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The abnormal expression of N-acetylneuraminic acid (SA) and sialylated glycoproteins in biological fluids are closely associated with various diseases including cancer. However, the low content of SA and the strong interference of complex matrix greatly influence the effective capture of SA in biosamples prior to analysis. Herein, a dual-capture-system strategy based on molecular imprinting and post-imprinting modification (PIM) was proposed to precisely capture SA with improved binding affinity and specificity. After imprinting with SA as template, dynamic imine bonds are introduced by post-imprinting modification, enabling sufficiently high specificity to capture SA through imprinting cavities and the dynamic imine bonds hydrolysis reaction simultaneously. The prepared magnetic PIM polymers (Mag-MIPs-PIM) exhibited significantly high specificity both for SA (IF = 4.24) and sialylated glycoprotein (IF TRF  = 3.50). In addition, the feasibility of Mag-MIPs-PIM for practical application was demonstrated by association with HPLC for the determination of SA in human serum, and an LOD of 0.01 × 10 -2  g L -1 was obtained. The proposed strategy based on molecular imprinting and PIM provides a new inspiration for the improvement of selectivity of the molecularly imprinted polymers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Osteoporosis is a common metabolic disease of elderly and postmenopausal women, with no obvious symptoms during its early stages. In the latter stages of this condition, the patients are prone to fractures, and this can seriously affect their health and quality of life. The worldwide increase in life expectancy has made osteoporosis a global concern. The Xiaoyao pills were previously used in the treatment of depression. In addition, the drug appeared to have estrogen-like activity, which affected the expression of ALP, an early osteoblast-specific marker, and COL-1, a major component of bone extracellular matrix. Xiaoyao pills were assessed for their effects on postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOM) in mice. The target information of each herbal component of Xiaoyao pills was accessed through the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database. Information from GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGkb, TTD, DrugBank, and other websites was used to construct the regulatory network of the herbal complex through Cytoscape and String network to assess the protein interactions. Mice were ovariectomized, and treated with high and low doses of Xiaoyao pills and these were compared to controls. Their symptoms were assessed by immunocytochemistry of bone tissues. The results suggested that Xiaoyao pills had the ability to alleviate the symptoms of PMOM in ovariectomized mice through the IL-17 signaling pathway. This drug has the potential to become a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Flavonol and flavonoid compounds are important natural compounds with various biomedical activities. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a strategy for the specific extraction of flavonol and flavonoid compounds. Quercetin is a well-studied flavonoid possessing many health benefits. This compound is a versatile antioxidant known to possess protective abilities against body tissue injury induced by pathological situations and various drug toxicities. Although quercetin is widely distributed in many plants, its content generally is not very high. Therefore, the specific extraction of quercetin as well as other flavonol and flavonoid compounds has profound significance. In this work, the quercetin molecularly imprinting polymer (QMIP) was successfully prepared, in which a typical flavonol quercetin was selected as the template molecule. QMIP was synthesized by performing the surface molecular imprinting technology on the surface of NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe). Our study results showed that QMIP exhibited quick binding kinetic behavior, a high adsorption capacity (57.04[Formula: see text]mg/g), and the specific recognition ability toward quercetin compared with structurally distinct compounds (selective [Formula: see text]). The specific adsorption ability of quercetin by QMIP was further explained using computation simulation that molecules with non-planar 3D conformations hardly entered the molecularly imprinted cavities on QMIP. Finally, QMIP was successfully used for the specific extraction of quercetin and five other flavonol and flavonoid compounds in the crude extracts from Sapium sebiferum . This study proposes a new strategy to synthesize the molecularly imprinted polymer based on a single template for enriching and loading a certain class of active ingredients with similar core structures from variable botanicals.

3D nanocake-like Au-MXene and Au pallet (Au-MXene/AuP) nanocomposite-modified screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) were utilized to construct an ultrasensitive label-free electrochemical aptasensor through a self-assembly procedure for trace paraquat (PQ) residue detection. Benefiting from the excellent electrochemical (EC) performances (e.g., high conductivity and large surface area) of Au-MXene nanocomposites and AuP substrate, the developed Apt/Au-MXene/AuP/SPCE-based EC aptasensor displayed excellent specificity and anti-interference ability, good repeatability, and stability. A linear relationship between the log value of the change in current intensity [lg (ΔI)] and the log value of the concentration of PQ [lg (C PQ )] was obtained in the range 0.05-1000 ng/mL. The limit of detection was 0.028 ng/mL, and the sensitivity was 255.5 μA/(μM·cm 2 ). Practical applications in malt and mint samples confirmed the accuracy of the EC aptasensor in complex matrices for PQ detection, providing a universal analytical tool for other trace pesticides in different food samples by simply replacing the corresponding aptamers., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

