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Background Despite extensive molecular epidemiological studies, the prevalence and characteristics of Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus-Like Virus (MMTV-LV) in Chinese women breast cancer are still unclear. Besides, the prevalence of MMTV-LV in women breast cancer tissue varies in different countries and its dependent factors remain inconclusive. Methods In the first part of the study, a case-control study was performed. 119 breast cancer samples (84 from Northern China and 35 from Southern China) and 50 breast fibroadenoma specimens were collected from Chinese women patients. MMTV-like env sequence and the homology to MMTV env gene were analysed by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We also explored the association of MMTV-LV prevalence with sample sources (Southern and Northern China) and patients’ clinicopathological characteristics. To investigate the dependent factors of the prevalence of MMTV-LV in breast cancer worldwide, a meta-analysis was conducted in the second part of the study. Results We found that the prevalence of MMTV-LV was much higher in breast cancer tissues (17.65%) than that in breast fibroadenoma specimens (4.00%) (P P P Conclusion The distribution of house mice may be a crucial environmental factor that explains the geographic differences in human breast cancer incidence. Our findings may provide a potential avenue of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.

A wideband dual-mode complementary dipole antenna is proposed. The antenna is composed of a wideband slotline radiator and an electric dipole. It is excited by a coaxial cable at the center. A pair...

Excessive expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a common cause of blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown that triggers severe complications following traumatic brain injury (TBI). It has been shown that inhibition of VEGF activities may attenuate cerebral edema in pathological conditions. Vascular endothelial growth inhibitor (VEGI; also known as TNFSF15), a cytokine produced largely by vascular endothelial cells, is capable of downregulating VEGF expression and inhibiting VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR2) activation. In this study we found that TBI can cause breakdown of BBB and sharp increases of VEGF/VEGI and Angpt2/Angpt1 ratios in the injured tissues. VEGI treatment resulted in a marked decrease of BBB permeability and concomitant restoration of normal ratios of VEGF/VEGI and Angpt2/Angpt1. Consistently, alleviated edema, decreased neuron cell death, and improved neurological functions were observed when the experimental animals were treated with VEGI in the early phase of TBI. Our findings suggest that administration of VEGI recombinant protein at early phases of TBI is beneficial to stabilization of the disease conditions.

A moderate stress such as cold water swimming can raise the tolerance of the body to potentially injurious events. However, little is known about the mechanism of beneficial effects induced by moderate stress. In this study, we used a classic rat model of traumatic brain injury to test the hypothesis that cold water swimming preconditioning improved the recovery of cognitive functions and explored the mechanisms. Results showed that after traumatic brain injury, pre-conditioned rats (cold water swimming for 3 minutes at 4°C) spent a significantly higher percent of times in the goal quadrant of cold water swim, and escape latencies were shorter than for non-pretreated rats. The number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells was significantly higher in pre-conditioned rats than those without pretreatment at 0, 3, 6 and 24 hours after traumatic brain injury. Immunohistochemical staining and Von Willebrand factor staining demonstrated that the number of CD34+ stem cells and new blood vessels in the injured hippocampus tissue increased significantly in pre-conditioned rats. These data suggest that pretreatment with cold water swimming could promote the proliferation of endothelial progenitor cells and angiogenesis in the peripheral blood and hippocampus. It also ameliorated cognitive deficits caused by experimental traumatic brain injury.

CoSb3 thermoelectric thin films were prepared on polyimide flexible substrate by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technology using a cobalt antimony alloy target. Ti and In were added into CoSb3 thin films by co-sputtering. The influence of Ti and In on the thermoelectric properties of CoSb3 thin films was investigated. X-ray diffraction result shows that the major diffraction peaks of all the thin films match the standard peaks related to the CoSb3 phase. The sample has best thermoelectric properties when the Ti sputtering time was 1min and In sputtering time was 30 seconds.

