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The RbCl ZnCl2 and CsCl ZnCl2 binary systems with different proportions are firstly prepared to determine the phase equilibrium relation using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The phase diagrams of RbCl ZnCl2, CsCl ZnCl2 and RbCl CsCl are thus critically optimized by thermodynamic modeling based on the available experimental values. The associate solution model (ASM) is used to describe the liquid phases of RbCl ZnCl2 and CsCl ZnCl2 binary system, and the substitutional solution model (SSM) is applied for the RbCl CsCl binary system. All Gibbs energies of intermediate compounds are treated with the Neumann-Kopp rule. In light of this, a set of self-consistent thermodynamic database is obtained and applied to predict the thermodynamic properties of the RbCl CsCl ZnCl2 ternary system by merging the Gibbs energies in its subsystems via the Kohler-Toop interpolation method. These results could provide effective data supporting for the selection and optimization of multi-component molten salts for the concentrating solar power (CSP) plants.

Varieties of microorganisms in seawater exhibit negative effects on the performance of adsorbents in uranium uptake from seawater. In this study, a novel adsorbent with excellent antifouling proper...

It is important to evaluate the utilization pathways of biomasses as there are different multiple choices for various types of biomasses. A method using the functional exergy efficiency as a unified protocol is proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of energy utilization in three utilization pathways of biomasses: pyrolysis, oxygen gasification and anaerobic digestion. The results show that straws are more suitable than manures used in the pyrolysis process. Functional exergy efficiencies of the oxygen gasification process of six biomasses are all higher than those of the pyrolysis process. The functional exergy efficiencies of the manures have increased, becoming close to those of straws. For the anaerobic digestion process, the functional exergy efficiencies of straws are generally lower than that of manures. Manures with low lignin content (chicken manure in this study) are more suitable as the feedstock of anaerobic digestion process. The functional exergy efficiencies of anaerobic digestion are lower than those of the pyrolysis and gasification processes while the temperature exceeds 850 °C.

Lignin strengthened ionic liquids (ILs) have shown high potential to be used as high performance green lubricants. Strengthened lignin-ILs molecular interaction is an effective approach to improve ...

The ion specific effects on the microscopic structural and macroscopic thermo-physical properties of molten AF-ThF4 systems (A+ = Li+, Na+ and K+) have been studied using molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical calculations. The [ThF8]4− and [ThF7]3− clusters dominate in LiF-ThF4 and KF-ThF4 systems respectively, and they turn out to be comparable in amount in NaF-ThF4. The Th4+-F− clusters become more stable and more isolated along with the size of the alkali species. The alkali ions tend to surround Th4+-F− clusters, and the association between A+ and Th4+-F− cluster becomes stronger when passing from LiF-ThF4 to NaF-ThF4, and then to KF-ThF4. The cage-out time and energy needed for the escape of F− from the first solvation shell of Th4+ show large growth with the size of the alkali species. The electronic structure of the [ThA8F8]4+ complexes indicates that the association between Th4+ and AF is mainly driven by the charge transfer contribution, and the charge transfer between Th centers and AF molecules increase with the size of alkali species. The calculated densities and shear viscosities follow the order of NaF-ThF4 > LiF-ThF4 > KF-ThF4. The computed thermal expansions and massic enthalpies of the three systems increase along with the size of the alkali species. The temperature has little effect on the relative strength of the microscopic Th4+ solvation shells and macroscopic thermos-physical properties for the AF-ThF4 systems.

The development of amidoxime-based polymeric (ABP) fibers offers a solution for uranium extraction from seawater (UES) and provides an alternative solution to the uranium resource shortage. However, ABP adsorbents prepared by existing methods cannot meet the requirements of high adsorption capacity, high selectivity, good mechanical strength and long service life. Herein, we fabricated a 3D hierarchical porous, high specific surface area ABP (H-ABP) fiber via self-assembly of axial grafting chains. A high adsorption capacity of 11.50 mg-U per g-adsorbents was achieved in natural seawater, which is a significant breakthrough in UES. Meanwhile, the adsorption capacity of uranium was higher than its major competing element vanadium, which overturned the U/V mass ratio of the ABP fiber. The H-ABP fiber also exhibited good mechanical strength and a long service life of at least 10 adsorption–desorption cycles. The well-designed structure resulted in groundbreaking properties, which completely meet the requirements for the economic evaluation of UES. This work presents a new technology for the synthesis of highly efficient adsorbents for UES, thus opening a whole new means of nuclear fuel production from the ocean.

Objective : The aim of this work was to build an asynchronous brain-computer interface (BCI) system based on steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) that outputs continuous, stable and smooth control commands in the up, down, left and right directions. Real-time feedback is presented on the computer screen to enhance collaborative participation in the human-computer interaction. Methods : Four stimulus sources flickering at different frequencies were sequentially fixed around the computer monitor to allow for subjects to complete control tasks by gazing at different stimulus sources. The subjects autonomously switched between the idle and working states by controlling the alpha amplitude. A sliding window voting discrimination (SWVD) strategy was incorporated into the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) algorithm for asynchronous classification. Results : Experiments were performed with 18 subjects using both the synchronous and asynchronous paradigms. The average accuracy was 95.42±3.35% with a data length of 3 s for synchronous operation; in addition, most subjects were able to successfully control a target to move precisely and smoothly with a 1 s sliding window during asynchronous operation. Conclusion : The proposed design scheme is feasible for our online asynchronous BCI system. Significance : By applying the SWVD strategy and optimizing the experimental paradigm, the classical CCA algorithm was successfully applied for continuous control in an asynchronous BCI system. With the developed system, obvious improvements in the information transmission rate (ITR) and sensitivity were achieved, which will be beneficial for the development of practical BCI systems.

A unique selective crystallization strategy based on an iodate-sulfate mixed-anion system has been developed for lanthanide separation. Periodic divergences in crystal formation energy enable simple Nd/Dy, La/Lu, Gd/Tb, La/Dy, and Nd/Lu separations through crystallization of the early lanthanides, giving rise to separation factors up to 123(5), 100(2), 2.4(2), 137(9), and 85(6), respectively.

