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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.)

A particular GTPase-activating protein called RACGAP1 is involved in apoptosis, proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance in a variety of malignancies. Nevertheless, the role of RACGAP1 in pan-cancer was less studied, and its value of the expression and prognostic of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has not been explored. Hence, the goal of this study was to investigate the oncogenic and immunological roles of RACGAP1 in various cancers and its potential value in NPC. We comprehensively analyzed RACGAP1 expression, prognostic value, function, methylation levels, relationship with immune cells, immune infiltration, and immunotherapy response in pan-cancer utilizing multiple databases. The results discovered that RACGAP1 expression was elevated in most cancers and suggested poor prognosis, which could be related to the involvement of RACGAP1 in various cancer-related pathways such as the cell cycle and correlated with RACGAP1 methylation levels, immune cell infiltration and reaction to immunotherapy, and chemoresistance. RACGAP1 could inhibit anti-tumor immunity and immunotherapy responses by fostering immune cell infiltration and cytotoxic T lymphocyte dysfunction. Significantly, we validated that RACGAP1 mRNA and protein were highly expressed in NPC. The Gene Expression Omnibus database revealed that elevated RACGAP1 expression was associated with shorter PFS in patients with NPC, and RACGAP1 potentially influenced cell cycle progression, DNA replication, metabolism, and immune-related pathways, resulting in the recurrence and metastasis of NPC. This study indicated that RACGAP1 could be a potential biomarker in pan-cancer and NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the significance of the associations of air pollution and greenness with the risk of breast cancer, this topic has not been investigated on a global scale. We conducted an ecological study using 7 years of data from 162 countries. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and incidence data were used to represent the breast cancer disease burden. Particulate matter with a diameter < 2.5 μm (PM2.5), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were adopted as our exposures. We employed generalized linear mixed models to explore the relationship between air pollution and greenness on breast cancer disease burden. The rate ratio (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) indicate the effect size. There is a positive association between air pollution and the burden of breast cancer disease. Contrarily, per interquartile range increment in NDVI was negatively associated with DALYs and incidence. In terms of air pollutants and breast cancer, NDVI seems to have a significant influence on the relationship between these two conditions. A higher amount of greenness helps to alleviate the negative association of air pollution on breast cancer. PM2.5 and O3 play a mediating role in the relationship between greenness and breast cancer disease burden. In areas with higher levels of greenness, there is a possibility that the inverse association between air pollutants and the burden of breast cancer may be influenced. [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.)

To enhance the poisoning resistance of LaNiAl, high-purity Cu-coated LaNiAl was prepared using magnetron sputtering. SEM, EDS, and TEM were employed to examine the Cu-coated LaNiAl. The results show that copper is deposited on the surface of LaNiAl in the form of nanodots. With the increase of sputtering power, the particle size of nanoparticles decreases and the coverage increases. Kinetic curves of hydrogen absorption were generated for both bare and Cu-coated LaNiAl under different impurity gases. Cu-coated LaNiAl shows better hydrogen absorption performance. Copper nanodots deposited by magnetron sputtering can improve the poisoning resistance of hydrogen storage alloys. Using XPS, surface states of samples were initially examined both before and after CO poisoning. The analysis shows that the copper oxide/metal interfaces improved resistance to CO-containing impurity gases through catalytic oxidation of CO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a series of salicylic acid derivatives was designed through the multi-target-directed ligand strategy (MTDLs). The synthesized compounds were evaluated as multifunctional agents. The in vitro biological activity results revealed that compound 3a was a selective eqBuChE inhibitor (IC50 = 0.29 μM), compound 3k was a selective eeAChE inhibitor (IC50 = 0.77 μM), and compound 3p was a selective eqBuChE inhibitor (IC50 = 0.82 μM). Compounds 3a, 3k and 3p also showed good antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory property. Furthermore, compounds 3a, 3k and 3p were selective metal chelators. Moreover, compounds 3a, 3k and 3p showed significant neuroprotective effects on H2O2-/Aβ25-35-induced PC12 cells injury. More importantly, compounds 3a, 3k and 3p possessed favorable ADME properties. Taken together, compounds 3a, 3k and 3p were promising multifunctional agents, deserving further investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among cancers, lung cancer is the most common cause of death in China. For the prevention and control of lung cancer, it is necessary to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of lung cancer mortality, as well as the changes in the trend and the affecting mechanism. Based on statistics and auto-correlation analysis, this paper studied the spatial and temporal distribution of lung cancer mortality in Yuhui District, Bengbu, Huaihe River Basin, from 2017 to 2020. In addition, Spearman's Rank Correlation Assessment Model and Geographic Detector Model were used to examine the relationship between environmental