Search

The target of typical PCR analysis is restricted to nucleic acids. To this end, we report here a novel strategy to simultaneously detect genetic and metabolic markers using commercial PCR kits with cucurbit[8]urils (CB[8]) implemented to manipulate the activity of Taq DNA polymerase. CB[8] binds with the nonionic surfactants and displaces them from the polymerase surface, resulting in decreased enzyme activity. Meanwhile, the inhibited enzyme can be reversibly activated when spermine, the downstream metabolite of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), is present in the sample, which competitively binds to CB[8] and recovers polymerase activity. CB[8] was implemented in conventional PCR kits not only to reduce false-positive results but also to extend the detection range of PCR technology. With this novel method to detect ODC in cell lysates containing both the nucleotides and intracellular metabolites, positive results were only observed in highly active HEK 293T cells, whereas silent cells treated with ODC inhibitor showed negative readouts, therefore providing a simple but elegant dual-modality PCR method for precision diagnosis.

Objective We aimed to investigate the impact of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-low versus human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-zero) on pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and survival outcomes in early-stage breast cancer. Methods Patients with primary invasive breast cancer received neoadjuvant chemotherapy between July 2018 and July 2021 were identified from six hospitals. The primary efficacy end-point was total pathological complete response. The second short-term efficacy end-points include breast pathological complete response, axillary lymph nodes pathological complete response and the score of Miller-Payne grade. Long-term efficacy end-point was disease-free survival. Results 429 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative invasive tumors were included, 267 (62.24%) had human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-low tumors. Hormone receptor-positive patients had a higher percentage of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-low tumors compared to hormone receptor-negative patients (71.97% versus 42.14%). The pathological response rate was significantly lower in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-low tumors than in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-zero tumors for total patients in univariate analysis, including the rates of total pathological complete response (5.2% versus 14.2%), breast pathological complete response (6.4% versus 17.3%), nodes pathological complete response (26.3% versus 37.7%) and MP4–5 (21.2% versus 33.8%). Subgroup analysis showed that the rates of total pathological complete response, breast pathological complete response and MP4–5 were also significantly lower in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-low tumors versus human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-zero tumors in both univariate and multivariate analysis in hormone receptor-negative subgroup. With the median follow-up of 24 months, disease-free survival was comparable between these two subgroups (P = 0.816). Conclusions Our results demonstrate that human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-low tumors achieved a significantly lower pathological complete response rate with conventional chemotherapy than those with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-zero tumors, especially for hormone receptor-negative group. Large, randomized, prospective studies are needed to confirm our data and further evaluate the prognostic value of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-low expression.

This work studies the stability and convergency properties for a time parallel algorithm: RIDC4 with reduced stencils, namely reduced 4th revisionist integral deferred correction method. For the spatial approximation of the velocity and the pressure, a finite element space discretization is applied. We proved that the scheme is almost unconditionally stable and is of 4th-order accuracy in time. Finally, numerical experiments are carried out to verify its time and space convergence orders and the formidable parallel efficiency demonstrated by the time speed-up compared with the classical Backward Euler (BE) methods. In conclusion, within almost same time to BE, the (reduced) RIDC4 scheme could achieve 4th order accuracy in time direction, provided four cores are available.

Extensive efforts have been made to pursue an ultralow-friction state, which is known as superlubricity, with promising applications in many fields, such as mechanical and biomedical engineering. The load capacity of superlubricity has been considered to be crucial for industrial applications. Here, we report superlubricity under ultrahigh contact pressure by building a novel self-assembled fluorinated azobenzene layer on an atomically smooth highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface. Sliding friction coefficients could be as low as 0.0005 or even lower under a contact pressure of up to 4 GPa. This ultralow-friction is attributed to molecular fluorination, which significantly weakens the intermolecular force between the close-packed fluorine atoms arrayed between the HOPG surface and the silicon atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe. This work provides a new approach to solid superlubricity under relatively high contact pressure, which might has great potential application value in the future.

