Abstract Objective This retrospective study aimed to analyze the clinical efficacy of two regenerative surgical methods — Bio-Oss granules combined with barrier membranes and Bio-Oss Collagen alone — and to help clinicians achieve better periodontal regeneration outcomes in the specific periodontal condition. Methodology Patients who underwent periodontal regeneration surgery from January 2018 to April 2022 were retrospectively screened, and their clinical and radiographic outcomes at 6 months postoperatively were analyzed. The probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), gingival recession (GR), distance from the cemento-enamel junction to the bottom of the bone defect (CEJ-BD), and depth of intrabony defects (INFRA) were recorded before the operation (T0) and 6 months after it (T1), and subsequently compared. Results In total, 143 patients were included — 77 were placed in the Bio-Oss group and 66 were placed in the Bio-Oss Collagen group. All indicators, including PD and CAL at T1, showed significant differences compared to baseline, for both groups (P<0.001). PD reduction was greater in the group receiving the Bio-Oss Collagen treatment (P=0.042). Furthermore, in cases when the baseline PD range was 7-11 mm and the age range was 35-50 years, PD reduction was more significant for patients receiving the Bio-Oss Collagen treatment (P=0.031, 0.023). A linear regression analysis indicated that postoperative PD and CAL were positively correlated with baseline values, and that the efficacy tended to decrease with increasing age. Conclusion Both the use of Bio-Oss Collagen alone and the use of Bio-Oss granules combined with barrier membranes resulted in significant effects in the treatment of periodontal intrabony defects. The Bio-Oss Collagen treatment generated more improvements in PD than the Bio-Oss granules combined with barrier membranes, particularly within the baseline PD range of 7-11 mm and the 35-50 years age group. Additionally, age was the main factor influencing the effectiveness of regenerative surgery for intrabony defects: older individuals exhibited fewer improvements.

Abstract Waterlogging stress is an important abiotic stress that adversely affects maize growth and yield. The mechanism regulating the early stage of the maize response to waterlogging stress is largely unknown. In this study, CM37 and cmh15 seedlings were treated with waterlogging stress and then examined in terms of their physiological changes. The results indicated that inbred line cmh15 is more tolerant to waterlogging stress and less susceptible to peroxide-based damages than CM37. The RNA sequencing analysis identified 1,359 down-regulated genes and 830 up-regulated genes in the waterlogging-treated cmh15 plants (relative to the corresponding control levels). According to the Gene Ontology analysis for the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), some important terms were identified which may play important roles in the response to waterlogging stress. Moreover, enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were also identified for the DEGs. Furthermore, the substantial changes in the expression of 36 key transcription factors may be closely related to the maize in response to waterlogging stress. This study offers important insights into the mechanism in regulating maize tolerance to waterlogging stress, with important foundations for future research.

Abstract We sought to explore the relationship between renal lesion features and genetic mutations in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) patients. TSC patients with renal lesions were subjected to TSC1/2 gene next-generation sequencing (NGS). TSC1/2 mutation types and imaging examinations were screened for combined analysis of genetic and clinical features. Seventy-three probands among TSC patients with renal lesions were included. Twenty affected relatives were also included. In total, 93 patients were included. Eighty patients (86.0%) had bilateral renal angiomyolipomas (AMLs), and one had epithelioid AML. Two patients had polycystic kidney disease, one had renal cell carcinoma, and one had Wilms tumor. Among the 73 probands, four had TSC1 mutations, 53 had TSC2 mutations, and 16 had no mutations identified (NMI). There was no statistically significant difference between TSC1 mutation, TSC2 mutation and NMI group (P= 0.309), or between familial and sporadic groups (P= 0.775) when considering AML size. There was no statistically significant difference between pathogenic/likely pathogenic and benign/likely benign/NMI groups (P= 0.363) or among patients with different mutation types of TSC2 (P= 0.906). The relationship between the conditions of TSC gene mutations and the severity of renal lesions still needs more analysis. Patients with NMI, particularly those with familial disease, need more attention because the pathogenesis remains unknown.

Abstract Two transition metal coordination complexes [Co(Tppebc)2(Py)(H2O)]n (1) and [Ni(Tppebc)2(Py)(H2O)]n (2) (Py = pyridine, Tppebc = 3-(4-(2-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)phenyl-4-yl) phenyl)-2-ethoxy-3H-benzimidazole-4-carboxylic acid) have been prepared by a hydrothermal method. The structural unit of complexes 1 and 2 adopts similar distorted octahedra geometry. Furthermore, both of those complexes feature a 1D chain and can be further extended to a higher-dimensional architecture through π···π stacking and hydrogen bonding. The catalytic property of complexes 1 and 2 were researched in the green catalytic process of the oxidative 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol (DBP). The high conversion and good selectivity results strongly indicate that both of the title complexes are catalytically active under the optimized reaction conditions.

