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Selective oxidation of aryl alkenes is important for chemical synthesis reactions, in which the key lies in the rational design of efficient catalysts. Herein, four polyoxometalate (POM)-incorporated metal-organic networks, with the formulas of [Co(ttb)(H

Introduction Alveolar epithelial tight junction damage and glycocalyx syndecan-1 (SDC-1) degrading are key factors to pulmonary edema of acute lung injury (ALI). Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) was involved in glycocalyx shedding, which was vital in SDC-1 degrading. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MMP-9-mediated SDC-1 shedding on tight junction in LPS-induced ALI. Methods Mice were intratracheally atomized with 5 mg/kg LPS to stimulate different periods and LPS stimulation for 6 hours for further studies. A549 cells was stimulated for 6 hours by active MMP-9 protein to assess the effects of active MMP-9 protein on SDC-1 and tight junction. Afterward, the mice treated with MMP-9 shRNA or A549 cells were treated with MMP-9 siRNA before LPS stimulation for 6 hours to explore the effects on glycocalyx SDC-1 and tight junction. Moreover, the mice were treated with recombinant SDC-1 protein or A549 cells were over-expressed by pc-SDC-1 before LPS stimulation for 6 hours to explore the effects of SDC-1 on tight junction. Results The mice persistent exposure to LPS showed that MMP-9 expression, glycocalyx SDC-1 shedding (SDC-1 decreased in alveolar epithelium and increased in the BALF), tight junction impairment, FITC-albumin infiltration, and other phenomena began to appear after 6 hours of LPS treatment in this study. The levels of SDC-1 and tight junction significantly decreased by active MMP-9 protein stimulation for 6 hours in the A549 cells. Therefore, LPS stimulation for six hours was selected for investigating the underlying effects of MMP-9-mediated SDC-1 shedding on the alveolar epithelial tight junction and pulmonary edema. Further vivo analysis showed that down regulation MMP-9 expression by MMP-9 shRNA significantly alleviated glycocalyx SDC-1 shedding (SDC-1 increased in alveolar epithelium and decreased in the BALF), tight junction (occludin and ZO-1) damage, and FITC-albumin infiltration in LPS-induced early ALI mice. The vitro results also showed that MMP-9 siRNA alleviated glycocalyx SDC-1 shedding (SDC-1 increased in cell culture medium and decreased in cell surface) and tight junction damage by downregulating MMP-9 expression in LPS-stimulated A549 cells. In addition, pretreatment with recombinant mouse SDC-1 protein significantly alleviated glycocalyx (SDC-1 increased in alveolar epithelium) and tight junction damage, and FITC-albumin infiltration in LPS-induced early ALI mice. Overexpression SDC-1 by pc-SDC-1 also significantly decreased tight junction damage in LPS-stimulated A549 cells. Conclusion Glycocalyx SDC-1 shedding mediated by MMP-9 significantly aggravated tight junction damage, which further increased the pulmonary edema., Graphical Abstract

In all ecological niches, potassium is actively consumed by diverse prokaryotes and their interacting eukaryote hosts. It is only just emerging that potassium is a key player in host-pathogen interactions, and the role of potassium in mutualistic interactions remains largely unknown.

BACKGROUND Duplicate renal malformation is a congenital disease of the urinary system, with an incidence rate of 0.8%. Surgical treatment is suitable for symptomatic patients. Urinary fistula is one of the complications of heminephrectomy. Long-term urinary fistula has a great impact on patients' lives. CASE SUMMARY This article mainly reports on a 47-year-old man with duplication of kidney deformity, long urinary fistula after partial nephrectomy, and no improvement after conservative treatment. We have achieved positive results in the arterial embolization treatment of the residual renal artery, indicating that selective arterial embolization is a good way to treat urinary fistula after partial nephrectomy. It is worth noting that this patient violated the Weigert-Meyer law, which also gave us more consideration. CONCLUSION Renal artery embolization may be a simple and safe method to treat urinary fistula inefficacy with conservative treatment.

