ALBERT

Description: Background: Strengthening adherence to self-care behaviors in patients with periodontal disease (PD) and reducing the plaque index is crucial for improving PD treatment. We evaluated the effectiveness of a theory of planned behavior (TPB)-based health education intervention involving a planning strategy on self-care behaviors in patients with PD. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted; 158 and 139 patients comprised the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG), respectively. Both groups received a leaflet, and the EG also received a planning intervention, which was a brief one-on-one counseling session with a planning sheet. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Between-group comparisons of TPB measures revealed significant differences in all domains when controlling for baseline covariates. The EG exhibited significantly higher levels of action and coping planning than the CG at two-week follow-up (effect size (ES) = 5.54 and 5.57, respectively) and six-week follow-up (ES = 5.66 and 5.66, respectively). Between-group differences in changes of brushing behaviors increased significantly. More frequent use of dental floss was observed in the EG than in the CG at two-week and six-week follow-ups (24.7% and 22.8%, respectively). Conclusions: The intervention involving planning strategy effectively promoted adherence to self-care behaviors in patients with PD.

Description: Abstract In this report, a mixed‐metal cation‐based halide perovskite (HP) CsPb1−xTixBr3 quantum dots (QDs) were first embedded in the B–Si–Zn glasses using a traditional approach of melt quenching and heat treating. A battery of test results such as photoluminescence, X‐ray diffraction, and time‐resolved attenuation prove that Ti ions do not destroy the properties of CsPbBr3, and they are successfully doped into CsPbBr3. At the same time, the doping of Ti ions also reduces the toxicity of lead. By altering the ratio of Pb/Ti, we determined the optimum ratio of CsPb0.7Ti0.3Br3 QDs through experimental data. Due to the excellent optical properties and stability of CsPb0.7Ti0.3Br3 QDs glass, it was designed to construct the white‐light emitting diode device with tunable color coordinate, color rendering index, correlated color temperature, and a high luminous efficiency compared with CsPbBr3 QDs glass, which may be a promising candidate for the field of lighting and displays.

Description: Galactinol synthases (GolSs) are the key enzymes that participate in raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFO) biosynthesis, which perform a big role in modulating plant growth and response to biotic or abiotic stresses. To date, no systematic study of this gene family has been conducted in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). Here, eight MeGolS genes are isolated from the cassava genome. Based on phylogenetic background, the MeGolSs are clustered into four groups. Through predicting the cis-elements in their promoters, it was discovered that all MeGolS members act as hormone-, stress-, and tissue-specific related elements to different degrees. MeGolS genes exhibit incongruous expression patterns in various tissues, indicating that different MeGolS proteins might have diverse functions. MeGolS1 and MeGolS3–6 are highly expressed in leaves and midveins. MeGolS3–6 are highly expressed in fibrous roots. Quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis indicates that several MeGolSs, including MeGolS1, 2, 5, 6, and 7, are induced by abiotic stresses. microRNA prediction analysis indicates that several abiotic stress-related miRNAs target the MeGolS genes, such as mes-miR156, 159, and 169, which also respond to abiotic stresses. The current study is the first systematic research of GolS genes in cassava, and the results of this study provide a basis for further exploration the functional mechanism of GolS genes in cassava.

Description: Thermodynamic driving forces of eight possible elementary steps for Hantzsch ester and six possible elementary steps for H 2 to release two hydrogen atoms (2H • ) or ions (H − and H + ) in acetonitrile were examined using experimental method or the available related thermodynamic data for the first time, which can facilitate chemists to choose a suitable reducing agent between Hantzsch ester and H 2 to reduce a given organic unsaturated compound in acetonitrile and make a rational diagnosis on the detailed reaction mechanisms. The focus of this paper is to compare the differences between Hantzsch ester and H 2 to release two hydrogen atoms (or ions) on the thermodynamics of elementary steps in acetonitrile. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The focus of this paper is to compare differences between Hantzsch ester (HEH 2 ) and H 2 to release two hydrogen atoms (2H • ) or ions (H − and H + ) on thermodynamics of each elementary step in acetonitrile, which can make chemists to choose suitable reducer between HEH 2 and H 2 as well as diagnose reduction mechanism.

