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Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the presence of astrocyte antibodies in patients, excluding aquaporin‐4 or glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) antibodies, while evaluating associated biomarkers and pathologies. Methods: Patient serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were tested for antibodies using tissue‐ and cell‐based assays. Neurofilament light chain (NFL) and GFAP in the CSF were detected using single‐molecule array (SIMOA). Results: 116 patients accepted SIMOA. Fifteen functional neurological disorders patients without antibodies were designated as controls. Thirty‐five patients were positive for astrocyte antibodies (Anti‐GFAP: 7; Anti‐AQP4: 7; unknown antibodies: 21, designed as the double‐negative group, DNAP). The most frequent phenotype of DNAP was encephalitis (42.9%), followed by myelitis (23.8%), movement disorders (19.0%), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis‐like (ALS‐like) disease (14.2%). The levels of CSF GFAP and NFL in DNAP were higher than in the control (GFAP: 1967.29 [776.60–13214.47] vs 475.38 [16.80–943.60] pg/mL, p < 0.001; NFL: 549.11 [162.08–2462.61] vs 214.18 [81.60–349.60] pg/mL, p = 0.002). GFAP levels decreased in DNAP (n = 5) after immunotherapy (2446.75 [1583.45–6277.33] vs 1380.46 [272.16–2005.80] pg/mL, p = 0.043), while there was no difference in NFL levels (2273.78 [162.08–2462.61] vs 890.42 [645.06–3168.06] pg/mL, p = 0.893). Two brain biopsy patterns were observed: one exhibited prominent tissue proliferation and hypertrophic astrocytes, with local loss of astrocytes, while the other showed severe astrocyte depletion with loss of neurofilaments around the vessels. Eighteen patients received immunotherapy, and improved except one with ALS‐like symptoms. We identified anti‐vimentin in this patient. Discussion: There are unidentified astrocyte antibodies. The manifestations of double‐negativity are heterogeneous; nevertheless, the pathology and biomarkers remain consistent with astrocytopathy. Immunotherapy is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transforming polyolefin waste into liquid alkanes through tandem cracking‐alkylation reactions catalyzed by Lewis‐acid chlorides offers an efficient route for single‐step plastic upcycling. Lewis acids in dichloromethane establish a polar environment that stabilizes carbenium ion intermediates and catalyzes hydride transfer, enabling breaking of polyethylene C−C bonds and forming C−C bonds in alkylation. Here, we show that efficient and selective deconstruction of low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) to liquid alkanes is achieved with anhydrous aluminum chloride (AlCl3) and gallium chloride (GaCl3). Already at 60 °C, complete LDPE conversion was achieved, while maintaining the selectivity for gasoline‐range liquid alkanes over 70 %. AlCl3 showed an exceptional conversion rate of 5000 gLDPEmolcat-1h-1 ${{{\rm g}}_{{\rm L}{\rm D}{\rm P}{\rm E}}{{\rm \ }{\rm m}{\rm o}{\rm l}}_{{\rm c}{\rm a}{\rm t}}^{-1}{{\rm \ }{\rm h}}^{-1}}$ , surpassing other Lewis acid catalysts by two orders of magnitude. Through kinetic and mechanistic studies, we show that the rates of LDPE conversion do not correlate directly with the intrinsic strength of the Lewis acids or steric constraints that may limit the polymer to access the Lewis acid sites. Instead, the rates for the tandem processes of cracking and alkylation are primarily governed by the rates of initiation of carbenium ions and the subsequent intermolecular hydride transfer. Both jointly control the relative rates of cracking and alkylation, thereby determining the overall conversion and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (I) based halide scintillators have received high attention due to their high light yield. At the same time, researchers are increasingly interested in exploring organic‐inorganic hybrid copper(I) based halides, due to the diversity and tunability of structures. Here, we describe high‐efficiency photoluminescence and X‐ray excited luminescence in (DFPD)3Cu2I5 (1) (DFPD=4,4‐difluoro‐bipiperidinium). 1 is comprised of a unique [Cu2I5]3− cluster, which have typical structure allowing high‐transition‐probability self‐trapped exciton emission (one Cu+ ion adopts the tetrahedral coordination geometry, the other trigonal planar coordination geometry, the Cu−Cu distance (2.574 Å) is short). Accordingly, 1 shows efficient yellow‐green photoluminescence with the maximum at 527 nm, a full‐width at half‐maximum of 99.2 nm, a large Stokes shift of 214 nm (1.6 eV) and a quantum yield of 77.15 %. Polycrystalline 1 can also convert high‐energy X‐ray photons into UV‐visible pulsed fluorescence with the light yield of 5000 photons/MeV. This finding plays a valuable role in the development of organic‐inorganic hybrid copper(I) based scintillators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dispersion curves for surface wave recordings are required input for many surface wave inversion