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With high incidence rate, cancer is the main cause of death in humans. Non-coding RNAs, as novel master regulators, especially long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), play important roles in the regulation of tumorigenesis. lncRNA NEAT1 has recently gained much attention, as it is dysregulated in a broad spectrum of cancers, where it acts as either an oncogene or a tumor suppressor gene. Accumulating evidence shows that NEAT1 is correlated with the process of carcinogenesis, including proliferation, invasion, survival, drug resistance, and metastasis. NEAT1 is considered to be a biomarker and a novel therapeutic target for the diagnosis and prognosis of different cancer types. The mechanisms by which NEAT1 plays a critical role in cancers are mainly via interactions with miRNAs. NEAT1-miRNA regulatory networks play significant roles in tumorigenesis, which has attracted much attention from researchers around the world. In this review, we summarize the interaction of NEAT1 with miRNAs in the regulation of protein-coding genes in cancer. A better understanding of the NEAT1-miRNA interactions in cancer will help develop new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic approaches.

The paper is devoted to the adaptive tracking control based on the mismatched disturbance observer for motor‐driven robotic manipulators. A novel mismatched disturbance observer is introduced, which does not make bounded derivative assumptions on mismatched disturbances in the robotic manipulator system. Additionally, a new adaptive tracking controller for a motor‐driven robotic manipulator based on the mismatched disturbance observer is designed, which guarantees that all closed‐loop signals are globally uniformly bounded and the tracking error is asymptotic stable. Finally, the simulation comparisons are carried out between the proposed and existing control strategies to demonstrate the superiority of the developed controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat shock protein (HSP90) has been an import target of drug design in the treatment of human disease. An exploration of the conformational changes in HSP90 can provide useful information for the development of efficient inhibitors targeting HSP90. In this work, multiple independent all-atom molecular dynamics (AAMD) simulations followed by calculations of the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) were performed to explore the binding mechanism of three inhibitors (W8Y, W8V, and W8S) to HSP90. The dynamics analyses verified that the presence of inhibitors impacts the structural flexibility, correlated movements, and dynamics behavior of HSP90. The results of the MM-GBSA calculations suggest that the selection of GB models and empirical parameters has important influences on the predicted results and verify that van der Waals interactions are the main forces that determine inhibitor–HSP90 binding. The contributions of separate residues to the inhibitor–HSP90 binding process indicate that hydrogen-bonding interactions (HBIs) and hydrophobic interactions play important roles in HSP90–inhibitor identifications. Moreover, residues L34, N37, D40, A41, D79, I82, G83, M84, F124, and T171 are recognized as hot spots of inhibitor–HSP90 binding and provide significant target sites of for the design of drugs related to HSP90. This study aims to contribute to the development of efficient inhibitors that target HSP90 by providing an energy-based and theoretical foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to establish an animal model of abdominal aortic vascular replacement in mongrel dogs to investigate the effect of extracorporeal radiotherapy on the intima. Twenty healthy mongrel dogs were randomly divided into four groups: 5-week control group, 5-week radiotherapy group, 10-week control group and 10-week radiotherapy group. We first performed an artificial vascular replacement of the abdominal aortic segment. The radiotherapy group received external radiotherapy with a dose of 7 Gy for 4 days. The thickness of neointimal hyperplasia, immunoreactivity and expression of proliferation-related factors were detected by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)and western blotting at 5 and 10 weeks after the reconstruction. The results showed that the intimal thickness of the artificial blood vessel in the 5- and 10-week radiotherapy groups was thinner than that in the control groups by HE staining. The immunoreactivity and expression levels of Skp2, c-Myc and CyclinE1 were significantly decreased in the radiotherapy groups than those in control groups by immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR and western blotting. On the contrary, immunoreactivity and expression levels of P27kip1 were increased. In conclusion, we discovered that postoperative external radiotherapy significantly decreases the intimal hyperplasia of artificial blood vessels by regulating c-Myc-Skp2-P27-CyclinE1 network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in many human diseases, but their roles in secondary damage after spinal cord injury (SCI) remain unclear. In the current study circRNA sequencing was performed in the damaged tissues of SCI rats on the seventh day after injury, and related molecular mechanisms were investigated. Quantitative PCR validations of molecules that exhibited significantly altered expression in SCI mice were performed. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses were conducted to assess differentially expressed circRNAs. A novel circRNA‐2960 was the most significantly upregulated in the SCI group. It could downregulate its target molecule miRNA‐124, then exacerbate the inflammatory response and induce apoptosis at the lesion site. Disrupting circRNA‐2960 expression promoted recovery of tissues affected by secondary SCI damage. The results of the present study may provide new insight into the mechanisms of secondary injury in SCI, and a new molecular marker for the diagnosis and treatment of SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sertraline showed some potential in alleviating depressive disorder after traumatic brain injury. