Cascade NH3 Oxidation and N2O Decomposition via Bifunctional Co and Cu Catalysts

The selective catalytic oxidation of NH3 (NH3-SCO) to N2 is an important reaction for the treatment of diesel engine exhaust. Co3O4 has the highest activity among non-noble metals but suffers from N2O release. Such N2O emissions have recently been regulated due to having a 300× higher greenhouse gas effect than CO2. Here, we design CuO-supported Co3O4 as a cascade catalyst for the selective oxidation of NH3 to N2. The NH3-SCO reaction on CuO-Co3O4 follows a de-N2O pathway. Co3O4 activates gaseous oxygen to form N2O. The high redox property of the CuO-Co3O4 interface promotes the breaking of the N-O bond in N2O to form N2. The addition of CuO-Co3O4 to the Pt-Al2O3 catalyst reduces the full NH3 conversion temperature by 50 K and improves the N2 selectivity by 20%. These findings provide a promising strategy for reducing N2O emissions and will contribute to the rational design and development of non-noble metal catalysts

Prevalence of Common Respiratory Viral Infections and Identification of Adenovirus in Hospitalized Adults in Harbin, China 2014 to 2017

Background: Respiratory infections pose a great challenge in global health, and the prevalence of viral infection in adult patients has been poorly understood in northeast China. Harbin is one of the major cities in northeast China, and more than half of any given year in Harbin is occupied by winter. To reveal the viral etiology and seasonality in adult patients from Harbin, a 4-year consecutive survey was conducted in Harbin, China.Methods: From January 2014 to December 2017, specimens were obtained from adult patients admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University with lower respiratory tract infections. Sputum samples were examined by direct immunofluorescence assays to detect seven common respiratory viruses, including influenza virus (type A and B), parainfluenza virus (type 1 to 3), respiratory syncytial virus and adenovirus. Adenovirus positive samples were seeded onto A549 cells to isolate viral strains. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted on the highly variable region of adenoviral hexon gene.Results: A total of 1,300 hospitalized adult patients with lower respiratory tract infections were enrolled, in which 189 patients (14.5%) were detected as having at least one viral infection. The co-infection rate in this study was 25.9% (49/189). The dominant viral pathogen from 2014 to 2017 was parainfluenza virus, with a detection rate of 7.2%, followed by influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and adenovirus. Based on the climate seasons determined by daily average temperature, the highest overall viral detection rate was detected in spring (22.0%, 52/236), followed by winter (13.4%, 109/813), autumn (11.4%, 13/114) and summer (10.9%, 15/137). Adenovirus type 3 strains with slight variations were isolated from positive cases, which were closely related to the GB strain from the United States, as well as the Harbin04B strain isolated locally.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that common respiratory viruses were partially responsible for hospitalized lower respiratory tract infections in adult patients from Harbin, China, with parainfluenza virus as the dominant viral pathogen. Climate seasons could be rational indicators for the seasonality analysis of airborne viral infections. Future surveillance on viral mutations would be necessary to reveal the evolutionary history of respiratory viruses

Discovery of novel SOS1 inhibitors using machine learning

Overactivation of the rat sarcoma virus (RAS) signaling is responsible for 30% of all human malignancies. Son of sevenless 1 (SOS1), a crucial node in the RAS signaling pathway, could modulate RAS activation, offering a promising therapeutic strategy for RAS-driven cancers. Applying machine learning (ML)-based virtual screening (VS) on small-molecule databases, we selected a random forest (RF) regressor for its robustness and performance. Screening was performed with the L-series and EGFR-related datasets, and was extended to the Chinese National Compound Library (CNCL) with more than 1.4 million compounds. In addition to a series of documented SOS1-related molecules, we uncovered nine compounds that have an unexplored chemical framework and displayed inhibitory activity, with the most potent achieving more than 50% inhibition rate in the KRAS G12C/SOS1 PPI assay and an IC50 value in the proximity of 20 μg mL−1. Compared with the manner that known inhibitory agents bind to the target, hit compounds represented by CL01545365 occupy a unique pocket in molecular docking. An in silico drug-likeness assessment suggested that the compound has moderately favorable drug-like properties and pharmacokinetic characteristics. Altogether, our findings strongly support that, characterized by the distinctive binding modes, the recognition of novel skeletons from the carboxylic acid series could be candidates for developing promising SOS1 inhibitors

α1A-Adrenergic Receptor Induces Activation of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase 1/2 through Endocytic Pathway

