A Case Report of Germline Compound Heterozygous Mutations in the BRCA1 Gene of an Ovarian and Breast Cancer Patient

The germline carrier of the BRCA1 pathogenic mutation has been well proven to confer an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Despite BRCA1 biallelic pathogenic mutations being extremely rare, they have been reported to be embryonically lethal or to cause Fanconi anemia (FA). Here we describe a patient who was a 48-year-old female identified with biallelic pathogenic mutations of the BRCA1 gene, with no or very subtle FA-features. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and breast cancer at the ages of 43 and 44 and had a strong family history of breast and gynecological cancers.     

Adsorptive Removal of Manganese Ions from Polluted Aqueous Media by Glauconite Clay-Functionalized Chitosan Nanocomposites

The presence of Mn(II) in water exceeding the permitted concentration limits declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) influences individuals, animals, and the ecosystem negatively. Therefore, there is a necessity for an efficient material to eliminate this potentially toxic element from wastewater. We herein focused on the adsorptive removal of Mn(II) ions from polluted aqueous media using natural Egyptian glauconite clay (G) and its nanocomposites with modified chitosan (CS). We applied modified chitosan with glutaraldehyde (GL), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The utilized nanocomposites were referred to as GL-CS/G, EDTA-GL-CS/G, SDS-CS/G, and CTAB-CS/G, respectively. The point of zero charge values of the materials were estimated. The adsorption properties of the G clay and its nanocomposites toward the removal of Mn(II) ions from polluted aqueous media as well as the adsorption mechanism were explored using a batch technique. The glauconite (G) and its nanocomposites: GL-CS/G, CTAB-CS/G, EDTA-GL-CS/G, and SDS-CS/G, exhibited maximum adsorption capacity values of 3.60, 24.0, 26.0, 27.0, and 27.9 mg g^?1, respectively. The adsorption results fitted well the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. The estimated thermodynamic parameters: ΔH° (from 1.03 to 5.55 kJ/mol) and ΔG° (from ? 14.5 to ? 18.8 kJ/mol), indicated that Mn(II) ion adsorption process was endothermic, spontaneous, and physisorption controlled. Furthermore, the obtained adsorption results are encouraging and revealing a great potentiality for using the modified adsorbents as accessible adsorbents for Mn(II) ion removal from polluted aqueous solutions, depending on their reusability, high stability, and good adsorption capacities.

Graphic Abstract

     

境外炼化工程项目投标竞争者分析报价策略

全球炼化工程总承包市场呈现出垄断竞争型特征,欧美和日韩国际工程公司由于技术和报价竞争力较强,一直占据本行业高端市场,中国炼化工程企业尚有差距.文章综合考虑投标报价阶段竞争者分析路径,提出了随机型和不完全信息静态博弈综合集成分析的投标报价最优决策模型,并以中东海湾地区某炼化工程总承包项目为例,进行多维度的实证分析,提出模型的有效性和可行性,为中国炼化工程企业"走出去"高质量发展提供有益的决策支持和信息参考.     

Dual effect synergistically triggered Ce:(Y,Tb)3(Al,Mn)5O12 transparent ceramics enabling a high color-rendering index and excellent thermal stability for white LEDs

Ce:Y₃Al₅O₁₂ transparent ceramics (TCs) with appropriate emission light proportion and high thermal stability are significant to construct white light emitting diode devices with excellent chromaticity parameters. In this work, strategies of controlling crystal-field splitting around Ce³⁺ ion and doping orange-red emitting ion, were adopted to fabricate Ce:(Y,Tb)₃(Al,Mn)₅O₁₂ TCs via vacuum sintering technique. Notably, 85.4 % of the room-temperature luminescence intensity of the TC was retained at 150 °C, and the color rendering index was as high as 79.8. Furthermore, a 12 nm red shift and a 16.2 % increase of full width at half maximum were achieved owing to the synergistic effects of Tb³⁺ and Mn²⁺ ions. By combining TCs with a 460 nm blue chip, a warm white light with a low correlated color temperature of 4155 K was acquired. Meanwhile, the action mechanism of Tb³⁺ ion and the energy transfer between Ce³⁺ and Mn²⁺ ions were verified in prepared TCs.     

Organic mesh template-based laminated object manufacturing to fabricate ceramics with regular micron scaled pore structures

A new aqueous slurry-based laminated object manufacturing process for porous ceramics is proposed: firstly, an organic mesh sheet is pre-paved as a pore-forming template before slurry layer scraping; secondly, the 2D pattern is built with laser outline cutting of the dried mesh–ceramic composite layer; finally, the pore structure is formed after degreasing and sintering. Alumina parts with porosities of 51.5 %, round hole diameters of 80 ± 5 μm were fabricated using 70 wt. % solid content slurry and 100 mesh nylon net. Using an organic mesh as the framework and template not only reduces the risk of damage of the green body but also ensures the regularity, uniformity and connectivity of the micron scaled pore network. The layer-by-layer drying method avoids the delamination phenomenon and improves the paving density. The new method can realize the flexible design of the pore structure by using various organic mesh templates.     