The Protein Data Bank in Europe – Knowledge Base (PDBe-KB, https://pdbe-kb.org) is an open collaboration between world-leading specialist data resources contributing functional and biophysical annotations derived from or relevant to the Protein Data Bank (PDB). The goal of PDBe-KB is to place macromolecular structure data in their biological context by developing standardised data exchange formats and integrating functional annotations from the contributing partner resources into a knowledge graph that can provide valuable biological insights. Since we described PDBe-KB in 2019, there have been significant improvements in the variety of available annotation data sets and user functionality. Here, we provide an overview of the consortium, highlighting the addition of annotations such as predicted covalent binders, phosphorylation sites, effects of mutations on the protein structure and energetic local frustration. In addition, we describe a library of reusable web-based visualisation components and introduce new features such as a bulk download data service and a novel superposition service that generates clusters of superposed protein chains weekly for the whole PDB archive., ELIXIR [IDP implementation study]; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council via the 3D-Gateway [BB/T01959X/1]; FunPDBe [BB/P024351/1]; European Molecular Biology Laboratory-European Bioinformatics Institute who supported this work; J.D. acknowledges support from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic [INBIO CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_026/0008451]; R.S., K.B. and J.D. also acknowledge support from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic [ELIXIR-CZ LM2018131]; L.M. acknowledges support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme (H2020-INFRAIA-2018-1) [823839]; Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) [G032816N, G042518N, G028821N]; W.V. acknowledges support from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) [G032816N, G028821N]; A.R. acknowledges support from the Fondazione Cassa Di Risparmio di Firenze [24316]; European Commission [101017567]; M.H.C. acknowledges the AIRC project to MHC [IG 23539]; J.F.-R. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [PID2019-110167RB-I00]; N.R. acknowledges support from the Norwegian Research Council (Norges Forskningsråd) [288008]; E.D.L. acknowledges support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [819318]; M.J.E.S. acknowledges support from the Wellcome Trust [104955/Z/14/Z, 218242/Z/19/Z]. Funding for open access charge: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council grant [BB/T01959X/1]; Wellcome Trust [104955/Z/14/Z and 218242/Z/19/Z].

Melanoma is a malignant tumor produced by highly aggressive and metastatic melanocytes. NRAS mutation is a relatively common mutation in melanoma cells. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and the PI3K/Akt pathway in melanoma cells are relatively common signaling pathways. In this study, we investigated the effect of inhibition of Axl expression on the targeted inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway in NRAS-mutant melanoma cells. In this study, immunohistochemistry and western blot methods were used to detect the expression of Axl and Akt proteins in melanoma cells. Axl inhibitor was added, and it detected the inhibitory efficiency of Akt inhibitor in melanoma cells. Finally, a melanoma mouse model was established, and it detected the proliferation and apoptosis of mouse tumor cells induced by Axl inhibitor and Akt inhibitor. The results showed that Axl and Akt were highly expressed in NRAS-mutant melanoma cells, and stimulation of Axl expression could reduce the inhibitory effect of Akt inhibitor on melanoma cells. The addition of Axl inhibitor can synergistically promote the effect of Akt inhibitor, slow down the proliferation of tumor cells, and induce cell apoptosis. According to the experiment in this study, Axl inhibitor combined with Akt inhibitor has a stronger therapeutic effect on melanoma than Akt inhibitor alone.

BackgroundLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key regulators of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) progression, but further work is needed to fully understand the functional relevance of these non-coding RNAs in this cancer type. Herein, we explored the functional role of the lncRNA ADAMTS9-AS2 in TNBC.MethodsNext-generation sequencing was conducted to compare the expression of different lncRNAs in TNBC tumor and paracancerous tissues, after which ADAMTS9-AS2differential expression in these tumor tissues was evaluated via qPCR. The functional role of this lncRNA was assessed by overexpressing it in vitro and in vivo. FISH and PCR were used to assess the localization of ADAMTS9-AS2within cells. Downstream targets of ADAMTS9-AS2 signaling were identified via RNA pulldown assays and transcriptomic sequencing.ResultsThe expression ofADAMTS9-AS2 was decreased in TNBC tumor samples (P < 0.05), with such downregulation being correlated with TNM stage, age, and tumor size. Overexpressing ADAMTS9-AS2 promoted the apoptotic death and cell cycle arrest of tumor cells in vitro and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. From a mechanistic perspective, ADAMTS9-AS2 was found to control the expression of RPL22 and to thereby modulate TGF-β signaling to control TNBC progression.ConclusionADAMTS9-AS2 controls the expression of RPL22 and thereby regulates TNBC malignancy via the TGF-β signaling pathway.

Frugivorous birds play an important role in seed dispersal. Alien plant species’ seeds are dispersed by local birds in order to establish populations in new habitats. Alien plant species that produce fruits similar to that of native species have the potential to attract local birds, creating new mutualistic systems that are similar to the local ones. In autumn 2018 and 2019, we studied the seed dispersal systems of an alien plant species, Phytolacca americana, and a native species, Cayratia japonica, in a coastal seawall forest. Both plant species’ fruit, frugivorous bird foraging behaviors, seed germination rates, and seedling microhabitats were examined to determine whether the alien species had a similar seed dispersal system to that of the native species. Our results showed that P. americana and C. japonica had similar fruit type, color, and ripening period. There was a positive correlation between the percentage rate of fruit ripening and the percentage rate of fruit missing for both plant species, indicating that local frugivorous birds have the potential to sufficiently disperse the alien seeds to enable its spread in the coastal seawall forest (simple linear regression, P. americana: β = 0.863 ± 0.017, R2adj = 0.978, P C. japonica: β = 0.787 ± 0.034, R2adj = 0.898, P P. americana had a slightly higher fruit consumption than that of C. japonica (t-test, P t-test, P

Background The practices used to diagnose gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) could only be carried out around the time of detectable symptoms, and predictive capacity is little. Methods LC‐MS/MS was conducted to explore overview proteomics for GDM complicated pregnant woman at 16‐18 gestation weeks, while normal pregnant for control. Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay was further applied in an independent cohort of 15 GDM cases and 15 controls for verification. Results The results indicated that 24 protein expression levels were significantly changed in GDM group samples, and inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, blood coagulation, and lipid homeostasis were associated with GDM. The abnormal expression of CRP and IGFBP2 was verified in the first‐trimester maternal plasma in women who subsequently developed GDM. Conclusions This study not only identified 24 potential predictive biomarkers for GDM also provided a global overview of protein rearrangements induced by GDM.

Reversible friction regulation is of long-standing great interest in the fields of both industry and scientific research, so some materials and theories have been developed aiming to solve this problem. Light-sensitive materials are promising because of the easy controllable switching of the properties and structures. Here, a reversible light-controlled macrolubrication was realized by regulating the performance of nanoscale light-sensitive molecules adsorbed on contact surfaces. In this work, symmetric diarylethene and asymmetric diarylethene had been designed and synthesized as functional materials. The friction forces were found to be obviously increased upon exposure to ultraviolet light and decayed to the initial value under visible light. In addition, the friction coefficient changed alternately with ultraviolet and visible illumination. According to the results of experiments and simulation of material properties, the behavior was suggested to be attributed to the difference in shear stiffness of the nanoscale diarylethene molecule adsorption layer triggered by two wavelength lights. This work not only provides a new lubrication regulation technology but also develops intelligent engineering materials.

