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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been found could reduce the craving of heroin dependent (HD) individuals, but the underlying mechanisms of the anti-craving effect of rTMS is unknown. It has been shown that abnormalities in the default mode network (DMN) are consistent findings in HD individuals, in which the craving was involved. We assessed the effect of rTMS on the activity of the DMN and the relation to treatment response. Thirty HD individuals were included in this self-controlled study. All HD participants received a 7-times 10Hz rTMS during a week. The craving, withdrawal symptom and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected before and after the rTMS treatment. Thirty demographically matched healthy subjects who did not receive rTMS were included as controls. We focused on the change of coupling seeded from the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and bilateral inferior parietal lobe (IPL) which are core regions of the DMN. The craving and withdrawal symptom score of the HD individuals significantly decreased after rTMS treatment. The left IPL-left middle frontal gyrus coupling and the left IPL-right inferior occipital gyrus coupling significantly decreased, and the change of the left IPL-left middle frontal gyrus coupling positively correlated with the change of the drug-cue induced craving. The rTMS could modulate the coupling between the DMN and ECN. The alteration of the left IPL-left middle frontal gyrus coupling may play an important mechanistic role in reducing the drug-cue induced craving.

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been employed as a mild biological template in nanoscale particles. Copper sulfide (CuS) has been used for photothermal therapy (PTT) in several studies. In this study, we aimed to synthesize the

Materials are always among the first considerations to the development of low temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In this study, we investigate the multifunctionality of a layer-perovskite oxide La2-xCexCuO4 (LCCO) for its applications in SOFC as cathode, anode and electrolyte. The performances of the LCCO cathode and anode fuel cells are characterized by I–V–P and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS). Results suggest that LCCO is a good cathode material and it can also deliver impressive anode performance. Though LCCO is noticed to be reduced by H2 in the anode, the cell performance is relatively stable under multiple times of operation. The existing of ceria and reduced Cu in it may be a reason for its anode catalytic activation. For the application in electrolyte, LCCO is mixed with ionic conductor Ce0.8Sm0.2O2-δ (SDC) in different weight ratios. Differences in power output and open circuit voltage for the cells containing various ratios of LCCO under normal and reverse operation conditions are highlighted. The electronic conductivity of LCCO doesn't bring in electronic leakage if it is kept in a certain range. The multifunctionality of LCCO would enable it to be potentially applied in single layer fuel cell to simplify the structure and fabrication process of SOFC.

This study aimed to measure the global brain glucose metabolism of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) using MIMneuro software based on the normal brain glucose metabolism database. In this cross-sectional study, 23 patients (11 males and 12 females, mean age 25.6 ± 10.1 years) with TLE who underwent 18F-labeled fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) were enrolled. 18F-FDG PET images were then imported into MIMneuro software, which can automatically analyze the differences in regional brain glucose metabolism between patients and a normal database, and the results of different brain regions were presented by values of Z-score. In patients with TLE, 18F-FDG PET imaging showed that in addition to the presence of temporal lobe hypometabolism, there was hypometabolism in the ipsilateral hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, insula, amygdala, temporal operculum, and bilateral cerebellar hemisphere, while hypermetabolism was found in the contralateral temporal lobe, frontal lobe, parietal lobe, parietal lobule, angular gyrus, and precentral gyrus. There was no significant difference in brain areas between the left and the right temporal lobe seizures (P > 0.05). We found that TLE has a specific characteristic in terms of brain glucose metabolism, and the underlying mechanism needs to be further studied that may be helpful to localize seizure focus.

Electrolyte densification, which is often realized by high temperature sintering (i.e. >1000 °C), is an essential process for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). However, it is hard to achieve interfaces with high ionic conductivity because the interfaces between particles would be greatly eliminated during the sintering process. In this study, a novel interface engineering method is designed basing on capillary action to densify the electrolyte and at the meantime achieve ionic conductive interfaces at low temperature. A porous electrolyte layer is found to become dense during fuel cell operation when alkali metal hydroxide (AMH) is added to the NiO anode. The observation of improved open circuit voltage (OCV) indicates gas leakage has been eliminated after AMH modification. Raman images confirm that AMHs can be absorbed into the electrolyte layer when the operating temperature is higher than the melting point of AMH. In addition, using a lithiated metal oxide (i.e. LiNiO2) as the anode, cell performance is further improved. EIS proves that the existing of AMH in the cell may affect gas diffusion in the electrode, but it significantly reduces ohmic resistance due to better interfacial ionic conductivity of the electrolyte. This in-situ electrolyte densification method not only enables us to simplify fuel cell fabrication process and lower the fabrication temperature but also provides ways for maintaining interface conductivity.

