{Bis[4-(2-pyrid­yl)pyrimidin-2-yl]sulfane}dichloridocobalt(II)

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [CoCl2(C18H12N6S)], contains one half-mol­ecule situated on a twofold rotation axis which passes through the Co and S atoms. The metal centre is in a distorted octahedral CoCl2N4 coordination with the Cl atoms in the axial positions. In the crystal structure, inter­molecular C—H⋯Cl inter­actions help to establish the packing

Tensile behaviour of carbon fabric reinforced cementitious matrix composites as both strengthening and anode materials

Recently, a promising solution to corroded steel reinforced concrete structures was proposed in which a dual-functional carbon-fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (carbon-FRCM) composite is used for impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) and structural strengthening (SS); this method is referred to as ICCP-SS. The tensile behaviour of carbon-FRCM must be understood for design purposes. In this study, the tensile characteristics of carbon-FRCM composites with different fabric reinforcement ratios were assessed to determine the strengthening capability of the materials. Then, using the composite as an anode material, the tensile behaviour of carbon-FRCM specimens subjected to anodic polarization in ICCP was evaluated. Direct tensile tests were conducted to obtain the tensile stress-strain behaviour of the carbon-FRCM specimens. By comparing the results from each case, the influences of different parameters on the tensile behaviour of the carbon-FRCM composites were evaluated, and useful information regarding the application of these materials in ICCP-SS was obtained

Repellent activity of essential oils extracted from five Artemisia species against Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Artemisia genus (family Asteraceae) has been widely used as medicines and cosmetic. The chemical compositions of essential oils extracted from five Artemisia species (A. anethoides, A. giraldii, A. roxburghiana, A. rubripes and A. sacrorum) were analyzed and the repellent activities of five essential oils were investigated by testing percent repellency (PR) in petri dish against Tribolium castaneum. By GC-MS analysis, the common components of the five essential oils were eucalyptol (11.09%-50.05%), camphor (6.28%-33.10%), terpinen- 4-ol (2.46%-12.41%), β-caryophyllene (0.63%-10.68%) and germacrene D (2.28%-10.01%). 3,3,6-trimethyl-1,4-heptadien-6-ol (11.72%), 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-3-cyclohexen-1-one (24.80%) and β-farnesene (12.23%) were the characteristic compounds in essential oils of A. sacrorum, A. anethoides and A. rubripes respectively. The essential oils of five plants showed repellent activity against T. castaneum. The PR of others four essential oils were comparable with DEET expect for A. sacrorum. The results indicated that the essential oils of A. anethoides, A. giraldii, A. roxburghiana and A. rubripes had the potential to be developed as repellent for control of T. castaneum

Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials of Acupressure Therapy for Primary Dysmenorrhea

The evidence of acupressure is limited in the management of dysmenorrhea. To evaluate the efficacy of acupressure in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs), we searched MEDLINE, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases from inception until March 2012. Two reviewers independently selected articles and extracted data. Statistical analysis was performed with RevMan 5.1 software. Eight RCTs were identified from the retrieved 224 relevant records. Acupressure improved pain measured with VAS (−1.41 cm 95% CI [−1.61, −1.21]), SF-MPQ at the 3-month followup (WMD −2.33, 95% CI [−4.11, −0.54]) and 6-month followup (WMD −4.67, 95% CI [−7.30, −2.04]), and MDQ at the 3-month followup (WMD −2.31, 95% CI [−3.74, −0.87]) and 6-month followup (WMD −4.67, 95% CI [−7.30, −2.04]). All trials did not report adverse events. These results were limited by the methodological flaws of trials

The Lysine Demethylase dKDM2 Is Non-essential for Viability, but Regulates Circadian Rhythms in Drosophila

