Oriented Transformation of Co‐LDH into 2D/3D ZIF‐67 to Achieve Co–N–C Hybrids for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

Construction of well‐defined metal–organic framework precursor is vital to derive highly efficient transition metal–carbon‐based electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water splitting. Herein, a novel strategy involving an in situ transformation of ultrathin cobalt layered double hydroxide into 2D cobalt zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF‐67) nanosheets grafted with 3D ZIF‐67 polyhedra supported on the surface of carbon cloth (2D/3D ZIF‐67@CC) precursor is proposed. After a low‐temperature pyrolysis, this precursor can be further converted into hybrid composites composed of ultrafine cobalt nanoparticles embedded within 2D N‐doped carbon nanosheets and 3D N‐doped hollow carbon polyhedra (Co@N‐CS/N‐HCP@CC). Experimental and density functional theory calculations results indicate that such composites have the advantages of a large number of accessible active sites, accelerated charge/mass transfer ability, the synergistic effect of components as well as an optimal water adsorption energy change. As a result, the obtained Co@N‐CS/N‐HCP@CC catalyst requires overpotentials of only 66 and 248 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm^?2 for HER and OER in 1.0 m KOH, respectively. Remarkably, it enables an alkali‐electrolyzer with a current density of 10 mA cm^?2 at a low cell voltage of 1.545 V, superior to that of the IrO₂@CC||Pt/C@CC couple (1.592 V).     

BiP Inducer X: An ER Stress Inhibitor for Enhancing Recombinant Antibody Production in CHO Cell Culture

Prolonged endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress reduces protein synthesis and induces apoptosis in mammalian cells. When dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a specific monoclonal antibody productivity (q_mAb)‐enhancing reagent, is added to recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cell cultures (GSR cell line), it induces ER stress and apoptosis in a dose‐dependent manner. To determine an effective ER stress inhibitor, three ER stress inhibitors (BiP inducer X [BIX], tauroursodeoxycholic acid, and carbazole) are examined and BIX shows the best production performance. Coaddition of BIX (50 μm ) with DMSO extends the culture longevity and enhances q_mAb. As a result, the maximum mAb concentration is significantly increased with improved galactosylation. Coaddition of BIX significantly increases the expression level of binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP) followed by increased expression of chaperones (calnexin and GRP94) and galactosyltransferase. Furthermore, the expression levels of CHOP, a well‐known ER stress marker, and cleaved caspase‐3 are significantly reduced, suggesting that BIX addition reduces ER stress‐induced cell death by relieving ER stress. The beneficial effect of BIX on mAb production is also demonstrated with another q_mAb‐enhancing reagent (sodium butyrate) and a different rCHO cell line (CS13‐1.00). Taken together, BIX is an effective ER stress inhibitor that can be used to increase mAb production in rCHO cells.     

MsSAMS,a cold stress-responsive gene,provides resistance to environmental stress in T2-generation transgenic plants

The SAMS (S-adenosylmethionine synthetase) gene is known to play an important role in the mechanism of cold resistance, as overexpression of this gene results in phenotypic changes in T₁-generation transgenic plants. Accordingly, this study was conducted to test the expression of the MsSAMS gene in T₂-generation transgenic plants and to investigate the resistance of these plants and the function of the transgene in response to various environmental stresses. For the morphological analysis of T₂-generation transgenic plants overexpressing the MsSAMS gene, observations using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed. T₂-generation transgenic plants were obtained by planting a total of 5 lines, and their characteristics were tested by comparisons with those of the control. SEM revealed that the thickest leaves were produced by the T6 transgenic line—161.24?±?8.05 µm. The number of stomata ranged from 20.00?±?2.65 to 34.00?±?1.00 in the T₂-generation transgenic plants, but the control had more stomata. Resistance to various factors, such as low temperature, drought, and oxidative stress, in the T₂-generation transgenic plants was also confirmed. Under cold-stress conditions, the T6 transgenic line presented the lowest value (22.73%) of ion leakage, and under drought-stress conditions, compared with the control, the transgenic lines presented lower ion leakage after being treated with various concentrations of mannitol. Even under oxidative-stress conditions, the T₂-generation transgenic plants presented ion leakage levels that were 32.91?±?4.24 to 48.33?±?3.54% lower than those of the control after treatment with various concentrations of methyl viologen. Regarding SAMS enzyme activity, as the duration of cold treatment increased, the activity in the transgenic plants tended to decrease and then increase. During 48 h of cold treatment, the control showed a decrease in SAM content, while the T₂-generation transgenic plants presented an increase in SAM content, from 13.58?±?1.04 to 22.75?±?1.95 mg protein/g FW. The results suggest that the MsSAMS gene may be important to the mechanisms of resistance to oxidative and drought stresses in addition to its previously known association with cold resistance. Based on these results, it was suggested that the MsSAMS gene, whose expression is induced by cold stress, can serve as a marker of various responses to environmental stresses, because resistance to cold damage and various environmental stresses are stably inherited in the T₂ generation.

