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Purpose: Poverty and hunger are still severe problems faced by the world today, especially in developing countries. Starvation in childhood usually damaged mental health in later years. But, does this proposition apply China? The answer could not only verify the validity of the current research findings, but also provide certain significance for the intervention and formulation of global public health policy.Method: This research was based on the data of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey data in 2018, and 1820 elderly people were investigated. The impact of childhood starvation on mental health in later years was investigated by the Ordinary Least Squares method. Moreover, the robustness tests conducted by replacing independent variable to severity of childhood starvation and dividing the samples to different age ranges. Furthermore, heterogeneity was also analyzed based on different gender, different domicile where they born, and different level of education.Results: The childhood starvation was associated with less mental health scores in later life. The older who suffered from childhood starvation showed worsen mental health in later years, especially in the illiterate samples and the rural samples. However, there was no significant difference when considering different gender.Conclusions: Childhood starvation worsened the mental health in later life, and the level of education and being born in urban had a mediating effect to the relationship. In order to reduce the negative impact of childhood starvation on mental health, anti-poverty strategies, such as providing assistance to children who are hungry, and developing early intervention programs for children's development, should be promoted around the world. Meanwhile, the local development, industrialization and modernization, as well as children's educational attainment should also be promoted while preventing child hunger.

There is little empirical research on the effect of working after retirement on the mental health of the older adults in China. To fill this gap in the literature, this study examines the effects of working after retirement on the mental health of the older adults using data from the China Family Panel Studies. We employed the methods of ordinary least squares, ordered logit, and propensity score matching–difference in differences (PSM–DID). Results show that working after retirement is negatively related to mental health of the older adults in China. The deterioration effect of post-retirement work mainly impacts those aged over 60 years, women, and those with lower education background, urban household registration, higher pension, and higher social status. Working after retirement is negatively related to mental health through the mediating effects of deteriorating interpersonal relationships and lower positive attitude. It is necessary to consider mental health effects and their population differences to evaluate the impact and improve the quality of policies of active aging.

Objective To identify atypical hyperplasia (AH) of the breast by shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS), and to explore the molecular fingerprinting characteristics of breast AH. Methods Breast hyperplasia was studied in 11 hospitals across China from January 2015 to December 2016. All patients completed questionnaires on women’s health. The differences between patients with and without breast AH were compared. AH breast lesions were detected by Raman spectroscopy followed by the SHINERS technique. Results There were no significant differences in clinical features and risk-related factors between patients with breast AH (n = 37) and the control group (n = 2576). Fifteen cases of breast AH lesions were detected by Raman spectroscopy. The main different Raman peaks in patients with AH appeared at 880, 1001, 1086, 1156, 1260, and 1610 cm−1, attributed to the different vibrational modes of nucleic acids, β-carotene, and proteins. Shell-isolated nanoparticles had different enhancement effects on the nucleic acid, protein, and lipid components in AH. Conclusion Raman spectroscopy can detect characteristic molecular changes in breast AH lesions, and may thus be useful for the non-invasive early diagnosis and for investigating the mechanism of tumorigenesis in patients with breast AH.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, recurrent and destructive disease of the gastrointestinal tract. Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a therapeutic measure in which faecal microbiota from healthy people is transplanted into patients. To systematically evaluate the safety and effectiveness of treating UC with different modes of FMT. Seven databases were searched by two independent researchers and studies related to randomized controlled trials were included in the analysis. Seven studies on UC involving 431 patients were included in the analysis. The results showed that FMT had better efficacy than placebo (OR = 2.29, 95% CI 1.48–3.53, P = 0.0002). Subgroup analyses of influencing factors showed that frozen faeces from multiple donors delivered via the lower gastrointestinal tract had a better curative effect than placebo (OR = 2.76, 95% CI 1.59–4.79, P = 0.0003; OR = 2.93, 95% CI 1.67–5.71, P = 0.0002; and OR = 2.70, 95% CI 1.67–4.37, P

In order to improve the time efficiency of online education resource scheduling system in resource scheduling,an online education resource scheduling system based on a multi-level SDN architecture is designed.The hardware part of the system designed this time mainly includes a controller and an expansion board;the software of the system In part,the online education resource scheduling based on the multi-level SDN architecture is realized through the construction of the online education resource database and the extraction of the associated dimension features of the resource information flow.The experimental results show that the online education resource scheduling based on the multi-level SDN architecture is designed The system spends less time on resource scheduling than traditional systems,which proves that the system designed this time is more superior.

