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Introduction: The clinical significance of persistent positive in Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) DNA level in patients receiving antiviral therapy is not well known. We investigated factors associated with persistent viremia (PV) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) given 78-week entecavir. Methods: A total of 394 treatment-naïve CHB patients who had undergone liver biopsy at baseline and week 78 of treatment were analyzed in this prospective multicentre study. We identified patients with PV (above the lower limit of quantification, 20 IU/ml) after 78 weeks of entecavir therapy. Stepwise, forward, multivariate regression analyses of specified baseline parameters were apllied to identify factors associated with PV. Futhermore, we assessed the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in all patients using models of the risk of HCC development. Results: Of the 394 patients, 90 (22.8%) still with PV after 78-week antiviral treatment. Factors associated significantly with PV (vs complete virological response, CVR) were HBV DNA level ≥8 log10 IU/mL (OR, 3.727; 95% CI, 1.851- 7.505; P < 0.001), Anti-HBc level < 3 log10 IU/mL (OR, 2.384; 95% CI, 1.223- 4.645; P=0.011), and HBeAg seropositivity (OR, 2.871; 95% CI, 1.563-5.272; P < 0.001). Patients with PV were less likely to have fibrosis progression and HCC development than those with the CVR. Of the 11 HBeAg-positive patients with HBV DNA level ≥8 log10 IU/mL and Anti-HBc level < 3 log10 IU/mL at baseline, 9 (81.8%) had persistent positivity in HBV DNA level and 0 had fibrosis progression at week 78 of treatment. Discussion: In conclusion, HBV DNA level ≥8 log10 IU/mL, Anti-HBc level < 3 log10 IU/mL and HBeAg seropositivity at baseline contribute to PV in patients with CHB receiving 78-week antiviral treatment. In addition, the rate of fibrosis progression and the risk of HCC development in patients with PV were kept low. The complete protocol for the clinical trial has been registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01962155 and NCT03568578). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) (MO) is an important food plant that has high nutritional and medical value. However, there is limited information on whether its seeds can improve sleep. Objective: This study investigated the effects of MO seed ethanol extracts (EEMOS) on sleep activity improvement and examined the underlying mechanisms. Materials and methods: Male ICR mice were placed into six groups (n=12) and treated as follows: Control (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, 20mL/kg), estazolam tablets (2mg/kg), EEMOS (1, 2 g/kg) and kaempferol (1, 2mg/kg). These samples were successively given intragastric for 14 d. Locomotor activity assay, pentobarbital-induced sleeping and pentetrazol-induced seizures tests were utilized to examine the sedative-hypnotic effects (SHE) of EEMOS. Results: Compared with the control group, the results revealed that EEMOS (2 g/kg) and KA (2 mg/kg) possessed good SHE and could significantly elevate the levels of c-aminobutyric acid and reduce the levels of glutamic acid in the mouse hypothalamus (p<0.05). Moreover, SHE was blocked by picrotoxin, flumazenil and bicuculline (p<0.05). EEMOS (2 g/kg) and KA (2 mg/kg) significantly upregulated the protein expression levels of glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 (GAD65) and α1-subunit of GABAA receptors in the hypothalamus of mice (p<0.05), not affecting glutamic acid decarboxylase-67 (GAD67) and c2-subunit expression levels (p>0.05). Additionally, they cause a significant increase in Cl-influx in human cerebellar granule cells at a concentration of 8 mg/mL (p < 0.05). Discussion and conclusions: These findings demonstrated that EEMOS could improve sleep by regulating GABAA-ergic systems, and encourage further clinical trials to treat insomnia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Yi Shen An (YSA) is an investigational composite of traditional Chinese medicine (Reference: 2010L000974) for the treatment of renal disease. Objective: To investigate the protective effects of YSA against membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN). Materials and methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with cationic bovine serum albumin (C-BSA) to create a model of MGN. Then, rats were orally treated with YSA at doses of 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 g/kg for 35 successive days; prednisone (5 mg/kg) was used as a positive control. At the end of the experimental period, we performed a series of tests, including 24 h urinary protein, and biochemical, immunological, antioxidative, coagulation indices, and histopathological examination. Results: YSA-1 g/kg significantly lowered urinary protein from 68.37 to 30.74mg (p<0.01). Meantime, total protein (TP) and albumin (ALB) recovered from 66.26 and 20.51 g/L to 76.08 and 35.64 g/L (p<0.01), respectively. YSA removed the deposition of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and complement 3c (C3c), prevented inter-capillary cell hyperplasia on the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), and reduced electron-dense deposits and fusion of podocytes. In addition, serum IgG and superoxide dismutase were significantly elevated. In contrast, malondialdehyde, total cholesterol, triglyceride, circulating immune complex (CIC), and immunoglobulin M decreased in the YSA-treated group. Moreover, the blood coagulation dysfunction was adjusted. Discussion and conclusions: These findings indicate YSA may exert a therapeutic effect against MGN through the inhibition of CIC formation, and the removal of IgG and C3c