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Abstract: Angiogenesis is closely related to tumor development and metastasis. Osteosarcoma is an angiogenesis-dependent tumor, and studies have shown that chemotherapy often induces angiogenesis. Endostatin is a broad spectrum angiogenesis inhibitor and, while pre-clinical trials have shown that the combination of endostatin with chemotherapy can enhance anti-tumor effects, this effect has not yet been shown in clinical trials. Here, we aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of endostar (ES, human recombinant endostatin) combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of osteosarcoma patients. A total of 116 newly diagnosed patients with osteosarcoma were enrolled in this study. All patients received 4cycles of chemotherapy with (54 cases) or without (62 cases) ES. ES was administered intravenously at a dose of 15mg/day for 2weeks during each cycle of chemotherapy. The tumors were removed by surgery after 2cycles of chemotherapy treatment, and their histologic response to chemotherapy was evaluated. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure VEGF and CD 31 expression. Chemotherapy increased VEGF expression and the presence of microvessels in osteosarcoma tissues compared with pre-chemotherapy. No significant difference was observed in the histologic response between the ES treatment and non-treatment groups. However, ES treatment significantly inhibited the chemotherapy-induced VEGF expression and presence of microvessels. The ES treatment did not affect the overall survival rate but did increase the event-free survival rate and decreased the occurrence of metastases. In conclusion, our results indicate that antiangiogenic therapy using ES has the potential to prevent the progression of metastases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we investigate the electronic structure of Cu-doped topological insulator Bi2Te3 on Si(111) substrate prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to clarify the doping nature of Cu atoms in the films. By systematic studying the structural and electronic properties of the Cu-doped Bi2Te3 films by different doping methods, we find that Cu acts as electron donors when deposited onto the surface of Bi2Te3 films while behave as holes when doped in the process of Bi2Te3 thin film growth. The model of the formation of Cu+, five/seven layer lamella structures and Cu2−x Te is proposed to explain the different doping mechanisms. The robustness of topological surface states and insensitivity to non-magnetic impurities is indicated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Heat generation during FSW was studied using a CFD-based model. [•] Both the total amount and the spatial distribution of heat flux were investigated. [•] The total heat generation was proportional to the 0.75 power of tool rotating speed. [•] A distribution function was defined to describe the heat flux distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study aims to find metabolites responsible for antitussive and expectorant activities of Tussilago farfara L. by metabolomic approach. Different parts (roots, flower buds, and leaves) of the title plant were analyzed systematically. The in vivo study revealed that the leaves and flower buds had strong antitussive and expectorant effects. Then 1H NMR spectrometry together with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant (PLS-DA) analysis were used to investigate the compounds responsible for the bioactivities. PCA was used to find the differential metabolites, while PLS-DA confirmed a strong correlation between the observed effects and the metabolic profiles of the plant. The result revealed that chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and rutin may be closely related with the antitussive and expectorant activities. The overall results of this study confirm the benefits of using metabolic profiling for screening active principles in medicinal plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Stroke patients exhibit abnormal pattern in leg cycling exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of visual feedback on the control of cycling motion in stroke patients from kinesiological, kinematic and kinetic aspects. The cycling performance derived from cycling electromyography (EMG), cycling cadence, and torque of forty stroke subjects was evaluated under conditions with and without visual feedback of cycling cadence. Kinesiological indices, shape symmetry index (SSI) and area symmetry index (ASI) were extracted from EMG linear envelopes to evaluate the symmetry of muscle firing patterns during cycling. Roughness index (RI) was calculated from cycling cadence to represent cycling smoothness from kinematic aspects. Averaged cycling power (Pav), the product of cadence and torque, was used to represent force output. The rectus femoris EMG showed significantly greater ASI with visual feedback, however, the difference in SSI between the two conditions was not significant. For the biceps femoris, there was a significant decrease in SSI with visual feedback, while