Search

In this work, the mixed-potential-type gas sensor based on NASICON solid electrolyte and MMnO3 (M: Gd, Sm, La) sensing electrode (SE) was developed and fabricated aiming at the low-concentration triethylamine (TEA) detection. The research point of the fabricated sensors mainly concentrated on the effect of different A-site elements in MMnO3-SE (M: Gd, Sm, La) on TEA sensing characteristics. The result reveals that the highest response value (−217.5 mV) towards 50 ppm TEA was observed for the device utilizing SmMnO3-SE. The highest electrochemical catalytic activity of the fabricated sensors attached with SmMnO3-SE was further authenticated by the polarization curve measurement. Moreover, the response value displays a segmentally linear relationship with TEA concentrations and the logarithm of TEA concentrations, and the slopes are −49 mV/ppm and −105 mV/decade at the ranges of 0.05–0.5 ppm and 1–50 ppm TEA, respectively. The device could also produce an acceptable response value (−5.6 mV) towards 50 ppb TEA. Moreover, it also displays good repeatability and selectivity, along with steady response signals towards 5 ppm and 50 ppm TEA for 15 days and 1 ppm TEA at different humidity levels.

Endoreduplication, the replication of the nuclear genome in the absence of mitosis, is often associated with cell growth and differentiation in plants and animals, but the molecular mechanisms underlying endoreduplication in plants have not been fully elucidated. Here, we show that the Mediator complex subunit MED16 acts as a negative regulator of endoreduplication to influence cell growth in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The med16 mutant exhibits larger and more numerous cells than the wild type, resulting in enlarged organs. The large cells in med16 are associated with high DNA ploidy levels. MED16 associates with the promoters of the Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome activators CELL CYCLE SWITCH52 A1 (CCS52A1) and CCS52A2 (encoding important factors for endoreduplication and cell growth) and represses their expression. MED16 interacts physically with the transcriptional repressor DEL1 to repress the expression of CCS52A2. Genetic analysis suggested that MED16 is partially dependent on CCS52A1/A2 to control endoreduplication and cell growth. Our results indicate that the transcriptional repression of CCS52A1/A2 by MED16 regulates endoreduplication and cell growth in Arabidopsis.

Herein, ZnO nanoflowers without any doping and modification were synthesized by hydrothermal method. The room temperature nitrogen dioxide sensor with high sensitivity, selectivity and long-term stability was prepared by combining ZnO nanoflowers with interdigital electrodes. The average diameter of the ZnO nanoflowers was about 0.9–1 μm. In addition, the gas sensing properties of the nitrogen dioxide gas sensors at room temperature were investigated. Compared with other ZnO sensors, the sensor based on the ZnO nanoflowers revealed outstanding sensing response to NO2, giving a response of 0.05–6 ppm. The sensor exhibited a lower detection limit of 0.05 ppm and had an ultra-high response to 1 ppm NO2 at room temperature. The response was only decreased by 16% of the initial value after 40 days of measurement. The Schottky barrier could be the key factor for the excellent NO2 sensing properties, which was formed between the Au electrodes and ZnO nanoflowers.

The polycrystalline perovskite SmMO3 (M = Al, Cr, Co) sensing electrode was synthesized by the sol-gel method, and the NASICON-based sensors attached with SmMO3 were designed and fabricated for triethylamine (TEA) detection. This study investigated the effects of different M3+ ions in SmMO3 and various calcination temperatures of the sensing material on TEA sensing properties. The results reveal that compared with the other devices, the sensor attached with SmCrO3 sintered at 800 °C displays a higher response value (−108.2 mV) towards 100 ppm TEA, and that the sensor even detects 2 ppm TEA with an acceptable value (−6 mV). The sensor utilizing SmCrO3 (800 °C) also exhibits pretty swift response and recovery times of 2 and 22 s, respectively, toward 20 ppm TEA. A linear relationship exists between the response values and the logarithm of TEA concentrations, and the sensitivity is −64 mV/decade. At the same time, good repeatability, selectivity, and long-term stability of the sensor are also observed. Furthermore, the sensing mechanism related to the mixed potential model is demonstrated by the polarization curve measurements.

In this study, Sr2MMoO6 (M: Fe, Mg and Ni) were prepared successfully by sol-gel method and used as sensing electrode materials for CeO2-based mixed potential type acetone sensors. Results indicated that the sensor attached with Sr2FeMoO6 sensing electrode exhibited the best sensing characteristic to acetone among all the other sensors in this study, which showed the maximum response value of −147 mV to 100 ppm acetone at 590 °C and the typical 90% response time was about 13 s. The sensitivity of the sensor using Sr2FeMoO6-SE was the largest towards acetone at the range of 5–200 ppm, and the slope of which was −100 mV/decade. Moreover, the sensor could also detect 0.5 ppm acetone with an acceptable value. In addition, the device also exhibited excellent repeatability and humidity stability, good selectivity and stability during 25 days. Besides, the sensing mechanism of the mixed potential type acetone sensor was explained clearly in this study.

