Identification of RD5-Encoded Mycobacterium tuberculosis Proteins As B-Cell Antigens Used for Serodiagnosis of Tuberculosis

Comparative genomic studies have identified several Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific genomic regions of difference (RDs) which are absent in the vaccine strains of Mycobacterium bovis BCG and which may be useful in the specific diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). In this study, all encoded proteins from DNA segment RD5 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, that is, Rv3117–Rv3121, were recombined and evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for antibody reactivity with sera from HIV-negative pulmonary TB patients (n = 60) and healthy controls (n = 32). The results identified two immunodominant antigens, that is, Rv3117 and Rv3120, both of which revealed a statistically significant antigenic distinction between healthy controls and TB patients (P < 0.05). In comparison with the well-known early-secreted antigen target 6 kDa (ESAT-6) (sensitivity 21.7%, specificity 90.6%), the higher detection sensitivity and higher specificity were achieved (Rv3117: sensitivity 25%, specificity 96.9%; Rv3120: sensitivity 31.7%, specificity 96.9%). Thus, the results highlight the immunosensitive and immunospecific nature of Rv3117 and Rv3120 and indicate promise for their use in the serodiagnosis of TB

Characterization of the Resistance and Force of a Carbon Nanotube/Metal Side Contact by Nanomanipulation

A high contact resistance restricts the application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in fabrication of field-effect transistors (FETs). Thus, it is important to decrease the contact resistance and investigate the critical influence factors such as the contact length and contact force. This study uses nanomanipulation to characterize both the resistance and the force at a CNT/Au side-contact interface inside a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Two-terminal CNT manipulation methods, and models for calculating the resistance and force at contact area, are proposed to guide the measurement experiments of a total resistance and a cantilever’s elastic deformation. The experimental results suggest that the contact resistance of CNT/Au interface is large (189.5 kΩ) when the van der Waals force (282.1 nN) dominates the contact force at the interface. Electron-beam-induced deposition (EBID) is then carried out to decrease the contact resistance. After depositing seven EBID points, the resistance is decreased to 7.5 kΩ, and the force increases to 1339.8 nN at least. The resistance and force at the contact area where CNT was fixed exhibit a negative exponential correlation before and after EBID. The good agreement of this correlation with previous reports validates the proposed robotic system and methods for characterizing the contact resistance and force

Diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of 25 patients with melamine-induced kidney stones complicated by acute obstructive renal failure in Beijing Children’s Hospital

A total of 25 Chinese patients aged 6 to 36 months hospitalised at Beijing Children’s Hospital due to melamine-induced kidney stones complicated by acute obstructive renal failure in 2008 were included in a study in order to diagnose and treat these special cases more effectively. Feeding history, clinical presentation, ultrasound findings, treatments and effects were summarised. Twelve to seventeen months follow-up was reported also. Ultrasound examination showed that calculi were located at the kidney and ureters. Stones were composed of both uric acid and melamine in a molar ratio of 1.2:1 to 2.1:1. Treatments providing liquid plus alkalisation of urine proved to be effective in helping the patients pass the stones. Surgical intervention was needed in severe cases. Renal function returned to normal in all 25 patients after various durations of therapy. Sixty-eight percent of the patients expelled all of the calculi within 3 months, 90% in 6 months and 95% in 9 months, without sequelae till now. Melamine-contaminated milk formula can cause kidney stones in infants, which should be diagnosed by feeding history, clinical symptoms and ultrasound examination. Composition of the stones was not only of melamine but also uric acid. Providing liquid orally or intravenously plus alkalisation of urine proved to promote the removal of the stones. Follow-up of 12 to 17 months after discharge showed no sequelae

Major Miocene geological events in southern Tibet and eastern Asia induced by the subduction of the Ninetyeast Ridge

Cenozoic adakitic rocks in the Gangdese changed from barren continental melts to ore-forming slab melts at ~ 23 Ma. The distribution and chemical characteristics of the ore-forming adakites point to an association with the Ninetyeast Ridge. The subduction of the thick, rigid Ninetyeast Ridge changed the geometry and rheology of the eastern Tibetan Plateau lithosphere and asthenosphere, restrained the eastward escape of asthenospheric mantle as well as continental fragments, and promoted the uplift and building of the Tibetan Plateau, which consequently changed the tectonic and climatic regimes in eastern Asia.This study was supported by NSFC 91328204 to W.D.S. and Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB18020102) to W.D.S. and X.L.S

Observing atomic layer electrodeposition on single nanocrystals surface by dark field spectroscopy

