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Abstract Background Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by liver steatosis, inflammation, and even fibrosis. NASH is likely to develop into cirrhosis and liver cancer, the major causes of liver related deaths. We aimed to study the effect of probiotics on NASH via the gut‐liver axis. Methods Thirty male Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into three groups. A control group of 10 rats was fed on a standard chow for 16 weeks. Twenty rats fed on a high‐fat diet for 8 weeks were separated to two groups: a model group (10 rats) fed on vehicle for 8 weeks and a treatment group (10 rats) supplemented with binary Bacillus subtilis for 8 weeks. Hepatic expression of IL‐6 and TNF‐ɑ and ileum expression of IL‐17 and occludin were measured. Results The high‐fat diet caused inflammation of the liver and ileum in rats. Binary Bacillus subtilis treatment reduces liver inflammation through the intestinal liver axis. Increased levels of IL‐6 and TNF‐α were detected in rats fed a high‐fat diet, which were reduced to lower levels after treatment with binary Bacillus subtilis. In rats on the high‐fat diet, elevated IL‐17 levels and decreased occludin levels were observed. Treatment with Bacillus subtilis reduced IL‐17 levels and restored the expression of occludin. Conclusion Binary Bacillus subtilis has a beneficial effect on liver inflammation and intestinal damage.

Abstract Purpose The prognostic factors for diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have been fully explored, but prognostic information for bulky mass DLBCL patients is limited. This study aimed to analyze the prognostic value of MYC protein expression and other biological parameters in bulky mass DLBCL patients. Methods We defined a bulky mass as a maximum tumor diameter ≥7.5 cm and studied 227 patients with de novo bulky mass DLBCL. Results In all patients with bulky mass DLBCL, the 1‐year and 3‐year OS rates were 72.7% and 57.1%, respectively, and the 1‐year and 3‐year PFS rates were 52.0% and 42.5%, respectively. The MYC overexpression group (n = 140) showed significantly worse overall survival (OS; p = 0.019) and progression‐free survival (PFS; p = 0.001) than the non‐MYC overexpression group (n = 87). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the MYC overexpression group was associated with inferior OS and PFS in the subgroups with the International Prognostic Index score of 3–5 (OS: p = 0.011; PFS: p

This study examines the impact of response and semantic inhibition on scientific reasoning using fNIRS data from 30 students (15 male, 15 female). Utilizing Go/Nogo and Stroop-like tasks within a modified speeded-reasoning task, it was found that inhibition significantly influences scientific reasoning. Specifically, slower responses and lower accuracy on incongruent statements were linked to increased activity in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA). The research shows that both DLPFC and pre-SMA are associated with overcoming misconceptions in scientific reasoning. The findings suggest that understanding inhibitory mechanisms can enhance educational strategies to improve critical thinking and scientific literacy.

Deep heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs have become more and more important in the deep exploration of geothermal resources in China. The essential seismic exploration technology has many difficulties, such as serious attenuation of deep energy, low signal-to-noise ratio, difficult imaging of inner basement in tectonic uplift areas. In order to acquire high-quality deep seismic exploration data, a large number of vibroseis excitation parameters and geophone receiving parameters experiments have been received in a typical areas of the Central Hebei Plain in North China. On the basis of a large number of field experimental data, a qualitative analysis of the original single-shot records is carried out, and quantitative analysis is also carried out from the aspects of frequency band energy, inter-channel frequency, signal-to-noise ratio, etc., to study the parameter selection such as the number of vibroseis, sweep frequency, sweep length, vibration times, driving amplitude and geophone combination mode, which can affect the quality of the seismic data. In this paper, the field construction parameters for 2D seismic exploration of deep carbonate reservoirs in the North China Plain are optimized as follows: 4 sets of 28 tons vibrate 4–6 times, 75% driving amplitude, non-linear sweep (slope –3), 6–84 Hz sweep frequency, and 12 s sweep length. The quality of the single-shot records and data processing profiles are greatly improved after parameter optimization, which can be more clearly divided into the bottom interface of the Gaoyuzhuang Formation of the Jixian System and the top interface of the Archean Erathern in the Niutuozhen uplift tectonic area. The optimized seismic acquisition parameters are of certain reference and guiding significance for deep seismic exploration in sedimentary basins.