Background Despite titanium (Ti) implants have been commonly used in the medical device field due to their superior biocompatibility, implant-associated bacterial infection remains a major clinical complication. Nanosilver, an effective antibacterial agent against a wide spectrum of bacterial strains, with a low-resistance potential, has attracted much interest too. Incorporation of nanosilver on Ti implants may be a promising approach to prevent biofilm formation. Purpose The objective of the study was to investigate the antibacterial effects and osteoinductive properties of nanosilver/poly (dl-lactic-co-glycolic acid)-coated titanium (NSPTi). Methods Gram-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO-1) were used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of NSPTi implants through the analysis of bacterial colonization in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we examined the osteoinductive potential of NSPTi implants by investigating the proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblast cells. In vivo, the osteoinductive properties of NSPTi implants were assessed by radiographic evaluation, H&E staining, and Masson's trichrome staining. Results In vitro, bacterial adhesion to the 2% NSPTi was significantly inhibited and

1,5-Diaminonaphthalene functionalized carbon nanodots (DAN-CDs) were explored as a novel matrix for direct detection of small molecules by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) in negative ion mode. By using DAN-CDs as the matrix, we could detect not only biological small molecules such as fatty acids (FAs), amino acids, peptide Gly–Gly and dopamine, but also anticancer drug erlotinib. By comparison with the performance of CDs, DAN, and their binary matrix, DAN-CDs were favored because of their lower matrix background interference and good detection sensitivity. In addition, the DAN-CDs matrix displayed good salt tolerance and was further applied for plasma detection and qualitative detection of endogenous FAs in a plasma sample. Furthermore, the covalent amide bonds in the DAN-CDs matrix reduced signal interference from the matrix. These results demonstrated that DAN-CDs are a novel negative ion mode matrix for the analysis of small molecules in bio-samples by MALDI-MS.

A dicyanoisophorone-based near-infrared fluorescent probe (NIR-NP) was successfully designed for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) detection. 7-Nitro-1,2,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD) amine, an electron-withdrawing group, was applied to quench the fluorescence of dicyanoisophorone-based fluorescent dyes and could be removed by H2S-specific thiolysis of an NBD amine bond, leading to a significant fluorescence turn-on response. The probe could quantitatively detect H2S with a lower detection limit (0.03 μM) in vitro and in living cells. The probe with a large Stokes shift (186 nm) showed a high selectivity to H2S in the presence of other biothiols, including glutathione, homocysteine, and cysteine. Moreover, the probe was successfully applied to image endogenous H2S in different tumor cells and in liver tissues. The excellent properties of the probe and its applications in cell and tissue imaging indicated its potential for further exploration and application of H2S in the pathophysiology of cancers and even in the diagnosis of H2S-related diseases.

Highlights Theoretical calculations reveal that Nicandra physaloides pectin can serve as Lewis base to realize strong interaction toward both lithium polysulfide and polyselenides.Nicandra physaloides pectin is introduced into a conductive double-carbon self-supporting film to build an anchoring and regulating interlayer for Li–SeS2 batteries.The Li–SeS2 pouch cells assembled with the interlayers deliver good flexibility and stability to demonstrate a viable strategy for developing working Li–SeS2 batteries. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40820-021-00629-z., SeS2 has become a promising cathode material owing to its enhanced electrical conductivity over sulfur and higher theoretical specific capacity than selenium; however, the working Li–SeS2 batteries have to face the practical challenges from the severe shuttling of soluble dual intermediates of polysulfide and polyselenide, especially in high-SeS2-loading cathodes. Herein, a natural organic polymer, Nicandra physaloides pectin (NPP), is proposed to serve as an effective polysulfide/polyselenide captor to address the shuttling issues. Informed by theoretical calculations, NPP is competent to provide a Lewis base-based strong binding interaction with polysulfides/polyselenides via forming lithium bonds, and it can be homogeneously deposited onto a three-dimensional double-carbon conductive scaffold to finally constitute a polysulfide/polyselenide-immobilizing interlayer. Operando spectroscopy analysis validates the enhanced polysulfide/polyselenide trapping and high conversion efficiency on the constructed interlayer, hence bestowing the Li–SeS2 cells with ultrahigh rate capability (448 mAh g−1 at 10 A g−1), durable cycling lifespan (≈ 0.037% capacity attenuation rate per cycle), and high areal capacity (> 6.5 mAh cm−2) at high SeS2 loading of 15.4 mg cm−2. Importantly, pouch cells assembled with this interlayer exhibit excellent flexibility, decent rate capability with relatively low electrolyte-to-capacity ratio, and stable cycling life even under a low electrolyte condition, promising a low-cost, viable design protocol toward practical Li–SeS2 batteries. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40820-021-00629-z.

This study developed a novel method for the rapid detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 on a microfluidic platform. First, the concentration of bacteria in a sample was determined with the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) method. Then, the specific detection of E. coli was achieved in a microfluidic chip by the immune-microsphere technique. The influences of the culture time, flow rate and capture time on the detection of the target bacteria were investigated systematically. Generally, with increasing capture time, more bacteria could be captured by the microspheres, which had a positive effect on bacterial detection. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity of the method were also tested. The results showed that this method could specifically detect E. coli with a sensitivity as high as 49.1 cfu/μL; the consumption of bacteria was 1 μL, and the reagent was at the microliter level. The testing time can be controlled within one and a half hours, and the cost of testing was approximately RMB 10. The method described in this article is simple and accurate and has great application value in bacterial detection for medical diagnostics.

