Chlorinated Oligomers with Regulate Planarity Achieving Superior Photovoltaic Performance.

Chlorine substitution, as an effective and low-cost modification strategy, has been applied in the design of donor and acceptor structures in organic solar cells. We synthesized a series of chlorinated dimerized acceptors to investigate the effect of chlorine numbers and locations on the photovoltaic properties. The results show that the planarity and morphology of DYV-γ-2Cl are greatly improved due to the appropriate numbers and positions of the substituted chlorine atoms. Therefore, the device based on PM6:DYV-γ-2Cl achieves a superior power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.54% among the three oligomeric acceptors with optimized molecular planarity and film morphology. This work demonstrated the positive effect of suitable numbers and the substitution positions of chlorines on the molecular arrangement and photovoltaic properties of the corresponding dimerized acceptors.

Role of histone variants H2BC1 and H2AZ.2 in H2AK119ub nucleosome organization and Polycomb gene silencing.

Ubiquitination of histone H2A at lysine 119 residue (H2AK119ub) plays critical roles in a wide range of physiological processes, including Polycomb gene silencing 1,2 , replication 3-5 , DNA damage repair 6-10 , X inactivation 11,12 , and heterochromatin organization 13,14 . However, the underlying mechanism and structural basis of H2AK119ub remains largely elusive. In this study, we report that H2AK119ub nucleosomes have a unique composition, containing histone variants H2BC1 and H2AZ.2, and importantly, this composition is required for H2AK119ub and Polycomb gene silencing. Using the UAB domain of RSF1, we purified H2AK119ub nucleosomes to a sufficient amount and purity. Mass spectrometry analyses revealed that H2AK119ub nucleosomes contain the histone variants H2BC1 and H2AZ.2. A cryo-EM study resolved the structure of native H2AK119ub nucleosomes to a 2.6A resolution, confirming H2BC1 in one subgroup of H2AK119ub nucleosomes. Tandem GST-UAB pulldown, Flag-H2AZ.2, and HA-H2BC1 immunoprecipitation revealed that H2AK119ub nucleosomes could be separated into distinct subgroups, suggesting their composition heterogeneity and potential dynamic organization. Knockout or knockdown of H2BC1 or H2AZ.2 reduced cellular H2AK119ub levels, establishing H2BC1 and H2AZ.2 as critical determinants of H2AK119ub. Furthermore, genomic binding profiles of H2BC1 and H2AZ.2 overlapped significantly with H2AK119ub binding, with the most significant overlapping in the gene body and intergenic regions. Finally, assays in developing embryos reveal an interaction of H2AZ.2, H2BC1, and RING1A in vivo . Thus, this study revealed, for the first time, that the H2AK119ub nucleosome has a unique composition, and this composition is required for H2AK119ub and Polycomb gene silencing.

Effect of sling exercise combined with Schroth therapy on adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis: A twelve-week randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common structural deformity of the spine during adolescence, which could cause varying degrees of physical and mental damage to patients. Schroth therapy and sling exercise are widely used in the treatment of patients with AIS currently, and have shown the significant therapeutic effect relatively. OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy of sling exercise combined with Schroth therapy on adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis (MIS). METHODS: Sixty patients with AIS were randomly divided into the Schroth+sling group (n= 31) and the Schroth group (n= 29). Patients in both groups received Schroth therapy, and sling exercise was added in the Schroth+sling group. Before and after 12 weeks of treatment, the Cobb angle, angle of trunk rotation (ATR), Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) scale score and averaged electromyography (AEMG) of bilateral paraspinal muscles were evaluated. RESULTS: After the treatment, Cobb angle, ATR in both groups were decreased compared with those before (P< 0.001), and the decrease in the Schroth+sling group was more obvious (P< 0.05). The AEMG of bilateral paraspinal muscles and the total score, posture, mental health of SRS-22 of the two groups improved compared with those before treatment (P< 0.05), and the Schroth+sling group had a significant improvement than the Schroth group (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: Schroth therapy improved the degree of scoliosis, torticollis, quality of life, and bilateral paraspinal strength on adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis. The effect was more pronounced when the sling exercise was included in the treatment regimens.