The traditional multimedia online education management method can not effectively recommend the learning content that students need, which leads to poor learning effect and no obvious improvement of students' performance after learning. Therefore, a multimedia online education management method based on the virtual structure of network function is designed. Firstly, the online education resource learning recommendation model is constructed, the student attribute eigenvalues are extracted, and then the multimedia online education database is generated. Finally, the multimedia online education management system is established to complete the multimedia online education management based on the network function virtualization architecture. The experimental results show that the students' learning performance is higher than that of the traditional management method after learning the multimedia online education management method based on the network function virtualization architecture, which proves that the design of the multimedia online education management method based on the network function virtualization architecture can improve the students' learning effect.

A series of Eu2+ doped ACaPO4 (A = Li, Na, K) phosphors were synthesized by a solid state reaction. The phase, microstructure and luminescent properties of the obtained phosphors were investigated. The XRD results indicate that the Eu2+ doping has no influence on the phases of ACaPO4 (A = Li, Na, K) hosts. Under the excitation of 365 nm, Eu2+ doped ACaPO4 (A = Li, Na, K) phosphors exhibit emission bands corresponding to 5d–4f transitions of Eu2+ ion and the emission intensity shows concentration-dependence. The peak wavelengths of emission bands for Eu2+ in LiCaPO4, NaCaPO4 and KCaPO4 locate at 478, 508 and 487 nm, respectively. With the temperature increasing up to 500 K, the emission intensities of ACaPO4:5 mol%Eu2+ (A = Li, Na, K) phosphors are decreased to be 75.1, 84.8 and 77.9% of the initial value (300 K) and the emission wavelengths shift to 470, 491 and 476 nm.

For ameliorate the drawback that useful information obtained through middle layers is lost in the conventional image fusion methods based on deep learning, an unsupervised deep learning framework based on Cascaded Convolutional Coding Networks (C3Net) is proposed for the fusion of infrared and visual images. A Blur Regional Features (BRF) scheme is also considered during fusion stage, so as to preserve the consistency of regions. Firstly, redundant and complementary features of infrared and visible images are obtained from the coding layer respectively. The output of each convolutional layer is connected to the input of the next layer in a cascading manner. Then, relying on the features of redundant features and complementary features, different fusion strategies are designed respectively based on BRF to obtain fusion feature maps. Finally, the fused image is reconstructed by decoding layer. Furthermore, the objective function of the training model is designed as a multitask loss function including Mean Square Error, Information Entropy and Structural Similarity, to reduce the loss of the original image information. The experimental results of C3Net fusion method is compared with state-of-the-art fusion methods, which is better synthesized performance in objective evaluation and subjective visual quality.

Study objective To investigate whether optimizing individualized goal-directed therapy (GDT) based on cerebral oxygen balance in high-risk surgical patients would reduce postoperative morbidity. Design This was a prospective, randomized, controlled study. Setting The study was performed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China, from April 2017 to July 2018. Patients 146 high-risk adult patients undergoing valve replacements or coronary artery bypass surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were enrolled. Intervention Patients were randomized to an individualized GDT group or usual care group. Individualized GDT was targeted to achieve the following goals: A less than 20% decline in the regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rScO2) level from baseline; a less than 20% decline in the mean arterial pressure (MAP) from baseline, as well as a bispectral index (BIS) of 45–60 before and after CPB and 40–45 during CPB. Measurements The primary outcome was a composite endpoint of 30-day mortality and major postoperative complications. Main results 128 completed the trial and were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis. Early morbidity was similar between the GDT (25 [39%] of 65 patients) and usual care groups (33 [53%] of 63 patients) (relative risk 0.73, 95% CI 0.50–1.08; P = 0.15). Secondary analysis showed that 75 (59%) of 128 patients achieved individual targets (irrespective of intervention) and sustained less morbidity (relative risk 3.41, 95% CI 2.19–5.31; P Conclusions In high-risk patients undergoing cardiac surgery, individualized GDT therapy did not yield better outcomes, however, the achievement of preoperative individual targets may be associated with less morbidity. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03103633 . Registered on 1 April 2017.

The size distribution of particulate was analyzed by the FA-3 9 stage sampler in Northern-suburb of Nanjing from January to November in 2014. First, the monitoring result from FA-3 was compared with the results of the same period obtained from a medium flow size grading sampler (KC-120H) and online monitoring instrument of the Environmental Protection Agency. The data correlation coefficients were all greater than 0.95. The fine particle concentration from FA-3 was lower by 13.9% and 16.6%, while PM

Studying the evolution of secondary inorganic aerosols, which are important components of PM

In December 2013,a lasting haze pollution event occurred in the Central and East regions of China.Here in this paper,using a single-particle soot photometer (SP2),we studied mass concentrations,mixing states,and size distributions of black carbon (BC) in this event.The results showed that BC mass concentration in Nanjing during the observation period was in the range of 1.01-14.05 μg·m