Objective: Radiotherapy (RT) is the first choice in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) but there are many adverse reactions. There is evidence that Aidi injection can improve the effect of RT and reduce the occurrence of adverse reactions after RT, but there is still a lack of evidence-based study. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Aidi injection combined with RT in the treatment of NPC. Methods: The PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, EMBASE, Web of Science, CBM, Wanfang, and VIP data were thoroughly searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on Aidi injection combined with RT against NPC until February 2021. The literature was screened, extracted, and evaluated by 2 investigators independently. Meta-analysis was performed by RevMan5.3 and Stata 14.0, and the quality of evidence was evaluated by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Results: In this study, we included 9 RCT studies involving 422 patients. The results showed significant between-group differences in complete remission rate (CRR) [relative risk (RR) = 1.17, 95% CI (1.04, 1.31), P = .009], Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (KPS) score [RR = 1.30, 95% CI (1.19, 1.42), P 0.05], thrombocytopenia [RR = 0.78, 95%CI (0.52,1.16), P = .22 > .05], and skin injury [RR = 0.81, 95% CI (0.64, 1.04), P = .1 > .05]. Conclusion: Aidi injection combined with RT can improve patients’ quality of life (KPS score) and reduce the adverse reactions caused by RT (such as leukopenia, hemoglobin reductio，OMI，nausea, and vomiting). However, limited by the quality and quantity of the included trials，more high-quality studies should be performed to verify our conclusions.

Background/Aims: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are potential biomarkers of tumors, cardiac disease, and cerebral disease because of their interaction with coding RNAs. This work focused on ischemic stroke (IS) and aimed to identify novel lncRNA biomarkers and construct lncRNA-related networks in IS. Methods: Differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified using Arraystar Human LncRNA Microarray v4.0, and validated with qRT-PCR. A lncRNA–mRNA co-expression network and a lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA regulatory network were constructed. Functional and pathway analyses were then performed. Results: In total, 560 up-regulated and 690 down-regulated differentially expressed lncRNAs were found (P < 0.05, false discovery rate < 0.05, absolute fold change ≥ 2). qRT-PCR results confirmed that lncRNA-ENST00000568297, lncRNA-ENST00000568243, and lncRNA-NR_046084 exhibited significant differential expression between IS and controls (all P < 0.05). Areas under the curves (AUCs) for these lncRNAs were 0.733, 0.743, and 0.690, respectively, and the combined AUC was 0.843. A coding–noncoding co-expression (CNC) network was constructed based on Pearson’s correlation coefficient. A specific lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA regulatory network of ENST00000568297, ENST00000568243, and NR_046084 was also constructed. Functional annotation of the up- and down-regulated mRNAs was performed. Pathway analysis enriched IS-related pathways with mRNAs in the lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA regulatory network. Conclusion: LncRNA and mRNA expression profiles in human peripheral blood were altered after IS. ENST00000568297, ENST00000568243, and NR_046084 were identified as novel potential diagnostic biomarkers of IS. Analysis of the CNC network and lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA regulatory network suggested that lncRNAs may participate in IS pathophysiology by regulating pivotal miRNAs, mRNAs, or IS-related pathways.

Background/Aims: Accumulating evidence demonstrates the superior osteoinductivity of tantalum (Ta) to that of titanium (Ti); however, the mechanisms underlying these differences are unclear. Thus, the objective of the present study was to examine the effects of Ta and Ti surfaces on osteogenesis using rat bone mesenchymal stromal cells (rBMSCs) as a model. Methods: Ta and Ti substrates were polished to a mirror finish to minimize the influences of structural factors, and the intrinsic surface effects of the two materials on the integrin α5β1/mitogen-activated protein kinases 3 and 1 (ERK1/2) cascade-mediated osteogenesis of rBMSCs were evaluated. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, Alizarin Red staining, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and western blot assays of critical osteogenic markers were conducted to evaluate the effects of the two substrates on cell osteogenesis. Moreover, the role of the integrin α5β1/ERK1/2 pathway on the osteoinductive performance of Ta and Ti was assessed by up- and down-regulation of integrin α5 and β1 with RNA interference, as well as through ERK1/2 inhibition with U0126. Results: Osteogenesis of rBMSCs seeded on the Ta surface was superior to that of cells seeded on the Ti surface in terms of ALP activity, extracellular matrix calcification, and the expression of integrin α5, integrin β1, ERK1/2, Runt-related transcription factor 2, osteocalcin, collagen type I, and ALP at both the mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, down-regulation of integrin α5 or integrin β1, or ERK1/2 inhibition severely impaired the osteoblastic differentiation on the Ta surface. By contrast, over-expression of integrin α5 or integrin β1 improved osteogenesis on the Ti substrates, while subsequent ERK1/2 inhibition abrogated this effect. Conclusion: The integrin α5β1/ERK1/2 pathway plays a crucial role in regulating rBMSCs osteogenic differentiation; thus, the greater ability of a Ta surface to trigger integrin α5β1/ERK1/2 signaling may explain its better osteoinductivity. The different effects of Ta and Ti surfaces on rBMSC osteogenesis are considered to be related to the conductive behaviors between integrin α5β1 and the oxides spontaneously formed on the two metals. These results should facilitate the development of engineering strategies with Ta and Ti surfaces for improved osteogenesis in endosteal implants.

To summarize the establishment and management experience of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) rapid response team, and explore a more efficient rescue mode.From January 2015 to September 2020, 85 patients treated with ECMO in Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were selected as the research objects. Thirty-eight patients treated with conventional ECMO from January 2015 to December 2019 were selected as the control group, and 47 patients treated with ECMO rapid response team from January 2020 to September 2020 were selected as the experimental group. The differences in team preparation time, catheterization time, treatment success rate, incidence of complications and equipment failure frequency between the two groups were compared.There were no significant differences in gender, age or disease types between the two groups. The team preparation time and catheterization time of the experimental group were significantly shorter than those of the control group [team preparation time (minutes): 31.79±6.10 vs. 67.16±30.49, catheterization time (minutes): 40.62±7.13 vs. 84.89±19.29], and the incidence of complications was significantly lower than that of the control group [4.3% (2/47) vs. 21.1% (8/38)], and the differences were statistically significant (all P0.05).ECMO rapid response team can shorten the rescue preparation time, reduce the occurrence of complications, improve the team treatment efficiency, and provide ideas for emergency and critical patients.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a leading cause of chronic hepatic disease, can progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, it is extremely important to explore early diagnosis and screening methods. In this study, we developed models based on computer tongue image analysis technology to observe the tongue characteristics of 1778 participants (831 cases of NAFLD and 947 cases of non-NAFLD). Combining quantitative tongue image features, basic information, and serological indexes, including the hepatic steatosis index (HSI) and fatty liver index (FLI), we utilized machine learning methods, including Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT), Adaptive Boosting Algorithm (AdaBoost), Naive Bayes, and Neural Network for NAFLD diagnosis. The best fusion model for diagnosing NAFLD by Logistic Regression, which contained the tongue image parameters, waist circumference, BMI, GGT, TG, and ALT/AST, achieved an AUC of 0.897 (95% CI, 0.882-0.911), an accuracy of 81.70% with a sensitivity of 77.62% and a specificity of 85.22%; in addition, the positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 5.25 and 0.26, respectively. The application of computer intelligent tongue diagnosis technology can improve the accuracy of NAFLD diagnosis and may provide a convenient technical reference for the establishment of early screening methods for NAFLD, which is worth further research and verification.