The exploitation and utilization of clean energy is a resource and environmental issue of common concern for global sustainable development. As a vital strategic and sustainable future energy, hot dry rock (HDR) has attracted more and more attention. In this paper some thoughts on the future research direction of HDR resources in China are provided based on a worldwide experience summary, hoping to provide a useful reference for the future exploration and engineering development of HDR. Since the concept of HDR was put forward in the 1970s, the number of worldwide HDR construction has been increasingly growing. Although a lot of theoretical and technical breakthroughs have been made, only a small fraction of projects still in operation due to the lack of sustained financial support, induced microearthquakes and other issues. At present, the global development of HDR is gradually entering a new stage of exploration, and the basic theories of HDR to tackle the key problems are strengthening around the world. Since 2012, the China Geological Survey has organized and implemented the nationwide terrestrial HDR resources survey, evaluation, exploration and development, and significant stage progress has been achieved. A series of fundamental maps have been compiled, such as terrestrial heat flow value, curie surface depth, distribution of acidic rock, and heat-controlling structure in China. The resource potential of terrestrial HDR in China has been preliminarily estimated and a sounding basis for the target site selection is provided. HDR exploration and evaluation have been carried out in typical areas of Qinghai, Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi and Jiangsu provinces, and a breakthrough has been achieved in the Gonghe Basin of Qinghai. The first HDR resources exploration and production demonstration project in China was carried out in 2019, which made a series of meaningful outcomes in deep HDR exploration, high-temperature hard rock drilling, large-scale reservoir stimulation, reservoir connectivity and flow circulation, organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power generation, etc. The large-scale reservoir stimulation was carried out in 2020, and the first power generation test was completed in 2021. In general, the global exploration and development of HDR has made great progress. Practice has proved that HDR resources are a promising green energy and are expected to become an inexhaustible energy support for the world in the future. However, there is still a large gap between the existing path of HDR development and utilization and the economics of its supporting technologies compared with commercial development expectations at present. Although the development of HDR resources in China has achieved a breakthrough from “0” to “1”, there is still a long way to go from the international level. In order to solve the problems of large-scale and economic development, it is still needed to promote disruptive technological innovation in high temperature hard rock drilling and completion, fine characterization of deep reservoirs, safe large-scale reservoir construction, efficient heat transfer and heat recovery and other aspects.

Abstract The internet and related technologies have promoted the development of medical and health fields, especially remote diagnosis. As medical images may be stolen in the transmission process, the patient's personal information could be leaked. Aiming at the problem of privacy disclosure of colour medical images, a hybrid domain watermarking scheme based on improved differential evolution (DE) and the singular value block embedding (SVBE) is proposed in this study. Through this scheme, the image containing the patient's information is hidden in the patient's medical carrier image as a watermark. First, redistributed invariant lifting wavelet transform (RILWT), discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and singular value decomposition (SVD) are used to process the colour medical carrier image, and the high‐frequency information in the integer wavelet domain of the watermark is embedded into the processed carrier image using the proposed singular value block embedding method based on the improved differential evolution algorithm. At the same time, to increase the security of the watermark scheme, a digital signature based on the SHA‐384 hash function is designed for verification before watermark extraction. Compared with recent related research, the scheme has strong invisibility and robustness.

Abstract As planar optical elements, metasurfaces confer an unprecedented potential to manipulate light, which benefits from the deep control of the interactions between nanostructures and light. In the past decade, considerable progress has been made in various metasurfaces for on‐demand functions, drawing great interest from the scientific community. However, it is a great challenge to integrate different functions into a single metasurface, due to the incapability of manipulating light at different dimensions and the lack of universal intelligent design strategy. Here, an intelligent design platform based on deep neural networks is proposed, which can map between structure parameters and optical response. The well‐trained network model can intelligently retrieve nanostructures to meet multidimensional optical requirements of metasurfaces. Four metalenses for chiral focusing are realized by the design platform and the simulation results are highly consistent with the design target. In addition, metalenses based on arbitrary polarization at various working wavelength are also demonstrated, showing that the method has powerful design ability. Various optical properties of nanostructures, such as phase shift and polarization, are manipulated by deep neural networks, which can greatly promote the development of multifunctional devices and further pave the way for optical display, communication, computing, sensing, and other applications.

Based on locally enhanced electromagnetic field and accelerated spontaneous emission rate, excitonic upconversion enhancement of more than 1000-fold was achieved in plasmonic nanocavity coupled transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers.

Photonic topological insulators with robust boundary states can enable great applications for optical communication and quantum emission, such as unidirectional waveguide and single-mode laser. However, because of the diffraction limit of light, the physical insight of topological resonance remains unexplored in detail, like the dark line that exists with the crystalline symmetry-protected topological edge state. Here, we experimentally observe the dark line of the Z2 photonic topological insulator in the visible range by photoluminescence and specify its location by cathodoluminescence characterization, and elucidate its mechanism with the p-d orbital electromagnetic field distribution which calculated by numerical simulation. Our investigation provides a deeper understanding of Z2 topological edge states and may have great significance to the design of future on-chip topological devices.

