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Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired autoimmune hemorrhagic disease. Loss of immune tolerance plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of ITP. Monocytes and macrophages play an indispensable role in the pathophysiology of hematopoietic malignancies and have been implicated as key players in platelet destruction. Approximately 80% of adult patients with ITP exhibit corticosteroid treatment failure or become dependent, requiring novel therapy. Thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) have been used clinically to manage ITP effectively, however, little is known about the effect of TPO-RAs on monocyte and macrophage modulation in adult ITP. In this study, we investigated the phenotypic evolution and potential immunomodulatory roles of monocytes/macrophages in ITP patients receiving eltrombopag therapy. Results showed that the peripheral monocyte count positively correlated with IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio in ITP patients. Moreover, numerous phenotype-associated genes in ITP macrophages exhibited diverse responses, and ITP macrophages exhibited more M1-related characteristics. After eltrombopag therapy, the peripheral monocyte count and IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio significantly decreased in ITP patients. M1-related characteristics of ITP macrophages were partially reversed by eltrombopag. Therefore, this study revealed eltrombopag restored the monocyte dynamics and the associated Th1/Th2 imbalance, and partially reversed the M1-related characteristics of the ITP macrophages, which suggest the potential vital roles of TPO-RAs in regulating the monocyte/macrophage plasticity in ITP.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by cartilage matrix degeneration and chondrocyte apoptosis. Prolonged endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress participates in chondrocyte apoptosis and cartilage degeneration in OA progression. miR-486-5p could suppress the apoptosis of nucleus pulposus cells and cardiomyocyte, yet whether miR-486-5p modified exosomes could modulate ER stress and apoptosis of chondrocytes remain unknown. We validated the increased inflammation and ER stress in OA synovium and cartilage, and the inhibition of ER stress could attenuate the IL-1β induced chondrocyte apoptosis. Administration of exogenous miR-486-5p could inhibit the ER stress, alleviate chondrocytes apoptosis and promote matrix regeneration. In comparison with direct administration of miR-486-5p and miR-486-5p overexpressing ADSCs, miR-486-5p modified exosomes indicated a better effect in modulating chondrocyte homeostasis. MiR-486-5p containing exosomes could also regulate macrophage polarization. Our IVIS imaging data validated that intraarticular injection of miR-486-5p containing exosomes could sustain for at least 7 days. MiR-486-5p containing exosomes showed a better effect on alleviating rats OA compared with direct administration of miR-486-5p and miR-486-5p overexpressing ADSCs. Our data demonstrated that miR-486-5p modified exosomes have a better effect on alleviating chondrocyte apoptosis and osteoarthritis. This study provides evidence of this efficient strategy of exosomal miRNA delivery and the miRNA-based therapy for OA.

Summary The stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been considered as the largest obstacle to their commercialization. Herein, we observed that the main failure mechanism for MAPbI3 perovskite is the escape of methylammonium (MA) iodide at the grain boundaries in an open space or the reconstruction of crystal in a confined small space, as well as the irreversible long-distance ionic migration under the multiple actions of light, heat, and electrical bias. Strengthened with bifunctional organic molecular of 5-ammoniumvaleric acid (5-AVA) iodide at the grain boundaries, the MAPbI3 crystal was localized in the nanoscale, and thus, the decomposition or reconstruction was inhibited and the ionic migration became reversible. As a result, we propose a reliable approach to make PSCs meet stability standards of IEC61215:2016 qualification tests. A printable PSC filled with (5-AVA)XMA1-XPbI3 has been working for more than 9,000 h at a maximum power point of 55°C ± 5°C without obvious decay.

