Polymerase chain reaction–hybridization method using urease gene sequences for high-throughput Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum detection and differentiation

In this article, we discuss the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–hybridization assay that we developed for high-throughput simultaneous detection and differentiation of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum using one set of primers and two specific DNA probes based on urease gene nucleotide sequence differences. First, U. urealyticum and U. parvum DNA samples were specifically amplified using one set of biotin-labeled primers. Furthermore, amine-modified DNA probes, which can specifically react with U. urealyticum or U. parvum DNA, were covalently immobilized to a DNA–BIND plate surface. The plate was then incubated with the PCR products to facilitate sequence-specific DNA binding. Horseradish peroxidase–streptavidin conjugation and a colorimetric assay were used. Based on the results, the PCR–hybridization assay we developed can specifically differentiate U. urealyticum and U. parvum with high sensitivity (95%) compared with cultivation (72.5%). Hence, this study demonstrates a new method for high-throughput simultaneous differentiation and detection of U. urealyticum and U. parvum with high sensitivity. Based on these observations, the PCR–hybridization assay developed in this study is ideal for detecting and discriminating U. urealyticum and U. parvum in clinical applications.     

沙丁胺醇联合福多司坦治疗慢性阻塞性肺疾病稳定期的疗效及对患者血清IL-6、TNF-α、hs-CRP水平的影响

目的:探讨沙丁胺醇联合福多司坦治疗慢性阻塞性肺疾病稳定期的临床疗效及对患者血清白细胞介素-6(IL-6)、肿瘤坏死因子α(TNF-α)、超敏c反应蛋白(hs-CRP)水平的影响。方法:选择2016年1月到2017年1月我院接诊的稳定期慢性阻塞性肺病患者100例作为研究对象,按照随机数表法分为观察组(n=51)和对照组(n=49)。对照组使用沙丁胺醇治疗,观察组采用沙丁胺醇联合福多司坦治疗。比较两组治疗后的疗效、治疗前后血清IL-6、TNF-α、hs-CRP、肺功能的变化及不良反应的发生情况。结果:治疗后,观察组临床疗效总有效率(94.12%)显著高于对照组(75.51%,P0.05)。两组患者治疗后血清IL-6、TNF-α、hs-CRP水平均治疗前均明显下降,且观察组患者血清IL-6、TNF-α、hs-CRP水平均明显低于对照组(P0.05);两组治疗后各第1秒用力呼气容积(FEV1)、用力肺活量(FVC)、最大呼气流量(PEF)较治疗前均显著升高(P0.05),且观察组FEV1、FVC、PEF均明显高于对照组(P0.05);两组患者不良反应总发生率分别19.61%、38.78%,观察组显著低于对照组(P0.05)。结论:沙丁胺醇联合福多司坦治疗慢性阻塞性肺疾病稳定期的临床疗效和安全性均显著优于单用沙丁胺醇治疗,可能与其有效改善患者血清IL-6、TNF-α、hs-CRP水平有关。     

宫腔镜手术对子宫黏膜下肌瘤患者卵巢功能、免疫功能及炎症因子水平的影响

目的:探讨宫腔镜手术对子宫黏膜下肌瘤患者卵巢功能、免疫功能及炎症因子水平的影响。方法:选取2017年1月～2018年4月期间我院收治的子宫黏膜下肌瘤患者107例为研究对象。根据不同的手术治疗方式将患者分为腹腔镜组(n=55,行腹腔镜子宫肌瘤切除术)和宫腔镜组(n=52,行宫腔镜子宫肌瘤切除术),比较两组患者围术期指标;比较两组术前、术后3个月卵巢功能[促卵泡生长素(FSH)、雌二醇(E2)、黄体生成素(LH)、窦卵泡数量(AFC)]、细胞免疫指标(CD3+、CD4+、CD8+)、体液免疫指标(Ig G、Ig A、Ig M)水平;比较两组术前、术后7 d炎症因子[白介素-2(IL-2)、白介素-6(IL-6)、C反应蛋白(CRP)]指标水平;记录两组术后并发症发生情况。结果:两组患者手术时间、术中出血量比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05);宫腔镜组术后下床时间、肛门排气时间、住院时间以及抗生素使用时间均短于腹腔镜组(P0.05)。两组患者术后3个月E2、LH、AFC比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05);腹腔镜组术后3个月FSH水平高于术前及宫腔镜组(P0.05)。腹腔镜组患者术后3个月细胞免疫指标低于术前及宫腔镜组(P0.05),但体液免疫指标与术前比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05);宫腔镜组术后3个月各项免疫指标与术前比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。两组患者术后7d IL-2、IL-6以及CRP水平均升高,但宫腔镜组低于腹腔镜组(P0.05)。腹腔镜组术后并发症发生率为10.91%(6/55),与宫腔镜组的9.62%(5/52)比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:宫腔镜子宫肌瘤切除术对子宫黏膜下肌瘤患者卵巢功能、免疫功能影响较轻,同时可降低炎性因子水平,未出现严重并发症,具有一定的临床应用价值。     

