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Ag/[BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/Si heterojunctions were grown by high vacuum magnetron sputtering system and were annealed at temperature 100–300°C under the vacuum conditions. All samples exhibit the rectification behaviour in the dark and under light irradiation. The resistive switching effect is observed in Ag/[BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/Si heterojunctions. The resistive switching effect under white light irradiation is more obvious than that in the dark. The photovoltage effect and photoconductivity effect of Ag/[BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/Si heterojunctions are observed and become stronger with increasing annealed temperature.

Cuscuta chinensis polysaccharide (CPS) was extracted using hot water and enzymatically hydrolyzed C. chinensis polysaccharide (ECPS) was produced by the mannase enzymatic hydrolysis process. The purpose of this research was to investigate the antimelanogenic activity of ECPS and CPS in B16F10 melanoma cells. The in vitro antioxidant activity was assessed by their ferric iron reducing power and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. The molecular mass distribution of polysaccharides was determined using SEC-MALLS-RI. CPS was successfully enzymatically degraded using mannase and the weighted average molecular weights of CPS and ECPS were 434.6 kDa and 211.7 kDa. The results of biological activity assays suggested that the enzymatically hydrolyzed polysaccharide had superior antimelanogenic activity and antioxidant effect than the original polysaccharide. ECPS exhibited antimelanogenic activity by down-regulating the expression of tyrosinase, MITF, and TRP-1 without cytotoxic effects in B16F10 melanoma cells. In conclusion, ECPS have the potential to become a skin whitening product.

White-light-controlled resistive switching effect in [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/ZnO film was investigated. Resistive switching effect in the [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/ZnO film was observed. The resistive switching effect becomes stronger when subjected to white light irradiation. In addition, the resistive switching effect becomes stronger with increase in annealed temperature. At the same time, resistive switching shows a strong dependence on the thickness of the [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3] layer.

In order to improve lignin-based materials’ utilization, the grafting mechanism of lignin was studied by investigating hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) initiator's effect on the structure of eucalyptus lignosulfonate calcium (HLS). HLS was treated by low content of H2O2 (H2O2/HLSwt = 1%, 2%, 4%) under various reaction temperature and time. Changes in HLS structure were investigated by difference UV, UV, FTIR, 1H NMR, GPC and intrinsic viscosity. The results showed that though phenolic hydroxyl group (Ph-OH) of HLS was not oxidated to the quinoid structure, its content still decreased after treated by H2O2 initiator. Meanwhile, the new aryl–alkyl ether structures and increased average molecular weight were observed. A radical coupling mechanism for the decreasing Ph-OH group's content was proposed, which radicals may terminate between phenoxy and benzyl radicals. In addition, the cleavage of methoxyl-aryl ether made a decline in the content of syringyl units, while that of guaiacyl, p-hydroxyphenyl units and free aromatic C-5 hydrogen increased when HLS reacted with H2O2.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Vaccination during periods of lymphopenia may facilitate immune responses to weak self-antigens and enhance antitumor immunity. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of tumor vaccine immunotherapy combined with immune reconstruction using tumor-bearing host immune cells in lymphopenia, and to investigate the role of tumor-bearing host T cells activated in vitro during immunotherapy. DESIGN AND SETTING: Animal study conducted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from January 2009 to January 2010. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Lymphopenia was induced by cyclophosphamide. A reconstituted immune system with different syngeneic lymphocytes was employed, including lymphocytes from naÏve rats (unsensitized group), tumor-bearing rats (tumor-bearing group), and tumor-bearing rats activated in vitro (activated group). All rats were immunized with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-modified NuTu-19 ovarian cancer (GM-CSF/NuTu-19) cells. Tumor vaccine-draining lymph nodes (TVDLNs) were harvested, and then stimulated to induce effector T cells (TE). TE were then adoptively transferred to rats bearing a 3-day pre-established abdominal tumor (NuTu-19), and the survival rate was calculated. RESULTS: Compared with the unsensitized group, the levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2) were significantly lower in the tumor-bearing group, whereas that of IL-4 were significantly higher (P< .05). The number of CD4+ T cells secreting interferon-γ and the specific cytotoxicity of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes were significantly lower (P< .05). The survival was significantly higher in the activated group compared with the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Lymphocytes from tumor-bearing rats activated in vitro can effectively reverse the immunosuppressive effects of tumor-bearing hosts.