This study investigates the association between the C14orf119 gene rs6736 polymorphism and ischemic stroke (IS) susceptibility, and explores the influence of the rs6736 polymorphism on the binding between miR-7–1 and the C14orf119 gene. mRNA expression levels were determined in 45 IS patients and 45 matched controls via real-time quantitative PCR. A total of 774 IS patients and 793 matched controls were recruited from a Han Chinese population for genotyping, performed with the Sequenom MassARRAY iPLEX platform. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was used for the analysis of miRNA–mRNA binding. The results showed that the mRNA expression of C14orf119 differed significantly between IS patients and controls (t = −2.235, P = 0.030). Significant associations were noted between the C14orf119 gene rs6736 polymorphism and IS susceptibility in Han Chinese individuals under the additive model [ORadj (95% CI) = 0.87 (0.76–1.00) Padj = 0.048] and dominant model [ORadj (95% CI) = 0.76 (0.61–0.94), Padj = 0.014], with adjustment for age and sex. Mutations in the rs6736 polymorphism disrupted the binding of miR-7–1 and the C14orf119 gene. The results of this study show that the rs6736 polymorphism in the 3′-untranslated region of the C14orf119 gene not only is associated with IS but also modifies the binding between miR-7–1 and the C14orf119 gene. The C14orf119 gene may participate in the relationship between IS and miR-7–1.

Background. The incidence of gout has been rapidly increasing in recent years with the changing of diet. At present, modern medications used in the clinical treatment of gout showed several side effects, such as gastrointestinal damage and the increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The traditional Chinese prescription Simiao Powder (SMP) has a long history in the treatment of acute gouty arthritis (AGA) and has a good curative effect. However, the mechanism and target of its therapeutic effects are still not completely understood. Methods. Potential active compounds (PACs) and targets of SMP were found in the TCMSP database, and the disease target genes related to AGA were obtained by searching CTD, DisGeNET, DrugBank, GeneCards, TTD, OMIM, and PharmGKB disease databases with “acute gouty arthritis” and “Arthritis, Gouty” as keywords, respectively. The network of “Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-PACs-potential targets of acute gouty arthritis” was constructed with the Cytoscape 3.7.2 software, and the target genes of acute gouty arthritis were intersected with genes regulated by active compounds of SMP. The resultant common gene targets were input into Cytoscape 3.7.2 software, and the BisoGenet plug-in was used to construct a PPI network. The GO functional enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of the intersecting target proteins were performed using R software and corresponding program packages. The molecular docking verification was carried out between the potentially active compounds of SMP and the core target at the same time. Results. 40 active components and 203 targets were identified, of which 95 targets were common targets for the drugs and diseases. GO function enrichment analysis revealed that SMP regulated several biological processes, such as response to lipopolysaccharide and oxidative stress, RNA polymerase II transcription regulator complex, protein kinase complex, and other cellular and molecular processes, including DNA-binding transcription factor binding. Results of KEGG pathway analysis showed that SMP was associated with AGA-related pathways such as interleukin-17 (IL-17), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), p53, and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) signaling pathways. The results of molecular docking showed that active compounds in SMP exhibited strong binding to five core protein receptors (TP53, FN1, ESR1, CDK2, and HSPA5). Conclusions. Active components of SMP, such as quercetin, kaempferol, wogonin, baicalein, beta-sitosterol, and rutaecarpine, showed therapeutic effects on AGA. These compounds were strongly associated with core target proteins (such as TP53, FN1, ESR1, CDK2, and HSPA5). This study reveals that IL-17, TNF, p53, and HIF-1 signaling pathways mediate the therapeutic effects of SMP on AGA. These findings expand our understanding of the mechanism of SMP in the treatment of AGA.

Additional file 3: Table S1. Crude and gestational age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of death risks of the whole Huai’an region.

Additional file 2. A full list of members and their affiliations of Huai’an Perinatal-Neonatal study group.

Additional file 1. Definitions of pregnancy and perinatal co-morbidities and complications and standard of care at admission and during hospitalization of preterm infants.

Background: At present, there is no effective analysis method for array pulse wave. But this is very important for promoting the development of pulse diagnosis. Hypertension is a common and easy-to-diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, which is the development foundation of other cardiovascular diseases. Our goal in the study is to establish analysis method for array pulse wave and preliminary application in hypertensive disorders.Methods: In this study, a sensor array can be used for real-time monitoring of pulse wave twelve channels. We calculated the average pulse wave (APW) of per channel within thirty seconds. The most representative pulse wave (MRPV) and the APW matched by correlation coefficient. Feature points of the MRPV were identified by manually. These feature points corresponding to the array pulse volume (APV) parameters were also identified by manually. Finally, clinical trial was executed to detect these feature performance indicators in hypertensive disorders.Results: The raoAPV h1 , raoAPV h3 , raoAPV h4 , raoAPV h3/h1 and raoAPV h4/h of hypertension group significantly increased compared with that of the healthy group ( P Conclusion: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) pulse is a combination of multi-dimensional information. Array sensor could be better reduction of TCM pulse characteristics. In the study, the analysis of array pulse wave was valid, and the APV was reliable to mirror TCM pulse characteristics. Keywords ： Pulse diagnosis; Traditional Chinese medicine; Sensor array; Array pulse volume; Healthy persons; Hypertension persons.