Additional file 10. Review history.

Inspired by hyperspectral classification algorithm with kernel function, a joint sparse representation classification method based on dictionary optimization (DO-JSRC) is presented to lower the cost of information collection for hyperspectral, as spectral information of hyperspectral images (HSIs) and size of sparse representation dictionary dramatically increases. In this proposed method, we initially select a small number of atoms, calculate the spectral similarity between each atom and the cluster center of the sample through the Gaussian kernel function, and then take the average value. For an atomic dictionary with low spectral similarity, we increase the number of atoms to make it sufficiently representative of this class. The principal component analysis is adopted to extract the principal components of the dictionary after reselecting the atoms, which help to reduce redundant components of the dictionary and facilitates the sparse representation classification. Experiments on the Indian pines datasets show that the presented method can better classify hyperspectral datasets with fewer atoms.

The low activity of nanozymes, which work as an alternative to natural enzymes, limits their applications in the fabrication of biosensors, drawing increasing attention aimed at improving their catalytic capacity. In this work, the peroxidase-like activity of MoS2 nanosheets (NSs) was dramatically enhanced through DNA modification, and was 4.3-times higher than that of bare MoS2 NSs. Such an enhancement of catalytic activity was mainly ascribed to the increased affinity of the DNA/MoS2 NSs toward the substrate, TMB, further accelerating electron transfer from TMB to H2O2. On the basis of DNA-tuned MoS2 NS nanozyme activity, a colorimetric sensing platform was developed for the facile detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in a sensitive manner. Interestingly, a convenient, affordable, and instrument-free portable test kit was fabricated to visually monitor CEA via rooting the aptamer/MoS2 NS system into an agarose hydrogel. Importantly, our work illuminates the feasibility of using DNA to enhance the catalysis of nanozymes and their application potential in the label-free, portable, and visual detection of aptamer-targeted biomolecules.

Backgrounds: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is 1 of the common microvascular complications of diabetes, and the therapeutic effect of modern medicine on DKD is limited. At present, patented Chinese medicine Qizhijiangtang (QZJT) capsule has been widely used in the treatment of DKD. We aim to systematically assess the efficacy and safety of QZJT capsule for the treatment of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Methods: Randomized controlled trials of QZJT capsule for DKD treatment will be searched until July 1, 2020, in 7 electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and Chinese Biomedical Literature. Furthermore, additional relevant publications will be manually searched according to reference lists from the resulting publications. The Cochrane risk test from the Cochrane Handbook will be used as a bias tool to evaluate the methodological quality. The clinical efficacy will be the primary outcome, which is based on the changes in symptoms and levels of proteinuria. Review Manager 5.3 will be used to analyze the results. Results and conclusions: Our meta-analysis will provide evidence to the clinical application of QZJT capsule in the treatment of DKD from the 4 aspects including the clinical efficacy, changes in proteinuria, the renal function and level of blood glucose. Meanwhile, the results can also reflect the role of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of DKD. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020153949.

Background Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been proposed to be responsible for tumor recurrence and chemo-resistance. Previous studies suggested that miR-153 played essential roles in lung cancer. However, the molecular mechanism of miR-153 in regulating the stemness of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-153 in regulation of the stemness of NSCLC. Methods The stemness property of lung stem cancer cells was detected by sphere formation assay, immunofluorescence, and Western blot. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to investigate the direct binding of miR-153 to the 3′-UTR of JAG1 mRNA. Animal study was conducted to evaluate the effect of miR-153 on tumor growth in vivo. The clinical relevance of miR-153 in NSCLC was evaluated by Rt-PCR and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results MiR-153 expression was decreased in lung cancer tissues. Reduced miR-153 expression was associated with lung metastasis and poor overall survival of lung cancer patients. Jagged1, one of the ligands of Notch1, is targeted by miR-153 and inversely correlates with miR-153 in human lung samples. More importantly, we found that miR-153 inhibited stem cell-like phenotype and tumor growth of lung adenocarcinoma through inactivating the Jagged1/Notch1 axis. Conclusion MiR-153 suppresses the stem cell-like phenotypes and tumor growth of lung adenocarcinoma by targeting Jagged1 and provides a potential therapeutic target in lung cancer therapy.