All-inorganic halide perovskites are promising materials for optoelectronic applications. The surface or interface structure of the perovskites plays a crucial role in determining the optoelectronic conversion efficiency, as well as the material stability. A thorough understanding of surface atomic structures of the inorganic perovskites and their contributions to their optoelectronic properties and stability is lacking. Here we show a scanning tunneling microscopy investigation on the atomic and electronic structure of CsPbBr3 perovskite. Two different surface structures with a stripe and an armchair domain are identified, which originates from a complex interplay between Cs cations and Br anions. Our findings are further supported and correlated with density functional theory calculations and photoemission spectroscopy measurements. The stability evaluation of photovoltaic devices indicates a higher stability for CsPbBr3 in comparison with MAPbBr3, which is closely related to the low volatility of Cs from the perovskite surface.

Poly(ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) with good biocompatibility exhibits high mechanical strengths but bioinert. In addition, tantalum (Ta) possesses outstanding osteogenesis but high density and elastic modulus, and cost. In this study, by blending Ta nanoparticles with PEEK, Ta/PEEK composite (TP) was prepared, which was then treated by concentrated sulfuric acid to form a microporous surface containing Ta particles on TP (TPS). Moreover, genistein (GS) with antibacterial property was loaded into the microporous surface of TPS (TPSG). Compared with TP, the surface properties (e.g., surface roughness and hydrophilicity) of TPS was obviously improved because of the microporous surface including Ta nanoparticles. Moreover, TPS showed low antibacterial properties because of presence of sulfonic group while TPSG exhibited excellent antibacterial properties due to GS loaded into the microporous surface. Furthermore, compared with TP, TPS obviously promoted attachment and proliferation of MG63 cells, while TPSG with GS remarkably inducing osteogenic differentiation of the cells compared with TPS in vitro. Moreover, in comparison with TP, TPS with optimized surface properties promoted new bone regeneration and osseointegration, while TPSG loading GS further enhanced bone regeneration as well as osseointegration in vivo. In summary, the GS loaded into microporous surface including Ta nanoparticles of TPSG exhibited antibacterial and osteogenic activity, which would have great potential for bone tissue repair.

BackgroundAs one of the most common disabling diseases in the musculoskeletal system, osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized with cartilage matrix degeneration and chondrocyte apoptosis. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is well known for participate in chondrocyte apoptosis and cartilage degeneration in OA progression. microRNAs (miRNAs) could function in cartilage homeostasis, yet limited is known regarding whether miRNA could modulate ER stress in chondrocytes. Here, we reported that exosomal microRNA-486-5p from adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) could alleviate chondrocyte apoptosis and osteoarthritis by attenuating ER stress MethodsER stress markers and inflammatory cytokines were analyzed in OA knee joint by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining. IL-1β induced apoptosis of chondrocytes was analyzed using flow cytometry. ER stress markers and inflammatory cytokines of IL-1β induced chondrocytes were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining, western blot and ELISA. miR-486-5p mimic overexpressed ADSCs and their exosomes were validated and used to treat IL-1β induced chondrocytes together with miR-486-5p mimic. Different administrative methods of miR-486-5p mimic were tracked both in vitro and in vivo, and further used to treat OA model mice. OA progression of mice was analyzed by H&E, safranin O/fast green, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry staining. ResultsWe validated the increased inflammation and ER stress in OA synovium and cartilage, and the IL-1β induced chondrocyte apoptosis was through the ER stress activation. Administration of exogenous miR-486-5p could not only inhibit the ER stress, but also alleviate chondrocytes apoptosis and promote matrix regeneration. In comparison with direct administration of miR-486-5p and miR-486-5p overexpressing ADSCs, exosomes seem to be a better delivery vehicle for miRNA in modulating chondrocyte homeostasis. Our immunofluorescence and IVIS imaging data further validated the better delivery ability of exosomes through tracking the uptake of miR486-5p in chondrocytes and the diffusion of miR-486-5p in the knee joint with different transportation methods. Exosomal microRNA-486-5p also showed a better effect on alleviating mice OA. ConclusionOur data demonstrated that exosomes are better delivery vehicle for miR-486-5p on alleviating chondrocyte apoptosis and osteoarthritis. This study provides evidence to this efficient strategy of exosomal miRNA delivery and to the miRNA-based therapy for OA.