Insulinoma-associated protein 1 (INSM1) has emerged as a promising diagnostic marker for high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (HGNECs); however, it is controversial whether INSM1 is more sensitive than conventional markers chromogranin, synaptophysin, and CD56. Here, we investigated immunohistochemical expression of INSM1 in 75 gynecologic HGNECs using full tissue sections (30 small-cell carcinomas [SmCCs], 34 large-cell neuroendocrine carcinomas [LCNECs], and 11 mixed SmCC and LCNEC), with specificity analysis in 422 gynecologic non-neuroendocrine tumors (410 in tissue microarrays and 12 full sections) and comparison with conventional neuroendocrine markers for their sensitivity and specificity. Positive INSM1 staining was seen in 69 (92%) HGNECs, whereas chromogranin, synaptophysin, and CD56 staining was seen in 61 (81%), 72 (96%), and 44 (69%) tumors, respectively (INSM1 vs. chromogranin, P=0.09; INSM1 vs. synaptophysin, P=0.4942; and INSM1 vs. CD56, P

Purpose Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) of the breast has a high propensity for lymphovascular invasion and axillary lymph node metastasis and displays an ‘inside-out’ growth pattern, but the molecular mechanism of metastasis and tumor cell polarity reversal in IMPC is unclear. Methods and Patients: Luciferase reporter assays and western blotting were performed to confirm that the MTDH 3’UTR bound to miR-30c. Growth curves, tumor sphere formation assays, Transwell migration and invasion assays, mouse xenograft model and immunofluorescence were evaluated to investigate the effects of miR-30c and MTDH. MiRNA in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were carried out on IMPC patient tissues for miR-30c and MTDH expression, respectively. Results We found that miR-30c could directly target the MTDH (metadherin) 3’UTR. MiR-30c overexpression inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis by targeting MTDH in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, miR-30c regulated IMPC cell polarity reversal by targeting MTDH. By in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry analyses, miR-30c and MTDH were significantly correlated with tumor size, lymph nodule status and tumor grade, the ‘inside-out’ growth pattern, overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in IMPC patients (p

BackgroundFatigue is a kind of non-specific symptom, which is widely found in sub-health and various diseases. It is closely related to people's physical and mental health.Due to lack of objective evidence, it is often neglected in clinical diagnosis,especially in the early stage of disease.A large number of clinical practices and studies have shown that tongue and pulse image are reflection of overall state of the body.Establishing an objective evaluation method for diagnosis of disease fatigue and non-disease fatigue by combining clinical symptom and index and tongue and pulse data is of great significance for timely and effective clinical treatment.MethodsIn this study, 2362 physical examination subjects were divided into healthy control, the group of sub-health fatigue and disease fatigue ,used complex network technology to screen out the core symptoms and western medicine indexes of fatigue,respectively. Constructed the core symptom network and the core symptom-index network. At the same time, used canonical correlation analysis to get the associated relationship of tongue and pulse, and analyzed the characteristic of the tongue and pulse data.ResultsThere were some similarities between the core symptoms of sub-health fatigue and disease fatigue,as well as differences. Symptom-index associated analysis of disease fatigue showed that the core indexes in the group of disease fatigue group had a significant canonical correlation, with the canonical correlation coefficient was 0.42 (P

Background: Despite 15-17 million of annual births in China, there is a paucity of information on preterm morbidity and mortality. We characterized the outcome of preterm births and hospitalized preterm infants by gestational age (GA) in Huai’an in 2015, an emerging prefectural region of China.Methods: Of 59,245 regional total births, clinical data on 2,651 preterm births and 1,941 hospitalized preterm neonates were extracted from Huai’an Women and Children’s Hospital (HWCH) and non-HWCH hospitals in 2018-2020. Preterm morbidity and mortality rates were characterized and compared by hospital categories and GA spectra. Death risks of preterm births and hospitalized preterm infants in the whole region were analyzed with multivariable logistic regression.Results: The incidences of extreme, very, moderate, late and total preterm of the regional total births were 1.4, 5.3, 7.2, 30.8 and 44.7‰, with all-death rates being 1.0, 1.6, 0.6, 1.1 and 4.3‰, respectively, of the regional total births. There were 1,025 (52.8% of whole region) preterm admissions in HWCH, with significantly lower in-hospital death rate of inborn (33/802) than out-born (23/223) infants. Compared to non-HWCH, four-fold more neonates in HWCH were under critical care with higher death rate, including most extremely preterm infants. Significant all-death risks were found for the total preterm births in BW < 1,000g, II-III degree of amniotic fluid contamination, Apgar-5 min < 7, and birth defects (BD). For the hospitalized preterm infants, significant in-hospital death risks were found in out-born of HWCH, GA < 32 weeks, Apgar-5 min < 7, BD, necrotizing enterocolitis and ventilation, whereas born in HWCH, antenatal glucocorticoids, cesarean delivery and surfactant use were protective factors against death.Conclusions: The integrated data revealed GA-specific morbidity and mortality on the basis of total preterm births and their hospitalization, demonstrating the efficacy of leading referral center and whole regional perinatal-neonatal network in China. The concept and protocol of our current study should be extended to gain comprehensive understanding in the world-wide campaign for prevention of preterm birth.

Background Given tongue features and basic features, this study aimed to develop and assess a non-invasive machine learning model to perform regression prediction on fasting plasma glucose and glycated haemoglobin which will help optimize diabetes risk warning. Methods We collected the basic features, tongue features and blood features of the subjects. Using machine learning algorithms to analyze these data, we built models to predict fasting plasma glucose and glycated haemoglobin. Then the performance of the models was evaluated through 5-fold cross-validation results and test set results. Results The results of cross validation on the training set showed that given non-invasive input features, the minimum average mean square error of fasting plasma glucose and glycated haemoglobin prediction was 1.227 and 0.438. Our non-invasive fasting plasma glucose prediction model with tongue features and basic features combined achieved a minimum mean square error of 0.601 and a maximum coefficient of determination of 0.606 on the test set. The glycated haemoglobin prediction model product a minimum mean square error of 0.272 and a maximum coefficient of determination of 0.539 on the test set. The Clarke’s Error Grid Analysis showed that the non-invasive blending model had 90.83% of points in zone A and 8.49% of points in zone B on the test set. Conclusions We developed an effective non-invasive method for estimating fasting plasma glucose and glycated haemoglobin from tongue features and basic features combined, which may help identify individuals at high risk for diabetes.

