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Abstract: Chitin grafted poly (acrylic acid) (chi-g-PAA) is synthesized and characterized as an adsorbent of toxic organic compounds. Chi-g-PAA copolymers are prepared using of ammonium cerium (IV) nitrate (Ce4+) as the initiator. The highest grafting percentage of AA in chitin obtained using the traditional technique is 163.1%. A maximum grafting percentage of 230.6% is obtained using central composite design (CCD). Experimental results are consistent with theoretical calculations. The grafted copolymer is characterized by Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy and solid state 13C NMR. A representative chi-g-AA copolymer is hydrolyzed to a type of sodium salt (chi-g-PANa) and used in the adsorption of malachite green (MG), methyl violet (MV), and paraquat (PQ) in aqueous. The monolayer adsorption capacities of these substances are 285.7, 357.1, and 322.6mg/g-adsorbent, respectively. Thermodynamic calculations show that the adsorption of MG, MV, and PQ are more favored at diluted solutions. The high adsorption capacity of chi-g-PANa for toxic matter indicates its potential in the treatment of wastewater and emergency treatment of PQ-poisoned patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Si Shen Wan is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine formula for the treatment of diseases with diarrhea, such as ulcerative colitis, allergic colitis and chronic colitis. To investigate the protective and healing effects of Si Shen Wan in the experimental colitis induced by trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid, and to furture explore its mechanism of action. Materials and methods: Rats with colitis treated with Si Shen Wan for 10 days. Colon wet weight, colon organ coefficient, colonic damage score and pathological change after trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid challenge were determined. The levels of MPO, MDA, GSH-PX, SOD and the expression of IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA in the colon were also measured. Results: After treatment, colon wet weight, colon organ coefficient and colonic damage score were lower than that in the control group (p<0.05). MDA and MPO concentrations in the inflamed colonic tissues were decreased remarkably in the treated groups compared with that in the control group (p<0.05). But SOD level, IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA expression in the inflamed colonic tissues were obviously increased. Conclusions: It is a potential path that protective effect of Si Shen Wan on impaired colonic mucosa rats with experimental colitis was accomplished by down-regulating the level of MDA and MPO, and up-regulating the level of SOD and the IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA expression in the colon mucosa. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Through reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of t-butyl acrylate (tBA) and RAFT copolymerization of 2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) with poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMEMA), block-comb copolymer of P tBA- b-P(PEGMEMA- co-DMAEMA) was prepared. After the self-assembly of P tBA- b-P(PEGMEMA- co-DMAEMA) into core-shell spherical micelles, P(PEGMEMA- co-DMAEMA) segments of the shell was crosslinked with 1,2-bis(2-iodoethoxy)ethane and the core of PtBA was selectively hydrolysized with trifluoroacetic acid. Thus, zwitterionic shell-crosslinked micelles with positively charged outer shell and negatively charged inner core were obtained. Dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscope, Zeta potential measurement, and nuclear magnetic resonance were used to confirm the formation of the zwitterionic shell-crosslinked micelles. They showed the excellent resistance to the variation of pH value and possessed the positive values throughout the whole range of pH range even if the carboxylic groups of the micelles was much more than ammonium groups. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. We have performed a large-scale replication study based on our previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) of SLE in the Chinese Han population to further explore additional genetic variants affecting susceptibility to SLE.Methods. Thirty-eight single nucleotide polymorphisms from our GWAS were genotyped in two additional Chinese Han cohorts (total 3152 cases and 7050 controls) using the Sequenom Massarray system. Association analyses were performed using logistic regression with gender or sample cohorts as a covariate.Results. Association evidence for rs16972959 (PRKCB at 16p11.2) and rs12676482 (8p11.21) with SLE was replicated independently in both