The diamond films were deposited on a Si substrate with chemical vapor deposition MCVD using methane-hydrogen gas. Raman active phonon and sp2/sp3 ratio in diamond/Si(100) films were investigated by Raman spectra in the difference scattering configurations. Furthermore, the Raman scattering spectrum of diamond/Si(100) hetero-junction was measured with different thickness to investigate the spin dynamics of nitrogen vacancy spins. The Fluorescence scanning microscopy indicated that nitrogen vacancy center electron spin was coupled to the host nitrogen nuclear spin by the electron spin resonance. The strong peak of 1332 cm−1 displayed the F2g symmetry of diamond, while the broad E2g mode peak of 1550 cm−1 was a broad band G mode, and 1150 cm−1 peak corresponded to the nano-diamond and disordered graphitic carbon form with disordered SP2 hybridization. The Raman spectra of the diamond films were observed as a function of the residual stress, crystal size and their orientation. The peaks of 1132 cm−1 and 1480 cm−1 were associated with hydrogen bonding. The transport of diamond exhibited sp3 spin related effect. The diamond/Si(100) PDOS is the results of spin-related couple of sp3, p and d orbital hybridization. The spin dynamics was achieved by the orbital competition, strong crystal field and charge order. Keyword: Diamond films, Dynamics of nitrogen vacancy, Spin-orbit dynamics, Raman shift, Spin microscopy

Lead-free piezoelectric ceramics based on (1–x)(K0.48Na0.48Li0.04)Nb0.95Sb0.05O3–xBaHfO3 were designed and prepared by a conventional ceramic fabrication method. An investigation was conducted to judge the effects of BaHfO3 content on the ceramics' phase structure, microstructure, phase transition temperatures, and piezoelectric properties. It was found that all the ceramics possessed a perovskite structure in the studied composition range, despite the fact that they experienced gradual transitions from orthorhombic symmetry to rhombohedral symmetry upon increases of BaHfO3 content. Furthermore, a three-phase coexistence of rhombohedral–orthorhombic–tetragonal phases was identified in the composition range of 0.05 ≤ x ≤ 0.055, based on X-ray diffraction results together with the temperature dependence of dielectric properties. In the three-phase coexistence region, the ceramics displayed effectively enhanced piezoelectric activity, with the maximum values of the piezoelectric constant d33, and planar electromechanical coupling coefficient, being 268 pC/N and 0.432 respectively. In addition, the Curie temperature of the ceramics was found to decrease in accordance with increases of BaHfO3 content. We believe that this work can provide a valuable reference for researchers to further improve the piezoelectric properties of (K,Na)NbO3-based ceramics.

Lead-free perovskite (0.98 − x)(K0.4Na0.6)NbO3–0.02CaZrO3–xBi0.5Na0.5HfO3 (KNN–CZ–xBNH) ceramics were prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction method, and the connections between their composition, phase structure, and electrical properties were investigated. The X-ray diffraction results, together with the temperature dependence of dielectric properties, showed that a rhombohedral–tetragonal (R–T) phase boundary was successfully constructed in the composition range of 0.04 ≤ x ≤ 0.045. An enhancing effect of R–T phase boundary on the piezoelectric activity was observed, and the ceramics with the composition x = 0.045 exhibited the highest piezoelectric properties, possessing a piezoelectric constant d 33 of 320 pC/N and a planar electromechanical coupling coefficient of 0.40. In addition, it was found that while adding a small amount of Bi0.5Na0.5HfO3 could result in very large grain sizes in the (K,Na)NbO3-based ceramics, adding too much of it would lead to extremely fine grain sizes. In general, our experimental results indicate that the KNN–CZ–xBNH ceramics are promising candidate materials for lead-free piezoelectric applications.

Lead-free 0.96(K0.48Na0.535)0.96Li0.04Nb(1-x)SbxO3-0.04CaZrO3 ceramics were prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction method. The crystal structure of the ceramics was found transforming from an orthorhombic phase to a rhombohedral phase with the increase of Sb content. Furthermore, a rhombohedral-orthorhombic phase boundary was determined in 0.03 ≤ x ≤ 0.05, near which the ceramics exhibited relatively high piezoelectric properties, with maximum values of d33 ∼ 213 pC/N and kp ∼ 0.37 at x = 0.03. Our results suggest that Sb may play an important role in the construction of phase boundary as well as the improvement of piezoelectric activity for (K,Na)NbO3-based piezoelectric ceramics.

