Non-canonical microRNAs are a recently-discovered subset of microRNAs. They structurally and functionally resemble canonical miRNAs, but were found to follow distinct maturation pathways, typically bypassing one or more steps of the classic canonical biogenesis pathway. Non-canonical miRNAs were found to have diverse origins, including introns, snoRNAs, endogenous shRNAs and tRNAs. Our knowledge about their functions remains relatively primitive; however, many interesting discoveries have taken place in the past few years. They have been found to take part in several cellular processes, such as immune response and stem cell proliferation. Adversely, their deregulation has pathologic effects on several different tissues, which strongly suggests an integral role for non-canonical miRNAs in disease pathogenesis. In this review, we discuss the recently-discovered functional characteristics of non-canonical miRNAs and illustrate their principal maturation pathways as well as debating their potential role in multiple cellular processes.

DPP-4 inhibitors were associated with a reduction in A1C with comparable safety profiles compared to placebo, but no significant difference in A1C compared to other hyperglycemics. Differences in efficacy and safety were observed between Japanese and non-Japanese patients.

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critical challenges to be overcome for the successful utilization of Li-rich cathodes in LIBs. Li-rich cathodes suffer from severe voltage decay and continued capacity fading upon repeated cycling mainly because of two unfavorable reactions: 1) the interfacial degradation that stems from an unstable cathode-electrolyte interphase and 2) the irreversible phase transformation from layered to spinel. [9][10][11] Undesirable electrolyte decomposition at the Li-rich cathode with a high operation voltage of 4.4 V versus Li/Li + causes irreparable damage to the cathode-electrolyte interface (CEI), such as inhomogeneous delithiation induced by a nonuniform surface coverage of decomposition byproducts and the consumption of active Li + ions and electrons. [12,13] The second issue, irreversible phase transformation, which is most likely the major reason for voltage decay, is not fully understood. This transformation is closely linked to a reduction in the valence state of transition metal ions in the Li-rich cathode and propagates gradually from the interface to the bulk as the cycle progresses. [11,14] On the basis of the aforementioned reports, at a high voltage, the highly oxidized transition metal ions are prone to take electrons from the electrolyte components to lower their valence state, resulting in their phase transformation from layered to spinel. [15] The formation of a stable CEI by additives can improve the electrochemical performance of Li-rich cathodes while mitigating the sustained occurrence of unfavorable phase transformations through reforming the cathode interface. [16][17][18][19][20] Moreover, the decrease in the valence state of the transition metal ions leads to the release of oxygen (O 2 ) and superoxide radicals (O 2 •− ) to maintain the charge balance in the cathode during subsequent cycling. [21][22][23] Electrochemical activation of Li 2 MnO 3 in a Li-rich cathode above 4.4 V versus Li/Li + on the first charge inevitably evolves reactive oxygen species, including oxygen gas (O 2 ) and superoxide radicals (O 2 •− ), in a cell. [22,24] The reactive superoxide radical (O 2 •− ) generated from the Lirich cathode produces gaseous products such as CO and CO 2 through reaction with the ethylene carbonate (EC) solvent in the electrolyte and accordingly causes a sudden termination of battery operation by electrolyte depletion. [15,25] Therefore, scavenging the reactive oxygen species serves as an effective way to improve the electrochemical performance of Li-rich cathodes.High-capacity Li-rich layered oxide cathodes along with Si-incorporated graphite anodes have high reversible capacity, outperforming the electrode materials used in existing commercial products. Hence, they are potential candidates for the development of high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, structural degradation induced by loss of interfacial stability is a roadblock to their practical use. Here, the use of malonic acid-decorated fullerene (MA-C 60 ) with superoxide dismutase activity and water scavenging capabil...