replication cohorts (P < 0.05), showing high significance for SLE in combined all 4199 cases and 8255 controls of Chinese Han [rs16972959: odds ratio (OR) = 0.81; 95% CI 0.76, 0.87; Pcombined = 1.35 × 10−9; rs12676482: OR = 1.26; 95% CI 1.15, 1.38; Pcombined = 6.68 × 10−7). PRKCB is related to the established SLE immune-related pathway (NF-κB) and 8p11.21 contains important candidate genes such as IKBKB and DKK4. IKBKB is a critical component of NF-κB and DKK4 is an inhibitor of canonical Wnt signalling pathway. Interestingly, PRKCB is required for recruiting IKBKB into lipid rafts, up-regulating NF-κB-dependent survival signal.Conclusions. Our findings provided novel insights into the genetic architecture of SLE and emphasized the contribution of multiple variants of modest effect. Further study focused on PRKCB, 8p11.21, should advance our understanding on the pathogenesis of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Methacrylic acid (MAA) grafted rice husk was synthesized using graft copolymerization with Fenton''s reagent as the redox initiator and applied to the adsorption of paraquat. The highest grafting percentage of 44.3% was obtained using the traditional kinetic method. However, a maximum grafting percentage of 65.3% was calculated using the central composite design. Experimental results based on the recipes predicted from the statistical analysis are consistent with theoretical calculations. A representative polymethacrylic acid-g-rice husk (PMAA-g-rice husk) copolymer was hydrolyzed to a salt type and applied to the adsorption of paraquat. The adsorption equilibrium data correlate more closely with the Langmuir isotherm than with the Freundlich equation. The maximum adsorption capacity of modified rice husk is 292.5mg/g-adsorbent. This value exceeds those for Fuller''s earth and activated carbon, which are the most common binding agents used for paraquat. The samples at various stages were characterized by solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We used a modified sol–gel method to prepare titanium dioxide and multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) composites that we subsequently deposited onto indium tin oxide (ITO) conductive glass plates. We characterized these CNT-doped TiO2 (CNT–TiO2) films using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectroscopy. The photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) activity of the composites was evaluated through their ability to mediate the degradation of phenol. XRD measurements indicated that the TiO2 component existed solely in the anatase phase and that the crystallinity of the CNTs was low. XPS indicated that carbon atoms could substitute for both oxygen and titanium atoms in the TiO2 lattice to form Ti–C and Ti–O–C structures, which were responsible for the extra photoabsorption and PEC activity under illumination with visible light, in addition to those provided by the CNTs and carbonaceous and Ti3+ species. An interphase interaction between TiO2 and the CNTs elevated the photoabsorbance of the composites in the visible light region. A sample of TiO2 doped with 10% CNTs and calcined at 400°C exhibited the highest photocurrent and PEC efficiency. We systematically investigated the effects of several parameters of the PEC process, including the applied potential and pH, on the phenol conversion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The encapsulation of therapeutic agents into nano-based drug delivery system for cancer treatment has received considerable attention in recent years. Advancements in nanotechnology provide an opportunity for efficient delivery of anticancer drugs. The unique properties of nanoparticles not only allow cancer-specific drug delivery by inherent passive targeting phenomena and adopting active targeting strategies, but also improve the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of the loaded drugs, leading to enhanced therapeutic efficacy and safety compared to conventional treatment modalities. Small molecule drugs are the most widely used anticancer agents at present, while biological macromolecules, such as therapeutic antibodies, peptides and genes, have gained increasing attention. Therefore, this review focuses on the recent achievements of novel nano-encapsulation in targeted drug delivery. A comprehensive introduction of intelligent delivery strategies based on various nanocarriers to encapsulate small molecule chemotherapeutic drugs and biological macromolecule drugs in cancer treatment will also be highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Co-exposure of nano Fe 2 O 3 and Cd2+ significantly promotes transfer of RP4 plasmid. • Antioxidant enzyme activities were enhanced by Cd2+-nano Fe 2 O 3 