Interpretable machine learning model based on the systemic inflammation response index and ultrasound features can predict central lymph node metastasis in cN0T1-T2 papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Background: It is arguable whether individuals with T1-T2 papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) who have a clinically negative (cN0) diagnosis should undergo prophylactic central lymph node dissection (pCLND) on a routine basis. Many inflammatory indices, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII), have been reported in PTC. However, the associations between the systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) and the risk of central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) remain unclear. Methods: Retrospective research involving 1,394 individuals with cN0T1-T2 PTC was carried out, and the included patients were randomly allocated into training (70%) and testing (30%) subgroups. The preoperative inflammatory indices and ultrasound (US) features were used to train the models. To assess the forecasting factors as well as drawing nomograms, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate logistic regression were utilized. Then eight interpretable models based on machine learning (ML) algorithms were constructed, including decision tree (DT), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), artificial neural network (ANN), random forest (RF), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM), and categorical boosting (CatBoost). The performance of the models was evaluated by incorporating the area under the precision-recall curve (auPR) and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (auROC), as well as other conventional metrics. The interpretability of the optimum model was illustrated via the shapley additive explanations (SHAP) approach. Results: Younger age, larger tumor size, capsular invasion, location (lower and isthmus), unclear margin, microcalcifications, color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) blood flow, and higher SIRI (≥0.77) were independent positive predictors of CLNM, whereas female sex and Hashimoto thyroiditis were independent negative predictors, and nomograms were subsequently constructed. Taking into account both the auROC and auPR, the RF algorithm showed the best performance, and superiority to XGBoost, CatBoost and ANN. In addition, the role of key variables was visualized in the SHAP plot. Conclusions: An interpretable ML model based on the SIRI and US features can be used to predict CLNM in individuals with cN0T1-T2 PTC.

Manipulating the Alkyl Chains of Naphthodithiophene Imide-Based Polymers to Concurrently Boost the Efficiency and Stability of Organic Solar Cells.

Morphology instability holds the major responsibility for efficiency degradation of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, how to develop polymer donors simultaneously with high efficiency and excellent morphology stability remains challenging. Herein, we reported naphtho[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene-5,6-imide (NDTI)-based new polymers PNDT1 and PNDT2. The alkyl chain engineering leads to high crystallinity, high hole mobility (>10-3 cm2 V-1 S-1), and nanofibrous film morphology, which enable PNDT2 to exhibit an efficiency of 18.13% and a remarkable FF value of 0.80. Moreover, the NDTIs have short π-π stacking and abundant short interactions, and their polymers exhibit superior morphological stability. Therefore, the PNDT2-based OSCs exhibit much better device stability than that of PNDT1, PAB-α, and benchmark polymers PM6 and D18. This work suggests the great importance of the large conjugated backbone of the monomer and alkyl chain engineering to develop high-performance and morphology-stable polymers for OSCs.

Effects of balance training combined with Schroth therapy on adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis: A six-week randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) has a great negative impact on the physical and mental health of patients; thus, a range of effective, timely interventions are urgently needed. Currently, there is a lack of evidence to illustrate the effect of balance training in patients with AIS, and the traditional AIS therapy often ignores the recovery in balance function of patients with AIS. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of balance training combined with Schroth therapy among adolescent with mild idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: 59 adolescents (aged 10 to 18, 35.59% male) with idiopathic scoliosis were selected and divided into an intervention group (n= 30) and a control group (n= 29). Participants in both groups received routine rehabilitation treatment based on Schroth therapy, and balance training was added in the intervention group. The duration of treatment for both groups was 6 weeks. The Trunk Rotation Angle (ATR), Cobb angle, Scoliosis Research Society 22 (SRS-22) scale and balance function of the two groups were evaluated at baseline and after the intervention. RESULTS: No significant difference of outcomes were observed between groups at baseline (P> 0.05). After 6 weeks of intervention, the ATR, Cobb angle, SRS-22 and balance function of the two groups improved significantly compared with those before treatment (P< 0.05), and the intervention group had a significant improvement than the control group (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: Balance training combined with Schroth therapy for adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis can significantly improve ATR, Cobb angle and quality of life, as well as overall balance function.

Mapping brain-wide excitatory projectome of primate prefrontal cortex at submicron resolution and comparison with diffusion tractography.