Agronomic performance of high oleic,low linolenic soybean in Tennessee

Soybean oil hydrogenation alters the linolenic acid molecule to prevent the oil from becoming rancid, however, health reports have indicated trans-fat caused by hydrogenation, is not generally regarded as safe. Typical soybeans contain approximately 80 g kg⁻¹ to 120 g kg⁻¹ linolenic acid and 240 g kg⁻¹ of oleic acid. In an effort to accommodate the need for high-quality oil, the United Soybean Board introduced an industry standard for a high oleic acid greater than 750 g kg⁻¹ and linolenic acid less than 30 g kg⁻¹ oil. By combing mutations in the soybean plant at four loci, FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B, oleate desaturase genes and FAD3A and FAD3C, linoleate desaturase genes, and seed oil will not require hydrogenation to prevent oxidation and produce high-quality oil. In 2017 and 2018, a study comparing four near-isogenic lines across multiple Tennessee locations was performed to identify agronomic traits associated with mutations in FAD3A and FAD3C loci, while holding FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B constant in the mutant (high oleic) state. Soybean lines were assessed for yield and oil quality based on mutations at FAD2-1 and FAD3 loci. Variations of wild-type and mutant genotypes were compared at FAD3A and FAD3C loci. Analysis using a generalized linear mixed model in SAS 9.4, indicated no yield drag or other negative agronomic traits associated with the high oleic and low linolenic acid genotype. All four mutations of fad2-1A, fad2-1B, fad3A, and fad3C were determined as necessary to produce a soybean with the new industry standard (>750 g kg⁻¹ oleic and <30 g kg⁻¹ linolenic acid) in a maturity group-IV-Late cultivar for Tennessee growers.     

Matrix Manipulation of Directly-Synthesized PbS Quantum Dot Inks Enabled by Coordination Engineering

The direct-synthesis of conductive PbS quantum dot (QD) ink is facile, scalable, and low-cost, boosting the future commercialization of optoelectronics based on colloidal QDs. However, manipulating the QD matrix structures still is a challenge, which limits the corresponding QD solar cell performance. Here, for the first time a coordination-engineering strategy to finely adjust the matrix thickness around the QDs is presented, in which halogen salts are introduced into the reaction to convert the excessive insulating lead iodide into soluble iodoplumbate species. As a result, the obtained QD film exhibits shrunk insulating shells, leading to higher charge carrier transport and superior surface passivation compared to the control devices. A significantly improved power-conversion efficiency from 10.52% to 12.12% can be achieved after the matrix engineering. Therefore, the work shows high significance in promoting the practical application of directly synthesized PbS QD inks in large-area low-cost optoelectronic devices.     

High-Performance Solution-Processed Nondoped Circularly Polarized OLEDs with Chiral Triptycene Scaffold-Based TADF Emitters Realizing Over 20% External Quantum Efficiency

Recently, circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) fabricated with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters are developed rapidly. However, most devices are fabricated by vacuum deposition technology, and developing efficient solution-processed CP-OLEDs, especially nondoped devices, is still a challenge. Herein, a pair of triptycene-based enantiomers, (S,S)-/(R,R)-TpAc-TRZ, are synthesized. The novel chiral triptycene scaffold of enantiomers avoids their intermolecular π–π stacking, which is conducive to their aggregation-induced emission characteristics and high photoluminescence quantum yield of 85% in the solid state. Moreover, the triptycene-based enantiomers exhibit efficient TADF activities with a small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔE_ST) of 0.03 eV and delayed fluorescence lifetime of 1.1 µs, as well as intense circularly polarized luminescence with dissymmetry factors (|g_PL|) of about 1.9 × 10⁻³. The solution-processed nondoped CP-OLEDs based on (S,S)-/(R,R)-TpAc-TRZ not only display obvious circularly polarized electroluminescence signals with g_EL values of +1.5 × 10⁻³ and −2.0 × 10⁻³, respectively, but also achieve high efficiencies with external quantum, current, and power efficiency up to 25.5%, 88.6 cd A⁻¹, and 95.9 lm W⁻¹, respectively.     

keff uncertainty quantification and analysis due to nuclear data during the full lifetime burnup calculation for a small-sized prismatic high temperature gas-cooled reactor

To benefit from recent advances in modeling and computational algorithms,as well as the availability of new covariance data,sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are needed to quantify the impact of uncertain sources on the design parameters of small prismatic high-temperature gas-cooled reactors(HTGRs).In particular,the contribution of nuclear data to the keff uncertainty is an important part of the uncertainty analysis of small-sized HTGR physical calculations.In this study,a small-sized HTGR designed by China Nuclear Power Engineering Co.,Ltd.was selected for keff uncertainty analysis during full lifetime burnup calculations.Models of the cold zero power(CZP)condition and full lifetime burnup process were constructed using the Reactor Monte Carlo Code RMC for neutron transport calculation,depletion calculation,and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis.For the sensitivity analysis,the Contribution-Linked eigenvalue sensitivity/Uncertainty estimation via Track length importance Characterization(CLUTCH)method was applied to obtain sensitive infor-mation,and the"sandwich"method was used to quantify the keff uncertainty.We also compared the keff uncertainties to other typical reactors.Our results show that 235U is the largest contributor to keff uncertainty for both the CZP and depletion conditions,while the contribution of 239Pu is not very significant because of the design of low discharge burnup.It is worth noting that the radioactive capture reaction of 28Si significantly contributes to the keff uncer-tainty owing to its specific fuel design.However,the keff uncertainty during the full lifetime depletion process was relatively stable,only increasing by 1.12％owing to the low discharge burnup design of small-sized HTGRs.These numerical results are beneficial for neutronics design and core parameters optimization in further uncertainty prop-agation and quantification study for small-sized HTGR.