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Abstract D-dimer is a promising biomarker for identification of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with stroke. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of D-dimer as a promising biomarker for VTE in patients after stroke. We performed an exhaustive search of leading databases including Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and China Biology Medicine disc (CBM) from inception to Oct 13, 2017. We included studies written in English and Chinese. We included studies that appraised the diagnostic value of D-dimer with reference standard for VTE diagnosis in patients after stroke. We concurrently constructed a 2 × 2 table with data extracted from included studies. We identified 8 studies that included 1490 patients after stroke from our database searches. The pooled result from limited evidence showed a sensitivity of 0.85 (95% CI 0.76–0.90) and a specificity of 0.77 (95% CI 0.73–0.81). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.85(95% CI 0.81–0.88). The positive likelihood ratio (LR+) and the negative likelihood ratio (LR-) were 3.8 (95% CI 3.1–4.4) and 0.20(95% CI 0.12–0.31), respectively. In patients after stroke suspected of venous thromboembolism, D-dimer is a beneficial biomarker for diagnosis of VTE. For stroke patients with low probability of VTE, a normal D-dimer test can be used to rule-out VTE. However, we do not recommend using D-dimer as the single definitive test for VTE diagnosis. We recommend diagnosing VTE using multi-branch diagnostic strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing evidence demonstrates that different opioids, while acting μ opioid receptors, can activate distinct downstream responses, a phenomenon termed functional selectivity or biased agonism. The present study designed experiments to test whether the μ receptor agonist morphine and D-Ala 2 , N-Me-Phe 4 , Gly 5 -ol-enkephalin (DAMGO) had a different effect on presynaptic glutamate release in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and whether this difference was due to their biased agonism at μ receptors. The results showed that DAMGO markedly decreased the frequency of sEPSCs in pyramidal cells of BLA. The concentration-dependence experiment showed that DAMGO dose-dependently decreased the frequency of sEPSCs. Morphine markedly increased the frequency of sEPSCs in pyramidal cells of BLA. The concentration-dependence experiment showed that morphine dose-dependently increased the frequency of sEPSCs. We also used PPF of EPSC as another indicator of presynaptic glutamate release to confirm the opposite effect of morphine and DAMGO on the glutamate release. Further mechanism studies showed that the opposite effect of morphine and DAMGO on the glutamate release was via the activation of μ receptors, but the downstream signaling pathways of μ receptors were different: DAMGO inhibited the glutamate release via μ receptor-Gi protein- PLA 2 -AA signaling pathway, whereas morphine promoted the glutamate release via μ receptor-Gi protein-PKC-ERK1/2-synapsin I signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new caryophyllane derivative, caryophyllenol A, and a new germacrane derivative, isovolvalerenal D, together with 11 known sesquiterpenoids, were isolated from a petroleum ether partition of the roots and rhizomes of Valeriana amurensis. Structure elucidation of caryophyllenol A and isovolvalerenal D was accomplished on the basis of various spectroscopic techniques including HRESIMS and 2D NMR analyses. The structure of caryophyllenol A was further confirmed by X-ray crystallography and using quantum-chemical ECD calculation adopting TDDFT method. Caryophyllenol A and other eight sesquiterpenoids were evaluated for sedative activity with the model of Drosophila melanogaster, and eight of them showed the effect of prolonging the total sleeping time (TST) of D. melanogaster, displaying significant sedative action. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract This study focused on developing single-atom silver-manganese catalysts for converting the increasingly concerning CO 2 to highly demanded methane (CH 4) with renewable solar energy via artificial photosynthesis. The performances of the Ag supported manganese oxides (Ag/HMO) and the single-atom silver-manganese catalysts (Ag-HMO) were tested and compared under the same conditions. The activity of Ag-HMO reached as high as 0.61 mol mol−1 catalysts, which was 1.53 times higher than that of Ag/HMO. The single-atom Ag chains in Ag-HMO promoted the electron transfer from Ag to HMO, the adsorption of visible light and the activation of adsorbed CO 2 , thus enhancing the photocatalytic performances. This research will be beneficial for the practical application of solar energy with plasmonic photocatalyst. Graphical abstract fx1 Highlights • The Ag atoms dispersed well in the HMO lattice tunnels for Ag-HMO. • The Ag-HMO exhibited better CH 4 production rate than Ag/HMO. • The Z-scheme like mechanism is used to explain the better activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Radio frequency identification (RFID) and quick response (QR) codes are an effective way to identify traceable resource units (TRUs) and are widely applied in traceability systems. TRU transformation is common for things such as beef segmentation and wheat-flour packaging. The present study describes the development and testing of equipment for barcode-RFID bidirectional transformation to improve traceability by conserving identification association and information correspondence while transforming barcodes to RFID