Layered nonstoichiometric vanadium oxides have aroused strong interest in energy conversion, storage, chemical catalysis, sensors, and optoelectronic devices. It is still a critical challenge to control unique atomic-layer constructions and oxygen-dependent multivalent states in layered metal oxides. Here, we demonstrate the layered nonstoichiometric V7O16 thin films with controlled multivalent states and crystalline phases obtained by the combination of atomic layer deposition (ALD) and oxygen-dependent crystallization. The nonstoichiometric composition and crystalline microstructures are dominated by the oxidation states of vanadium and the thicknesses of the pristine films during the formation of layered V7O16 thin films. Variable-temperature optical and electrical behaviors suggest that no abrupt electronic and structural transitions are observed in the layered V7O16 thin films at a temperature ranging from 78 to 475 K. We expect that the oxygen-dependent multivalent states and crystalline phases in l...

The abnormal interactions of three key large-scale brain networks (default mode [DMN], salience and executive control [ECN]) were showed underlie dysfunctions in heroin addiction. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a potential treatment for heroin addiction. It is unclear whether impaired coupling among the large-scale brain networks would be improved by rTMS in treated heroin-dependent individuals. Thirty-five heroin-dependent individuals were included in this sham-controlled, randomized study. The patients received either active or sham rTMS for 1 week. The craving for heroin and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected before and after 1-week rTMS. Twenty-two healthy subjects were included as controls not receiving rTMS. After 1-week rTMS, only the active rTMS group showed a significant decrease in spontaneous and heroin cue-induced craving. The coupling between left DLPFC (a key node of left ECN) and left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG, included in DMN) significantly increased for the active group with a tendency towards that of controls. The coupling between the right precentral gyrus and three key regions included in DMN (posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus and bilateral inferior parietal cortex) significantly decreased for the active group with a tendency towards that of healthy controls. For the active rTMS individuals, the left DLPFC-PHG coupling negatively correlated with the spontaneous craving and the drug cue-induced craving. It suggested that the rTMS could reduce heroin craving, which might be related to the modulation of ECN-DMN coupling. This finding might shed light on the mechanism of rTMS for heroin addicti1on treatment.

Granger causality (GC) analysis and metabolic connectivity map (MCM) are two effective connectivity (EC) methods commonly used in functional brain researches. Although they have a common basis in central neurophysiology, their differences in depicting EC are not clear because of absenting data acquired simultaneously and exactly aligned. Integrated positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance image (PET/MR) technology makes this available. Using the “Monash rs-PET/MR” dataset obtained from the OpenNeuro database, we first conducted GC and MCM analysis of the brain dopamine reward circuit, a well-known system mainly consisting of the bilateral Orbital Frontal Cortex (OFC), Caudate (CAU), Nucleus Accumbens (NAc), Thalamus (THA) and Substantia Nigra (SN). Then, we validated their ability of describing EC to priori knowledge. The significance of each directed pathways within group were tested through one-sample t-test (for MCM) or Wilcoxcon test (for GC), the significance level was set at p

The p-type semiconductor La0.65Sr0.3Ce0.05Cr0.5Fe0.5O3-δ (CLSCrF) is for the first time composited with the ionic conductor Ce0.8Sm0.2O2-δ (SDC) to prepare high ionic conductivity electrolyte membranes for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs). Experimental results illuminate that the introduction of moderate semiconductor into ionic membrane can improve membrane's ionic conductivity, reduce cell's polarization resistance and accelerate the electrode reaction in cathode zone. With 30 wt% CLSCrF incorporated into the SDC membrane, the cell delivers a maximum power density of 837 mW cm−2 at 550 °C with the membrane ionic conductivity as high as 0.15 S cm−1. This conductivity value is nearly 2 times higher than that of the simplex ionic membrane SDC. The rectification characteristic test indicates that there is a physical junction effect in the CLSCrF-SDC cells, which can prevent electrons from passing through internally and avoid the short circuit problem effectively. Moreover, the short-term durability test reveals that the developed CLSCrF-SDC cell is capable of stably operating for 18 h at 550 °C under a fixed current density of 234 mA cm−2. This study suggests that the CLSCrF-SDC is a promising membrane to advance the LT-SOFCs development.

