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Aims: To explore the current situation, influencing factors and pathways of safety behaviour of nurses in tumour specialized hospitals, in order to provide a theoretical basis for managers to manage and train nurses, improve their safety behaviour level and ensure medical safety. Design: An anonymous cross-sectional survey. Method: A total of 2147 nurses from Grade A cancer hospitals in 15 provinces of China were selected by a convenient sampling method. Questionnaires were collected through the Questionnaire Star platform. Nurses' safety behaviour was measured using the nurse Safety Behaviour Scale, Self-efficacy by the General Self-efficacy Scale, and nurses' occupational burnout was measured by the occupational Burnout Scale, and work engagement through the the Work Engagement Scale. Structural equation modelling was used to test the relationship among nurses' safety behaviour, general self-efficacy, occupational burnout and work engagement. SPSS25.0 software was used to test the relationship among the safety behaviour of nurses, general self-efficacy, occupational burnout and work engagement. Results: The total score of safety behaviour of nurses was 55.45 ± 6.879, the total score of general self-efficacy was 31.39 ± 5.729, the total score of occupational burnout was 44.99 ± 26.587, and the total score of work engagement was 38.48 ± 13.433; the scores of the Nurse Safety Behaviour Scale, Self-Efficacy Scale, and Work Engagement Scale were positively correlated (all p< .001); the occupational burnout scale was negatively correlated with the scores of self-efficacy scale, work engagement scale and nurse safety behaviour scale (all p< .001); Structural equation model analysis shows that self-efficacy and work engagement have a direct positive impact on nurse safety behaviour(β= .103, β= .096, all p< .001); Occupational burnout has a direct negative impact on self-efficacy, work engagement and nurse safety behaviour(β= −.371, β= −.413, β= −.328 all p< .001). Bootstrap analysis showed that occupational burnout and job involvement had a significant chain mediating effect between self-efficacy and the safety behaviour of nurses (95% CI: 0.148–0.21). The total effect of self-efficacy on the safety behaviour of nurses was 0.283 (p< .001, 95% CI: 0.225–0.301), the direct effect was 0.096 (p< .001, 95% CI: 0.042–0.15), and the indirect effect was 0.179 (p< .001, 95% CI: 0.085–0.215), The mediating effect accounted for 63.3% of the total effect size. Conclusion: Occupational burnout and work engagement play a partial mediating role between self-efficacy and nurse safety behaviour. It is necessary to strengthen training on nurse safety culture awareness, improve the nurse self-efficacy and work engagement, reduce nurse occupational burnout, and thereby improve the level of nurses' safety behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In this study, we used network pharmacology and molecular docking combined with vitro experiments to explore the potential mechanism of action of Gualou Qumai pill (GLQMP) against DKD. Methods: We screened effective compounds and drug targets using Chinese medicine systemic pharmacology database and analysis platform and Chinese medicine molecular mechanism bioinformatics analysis tools; and searched for DKD targets using human online Mendelian genetics and gene cards. The potential targets of GLQMP for DKD were obtained through the intersection of drug targets and disease targets. Cytoscape software was applied to build herbal medicine-active compound-target-disease networks and analyze them; protein-protein interaction networks were analyzed using the STRING database platform; gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were used for gene ontology and gene and genome encyclopedia to enrich potential targets using the DAVID database; and the AutoDock Vina 1.1.2 software for molecular docking of key targets with corresponding key components. In vitro experiments were validated by CCK8, oil red O staining, TC, TG, RT-qPCR, and Western blot. Results: Through network pharmacology analysis, a total of 99 potential therapeutic targets of GLQMP for DKD and the corresponding 38 active compounds were obtained, and 5 core compounds were identified. By constructing the protein-protein interaction network and performing network topology analysis, we found that PPARA and PPARG were the key targets, and then we molecularly docked these two key targets with the 38 active compounds, especially the 5 core compounds, and found that PPARA and PPARG had good binding ability with a variety of compounds. In vitro experiments showed that GLQMP was able to ameliorate HK-2 cell injury under high glucose stress, improve cell viability, reduce TC and TG levels as well as decrease the accumulation of lipid droplets, and RT-qPCR and Western blot confirmed that GLQMP was able to promote the expression levels of PPARA and PPARG. Conclusion: Overall, this study revealed the active compounds, important targets and possible mechanisms of GLQMP treatment for DKD, and conducted preliminary verification experiments on its correctness, provided novel insights into the treatment of DKD by GLQMP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a study that shows that individuals carrying a heterozygous mutation in the gap junction gene GJB2 may have hearing oversensitivity and are more vulnerable to noise exposure. It mentions that GJB2 mutations are responsible for over 50% of nonsyndromic hearing loss, and carriers of the recessive heterozygous mutation are found in 10-20% of the general population suggesting that GJB2 heterozygous mutation carriers should avoid noise exposure in daily life.

