Search

Skin cancer is one of the most prevalent malignancies in the world. Deep learning-based methods have been successfully used for skin disease diagnosis and achieved great recognition performance, most of which relied on dermoscopic images alone. Existing multi-model methods of skin lesion diagnosis have the following two shortcomings: 1) They mainly focus on learning complementary information while ignoring the correlation between clinical and dermoscopic images. 2) The feature extractor is not optimized by imposing constraints, which may result in limited expression of the extracted features. To address these issues, this study proposes a new method, named multi-modal bilinear fusion with hybrid attention mechanism (MBF-HA) for multi-modal skin lesion classification. Specifically, MBF-HA introduced a common representation learning framework to learn the correlated features by exploring the shared characteristics between two modalities. Moreover, MBF-HA uses the hybrid attention-based reconstruction module which encourages the feature extractor to detect and localize lesion regions on each modality, thus, enhancing the discriminative power of the output feature representation. We perform comprehensive experiments on a well-established multi-modal and multi-label skin disease dataset: a 7-point Checklist database, MBF-HA achieves an average accuracy of 76.3% in the multi-classification tasks and 76.0% in the diagnostic task. The experimental results show that MBF-HA outperforms known related works and is expected to help physicians make more precise clinical diagnoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The emergence of software-defined vehicles (SDVs), combined with autonomous driving technologies, has enabled a new era of vehicle computing (VC), where vehicles serve as a mobile computing platform. However, the interdisciplinary complexities of automotive systems and diverse technological requirements make developing applications for autonomous vehicles challenging. To simplify the development of applications running on SDVs, we propose a comprehensive suite of vehicle programming interfaces (VPIs). In this study, we rigorously explore the nuanced requirements for application development within the realm of VC, centering our analysis on the architectural intricacies of the Open Vehicular Data Analytics Platform (OpenVDAP). We then detail our creation of a comprehensive suite of standardized VPIs, spanning five critical categories: Hardware, Data, Computation, Service, and Management, to address these evolving programming requirements. To validate the design of VPIs, we conduct experiments using the indoor autonomous vehicle, Zebra, and develop the OpenVDAP prototype system. By comparing it with the industry-influential AUTOSAR interface, our VPIs demonstrate significant enhancements in programming efficiency, marking an important advancement in the field of SDV application development. We also show a case study and evaluate its performance. Our work highlights that VPIs significantly enhance the efficiency of developing applications on VC. They meet both current and future technological demands and propel the software-defined automotive industry toward a more interconnected and intelligent future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The study aimed to analyze the poor prognosis of microcalcification in breast cancer (BC), including the pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and the risk of bone metastases. Materials and methods: 313 breast cancer patients received NACT to evaluate pCR and 1182 patients from a multicenter database to assess bone metastases were retrospectively included. Two groups were divided according to the presence or absence of mammography microcalcification. Clinical data, image characteristics, neoadjuvant treatment response, bone involvement, and follow-up information were recorded. The pCR and bone metastases were compared between subgroups using the Mann–Whitney and χ2 tests and logistic regression, respectively. Results: Mammographic microcalcification was associated with a lower pCR than uncalcified BC in the NACT cohort (20.6% vs 31.6%, P = 0.029). Univariate and multivariate analysis suggested that calcification was a risk factor for poor NACT response [OR = 1.780, 95%CI (1.065–2.974), P = 0.028], [OR = 2.352, 95%CI (1.186–4.667), P = 0.014]. Microcalcification was more likely to be necrosis on MRI than those without microcalcification (53.0% vs 31.7%, P < 0.001), multivariate analysis indicated that tumor necrosis was also a risk factor for poor NACT response [OR = 2.325, 95%CI (1.100–4.911), P = 0.027]. Age, menopausal status, breast density, mass, molecular, and pathology type were not significantly associated with non-pCR risk assessment. In a multicenter cohort of 1182 patients with pathologically confirmed BC, those with microcalcifications had a higher proportion of bone metastases compared to non-calcified BC (11.6% vs 4.9%, P < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that microcalcification was an independent risk factor for bone metastasis [OR = 2.550, 95%CI (1.620–4.012), P < 0.001], [OR = 2.268(1.263–4.071), P = 0.006)]. Osteolytic bone metastases predominated but there was no statistical difference between the two groups (78.9% vs 60.7%, P = 0.099). Calcified BC was mainly involved in axial bone, but was more likely to involve the whole-body bone than non-calcified BC (33.8% vs 10.7%, P = 0.021). Conclusion: This study provides important insights into the poor prognosis of microcalcification, not only in terms of poor response to NACT but also the risk factor of bone metastases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) intra-articular injective treatments for ankle osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane library until May 2022. Both randomized and non-randomized studies were included with the assessment of the risk of bias. We recorded the participant's age, gender, type of PRP, injection volume, the kit used, and activating agent. We subsequently assessed the short-term and long-term efficacy of PRP using the functional scores and visual analog scale (VAS). Results: We included four studies with a total of 127 patients, with a mean age of 56.1 years. 