factors and lung cancer mortality to identify impact factors and their mechanisms. The findings indicated that: 1) from the characteristics of temporal distribution, the number of lung cancer deaths exhibited a linear growth tendency, with the highest mortality in winter; 2) from the characteristics of spatial distribution, lung cancer mortality showed a strong spatial agglomeration form, concentrating on two clustering areas, located in the old city and the central city of Bengbu, near the Huaihe River; 3) from the point of view of the whole research area, there were 15 impact factors with significant correlation in the built and natural environment factors. The significant impacting factors in the built environment included land use, road traffic, spatial form and blue-green space, which could indirectly affect lung cancer mortality, while air pollution and temperature constituted the significant impacting factors in the natural environment; 4) the influence of screened environmental factors on lung cancer mortality was different. Spatial stratified heterogeneity assessment, the interaction among environmental factors demonstrated statistical significance, it was found that the interaction between environmental factors in pairs had a significant enhancement effect on lung cancer mortality. To some extent, urban planning and policies could reduce lung cancer mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a series of 2-acetylphenol-rivastigmine hybrids were rationally designed as multifunctional agents for the treatment of AD through multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) strategy. The biological activity in vitro showed that compound 3c was a pseudo-irreversible and selective huAChE inhibitor (IC50 = 8.7 μM). Compound 3c was also a significant antioxidant with ORAC value of 1.2 eq. Moreover, compound 3c showed potent MAO-B inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 2.9 μM. In addition, compound 3c displayed selective metal chelation property. Furthermore, compound 3c showed significant neuroprotective effect on H2O2-induced PC12 cells injury. More importantly, compound 3c displayed favorable drug-like property and good blood brain barrier permeability in vitro. Thus, compound 3c was a promising multifunctional agent in vitro for the treatment of AD, deserving for further investigations. [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.)

Due to the complex pathogenesis of AD, the multitarget-directed ligands (MTDLs) strategy presented the best pharmacological option for AD treatment. Herein, a series of novel 2-acetylphenol-O-alkylhydroxyethylamine derivatives (5a–f and 6a–f) was rationally designed and synthesized. Of these derivatives, 5c was a good multifunctional agent (eeAChE IC50 = 7.9 μM, MAO-B IC50 = 9.9 μM, BACE1 IC50 = 8.3 μM) in vitro and displayed a mixed-type AChE inhibition, which could bind to the CAS and PAS of AChE. Compound 5c also exhibited good antioxidant activity (ORAC = 2.5 eq) and neuroprotective effects. Furthermore, compound 5c was a selective metal ions chelator. And it could cross blood–brain barrier in vitro and complied with drug-like properties rule of 5. Therefore, compound 5c was a promising multifunctional agent for the treatment of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Strahlentherapie und Onkologie 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.)

Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films were prepared by co-sputtering with Cu (or Cu2S), ZnS and SnS2 targets in this study. S amount in the precursor of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film was verified by using Cu or Cu2S target. The effect of S amount in the precursor on the microstructure and element distribution of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film was discussed. It was found that S content is sufficient in the precursor thin film using Cu2S instead of Cu target. The microstructure, composition homogeneity, and secondary phase formation of the Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film are seriously affected by S amount in the precursor thin film. Namely, sufficient S can improve the crystallization and orientation of the precursor thin film and enhance the compactness as well as composition homogeneity of the Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film after sulfurization. Moreover, the secondary phase formation in Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film can be greatly inhibited by increasing S content in the precursor thin film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine plus cisplatin concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Method: Patients with NPC were randomly assigned to the gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) group or fluorouracil plus cisplatin (PF) group. Primary end-point was disease-free survival (DFS); secondary endpoints: overall survival, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), locoregional relapse-free survival, and treatment-related adverse events.Results: Seventy-six patients were prospectively enrolled and the median follow-up time was 41 months (9-61 months). Three-year DFS were similar between the GP and PF groups (73.7% vs. 60.5%, HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.30-1.44; P = 0.30). Distant metastasis was the most common failure form in PF compared with GP (P = 0.034). Three-year DMFS was significantly better in the GP group than PF group (89.5% vs. 71.1%, P = 0.045). Grade 3-4 gastrointestinal toxicities (vomiting and diarrhea) were significantly more common in the PF group; grade 3-4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were more common in the GP group.Conclusion: Gemcitabine plus cisplatin could be used as an alternative regimen in CCRT for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel registration and super-resolution jointed paradigm