Li+ plays a critically important role in layer-structured LiNiO2 family oxides in that it affects the oxidant state of Ni and catalyst's function. Layer-structured LixNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2-δ (LxNCA, x = 1, 1.2, 1.4) with different lithium content was prepared and applicated as both cathode and anode catalysts in symmetrical solid oxide fuel cell (SSOFC) that using samarium doped ceria (SDC) as electrolyte. Excess Li precursor resulted in the formation of Li2CO3 in L1.2NCA and L1.4NCA materials, whose influence on the performance of LxNCA was studied. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) of LxNCA as well as its catalytic stability were investigated by impedance spectroscopy. Its ORR process was found to be greatly influenced by the amount of Li in LxNCA while HOR was less related to Li content. Accompanying the on-line reduction and oxidation of LxNCA, fuel cells tested under reverse operation condition revealed enormous improvement in Pmax, which was due to the significant improvement of ORR process and the reduction of interface resistance.

Purpose: To create a standard Western Chinese normal functional brain database for quantitative analysis using 2-deoxy-2-[18F] fluoro-d-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) images a...

To assess the clinical value of voxel-based automatic quantitative analysis using a normal brain glucose metabolism database in the preoperative localization of focal intractable temporal lobe epilepsy patients.Patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (A total of 32 patients intractable temporal lobe epilepsy were included in this study. There was a moderate agreement between the automatic quantitative analysis based on MIMneuro software and visual analysis (kappa coefficient = 0.472,The voxel-based automatic quantitative analysis combined with normal brain glucose metabolism database had a certain clinical application value for detection temporal lobe epilepsy.

This study aimed to measure the global brain glucose metabolism of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) using MIMneuro software based on the normal brain glucose metabolism database.In this cross-sectional study, 23 patients (11 males and 12 females, mean age 25.6 ± 10.1 years) with TLE who underwentIn patients with TLE,We found that TLE has a specific characteristic in terms of brain glucose metabolism, and the underlying mechanism needs to be further studied that may be helpful to localize seizure focus.

Controlling the surface is necessary to adjust the essential properties and desired functions of nanomaterials and devices. For nanostructured multivalent vanadium oxides, unwanted surface oxidation occurs at ambient atmosphere generally and needs to be suppressed or avoided. We describe the suppressed surface oxidation of VO2 nanostructures through blocking oxygen adsorption. During an enhanced photoinduced surface oxidation process, the increased oxidation states of vanadium in VO2 nanostructures are suppressed by the use of an inert atmosphere or coating. Intermediate oxidation states are observed, and an ALD-TiO2 coating has a good antioxidant capacity for preventing the formation of oxygen-enriched components. Such oxidation suppression is beneficial to improving the stability of VO2 nanostructures. Controllable surface oxidation helps us to understand the physical essentials of surface chemical reactions and achieve better control of surface functions and performances on correlated vanadium oxide nanostructures.

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer constitutes an important health issue worldwide and is responsible for most cancer-related fatalities in both genders. GI malignancies such as colorectal, gastric, and esophageal tumors are on the rise. Multiple treatment approaches are currently used for GI cancer but with limited effect.

To create a standard Western Chinese normal functional brain database for quantitative analysis using 2-deoxy-2-[18F] fluoro-d-glucose (78 healthy right-handed Chinese volunteers from Tangdu Hospital were scanned usingThe novel Chinese brain metabolism database platform including 78 healthy volunteers (male: female 40:38; age 3-78 years, mean age, 45 years) was constructed based on the MIMneuro software, which increased the diagnostic confidence in the test patient by quantifying and emphasizing the abnormality. The BrainAlignA novel Chinese

This study reports a kind of single layer solid oxide fuel cell (SLSOFC) based on semiconductor-ionic conductor composite material which consists of Ce0.8Sm0.2O2-δ (SDC, ionic conductor), La0.25Sr0.75Ti1O3+δ (LST, n-type semiconductor) and Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05LiO2-δ (NCAL, p-type semiconductor). It was found that the LST-SDC-NCAL composite based SLSOFC exhibited open circuit voltage (OCV) of more than 1 V and maximum power density of 222 mW cm−2 under 550 °C. In-situ Schottky junction in the device helps to prevent short circuiting as well as promote ion transport. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis revealed that the ionic conductivity of the SLSOFC was about 0.09 S cm−1, and the corresponding activation energy is 0.7 eV. The cell performance was stable during 65 h without any significant degradation. Moreover, the SLSOFC possessed higher tolerance for temperature change than traditional three-layer SOFC due to the well match of thermal expansion coefficient between electrodes and electrolyte. This device is of great significance in preventing fuel cell delamination, simplifying manufacturing process and promoting its commercialization.