47.2% were male (60/127), according to eligibility criteria. There were three cohort studies and one randomized controlled trial (RCT) study, and no study reported severe adverse events. All included studies used the Leukocyte-poor PRP. Short-term follow-up results suggested significant improvement of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score in the PRP injection group compared to the control group (n = 87 patients; MD: 6.94 [95% CI: 3.59, 10.29]; P < 0.01). Consistently, there was a statistical difference in AOFAS score between PRP injection and control groups in the final follow-up (≥ 6 months) (n = 87 patients; MD: 9.63 [95% CI: 6.31, 12.94]; P < 0.01). Furthermore, we found a significant reduction in VAS scores in the PRP groups at both the short-term follow-up (n = 59 patients; MD, − 1.90 [95% CI, − 2.54, − 1.26]; P < 0.01) and the ≥ six months follow-up (n = 79 patients; MD, − 3.07 [95% CI, − 5.08, − 1.05]; P < 0.01). The improvement of AOFAS and VAS scores at ≥ six months follow-up reached the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Nevertheless, the treatment effect of AOFAS and VAS scores offered by PRP at short-term follow-up did not exceed the MCID. Substantial heterogeneity was reported at the ≥ six months follow-up in VAS scores (I2: 93%, P < 0.01). Conclusion: This meta-analysis supports the safety of PRP intra-articular injection for ankle OA. The improvements of AOFAS and VAS scores in the PRP group at short-term follow-up do not exceed the MCID to be clinically significant. PRP injection provides significant improvement of AOFAS score and reduced pain at ≥ six months follow-up. The efficacy of PRP should be interpreted with caution regarding the high heterogeneity and the scarcity of available literature, which urges large-scale RCTs with longer follow-up to confirm the potential efficacy of PRP injection for ankle OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NbC ceramic surface-reinforced steel matrix composites were prepared by an in-situ reaction method at different temperatures (1,050 °C, 1,100 °C and 1,150 °C) for different times (1 h, 2 h and 3 h). The phase constitution, microstructure and fracture morphology of NbC ceramic surface-reinforced steel matrix composites were analyzed by XRD, SEM and EDS, and the effects of the in-situ reaction temperature and time on the mechanical properties were systematically studied. The results indicate that the NbC reinforcement layer is formed through the reaction between Nb atoms and carbon atoms diffused from the steel matrix to the Nb plate. The thickness of this reinforcement layer increases as the reaction time prolongs. Additionally, an increase in reaction temperature results in a thicker reinforcement layer, although the rate of increase gradually decreases. The relationship among the thickness of the NbC reinforcement layer, the reaction time and temperature was established by data fitting. The optimal tensile performance is achieved at 1,100 °C for 1 h, with a tensile strength of 228 MPa. It is also found that the defects between the reinforcement layer and the steel matrix are related to reaction temperature. At 1,100 °C, these defects are minimal. Fracture mostly occurs in the NbC reinforced layer of the composites, and the fracture mode is characterized by typical intergranular brittle fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A one-dimensional dielectric barrier discharge plasma model is established to simulate the size of the actual automobile exhaust pipe. The potential, electron density and electron temperature distribution during the discharge process under different dielectric blocking discharge conditions in the NO/O2/N2/C2H4/H2O system were calculated using COMSOL software, and the influence of NO and C2H4 removal under different voltage amplitudes was investigated. The results showed that with the increase of voltage, the electron density and electron temperature increased, and the removal rate and efficiency of NO and C2H4 also increased. When the voltage was 12 kV, the NO and C2H4 removal efficiency reached 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frost damage to winter wheat during stem elongation frequently occurred in the Huang-Huai plain of China, leading to considerable yield losses. Minimum Stevenson screen temperature (STmin) and minimum grass temperature (GTmin) have long been used to quantify frost damage. Although GTmin has higher accuracy than STmin, it is limited in application due to the lack of data. Therefore, this study aimed to select appropriate environmental variables to estimate GTmin, as well as to quantify the frost damage. Shangqiu, a frost-prone winter wheat area in the central Huang-Hui plain, was selected as the study area. From the descriptive statistics of ST, air relative humidity (RH), wind speed (WS), cloud fraction (CF), and volumetric soil water content (VWC) during temperature decreasing and increasing, seven variables significantly correlated with GTmin were selected, including STmin, maximum reduction of ST (RST), maximum increase of ST (IST), minimum RH during temperature increasing (RHmin), WS at STmin occurrence (WS), minimum VWC during temperature decreasing (VWCmin), and nightly CF. Multiple linear regression (MLR), support vector regression (SVR), random forest (RF), and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) were adopted for estimating GTmin based on the various combinations of the variables. Results showed the more variables, the higher the accuracy for the MLR and SVR. However, this pattern was not always true for the KNN and RF. The KNN based on STmin, RST, IST, RHmin, and WS achieved the highest accuracy, with R2 of 0.9992, RMSE of 0.14 ℃, and MAE of 0.076 ℃. The overall classification accuracy for frost damage identified by the estimated GTmin reached 97.1% during stem elongation of winter wheat from 2017 to 2021. The integrated frost stress (IFS) index calculated by the estimated and measured GTmin maintained high linear fitting accuracy. The KNN with fewer variables demonstrated good applicability at the regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of scutellarin (SCU) in diabetic retinopathy (DR) and explore the associated molecular network mechanism. The animal model of DR was established from diabetic mellitus (DM) rats by intraperitoneally injected streptozotocin (STZ) at dosage 55 mg/kg. Meanwhile, SCU was intraperitoneally administrated to protect retina from cell pyroptosis induced by DM, and cell pyroptosis was detected by using HE, Nissl staining, and immunofluorescence recognition. Moreover, the hub gene involving in pyroptosis in DR was screened by bioinformatics and network pharmacology, designated as Venny intersection screen, GO and KEGG analysis, PPI protein interaction, and molecular docking. Lastly, the expressional change of hub genes were validated with experimental detection. Cell pyroptosis of the DR, specifically in retina ganglion cells (RGC), was induced in DM rats; SCU administration results in significant inhibition in the cell pyroptosis in DR. Mechanically, 