Lead-free perovskite (0.995–x)(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3–x(Bi0.5Li0.5)ZrO3–0.005BiAlO3 ternary piezoelectric ceramics were projected and prepared by a conventional solid-state method. A research was conducted on the effects of (Bi0.5Li0.5)ZrO3 content on the structure and piezoelectric properties of the ceramics. By combining the X-ray diffraction patterns with the temperature dependence of dielectric properties, a rhombohedral–orthorhombic–tetragonal phase coexistence was identified for the ceramics with 0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.025, and a rhombohedral–tetragonal phase boundary was determined in the composition x = 0.03. Upon further increasing the (Bi0.5Li0.5)ZrO3 content, the rhombohedral–tetragonal phase boundary transformed to a single rhombohedral structure with x ≥ 0.035. An obviously improved piezoelectric activity was obtained for the ceramics with compositions in and around the rhombohedral–tetragonal phase boundary, among which the composition x = 0.025 exhibited the maximum values of piezoelectric constant d 33, and planar and thickness electromechanical coupling coefficients (k p and k t), of 252 pC/N, 0.366, and 0.466, respectively. In addition, the ceramic with x = 0.025 was found to possess a relatively high Curie temperature of 368 °C, suggesting it may have a prospect for applications at elevated ambient temperatures.

Lead-free perovskite (1-x)(K0.48Na0.48Li0.04)Nb0.95Sb0.05O3-x(Bi0.5Na0.5)HfO3 piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by a traditional ceramic fabrication method. An investigation was conducted to assess the effects of (Bi0.5Na0.5)HfO3 content on the crystal structure, microstructure, phase-transition temperatures, and piezoelectric properties of the ceramics. The X-ray diffraction results, combined with the temperature dependence of dielectric properties, revealed that the ceramics experienced a structural transition from an orthorhombic phase to a tetragonal phase with the addition of (Bi0.5Na0.5)HfO3, and a coexistence of orthorhombic and tetragonal phases was identified in the composition range of 0.005≤x≤0.015. An obviously improved piezoelectric activity was obtained for the ceramics with compositions near the orthorhombic-tetragonal phase boundary, among which the composition x=0.005 exhibited the maximum values of piezoelectric constant d33, and planar and thickness electromechanical coupling coefficients (kp and kt) of 246 pC/N, 0.435, and 0.554, respectively. Furthermore, the Curie temperature of the ceramics was found decreasing with the increase in (Bi0.5Na0.5)HfO3 content, but still maintaining above 300°C for the phase boundary compositions. These results indicate that the ceramics are promising lead-free candidate materials for piezoelectric applications.

The movement patterns of animals are changing in response to environmental change with many species forming resident populations in specific areas. The Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus), which has been listed as an endangered mammal species, and the reintroduced population exists as a semi-captive population as well as a population inside an enclosure in east coastal wetlands of China. The maximum monthly distance moved was (203.36 ± 20.57, 149.93 ± 74.68 Km) in December of female deer; and in June of male deer, respectively. Females (155.72 ± 29.19 Km) appeared to move further than males (113.69 ± 40.96 Km). The rhythmic reproduction of male deer affect its monthly movement, especially in June, and the timid and shy characteristics of female deer determined them move further in whole seasons. The seasonally vegetation coverage change and water level line were the main factors drive them to move towards difference habitat. Keywords: Père David's deer, Movement ecology, Space utilization, GPS collar, Temporal rhythm

A diarylethene bearing a triazole-linked rhodamine B unit was synthesized. Its fluorescent emission was significantly enhanced in the presence of protons or Cu2+ due to transformation from the pirocyclic form to open-ring form. The fluorescence was quenched sequentially upon irradiation with 297 nm light based on the intramolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer mechanism. In an acetonitrile: water binary solvent (1: 1 v/v), the compound showed significant fluorescent enhancement for Cu2+ compared with a wide range of tested metal ions with a fast response and a limit of detection of 2.86 × 10-8 mol L-1 . Using Cu2+ and UV light as the chemical inputs, and fluorescence intensity at 597 nm as the output, a logic gate was developed at the molecular level. Moreover, the compound can be used with a high accuracy to detect Cu2+ in a natural water sample.