Background Despite 15–17 millions of annual births in China, there is a paucity of information on prevalence and outcome of preterm birth. We characterized the outcome of preterm births and hospitalized preterm infants by gestational age (GA) in Huai’an in 2015, an emerging prefectural region of China. Methods Of 59,245 regional total births, clinical data on 2651 preterm births and 1941 hospitalized preterm neonates were extracted from Huai’an Women and Children’s Hospital (HWCH) and non-HWCH hospitals in 2018–2020. Preterm prevalence, morbidity and mortality rates were characterized and compared by hospital categories and GA spectra. Death risks of preterm births and hospitalized preterm infants in the whole region were analyzed with multivariable Poisson regression. Results The prevalence of extreme, very, moderate, late and total preterm of the regional total births were 0.14, 0.53, 0.72, 3.08 and 4.47%, with GA-specific neonatal mortality rates being 44.4, 15.8, 3.7, 1.5 and 4.3%, respectively. There were 1025 (52.8% of whole region) preterm admissions in HWCH, with significantly lower in-hospital death rate of inborn (33 of 802, 4.1%) than out-born (23 of 223, 10.3%) infants. Compared to non-HWCH, three-fold more neonates in HWCH were under critical care with higher death rate, including most extremely preterm infants. Significantly all-death risks were found for the total preterm births in birth weight < 7, and birth defects. For the hospitalized preterm infants, significantly in-hospital death risks were found in out-born of HWCH, GA < 7, birth defects, respiratory distress syndrome, necrotizing enterocolitis and ventilation, whereas born in HWCH, antenatal glucocorticoids, cesarean delivery and surfactant use decreased the death risks. Conclusions The integrated data revealed the prevalence, GA-specific morbidity and mortality rate of total preterm births and their hospitalization, demonstrating the efficiency of leading referral center and whole regional perinatal-neonatal network in China. The concept and protocol should be validated in further studies for prevention of preterm birth.

Background Cervical squamous cell carcinoma (Cervical SCC) is a malignant gynecological tumor, which greatly endangers the health of global women. Cancer susceptibility candidate 9 (CASC9) has been identified as an oncogene in multiple cancers. However, the role of CASC9-1 (one transcript of CASC9) in cervical SCC remains covered. Methods We analyzed gene expression in cervical SCC cells via RT-qPCR and western blot assays. The impact of CASC9-1 on cervical SCC cell and tumor growth was assessed via in vitro functional assays and in vivo assays. Moreover, the regulatory mechanism of CASC9-1 was explored by mechanism assays. Results CASC9-1 was up-regulated in cervical SCC cells. CASC9-1 knockdown repressed cervical SCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion while elevating apoptosis. Via in-vivo experiments, CASC9-1 down-regulation was proved to restrict cervical SCC tumor growth. In terms of mechanism, CASC9-1 directly targeted miR-383-5p, and MAPKAP1 was the target gene of miR-383-5p in cervical SCC cells. CASC9-1 could exacerbate malignant behaviors of cervical SCC cells via binding to miR-383-5p and regulating MAPKAP1. Conclusions CASC9-1 exerted influences on various biological behaviors of cervical SCC cells via targeting miR-383-5p to up-regulate MAPKAP1. All these results mirrored that CASC9-1 might be a potential target for cervical SCC treatment.

Low-molecular weight proteins and peptides (LMWPs

Polymyxins are increasingly used as the critical last-resort therapeutic options for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Unfortunately, polymyxin resistance has increased gradually over the past few years. Although studies on polymyxin mechanisms are expanding, systemwide analyses of the underlying mechanism for polymyxin resistance and stress response are still lacking. To understand how Klebsiella pneumoniae adapts to colistin (polymyxin E) pressure, we carried out proteomic analysis of a K. pneumoniae strain cultured with different concentrations of colistin. Our results showed that the proteomic responses to colistin treatment in K. pneumoniae involve several pathways, including (i) gluconeogenesis and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, (ii) arginine biosynthesis, (iii) porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, and (iv) enterobactin biosynthesis. Interestingly, decreased abundances of class A β-lactamases, including TEM, SHV-11, and SHV-4, were observed in cells treated with colistin. Moreover, we present comprehensive proteome atlases of paired polymyxin-susceptible and -resistant K. pneumoniae strains. The polymyxin-resistant strain Ci, a mutant of K. pneumoniae ATCC BAA 2146, showed a missense mutation in crrB. This crrB mutant, which displayed lipid A modification with 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose (L-Ara4N) and palmitoylation, showed striking increases in the expression of CrrAB, PmrAB, PhoPQ, ArnBCADT, and PagP. We hypothesize that crrB mutations induce elevated expression of the arnBCADTEF operon and pagP via PmrAB and PhoPQ. Moreover, the multidrug efflux pump KexD, which was induced by crrB mutation, also contributed to colistin resistance. Overall, our results demonstrated proteomic responses to colistin treatment and the mechanism of CrrB-mediated colistin resistance, which may offer valuable information on the management of polymyxin resistance.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a major serious malignant tumor and is commonly diagnosed in older men. Identification of novel cancer-related genes in PCa is important for understanding its tumorigenesis mechanism and developing new therapies against PCa. Here, we used RNA sequencing to identify the specific genes, which are upregulated in PCa cell lines and tissues. The cell division cycle associated protein (CDCA) family, which plays a critical role in cell division and proliferation, is upregulated in the PCa cell lines of our RNA-Sequencing data. Moreover, we found that CDCA2 is overexpressed, and its protein level positively correlates with its histological grade, clinical stage, and Gleason Score. CDCA2 was further found to be upregulated and correlated with poor prognosis and patient survival in multiple cancer types in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. The functional study suggests that inhibition of CDCA2 will lead to apoptosis and lower proliferation in vitro. Silencing of CDCA2 also repressed tumor growth in vivo. Loss of CDCA2 affects several oncogenic pathways, including MAPK signaling. In addition, we further demonstrated that CDCA2 was induced in hypoxia and directly regulated by the HIF-1α/Smad3 complex. Thus, our data indicate that CDCA2 could act as an oncogene and is regulated by hypoxia and the HIF-1αpathway. CDCA2 may be a useful prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for PCa.

The directing effect of coordinating ligands in the formation of uranium molecular complexes has been well established, but the role of counterions in metal-ligand interactions remains ambiguous and requires further investigation. In this work, we describe the targeted isolation, through the choice of alkali-metal ions, of a family of tetravalent uranium sulfates, showing the influence of the overall topology and, unexpectedly, the UIV nuclearity upon the inclusion of such countercations. Analyses of the structures of uranium(IV) oxo/hydroxosulfate oligomeric species isolated from consistent synthetic conditions reveal that the incorporation of Na+ and Rb+ promotes the crystallization of 0D discrete clusters with a hexanuclear [U6O4(OH)4(H2O)4]12+ core, whereas the larger Cs+ ion allows for the isolation of a 2D-layered oligomer with a less condensed trinuclear [U3(O)]10+ center. This finding expands the prevalent view that counterions play an innocent role in molecular complex synthesis, affecting only the overall packing but not the local oligomerization. Interestingly, trends in nuclearity appear to correlate with the hydration enthalpies of alkali-metal cations, such that the alkali-metal cations with larger hydration enthalpies correspond to more hydrated complexes and cluster cores. These findings afford new insights into the mechanism of nucleation of UIV, and they also open a new path for the rational design and synthesis of targeted molecular complexes.