从单颗粒水平研究电化学表面和界面过程，特别是欠电位沉积是电化学领域的一个重要挑战。欠电位沉积通常仅涉及单原子层到亚单原子层的物种，但是能够显著调控金属表面电子结构，是制备高效电催化剂的一个重要的方法。然而目前在电化学环境下表征单个粒子表面单层原子的变化仍然是个巨大的挑战，针对上述挑战，任斌教授课题组发展了一套高灵敏的电化学暗场散射光谱装置，在不使用特殊光源的情况下，可以使得检测的粒径小至10-15 nm，灵敏度提高到亚单层原子。该工作是在任斌教授指导下，主要由化学化工学院已毕业博士生胡树（第一作者）完成。李剑锋教授及其课题组的博士生张月皎在单晶电化学实验上提供了重要帮助。已毕业博士生易骏在理论计算方面提供了有力支持。Underpotential deposition offers a predominant way to tailor the electronic structure of the catalytic surface at the atomic level, which is key to engineering materials with a high activity for (electro)catalysis. However, it remains challenging to precisely control and directly probe the underpotential deposition of a (sub)monolayer of atoms on nanoparticle surfaces. In this work, we in situ observe silver electrodeposited on gold nanocrystals surface from submonolayer to one monolayer by designing a highly sensitive electrochemical dark field scattering setup. The spectral variation is used to reconstruct the optical “cyclic voltammogram” of every single nanocrystal for understanding the underpotential deposition process on nanocrystals, which cannot be achieved by any other methods but are essential for creating novel nanomaterials.The authors thank Dr. Hai-Xin Lin for helpful discussion of nanoparticle synthesis and characterization. The authors acknowledge support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (21633005, 21790354, and 21711530704) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2016YFA0200601).该研究工作得到了国家自然科学基金委和科技部等的资助和支持

Parallel momentum distribution of the 28^{28}Si fragments from 29^{29}P

Distribution of the parallel momentum of $^{28}$Si fragments from the breakup of 30.7 MeV/nucleon $^{29}$P has been measured on C targets. The distribution has the FWHM with the value of 110.5 $\pm$ 23.5 MeV/c which is consistent quantitatively with Galuber model calculation assuming by a valence proton in $^{29}$P. The density distribution is also predicted by Skyrme-Hartree-Fock calculation. Results show that there might exist the proton-skin structure in $^{29}$P.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

COVID-19 vaccination status, side effects, and perceptions among breast cancer survivors: a cross-sectional study in China

IntroductionBreast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, vaccination data of this population are limited.MethodsA cross-sectional study of COVID-19 vaccination was conducted in China. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination status.ResultsOf 2,904 participants, 50.2% were vaccinated with acceptable side effects. Most of the participants received inactivated virus vaccines. The most common reason for vaccination was “fear of infection” (56.2%) and “workplace/government requirement” (33.1%). While the most common reason for nonvaccination was “worry that vaccines cause breast cancer progression or interfere with treatment” (72.9%) and “have concerns about side effects or safety” (39.6%). Patients who were employed (odds ratio, OR = 1.783, p = 0.015), had stage I disease at diagnosis (OR = 2.008, p = 0.019), thought vaccines could provide protection (OR = 1.774, p = 0.007), thought COVID-19 vaccines were safe, very safe, not safe, and very unsafe (OR = 2.074, p &lt; 0.001; OR = 4.251, p &lt; 0.001; OR = 2.075, p = 0.011; OR = 5.609, p = 0.003, respectively) were more likely to receive vaccination. Patients who were 1–3 years, 3–5 years, and more than 5 years after surgery (OR = 0.277, p &lt; 0.001; OR = 0.277, p &lt; 0.001, OR = 0.282, p &lt; 0.001, respectively), had a history of food or drug allergies (OR = 0.579, p = 0.001), had recently undergone endocrine therapy (OR = 0.531, p &lt; 0.001) were less likely to receive vaccination.ConclusionCOVID-19 vaccination gap exists in breast cancer survivors, which could be filled by raising awareness and increasing confidence in vaccine safety during cancer treatment, particularly for the unemployed individuals

Cardiomyocyte overexpression of miR-27b induces cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction in mice

Recent studies have begun to reveal critical roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction. In this study, we tested whether a transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-regulated miRNA played a pivotal role in the development of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure (HF). We observed that miR-27b was upregulated in hearts of cardiomyocyte-specific Smad4 knockout mice, which developed cardiac hypertrophy. In vitro experiments showed that the miR-27b expression could be inhibited by TGF-β1 and that its overexpression promoted hypertrophic cell growth, while the miR-27b suppression led to inhibition of the hypertrophic cell growth caused by phenylephrine (PE) treatment. Furthermore, the analysis of transgenic mice with cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of miR-27b revealed that miR-27b overexpression was sufficient to induce cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction. We validated the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) as a direct target of miR-27b in cardiomyocyte. Consistently, the miR-27b transgenic mice displayed significantly lower levels of PPAR-γ than the control mice. Furthermore, in vivo silencing of miR-27b using a specific antagomir in a pressure-overload-induced mouse model of HF increased cardiac PPAR-γ expression, attenuated cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction. The results of our study demonstrate that TGF-β1-regulated miR-27b is involved in the regulation of cardiac hypertrophy, and validate miR-27b as an efficient therapeutic target for cardiac diseases