Circulating miR-122 Is a Predictor for Virological Response in CHB Patients With High Viral Load Treated With Nucleos(t)ide Analogs

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection remains worldwide health problem. Antiviral treatment options for CHB patients include nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) and interferon. Most of the current biomarkers for predicting treatment response are virus-dependent. MicroRNA-122 is the most abundant liver-specific miRNA and has been identified involved in multiple liver physiology and pathology including hepatotropic virus infection. To identify the role of miR-122 in NA therapy, 80 CHB patients with high viral load (HVL) were enrolled and serum miR-122 levels at baseline, week 12 and week 24 were measured. Serum miR-122 levels were significantly lower in patients who developed virological response (VR), compared with non-VR group. Levels of miR-122 at week 12 and week 24 were determined to be independent prognostic indicators for a VR with satisfactory AUROC values at 0.812 and 0.800, respectively. During NA therapy, serum miR-122 level deceased steadily and an earlier reduction was observed in VR group, indicating early reduction of miR-122 level might increase the possibility of developing virological response. In conclusion, we identified the dynamic change of serum miR-122 level and miR-122 levels at week 12 and week 24 as independent predictors for VR in CHB patients with HVL treated with NAs

Parameter Matching of Power Systems and Design of Vehicle Control Strategies for Mini-Electric Trucks

Mini-electric trucks have been widely used because of their high efficiency and zero emission with the rapid development of electronic commerce and express industry. So, improvement of dynamic performance and economy becomes crucial. The research in this field mainly focuses on passenger vehicles at present. However, most passenger vehicles are front−engine, front-drive vehicles; for mini trucks of front−engine and rear-drive, if the dynamics model of passenger vehicles is applied to mini−electric trucks, the dynamic parameters calculated will not be accurate. To enhance the accuracy of the dynamic parameters of mini-electric trucks, by combining the characteristics of mini trucks, the dynamic parameters are designed, and the types of drive motors and power batteries are selected, the dynamic model of mini−electric trucks is established. To improve the economy, control strategies, with five working modes switching, were established. On this basis, the simulation model is established, and the dynamic and economy simulation analysis and performance test were carried out. In applying the method, the error rate of maximum speed, acceleration time, and maximum gradient between simulation results and test results are 0.641% and 5.63% (15.328%), respectively, proving that the dynamic index has reached the expected value and endurance mileage is up to 295 Km under UDC conditions, increased by 5% after the vehicle control strategy was adopted. The results show that the parameter matching is reasonable and the vehicle control strategy is suitable for mini-electric trucks. The research method and conclusions can provide valuable references for the development of power systems for mini−electric trucks

Overview of the MEMS Pirani Sensors

Vacuum equipment has a wide range of applications, and vacuum monitoring in such equipment is necessary in order to meet practical applications. Pirani sensors work by using the effect of air density on the heat conduction of the gas to cause temperature changes in sensitive structures, thus detecting the pressure in the surrounding environment and thus vacuum monitoring. In past decades, MEMS Pirani sensors have received considerable attention and practical applications because of their advances in simple structures, long service life, wide measurement range and high sensitivity. This review systematically summarizes and compares different types of MEMS Pirani sensors. The configuration, material, mechanism, and performance of different types of MEMS Pirani sensors are discussed, including the ones based on thermistors, thermocouples, diodes and surface acoustic wave. Further, the development status of novel Pirani sensors based on functional materials such as nanoporous materials, carbon nanotubes and graphene are investigated, and the possible future development directions for MEMS Pirani sensors are discussed. This review is with the purpose to focus on a generalized knowledge of MEMS Pirani sensors, thus inspiring the investigations on their practical applications

Predictors of sustained virologic response after discontinuation of nucleos(t)ide analog treatment for chronic hepatitis B