deposition from the GBM, thus supporting the development of further clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of "Carbon Emissions Peak" and "Carbon Neutrality", grazing exclusion (GE) has been applied widely to rehabilitate degraded grasslands and increase carbon sequestration. However, on the QingZang Plateau (QZP), the impacts of GE on the carbon dynamics of alpine grasslands are poorly understood, particularly at a regional scale. To fill this knowledge gap, we evaluated the responses of carbon sequestration to GE in different alpine grasslands across QZP by using meta-analysis. The effects of GE on ecosystem carbon fractions were dependent on GE duration, grassland types and climate factors. Specifically, our results indicated that GE had more obviously positive effects on carbon stock across the alpine meadow than the alpine steppe. However, when considering different GE duration, the longer duration of GE was more effective for increasing ecosystem carbon sequestration (R2 = 0.52, P<0.0001) in the alpine steppe. Our results further demonstrated that annual mean precipitation (AMP) and temperature (AMT) began to dominate ecosystem carbon sequestration after three years of GE duration across the alpine meadow; and AMP was an important climate factor limiting ecosystem carbon sequestration (R2 = 0.34, P<0.01) in the alpine steppe. In terms of plant carbon fraction, GE generated continuous positive effect (P<0.05) on aboveground biomass with the increased GE duration in the alpine meadow, while this positive effect disappeared after the 8th year of GE duration. And no positive effects were found on belowground biomass in the 11th year in alpine steppe. For soil organic carbon (SOC), there existed periodic fluctuations (increased and then decreased) on SOC in response to GE. For microbial biomass carbon, there were no obvious trends in response to GE duration. In general, we highlighted that the responses of different carbon fractions (plant-soil-microbe) to GE were non-uniform at spatial and temporal scales, thereby we should adopt different carbon management practices for sustainable development of different grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Objectives: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance, indicating functional cure or resolved chronic hepatitis B (CHB), remains difficult to achieve via nucleos(t)ide analogue monotherapy. We investigated whether metformin add-on therapy could help achieve this goal in entecavir-treated patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative CHB. Patients and Methods: Patients with HBeAg-negative CHB who met eligibility criteria (entecavir treatment for > 12 months, HBsAg < 1000 IU/mL) were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive 24 weeks of either metformin (1000 mg, oral, once a day) or placebo (oral, once a day) add-on therapy. The group allocation was blinded for both patients and investigators. Efficacy and safety analyses were based on the intention-to-treat set. The primary outcome, serum HBsAg level (IU/mL) at weeks 24 and 36, was analysed using mixed models. Results: Sixty eligible patients were randomly assigned to the metformin (n = 29) and placebo (n = 31) groups. There was no substantial between-group difference in the HBsAg level at week 24 (adjusted mean difference 0.05, 95% confidence interval -0.04 to 0.13, p = 0.278) or week 36 (0.06, -0.03 to 0.15, p = 0.187), and no significant effect of group-by-time interaction on the HBsAg level throughout the trial (p = 0.814). The occurrence of total adverse events between the two groups was comparable (9 [31.0%] of 29 vs. 5 [16.1%] of 31, p = 0.227) and no patient experienced serious adverse events during the study. Conclusion: Although it was safe, metformin add-on therapy did not accelerate HBsAg clearance in entecavirtreated patients with HBeAg-negative CHB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informatization level is an important criterion for the intellectualization of modern enterprises, and enterprise informatization software is a key part of the implementation of enterprise informatization. In this selection process, there exist the problems such as multi-factor constraint, ambiguity, and low distinguishing ability etc. To solve these problems, the author attempted to explore the model and algorithm of enterprise informatization software selection based on the grey relational analysis (GRA). First, the decision indicators were defined and then weighted using the fuzzy decision analysis method. Secondly, in view of the uncertainty of decision analysis in the software selection of enterprise informatization, the GRA was proposed to establish the calculation model of grey correlation degree, and the basic framework and algorithm were also given. Finally, the model and algorithms proposed were verified through case analysis. The research findings provide a theoretical support for the fuzzy decision analysis of complex system, and also have signification application value to the fuzzy decision and evaluation issues in complex system engineering [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preventing pathogenic viral and bacterial transmission in the human environment is critical, especially in potential outbreaks that may be caused by the release of ancient bacteria currently trapped in the permafrost. Existing commercial disinfectants present issues such as a high carbon footprint. This study proposes a sustainable alternative, a bioliquid derived from biomass prepared by hydrothermal liquefaction. Results indicate a high inactivation rate of pathogenic virus and bacteria by the as-prepared bioliquid, such as up to 99.99% for H1N1, H5N1, H7N9 influenza