methods to image subsurface shear wave velocity distribution, while the conventional extraction of dispersion curves requires significant amount of human interaction. This step impedes efficiency enhancement of surface wave analysis and its automation. In this paper, we present an unsupervised learning scheme to achieve efficient automatic picking of dispersion curves of the fundamental mode for surface wave gathers. This scheme is composed of four major steps: computing a frequency velocity(f‐v) spectrum for the surface wave gather using a high‐resolution Tau‐p transform improved by the iteratively shrinkage Thresholding algorithm (ISTA) algorithm, generating clusters points along the dispersion energy in the f‐v spectrum via a weighted Kmeans algorithm, filtering these cluster points by principal component analysis (PCA) and Local Outlier Factor (LOF) algorithms to remove the erroneous clusters, and fitting the remaining clusters to form the dispersion curve. Tests with synthetic and field noisy surface wave recordings demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach and its potential in automatic processing of noisy surface wave data sets. Key Points: An automatic scheme is developed to pick surface wave dispersion curves, and training data sets are not neededHigh resolution dispersion spectrum computation and simultaneous denoising of multiple curves enables reliable picking resultsA key technique for automatic processing of surface wave data to facilitate real‐time imaging and subsurface monitoring [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Antimicrobial‐induced shifts in commensal oral microbiota can dysregulate helper T‐cell oral immunity to affect osteoclast–osteoblast actions in alveolar bone. Antibiotic prophylaxis is commonly performed with dental implant placement surgery to prevent post‐surgical complications. However, antibiotic prophylaxis effects on osteoimmune processes supporting dental implant osseointegration are unknown. The aim of the study was to discern the impact of antibiotic prophylaxis on dental implant placement surgery‐induced osteoimmune wound healing and osseointegration. Materials and Methods: We performed SHAM or dental implant placement surgery in mice. Groups were administered prophylactic antibiotics (amoxicillin or clindamycin) or vehicle. Gingival bacteriome was assessed via 16S sequencing. Helper T‐cell oral immunity was evaluated by flow cytometry. Osteoclasts and osteoblasts were assessed via histomorphometry. Implant osseointegration was evaluated by micro‐computed tomography. Results: Dental implant placement surgery up‐regulated TH1, TH2 and TREG cells in cervical lymph nodes (CLNs), which infers helper T‐cell oral immunity contributes to dental implant placement osseous wound healing. Prophylactic antibiotics with dental implant placement surgery caused a bacterial dysbiosis, suppressed TH1, TH2 and TREG cells in CLNs, reduced osteoclasts and osteoblasts lining peri‐implant alveolar bone, and attenuated the alveolar bone–implant interface. Conclusions: Antibiotic prophylaxis dysregulates dental implant placement surgery‐induced osteoimmune wound healing and attenuates the alveolar bone–implant interface in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric materials capable of spontaneously healing physical damages and restoring various functions have been attracting growing interest. Among these, the category of water-insensitive self-healing materials emerges as a promising research focus due to their reliable self-healing and stable mechanical properties in high-humidity environments and even underwater. In this review, an update on the significant advancements in the design of water-insensitive self-healing polymers is presented, which are based on various unique chains. Their advantages and limitations are discussed. Additionally, a series of typical dynamic interactions that are used to enable autonomous self-healing in underwater environments is highlighted. Moving beyond these fundamental designs, the diverse opportunities to leverage recent synthetic advancements in water-insensitive self-healing materials for the progression of soft electronic applications are systematically discussed. Ultimately, the significant challenges and remaining opportunities to present a comprehensive view of the future development of water-insensitive self-healing materials are highlighted. This review aims to stimulate further innovation in this burgeoning and emerging field of intrinsic healable materials, interfacing with dynamic chemistry and soft electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional materials with working temperatures near room temperature are crucial for practical applications. Until now, it is still a great challenge to obtain such materials. In this paper, a complex of (C5NH13Cl)2MnBr4 (1) with a structural phase transition near room temperature is reported. The phase transition induces switchable magnetic properties, dielectric anomalies and luminescent response over the same range of temperatures. It