Theoretical Investigating Mechanisms of Drug-Resistance Generated by Mutation-Induced Changes in Influenza Viruses

Influenza A (A/H\begin{document}$ x $\end{document}N\begin{document}$ y $\end{document}) is a significant public health concern due to its high infectiousness and mortality. Neuraminidase, which interacts with sialic acid (SIA) in host cells, has become an essential target since its highly conserved catalytic center structure, while resistance mutations have already generated. Here, a detailed investigation of the drug resistance mechanism caused by mutations was performed for subtype N9 (A/H7N9). Molecular dynamics simulation and alanine-scanning-interaction-entropy method (ASIE) were used to explore the critical differences between N9 and Zanamivir (ZMR) before and after R294K mutation. The results showed that the mutation caused the hydrogen bond between Arg294 and ZMR to break, then the hydrogen bonding network was disrupted, leading to weakened binding ability and resistance. While in wild type (A/H7N9\begin{document}$ ^{ \rm{WT}} $\end{document}), this hydrogen bond was initially stable. Meanwhile, N9 derived from A/H11N9 was obtained as an R292K mutation. Then the relative binding free energy of N9 with five inhibitors (SIA, DAN, ZMR, G28, and G39) was predicted, basically consistent with experimental values, indicating that the calculated results were reliable by ASIE. In addition, Arg292 and Tyr406 were hot spots in the A/H11N9\begin{document}$ ^{ \rm{WT}} $\end{document}-drugs. However, Lys292 was not observed as a favorable contributing residue in A/H11N9\begin{document}$ ^{ \rm{R292K}} $\end{document}, which may promote resistance. In comparison, Tyr406 remained the hotspot feature when SIA, ZMR, and G28 binding to A/H11N9\begin{document}$ ^{ \rm{R292K}} $\end{document}. Combining the two groups, we speculate that the resistance was mainly caused by the disruption of the hydrogen bonding network and the transformation of hotspots. This study could guide novel drug delivery of drug-resistant mutations in the treatment of A/H\begin{document}$ x $\end{document}N9.     

Metal-Free B,N co-Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon Electrocatalyst with an Excellent O2 Reduction Performance

Fuel cells have attracted increasing attention due to their low cost, high energy density, low environmental pollution, and abundant raw materials. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a core technology of fuel cells, and the development of new electrocatalysts with high ORR performance is highly desirable. Herein, we synthesize a series of B, N co-doped hierarchical porous carbons using a soft template method with the integration of self-assembly, calcination and etching. The obtained materials exhibit hierarchical porous structures, controllable pore distribution, partial graphite structures, and B, N co-doping. They can function as the cost-effective and metal-free electrocatalysts, facilitating the diffusion of electrolyte ions and the improvement of ORR performance. Especially, the B, N co-doped porous carbon with the B-to-N molar ratio of 5 (BNC-5) displays a high ORR activity with a half-wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.73 V, an onset potential (E_onset) of 0.94 V, and a high limiting current density (J_L) of 5.98 mA cm⁻², superior to the N-doped C (NC) and BNC-1 (the B-to-N molar ratio=1), BNC-3 (the B-to-N molar ratio=3) and BNC-7 (the B-to-N molar ratio=7) under the identical conditions. Moreover, the BNC-5 exhibits good cycling stability after 5000 cyclic voltammetry (CV) cycles and excellent tolerance toward even 3 M methanol. This research provides a new approach for the facile synthesis of dual element-doped carbon electrocatalysts with high ORR performance.     

Nafion covered core–shell structured Fe3O4@graphene nanospheres modified electrode for highly selective detection of dopamine

Nafion covered core–shell structured Fe₃O₄@graphene nanospheres (GNs) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was successfully prepared and used for selective detection dopamine. Firstly, the characterizations of hydro-thermal synthesized Fe₃O₄@GNs were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy. Then Fe₃O₄@GNs/Nafion modified electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidations of dopamine (DA). The interference test showed that the coexisted ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) had no electrochemical interference toward DA. Under the optimum conditions, the broad linear relationship was obtained in the experimental concentration from 0.020 μM to 130.0 μM with the detection limit (S/N = 3) of 0.007 μM. Furthermore, the core–shell structured Fe₃O₄@GNs/Nafion/GCE was applied to the determination of DA in real samples and satisfactory results were got, which could provide a promising platform to develop excellent biosensor for detecting DA.     

Responsive mechanism of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole-based two-photon fluorescent probes for zinc and hydroxide ions

Response theory is used to investigate one- and two-photon absorption(TPA) as well as the emission properties of a series of potential zinc ion and pH sensitive materials containing 2-(2’-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole(HPBO) end groups.Special emphasis is placed on the evolution of their optical properties upon combining with zinc ions or deprotonation.Our calculated results indicate that upon combining with zinc ions or deprotonation,these HPBO derivatives show drastic changes in their one-photon absorption(OPA),emission,and TPA properties.Moreover,the mechanisms of the probes are analyzed and found to be an intramolecular charge transfer.These compounds are thus proved to be excellent candidates for two-photon fluorescent zinc and pH probes.     

On the stability of impulsive functional differential equations with infinite delays

In this paper, the stability problem of impulsive functional differential equations with infinite delays is considered. By using Lyapunov functions and the Razumikhin technique, some new theorems on the uniform stability and uniform asymptotic stability are obtained. The obtained results are milder and more general than several recent works. Two examples are given to demonstrate the advantages of the results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stability analysis of a class of uncertain switched systems on time scale using Lyapunov functions

This paper deals with the stability analysis of a class of uncertain switched systems on non-uniform time domains. The considered class consists of dynamical systems which commute between an uncertain continuous-time subsystem and an uncertain discrete-time subsystem during a certain period of time. The theory of dynamic equations on time scale is used to study the stability of these systems on non-uniform time domains formed by a union of disjoint intervals with variable length and variable gap. Using the concept of common Lyapunov function, sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the asymptotic stability of this class of systems on time scale with bounded graininess function. The proposed scheme is used to study the leader–follower consensus problem under intermittent information transmissions.     

半格分次弱Hopf代数的$G$-Cleft扩张

本文首先将Clifford幺半群代数分解为交叉积的半格直和,然后将这个结果通过$H$-$G$-cleft扩张推广到所谓的$G$-交叉积上.     

Constructing the Co cyclic Structures for Crossed Copro duct Coalgebras

In this paper, we construct a cocylindrical object associated to two coal-gebras and a cotwisted map. It is shown that there exists an isomorphism between the cocyclic object of the crossed coproduct c...