Chemobiocatalytic selective transformation is an attractive yet challenging task, due to the incompatibility issues between different types of catalysts. In this work, one-pot, multi-step cascades integrating biocatalysis with organo-, base- and photocatalysis in a plug-and-play fashion were constructed for the controllable synthesis of eight C4 chemicals from furfural. Furfural was converted to 5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone (HFO) by sequential biocatalytic oxidation and photooxygenation in phosphate buffer, in >90% yields. Ring opening and concurrent isomerization of HFO to fumaric semialdehyde (FSA) were readily realized under mild conditions by a weakly basic resin (e.g., DVB resin). The versatile intermediate FSA could be oxidized to fumaric acid (FA) using a laccase–2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy (TEMPO) system, which was further upgraded to amino acids including L-aspartic acid (L-Asp) and β-alanine (β-Ala) by whole-cell catalysis. Notably, amino acids were obtained from biobased furfural in a one-pot, four-step process with yields of up to 75%, without the isolation of any intermediates. Besides, the scale-up synthesis of L-Asp was demonstrated. This work demonstrates the great potential of the combination of chemo- and biocatalysis for selective furfural valorization.

The rhizobium-legume symbiosis is essential for sustainable agriculture by reducing nitrogen fertilizer input, but its efficiency varies under fluctuating soil conditions and resources. The nitrogen-related phosphotransferase system (PTS

Jintao Zhang,1,* Zihan Wang,1,* Dong Zhang,1 Yun Pan,1 Xiaofei Liu,1 Xinrui Qiao,1 Wenjing Cui,1 Liang Dong1,2 1Department of Respiratory, Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Respiratory, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Jinan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Liang DongDepartment of Respiratory, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Jinan, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail dl5506@126.comBackground: During asthma progression, the intricate molecular networks, including microRNA (miRNA) transcriptional regulation in airway epithelium, remain largely undefined. The abnormal expression of miRNAs in asthmatic airway epithelium is a recent and fast-growing area in developing diagnostic and therapeutic targets for asthma.Material and Methods: Analyses were conducted to compare airway epithelial miRNAs and gene expression between patients with asthma and healthy subjects from three datasets (two for miRNAs expression profiles and one for gene expression profile). The interactions network between differentially expressed (DE)-miRNAs and mRNAs was further identified for functional analysis. To verify the involvement and functions of all the identified miRNAs in asthma, we constructed two cellular models of asthma. The most promising causal miRNA candidate, miR-1246, was examined in an in vitro system to explore its targets and roles in asthma pathophysiology.Results: Through integrative analysis, we obtained six miRNAs with 31 validated target genes in airway epithelium associated with asthma. Next, we confirmed that these miRNAs were all associated with asthma progression by in vitro functional experiments. They may participate in eosinophilic inflammation (miR-92b-3p, miR-1246, miR-197-3p, and miR-124-5p) or remodeling (miR-197-3p, miR-193a-5p, miR-1246, and miR-92b-3p). Additionally, some other non-screened valuable miRNAs were also examined and identified (miR-21-5p and miR-19b-3p), and some detected in blood correlated with the disease status. Furthermore, we found that miR-1246 could directly target POSTN and influence epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and fibrosis in airway epithelial cells.Conclusion: We constructed a preliminary epithelial regulatory network in asthma based on six identified miRNAs and their valuable target genes. Candidate factors in the biological miRNA-mRNA network in airway epithelium may provide further information on the pathogenesis of asthma. Strikingly, among all screened miRNAs, miR-1246, which could interact with POSTN may have multifunctional effects in the course of asthma and be a promising agent for asthma treatment and molecular subtyping.Keywords: asthma, miRNA, regulatory network, biomarkers, molecular subtyping

Prokaryotes harbor a various proportion of accessory genes in their genomes. The integration of accessory functions with the core regulation network is critical for environmental adaptation, particularly considering a theoretically unlimited number of niches on the earth for microorganisms. Comparative genomics can reveal a co-occurrence pattern between a subset of accessory genes (or variations in core genes) and an adaptation trait, while comparative transcriptomics can further uncover whether a coordinated regulation of gene expression is involved. In this chapter, we introduce a protocol for weighted gene coexpression network construction by using well-developed open source tools, and a further application of such a network in comparative analysis of bacterial core and accessory genes.