4084 genes related to DR were screened from GeneCards and OMIM databases, and 120 SCU therapeutic targets were obtained, by using GeneCards, TCMSP with Swiss Target Prediction databases. Moreover, 357 targets related to pyroptosis were found using GenenCards database, and Drug, disease and phenotypic targets were analyzed online using the Draw Venn Diagram website, and 12 cross targets were obtained. Through GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, 659 BP related items, 7 CC related items, 30 MF related items, and 70 signal pathways were screened out; Of these, eleven proteins screened from cross-target PPI network were subsequently docked with the SCU, and their expressions including caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, GSDMD and NLRP3 in RGC indicated by immunofluorescence, and the mRNA expression for caspase-1 in DR indicated by quantitative PCR, were successfully validated. SCU can effectively protect RGC pyroptosis in DR, and underlying mechanisms are involved in the inhibition of caspase-1, GSDMD, NLRP3, IL-1β and IL-18. Our findings therefore provide crucial evidence to support the clinic practice of SCU for the treatment of DR, and explained the underlying molecular network mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lot of spring maize is grown in Northeast China (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang), an area that is highly susceptible to drought. Here, remote sensing indexes from 2002 to 2020 were studied using the 8-day surface reflectance and land surface temperature of Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data. Spring maize distribution was extracted using a decision tree classification, and the results were compared to the known distribution based on field investigation data and published statistics. The results showed that mixed pixels of spring maize and soybeans had limited influence on the study of spatio-temporal variations of spring maize, and the error was acceptable. The overall accuracy of verifying the spring maize distribution from 2018 to 2020 was above 85%. The stable, fluctuating, and low-frequency planting areas of spring maize accounted for 11.86%, 17.41%, and 34.86% of the study area, respectively. In 2015, the government directed a reduction of the planting area of spring maize in the "Liandaowan" region of Northeast China. The planting area of spring maize was characterized by a continuous increase before this change (2002–2014), exhibited changes and reductions in response to the change (2015–2017), and exhibited optimization and recovery after this change (2018–2020). Compared with the fluctuating and low-frequency planting areas, moderate and severe droughts were higher in stable planting areas. From 2002 to 2020, the most severe droughts occurred in the expanded planting areas. This rapid and large-scale monitoring of spatio-temporal variations and drought of spring maize provides a foundation for improving grain yield. This method could be easily applied to the study of other regions and combined with high-resolution and hyperspectral satellite data to improve monitoring accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To observe the effects of Guizhi Fuling Capsule (GZFLC) on myeloma cells and explore the mechanisms. Methods: MM1S and RPMI 8226 cells were co-cultured with different concentrations of serum and the cell experiments were divided into negative (10%, 20% and 40%) groups, GZFLC (10%, 20%, and 40%) groups and a control group. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays and flow cytometry were used to detect the viability and apoptosis levels of myeloma cells. The effects on mitochondria were examined by reactive oxygen specie (ROS) and tetrechloro-tetraethylbenzimidazol carbocyanine iodide (JC-1) assays. Western blot was used to detect the expression of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X (Bax), cleaved caspase-3, -9, cytochrome C (Cytc) and apoptotic protease-activating factor 1 (Apaf-1). RPMI 8226 cells (2 × 107) were subcutaneously inoculated into 48 nude mice to study the in vivo antitumor effects of GZFLC. The mice were randomly divided into four groups using a completely randomized design, the high-, medium-, or low-dose GZFLC (840, 420, or 210 mg/kg per day, respectively) or an equal volume of distilled water, administered daily for 15 days. The tumor volume changes in and survival times of the mice in the GZFLC-administered groups and a control group were observed. Cytc and Apaf-1 expression levels were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: GZFLC drug serum decreased the viability and increased the apoptosis of myeloam cells (P<0.05). In addition, this drug increased the ROS levels and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential (P<0.01). Western blot showed that the Bcl-2/Bax ratios were decreased in the GZFLC drug serum-treated groups, whereas the expression levels of cleaved caspase-3, -9, Cytc and Apaf-1 were increased (all P<0.01). Over time, the myeloma tumor volumes of the mice in the GZFLC-administered groups decreased, and survival time of the mice in the GZFLC-administered groups were longer than that of the mice in the control group. Immunohistochemical analysis of tumor tissues from the mice in the GZFLC-administered groups revealed that the Cytc and Apaf-1 expression levels were increased (P<0.05). Conclusion: GZFLC promoted apoptosis of myeloma cells through the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and significantly reduced the tumor volumes in mice with myeloma, which prolonged the survival times of the mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chemotherapy resistance is the major cause of recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). A previous study found that Fusobacterium (F.) nucleatum promoted CRC chemoresistance. Additionally, metformin rescued F. nucleatum-induced tumorigenicity of CRC. Here, we aimed to investigate whether metformin could revert F. nucleatum-induced chemoresistance and explore the mechanism.Methods: The role of metformin in F. nucleatum-infected CRC cells was confirmed using cell counting kit 8 assays and CRC xenograft mice. Stemness was identified by tumorsphere formation. Bioinformatic analyses were used to explore the regulatory molecules involved in metformin and F. nucleatum-mediated regulation of the sonic hedgehog pathway.Results: We found that metformin abrogated F. nucleatum-promoted CRC resistance to chemotherapy. Furthermore, metformin attenuated F. nucleatum-stimulated stemness by inhibiting sonic hedgehog signaling. Mechanistically, metformin diminished sonic hedgehog signaling proteins by targeting