Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), a state of sleep disorder, is characterized by repetitive apnea, chronic hypoxia, oxygen desaturation, and hypercapnia. Previous studies have revealed that intermittent hypoxia (IH) conditions in OSAS patients elicited neuron injury (especially in the hippocampus and cortex), leading to cognitive dysfunction, a significant and extraordinary complication of OSAS patients. The repeated courses of airway collapse and obstruction in OSAS patients resulted in apnea and arousal during sleep, leading to IH and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and subsequently contributing to the development of inflammation. IH-mediated inflammation could further trigger various types of cognitive dysfunction. Many researchers have found that, besides continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment and surgery, anti-inflammatory substances might alleviate IH-induced neurocognitive dysfunction. Clarifying the role of inflammation in IH-mediated cognitive impairment is crucial for potentially valuable therapies and future research in the related domain. The objective of this article was to critically review the relationship between inflammation and cognitive deficits in OSAS.

We here report a new pentagonal network structure of the PtM2 (M = S, Se, Te) monolayers with the P21/c (no. 14) space group. The electronic structure and thermoelectric properties of the pentagonal PtM2 monolayers are calculated through the VASP and BoltzTraP codes. We verify their dynamic and thermodynamic stabilities by calculating their phonon spectra and simulating ab initio molecular dynamics. It is found that the new material belongs to the medium-wide indirect band gap semiconductors from the PBE and HSE06 methods. At 300 K, the lattice thermal conductivities (K l) of the pentagonal PtTe2 in the x and y directions are the smallest among these three materials, being 1.77 and 5.17 W/m K, respectively. The anisotropic zT values (2.60/1.14) in the x/y direction of the pentagonal PtTe2 at 300 K are much greater than those of the pentagonal PtSe2 (1.75/0.82) and the pentagonal PtS2 (0.58/0.16) at 300 K. Importantly, the p-type pentagonal PtTe2 also has excellent thermoelectric properties at 600 K, with a zT value of 5.03 in the x direction, indicating that the p-type pentagonal PtTe2 has a good application potential in the thermoelectric field.

Natural killer (NK) cells play a critical role in the antitumor immunity. Ionizing radiation (IR) has a pronounced effect on modifying NK cell biology, while the molecular mechanisms remain elusive. In this review, we briefly introduce the anti-tumor activity of NK cells and summarize the impact of IR on NK cells both directly and indirectly. On one hand, low-dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) activates NK functions while high-dose ionizing radiation (HDIR) is likely to partially impair NK functions, which can be reversed by interleukin (IL)-2 pretreatment. On the other hand, NK functions may be adjusted by other immune cells and the alternated malignant cell immunogenicity under the settings of IR. Various immune cells, such as the tumor-associated macrophage (TAM), dendritic cell (DC), regulatory T cell (Treg), myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC), and tumor exhibited ligands, such as the natural killer group 2 member D ligand (NKG2DL), natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCR) ligand, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-receptor (TRAIL-R), and FAS, have been involved in this process. Better understanding the molecular basis is a promising way in which to augment NK-cell-based antitumor immunity in combination with IR.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare the early efficacy and survivals of induction regimens for transplant-eligible patients with untreated multiple myeloma.Materials and methodsA comprehensive literature search in electronic databases was conducted for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Eligible studies were selected according to the predefined selection criteria, before they were evaluated for methodological quality. Basic characteristics and data for network meta-analysis (NMA) were extracted from included trials and pooled in our meta-analysis. The end points were the overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).ResultsA total of 14 RCTs that included 4,763 patients were analyzed. The post-induction ORR was higher with bortezomib plus thalidomide plus dexamethasone (VTD) regimens, and VTD was better than the majority of other regimens. For OS, VTD plus cyclophosphamide (VTDC) regimens showed potential superiority over other regimens, but the difference was not statistically significant. The PFS was longer with thalidomide plus doxorubicin plus dexamethasone (TAD) regimens for transplant-eligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM).ConclusionThe NMA demonstrated that the VTD, VTDC, and TAD regimens are most beneficial in terms of ORR, OS, and PFS for transplant-eligible patients with NDMM, respectively.