Background: Indomethacin is one of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) , and it was considered to have chemosensitization effects on many cancers, however, the mechanism of its effect on chemotherapy is still unclear. In this study, using human lung cancer SPC-A-1 cells, we examined the effects of indomethacin sensitize s human lung cancer cells to cisplatin (DDP). Methods: Human lung cancer SPC-A-1 cells were inoculated subcutaneously into BALB/c-nu/nu mice, and all the transplanted nude mice were divided into a control group, a DDP group and a indomethacin combined with DDP group , after daily treatment for 4 weeks a ll the mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Immunohisto-chemical staining was employed to determine the expression of PCNA of lung tumor cell in the tumor tissues, western blot was used to detect the expression of autophagy related protein LC3-II and P62 What’s more, the formation of antophagosomes was observed through transmission electron microscope. Results: Compared with the control group and DDP group, we can find that tumor growth is very slow in indomethacin combined with DDP group , and the tumor weight decreased significantly in combined group. H&E staining reveal s that tumor cell necrosis is more obvious in combined group . The immunohistochemical staining results indicated that the expression of PCNA was much lower in combined group . than that in control and DDP group s.More importantly, western blot results show that the expression of LC3-II was significantly up-regulated in combined group than that in control group and DDP group ( P < 0.05 ) , and the expression of p62 protein was significantly down-regulated in combined group ( P < 0.05 ). Moreover, transmission electron microscope results show that compared with the control group and DDP group, the number of antophagosomes increased significantly in combined group. Conclusions : Our findings suggested that indomethacin can enhance the chemo s ensitivity of lung cancer cells to DDP, and the underlying mechanism maybe associated with the activation of autophagy.

With a rapidly increasing population on or near steep terrain in southwest of China, landslides have become one of the most significant natural hazards. Thus, quick detection, prediction, and identification of early signals of landslide occurrence are critical for prompt emergency information, rescue efforts, and mitigation of further damage such as collapse of a landslide dam. Accordingly, in this paper, a prototype of early-stage-landslide detection is introduced. We construct a new automatic approach to extract landslides from remote sensing imagery, both optical and radar for quick prediction and detection before disasters, achieved by combining interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) with differential detection method using multi-temporal high-resolution optical images. The idea behind the novel approach is to identify potential landslides by typical distribution features, deformation, and tendency of landslides, including the result of expert second opinion. To verify the feasibility of this landslide prediction system, a case study was performed in Jinsha River area. It is found that the use of automatic detection of the potential landslides over satellite imagery allows the identification and characterization of the affected areas based on landslide features. It is expected that the prototype of landslide prediction can provide early recognitions before severe landslides occur. Total of eight active small-scaled landslides in early edge covering study region are automatically detected.

National reports on the total economic loss of geologic hazards demonstrate that landslides have serious negative economic impacts, especially in southwest of China. Most of geologic hazards are widely distributed, highly covert, abrupt, and devastating, which imposes more challenges on landslide detection in the early stage. Detection of slow landslides movement and prediction of the tendency of landslides in mountain terrains have great potential for crisis area targeting, hazard preventing, and people protection. Accordingly, in this study, we first propose a novel framework of artificial intelligent landslides detection over comprehensive remote sensing technique, from InSAR and high-resolution remote sensing images. The paper then discusses in detail how to construct background database with typical elements by categorizing sample sub-databases by versatile data features. In addition, a series of relevant key techniques of importance including heterogeneous data fusion, object-oriented surface coverage change detection, and intelligent comprehensive identification of hidden geohazards have been thoroughly investigated. The new framework has been successfully applied and verified in Jinsha River, China.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Uncropped full-length blot images for Fig. 2b, 4a, b. The cropped blots were marked with red frame.

In order to obtain high-performance CeO2-based mixed potential type acetone sensors, MFeO3 (M: Bi, La and Sm) sensing electrode materials were prepared by sol-gel method. The present study mainly focused on the effect of sensing electrode material and sintering temperature on sensing performance of sensors. The results showed that the sensor used BiFeO3-SE sintered at 800 °C presented the best sensing characteristic to acetone at 600 °C, which can detect even 1 ppm acetone with an acceptable response value. The response value (ΔV) of the sensor changed proportionally with the logarithm of acetone concentration at the ranges of 1–5 ppm and 5–200 ppm, and the slopes of which were −7 and −75 mV/decade, respectively. The sensor also showed excellent repeatability, relatively good selectivity, resistance to humidity and good long-term stability. The high-sensing characteristics of the sensor attached with BiFeO3-SE sintered at 800 °C to acetone were explained in terms of morphology and electrocatalytic activity of sensing electrode, which are validated by SEM, BET, XPS, polarization curves and complex impedance.

Multitarget inhibitors design has generated great interest in cancer treatment. Based on the synergistic effects of topoisomerase and histone deacetylase inhibitors, we designed and synthesized a new series of acridine hydroxamic acid derivatives as potential novel dual Topo and HDAC inhibitors. MTT assays indicated that all the hybrid compounds displayed good antiproliferative activities with IC50 values in low micromolar range, among which compound 8c displayed potent activity against U937 (IC50 = 0.90 μM). In addition, compound 8c also displayed the best HDAC inhibitory activity, which was several times more potent than HDAC inhibitor SAHA. Subsequent studies indicated that all the compounds displayed Topo II inhibition activity at 50 μM. Moreover, compound 8c could interact with DNA and induce U937 apoptosis. This study provides a suite of compounds for further exploration of dual Topo and HDAC inhibitors, and compound 8c can be a new dual Topo and HDAC inhibitory anticancer agent.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that repress gene expression. In plants, the RNase III enzyme Dicer-like (DCL1) processes primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) into miRNAs. Here, we show that SMALL1 (SMA1), a homolog of the DEAD-box pre-mRNA splicing factor Prp28, plays essential roles in miRNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis. A hypomorphic sma1-1 mutation causes growth defects and reduces miRNA accumulation correlated with increased target transcript levels. SMA1 interacts with the DCL1 complex and positively influences pri-miRNA processing. Moreover, SMA1 binds the promoter region of genes encoding pri-miRNAs (MIRs) and is required for MIR transcription. Furthermore, SMA1 also enhances the abundance of the DCL1 protein levels through promoting the splicing of the DCL1 pre-mRNAs. Collectively, our data provide new insights into the function of SMA1/Prp28 in regulating miRNA abundance in plants.