As an intrinsic p-type transparent conductor with a wide band gap of 3.1 eV, γ-CuI full of potential has gradually attracted the attention of researchers. However, γ-CuI films deposited by various techniques generally present high haze with a frosted-glass-like appearance, significantly hampering the device’s performance. Herein, a new strategy is proposed, where truly p-type CuI thin films with low haze were successfully synthesized at room temperature. The specular transmittance of CuI film above 85% in the visible region (400-800 nm) can be achieved. The haze of the as-prepared γ-CuI films can be as low as 0.7%. Meanwhile, the as-prepared CuI film possesses a FOM as high as 230 MΩ -1 . This ideal stable p-type optoelectronic performance was a significant achievement among various typical p-type transparent conductive films.

p-type CuI films with optimized optoelectronic performance were synthesized by solid-phase iodination of Cu3N precursor films at room temperature. The effects of the deposition power of Cu3N precursors on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of the CuI films were systematically investigated. X-ray diffraction results show that all the CuI films possess a zinc-blende structure. When the deposition power of Cu3N precursors was 140 W, the CuI films present a high transmittance above 84% in the visible region, due to their smaller root-mean-square roughness values of 9.23 nm. Moreover, these films also have a low resistivity of 1.63 × 10–2 Ω·cm and a boosted figure of merit of 140.7 MΩ−1. These results are significant achievements among various p-types TCOs, confirming the promising prospects of CuI as a p-type transparent semiconductor applied in transparent electronics.

Currently, most two-dimensional (2D) materials that are of interest to emergent applications have focused on van der Waals–layered materials (VLMs) because of the ease with which the layers can be separated (e.g., graphene). Strong interlayer-bonding-layered materials (SLMs) in general have not been thoroughly explored, and one of the most critical present issues is the huge challenge of their preparation, although their physicochemical property transformation should be richer than VLMs and deserves greater attention. MAX phases are a classical kind of SLM. However, limited to the strong interlayer bonding, their corresponding 2D counterparts have never been obtained, nor has there been investigation of their fundamental properties in the 2D limitation. Here, the authors develop a controllable bottom-up synthesis strategy for obtaining 2D SLMs single crystal through the design of a molecular scaffold with Mo 2GaC, which is a typical kind of MAX phase, as an example. The superconducting transitions of Mo 2GaC at the 2D limit are clearly inherited from the bulk, which is consistent with Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless behavior. The authors believe that their molecular scaffold strategy will allow the fabrication of other high-quality 2D SLMs single crystals, which will further expand the family of 2D materials and promote their future application.

In this work, the electrical conductivity and optical transparency of the In-Sn-Zn-O (ITZO) films annealed at different temperatures were investigated. The results show that the ITZO films transformed from amorphous phase to crystalline phase after annealed in the air. The transmittance of the films improves significantly and all exceed 88%. Meanwhile, the annealed ITZO films exhibit a significant enhancement in conductivity. In particular, ITZO film annealed at 650 °C has high electrical conductivity (∼4.94 × 102S cm-1) and an excellent figure of merit (∼5.94 × 10-4Ω-1). Moreover, ITZO thin film transistors were prepared and their performance was tested. After annealing, the high electrical properties of the active layer make the gate regulation ability of the thin film transistors degrade. The annealed films with excellent optoelectronic properties can be applied to transparent electrodes.

Lead halide perovskites have emerged in the last decade as advantageous high-performance optoelectronic semiconductors, and have undergone rapid development for diverse applications such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes , and photodetectors. While material instability and lead toxicity are still major concerns hindering their commercialization, they offer promising prospects and design principles for developing promising optoelectronic materials. The distinguished optoelectronic properties of lead halide perovskites stem from the Pb