Long-term stability is of significant importance to energy conversion devices including solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). In this work, we apply a layered perovskite oxide La1·85Sr0·15CuO4 (LSCO4) mixing with ionic conductor Ce0.8Sm0.2O2-δ (SDC) to get an ionic and electronic conductor composite (IECC) membrane SOFC for the sake of achieving a stable cell. The addition of proper ratio of LSCO4 in the membrane improves cell performance. The IECC fuel cell reaches a stability of over 75 h at 550 °C under 100 mAcm−2 and can resist multiple times of rapid heat-up and cool-down cycles. The factors that influence cell stability are investigated. The covalence states of the IECC are found to change firstly but stabilize after several hours of test. Resulting from anode Ni0·8Co0·15Al0·05LiO2-δ (NCAL) reduction, Li+ is found to migrate to the IECC membrane, leading to IECC membrane densifying and resultantly protecting the IECC from further reduction by hydrogen. However, the continuous online reaction of NCAL electrodes leads to the increase of charge transfer resistance as well as the decrease of gas diffusion pores in the electrode. This study provides important reference for designing stable IECC membrane fuel cell.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune/inflammatory neurodegenerative disease which mainly affects the central nervous system in young adults. Fc-receptor-like-3 (FCRL3) gene, which involved in immune cell regulation, has drawn lots of attentions. This study aims to investigate the association between common polymorphisms of FCRL3 gene and MS risk in a Chinese Han population. Nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in 120 patients and 240 healthy controls through PCR assay. t test and chi-square test was conducted to find a possible association between FCRL3 genetic mutations and risk of MS. This analysis results performed that four SNPs, rs7528684 (FCRL3_3), rs945635 (FCRL3_5), rs3761959 (FCRL3_6), and rs2282284 (FCRL3_8), were significantly associated with the risk of MS. Further haplotype analysis showed two haplotypes of FCRL3_3, 5, 6, 8, CCAG and CGAG, presented the significant associations with the susceptibility to MS. Four SNPs in FCRL3 gene could possibly associate with the susceptibility of MS in a Chinese Han population. Moreover, the haplotype analysis confirmed that the linkage disequilibrium exists in polymorphisms in FCRL3. Based on the supporting evidence, we deduced that FCRL3_3C, FCRL3_5C, FCRL3_6A, and FCRL3_8G caused increased risk of MS. Nevertheless, large cohort studies are required in the future to validate the autoimmune function.

Cardiac hypertrophy is a primary pathological change associated with cardiovascular diseases. Dysregulated microRNAs are frequent in cardiovascular diseases and contribute to cardiac hypertrophy by regulating a series of targeted genes. In this study, a rat model of cardiac hypertrophy was created by transverse abdominal aortic constriction, and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes was induced using angiotensin II (AngII) to investigate the role of miR-101 in myocardial hypertrophy. We demonstrated that miR-101 was downregulated in both the transverse abdominal aortic constriction rat model and hypertrophic cardiac myocytes. The overexpression of miR-101 in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, which was accompanied by a reduced Rab1a level, inhibits 3 cardinal features of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy: fetal gene expression, protein synthesis, and cell enlargement. Conversely, the downregulation of miR-101 reverses these effects. Furthermore, the luciferase reporter system demonstrated that Rab1a is a target gene of miR-101, and the ectopic expression of Rab1a can reverse the cardiomyocyte hypertrophy inhibitory activity of miR-101. Taken together, our findings identify miR-101 as an important regulator in cardiac hypertrophy and implicate the potential application of miR-101 in the therapy of cardiac hypertrophy.

The aim of this study was to detect stress-induced phosphoprotein 1 (STIP1) expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and to analyze its association with prognosis of PTC patients. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of STIP1 in 113 PTC tissues and paired adjacent noncancerous tissues. The χ2 test was used to analyze the relationship between STIP1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Survival curves were plotted by the Kaplan–Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Survival data was evaluated using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. We identified abnormally elevated expression of STIP1 protein in PTC tissues compared to paired adjacent noncancerous tissues. Clinicopathological analysis showed that STIP1 expression was significantly correlated with tumor size (P = 0.017), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.007), and TNM stage (P = 0.026). Patients with higher STIP1 expression had shorter overall survival time, whereas those with lower STIP1 expression had longer survival time. Multivariate analysis suggested that STIP1 expression might be an independent prognostic indicator (P