A virus, and Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores and 99.49% for Bacillus anthracis. Inactivation of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis confirmed that low-molecular-weight and low-polarity compounds in bioliquid are potential antibacterial components. High temperatures promoted the production of antibacterial substances via depolymerization and dehydration reactions. Moreover, bioliquid was innoxious as confirmed by the rabbit skin test, and the cost per kilogram of the bioliquid was $0.04427, which is notably lower than that of commercial disinfectants. This study demonstrates the potential of biomass to support our biosafety with greater environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examined the spatial and temporal variations in precipitation amount, frequency, and intensity in China based on daily precipitation data from 2050 weather stations from 1973 to 2016. We used two Markov chain parameters to quantify the wet persistence and dry persistence that characterizes the temporal pattern of wet and dry days, respectively. We found that China's annual precipitation changed little from 1973 to 2016, but varied dramatically from 524 to 688mm yr-1, with an average of 592 mm yr-1, during this period. China's precipitation frequency, the number of days with effective precipitation (.0.1mmday21) in a year, significantly decreased at a rate of 0.9 days decade21 from 1973 to 2016, but precipitation intensity significantly increased at a rate of 0.12 mm day-1 decade-1 during the same period. Of the changes in China's total precipitation amount, precipitation intensity played a dominant role, contributing 70.8%, while precipitation frequency contributed the remaining 29.2%. Little change was found in the wet persistence in China over the period of 1973-2016, but the dry persistence significantly increased with an average increasing trend of 1.62 3 1023 probability per decade during the same period, and no significant correlations were found between these two variables. China's precipitation also changed nonuniformly in space, with increasing trends in precipitation amount, frequency, intensity, and wet persistence in western and northeastern China but decreasing trends in the Sichuan basin, northeast of Inner Mongolia, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine the mechanisms driving the protective effects of squid ink polysaccharide (SIP) against cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced testicular damage, focusing on germ cells. In the testes of mice exposed to CP and/or SIP, the present study examined the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde, activity of superoxide dismutase levels, protein expression levels of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2), Bcl2-associated X protein (Bax), and total Caspase 3, activation of p-p38 and p-Akt proteins, and tissue morphology. The findings indicated that CP induced ROS production and oxidative stress, resulting in testicular damage. However, under administration of SIP, oxidative stress was impaired and the testicular toxicity induced by CP was weakened, which implied that SIP may have an important role in preventing chemotherapeutic damage to the male reproductive system via promoting antioxidant ability. Furthermore, the altered expression levels, including the upregulation of Bax and Caspase 3, downregulation of Bcl-2 and the increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, indicated that apoptosis occurred in CP exposed testes of mice; however, the alterations were reversed in mice treated with SIP. Moreover, in CP-exposed testes, p38 and Akt proteins were significantly phosphorylated (P<0.05), whereas in the testes of mice co-treated with SIP and CP, phosphorylation of the two proteins was inhibited, demonstrating that the two signalling pathways participated in the regulative processes of the deleterious effects caused by CP, and the preventive effects SIP mediated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): The aim of this study was to explore the effects of Squid ink polysaccharide (SIP) on prevention of autophagy and oxidative stress induced by cyclophosphamide (CP) in Leydig cells of mice. Materials and Methods: Examination of reproductive organ exponents, abnormal sperm rate, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), and histological structure were performed to detect the optimal dose of SIP against oxidative stress damage in vivo, and autophagyassociated protein LC3 and Beclin-1 were examined by immunofluorescence, and their expression was detected by Western blot analysis. Leydig cells ultrastructural changes were observed by transmission fluorescent microscope. Results: SIP significantly inhibited sperm aberration, histological structure and injury of seminiferous tubules caused by CP, as well as the antioxidant activity of SOD and CAT were increased; contents of MDA were decreased. The optimal dose of SIP for prevention of oxidative stress injury by CP was 80 mg/kg. In addition, LC3 and Beclin-1 fluorescent granules were much less in the Leydig cell layer after treatment via SIP compared with the CP-treated group, and the expression levels of LC3 and Beclin-1 were also decreased. Furthermore, characteristics of cell autophagy such as mitochondrial swelling, autophagic vacuoles, and chromatin pyknosis were observed in CP-treated Leydig cells, but SIP could effectively weaken injury of Leydig cell ultrastructure by CP. Conclusion: SIP, as an antioxidant, prevents the cytoskeleton damage through up-regulation antioxidant capacity and inhibition autophagy caused by CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide perovskite single crystal of