Photochemically Reversible and Thermally Stable Axially Chiral Diarylethene Switches

A series of dithienylcyclopentenes containing axially chiral 1,1′-binaphthyl units were successfully synthesized by a Suzuki–Miyaura protocol. All these compounds exhibited photochemically reversible isomerization with thermal stability in both organic solvent and a liquid crystal (LC) host. When doping into an achiral LC host, some of them exhibited very high helical twisting powers. Reversible reflection wavelength tuning in the visible region and LC phase switching between nematic and cholesteric upon light irradiation were demonstrated

Manipulating Local Chemistry of Phosphorus for High-Performance Sodium Ion Battery Anode Applications

The manipulation of the chemical environment of P by forming phosphorus-titania–carbon (P–TiO2–C) composite leads to a high-performance anode material with a reversible capacity of 1147 mA h g–1 at a current density of 100 mA g–1, a high rate capacity retention of 81.5% for charging/discharging rate increasing from 100 to 1000 mA g–1, and a good cycle stability (540 mA h g–1 at a current density of 1 A g–1 is maintained after 100 cycles). The excellent electrochemical properties of the composite anode originate from the changed chemical states of both TiO2 and P, providing an effective strategy in designing high-performance sodium ion battery anode materials

Enhanced Electrochemical Performance of Three-Dimensional Ni/Si Nanocable Arrays as a Li-Ion Battery Anode by Nitrogen Doping in the Si Shell

In the present study, a configuration of three-dimensional Ni core/sputtered Si shell nanocable arrays is proposed to alleviate the severe volumetric change of Si during lithiation/delithiation. In particular, the effects of N doping in the Si shell on the electrochemical performance of the nanocable array electrodes have been investigated. It has been found that reduced interfacial resistance, enhanced effective Li ion diffusion coefficient in the active material, and more stable surface passivating layer are likely to be achieved by N doping, leading to an improvement of the rate performance and cyclability when compared to the undoped nanocable array counterpart

One-Step Fabrication of Uniform Si-Core/CdSe-Sheath Nanocables

A simple one-step thermal evaporation of CdSe powder using Si substrate at controlled conditions results in ultrauniform Si-core/CdSe-sheath nanocables. These nanocables are ≃80 nm in diameter and several tens of micrometers in length. Detailed microstructure and chemical composition analysis of the nanocables indicates that they are composed of a single crystalline Si (cubic) core and CdSe (hexagonal) sheath. The experimental evidence suggested that the Si nanowires can be directly grown from the Si substrate via an oxide-assisted growth mechanism and further served as templates for CdSe, resulting in nanocable heterostructures

Human Coding Synonymous Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms at Ramp Regions of mRNA Translation

<div><p>According to the ramp model of mRNA translation, the first 50 codons favor rare codons and have slower speed of translation. This study aims to detect translational selection on coding synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (sSNP) to support the ramp theory. We investigated fourfold degenerate site (FFDS) sSNPs with A↔G or C↔T substitutions in human genome for distribution bias of synonymous codons (SC), grouped by CpG or non-CpG sites. Distribution bias of sSNPs between the 3^rd ∼50^th codons and the 51^st ∼ remainder codons at non-CpG sites were observed. In the 3^rd ∼50^th codons, G→A sSNPs at non-CpG sites are favored than A→G sSNPs [<i>P</i> = 2.89×10⁻³], and C→T at non-CpG sites are favored than T→C sSNPs [<i>P</i> = 8.50×10⁻³]. The favored direction of SC usage change is from more frequent SCs to less frequent SCs. The distribution bias is more obvious in synonymous substitutions CG(G→A), AC(C→T), and CT(C→T). The distribution bias of sSNPs in human genome, i.e. frequent SCs to less frequent SCs is favored in the 3^rd ∼50^th codons, indicates translational selection on sSNPs in the ramp regions of mRNA templates.</p> </div

A↔G and C↔T fourfold degenerate site sSNPs.

a<p>χ² test of the difference of substitution direction between the first 50 codons and the remainder codons; * <i>P</i><0.05; **<i>P</i><0.01.</p><p>Significant distribution bias of sSNPs between the 3^rd ∼50^th codons and the 51^st ∼ remainder codons was identified at non-CpG sites.</p

C↔T fourfold degenerate site sSNPs.

a<p>χ² test of the difference of substitution direction between the first 50 codons and the remainder codons; *Uncorrected <i>P</i><0.05; **Uncorrected <i>P</i><0.01. By Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, the threshold for statistical significance is <i>P</i><0.003125.</p><p>The C→T bias was mainly explained by the AC(C→T) and CT(C→T) substitutions at non-CpG sites.</p

The distribution bias of CG(G→A) and CG(A→G) at the ramp regions.

<p>The ratio of CG(G→A)/CG(A→G) at the ramp regions is larger than that at the reminder coding regions (<i>P</i> = 0.040). CG(A↔G) synonymous substitutions are all at non-CpG sites.</p

Table1_Pyroptosis-related genes prognostic model for predicting targeted therapy and immunotherapy response in soft tissue sarcoma.DOCX

Several studies have highlighted the potential of pyroptosis as a target for cancer treatment. This article focuses on the specific roles and clinical implications of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in soft tissue sarcoma (STS). By analyzing differentially expressed PRGs in STS compared to normal tissue, our study evaluates the interactions, biological functions, and prognostic values of PRGs in STS. Through LASSO COX regression analysis, a five-gene survival related-risk score (PLCG1, PYCARD, CASP8, NOD1, and NOD2) was created, which examined both in TCGA cohort and training cohort (GSE21050, GSE30929, and GSE63157). Furthermore, we developed a nomogram incorporating clinic factors and the risk scores of the PRGs, which showed decent accuracy of prediction as evidenced by calibration curves. Additionally, our study analyzed the Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion Algorithm (TIDE) and IMvigor 210 cohorts to investigate the immunotherapy response, and found that immunotherapy was more beneficial for patients with minimal risk of PRGs than those exhibiting greater risk. Finally, GDSC and CAMP databases were used to screen for effective chemotherapy or targeted drugs that are sensitive to the high-risk populations, including doxorubicin, imatinib, and sorafenib. In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the PRG landscape in STS and constructs a novel risk model to predict prognosis and different therapeutic responses of STS patients, which is helpful for achieving precision medicine.</p

Synthesis and Characterization of Light-Driven Dithienylcyclopentene Switches with Axial Chirality

Three new photochemically reversible but thermally stable dithienylcyclopentene switches with axial chirality were synthesized and characterized. All the compounds exhibited photochemically reversible isomerization with thermal stability between its open form and closed form in both organic solvent and liquid crystal host. Their photoresponsive behaviors in organic solvents were characterized by 1H NMR, UV–vis, and CD spectra. These chiral molecular switches were found not only to be able to act as a chiral dopant and induce a helical superstructure in an achiral liquid crystal host but also to be able to reversibly and dynamically tune the transmittance and reflection of the resulting chiral phase upon light irradiation. The helical twisting powers, transmittance, and reflection spectra of photoswitchable cholesteric LCs were measured. Dopant 1 exhibited an unusually high helical twisting power, which is significantly larger than those of the known chiral diarylethenes reported as chiral dopants so far