It is critical for hearing that the descending cochlear efferent system provides a negative feedback to hair cells to regulate hearing sensitivity and protect hearing from noise. The medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferent nerves project to outer hair cells (OHCs) to regulate OHC electromotility, which is an active cochlear amplifier and can increase hearing sensitivity. Here, we report that the MOC efferent nerves also could innervate supporting cells (SCs) in the vicinity of OHCs to regulate hearing sensitivity. MOC nerve fibers are cholinergic, and acetylcholine (ACh) is a primary neurotransmitter. Immunofluorescent staining showed that MOC nerve endings, presynaptic vesicular acetylcholine transporters (VAChTs), and postsynaptic ACh receptors were visible at SCs and in the SC area. Application of ACh in SCs could evoke a typical inward current and reduce gap junctions (GJs) between them, which consequently enhanced the direct effect of ACh on OHCs to shift but not eliminate OHC electromotility. This indirect, GJ-mediated inhibition had a long-lasting influence. In vivo experiments further demonstrated that deficiency of this GJ-mediated efferent pathway decreased the regulation of active cochlear amplification and compromised the protection against noise. In particular, distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) showed a delayed reduction after noise exposure. Our findings reveal a new pathway for the MOC efferent system via innervating SCs to control active cochlear amplification and hearing sensitivity. These data also suggest that this SC GJ-mediated efferent pathway may play a critical role in long-term efferent inhibition and is required for protection of hearing from noise trauma. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The cochlear efferent system provides a negative feedback to control hair cell activity and hearing sensitivity and plays a critical role in noise protection. We reveal a new efferent control pathway in which medial olivocochlear efferent fibers have innervations with cochlear supporting cells to control their gap junctions, therefore regulating outer hair cell electromotility and hearing sensitivity. This supporting cell gap junction-mediated efferent control pathway is required for the protection of hearing from noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exosomes may mediate cell-to-cell communication by transporting various proteins and nucleic acids to neighboring cells. Some protein and RNA cargoes are significantly enriched in exosomes. How cells efficiently and selectively sort them into exosomes remains incompletely explored. Previously, we reported that YBX1 is required in sorting of miR-223 into exosomes. Here, we show that YBX1 undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in vitro and in cells. YBX1 condensates selectively recruit miR-223 in vitro and into exosomes secreted by cultured cells. Point mutations that inhibit YBX1 phase separation impair the incorporation of YBX1 protein into biomolecular condensates formed in cells, and perturb miR-233 sorting into exosomes. We propose that phase separation-mediated local enrichment of cytosolic RNA-binding proteins and their cognate RNAs enables their targeting and packaging by vesicles that bud into multivesicular bodies. This provides a possible mechanism for efficient and selective engulfment of cytosolic proteins and RNAs into intraluminal vesicles which are then secreted as exosomes from cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemic cardiomyopathy is associated with an increased risk of sudden death, activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR), and reductions in multiple cardiac ion channels. When activated, the protein kinase–like ER kinase (PERK) branch of the UPR reduces protein translation and abundance. We hypothesized that PERK inhibition could prevent ion channel downregulation and reduce arrhythmia risk after myocardial infarct (MI). MI induced in mice by coronary artery ligation resulted in reduced ion channel levels, ventricular tachycardia (VT), and prolonged corrected intervals between the Q and T waves on the ECGs (QTc). Protein levels of major cardiac ion channels were decreased. MI cardiomyocytes showed significantly prolonged action potential duration and decreased maximum upstroke velocity. Cardiac-specific PERK KO reduced electrical remodeling in response to MI, with shortened QTc intervals, fewer VT episodes, and higher survival rates. Pharmacological PERK inhibition had similar effects. In conclusion, we found that activated PERK during MI contributed to arrhythmia risk by the downregulation of select cardiac ion channels. PERK inhibition prevented these changes and reduced arrhythmia risk. These results suggest that ion channel downregulation during MI is a fundamental arrhythmia mechanism and that maintenance of ion channel levels is antiarrhythmic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crucial role of epitaxial (in-plane) strain on the structural, electronic, energetic, ferroelectric, and dielectric properties of BaZrO3 (BZO) is investigated using density-functional theory calculations. We demonstrate that the BZO crystal subjected to a critical compressive (or tensile) strain exhibits non-trivial spontaneous polarization that is higher than that of well-known ferroelectrics BaTiO3, while the BZO crystal is essentially paraelectric in the absence of strain. The electronic structure and Born-effective-charge analyses elucidate that the strain-induced paraelectric-to-ferroelectric transition is driven by the orbital hybridization of d-p electrons between zirconium and oxygen. Through the strain-induced paraelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition, the dielectric response of BZO is significantly enhanced by the in-plane strain. The tensile strain increases the in-plane dielectric constant by a factor of seven with respect to that without the strain, while the compression tends to enhance the out-of-plane dielectric response. Therefore, strain engineering makes BZO an important electromechanical material due to the diversity in ferroelectric and dielectric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrocaloric properties of multi-domain ferroelectrics are investigated using a phase field model. The simulation results show that the extrinsic contribution from the multi-domain to mono-domain transition driven by temperature significantly enhances the electrocaloric response. Due to the abrupt decrease of polarization in the direction of electric field during the domain transition, a large adiabatic temperature change is achieved for the ferroelectrics subjected to a tensile strain. Furthermore, the domain transition temperature can be tuned by external strains as the phase transition temperature. A compressive strain decreases the domain transition temperature while a tensile strain increases it. The large temperature change associated with the domain transition provides guidance to engineer domain structures by strain to optimize the electrocaloric properties of ferroelectric materials below the Curie temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were prepared by using a sol-gel method. The characterization of ZnO NPs, such as particle size, morphology, crystal form, optical properties and pH-responsive behavior, was carried out. The in vitro anti-tumor activity of ZnO NPs was evaluated on PC-3M and 4T1 cell lines. The results indicated that ZnO NPs were spherical NPs with uniform particle size, excellent fluorescence properties, and pH-responsive behavior. The in vitro anti-tumor activity of ZnO NPs was observed on PC-3M and 4T1 cell lines. Considering to above characteristics, ZnO NPs could be used as drug delivery carries for loading active compound performing therapeutic and