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) activate mitogen-activated protein kinases through a number of distinct pathways in cells. Increasing evidence has suggested that endosomal signaling has an important role in receptor signal transduction. Here we investigated the involvement of endocytosis in α1A-adrenergic receptor (α1A-AR)-induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). Agonist-mediated endocytic traffic of α1A-AR was assessed by real-time imaging of living, stably transfected human embryonic kidney 293A cells (HEK-293A). α1A-AR was internalized dynamically in cells with agonist stimulation, and actin filaments regulated the initial trafficking of α1A-AR. α1A-AR-induced activation of ERK1/2 but not p38 MAPK was sensitive to disruption of endocytosis, as demonstrated by 4°C chilling, dynamin mutation and treatment with cytochalasin D (actin depolymerizing agent). Activation of protein kinase C (PKC) and C-Raf by α1A-AR was not affected by 4°C chilling or cytochalasin D treatment. U73122 (a phospholipase C [PLC] inhibitor) and Ro 31–8220 (a PKC inhibitor) inhibited α1B-AR- but not α1A-AR-induced ERK1/2 activation. These data suggest that the endocytic pathway is involved in α1A-AR-induced ERK1/2 activation, which is independent of Gq/PLC/PKC signaling

Simulated financial dealing room: learning discovery and student accountability

The effectiveness of a simulation game for teaching and learning was identified. We found that the game can improve the opportunities to apply new theory; give better learning than lectures and is more effective than individual learning; improves the users' abilities to recognize ethical issues and evaluate solutions to ethical issues. The user's motivation is promoted by the high value in the game and the learning resources provided

Sleep Duration and Quality in Pregnant Women: A Cross-Sectional Survey in China

Objectives: Good maternal health and fetal development require sufficient and good quality of sleep during pregnancy. This study investigated sleep duration and quality in pregnant women, assessing factors with possibly influence on sleep. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on pregnant women between June and August in 2015 in 16 hospitals in five provinces in China. A total of 2345 pregnant women aged 18 years and older were surveyed. Insufficient sleeping duration was defined as sleeping of less than 7 h per day. Excessive sleep duration was defined as sleeping of more than 9 h per day. Results: A total of 561 (23.9%) participants reported insufficient sleeping duration, whereas 485 (20.9%) claimed excessive sleep duration. A total of 358 (15.2%) of pregnant women reported problems regarding sleep quality. Compared to pregnant women with sufficient sleeping duration, those with insufficient sleeping duration were prone to have poor sleep quality, whereas those with excessive sleeping duration featured low possibility of poor sleep quality. High-risk groups of insufficient sleep duration include women of Han nationality, with siblings, in their first trimester of pregnancy, receiving care in low-capacity/quality hospital settings, and with daily or 1–3 days of secondhand smoke exposure. High-risk groups of excessive sleep duration include women living in rural areas, unemployed, in their third trimester of pregnancy, and receiving care in medium-capacity/quality hospital settings. High-risk groups of poor sleep quality include women of non-Han nationality, low income level, in their third trimester of pregnancy, and with insufficient sleep duration. Conclusions: Insufficient/excessive sleep duration and poor sleep quality commonly occur during pregnancy in China. Findings provide a better understanding of the influencing factors of insufficient/excessive sleep duration and poor quality of sleep. These findings have some implications for future interventions on sleep among pregnant women

A Bubble-Free Microfluidic Device for Easy-to-Operate Immobilization, Culturing and Monitoring of Zebrafish Embryos

The development of miniaturized devices for studying zebrafish embryos has been limited due to complicated fabrication and operation processes. Here, we reported on a microfluidic device that enabled the capture and culture of zebrafish embryos and real-time monitoring of dynamic embryonic development. The device was simply fabricated by bonding two layers of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) structures replicated from three-dimensional (3D) printed reusable molds onto a flat glass substrate. Embryos were easily loaded into the device with a pipette, docked in traps by gravity, and then retained in traps with hydrodynamic forces for long-term culturing. A degassing chamber bonded on top was used to remove air bubbles from the embryo-culturing channel and traps so that any embryo movement caused by air bubbles was eliminated during live imaging. Computational fluid dynamics simulations suggested this embryo-trapping and -retention regime to exert low shear stress on the immobilized embryos. Monitoring of the zebrafish embryogenesis over 20 h during the early stages successfully verified the performance of the microfluidic device for culturing the immobilized zebrafish embryos. Therefore, this rapid-prototyping, low-cost and easy-to-operate microfluidic device offers a promising platform for the long-term culturing of immobilized zebrafish embryos under continuous medium perfusion and the high-quality screening of the developmental dynamics