Lupus Erythematosus: Dermatologic Perspectives on the Diversity

Lupus is one of the complex autoimmune disease, which is difficult to diagnose and consists of few subtypes that are required to be classified. During our clinical work, we found out that the dermoscopy can be of great benefit to diagnose discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE). The histopathological examination is very important to confirm the diagnosis. The cases of infant LE patients, may derive the autoimmune antibodies from their mothers in order to diagnose the neonatal lupus erythematosus. Thus, it is very important to examine the antibodies of the mother, who may also be a subclinical LE patient and need continuous follow-ups or even treatment managements. Here, we present the cases of lupus with particular characteristics including linear cutaneous lupus erythematosus, DLE, and neonatal lupus erythematosus

Diastereoisomer-Specific Biotransformation of Hexabromocyclododecanes by a Mixed Culture Containing Dehalococcoides mccartyi Strain 195

Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) stereoisomers may exhibit substantial differences in physicochemical, biological, and toxicological properties. However, there remains a lack of knowledge about stereoisomer-specific toxicity, metabolism, and environmental fate of HBCD. In this study, the biotransformation of (±)α-, (±)β-, and (±)γ-HBCD contained in technical HBCD by a mixed culture containing the organohalide-respiring bacterium Dehalococcoides mccartyi strain 195 was investigated. Results showed that the mixed culture was able to efficiently biotransform the technical HBCD mixture, with 75% of the initial HBCD (∼12 μM) in the growth medium being removed within 42 days. Based on the metabolites analysis, HBCD might be sequentially debrominated via dibromo elimination reaction to form tetrabromocyclododecene, dibromocyclododecadiene, and 1,5,9-cyclododecatriene. The biotransformation of the technical HBCD was likely diastereoisomer-specific. The transformation rates of α-, β-, and γ-HBCD were in the following order: α-HBCD > β-HBCD > γ-HBCD. The enantiomer fractions of (±)α-, (±)β-, and (±)γ-HBCD were maintained at about 0.5 during the 28 days of incubation, indicating a lack of enantioselective biotransformation of these diastereoisomers. Additionally, the amendment of another halogenated substrate tetrachloroethene (PCE), which supports the growth of strain 195, had a negligible impact on the transformation patterns of HBCD diastereoisomers and enantiomers. This study provided new insights into the stereoisomer-specific transformation patterns of HBCD by anaerobic microbes and has important implications for microbial remediation of anoxic environments contaminated by HBCD using the mixed culture containing Dehalococcoides

Corporate philanthropy and corporate financial performance: The roles of social response and political access

Corporate philanthropy is expected to positively affect firm financial performance because it helps firms gain sociopolitical legitimacy, which enables them to elicit positive stakeholder responses and to gain political access. The positive philanthropy-performance relationship is stronger for firms with greater public visibility and for those with better past performance, as philanthropy by these firms gains more positive stakeholder responses. Firms that are not government-owned or politically well connected were shown to benefit more from philanthropy, as gaining political resources is more critical for such firms. Empirical analyses using data on Chinese firms listed on stock exchanges from 2001 to 2006 support these arguments

Time–frequency​ characteristics of abnormal waveshapes in PD pulse sequence using ultra-wideband detection

In the present study, a HVDC PD test platform with bandwidth of 10 kHz–50 MHz and 250 MS/s sampling rate is built for the ultra-wideband (UWB) detection and investigation of time–frequency (T–F) characteristics of abnormal waveshapes or waveforms in PD pulse sequence. It points out that PD UWB detection systems currently developed resorting to the pulse sequence grouping technology (PSGT) to achieve the PD and noise sources separation were realized by feature extraction of pulse waveforms using T–F map or equivalent T–F method (ETFM), which are based that the single recorded pulse waveforms in time and corresponding frequency domain generated by PD or noise source are regular and stable. Considering the phenomenon that the single recorded waveform in time domain presenting some abnormal patterns such as multi-peaks, continuous discharges and even multi-pulses during 1-2μsin the measured PD pulse sequence, an algorithm for real-time discrimination of abnormal pulse waveform in time domain using threshold moving window (TMW) is designed and approved by the HVDC tests of three typical defect discharge models (corona discharge, inner discharge and surface discharge), which can be used to enhanced applicability for the PSGT mentioned above. While, T–F characteristics of those abnormal waveforms in PD pulse sequences of HVDC tests are shown, which reconfirm that the marked single recorded waveforms in pulse sequence should be excluded for using the PSGT with T–F map or ETFM