To investigate the relationship between chemotherapy dose intensity and therapy efficacy of different molecular subtypes. Clinical and pathological features of the patients with breast cancer were retreived from the hospital records. 315 patients were analyzed (251 showed clinical response, 38 acquired pCR). Patients with positive ER status, negative PR status, higher Ki67 level and higher RTDI had better therapy response. 13.5 and 84.5 % were identified the benchmark of Ki67 and RTDI, respectively. As the result of interior-subgroup comparison, luminal subgroups acquired better response rate when RTDI ≥ 84.5 %. In patients of luminal breast cancer, tumor size change arose from increasing of dose intensity and finally showed reached a plateau after RTDI ≥ 95 % (r (2) = 0.303, p < 0.001). As the result of intersubgroup comparison, TNBC patients were more likely to acquired better clinical and pathology response when RDTI < 84.5 %. Ki67 change arose sharply from increasing of dose intensity when RDTI < 84.5 % (r (2) = 0.656, p < 0.001), whereas the regression curve showed a terminal plateau in patients of RDTI ≥ 84.5 % (r (2) = 0.427, p < 0.001). Given lower RTDI, luminal patients are less likely to achieve response, and TNBC patients are associated with higher response rate. Dissimilar of therapy efficacy between luminal subtype and TNBC becomes inconspicuous as RTDI rises. Chemosensitivity may associate with dose intensity, especially in luminal subtypes, and tailored therapeutic strategies should be considered.

Objective: Early postnatal life is considered as a critical time window for the determination of long-term metabolic states and organ functions. Extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR) causes the development of adult-onset chronic diseases, including pulmonary hypertension. However, the effects of nutritional disadvantages during the early postnatal period on pulmonary vascular consequences in later life are not fully understood. Our study was designed to test whether epigenetics dysregulation mediates the cellular memory of this early postnatal event. Methods and results: To test this hypothesis, we isolated pulmonary vascular endothelial cells by magnetic-activated cell sorting from EUGR and control rats. A postnatal insult, nutritional restriction-induced EUGR caused development of an increased pulmonary artery pressure at 9 weeks of age in male Sprague–Dawley rats. Methyl-DNA immune precipitation chip, genome-scale mapping studies to search for differentially methylated loci between control and EUGR rats, revealed significant difference in cytosine methylation between EUGR and control rats. EUGR changes the cytosine methylation at approximately 500 loci in male rats at 9 weeks of age, preceding the development of pulmonary hypertension and these represent the candidate loci for mediating the pathogenesis of pulmonary vascular disease that occurs later in life. Gene ontology analysis on differentially methylated genes showed that hypermethylated genes in EUGR are vascular development-associated genes and hypomethylated genes in EUGR are late-differentiation-associated and signal transduction genes. We validated candidate dysregulated loci with the quantitative assays of cytosine methylation and gene expressions. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that epigenetics dysregulation is a strong mechanism for propagating the cellular memory of early postnatal events, causing changes in the expression of genes and long-term susceptibility to pulmonary hypertension, and further providing a new insight into the prevention and treatment of EUGR-related pulmonary hypertension.

Androgen receptor (AR) is closely associated with the occurrence and progression of breast cancer; however, the clinical significance of it in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has been controversial. There is a limited amount of research regarding the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on AR expression. By examining the expression of AR in patients with TNBC, the aim of the present study is to explore the clinical significance of AR and provide evidence for AR-directed treatment in TNBC. A total of 188 patients with primary TNBC with complete medical records were included in this retrospective study. Tumor sections from 41 patients (21.8%) were positive for AR, which was more often detected in small tumors (P=0.042) and cases with no lymph node involvement (P=0.032). Among them, 102 were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). A total of 17 patients (16.7%) exhibited pathological complete response. However, the patient response was irrelevant to AR expression. Matched pathological tissues before and after NAC were collected for 49 cases, suggesting an enrichment of AR-expressing tumors following chemotherapy (P=0.008). Further analysis indicated that AR expression had no correlation with the disease-free and overall survival of patients with general TNBC; rather, it predicted a poor survival of the patients with stage III TNBC in comparison with those at earlier stages (P=0.035). AR expression occurs more often in small TNBC tumors or in cases with no lymph node metastasis. It is associated with a poor prognosis of the patients with advanced stages of tumors.

Coffee is a favorite and beverage in Western countries that is consumed daily. In the present study, capillary zone electrophoresis (CE) was applied for the separation and quantification of three isoflavones including daidzein, genistein and formononetin in coffee. Extraction of isoflavones from the coffee sample was carried out by extraction and purification process using ether after the acid hydrolysis with the antioxidant butylated hydroxy-toluene (BHT). The experimental conditions of the CE separation method were: 20 mmol/L Na2HPO4 buffer solution, 25 kV applied voltage, 3 s hydrodynamic injection at 30 mbar, and UV detection at 254 nm. The results show that the three compounds can be tested within 10 min with a linearity of 0.5–50 µg/mL for all three compounds. The limits of detection were 0.0642, 0.134, and 0.0825 µg/mL for daidzein, formononetin and genistein, respectively. The corresponding average recovery was 99.39% (Relative Standard Detection (RSD) = 1.76%), 98.71% (RSD = 2.11%) and 97.37% (RSD = 3.74%).