Tumor microenvironments play critical regulatory roles in tumor growth. Although mouse cancer models have contributed to the understanding of human tumor biology, the effectiveness of mouse cancer models is limited by the inability of the models to accurately present humanized tumor microenvironments. Previously, a humanized breast cancer model in severe combined immunodeficiency mice was established, in which human breast cancer tissue was implanted subcutaneously, followed by injection of human breast cancer cells. It was demonstrated that breast cancer cells showed improved growth in the human mammary microenvironment compared with a conventional subcutaneous mouse model. In the present study, the novel mouse model and microarray technology was used to analyze changes in the expression of genes in breast cancer cells that are regulated by the human mammary microenvironment. Humanized breast and conventional subcutaneous mouse models were established, and orthotopic tumor cells were obtained from orthotopic tumor masses by primary culture. An expression microarray using Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 Expression BeadChip and database analyses were performed to investigate changes in gene expression between tumors from each microenvironment. A total of 94 genes were differentially expressed between the primary cells cultured from the humanized and conventional mouse models. Significant upregulation of genes that promote cell proliferation and metastasis or inhibit apoptosis, such as SH3-domain binding protein 5 (BTK-associated), sodium/chloride cotransporter 3 and periostin, osteoblast specific factor, and genes that promote angiogenesis, such as KIAA1618, was also noted. Other genes that restrain cell proliferation and accelerate cell apoptosis, including tripartite motif containing TRIM36 and NES1, were downregulated. The present results revealed differences in various aspects of tumor growth and metabolism between the two model groups and indicated the functional changes specific to the human mammary microenvironment.

Lead-free piezoelectric ceramics ( 1 − x ) (K 0.475 Na 0.48 Li 0.05 )Nb 0.95 Sb 0.05 O 3 – x CaZrO 3 with perovskite structure were prepared by conventional ceramic sintering technique, and the effects of the CaZrO 3 content on the phase transitions, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the ceramics were investigated. With the increase of CaZrO 3 , the crystal structure of the ceramics transformed from the orthorhombic–tetragonal phase coexistence to the coexistence of rhombohedral and orthorhombic phases at x = 0.01 . Furthermore, both the rhombohedral–orthorhombic and orthorhombic–tetragonal phase transitions of the ceramics were found adjusted to be near room temperature with x = 0.005 , which results in a significantly enhanced piezoelectric activity.