Effect of Triazole-Modified Thymidines on DNA and RNA Duplex Stability

Previous reports showed that consecutive incorporations of triazole-modified 2′-deoxyuridines stabilized DNA·DNA and DNA·RNA duplexes due to additional π-stacking between triazole moieties. In this work, several triazole-modified thymidines (1–3) have been synthesized via Cu-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition reaction and incorporated into oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs). Compounds 1–3 decreased the stability of DNA·DNA and DNA·RNA duplexes. Among these triazole-modified thymidines, 3 with a coumarin-modified triazole moiety showed the most destabilizing effect on ODN duplexes while 1 with an unsubstituted triazole moiety showed the least destabilizing effect. These data suggested that a bulky substituent at the 4 position of triazole ring further destabilizes DNA duplex possibly due to steric hindrance interfering Watson–Crick base pairing. The destabilizing effect per modified nucleoside is smaller for two or three consecutive incorporations than single incorporation. Density functional theory computation suggested the presence of π-stacking interactions among the modified triazole moieties at the C5-methyl group of thymine, which may slightly stabilize the DNA duplex. However, due to the noncoplanar conformation between the modified triazole groups and thymine moieties, the destabilizing effect caused by the steric hindrance is larger than the stabilizing effect arisen from π-stacking. Although the triazole moieties slightly alter the pKa values of thymidine, they did not affect the pH dependence of DNA duplex stability. Similar to native ODNs, the stability of the DNA duplexes containing 1–3 decreased in the following order: pH 7.0/pH 8.0 > pH 6.0 > pH 9.0 > pH 5.0. Our study provides additional insights into and a novel guide for duplexes’ thermal stability caused by base modifications

Adsorption Behavior of Basic Dye from Aqueous Solution onto Alkali Extracted Lignin

Alkali extracted lignin (AEL), isolated from corn stalks with dilute alkali solution under mild condition, was used as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. Batch adsorption studies were conducted to evaluate various experimental parameters such as pH, contact time, and initial dye concentration for the removal of MB. The kinetic data were analyzed using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models, and the adsorption kinetics were found to be well represented by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The equilibrium data were perfectly fitted to the Langmuir isotherm equation when compared with Freundlich isotherm equation. Based on the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model, the predicted maximum monolayer adsorption capacity was found to be 121.20 mg g-1 (at 30 ºC). The results showed that this adsorbent had a high adsorption capacity, making it a promising alternative for dye removal

Study of Alloy Hot Flow and Hardening Behavior Using a New Correction Method for Hot Uniaxial Tests

The precise characterisation of hot flow behavior of titanium alloys is of vital importance for practical hot forming processes. To precisely determine the hot flow behavior of titanium alloys under the forming conditions, Gleeble hot tensile tests are usually performed to simulate the forming processes by accurately controlling the deformation temperatures and strain rates under designed conditions. However, there exists a non-uniform temperature distribution during the Gleeble tests, which leads to inaccuracies in the determined hot flow behavior. To overcome such an issue, this paper proposed a new strain-based correction method for Gleeble hot tensile tests, enabling the mitigation of the non-uniform temperature-induced stress-strain curve inaccuracies. The non-uniform temperature zones have been successfully excluded in the calculation of the true strain levels. A series of hot uniaxial tensile tests of TA32 at temperatures, ranging from 750 °C to 900 °C, and strain rates, 0.01/s~1/s, were carried out. The obtained stress-strain correlations for a large gauge zone were characterized using the new correction method, which was further used to evaluate the hardening behavior of titanium alloys. The results have shown that the ductility, strain hardening component (i.e., n), strain rate hardening component (i.e., m) and uniform strain value (i.e., εu) are over-estimated, compared to conventional method. Higher strain rates and lower temperature leads to enhanced hardening behavior. This research provides an alternative correction method and may achieve more accurate stress-strain curves for better guidance of the hot forming process for titanium alloys

Study of Alloy Hot Flow and Hardening Behavior Using a New Correction Method for Hot Uniaxial Tests

The precise characterisation of hot flow behavior of titanium alloys is of vital importance for practical hot forming processes. To precisely determine the hot flow behavior of titanium alloys under the forming conditions, Gleeble hot tensile tests are usually performed to simulate the forming processes by accurately controlling the deformation temperatures and strain rates under designed conditions. However, there exists a non-uniform temperature distribution during the Gleeble tests, which leads to inaccuracies in the determined hot flow behavior. To overcome such an issue, this paper proposed a new strain-based correction method for Gleeble hot tensile tests, enabling the mitigation of the non-uniform temperature-induced stress-strain curve inaccuracies. The non-uniform temperature zones have been successfully excluded in the calculation of the true strain levels. A series of hot uniaxial tensile tests of TA32 at temperatures, ranging from 750 °C to 900 °C, and strain rates, 0.01/s~1/s, were carried out. The obtained stress-strain correlations for a large gauge zone were characterized using the new correction method, which was further used to evaluate the hardening behavior of titanium alloys. The results have shown that the ductility, strain hardening component (i.e., n), strain rate hardening component (i.e., m) and uniform strain value (i.e., εu) are over-estimated, compared to conventional method. Higher strain rates and lower temperature leads to enhanced hardening behavior. This research provides an alternative correction method and may achieve more accurate stress-strain curves for better guidance of the hot forming process for titanium alloys