A gantry-moving dual-projection inspection system was successfully invented by Institute of Nuclear and new Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University. This system can provide two projected images from two different views at the same time. Comparing with traditional single-projection systems, a special feature of this system is that two cobalt-60 radiation sources are adopted, and there are two high-voltage gas ionization chamber arrays corresponding to the two sources, respectively. By examining the two images rather than one, more information can be trapped. However, there will be inter scatter effect between the two sources, which will decrease the image quality. This paper provides research of measurement and analysis on this issue, and provides effective solution to reduce inter scatter, and the result proves to be good.

Two-dimensional Ag/WS2 hybrid membranes were developed to improve separation performance of WS2 membrane by in situ self-reduction of AgNO3 on WS2 nanoflakes. With the increase of Ag content in Ag/WS2 hybrid membrane, water flux increased as well because of increased interlayer spacing and more irregular stacking of WS2 nanoflakes, while the rejection rates for dye molecules decreased. The hybrid membrane containing 6.92 wt% of Ag nanoparticles (Ag/WS2-2) presented optimal separation performance, exhibiting a EB rejection rate around 90% and a water permeance higher than 500 L/m2·h·bar. Moreover, Ag/WS2-2 membrane revealed excellent UV-driven self-cleaning ability by photodegradation of contaminant on membrane surface, and its water flux recovery rate was higher than 99.0%. The formation of Ag/WS2 heterostructure can assist separation of photoinduced electrons and holes by transferring photoinduced electrons to Ag nanoparticles with enhanced photocatalytic activity.

Purpose Signal evaluation is considered to be a tedious process owing to the large number of disproportional signals detected. This study aimed to apply a biclustering algorithm in the spontaneous reporting system of China and to obtain the optimal parameters. The biclustering algorithm is expected to improve the efficiency of signal evaluation by identifying similar signal groups. Methods Information component (IC) was the method used for disproportionality analysis. By using IC thresholds of various strengths (0.05-4.00), the original quantitative data matrix was transformed into 80 different binary data matrices, where each cell contained either a 1 or 0. The biclustering results were obtained using a total of 720 Bimax algorithm parameters (minimal number of columns and rows was 3, 4, or 5). Next, the optimal parameters were determined through the comprehensive evaluation of the rank sum ration. Finally, we examined the biclustering results under the optimal parameters and evaluated the effect of biclustering analysis on adverse drug reaction (ADR) data in China. Results The optimal strength of the IC threshold was 0.80, and the minimum number of rows and columns was 3. After taxonomic evaluation, we also found that 1836 biclusters (42.8%) contained similar drugs or similar ADRs, which accounted for 72.3% of signals unevaluated. Conclusions Applying biclustering analysis in spontaneous reporting system could provide support in confirming unrecognized ADRs, identifying rare ADRs, and screening drug-ADR pairs, which need more attention. Biclustering algorithm could improve the efficiency of signal detection and evaluation in China.

To address slow convergence of Glowworm Swarm Optimization (GSO) algorithm in the late stage of optimizing multimodal functions, a new variable step-size glowworm swarm optimization (VSGSO) algorithm is proposed, which improves convergence performance by adaptively adjusting step-size based on luciferin carried by each glowworm. Based on VSGSO, VSGSO-D algorithm, which is capable of updating search domains, is proposed. It dramatically improves optimization precision of GSO, especially in the case of optimization of complex multimodal functions. Optimization experiments are carried out by ten benchmark functions. The experimental results show that the improved algorithms proposed in this paper improve the global optimization speed, precision, and stability of GSO. At the same time, the enhanced algorithms protect the diversity of glowworm population and improve the multi-local optimization ability of GSO.

This study focused on the modulatory effect of green tea polyphenols (GTP) on human intestinal microbiota, and its underlying anti-obesity mechanisms. GTP was prepared from Chinese green tea by column chromatography, and then the influence of GTP on intestinal microbiome was analyzed with a human flora-associated (HFA) high fat diet-induced obesity mice model by metagenomics. GTP ameliorated the obesity-induced gut dysbiosis; in addition, a significant decrease was observed in Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes after GTP treatment. Moreover, KEGG pathways of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, two-component system and biosynthesis of amino acids enriched the most differentially expressed genes after GTP intervention for 8 weeks. Our results may have important implications for the use of GTP as a functional food component with potential therapeutic utility against high fat diet induced obesity, and prebiotic-like activity by modulating intestinal microbiota and affecting certain metabolic pathways, contributing to the improvement of host health.

Herein we report a simple and reproducible method for fabricating highly durable and robust superhydrophobic and superoleophilic cotton fabrics via simultaneous radiation-induced graft polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate and subsequent chemical modifications with aminopropyltriethoxysilane and hexamethyldisilazane. The chemical structure and the surface topography of the pristine and the modified cotton fabrics were investigated in detail by ATR-FTIR, XPS, and 29Si NMR, and a grafting layer was successfully immobilized onto the surface of the cotton fabric by forming covalent bonds. Multi-dimensional surface roughness was created by combining micro-sized fibers of the cotton fabric, nanoscaled protuberances of the grafting chain, and molecular level spherical projection points of silicon methyl. The superhydrophobic cotton fabric exhibited long-term stability, ultra-high durability and robustness, and maintained its properties even after 25 wash cycles. The fabric also showed excellent water repellency with a water contact angle of 153 ° and a high efficiency of oil/water separation (98 %). The superhydrophobic/superoleophilic cotton fabric developed in the present work exhibits important potential applications in superhydrophobic textiles and oil/water separation.

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast is a histologic subtype of breast cancer and associated with high incidence of lymphovascular invasion, lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the impact of precise pathologic diagnosis and individualized treatment on the outcomes of invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast. The study group included 2299 women with invasive micropapillary carcinoma diagnosed at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital between January 2004 and December 2015. In the study group, specimens were examined with the method of whole-specimen orientation and serial sectioning, and patients received precise pathological diagnosis and individualized treatment. The control group of invasive micropapillary carcinoma consisted of 163 cases, identified through a retrospectively review of 9056 invasive carcinomas diagnosed at our institution between January 1989 and December 2003 using the standard pathology-evaluation method (i.e., not using the whole-specimen orientation and serial-sectioning method). The clinicopathological features, treatments and outcomes were compared between the two groups. The incidence of invasive micropapillary carcinoma in the study group was 6% (2299/39,714 cases), significantly higher than that of the control group (2%; 163/9056 cases). The 5-year disease-free survival in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group (83.8 vs.45.4%; p