The interkingdom coevolution innovated the rhizobium-legume symbiosis. The application of this nitrogen-fixing system in sustainable agriculture is usually impeded by incompatible interactions between partners. However, the progressive evolution of rhizobium-legume compatibility remains elusive. In this work, deletions of rhcV encoding a structural component of the type three secretion system allow related Sinorhizobium strains to nodulate a previously incompatible soybean cultivar (Glycine max). These rhcV mutants show low to medium to high symbiotic efficiency on the same cultivated soybean while being indistinguishable on wild soybean plants (Glycine soja). The dual pantranscriptomics reveals nodule-specific activation of core symbiosis genes of Sinorhizobium and Glycine genes associated with genome duplication events along the chronogram. Unexpectedly, symbiotic efficiency is in line with lineage-dependent transcriptional profiles of core pathways which predate the diversification of Fabaceae and Sinorhizobium. This is supported by further physiological and biochemical experiments. Particularly, low-efficiency nodules show disordered antioxidant activity and low-energy status, which restrict nitrogen fixation activity. Collectively, the ancient core pathways play a crucial role in optimizing the function of later-evolved mutualistic arsenals in the rhizobium-legume coevolution. IMPORTANCE Significant roles of complex extracellular microbiota in environmental adaptation of eukaryotes in ever-changing circumstances have been revealed. Given the intracellular infection ability, facultative endosymbionts can be considered pioneers within complex extracellular microbiota and are ideal organisms for understanding the early stage of interkingdom adaptation. This work reveals that the later innovation of key symbiotic arsenals and the lineage-specific network rewiring in ancient core pathways, predating the divergence of legumes and rhizobia, underline the progressive evolution of rhizobium-legume compatibility. This insight not only is significant for improving the application benefits of rhizobial inoculants in sustainable agriculture but also advances our general understanding of the interkingdom coevolution which is theoretically explored by all host-microbiota interactions.

Prokaryotes harbor a various proportion of accessory genes in their genomes. The integration of accessory functions with the core regulation network is critical for environmental adaptation, particularly considering a theoretically unlimited number of niches on the earth for microorganisms. Comparative genomics can reveal a co-occurrence pattern between a subset of accessory genes (or variations in core genes) and an adaptation trait, while comparative transcriptomics can further uncover whether a coordinated regulation of gene expression is involved. In this chapter, we introduce a protocol for weighted gene coexpression network construction by using well-developed open source tools, and a further application of such a network in comparative analysis of bacterial core and accessory genes.

