Quantitative structure–activity relationship study of amide mosquito repellents

<p>A quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) study on 43 amide repellents was carried out by the heuristic method in order to reveal the correlations between molecular parameters of these amides and their repellency against <i>Aedes aegypti</i>. Sketches and optimizations of molecular structures were achieved by the Gaussian software package. Generation and screening of molecular parameters were accomplished using CODESSA 2.7.10 software. The leave-one-out method was applied for the model validation. The results showed that a four-descriptor QSAR model with <i>r</i>² of 0.897 was obtained. The average <i>r</i>² values of the training set and test set of the QSAR model were 0.901 and 0.863, respectively, which suggested that the stability and predictability of the model were confirmed. Analysis of the implications of the descriptors that constitute the QSAR model indicated that all the descriptors were related to the charge distribution over the molecule and affect the dipole moment of the repellents.</p

Incorporation of Bi atoms in InP studied at the atomic scale by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy

We show the potential of cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy to address structural properties of dilute III-V bismides by investigating Bi:InP. Bismuth atoms down to the second monolayer below the {110} InP surfaces, which give rise to three classes of distinct contrast, are identified with the help of density functional theory calculations. Based on this classification, the pair-correlation function is used to quantify the ordering of Bi atoms on the long range. In a complementary short-ranged study, we investigate the Bi ordering at the atomic level. An enhanced tendency for the formation of first-nearest-neighbor Bi pairs is found. In addition, the formation of small Bi clusters is observed whose geometries appear to be related to strong first-nearest-neighbor Bi pairing. We also identify growth related crystal defects, such as In vacancies, P antisites, and Bi antisites

Bevacizumab and gefitinib enhanced whole-brain radiation therapy for brain metastases due to non-small-cell lung cancer

<div><p>Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who experience brain metastases are usually associated with poor prognostic outcomes. This retrospective study proposed to assess whether bevacizumab or gefitinib can be used to improve the effectiveness of whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) in managing patients with brain metastases. A total of 218 NSCLC patients with multiple brain metastases were retrospectively included in this study and were randomly allocated to bevacizumab-gefitinib-WBRT group (n=76), gefitinib-WBRT group (n=77) and WBRT group (n=75). Then, tumor responses were evaluated every 2 months based on Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.0. Karnofsky performance status and neurologic examination were documented every 6 months after the treatment. Compared to the standard WBRT, bevacizumab and gefitinib could significantly enhance response rate (RR) and disease control rate (DCR) of WBRT (P<0.001). At the same time, RR and DCR of patients who received bevacizumab-gefitinib-WBRT were higher than those who received gefitinib-WBRT. The overall survival (OS) rates and progression-free survival (PFS) rates also differed significantly among the bevacizumab-gefitinib-WBRT (48.6 and 29.8%), gefitinib-WBRT (36.7 and 29.6%) and WBRT (9.8 and 14.6%) groups (P<0.05). Although bevacizumab-gefitinib-WBRT was slightly more toxic than gefitinib-WBRT, the toxicity was tolerable. As suggested by prolonged PFS and OS status, bevacizumab substantially improved the overall efficacy of WBRT in the management of patients with NSCLC.</p></div

Additional file 1: of Evaluation of efficacy, safety and tolerability of Ambrisentan in Chinese adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension: a prospective open label cohort study

Affiliations of all the ethics committees (IECs) that approved the study. (DOCX 13 kb

Effect of Avian Influenza Virus subtype H9N2 on the expression of complement-associated genes in chicken erythrocytes

The H9N2 subtype avian influenza virus can infect both chickens and humans. Previous studies have reported a role for erythrocytes in immunity. However, the role of H9N2 against chicken erythrocytes and the presence of complement-related genes in erythrocytes has not been studied. This research investigated the effect of H9N2 on complement-associated gene expression in chicken erythrocytes. The expression of complement-associated genes (C1s, C1q, C2, C3, C3ar1, C4, C4a, C5, C5ar1, C7, CD93 and CFD) was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to analyse the differential expression of complement-associated genes in chicken erythrocytes at 0 h, 2 h, 6 h and 10 h after the interaction between H9N2 virus and chicken erythrocytes in vitro and 3, 7 and 14 d after H9N2 virus nasal infection of chicks. Expression levels of C1q, C4, C1s, C2, C3, C5, C7 and CD93 were significantly up-regulated at 2 h and significantly down-regulated at 10 h. Gene expression levels of C1q, C3ar1, C4a, CFD and C5ar1 were seen to be different at each time point. The expression levels of C1q, C4, C1s, C2, C3, C5, C7, CFD, C3ar1, C4a and C5ar1 were significantly up-regulated at 7 d and the gene expression of levels of C3, CD93 and C5ar1 were seen to be different at each time point. The results confirmed that all the complement-associated genes were expressed in chicken erythrocytes and showed the H9N2 virus interaction with chicken erythrocytes and subsequent regulation of chicken erythrocyte complement-associated genes expression. This study reported, for the first time, the relationship between H9N2 and complement system of chicken erythrocytes, which will provide a foundation for further research into the prevention and control of H9N2 infection.</p

Strain Dynamics of Ultrathin VO₂ Film Grown on TiO₂ (001) and the Associated Phase Transition Modulation

Tuning the metal insulator transition (MIT) behavior of VO₂ film through the interfacial strain is effective for practical applications. However, the mechanism for strain-modulated MIT is still under debate. Here we directly record the strain dynamics of ultrathin VO₂ film on TiO₂ substrate and reveal the intrinsic modulation process by means of synchrotron radiation and first-principles calculations. It is observed that the MIT process of the obtained VO₂ films can be modulated continuously via the interfacial strain. The relationship between the phase transition temperature and the strain evolution is established from the initial film growth. From the interfacial strain dynamics and theoretical calculations, we claim that the electronic orbital occupancy is strongly affected by the interfacial strain, which changes also the electron–electron correlation and controls the phase transition temperature. These findings open the possibility of an active tuning of phase transition for the thin VO₂ film through the interfacial lattice engineering

Simultaneous multi-wavelength campaign on PKS 2005-489 in a high state

The high-frequency peaked BL Lac object PKS 2005-489 was the target of a multi-wavelength campaign with simultaneous observations in the TeV γ-ray (H.E.S.S.), GeV γ-ray (Fermi/LAT), X-ray (RXTE, Swift), UV (Swift) and optical (ATOM, Swift) bands. This campaign was carried out during a high flux state in the synchrotron regime. The flux in the optical and X-ray bands reached the level of the historical maxima. The hard GeV spectrum observed with Fermi/LAT connects well to the very high energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) spectrum measured with H.E.S.S