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Graphene is considered to be the core material for the next Industrial Revolution. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) was prepared using a modified Hummers method and, then, reduced to obtain graphe...

Vascular stent implantation is a valid method to therapy cardiovascular diseases, the bio-reconstructive and endothelialization of vessel wall was simultaneously transmutation following to interact...

The matching ability between stent and balloon is an important property to the trackability and crossibility of delivering system; it's also influence the flexibility of operation in clinic. In this work, the low-temperature plasma sputtering method was employed to prepare nano-structure on balloon surface, the matching properties were investigated via the removing force, compliance and aging test; the micro-morphous was also characterized by scanning electron microscope. The result indicates that the removing force of the sputtered balloon is obviously increased comparing to un-treated that, and the compliance of both balloon catheters is similar, but the lower-temperature plasma treated balloon is more preferable than that of untreated that through aging test results. The distribution of stent struts on balloon surface is more uniform than untreated surface, and the deformation and fold of treated surface wasn't found, which indicates that the matching ability between stent and balloon would be ...

Bioceramic coatings have been widely applied to biomaterials owing to their good biocompalibility and bioinert in clinic, however, their friability and limited mechanical properties on some medical devices restrict the applications. In this work, a copper-titanium metal coating as potential medical materials was prepared by physical vapor deposition (PVD) method, the ratio of copper-titanium atom was regulated by changing the different targets current. The phase structure, dimensions distribution and element content of the copper-titanium coating were determined by X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS), respectively. The adherence strength between substrate and coating was characterized via nano-scratch test, and cell proliferation was employed to evaluate the biocompatibility. The results showed that the coating with various ratios of copper-titanium atom was obtained successfully. The copper distribution was uniform in the coating. ...

The hMLH1 gene plays an essential role in DNA repair. Methylation of the hMLH1 gene is common in many types of cancer and can lead to the loss of hMLH1 expression. However, the association and clinicopathological significance between hMLH1 promoter hypermethylation and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is elusive. Here, we investigated the correlation of hMLH1 promoter hypermethylation and NSCLC using 13 studies by comprising 1,056 lung cancer patients via a meta-analysis. We observed that 1) loss of hMLH1 protein expression was significantly associated with its promoter hypermethylation, 2) hMLH1 gene inactivation through hypermethylation contributed to the tumorigenesis of NSCLC, which could be a decisive factor for the pathogenesis of NSCLC due to its high occurrence in NSCLC tissues compared to normal lung tissues, 3) a correlation exists between histologic subtypes/disease stages (TNM I+II vs III+IV) and hypermethylation status of hMLH1 gene, and 4) NSCLC patients with hMLH1 hypermethylation and subsequent low expression levels of hMLH1 have a short overall survival period than those patients with normal expression of hMLH1 gene. hMLH1 mRNA predicts patient survival in lung cancer, and this was confirmed by using a public database. We then discussed the tumor suppressor function of hMLH1 and the clinicopathological significance of hMLH1 in NSCLC. We concluded that hMLH1 hypermethylation should be an early diagnostic marker for NSCLC and also a prognostic index for NSCLC. hMLH1 is an interesting therapeutic target in human lung cancers.

“Fast-flux” refers to rapidly assigning different IP addresses to the same domain name. Although there are some legitimate uses for this technique, recently it has become a favorite tool for cyber criminals to launch collaborative attacks. After it was first observed by Honeynet, it was reported that fast-flux has been used in phishing, malware spreading, spam, and other malicious activities linked to criminal organizations. Combining with peer-to-peer networking, distributed command and control, web-based load balancing, and proxy redirection, fast-flux makes Internet attacks more resistant to discovery and counter-measure. This article aims at giving a comprehensive survey on fast-flux attacks. Some important issues including technical background, classification, characterization, measurement and detection, and mitigation are discussed. Challenges of detecting and mitigating fast-flux attack are also pointed out.

Context: There is a need to improve stroke care through the prompt identification of stroke patients at increased risk of an adverse outcome. Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of copeptin in patients with stroke. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed and Embase for relevant studies. Poor outcome and mortality were analyzed. Results: Twelve studies, containing 2682 patients, were included. Pooled analysis showed that copeptin is an independent prognostic marker of poor outcome after acute stroke and there is a borderline effect of copeptin in predicting mortality after acute stroke. Conclusions: Copeptin is an independent predictor of poor outcome and mortality for patients with acute stroke.

Magnesium is a biocompatible and biodegradable metal, which has attracted much interest in biomedical engineering. Cast magnesium alloy shows the low strength and plasticity at ambient temperature. Microstructure, mechanical properties and degradation properties of the extrusion pressed magnesium alloy have been investigated for biomedical application in detail by optical microscopes, mechanical properties testing and corrosion testing. The magnesium alloy ingot were extrude into bar at the different extrusion ratio. Optical microscopy observation has indicated that the grain size of the extruding has been significantly decreased from extrusion rate is 25, which has mainly contributed to the high tensile strength and good elongation. Hot extruding has provided moderate corrosion resistance, which has opened a new window for materials design, especially for biomedical.

Xiaoyun Song,* Kang Shi,* Shi-Jie Zhou, Da-Ping Yu, Zhidong Liu, Yi Han Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’sRepublic of China *These authors contributed equally tothis work Abstract: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in men worldwide. Aberrant RARβ promoter methylation has been frequently investigated in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), the most common form of lung cancer. The aim of present study was to carry out a meta-analysis and a systematic review to evaluate clinicopathological significance of RARβ promoter hypermethylation in NSCLC. A systematic literature search was carried out. The data were extracted and assessed by two reviewers independently. The Cochrane software Review Manager 5.2 was used to conduct the review. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. A total of 18 relevant articles were available for meta-analysis which included 1,871 participants. The frequency of RARβ hypermethylation was significantly increased in NSCLC than in nonmalignant lung tissue, and the pooled OR was 5.69 (P