A Keggin-type polyoxometalate (POM)-based supramolecular complex with the formula of [Co(H2O)3]2(ttb)2[HBW12O40]·2H2O (1) (ttb = 1,3,5-tri(1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene) was synthesized via hydrothermal method and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR and powder X-ray diffraction analyses. In 1, [Co(H2O)3]2+ cations are connected with the adjacent ttb ligands to form a porous two-dimensional (2-D) cationic layered network, and the [HBW12O40]4− polyoxoanions are encapsulated between the layers through intermolecular interactions, generating a POM-capsulated 3-D supramolecular network. Integrating the advantage of Co2+ with [HBW12O40]4−, 1 as a heterogeneous catalyst displays a synergistically improved catalytic performance for oxidation of styrene. It can achieve almost 98% conversion of styrene in 4 h with about 99% selectivity of benzaldehyde product, which is about five times more than the catalytic activities of the single components (Co(OAc)2·4H2O or K5BW12O40). A series of comparative analyses showed that the high catalytic performance of 1 is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of unsaturated metal sites and polyoxoanions. This work provides an approach for developing highly efficient POM-based heterogeneous catalysts toward the selective oxidation of styrene.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important leguminous forage crop, which is hypothesized to select compatible rhizobial partners from rhizosphere to form nitrogen-fixing nodules. Here we investigated the diversity of rhizobia from both nodules and rhizosphere of alfalfa from farmlands and natural ecosystems along the Yarlung Zangbo River valley in the Tibetan Plateau. 581 nodule isolates were characterized using BOX-A1R PCR fingerprinting, sequences of rpoB and nodulation gene nodC. They belong to four rpoB haplotypes of Sinorhizobium meliloti (rpoB-I, 473 isolates; rpoB-II, 95; rpoB-III, 1; rpoB-IV, 10), Sinorhizobium medicae (1 isolate) and Rhizobium sp. (1 isolate). Re-inoculation experiments of the 32 representative strains suggested a great variation in their symbiotic performance on alfalfa. High-throughput sequencing of rpoB for 34 rhizosphere samples uncovered that the predominant rpoB-I in nodules also dominated among fourteen rpoB haplotypes of S. meliloti in rhizosphere soils. In addition to S. meliloti, more than 40 rhizobial species documented as microsymbionts of other legumes were also identified. Although a very low level of nucleotide diversity for S. meliloti was found among sampling sites, multivariate statistical analysis demonstrated a significant differentiation of total rhizobial community between farmlands and natural ecosystems. Moreover, edaphic conditions, especially pH and nitrogen content, were revealed as important deterministic factors shaping the observed beta-diversity of rhizobial community. Taken together, these results demonstrated that the rhizospheric pool of rhizobial germplasms was significantly affected by land tillage compared to that of natural ecosystems, while a predominant population of S. meliloti was selected by alfalfa.

Mutualism between bacteria and eukaryotes has essential roles in the history of life, but the evolution of their compatibility is poorly understood. Here we show that different Sinorhizobium strains can form either nitrogen-fixing nodules or uninfected pseudonodules on certain cultivated soybeans, while being all effective microsymbionts of some wild soybeans. However, a few well-infected nodules can be found on a commercial soybean using inocula containing a mixed pool of Tn5 insertion mutants derived from an incompatible strain. Reverse genetics and genome sequencing of compatible mutants demonstrated that inactivation of T3SS (type three secretion system) accounted for this phenotypic change. These mutations in the T3SS gene cluster were dominated by parallel transpositions of insertion sequences (ISs) other than the introduced Tn5. This genetic and phenotypic change can also be achieved in an experimental evolution scenario on a laboratory time scale using incompatible wild-type strains as inocula. The ISs acting in the adaptive evolution of Sinorhizobium strains exhibit broader phyletic and replicon distributions than other ISs, and prefer target sequences of low GC% content, a characteristic feature of symbiosis plasmid where T3SS genes are located. These findings suggest an important role of co-evolved ISs in the adaptive evolution of rhizobial compatibility.

Purpose: To determine the potential of mammography (MG) and mammographic texture analysis in differentiation between Grade 1 (G1) and Grade 2/ Grade 3 (G2/G3) phyllodes tumors (PTs) of breast.Materials and methods: A total of 80 female patients with histologically proven PTs were included in this study. 45 subjects who underwent pretreatment MG from 2010 to 2017 were retrospectively analyzed, including 14 PTs G1 and 31 PTs G2/G3. Tumor size, shape, margin, density, homogeneity, presence of fat, or calcifications, a halo-sign as well as some indirect manifestations were evaluated. Texture analysis features were performed using commercial software. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of prediction.Results: G2/G3 PTs showed a larger size (>4.0 cm) compared to PTs G1 (64.52 vs. 28.57%, p = 0.025). A strong lobulation or multinodular confluent was more common in G2/G3 PTs compared to PTs G1 (64.52 vs. 14.29%, p = 0.004). Significant differences were also observed in tumors' growth speed and clinical manifestations (p = 0.007, 0.022, respectively). Ten texture features showed significant differences between the two groups (p < 0.05), Correlation_AllDirection_offset7_SD and ClusterProminence_AllDirection_offset7_SD were independent risk factors. The area under the curve (AUC) of imaging-based diagnosis, texture analysis-based diagnosis and the combination of the two approaches were 0.805, 0.730, and 0.843 (90.3% sensitivity and 85.7% specificity).Conclusions: Texture analysis has great potential to improve the diagnostic efficacy of MG in differentiating PTs G1 from PTs G2/G3.