is the first time the synergetic effect of magnetism, dielectricity and luminescence near room temperature have been observed in the same molecular complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional materials with working temperatures near room temperature are crucial for practical applications. Until now, it is still a great challenge to obtain such materials. In this paper, a complex of (C5NH13Cl)2MnBr4 (1) with a structural phase transition near room temperature is reported. The phase transition induces switchable magnetic properties, dielectric anomalies and luminescent response over the same range of temperatures. It is the first time the synergetic effect of magnetism, dielectricity and luminescence near room temperature have been observed in the same molecular complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic noise is an important type of passive seismic data because it usually includes strong dispersive surface wave components and can be easily accessed. It can be used to extract virtual surface waves via seismic interferometry algorithms for the purpose of imaging subsurface shear wave velocity distribution. In this paper, we propose a scheme to improve the retrieval of surface waves from traffic noise recorded using linear arrays along traffic roads. By deconvolving the decomposed traffic noise wavefield, robust surface wave traces can be computed from a short noise record. First the far‐field component of the traffic noise recording is extracted and separated into unidirectionally propagating components. Then deconvolution interferometry is applied to these separated far‐field wavefield to extract surface wave Green's function. With this scheme, crosstalk noise and near‐field artifacts are excluded from the computation, and surface wave traces with high signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) are achieved using short traffic noise traces. In a synthetic test virtual surface waves estimated with the proposed method show significantly higher SNR than those computed with the conventional interferometry workflows, and matches well with simulated active source traces. A field data example with traffic noise recorded in a distributed acoustic sensing experiment also shows that surface waves estimated using the proposed methodology demonstrate higher SNR than those computed with the conventional interferometry schemes and that the virtual surface waves generated using 4 s of traffic noise demonstrate signal quality comparable to the surface waves recorded in this experiment with an active source. Plain Language Summary: Monitoring the change of shear wave velocity (Vs) over time in shallow subsurface (less than 100 m) is vital for various areas such as geo‐hazard mitigation, hydrogeological studies, and civil engineering, and one of the most effective approaches to achieve this goal is extracting surface waves from ambient noise such as traffic noise and inverting Vs from them. However, usually hours or longer traffic noise records are needed to extract reliable surface wave for inversion of Vs. This paper presents a novel data processing scheme for traffic noise recorded with a linear array deployed along the traffic paths. With this scheme, surface wave with high signal‐to‐noise ratio can be extracted from much shorter traffic noise, and the efficiency and timeliness of Vs monitoring can be enhanced significantly. This paper first demonstrates this scheme with a simulated traffic noise data set. Then a field data example with traffic noise recorded in a distributed acoustic sensing experiment verifies that the proposed scheme generated surface wave responses with higher SNR than conventional methods and that the surface waves extracted from a 4‐s traffic noise record demonstrates comparable quality to active source data acquired in the experiment. Key Points: Wavefield decomposition of traffic noise followed by deconvolution interferometry reduces artifacts in extracted surface wavesSurface waves extracted from 4 s record of traffic noise demonstrate comparable quality to active source seismic recordings in 2013 Garner Valley experimentThis approach demonstrates potential for efficient imaging and real‐time monitoring of shallow subsurface near traffic facilities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a mononuclear Co(II) compound [Co(H2O)6]Cl2·2C6H12N4·4H2O (1) was synthesized and characterized. X‐ray single crystal diffraction analyses shows that the Co(II) ion adopts almost perfect octahedral coordination geometry with O6 donors provided by six water molecules. Magnetic properties studies show it has strong in‐plane anisotropy with D = +66.7 cm−1. AC susceptibility measurements indicate it is a field‐induced SMM with Ueff = 56.11 K via Raman relaxation process and/or direct process. It is rare for Co(II) ion in cobalt‐based compound showing almost perfect octahedral coordination geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to take advantage of hybrid materials in their structural diversity and richness of their