     

Structural Brain Changes after Traditional and Robot-Assisted Multi-Domain Cognitive Training in Community-Dwelling Healthy Elderly

The purpose of this study was to investigate if multi-domain cognitive training, especially robot-assisted training, alters cortical thickness in the brains of elderly participants. A controlled trial was conducted with 85 volunteers without cognitive impairment who were 60 years old or older. Participants were first randomized into two groups. One group consisted of 48 participants who would receive cognitive training and 37 who would not receive training. The cognitive training group was randomly divided into two groups, 24 who received traditional cognitive training and 24 who received robot-assisted cognitive training. The training for both groups consisted of daily 90-min-session, five days a week for a total of 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the changes in cortical thickness. When compared to the control group, both groups who underwent cognitive training demonstrated attenuation of age related cortical thinning in the frontotemporal association cortices. When the robot and the traditional interventions were directly compared, the robot group showed less cortical thinning in the anterior cingulate cortices. Our results suggest that cognitive training can mitigate age-associated structural brain changes in the elderly.

Trial Registration

ClnicalTrials.gov NCT01596205     

Association between Hypertension and the Prevalence of Low Back Pain and Osteoarthritis in Koreans: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Hypertension and musculoskeletal disorders are highly prevalent in adult populations. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between hypertension and prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and osteoarthritis in Koreans.

Methods

A total 17,128 participants (age ≥20 years) who answered low back pain and osteoarthritis items in the 4th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007–2009) were analyzed. Odds ratios were calculated using logistic regression and were adjusted for age, sex, income level, education, occupation, BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity.

Results

Lifetime prevalence of LBP in hypertensive subjects was 34.4%, and that of osteoarthritis 26.2%. LBP prevalence was significantly lower in hypertensives (fully adjusted OR 0.79; 95% CI 0.70–0.90), and both LBP and osteoarthritis prevalence was significantly lower in participants with systolic blood pressure ≥140mmHg than those with <120mmHg (fully adjusted OR 0.81; 95% CI 0.70–0.94, and 0.81; 95% CI 0.68–0.96, respectively). Prevalence of LBP in subjects with diastolic blood pressure ≥90mmHg was also significantly lower than those with <80mmHg (fully adjusted OR 0.73; 95% CI 0.63–0.85). LBP and osteoarthritis prevalence did not differ by systolic or diastolic blood pressure interval in respondents taking antihypertensive medication. LBP and osteoarthritis prevalence increased with longer hypertension duration (fully adjusted p for trend 0.028, and 0.0008, respectively).

Conclusions

Hypertension showed an inverse relationship with LBP and osteoarthritis prevalence, which may be ascribed to hypertension-associated hypalgesia, and antihypertensive medication intake and longer hypertension duration attenuated this association.     

In-Depth Characterization of Sheep (Ovis aries) Milk Whey Proteome and Comparison with Cow (Bos taurus)

An in-depth proteomic study of sheep milk whey is reported and compared to the data available in the literature for the cow whey proteome. A combinatorial peptide ligand library kit (ProteoMiner) was used to normalize protein abundance in the sheep whey proteome followed by an in-gel digest of a 1D-PAGE display and an in-solution digestion followed by OFFGEL isoelectric focusing fractionation. The peptide fractions obtained were then analyzed by LC-MS/MS. This enabled identification of 669 proteins in sheep whey that, to our knowledge, is the largest inventory of sheep whey proteins identified to date. A comprehensive list of cow whey proteins currently available in the literature (783 proteins from unique genes) was assembled and compared to the sheep whey proteome data obtained in this study (606 proteins from unique genes). This comparison revealed that while the 233 proteins shared by the two species were significantly enriched for immune and inflammatory responses in gene ontology analysis, proteins only found in sheep whey in this study were identified that take part in both cellular development and immune responses, whereas proteins only found in cow whey in this study were identified to be associated with metabolism and cellular growth.     

Differential Impact of Constrictive Physiology after Pericardiocentesis in Malignancy Patients with Pericardial Effusion

Background

Echocardiographic signs of constrictive physiology (CP) after pericardiocentesis are frequently observed in malignancy patients. The purpose of the current study was to explore whether features of CP after pericardiocentesis have prognostic impact in malignancy patients with pericardial effusion (PE).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed 467 consecutive patients who underwent pericardiocentesis at our institution from January 2006 to May 2014. Among them, 205 patients with advanced malignancy who underwent comprehensive echocardiography after the procedure comprised the study population. Co-primary end points were all-cause mortality (ACM) and repeated drainage (RD) for PE. Patients were divided into four subgroups according to cytologic result for malignant cells and CP (positive cytology with negative CP, both positive, both negative, and negative cytology with positive CP).

Results

CP after pericardiocentesis was present in 106 patients (50%) at median 4 days after the procedure. During median follow-up of 208 days, ACM and RD occurred in 162 patients (79%) and 29 patients (14%), respectively. Cox regression analysis revealed that independent predictors for ACM were male gender and positive cytology (all, p < 0.05). For RD, predictors were positive cytology, the absence of cardiac tamponade, and negative CP after pericardiocentesis (all, p < 0.05). When the patients were divided into four subgroups, patients with negative cytology and positive CP demonstrated the most favorable survival (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.39, p = 0.005) and the lowest RD rates (HR: 0.07, p = 0.012).

Conclusion

CP after pericardiocentesis is common, but does not always imply poor survival or the need for RD in patients with advanced malignancies. On the contrary, the presence of CP in patients with negative cytology conferred the most favorable survival and the lowest rate of RD. Comprehensive echocardiographic evaluation for CP after pericardiocentesis would be helpful for predicting prognosis in patients with advanced malignancies.