Exploring the role of polyoxometalates (POMs) in electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is greatly significant for developing efficient electrocatalyst towards the sustainable energy production. Herein, three polyoxovanadate (POV)-based inorganic–organic hybrid compounds with formula of [Ni2(BBTZ)(H2O)4]V4O12·2H2O(1), [Co2(BBTZ)(H2O)4]V4O12·2H2O(2), [Ni(BBTZ)2]V2O6·2H2O(3) (BBTZ = 1,4-bis-(1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene) were synthesized as electrocatalysts to explore their roles for OER. Structural analysis showed that compounds 1–2 are isomorphic 2-D wave-like layer structures, while compound 3 features 3-D framework with a 5-fold interpenetrating metal–organic moiety. Experiments showed that the three compounds can keep their structural integrities after soaking in 1 M KOH electrolyte, and compound 1 exhibited the best catalytic activity towards OER with low overpotential of 353 mV at current density of 10 mA cm−2 and small Tafel slope of 77.8 mV dec−1. However, a series of technical characterizations clearly implied that there are structural conversion processes of compounds 1–3 on electrode surface accompanying the electrocatalytic reation. The organic ligands and most of polyoxovanadate species were electrochemically extracted under anodic potential, leaving the V-doping metal oxyhydroxides as OER-active species. This work confirmed that polyoxovanadates are not active sites but precursors for generating active species of OER, and suggested an available route for designing new nanosized vanadium-doped metal oxide electrocatalysts.

To investigate the possible relationship between the gut microbiota and hyperlipidemia,hyperglycemia in middle-aged and elderly people in Chengdu.51 of middle-aged and elderly people participated in this study. The concentration of blood glucose and lipid,and the other physiological parameters of the subjects were analyzed,and their fecal microbiota was also profiled by Illumina high-throughput sequencing technique.The fecal microbiota in the middle-aged and elderly were mainlyThe fecal microbiota in the tested middle-aged and elderly subjects varied with blood glucose and blood lipid concentration. Intestinal microbes might posses close relationship with blood glucose and lipid metabolism in middle-aged and elderly people.

Bifidobacterium bifidum TMC3115 strain (TMC3115) was orally administrated to 47 subjects with mild hyperglycaemia and dyslipidaemia aged 45 to 75 years for 3 weeks. Blood samples were collected before and after intervention for profiling plasma total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, as well as fasting blood glucose. Before and 3 and 4 weeks after intervention, the faecal samples were collected to analyse faecal microbiota using the sequencing of 16S rRNA genes with a next-generation sequencer. TMC3115 significantly decreased plasma TC and LDL-C levels of the tested subjects after intervention (P

In this research, Silver—nickel alloy nanocomposites has been synthesized by reducing mixture solution of Ni2+, Ag+ with hydrazine hydrate as reducer and OP-10 as surfactant. Silver—nickel alloy nanocomposites were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM. And the electrochemical properties of the samples were studied by cyclic voltammetry. Ag-Ni/PANI composites were prepared by in-situ synthesis and emulsion polymerization, and the effect of conduction on the conductivity was investigated including content of alloy. The detailed analysis of the synthesis conditions shows that the reduction takes place in alkaline environment and low-temperature is propitious to generate alloy solid-solution grain. Composites prepared by emulsion polymerization in acidic aqueous solutions synthesis of polyaniline shows higher conductivity than pure polymer, due to the strong interaction between alloy particles and doping PANI.