the ASI was not affected significantly by the task conditions. The cycling smoothness was better and the average power generated was larger when visual feedback was provided. This study found that the addition of visual feedback improved both neuromuscular control and overall performance. Such improvement is likely to be the result of better control of the rectus femoris muscle activation and coordination of both legs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A highly sensitive and selective electrochemical microelectrode using the molecularly imprinted (MIP) electropolymer of over-oxidized polypyrrole (OPPy) was proposed for in vivo detection of dopamine (DA) which process is different from current approaches for in vitro DA detection using MIP-based macroelectrode. The proposed MIP electrosynthesized by our present method under a DA/pyrrole-monomer concentration ratio of 1mM/10mM yielded the best results for DA adsorption, reaching 2.6-fold that of similar microelectrodes without imprinting. Differential normal pulse voltammetry techniques was used to evaluate the DA-imprinted OPPy microelectrodes for demonstrating high selectivity for in vitro DA detection under conditions with various competitive electroactive molecules. The validity of the modified OPPy-MIP thin-film microelectrodes was further verified with amperometric i–t measurements, which showed a lower DA levels of detection (10–100nM) and the low detection limit of 4.5nM with signal to noise ratio of 3. Good reproducibility with relative standard deviation of 5.45% and long-term stability within two weeks were also observed. The developed OPPy-MIP microelectrode has been successfully applied for acute in vivo DA detection in the striatum of anesthetized rats with 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine (l-DOPA) administration, which can be used for future evaluation of novel therapeutic treatments in Parkinsonian rats. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Flower bud of Tussilago farfara L. is widely used for the treatment of cough, bronchitis and asthmatic disorders in the Traditional Chinese Medicine. However, due to the increasing demands, adulteration with rachis is frequently encountered in the marketplace. No report demonstrated the chemical and pharmacological differences between flower bud and rachis before. Materials and methods: The water extracts were orally administrated to mice. Ammonia induced mice coughing model was used to evaluate the antitussive activity. The expectorant activity was evaluated by volume of phenol red in mice''s tracheas. Metabolites were identified directly from the crude extracts through 1D- and 2D-NMR spectra. A metabolic profiling carried out by 1H NMR spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis was applied to crude extracts from flower bud and rachis. Results: Flower bud significantly lengthened the latent period of cough, decreased cough frequency caused by ammonia and enhanced tracheal phenol red output in expectorant evaluation. Principal component analysis (PCA) yielded good separation between flower bud and rachis, and corresponding loading plot showed that the phenolic compounds, organic acid, sugar, amino acid, terpene and sterol contributed to the discrimination. Conclusions: These findings provide pharmacological and chemical evidence that only flower bud can be used as the antitussive and expectorant herbal drug. The high concentration of chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, rutin in flower buds may be related with the antitussive and expectorant effects of Flos Farfara. To guarantee the clinical effect, rachis should be picked out before use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The transport processes in the heterostructures of and have been studied theoretically by taking into account the effect of Schottky barrier formed at the contact of the electrode. By comparing with the experimental data, it is found that the physical origin for the symmetry of the measured – curves in the heterostructures of can be attributed to the effect of the Schottky contact diodes. It is also found that the influence of Schottky barrier on the transport properties of heterostructures increases with the increased temperature and decreases with the increased doping density of layer at temperature above the Curie temperature of based on our calculation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: Achilles tendinitis is a common clinical problem with many treatment modalities, including physical therapy, exercise and therapeutic ultrasound. However, evaluating the effects of current therapeutic modalities and studying the therapeutic mechanism(s) in vivo remains problematic. In this study, we attempted to observe the morphology and microcirculation changes in mouse Achilles tendons between pre- and post-treatment using high-frequency (25MHz) ultrasound imaging. A secondary aim was to assess the potential of high-frequency ultrasound in exploring therapeutic mechanisms in small-animal models in vivo. Methods: A collagenase-induced mouse model of Achilles tendinitis