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the efficacy of sertraline on the treatment of depressive disorder after traumatic brain injury.Methods: The databases including PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases were systematically searched for collecting the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the efficacy of sertraline for traumatic brain injury.Results: This meta-analysis included five RCTs. The initial use of sertraline was within 8 weeks after traumatic brain injury. Compared with control group for traumatic brain injury, sertraline treatment showed no significant improvement on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) (standard mean difference (Std. MD) = -0.08; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.45 to 0.28; P = 0.65), anxiety score (Std. MD = 0.08; 95% CI = -0.32 to 0.48; P = 0.69), aggression score (Std. MD = -0.12; 95% CI = -0.56 to 0.32; P = 0.59), or quality of life (QOL) score (Std. MD = -0.06; 95% CI = -0.49 to 0.37; P = 0.78). There was no statistical difference of diarrhea (risk ratio (RR) = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.92 to 3.71; P = 0.08), dizziness (RR = 1.15; 95% CI = 0.57 to 2.31; P = 0.70), dry mouth (RR = 2.44; 95% CI = 0.43 to 13.89; P = 0.32), nausea or vomiting (RR = 1.17; 95% CI = 0.37 to 3.70; P = 0.79) between sertraline group and control group.Conclusions: Sertraline showed no obvious benefits for the relief of depressive disorder after traumatic brain injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long intergenic non-coding RNA for kinase activation (LINK-A) long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has been characterized in triple negative breast cancer, but its potential involvement in glioma has not been investigated. In the present study, serum levels of LINK-A lncRNA and survivin in patients with glioma and healthy controls were determined by RT-qPCR and ELISA, respectively. The diagnostic value of serum LINK-A lncRNA for glioma was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Potential correlations between serum levels of LINK-A lncRNA and survivin were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient. LINK-A lncRNA siRNA, LINK-A lncRNA-carrying expression vector and survivin-carrying expression vector were transfected into glioma cells, and the effects on LINK-A lncRNA expression, survivin expression and cell apoptosis were explored by RT-qPCR, western blot analysis and annexin V/propidium iodide staining. It was observed that the serum levels of LINK-A lncRNA and survivin were significantly higher in patients with glioma compared with healthy controls. Increased levels of LINK-A lncRNA distinguished glioma patients from healthy controls, based on ROC curve analysis. Serum levels of LINK-A lncRNA and survivin were positively correlated in glioma patients, but not in healthy controls. Overexpression of LINK-A lncRNA led to increased survivin protein expression, while survivin overexpression had no effect on LINK-A lncRNA expression. LINK-A lncRNA and survivin overexpression each reduced glioma cell apoptosis, but LINK-A lncRNA siRNA-mediated knockdown increased apoptosis. Survivin overexpression attenuated the inducing effects of LINK-A lncRNA knockdown on apoptosis. In conclusion, LINK-A lncRNA inhibited glioma cell apoptosis potentially by the upregulation of survivin. The present study revealed that LINK-A may serve as possible diagnostic marker for glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide (GO)-based membranes in desalination suffer from either low ion rejection or low water flux. Herein, an electroconductive three-dimensional hybrid membrane was successfully fabricated using reduced GO and carbon nanotubes (GCM) and exhibited great potential to break the trade-off between permeability and selectivity when it simultaneously performed as a filter membrane and an electrode. The intercalation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the reduced GO matrix not only created numerous water transport channels to promote permeability, but also increased the active adsorption sites for salt ions. The large specific surface area contributed to more capacitive counterions onto the GCM under applied bias, which resulted in stronger electrostatic repulsion between the capacitive ions on the GCM and counterions in solution, leading to an enhanced Donnan effect and remarkable salt rejection. The optimized GCM (containing 15% CNTs) achieved an outstanding NaCl rejection of 71%, which is three times higher than that without bias. Moreover, the GCM exhibited superior rejection ability for divalent cations and performed better under negative potential due to the pseudo-capacitance induced by the coordination of cations and oxygen-containing groups. These findings provide new insight for the future development of GO-based membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a systematic design of a high-efficiency magnetic resonant wireless power transfer (MR-WPT) system for biomedical implants based on the unconventional multisine (MS) transmission waveform. The MS waveform featuring a high peak to average power ratio can boost the system efficiency with an elaborate design. Optimizations on flexible coil, system model, and rectifier design are all considered to strengthen its efficiency improvement as well as eliminate its drawbacks. With all the proposed optimizations implemented, the MS waveform has been applied for the first time in practical MR-WPT system for in vivo power delivery. A 6.78-MHz MR-WPT system with 18-mm implant depth is realized for wirelessly powering a spinal cord stimulator. It achieves an overall system efficiency (both coils and rectifier included) of 50.7% with a three-tone 230-kHz tone spacing MS waveform postimplantation in the rodent model. Low specific absorption rate and the tissue temperature rising from electromagnetic fields in the body are also verified to guarantee a safe and practical wireless power