Background After the promotion of the two-child policy in recent years, the population of children in mainland China was bound to have a rapid growth, which would bring great challenges to public health. A number of cross-sectional studies on the epidemic of childhood asthma in mainland China were recently conducted, and varied prevalences were reported. Thus, knowing the epidemiology of childhood asthma in mainland China is of great necessity. Objective Our study aimed to summarize the pooled prevalence of childhood asthma in mainland China and its time trend, gender difference, regional distribution, and age structure. Methods Studies that reported the prevalence of childhood asthma in mainland China were identified via a systematic data base search through July 1, 2016. Meta-analysis was used to estimate the prevalence of childhood asthma and its subgroups, including gender, age groups, years, and regions. The regional distribution of the prevalence was set by province with the help of a geographic mapping software. The autoregressive integrated moving average model was used to predict the current prevalence of asthma. Results A total of 117 studies published from 1988 to 2014 in mainland China with a total sample size of 2,678,696 were included. The overall current prevalence and lifetime prevalence of childhood asthma was 2.112% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.977-2.247%) and 2.502% (95% CI, 2.166-2.838%), respectively. The difference of the prevalences between male and female patients was significant: odds ratio 1.54 (95% CI, 1.47-1.62) for the current prevalence and odds ratio 1.61 (95% CI, 1.47-1.77) for the lifetime prevalence. Conclusion The prevalence of childhood asthma in mainland China was low but has been increasing remarkably since 1998. Boys are more likely to have asthma throughout most of their childhood. Preschoolers (3-6 years old) showed a higher prevalence than the other age groups. The current prevalence of childhood asthma probably increased slightly from 2017 to 2019.

Objective: Tamoxifen is used as a complementary treatment for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer (BCa), but many patients developed resistance. The aim of this study was to examine the role of syndecan-binding protein (SDCBP) silencing in ER-positive BCa cells.Methods: In MCF-7/T47D cells, the effects of SDCBP silence/overexpression on cell proliferation and estrogenic response were examined. Cell proliferation was examined using the MTT assay and cell cycle regulators were examined by Western blot. Estrogen response was examined from a luciferase activity and evaluation of transcript levels of pS2 and progesterone receptor (PR) upon estrogen administration. Samples of ER-positive BCa were stained with ERα, PR, and SDCBP antibodies, and their expression correlations were analyzed.Results: We found that SDCBP silencing inhibited the proliferation of ER-positive BCa cells and arrested a greater number of cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle compared to tamoxifen alone, while SDCBP overexpression limited the anti-cancer effects of tamoxifen. SDCBP silencing and overexpression also enhanced and attenuated the estrogenic response, respectively. Expression of SDCBP was negatively correlated with PR, ERα, and the PR/ERα ratio in ER-positive BCa tissue samples.Conclusions: SDCBP may be involved in tamoxifen resistance in ER-positive BCa. Tamoxifen treatment combined with SDCBP silencing may provide a novel treatment for endocrine therapy-resistant BCa.

In the daily life of human beings, sewage discharge and oil spill accidents occur from time to time. New types of controllable oil/water separation interface materials have received more attention. In this study, we proposed a simple and environmentally friendly method to prepare a Nickel filter with switchable wettability. The final product is prepared by high temperature calcination and soaked with stearic acid ethanol solution. The prepared filter screen has selective separation performance for oil/water mixture with switchable surface wettability between superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic. The separation efficiency is higher than 99.50%, and the flux rate is as high as 46.25 L m−2s−1 for water-removing process and 40.22 L m−2s−1 for oil-removing process. The wettability conversion of the membrane can be achieved through heating treatment and soaking treatment, and it still has good oil/water separation performance. After 20 times of cycles, the separation efficiency remains unchanged, and the flux remain above 40.06 L m−2s−1 for oil removal and 36.81 L m−2s−1 for water removal process. The results show that the prepared nickel filter screen has good practical application prospects such as water reclamation and oil spill treatment.

Background In patients with hormone receptor-positive postmenopausal of early stage breast cancer, adjuvant endocrine monotherapies include letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane, toremifene and tamoxifen. But the optimum regimen remains controversial. Methods PubMed, Cochrane Database and ClinicalTrials.gov were systematically reviewed of abstract for randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the efficacy of tamoxifen, letrozole, exemestane, anastrozle and toremifene for postmenopausal patients with hormone-receptor positive (HR+), who have not received prior therapy for early stage breast cancer. The outcomes were measured by disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). We evaluated relative hazard ratios (HRs) for death of different therapies by combination hazard ratios for death of included trials. The SUCRA values were used to evaluate the rankings of efficacy for these monotherapies. Results A total of fourteen studies including 19,517 patients in our research were absorbed and estimated. The superiority of efficacy for DFS were 5-year letrozole and 10-year tamoxifen (SUCRA values 0.743/0.657) in all comparisons. A more efficient SUCRA values for OS were 5-year Exemestane, 5-year letrozole and 10-year tamoxifen (0.756/0.677/0.669). Conclusions Clinically important differences exist between commonly prescribed different adjuvant endocrine monotherapy regimens for both efficacy and acceptability in favor of exemestane and letrozole. 10-year tamoxifen for early breast cancer patients is noninferior to 5-year anastrozle, and might be the best choice where aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are not easy to acquire.

Summary In this study, the modulatory effect of green tea polyphenols (GTP) on human intestinal microbiota was investigated. Firstly, germ-free mice were inoculated with faecal suspension derived from healthy volunteers to obtain human flora-associated (HFA) mice model. When the high-fat diet-induced obese mice model was successfully established, they were randomly divided into high-fat diet group (HFD) and high-fat diet group with GTP (HFD-GTP), and the shifts in relative abundance of the dominant taxa at the phylum, family and genus levels were studied by high-throughput sequencing. The diversity of the total bacterial community reached the maximum after GTP treatment for 3 weeks, and then decreased when the mice were fed without GTP. Despite interindividual variation, the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes increased from 0.56 ± 0.06 (1st week) to 0.60 ± 0.05 (3th week), while Firmicutes decreased from 0.42 ± 0.06 to 0.37 ± 0.02. Interestingly, certain bacterial communities such as Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria still increased and Firmicutes showed a decreasing trend when the mice were fed without GTP (4th week). The results showed that GTP benefits the stability of certain gut microbiota, especially in an environment-triggered microbial imbalance; therefore, it may have prebiotic-like activity contributing to the prevention of obesity.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of death from cancer in men. The mechanism underlying tumorigenesis and development of PCa is largely unknown. Here, we identified Kinesin family member 14 (KIF14) as a novel candidate oncogene in PCa. We found that KIF14 was overexpressed in multiple PCa cell lines and primary PCa tissues. Knockdown of KIF14 in DU145 and PC3 prostate cancer cells suppressed cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Transcriptome analysis by RNA-sequencing demonstrated that KIF4 suppression led to transcriptional changes of genes involved in p53 and TGF-beta signaling pathway. In addition, upregulated expression of GADD45A, GADD45B, p21, PIDD and Shisa5, which contribute to growth arrest and apoptosis induction, and downregulated CCNB1 that promotes cell cycle progression were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR after KIF4 knockdown. We further found that KIF14 protein level was positively correlated with T stage and Gleason Score. Patients with higher KIF14 expression had shorter overall survival time than those with lower KIF14 expression. Thus, our data indicate that KIF14 could act as a potential oncogene that contributes to tumor progression and poor prognosis in PCa, which may represent a novel and useful prognostic biomarker for PCa.