A microwave plasma generator (MPG) of a sub-millimeter scale might be suitable for biomedical applications. However, there are still many unknowns regarding the MPG discharge behavior at this scale and specific conditions. A two-dimensional MPG model at the millimeter scale and its simulation and relative calculation in the COMSOL Multiphysics software are presented. A MPG filled with argon and helium is simulated, respectively. The frequency of a microwave source of about 5 GHz is considered. The number density and temperature of electrons as well as chemical composition are obtained at different power and pressure conditions. The electron density peaks slightly downstream of the crossing point, and the electron density is slightly asymmetrically in the y-plane due to the fact that the electromagnetic waves are absorbed asymmetrically. The electron temperature is relatively low everywhere, in part, due to the high operating pressure. The electron temperature peaks directly underneath the wave guide where the wave is absorbed. The electron density increases with the increase in the internal pressure and the input power of the MPG, the electron temperature decreases with the increase in the internal pressure of the MPG, but the electron temperature cannot be affected by the input power change of MPG. The amount of excited Ar+ and Ars (metastable atom) increases with the increase in the input power and pressure of MPG, but the amount of excited Ar almost remained unchanged. In addition, the amount of excited He almost remained unchanged, while the amount of excited He+, Hes (metastable atom), and He2+ increased with the increase in the input power and pressure of MPG. The simulation results of this model are thus informative for understanding the physical characteristics of millimeter-sized MPG, and it will provide a solid basis for the future development of such hardware in small plasma capsules for cancer therapy.

Here, the authors generate near-field circularly polarized dipole modes in a hBN/WSe2/hBN–Au nanoantenna hybrid structure by electron beam excitation, and show nanoscale control of the valley polarization through spatial variation of the electron beam excitation position.

Abstract Background The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in awake, spontaneously breathing and non-intubated patients (awake ECMO) may be a novel therapeutic strategy for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients. The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility and safety of awake ECMO in severe ARDS patients receiving prolonged ECMO (> 14 days). Methods We describe our experience with 12 consecutive severe ARDS patients (age, 39.1 ± 16.4 years) supported with awake ECMO to wait for native lung recovery during prolonged ECMO treatment from July 2013 to January 2018. Outcomes are reported including the hospital mortality, ECMO-related complications and physiological data on weaning from invasive ventilation. Results The patients received median 26.0 (15.5, 64.8) days of total ECMO duration in the cohort. The longest ECMO support duration was 121 days. Awake ECMO and extubation was implemented after median 10.2(5.0, 42.9) days of ECMO. Awake ECMO was not associated with increased morbidity. The total invasive ventilation duration, lengths of stay in the ICU and hospital in the cohort were 14.0(12.0, 37.3) days, 33.0(22.3, 56.5) days and 46.5(27.3, 84.8) days, respectively. The hospital mortality rate was 33.3% (4/12) in the cohort. Survivors had more stable respiratory rate and heart rate after extubation when compared to the non-survivors. Conclusions With carefully selected patients, awake ECMO is a feasible and safe strategy for severe pulmonary ARDS patients receiving prolonged ECMO support to wait for native lung recovery.

The temperature of the high-power inductively coupled plasma jet is very high, and its temperature is difficult to measure directly. The heat flux becomes a thermodynamic characteristic to measure the plasma jet. The existing heat flux calculation method is based on the temperature change rate after the response time. The slug is required to stay in the high enthalpy jet area for a longer time. With the slug temperature reaching the melting point as the upper limit, the shorter the residence time, the greater the upper limit of the measured heat flux. In this paper, the first-order transient solution is added to the steady-state solution of temperature (the calculation equation of the existing method), which can shorten the response time. The shortening of the response time can reduce the residence time of the slug in the jet region, and the reduction in the residence time can increase the upper limit of the calorimeter heat flux measurement. This paper uses numerical simulation and experimental methods to verify that the steady-state solution method and the first-order transient solution method can obtain consistent heat flux results. Using the first-order transient solution method can reduce the residence time of the slug calorimeter in the jet region. According to the shortening of the residence time, the method of using the first-order transient solution can increase the upper limit of the heat flux measurement by more than 25%.

