Carbon dots (CDs) usually emit a strong blue light and excitation wavelength dependent long wavelength lights. This significantly limits their applications because one has to use a series of different excitation light sources to get different colors and the long wavelength emissions are usually very weak. We found that one type of CDs synthesized from p-phenylenediamine could emit various long wavelength lights (green to red) independent of the excitation wavelength when dispersed in different solvents. The photoluminescence quantum yields of the same CDs were 10–35% in different solvents for different color emissions. Based on this solvent-color effect, we further mixed the same CDs with different polymers to form solid CD films for various color emissions, and these film emissions were also excitation wavelength independent. Multicolor LEDs were demonstrated with the same CDs in solution and solid film states for color displays.

Addressing vaccine compliance problems is of particular relevance and significance to public health. Despite resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases and public awareness of vaccine importance, why is it so challenging to boost population vaccination coverage to desired levels especially in the wake of declining vaccine uptake? To understand this puzzling phenomenon, here we study how social imitation dynamics of vaccination can be impacted by the presence of imperfect vaccine, which only confers partial protection against the disease. Besides weighing the perceived cost of vaccination with the risk of infection, the effectiveness of vaccination is also an important factor driving vaccination decisions. We discover that there can exist multiple stable vaccination equilibria if vaccine efficacy is below a certain threshold. Furthermore, our bifurcation analysis reveals the occurrence of hysteresis loops of vaccination rate with respect to changes in the perceived vaccination cost as well as in the vaccination effectiveness. Moreover, we find that hysteresis is more likely to arise in spatial populations than in well-mixed populations, even for parameter choices that do not allow for bifurcation in the latter. Our work shows that hysteresis can appear as an unprecedented roadblock for the recovery of vaccination uptake, thereby helping explain the persistence of vaccine compliance problem.

By controlling the hydrolysis of alkoxysilanes, highly luminescent, transparent and flexible perovskite quantum dot (QD) gels were synthesized. The gels could maintain the structure without shrinking and exhibited excellent stability comparing to the QDs in solution. This in situ fabrication can be easily scaled up for large-area/volume gels. The gels integrated the merits of the polymer matrices to avoid the non-uniformity of light output, making it convenient for practical LED applications. Monochrome and white LEDs were fabricated using these QD gels; the LEDs exhibited broader color gamut, demonstrating better property in the backlight display application.

The rise and spread of antibiotic resistance causes worsening medical cost and mortality especially for life-threatening bacteria infections, thereby posing a major threat to global health. Prescribing behavior of physicians is one of the important factors impacting the underlying dynamics of resistance evolution. It remains unclear when individual prescribing decisions can lead to the overuse of antibiotics on the population level, and whether population optimum of antibiotic use can be reached through an adaptive social learning process that governs the evolution of prescribing norm. Here we study a behavior-disease interaction model, specifically incorporating a feedback loop between prescription behavior and resistance evolution. We identify the conditions under which antibiotic resistance can evolve as a result of the tragedy of the commons in antibiotic overuse. Furthermore, we show that fast social learning that adjusts prescribing behavior in prompt response to resistance evolution can steer out cyclic oscillations of antibiotic usage quickly towards the stable population optimum of prescribing. Our work demonstrates that provision of prompt feedback to prescribing behavior with the collective consequences of treatment decisions and costs that are associated with resistance helps curb the overuse of antibiotics.

No abstract

The imidazole glycerophosphate dehydratase (IGPD) protein is a therapeutic target for herbicide discovery. It is also regarded as a possible target in Staphylococcus xylosus (S. xylosus) for solving mastitis in the dairy cow. The 3D structure of IGPD protein is essential for discovering novel inhibitors during high-throughput virtual screening. However, to date, the 3D structure of IGPD protein of S. xylosus has not been solved. In this study, a series of computational techniques including homology modeling, Ramachandran Plots, and Verify 3D were performed in order to construct an appropriate 3D model of IGPD protein of S. xylosus. Nine hits were identified from 2,500 compounds by docking studies. Then, these nine compounds were first tested in vitro in S. xylosus biofilm formation using crystal violet staining. One of the potential compounds, baicalin was shown to significantly inhibit S. xylosus biofilm formation. Finally, the baicalin was further evaluated, which showed better inhibition of biofilm formation capability in S. xylosus by scanning electron microscopy. Hence, we have predicted the structure of IGPD protein of S. xylosus using computational techniques. We further discovered the IGPD protein was targeted by baicalin compound which inhibited the biofilm formation in S. xylosus. Our findings here would provide implications for the further development of novel IGPD inhibitors for the treatment of dairy mastitis.

Understanding how public cooperation emerges and is maintained is a topic of broad interest, with increasing contributions coming from a synergistic combination of evolutionary game theory and statistical physics. The comprehensive study by Battiston et al (2017 New J. Phys., in press) improves our understanding of the role of multiplexity in cooperation, revealing that a significant edge overlap across network layers along with benign conditions for cooperation in at least one of the layers is needed to facilitate the emergence of cooperation in the multiplex.

Background Readmission after hospital discharge is common among patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Predictive biomarkers of readmission would facilitate stratification strategies and individualized prognosis. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the utility of type 2 biomarkers (eosinophils, periostin, and YKL-40) and a type 1 biomarker (CXCL9) in predicting readmission events in patients with AECOPD. Methods This is a prospective observational study design. Blood levels of eosinophils, periostin, YKL-40, and CXCL9 were measured at admission. The clinical outcomes were 12-month COPD-related readmission, time to COPD-related readmission, and number of 12-month COPD-related readmissions. These outcomes were analyzed using logistic and Cox regression models and Spearman’s rank test. Results A total of 123 patients were included, of whom 51 had experienced at least one readmission for AECOPD. High levels of eosinophils (≥200 cells/μL or 2% of the total white blood cell count, adjusted odds ratio [aOR] =3.138, P =0.009) and YKL-40 (≥14.5 ng/mL, aOR =2.840, P =0.015), as well as low CXCL9 levels (≤30.1 ng/mL, aOR =2.551, P =0.028), were associated with an increased COPD-related readmission. The highest relative readmission rate was observed in patients with both high eosinophil and YKL-40 levels. Moreover, high eosinophil and YKL-40 levels were associated with a shorter time to first COPD-related readmission and an increased number of 12-month COPD-related readmissions. Conclusion High blood eosinophil and YKL-40 levels, as well as low CXCL9 levels, have predictive utility for the 12-month COPD-related readmission rate. Using eosinophils and YKL-40 together allows more precise identification of patients at high risk of COPD-related readmission.