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to identify the predictors for relapse after discontinuation of oral nucleos(t)ide analog treatment for chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Patients and Methods: We evaluated patients who were receiving long-term, regular antiviral therapy with nucleos(t)ide analogs, and subsequently achieved the discontinuation criteria from the Asia-Pacific guideline. After they voluntarily discontinued the drug therapy, data were prospectively collected to observe the potential virologic relapse, and the parameters that predicted recurrence were analyzed. Results: Sixty-five patients met the inclusion criteria, and were included in this study. Twenty-eight patients relapsed, and the accumulative recurrence rates at the 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year follow-ups were 13.85%, 32.31%, and 49.23%, respectively. There was no difference in the accumulative recurrence rate 12 months after discontinuation among patients who were positive or negative for the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) before they received the medication. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the time to complete response, age at discontinuation, and HBsAg levels at discontinuation affected the rate of relapse. Conclusions: Among patients who received orally administrated nucleos(t)ide analogs, serum levels of HBsAg, age at discontinuation, and the time to complete response might be used as a guide to discontinue treatment. Among younger patients, those with low serum HBsAg levels, and those with an earlier complete response, the risk of relapse is lower and discontinuation is much safer

Optimization of frequency shifts in optically detected magnetic-state-selection cesium beam atomic clocks

In this paper, we report a new method to suppress the AC Stark effect (light shift) in compact cesium beam atomic clocks. The clock used in experiment uses the optically detected magnetic-state-selection scheme independently proposed and developed by Peking University. This method compensates the AC Stark effect by introducing a detuned laser into the detection light. We demonstrate theoretically that the AC Stark effect can be strongly suppressed with properly chosen detuned light. In addition, we experiment this scheme and the α-coefficient (the sensitivity of the AC Stark effect to laser power fluctuation) is successfully reduced from $1.23 \times 10^{-12}/\mathrm{mW}$ to $8 \times 10^{-14}/\mathrm{mW}$ . We also test the long-term frequency stability with additional laser intensity noise. It is shown that the fractional Allan deviation at 20000 s is reduced from $2.0\times10^{-13}$ to $5.9\times10^{-14}$ , which reveals the suppression of the light shift with our method. These results are relevant for improving the long-term frequency stability of compact cesium beam atomic clocks

Chemoenzymatic intermolecular haloether synthesis

A chemoenzymatic method for the synthesis of haloethers is presented. A combination of enzymatic hypohalite synthesis with spontaneous oxidation of alkenes and nucleophilic attack by various alcohols enabled the synthesis of a wide range of haloethers. The reaction system has been characterised and current imitations have been worked out. In the present, aqueous reaction system, hydroxyhalide formation represents the main undesired side reaction. Nevertheless, semi-preparative scale synthesis of a range of haloethers is demonstrated.BT/Biocatalysi

Chemoenzymatic Hunsdiecker-Type Decarboxylative Bromination of Cinnamic Acids

In this contribution, we report chemoenzymatic bromodecarboxylation (Hunsdiecker-type) of α,ß-unsaturated carboxylic acids. The extraordinarily robust chloroperoxidase from Curvularia inaequalis (CiVCPO) generated hypobromite from H2O2 and bromide, which then spontaneously reacted with a broad range of unsaturated carboxylic acids and yielded the corresponding vinyl bromide products. Selectivity issues arising from the (here undesired) addition of water to the intermediate bromonium ion could be solved by reaction medium engineering. The vinyl bromides so obtained could be used as starting materials for a range of cross-coupling and pericyclic reactions.BT/Biocatalysi

Insights from ENCODE on Missing Proteins: Why beta-Defensin Expression Is Scarcely Detected.

beta-Defensins (DEFBs) have a variety of functions. The majority of these proteins were not identified in a recent proteome survey. Neither protein detection nor the analysis of transcriptomic data based on RNA-seq data for three liver cancer cell lines identified any expression products. Extensive investigation into DEFB transcripts in over 70 cell lines offered similar results. This fact naturally begs the question-Why are DEFB genes scarcely expressed? After examining DEFB gene annotation and the physicochemical properties of its protein products, we postulated that regulatory elements could play a key role in the resultant poor transcription of DEFB genes. Four regions containing DEFB genes and six adjacent regions on chromosomes 6, 8, and 20 were carefully investigated using The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) information, such as that of DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHSs), transcription factors (TFs), and histone modifications. The results revealed that the intensities of these ENCODE features were globally weaker than those in the adjacent regions. Impressively, DEFB-related regions on chromosomes 6 and 8 containing several non-DEFB genes had lower ENCODE feature intensities, indicating that the absence of DEFB mRNAs might not depend on the gene family but may be reliant upon gene location and chromatin structure