treatment. • Bacterial cell permeability and conjugation genes expression were accelerated. • The majority of transconjugants were identified to be human pathogens. Conjunctive transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) among bacteria driven by plasmids facilitated the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance. Heavy metal exposure accelerated the plasmid-mediated conjunctive transfer of ARGs. Nanomaterials are well-known adsorbents for heavy metals removal, with the capability of combatting resistant bacteria/facilitating conjunctive transfer of ARGs. However, co-effect of heavy metals and nanomaterials on plasmid-mediated conjunctive transfer of ARGs was still unknown. In this study, we investigated the effect of the simultaneous exposure of Cd2+ and nano Fe 2 O 3 on conjugative transfer of plasmid RP4 from Pseudomonas putida KT2442 to water microbial community. The permeability of bacterial cell membranes, antioxidant enzyme activities and conjugation gene expression were also investigated. The results suggested that the combination of Cd2+ and high concentration nano Fe 2 O 3 (10 mg/L and 100 mg/L) significantly increased conjugative transfer frequencies of RP4 plasmid (p < 0.05). The most transconjugants were detected in the treatment of co-exposure to Cd2+ and nano Fe 2 O 3 , the majority of which were identified to be human pathogens. The mechanisms of the exacerbated conjugative transfer of ARGs were involved in the enhancement of cell membrane permeability, antioxidant enzyme activities, and mRNA expression levels of the conjugation genes by the co-effect of Cd2+ and nano Fe 2 O 3. This study confirmed that the simultaneous exposure to Cd2+and nano Fe 2 O 3 exerted a synergetic co-effect on plasmid-mediated conjunctive transfer of ARGs, emphasizing that the co-effect of nanomaterials and heavy metals should be prudently evaluated when combating antibiotic resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having reported that rare earth elements displayed potential toxicity i n vivo , often be found in soil, plants and etc. , which might be easily chelated with the natural functional molecule rutin to form rutin metal complexes, ultimately entering the human body by means of food chain. However, few reports paid the attention on the toxicology of the complexes consisting of rutin with rare earth ions. Here, we focused on the potential toxicity by probing the site-selective binding of the rutin-rare earth ions complexes to human serum albumin (HSA). As a proof-of-concept, we selected Pr3+ as the representative to conjugate with rutin to form rutin-Pr(III) complex, which was further applied to interact with HSA in aqueous solution. The results exhibited that the rutin-Pr(III) complex primary bound to the hydrophobic cavity at site II (subdomain IIIA) of HSA through hydrogen bonding and van der Waals force. Through the thermomechanical analysis, we found this binding process was spontaneous because of the negative Δ G. We believe that this work may offer a new insight into understanding the physiological effects (e.g. toxicology) of rutin and rare earth ions, which could be helpful to guide their rational use in the agriculture and environment-related industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MoS 2 nanosheets have been used as building block candidates for assembling two dimensional (2D) laminates. However, the use of MoS 2 membranes remains to be severely imposed by the narrow interlayer width of ~3 Å. In this work, we proposed a feasible and efficient approach to enlarge the interlayer distance of MoS 2 membranes using cations (K+, Na+, Li+ or Mg2+) intercalation. The resulting membranes show significant increases in interlayer widths, which attain 6.25, 6.63, 7.25, and 8.48 Å for K+, Na+, Li+ and Mg2+ regulation respectively. Moreover, the 2D galleries' regularity in cations inserting MoS 2 membranes is well inherited from that of the original MoS 2 membrane. The water purification performances further validate the cations intercalation manipulation. In the nanofiltration mode, cations interlacation enables the water permeances of MoS 2 membranes to improve 2–3 times without sacrificing dye rejections. In the forward osmosis mode, the water permeances of cations intercalating MoS 2 membranes almost improve an order of magnitude (24.4× 10−3 - 36.4 × 10−3 L m−2 h−1 bar−1) in comparison with the pristine MoS 2 membrane (3.4 × 10−3 L m−2 h−1 bar−1), while retaining the comparable NaCl rejections. This approach of broadening 2D channels paves a way to the design and regulation of 2D membranes for achieving extending applications. Image 1 • The interlayer distance of MoS 2 membranes was enlarged using cation intercalation. • The