Asiatic acid attenuates malignancy of human metastatic ovarian cancer cells via inhibition of epithelial-tomesenchymal transition

Purpose: To investigate the anticancer effects of asiatic acid on human metastatic ovarian cancer cells.Methods: Human metastatic ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 was treated with various concentrations of asiatic acid for 24 and 48 h. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion and morphology were analyzed by CCK-8, Transwell and immunofluorescence assays, respectively. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitionrelated gene and protein expressions were analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blotting.Results: Asiatic acid (10 μM) significantly suppressed SKOV-3 cell migration and invasion (both p < 0.01). Moreover, epithelial markers (E-cad and KRT-7/14/19) were elevated, while mesenchymal markers (vimetin, N-cad and ZEB1/2) were suppressed after asiatic acid treatment, at both mRNA and protein levels. Inhibition of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition was further evidenced by immunofluorescence staining of pan-cytokeratin and F-actin.Conclusion: Asiatic acid attenuates the malignancy of human metastatic ovarian cancer cells via epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition inhibition, and thus, is a therapeutic agent for ovarian cancer management.Keywords: Asiatic acid, Ovarian cancer, Metastasis, Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, Vometi

Evolution and development of Miocene “island dolostones” on Xisha Islands, South China Sea

On Xisha Islands, located in the South China Sea, the Neogene succession includes the unconformity-bounded Huangliu Formation that is 210.5 m thick in well CK-2 and formed almost entirely of dolostones. The diverse biota in the Huangliu Formation, which includes corals, algae, bivalves and foraminifera, indicates that the original carbonate sediments accumulated in water that was < 30 m deep. The dolostones are formed of various mixtures of low- and high-calcium calcian dolomite with limpid dolomite lining the walls of many cavities. The O-18 and C-13 stable isotopes suggest that dolomitization was mediated by slightly modified seawater. The Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios from the dolostones suggest that dolomitization took place similar to 9.4 and 2.3 Ma ago, with the age of dolomitization becoming progressively younger towards the top of the formation. "Island dolostones" like these, found on many islands throughout the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, have commonly been linked to eustatic changes in sea-level with dolomitization taking place during lowstands, highstands, or transgressive phases. Data from the Huangliu Formation in well CK-2 suggests that dolomitization was associated with (semi-) continuous transgressive conditions that were controlled by the interaction of tectonic subsidence and eustatic changes in sea level

Full-dimensional quantum dynamics study of vinylidene-acetylene isomerization: a scheme using the normal mode Hamiltonian

Full-dimensional quantum dynamics calculations of vinylidene-acetylene isomerization are performed and the state-specific resonance decay lifetimes of vinylidene(-d(2)) are computed. The theoretical scheme is a combination of several methods: normal coordinates are chosen to describe the nuclear motion of vinylidene, with both the parity and permutation symmetry exploited; phase space optimization in combination with physical considerations is used to generate an efficient discrete variable representation; the reaction coordinate is defined by us according to the three most relevant normal coordinates, along which a kind of optimal complex absorbing potential is imposed; the preconditioned inexact spectral transform method combined with an efficient preconditioner is employed to extract the energies and lifetimes of vinylidene. The overall computation is efficient. The computed energy levels generally agree with experiment well, and several state-specific lifetimes are reported for the first time

Mode-Specific Tunneling Splittings for a Sequential Double-Hydrogen Transfer Case: An Accurate Quantum Mechanical Scheme

We present the first accurate quantum dynamics calculations of mode-specific tunneling splittings in a sequential double-hydrogen transfer process. This is achieved in the vinylidene–acetylene system, the simplest molecular system of this kind, and by large-scale parallel computations with an efficient theoretical scheme developed by us. In our scheme, basis functions are customized for the hydrogen transfer process; a 4-dimensional basis contraction strategy is combined with the preconditioned inexact spectral transform method; efficient parallel implementation is achieved. Mode-specific permutation tunneling splittings of vinylidene states are reported and tremendous mode-specific promotion effects are revealed; in particular, the CH₂ rock mode enhances the ground-state splitting by a factor of 10³. We find that the ground-state vinylidene has a reversible-isomerization time of 622 ps, much longer than all previous estimates. Our calculations also shed light on the importance of the deep intermediate well and vibrational excitation in the double-hydrogen transfer processes