photoelectric properties, the research in polar materials has been extended to metal‐organic compounds in recent years. The main synthesis strategy is to use the molecular dynamics. Here, we describe that the second harmonic generation (SHG) switching effect can be effectively achieved by combination of coordination distortion of metal ions with s2 electrons and molecular dynamics. We synthesized a noncentrosymmetric complex, (1S,4S)‐(+)‐2‐aza‐5‐oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane)2[SbCl5], and found that it undergoes an isomorphic phase transition at 382 K. Accompanying the phase transition, the SHG experiences a switching process, and its strength changes from 0.2 times of that of KDP to only noise level. Systematic characterization reveals that the significant change of coordination distortion of the Sb3+ and the change of thermal motion of organic cations lead to the SHG switching effect. This finding shows that the combination of lone pair electron effect of metal ion and molecular dynamics characteristics would be a feasible strategy in development of polar hybrid materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the refresh rate of large‐sized LCD products, a novel driving scheme calling Hardware Super Resolution technology or HSR for short is presented in the paper, which can be utilized in TV, MNT, NB, et al. The driving scheme mainly applied GOA Pre Charge compensation algorithm, odd and even frame interlaced time‐sharing charging and Smart TP. A protype driving circuit was fabricated, and various detection tests have been implemented. The results show the charging rate is obviously improved, and the refresh rate is doubled without increasing hardware resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

QoS‐aware based web service recommendation is one of the crucial solutions to help users find high‐quality web services. To accurately predict the QoS values of candidate services, it is usually required to collect historical QoS data of users (QoS data for short). If these collected QoS data are improperly processed, QoS data privacy may be threatened. However, how to accurately predict the QoS values of candidate services while protecting QoS data privacy has not been well studied. In response to the situation, we propose a hybrid web service recommendation mechanism, which is divided into three parts. In the first part, the QoS data privacy preservation algorithm, which called DVO, is proposed based on keeping the cosine similarity of QoS data unchanged, that is, to realize the confusion of QoS data while ensuring the availability of QoS data remains unchanged. In the second part, a hybrid matrix factorization model based on location information and service features, which called LCLMF, is proposed to improve the accuracy of QoS values prediction. According to DVO and LCLMF, the DVO + LCLMF is designed in the third part, which can accurately predict QoS values while protecting QoS data privacy. The experimental results show that DVO + LCLMF can accurately predict the QoS values of candidate services on the basis of attaining QoS data privacy protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Information: Wnt/β‐catenin signalling, in the microenvironment of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), plays a critical role in their differentiation and proliferation. Contradictory reports on the role of Wnt/β‐catenin signalling in PSCs self‐renewal and differentiation, however, render these mechanisms largely unclear. Results: Wnt/β‐catenin signalling pathway in human‐induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) was activated by inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3), driving the cells into a mesodermal/mesenchymal state, exhibiting proliferative, invasive and anchorage‐independent growth properties, where over 70% of cell population became CD 44 (+)/CD133 (+). Wnt/β‐catenin signalling activation also altered the metabolic state of hiPSCs from aerobic glycolysis to oxidative metabolism and changed their drug and oxidative stress sensitivities. These effects of GSK3 inhibition were suppressed in HIF1α‐stabilised cells. Conclusions: Persistent activation of Wnt/β‐catenin signalling endows hiPSCs with proliferative/invasive 'teratoma‐like' states, shifting their metabolic dependence and allowing HIF1α‐stabilisation to inhibit their proliferative/invasive properties. Significance: The hiPSC potential to differentiate into 'teratoma‐like' cells suggest that stem cells may exist in two states with differential metabolic and drug dependency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: Periodontal disease (PD) afflicts approximately 50% of the population in the United States and is characterized by chronic inflammation of the periodontium that can lead to loss of the periodontal ligament through collagen degradation, loss of alveolar bone, and to eventual tooth loss. Previous studies have implicated transglutaminase (TG) activity in promoting thin collagen I fiber morphology and decreased