the MYC/miR-361-5p cascade to reverse F. nucleatum-induced stemness, thereby rescuing F. nucleatum-triggered chemoresistance in CRC.Conclusions: Metformin acts on F. nucleatum-infected CRC via the MYC/miR-361-5p/sonic hedgehog pathway cascade, subsequently reversing stemness and abolishing F. nucleatum-triggered chemoresistance. Our results identified metformin intervention as a potential clinical treatment for patients with chemoresistant CRC with high amounts of F. nucleatum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: Acute lung injury (ALI)/ acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was increasingly recognized as one of the most severe acute hyperimmune response of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Clofazimine (CFZ) has attracted attention due to its anti-inflammatory property in immune diseases as well as infectious diseases. However, the role and potential molecular mechanism of CFZ in anti-inflammatory responses remain unclear. Methods: We analyze the protein expression profiles of CFZ and LPS from Raw264.7 macrophages using quantitative proteomics. Next, the protective effect of CFZ on LPS-induced inflammatory model is assessed, and its underlying mechanism is validated by molecular biology analysis. Results: LC–MS/MS-based shotgun proteomics analysis identified 4746 (LPS) and 4766 (CFZ) proteins with quantitative information. The key proteins and their critical signal transduction pathways including TLR4/NF-κB/HIF-1α signaling was highlighted, which was involved in multiple inflammatory processes. A further analysis of molecular biology revealed that CFZ could significantly inhibit the proliferation of Raw264.7 macrophages, decrease the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β, alleviate lung histological changes and pulmonary edema, improve the survival rate, and down-regulate TLR4/NF-κB/HIF-1α signaling in LPS model. Conclusion: This study can provide significant insight into the proteomics-guided pharmacological mechanism study of CFZ and suggest potential therapeutic strategies for infectious disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isochrysis galbana is widely used in aquaculture as a bait microalgal species. High temperature (HT) can severely impair the development of I. galbana, exerting adverse effects on its yield. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in modulating stress-responsive genes. However, the role of miRNAs in response to HT in microalgae remains largely unexplored. In the present study, we identified several conserved and novel miRNAs in I. galbana through miRNome sequencing. Among these identified miRNAs, 22 miRNAs were differentially expressed in response to heat stress, and their target genes were predicted accordingly. Moreover, a comprehensive and integrated analysis of miRNome and transcriptome was performed. We found that six potential reversely correlated differentially expressed miRNA (DEM) and differentially expressed gene (DEG) pairs were associated with heat stress response (HSR) in I. galbana. The expressions of DEMs and DEGs were further verified using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Integrated analyses showed that miRNAs played fundamental roles in the regulatory network of HSR in I. galbana mainly by regulating some heat-responsive genes, including heat shock proteins (HSPs), reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling-related genes, and specific key genes in the ubiquitination pathway. Our current study identified the first set of heat-responsive miRNAs from I. galbana and helped elucidate the miRNA-mediated HSR and resistance mechanisms in I. galbana. This new knowledge could provide ways to enhance its heat stress tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this present study, carbothermic reduction process of MoO3 to produce MoO2 has been carried to investigate the influences of reaction temperature and distance between activated carbon and MoO3 on phase composition of reduction products by controlling carbon diffusion. Results show that the reduction degree increases with the increase of temperature and the decrease of distance between activated carbon and MoO3. MoO3 can be completely reduced to MoO2 at 680°C with the carbon distance of 1 mm. It is found that the transformation from MoO3 to MoO2 is a process of crystal cracking and growth by observing the phase transition and morphological evolution during the reduction. The massive MoO3 is first decomposed into a platelet-shaped MoOx (2.75 < x < 3), then the platelet-shaped MoOx changes into a needle-like shape or irregular platelet-like Mo4O11, and finally Mo4O11 changes into irregular granular or irregular platelet-like shaped crystals, which form MoO2 powders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Zhejiang University: Science A is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Glycoprotein non-metastatic B (GPNMB) is a transmembrane protein overexpressed in numerous cancers including triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC). It has been linked to promote cancer aggressiveness and implicated as a novel target for GPNMB-expressing cancers. In current study, we aimed to explore the clinical significance of GPNMB in TNBC. Among 759 specimens, immunohistochemistry (IHC) exhibited GPNMB expressions were variable in different subtypes and significantly higher in TNBC. Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed GPNMB overexpression in TNBC was associated with worse prognosis especially distant metastasis (P = 0.020, HR = 2.515, CI 1.154–5.480). Multivariate analysis showed GPNMB expression was an independent prognostic factor in terms of recurrence and distant metastasis (P = 0.008, HR = 3.22, CI 1.36–7.61; P = 0.017, HR = 3.08, CI 1.22–7.74). In silico analysis showed high mRNA expression of GPNMB was associated with distant metastasis and GPNMB was overexpressed in TNBC. Furthermore, GPNMB positively correlated with epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulators, mesenchymal marker vimentin, MMP and integrins. The protein levels of Twist and MMP2 were upregulated by GPNMB overexpression in TNBC cells. GPNMB-enhanced cell invasion was attenuated by broad spectrum MMP inhibitor (GM 6001) and the selective inhibitor of MMP-2 (ARP100). In summary, GPNMB expression is prevalent in TNBC and may be implicated as a prognostic biomarker in patients with TNBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green roof (GF) as an important role of urban ecosystem services is more and more focused on carbon sequestration for the mitigation of climate change, which there is still a gap of longer period of investigation