link for biomedical implants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter presents a reconfigurable diode topology which obtains the independently tuned ultra-low threshold voltage and large breakdown voltage simultaneously. Measured I-V curves show that the proposed topology obtains both ultra-low threshold voltage (250 mV) and tunable breakdown voltage up to −51 V. By applying the topology in rectifier design, high efficiency of above 50% can be maintained within a wide power range from 0.1 W to above 10 W in an inductive wireless power transfer (WPT) test environment. It provides a practical diode topology design for rectifiers to maintain high efficiency for large power variation scenarios such as coil misalignment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This letter presents a novel dual-band rectifier with extended power range (EPR) and an optimal incident RF power strategy in the settings where the available RF energy fluctuates considerably. It maintains high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in an ultra-wide input power range by adopting a pHEMT in the proposed topology. Simultaneous RF power incident mode is proposed and preferred to the traditional independent mode for multi-band harvesting. Measured results show that more than 30% PCE is obtained with input power ranging from -15~dBm to 20 dBm and peak PCE of 60% is maintained from 5 to 15 dBm. Positive power gain is achieved from -20~dBm to more than 10 dBm. Investigation about the effect of RF power incident ratio on dual-band harvesting's performance is presented and it provides a good reference for future multi-band harvesting system design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The dynamic analysis model of axial piston pump was established; both the kinematics and dynamics simulation analysis were conducted by virtual prototyping approach. The displacement, velocity, acceleration and stress curves of the piston under different working conditions were investigated. In addition, a ball-in-socket contact model was established, and the effects of hydraulic pressure, piston radius and radial clearance on normal displacement, contact radius, maximum contact pressure, normal contact stiffness and tangential contact stiffness were analyzed comprehensively. The results indicate that the normal displacement, maximum contact pressure, contact radius, normal contact stiffness and tangential contact stiffness can be improved by enlarging the piston radius and decreasing the radial clearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapid design approach to achieve the optimal efficiency in a magnetic resonant wireless power transfer (MR‐WPT) system is presented. A concise design guideline is provided to determine the optimal efficiency condition and related coupling coefficients. Experimental validations are demonstrated by both simulation and measurement results of a 6.78 MHz MR‐WPT system prototype with the maximum efficiency of 76.1% at a 50 mm distance between transmitter and receiver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, photo-Fenton technology has been widely used to degrade tetracycline (TC) because of its great efficiency and wide application range. Herein, Fe–Ni layered double hydroxides (FeNi-LDH)/Ti 3 C 2 photo-Fenton system was constructed in this study. The results showed the introduction of Ti 3 C 2 solved some problems of FeNi-LDH such as poor conductivity, easy aggregation, and high recombination rate of photoelectron. Benefiting from these advantages, FeNi-LDH/Ti 3 C 2 exhibited excellent TC removal rate of 94.7% while pure FeNi-LDH was only 54%. Besides, FeNi-LDH/Ti 3 C 2 possessed strong pH tolerance (2–11) and the removal efficiency was still up to 82% after the four-cycle experiment. Furthermore, the quenching experiments revealed the reaction mechanism, where ∙OH and ·O 2 − were the primary active radicals for degrading TC. Last, the results of the simulated wastewater treatment and the inorganic ion interference tests showed that FeNi-LDH/Ti 3 C 2 possessed practical application potential. In brief, this study shows that FeNi-LDH/Ti 3 C 2 can offer a certain theoretical basis for the actual development of hydrotalcite in heterogeneous photo-Fenton systems. [Display omitted] • A novel material FeNi-LDH/Ti 3 C 2 was successfully prepared by a facile method. • The incorporation of Ti 3 C 2 enhanced the photogenerated carrier separation. • The degradation efficiency of TC increased by 40% after introduce Ti 3 C 2. • FeNi-LDH/Ti 3 C 2 photo-Fenton system possessed great application prospect. • The possible mechanism and degradation pathways of TC were illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum (Al) salts are widely used as coagulants to remove phosphorus (P) in water treatment. However, the relationship between P and Al species and the underlying coagulation mechanisms is rarely studied. Currently, water eutrophication is a serious issue, and therefore advanced P removal is extremely necessary. Herein, the orthophosphate removal behavior of Al coagulants with various species distributions was investigated. The results showed that AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O (AC) had a more pronounced P removal efficiency than polyaluminum chloride (PACl). Medium (Al b or Al 13 ) and high polymeric species (Al c ) played a more significant role in removing P than monomeric species (Al a ). During coagulation, adsorption onto flocs was the dominant P removal mechanism, which could be categorized as multilayer adsorption. Although the adsorption kinetics showed that physical adsorption best described the adsorption mechanism for AC and PACl, it is worth noting that chemical adsorption also occurred during P removal by AC because of the formation of the AlPO 4 precipitate. This could be because of the strong complex adsorption between the in situ Al 13 species and P. Based on the excellent P removal performance, we believe these findings will have a large potential for application in advanced P removal in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]