Materials informatics has emerged as a promisingly new paradigm for accelerating materials discovery and design. It exploits the intelligent power of machine learning methods in massive materials data from experiments or simulations to seek for new materials, functionality, principles, etc. Developing specialized facility to generate, collect, manage, learn and mine large-scale materials data is crucial to materials informatics. We herein developed an artificial-intelligence-aided data-driven infrastructure named Jilin Artificial-intelligence aided Materials-design Integrated Package (JAMIP), which is an open-source Python framework to meet the research requirements of computational materials informatics. It is integrated by materials production factory, high-throughput first-principles calculations engine, automatic tasks submission and monitoring progress, data extraction, management and storage system, and artificial intelligence machine learning based data mining functions. We have integrated specific features such as inorganic crystal structure prototype database to facilitate high-throughput calculations and essential modules associated with machine learning studies of functional materials. We demonstrated how our developed code is useful in exploring materials informatics of optoelectronic semiconductors by taking halide perovskites as typical case. By obeying the principles of automation, extensibility, reliability and intelligence, the JAMIP code is a promisingly powerful tool contributing to the fast-growing field of computational materials informatics., 11 pages, 7 figures, preliminary version

Objective The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms and identify more critical genes associated with the pathogenesis of postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP). Materials and methods Microarray data of GSE13850 were download from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified either in B cells from postmenopausal female nonsmokers with high bone mineral density (BMD) compared with those with low BMD (defined as DEG1 group) or in B cells from postmenopausal female smokers with high BMD compared with postmenopausal female nonsmokers with high BMD (defined as DEG2 group). Gene ontology and immune-related functional enrichment analysis of DEGs were performed. Additionally, the protein-protein interaction network of all DEGs was constructed and subnetworks of the hub genes were extracted. Results A total of 51 DEGs were identified in the DEG1 group, including 30 up- and 21 downregulated genes. Besides, 86 DEGs were identified in the DEG2 group, of which 46 were upregulated and 40 were downregulated. Immune enrichment analysis showed DEGs were mainly enriched in functions of CD molecules and chemokines and receptor, and the upregulated gene interleukin 4 receptor (IL-4R) was significantly enriched. Moreover, guanine nucleotide-binding protein G (GNAI2), filamin A alpha (FLNA), and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFB1) were hub proteins in the protein-protein interaction network. Conclusion IL-4R, GNAI2, FLNA, and TGFB1 may be potential target genes associated with the pathogenesis of PMOP. In particular, FLNA, and TGFB1 may be affected by smoking, a risk factor of PMOP.

Lead halide perovskites have emerged in the last decade as advantageous high-performance optoelectronic semiconductors, and have undergone rapid development for diverse applications such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes , and photodetectors. While material instability and lead toxicity are still major concerns hindering their commercialization, they offer promising prospects and design principles for developing promising optoelectronic materials. The distinguished optoelectronic properties of lead halide perovskites stem from the Pb2+ cation with a lone-pair 6s2 electronic configuration embedded in a mixed covalent-ionic bonding lattice. Herein, we summarize alternative Pb-free semiconductors containing lone-pair ns2 cations, intending to offer insights for developing potential optoelectronic materials other than lead halide perovskites. We start with the physical underpinning of how the ns2 cations within the material lattice allow for superior optoelectronic properties. We then review the emerging Pb-free semiconductors containing ns2 cations in terms of structural dimensionality, which is crucial for optoelectronic performance. For each category of materials, the research progresses on crystal structures, electronic/optical properties, device applications, and recent efforts for performance enhancements are overviewed. Finally, the issues hindering the further developments of studied materials are surveyed along with possible strategies to overcome them, which also provides an outlook on the future research in this field.