was adopted, and 5min treatment of continuous-mode low-frequency (45kHz) ultrasound with 47mW/cm2 maximum intensity and 16.3cm2 effective beam radiating area was applied. The B-mode images showed no focal hypoechoic regions in normal Achilles tendons either pre- or post-treatment. The Doppler power energy and blood flow rate were measured within the peritendinous space of the Achilles tendon. Conclusion: An increase in the microcirculation was observed soon after the low-frequency ultrasound treatment, which was due to immediate induction of vascular dilatation. The results suggest that applying high-frequency Doppler imaging to small-animal models will be an invaluable aid in explorations of the therapeutic mechanism(s). Our future work includes using imaging to assess microcirculation changes in tendinitis between before and after treatment over a long time period, which is expected to yield useful physiological data for future human studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: This study sought to examine the hypothesis that cardiac autonomic function (CAF) is altered in pre-hypertensive subjects and normotensive subjects with a family history of hypertension (FHH). Background: The findings on the FHH effect in CAF have been inconsistent, and little is known about altered CAF in pre-hypertensive subjects under The Seventh Report of the Joint National Commission on High Blood Pressure criteria of normotension and pre-hypertension. Methods: A total of 1,436 community dwellers were classified as having normotension without FHH (NT[−]), normotension with FHH (NT[+]), pre-hypertension, and hypertension. Cardiac autonomic function was determined by standard deviation of RR intervals (SDNN), power spectrum in low frequencies (LF) and high frequencies (HF) and LF/HF ratio in supine position for 5 min, the ratio between the longest RR interval at approximately the 30th beat and the shortest RR interval at approximately the 15th beat after standing (30 max/15 min ratio), and the ratio between the longest RR interval during expiration and the shortest RR interval during inspiration (E/I ratio). Results: There was a significant difference in all CAF indexes among subjects with NT(−), NT(+), pre-hypertension, and hypertension. Multivariate analyses with an analysis of covariance model showed that 30 max/15 min ratio, E/I ratio, and HF power decreased in subjects with NT(+), pre-hypertension, and hypertension when compared with NT(−) subjects. Pre-hypertensive and hypertensive subjects displayed higher square roots of LF/HF ratios. Only pre-hypertensive subjects had higher LF power. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that CAF plays a role in pre-hypertension and that altered autonomic function is already present in subjects with FHH. An autonomic imbalance shifting with augmented sympathetic tone was more enhanced in pre-hypertension. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper proposes a novel structure of ASK (amplitude shift keying) demodulators, which requires no external capacitors, for implantable micro-stimulators. By using a traditional multiplier reference to detect the signal envelope, followed by a Schmitt trigger and a load driver, the large off-chip capacitor in traditional ASK demodulators is not required any more. Therefore, the proposed circuit possesses small area to be integrated in an SOC (system-on-chip). Besides, due to the lack of the large capacitor, the proposed circuit can operate with a higher data rate using lower frequency carriers. The proposed circuit is integrated in an implantable micro-stimulator on silicon using 2P4M CMOS process. The area of the proposed circuit occupies merely with a maximum power dissipation of less than 12mW (including the power consumption of the analog circuits of the micro-stimulator) by measurement results on silicon. Moreover, the measurement results verify that the proposed ASK demodulator can detect the ASK modulated signal up to 570kbps data rate at 2MHz carrier frequency when the modulation index is 10%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study quantified the performance variability and effect of rail support on the ankle joint for normal and hemiparetic subjects during treadmill walking. Muscle activities of the anterior tibialis (TA) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) from six hemiparetic patients and 14 healthy subjects were assessed with EMG linear envelope and variance ratio of consecutive strides at self-selected cadences. Our results indicate that (1) performance consistency of the hemiparetic patients was significantly undermined; (2) habituated process during treadmill walking was notable in the MG but not in the TA; and (3) rail support could reduce performance variability of the ankle antagonist pairs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The coefficient of temperature expansion mismatch between materials in a thin plastic ball grid array package is primarily attributed to the warpage when mounting the package to a printed circuit board, especially when the moisture concentration reaches a specified value. The influence of variations in storage conditions on warpage was investigated in this paper. The effects of the reflow parameters on warpage were also examined. Taguchi’s method was implemented for experimental design and data analyses. A critical relative moisture absorption between 0.25% and 0.30% was found for a considerable warpage response. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Overall, SES have significant effects on HPI. • Families with different SES have different HPI strategies. • PE and PA mediate the effects of SES on some types of HPI. • The improvement of HPI in low-SES families may be hindered by low PE and PA. • From the perspective of mediating effect, PE contributes more than PA. Improving parental involvement is an effective way to narrow the achievement gap between families with low and high socioeconomic status (SES). However, the parental involvement of low-SES families is insufficient. In previous studies, the explanation for the insufficient parental involvement in low-SES families focused on the objective factors, ignoring the differences of subjective factors. Using data from the 2014 China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this study examined relationships between family SES and four types of home-based parental involvement (HPI), as well as the mediating effects of parental attitudes (PA) and parental expectations (PE). The results showed that different families have different HPI strategies. Families with high-SES tend to improve parental homework support, parent–child communication, and parental time with children, while those with low-SES tend to improve strict discipline. Our research shows that PA and PE have significant mediating effects, which significantly reduce the HPI of low-SES families, mainly in strict discipline and parent–child communication. Besides, PE's effects are more significant than PA's. The findings of the study underline the necessity to focus on the problems of insufficient HPI caused by parental attitudes and expectations in low-SES families. It is of significance to explore comprehensive and effective ways to improve HPI for low-SES families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Saccharomycetes are used as green phosphorus source to produce metal phosphides. • Interface phosphating for solid-solid contact can efficiently utilize phosphorus. • Graphitizing & migration of metal-catalyzed carbon matrix to form hollow structure. • The Ni/Ni 3 P heterostructure can weaken strong Ni–H bonding to obtain small Δ G H*. • Achieve hydrogen production from wastewater treatment at low input voltages. The development of new, clean and efficient catalytic materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has become extremely unstoppable. Herein, the heterostructural Ni-Ni 3 P nanoparticles embedded into N\P co-doped carbon shells on 3D graphene frameworks (Ni-Ni 3 P@NPC/rGO) was synthesized via an in situ phosphatization of nickel well-integrated with the structure engineering of carbon matrix derived from saccharomycetes. The in-situ phosphating process of nickel using P source provided by saccharomycetes is particularly simple, economical and environmentally friendly. In addition, the as-prepared Ni-Ni 3 P@NPC/rGO exhibits superior bifunctional electrocatalytic performance toward both HER (extremely low overpotential of 113 mV at 20 mA cm–2) and urea degradation reaction (UDR, only 1.38 V to attain 50 mA cm–2). Furthermore, a two-electrode electrolyzer employing the 3D block electrode (Ni-Ni 3 P@NPC/rGO/GFB) couple on both cathode and anode, can produce higher current density with lower voltage in urea-based wastewater splitting less than pure water splitting (saved 448 mV to deliver 500 mA g–1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new oxidovanadium(V) complexes were designed, synthesized and characterized by C, H, N elemental analysis, single crystal X-ray diffraction，UV/Vis and IR spectra. Complex 1 : [VOL1X] (H 2 L1 = (E)-N′-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)-3-methbenzohydrazide, HX = ethylmaltol = 2-ethyl-3-hydroxy-4-pyrone), Complex 2: [VOL2(CH 3 O)(CH 3 OH)], (H 2 L2 = C 16 H 16 N 2 O 4 = (E)-N′-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)-3,5-dimethoxybenzohydrazide, CH 3 OH = methanol), Complex 3 : [VOL3X] (H 2 L3 = (E)-N′-(3-ethoxy-2-hydroxybenzylidene)-3,5-dimethoxybenzohydrazide). The insulin-like activity of the three complexes was tested. Both normal and streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic mice were administered intragastrically for two weeks. It was found that the complexes at doses of 10.0 and 5.0 mg V·kg−1 can significantly decrease the blood glucose level in STZ-diabetic mice, and the blood glucose level in the treated normal mice was not altered. The lesions of kidney and liver caused by diabetes have varying degrees of improvement. Unlabelled Image • The complexes have fine insulin-like activity on streptozotocin diabetic mice. • The complexes have protective effects on the lesions of kidney and liver caused by diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]