Deletion of pancreatic β‐cell adenosine kinase improves glucose homeostasis in young mice and ameliorates streptozotocin‐induced hyperglycaemia

Severe reduction in the β‐cell number (collectively known as the β‐cell mass) contributes to the development of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Recent pharmacological studies have suggested that increased pancreatic β‐cell proliferation could be due to specific inhibition of adenosine kinase (ADK). However, genetic evidence for the function of pancreatic β‐cell ADK under physiological conditions or in a pathological context is still lacking. In this study, we crossed mice carrying LoxP‐flanked Adk gene with Ins2‐Cre mice to acquire pancreatic β ‐cell ADK deficiency (Ins2‐Cre^±Adk^fl/fl) mice. Our results revealed that Ins2‐Cre^+/‐Adk^fl/fl mice showed improved glucose metabolism and β‐cell mass in younger mice, but showed normal activity in adult mice. Moreover, Ins2‐Cre^±Adk^fl/fl mice were more resistant to streptozotocin (STZ) induced hyperglycaemia and pancreatic β‐cell damage in adult mice. In conclusion, we found that ADK negatively regulates β‐cell replication in young mice as well as under pathological conditions, such as STZ induced pancreatic β‐cell damage. Our study provided genetic evidence that specific inhibition of pancreatic β‐cell ADK has potential for anti‐diabetic therapy.     

Steric Engineering of Alkylthiolation Side Chains to Finely Tune Miscibility in Nonfullerene Polymer Solar Cells

Morphology and miscibility control are still a great challenge in polymer solar cells. Despite physical tools being applied, chemical strategies are still limited and complex. To finely tune blend miscibility to obtain optimized morphology, chemical steric engineering is proposed to systemically investigate its effects on optical and electronic properties, especially on a balance between crystallinity and miscibility. By changing the alkylthiol side chain orientation different steric effects are realized in three different polymers. Surprisingly, the photovoltaic device of the polymer PTBB‐m with middle steric structure affords a better power conversion efficiency, over 12%, compared to those of the polymers PTBB‐o and PTBB‐p with large or small steric structures, which could be attributed to a more balanced blend miscibility without sacrificing charge‐carrier transport. Space charge‐limited current, atomic force microscopy, grazing incidence wide angle X‐ray scattering, and resonant soft X‐ray scattering measurements show that the steric engineering of alkylthiol side chains can have significant impacts on polymer aggregation properties, blend miscibility, and photovoltaic performances. More important, the control of miscibility via the simple chemical approach has preliminarily proved its great potential and will pave a new avenue for optimizing the blend morphology.     