Description: Background: Haemophilus influenzae is one of the main pathogens that cause community-acquired respiratory infections in children. Our previous study showed that H. influenzae is the second most common pathogen causing pneumonia and accounts for 30?50% of bacterial meningitis among Chinese children. H. influenzae carriage in children and its resistance to commonly used antimicrobials varies widely both geographically and over time. Results: Surveys of the nasopharyngeal carriage of H. influenzae in children younger than 5 years of age with acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) were conducted in Beijing Children?s Hospital, China in 2000, 2002, 2010, and 2012. The overall annual carriage rates of H. influenzae among children younger than 5 years of age with ARI were 35.5%, 20.6%, 14.4%, and 18.7%, and the percentages of H. influenzae isolates producing ?-lactamase were 4%, 13%, 27.1%, and 31%, respectively. The percentages of susceptibility to ampicillin progressively decreased from 96% (2000) to 87% (2002) to 63% (2010) to 61% (2012). All of the ampicillin-resistant isolates were found to be beta-lactamase producers. The susceptibility to tetracycline increased from 54% (2000) to 60% (2002) to 91.5% (2010) to 94.5% (2012). No statistically significant differences were observed in the susceptibility to cefaclor, cefuroxime, sulfamethoxazole, and chloramphenicol. Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and ceftriaxone were the most effective antimicrobials for the isolates of H. influenzae across the 10-year period. Conclusions: This report on the H. influenzae carriage rates in children and the susceptibility of these bacteria to commonly used antibiotics showed that H. influenzae carriage decreased from 2000 to 2012. Additionally, the percentage of ?-lactamase-producing isolates increased while their susceptibility to ampicillin progressively decreased during this time. These results indicate that the appropriate empirical antimicrobial therapy should be changed for pediatric patients in China.

Description: The strong strain-mediated magnetoelectric (ME) coupling found in thin-film ME heterostructures has attracted an ever-increasing interest and enables realization of a great number of integrated multiferroic devices, such as magnetometers, mechanical antennas, RF tunable inductors and filters. This paper first reviews the thin-film characterization techniques for both piezoelectric and magnetostrictive thin films, which are crucial in determining the strength of the ME coupling. After that, the most recent progress on various integrated multiferroic devices based on thin-film ME heterostructures are presented. In particular, rapid development of thin-film ME magnetometers has been seen over the past few years. These ultra-sensitive magnetometers exhibit extremely low limit of detection (sub-pT/Hz1/2) for low-frequency AC magnetic fields, making them potential candidates for applications of medical diagnostics. Other devices reviewed in this paper include acoustically actuated nanomechanical ME antennas with miniaturized size by 1–2 orders compared to the conventional antenna; integrated RF tunable inductors with a wide operation frequency range; integrated RF tunable bandpass filter with dual H- and E-field tunability. All these integrated multiferroic devices are compact, lightweight, power-efficient, and potentially integrable with current complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, showing great promise for applications in future biomedical, wireless communication, and reconfigurable electronic systems.

Description: Background: Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) of the arterial wall play a critical role in the development of occlusive vascular diseases. Cysteine-rich protein 2 (CRP2) is a VSMC-expressed LIM-only protein, which functionally limits VSMC migration and protects against pathological vascular remodeling. The multifunctional cytokine TGFbeta has been implicated to play a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis through numerous downstream signaling pathways. We showed previously that TGFbeta upregulates CRP2 expression; however, the detailed signaling mechanisms remain unclear. Results: TGFbeta treatment of VSMCs activated both Smad2/3 and ATF2 phosphorylation. Individually knocking down Smad2/3 or ATF2 pathways with siRNA impaired the TGFbeta induction of CRP2, indicating that both contribute to CRP2 expression. Inhibiting TbetaRI kinase activity by SB431542 or TbetaRI knockdown abolished Smad2/3 phosphorylation but did not alter ATF2 phosphorylation, indicating while Smad2/3 phosphorylation was TbetaRI-dependent ATF2 phosphorylation was independent of TbetaRI. Inhibiting Src kinase activity by SU6656 suppressed TGFbeta-induced RhoA and ATF2 activation but not Smad2 phosphorylation. Blocking ROCK activity, the major downstream target of RhoA, abolished ATF2 phosphorylation and CRP2 induction but not Smad2 phosphorylation. Furthermore, JNK inhibition with SP600125 reduced TGFbeta-induced ATF2 (but not Smad2) phosphorylation and CRP2 protein expression while ROCK inhibition blocked JNK activation. These results indicate that downstream of TbetaRII, Src family kinase-RhoA-ROCK-JNK signaling pathway mediates TbetaRI-independent ATF2 activation. Promoter analysis revealed that the TGFbeta induction of CRP2 was mediated through the CRE and SBE promoter elements that were located in close proximity. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that two signaling pathways downstream of TGFbeta converge on the CRE and SBE sites of the Csrp2 promoter to cooperatively control CRP2 induction in VSMCs, which represents a previously unrecognized mechanism of VSMC gene induction by TGFbeta.