In this paper, a full-duplex (FD) transmitter cooperative scheme is proposed to improve the achievable rate for multiple access channels (MACs). In the proposed scheme, by leveraging the FD amplify-and-forward (AF) protocol, two FD transmitters send their own signals and forward the received signals from their counterparts to the receiver, which adopts both the forward and backward decoding schemes to decode the source messages. First, the analyses of the equivalent channel model and the statistics of the accumulated additive white Gaussian noise and residual self-interference (ANRI) caused by imperfect self-interference cancellation are performed. Then, the achievable rate regions are obtained by utilizing both the forward and backward decoding schemes, and a two-stage iterative algorithm is proposed to characterize these regions: in each iteration, the covariance matrix of the ANRI is first updated; then, for the fixed covariance matrix of the ANRI, the transmission parameters of the two transmitters are calculated by a two-step iterative algorithm based on the parametric Dinkelbach algorithm, sequential convex programming (SCP), and semidefinite relaxation (SDR). The numerical results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the half-duplex cooperative scheme and conventional MAC scheme without cooperations when the channels between the two transmitters are in good condition.

The behavior of biomolecules in crowded environments remains largely unknown due to the accuracy of simulation models and the limited experimental data for comparison. Here we chose a small crowder of tetraethylene glycol (PEG-4) to investigate the self-crowding of PEG-4 solutions and molecular crowding effects on the structure and diffusion of lysozyme at varied concentrations from dilute water to pure PEG-4 liquid. Two Amber-like force fields of Amber14SB and a99SB-disp were examined with TIP3P (fast diffusivity and low viscosity) and a99SB-disp (slow diffusivity and high viscosity) water models, respectively. Compared to the Amber14SB protein simulations, the a99SB-disp model yields more coordinated water and less PEG-4 molecules, less intramolecular hydrogen bonds (HBs), more protein–water HBs, and less protein–PEG HBs as well as stronger interactions and more hydrophilic and less hydrophobic contacts with solvent molecules. The a99SB-disp model offers comparable protein–solvent interactions in concentrated PEG-4 solutions to that in pure water. The PEG-4 crowding leads to a slow-down in the diffusivity of water, PEG-4, and protein, and the decline in the diffusion from atomistic simulations is close to or faster than the hard sphere model that neglects attractive interactions. Despite these differences, the overall structure of lysozyme appears to be maintained well at different PEG-4 concentrations for both force fields, except a slightly large deviation at 370 K at low concentrations with the a99SB-disp model. This is mainly attributed to the strong intramolecular interactions of the protein in the Amber14SB force field and to the large viscosity of the a99SB-disp water model. The results indicate that the protein force fields and the viscosity of crowder solutions affect the simulation of biomolecules under crowding conditions.

The study of laser-induced ultrafast magnetization dynamics is crucial for the development of information recording technology. Due to the complex mechanism, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding for ultrafast magnetization dynamics. As an essential stage of laser-induced ultrafast magnetization switching process, the transient ferromagnetic like state (TFLS), has attracted much attention. Different from other studies on TFLS through the difference of magnetization dynamics between rare-earth and transition-metal, our study mainly focuses on the influence of energy injection and relaxation on TFLS in the process of ultrafast magnetization dynamics. The influence of various parameters on the formation of energy exchange dependent TFLS is studied. The results of simulation well support our view. Understanding the mechanism behind the TFLS is of great significance to promote the application of laser-induced ultrafast magnetization switching.

Abstract Background Evidence concerning the efficacy and safety of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with influenza A (H7N9) has been was limited to case reports. Our study is aimed to investigate the current application, efficacy and safety of ECMO in for severe H7N9 pneumonia-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the Chinese population. Methods A multicentre retrospective cohort study was conducted at 20 hospitals that admitted patients with avian influenza A (H7N9) viral pneumonia patients’ admission from 9 provinces in China between October 1, 2016, and March 1, 2017. Data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, including general conditions, outcomes and ECMO management, were analysed. Then, successfully weaned and unsuccessfully weaned groups were compared. Results A total of 35 patients, aged 57 ± 1 years, were analysed; 65.7% of patients were male with 63% mortality. All patients underwent invasive positive pressure ventilation (IPPV), and rescue ventilation strategies were implemented for 23 cases (65.7%) with an average IPPV duration of 5 ± 1 d, PaO2/FiO2 of 78 ± 23 mmHg, tidal volume (VT) of 439 ± 61 ml and plateau pressure (Pplat) of 29 ± 8 cmH2O pre-ECMO. After 48 h on ECMO, PaO2 improved from 56 ± 21 mmHg to 90 ± 24 mmHg and PaCO2 declined from 52 ± 24 mmHg to 38 ± 24 mmHg. Haemorrhage, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and barotrauma occurred in 45.7%, 60% and 8.6% of patients, respectively. Compared with successfully weaned patients (n = 14), the 21 unsuccessfully weaned patients had a longer duration of IPPV pre-ECMO (6 ± 4 d vs. 2 ± 1 d, P