diagnostic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate whether B vitamins supplementation would improve dyslipidemia, alleviate inflammatory state of patients with stable coronary artery disease (SCAD).Methods and Study Design: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, 12-week, placebo-controlled trial involving adults with SCAD, and who were randomly divided into B vitamins group (folic acid and VB-6) and control group (placebo tablet). Blood tests had also been performed at baseline and endpoint.Results: After 12 weeks of intervention, B vitamins supplementation significantly improved the concentration of serum TG, TC and HDL-C (p<0.05). Changes of serum homocysteine in B vitamins treatment were significantly different compared to placebo by the multivariate-adjusted analysis (3.02±2.35 vs 1.55±1.58 p<0.001). Meanwhile, the levels of IL-1β and IL-10, significant difference were observed between two groups after adjustment for confounding factors.Conclusions: Supplementation with B vitamins significantly improves lipid metabolism, alleviate inflammation and serum homocysteine concentration in patients with SCAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reporter proteins have broad applications in visualizing molecular events at the cellular, tissue and whole-body levels. Transmembrane transporters recognizing specific molecular domains are of particular interest because they enable the migration of signal-source molecules from the extracellular space to the cytoplasm for subsequent application in multimodality imaging. Organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATPs) have demonstrated their MRI reporter efficacy. We further expanded their use as a dual-modality reporter in MRI and noninvasive in vivo imaging system (IVIS). We overexpressed OATP1B3 in the HT-1080 sarcoma cell line. Both Gd-EOB-DTPA, an MRI contrast agent, and indocyanine green (ICG), a near-infrared fluorescent dye that provides better deep-tissue detection because of its long wavelength, could be delivered to the intracellular space and imaged in a tumor-bearing nude mouse model. Our in vivo dual-imaging reporter system achieved high sensitivity in MRI and observation periods lasting as long as 96 h in IVIS. Because of the superior temporal and spatial resolutions and the clinical availability of both ICG and Gd-EOB-DTPA, this dual-imaging OATP1B3 system will find biomedical use in tumor biology, stem cell trafficking, and tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) test is used in both basic biological research and assisted reproduction to identify oocytes likely to be developmentally competent. However, the underlying molecular mechanism targeted by the BCB test is still unclear. To explore this question, we first confirmed that BCBpositive porcine oocytes had higher rates of meiotic maturation, better rates of cleavage and development into blastocysts, and lower death rates. Subsequent single-cell transcriptome sequencing on porcine germinal vesicle (GV)-stage oocytes identified 155 genes that were significantly differentially expressed between BCB-negative and BCB-positive oocytes. These included genes such as cdc5l, ldha, spata22, rgs2, paip1, wee1b, and hsp27, which are enriched in functionally important signaling pathways including cell cycle regulation, oocyte meiosis, spliceosome formation, and nucleotide excision repair. In BCB-positive GV oocytes that additionally had a lower frequency of DNA double-strand breaks, the CDC5L protein was significantly more abundant. cdc5l/CDC5L inhibition by short interference (si)RNA or antibody microinjection significantly impaired porcine oocyte meiotic maturation and subsequent parthenote development. Taken together, our single-oocyte sequencing data point to a potential new role for CDC5L in porcine oocyte meiosis and early embryo development, and supports further analysis of this protein in the context of the BCB test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional culture of our country has a long history. In modern design, we should fully explore the essence of traditional culture and widely use various excellent traditional arts and cultural forms and symbols to draw rich nourishment from it. Through the proper application of digital media, traditional culture can be inherited and developed with its shape and meaning. Although the development of digital technology has a great impact on the traditional culture and art forms, it objectively imposes a variety of thinking dimensions and development space for traditional culture. Therefore, based on a brief introduction of the related basic concepts of digital media art, this article discusses the mutual integration between traditional culture and art forms and digital media art in detail. Finally, from two aspects of static design and dynamic design, it focuses on the concrete application of traditional culture and art forms in digital media art design. The author hopes that the textual research will be of certain reference value to the theoretical research and practical exploration of digital media art design in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have reported that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is associated with tumor genesis, growth and prognosis. The present study was conducted to detect the levels of bFGF expression in women with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colon cancer, breast cancer and melanoma, and analyze its association with the clinicopathological characteristics of malignant tumors. The tumor tissues were obtained from 508 female patients with malignant tumors between March 2008 and May 2015 (103 NSCLC, 147 colon cancer, 206 breast cancer and 52 melanoma). Histological examination was performed on paraffin-embedded tissues. The immunohistochemical peroxidase-conjugated streptavidin method was used to detect bFGF protein expression in the tissues. The level of bFGF protein expression was significantly increased in patients with NSCLC with poor differentiation and lymph node metastasis compared with patients with moderately/well differentiated NSCLC without lymph node metastasis. Increased levels of bFGF protein expression were observed in patients with colon cancer with lymph node metastasis compared with patients without lymph node metastasis, and in patients with breast cancer with tumor-node-metastasis stage III-IV and lymph node metastasis compared with patients in stage I-II and without lymph node metastasis. The rate of positive bFGF staining in patients with melanoma with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher compared with patients without lymph node metastasis. These results suggested that bFGF may be associated with the process of malignant tumor genesis and growth, and the expression of bFGF protein may be a potential and effective biomarker for diagnosing malignant tumor metastasis in females. The present study may also provide theoretical bases for the clinical application of bFGF monoclonal antibody in molecular targeted therapies in tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and its dimer diindolylmethane (DIM) are bioactive metabolites of a glucosinolate, glucobrassicin, found in cruciferous vegetables. Both I3C and DIM have been reported to possess pro-apoptotic, anti-proliferative and anti-carcinogenic properties via modulation of immune pathways. However, results from these studies remain inconclusive since they lack thorough evaluation of these bioactives' physiological versus pharmacological effects. In the present study, we investigated I3C and DIM's dose-dependent effects on cytokines production in human T lymphocytes Jurkat cell line (Clone E6-1). The results showed that I3C and DIM pretreatment, at higher concentrations of 50 and 10 μM, respectively, significantly increased PMA/ionomycin-induced interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production, measured by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). As a plausible mechanism underlying such pronounced cytokine release, we found robust increase in downstream nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and nuclear factor of activated T-cells 1 (NFAT1) signaling with I3C pretreatment, whereas DIM pretreatment only significantly induced NF-κB activation, but not NFAT1. We hypothesize that I3C/DIM pretreatment primes the T cells to become hyperresponsive upon PMA/ionomycin stimulation which in turn differentially induces two major downstream Ca2+-dependent inflammatory pathways, NF-κB and NFAT1. Our data show novel insights into the mechanisms underlying induction of pro-inflammatory cytokine release by pharmacological concentrations of I3C and DIM, an effect negligible under physiological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To assess the effect of baseline body mass index (BMI) status and weight change on mortality in older men with impaired glucose regulation (IGR). Methods Eight hundred eighty-five men with IGR aged 60 to 90 were included. Baseline and endpoint weight were measured. All-cause and cardiovascular mortality were observed during a median follow-up period of 10 years. Multivariate Cox regressions were used to estimate associations between BMI, weight change and mortality. Results Relative to normal weight, overweight was associated with lower all-cause mortality (hazard ratios, HRs [95% confidence interval, 95% CI]: 0.57 [0.41, 0.78]) and cardiovascular mortality (0.52 [0.29, 0.93]), whereas obesity did not significantly decrease or increase the mortality risk. Furthermore, compared to weight stability, all types of weight change led to increased mortality risk, except small weight gain. Specifically, after adjustment for covariates and the initial weight, the HRs (95% CI) of large weight loss were 1.64 (1.15, 2.34) for all-cause mortality and 1.85 (1.10, 3.14) for cardiovascular mortality, and the HRs (95% CI) of large weight gain were 1.55 (1.01, 2.40) for all-cause mortality and 2.11 (1.04, 4.30) for cardiovascular mortality. Similar associations were observed when weight change was redefined in sensitivity analyses. Conclusions Both BMI at baseline and weight change have independent U-shaped associations with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among older men with IGR. The present study suggests that older men with IGR may ensure their best survival by being overweight at baseline or by maintaining their weight regardless of their baseline weight status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy cargos include not only soluble cytosolic materials but also bulky organelles, such as ER and mitochondria. In budding yeast, two proteins that contain the PX domain and the BAR domain, Atg20 and Atg24 (also known as Snx42 and Snx4, respectively) are required for organelle autophagy and contribute to general autophagy in a way that can be masked by compensatory mechanisms. It remains unclear why these proteins are important for organelle autophagy. Here, we show that in a distantly related fungal organism, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, autophagy of ER and mitochondria is induced by nitrogen starvation and is promoted by three Atg20- and Atg24-family proteins - Atg20, Atg24 and SPBC1711.11 (named here as Atg24b). These proteins localize at the pre-autophagosomal structure, or phagophore assembly site (PAS), during starvation. S. pombe Atg24 forms a homo-oligomer and acts redundantly with Atg20 and Atg24b, and the latter two proteins can form a hetero-oligomer. The organelle autophagy defect caused by the loss of these proteins is associated with a reduction of autophagosome size and a decrease in Atg8 accumulation at the PAS. These results provide new insights into the autophagic function of Atg20- and Atg24-family proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: De novo genome assembly using NGS data remains a computation-intensive task especially for large genomes. In practice, efficiency is often a primary concern and favors using a more efficient assembler like SOAPdenovo2. Yet SOAPdenovo2, based on de Bruijn graph, fails to take full advantage of longer NGS reads (say, 150 bp to 250 bp from Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq). Assemblers that are based on string graphs (e.g., SGA), though less popular and also very slow, are more favorable for longer reads. Methods: This paper shows a new de novo assembler called BASE. It enhances the classic seed-extension approach by indexing the reads efficiently to generate adaptive seeds that have high probability to appear uniquely in the genome. Such seeds form the basis for BASE to build extension trees and then to use reverse validation to remove the branches based on read coverage and paired-end information, resulting in high-quality consensus sequences of reads sharing the seeds. Such consensus sequences are then extended to contigs. Results: Experiments on two bacteria and four human datasets shows the advantage of BASE in both contig quality and speed in dealing with longer reads. In the experiment on bacteria, two datasets with read length of 100 bp and 250 bp were used.. Especially for the 250 bp dataset, BASE gives much better quality than SOAPdenovo2 and SGA and is simlilar to SPAdes. Regarding speed, BASE is consistently a few times faster than SPAdes and SGA, but still slower than SOAPdenovo2. BASE and Soapdenov2 are further compared using human datasets with read length 100 bp, 150 bp and 250 bp. BASE shows a higher N50 for all datasets, while the improvement becomes more significant when read length reaches 250 bp. Besides, BASE is more-meory efficent than SOAPdenovo2 when sequencing data with error rate. Conclusions: BASE is a practically efficient tool for constructing contig, with significant improvement in quality for long NGS reads. It is relatively easy to extend BASE to include scaffolding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatty acid esters of 3-chloro-1, 2-propanediol (3-MCPD esters) are a group of processing induced food contaminants with nephrotoxicity but the molecular mechanism(s) remains unclear. This study investigated whether and how the JNK/p53 pathway may play a role in the nephrotoxic effect of 3-MCPD esters using 3-MCPD 1-palmitate (MPE) as a probe compound in Sprague Dawley rats. Microarray analysis of the kidney from the Sprague Dawley rats treated with MPE, using Gene Ontology categories and KEGG pathways, revealed that MPE altered mRNA expressions of the genes involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (JNK and ERK), p53, and apoptotic signal transduction pathways. The changes in the mRNA expressions were confirmed by qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses and were consistent with the induction of tubular cell apoptosis as determined by histopathological, TUNEL, and immunohistochemistry analyses in the kidneys of the Sprague Dawley rats. Additionally, p53 knockout attenuated the apoptosis, and the apoptosis-related protein bax expression and cleaved caspase-3 activation induced by MPE in the p53 knockout C57BL/6 mice, whereas JNK inhibitor SP600125 but not ERK inhibitor U0126 inhibited MPE-induced apoptosis, supporting the conclusion that JNK/p53 might play a critical role in the tubular cell apoptosis induced by MPE and other 3-MCPD fatty acid esters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unfolded protein response (UPR) has been extensively investigated in neurological diseases and diabetes, while its function in heart disease is less well understood. Activated UPR participates in multiple cardiac conditions and can either protect or impair heart function. Recently, the UPR has been found to play a role in arrhythmogenesis during human heart failure by affecting cardiac ion channels expression, and blocking UPR has an antiarrhythmic effect. This review will discuss the rationale for and challenges to targeting UPR in heart disease for treatment of arrhythmias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical fitness and health of white collar business person is getting worse and worse in recent years. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a system which can enhance physical fitness and health for people. Although the exercise prescription can be generated after diagnosing for customized physical fitness and healthcare. It is hard to meet individual execution needs for general scheduling of physical fitness and healthcare system. So the main purpose of this research is to develop an intelligent scheduling of execution for customized physical fitness and healthcare system. The results of diagnosis and prescription for customized physical fitness and healthcare system will be generated by fuzzy logic Inference. Then the results of diagnosis and prescription for customized physical fitness and healthcare system will be scheduled and executed by intelligent computing. The scheduling of execution is generated by using genetic algorithm method. It will improve traditional scheduling of exercise prescription for physical fitness and healthcare. Finally, we will demonstrate the advantages of the intelligent scheduling of execution for customized physical fitness and healthcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of the era of global high-tech industry and commerce and its associated sedentary lifestyle, opportunities for physical activity are reduced. People's physical fitness and health is deteriorating. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a system that can enhance people's physical fitness and health. However, it is difficult for general physical fitness and healthcare systems to meet individualized needs. The main purpose of this research is to develop a method of intelligent diagnosis and prescription for a customized physical fitness and healthcare system. The proposed system records all processes of the physical fitness and healthcare system via a wireless sensor network and the results of the diagnosis and prescription will be generated by fuzzy logic inference. It will improve individualized physical fitness and healthcare. Finally, we demonstrate the advantages of intelligent diagnosis and prescription for a customized physical fitness and healthcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease. The pathogenesis of psoriasis has not been fully elucidated. T-lymphokine-activated killer cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK) activity increases in a proinflammatory environment, and inhibiting TOPK blocks inflammation. However, whether TOPK is involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis remains to be identified. Objectives: We aimed to study the role of TOPK in psoriasis and attempted to find a drug targeting TOPK for the prevention and treatment of psoriasis. Method: Firstly, the expressions of TOPK in psoriatic patients, psoriatic cell and animal model were analysed by Gene Expression Omnibus database, immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining and western blot (WB). After inhibiting TOPK by chemical or gene knockout, the effect of TOPK on the development of psoriasis was verified in cell and animal model by WB, qRT-PCR, ELISA, haematoxylin--eosin (H&E) and IHC staining. Moreover, phosphoproteomic analysis was performed to explore the signalling pathways regulated by TOPK in the occurrence and development of psoriasis. Then, an in vitro kinase assay was performed to prove TOPK kinase activity was inhibited by worenine. Ultimately, WB, qRT-PCR, ELISA, H&E and IHC staining were used to verify the anti-psoriasis effect of worenine by inhibiting TOPK was in cell and animal model. Results: In this study, we found that TOPK was highly expressed in psoriasis patients, psoriatic cell and animal model, which suggests that TOPK might be associated with psoriasis pathogenesis. Interestingly, chemical or genetic inhibition of TOPK alleviated M5-and imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis, which further confirmed the role of TOPK in promoting the development of psoriasis. Moreover, we determined that worenine inhibited TOPK kinase activity. In addition, worenine relieved M5-and IMQ-induced psoriasiform dermatitis by inhibiting TOPK activity. Conclusions: T-lymphokine-activated killer cell-originated protein kinase promotes the development of psoriasis. Therefore, TOPK might be a promising drug target for the prevention and treatment of psoriasis. Worenine alleviates psoriasiform dermatitis by inhibiting TOPK activity, providing new strategies for clinical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutations of the cardiac sodium channel (Nav 1.5) can induce gain or loss of channel function. Gain-of-function mutations can cause long QT syndrome type 3 and possibly atrial fibrillation, whereas loss-of-function mutations are associated with a variety of phenotypes, such as Brugada syndrome, cardiac conduction disease, sick sinus syndrome, and possibly dilated cardiomyopathy. The phenotypes produced by Nav1.5 mutations vary according to the direct effect of the mutation on channel biophysics, but also with age, sex, body temperature, and between regions of the heart. This phenotypic variability makes genotype-phenotype correlations difficult. In this Perspectives article, we propose th at phenotypic variability not ascribed to mutation-dependent changes in channel function might be the result of additional modifiers of channel behaviour, such as other genetic variation and alterations in transcription, RNA processing, translation, post-translational modifications, and protein degradation. Consideration of these modifiers might help to improve genotype-phenotype correlations and lead to new therapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sequential functionalisation of 2-phenylpyridine is presented using selective ortho- and meta-directing processes. It was found that performing a reaction sequence with meta function-alisation first followed by ortho functionalisation provided novel reaction products in good yields and with complete regioselectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stroke is a major cause of severe disability and death. Xiao-Xu-Ming decoction (XXMD) is an effective prescription for stroke and its sequelae, while its effective ingredients and mechanism are still unclear. In the present study, we aimed to explore the effective ingredients and mechanism of XXMD in treating cerebral ischemia using network pharmacology. The main chemical components and targets of 12 herbs of XXMD were obtained by the TCMSP database and analysis platform database. The active components in XXMD were screened according to oral utilization and drug-like properties. Then, the cerebral ischemia targets were obtained through GeneCards, OMIM, TTD, Diligent and Drugbank databases. We analyzed the pathophysiological processes and pathways involved in the treatment of cerebral ischemia with XXMD by using the Metascape data analysis platform. Results showed that β-sitosterol, kaempferol, quercetin, stigmasterol, wogonin, and catechins might be the potential core active ingredients of XXMD in the treatment of cerebral ischemia. The therapeutic effect of XXMD on stroke was mainly exerted through regulating neuroinflammatory response and neurovascular protection. Furthermore, the anti-neuroinflammation and neurovascular protection of XXMD were further confirmed using cerebral ischemia rats. Collectively, our findings revealed that the mechanism of XXMD on the treatment of cerebral ischemia was related to anti-neuroinflammation and