The ability to recover from drought stress after re‐watering is an important feature that will enable plants to cope with the predicted increase in episodic drought. The effects of pre‐drought and re‐watering conditions on leaf spectral properties and their relationships with the biochemical processes that underlie the recovery from pre‐drought conditions should be better understood. The reflectance spectra, 10 spectral reflectance indices (SRIs) and biochemical characteristics of maize (Zea mays) leaves were monitored 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after the initiation of soil drought stress during two successive cycles of drought and re‐watering periods. The leaf reflectance of the two inbred maize lines increased under the drought stress, especially in the visible spectral range. In addition, an obvious recovery of the leaf reflectance was only observed in the first re‐watering period, and its value remained higher than that of the control plants during the second recovery period. A recovery lag in the pigment contents was also observed during the second cycle. The recovery variations in the pattern and magnitude of the SRIs and the total contents of C, N and P that were measured in response to the re‐watering during both cycles were diverse and complex; both full and partial recoveries were observed. The SRIs representing different physiological attributes of plant growth, including the water index, red edge position, photochemical reflectance index and near‐infrared reflectance at 800 nm, showed strong linear relationships (P < 0.01 or 0.05) with the growth and biochemical traits across the successive drought and re‐watering cycles. The results suggest that maize plants can adjust their leaf reflectance properties and employ growth and biochemical strategies to adapt to cyclic drought stress and recover from drought stress after re‐watering.

Zero-energy states in tunnel spectra, an important manifestation of topological superconductivity, have been the focus of the field of topological phases of matter. However, experimentally creating and controlling the zero-energy states is difficult, e.g., it requires a large magnetic field in the case of topological superconductivity. Here, we report on an effective approach to generate controllable zero-energy states in the superconducting Rashba oxide heterostructure by in-plane magnetic field cooling. A pronounced zero-bias conductance peak emerging below a threshold magnetic field down to zero after in-plane magnetic field cooling of a Rashba perovskite oxide heterostructure connecting to an s-wave superconductor. We further demonstrate the high tunability of the zero-energy states between a zero-bias conductance peak and a zero-bias conductance valley by electrical gating at a zero magnetic field. Our theoretical analysis indicates that the in-plane magnetic field or magnetization could lead to finite center-of-mass momentum pairing that supports topological zero-energy states in the Rashba system and provides an opportunity to manipulate topological zero-energy states through gating.

// Debao Liu 1, 2, * , Yueying Zhang 3, * , Yan Li 4 and Kaixi Fan 1 1 Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China 2 School of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Jinan-Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China 3 Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medicine, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China 4 Department of Central Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Kaixi Fan, email: fankaixiyx@sina.com Keywords: gastric cancer, neurofibromatosis type I, TNM stage, immunohistochemistry, prognosis Received: December 02, 2016 Accepted: July 06, 2017 Published: August 03, 2017 ABSTRACT We investigated whether the Neurofibromatosis type-1 ( NF1 ) gene was of prognostic relevance to gastric cancer (GC) patients. Immunohistochemical staining of 160 matched GC tumor and adjacent normal tissue samples showed that 58.1% (93/160) of GC samples were NF1-positive as compared to 94.4% (151/160) of normal tissue samples (χ 2 =58.05, P 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that negative or low NF1 were associated with poor overall survival (OS) in gastric cancer patients ( P

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of welding current and welding time on the microstructure and mechanical properties of welding joints. To this end, two dissimilar materials, austenitic stainless steel alloy SUS301L and aluminum alloy 6063-T6, were welded together via intermediate frequency resistance spot welding. A thick, two-layered intermetallic compound layer containing FeAl3 and Fe2Al5 phases was formed at the SUS301L/6063-T6 interface. As the welding current and welding time increased, the nugget diameter increased, the interfacial layer structure became coarser, the thickness of the interfacial intermetallic compound increased, and the tensile shear load of the weld joints had an increased welding tendency in stainless steel/aluminum joints. The nugget diameter reached 5.4 mm, and the maximum tensile shear load reached 1783 N at 7 kA for 200 ms of welding time. The resistance spot welded joint exhibited an interfacial fracture mode in the welded joint. The crack initiated at the interfacial intermetallic compound layer near the aluminum alloy side and spread through the interfacial layer, as well as through the aluminum alloy fusion zone near the interface.

mRNA processing is critical for gene expression. A challenge in regulating mRNA processing is how to recognize the actual mRNA processing sites, such as splice and polyadenylation sites, when the sequence content is insufficient for this purpose. Previous studies suggested that RNA structure affects mRNA processing. However, the regulatory role of RNA structure in mRNA processing remains unclear. Here, we performed in vivo selective 2’-hydroxyl acylation analysed by primer extension (SHAPE) chemical profiling on Arabidopsis nuclear RNAs and generated the in vivo nuclear RNA structure landscape. We found that nuclear mRNAs fold differently from cytosolic mRNAs. Notably, we discovered a two-nucleotide single-stranded RNA structure feature upstream of 5’ splice sites that is strongly associated with splicing and the selection of alternative 5’ splice sites. Moreover, we found the single-strandedness of branch point is also associated with 3’ splice site recognition. We also identified an RNA structure feature comprising two close-by single-stranded regions that is specifically associated with both polyadenylation and alternative polyadenylation events. Our work demonstrates an RNA structure regulatory mechanism for mRNA processing.