Radially Oriented Single‐Crystal Primary Nanosheets Enable Ultrahigh Rate and Cycling Properties of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 Cathode Material for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Ni‐rich Li[Ni_xCo_yMn_1?x?y]O₂ (x ≥ 0.8) layered oxides are the most promising cathode materials for lithium‐ion batteries due to their high reversible capacity of over 200 mAh g^?1. Unfortunately, the anisotropic properties associated with the α‐NaFeO₂ structured crystal grains result in poor rate capability and insufficient cycle life. To address these issues, a micrometer‐sized Ni‐rich LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ secondary cathode material consisting of radially aligned single‐crystal primary particles is proposed and synthesized. Concomitant with this unique crystallographic texture, all the exposed surfaces are active {010} facets, and 3D Li⁺ ion diffusion channels penetrate straightforwardly from surface to center, remarkably improving the Li⁺ diffusion coefficient. Moreover, coordinated charge–discharge volume change upon cycling is achieved by the consistent crystal orientation, significantly alleviating the volume‐change‐induced intergrain stress. Accordingly, this material delivers superior reversible capacity (203.4 mAh g^?1 at 3.0–4.3 V) and rate capability (152.7 mAh g^?1 at a current density of 1000 mA g^?1). Further, this structure demonstrates excellent cycling stability without any degradation after 300 cycles. The anisotropic morphology modulation provides a simple, efficient, and scalable way to boost the performance and applicability of Ni‐rich layered oxide cathode materials.     

Rational Design of Hierarchical “Ceramic‐in‐Polymer” and “Polymer‐in‐Ceramic” Electrolytes for Dendrite‐Free Solid‐State Batteries

Solid polymer electrolytes as one of the promising solid‐state electrolytes have received extensive attention due to their excellent flexibility. However, the issues of lithium (Li) dendrite growth still hinder their practical applications in solid‐state batteries (SSBs). Herein, composite electrolytes from “ceramic‐in‐polymer” (CIP) to “polymer‐in‐ceramic” (PIC) with different sizes of garnet particles are investigated for their effectiveness in dendrite suppression. While the CIP electrolyte with 20 vol% 200 nm Li_6.4La₃Zr_1.4Ta_0.6O₁₂ (LLZTO) particles (CIP‐200 nm) exhibits the highest ionic conductivity of 1.6 × 10^?4 S cm^?1 at 30 °C and excellent flexibility, the PIC electrolyte with 80 vol% 5 µm LLZTO (PIC‐5 µm) shows the highest tensile strength of 12.7 MPa. A sandwich‐type composite electrolyte (SCE) with hierarchical garnet particles (a PIC‐5 µm interlayer sandwiched between two CIP‐200 nm thin layers) is constructed to simultaneously achieve dendrite suppression and excellent interfacial contact with Li metal. The SCE enables highly stable Li plating/stripping cycling for over 400 h at 0.2 mA cm^?2 at 30 °C. The LiFePO₄/SCE/Li cells also demonstrate excellent cycle performance at room temperature. Fabricating sandwich‐type composite electrolytes with hierarchical filler designs can be an effective strategy to achieve dendrite‐free SSBs with high performance and high safety at room temperature.     

Introgression lines of Solanum sitiens,a wild nightshade of the Atacama Desert,in the genome of cultivated tomato

The wild tomato relative Solanum sitiens is a xerophyte endemic to the Atacama Desert of Chile and a potential source of genes for tolerance to drought, salinity and low‐temperature stresses. However, until recently, strong breeding barriers prevented its hybridization and introgression with cultivated tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. We overcame these barriers using embryo rescue, bridging lines and allopolyploid hybrids, and synthesized a library of introgression lines (ILs) that captures the genome of S. sitiens in the background of cultivated tomato. The IL library consists of 56 overlapping introgressions that together represent about 93% of the S. sitiens genome: 65% in homozygous and 28% in heterozygous (segregating) ILs. The breakpoints of each segment and the gaps in genome coverage were mapped by single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping using the SolCAP SNP array. Marker‐assisted selection was used to backcross selected introgressions into tomato, to recover a uniform genetic background, to isolate recombinant sub‐lines with shorter introgressions and to select homozygous genotypes. Each IL contains a single S. sitiens chromosome segment, defined by markers, in the genetic background of cv. NC 84173, a fresh market inbred line. Large differences were observed between the lines for both qualitative and quantitative morphological traits, suggesting that the ILs contain highly divergent allelic variation. Several loci contributing to unilateral incompatibility or hybrid necrosis were mapped with the lines. This IL population will facilitate studies of the S. sitiens genome and expands the range of genetic variation available for tomato breeding and research.