neurovascular protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) has been shown to play an important role in gene expression regulation in animals and plants. However, the extent of sense and antisense APA at the genome level is not known. We developed a deep-sequencing protocol that queries the junctions of 3'UTR and poly(A) tails and confidently maps the poly(A) tags to the annotated genome. The results of this mapping show that 70% of Arabidopsis genes use more than one poly(A) site, excluding microheterogeneity. Analysis of the poly(A) tags reveal extensive APA in introns and coding sequences, results of which can significantly alter transcript sequences and their encoding proteins. Although the interplay of intron splicing and polyadenylation potentially defines poly(A) site uses in introns, the polyadenylation signals leading to the use of CDS protein-coding region poly(A) sites are distinct from the rest of the genome. Interestingly, a large number of poly(A) sites correspond to putative antisense transcripts that overlap with the promoter of the associated sense transcript, a mode previously demonstrated to regulate sense gene expression. Our results suggest that APA plays a far greater role in gene expression in plants than previously expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine sex differences in the antidepressant and neurocognitive effects of adjunctive nonconvulsive electrotherapy (NET) in patients with treatment-refractory depression (TRD), which has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Methods: The study enrolled 20 patients with TRD, comprising 11 males and 9 females, who underwent a series of 6 NET sessions. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) was used to assess depressive symptoms, response, and remission at baseline and after the first, third, and sixth NET sessions. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was used to assess neurocognitive function at baseline and after the sixth NET session. Results: After completing 6 NET sessions, female patients experiencing TRD exhibited a higher inclination toward achieving an antidepressant response (77.8% vs. 45.5%, P=.197) and antidepressant remission (22.2% vs. 0%, P=.189) when compared to their male counterparts. No significant differences were observed in changes in the HAMD-17 and WCST subscale scores (all P > .05), including completing classification number, total error number, persistent error number, and random error number between males and females. Additionally, no significant correlations were observed between baseline WCST subscale scores and changes in HAMD-17 scores or endpoint scores, irrespective of sex (all P > .05). Conclusion: These pilot findings suggest that female patients with TRD exhibited increased rates of achieving antidepressant response and remission after undergoing NET. However, further studies should be conducted to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It has been noted that the posterior circulation serves as an important source of collateral blood supply in moyamoya disease. Since most of the literature has focused on non-operative cases and many symptomatic patients receive surgical revascularization, we evaluated the posterior circulation changes after revascularization and found that progressive posterior cerebral artery (PCA) steno-occlusive changes after revascularization caused cerebral hemodynamic compromise and clinical deterioration in a significant portion of patients. Methods: Twenty-three moyamoya disease patients with ischemic presentation who received revascularization with complete angiography and xenon CT during a minimum of 3 years’ clinical follow-up were enrolled. Revascularization was performed in 38 hemispheres. Pre- and postoperative angiography were reviewed to determine the internal carotid artery (ICA) stage, PCA stage, leptomeningeal collateral (LMC) grade, and Matsushima synangiosis grade. The postoperative regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral vascular reserve (CVR) were recorded and correlated with angiographic findings and clinical outcome. Results: Progression of ICA staging was noted in 23 sides (55.2%), and progression of PCA staging was noted in 18 sides (47.4%). Among the 18 cases of PCA stage progression, an associated decrease in LMC grade was noted in 12 sides (66.7%). These changes were associated with decreased regional CBF and CVR, which also explained the recurrent ischemic symptoms in 27.8% of these patients. In contrast, LMC grade increased in 15 (65.2%) sides of patients with ICA progression. Conclusions: Progressive steno-occlusive change in the PCA after revascularization is associated with a reduction in LMC blood flow and cerebral ischemia in moyamoya patients. This phenomenon might cause recurrent ischemic symptoms in 27.8% of patients. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The centerlines of tubular structures are useful for medical image visualization and computer-aided diagnosis applications. They can be effectively extracted by using a thinning algorithm that erodes an object layer by layer until only a skeleton is left. An object point is "simple" and can be safely deleted only if the resultant image is topologically equivalent to the original. Numerous characterizations of 3-D simple points based on digital topology already exist. However, little work has been done in the context of marching cubes (MC). This paper reviews several concise 3-D simple point characterizations in a MC paradigm. By using the Euler characteristic and a few newly observed properties in the context of connectivity-consistent MC, we present concise and more self-explanatory proofs. We also present an efficient method for computing the Euler characteristic locally for MC surfaces. Performance evaluations on different implementations are conducted on synthetic data and multidetector computed tomography examination of virtual colonoscopy and angiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein--protein interactions are vital for executing nearly all cellular processes. To facilitate the detection of protein--protein interactions in living cells of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, here we present an efficient and convenient method termed the Pil1 co-tethering assay. In its basic form, we tether a bait protein to mCherry-tagged Pil1, which forms cortical filamentary structures, and examine whether a GFP-tagged prey protein colocalizes with the bait. We demonstrate that this assay is capable of detecting pairwise protein--protein interactions of cytosolic proteins and nuclear proteins. Furthermore, we show that this assay can be used for detecting not only binary protein--protein interactions, but also ternary and quaternary protein--protein interactions. Using this assay, we systematically characterized the protein--protein interactions in the Atg1 complex and in the phosphatidylinositol 3- kinase (PtdIns3K) complexes and found that Atg38 is incorporated into the PtdIns3K complex I via an Atg38--Vps34 interaction. Our data show that this assay is a useful and versatile tool and should be added to the routine toolbox of fission yeast researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents case reports of a forty-nine-year-old woman who underwent serial magnetic resonance imaging examinations of the left shoulder over a period of ten months to evaluate pain, which had begun after she pulled a heavy object. The magnetic resonance of the patient revealed shoulder impingement with a partial tear of the supraspinatus tendon on the humeral side, subacromial and subdeltoid bursitis, and biceps tenosynovitis. Three months after the extracorporeal shock-wave treatment, the follow-up magnetic resonance examination revealed a newly developed area of osteonecrosis in the left humeral head.