cubic HC(NH2)2PbI3 (FAPbI3) having excellent optoelectronic properties, such as narrow bandgap, large absorption coefficient and superior thermal stability has caught a surge of attention as a promising material for production of high-performance optoelectronic devices. However, at room temperature, the self-transformation of cubic FAPbI3 perovskite phase to non-perovskite phase leaves a critical roadblock to its practical viability. Herein, a simple alloying strategy by mixing methylammonium with formamidinium is developed to stabilize the FAPbI3 perovskite phase, hence achieving a highly stable mixed cation MA0.45FA0.55PbI3 perovskite single crystal over a span of 14 months. The MA0.45FA0.55PbI3 single crystal exhibits exceptional optoelectronic properties like high carrier mobility of 271 ± 60 cm2 s−1 V−1 and long diffusion length up to 254 μm, which are twice the values for sole MAPbI3 or FAPbI3 crystals. In addition, the photodetector based on MA0.45FA0.55PbI3 single crystal exhibits low detection limit of about 1 nW cm−2, high ON–OFF ratio of ∼1000, short response time of less than 200 μs, and impressive stability under aging in dark for 4 months or continuous photo-switching test for 1000 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emission geometries, including emission region heights, beam shapes and radius-to-frequency mapping, are important clues for pulsar radiation models. Multiband radio observations reveal this valuable information. In this paper, we study two bright pulsars, PSRs B0329+54 and B1642-03, and observe them at high frequencies: 2.5, 5 and 8 GHz. The newly acquired data, together with historical archives, provide an atlas of multifrequency profiles spanning from 100 MHz to 10 GHz. We study the frequency evolution of pulse profiles as well as radiation regions using these data. First, we fit the pulse profiles with Gaussian functions to determine the phase of each component, and then we calculate the radiation altitudes of different emission components and radiation regions. We find that the inverse Compton scattering (ICS) model can reproduce the radiation geometry of these two pulsars. However, for PSR B0329+54, the radiation can be generated in either an annular gap (AG) or a core gap (CG), while the radiation of PSR B1642-03 can only be generated in a CG. This difference is caused by the inclination angle and the impact angle of these two pulsars. The relationship between the beaming angle (the angle between the radiation direction and the magnetic axis) and the radiation altitude versus frequency is also presented by modelling the beam–frequency evolution in the ICS model. The multiband pulse profiles of these two pulsars can be described well by the ICS model combined with the CG and AG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, obtaining a thin and large-area perovskite single-crystal (SC) is still challenging. Herein, we report a novel strategy to prepare a laminar MAPbBr3 SC with a controllable thickness of 16 μm and a size of 6 × 8 mm. Additionally, the SC solar cell achieves an intriguing efficiency of 7.11% with an impressive stability, maintaining 93% initial PCE after aging for 1000 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing and exploring efficient and stable non-noble bifunctional catalysts by nanostructure modification and chemical composition tuning for water splitting is of critical importance for sustainable resources. Herein, pure phase nickel molybdenum phosphide (NiMoP2) nanowires on carbon cloth are successfully synthesized through a simple and highly reproducible in situ P/O exchange process. Such a NiMoP2 nanowire catalyst requires low overpotentials of 199 and 330 mV to obtain a high current density of 100 mA cm−2 towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively, and is among the most active HER and OER electrocatalysts yet reported. The bifunctional NiMoP2 is used as both anode and cathode catalysts in a two-electrode water electrolysis configuration, which delivers a current density of 10 mA cm−2 under a potential of 1.67 V. Furthermore, the overall water-splitting of the bifunctional NiMoP2 nanowire catalyst is further driven by a dry battery with a nominal voltage of 1.5 V which exhibits excellent performance and durability in a strong alkaline electrolyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cesium lead iodide perovskite (CsPbI3) has been proposed as an efficient alternative to modify the instability of methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) under thermal and humidity stress. However, three-dimensional (3D) cesium lead iodide forms an undesirable non-perovskite structure with a wide bandgap at ambient atmosphere. Herein, dimension engineering is employed by introducing a bulky ammonium cation to form stable 2D cesium lead iodide perovskite BA2CsPb2I7 (BA = CH3(CH2)3NH3), which not only exhibits prominent optoelectronic properties, but also possesses superior structural and compositional stability to 3D CsPbI3 and MAPbI3 under the pressure of heat and humidity. The current 2D BA2CsPb2I7 shows excellent stability after exposure to 30% relative humidity for 30 days or upon heating at 85 °C for 3 days. In addition, the corresponding BA2CsPb2I7 based planar perovskite solar cells retain 92% of the initial power conversion efficiency (PCE) after aging for over 30 days without any encapsulation, demonstrating the up-scalability of 2D perovskite compounds as stable and efficient light-absorbing materials for perovskite solar cells and other optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): This paper aims to investigate synergistic inhibition of polysaccharide from Sepia esculenta ink (SIP), a newly isolated marine