interlayer width of Mg2+ regulating MoS 2 membranes reaches 8.48 Å. • Cation intercalation has no impact on the interlayer regularity of MoS 2 membranes. • The permeances of cation regulating MoS 2 membranes improve an order of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waterborne pathogens and their associated diseases are major threats to public health, and surveillance of pathogens and identification of the sources of pollution are imperative for preventing infections. However, simultaneously quantitative detection of multiple pathogens and pollution sources in water environments is the major challenge. In this study, we developed and validated a highly sensitive (mostly >80%) and highly specific (>99%) high-throughput quantitative PCR (HT-qPCR) approach, which could simultaneously quantify 68 marker genes of 33 human pathogens and 23 fecal markers of 10 hosts. The HT-qPCR approach was then successfully used to investigate pathogens and fecal pollution in marine recreational water samples of Xiamen, China. Totally, seven pathogenic marker genes were found in 13 beach bathing waters, which targeted Acanthamoeba spp., Clostridium perfringens , enteropathogenic Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Vibrio cholera / V. parahaemolyticus and Legionella spp.. Fecal markers from human and dog were the most frequently detected, indicating human and dog feces were the main contamination in the recreational waters. Nanopore sequencing of full-length 16S rRNA gene revealed that 28 potential human pathogens were detected and electrical conductivity, salinity, oxidation-reduction potential and dissolved oxygen were significantly correlated with the variation in bacterial community. Our results demonstrated that HT-qPCR approach had the potential rapid quantification of microbial contamination, providing useful data for assessment of microbial pathogen associated health risk and development of management practices to protect human health. • High-throughput qPCR was developed for diagnosing pathogens and fecal pollution. • 68 marker genes of 33 pathogens and 23 fecal markers of 10 hosts were targeted. • Seven pathogen markers were detected in 13 marine recreational waters. • Human and dog feces were the major fecal contamination sources. • Nanopore sequencing was applied for analyzing full-length 16S rRNA genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Indirubin alleviated BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis. • Indirubin inhibited fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation by repression TGF-β/Smad signaling. • Indirubin had no significant toxicity to mice and cells. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic fibrosing interstitial lung disease with a poor prognosis. Indirubin, a compound obtained from indigo-bearing plants or mollusks of the family Muricidae, has various bioactivities, including anti-tumor activity and anti-inflammation effect. However, whether indirubin could mediate its therapeutic effects on bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis has not been addressed. The impacts of indirubin on bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis were evaluated by pathological staining, western blot, RT-PCR and immunofluorescent staining. The effects of indirubin on fibroblast differentiation and related signaling were next investigated to demonstrate the underlying mechanisms. The results indicated that indirubin-treated mice exhibited a definitively improved survival rate than that of the BLM-induced mice in a dose-depend manner. Additionally, administration of indirubin significantly alleviated inflammatory cells infiltration in BLM mice. Importantly, indirubin provided protection for mice against BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis as manifested by the attenuating expression of fibrotic hallmarks, including fibronectin, collagen I and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Subsequently, we provided in vitro evidence revealing that indirubin suppressed fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation by repressed TGF-β/Smad signaling in a dose-dependent manner. Notably, our data showed that indirubin seemed to be safe in mice and fibroblasts. Overall, indirubin could protect the mice against BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis by alleviated fibroblast differentiation and may be therapeutically beneficial for IPF patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated fundamental mechanical properties of a basalt fiber reinforced engineered cementitious composite (BF-ECC) with different volume fractions of basalt fiber (BF), water–binder ratio (W/B) and fly ash (FA) content. The compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and