This paper presents a synthetic method of graphene load nickel nanoparticles composites. Hydrothermal process is simple and convenient way, neither surfactant is needed nor by products will exist serve hydrazine hydrate as reductant. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were used to characterization the morphology of the graphene load nickel nanoparticles composites, and cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to characterization the electrical properties of the composites. The results of XRD and FTIR show that the complexes were successfully synthesized by this method. Moreover, the good dispersibility and relatively uniform particle size of the complexes can be obviously observed from the SEM image. And the cyclic voltammetry curves exhibit good electrical properties of graphene load nickel nanoparticles composites. All the conclusions are based on the experimental results.

To compare the difference of receptor expression between primary and locally recurrent breast tumor tissues, and analyze their impact on survival of the patients.The expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) of primary and locally recurrent breast tumor tissues of 70 breast cancer patients were analyzed by immunohistochemistry or fluorescence in situ hybridization. The impact of the differences on overall survival (OS) and post-recurrence survival (PRS) of the patients was analyzed.The effective discrepancy rates between primary and locally recurrent breast cancer tissues were 26.1% (18/69) for ER, 50.0% (34/68) for PR, and 10.3%(4/39) for HER-2 expressions. In the 60 cases who had complete follow-up data, 23 patients (38.3%) died and the median overall survival was 107 months (11-288 months). The 3-, 5- and 10-year overall survival rates were 84.3%, 71.6% and 45.7%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the changes of ER expression had significant impact on the OS (P = 0.001) and PRS (P0.001), but PR had no significant effect on OS (P = 0.416) and PRS (P = 0.056). However, the OS and PRS for patients with PR⁺ locally recurrent tumors were better than that of PR⁻ patients regardless of the primary tumor PR status. The expression of HER-2 had no significant effect on the OS (P = 0.840) and PRS (P = 0.544) of the patients.An expression discrepancy of ER, PR and HER-2 exists between primary and locally recurrent breast cancer tissues, it significantly affects the survival of the patients. Re-evaluation of the expressions of ER, PR and HER-2 receptor in locally recurrent breast tumor tissue is beneficial for their therapy and prognosis.

To retrospectively evaluate the mammographic imaging findings and pathologic changes of the so-called "triple-negative" breast cancer (ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(-) breast cancer), and to compare them with the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) and ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) breast cancer patients.Five hundred cases of breast cancer treated in Cancer Institute and Hospital of Tianjin University from January to June of 2010 were included in this study. There were 112 cases of triple-negative breast cancer, 310 cases of ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) breast cancer, and 78 cases of ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) breast cancer. Their pathological and mammographic data were reviewed and analyzed. The pathological and mammographic features of the three groups were compared.Compared with the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) breast cancer group, the triple-negative group had a higher histological grade (P0.001). Compared with the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) and ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) groups, the triple-negative group was more likely to have a tumor mass (simple mass accounted for 58.0%, and tumor mass with calcification accounted for 19.6%). Moreover, compared with the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) group (47.1% vs. 9.8%, P = 0.032)and the ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) group (47.1% vs. 0, P = 0.028), the tumor mass of triple-negative cancer was more likely to have a smooth margin. Triple-negative breast cancer seldom represented as calcification (simple calcification only accounted for 13.4%, and a mass with calcification accounted for 19.6%), and most of them were benign calcification (70.3%), significantly higher than that in the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) group (23.1%, P = 0.002) and ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) group (10.2%, P0.001).Different types of breast cancer have different biological characteristics and mammographic features. Analysis of the mammographic features may help us to predict the type of breast cancer and its prognosis, and to select an optimal treatment plan for patients with different types of breast cancer.

A detailed theoretical analysis of determining the sum of flexoelectric coefficients in nematic liquid crystals using the capacitance method is given. In the strong anchoring parallel aligned nematic (PAN) and hybrid aligned nematic (HAN) cells, the dependences of the capacitance on the sum of flexoelectric coefficients and the applied voltage are obtained by numerical simulations, and the distributions of the director and the electric potential for different applied voltages and flexoelectric coefficients are also given. Based on this theoretical analysis, we propose an experimental design for measuring the capacitance of a liquid crystal cell using the improved precision LCR meter E4980A (Agilent). Through comparing the experimental data with the simulated results, the sum of flexoeletric coefficients can be determined.