Resolving trajectories of axonal pathways in the primate prefrontal cortex remains crucial to gain insights into higher-order processes of cognition and emotion, which requires a comprehensive map of axonal projections linking demarcated subdivisions of prefrontal cortex and the rest of brain. Here, we report a mesoscale excitatory projectome issued from the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) to the entire macaque brain by using viral-based genetic axonal tracing in tandem with high-throughput serial two-photon tomography, which demonstrated prominent monosynaptic projections to other prefrontal areas, temporal, limbic, and subcortical areas, relatively weak projections to parietal and insular regions but no projections directly to the occipital lobe. In a common 3D space, we quantitatively validated an atlas of diffusion tractography-derived vlPFC connections with correlative green fluorescent protein-labeled axonal tracing, and observed generally good agreement except a major difference in the posterior projections of inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. These findings raise an intriguing question as to how neural information passes along long-range association fiber bundles in macaque brains, and call for the caution of using diffusion tractography to map the wiring diagram of brain circuits.

In the brain is a web of interconnected nerve cells that send messages to one another via spindly projections called axons. These axons join together at junctions called synapses to create circuits of nerve cells which connect neighboring or distant brain regions. Notably, long-range neural connections underpin higher-order cognitive skills (such as planning and emotion regulation) which make humans distinct from our primate relatives. Only by untangling these far-reaching networks can researchers begin to delineate what sets the human brain apart from other species. Researchers deploy a range of imaging techniques to map neural networks: scanning entire brains using MRI machines, or imaging thin slices of fluorescently labelled brain tissue using powerful microscopes. However, tracing long-range axons at a high resolution is challenging, and has stirred up debate about whether some neural tracts, such as the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, are present in all primates or only humans. To address these discrepancies, Yan, Yu et al. employed a two-pronged approach to map neural circuits in the brains of macaques. First, two techniques ­ called viral tracing and two-photon microscopy ­ were used to create a three-dimensional, fine-grain map showing how the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), which regulates complex behaviors, connects to the rest of the brain. This revealed prominent axons from the vlPFC projecting via a single synapse to distant brain regions involved in higher-order functions, such as encoding memories and processing emotion. However, there were no direct, monosynaptic connections between the vlPFC and the occipital lobe, the brain's visual processing center at the back of the head. Next, Yan, Yu et al. used a specialized MRI scanner to create an atlas of neural circuits connected to the vlPFC, and compared these results to a technique tracing axons stained with a fluorescent dye. In general, there was good agreement between the two methods, except for major differences in the rear-end projections that typically form the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. This suggests that this long-range neural pathway exists in monkeys, but it connects via multiple synapses instead of a single junction as was previously thought. The findings of Yan, Yu et al. provide new insights on the far-reaching neural pathways connecting distant parts of the macaque brain. It also suggests that atlases of neural circuits from whole brain scans should be taken with caution and validated using neural tracing experiments.

USP49-Mediated Histone H2B Deubiquitination Regulates HCT116 Cell Proliferation through MDM2-p53 Axis.

Posttranslational histone modifications play important roles in regulating chromatin structure and transcriptional regulation. Histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub) is an essential regulator for transcriptional elongation and ongoing transcription. Here, we report that USP49, as a histone H2B deubiquitinase, is involved in HCT116 cell proliferation through modulating MDM2-p53 pathway genes. USP49 knockout contributes to increased HCT116 cell proliferation and migration. Importantly, USP49 knockout stimulated MDM2 transcriptional levels and then inhibited the mRNA levels of TP53 target genes. Conversely, the overexpression of USP49 suppressed MDM2 gene expression and then promoted TP53 target genes. Moreover, chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that USP49 directly bound to the promoter of the MDM2 gene. USP49 knockout increased H2Bub enrichment at the MDM2 gene, whereas USP49 overexpression downregulated the H2Bub level at the MDM2 gene. Therefore, our findings indicated that USP49-mediated H2B deubiquitination controls the transcription of MDM2-p53 axis genes in the process of HCT116 cell proliferation.

Normative Analysis of Individual Brain Differences Based on a Population MRI-Based Atlas of Cynomolgus Macaques.