Abstract Superoxide dismutase proteins (SODs) are antioxidant enzymes with important roles in abiotic stress responses. The SOD gene family has been systematically analyzed in many plants; however, it is still poorly understood in maize. Here, a bioinformatics analysis of maize SOD gene family was conducted by describing gene structure, conserved motifs, phylogenetic relationships, gene duplications, promoter cis-elements and GO annotations. In total, 13 SOD genes were identified in maize and five members were involved in segmental duplication. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that SODs from maize and other plants comprised two groups, which could be further classified into different subgroups, with most members in the same subgroup having the same subcellular localization. The ZmSOD promoters contained 2-10 stress-responsive cis-elements with different distributions. Heatmap analysis indicated that ZmSODs were expressed in most of the detected tissues and organs. The expression patterns of ZmSODs were investigated under drought and salt treatments by qRT-PCR, and most members were responsive to drought or salt stress, especially some ZmSODs with significant expression changes were identified, such as ZmCSD2 and ZmMSD2, suggesting the important roles of ZmSODs in abiotic stress responses. Our results provide an important basis for further functional study of ZmSODs in future study.

In previous work, the facile method to prepare perylene diimide radical anion salt by alkali treatment was reported. However, the effects of structure on synthetic process of perylene diimide radical anion salt, and the difference of response to Cu 2+ are not thoroughly understood. In this work, two bay-substituted perylene diimide derivatives radical anion salts have been synthesized and characterized in order to study the influence of the bay-substituted groups on the formation condition of the corresponding radical anion salt, and the sensitivity to Cu 2+. The result indicates that the perylene diimide with electron-donating groups (-O-Ph) at bay position was much easier to get the air-stable radical anion salts and had higher sensitivity to Cu 2+ compared to the perylene diimide with electron-withdrawing groups (-Br) at bay position.

Abstract: As a key marketing tool, online sales promotion has been widely used by online retailers to increase sales of products and brands. Most previous researches on online sales promotion have ignored the effect of consumers’ psychological factors and the heterogeneity of product and consumers. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of psychological distance and involvement on consumers’ buying behavior in large online promotion activities. The research model was examined using empirical analysis of data obtained from consumer surveys after the Double 11 promotion. Our results indicate that temporal distance has positive impact on purchase decision of high involvement products, while having negative impact on purchase decision of low involvement products. Social distance has negative impact on consumers’ purchase decision. Temporal distance is positively associated with consumers’ purchase-decision involvement, and then purchase-decision involvement positively impacts consumers’ total consumption. Social distance has no impact on consumers’ purchase decision involvement. These findings not only advance the understanding of the role of psychological distance and involvement in online sales promotion but also offer implications regarding strategies that online retailers can employ to publish their promotions at different times and encourage consumers more to share promotional information among their friends.

The single-phase polycrystalline copper oxide (Cu2O) films were prepared on sapphire substrates by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technology which was characterized by low cost and high efficiency. The influences of oxygen flow rate on physical characteristics of the prepared films were investigated. The XRD results showed that the single-phase Cu2O film exhibited a (110) preferred orientation through the analysis of texture coefficient. The AFM images exhibited that the prepared Cu2O film had the highest surface roughness with a distinctive quadrangular surface morphology. The optical transmittance of the single-phase Cu2O film was under 35% and the band gap energy was calculated to be 2.30 eV, the absorption spectra included the peak wavelength of solar radiation and the high absorptivity made it to be a suitable absorbing material. The Hall measurement indicated that all the samples exhibited p-type conductivity. The resistivity, mobility and carrier concentration of the single-phase Cu2O film was 4625 Ω·cm, 1.87 cm2/v·s and 7.227×1014 cm−3, respectively.

Abstract Purpose To investigate the effect of growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) on acute liver injury in mice and related mechanisms. Methods Thirty C57BL/6 (6-8 weeks old) mice were randomly divided into control, LPS/D-GalN, and LPS/D-GalN+Gas6 groups (10 mice in each group). The LPS/D-GalN group was intraperitoneally administered with LPS (0.25 mg/Kg) and D-GalN (400 mg/Kg) for 5h. The LPS/D-GalN+Gas6 group was intraperitoneally administered with rmGas6 one hour before intraperitoneal application of LPS/D-GalN. All subjects were sacrificed at 5 h for blood and tissue analysis. The expression of protein and mRNA was assessed by western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively. Results Compared with the control group, AST, ALT, IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 IL-10, MPO activity were increased in the LPS/D-GalN group. However, they were significantly inhibited by Gas6. Gas6 markedly suppressed the expression of apoptosis-related protein induced by LPS/D-GalN. Moreover, Gas6 attenuated the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway in acute liver injury induced by LPS/D-GalN. Conclusions Gas6 alleviates acute liver injury in mice through regulating NF-κB signaling pathways. Gas6 can be a potential therapeutic agent in treating LPS/D-GalN-induced acute liver injury in the future.