on carbon sequestration on GF. This work aims to quantify the carbon sequestration on green roofs from 2012 to 2017 by measuring and calculating parameter on substrate organic carbon and plant organic carbon, when using waste building material substrate (WBMS) as GF substrate for the recycling of waste solid. Green roof group 2 (waste building material substrate (WBMS) as substrate) and green roof group 1 (local natural soil (LNS) as substrate), planting same three native plants (N. auriculata, L. spicata, and L. vicaryi), were both three substrate depth of 20 cm, 25 cm, and 30 cm, respectively. Results show that both innovative WBMS and LNS were a great capability of carbon sequestration and carbon storage on green roofs. Carbon storage of green roof group 1 and green roof group 2 was 65.6 kg C m−2 and 72.6 kg C m−2, respectively. Annual mean carbon sequestration of the WBMS was 1.8 times higher than LNS. The overall average carbon sequestration (12.8 kg C m−2 year−1) in green roof group 2 using WBMS was 1.1 times than corresponding in green roof group 1 (11.4 kg C m−2 year−1 using LNS). WBMS substrate and L. vicaryi could be considered as the most adaptable green roof configuration, which can be a recommendation to promote the carbon sequestration and the function of green roof for the better urban ecosystem services. Future work may focus on the GF carbon model, water interface, long-term monitoring, environmental impact, water quality and quantity, synthesized effect on GF ecosystem, low impact development (LID), management and simulation, and combination on intelligent urban system, based on LCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molecular mechanisms underlying colon cancer lesions at different sites are not entirely clear. Herein, we aimed to explore location-specific gene profiles related to the pathogenesis of colon cancer and to identify their function. The robust rank aggregation (RRA) method was used to integrate colon cancer microarray datasets and screen differentially expressed gene (DEG) profiles between left- and right-sided colon cancers. Then, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed to cluster the DEGs into modules and identify hub genes. The selected hub genes were validated using The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset and clinical tissues. We assessed the association of selected hub genes with the methylation status in immune cells. In total, 905 DEGs were identified by RRA; five gene modules and 18 hub genes were related to the clinical traits of colon cancer by WGCNA. Four hub genes were selected and shown to be associated with colon cancers on different sides and distant metastasis in the validation analysis. The four hub genes showed a low methylation status, and their expression was significantly associated with methylation status. Positive correlations were observed between the four hub genes and tumor purity and among the four types of immune cells. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that the four hub genes were mainly involved in two cancer-related pathways. In conclusion, this study identified a set of location-specific genes related to the pathogenesis of colon cancer. These four hub genes may act as novel candidate targets for the treatment of colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important pilot target for shale gas exploration and development in China, the Longmaxi Formation shale in the Dianqianbei Area is characterized by high content of nitrogen, which severely increases exploration risk. Accordingly, this study explores the genesis of shale gas reservoir and the mechanism of nitrogen enrichment through investigating shale gas compositions, isotope features, and geochemical characteristics of associated gases. The high-nitrogen shale gas reservoir in the Longmaxi Formation is demonstrated to be a typical dry gas reservoir. Specifically, the alkane carbon isotope reversal is ascribed to the secondary cracking of crude oil and the Rayleigh fractionation induced by the basalt mantle plume. Such a thermogenic oil-type gas reservoir is composed of both oil-cracking gas and kerogen-cracking gas. The normally high nitrogen content (18.05%–40.92%) is attributed to organic matter cracking and thermal ammoniation in the high-maturity stage. Specifically, the high heat flow effect of the Emeishan mantle plume exacerbates the thermal cracking of organic matter in the Longmaxi Formation shale, accompanied by nitrogen generation. In comparison, the abnormally high nitrogen content (86.79%–98.54%) is ascribed to the communication between the atmosphere and deep underground fluids by deep faults, which results in hydrocarbon loss and nitrogen intrusion, acting as the key factor for deconstruction of the primary shale gas reservoir. Results of this study not only enrich research on genetic mechanism of high-maturity N2 shale gas reservoirs, but also provide theoretical guidance for subsequent gas reservoir resource evaluation and well-drilling deployment in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) layered GaSe films were grown on GaAs (001), GaN/Sapphire, and Mica substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The in situ reflective high-energy electron diffraction monitoring reveals randomly in-plane orientations of nucleated GaSe layers grown on hexagonal GaN/Sapphire and Mica substrates, whereas single-orientation GaSe domain is predominant in the GaSe/GaAs (001) sample. Strong red-shifts in the frequency of in-plane E 2 g 2 vibration modes and bound exciton emissions observed from Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectra in all samples are attributed to the unintentionally biaxial in-plane tensile strains, induced by the dissimilarity of symmetrical surface structure between the 2D-GaSe layers and the substrates during the epitaxial growth. The results in this study provide an important understanding of the MBE-growth process of 2D-GaSe on 2D/3D hybrid-heterostructures and pave the way in strain engineering and optical manipulation of 2D layered GaSe materials for novel optoelectronic integrated technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature (T = 40 ~ 300 K) dependence of Hall-effect analysis on the dual Si-δ-doped AlGaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well (QW) structures with various space layer thicknesses (tS = 5, 10 and 15 nm) was performed. An interesting hysteresis behavior of electron sheet concentration [n2D(T)] was observed for tS = 10 and 15 nm but not for tS = 5 nm. A model involving two different activation barriers encountered respectively by electrons in the active QW and by electrons in the