Fe/In multilayers were prepared by the DC magnetron sputtering method, and their electrical and magnetic properties were studied. Negative giant magnetoresistance (GMR) with a maximum of −0.84% at 10 K was observed. The magnitude of GMR and the saturation field ( H s ) were found to oscillate with a period about 1.3 nm when varying the thickness of In layers. Atomic force microscope images of samples were taken to investigate the surface morphology. The GMR effect is composed of antiferromagnetic coupling between the neighboring Fe layers and superparamagnetic spins effect at the Fe/In interface. A reduction of the anomalous GMR effect with decreasing temperature is presented.

Giant magnetoresistance was found in DC magnetron sputtering Fe/ITO multilayers. The magnetic properties, electrical properties and magnetoresistance were investigated. A critical temperature is found around 50 K where the temperature dependence of resistivity and magnetoresistance ratio exhibit an abruptly change. The temperature dependence of resistance is found to obey Mott's 1/4 law for low temperature. The max magnetoresistance ratio of 2.0% and 6.7% is found at room temperature and 12.5 K, respectively. The increase of magnetoresistance ratio at low temperature is due to the decrease of spin-mixing effect.

Co–Al 2 O 3 granular films with a narrow distribution in cluster size of Co clusters embedded in Al 2 O 3 matrix were prepared by sequential deposition based on self-organized growth. Resistivity dependence of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) was studied. The GMR takes a maximum of 5.2% at room temperature and 9.4% at 13 K and 5700 Gs when the resistivity of the sample is 4×10 5 –7×10 5 μΩ cm. The temperature dependence of resistivities and GMR were discussed especially. A temperature dependence of conductance ρ∼ exp[ T 1 /( T + T 0 )] was found, which indicates the dominant conduction mechanism is fluctuation-induced tunneling. A linear relationship of GMR versus T was observed, GMR= a – kT , in applied magnetic field 5700 Gs. The remarkable character of temperature dependence of GMR should be due to the special microstructure that the clusters are monodispersed in the films.

Leiomyomas in the female reproductive system are commonly located in the uterus and typically regress following the menopause. Vulval leiomyomas are rare, and to the best of our knowledge, perineal leiomyomas in postmenopausal women have not been previously reported in the literature. The present case describes a 60-year-old Chinese woman who experienced perineal tenderness and lumbosacral radiating pain. The patient, who went through the menopause 12 years previously, had presented with a painful perineal mass for 1 year, which was subsequently diagnosed as a postmenopausal perineal leiomyoma. The mass was locally resected, and histopathological examination of the lesion resulted in a diagnosis of benign epithelioid leiomyoma. Immunohistochemical staining identified that the leiomyoma was positive for estrogen receptor and negative for progesterone receptor expression. The patient was followed up for 1 year and did not experience any pain or recurrence. The symptoms of local and lumbosacral radiating pain are extremely rare and may be induced by peripheral nerve stimulation. The etiology of postmenopausal perineal leiomyoma may be associated with infection, dietary, stress and environmental factors, and the role of estrogen cannot be overemphasized in cases of postmenopausal leiomyoma.

The electrochemical behavior of metallic passive film on rebar in concrete is characterized by its semiconductive nature. The charge distribution at the interface between a semiconductor and an electrolyte is often determined by measuring the capacitance of the space-charge layer (CSC) as a function of the electrode potential (E). When the space charge-layer serves as the depletion layer, the relation of CSC−2 vs E resembles a Mott-Schottky plot (M-S plot). The semiconductive properties of the passive film on rebar in concrete were analyzed with M-S plots to study the effect of chloride ions and mineral admixtures on rebar passive films. Some rebar electrodes were immersed in simulated concrete pore solutions, while others were embedded in concrete with/without mineral admixtures. In saturated Ca(OH)2 solutions, the relation of CSC−2-E of rebar electrodes shows linear Mott-Schottky relationship indicating that the passive film on rebar is a highly disordered n-type semiconductor, with donor density (ND) in the order of 1026m−3. After adding chloride ions (Cl− wt%