This paper studies the performance of the analog multi-tap (MT) canceller, where the tap coefficients are calculated based on the estimated self-interference (SI) channel state information (CSI). In this paper, both the time-invariant and the time-varying SI channels scenarios are investigated, considering the dynamic range of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and the linearity of the receiver chain. Closed-form expressions are first developed to calculate the residual SI power after the MT cancellation, characterizing the joint effects of the imperfect SI CSI, reconstruction errors on the estimated SI CSI, and the variation of the SI channels. Then, the achievable rate of the full-duplex transceivers is derived as a function of the residual SI power after the MT cancellation, dynamic range of the ADC, and the linearity of the receiver chain. Theoretical and simulated results show that with imperfect SI CSI, deploying more taps may harm the amount of analog SI cancellation. The sensitivity of the canceller to the doppler frequency shift reduces the amount of analog SI cancellation, and thus brings rate gain loss even with a doppler negligible in conventional communications.

The physical characteristics for the study of two-dimensional inductively coupled plasma (ICP) discharge with different designs of copper coil and gas composition are presented in this paper. And this numerical model is a typical inductively coupled plasma discharge. Compared with former publications studying in ICP discharge, our simulation results indicate some new discoveries. First, the inductive coil gaps are arranged at different distances and their physical properties are studied in argon environment. The maximum electron density, electron temperature and macroscopic gas temperature are obtained at the best coil gap distance for discharge. Then, the inductive coils on the quartz tube without changing the coil gaps between the coils are placed in different positions and the discharge properties are also studied in argon environment. The maximum electron density, electron temperature and macroscopic gas temperature are obtained in the best position for discharge respectively. Finally, the physical characteristics of the ICP discharge in different gas compositions (other physical parameters were unchanged) are studied and the related important chemical reactions are also been described. It is concluded that the best discharge effect of argon gas is obtained under the same discharge conditions.

The pathogenesis of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is incompletely understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important mediators that normally function via post-transcriptional degradation of target mRNAs. Emerging evidence indicates the appearance of differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs in CI-AKI following the injection of intravenous contrast medium. However, there are differences in the pathological mechanism and incidence of CI-AKI between intravenous and intra-arterial contrast administration. The present study aimed to investigate the critical roles of dysregulated miRNAs and their associated mRNAs in kidney injury following intra-arterial contrast medium exposure. Based on a reliable CI-AKI rat model, we conducted genome-wide miRNA and mRNA expression profiling analysis using deep sequencing. In the study, 36 DE mature miRNAs were identified (fold change > 1.5 and p value < 0.05) in the kidneys of CI-AKI rats (n = 3) compared with that in the controls (n = 3), consisting of 23 up-regulated and 13 down-regulated DE miRNAs. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that wingnut (Wnt), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), and 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathways were most likely to be modulated by these dysregulated miRNAs. Around 453 dysregulated genes (fold change > 2.0 and p value < 0.05) were identified. Integrated analysis revealed 2037 putative miRNA-mRNA pairs with negative correlations. Among them, 6 DE miRNAs and 13 genes were selected for further quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction validation (n = 6 for each group), and a good correspondence between the two techniques was observed. In conclusion, the present study provided evidence of miRNA-mRNA interactions in the development of kidney injury following an intra-arterial contrast injection. These findings provide insights into the underlying mechanisms of CI-AKI.

A high speed vehicle passing through the atmosphere may encounter radio communication blackout, a phenomenon which is caused by the high plasma density in the plasma layer surrounding the vehicle. To alleviate blackout, a method known as time-varying electromagnetic mitigation of the plasma (TEMP) is proposed. The principle of TEMP is based on a one-dimensional axisymmetric model consisting mainly of the ion mass conservation equation, the ion momentum conservation equation, the generalized Ohm's law and the electromagnetic induction law. Numerical simulations were performed to examine the plasma mitigation effects under various conditions by assuming a linearly decreasing magnetic field. Simulation results suggested that the plasma density at the center was reduced to less than 0.2 times the original plasma density but was of sufficient size (about 3 cm) and time duration (about 50 μs) to permit data transmission at pressures as high as 50 Pa. Furthermore, it is suggested that a lower pressure, stronger magnetic field and shorter duration are helpful for plasma mitigation, achieving nearly the same effect as that obtained at different plasma densities. Given that a dc magnet or a dc electric field is not required, and the power requirement and weight are modest, the TEMP approach based on applying a periodic magnetic pulse may be a promising way to alleviate radio communication blackout.