Abstract SPLs are plant-specific transcription factors that play important regulatory roles in plant growth and development. Systematic analysis of the SPL family has been performed in numerous plants, such as Arabidopsis, rice, and Populus. However, no comparative analysis has been performed across different species to examine evolutionary features. In this study, we present a comparative analysis of SPLs in different species. The results showed that 84 SPLs of the four species can be divided into six groups according to phylogeny. We found that most of the SPL-containing regions in maize showed extensive conservation with duplicated regions of rice and sorghum. A gene duplication analysis in maize indicated that ZmSPLs showed a significant excess of segmental duplication. The Ka/Ks analysis indicated that 9 out of 18 duplicated pairs in maize experienced positive selection, while SPL gene pairs of rice and sorghum mainly evolved under purifying selection, suggesting novel evolutionary features for ZmSPLs. The 31 ZmSPLs were further analyzed by describing their gene structure, phylogenetic relationships, chromosomal location, and expression, Among the ZmSPLs, 13 were predicated to be targeted by miR156s and involved in drought stress response. These results provide the foundation for future functional analyses of ZmSPLs.

In this work, we reported the effects of sputtering power on the structure, optical and electrical properties of InN nanodots prepared on Al2O3 substrate by magnetron sputtering.The results showed that the as-grown InN films exhibited uniform nanodot morphology and the size of the InN nano grains increased with the sputtering power was increased. The InN nanodot exhibited highly c-axis prefered orientation with mainly InN (002) diffraction. The optical band gap of InN samples showed an decreasing trend with the increase in sputteirng power. Moreover, the electrical properties of the InN samples were discussed in detail by hall effect and the carrier concentration and mobility could be adjusted from 3.233×1019 to 1.655×1020 cm-3 and 1.151 to 10.101 cm2/v•s, respectively. These results will lay a good fundation for the applicaion of InN material in the field of gas sensers and light emitting diodes.

Abstract Purpose: To explore the effect of milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) on sepsis-induced acute kidney injury (SAKI). Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice were randomized to control, sham, CLP, CLP+PBS, and CLP+rmMFG-E8 groups. SAKI was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Recombinant mouse MFG-E8 (rmMFG-E8) (20 μg/kg) or PBS (vehicle) was administered intraperitoneally. Blood, urine and renal tissue were collected at 24 h after CLP. Blood samples were tested for serum kidney injury biomarker and cytokines. Urine samples were collected to detect KIM-1, and NGAL. Real-time PCR was tested for Bax and Bcl-2. TUNEL staining was used to determine renal apoptosis. Western blot was used to detect the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, and proteins in the NF-κB pathway. Results: MFG-E8 alleviated SAKI by decreasing serum Cre, BUN, urine KIM-1 and NGAL and by mitigating renal pathological changes significant (p < 0.05). IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α were significantly inhibited by MFG-E8 (p < 0.05). Apoptosis induced by SAKI was markedly suppressed by MFG-E8. Finally, MFG-E8 attenuated the activation of the NF-��B signaling pathway in SAKI. Conclusion: MFG-E8 has beneficial effects on SAKI, which may be achieved by inhibiting the NF-κB pathway.

NiO thin films were deposited on Si and Corning 1737 glass substrates using radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering system. The physical properties of NiO films under different sputtering power were thoroughly studied. The XRD results indicated that as-prepared NiO films with the sputtering power above 100 W developed only (200) preferred orientation. The AFM results showed that the NiO films were composed of different-size NiO nano-grains and the grain size increased with increasing the sputtering power. The samples marked A-E under the sputtering power of 80, 100, 120, 140 and 160 W have optical band gap values of 3.70, 3.65, 3.50, 3.45 and 3.44 eV, respectively. Comparatively, the controllable electrical properties of the films could be achieved by the variation of crystal quality arises from the sputtering power.

Abstract This paper proposes a novel variable-length beam element that takes into account the effect of beam spinning. This is the first such beam element of variable length based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. In addition to the position and slope vectors, the angles of rotation around the element axis of cross sections that contain two nodes are introduced into the element coordinates to describe the spinning of an assumed Euler-Bernoulli beam with circular cross section. The material coordinates of the two nodes are also included in the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian description used for previous element to describe the varying element length caused by mass transportation at the boundaries. The proposed element facilitates convenient and effective numerical modeling of the dynamics of a circular-cross-section beam with transportation boundaries and that is spinning. Numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed element can describe the dynamic behavior of a circular-cross-section beam effectively. In the field of engineering, this novel element could be used in the dynamic analysis of drill stems, the slender workpiece of a cylindrical shaft during the turning process, and the lead screw in a ball screw mechanism.