Search

Objective To investigate the effects of thalidomide on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway and renal fibrosis of nephrotic syndrome mice. Methods The mice were randomly divided into control group and model group with 15 in each to prepare membranous nephropathy model, thalidomide group was given thalidomide solution 100 mg/kg, leflunomide group was given leflunomide solution 5 mg/kg per day for four weeks. The 24-hour urine protein (24 h-Upro) was measured before, after and 4 weeks after treatment; after 4 weeks of treatment, the biochemical indexes of mice in each group were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer; the levels of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) were detected by ELISA.HE staining, Masson staining and periodic acid Schiff (PAS) staining were used to observe the renal pathological changes in each group; the expression of EGFR,ERK mRNAs and proteins were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot. Results Compared with the control group, the 24 h-Upro in the model group was significantly increased (P＜0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment,the glomerulus volume of the model group was larger, there were vacuolar lesions in the renal tubules, and the epithelial cells of the renal tubules had the deposition of eosinophilic protein, and the 24h-Upro, the contents of TC, TG, BUN and Scr in serum, the expression of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α in serum, the mRNA level of EGFR and ERK in renal tissue and the protein expression of p-EGFR/EGFR and p-ERK/ERK were all significantly higher(P＜0.05). As compared with those in the model group, the above pathological symptoms in leflunomide group and thalidomide group were significantly reduced, and the 24 h-Upro, the contents of TC, TG, BUN and Scr in serum, the expressions of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α in serum, the mRNA level of EGFR and ERK in renal tissue, the protein expressions of p-EGFR/EGFR and p-ERK/ERK were all significantly lower (P＜0.05). Conclusions Thalidomide may alleviate renal damage and inhibit renal fibrosis by inhibiting EGFR/ERK signaling pathway.

The elastic properties, electronic structure, and optical properties of X (X = B , Al, Ga) atomic substitution for arsenene are calculated based on density functional theory. The results show that, at the same concentration, B-substituted arsenene shows the best structural stability, followed by Ga-substituted arsenene, with Al-substituted arsenene being the least. Arsenene and its substitution systems possess excellent mechanical stability. The substitution of X atoms leads to a reduction in the bulk modulus, shear modulus, and Young's modulus of arsenene systems, while simultaneously increasing the Poisson's ratio. For the substitution systems, the four parameters all gradually increase as the substitution concentration increases. The substitution of X (X = B , Al, Ga) atoms into arsenene can facilitate the transformation from an indirect to direct bandgap (except for Al and Ga substitution at a concentration of 3.13%) with a narrower bandgap for increasing substitution concentration. The B–As bond shows the strongest covalency, followed by the Ga–As bond, while the Al–As bond exhibits the strongest ionicity. Arsenene substituted with X atoms shows anisotropy of optical properties in both the xy-plane and along the z-axis direction. The static dielectric constant increases with higher substitution concentration. The imaginary part of the dielectric function shows the extent of excited electron transitions between bands. After X atom substitution, arsenene exhibits a redshift in its absorption edge, which is wider with the higher substitution concentrations. The peak reflectance and valley transmittance values of arsenene and its substitution systems are located in the ultraviolet region in both xy-plane and z-axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effects of the thermostability, band structure, and the external electric field on the electronic structure of MoSe2/Arsenene heterojunction are calculated based on the density functional theory. The calculation results show that the MoSe2/Arsenene heterojunction is a type-II heterojunction with a bandgap of 0.89 eV. When MoSe2 and arsenene combine by van der Waals force, the electrons are transferred from MoSe2 to arsenene, the holes are transferred from arsenene to MoSe2, with the direction of the internal electric field from MoSe2 to arsenene. The MoSe2/Arsenene heterojunction with valence band top and conduction band bottom contributed by arsenene and MoSe2, respectively, shows excellent thermostability at room temperature. The external electric field can effectively modulate the electronic structure of heterojunction. When the electric field is negative, electrons are transferred from MoSe2 to arsenene and holes from arsenene to MoSe2. The Fermi level of arsenene moves down while that of MoSe2 moves up. When the electric field is positive, the direction of electron and hole transfer are opposite to that when the electric field is negative. The Fermi energy level of arsenene and MoSe2 also move in the opposite direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the problems of vehicle scheduling system of open-cut based on GPS,such as high energy consumption of user node,big volume and high cost and need fixed infrastructure, the paper discussed on feasibility of applying WSN in vehicle scheduling system of open-cut. It analyzed key technologies used in vehicle scheduling system of open-cut based on WSN, pointed out the positioning technology is a precondition of applying WSN in vehicle scheduling system of open-cut successfully, and introduced a positioning algorithm which is adapted to vehicle scheduling system of open-cut and implementation method of target positioning. Finally, it gave application prospect of the system.

Byline: Wen-Liang Yu (1), Zhu-Jin Lu (1), Ying Wang (2), Li-Ping Shi (3), Feng-Wu Kuang (4), Su-Yun Qian (5), Qi-Yi Zeng (6), Min-Hui Xie (7), Guo-Ying Zhang (8), De-Yi Zhuang (9), Xun-Mei Fan (5), Bo Sun (1) Keywords: Acute respiratory distress syndrome; Epidemiology; Intensive care; Mortality; Respiratory therapy Abstract: Objective To assess the incidence of, predisposing factors for, and the rates and relative risks of mortality from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in pediatric patients. Design A prospective study in 12 consecutive months from 2004 to 2005 in 25 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Patients and setting ARDS was diagnosed according to the 1994 American--European Consensus Conference definitions, applied to all severely ill admissions between 1 month and 14 years of age. The PICUs were in major municipalities and provincial cities, and half were university affiliated. Measurements and results From a total of 12,018 admissions, 7,269 were severely ill. One hundred and five (1.44%) patients developed ARDS and 64 (61.0%) died, which accounts for 13.2%, of the total ICU death (n = 485, 6.7%) or a nine times relative risk of dying. The median age at onset of ARDS was 24 months and 40% were less than 12 month old. Median time from PICU admission to the onset of ARDS was 16 h, and in 63% Conclusions ARDS has a high mortality in these Chinese PICUs, especially in those with pneumonia and sepsis, and adequate management including lung protective ventilation strategy is required. Author Affiliation: (1) Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 183 Feng Lin Road, 200032, Shanghai, People's Republic of China (2) Shanghai Children's Medical Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China (3) Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China (4) Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China (5) Beijing Children's Hospital of Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China (6) Guangzhou Children's Hospital, Guangdong, People's Republic of China (7) Children's Hospital of Suzhou University, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China (8) Chengdu Children's Hospital, Sichuan, People's Republic of China (9) Quanzhou Children's Hospital, Fujian, People's Republic of China Article History: Registration Date: 26/08/2008 Received Date: 20/07/2006 Accepted Date: 29/04/2008 Online Date: 30/09/2008 Article note: Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: 10.1007/s00134-008-1254-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.