static modulus of BF-ECC were studied at 3, 28 and 56 days, respectively, to explore their development along the ages. Furthermore, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis was conducted to evaluate the microstructure of BF-ECC. Experiment results demonstrated that bond quality between the BF and the matrix is good, which leads to a significant increase in the flexural strength and splitting tensile strength. The pozzolanic effect of FA obviously improved the splitting tensile and flexural strength of BF-ECC after 56 days of curing, and the appropriate content of the FA content in the BF-ECC ranges from 50% to 60%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper proposes a multiswarm Artificial Bee Colony multi-objective optimization algorithm (MS-ABC).The algorithm can be applied to accelerate the solution of complex problems on Spark platform. • Compared with the traditional algorithm, the algorithm greatly improves the speed of data processing, especially in the situation of large amount of data and high complexity. • The algorithm runs on the Spark platform to accelerate the solution of complex application problems. It has excellent performance in the medical image registration. Over the years, medical image registration has been widely used in various fields. However, different application characteristics, such as scale, computational complexity, and optimization goals, can cause problems. Therefore, developing an optimization algorithm based on clustering calculation is crucial. To solve the aforementioned problem, a multiswarm artificial bee colony (MS-ABC) multi-objective optimization algorithm based on clustering calculation is proposed. This algorithm can accelerate the resolution of complex problems on the Spark platform. Experiments show that the algorithm can optimize certain conventional complex problems and perform medical image registration tests. Results show that the MS-ABC algorithm demonstrates excellent performance in medical image registration tests. The optimization results of the MS-ABC algorithm for conventional problems are similar to those of existing algorithms; however, its performance is more time efficient for complex problems, especially when additional goals are needed. The MS-ABC algorithm is applied to the Spark platform to accelerate the resolution of complex application problems. It can solve the problem of traditional algorithms regarding long calculation time, especially in the case of highly complex and large amounts of data, which can substantially improve data-processing efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CA alleviated inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis in rats by suppressing IL-1β. • CA reduced HIF-1α expression by limiting succinate aggregation and GPR91 activation. • CA inhibited NLRP3 expression through Succinate/GPR91&HIF-1α for IL-1β suppression. Cinnamaldehyde (CA) is an essential component of cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia Presland), which is often used as a flavoring condiment in beverages, pastries, perfumes, etc. Cinnamon is also used as herbal medicine in China and Southeast Asia to treat rheumatoid arthritis. However, the molecular mechanism is unclear. In this study, we aim to investigate its anti-inflammatory effects against Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using activated macrophages (Raw246.7) in vitro and adjuvant arthritis rats (AA) in vivo. The results demonstrated that CA significantly reduced synovial inflammation in AA rats, possibly due to suppression of the expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines, especially the IL-1β. Further investigation found that CA also suppressed the activity of HIF-1α by inhibiting the accumulation of succinate in cytoplasm. As we know, the reduction of HIF-1α nucleation slows down IL-1β production, because HIF-1α activates the expression of NLRP3, which is involved in the assembly of inflammasome and processing of IL-1β. In addition, CA also inhibited the expression of the succinate receptor GPR91, which in turn inhibited the activation of HIF-1α. In conclusions, our results suggested that CA might be a potential therapeutic compound to relieve rheumatoid arthritis progress by suppressing IL-1β through modulating succinate/HIF-1α axis and inhibition of NLRP3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance nanofiltration membranes applicable to organic solvents are urgently needed for chemical and environment related industries. In this work, the ultrathin two dimensional (2D) lamellar nanofiltration membranes were fabricated by layer-by-layer stacking MoS 2 nanosheet building blocks. MoS 2 based membranes have highly ordered and regular