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In pressurized water reactors, LiOH may be concentrated in some areas, leading to the accelerated corrosion of fuel claddings. Injecting boric acid into primary coolants can mitigate the accelerated corrosion effect of LiOH on Zircaloys, but the effects of boron content on the corrosion behavior of the Zr-Sn-Nb alloy are still unknown. This work focused on the corrosion and hydrogen absorption behavior at 360 °C/18.6 MPa in 100 mg/kg LiOH solutions with 0 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg, and 200 mg/kg boron contents for up to 510 days, aiming to study the effect of boron content on corrosion resistance in LiOH solutions. Corrosion kinetics, microstructures of oxide films, hydrogen absorption concentrations and hydride morphology were obtained after the test. The results show that injecting boron in LiOH solutions can significantly reduce the corrosion weight gain, hydrogen concentration, and hydrogen length of Zr-Sn-Nb alloys, that is, improving corrosion resistance effectively. During the oxidation of the Zr-Sn-Nb alloy, B3+ and Li+ incorporate in oxide films. The incorporation of Li+ may lead to the generation of oxygen vacancies, which can carry oxygen from the solutions to O/M interface, accelerating corrosion. The incorporation of B3+ in oxide films will slow down the oxidation of Zr-Sn-Nb alloys by reducing the oxygen vacancies caused by Li+ aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The high-precision segmentation of retinal vessels in fundus images is important for the early diagnosis of ophthalmic diseases. However, the extraction for microvessels is challenging due to their characteristics of low contrast and high structural complexity. Although some works have been developed to improve the segmentation ability in thin vessels, they have only been successful in recognizing small vessels with relatively high contrast. Approach. Therefore, we develop a deep learning (DL) framework with a multi-stage and dual-channel network model (MSDC_NET) to further improve the thin-vessel segmentation with low contrast. Specifically, an adaptive image enhancement strategy combining multiple preprocessing and the DL method is firstly proposed to elevate the contrast of thin vessels; then, a two-channel model with multi-scale perception is developed to implement whole- and thin-vessel segmentation; and finally, a series of post-processing operations are designed to extract more small vessels in the predicted maps from thin-vessel channels. Main results. Experiments on DRIVE, STARE and CHASE_DB1 demonstrate the superiorities of the proposed MSDC_NET in extracting more thin vessels in fundus images, and quantitative evaluations on several parameters based on the advanced ground truth further verify the advantages of our proposed DL model. Compared with the previous multi-branch method, the specificity and F1 score are improved by about 2.18%, 0.68%, 1.73% and 2.91%, 0.24%, 8.38% on the three datasets, respectively. Significance. This work may provide richer information to ophthalmologists for the diagnosis and treatment of vascular-related ophthalmic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is a rare malignancy, the incidence of which is less than 1/1 million per year. Sarcomatoid parathyroid carcinoma (SaPC) is an extremely peculiar subtype; only three cases have been reported internationally. It consists of both malignant epithelial components and sarcomatoid components (mesenchymal origin) simultaneously. This "confusing" cancer exhibits higher invasiveness, and traditional surgery does not appear to achieve the expectation, which differs significantly from that of general PC. Objective: To characterize the clinicopathologic features of SaPC and explore similarities and differences between SaPC and general PC. Materials and Methods: We collected clinical data of SaPC cases from our center and literature. The SaPC case in our center was presented. To better understand the characteristics of SaPC, we also reviewed clinical information in general PC cases from our center and literature within the last 5 years, and a systematic review was performed for further comparison. Results: A 60-year-old woman was admitted for a neck mass and hoarseness. After the surgery, she was confirmed as SaPC and ultimately developed local recurrence at 3 months. Together with the reported cases from literature, four cases of SaPC (three cases from literature) and 203 cases of general PC (200 cases from literature) were reviewed. Both tumors showed obvious abnormalities in parathormone (PTH) level and gland size. Compared to general PC, SaPC has a later age of onset (60.50 ± 7.42 vs. 51.50 ± 8.29), relatively low levels of PTH (110.28 ± 59.32 vs. 1,156.07 ± 858.18), and a larger tumor size (6.00 ± 1.63 vs. 3.14 ± 0.70). For SaPC, all four cases were initially misdiagnosed as thyroid tumors (4/4). Spindle cell areas or transitional zones were common pathological features in SaPC cases (3/4). Conclusion: SaPC is a very rare pathologic subtype of PC and appears to be much more easily misdiagnosed as a thyroid tumor. Spindle cell areas or transitional zones are highly possible to be pathological features in its sarcomatoid components. Despite many