Antioxidants can protect organization from damage by scavenging of free radicals. When two kinds of antioxidants are consumed together, the total antioxidant capacity might be enhanced via synergistic interactions. Herein, we develop a simple, direct, and effective strategy to quantify the synergistic interaction between ascorbic acid (AA) and other different antioxidants by photoelectrochemical (PEC) technology. MXene Ti3C2–TiO2 composites fabricated via hydrogen peroxide oxidation were applied as sensing material for the antioxidants interaction study. Under excitation of 470 nm wavelength, the photogenerated electrons transfer from the conduction band of TiO2 nanoparticles to the Ti3C2 layers, and the holes in TiO2 can oxidize antioxidants, leading to an enhanced photocurrent as the detection signal. This PEC sensor exhibits a good linear range to AA concentrations from 12.48 to 521.33 μM as well as obvious antioxidants capability synergism. In particular, the photocurrents of AA + gallic acid (GA) and AA + chlorogenic acid (CHA) mixtures at 476.19 μM increase 1.95 and 2.35 times respectively comparing with the sum of photocurrents of AA and GA or CHA. It is found that the synergistic effect is mainly depending on the fact that AA with the low redox potential (0.246 V vs NHE) can reduce other antioxidants radical to promote regeneration, improving the overall antioxidant performance. Moreover, it is proved that the greater redox potential of antioxidants, the more obvious the synergistic effect. In addition, the sensor was used to real sample assay, which provides available information towards food nutrition analysis, health products design and quality inspection.

Due to the presence of heavy elements and the dynamic nature of hybrid halide perovskites, the strong spin–orbit coupling effect can give rise to Rashba band splitting in these materials. Despite many reports on the Rashba effect in 3D perovskites like CH3NH3PbI3, little is known about its presence in two-dimensional Ruddlesden–Popper (2DRP) perovskites. In this work, we use first-principle calculations to investigate the magnitude and origin of the Rashba effect in three families of 2DRP perovskites. We demonstrate the correlation between the splitting magnitude and the octahedron distortions. Moreover, different numbers of inorganic layers, spacer cations, and A-site cations have a great influence on the Rashba splitting through different mechanisms. While structures with C6H5C2H4NH3 (PEA) have a significant Rashba splitting only in the monolayer condition, C4H9NH3 (BA) induces large distortion by tilting the CH3NH3 (MA) cations around all octahedrons, giving rise to a larger Rashba splitting with an increasing number of inorganic layers. Our work elucidates the magnitude and origin of the Rashba splitting in 2DRP perovskites and provides guidelines for the manipulation of the Rashba splitting in these materials.

One-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures have already been used for a variety of optoelectronic applications. Metal halide perovskites have emerged in recent years as promising high-performance optoelectronic materials, but reports on 1D nanorods (NRs) of all-inorganic halide perovskites are still scarce. This work demonstrates a synthetic strategy toward cesium-based inorganic perovskite NRs by exploiting composition-controlled crystal phase engineering. It is accomplished for Cd-rich mixed-cation CsPb1- x Cd x Br3 nanocrystals, where the initial 1D hexagonal perovskite phase drives the growth of the 1D NRs, as supported by first-principles calculations. The band gaps of the resulting NRs are tunable by varying the Cd-content, and the highly uniform CsPb0.08Cd0.92Br3 NRs (with an average length of 84 nm and width of 16 nm) exhibit a true blue-color emission centered at 460 nm, with a high quantum yield of 48%. Moreover, this work also demonstrates the tunability of the Fermi levels in the films made of CsPb1- x Cd x Br3 alloyed nanocrystals, where samples with highest Cd content show an increase of the electron concentration and a related increase in the conductivity.

Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) hold great potential in cartilage tissue engineering due to their multipotency and ease of availability. MRI is an effective and noninvasive imaging approach to track cells and observe new tissue regeneration. It is essential to find a compatible and efficient imaging reagent without affecting the stemness of ADSCs. Herein, we developed chitosan-modified iron oxide nanoparticles (IO-CS) as the T2 contrast reagent with good cell compatibility and high cellular uptake efficiency and used IO-CS for ADSC intra-articular imaging in a rat osteoarthritis (OA) model. TEM demonstrated the great morphology and size distribution of IO-CS nanoparticles with the size of 17 nm. Magnetization (29.4 emu per g) and MRI tests confirmed (R2 of 184 mM−1 s−1) the feasibility of IO-CS nanoparticles as an MRI contrast reagent. In addition, the IO-CS nanoparticles showed good cellular compatibility and high labeling efficiency as compared to the commercial agent ferumoxytol. Moreover, incorporation of IO-CS nanoparticles did not alter the adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation ability of ADSCs. Furthermore, the MRI transverse R2 maps showed a persistence time of the IO-CS nanoparticles in ADSCs of 6 days in vitro. Then, we investigated the imaging capability of the IO-CS nanoparticle-labeled ADSCs in vivo with MRI for 5 weeks. The histological studies demonstrated the intra-articular biodistribution of the IO-CS nanoparticles, including in the cartilage superficial layer, synovial sublining layer, periosteum and bone marrow cavity. They provided systemic distribution information of the ADSCs in the OA rat model. In summary, we developed an accessible and effective T2 imaging reagent with good biocompatibility and maintenance of the stemness of ADSCs. This showed the potential translational application of IO-CS nanoparticles as an MRI reagent in cartilage tissue engineering.