δ-doped layers is proposed to account for the hysteresis behavior. However, for small enough tS (= 5 nm ≤ 2.5 s, where s = 2.0 nm is the standard deviation of the Gaussian fit to the Si-δ-doped profile), the distribution of Si dopants near active QW acted as a specific form of "modulation doping" and can not be regarded as an ideal δ-doping. These Si dopants nearby the active QW effectively increase the magnitude of n2D, and hence no hysteresis curve was observed. Finally, effects from tS on the T-dependence of electron mobility in active QW channel are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemic injury in the heart is associated with low oxygen, leading to the damage of cardiomyocytes. The lncRNA-XIST is known to involve in post-ischemia myocardial remodeling. However, the roles and mechanism of XIST in the hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte are still under investigation. Moreover, studies that elucidated the impaired glucose metabolism present new hallmark of ischemic cardiovascular injury. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of lncRNA-XIST on cardiomyocyte injury under hypoxia. Here, we demonstrate that the XIST expressions of cardiomyocyte line, H9c2 were apparently suppressed by long-time hypoxia exposure under low glucose supply. On the contrary, miRNA-125b showed reverse expression pattern to XIST. We identified that XIST functioned as a ceRNA of miR-125b to downregulate its expression in both cell line and rat primary cardiomyocyte. Under low glucose supply, H9c2 cells exhibited increased susceptibility to hypoxia. We observed overexpression of XIST significantly elevated glycose metabolism rate under hypoxia, but overexpression of miR-125b inhibited glycose metabolism rate of cardiomyocyte under hypoxia. The glycolysis enzyme, hexokinase 2 (HK2) was validated as a direct target of miR-125b, which binds to the 3′-UTR region of HK2 mRNA in cardiomyocytes. Moreover, inhibition of miR-125b significantly protected the hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte injury through restoration of glucose metabolism. Finally, we demonstrated that transfection of miR-125b in lncRNA-XIST overexpressed H9c2 cells effectively abolished the XIST-activated glucose metabolism and cardiomyocyte protection under hypoxia. The present study illustrates roles of the XIST-miR-125b-HK2 axis in the hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte injury and proposes that maintaining glucose metabolism might be an effective approach for protection of cardiomyocyte injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Prenatal organophosphate pesticide (OP) exposure was reported to negatively affect childhood neurodevelopment. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is a key enzyme in the metabolism of OPs and may affect an individual's susceptibility to OP exposure. However, little is known about its role in the associations of prenatal OP exposure and childhood neurodevelopment. We measured dimethylphosphate (DM), diethylphosphate (DE), and total dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolites in maternal urine (n = 436) as well as PON1–108C/T and PON1192Q/R genotypes in maternal blood (n = 244). We assessed the modifying effects of maternal PON1–108C/T and PON1192Q/R genotypes on relationships between prenatal OP exposure and developmental quotients (DQs) in 24-month-old children in Shandong, China (n = 172). Among children of mothers carrying PON1–108CC, a tenfold increase in prenatal DMs was associated with a 5.72-point decrease in social domain DQ scores. Among children of mothers carrying PON1192QQ, a tenfold increase in prenatal DMs and DAPs were associated with a 7.68- and 7.67-point decrease in gross motor domain DQ scores, respectively. Among children of mothers carrying PON1192QQ, a tenfold increase in prenatal DMs, DEs, and DAPs were associated with a 7.52-, 9.07-, and 9.60-point decrease in social domain DQ scores, respectively. Maternal PON1 genotype might modify the associations between prenatal OP exposure and children's neurodevelopment at 24 months of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solubilities in the quaternary system K+, NH4+//Cl−, SO42--H2O and its two ternary subsystems NH4Cl-KCl-H2O, (NH4)2SO4-K2SO4-H2O at 80.0 °C were measured using the isothermal dissolution equilibrium method under atmospheric pressure, and the corresponding phase diagrams were plotted. In the phase diagram of the NH4Cl-KCl-H2O system, there are three crystalline zones, which correspond to (K1−m,(NH4)m)Cl, ((NH4)n,K1−n)Cl and the co-existence zone of (K1−m,(NH4)m)Cl and ((NH4)n,K1−n)Cl, respectively. In the phase diagram of the (NH4)2SO4-K2SO4-H2O system, there is only one crystalline zone for (K1−t,(NH4)t)2SO4. In the phase diagram of the K+, NH4+//Cl−, SO42--H2O system, there are three crystal zones, which correspond to (K1−t,(NH4)t)2SO4, (K1−m,(NH4)m)Cl and ((NH4)n,K1−n)Cl, respectively. According to the analysis and the calculations for the phase diagrams of the K+, NH4+//Cl−, SO42--H2O system at 80.0 °C and 50.0 °C, this paper proposes a technological process. In the process, the (K1−t,(NH4)t)2SO4 can be prepared at 80.0 °C and the ((NH4)n,K1−n)Cl can crystallize out at 50.0 °C. The mass fraction of K2SO4 in product L1 (K1−t,(NH4)t)2SO4 (t = 0.1465) is 88.48%. The composition of solid solutions in the K+, NH4+//Cl−, SO42--H2O system was experimentally determined and then theoretical calculations about the process can be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlation between improvement in longitudinal liver stiffness and fibrosis regression has not been properly evaluated during long-term antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. In this study, liver stiffness was serially performed by FibroScan® every 26 weeks in a prospective cohort of CHB patients receiving entecavir. Results were compared with liver biopsies at baseline and week 78. A total of 120 treatment-naïve CHB patients were analyzed, in which 54 (45%) patients had fibrosis regression at 78 weeks of antiviral therapy. Liver stiffness measurement presented as a rapid-to-slow decline pattern and decreased more significantly in patients with fibrosis regression than those without improvement in fibrosis at week 78 (− 46.4 vs. − 28.6%, P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that percentage decline of 52-week and 78-week liver stiffness from baseline was independent predictive factors for fibrosis regression (OR = 46.6, P < 0.001; OR = 17.8, P = 0.002, respectively). Moreover, percentage decline of 78-week liver stiffness was moderately predictive of fibrosis regression (AUROC = 0.694, P < 0.001), while