Electroless plating technology was applied in order to improve the poor wettability between the copper and SiC. SiCp/Cu composites were frbricated by hot-press sintering technique. The influences of SiC particles (Cu-coated and Cu-uncoated) and SiCp/Cu-5vol%n-SiC on microstructures, relative density, bending strength and coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) were researched in detail. The results show that SiC particles distributed in Cu matrix uniformly. And a certain amount of SiC, the relative density and bending strength of SiCp/Cu(Cu-coated) composite were greater than SiCp/Cu(Cu-uncoated) composite, and the coefficient of thermal expansion was opposite, Between SiCp/Cu(Cu-coated) and SiCp/Cu-5vol% nanoscale SiC(n-SiC), the relative density and bending strength of SiCp/Cu(Cu-coated) were more than SiCp/Cu-5vol%n-SiC, and CTE was different.

Electroless plating technology was applied in order to improve the poor wettability between copper and SiC. β-SiC(w+p)/Cu composites were fabricated by hot-press sintering. The influences of SiC volume fraction on microstructure, relative density and wear propertity were researched in detail. It turned out that SiC particles and wiskers distributed in Cu matrix homogeneously. And with the increase of SiC volume fraction, the relative density and friction coefficient were reduced respectively, the wear-resistant improved greatly.

In order to improve the interfacial wettability between Cu and β-SiC, electroless plating was employed to deposit a copper film on β-SiC particles. The β-SiC/Cu composites with different volume fraction ( from 30% to 60% ) were fabricated by hot-press sintering technique. The microstructures, bending strengths were investigated by SEM and a tensile machine. The results showed that the uniform and continuous Cu coating on the β-SiC particles can be obtained after electroless plating. With the increase of volume fraction of β-SiC particles, the bending strength decreased gradually. The fractographs revealed that the composites had mixed-fracture characteristics of cleavages and dimples.

The chemical plating technology was applied in order to improve the weaker wettability between the copper and SiC particles for electronic packaging applications. The hot-press sintering technique was executed to fabricate SiCp/Cu composites. The influence of SiC particles size on the phase constitute, micro-structure morphology and vickers hardness were investigated in details by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and vickers hardness tester. The results showed that SiC particle were distributed in copper matrix uniformly and interface was clear. The relative density and vickers hardness of SiCp/Cu composites increased as SiC particle size enhanced.

In order to improve the interface bonding condition between Cu and SiC powders, electroless copper plating was applied to deposit a Cu coating on SiC powder. The surface morphology of the SiC powder with uncoated and coated copper were investigated. The results showed that the appropriate electroless plating time was necessary for the SiCp with uniform copper-coating. The SiCp/Cu composites were fabricated by hot-press sintering technology. The coated-copper SiCp were uniformly distributed in copper matrix. Key words: Electroless plating, Cu/SiCp composites, Metal coating

Altera's Nios soft core embedded processor, with its low cost, flexible design, etc., has been widely used in embedded applications, while LCD is also increasingly used in a variety of instrumentation and control system as a man-machine interface and display modules. This paper presents a LCD screen of the software and hardware design based on a soft-core Nios embedded processor, introducing hardware interface circuit and software development processes which control the LCD screen, and the corresponding procedures.

Chronic hypoxia pulmonary hypertension (CH-PHT) in adulthood is likely to be of fetal origin following intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Oxygen (O2)-sensitive voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv channels) in resistance pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) play an important role in scaling pulmonary artery (PA) pressure. Expression and functional changes of Kv channels are determined, in part, by embryonic development. We hypothesized that O2-sensitive Kv channels play an important role in exaggerated CH-PHT following IUGR. We established a rat model of IUGR by restricting maternal food during the entire pregnancy and exposed IUGR rats and their age-matched controls aged 12 wk to hypoxia for 2 wk. We found that hypoxia exposure significantly induced increased PA pressure and thicker smooth muscle layer in the IUGR group relative to controls. We compared the constriction of the resistance PA to inhibitors of K+ channels, 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), tetraethylammonium, and BaCl2. Despite the thickness of the smooth muscle layer, the constriction to 4-AP was significantly reduced in the IUGR group exposed to hypoxia. Consistent with these changes in pulmonary vascular reactivity, 2 wk of hypoxia induced weaker 4-AP-sensitive Kv currents in a single IUGR PASMC. Moreover, after 2 wk of hypoxia, Kv1.5 expression in resistance PAs decreased significantly in the IUGR group. Overexpression of Kv1.5 in cultured PASMCs could offset hypoxia-induced cell proliferation and hypoxia-inhibited Kv currents in the IUGR group. These results suggest that the inhibited expression of Kv1.5 in PASMCs contribute to the development of exaggerated CH-PHT in IUGR rats during adulthood.