Class switch recombination (CSR) is the process by which B cells alter the effector function properties of their Ig molecules. The decision to switch to a particular Ig isotype is determined primarily by the mode of B cell activation and cytokine exposure. More recent work indicates that the likelihood or probability of switching increases with successive cell divisions and is largely independent of time. We have analyzed different molecular features of CSR using cell division as a reference point in an attempt to gain insight into the mechanism of division-linked switching. Our results indicated that the accessibility of Ig heavy chain constant regions targeted for CSR was established after the cells had undergone a single cell division and did not vary significantly with subsequent cell divisions. ln contrast, expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) mRNA was found to increase with successive divisions, exhibiting a striking correlation with the frequency of CSR. Levels of AID in a given division remained constant at different time points, strongly suggesting that the regulation of AID expression was division-linked and independent of time. In addition. constitutive AID expression from a transgene accelerated division-linked CSR. Thus, we propose that the division-linked increase in AID expression provides an underlying molecular explanation for division-linked CSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We report a vascular abnormality of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) that has not been described in the literature before. Methods: Two patients (1 male and 1 female; age 44 and 67 years, respectively) were found to have a vascular abnormality in which the main trunk of the MCA had a twig-like form. Both patients presented with intracranial hemorrhage. Results: In these 2 patients, the abnormality was seen before the genu of the MCA. They had an intracranial hemorrhage due to an associated aneurysm inside the twigs. The twig appeared to be a network between the bifurcation of internal carotid artery and insular segment of MCA, and it was different from the collateral circulation due to acquired occlusion or moyamoya disease. Conclusion: This new type of vascular lesion of the MCA is not benign. It appears to be associated with the occurrence of an aneurysm, an important clinical aspect. Copyright © 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorylation of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA1a) was studied with time-resolved Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. ATP and ATP analogs (ITP, 2′ and 3′-dATP) were used to study the effect of the adenine ring and the ribose hydroxyl groups on ATPase phosphorylation. All modifications of ATP altered conformational changes and phosphorylation kinetics. The differences compared with ATP increased in the following order: 3′-dATP > ITP > 2′-dATP. Enzyme phosphorylation with ITP results in larger absorbance changes in the amide I region, indicating larger conformational changes of the Ca2+-ATPase. The respective absorbance changes obtained with 3′-dATP are significantly different from the others with different band positions and amplitudes in the amide I region, indicating different conformational changes of the protein backbone. ATPase phosphorylation with 3′-dATP is also much (∼30 times) slower than with ATP. Our results indicate that modifications to functional groups of ATP (the ribose 2′- and 3′-OH and the amino group in the adenine ring) affect γ-phosphate transfer to the phosphorylation site of the Ca2+-ATPase by changing the extent of conformational change and the phosphorylation rate. ADP binding to the ADP-sensitive phosphoenzyme (Ca2E1P) stabilizes the closed conformation of Ca2E1P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recombinant growth factors (GFs) erythropoietin (Epo) and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) have important roles in the management of cancer patients. However, the effects of these GFs at a cellular level are not well understood. We examined the effect of GFs alone, and in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy, in a panel of seven cell lines. Flow cytometric analysis showed varying levels of receptor expression, which correlated with phosphorylated MAPK expression. Additionally, there were also concomitant increases in BCL-2 protein levels in those cells with high levels of MAPK activation. Although culturing cells with Epo or GM-CSF did not alter cell viability by themselves, GF pretreatment in cell lines expressing higher receptor levels resulted in a reduced magnitude of cell kill following exposure to cytotoxic IC50 concentrations of cisplatin. Subsequent co-culture with either the MEK inhibitor U0126 or the GM-CSF antagonist E21R negated this induced resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy, confirming the importance of the GF receptor as well as MAPK in mediating these effects. These results suggest that the use of GFs during chemotherapy may be detrimental in those cancers expressing higher levels of the specific receptor. Conversely, our results also suggest that GFs are safe to use in chemotherapeutic regimens if the cancer cells do not overexpress the particular receptor.Oncogene (2004) 23, 981-990. doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1207294 Published online 1 December 2003 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We synthesized zinc sulfide nanoparticles with mercaptoacetic acid as capping agent and obtained nanoparticles of different sizes. The optical properties of ZnS nanoclusters were studied by optical absorption and photoluminescence. High sample quality is reflected in sharp absorption features and strong band edge emission, which is tunable with particle size. The selectively excited luminescence properties and the coupling between electronic and vibrational excitation in ZnS nanoparticles are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reports on the use of infrared spectroscopy to map substrate-protein interactions. Monitoring of conformational changes of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca[sup 2+-ATPase upon nucleotide binding and ATPase phosphorylation using the substrate ATP and ATP analogues which were modified at specific functional groups of the substrate.

The effect of aging on surface stabilized CdSe nanocrystals samples has been studied through UV-vis absorption and PL measurements. The UV-vis absorption showed that the absorption maximum shifted to lower energy and the optical density became stronger with aging time. The PL measurements showed that the luminescence intensity increases with aging. The emissions associated with the band edge and shallower trap shifted to lower energy with aging time, whereas that associated with deep traps does not. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

MEGAHIT is a NGS de novo assembler for assembling large and complex metagenomics data in a time- and cost-efficient manner. It finished assembling a soil metagenomics dataset with 252Gbps in 44.1 and 99.6 h on a single computing node with and without a graphics processing unit, respectively. MEGAHIT assembles the data as a whole, i.e. no pre-processing like partitioning and normalization was needed. When compared with previous methods on assembling the soil data, MEGAHIT generated a three-time larger assembly, with longer contig N50 and average contig length; furthermore, 55.8% of the reads were aligned to the assembly, giving a fourfold improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first highly efficient Ir-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of β-acylamino nitroolefins is reported. This reaction provides straightforward access to chiral β-amino nitroalkanes in high yields and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 499.9% ee) catalyzed by an Ir-(R,R)-f-spiroPhos complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We treated a neonatal infant who presented with heart failure and a giant torcular dural arteriovenous fistula by staged transtorcular embolization with two guidewires, 95 platinum microcoils, and tissue glues through a needle-size craniotomy. Blood loss was minimal. The patient was stable without heart failure after a three-staged embolization. The lesion disappeared on the follow-up angiography done