Aerobic oxidation of aromatics catalyzed by CoSPc and NHPI

624-628<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" mangal;mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-GB">An efficient method to convert aromatics into the corresponding oxides, catalyzed by a combined catalytic system consisting of CoSPc and NHPI, has been developed. The products have been diversified with the number of hydrogen atoms on the benzyl positions. When only one hydrogen atom is present on the benzyl position, a C-C bond dissociation occurs, if there are two or three hydrogen atoms present on the benzyl positions, carbonyl or carboxyl products are generated. Whether the oxidation takes place or not mainly depends on the BDEs of benzyl C-H bonds, steric hindrances only influence the oxidation speeds, and an oxidation process is proposed at the end of discussion.</span

Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccination and Its Associated Factors among College Students in China: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

Our study aims to assess the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination and its associated factors among Chinese college students. A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 18 May to 17 June 2022. A total of 3916 participants were included. The coverage of the first dose, complete vaccination and booster vaccination among college students was 99.49%, 81.96% and 79.25%, respectively. College students with an older age (AOR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.57–0.90), non-medical major (0.47, 0.37–0.61) and studying in north-east China (0.35, 0.22–0.58) were less likely to complete vaccination. Individuals who were female (1.62, 1.35–1.94) and received a recombinant subunit vaccine (8.05, 5.21–12.45) were more likely to complete vaccination. Non-medical students (0.56, 0.43–0.73) and students studying in north-east China (0.28, 0.16–0.49) were less likely to receive a booster dose, while female students (1.51, 1.23–1.85) had a higher likelihood. The main reason for being unvaccinated was “contraindication” (75.00%), and the main reason for not receiving a booster dose was “being too busy to attend to it” (61.37%). This study demonstrated a high adherence to the COVID-19 vaccination policy among Chinese college students. Targeted strategies should be applied to remove barriers to COVID-19 vaccination among college students

Young adults’ intention to encourage COVID-19 vaccination among their grandparents: A nationwide cross-sectional survey of college students in China

Background: During a vaccination plateau phase, traditional vaccination promotion strategies such as the mobilization of government and community appear to have limited impact on expanding the coverage. New strategies to promote vaccination are needed especially in older adults. Our study aimed to assess college students’ intention to encourage coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination among their grandparents and its correlates. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in China from May to June 2022. We collected information on socio-demographics of college students and their grandparents, constructs of health belief model (HBM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) for college students, and college students’ intention to encourage COVID-19 vaccination among their grandparents. Multilevel logistic regression models were performed to assess correlates of intention. Results: We enrolled 2681 college students who reported information for 6302 grandparents. 2272 students (84.7 %) intended to encourage COVID-19 vaccination for 4744 (75.3 %) grandparents. Intention was associated with having received a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine (AOR 3.28, 95 % CI 1.68–6.42), having ever lived with their grandparents (2.07, 1.46–2.93), and having grandparents who regularly went outdoors (2.85, 1.70–4.76). HBM and TPB models showed that college students who had higher levels of perceived susceptibility (1.79, 1.12–2.87), perceived severity (1.52, 1.12–2.06) of COVID-19 among their grandparents, and higher levels of subjective norms (2.88, 1.61–5.15) were more likely to have the intention. Conclusion: College students’ intention to encourage COVID-19 vaccination among their grandparents was high. It may be potentially viable to engage college students in promoting COVID-19 and other routine vaccination among older adults

Morphology- and Porosity-Tunable Synthesis of 3D Nanoporous SiGe Alloy as a High-Performance Lithium-Ion Battery Anode

The lithium storage performance of silicon (Si) can be enhanced by being alloyed with germanium (Ge) because of its good electronic and ionic conductivity. Here, we synthesized a three-dimensional nanoporous (3D-NP) SiGe alloy as a high-performance lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode using a dealloying method with a ternary AlSiGe ribbon serving as the precursor. The morphology and porosity of the as-synthesized SiGe alloy can be controlled effectively by adjusting the sacrificial Al content of the precursor. With an Al content of 80%, the 3D-NP SiGe presents uniformly coral-like structure with continuous ligaments and hierarchical micropores and mesopores, which leads to a high reversible capacity of 1158 mA h g^–1 after 150 cycles at a current density of 1000 mA g^–1 with excellent rate capacity. The strategy might provide guidelines for nanostructure optimization and mass production of energy storage materials