Enterprise business continuity risk is to point to have automatic adjustment and rapid response capability, to ensure continuous operation of the business. Through virtualization solutions business continuity, the user will be at a lower cost for higher business continuity is far beyond the traditional way.

After years of digital campus information construction, the school has been set up covering the operation, management, monitoring, application system. Between each application system need to standardize the data exchange services. Data exchange platform construction of university digital campus management system is the realization of system integration, the key measure to solve the problem of data sharing and exchange, is also necessary to promote and realize the resource integration and application integration infrastructure.

Objective To investigate the changes of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and whether Tregs can modulate the distribution of macrophage subtypes in visceral adipose tissue in the early stage of obesity.Methods After C57BL/6 mice obesity models were successfully established,metabolic parameters and numbers of Tregs and M1/M2 macrophage were measured at 4,10,and 20 weeks.The changes of metabolic parameters and adipose tissue inflammation in obesity mice after rapamycin intervention were evaluated. Results The early-stage obesity models were successfully established.Compared with normal diet mice,high fat diet mice had significantly higher epididymal adipose tissue mass and serum leptin levels(P0.05).However,there was no statistical difference in blood glucose and insulin levels between these two groups(All P0.05). Macrophages infiltration in adipose tissue in high fat diet mice gradually increased with time,coincident with decrease in Treg numbers. Increased numbers of Treg,improved metabolic parameters,and decreased ratio of M1/M2 can be seen after rapamycin intervention in mice.Conclusion The decrease of Tregs in the early stage of obesity may contribute to abnormal distribution of macrophage subtypes in visceral adipose.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is an important precursor of photochemical ozone pollution (O3) in the atmosphere. Their concentration variation directly affects the characteristics of the ozone pollution. The concentration, speciation of VOCs, ozone and its precursors in Nanjing were analyzed and measured using online gas detection systems in August 2013. VOCs/NOx discriminant method was used to get the sensitive control factors of ozone. The results showed that the averaged volume fraction of VOCs was 52. 05 x 10(-9), and the largest one reached 200 x 10(-9) in Nanjing urban district. The order of volume fraction of each species VOCs was alkaneoxygen-containing VOCsalkenearomatics. The averaged concentration of ozone was 76.5 microg x m(-1) and the exceeding concentration of hourly standard was 5.9%. The change trends of ozone precursors VOCs and NOx were basically identical and Ozone showed the obvious negative correlation during the period of high concentrations of ozone. There were some differences in the concentrations of the same VOCs in different ozone concentration periods. The ozone generation in Nanjing urban district was sensitive to VOCs, and Nanjing belonged to VOCs control area in summer.

This paper describes a new kind of 9-residue half-sequence ionic-complementary peptide P-X7-P, which can spontaneously self-assemble into well-ordered and long interconnected nanofibrilar network structure in pure water, and can be used as a hydrophobic compounds carrier. Psoralen, a natural product, is slight water soluble but has various treatments in medicine. In order to fully understand the interaction between the self-assembling peptide and psoralen,the nanostructures formed by two of them were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). This work provides insights on the interaction between the amphiphilic self-assembling peptide and psoralen that are useful for the bottom up development of peptide sequence for local natural product drug delivery applications.

OBJECTIVES Short interfering RNA (siRNA) has been used to knock down the expression of targeted genes in a process known as RNA interference. However, the key to RNA interference is the efficient intracellular delivery of the siRNA. In this study, we sought to enhance the efficiency of transduction and find a novel therapy for hepatic carcinoma. METHODS Three types of neuroepithelial transforming protein 1 (NET-1) siRNAs (labeled fluorescent) were designed and transduced into HepG2 cells. Then the most effective one in silencing NET-1 was determined. The HepG2 cells were divided into 5 groups: untreated control; delivery of siRNA; delivery of siRNA using Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA; group L); delivery of siRNA using ultrasound exposure and microbubbles (group US); and delivery of siRNA using Lipofectamine, ultrasound exposure, and microbubbles (group LUS). The efficiency of siRNA transfer was determined by detection of luciferase activity on microscopy; NET-1 expression was assayed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting; and proliferation investigations of the HepG2 cells were performed. RESULTS- The transfection efficiency of microbubbles combined with ultrasound exposure was nearly equal to Lipofectamine-mediated transfection (P = .609). More importantly, the combination of Lipofectamine, microbubbles, and ultrasound exposure effectively reduced NET-1 expression compared with the other groups (P < .01). Furthermore, the proliferation of cells in groups L, US, and LUS was visibly inhibited between 24 and 72 hours. CONCLUSIONS The use of a microbubble contrast agent combined with ultrasound exposure could be a potent physical method for increasing gene delivery efficiency. This technique is a promising nonviral approach that can be used in liver cancer.