Post-translational modification of histones, such as histone methylation controlled by specific methyltransferases and demethylases, play critical roles in modulating chromatin dynamics and transcription in eukaryotes. Misregulation of histone methylation can lead to aberrant gene expression, thereby contributing to abnormal development and diseases such as cancer. As such, the mammalian lysine-specific demethylase 2 (KDM2) homologs, KDM2A and KDM2B, are either oncogenic or tumor suppressive depending on specific pathological contexts. However, the role of KDM2 proteins during development remains poorly understood. Unlike vertebrates, Drosophila has only one KDM2 homolog (dKDM2), but its functions in vivo remain elusive due to the complexities of the existing mutant alleles. To address this problem, we have generated two dKdm2 null alleles using the CRISPR/Cas9 technique. These dKdm2 homozygous mutants are fully viable and fertile, with no developmental defects observed under laboratory conditions. However, the dKdm2 null mutant adults display defects in circadian rhythms. Most of the dKdm2 mutants become arrhythmic under constant darkness, while the circadian period of the rhythmic mutant flies is approximately 1 h shorter than the control. Interestingly, lengthened circadian periods are observed when dKDM2 is overexpressed in circadian pacemaker neurons. Taken together, these results demonstrate that dKdm2 is not essential for viability; instead, dKDM2 protein plays important roles in regulating circadian rhythms in Drosophila. Further analyses of the molecular mechanisms of dKDM2 and its orthologs in vertebrates regarding the regulation of circadian rhythms will advance our understanding of the epigenetic regulations of circadian clocks

Hydrogen Sulfide Alleviates Postharvest Senescence of Grape by Modulating the Antioxidant Defenses

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been identified as an important gaseous signal in plants. Here, we investigated the mechanism of H2S in alleviating postharvest senescence and rotting of Kyoho grape. Exogenous application of H2S released from 1.0 mM NaHS remarkably decreased the rotting and threshing rate of grape berries. H2S application also prevented the weight loss in grape clusters and inhibited the decreases in firmness, soluble solids, and titratable acidity in grape pulp during postharvest storage. The data of chlorophyll and carotenoid content suggested the role of H2S in preventing chlorophyll breakdown and carotenoid accumulation in both grape rachis and pulp. In comparison to water control, exogenous H2S application maintained significantly higher levels of ascorbic acid and flavonoid and total phenolics and reducing sugar and soluble protein in grape pulp. Meanwhile, H2S significantly reduced the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and superoxide anion (O2∙-) in grape pulp. Further investigations showed that H2S enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) and decreased those of lipoxygenase (LOX) in both grape peels and pulp. In all, we provided strong evidence that H2S effectively alleviated postharvest senescence and rotting of Kyoho grape by modulating antioxidant enzymes and attenuating lipid peroxidation

Clinical application analysis of Da Vinci Xi robot in thyroid surgery using a gasless, unilateral axillary approach

Background and purpose: Robotic thyroid surgery has been carried out worldwide since Kang first applied it to the thyroid in 2007. The proportion of axillary approach is increasing rapidly in China due to the continuous verification of safety, radicalness and cosmetic properties of cancer treatment. The advantages and clinical value of Da Vinci Xi robotic unilateral axillary approach in the treatment of unilateral papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) was investigated by comparing and analyzing the clinical efficacy in 95 patients undergoing a gasless, unilateral axillary approach Da Vinci Xi robotic thyroid surgery for PTMC and 91 patients undergoing conventional surgery. Methods: The clinical data of 186 cases of unilateral PTMC undergoing thyroidectomy in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery of Shanghai cancer Hospital from March 2020 to November 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, and they were divided into the robotic group (95 cases) and the open group (91 cases) according to the surgical methods. The general clinical data, surgical results, postoperative complications, satisfaction of incision, learning curve and surgical costs were analyzed and compared between the two groups. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in gender, age, incidence of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, tumor diameter, location and number of lesions (P>0.05). However, the operation time was significantly longer in the robotic group [(126.65±34.76) min]than in the open group [(60.99±21.12) min], and after 36 operations, the operation time reached a stable level. The operation cost was significantly higher in the robotic group [(47 940.66±4 404.30) yuan] than in the open group [(15 807.73±2 295.35) yuan]. There was no significant difference in intraoperative hemorrhage [robotic group: (20.48±18.83) mL; open group: (16.15±13.95) mL], the number of removed lymph nodes (robotic group: 2.61±2.77; open group: 2.97±2.20) and the number of positive lymph nodes (robotic group: 1.01±1.61; open group: 0.78±1.36) between the two groups (P>0.05). The incidence of postoperative temporary vocal hoarseness and transient hypocalcemia was lower in the robotic group (1.10%, 2.10%, respectively) than in the open group (2.20%, 3.30%, respectively), however there was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). The postoperative satisfaction of incision was significantly higher in the robotic group (very satisfied 87.4%, satisfied 11.6%) than in the open group (very satisfied 71.4%, satisfied 26.4%), and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Da Vinci Xi robot in thyroid surgery using a gasless, unilateral axillary approach has not only good cosmetic effect and high patient satisfaction, but also short learning curve. The amount of bleeding during the surgery, the lymph node detection and the occurrence of postoperative complications are comparable to the traditional surgery

Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis: leveraging machine learning with linear discriminant analysis

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a machine learning algorithm in diagnosing OSA in children based on clinical features that can be obtained in nonnocturnal and nonmedical environments.Patients and methodsThis study was conducted at Beijing Children's Hospital from April 2018 to October 2019. The participants in this study were 2464 children aged 3–18 suspected of having OSA who underwent clinical data collection and polysomnography(PSG). Participants’ data were randomly divided into a training set and a testing set at a ratio of 8:2. The elastic net algorithm was used for feature selection to simplify the model. Stratified 10-fold cross-validation was repeated five times to ensure the robustness of the results.ResultsFeature selection using Elastic Net resulted in 47 features for AHI ≥5 and 31 features for AHI ≥10 being retained. The machine learning model using these selected features achieved an average AUC of 0.73 for AHI ≥5 and 0.78 for AHI ≥10 when tested externally, outperforming models based on PSG questionnaire features. Linear Discriminant Analysis using the selected features identified OSA with a sensitivity of 44% and specificity of 90%, providing a feasible clinical alternative to PSG for stratifying OSA severity.ConclusionsThis study shows that a machine learning model based on children's clinical features effectively identifies OSA in children. Establishing a machine learning screening model based on the clinical features of the target population may be a feasible clinical alternative to nocturnal OSA sleep diagnosis

The LAMOST Survey of Background Quasars in the Vicinity of the Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies -- II. Results from the Commissioning Observations and the Pilot Surveys

We present new quasars discovered in the vicinity of the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies with the LAMOST during the 2010 and 2011 observational seasons. Quasar candidates are selected based on the available SDSS, KPNO 4 m telescope, XSTPS optical, and WISE near infrared photometric data. We present 509 new quasars discovered in a stripe of ~135 sq. deg from M31 to M33 along the Giant Stellar Stream in the 2011 pilot survey datasets, and also 17 new quasars discovered in an area of ~100 sq. deg that covers the central region and the southeastern halo of M31 in the 2010 commissioning datasets. These 526 new quasars have i magnitudes ranging from 15.5 to 20.0, redshifts from 0.1 to 3.2. They represent a significant increase of the number of identified quasars in the vicinity of M31 and M33. There are now 26, 62 and 139 known quasars in this region of the sky with i magnitudes brighter than 17.0, 17.5 and 18.0 respectively, of which 5, 20 and 75 are newly-discovered. These bright quasars provide an invaluable collection with which to probe the kinematics and chemistry of the ISM/IGM in the Local Group of galaxies. A total of 93 quasars are now known with locations within 2.5 deg of M31, of which 73 are newly discovered. Tens of quasars are now known to be located behind the Giant Stellar Stream, and hundreds behind the extended halo and its associated substructures of M31. The much enlarged sample of known quasars in the vicinity of M31 and M33 can potentially be utilized to construct a perfect astrometric reference frame to measure the minute PMs of M31 and M33, along with the PMs of substructures associated with the Local Group of galaxies. Those PMs are some of the most fundamental properties of the Local Group.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, AJ accepte

Optimized gene editing technology for Drosophila melanogaster using germ line-specific Cas9

The ability to engineer genomes in a specific, systematic, and cost-effective way is critical for functional genomic studies. Recent advances using the CRISPR-associated single-guide RNA system (Cas9/sgRNA) illustrate the potential of this simple system for genome engineering in a number of organisms. Here we report an effective and inexpensive method for genome DNA editing in Drosophila melanogaster whereby plasmid DNAs encoding short sgRNAs under the control of the U6b promoter are injected into transgenic flies in which Cas9 is specifically expressed in the germ line via the nanos promoter. We evaluate the off-targets associated with the method and establish a Web-based resource, along with a searchable, genome-wide database of predicted sgRNAs appropriate for genome engineering in flies. Finally, we discuss the advantages of our method in comparison with other recently published approaches.Multidisciplinary SciencesSCI(E)46ARTICLE4719012-1901711