transport channels with narrowly distributed sizes, which enable high permeances and favorable rejections to be achieved. The D-MoS 2 membrane in the dry state with a thickness of 20 nm exhibits an exceptional water and acetonitrile permeance of 458 and 1371 L m−2 h−1·bar−1 respectively. The higher permeance of water and acetonitrile was gained by the S–MoS 2 membrane in the solvated state with a thickness of 36 nm, which can reach 1881 and 5207 L m−2 h−1·bar−1 respectively. Both of D-MoS 2 and S–MoS 2 membranes give rise to good separation efficiency, e.g., evans blue and methylene blue rejections of 100%. In addition, the transfer mass nanochannels in MoS 2 derived membranes show quite high stability toward high pressure, acid, base, and oxidative environments. • MoS 2 based membranes in both of dry and solvated states have highly ordered and regular transport channels with narrowly distributed sizes. • The MoS 2 membrane exhibits an exceptional water and acetonitrile permeance of 1881 and 5207 L m−2 h−1·bar−1 respectively. • Both of dry and solvated MoS 2 membranes give rise to good separation efficiency towards molecules with sizes above 1.4 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the low sensitivity, high operating temperature and poor selectivity of acetone measurements, in this paper much effort has been paid to improve the performance of acetone sensors from three aspects: increasing the surface area of the material, improving the surface activity and enhancing gas diffusion. A hierarchical flower-like Pt-doped (1 wt %) 3D porous SnO2 (3DPS) material was synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. The micropores of the material were constructed by subsequent annealing. The results of the experiments show that the 3DPS-based sensor's response is strongly dependent on temperature, exhibiting a mountain-like response curve. The maximum sensor sensitivity (Ra/Rg) was found to be as high as 505.7 at a heating temperature of 153 °C and with an exposure to 100 ppm acetone. Additionally, at 153 °C, the sensor still had a response of 2.1 when exposed to 50 ppb acetone gas. The 3DPS-based sensor also has an excellent selectivity for acetone detection. The high sensitivity can be explained by the increase in the specific surface area brought about by the hierarchical flower-like structure, the enhanced surface activity of the noble metal nanoparticles, and the rapid diffusion of free-gas and adsorbed gas molecules caused by the multiple channels of the microporous structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the nexus between socioeconomic factors and urban carbon footprint can help a city devise carbon reduction strategy and achieve its sustainable development. The multi-scale input-output method is combined with structural decomposition analysis in the present work to analyze the changes and driving forces of a city's consumption-based carbon emissions. It is for the first time to include import as one of the major underlying socioeconomic variables. A case study is carried out to analyze Shanghai's consumption-based carbon emissions in 2007 and 2012. According to the results, the consumption-based carbon emissions of Shanghai have risen by 32.82% since 2007, which grew much faster than the production-based carbon emissions. The carbon emissions trade of Shanghai has almost doubled during the period. While Shanghai's net domestic carbon emissions import has increased by 20%, the net international carbon emissions export has decreased by half. The domestic import change and consumption per capita change were the main drivers for the growth in consumption-based carbon emissions of Shanghai during 2007–2012. At the meantime, technology change and international import change helped a lot to reduce carbon footprint of Shanghai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A hierarchical structured membrane was achieved for nanofiltration applications. • This membrane exhibits an organic solvent permeance of 2038 L m−2 bar−1 h−1. • This membrane shows above 90% rejections towards dye molecules. Lamellar graphene oxide (GO) membranes show exceptional molecular sieving properties for many applications. For nanofiltration, GO membranes made by different flake sizes present obviously distinct mass transport and molecule sieving performances. Typically, GO membranes stacked by nanosized sheets have high water fluxes but low rejection, while GO membranes stacked by microsized sheets have low water fluxes but high separation efficiency. In this study, we propose to assemble both of nanosized and microsized GO flakes into one GO membrane through three different stacking modes. By comparisons, we discovered that microsized GO sheets stacking on the multi-layered