White-light-controlled resistance switching in TiO2/α-Fe2O3 composite nanorods array grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate by hydrothermal process is investigated. The average length of TiO2/α-Fe2O3 nanorods is about 3.5 μm, and the average diameter is about 250 nm. The sizes of the α-Fe2O3 particles are in the range of 30 ~ 70 nm. The current–voltage characteristics of the composite nanorods array show a good rectifying property and bipolar resistive-switching behavior, and the resistive-switching behavior can be regulated by white-light illumination at room temperature. This study is helpful for exploring the multifunctional materials and their applications in nonvolatile multistate memory devices.

To evaluate the reconstituted immune system with in vitro-activated T cells from tumor-bearing rats coupled with ovarian cancer vaccination.Fischer 344 female rats were injected with cyclophosphamide (CY) as a lymphopenia (LP) model. The immune systems of the rats were reconstituted with in vitro-activated T cells from the same individuals. GM-CSF-modified ovarian cancer cells lines (NuTu-19) were injected within 24 h after immune reconstitution. The tumor vaccine draining lymph nodes (TVDLN) were harvested 8-10 days after vaccination and analyzed by FACS. The proliferative capacity of dendritic cells (DCs) was measured by the levels of MHC-II and CD86 molecules. The activation of T cells was monitored by the percentage of FITC-CD4 and PE-CD8 cells. The biological function of DCs such as processing and presenting antigens was assayed by immature DCs' phagocytosis of FITC-Dextran.Immune reconstitution with in vitro-activated T cells produced significantly more DCs, T cells and functionally enhanced immature DCs out of TVDLN.Reconstituting immune system with in vitro-activated T cells from a tumor-bearing host coupled with ovarian cancer vaccination during lymphocytopenia may selectively expand and activate particular T cells and DCs, leading to augmentation of anti-tumor immunity.

To explore the mechanisms and effects of adoptive immunotherapy with ovarian cancer vaccine modified by GM-CSF gene which was used after immunologic reconstitution during lymphopenia induced by chemotherapy.Lymphopenia was induced by chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide. The immune reconstituted model was built in rats. The tumor vaccine draining lymph nodes were harvested after the ovarian cancer cells NUTU-19 modified by GM-CSF gene were injected. The effector T cells (T(E)) were got after being stimulated and amplified. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the level of interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-4 secreted by T(E). Intracellular cytokine staining was used to determine frequency of tumor-specific T(E). Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) was used to detect the special cytotoxicity of T(E) killing target cells. The survival period of rats bearing pre-established abdominal ovariam carcinoma after being adoptively transferred by T(E) was observed.Compared with those in control group, the significant higher levels IL-2 [(65.7 +/- 4.0) pg/ml] and lower levels IL-4 [(277 +/- 49) pg/ml] were observed in chemotherapy-immune reconstitution-vaccine immunization group. The amount of CD(4)(+) T cells secreting interferon-gamma (13.0 +/- 2.1)% were also significantly increased. The rate of the special cytotoxicity of killing T cells (86.5 +/- 1.1)% was markedly improved. The survival period of rats (110 +/- 16) days was increased in chemotherapy-immune reconstitution-vaccine immunization group.The combined immunotherapy of chemotherapy-immune reconstitution-tumor vaccine immunotherapy may increase the frequency and function of specific tumor T(E). The specific cytotoxicity is increased and the weak reaction of T(E) to tumor is improved, which showed that this therapy can enhance immune reaction.