the optimal cutoff values were different between non-cirrhosis and cirrhosis patients (38 vs. 45%). Fibrosis regression could be predicted with a high positive predictive value (96%) in non-cirrhosis patients and could be excluded with a high negative predictive value (94%) in cirrhosis patients. In conclusion, serial liver stiffness measurement could be applied for longitudinal monitoring of fibrosis status in CHB patients. Continuous decline of liver stiffness after effective antiviral treatment could partially reflect fibrosis regression at an optimal cutoff value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reversible post-translational modifications represent a mechanism to control tumor metabolism. Here we show that mitochondrial Sirtuin5 (SIRT5), which mediates lysine desuccinylation, deglutarylation, and demalonylation, plays a role in colorectal cancer (CRC) glutamine metabolic rewiring. Metabolic profiling identifies that deletion of SIRT5 causes a marked decrease in 13C-glutamine incorporation into tricarboxylic-acid (TCA) cycle intermediates and glutamine-derived non-essential amino acids. This reduces the building blocks required for rapid growth. Mechanistically, the direct interaction between SIRT5 and glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (GLUD1) causes deglutarylation and functional activation of GLUD1, a critical regulator of cellular glutaminolysis. Consistently, GLUD1 knockdown diminishes SIRT5-induced proliferation, both in vivo and in vitro. Clinically, overexpression of SIRT5 is significantly correlated with poor prognosis in CRC. Thus, SIRT5 supports the anaplerotic entry of glutamine into the TCA cycle in malignant phenotypes of CRC via activating GLUD1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Madelung's disease (MD) is a rare disease of unknown etiology that is characterized by massive fatty deposits distributed in a symmetrical pattern mainly in the head, neck, and upper trunk. Here, we sought to explore the pathogeny and treatment of MD. Methods: We enrolled ten patients who underwent surgical operations and one patient who refused an operation at our hospital between January 2009 and December 2016. We collected their medical histories and the preoperative and postoperative serological indices. The serum chemistry clinical outcomes were compared between the preoperative and postoperative states. Results: The mean alcohol intake of the eleven patients exceeded 450 g daily. Ten patients underwent open excisions, and the other patient refused an operation. No significant differences were observed between the preoperative and postoperative serum chemistry results. No recurrence has yet been observed in any of the ten operated patients. Conclusions: All of the patients in our study had associated alcoholism. Thus, insobriety might be one of the causes of MD. We believe that open operations may be an effective treatment based on the outcomes of the surgeries. Level of Evidence IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to assess the digestive physiological capacity of the American shad Alosa sapidissima and to establish feeding protocols that match larval nutritional requirements, we investigated the ontogenesis of digestive enzymes (trypsin, amylase, lipase, pepsin, alkaline phosphatase, and leucine aminopeptidase) in larvae, from hatching to 45 days after hatching (DAH). We found that all of the target enzymes were present at hatching, except pepsin, which indicated an initial ability to digest nutrients and precocious digestive system development. Trypsin rapidly increased to a maximum at 14 DAH. Amylase sharply increased until 10 DAH and exhibited a second increase at 33 DAH, which coincided with the introduction of microdiet at 30 DAH, thereby suggesting that the increase was associated with the microdiet carbohydrate content. Lipase increased until 14 DAH, decreased until 27 DAH, and then increased until 45 DAH. Pepsin was first detected at 27 DAH and then sharply increased until 45 DAH, which suggested the formation of a functional stomach. Both alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase markedly increased until 18 DAH, which indicated intestinal maturation. According to our results, we conclude that American shad larvae possess the functional digestive system before mouth opening, and the significant increases in lipase, amylase, pepsin, and intestinal enzyme activities between 27 and 33 DAH suggest that larvae can be successfully weaned onto microdiets around this age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a new Schiff base [ N, N′- bis(2-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylmethylidene)-2,6-pyridinediamine, CHNO] and its bismuth(III) complex [Bi(CHNO)]Cl·2HO were synthesized with o-vanillin and 2,6-pyridinediamine in ethanol and THF solvent, respectively. The compositions and structures of the two synthetic compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, chemical analysis, spectrum analysis (including MS, FT-IR, NMR, and UV-Vis), and thermogravimetric analysis. The thermogenic curves for the growth metabolism of Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori) and Schizosaccharomyces pombe ( S. pombe) treated by different concentrations of the two synthetic compounds were determined by isothermal heat conduction microcalorimetry at 37.00 and 32.00 °C, respectively. Based on the thermogenic curves, some important thermokinetic parameters including the microbial growth rate constant ( k), inhibition ratio ( I), and half inhibition concentration (IC) were calculated. The obtained results revealed that the Schiff base stimulated the growth of H. pylori, while the complex inhibited its growth. By contrast, both the Schiff base and the complex inhibited the growth of S. pombe, but the inhibitory effect of the complex was stronger than that of the Schiff base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) reinforced magnesium matrix (MWCNTs/Mg) composites were successfully fabricated by friction stir processing (FSP). Microstructure and microwave-absorption properties of WCNTs/Mg composites are studied. The results show that with increasing the MWCNTs content to 7.1% in volume fraction, the agglomeration of MWCNTs is found in the WCNTs/Mg composites. The addition of MWCNTs has little effect on microwave-absorption properties. With increasing the frequency from 2 GHz to 18 GHz, the microwave absorption of the composites decreases. Compared with the absorption loss of the MWCNTs, the reflection loss of base material takes the most part of the loss of the microwave, and the increase of the reflection loss can promote electromagnetic shielding properties of