The developmental trajectory of the primate brain varies substantially with aging across subjects. However, this ubiquitous variability between individuals in brain structure is difficult to quantify and has thus essentially been ignored. Based on a large-scale structural magnetic resonance imaging dataset acquired from 162 cynomolgus macaques, we create a species-specific 3D template atlas of the macaque brain, and deploy normative modeling to characterize individual variations of cortical thickness (CT) and regional gray matter volume (GMV). We observed an overall decrease in total GMV and mean CT, and an increase in white matter volume from juvenile to early adult. Specifically, CT and regional GMV were greater in prefrontal and temporal cortices relative to early unimodal areas. Age-dependent trajectories of thickness and volume for each cortical region revealed an increase in the medial temporal lobe, and decreases in all other regions. A low percentage of highly individualized deviations of CT and GMV were identified (0.0021%, 0.0043%, respectively, P < 0.05, false discovery rate [FDR]-corrected). Our approach provides a natural framework to parse individual neuroanatomical differences for use as a reference standard in macaque brain research, potentially enabling inferences regarding the degree to which behavioral or symptomatic variables map onto brain structure in future disease studies.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia relative protein ZMYND10 is involved in regulating ciliary function and intraflagellar transport in Paramecium tetraurelia.

Cilia are highly conserved in most eukaryotes and are regarded as an important organelle for motility and sensation in various species. Cilia are microscopic, hair-like cytoskeletal structures that protrude from the cell surface. The major focus in studies of cilia has been concentrated on the ciliary dysfunction in vertebrates that causes multisymptomatic diseases, which together are referred to as ciliopathies. To date, the understanding of ciliopathies has largely depended on the study of ciliary structure and function in different animal models. Zinc finger MYND-type containing 10 (ZMYND10) is a ciliary protein that was recently found to be mutated in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). In Paramecium tetraurelia, we identified two ZMYND10 genes, arising from a whole-genome duplication. Using RNAi, we found that the depletion of ZMYND10 in P. tetraurelia causes severe ciliary defects, thus provoking swimming dysfunction and lethality. Moreover, we found that the absence of ZMYND10 caused the abnormal localization of the intraflagellar transport (IFT) protein IFT43 along cilia. These results suggest that ZMYND10 is involved in the regulation of ciliary function and IFT, which may contribute to the study of PCD pathogenesis.

Gradually evaluating of suicidal risk in depression by semi-supervised cluster analysis on resting-state fMRI.

A timely and effective evaluation of the suicidal ideation bears practical meaning, particularly for the depressive who tend to disguise the real suicide intent and without obvious symptoms. Measuring individual ideation of the depression with uncertain or transient suicide crisis is the purpose. Resting-state fMRI data were collected from 78 depressed patients with variable clinical suicidal crisis. Thirty subjects were well labeled as extremely serious individuals with suicide attempters or as without suicidal ideation. A feature mask was constructed via the two sample t-test on their regional conncectivities. Then, a semi-supervised machine learning frame using the feature mask was designed to assist in clarifying gradation of suicidal susceptibility for the residual forty-eight vaguely defined subjects, by a way of Iterative Self-Organizing Data analysis techniques (ISODATA). Such semi-supervised model was designed purposely to block out the effect of disease itself on the suicide intendancy evaluation. The vague-labeled patients were divided into another two different stages relating to their suicidal susceptibility. The distance ratio of each subject to the two well-defined extreme groups in the feature space can be utilized as the suicide risk index. The re-evaluation of the Nurses' Global Assessment of Suicide Risk (NGASR) via experts blind to original HAM-D rates was significantly correlated with the model estimation. The constructed model suggested its potential to examine the risk of suicidal in an objective way. The functional connectivity, locating mostly within the frontal-temporal circuit and involving the default mode network (DMN), were well integrated to discriminative the gradual susceptibility of suicidal.

Intraflagellar Transport 80 Is Required for Cilia Construction and Maintenance in Paramecium tetraurelia.

Intraflagellar transport (IFT) represents a bidirectional dynamic process that carries cargo essential for cilia building and the maintenance of ciliary function, which is important for the locomotion of single cells, intracellular and intercellular signalling transduction. Accumulated evidence has revealed that defects in IFT cause several clinical disorders. Here, we determined the role of IFT80, an IFT-B protein that is mutated in Jeune asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy. Using the RNAi method in the ciliate Paramecium as model, we found that loss of IFT80 prevents cilia biogenesis and causes strong cell lethality. A specific antibody against IFT80 was also prepared in our study, which labelled IFT80 in cilia of Paramecium. GFP fusion experiments were performed to illustrate the dynamic movement of IFT-A and IFT-B proteins in cilia of Paramecium; then, we found that the depletion of IFT80 in cells prevents IFT-A and IFT-B proteins from entering the cilia. Our results showed the distribution change of other IFT proteins in cells that were depleted of IFT80, and we discuss the possible roles of IFT80 in Paramecium.