Atomically thin, two-dimensional (2D) indium selenide (InSe) has attracted considerable attention due to large tunability in the band gap (from 1.4 to 2.6 eV) and high carrier mobility. The intriguingly high dependence of band gap on layer thickness may lead to novel device applications, although its origin remains poorly understood, and generally attributed to quantum confinement effect. In this work, we demonstrate via first-principles calculations that strong interlayer coupling may be mainly responsible for this phenomenon, especially in the fewer-layer region, and it could also be an essential factor influencing other material properties of {\beta}-InSe and {\gamma}-InSe. Existence of strong interlayer coupling manifests itself in three aspects: (i) indirect-to-direct band gap transitions with increasing layer thickness; (ii) fan-like frequency diagrams of the shear and breathing modes of few-layer flakes; (iii) strong layer-dependent carrier mobilities. Our results indicate that multiple-layer InSe may be deserving of attention from FET-based technologies and also an ideal system to study interlayer coupling, possibly inherent in other 2D materials., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a common bone disease and characterized by low bone mineral density. This study aimed to reveal key genes associated with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO), and provide a theoretical basis for subsequent experiments. The dataset GSE7429 was obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus. A total of 20 B cell samples (ten ones, respectively from postmenopausal women with low or high bone mineral density (BMD) were included in this dataset. Following screening of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), coexpression analysis of all genes was performed, and key genes in the coexpression network were screened using the random walk algorithm. Afterwards, functional and pathway analyses were conducted. Additionally, protein–protein interactions (PPIs) between DEGs and key genes were analyzed. A set of 308 DEGs (170 up-regulated ones and 138 down-regulated ones) between low BMD and high BMD samples were identified, and 101 key genes in the coexpression network were screened out. In the coexpression network, some genes had a higher score and degree, such as CSTA. The key genes in the coexpression network were mainly enriched in GO terms of the defense response (e.g., SERPINA1 and CST3), immune response (e.g., IL32 and CLEC7A); while, the DEGs were mainly enriched in structural constituent of cytoskeleton (e.g., CYLC2 and TUBA1B) and membrane-enclosed lumen (e.g., CCNE1 and INTS5). In the PPI network, CCNE1 interacted with REL; and TUBA1B interacted with ESR1. A series of interactions, such as CSTA/TYROBP, CCNE1/REL and TUBA1B/ESR1 might play pivotal roles in the occurrence and development of PMO.

This study was to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in post-menopausal females with osteopenia and further screened the potentially involved transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). Data set GSE13850 of circulating B lymphocytes from post-menopausal females with low or high bone mineral density (BMD) was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. Limma package in R was used to identify DEGs following raw data processing. Enrichment analysis was performed using DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery) and visualized using plug-in EnrichmentMap of Cytoscape software. The TFs of DEGs were screened using UCSC (University of California, Santa Cruz) Genome Browser, and miRNAs targeting DEGs were predicted using TarBase, TargetScan and miRecord databases, followed by constructing regulatory networks using Cytoscape software. Totally 52 DEGs were obtained from post-menopausal females with low BMD compared with those with high BMD. Those DEGs including IL-4R, IL-2RG, TGF-β1 and CD74 were mostly related to functions associated with immune response, lymphocyte activation, T cell differentiation, leucocyte activation and immune system process. NFAT, NF-κB and EGR family members might have a regulatory effect on these DEGs. PAX5 could regulate 15 DEGs including ZFP36L2 and KLF13. Abundant miRNAs were also found to target dysregulated ZFP36L2 and KLF13. Dysregulated IL-4R, IL-2RG, TGF-β1 and CD74 may mediate the interplay of immune changes and oestrogen deficiency-induced osteopenia, and disorder functions of NF-κB, NFAT and EGR family members. PAX5 and various miRNAs might exert regulatory effect on osteopenia via targeting ZFP36L2 and KLF13.