polysaccharide in our laboratory, on breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells exposed to cisplatin. Materials and Methods: Cell viability of MDA-MB-231 cells was determined by CCK 8 assay. Median-effect concentration was analyzed using Chou-Talalay method that was also subjected to determine cell inhibition ratio and combined index, as well as interaction between SIP and cisplatin. Proliferation and migration abilities were detected with plate colony formation assay and cell wound scratch assay, respectively. Expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins was measured with Western blot assay. Results: Data showed that SIP not only suppressed proliferation and migration of MDA-MB-231 cells, and expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins, also promoted inhibition of cisplatin on proliferation, migration and MMPs expression of MDA-MB-231 cells, which indicates synergy inhibition of drug combination of SIP and cisplatin on breast cancer cells. The median-effect concentrations of cisplatin and SIP were 4.9 and 1659.6 μg/ml, respectively. Whereas the concentration of combination drug was 158.5 μg/ml. The data indicated that drug combination can decrease dosages of the two single agents, especially the usual dosage of cisplatin. Conclusion: This research demonstrated that SIP repressed proliferation and metastasis of MDA-MB-231 cells and promoted anticancer effect of cisplatin on the breast cancer cells. The data suggested that SIP is a potential natural drug that can be used as an auxiliary medicine alongside chemotherapy in treating breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ fabrication of an ordered macroporous perovskite semitransparent film on a FTO glass was successfully achieved via sacrificial polystyrene (PS) microsphere templates. The average visible transmittance of active layer from 20% to 45% can be tuned by simply changing the PS diameters and precursor concentrations. The ordered macroporous perovskite films show enhanced crystallinity and reduced recombination defects, superior to the island perovskite film. Transient photovoltage, transient photocurrent and electrochemical impedance spectra measurements proved the advanced charge transport and reduced recombination by importing macroporous structures. Herein, the optimized 400 nm MP CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite film with a high AL AVT of 36.5% achieved an impressive PCE of 11.7% compared to the island-like perovskite film (champion PCE = 5.6%), presenting a great potential for building integrated photovoltaic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a planar perovskite solar cell (PSC) is closely associated with the conduction band energy, conductivity and coverage of the compact layer. However, as the most widely used compact layer material, TiO2 has unfavorable electrical properties such as low electron mobility and conductivity; as a result, modifications such as elemental doping are of paramount importance. In this study, Nb-doped TiO2 with improved carrier density and conductivity was prepared via a facile one-pot solution process and applied successfully as a high-quality compact layer for planar PSCs. A positive shift in the flat-band potential (Vfb) and increased conductivity after Nb doping efficiently facilitated photogenerated electron injection and charge extraction from the perovskite film to the 2% Nb-doped TiO2 compact layer, contributing to impressive advances in photovoltaic performance compared with pristine TiO2. Ultimately, a PSC assembled using optimized 2% Nb-doped TiO2 and CH3NH3PbI3 yielded a power conversion efficiency of up to 16.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar water splitting by photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells is emerged as a promising route for H2 production. However, thus far no single component material can fulfill all the requirements for high efficiency PEC behavior, especially for the photoanode which conducts the water oxidation, while constructing a composite photoelectrode can result in improved performance. Herein, a simple wet-chemical treatment method is introduced to in situ fabricate ZnFe2O4 onto conductive Al:ZnO nanowire arrays for solar-driven water splitting. Benefiting from the high conductivity of Al:ZnO and the visible-spectrum absorption of ZnFe2O4, such a host–guest structure has finally led to an excellent photoelectrochemical performance with low onset potential (VRHE = 0.38 V) and a photocurrent density of 1.72 mA cm−2 (VRHE = 1.23 V). Notably, the low onset potential gives this structure great potential for application in unassisted light-driven tandem-type PEC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Luffa echinata Roxb. (LER) (Cucurbitaceae) showed tremendous medicinal importance and are being used for the treatment of different ailments. Objective: In this study, the antiproliferative properties and cell death mechanism induced by the extract of the fruits of LER were investigated. Materials and Methods: MTT and LDH assay were used to test the antiproliferative and cytotoxicity of LER extract, respectively. The intracellular ROS were measured by a fluorometric assay. The expression of several apoptotic-related proteins in SW-480 cells treated by LER was evaluated by Western blot analysis. Results: The methanolic extract of LER fruits inhibited the proliferation of human colon cancer cells (SW-480) in both dose- and time-dependent manners. The LER-treated cells showed obvious characteristics of cell apoptosis, including cell shrinkage, destruction of the monolayer, and condensed chromatin. In addition, treatments of various concentrations of LER extracts caused the