for medical images under the Internet of thing environment. In the medical image processing, the matching issue is one catches wide attention with the domain of research. Image registration technique can be divided into similarity measure, optimization, geometric transformation, and interpolation, etc. As the first essential clue of our model, we propose the novel registration algorithm based on energy feature extraction. Generally, the matching energy function by the similarity measurement and a penalty constitution is called the external force and endogenic force separately. The matching is an external force and endogenic force mutual competition, eventually achieves the balanced process. Furtherly, we integrate the game analysis and area feature selection to achieve the better image super-resolution mode through the pretreatment of the image to change the initial value, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the performance. Besides the algorithm level innovation, we integrate the GPU and the IOT to construct the hardware based implementation of the proposed medical image processing system. The latency of registers to read and write data across a GPU's entire storage system is minimal, it is private to each thread, and can only be accessed by its owning thread. For each thread, the local memory is also private and it is often used to deal with the problem of overflow register, reducing the buffer overflow caused by the entire application of a substantial decline in the possibility and shared memory is visible to all threads within the thread block. We then achieve the optimal integration of IOT and GPU. The experimental result proves the robustness of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure to accept reinnervation is considered to be one of the reasons for the poor motor functional recovery of intrinsic hand muscles (IHMs) after nerve injury. Rat could be a suitable model to be used in simulating motor function recovery of the IHMs after nerve injury as to the similarities in function and anatomy of the muscles between human and rat. However, few studies have reported the muscle fiber types composition and endplate morphologic characteristics of intrinsic forepaw muscles (IFMs) in the rat. In this study, the myosin heavy chain isoforms and acetylcholine receptors were stained by immunofluorescence to show the muscle fiber types composition and endplates on type-identified fibers of the lumbrical muscles (LMs), interosseus muscles (IMs), abductor digiti minimi (AM) and flexor pollicis brevis (FM) in rat forepaw. The majority of IFMs fibers were labeled positively for fast-switch fiber. However, the IMs were composed of only slow-switch fiber. With the exception of the IMs, the other IFMs had a part of hybrid fibers. Two-dimensional morphological characteristics of endplates on I and IIa muscle fiber had no significant differences among the IFMs. The LMs is the most suitable IFMs of rat to stimulate reinnervation of the IHMs after nerve injury. Gaining greater insight into the muscle fiber types composition and endplate morphology in the IFMs of rat may help understand the pathological and functional changes of IFMs in rat model stimulating reinnervation of IHMs after peripheral nerve injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stem cell therapy is an interventional treatment that introduces new cells into damaged tissues, which help in treating many diseases and injuries. It has been proved that stem cell therapy is effective for the treatment of cancers, diabetes mellitus, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and many other diseases. Recently, stem cell therapy has been introduced to treat parasitic infections. The culture supernatant of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is found to inhibit activation and proliferation of macrophages induced by the soluble egg antigen of Schistosoma japonicum, and MSC treatment relieves S. japonicum-induced liver injury and fibrosis in mouse models. In addition, transplantation of MSCs into naïve mice is able to confer host resistance against malaria, and MSCs are reported to play an important role in host protective immune responses against malaria by modulating regulatory T cells. In mouse models of Chagas disease, bone marrow mononuclear cell has been shown effective in reducing inflammation and fibrosis in mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, and transplantation of the bone marrow mononuclear cells prevents and reverses the right ventricular dilatation induced by T. cruzi infection in mice. Preliminary clinical trials demonstrate that transplantation of bone marrow derived-cells may become an important therapeutic modality in the management of end-stage heart diseases associated with Chagas disease. Based on these exciting results, it is considered by stating that it is firmly believed that, within the next few years, we will be able to find the best animal models and the appropriate stem cell type, stem cell number, injection route, and disease state that will result in possible benefits for the patients with parasitic infections, and stem cell therapy, although at an initial stage currently, will become a real therapeutic option for parasitic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ti-Cr- and Ti-Mn-based alloys were prepared to be low- and high-pressure stage metals for a double-stage super-high-pressure metal hydride hydrogen compressor. Their crystallographic characteristics and hydrogen storage properties were investigated. The alloy pair TiZrMn-CrVFe/TiCrMnFe was optimized based on the comprehensive performance of the studied alloys. The product hydrogen with a pressure of 100 MPa could be produced from 4 MPa feed gas when hot oil was used as a heat reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of Ti content on the hydrogen storage properties of ZrTiMn Ce ( x = 0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5) alloys was studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and pressure-composition ( p-c) isotherm measurement. All of the alloys mainly consist of C14-type Laves and CeO2 phases. As the Ti content increases, the lattice parameters of the Laves phase decrease and the unit cell shrinks anisotropically, the total hydrogen absorption capacity decreases but the reversible hydrogen desorption capacity of the alloys increases, and the equilibrium pressure of the alloys increases but the plateau becomes sloping. The changes of hydrogen storage properties of ZrTiMn Ce alloys are related to the differences in both atomic radius and hydrogen affinity between Ti and Zr elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrogen storage properties of a Li-Mg-N-H material doped by a 4 mol.