and vice versa. The framework of traceable bidirectional identification labels is based on comparing the features of RFID and barcodes and on analyzing TRU transformation. The proposed equipment includes a tactile industrial controller, a RFID-reader module, an embedded printing module, and a barcode scanning module. Furthermore, we develop the main functions of RFID-barcode conversion, bar-code-RFID conversion, and condition monitoring. The system is tested in field experiments based on two typical scenarios: beef segmentation and wheat-flour packaging. The average conversion success rate in RFID-barcode processing is 97%, and in barcode-RFID processing is 93.48%. The proposed equipment is more rapid than the reference method: 3.2 versus 8.7 s for RFID-barcode transformation and 10.5 versus 13.3 s for barcode-RFID transformation. In addition, the proposed equipment is less expensive than the conventional equipment. Test results indicate that continuous traceability is improved because identification association and information correspondence are conserved after TRU transformation. Hightlights • Proposed a method to improve continuous traceability of food stuff by TRUs relating. • Developed a barcode-RFID transformation equipment to implement the proposed method. • Performed an experiments on two typical scenario to validate the feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a typical semiconductor material, germanium has the potential to replace silicon for future-generation microelectronics, due to its better electrical properties. However, the lack of stable surface state has limited its extensive use for several decades. In this work, we demonstrated highly stable self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Ge surface to prevent oxidization for further applications. After the pretreatment in hydrochloric acid, the oxide-free and Cl-terminated Ge could be further coated with 1-dodecanethiol (NDM) SAMs. The influence factors including reaction time, solvent component and reaction temperature were optimized to obtain stable passivated monolayer for oxidation resistance. Contact angle analysis, atomic force microscopy, ellipsometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to characterize the functionalized Ge surface respectively. Meanwhile, the reaction mechanism and stability of thiols SAMs on Ge (1 1 1) surface were investigated. Finally, highly stable passivated NDM SAMs on Ge surface could be formed through immersing oxide-free Ge in mixture solvent (water/ethanol, v/v = 1:1) at appropriately elevated temperature (∼80 °C) for 24 h. And the corresponding optimized passivated Ge surface was stable for more than 10 days even in water condition, which was much longer than the data reported and paved the way for the future practical applications of Ge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Response surface methodology (RSM) using a Box–Behnken design (BBD) was employed to optimize the conditions for extraction of anti-tumor alkaloids from the stem of Berberis amurensis Rupr. (BAAs). Four independent variables (ethanol concentration, pH value, ratio of liquid to material and extraction time) were investigated and the optimal conditions for BAAs were evaluated by means of response surface methodology (RSM). Moreover, the in vitro anti-tumor activity of BAAs was investigated. The results showed that the experimental data could be fitted to a quadratic polynomial model using correlation analysis of the mathematical regression model. Response surface plots showed that all independent variables significantly influenced the extraction yield of BAAs. The optimum extraction conditions were as follows: ethanol concentration of 67.28%, pH value of 1.81, the ratio of liquid to material of 11.24:1 (mL/g), and extraction time of 1.58 h. The average experimental BAAs yield under the optimum conditions was found to be 24.63 ± 0.28 mg/g, which agreed with the predicted value of 24.33 mg/g. UPLC-PDA analysis showed that berberine was the principal alkaloid compound in B. amurensis Rupr stem. Additionally, BAAs could inhibit MCF-7 and HEPG2 cell proliferation in vitro , and the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) at 48 h was around 402.25 and 477.17 μg/mL, respectively. The anti-tumor activity of BAAs were dose-dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ability to culture individual neurons and direct their connections on functional interfaces provides a platform for investigating information processing in neuronal networks. Numerous methods have been used to design ordered neuronal networks on microelectrode arrays (MEAs) for neuronal electrical activities recording. However, so far, no method has been implemented, which simultaneously provides high-resolution neuronal patterns and low-impedance microelectrode. To achieve this goal, we employed a chemical vapor-deposited, non-fouling poly (ethylene) glycol (PEG) self-assembled monolayer to provide a cell repellant background on the MEAs. Photolithography, together with plasma etching of the PEG monolayer, was used to fabricate different patterns on MEAs. No electrode performance degradation was observed after the whole process. Dissociated cortical neurons were cultured on the modified MEAs, and the patterns were maintained for more than 3 weeks. Spontaneous and evoked neuronal activities were recorded. All of the results demonstrate this surface engineering strategy allows successful patterning of neurons on MEAs, and is useful for future studies of information processing in defined neuronal networks on a chip. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]