mechanical strength in homeostatic PDL. The aim of this study was to determine whether TG activity influenced collagen assembly in PDL in the setting of periodontal disease. Material and methods: A ligature model was used to induce clinically relevant PD in mice. Mice with ligature were assessed at 5 and 14 days to determine PDL collagen morphology, transglutaminase (TG) activity, and bone loss. The effects of inhibition of TG on PDL were assessed by immunohistochemistry and second‐harmonic generation (SHG) to visualize collagen fibers in native tissue. Results: Ligature placement around the 2nd molar resulted in significant bone loss and a decrease in total collagen content after 5 days of ligature placement. A significant increase in thin over thick fibers was also demonstrated in mice with ligature at 5 days associated with apparent increases in immunoreactivity for TG2 and for TG‐mediated N‐ε‐γ‐glutamyl cross‐links in PDL. Inhibition of TG activity increased total collagen and thick collagen fiber content over vehicle control in mice with ligature for 5 days. SHG of PDL was used to visualize and quantify the effects of TG inhibition on enhanced collagen fiber organization in unfixed control and diseased PDL. Conclusion: These studies support a role of TG in regulating collagen fiber assembly and suggest that strategies to inhibit TG activity in disease might contribute to restoration of PDL tissue integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An organocatalytic asymmetric aza‐Henry reaction of indolenines with nitromethane is presented. By using a Cinchona‐alkaloid‐based thiourea bifunctional organocatalyst, a series of structurally novel and optically active 2‐nitromethyl indolines were afforded in synthetically useful yields (up to 91%) and good to high enantioselectivities (up to 94% ee). The developed protocol provides a powerful approach for the transformation of unactivated five‐membered cyclic aldimines into valuable chiral N‐heterocycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the interaction effect between hydrate and wax is of great significance to guarantee operation safety in deep water petroleum fields. Experiments in a high‐pressure hydrate slurry rheological measurement system were carried out to investigate hydrate formation and slurry viscosity in the presence of wax crystals. Results indicate that the presence of wax crystals can prolong hydrate nucleation induction time, and its influence on hydrate growth depends on multiple factors. Higher stirring rate can obviously promote hydrate growth rate, while its influence on hydrate nucleation induction time is complicated. Higher initial pressure will promote hydrate formation. Gas hydrate slurry shows a shear‐thinning behavior, and slurry viscosity increases with the increase of wax content and initial pressure. A semiempirical viscosity model showing a well‐fitting is established for hydrate slurry with wax crystals by considering the aggregation and breakage of hydrate particles, wax crystals, and water droplets. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 3502–3518, 2018 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light, electricity, magnetism, and heat are manifestations of energy that are strongly interrelated and can be converted into each other under certain conditions. The molecular complex (C5NH13Cl)2MnBr4 shows a structural phase transition near room temperature that further induces the switchable magnetic properties, dielectric anomalies and fluorescent response over the same range of temperature. This is the first observation of the synergetic effect of magnetism, dielectricity and fluorescence near room temperature in a molecule, which well represents the strong interrelation between the light, electricity, magnetism, and heat. More information can be found in the Research Article by Y. Peng, Y. Song, Z.‐B. Hu and co‐workers (DOI: 10.1002/chem.202300598). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An oxide semiconductor (OS) display system built with normally-off devices, nonvolatile OS LSI and an OS display, is proposed. The power consumption of the system is reduced by the nonvolatile OS LSI performing power gating without vanishing setting data when the OS display is in an idling stop (IDS) mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new rare α-pyrone (=2 H-pyran-2-one) derivatives, rhodanthpyrones A and B ( 1 and 2, resp.), together with fourteen known compounds, 3- 16, were isolated from the whole plants of Gentiana rhodantha. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses. This is the first report on the occurrence of α-pyrone derivatives in the genus Gentiana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors investigated the changes in the pattern of energy deposition in tissue equivalent phantoms following the introduction of iodinated contrast media. Methods: The phantom consisted of a small "contrast sphere," filled with water or iodinated contrast, located at the center of a 28 cm diameter water sphere. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using MCNP5 codes, validated by simulating irradiations with analytical solutions. Monoenergetic x-rays ranging from 35 to 150 keV were used to simulate exposures to spheres containing contrast agent with iodine concentrations ranging from 1 to 100 mg/ml. Relative values of energy imparted to the contrast sphere, as well as to the whole phantom, were calculated. Changes in patterns of energy deposition around the contrast sphere were also investigated. Results: Small contrast spheres can increase local absorbed dose by a factor of 13, but the corresponding increase in total energy absorbed was negligible (< 1%). The highest localized dose increases were found to occur at incident photon energies of about 60 keV. For a concentration of about 10 mg/ml, typical of clinical practice, localized absorbed doses were generally increased by about a factor of two. At this concentration of 10 mg/ml, the maximum increase in total energy deposition in the phantom was only 6%. These simulations demonstrated that increases in contrast sphere doses were offset by corresponding dose reductions at distal and posterior locations. Conclusions: Adding iodine can result in values of localized absorbed dose increasing by more than an order of magnitude, but the total energy deposition is generally very modest (i.e., <10%). Their data show that adding iodine primarily changes the pattern of energy deposition in the irradiated region, rather than increasing patient doses per se. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cholesterol accumulation is a critical step during the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Recently, Wnt5a expression has been found to be markedly upregulated in both murine and human atherosclerotic lesions. However, the effect and mechanism of Wnt5a in atherosclerosis is poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the effects and potential mechanisms of Wnt5a on cholesterol accumulation during atherosclerosis. We used RAW264.7 and vascular smooth muscle cells ( VSMC) treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox LDL) as lipid-loaded cell models. We found that expression of Wnt5a protein was increased in a concentration (25, 50, 75 and 100 μg/mL)- and time (24, 48 and 72 h)-dependent manner by ox LDL treatment. To explore the underlying mechanism, we used Wnt5a short interference (si) RNA to knockdown Wnt5a expression in both RAW264.7 cells and VSMC, or applied recombinant Wnt5a (rWnt5a) to stimulate Wnt5a signalling. After Wnt5a knockdown, total cholesterol ( TC) and free cholesterol ( FC) content in both cell types increased significantly ( P < 0.05) upon exposure to ox LDL. Conversely, the TC and FC content decreased markedly ( P < 0.05) after treatment of cells with rWnt5a. More importantly, both protein and m RNA expression of Caveolin-1 and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 ( ABCA1) was significantly reduced after exposure of wnt5a si RNA-treated cells to ox LDL, whereas rWnt5a treatment of cells resulted in increased Caveolin-1 and ABCA1 protein expression after exposure of cells to ox LDL. Together, these findings demonstrate, for the first time, that Wnt5a reduces the accumulation of cholesterol in lipid-loaded cells by regulating the mRNA expression of Caveolin-1 and ABCA1, which are involved in reverse cholesterol transport. This may present a novel mechanism of Wnt5a-mediated cholesterol transportation in macrophages and VSMC. Therefore, targeting the Wnt5a signalling pathway may have clinical implications in atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The aim of this study was to determine FOXC1 expression in gastric tissues, and the clinical significance of FOXC1 in the development, progression and metastasis of gastric cancer ( GC). Methods and results We screened GCs for the expression of FOXC1 using the Affymetrix U133 plus 2.0 Gene Chip Array, and found that expression was significantly higher in GC tissues than in controls. Furthermore, we validated the expression levels of FOXC1 using real-time quantitative RT- PCR (q RT- PCR), and of FOXC1 using immunohistochemistry ( IHC). Our study showed that expression levels of FOXC1 m RNA and FOXC1 in GC tissues were significantly higher than those in corresponding non-tumour tissues. High FOXC1 expression correlated with the degree of histological differentiation ( P < 0.01), TNM stage ( P < 0.001), invasive depth ( P < 0.05), lymph node metastasis ( P < 0.05), and distant metastasis ( P < 0.01). Survival analysis revealed that patients with high FOXC1 expression had shorter overall survival than those with low expression ( P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that high FOXC1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for GC patients ( P < 0.01). Conclusions Overexpression of FOXC1 may play a key role in the progression of GC, and FOXC1 expression may serve as a useful marker for predicting the outcome of patients with GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue engineering aims to fabricate