release of lactate dehydrogenase as a dose-dependent manner via stimulation of the intracellular metabolic system. LER induced apoptosis, DNA fragmentation, and cellular ROS accumulation in SW-480 cells. Treatment of LER on SW-480 cells promoted the expression of caspases, Bax, Bad, and p53 proteins and decreased the levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL. Conclusions: These results indicated that treatment with LER-induced cell death in mitochondrial apoptosis pathway by regulating pro-apoptotic proteins via the up regulation of the p53 protein. These findings highlight the potentials of LER in the treatment of human colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great attention to cost-effective high-efficiency solar power conversion of trihalide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been hovering at high levels in the recent 5 years. Among PSC devices, admittedly, TiO2 is the most widely used electron transport layer (ETL); however, its low mobility which is even less than that of CH3NH3PbI3 makes it not an ideal material. In principle, SnO2 with higher electron mobility can be regarded as a positive alternative. Herein, a SnO2 nanocolloid sol with ≈3 nm in size synthesized at 60 °C was spin-coated onto the fuorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass as the ETL of planar CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells. TiCl4 treatment of SnO2-coated FTO is found to improve crystallization and increase the surface coverage of perovskites, which plays a pivotal role in improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE). In this report, a champion efficiency of 14.69% (Jsc = 21.19 mA cm−2, Voc = 1023 mV, and FF = 0.678) is obtained with a metal mask at one sun illumination (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm−2). Compared to the typical TiO2, the SnO2 ETL efficiently facilitates the separation and transportation of photogenerated electrons/holes from the perovskite absorber, which results in a significant enhancement of photocurrent and PCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ingenious design of nanostructures and smart integration of specific semiconducting metal oxide materials are closely related to the photovoltaic performance of solar cells. Herein, we successfully fabricate vertically aligned TiO2 nanowire–TiO2 nanosheet–ZnO nanorod (TNW–TNS–ZNR) hyperbranched heterostructured arrays on TCO substrates as excellent anode material electrodes for efficient solar-to-electricity conversion. As a result, the TNW–TNS–ZNR heterostructured array based quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) have exhibited an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) under AM 1.5G one sun illumination, along with considerable improvement of short-circuit current density (Jsc), open voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) due to their superior light harvesting and excellent charge collection capability. Combined with the chemical bath deposited Cu2S counter electrode, the eventual PCE of CdS/CdSe co-sensitized solar cells can be further boosted to as high as 5.38%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells to directly collecting solar energy into chemical fuels (e.g., H2 via water splitting) is a promising way to tackle the energy challenge. α‐Fe2O3 has emerged as a desirable photoanode material in a PEC cell due to its wide spectrum absorption range, chemical stability, and earth abundant component. However, the short excited state lifetime, poor minority charge carrier mobility, and long light penetration depth hamper its application. Recently, the elegantly designed hierarchical macroporous composite nanomaterial has emerged as a strong candidate for photoelectrical applications. Here, a novel 3D antimony‐doped SnO2 (ATO) macroporous structure is demonstrated as a transparent conducting scaffold to load 1D hematite nanorod to form a composite material for efficient PEC water splitting. An enormous enhancement in PEC performance is found in the 3D electrode compared to the controlled planar one, due to the outstanding light harvesting and charge transport. A facile and simple TiCl4 treatment further introduces the Ti doping into the hematite while simultaneously forming a passivation layer to eliminate adverse reactions. The results indicate that the structural design and nanoengineering are an effective strategy to boost the PEC performance in order to bring more potential devices into practical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) can cause severe mental retardation in children who are prenatally exposed to ethanol. The effects of prenatal and early postnatal ethanol exposure on adult hippocampal neurogenesis have been investigated; however, the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on the subventricular zone (SVZ) have not. Gypenosides (GPs) have been reported to have neuroprotective effects in addition to other bioactivities. The effects of GPs on neural stem cells (NSCs) in the FASD model are unknown. Here, we test the effect of prenatal ethanol exposure on the neonatal SVZ, and the protection potential of GPs on NSCs in FASD rats. Our results show that prenatal ethanol exposure can suppress the cell proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in the neonatal SVZ and that GPs (400 mg/kg/day) can significantly increase the cell proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells inhibited by ethanol. Our data indicate that GPs have neuroprotective effects on the NSCs and can enhance the neurogenesis inhibited by ethanol within the SVZ of neonatal rats. These findings provide new evidence for a potential therapy involving GPs for the treatment of FASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that inhibit the expression of target protein-coding genes, most often at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs are often found to be misregulated in human cancer and they can act as potent oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. In this study, we found that a germline mutation in the miR-125a coding region is associated with human gastric cancer. This mutation reduced the expression of mature miR-125a and alleviated its inhibitory effect on erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 2 (ERBB2) gene expression and on gastric tumor cell proliferation. Thus, the data of this study suggested that this germline mutation in pri-miR-125a likely contributes to the genetic predisposition to gastric cancer by reducing the production of miR-125a, thereby interfering with the expression of miR-125a target genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic skeleton based gel electrolytes are prepared for the first time for high efficiency quasi-solid-state DSSCs. The gel electrolytes feature in their sponge-like porous matrix of a metal-organic gel (MOG) assembled by coordination of Al3+ and 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate (H3BTC), which can provide an excellent ability to accommodate electrolyte ingredients, thus largely preserving the properties of the liquid electrolyte. Meanwhile, the MOG electrolyte can well penetrate into the photoanode film to ensure a good interfacial contact. The effects of the concentration of active species in the MOG electrolyte on the photoelectrical performances are investigated. On increasing the concentration, Jsc of gel-state cells improves gradually due to the enhanced I-/I3- redox couple content, while Voc undergoes an increase first but decreases subsequently. The synergistic function of cations (such as Al3+, Li+, etc.) and tert-butylpyridine (TBP), which can induce a conductive band (CB) shift of the TiO2 photoanode and affect the electron recombination, may contribute to the variation of Voc. By optimizing the composition of the gel electrolyte, a high conversion efficiency of over 8.60% can be obtained, which is a little lower than that of a liquid-state cell (9.13%). This research study will open up a new way to fabricate quasi-solid-state DSSCs with high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-harvesting and charge collection have attracted increasing attention in the domain of photovoltaic cells, and can be facilitated dramatically by appropriate design of a photonic nanostructure. However, the applicability of current light-harvesting photoanode materials with single component and/or morphology (such as, particles, spheres, wires, sheets) is still limited by drawbacks such as insufficient electron-hole separation and/or light-trapping. Herein, we introduce a universal method to prepare hierarchical assembly of macroporous material-nanowire coated homogenous or heterogeneous metal oxide composite electrodes (TiO2-TiO2, SnO2-TiO2, and Zn2SnO4-TiO2; homogenous refers to a material in which the nanowire and the macroporous material have the same composition, i.e. both are TiO2. Heterogeneous refers to a material in which the nanowires and the macroporous material have different compositions). The dye-sensitized solar cell based on a TiO2-macroporous material-TiO2-nanowire homogenous composition electrode shows an impressive conversion efficiency of 9.51 %, which is much higher than that of pure macroporous material-based photoelectrodes to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-harvesting and charge collection have attracted increasing attention in the domain of photovoltaic cells, and can be facilitated dramatically by appropriate design of a photonic nanostructure. However, the applicability of current light-harvesting photoanode materials with single component and/or morphology (such as, particles, spheres, wires, sheets) is still limited by drawbacks such as insufficient electron-hole separation and/or light-trapping. Herein, we introduce a universal method to prepare hierarchical assembly of macroporous material-nanowire coated homogenous or heterogeneous metal oxide composite electrodes (TiO2-TiO2, SnO2-TiO2, and Zn2SnO4-TiO2; homogenous refers to a material in which the nanowire and the macroporous material have the same composition, i.e. both are TiO2. Heterogeneous refers to a material in which the nanowires and the macroporous material have different compositions). The dye-sensitized solar cell based on a TiO2-macroporous material-TiO2-nanowire homogenous composition electrode shows an impressive conversion efficiency of 9.51 %, which is much higher than that of pure macroporous material-based photoelectrodes to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We perform a global analysis of the new combined data on inclusive structure functions in electron-proton scattering at small value of Bjorken x (x ≤ 0.01) in the framework of the color glass condensate. The new combined HERA data at small-x are studied by an analytic proton structure function. It is shown that the theoretical results of the analytic proton structure function are in agreement with the new combined experimental data. The longitudinal proton structure function is investigated with the analytic expression. It is demonstrated that our approach shows a very good description of the longitudinal structure function experimental data, which is evidence showing the saturation effect is a domination mechanism during the rapidity evolution of the gluon density at high energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research study which performed a quantitative assessment of physiological cerebrospinal fluid flow in the cervical spinal canal with 3.0T phase-contrast cine magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI). The researchers compared the cerebrospinal fluid, ventral, and left and right post-lateral subarachnoid peak flow velocities and peak flow rates in the heart systolic and diastolic phases among different age groups. The methods used in the study are outlined.