Since the rate of persistence to adjuvant endocrine therapy such as 5-year aromatase inhibitors (AI) would decrease over time in patients with hormone-sensitive breast cancer, it is necessary to investigate if a patient support program could modify patients’ beliefs and improve their persistence to AI treatment. This was a prospective, multicenter, controlled, observational study to evaluate the efficacy of a patient support program in improving postmenopausal patients’ persistence to adjuvant AI medication for early stage breast cancer (NCT00769080). The primary objective was to compare the rates of 1-year persistence to upfront adjuvant AI for patients in the two observational arms (standard treatment group and standard treatment plus patient support program group). In this study, 262 patients were enrolled in the standard treatment group and 241 patients in the standard treatment plus patient support program group. The mean 1-year persistence rates were 95.9 and 95.8 % for the standard treatment group and the standard treatment plus patient support program group, respectively (P = 0.95). The mean times to treatment discontinuation were 231.2 days in the standard treatment group and 227.8 days in the standard treatment plus patient support program group, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.96). There was also no statistically significant difference in the reason for treatment discontinuation (P = 0.32). There was a significant relationship between the patient centered care questionnaire and poor persistence (odds ratio = 3.9; 95 % CI, 1.1–13.7; P = 0.035), suggesting that the persistence rate of patients with whom the doctor always or usually spends time is greater than that of patients with whom the doctor sometimes or never spends time. Patients’ persistence to adjuvant AI medication for postmenopausal, early stage breast cancer is relatively high in the first year and is not significantly increased by adding a patient support program to standard treatment.

Emission inventory of air pollutants is the key to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of atmospheric pollutants and to accurately simulate the ambient air quality. The currently established emission inventories are still limited on spatial and temporal resolution which greatly influences the numerical prediction accuracy of air quality. With coal-fired stationary sources considered, this study analyzed the total emissions and monthly variation of main pollutants from them in 2012 as the basic year, by collecting the on-line monitoring data for power plants and atmospheric verifiable accounting tables of Jiangsu Province. Emission factors in documents are summarized and adopted. Results indicated that the emission amounts of SO2, NOx, TSP, PM10, PM2.5, CO, EC, OC, NMVOC and NH3 were 106.0, 278.3, 40.9, 32.7, 21.7, 582.0, 3.6, 2.5, 17.3 and 2.2 kt, respectively. They presented monthly variation with high emission amounts in February, March, July, August and December and low emissions in September and October. The reason may be that more coal are consumed which leads to the increase of pollutants emitted, to satisfy the needs, of heat and electricity power supply in cold and hot periods. Local emission factors are needed for emission inventory studies and the monthly variation should be considered when emission inventories are used in air quality simulation.

Background Microglia microvesicles (MVs) has shown to have significant biological functions under normal conditions. A diversity of miRNAs is involved in neuronal development, survival, function, and plasticity, but the exact functional role of NDRG2 and secreted miR-375 in MVs in neuron damage is poorly understood. We investigated the effect of NDRG2 and secreted miR-375 in MVs shed from M1 microglia on neuron damage. Methods Expression of Nos2, Arg-1, miR-375, syntaxin-1A, NDRG2 and Pdk 1 were evaluated using RT-PCR or western blotting. Cell viability of N2A neuron was quantified by a MTT assay. Results Microglia can be polarized into different functional phenotypes. Expression of NDRG2 and Nos2 were significantly increased by LPS treatment on N9 cells, whereas treatment with IL-4 dramatically suppressed the expression of NDRG2 and remarkably elevated expression of Arg-1. Besides, MVs shed from LPS-treated N9 microglia significantly inhibited cell viability of N2A neurons and expression of syntaxin-1A, and NDRG2 interference reversed the up-regulated miR-375 in LPS-treated N9 microglia and MVs shed from LPS-treated N9 cells. Furthermore, NDRG2 could modulate miR-375 expression in N9 microglia and MVs. And miR-375 inhibitor remarkably elevated Pdk1 expression in N2A neurons. Finally, miR-375 inhibitor could reverse suppression effect of NDRG2 overexpression on cell viability of N2A neurons and expression of syntaxin-1A. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that NDRG2 promoted secreted miR-375 in microvesicles shed from M1 microglia, which induced neuron damage. The suppression of NDRG2 and secreted miR-375 in MVs shed from M1 microglia may be potential targets for alleviation of neuron damage.