A two-dimensional axisymmetric inductively coupled plasma (ICP) model with its implementation in the COMSOL (Multi-physics simulation software) platform is described. Specifically, a large size ICP generator filled with argon is simulated in this study. Distributions of the number density and temperature of electrons are obtained for various input power and pressure settings and compared. In addition, the electron trajectory distribution is obtained in simulation. Finally, using experimental data, the results from simulations are compared to assess the veracity of the two-dimensional fluid model. The purpose of this comparison is to validate the veracity of the simulation model. An approximate agreement was found (variation tendency is the same). The main reasons for the numerical magnitude discrepancies are the assumption of a Maxwellian distribution and a Druyvesteyn distribution for the electron energy and the lack of cross sections of collision frequencies and reaction rates for argon plasma.

Lead-free Ca, Zr co-doped BaTiO3 (BCZT) single crystal with a dimension up to 2mm×2mm×2mm was grown by a spontaneous nucleation technique using KF as the flux. The composition of the studied single crystal was defined to be Ba0.798Ca0.202Zr0.006Ti0.994O3, corresponding to a tetragonal phase at room temperature. The oriented single crystal exhibited a quasi-static piezoelectric constant of approximately 232 pC/N. The effective piezoelectric coefficient d33* of the single domain crystal obtained under a unipolar electric field of 35 kV/cm was 179 pm/V. Rayleigh analysis was used to identify the intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to the room-temperature piezoelectricity of BCZT single crystal. The extrinsic contribution was estimated up to 40% due to the irreversible domain wall movement. Furthermore a sixth-order polynomial of Landau expansion was employed to analyze the intrinsic contribution to piezoelectricity of BCZT single crystal. The large energy barriers inhibited polarization rotations, leading to the relatively low piezoelectricity.

To ensure food quality and safety, developing cost-effective, rapid and precision analytical techniques for quantitative detection of nitrite is highly desirable. Herein, a novel electrochemical sensor based on the sodium cellulose sulfate/poly (dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride) (NaCS/PDMDAAC) composite film modified glass carbon electrode (NaCS/PDMDAAC/GCE) was proposed toward the detection of nitrite at sub-micromolar level, aiming to make full use of the inherent properties of individual component (biocompatible, low cost, good electrical conductivity for PDMDAAC; non-toxic, abundant raw materials, good film forming ability for NaCS) and synergistic enhancement effect. The NaCS/PDMDAAC/GCE was fabricated by a simple drop-casting method. Electrochemical behaviors of nitrite at NaCS/PDMDAAC/GCE were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Under optimum conditions, the NaCS/PDMDAAC/GCE exhibits a wide linear response region of 4.0 × 10−8 mol·L−1~1.5 × 10−4 mol·L−1 and a low detection 1imit of 43 nmol·L−1. The NaCS/PDMDAAC shows a synergetic enhancement effect toward the oxidation of nitrite, and the sensing performance is much better than the previous reports. Moreover, the NaCS/PDMDAAC also shows good stability and reproducibility. The NaCS/PDMDAAC/GCE was successfully applied to the determination of nitrite in ham sausage with satisfactory results.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a key tumor marker for several common and deadly cancers. It is of great importance to develop efficient detection methods for its over-expression. In this work, an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) method adjustable by anionic porphyrin for HER2 gene detection has been proposed, based on the impedance difference between multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and DNA. The interesting finding herein is that with the addition of anionic porphyrin, i.e., meso-tetra(4-sulfophenyl)-porphyrin (TSPP), the impedance value obtained at a glass carbon electrode (GCE) modified with MWCNTs and a single stranded DNA (ssDNA), the probe DNA that might be assembled tightly onto MWCNTs through π-π stacking interaction, gets a slight decrease; however, the impedance value from a GCE modified with MWCNTs and a double stranded DNA (dsDNA), the hybrid of the probe DNA with a target DNA, which might be assembled loosely onto MWCNTs for the screening effect of phosphate backbones in dsDNA, gets an obvious decrease. The reason may be that on the one hand, being rich in negative sulfonate groups, TSPP will try to push DNA far away from CNTs surface due to its strong electrostatic repulsion towards DNA; on the other hand, rich in planar phenyl or pyrrole rings, TSPP will compete with DNA for the surface of CNTs since it can also be assembled onto CNTs through conjugative interactions. In this way, the “loosely assembled” dsDNA will be repelled by this anionic porphyrin and released off CNTs surface much more than the “tightly assembled” ssDNA, leading to a bigger difference in the impedance value between dsDNA and ssDNA. Thus, through the amplification effect of TSPP on the impedance difference, the perfectly matched target DNA could be easily determined by EIS without any label. Under the optimized experimental conditions, this electrochemical sensor shows an excellent linear response to target DNA in a concentration range of 2.0 × 10−11–2.0 × 10−6 M with a limit of detection (LOD) of 6.34 × 10−11 M (S/N = 3). This abnormally sensitive electrochemical sensing performance resulting from anionic porphyrin for DNA sequences specific to HER2 gene will offer considerable promise for tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Cu2O NPs) were dispersed into a graphene oxide (GO) solution to form a homogeneous Cu2O-GO dispersion. After this, the cuprous oxide nanoparticles were functionalized to electrochemically reduce the graphene oxide decorated glassy carbon electrode (Cu2O-ErGO/GCE). This was prepared by coating the Cu2O-GO dispersion onto the surface of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE), which was followed by a potentiostatic reduction process. An irreversible two-electron reaction of uric acid (UA) was observed at the voltammetric sensor. Moreover, the high concentrations of dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) hardly affected the peak current of UA, which suggested that Cu2O-ErGO/GCE have excellent selectivity for UA. This is probably because the response peaks of the three compounds are well-separated from each other. The oxidation peak current was proportional to the concentration of UA in the ranges of 2.0 nM−0.6 μM and 0.6 μM−10 μM, respectively, with a low limit of detection (S/N = 3, 1.0 nM) after an accumulation time of 120 s. Cu2O-ErGO/GCE was utilized for the rapid detection of UA in human blood serum and urine samples with satisfactory results.