In this paper, YSZ-based mixed potential SO

To investigate the feasibility of using optimized protocol of iodine contrast agent with fixed injection time in triple-rule-out CT examination of acute chest pain patients.A prospective study was conducted. The patients who underwent triple-rule-out CT examination of acute chest pain at the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from September 2017 to June 2018 were enrolled. According to the patient's body mass index (BMI), they were divided into BMI ≤ 23 kg/mA total of 92 patients were enrolled in the analysis. There were 44 patients in BMI≤ 23 kg/mThe effective radiation dose of triple-rule-out CT examination of acute chest pain is relatively low. The low-dose iodine contrast agent application program with fixed injection time can meet the needs of clinical diagnosis of triple-rule-out CT examination of acute chest pain patients. For patients with BMI ≤ 23 kg/m

The temporal-spatial dynamic variation of vegetation coverage from 2010 to 2019 in Urad Grassland, Inner Mongolia has been investigated by analysing on MODIS NDVI remote sensing products. This paper applies pixel dichotomy approach and linear regression trend analysis method to analyze the temporal and spatial evolution trend of vegetation coverage over the past 10 years. The average annual vegetation coverage showed a downward trend in general from 2010 to 2019. The vegetation distribution and change trend analysis provide a thorough and scientific reference for policymaking in environmental protection.

The Sichuan Basin (SCB) with 18 cities is one of the regions that are greatly affected by PM2.5 (i.e., particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic equivalent diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm) in China. In this study, we used the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model and a source-oriented version of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to quantify the contributions from different sectors and regions to PM2.5 for the SCB in 2015. The annual PM2.5 concentrations in the 18 SCB urban centers (i.e., the central urban areas) are 42–112 μg m−3, much higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline (10 μg m−3) and having 20–86, 6–17, and 6–10 μg m−3 due to SCB, non-SCB, and unidentified emissions, respectively. Non-SCB emissions can contribute up to 87 μg m−3 to 24-h PM2.5 concentrations for an urban center. Industrial and residential activities are the largest sectors for annual PM2.5 concentrations in the urban centers, and each of them contributes ∼25%–50%. The combined residential and industrial contributions (>∼60%) are always much higher than that from each of the other sources on PM2.5 pollution and extreme pollution days (>75 and > 150 μg m−3, respectively). This study suggests that China's standard for annual PM2.5 (35 μg m−3) in most of the SCB cities might be achieved mainly through controlling SCB emissions (particularly those from industrial and residential activities); however, to meet the WHO guideline and to reduce PM2.5 pollution days and extreme pollution days, both SCB and non-SCB emissions should be greatly reduced.

In this work, the temporal-spatial dynamic variation of vegetation coverage from 2010 to 2019 in Urad Grassland has been explored by remote sensing technique. The change of precipitation and temperature has obvious effects on the vegetation, which affects the agriculture and the stability of the ecosystem. Pixel dichotomy approach and correlation analysis are introduced to analyse the temporal and spatial evolution trend of vegetation coverage and its response to climate change in the past 10 years. Specifically, the correlation between vegetation coverage and the critical climate impacting factors such as temperature and precipitation are fully investigated. The results show the vegetation coverage in the study area was influenced by effectors including climate, topography, human activities and government policies. The average annual vegetation coverage showed a downward trend in general from 2010 to 2019. Statistical correlation analysis indicates that the correlation between the vegetation coverage and the precipitation is positive in most parts of the area, while the correlation between the vegetation coverage and the precipitation shows negative with difference with various geographic features. As a result, precipitation was the major natural factor that affected dynamics of vegetation coverage in Urad grassland.

Intelligent traffic system (ITS) is one of the effective ways to solve the problem of traffic congestion. As an important part of ITS, traffic index prediction is the key of traffic guidance and traffic control. In this paper, we propose a method integrating pattern feature to sequence model for traffic index prediction. First, the pattern feature of traffic indices is extracted using convolutional neural network (CNN). Then, the extracted pattern feature, as auxiliary information, is added to the sequence-to-sequence (Seq2Seq) network to assist traffic index prediction. Furthermore, noticing that the prediction curve is less smooth than the ground truth curve, we also add a linear regression (LR) module to the architecture to make the prediction curve smoother. The experiments comparing with long short-term memory (LSTM) and Seq2Seq network demonstrated advantages and effectiveness of our methods.