Early detection of cancer serves an important strategy for cancer control, but its uptake rate remains relatively limited. Nurse-led interventions may have potential benefits for the early detection of cancer, but the evidence remains unclear.Synthesise the evidence on the impact of nurse-led interventions on early cancer detection. The primary outcome was early cancer detection uptake rate. Secondary outcomes were cancer knowledge, early detection beliefs, diagnosed precancerous lesions and early-stage cancers.A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trails.Eight English language databases (British Nursing Index, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL Complete, EMBASE, Ovid Emcare, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection) and three Chinese language databases (Chinese Biomedical Literature Databases, China Journal Net, and Wanfang Data) were searched from inception date to September 2019. Grey literature and reference lists of included studies were also examined.Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility, extracted data and evaluated methodological quality using the Cochrane risk of bias (RoB 2.0) tool. Meta-analyses and descriptive analyses were used. Subgroup analyses were conducted for study settings and intervention types.Ten studies examined the effects of nurse-led interventions, including education, patient reminders, counselling, and patient navigation, on early detection of breast or cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer. Nurse-led interventions improved the uptake rates of mammography [risk ratio (RR) = 1.97; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.17-3.33; p = 0.01], clinical breast examination (RR = 2.16; 95% CI: 1.02-4.59; p = 0.05), regular breast self-examination (RR = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.54-2.63; p0.001), and colonoscopy (RR = 1.90; 95% CI: 1.57-2.30; p0.001), but not of faecal blood occult tests. Subgroup analyses showed significantly improved mammography and clinical breast examination uptake rates for interventions conducted at health centres, and that patient navigation had better effects on improving colonoscopy uptake rates than did counselling. The intervention also improved cancer knowledge, early detection beliefs, and cases of detected precancerous lesions.Nurse-led interventions may improve early cancer detection uptake rates, cancer knowledge, early detection beliefs, and cases of detected precancerous lesions. The effects of nurse-led interventions conducted in home settings on improving mammography and clinical breast examination uptake rates may need further exploration. Patient navigation may be superior to counselling in improving colonoscopy uptake rates. Social media may be an option for delivering early cancer detection guidance, but needs to be further explored. Tweetable abstract: Nurse-led interventions have potential effects on promoting early detection of cancer.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) dissemination is involved in tumor metastasis and is an independent prognostic factor in patients with primary and metastatic breast cancer. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and cluster of differentiation (CD)8+ T lymphocytes are the main types of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and exert opposite roles on the progression and outcome of breast cancer. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the associations between CTCs and intratumoral/peritumoral Tregs and CD8+ T lymphocytes in breast cancer. Peripheral CTCs were detected by a multi-marker quantitative polymerase chain reaction platform in 167 patients with invasive breast cancer. Intratumoral/peritumoral Tregs and CD8+ T lymphocytes were assessed by immunohistochemistry in 167 patients with invasive breast cancer to establish an association between these cell types and detection of peripheral CTCs. CTCs were detected in 55% of the patients with breast cancer. The prevalence of CTCs was positively associated with the number of intratumoral (P=0.002) and peritumoral Tregs (P=0.045), and the primary tumor size (P=0.012). This result was verified by analyzing intratumoral Tregs (P=0.044) and primary tumor size (P=0.044) with multivariate analysis, which indicated that the CTC-positive rate increased with an increasing number of intratumoral Tregs and a larger tumor size In the multivariate analysis, other variables including menopause, tumor-node-metastasis stage and peritumoral Tregs were not associated with the prevalence of CTCs. The prevalence of CTCs was inversely and weakly associated with the number of peritumoral CD8+ T lymphocytes using the univariate analysis, however this result was not statistically significant (P=0.470). In conclusion, regulatory T cells and CD8+ T lymphocytes may be involved, at least in part, in the CTCs dissemination of breast cancer, whereby Tregs appear to exert the dominant effect. Furthermore, the role of Tregs in the progression of breast cancer may be mediated by suppressing the dissemination of CTCs, which is primarily determined by intratumoral Tregs.

A new fluorescent chemosensor for the sequential recognition of Fe3+ and cysteine has been constructed based on photochromic diarylethene. It exhibits sequential recognition of Fe3+ and cysteine via an “on–off–on” molecular switch. The title compound can selectively and sensitively recognize Fe3+ in methanol, causing quenching of the fluorescence. Then, the formed complex was found to be a fluorescent chemosensor for cysteine with an increase in the fluorescence intensity. A detection limit as low as 4.09 × 10−8 mol L−1 for Fe3+ and 2.89 × 10−8 mol L−1 for cysteine was obtained. Moreover, a two input INHIBIT logic gate was fabricated by using Fe3+ and cysteine as inputs and taking I439 as the output.

A novel photochromic diarylethene with a 1,8-naphthalimide-rhodamine B unit has been synthesized and its photochemical properties were systematically studied. The diarylethene can effectively respond to the stimuli of light, proton, and specific metal ions. When triggered by Cr3+, strong fluorescence was observed at 603 nm due to the opening of the rhodamine B moiety, accompanied with a color change from colorless to purple. The result indicated that the diarylethene could act as a colorimetric fluorescent sensor for Cr3+ in acetonitrile. Moreover, a logic circuit was constructed by using the combinational stimuli of UV/vis and Cr3+/EDTA as inputs and the fluorescence intensity at 603 nm as output.