The aim of this study was to detect FOXC1 expression in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to analyze its association with prognosis of NSCLC patients. Expressional levels of FOXC1 mRNA and protein in 30 cases of NSCLC and corresponding non-tumor tissue samples were examined by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of FOXC1 in 125 NSCLC tissues. We found that the expression levels of FOXC1 mRNA and protein in NSCLC tissues were significantly higher than those in corresponding non-tumor tissues. High-level FOXC1 expression was correlated with poor tumor differentiation, tumor-node-metastasis stage, and lymph node metastasis. Patients with high expression levels of FOXC1 showed lower overall survival rate than those with low expression levels. Multivariate analysis showed that high FOXC1 protein expression was an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients. Our study suggests that over-expression of FOXC1 may play an important role in the progression of NSCLC, and FOXC1 expression may offer a valuable marker for predicting the outcome of patients with NSCLC.

The aim of this study was to introduce human somatostatin receptors subtype-2 (hsstr2) gene into A549 lung carcinoma cells in order to investigate the role of these receptors, and to observe the lethal effect of (131)I-RC-160 (RC-160, vapreotide, an analog of somatostatin) on transfected cells through tumor scintigraphy. Clones overexpressing SSTR2 were selected for radioligand-receptor binding assay and assessment of (125)I-RC-160 internalization. The methylthiazolyl tetrazolium test was used to observe the lethal effect of (131)I-RC-160, Na(131)I, and RC-160 on hSSTR2-transfected A549 cells (A549-hSSTR2). Planar imaging was performed with a gamma camera equipped with pinhole collimator in nude mice bearing both A549-hSSTR2 tumors overexpressing SSTR2 and A549-pcDNA3 (pcDNA3-transfected A549 cells) tumors as control. Images were obtained at 0.5, 6, and 24 h after injection of 3.7 × 10(6) Bq (99m)Tc-RC-160 via the tail vein. The inhibitory effects of (131)I-RC-160, RC-160, and Na(131)I on the tumors were recorded by measuring the tumor volumes. At the end of the study, the tumors were excised and HE staining was performed. The binding radioactivity (sum of membrane-bound and internalized radioligand) of A549-hSSTR2 cells was 18.24 ± 1.9 % of total counts added after 1 h of incubation, and was higher than that of A549-pcDNA3 cells 5.7 ± 1.4 % (P < 0.05). The inhibition ratio of A549-hSSTR2 cells was 78.8 ± 5.9 %. Clear images of tumor lesions in nude mice were achieved at 0.5 h post injection. In the A549-hSSTR2 xenograft tumor group, the growth of the tumors treated with (131)I-RC-160 was significantly inhibited as compared to tumors in the group treated with RC-160 (P < 0.01). This study demonstrated that it was possible to introduce hsstr2 to non-expressing tumor cell lines and treat tumors with radiolabeled somatostatin analogs.

Background and aim We investigated the anti-tumor effect induced by the combination of the radiotherapeutic agent 131 I-RC-160 and the prodrug 5-FC in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 cells that were co-expressing the human somatostatin receptor 2 gene (hSSTR2) and E. coli cytosine deaminase gene (CD). Methods We cloned both hSSTR2 and CD into a bicistronic mammalian expression plasmid and stably transfected it into A549 cells (pCIS-A549 cells). After antibiotic selection, SSTR expression in stable clones was determined by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence analyses. To assess the in vivo targeting efficiency of the "engineered" A549 cells, the cells were subcutaneously injected into nude mice and the biodistribution of 99m Tc-RC-160 was assessed at different time points. The tumor inhibitory effects of 131 I-RC-160 and/or 5-FC were evaluated by measurement of tumor growth and immunohistochemical analysis. Results Multiple analyses demonstrated the successful expression of hSSTR2 in A549 cells. In vivo radioimaging revealed specific targeting of RC-160 to the tumors derived from pCIS-A549 cells when compared to those from control A549 cells. The tumor inhibitory rate of pCIS-A549 tumors in the 131 I-RC-160 plus 5-FC-treated group was significantly higher than that in the single agent-treated group, control group and control tumors. Conclusion Co-expression of the hSSTR2 and CD genes in tumor cells can selectively sensitize these cells to the infra-additive effects of radioisotope-labeled RC-160 and 5-FC in vivo. This approach offers a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of lung cancer.