Nucleotide excision repair gene polymorphisms and hepatoblastoma susceptibility in Eastern Chinese children:A five-center case-control study

Objective:Nucleotide excision repair(NER)plays a vital role in maintaining genome stability,and the effect of NER gene polymorphisms on hepatoblastoma susceptibility is still under investigation.This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between NER gene polymorphisms and the risk of hepatoblastoma in Eastern Chinese Han children.Methods:In this five-center case-control study,we enrolled 966 subjects from East China(193 hepatoblastoma patients and 773 healthy controls).The TaqMan method was used to genotype 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)in NER pathway genes,including ERCC1,XPA,XPC,XPD,XPF,and XPG.Then,multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed,and odds ratios(ORs)and 95%confidence intervals(95%CIs)were utilized to assess the strength of associations.Results:Three SNPs were related to hepatoblastoma risk.XPC rs2229090 and XPD rs3810366 significantly contributed to hepatoblastoma risk according to the dominant model(adjusted OR=1.49,95%CI=1.07−2.08,P=0.019;adjusted OR=1.66,95%CI=1.12−2.45,P=0.012,respectively).However,XPD rs238406 conferred a significantly decreased risk of hepatoblastoma under the dominant model(adjusted OR=0.68,95%CI=0.49−0.95;P=0.024).Stratified analysis demonstrated that these significant associations were more prominent in certain subgroups.Moreover,there was evidence of functional implications of these significant SNPs suggested by online expression quantitative trait loci(eQTLs)and splicing quantitative trait loci(sQTLs)analysis.Conclusions:In summary,NER pathway gene polymorphisms(XPC rs2229090,XPD rs3810366,and XPD rs238406)are significantly associated with hepatoblastoma risk,and further research is required to verify these findings.

Additional Mass: Orthotropic Membrane Material with Four Sides Fixed in Air Flow

When the membrane material in the air field vibrates, it will drive the movement of the surrounding air. The aerodynamic force generated by the moving air will act on the membrane material in turn, resulting in the change of dynamic characteristics such as membrane vibration frequency. In this paper, the additional air mass produced by membrane vibration in air is studied. Firstly, under the assumption that the incoming flow is uniform and incompressible ideal potential flow, the additional air mass acting on the surface is derived by using the thin airfoil theory and potential flow theory respectively. Then, according to the first law of thermodynamics and the principle of aeroelasticity, the analytical expression of the additional air mass is derived. Finally, through a specific example, the variation of the additional air mass with the membrane material parameters and pretension, as well as the influence of the aerodynamic force on the vibration frequency and amplitude of the membrane is obtained.

Cardiac Na^(+)-Ca^(2+) exchanger 1(ncx1h)is critical for the ventricular cardiomyocyte formation via regulating the expression levels of gata4 and hand2 in zebrafish

Ca^(2+) signaling is critical for heart development;however,the precise roles and regulatory pathways of Ca^(2+) transport proteins in cardiogenesis remain largely unknown.Sodium-calcium exchanger 1(Ncx1)is responsible for Ca^(2+) efflux in cardiomyocytes.It is involved in cardiogenesis,while the mechanism is unclear.Here,using the forward genetic screening in zebrafish,we identified a novel mutation at a highly-conserved leucine residue in ncx1 gene(mutant^(LDD353)/ncx1h^(L154P))that led to smaller hearts with reduced heart rate and weak contraction.Mechanistically,the number of ventricular but not atrial cardiomyocytes was reduced in ncx1h^(L154P) zebrafish.These defects were mimicked by knockdown or knockout of ncx1h.Moreover,ncx1h^(L154P) had cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca^(2+) overloading and Ca^(2+) transient suppression in cardiomyocytes.Furthermore,ncx1h^(L154P) and ncx1h morphants downregulated cardiac transcription factors hand2 and gata4 in the cardiac regions,while overexpression of hand2 and gata4 partially rescued cardiac defects including the number of ventricular myocytes.These findings demonstrate an essential role of the novel 154th leucine residue in the maintenance of Ncx1 function in zebrafish,and reveal previous unrecognized critical roles of the 154th leucine residue and Ncx1 in the formation of ventricular cardiomyocytes by at least partially regulating the expression levels of gata4 and hand2.

Thiourea-based polyimide/RGO composite cathode:A comprehensive study of storage mechanism with alkali metal ions

Although organic electrode materials have merits of abundant resources,diverse structures and environmental friendliness,their performance for electrochemical energy storage is far insufficient.In this work,a thiourea-based polyimide/reduced graphene oxide(PNTCSA/RGO)composite was synthesized via a condensation polymerization method.As a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries,excellent performance is demonstrated with high reversible capacity(144.2 mA h g^−1),high discharge voltage(∼2.5 V),and long cycling life(over 2000 cycles at 500 mA g^−1),which are comparable to those of other well documented in organic electrodes.Encouraging electrochemical performance is also demonstrated for sodium ion batteries(a cycling life of 800 cycles at 500 mA g^−1),while poor performance is delivered in potassium ion batteries.Theoretical studies reveal that the active sites are carbonyl groups for all alkali ions but one inserted alkali metal ion is shared by two carbonyl groups from the two neighbor units.More importantly,K ions have stronger interaction with S atoms than Li/Na ions,which may lead to poor structure reversibility and account for the poor cycling performance.Our findings provide a fundamental understanding of polyimide based polymer electrodes and help to design and develop high performance organic electrode materials for alkali metal ion batteries.

Amphichoterpenoids A-C,unprecedented picoline-derived meroterpenoids from the ascidian-derived fungus Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908

Amphichoterpenoids A-C(1-3),unprecedented picoline-derived meroterpenoids possessing a pyrano[3,2-c]pyridinyl-g-pyranone scaffold,were characterized from the ascidian-derived fungus Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908.Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods,X-ray diffraction and electronic circular dichroism(ECD)calculations.A plausible biosynthetic pathway was proposed.The isolated compounds displayed moderate inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase with 50%inhibiting concentration(IC_(50))values of 18.8-53.2 mmol/L.

Roussoelins A and B:two phenols with antioxidant capacity from ascidian-derived fungus Roussoella siamensis SYSU-MS4723

Ascidian-derived microorganisms are a signifcant source of pharmacologically active metabolites with interesting structural properties.When discovering bioactive molecules from ascidian-derived fungi,two new phenols,roussoelins A(1)and B(2),and ten known polyketides(3–12)were isolated from the ascidian-derived fungus Roussoella siamensis SYSU-MS4723.The planar structure of compounds 1 and 2 was established by analysis of HR-ESIMS and NMR data.The conformational analysis of the new compounds was assigned according to coupling constants and selective gradient NOESY experiments,and absolute confgurations were completed by the modifed Mosher’s method.Among the isolated compounds,1,2,and 9 showed moderate antioxidant capacity.