Description: In this work, the ligand methyl(2-pyrazinyl)ketone oxime with a pyrazinyl ring and an oxime moiety was synthesized. The two complexes [Cu 3 (μ 3 -OH)(μ-OPz) 3 (NO 3 ) 2 ] · 2H 2 O · CH 3 OH ( 1 ) and [Ag 3 (HOPz) 2 (NO 3 ) 2 ](NO 3 ) ( 2 ) [HOPz = methyl(2-pyrazinyl)ketone oxime] could be isolated and structurally characterized. Complex 1 exhibits a fundamental structural unit of trinuclear Cu 3 (μ 3 -OH) clusters, whereas complex 2 has a three-core linear-shaped silver(I) structure. For complexes 1 and 2 , the pyrazinyl ring of the HOPz ligand acts as an electron-deficient heterocycle and the nitrate anion is the electron-rich unit. The structure of complex 1 is arranged by O(W) ··· O(MeOH) ··· O(NO 3 – ) hydrogen bonds into a 1D chain, which is furthermore assembled into a 2D structure by C–H ··· π i (C Pz ) interactions between pyridyl rings and methyl groups. Complex 2 has a three-core linear-shaped structure, the nitrate oxygen atoms are involved in weak Ag ··· O interactions, which are linked into 1D chains by oxime ··· O(NO 3 – ) hydrogen bonded R 2 2 (12) dimers. The O(NO 3 – ) ··· π ii (C Pz ) interactions further connect the adjacent moieties into a 3D supramolecular network. Complexes 1 and 2 present intriguing self-complementary supra-molecular architectures through combination of coordination, hydrogen bonding, C–H ··· π as well as O(NO 3 – ) ··· π weak interactions. The results also provide a prototype for the development of frameworks with anions and multiple guest-binding sites using general principles of crystal design.

Description: Nanostructured hollow MgO microspheres were prepared by the template method. First, D-Anhydrous glucose was polymerized by the hydrothermal method to form a template. Second, a colorless solution was obtained by mixing magnesite with hydrochloric acid in a 1:2 proportion and heating in an 80 °C water bath for 2 h. Finally, the template from the first step was placed in the colorless solution, and the resulting precipitate was calcined at 550 °C for 2 h. The phase composition and microstructure of the calcined samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The XRD results indicated that the main crystal is periclase. The SEM results indicates that the template carbon microsphere surface is smooth, and the its size is uniform and concentrated in the range of 100–200 nm. The diameters of the samples range from 60 to 90 nm, which is smaller than the size of the carbon microsphere. The TEM results indicates that the sample is hollow with a shell thickness of about 6–10 nm. The specific surface area of the calcined hollow sphere is 59.5 m²·g−1.

Description: Abstract A novel red emitting phosphor Ca5Ga6O14:Eu3+ has been synthesized using solid state method. The excitation and emission spectra show that the phosphor can emit the red light with the main peak at 611nm under excitation of the 280nm and 393nm UV chip and the optimal Eu3+ concentration is determined to be x=0.07. Analysis of emission spectrum shows that Eu3+ occupy the center of non‐inversion symmetry. With the increase of Eu3+ doping concentration, the decay time is prolonged due to deeper energy trap arising from non‐equivalent substitution. Additionally, the measured thermal stability with 0.539eV activation energy and calculated 90.5% color purity of optimal phosphor indicate that the phosphor has an enormous application potential in w‐LEDs industry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.