We focus on the annealing-induced changes of N-centered nearest-neighbor (NN) entironment in Ga1-xlnxNyAs1-y quaternary alloys and present a statistical distributing model of the binary bonds under thermodynamics equilibrium state. The core of this model is the assumption that the phase separation result of equimolar system at T=0 K is “ + ”, in which the effect of strain has been ignored. We propose two mechanisms for annealing: (i) Atomic relaxation lead to a total energy minimum. (ii) The type conversion of bond configuration is the main reason for the remarkable blue shift. Then parameter r, the number of NN In atoms per N atom, is calculated. We find that the theoretical NN distributions strain is in good agreement with former studies. It can be concluded that the blue shift induced by long-time annealing at low temperature is able to be equal with that induced by short-time annealing at higher temperature. The results are close to recent investigations. But an allegorical linear relation between band gap and composition (x, y) is still in question.

The bioactivity of a novel composite of carbonate-containing low-crystallinity nanoparticle hydroxyapatite (HA) and a chitosan—phosphorylated chitosan polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The HA—PEC nanocomposite with complicated porous structure was prepared by a biomimetic method. An acidic chitosan (polycation) solution containing calcium and phosphate ions (6 mM Ca2+, Ca/P: 1.67) was added into phosphorylated chitosan (polyanion) solution; the formation of PEC and the controlled HA crystal growth were co-organized in alkaline solution. The material was co-cultured with rat osteoblasts in vitro, and implanted into rabbit femur marrow cavities. The results indicate that the PEC—HA composite promoted osteoblast adhesion, morphology, proliferation, and differentiation in vitro; the bone tissue response to the material histologically showed that it was bioactive, as well as biodegradable. The HA—PEC composite shows promise as a bone-repair material.

Huperzine A (HupA), a novel Lycopodium alkaloid isolated from Chinese folk medicine Huperzia serrata (Qian Ceng Ta), is a potent, selective and well-tolerated inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). It has been proven to significantly improve the learning and memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) patients in China. Interestingly, our recent data indicate that HupA also possesses other protective functions. This paper will give an overview on the protective effects of HupA, which includes regulating beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) metabolism, protecting against Abeta-mediated oxidative stress, apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as anti-inflammation. The multiple neuroprotective effects of HupA might yield additional beneficial effects in AD and VaD therapy.

Background Extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR) plays an important role in the developmental origin of adult cardiovascular diseases. In an EUGR rat model, we reported an elevated pulmonary arterial pressure in adults and genome-wide epigenetic modifications in pulmonary vascular endothelial cells (PVECs). However, the underlying mechanism of the early nutritional insult that results in pulmonary vascular consequences later in life remains unclear. Methods A rat model was used to investigate the physiological and structural effect of EUGR on early pulmonary vasculature by evaluating right ventricular systolic pressure and pulmonary vascular density in male rats. Epigenetic modifications of the Notch1 gene in PVECs were evaluated. Results EUGR decreased pulmonary vascular density with no significant impact on right ventricular systolic pressure at 3 weeks. Decreased transcription of Notch1 was observed both at 3 and 9 weeks, in association with decreased downstream target gene, Hes-1. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and bisulfite sequencing were performed to analyze the epigenetic modifications of the Notch1 gene promoter in PVECs. EUGR caused a significantly increased H3K27me3 in the proximal Notch1 gene promoter, and increased methylation of single CpG sites in the distal Notch1 gene promoter, both at 3 and 9 weeks. Conclusions We conclude that EUGR results in decreased pulmonary vascular growth in association with decreased Notch1 in PVECs. This may be mediated by increased CpG methylation and H3K27me3 in the Notch1 gene promoter region. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12931-015-0226-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

To investigate the effect of high-fat or high-glucose diet on obesity and visceral adipose tissue in C57BL/6 mice.Four-week-old C57BL/6 mice were allocated into normal diet group,high-fat diet group,and high-glucose diet group according to the random number table until 20 weeks old. Body weight,epididymal adipose tissue weight,blood leptin,fat infiltration in liver,M1/M2 macrophage subtypes,and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 mRNA in epididymal adipose tissues were measured.Compared with normal diet group,body weight,epididymal adipose tissue weight,and leptin concentration in high fat diet group at 20 weeks were significantly increased (P0.05),and oil red O staining showed more prominent adipocyte infiltration in liver in high-fat diet group than those in normal diet and high-glucose diet group. However,no apparent differences were seen in high-glucose diet group at 20 weeks in terms of body weight,epididymal adipose tissue weight and leptin concentration. In high-fat diet group,the macrophages infiltration in epididymal adipose tissue increased with time and the percentage of M2 macrophage decreased in high-fat diet group than that in high-glucose diet group(P0.05). Compared with normal diet group,monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 mRNA expression increased significantly in high-fat diet group(P0.05). In high-glucose group,however,no significant differences were discerned (P0.05).High-fat diet,rather than 60% high glucose diet,will lead to obesity and macrophage infiltration in adipose tissues.

miRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of multiple target genes at the post-transcriptional level. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in miRNA sequences may alter miRNA expression and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple forms of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis. The present study explored the association between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), miR-146a rs2910164G>C and miR-499 rs3746444T>C, in a Han Chinese population. A case–control study consisting of 102 subjects with AS and 105 healthy controls was designed. The two miRNA SNPs were identified by direct sequencing. Subsequently, their gene and genotype frequencies were compared with healthy controls. A significant difference was observed in the miR-146a rs2910164G>C SNP. The frequency of the G allele was markedly higher in the AS patients than in the healthy controls (P = 0.005, Pc = 0.01, OR = 1.787), and the frequency of the GG genotype was higher in AS patients than in controls (P = 0.014, Pc = 0.042, OR = 2.516). However, no significant association was found between the miR-499 rs3746444T>C variant and susceptibility to AS. This is the first study to address the association between the miR-146a rs2910164G>C and miR-499 rs3746444T>C polymorphisms and AS, and it suggests a potential pathogenic factor for AS. Further studies are needed to validate our findings in a larger series, as well as in other ethnic backgrounds.

This study is to investigate the effects of huperzine A on memory deficits, neuronal damage and neurotrophic factors production after transient cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in mice, as well as the potential downstream signaling pathway. Bilateral common carotid occlusion (BCCAo) combined with systemic hypotension induced severe memory deficits in a water maze task and neuronal degeneration in cerebral cortex and hippocampus in mice. Oral administration of huperzine A (0.2 mg/kg, once per day, started 2 days before surgery and lasted for 7 days after surgery) markedly attenuated the memory deficits and neuronal damage. Meanwhile, huperzine A significantly increased the mRNA and protein levels of NGF, BDNF and TGF-beta(1), and potentiated phosphorylation of MAPK/ERK 1/2 in both cerebral cortex and hippocampus compared with transient cerebral ischemia and reperfusion group. This study provides evidence for the protective effects of huperzine A against transient cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in mice, and suggests potentially important roles that neurotrophic factors might play in these effects. It also indicates that the MAPK/ERK pathway might be involved in the in vivo neurotrophic effects of huperzine A against transient cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.

Aim: To study the effects of huperzine A (HupA) on neuritogenic activity and the expression of nerve growth factor (NGF). Methods: After being treated with 10 mumol/L HupA, neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells was observed and counted under phase-contrast microscopy. Mitogenic activity was assayed by [ 3 H]thymidine incorporation. Cell cytotoxicity was evaluated by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. AChE activity, mRNA and protein expression were measured by the Ellman's method, RT-PCR, and Western blot, respectively. NGF mRNA and protein levels were determined by RT-PCR and ELISA assays. Results: Treatment of PC12 cells with 10 mumol/L HupA for 48 h markedly increased the number of neurite-bearing cells, but caused no significant alteration in cell viability or other signs of cytotoxicity. In addition to inhibiting AChE activity, 10 mumol/ L HupA also increased the mRNA and protein levels of this enzyme. In addition, following 2 h exposure of the astrocytes to 10 mumol/L HupA, there was a significant up-regulation of mRNA for NGF and P75 low-affinity NGF receptor. The protein level of NGF was also increased after 24 h treatment with HupA. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate for the first time that HupA has a direct or indirect neurotrophic activity, which might be beneficial in treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease.

The perception and response of pollen tubes to the female guidance signals are crucial for directional pollen tube growth inside female tissues, which leads to successful reproduction. In pursuing the mechanisms underlying this biological process, we identified the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) abnormal pollen tube guidance1 (aptg1) mutant, whose pollen tubes showed compromised micropylar guidance. In addition to its male defect, the aptg1 mutant showed embryo lethality. APTG1 encodes a putative mannosyltransferase homolog to human PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL GLYCAN ANCHOR BIOSYNTHESIS B and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) GLYCOSYLPHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL10 (GPI10), both of which are involved in the biosynthesis of GPI anchors. We found that APTG1 was expressed in most plant tissues, including mature pollen, pollen tubes, mature embryo sacs, and developing embryos. By fluorescence colabeling, we showed that APTG1 was localized in the endoplasmic reticulum, where GPI anchors are synthesized. Disruption of APTG1 affected the localization of COBRA-LIKE10, a GPI-anchored protein important for pollen tube growth and guidance. The results shown here demonstrate that APTG1 is involved in both vegetative and reproductive development in Arabidopsis, likely through processing and proper targeting of GPI-anchored proteins.