nanosized GO sheets was the most beneficial assembly structure for gaining high fluxes and rejection. The permeances of pure water and organic solvents by this membrane with a thickness of 10 nm achieve 254 and 2038 L m−2 bar−1 h−1, respectively. For separation properties, this membrane exhibits a promising water and isopropanol permeance of 126 and 151 L m−2 bar−1 h−1 respectively for filtering methylene blue (0.9 nm) solutions, while retaining a quite high rejection of above 90%. We believe this hierarchical assembly structure can be further extended into other two-dimensional laminates to pursue higher nanofiltration performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object detection in aerial images is a fundamental yet challenging task in remote sensing field. As most objects in aerial images are in arbitrary orientations, oriented bounding boxes (OBBs) have a great superiority compared with traditional horizontal bounding boxes (HBBs). However, the regression-based OBB detection methods always suffer from ambiguity in the definition of learning targets, which will decrease the detection accuracy. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive analysis of OBB representations and cast the OBB regression as a pixel-level classification problem, which can largely eliminate the ambiguity. The predicted masks are subsequently used to generate OBBs. To handle huge scale changes of objects in aerial images, an Inception Lateral Connection Network (ILCN) is utilized to enhance the Feature Pyramid Network (FPN). Furthermore, a Semantic Attention Network (SAN) is adopted to provide the semantic feature, which can help distinguish the object of interest from the cluttered background effectively. Empirical studies show that the entire method is simple yet efficient. Experimental results on two widely used datasets, i.e., DOTA and HRSC2016, demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Aurora kinase A and B inhibitors suppress the proliferation of t(8;21) AML by inducing G2/M accumulation. • The t(8;21) AML cells are more sensitive to Aurora B inhibition compared with Aurora A. • This study provide novel approach to t(8;21) AML target therapy. The fusion gene AML1-ETO initially dysregulates various cell cycle molecules in t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia. Aurora kinases have shown great promise in treating tumors. However, the efficacy of Aurora kinase (AURK) A and B inhibition in t(8;21) AML remains unclear. We found that AURK-A inhibitor Alisertib and AURK-B inhibitor Barasertib strongly inhibited the growth and proliferation of t(8;21) AML cells. The quantity and size of cell colonies were markedly decreased after a 14-d drug exposure. The cell cycle distribution was blocked at the G2/M phase in both dose- and time-dependent manner. The expression of p53 family and cdc2-p34 significantly changed as well. Notably, we found that t(8;21) AML cells are more sensitive to Aurora B inhibition. In each set of experiments, Barasertib took less time or a lower concentration to achieve similar efficacy. Taken together, our data highlighted the potential role of Aurora kinases as promising cell cycle targets for the treatment of t(8;21) AML and hereby provided a theoretical basis to guide relevant clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accumulation of evidence indicates that miRNAs have crucial roles in the regulation of EMT-associated properties, such as proliferation, migration and invasion. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not entirely illustrated. Here, we investigated the role of miR-296-5p in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. Methods: In vitro cell morphology, proliferation, migration and invasion were compared between HCC cell lines with up- or down-regulation of miR-296-5p. Immunofluorescence and Western blot immunofluorescence assays were used to detect the expression of EMT markers. Bioinformatics programs, luciferase reporter assay and rescue experiments were used to validate the downstream targets of miR-296-5p. Xenograft nude mouse models were established to observe tumor growth and metastasis. Immunohistochemical assays were conducted to study the relationships between miR-296-5p expression and Neuregulin-1 (NRG1)/EMT markers in human HCC samples and mice. Results: miR-296-5p was prominently downregulated in HCC tissues relative to adjacent normal liver tissues and associated with favorable prognosis. Overexpression of miR-296-5p inhibited EMT along with migration and invasion of HCC cells via suppressing NRG1/ERBB2/ERBB3/RAS/MAPK/Fra-2 signaling in vitro. More importantly, miR-296-5p disrupted intrahepatic and pulmonary metastasis in vivo. NRG1, as a direct target of