To achieve lung cancer gene therapy, nanocarriers decorated with different ligands were used. Surface decoration and nanoparticulate system will assist in targeting the gene to specific cells and tissues, such as cancers and diseased organs. The aim of this research was to develop a dual ligand-decorated nanocarriers, which could target the tumor cells through receptor-mediated pathways to increase the uptake of genetic materials. Transferrin (Tf) and hyaluronic (HA) containing polyethylene glycol-distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine (Tf-PEG-DSPE and HA-PEG-DSPE) ligands were synthesized. Novel Tf and HA ligand-decorated, plasmid-enhanced green fluorescent protein loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (Tf/HA-pDNA NLC) was constructed. Physicochemical properties such as morphology, size, and ζ-potential as well as release properties were evaluated. The in vitro and in vivo gene transfection efficiency of Tf/HA-pDNA NLC was evaluated in lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and lung cancer bearing animal models. Tf/HA-pDNA NLC displayed significantly higher transfection efficiency than undecorated DNA-NLCs and single ligand-decorated NLCs in vitro and in vivo. The newly constructed NLCs could successfully load gene; and Tf and HA functioned as excellent targeting ligands to improve the cell targeting ability of the gene-loaded nanocarriers. The resulting dual ligands decorated vectors could be a promising targeted gene delivery system for the lung cancer treatment.

The dissimilar resistance spot welding of 16Mn high strength steel and 6063-T6 aluminum alloy was studied by using different welding electrodes and welding parameters. The aluminum alloy nuggets consist of cellular crystals, cellular dendrites and equiaxed dendrites with tangled dislocations and fine Mg2Si particles. There exist intermetallic compound layers including Fe2Al5 layer at steel side and Fe4Al13 layer at aluminum side in the interface zone, and their evolution process has been summarized. The excessive Fe-Al intermetallic compounds deteriorated the steel-aluminum joint strength. The welding electrode morphology and welding parameters had great effects on the steel-aluminum joints. When F-type electrodes were used, the tensile shear load and indentation ratio of the joint are 2534 N and 28.0%, respectively under the condition of optimized welding parameters. When optimized electrodes were used, the tensile shear load of the joint reached 3623 N and the indentation ratio decreased to 18%, which is related to improving welding temperature distribution. It is more favorable to use the optimized electrodes for increasing the steel-aluminum joint strength and improving its appearance quality. Keywords: 16Mn high strength steel, 6063-T6 aluminum alloy, Resistance spot welding, Microstructures, Mechanical properties

The lysosome inhibitors bafilomycin A1 and chloroquine have both lysosomotropic properties and autophagy inhibition ability, and are promising clinical agents to be used in combination with anticancer drugs. In order to investigate this combination effect, HepG2 cells were treated with bafilomycin A1, chloroquine, or/and doxorubicin, and their proliferative ability, induction of apoptosis, and the changes of lysosomal membrane permeabilization and mitochondrial membrane potential were studied. The results demonstrate that treatment with bafilomycin A1 or chloroquine alone at a relatively low concentration promotes the inhibitory effect of doxorubicin on cell growth and apoptosis. Further studies reveal that bafilomycin A1 and chloroquine promote lysosomal membrane permeabilization and the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential induced by doxorubicin. Our findings suggest that bafilomycin A1 and chloroquine potentiate the anticancer effect of doxorubicin in hepatic cancer cells and that supplementation of conventional chemotherapy with lysosome inhibitors may provide a more efficient anticancer therapy.

Context Combination of chemotherapy and nucleic acid therapy generally take advantage of drugs anti-tumor activity together with DNA capacity to transfect cancer cells, showing great promise in cancer treatment. However, effective co-delivery of drugs and DNA in a single carrier for cancer treatment remains a challenge. Objective This study aimed to design a tumor targeted, pH sensitive nanocarriers for the co-delivery of gene and drug. Materials and methods Hyaluronic acid – acid sensitive linker – 1,2-distearoyl phosphatideylethanolamine copolymers (HA-as-DSPE) were synthesized. HA-as-DSPE modified, paclitaxel and pDNA loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (HA-PTX/pDNA SLN) was prepared. The physicochemical properties like morphology, size, and zeta potential as well as release properties were evaluated. The ability and therapeutic effects of the novel system for the co-delivery of PTX and pDNA were demonstrated in vitro and in vivo . Results In vitro experiments and in vivo animal studies both confirmed that the HA-PTX/pDNA SLN system could promote the inhibition of tumor, at the same time deliver and transfect gene into the cancer cells. Discussion and conclusion Highest efficiency achieved by HA-PTX/pDNA SLN might result from the HA ligands that targeted the receptors on the cancer cells, the enhanced cellular uptake by the SLN formulations and also the pH sensitive bound of the carriers let the drug release more in the tumor cells. It could be concluded that HA-PTX/pDNA SLN could be used as a promising delivery system for drug and gene combination therapy

