, comparative analysis, and correlation analysis are also provided with flexible options to allow for customized analyses from the user.
Previous studies have reported that the aberrantly expressed AKR1B10 is associated with many cancer development, however the functional roles of AKR1B10 and its regulatory mechanisms in ...hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been limited studied. In this project, we identified AKR1B10 functional as an oncogene in HCC through tumor/normal human tissue comparison from both GEO microarray and TCGA RNAseq dataset. Further experimental validations from three HCC cell lines (SMMC-7721, HePG2 and HeP3B) also suggested the ontogenetic functions of AKR1B10 in HCC tumor growth. By knocking down AKR1B10 through shRNA in HCC HeP3B cells, we showed it significantly induced cell cycle arrest and inhibited cell growth. Interestingly, integrative analysis of TCGA RNAseq data and miRNA-seq data predicted that miR-383-5p, a novel post-transcriptional tumor suppressor, is negatively associated with AKR1B10 expression. To further investigate the role of miR-383-5p in regulating AKR1B10 in HCC, we performed Dual-luciferase reporter assay experiments. Results showed that miR-383-5p is an upstream modulator targeting AKR1B10 in the post-transcriptional stage. Thus, we report AKR1B10 modulated regulated by miR-383-5p, promotes HCC tumor progress, and could be potentially a therapeutic target for precision medicine in HCC.
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