IntroductionThe purpose of this study is to investigate comorbidity status and its impact on total medical expenditures in non-institutionalized hypertensive adults in the U.S.MethodsData from the 2011–2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey were used. Patients were included if they had a diagnosis code for hypertension, were aged ≥18 years, and were not pregnant during the study period (N=26,049). The Elixhauser Comorbidity Index was modified to add hypertension-related comorbidities. The outcome variable was annual total medical expenditures, and a generalized linear model regression (gamma distribution with a log link function) was used. All costs were adjusted to 2014 U.S. dollars.ResultsBased on the modified Elixhauser Comorbidity Index, 14.0% of patients did not have any comorbidities, 23.0% had one, 24.4% had two, and 38.7% had three or more. The five most frequent comorbidities were hyperlipidemia, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and chronic pulmonary disease. Estimated mean annual total medical expenditures were $3,914 (95% CI= $3,456, $4,372) for those without any comorbidity; $5,798 (95% CI=$5,384, $6,213) for those with one comorbidity; $8,333 (95% CI=$7,821, $8,844) for those with two comorbidities; and $13,920 (95% CI=$13,166, $14,674) for those with three or more comorbidities. Of the 15 most frequent comorbidities, the condition with the largest impact on expenditures for an individual person was congestive heart failure ($7,380). Hypertensive adults with stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes, renal diseases, and hyperlipidemia had expenditures that were $6,069, $6,046, $5,039, $4,974, and $4,851 higher, respectively, than those without these conditions.ConclusionsComorbidities are highly prevalent among hypertensive adults, and this study shows that each comorbidity significantly increases annual total medical expenditures.

A highly active oxygen vacant titanium dioxide/reduced graphene oxide photocatalyst that exhibits significantly enhanced photochromic performance and high cyclability is reported. The catalyst is used in the design of a single photochromic system that can be tuned to exhibit response to changes in the properties of the applied light. Four devices are achieved that can respond to changes in wavelength, intensity, time of illumination, or multiple stimuli, and all exhibit vivid multi-colored functionality.

Background: Annotation of cell identity is an essential process in neuroscience that allows comparison of cells, including that of neural activities across different animals. In Caenorhabditis elegans, although unique identities have been assigned to all neurons, the number of annotatable neurons in an intact animal has been limited due to the lack of quantitative information on the location and identity of neurons.Results: Here, we present a dataset that facilitates the annotation of neuronal identities, and demonstrate its application in a comprehensive analysis of whole-brain imaging. We systematically identified neurons in the head region of 311 adult worms using 35 cell-specific promoters and created a dataset of the expression patterns and the positions of the neurons. We found large positional variations that illustrated the difficulty of the annotation task. We investigated multiple combinations of cell-specific promoters driving distinct fluorescence and generated optimal strains for the annotation of most head neurons in an animal. We also developed an automatic annotation method with human interaction functionality that facilitates annotations needed for whole-brain imaging. Conclusion: Our neuron ID dataset and optimal fluorescent strains enable the annotation of most neurons in the head region of adult C. elegans, both in full-automated fashion and a semi-automated version that includes human interaction functionalities. Our method can potentially be applied to model species used in research other than C. elegans, where the number of available cell-type-specific promoters and their variety will be an important consideration.

ContextHypertension affects one third of the U.S. adult population. Although cost-effectiveness analyses of antihypertensive medicines have been published, a comprehensive systematic review across medicine classes is not available.Evidence acquisitionPubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Health Technology Assessment were searched to identify original cost-effectiveness analyses published from 1990 through August 2016. Results were summarized by medicine class: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs), thiazide-type diuretics, β-blockers, and others. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were adjusted to 2015 U.S. dollars.Evidence synthesisAmong 76 studies reviewed, 14 compared medicines with no treatment, 16 compared medicines with conventional therapy, 29 compared between medicine classes, 13 compared within medicine class, and 11 compared combination therapies. All antihypertensives were cost effective compared with no treatment (ICER/quality-adjusted life year [QALY]=dominant–$19,945). ARBs were more cost effective than CCBs (ICER/QALY=dominant–$13,016) in nine comparisons, whereas CCBs were more cost effective than ARBs (ICER/QALY=dominant) in two comparisons. ARBs were more cost effective than ACEIs (ICER/QALY=dominant–$34,244) and β-blockers (ICER/QALY=$1,498–$18,137) in all eight comparisons.ConclusionsAll antihypertensives were cost effective compared with no treatment. ARBs appeared to be more cost effective than CCBs, ACEIs, and β-blockers. However, these latter findings should be interpreted with caution because these findings are not robust due to the substantial variability across the studies, including study settings and analytic models, changes in the cost of generic medicines, and publication bias.