functional tissue for applications in regenerative medicine and drug testing. More recently, 3D printing has shown great promise in tissue fabrication with a structural control from the micro- to the macroscale by using a layer-by-layer approach. Whether through scaffold-based or scaffold-free approaches, the standard for 3D-printed tissue engineering constructs is to provide a biomimetic structural environment that facilitates tissue formation and promotes host tissue integration (e.g., cellular infiltration, vascularization, and active remodeling). This review will cover several approaches that have advanced the field of 3D printing through novel fabrication methods of tissue engineering constructs. It will also discuss the applications of synthetic and natural materials for 3D printingfacilitated tissue fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to take advantage of hybrid materials in their structural diversity and richness of their photoelectric properties, the research in polar materials has been extended to metal‐organic compounds in recent years. The main synthesis strategy is to use the molecular dynamics. Here, we describe that the second harmonic generation (SHG) switching effect can be effectively achieved by combination of coordination distortion of metal ions with s2 electrons and molecular dynamics. We synthesized a noncentrosymmetric complex, (1S,4S)‐(+)‐2‐aza‐5‐oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane)2[SbCl5], and found that it undergoes an isomorphic phase transition at 382 K. Accompanying the phase transition, the SHG experiences a switching process, and its strength changes from 0.2 times of that of KDP to only noise level. Systematic characterization reveals that the significant change of coordination distortion of the Sb3+ and the change of thermal motion of organic cations lead to the SHG switching effect. This finding shows that the combination of lone pair electron effect of metal ion and molecular dynamics characteristics would be a feasible strategy in development of polar hybrid materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gyro-chiral (G-chiral) media of different constitutive relations are studied as potential materials to realize the negative-index material (NIM). G-chiral media are believed to have advantages over chiral media: negative refractive index and backward waves can be achieved without requiring the permittivity and permeability to be quite small at working frequency. The gyrotropic parameters favor the realization of NIM far off the resonances of the permittivity and permeability. The possibility of obtaining backward waves and negative refractive index under Post's and Tellegen's relations are discussed. Moreover, the mapping and comparison of G-chiral media of these two relations have been studied. It is found that the Tellegen's relations are more suitable to describing the G-chiral media so as to realize NIM by this kind of medium. Therefore, this paper not only provides an alternative way to achieve NIM from the G-chiral medium but also discusses the constitutive relation's effects on backward wave propagation and refractive indices. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 48:2534–2538, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21981 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (I) based halide scintillators have received high attention due to their high light yield. At the same time, researchers are increasingly interested in exploring organic‐inorganic hybrid copper(I) based halides, due to the diversity and tunability of structures. Here, we describe high‐efficiency photoluminescence and X‐ray excited luminescence in (DFPD)3Cu2I5 (1) (DFPD=4,4‐difluoro‐bipiperidinium). 1 is comprised of a unique [Cu2I5]3− cluster, which have typical structure allowing high‐transition‐probability self‐trapped exciton emission (one Cu+ ion adopts the tetrahedral coordination geometry, the other trigonal planar coordination geometry, the Cu−Cu distance (2.574 Å) is short). Accordingly, 1 shows efficient yellow‐green photoluminescence with the maximum at 527 nm, a full‐width at half‐maximum of 99.2 nm, a large Stokes shift of 214 nm (1.6 eV) and a quantum yield of 77.15 %. Polycrystalline 1 can also convert high‐energy X‐ray photons into UV‐visible pulsed fluorescence with the light yield of 5000 photons/MeV. This finding plays a valuable role in the development of organic‐inorganic hybrid copper(I) based scintillators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

isolation and structure determination of two new α-pyrone derivatives, rhodanthpyrones A and B, along with fourteen known compounds [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the mononuclear title compound, [Cu(II)(C(18)H(12)N(2)O(2))(C(5)H(5)N)], the Cu(II) ion is coordinated by two O atoms and one N atom from the dianionic tridentate L(2-) ligand (H(2)L is 2-hy-droxy-1-naphthaldehyde benzoyl-hydrazide) and one N atom from a pyridine mol-ecule in a CuN(2)O(2) distorted square-planar coordination environment.