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Zhongwei Sha, Jian Xu, Nana Li, Ou Li Department of Mental Diseases, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Zhongwei Sha, Department of Mental Diseases, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 274 Middle Zhijiang Road, Zhabei, Shanghai, 200071, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86 21-56639828, Email shazhongwei1989@163.comAbstract: Synaptic plasticity is the capacity of synaptic transmission between neurons to be strengthened or weakened. There are many signal molecules accumulated in the presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes that can lead to the regulation of synaptic plasticity and involvement in numerous of neurological and psychiatric diseases, including anxiety disorder. However, the regulatory mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in the development of anxiety disorder have not been well summarized. This review mainly aims to discuss the biological functions and mechanisms of synaptic plasticity-related molecules in anxiety disorder, with a particular focus on the metabotropic glutamate receptors, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide–gated channels, and postsynaptic density 95. The summarized functions and mechanisms of synaptic plasticity-related molecules in anxiety will provide insight into novel neuroplasticity modifications for targeted therapy for anxiety.Keywords: synaptic plasticity, anxiety, mGluRs, BDNF, HCN, PSD95

Cuiju Wang,1 Yalei Lv,2 Ziyue Sha,3 Jingjing Zhang,3 Jianhua Wu,4 Yixin Qi,5 Zhanjun Guo3 1Department of Gynaecology Ultrasound, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Medical Oncology, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China; 4Animal Center, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China; 5Breast Center, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yixin Qi; Zhanjun Guo Email 13932153600@139.com; zjguo5886@aliyun.comPurpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family members contribute greatly to the development and angiogenesis of hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We have previously shown that Dicer inhibited HCC growth. In this study, we aimed to determine the relationship between Dicer and VEGF in HCC.Methods: Gain-of-function studies were performed to determine the effect of different treatments on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells. Expression of VEGF-A in xenograft tumor tissues was analysed using Western blotting, and that of CD31 using immunohistochemical analysis.Results: We found that Dicer inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells by suppressing VEGF-A expression. Interestingly, VEGF-A165, which is the most prominent VEGF-A isoform, counteracted Dicer-induced inhibition of HCC cells. In addition, a monoclonal anti-VEGF antibody (bevacizumab) enhanced Dicer-induced inhibition of HCC in vitro and in vivo. Further, immunohistochemical analysis of CD31 indicated bevacizumab and Dicer synergized to reduce tumor microvessel density.Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that Dicer enhanced bevacizumab-related inhibition of HCC cell via the VEGF pathway; therefore, Dicer in coordination with bevacizumab may provide another potential approach for HCC therapy.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, vascular endothelial growth factor, Dicer, bevacizumab, microvessel density

While microalloying of metallic glasses (MGs) using hydrogen emerged a few years ago, the underlying mechanism of how hydrogen microalloying influences mechanical behaviors is currently still under debate. Herein, we perform atomistic simulations to investigate the effect of hydrogen microalloying on the mechanical profiles of MGs. The mitigation of strain localization accompanied with plenty of shear transformation zones (STZs) is exhibited in H-alloyed MGs and becomes more significant with the increase of H content. The addition of hydrogen induces a loose atomic structure with fertile liquid-like regions and abundant free volume, which triggers more STZ events and the softening behavior. Furthermore, hydrogen doping lowers the STZ activation energy barrier, which is verified by a theoretical model based on the concept of energetic criterion. Our work provides some new insight on how to tune the local packing of MGs and further alter the deformation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While hydrogen microalloying in metallic alloys has been extensively investigated, the failure mechanism underlying the H-alloyed metallic glasses (MGs) remains elusive. Here, atomistic simulations are performed on the tensile failure of H-free and H-alloyed notched MGs. An intriguing transition in failure mechanism from shear banding to cracking occurs after hydrogen microalloying. A theoretical model based on the concept of energetic model is then proposed to rationalize this deformation mode transition. Cracking behavior is more significant with increasing H content, agreeing well with the simulation results. These results advance our understanding of failure mechanism in H-alloyed MGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal transport behavior of polycrystalline graphene is studied using molecular dynamics simulations, with focus on the effects of grain size, tensile strain, and temperature on the thermal conductivity. All the simulation samples have the same overall dimensions of 30×30 nm with average grain sizes ranging from 2.5 to 12.5 nm. It is found that polycrystalline graphene exhibits a significant reduction in thermal conductivity compared to single-crystalline graphene, and the smaller the grain size is, the more the thermal conductivity drops. The thermal conductivity of polycrystalline graphene with average grain size of 2.5 nm is only about 20% of single-crystalline graphene. However, the thermal conductivity of polycrystalline graphene is less sensitive to both the applied strain and temperature than that of single-crystalline graphene. The underlying mechanisms for the differences in thermal behavior are examined and discussed. These findings are important for the thermal management of graphene-based devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, nanoglass (NG) was found to exhibit a surprising homogeneous superplastic deformation behavior. However, how the presence of notch affects its mechanical properties remains unexplored. Here, we perform molecular dynamics simulations on a superplastic Cu50Zr50 NG containing a pre-existing notch under tensile loading, with focus on the notch sensitivity. Our results show that when the notch size is smaller than or comparable to the average grain size (d), the NG still exhibits a superplastic deformation and shows notch-insensitivity. When the notch size is larger than d, however, the NG fails by localized shear banding emanating from the notch root and shows notch-sensitivity. The origin of this transition arises from the competition between the shear band nucleation induced by the stress concentration at the notch root and the growth of shear transformation zones distributed in the glass-glass interfaces. Our results provide useful guidelines for the design and engineering of NG with notch for structural applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator, chemical short-range order of the Cu–Zr binary system over the three good glass-forming compositional ranges has been investigated. Based on a statistical analysis, a simple route has been developed for broad investigations of the basic polyhedral clusters, optimum glass formers, as well as the composition-structure-property (glass-forming ability) correlation. In addition, topological short-range orders of the basic polyhedral clusters in the three compositional ranges were characterized. Our findings have implications for understanding the nature, forming ability, and properties of metallic glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator (LAMMPS), we have studied the liquid behaviors of Cu61.8Zr38.2, Cu64.5Zr35.5, and Cu66Zr34 amorphous alloys including their pair distribution functions, distributions of Voronoi clusters with different coordination numbers, and mean square displacements of Cu and Zr atoms. Compared to Cu61.8Zr38.2 and Cu66Zr34, we found high concentrations of distorted icosahedra with indices of <0,2,8,2> and <0,4,4,4>, high numbers of Cu-centered Cu8Zr5 and Cu9Zr4 clusters, and reduced atomic diffusivity of Cu and Zr atoms in molten Cu64.5Zr35.5 alloy. These effects would benefit glass formation in Cu64.5Zr35.5 alloy. Meanwhile, from the viewpoints of local cluster structure, the majority of the glue atoms are Cu atoms in Cu64.5Zr35.5 amorphous alloy, which leads to denser packing and better glass forming ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]