the composites. Moreover, the electromagnetic shielding properties of the composites are less than −85 dB in the lower frequency range from 0.1 MHz to 3 GHz. With increasing the content of MWCNTs, the electrical conductivity of the composites is decreased, and the electromagnetic shielding properties is slightly enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the requirement for the comprehensive exploitation and utilization of the salt lake resources magnesium chloride and potassium chloride, a new technology to produce KCl and ammonium carnallite (NHCl·MgCl·6HO) by using NHCl as salting-out agent to separate carnallite is proposed. The solubilities of quaternary system KCl-MgCl-NHCl-HO were measured by the isothermal method at t = 60.00 °C and the corresponding phase diagram was plotted and analyzed. The analysis of this phase diagram shows that there are seven saturation points and eight regions of crystallization. These eight regions of crystallization represent salts corresponding to KCl, NHCl, MgCl·6HO, (K(NH))Cl, ((NH)K)Cl, (K(NH))Cl·MgCl·6HO, KCl·MgCl·6HO and NHCl·MgCl·6HO. According to the phase diagram analysis and calculations, ammonium carnallite (NHCl·MgCl·6HO) and KCl can be obtained using carnallite as raw materials and ammonium chloride as salting-out agent at t = 60.00 °C. The new technology shows the advantages of being easy to operate and having low energy consumption. The research on this quaternary phase diagram is the foundation for reasonable development of carnallite resources and comprehensive utilization of the salt lake brines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel high-performance liquid chromatography method was adopted for determination of sulfacetamide, sulfathiazole, sulfamethazine, and sulfamethoxypyridazine residues in chicken liver based on the coupling of dispersive solid-phase extraction (DSPE) and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME). In the DSPE-DLLME method, chicken livers were firstly extracted with 50 mM phosphoric acid:MeCN (30:70), then cleaned up with a solid adsorbent. One milliliter of the resulting liquid supernatant extract and 650 μL of 1,2-dichloroethane were then added to a centrifuge tube containing 10 mL water. The analytes were extracted under optimized pretreatment conditions. Signal linearity over the concentration range of 0.006-4.00 mg/kg was observed (regression coefficients, 0.9988-0.9992), and limits of detection were in the range of 0.0004-0.0084 mg/kg. The present method was applied to the determination of the sulfonamides in chicken liver samples. The spiked recovery values ranged from 70.2 to 91.4 % and the relative standard deviations were less than 5.35 % ( n = 6). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the face verification problem, which is to determine whether two face images belong to the same subject or not. Although many research efforts have been focused on this problem, it still remains a challenging problem due to large intra-personal variations in imaging conditions, such as illumination, pose, expression, and occlusion. Our proposed method is based on the idea that we would like the similarity between positive pairs larger than negative pairs, and obtain a similarity estimation of two images. We construct our decision function by incorporating bilinear similarity and Mahalanobis distance to the sigmoid function. The constructed decision function makes our method discriminative for inter-personal differences and invariant to intra-personal variations such as pose/lighting/expression. What is more, our formulated objective function is convex, which guarantees global minimum. Our method belongs to nonlinear metric which is more robust to handle heterogeneous data than linear metric. We evaluate our proposed verification method on the challenging labeled faces in the wild (LFW) database. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods such as Joint Bayesian under the unrestricted setting of LFW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radioiodine ablation (RIA) therapy is one of the most important treatments for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), but some patients who received I have radioiodine-refractory disease caused by the decreased expreβsion of the Na/I symporter (NIS). BRAF mutation is one poβsible risk factor that can disturb the NIS expression, but the roles are unclear in clinical practice. This research discussed the association of BRAF mutation and NIS expression in PTC tissue and the clinical implications in RIA therapy. 134 PTC samples were collected between June 2013 and June 2014 from Tongji Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College, and their clinical characteristics were analyzed. RT-PCR was used to detect the BRAF mutation from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples, and immunohistochemistry was applied to detect the NIS expression. IPP software was used to calculate the relative expression quantity of NIS. We found that there was no significant correlation between the absorbance ( A) values of NIS and clinicopathologic features in these cases, even thyroid stimulating hormone. BRAF mutation showed inhibitory effect on the NIS expression without statistically significant difference in all PTC cases ( β=-0.0195, P=0.085), but in the subgroup without hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), BRAF mutation could significantly inhibit the NIS expression ( β=-0.0257, P=0.046). The results indicate that BRAF mutation is correlated with a lower expression of NIS in PTCs without HT, suggesting the radioiodine-refractory effects during RIA therapy in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new ruthenium complex with a dppz-like ligand pyidppz, [Ru(bpy)(pyidppz)] (pyidppz = 2-(pyridine-2-yl)imidazo-[4,5- b]dipyrido-[3,2- a:2′,3′- c]phenazine) has been synthesized and characterized by ES-MS, elemental analysis, H NMR. Intercalative mode of the complex bound to calf thymus DNA has been supported by different spectroscopic methods and viscosity measurements. The introduction of phenazine unit may be one of the main reasons for the weak emission of Ru(II) complex in aqueous solution. Under irradiation, this complex can efficiently cleave DNA. And the photocleavage reaction of the complex is found to be inhibited in the presence of singlet oxygen scavenger. Topoisomerase inhibition and DNA strand passage assay demonstrated that [Ru(bpy)(pyidppz)] and its parent complex [Ru(bpy)(pyip)] (pyip = 2-(pyridine-2-yl)imidazo[4,5- f][1,10]phenanthroline) can act as efficient catalytic inhibitor of DNA topoisomerase I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]