To evaluate the effectiveness of arthroscopic treatment of superior labrum anterior and posterior (SLAP) injury by absorbable anchors through anterior and posterior approach.Between January 2010 and August 2012, 28 patients with Snyder II type of SLAP injury underwent arthroscopic operation by absorbable anchors through anterior and posterior approach. There were 15 males and 13 females, aged from 30 to 45 years (mean, 36.5 years). The left shoulder was involved in 12 cases and the right shoulder in 16 cases. All patients had a clear history of trauma. The disease duration ranged from 2 weeks to 3 years (median, 13 months). The results of O'Brien test and Speed test were positive in 25 cases and 26 cases respectively. Shoulder pain visual analogue scale (VAS) was 7.6 +/- 1.4. The Constant score of shoulder joint function was 60.2 +/- 4.3.Operation was successfully completed, and the incision healed well in all cases, with no complication. The follow-up time ranged from 12 to 36 months (mean, 24.5 months). The symptoms of shoulder joint interlocking, snapping, and instability disappeared. The joint pain was significantly improved. At 12 months after surgery, Constant score of shoulder joint function was 92.7 +/- 4.5, showing significant difference when compared with preoperative score (t = -30.279, P = 0.000); the shoulder pain VAS score was 1.1 + 0.9, showing significant difference when compared with preoperative score (t = 23.810, P = 0.000). At 1 year after operation, MRI examination showed complete healing in 25 cases, and high signal in 3 cases, but the pain and activity were significantly improved.Arthroscopic treatment of SLAP injury by absorbable anchors through anterior and posterior approach has the advantages of less injury, small incision, and quick recovery, so it is an ideal operation method.

Alkaptonuria is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder that causes accumulation of homogentisic acid (HGA) due to loss of homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase (HGD) activity. Large amounts of HGA excreted in the urine turn the urine dark upon exposure to air. Deposition of HGA polymers, which are oxidized into a melanin-like pigment, discolors and degenerates connective tissues and also leads to ochronosis. The most common clinical consequence of HGA polymer deposition is ochronotic arthropathy, which does not differ in clinical presentation from other degenerative arthropathies. The disease not only involves joints, but also the spine, kidney, and cardiovascular system. We report a case of ochronotic arthropathy that was misdiagnosed as traumatic joint arthritis in the right knee. The patient was informed that data concerning the case would be submitted for publication, and he provided consent. A fifty-seven-year-old man (height, 165 cm; weight, 53 kg) presented with a six-month history of difficulty walking because of pain in the right knee. He had a three-year history of pain in both knees. Two years prior to presentation, he had undergone arthroscopic bilateral cruciate ligament reconstruction; he also had undergone an internal fixation of the right femur because of a low-energy fracture three months after the cruciate ligament reconstruction. We initially diagnosed traumatic arthritis in the right knee (Fig. 1). While performing a total knee arthroplasty, we observed that the joint cartilage in the right knee was dark in color and that there was scattered pigmentation of the tendon and the meniscus (Fig. 2). Large prostate stones were visible on the postsurgical radiographs (Fig. 3) . Histology of the tissue removed during arthroplasty revealed black cartilage (Fig. 4). Fig. 1 Preoperative anteroposterior (left image) and lateral (right image) knee radiographs showing apparent traumatic knee arthritis. A locking plate and artificial ligament can also be observed. Fig. 2 At …