similarities, there are some differences between SaPC and general PC—SaPC does not show the obvious endocrine feature but stronger aggressiveness. Surgical treatment of SaPC does relieve life-threatening symptoms and improve quality of life even with recurrence in the short term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, yeast was isolated from cherry wine lees by rose Bengal medium, and its species was identified through three-stage screening, morphological observation and molecular biological identification. Moreover, the tolerance of screened strains was studied. The results showed that 30 strains of yeast were isolated from cherry wine lees, and five strains of yeast were selected, which were named YJN10, YJN16, YJN18, YJN19 and YJN28. After preliminary appraisal, strain YJN10 was Saccharomyces kudriavzevii, strain YJN16 was Saccharomyces paradoxus, and strains YJN18, YJN19, YJN28 were Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the tolerance study, the tolerable sugar concentrations of the five strains were 650, 650, 550, 600 and 600 g/L. The tolerable alcohol volume fractions were 20, 20, 16, 18 and 18%. The tolerable molar concentration of potassium chloride was 1.8, 1.8, 1.5, 1.5 and 1.5 mol/L. Finally, strains YJN10, YJN16, YJN19 and YJN28 showed good tolerance, which laid a foundation for subsequent application in cherry wine fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CXCL5) is initially identified to recruit neutrophils by interacting with its receptor, C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2). Our prior work demonstrated that the expression levels of CXCL5 and CXCR2 were higher in the papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) tumors than that in the non-tumors. This study was performed to further investigate how this axis regulates the growth of PTC cells. B-CPAP cells (BRAFV600E) and TPC-1 cells (RET/PTC rearrangement) expressing CXCR-2 were used as in vitro cell models. Our results showed that the recombinant human CXCL5 (rhCXCL5) promoted the proliferation of PTC cells. rhCXCL5 accelerated the G1/S transition, upregulated the expression of a group of S (DNA synthesis) or M (mitosis)-promoting cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), and downregulated CDK inhibitors in PTC cells. The CDS region of homo sapiens CXCL5 gene was inserted into an eukaryotic expression vector to mediate the overexpression of CXCL5 in PTC cells. The phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and p38, and the nuclear translocation of c-Jun were enhanced by CXCL5 overexpression, whereas attenuated by CXCR2 antagonist SB225002. Additionally, CXCL5/CXCR2 axis, JNK and p38 pathway inhibitors, SB225002, SP600125 and SB203580, suppressed the growth of PTC cells overexpressing CXCL5 in nude mice, respectively. Collectively, our study demonstrates a growth-promoting effect of CXCL5-CXCR2 axis in PTC cells in vitro and in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior and tensile properties of 310S stainless steel were studied by slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) tests, which were carried out in oxygenated supercritical water at the temperature of 400, 550, and 620 °C, respectively. The distribution of chemical composition of oxide, tensile properties, fracture morphology of the materials were analyzed for evaluating the SCC susceptibility of 310S stainless steel, respectively. The results show that both the elongation and tensile strength decreased significantly with the increase of the temperature, implying that a higher temperature may lead to a higher SCC susceptibility. The remarkable changes of the morphology of the fracture surface and gauge surface of 310S stainless steel were observed at different temperatures, that is, from an entire ductile fracture at lower temperature to a brittle fracture at higher temperature. The temperature has significant effects on morphologies and thickness. Oxides with double layer were observed. TEM analysis revealed that the inner oxide layer is composed of Cr and O, and Ni‐enrichment can be observed to segregate at the metal‐oxide interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Ischemic postconditioning (iPoC) represents a promising strategy to mitigate ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury of the intestine, yet the mechanisms of this treatment remain to be elucidated. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of endogenous non-coding RNAs, have recently been recognized as important regulators of gene expression and pathological processes. Here, we aimed to investigate the expression patterns of circRNAs after intestinal I/R with and without iPoC and, furthermore, to explore the potential mechanisms of iPoC in relation to the differentially expressed circRNAs. Methods: The global circRNA and mRNA expression profiles in mouse intestinal mucosa were initially screened by microarray (n = 3 per group) and quantitative real-time PCR was used to validate the expression pattern of circRNAs and mRNAs. Bioinformatics analysis including Gene ontology, KEGG pathway analysis, microRNA binding sites identification and circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network construction were utilized for in-depth mechanism exploration. Results: There were 4 up- and 58 downregulated circRNAs as well as 322 up- and 199 downregulated mRNAs in the intestinal I/R group compared with the sham group, whereas compared with I/R, iPoC treatment significantly upregulated 12 circRNAs and 129 mRNAs and downregulated 21 circRNAs and 174 mRNAs. The expression levels of a randomly selected set of 6 circRNAs and 5 mRNAs were successfully validated by qRT-PCR. Through a systematic comparison of the direction of circRNA expression changes in all groups, we identified two circRNAs, circRNA_012412 and circRNA_016863, that may be closely associated with the protective mechanisms of iPoC. Finally, four possible circRNA_012412/circRNA_016863-miRNA-mRNA pathways were predicted, which may play important roles in endogenous protective signaling in iPoC. Conclusions: This study was the first to comprehensively delineate the expression profiles of circRNAs in a mouse model of intestinal I/R and iPoC and provides novel clues for understanding the mechanisms of iPoC against intestinal I/R injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Initiation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is common in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and may contribute to its metastasis. Aims of the present study are to investigate whether and how the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL)-5/C-X-C motif receptor 2 (CXCR2) axis affects PTC metastasis, with a focus on the EMT process. Herein, two PTC cell lines, KTC-1 and B-CPAP cells, identified as CXCR2-positive cells were used as the cell model. We found that a 24-h stimulation of 1 or 10 nM recombinant human CXCL5 (rhCXCL5) enhanced the migration and invasion of both KTC-1 and B-CPAP cells without affecting their proliferation. The migration- and invasion-promoting effects of rhCXCL5 were attenuated if CXCR2 was silenced by its specific short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs). EMT initiation is defined as downregulation of epithelial-cadherin (E-cadherin) and upregulation of N-cadherin, Vimentin and Snail. Our data showed that rhCXCL5-induced EMT in PTC cells was suppressed by CXCR2 shRNA. Furthermore, the active CXCL5-CXCR2 axis enhanced the phosphorylation of Akt at Ser 473 residue and that of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3β) at Ser 9 residue, and accelerated the nuclear accumulation of β-catenin in PTC cells. Re-expression of the active form of β-catenin in PTC cells rescued their impaired invasiveness caused by the blockade of CXCL5-CXCR2 axis. In addition, CXCL5 and CXCR2 were overexpressed in the metastatic lymph nodes obtained from 18 patients with PTC. In summary, our study demonstrates that the activated CXCL5-CXCR2 axis contributes to the metastatic phenotype of PTC cells by modulating Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Mycotoxins are produced by fungi as secondary metabolites. They often multi-contaminate food and feed commodities posing a health risk to humans and animals. Fast and easy multiplex screening could be thought as a useful tool for detection of multi-contaminated food and feed commodities. RESULTS A highly sensitive immune-affinity monolithic arrays for detecting the mycotoxins zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and fumonisin B1 were fabricated using UV induced co-polymerisation. The mycotoxin antibodies firstly reacted with functional monomer to form antibody/functional monomer bio-conjugates. Subsequently, the antibody/functional monomer bio-conjugates co-polymerised with cross-linker to form mycotoxins immune-affinity arrays. With optimal fabrication conditions, all mycotoxin immune-affinity monolithic arrays exhibited a linear response spanning three orders of magnitude. And the immune-affinity monolithic array has a low detection limit and has a good uniformity (intra-assay CV, and inter-assay CV both <8%). CONCLUSION The fabricated mycotoxin immune-affinity monolithic arrays were proved as a sensitive, stable and economical tool in real food samples detection. Moreover, the mycotoxin immune-affinity monolithic arrays would be able to minimise manipulation steps: add samples and enzyme labelled mycotoxins, and detect CL signals. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A composting method was applied to improve the processability of rice straw (RS) and its interfacial interaction with a biodegradable resin, hydrolyzed-soy-protein-modified urea formaldehyde adhesives. The composted RS was characterized by fiber testing, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. We found that the particle size of RS was reduced from 0.6-2.0 to 0.2-0.6 mm. The cellulose content decreased, and the lignin content increased; unstable bonds were decomposed after composting. All of the results were beneficial for improving the plasticity of RS. Composted RS with inoculant exhibited a higher peak degradation temperature (352 °C) than the untreated RS (347 °C). The porous structure and tissue in RS were destroyed by the microorganism. The best bonding results were obtained by the composted RS with inoculant. Compared with untreated composites, the modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, and tensile strength of the composites were improved by 14.94, 25.36, and 27.21%, respectively. In addition, a mechanism of the structural changes of RS during composting was also proposed. The full biodegradable composites have potential applications in agriculture toward the achievement of sustainable development. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44878. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aberrant sialylation profiles on the cell surface have been recognized for their potential diagnostic value in identifying the regulation of tumor properties in several cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC). Recently, increasing evidence has suggested that the deregulation of micro RNA (mi RNA) is a common feature in human cancers. In this study, we found obvious upregulation of sialyltransferase ST3 GAL6 both in HCC cell lines and in tissue samples. The altered expression of ST3 GAL6 was found to correlate with cell proliferation, migration, and invasion ability in HCC. Further investigation showed that miR-26a negatively regulated ST3 GAL6, inducing the suppression of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Moreover, we identified the protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin (Akt/ mTOR) pathway as the target of ST3 GAL6 based on Western blot analysis. Analysis of a xenograft mouse model showed that miR-26a significantly reduced tumor growth by suppressing activation of the Akt/ mTOR pathway by directly targeting ST3 GAL6. In conclusion, these data indicate that ST3 GAL6 promotes cell growth, migration, and invasion and mediates the effect of miR-26a through the Akt/ mTOR signaling pathway in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate whether the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway mediates myocardial cell injuries in rats under brain death ( BD), and observe the effects and mechanisms of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase ( JNK) inhibitor SP600125 on cell death in the heart. Forty healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomized into four groups: sham group (dural external catheter with no BD); BD group (maintain the induced BD state for 6 hrs); BD + SP600125 group (intraperitoneal injection of SP600125 10 mg/kg 1 hr before inducing BD, and maintain BD for 6 hrs); and BD + Dimethyl Sulphoxide (DMSO) group (intraperitoneal injection of DMSO 1 hr before inducing BD, and maintain BD for 6 hrs). Real-time quantitative PCR was used to evaluate mRNA levels of Cyt-c and caspase-3. Western blot analysis was performed to examine the levels of mitochondrial apoptosis-related proteins p- JNK, Bcl-2, Bax, Cyt-c and Caspase-3. TUNEL assay was employed to evaluate myocardial apoptosis. Compared with the sham group, the BD group exhibited increased mitochondrial apoptosis-related gene expression, accompanied by the elevation of p- JNK expression and myocardial apoptosis. As the vehicle control, DMSO had no treatment effects. The BD + SP600125 group had decreased p- JNK expression, and reduced mitochondrial apoptosis-related gene expression. Furthermore, the apoptosis rate of myocardial cells was reduced. The JNK inhibitor SP600125 could protect myocardial cells under BD through the inhibition of mitochondrial apoptosis-related pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Altered sialylation is closely associated with tumor progression and invasiveness. Micro-RNAs endogenous regulators of gene expression have been implicated in human thyroid carcinoma invasiveness. The objective of this study is to examine the alterations of miR-4299 and ST6GALNAC family in human follicular thyroid carcinoma during metastatic process. qRT-PCR showed the differential expressional profiles of miR-4299 and ST6GALNAC family in three kinds of thyroid cell lines (FTC-133,FTC-238, Nthy-ori 3-1) and clinical tissue specimens(malignant and borderline). The altered expression levels of ST6GALNAC4 were corresponding to invasive phenotypes of FTC-133 and FTC-238 cells both in vitro and in vivo. Further date indicated that miR-4299 regulated tumor progression and invasiveness by directly targeting ST6GALNAC4. This study implies the potential therapeutic application of miR-4299 and ST6GALNAC4 in modulating the invasion and tumorigenicity of follicular thyroid carcinoma cell. © 2015 IUBMB Life, 68(2):136-144, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamma irradiation-induced decomposition of ciprofloxacin (CIP) was elucidated with different additives, such as CO, NO, NO, humic acid, methanol, 2-propanol, and tert-butanol. The results show that low initial concentration and acidic condition were favorable for CIP removal during γ irradiation. By contrast, radiolytic decomposition of CIP was inhibited with the addition of anions and organic additives. As a strong carcinogen, Cr was especially mixed with CIP to produce combined pollution. It is noteworthy that the removal of the mixture of CIP and Cr presented a synergistic effect; the degradation efficiency of the two pollutants was markedly improved compared to that of the single pollutant during γ irradiation. Based on the results of quantum chemical calculations and LC-MS analysis, we determined seven kinds of degradation intermediates and presented the CIP degradation pathways, which were mainly attributed to the oxidation process of hydroxyl