A graph representation of functional diversity of brain regions.

INTRODUCTION: Modern network science techniques are popularly used to characterize the functional organization of the brain. A major challenge in network neuroscience is to understand how functional characteristics and topological architecture are related in the brain. Previous task-based functional neuroimaging studies have uncovered a core set of brain regions (e.g., frontal and parietal) supporting diverse cognitive tasks. However, the graph representation of functional diversity of brain regions remains to be understood. METHODS: Here, we present a novel graph measure, the neighbor dispersion index, to test the hypothesis that the functional diversity of a brain region is embodied by the topological dissimilarity of its immediate neighbors in the large-scale functional brain network. RESULTS: We consistently identified in two independent and publicly accessible resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets that brain regions in the frontoparietal and salience networks showed higher neighbor dispersion index, whereas those in the visual, auditory, and sensorimotor networks showed lower neighbor dispersion index. Moreover, we observed that human fluid intelligence was associated with the neighbor dispersion index of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while no such association for the other metrics commonly used for characterizing network hubs was noticed even with an uncorrected p < .05. CONCLUSIONS: This newly developed graph theoretical method offers fresh insight into the topological organization of functional brain networks and also sheds light on individual differences in human intelligence.

Reconfiguration of hub-level community structure in depressions: A follow-up study via diffusion tensor imaging.

BACKGROUND: The role of abnormal communications among large-scale brain networks have been given increasing attentions in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, few studies have investigated the effect of antidepressant medication treatment on the information communication of structural brain networks, especially converged from the individual analysis. METHODS: Nineteen unipolar MDD patients completed two diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans before and after 8-week treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. DTI data of 37 matched healthy controls were acquired. We focused on a hub-level community structure network, and investigated whether it had differences on the whole structure and which regions drove these differences in terms of modular affiliation and hub role shift. Data were analyzed by the novel permutation network framework, which appraised the topological consistency of hubs and reserved an individual information. RESULTS: Compared to the pre-treatment state, post-treatment patients exhibited increasing number of modular members in the modules that included the right medial superior frontal gyrus (SFGmed) or the thalamus. Moreover, the result suggested a hub role shift of the left insula from a provincial-hub before treatment to a connector-hub after treatment. Additionally, reduced inter-module degree in the right SFGmed was positively correlated with the reduced sum score of 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale at the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Antidepressant medication treatment might be associated with modular reconfigurations of hubs within the fronto-limbic circuit. Moreover, increased inter-module connections of the left insula might improve its integration ability, promoting the remission of MDD. The correlation results of the right SFGmed suggested it might be a valuable indicator for treatment response.

Comparative study of polymer containing beta-cyclodextrin and -COOH for adsorption toward aniline, 1-naphthylamine and methylene blue.

Three different polymers P1, P2 and P3 (P1 containing both beta-CD and -COOH, P2 containing beta-CD and P3 containing -COOH) were synthesized and applied to adsorption toward aniline, 1-naphthylamine and methylene blue. The concentrations (C) before and after adsorption were determined and the adsorption capacities (q) of P1, P2 and P3 were calculated. The maximum adsorption capacities (q(max)) toward aniline: q(max) (P1)=104 micromol g(-1), q(max) (P2)=14.9 micromol g(-1) and q(max) (P3)=53.1 micromol g(-1); toward 1-naphthylamine: q(max) (P1)=184 micromol g(-1), q(max) (P2)=53.8 micromol g(-1) and q(max) (P3)=125 micromol g(-1); toward methylene blue: q(max) (P1)=200 micromol g(-1), q(max) (P2)=12.7 micromol g(-1) and q(max) (P3)=215 micromol g(-1). P1 exhibited remarkable adsorption toward all the three adsorbates. P2 was almost equal to P1 in adsorption toward methylene blue, but was less efficient than P1 in adsorption toward aniline and 1-naphthylamine. P3 also exhibited considerable adsorption toward aniline and 1-naphthylamine, but was inefficient toward methylene blue. P1 was obtained from nontoxic materials and through environment friendly procedures, so it was potentially an efficient and green adsorbent for water purification.