Located in the transitional region between the Sichuan Basin (SCB) and Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), the West China Rain Zone (WCRZ) is a large-scale ecotone and partially belongs to the Southwest China Mountains, which is one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. Using observation data from national air quality stations and our own monitoring data, we investigated the risk from O3 to vegetation and the major source-region of O3 for two UNESCO (i.e., United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage properties (Mt. Qingcheng and Mt. Emei) and one city (Ya’an) in the WCRZ. The results show that the annual mean maximum daily 8-h average (MDA8) O3 concentration in Mt. Qingcheng (54 ppb) was higher than that in the adjacent SCB cities (38–48 ppb). The acute and chronic risk levels from O3 to vegetation were also higher in Mt. Qingcheng than at all the other sites. The mean MDA8 O3 concentrations and the O3 risk levels to vegetation in Mt. Emei and Ya’an fell in the range of that at the SCB and QTP cities. However, O3 exposures at all the WCRZ, SCB, and QTP sites exceeded the empirical critical loads for natural ecosystems, forest trees, and highly O3-sensitive plants. The SCB was identified as the largest source-region of O3 for Mt. Qingcheng and Mt. Emei but other Chinese regions and northern India also had considerable contributions. To protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, there is a need to further systematically study O3 and its ecological impacts for the entire WCRZ.

Nondegenerate four-wave mixing (NFWM) is a practical and effective technique for generating or amplifying light fields at different wavelengths, and could be used to create color correlation and entanglement. Here we experimentally investigate the NFWM process in diamond atomic system via two-photon excitation with two pumps at 852 nm and 921 nm, demonstrating that a seeded NFWM with a third laser at 895 nm and two self-seeded NFWMs due to amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) occur simultaneously. We compare the two kinds of processes and show that the single- and two-photon detunings hold the key role in distinguishing them. As a result, the enhancement of seeded NFWM is obtained by selecting large one- and two-photon detunings, in which case the ASE induced self-seeded NFWM can be largely suppressed. In contrast, the ASE and its induced NFWM are effectively achieved with one- and two-photon resonant excitations allowing for population inversion for efficient ASE.

In this work, carbon fiber carrying platinum-nickel alloy is used as a sensing electrode material to develop a H2S gas sensor based on Nafion proton membrane. Characterizations of the material by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) reveal that the structure and morphology of the particles change with the ratio of the alloy. The electrochemical specific area (ECSA) of the material is calculated by cyclic voltammetry, which further proves the influence of alloy formation on the catalytic performance of the materials. When the ratio of platinum to nickel is 1:1, the material is uniformly loaded and its catalytic performance is optimal. Thus, the device made with it has the highest sensitivity. The sensor's low detection limit is 0.2 ppm. For the incorporation of nickel, the sensitivity is increased to -0.306 μA/ppm, which is 18 % higher than before. Not only does the sensor have good repeatability and short response recovery time, the presence of oxygen and water vapor does not have much effect on the sensor. Therefore, it has a great application potential in the field of gas detection at room temperature.

In this paper, a Nafion-based methanol gas sensor for fuel cell vehicles is produced. The sensing electrode materials are a series of Pt-Cu alloys (the atomic ratios of Pt to Cu are 1:0, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2) supported on carbon fibers. The structure and morphology of the materials are characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM. The electrochemical properties of the materials are tested by cyclic voltammetry (CV), Amperometric i-t Curve and alternating current impedance (A.C. Impedance) measurements. When the Pt-Cu atomic ratio in the alloy is 1:1, the material agglomeration phenomenon of the material is the weakest and the electrochemical specific area (ECSA) is the largest. The sensor made by this material exhibits the best sensing performance. The device has a response of −36 μA to 500 ppm methanol and a sensitivity of 0.07 μA/ppm. This device has good resistance to CO poisoning and has been verified by DFT theoretical calculations. The sensor operates at room temperature with high selectivity and humidity resistance. Therefore, the sensor has a good application prospect for fuel cell vehicle’s methanol detection.

In this paper, YSZ-based mixed potential SO2 sensor with ZnGa2O4 and Pt electrodes was developed and the effect of the continuous testing and aging process on the sensing characteristics was discussed. The results showed that with this process the response of the sensor to SO2 performed an opposite direction to that in the sensor’s initial state. The reason might be that the PtS produced at the Pt electrode increased the electrochemical catalytic activity of the Pt electrode, leading to the mixed potential of the Pt electrode higher than that of the ZnGa2O4 electrode. XPS and EDS results proved that a lot of Pt2+ and S2− were produced at Pt electrode after this process. Moreover, vulcanized sensor also performed similar sensing properties to the above aging sensor, which indicated that the produced PtS should be the reason that the sensor performed reverse deflection on sensing properties. In addition, the sensor after sulfuration can detect 0.05−500 ppm SO2 with the sensitivity being 5 mV/decade to 0.05−1 ppm and 41 mV/decade to 1−500 ppm. The sensor also had a reliable stability during the continuous measurement.

The West China Rain Zone (WCRZ) is of ecological importance and thus, anthropogenic impacts on its vitality are of concern. To ascertain if China's SO2 and NOx emissions reductions in the recent years are reflected in reduced impacts, sulfur and nitrogen wet deposition at Mt. Emei was observed during 2017–2019. The source contributions to sulfur and nitrogen wet deposition were estimated using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) and the source-oriented Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. The annual Volume Weighted Mean (VWM) pH of precipitation increased from 4.01 to 4.75 in the 1980s–2000s to 5.39 in 2017–2019. However, 12% of the samples during 2017–2019 had pH