The layered double hydroxides (LDH) of Mg2AlNi and Mg3Al pillared by Keggin-type phosphotungstic acid anion (POM), i.e. Mg2AlNi-POM LDH and Mg3Al-POM LDH were synthesized by an ion-exchange method. The synthesized POM intercalated LDH compounds were characterized using various techniques such as FTIR, XRD, TGA and BET. The observed results show that the obtained catalysts retain the layer structure of LDH. Compared with the binary Mg3Al-POM LDH, the ternary Mg2AlNi-POM LDH catalyst indicated a higher thermal and chemical stability. The catalytic activity of the resulting LDH-POM was also assessed in the green oxidation of cyclohexanol with aqueous H2O2 as an oxidant. The Mg2AlNi-POM LDH showed a much higher conversion and selectivity for cyclohexanone than the corresponding Mg3Al-POM LDH catalyst.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) dissemination is involved in tumor metastasis and is an independent prognostic factor in patients with primary and metastatic breast cancer. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and cluster of differentiation (CD)8+ T lymphocytes are the main types of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and exert opposite roles on the progression and outcome of breast cancer. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the associations between CTCs and intratumoral/peritumoral Tregs and CD8+ T lymphocytes in breast cancer. Peripheral CTCs were detected by a multi-marker quantitative polymerase chain reaction platform in 167 patients with invasive breast cancer. Intratumoral/peritumoral Tregs and CD8+ T lymphocytes were assessed by immunohistochemistry in 167 patients with invasive breast cancer to establish an association between these cell types and detection of peripheral CTCs. CTCs were detected in 55% of the patients with breast cancer. The prevalence of CTCs was positively associated with the number of intratumoral (P=0.002) and peritumoral Tregs (P=0.045), and the primary tumor size (P=0.012). This result was verified by analyzing intratumoral Tregs (P=0.044) and primary tumor size (P=0.044) with multivariate analysis, which indicated that the CTC-positive rate increased with an increasing number of intratumoral Tregs and a larger tumor size In the multivariate analysis, other variables including menopause, tumor-node-metastasis stage and peritumoral Tregs were not associated with the prevalence of CTCs. The prevalence of CTCs was inversely and weakly associated with the number of peritumoral CD8+ T lymphocytes using the univariate analysis, however this result was not statistically significant (P=0.470). In conclusion, regulatory T cells and CD8+ T lymphocytes may be involved, at least in part, in the CTCs dissemination of breast cancer, whereby Tregs appear to exert the dominant effect. Furthermore, the role of Tregs in the progression of breast cancer may be mediated by suppressing the dissemination of CTCs, which is primarily determined by intratumoral Tregs.

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Grey-streaked Flycatcher (Muscicapa griseisticta) has been determined by the polymerase chain reaction method for the first time using the muscle...

해면 상태의 변화는 수중 음향 통신 수신 신호에 전방 산란 및 도플러 확산을 야기하여 수신 신호의 진폭, 주파수 및 위상은 시간적으로 변화한다. 따라서 통신채널의 일관성 대역폭과 페이딩 변화에 의해 고속 동기식 디지털 통신 성능은 장애를 받게 된다. 본 논문에서는 2가지의 해면 상태에서 QPSK의 성능을 평가하였다. 해면 산란이 성능에 미치는 영향은 LFM 신호를 이용하여 구한 채널의 임펄스 응답과 시간 일관성을 기반으로 해석하였다. 잔잔한 해면 보다 거친 해면 상태의 임펄스 응답은 불안정하고 일관성 시간은 짧다. 이러한 결과와 수신 신호의 포락선, 진폭 및 위상과의 관계를 해석하여 QPSK의 비트 오류율이 해면 상태와 직접적으로 관계되는 것을 확인하였다.

A diarylethene bearing a triazole-linked rhodamine B unit was synthesized. Its fluorescent emission was significantly enhanced in the presence of protons or Cu