% TiCrV body centre cubic (BCC) alloy hydride and prepared with a ball-milling method were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Sievert's technology test. The results show that the TiCrV BCC alloy hydride/Li-Mg-N-H composite has good reversible hydrogen storage properties. The dehydrogenation kinetics of the Li-Mg-N-H system can be greatly improved by doping the TiCrV BCC alloy hydride. The composite desorbed 4.1 wt.% hydrogen in the first 60 min at 473 K under 0.1 MPa pressure, but when without the BCC alloy addition, only 3.0 wt.% hydrogen was desorbed under the same dehydrogenation condition. It can be deduced that the TiCrV BCC alloy uniformly distributed in the Li-Mg-N-H substrate could decrease the activating energy of hydrogen molecules to H atoms and increase H diffusion paths in the composite, enhancing the dehydrogenation kinetics of the Li-Mg-N-H system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a new efficient solar selective surface in high temperature application. The influence of the monolayer's microstructure and deposition rate was firstly discussed. Then the nitride nano-multilayer on the polished stainless steel (herein after referred as 'SS') substrate was prepared with Ti and Al metal targets by DC. and R.F. magnetron co-sputtering. The samples were annealed in air at different temperatures ranging from 350 to 800°C for 2 h to evaluate their thermal stability. The samples' surface and cross-section morphology, crystal structure, phase composition, optical properties were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer and infrared emissivity tester. The results show that the coatings exhibit high solar selectivity (α/ɛ) of 0.943/0.08 even after heat-treatment up to 400°C for 2 h in air. After heat-treatment at 600°C in air, the solar selectivity decreases to 0.92/0.16. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effects of Si and Ce on the microstructure and hydrogen storage property of Ti26.5Cr20V45Fe8.5Ce0.5 alloy were studied, respectively. First of all, effects of Si on the microstructure and hydrogen storage properties of Ti26.5Cr20(V45Fe8.5)1− x Si x Ce0.5 ( x = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 at%) alloys were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and P-C isotherm measurements. As the Si addition increases, the hydrogen absorption capacities of alloys decrease but the equilibrium pressure increases, due to the formation of Laves phase. Secondly, the effect of Ce on Ti26.5Cr20 (V45Fe8.5)0.98Si2 alloy was studied. It was found that Ce addition is an effective way to eliminate the effect of Si on the hydrogen storage properties of the alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Tumor suppressor gene therapy and cytokine gene therapy have limited antitumor effects when used alone. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the antitumor potentials of the combined transfer of the p16 tumor suppressor gene and the murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene. Methods: The adenovirus-harboring p16 gene (Adp16) and adenovirus-harboring GM-CSF (AdGMCSF) gene were utilized for the treatment of established tumors in vivo. The mice were inoculated s.c. with Renca renal carcinoma cells and 3 days later received an intratumoral injection of Adp16 in combination with AdGMCSF. Results: The results demonstrated that tumor-bearing mice treated with Adp16 and AdGMCSF showed more potent inhibition of tumor growth and a prolonged survival period than mice treated with Adp16, AdGMCSF, adenovirus-expressing β-galactosidase or PBS ( P < 0.01). Treatments of the mice with Adp16 alone or AdGMCSF alone also showed obvious antitumor effects as compared with those mice treated with PBS ( P < 0.05). After combined p16 and AdGMCSF gene therapy, the expression of H-2Kd and Fas molecules on freshly isolated tumor cells increased markedly, and more CD4 + T cells and CD8 + T cells infiltrated in the tumor sites. The cytotoxicity of natural killer cells and specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes increased more significantly after the combined therapy. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that combination p16 gene and GM-CSF gene therapy could inhibit the growth of established tumors in mice more significantly through efficient induction of antitumor immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cucumber mosaic virus coat protein (CMV-CP) gene and a modified Bacillus thuringiensis δ-endotoxin (Bt toxin) gene were cloned into plant expression vector pE3. Tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum cv. G28) leaf discs were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens A12 carrying recombinant pE14. Transgenic r and R tobacco plants expressing CMV-CP and Bt toxin genes were protected from CMV infection as well as feeding damage of Manduca Sexta (tobacco hornworm) larvae. These results demonstrate that it is feasible to breed new cultivars with multiple resistances via genetic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]