at the age of 3 years. This is the first documented case of neonatal giant torcular dural arteriovenous malformation cured by interventional neuroradiology. The dilemma and strategy in managing this patient will be presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemic stroke seriously threatens human health and quality of life. Xiao-Xv-Ming (XXM) decoction has been a classical prescription for stroke therapy. In our previous studies, we have found that XXM exerts neuroprotective effects, improves brain injury, and attenuates neuroinflammation in cerebral ischemia rats. In this study, we investigated the effects and possible mechanism of XXM on thrombotic focal cerebral ischemia. After treatment with XXM, the neurological function and motor abilities were improved, and cerebral infarction volume was significantly decreased compared with rats of thrombotic focal cerebral ischemia. Besides, the results of BBB integrity detected by EB leakage and tight junction (TJ) protein expression showed that XXM could maintain BBB integrity and improve the expressions of TJ proteins, including claudin-1, occluding, and ZO-1, in the ischemic ipsilateral cortex disrupted by thrombotic cerebral ischemia. Furthermore, proteomic techniques were used to identify the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the ischemic cerebral cortex, and the results showed that 132 DEPs regulated by XXM were detected in the ischemic cerebral cortex. Bioinformatic analysis showed that these regulated proteins by XXM were mainly involved in complement and coagulation cascade, and lysosome, etc. Furthermore, there was an interaction among DEPs, including Lgals3, Ctsz, Capg, C1qa, S100a4, Grn, Hspb1, Aif1, and Anxa1, etc. In conclusion, XXM ameliorated brain injury of thrombotic focal ischemic stroke, and Lgals3, Ctsz, Capg, C1qa, S100a4, Grn, Hspb1, Aif1, and Anxa1 could help provide possible therapeutic targets of XXM for ischemic stroke and offer research direction for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic transport properties of benzene-porphyrin-benzene (BPB) molecules coupled to gold (Au) electrodes were investigated. By successively removing the front-end Au atoms, several BPB junctions with different molecule-electrode contact symmetries were constructed. The calculated current-voltage (I-V) curves depended strongly on the contact configurations between the BPB molecules and the Au electrodes. In particular, a significant low-voltage negative differential resis-tance effect appeared at -0.3 V in the junctions with pyramidal electrodes on both sides. Along with the breaking of this tip-contact symmetry, the low-bias negative differential resistance ef-fect gradually disappeared. This tip-contact may be ideal for use in the design of future molec-ular devices because of its similarity with experimental processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) gene family is a class of transcription factors that are widely distributed in eukaryotes and are involved in various biological processes. However, the NF-Y gene family members in watermelon, a valued and nutritious fruit, remain largely unknown and their functions have not been characterized. In the present study, 22 ClNF-Y genes in watermelon, 29 CsNF-Y genes in cucumber, and 24 CmNF-Y genes in melon were identified based on the whole-genome investigation and their protein properties, gene location, gene structure, motif composition, conserved domain, and evolutionary relationship were investigated. ClNF-YB9 from watermelon and its homologs in cucumber and melon were expressed specifically in seeds. Its expression remained low in the early stages of watermelon seed development, increased at 20 days after pollination (DAP), and peaked at 45-50 DAP. Moreover, the knockout mutant Clnf-yb9 exhibited abnormal leafy cotyledon phenotype, implying its critical role during seed formation. Finally, protein interaction assays showed that ClNF-YB9 interacts with all ClNF-YCs and the ClNF-YB9-YC4 heterodimer was able to recruit a ClNF-YA7 subunit to assemble a complete NF-Y complex, which may function in seed development. This study revealed the structure and evolutionary relationships of the NF-Y gene family in Cucurbitaceae and the novel function of ClNF-YB9 in regulating seed development in watermelon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is a proteolytic pathway that is conserved from yeasts to mammals. Atg1 kinase is essential for autophagy, but how its activity is controlled remains insufficiently understood. Here, we show that, in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Atg1 kinase activity requires Atg11, the ortholog of mammalian FIP200/RB1CC1, but does not require Atg13, Atg17, or Atg101. Remarkably, a 62 amino acid region of Atg11 is sufficient for the autophagy function of Atg11 and for supporting the Atg1 kinase activity. This region harbors an Atg1-binding domain and a homodimerization domain. Dimerizing Atg1 is the main role of Atg11, as it can be bypassed by artificially dimerizing Atg1. In an Atg1 dimer, only one Atg1 molecule needs to be catalytically active, suggesting that Atg1 activation can be achieved through cis-autophosphorylation. We propose that mediating Atg1 oligomerization and activation may be a conserved function of Atg11/FIP200 family proteins and cis-autophosphorylation may be a general mechanism of Atg1 activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transport property of electrons tunneling through arrays of magnetic and electric barriers is studied in silicene. In the tunneling transmission spectrum, the spin-valley-dependent filtered states can be achieved in an incident energy range which can be controlled by the electric gate voltage. For the parallel magnetization configuration, the transmission is asymmetric with respect to the incident angle θ, and electrons with a very large negative incident angle can always transmit in propagating modes for one of the spin-valley filtered states under a certain electromagnetic condition. But for the antiparallel configuration, the transmission is symmetric about θ and there is no such transmission channel. The difference of the transmission between the two configurations leads to a giant tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect. The TMR can reach to 100% in a certain Fermi energy interval around the electrostatic potential. This energy interval can be adjusted significantly by the magnetic field and/or electric gate voltage. The results obtained may be useful for future valleytronic and spintronic applications, as well as magnetoresistance device based on silicene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many pH- and temperature-responsive polymers have been designed for preparing hydrogel. In the present study, in order to decrease the pH sensitivity of reported poly(amidoamine)-poly(ethyleneglycol)-poly(amidoamine) (PAA1580-PEG4600-PAA1580), we designed and synthesized poly(amidoamine)-poly(ethyleneglycol)-poly(amidoamine) (PAA-PEG-PAA) with shorter length of PAA chain by decreasing reaction temperature for preparing PAA-PEG-PAA hydrogel solution containing doxorubicin (DOX). The PAA-PEG-PAA was synthesized via the Michael-addition polymerization. The characteristic of PAA-PEG-PAA was evaluated. The PAA-PEG-PAA hydrogel solution was prepared and investigated. DOX-loaded PAA-PEG-PAA hydrogel solution was prepared, and its in vitro DOX release and in vitro anti-tumor activity were evaluated. Our results indicated that the viscosity of PAA-PEG-PAA hydrogel solution was concentration- and temperature-dependent. The sol-gel transition temperature of PAA-PEG-PAA hydrogel solution (12%, w/w) ranged from 35 to 29 ºC, and its pH ranged from 6.0 to 7.4. The released DOX from DOX -loaded PAA-PEG-PAA hydrogel showed sustained release characteristics. The in vitro anti-tumor activity of DOX-loaded PAA-PEG-PAA hydrogel was confirmed in B16F10 cell line. Considering the acidic tumor microenvironment, this DOX-loaded PAA-PEG-PAA hydrogel solution would be easy in situ administration for intra-tumor injection or para-tumor injection forming hydrogel at body temperature. We suggested that this DOX-loaded PAA-PEG-PAAhydrogel solution, if containing photothermal conversion agents, would have a potential further use for photothermal therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]