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By the generalized gradient approximation in the framework of density functional theory, we find a new silicon allotrope (called dumbbell silicene) with high stability, which can turn a quantum spin Hall insulator with an inverted band gap through tuning external compression strain, just like in previous silicene. However, the obtained maximum topological nontrivial band gap about 12 meV under isotropic strain is much larger than that for previous silicene, and can be further improved to 36 meV by tuning extra anisotropic strain, which is sufficiently large to realize quantum spin Hall effect even at room-temperature, and thus is beneficial to the fabrication of high-speed spintronics devices. Furthermore, we confirm that the boron nitride sheet is an ideal substrate for the experimental realization of the dumbbell silicene under external strain, maintaining its nontrivial topology. These properties make the two-dimensional dumbbell silicene a good platform to study novel quantum states of matter, showing great potential for future applications in modern silicon-based microelectronics industry.Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been a focus of intense research in recent years [1][2][3][4]. As opposed to three-dimensional (3D) one, its optical, electronic, mechanical and thermal properties are easily adjusted by external strains, defects, electric field, or stacking orders [5][6][7][8], and thus its realistic performance can also be readily improved through current microfabrication technology. 2D materials [9, 10] were first predicted with quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect, and recently more and more 2D materials have been confirmed as 2D topological insulators (TIs) [11][12][13][14], also known as QSH insulator. 2D TIs are novel materials characterized by a bulk energy gap and gapless spin-filtered edge states with the potential application in quantum computation and spintronics [15,16]. Different from surface states of 3D TIs, which is only free from exact 180 0 -backscattering and suffers from scattering of other angles, the special edges of 2D TIs are topologically protected by the time reversal symmetry and can immune to nonmagnetic scattering and geometry perturbations, thus 2D TIs is better than 3D TIs for coherent nondissipative spin transport related applications.Graphene, a monolayer of carbon atoms forming a similar honeycomb lattice, hosts a miraculous electronic system, and thus becomes a perfect breeding ground for a variety of exotic quantum phenomena, such as quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), Majorana fermions and superconductor [17][18][19]. Furthermore, massless Dirac fermions endow graphene with superior carrier mobility [20,21]. Unfortunately, its tiny band gap (about 8×10 −4 meV [22]) opened by spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect seriously limits its device applications. Subsequently, a new QSH insulator silicene was synthesized with a relatively large spin-orbit gap of 1.55 meV [23,24]. Almost every striking property of graphene can be transferred to this innovative material. Indeed, these f...

The phase stability and mechanical properties of binary W1−xTax and W1−xRex alloys were investigated using the full-potential augmented plane-wave method. The special quasirandom structures(SQSs) of these alloys are mechanically stable due to all of the positive elastic constants and negative binding energies. The binding energies of both the W1−xTax and W1−xRex alloys also exhibit energy favorable asymmetry toward the W-rich side. In addition, the bulk modulus of the W1−xTax alloys decrease gradually with the increase of the Ta concentration, while those of the W1−xRex alloys increase gradually with the increase of the Re concentration. Consequently, the bulk modulus of W metal can be improved by doping with Re, implying that the resistance to deformation is enhanced. Based on the mechanical characteristic G/B and Poisson's ratio ν, both the W1−xTax and W1−xRex alloys are regarded as being ductile materials, the ductility of which improves with the increase of Ta or Re.

Objective : Increasing evidence suggested that dysregulated small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) were involved in tumor development. The roles of snoRNA 71A (SNORA71A) in the progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remained unclear. Methods : Dataset GSE19188 from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was downloaded to detect the expression levels of SNORA71A in NSCLC tissues. The biological significance of SNORA71A was explored by loss-of-function analysis both in vitro and in vivo. Results : SNORA71A was overexpressed in NSCLC tissues compared with normal tissues, and upregulated SNORA71A was significantly associated with worse survival of NSCLC patients. Knockdown of SNORA71A suppressed proliferation of both A549 and PC9 cells, and induced G0/G1 phase arrest. Knockdown of SNORA71A also suppressed xenograft tumor growth in mice. In addition, knockdown of SNORA71A inhibited cell invasion and migration and suppressed epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, downregulated SNORA71A decreased the phosphorylation of MEK and ERK1/2 in the MAPK/ERK signal pathway. Conclusion : SNORA71A functions as an oncogene in NSCLC and may serve as a therapeutic target and promising prognostic biomarker of NSCLC.