1-(3-Chloro­benz­yloxy)urea

The asymmetric unit of the crystal structure of the title compound, C8H9ClN2O2, contains four independent mol­ecules. The dihedral angles between the urea N—(C=O)—N planes and the benzene rings are 83.3 (3), 87.8 (1), 89.1 (1) and 17.5 (2)° in the four mol­ecules. Extensive N—H⋯O hydrogen bonding is present in the crystal structure

Bis(μ-biphenyl-2,2′-dicarboxyl­ato)bis­[aqua­(2,2′-bipyridine)cadmium(II)]

In the centrosymmetric dinuclear mol­ecule of the title compound, [Cd2(C14H8O4)2(C10H8N2)2(H2O)2], the Cd2+ ion is coordinated by three O atoms from two different diphenyl­dicarboxyl­ate (dpa) ligands (one O,O′-bidentate and one monodentate), a chelating bipyridine ligand and a water mol­ecule, generating an extremely distorted trigonal-prismatic (or irregular) CdN2O4 coordination geometry for the metal ion. The bridging ligands generate an 18-membered ring, which is stabilized by two pairs of intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

1-(2-Fluoro­benz­yl)-1-(2-fluoro­benz­yl­oxy)urea

In the title hydroxy­urea derivative, C15H14F2N2O2, the dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 48.64 (19)°. The urea group forms dihedral angles of 48.1 (2) and 79.2 (2)° with the two benzene rings. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds occur, and further N—H⋯O links lead to chains of molecules

Discrimination of Coherent States via Atom-Field Interaction without Rotation Wave Approximation

The quantum state discrimination is an important part of quantum information processing. We investigate the discrimination of coherent states through Jaynes-Cummings (JC) model interaction between the field and the ancilla without rotation wave approximation (RWA). We show that the minimum failure probability can be reduced as RWA is eliminated from JC model and the non-RWA terms accompanied by the quantum effects of fields (e.g. the virtual photon process in the JC model without RWA) can enhance the state discrimination. The JC model without RWA for unambiguous state discrimination is superior to ambiguous state discrimination, particularly when the number of sequential measurements increases. Unambiguous state discrimination implemented via the non-RWA JC model is beneficial to saving resource cost.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Communications in Theoretical Physic

Bacterial etiology in early re-admission patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background: Repeatedly hospitalized patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are often exposed to more antibiotics, but the distribution of pathogenic bacteria in these patients is poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to analyze the distribution of pathogenic bacteria and the risk factors associated with multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria infection in early re-admission patients with AECOPD.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed charts for patients with AECOPD admitted to our hospital between January 2011 and november 2012. The early re-admission group and non-early readmission group were determined by whether patients were readmitted within 31 days after discharge. Detection of potentially pathogenic microorganisms (PPMs) and MDR bacteria were analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for MDR bacteria infection.Results: PPMs were isolated from 230 (32.0%) cases of respiratory tract specimens; MDR bacteria accounted for 24.7% (57/230). Pseudomonas aeruginosa (43.7%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.6%), and Acinetobacter baumannii (12.5%) were the top three PPMs in the early readmission group, while the top three PPMs in the non-early readmission group were K. pneumoniae (23.7%), P. aeruginosa (21.2%), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (17.1%). Multivariate analysis showed that use of antibiotics within 2 weeks (odds ratio [OR] 8.259, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.056-22.322, p = 0.000) was the independent risk factor for MDR bacteria infection.Conclusion: Non-fermentative Gram-negative bacilli (NFGNB) and enterobacteria were the predominant bacteria in early readmission patients with AECOPD. The detection rate of MDR bacteria was high which was related to the use of antibiotics within 2 weeks before admission in these patients.Keywords: AECOPD, re-admission, bacteria, multidrug-resistant (MDR), risk factors

Identification and Functional Analysis of Variant Haplotypes in the 5′-Flanking Region of Protein Phosphatase 2A-Bδ Gene