// Yixiang Zhang 1, * , Yeqing Yuan 1, * , Pei Liang 2, * , Xiaojing Guo 3 , Ying Ying 4 , Xing-Sheng Shu 5 , Michael Gao Jr 2 and Yingduan Cheng 6 1 Department of Urology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Shenzhen People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China 2 Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California USA 3 Department of Pathology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Shenzhen People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China 4 Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shenzhen University Health Sciences Center, Shenzhen, China 5 Institute of Molecular Medicine, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China 6 Twigbiotechnology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China * These authors contribute equally to this work Correspondence to: Yingduan Cheng, email: chengyingduan@gmail.com Keywords: OSR1, methylation, invasion, proliferation, RCC Received: November 14, 2016 Accepted: January 24, 2017 Published: February 22, 2017 ABSTRACT Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most malignant tumors in human. Here, we found that odd-skipped related transcription factor 1 ( OSR1 ) was downregulated in 769-P and 786-O cells due to promoter CpG methylation. OSR1 expression could be restored by pharmacological demethylation treatment in silenced cell lines. Knockdown of OSR1 in two normal expressed cell lines- A498 and ACHN promoted cell invasion and cellular proliferation. RNA-Sequencing analysis showed that expression profile of genes involved in multiple cancer-related pathways was changed when OSR1 was downregulated. By quantitative real-time PCR, we confirmed that depletion of OSR1 repressed the expression of several tumor suppresor genes involved in p53 pathway, such as p53 , p21 , p27 , p57 and RB in A498 and ACHN. Moreover, knockdown of OSR1 suppressed the transcriptional activity of p53. Of note, OSR1 depletion also led to increased expression of a few oncogenic genes. We further evaluated the clinical significance of OSR1 in primary human RCC specimens by immunohistochemical staining and found that OSR1 expression was downregulated in primary RCC and negatively correlated with histological grade. Thus, our data indicate that OSR1 is a novel tumor suppressor gene in RCC. Downregulation of OSR1 might represent a potentially prognostic marker and therapeutic target for RCC.

// Yanlong Ji 1, 2, * , Shasha Wei 1, 2, * , Junjie Hou 3 , Chengqian Zhang 1, 2 , Peng Xue 1 , Jifeng Wang 1 , Xiulan Chen 1 , Xiaojing Guo 1 , Fuquan Yang 1, 2 1 Laboratory of Protein and Peptide Pharmaceuticals and Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 3 National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Fuquan Yang, email: fqyang@ibp.ac.cn Keywords: SILAC, global proteome, N-glycoproteome, multidrug resistance, ovarian cancer Received: August 19, 2016 Accepted: December 29, 2016 Published: January 06, 2017 ABSTRACT Ovarian cancer is one of the most common cancer among women in the world, and chemotherapy remains the principal treatment for patients. However, drug resistance is a major obstacle to the effective treatment of ovarian cancers and the underlying mechanism is not clear. An increased understanding of the mechanisms that underline the pathogenesis of drug resistance is therefore needed to develop novel therapeutics and diagnostic. Herein, we report the comparative analysis of the doxorubicin sensitive OVCAR8 cells and its doxorubicin-resistant variant NCI/ADR-RES cells using integrated global proteomics and N-glycoproteomics. A total of 1525 unique N-glycosite-containing peptides from 740 N-glycoproteins were identified and quantified, of which 253 N-glycosite-containing peptides showed significant change in the NCI/ADR-RES cells. Meanwhile, stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) based comparative proteomic analysis of the two ovarian cancer cells led to the quantification of 5509 proteins. As about 50% of the identified N-glycoproteins are low-abundance membrane proteins, only 44% of quantified unique N-glycosite-containing peptides had corresponding protein expression ratios. The comparison and calibration of the N-glycoproteome versus the proteome classified 14 change patterns of N-glycosite-containing peptides, including 8 up-regulated N-glycosite-containing peptides with the increased glycosylation sites occupancy, 35 up-regulated N-glycosite-containing peptides with the unchanged glycosylation sites occupancy, 2 down-regulated N-glycosite-containing peptides with the decreased glycosylation sites occupancy, 46 down-regulated N-glycosite-containing peptides with the unchanged glycosylation sites occupancy. Integrated proteomic and N-glycoproteomic analyses provide new insights, which can help to unravel the relationship of N-glycosylation and multidrug resistance (MDR), understand the mechanism of MDR, and discover the new diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

High efficient removal and recovery of uranium and thorium from nuclear waste solution are essential for environmental preservation and fuel recycle. A new polymer fiber adsorbent (UHMEPE-g-PAO fiber), prepared by amidoximation of grafted polyacrylonitrile onto Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber, was used to remove the uranyl and thorium ions from acid aqueous solutions and its performance was carefully investigated. It was found that uranyl ion can penetrate the fiber through the connected pore structures, forming (UO2) (R-C(NH2)-NO)2 chelates with the amidoxime groups within the fiber. Two amidoxime groups (U-N and U-Oeq) and two water molecules (U-Oeq2) are bound to uranyl ion in the fiber. On the contrary, thorium ions are adsorbed mainly on the fiber surface in the form of Th(OH)4 precipitate that blocks the entrance of Th4+ ion into fiber pores. The maximum included other two capacities of uranyl and thorium ions were estimated to be 262.01 mg/g and 160 mg/g at room temperature with pH 3.0, respectively. The results also indicate that the UHMWPE-g-PAO fiber has higher adsorption selectivity for uranyl ion than thorium ion. Uranium and thorium oxide particles were obtained as the ultimate product after sintering of the fiber adsorbent. This novel and environmentally friendly adsorption process is feasible to extract uranium or thorium from acidic aqueous solution.