The article offers information on a study that quantitatively analyzed intraspinal cerebrospinal fluid flow patterns in 19 normal adults. The study used fast cine phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging. It shows the correlation between upward and downward flow volume positively correlated and the subarachnoid area.

The antiproliferative properties and cell death mechanism induced by the extract of the fruits of Luffa echinata Roxb. (LER) were investigated. The methanolic extract of LER inhibited the proliferation of human colon cancer cells (HT-29) in both dose-dependent and time-dependent manners and caused a significant increase in the population of apoptotic cells. In addition, obvious shrinkage and destruction of the monolayer were observed in LER-treated cells, but not in untreated cells. Analysis of the cell cycle after treatment of HT-29 cells with various concentrations indicated that LER extracts inhibited the cellular proliferation of HT-29 cells via G2/M phase arrest of the cell cycle. The Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level determination revealed that LER extracts induced apoptotic cell death via ROS generation. In addition, LER treatment led to a rapid drop in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) as a decrease in fluorescence. The transcripts of several apoptosis-related genes were investigated by RT-PCR analysis. The caspase-3 transcripts of HT-29 cells significantly accumulated and the level of Bcl-XL mRNA was decreased after treatment with LER extract. Furthermore, the ratio of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis genes (Bax and Bcl-2) was sharply increased from 1.6 to 54.1. These experiments suggest that LER has anticancer properties via inducing the apoptosis in colon cancer cells, which provided the impetus for further studies on the therapeutic potential of LER against human colon carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background aims. This study aimed to observe nine factors expressed in rat ischemic brain after transplantation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) and/or endothelial progenitor cells (EPC). These factors were vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-l), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF). Methods. Adult Wistar rats were divided randomly into four groups: a vehicle group, BMSC group, EPC group and BMSC combined with EPC group. The rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) then implanted intravenously with 3 × 106 BMSC, EPC, BMSC/EPC or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) 24 h after MCAO. Neurologic functional deficits were measured on days 1, 7, 14, 28 after transplantation. On day 7 after transplantation, quantitative reverse transcription (qRT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot were employed to detect the expression of VEGF, SDF-1, bFGF, IGF-l, TGF-β, PDGF-BB, BDNF, GDNF and NGF. Results. The neurologic evaluation found that the neurologic severity scores were no different between the four groups on day 1, and the scores of rats in the BMSC/EPC group were significantly lower than those of rats in the other groups on days 7, 14 and 28 after transplantation. The expressions of bFGF, VEGF and BNDF were significantly higher in the BMSC/EPC group compared with the other groups. Conclusions. The intravenous transplantation of BMSC combined with EPC could promote the functional rehabilitation of rats with focal cerebral ischemia, and the mechanism may be related to the enhanced expression of factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the cDNA encoding lanosterol synthase (LS) clone produced from Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) through a homology-based polymerized chain reaction (PCR) method. It discovers that the LS cDNA contains an open-reading frame (ORF) of 2,181 bp while the genomic DNA sequence of LS contains 2,924 bp. It infers that the results of PCR are probably affected by the triterpene biosynthesis regulated network of G. lucidum.

A multi-scale model is proposed for interfacial thermal conduction of Cu-Al interface in this paper. A TTM-MD model is adopted hereby to explore the electron-phonon scattering at the interface of different metals. The simulation results show that the temperature distribution is non-uniform along the interface, and there exist large temperature gradient some places and even sever plastic deformation. It is concluded that the stress near the interface is caused by dissimilarity of material. The present atomic-based multi-scale model is computationally efficient for interfacial thermal conduction on micro/nano scales, and the present theory can be easily extended to other interfacial behaviors of dissimilar materials in micro/nano manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the characterization and differential expression of a farnesyl-diphosphate synthase gene (GlFPS) from the Basidiomycetous fungus Ganoderma lucidum. It was found that GlFPS cDNA conains an open reading frame of 1083 bp, and its deduced amino acid sequence exhibited a high homology with other fungal FPS genes. GlFPS was also expressed in the mycelium growth stage whereas its transcripts accumulated to high levels rapidly during the process of mushroom primordia.