Serine-threonine protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a trimeric holoenzyme that plays an integral role in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. The substrate specificity and (sub)cellular localization of the PP2A holoenzymes are highly regulated by interaction with a family of regulatory B subunits (PP2A-Bs). The regulatory subunit PP2A-B/PR55δ (PP2A-Bδ) is involving in the dephosphorylation of PP2A substrates and is crucial for controlling entry into and exit from mitosis. The molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of expression of PP2A-Bδ gene (PPP2R2D) remain largely unknown. To explore genetic variations in the 5′-flanking region of PPP2R2D gene as well as their frequent haplotypes in the Han Chinese population and determine whether such variations have an impact on transcriptional activity, DNA samples were collected from 70 healthy Chinese donors and sequenced for identifying genetic variants in the 5′-flanking region of PPP2R2D. Four genetic variants were identified in the 1836 bp 5′-flanking region of PPP2R2D. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns and haplotype profiles were constructed for the genetic variants. Using serially truncated human PPP2R2D promoter luciferase constructs, we found that a 601 bp (−540 nt to +61 nt) fragment constitutes the core promoter region. The subcloning of individual 5′-flanking fragment revealed the existence of three haplotypes in the distal promoter of PPP2R2D. The luciferase reporter assay showed that different haplotypes exhibited distinct promoter activities. The EMSA revealed that the −462 G>A variant influences DNA-protein interactions involving the nuclear factor 1 (NF1). In vitro reporter gene assay indicated that cotransfection of NF1/B expression plasmid could positively regulate the activity of PPP2R2D proximal promoter. Introduction of exogenous NF1/B expression plasmid further confirmed that the NF1 involves in the regulation of PPP2R2D gene expression. Our findings suggest that functional genetic variants and their haplotypes in the 5′-flanking region of PPP2R2D are critical for transcriptional regulation of PP2A-Bδ

Heteroatomic interface engineering of MOF-derived metal-embedded P- and N-codoped Zn node porous polyhedral carbon with enhanced sodium-ion storage

Amorphous-ordered mesoporous carbon materials are regarded as the most promising anode candidate for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) owing to their eco-friendliness, abundance, thermal stability, and low price. However, poor rate, low initial Coulombic efficiency, and poor cycling performance have been the major challenges of SIBs. Herein, we successfully constructed a robust phosphorus and nitrogen-codoped Zn node porous polyhedral carbon polyhedron (P-N-Zn-C). The as-prepared P-N-Zn-C anode delivers outstanding electrochemical performance and ultrahigh stability and has achieved a remarkable capacity of 460 mA h g-1 at 100 mA g-1, long-term cycling stability of up to 100 cycles, and an excellent rate performance even at a current density of up to 1000 mA g-1. The remarkable performance can be ascribed to the enlarged interlayer distances of carbon and the existence of Zn node, which facilitate the insertion-extraction of Na ions. The first-principles density functional theory calculations revealed that the presence of P, N, and Zn could reduce the band gaps between the valence and conduction bands and accelerate the electron transfer reaction rate. This study underscores the potential importance of heteroatom doping as an effective strategy for improving the performance of carbon electrode materials

Emerging tick-borne infections in mainland China: an increasing public health threat

Since the beginning of the 1980s, 33 emerging tick-borne agents have been identified in mainland China, including eight species of spotted fever group rickettsiae, seven species in the family Anaplasmataceae, six genospecies in the complex Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, 11 species of Babesia, and the virus causing severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome. In this Review we have mapped the geographical distributions of human cases of infection. 15 of the 33 emerging tick-borne agents have been reported to cause human disease, and their clinical characteristics have been described. The non-specific clinical manifestations caused by tick-borne pathogens present a major diagnostic challenge and most physicians are unfamiliar with the many tick-borne diseases that present with non-specific symptoms in the early stages of the illness. Advances in and application of modern molecular techniques should help with identification of emerging tick-borne pathogens and improve laboratory diagnosis of human infections. We expect that more novel tick-borne infections in ticks and animals will be identified and additional emerging tick-borne diseases in human beings will be discovered