radicals OH· and the direct decomposition of CIP molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The invasion and chemoresistance are crucial causes of morbidity and death for cancer patients. Axl is closely associated with malignant phenotype of breast tumor cells, including invasiveness and metastasis. Both breast cancer cell line and tissue displayed increased expression of Axl, especially in highly metastatic breast cancer. On the contrary, experimental inhibition of Axl or transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) by RNAi assay could suppress cell invasion ability and chemoresistance. Moreover, the up-regulation of Axl was induced by TGF-β1, further activated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and PAK1 translocation, and resulted in greater cell motility, invasion, and chemoresistance in vitro and in vivo. After the detection and statistics in human breast cancer specimens, we found that the Axl expression was closely correlated with TGF-β1 level, tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stage ( p < 0.01). Our findings support the possibility that Axl is a significant regulator of invasion and chemosensitivity, and it means by targeting Axl or its related signaling pathways, we can reduce the invasion and chemosensitivity of breast tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phyllodes tumor exhibits an aggressive growth. The expression of many biological markers has been explored to discriminate between different grades of phyllodes tumor and to predict their behavior. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implications of Axl and ST6GalNAcII in phyllodes tumors. Real-time PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemical were used to analyze differential expression of ST6GalNAcII and Axl in phyllodes tumor (PT) cell lines and tissue specimens. RNAi assay, ECM invasion assay, and tumorigenicity assay were used to analyze the altered expression of ST6GalNAcII gene effects on the expression of Axl and invasive ability of phyllodes tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. Compared to benign tumors, borderline and malignant ones showed a remarkable increase in mRNA levels of Axl and ST6GalNAcII gene, and it was higher in malignant tumor cells than in borderline tumor cells. When ST6GalNAcII was silenced, compared to the control, the expression level of Axl was significantly reduced in malignant tumor cell transfectants and knockdown of ST6GalNAcII gene significantly inhibited invasive activity in malignant tumor cells. The high expression of ST6GalNAcII and Axl was significantly correlated with tumor grade and distance metastasis by immunohistochemical analysis. Axl and ST6GalNAcII expression increases with increasing tumor grade in mammary phyllodes tumors. ST6GalNAc II might be participated in the glycosylation of Axl, and this Axl glycosylation may mediate the tumorigenicity, invasion, and distant metastasis of PT cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The invasion and chemoresistance are crucial causes of morbidity and relapse for cancer patients. Axl is implicated in the modulation of cell invasion, cancer metastasis, and chemosensitivity in human breast carcinoma cell lines. Both breast cancer cell lines and tissues displayed increased expression of Axl, and it over expressed in highly metastatic breast cancer. The altered expression level of Axl was corresponding to the changed invasive phenotype and chemosensitivity of MDA-MB-231 cells both in vitro and in vivo. Further data indicated that experimental inhibition of Axl by RNAi assay inhibited phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway, resulted in the decrease of Slug expression, and further suppressed cell invasion properties and chemosensitivity. What is more, after the detection and statistics in human breast cancer specimens, we found the Axl expression was closely correlated with histological grade, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stage ( P < 0.01). Taken together, these findings indicate that Axl exerts the role of tumor metastasis and chemosensitivity through activation of the PI3K/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway, which is transcriptionally regulated by Slug. Our findings support the possibility that Axl is a novel regulator. It means by targeting Axl or its related signaling pathways, we can reduce the invasion and chemosensitivity of breast tumor. © 2014 IUBMB Life, 66(7):507-518, 2014 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stable skull layer formed on the inner surface of the hearth could effectively protect the lining and extend blast furnace campaign life. This is the first comprehensive work of using integrated heat transfer, fluid flow dynamics and solidification numerical simulation to investigate skull formation phenomena in a blast furnace hearth. The impact of hearth design and furnace operation parameters on skull formation is examined, including lining property and structure, cooling water temperature and flow rate, hot metal production rate, temperature and viscosity, and cast practice. The findings from this study are compared with operating experience of United States Steel blast furnaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]