To evaluate the therapeutic effect of compound salvia injection combined with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in treating pregnant women with intrahepatic cholestasis (ICP) and its influence on perinatal babies.One hundred and twenty-eight patients of ICP were assigned to two groups. The 72 patients in the treatment group were treated with salvia injection (20 mL in 10% glucose 500 mL for intravenous dripping once a day) and UDCA (15 mg, thrice daily by oral taken), and the 56 patients in the control group were treated with UDCA alone, all were treated for 14 days. Changes of itching symptom (estimated by scoring) and serum levels of biochemical indexes, including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), bilirubin (TBil) and glycocholic acid (GCA), were determined before and after treatment, and conditions of the newborns were compared after delivery.Compared with before treatment, scores of itching were lowered from 3.6 scores to 1.4 scores in the treatment group, and from 3.4 scores to 1.6 scores in the control group, showing no significant difference between groups (P0.05), but the lowering was shown earlier in the former. Levels of biochemical indexes were improved significantly (P0.01) in both groups, but the improvements were more significant in the treatment group, the difference between groups was significant (P0.05). The difference between groups in the incidence of fetal distress, meconium-stained fluid and neonatal asphyxia were insignificant (P0.05). The birth weights of the newborns were higher in the treatment group than in the control group (3,108 +/- 236 g vs 2,681 +/- 269 g, P0.05).The combined therapy of compound salvia injection and UDCA shows better effect in treating ICP than that of UDCA alone.

Objectives Exosomes, a type of membrane vesicles, released from tumor cells have been shown to be capable of transferring tumor antigens to dendritic cells and activating specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. Recent work has demonstrated the presence of high numbers of exosomes in malignant effusions. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells and from which a significant number of dendritic cells can be produced. We hypothesized that the exosomes released from metastatic ovarian carcinoma were able to present tumor specific antigen to dendritic cells derived from unrelated umbilical cord blood, then could stimulate resting T cells to differentiate and induce effective cytotoxicity. Study Design Exosomes were isolated by ultracentrifugation of malignant ascites from ovarian cancer patients (n = 10). Purified exosomes were further characterized by Western blot analyses and immunoelectronic microscopy. Dendritic cells were collected from unrelated umbilical cord blood and cultured in the presence of GM-CSF, IL-4 and TNF-α. Resting T cells were mixed with dentritic cells previously primed with exosomes and the cytotoxicity were measured by MTT method. T cells were activated by DCs presented with exosomes. Results 1) the exosomes isolated from the ascites were membrane vesicles of about 30-90nm in diameter; 2) the exosomes expressed MHC class I molecules, HSP70, HSP90, Her2/Neu, and Mart1; and 3)umbilical cord blood-derived DCs previously exosome-primed stimulated resting T cells to differentiate and produce effective cytotoxicity. Conclusions These results suggested that tumor-specific antigens present on exosomes can be presented by DCs derived from unrelated umbilical cord blood to induce tumor specific cytotoxicity and this may represent as a novel immunotherapy for ovarian cancer.

We investigated the anti-tumor immunity of L1210 cell-secreted exosomes. Exosomes were purified by ultrafiltration centrifugation and sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. Expression of H-2D and interstitial cell adhesion molecule (ICAM(-1 was investigated by solid-phase immuno-electron microscopy and expression of Hsp70 was investigated by western blotting. DBA/2 mice were immunized with a given dose of exosomes (2.5 or 5 microg(. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that L1210-derived exosomes were membrane vesicles. They were labeled by colloidal gold H-2D and ICAM-1. Western blot analysis demonstrated the presence of Hsp70 antigens in L1210 exosomes. Exosome immunization partly inhibited the growth of implanted tumor in mice. There was a significant difference between exosome groups and the control group (P0.05(. In conclusion, exosomes can be considered as a candidate therapeutic vaccine for leukemia.

To investigate the expression of p27 protein and its significance in cervical carcinoma tissues.The p27 protein expression in 26 normal cervical tissues and 48 cervical carcinoma tissues was detected by streptavidin-peroxidase staining(SP method).The positive rate of p27 protein expression in 48 cervical carcinoma tissues was 39.5%, and that in 26 normal cervical tissues was 72.7%. The former was obviously lower than the latter(P0.01). In addition, The positive rate of p27 protein in 48 cervical carcinoma tissue was correlated with the differentiation degree of the carcinoma, clinical phase of the patients and lymph node metastasis. In the poorly-differentiated cancer cells, advanced phase patients and the patients with lymph node metastasis, positive rate of p27 protein expression was the lowest.The expression of p27 protein is related to differentiation degree of cancer cells, clinical phase of the patients and lymph node metastasis. Detection of p27 protein expression may be valuable to assess prognosis of the patients with cervical carcinoma.