Epitaxial thin films of CuFe 1 − x Sn x O 2 ( x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07), a transparent oxide semiconductor with delafossite structure, were grow on Al 2 O 3 (0 0 0 1) substrate by sol–gel method, The X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the CuFeO 2 film annealed at 500 °C in air was mainly composed of amorphous phase, and after post-annealed at 900 °C in N 2 , single phase CuFe 1 − x Sn x O 2 films with high c -axis oriented were obtained. The Raman spectrum confirmed the delafossite structure of the films. The binding energy of Cu-2p 3/2 , Fe-2p 3/2 and Sn-3d 5/2 were 932 eV, 711.3 eV and 486.2 eV in CuFe 1 − x Sn x O 2 films. The chemical composition of the films was close to its stoichiometry, which was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The films show high transmittance around 45–78% in the visible band and 78–95% in the near infrared spectral region, while the energy gaps for direct allowed transition were estimated as 3.5 ± 0.02 eV. The p-type characteristics of CuFe 1 − x Sn x O 2 thin films were determined by positive Hall coefficients. The resistivity of the film was 36.83 Ω cm for CuFeO 2 film at room temperature, significantly decreased to 1.043 Ω cm after substituting Sn 2+ for Fe 3+ . The resistivity showed a decrease at the beginning and increased with the growing of Sn ion doping ratio. These results demonstrate that the high c -axis oriented CuFe 1 − x Sn x O 2 films can be the very promising p-type transparent conductive thin films.

As an important wide bandgap p-type conductive delafossite material, CuScO2 (CSO) has been intensively investigated for its wide applications in multi-functional optoelectronic devices. In order to obtain both high infrared (IR) transparency and low resistivity, we report on, for the first time, the experimental preparation of single phase epitaxial CSO thin film by using polymer-assisted-deposition (PAD) method. As a key point in the PAD process, the used polymer materials (PEI and EDTA) not only control the desired viscosity for the process, but also bind the metal ions to prevent premature precipitation and formation of metal oxide oligomers. The technique results in a homogeneous distribution of the metal precursors in the solution as well as the formation of uniform metal organic film. Due to the uniaxial locked epitaxy mechanism, the epitaxial growth of CSO (0001) thin film on a-plane sapphire is achieved, and the orientation relationship of the film with respect to the substrate are confirmed to be CSO[3R](0001)//a-Al2O3(110). The obtained CSO thin film from the PAD technique exhibits a low electrical resistivity of 1.047 Ω cm at room temperature, and a high transmittance of 65–85% in the near-IR range and more than 85% in the mid-IR range. The presented technique does provide the possibility of preparing high-crystallinity oxide films which can be applicable over a wide wavelength range from visible band to infrared band.

Dairy products logistics service quality directly affect the quality of dairy products, this article first from management level, advanced technical equipment, warehousing and distribution quality, cost economy four aspects put forward the preliminary evaluation of dairy products logistics service quality, then through questionnaire survey to judge the proposed initial indicators of evaluation, through the analysis of the membership degree and the important degree of initial index screening optimization, get a more scientific and reasonable evaluation index system, lay a solid foundation for the objective evaluation of the dairy products logistics service quality.

This paper introduces the basic properties of the explosive dangerous goods and the matters needing attention during the transport process. It also designs the monitoring system for transport process based on the technology of the Internet of things, including the route choice subsystem, the set out audit subsystem and the en-route item state supervision subsystem. Finally it analyzes the function and the operation process of the transportation monitoring system and the application of RFID in the system.

A novel compact dual-polarized antenna is proposed. The antenna has a 1.43% impedance bandwidth which is from 1801 MHz to 1827 MHz for return loss larger than 10 dB. The isolation between the two ports is above 28 dB in the bandwidth, and the gain is 6.6 dBi. The proposed antenna not only consists of a full-planar structure, but also is easy to be fabricated for its simple structure. Additionally, a section of slots and slits is cut on the radiation patch to reduce the area of it to 54% compared with the conventional square patch.

Introduction Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a leading cause of disability and death among young people in China. Unfortunately, no specific pharmacological agents to block the progression of secondary brain injury have been approved for clinical treatment. Recently, neuroprotective effects of erythropoietin (EPO) have been demonstrated in addition to its principal function in erythropoiesis, and hence it is viewed as a potential drug for TBI. In this study, we have investigated the neuroprotective effects of EPO associated with immune/inflammatory modulation in a mouse experimental TBI model. Methods EPO (5000 U/kg body weight, i.p.) was injected at 1 hr, 1, 2, and 3 days after TBI, and its effect on cognitive function, brain edema, immune/inflammatory cells including regulatory T cells (Tregs), neutrophils, CD3+ T cells, and microglia, cytokines including interleukin-10 (IL-10), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were evaluated at different time points after treatment. Results EPO treatment significantly decreased brain edema and improved cognitive function when compared to Saline-treated mice (p