A facile cuprous oxide nanoparticles functionalized electro-reduced graphene oxide modified glassy carbon electrode (denoted as Cu2O NPs-ERGO/GCE) was fabricated via a simple physical adsorption and electrochemical reduction approach. Cyclic voltammetry and second-order derivative linear scan voltammetry were used to investigate the electrocatalysis oxidation of vanillin on the Cu2O NPs-ERGO/GCE. The compound yielded a well-defined voltammetric response in 0.1 M H2SO4 at 0.916 V (vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE)). A linear calibration graph was obtained in the concentration range of 0.1 μM to 10 μM and 10 μM to 100 μM, while the detection limit (S/N = 3) is 10 nM. In addition, the Cu2O NPs-ERGO/GCE presented well anti-interference ability, stability, and reproducibility. It was used to detect vanillin sensitively and rapidly in different commercial food products, and the results were in agreement with the values obtained by high performance liquid chromatography.

We consider two kinds of weighted mixed almost unbiased estimators in a linear stochastic restricted regression model when the prior information and the sample information are not equally important. The superiorities of the two new estimators are discussed according to quadratic bias and variance matrix criteria. Under such criteria, we perform a real data example and a Monte Carlo study to illustrate theoretical results.

After demonstrating, with karyotyping, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and fluorescence in-situ hybridization, the retention of certain human chromosomes and genes following the spontaneous fusion of human tumor and hamster cells in-vivo, it was postulated that cell fusion causes the horizontal transmission of malignancy and donor genes. Here, we analyzed gene expression profiles of 3 different hybrid tumors first generated in the hamster cheek pouch after human tumor grafting, and then propagated in hamsters and in cell cultures for years: two Hodgkin lymphomas (GW-532, GW-584) and a glioblastoma multiforme (GB-749). Based on the criteria of MAS 5.0 detection P-values ≤0.065 and at least a 2-fold greater signal expression value than a hamster melanoma control, we identified 3,759 probe sets (ranging from 1,040 to 1,303 in each transplant) from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of the 3 hybrid tumors, which unambiguously mapped to 3,107 unique Entrez Gene IDs, representative of all human chromosomes; however, by karyology, one of the hybrid tumors (GB-749) had a total of 15 human chromosomes in its cells. Among the genes mapped, 39 probe sets, representing 33 unique Entrez Gene IDs, complied with the detection criteria in all hybrid tumor samples. Five of these 33 genes encode transcription factors that are known to regulate cell growth and differentiation; five encode cell adhesion- and transmigration-associated proteins that participate in oncogenesis and/or metastasis and invasion; and additional genes encode proteins involved in signaling pathways, regulation of apoptosis, DNA repair, and multidrug resistance. These findings were corroborated by PCR and reverse transcription PCR, showing the presence of human alphoid (α)-satellite DNA and the F11R transcripts in additional tumor transplant generations. We posit that in-vivo fusion discloses genes implicated in tumor progression, and gene families coding for the organoid phenotype. Thus, cancer cells can transduce adjacent stromal cells, with the resulting progeny having permanently transcribed genes with malignant and other gene functions of the donor DNA. Using heterospecific in-vivo cell fusion, genes encoding oncogenic and organogenic traits may be identified.