miR-296-5p, mediates downstream biological responses. In HCC tissues from patients and mice, the levels of miR-296-5p and NRG1 also showed an inverse relationship. Conclusions: miR-296-5p inhibited EMT-related metastasis of HCC through NRG1/ERBB2/ERBB3/RAS/MAPK/Fra-2 signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The rate of cervical spinal fusion has been increasing significantly. However, there is a paucity of literature describing trends based on surgical approach using complete population databases. We investigated the approach-based trends in epidemiology, indications, and in-hospital outcomes of cervical spinal fusion. Methods New York's Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database was queried to identify patients who underwent primary subaxial cervical fusion from 1997 to 2012. Demographic and clinical information was obtained. Subgroup analyses were performed based on surgical approach: anterior (A), posterior (P), and circumferential (C). Results A total of 87,045 cervical fusions were included. Over the study period, the population-adjusted annual fusion rate increased from 23.7 to 50.6 per 100,000 population ( P < 0.001). A fusion was most common (85.2%), followed by P (12.3%), and C (2.5%). Mean ages were 49.8 ± 11.9, 59.9 ± 15.2, and 55.1 ± 14.5 years ( P < 0.001), respectively. Although rates remained steady among younger patients, they increased for older patients. Overall, degenerative conditions were the predominant indications for surgery and increased in rate over time. The mean length of stay was: A, 3.1 ± 10.5; P, 9.1 ± 14.1; and C, 14.1 ± 22.5 days ( P < 0.001). Rates of in-hospital complications were A, 3.0%; P, 10.5%; and C, 18.9% ( P < 0.001), and mortality was A, 0.3%, P, 1.8%, and C, 2.5% ( P < 0.001). Conclusions The rate of subaxial spinal fusions increased 114% from 1997 to 2012 in New York State. Rates remained stable in younger patients but increased in the older population. Preoperative indications and postoperative courses differed significantly among the various approaches, with patients undergoing anterior fusion having better short-term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have demonstrated that inflammation contributes to a variety of cancer formation, among them, colitis-associated cancer (CAC) represents a typical inflammation-related cancer. Interleukin 27 (IL-27) has been demonstrated to play an important role in inflammation-related disease. The effect of IL-27 in intestinal inflammation is controversial and its role in CAC is not elucidated yet. In our present study, we found that IL-27 has protective function in murine model of CAC through suppression of inflammatory cytokines in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). IL-27Rα (WSX-1) deficiency promotes the CAC development in mice, which is driven by enhanced tumor cell proliferation, more intensive myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) accumulation in colon lamina propria and higher level of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in IECs. The levels of IL-6, TNF-α, GM-CSF and CXCL1 triggeredin vitroby toll-like receptor ligands are significantly upregulated in IECs from WSX-1 KO mice. Removal of commensal microorganism through antibiotic treatment in mice to eliminate TLR ligands deprives the protective function of IL-27 on CAC tumor growth. Thus, IL-27 suppresses CAC formation through an anti-inflammation mechanism targeting IECs and in turn resists the tumorigenesis. Hence, our study explained how IL-27 exerts its anti-inflammatory function on epithelial cells to fight against chronic-inflammation-associated cancer, which might provide new insights on the potential therapeutic strategies for cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel soft-hard template method towards the direct fabrication of graphene films on silicon/silica substrate is developed via a tri-constituent self-assembly route. Using cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a soft template, silica (SiO2) from tetramethoxysilane as a hard template, and pyrene as a carbon source, the self-assembly process allows the formation of a sandwich-like SiO2/CTAB/pyrene composite, which can be further converted to high quantity graphene films with a thickness of ~1 nm and a size of over 5 μm by thermal treatment. The morphology and thickness of the graphene films can be effectively controlled through the adjustment of the ratio of pyrene to CTAB. Furthermore, a high nonlinear refractive index n2 of ~10−12 m2 W−1 is measured from graphene/silica hybrid film, which is six orders of magnitude larger than that of silicon and comparable to the graphene from chemical vapor deposition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]