Strontium isotope stratigraphy and paleomagnetic age constraints on the evolution history of coral reef islands, northern South China Sea

Understanding the history of the response of coral reefs to past climate changes can provide valuable information for predicting the future response of modern reefs. However, dating such ancient biotic carbonate is still challenging because of its sensitivity to diagenetic alteration processes, scarcity of well-preserved fossils, and low magnetic mineral content. There have been a long debates about the origin and evolutionary history of coral reefs in the northern South China Sea, mainly due to the lack of direct and reliable age constraints. This provides us with a good opportunity to verify the practicability of different dating approaches, especially the strontium (Sr) isotope analysis of bulk carbonate. Here, we retrieved a 972.55-m-long core from the Xisha Islands to provide a credible chronologic constraint on the carbonate platform evolution. The lithostratigraphy, strontium isotope stratigraphy, and magnetostratigraphy were analyzed throughout the whole reef sequence. The lithostratigraphic results show that the 873.55 m reef sequence developed on an ancient volcaniclastic basement and experienced multiple evolutionary phases. The Sr-87/Sr-86 results of all 100 bulk carbonate samples vary from 0.708506 to 0.709168 and show a monotonic increase with decreasing depth, except for a few outliers. Trace-element criteria and stable isotope (delta O-18 and delta C-13) methods were applied to these bulk carbonate samples, and results imply that the primary or near-primary-seawater Sr-87/Sr-86 values were likely preserved, although different degrees of diagenetic alteration occurred. In addition, the paleomagnetic results indicate 10 normal polarity and eight reversed polarity magnetozones. Based on the Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios of the selected 58 samples and paleomagnetic reconstruction of polarity reversals, the bottom of the reef sequence is dated to 19.6 Ma, and the observed polarity chronozones extend from chron C6 (19.722-18.748 Ma) at 866.60 m to present at the top. Based on the new data, we propose a new chronologic framework for the evolutionary history of the reef islands, where: (1) the reefs initiated in the early Miocene (19.6 Ma) and were drowned until 16.26 Ma; (2) during 16.26-10.66 Ma, lagoon to lagoon slope environments prevailed; (3) the lagoon environment progressively transformed into a reef crest environment from 10.66 to 4.36 Ma and 4.36 to 1.59 Ma; and (4) the reef started to be drowned again during 1.59-0 Ma. Our study provides a new and reliable chronologic constraint on the general evolutionary history of the reef islands in the northern South China Sea. Furthermore, the Sr-87/Sr-86 results from bulk carbonate indicate that strontium isotope stratigraphy is a powerful dating tool only when rigid sample selection, sequential leaching procedures, and strict trace-element and isotopic criteria are applied

Optimization of an Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase Formed on an Aluminum Anode and Its Application in Rechargeable Aqueous Aluminum Batteries

Electrochemical cells that incorporate aluminum (Al) as the active material have become increasingly popular due to the advantages of high energy density, cost-effectiveness, and superior safety features. Despite the progress made by research groups in developing rechargeable Al//MxOy (M = Mn, V, etc.) cells using an aqueous Al trifluoromethanesulfonate-based electrolyte, the reactions occurring at the Al anode are still not fully understood. In this study, we explore the artificial solid electrolyte interphase (ASEI) on the Al anode by soaking it in AlCl3/urea ionic liquid. Surprisingly, our findings reveal that the ASEI actually promotes the corrosion of Al by providing chloride anions rather than facilitating the transport of Al3+ ions during charge/discharge cycles. Importantly, the ASEI significantly enhances the cycling stability and activity of Al cells. The primary reactions occurring at the Al anode during the charge/discharge cycle were determined to be irreversible oxidation and gas evolution. Furthermore, we demonstrate the successful realization of urea-treated Al (UTAl)//AlxMnO2 cells (discharge operating voltage of ∼1.45 V and specific capacity of 280 mAh/g), providing a platform to investigate the underlying mechanisms of these cells further. Overall, our work highlights the importance of ASEI in controlling the corrosion of Al in aqueous electrolytes, emphasizing the need for the further development of electrolytic materials that facilitate the transport of Al3+ ions in rechargeable Al batteries