We report the in-vivo fusion of two Hodgkin lymphomas with golden hamster cheek pouch cells, resulting in serially-transplanted (over 5-6 years) GW-532 and GW-584 heterosynkaryon tumor cells displaying both human and hamster DNA (by FISH), lymphoma-like morphology, aggressive metastasis, and retention of 7 human genes (CD74, CXCR4, CD19, CD20, CD71, CD79b, and VIM) out of 24 tested by PCR. The prevalence of B-cell restricted genes (CD19, CD20, and CD79b) suggests that this uniform population may be the clonal initiating (malignant) cells of Hodgkin lymphoma, despite their not showing translation to their respective proteins by immunohistochemical analysis. This is believed to be the first report of in-vivo cell-cell fusion of human lymphoma and rodent host cells, and may be a method to disclose genes regulating both organoid and metastasis signatures, suggesting that the horizontal transfer of tumor DNA to adjacent stromal cells may be implicated in tumor heterogeneity and progression. The B-cell gene signature of the hybrid xenografts suggests that Hodgkin lymphoma, or its initiating cells, is a B-cell malignancy.

Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is related to the degree of atrial fibrosis and plays critical roles in the induction and perpetuation of atrial fibrillation (AF). To investigate the association of the common promoter polymorphism rs1800469 in the TGF-β1 gene (TGFB1) with the risk of AF in Chinese Han population, we carried out a case-control study of two hospital-based independent populations: Southeast Chinese population (581 patients with AF and 723 controls), and Northeast Chinese population (308 AF patients and 292 controls). Two hundred and seventy-eight cases of AF were lone AF and 334 cases of AF were diagnosed as paroxysmal AF. In both populations, AF patients had larger left atrial diameters than the controls did. The rs1800469 genotypes in the TGFB1 gene were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The genotype and allele frequencies of rs1800469 were not different between AF patients and controls of the Southeast Chinese population, Northeast Chinese population, and total Study Population. After adjustment for age, sex, hypertension and LAD, there was no association between the rs1800469 polymorphism and the risk of AF under the dominant, recessive and additive genetic models. Similar results were obtained from subanalysis of the lone and paroxymal AF subgroups. Our results do not support the role of the TGFB1 rs1800469 functional gene variant in the development of AF in the Chinese Han population.

The type III interferons (IFNs), comprising IFN-λ1, IFN-λ2, and IFN-λ3, behave similarly to IFN-α in eliciting antiviral, antitumor, and immune-modulating activities. Due to their more restricted cellular targets, IFN-λs are attractive as potential alternatives to existing therapeutic regimens based on IFN-αs. We have applied the DOCK-AND-LOCK™ method to improve the anti-proliferative potency of IFN-λ1 up to 1,000-fold in targeted cancer cell lines by tethering stabilized Fab dimers, derived from hRS7 (humanized anti-Trop-2), hMN-15 (humanized anti-CEACAM6), hL243 (humanized anti-HLA-DR), and c225 (chimeric anti-EGFR), to IFN-λ1 site-specifically, resulting in novel immunocytokines designated (E1)-λ1, (15)-λ1, (C2)-λ1, and (c225)-λ1, respectively. Targeted delivery of IFN-λ1 via (15)-λ1 or (c225)-λ1 to respective antigen-expressing cells also significantly increased antiviral activity when compared with non-targeting (C2)-λ1, as demonstrated in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 by (15)-λ1 against encephalomyocarditis virus (EC50 = 22.2 pM versus 223 pM), and in human hepatocarcinoma cell line Huh-7 by (c225)-λ1 against hepatitis C virus (EC50 = 0.56 pM versus 91.2 pM). These promising results, which are attributed to better localization and stronger binding of IFN-λ1 to antibody-targeted cells, together with the favorable pharmacokinetic profile of (E1)-λ1 in mice (T(1/2) = 8.6 h), support further investigation of selective prototypes as potential antiviral and antitumor therapeutic agents.