An imbalance of l-tryptophan (l-Trp), a basic component of a healthy diet, is harmful to human health. Traditional methods for detecting l-Trp have many limitations. To correct a deficiency or excess of l-Trp in human diets, it is necessary to develop a novel method that is rapid, low-cost, and high-sensitivity. Herein, a molecularly imprinted polysaccharide electrochemical sensor termed MIP/CS/MWCNTs/GCE (molecularly imprinted polymer/chitosan/multiwalled carbon nanotubes/glassy carbon electrode) targeting l-Trp was first constructed on a glassy carbon electrode, which was modified with multiwalled carbon nanotubes and chitosan using bifunctional monomers. The MIP/CS/MWCNTs/GCE obtained a wide linear range (1-300 μM) for detecting l-Trp and accurately detected the proportion of l-Trp in mixtures of Trp enantiomers. In milk samples, the spiked recoveries of l-Trp were 86.50 to 99.65%. The MIP/CS/MWCNTs/GCE electrochemical sensor possessed good recognition and detection performance for l-Trp and has promising potential for practical application., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Lenvatinib mesylate is an oral receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor against targets of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1-3, fibroblast growth factor receptors 1-4, platelet-derived growth factor receptor α, stem cell growth factor receptor, and rearranged during transfection, et al. Lenvatinib has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration of China on September 4, 2018, for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma who have not received systematic treatment before. Up to February 2023, Lenvatinib has been listed in China for more than 4 years, accumulating a series of post-marketing clinical research evidences. Based on the clinical practice before and after the launch of lenvatinib and referring to the clinical experience of other anti-angiogenesis inhibitors, domestic multidisciplinary experts and scholars adopt the Delphi method to formulate the Chinese Expert Guidance on Overall Application of Lenvatinib in Hepatocellular Carcinoma after repeated discussions and revisions, in order to provide reference for reasonable and effective clinical application of lenvatinib for clinicians.

Background: Pathologic complete response (pCR) following preoperative systemic therapy is associated with improved outcomes after subsequent liver transplant/resection in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the relationship between radiographic and histopathological response remains unclear., Methods: We retrospectively examined patients with initially unresectable HCC who received tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) plus anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1) therapy before undergoing liver resection between March 2019 and September 2021 across 7 hospitals in China. Radiographic response was evaluated using mRECIST. A pCR was defined as no viable tumor cells in resected samples., Results: We included 35 eligible patients, of whom 15 (42.9%) achieved pCR after systemic therapy. After a median follow-up of 13.2 months, tumors recurred in 8 non-pCR and 1 pCR patient. Before resection, there were 6 complete responses, 24 partial responses, 4 stable disease cases, and 1 progressive disease case, per mRECIST. Predicting pCR by radiographic response yielded an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.727 (95% CI: 0.558-0.902), with an optimal cutoff value of 80% reduction in the enhanced area in MRI (called major radiographic response), which had a 66.7% sensitivity, 85.0% specificity, and a 77.1% diagnostic accuracy. When radiographic response was combined with α-fetoprotein response, the AUC was 0.926 (95% CI: 0.785-0.999); the optimal cutoff value was 0.446, which had a 91.7% sensitivity, 84.6%, specificity, and an 88.0% diagnostic accuracy., Conclusions: In patients with unresectable HCC receiving combined TKI/anti-PD 1 therapy, major radiographic response alone or combined with α-fetoprotein response may predict pCR., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Sensitive skin (SS) is a clinical syndrome defined by the occurrence of unpleasant sensations (such as stinging, burning, pain, pruritus, and tingling) in response to stimuli that normally should not provoke them. According to growing evidence, transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1) has elevated expression in individuals with SS and is linked with the severity of SS symptoms. However, its pathogenesis is still unknown., Objective: Herein, Citrus reticulata (Tangerine) fruit extract (CR) was obtained and examined for its effect on SS with a focus on TRPV1 stimulation and expression., Methods: A recombinant hTRPV1 over-expression cell line (HaCaT-TRPV1-OE cell) was constructed to screen substances and extracts from several plants. Intracellular calcium mobilization was monitored by Flexstation 3 and a fluorescence microscope using Fluo 8 AM fluorophore. Next, immunofluorescence was used to detect the TRPV1 expression under different stimulants treated for 24 h. To investigate the relief and increased tolerance of CR to lactic acid-induced skin discomfort, clinical tests were carried out on the nasolabial folds or cheek areas., Results: According to the obtained results, compared to HaCaT cells, HaCaT-TRPV1-OE cells showed a higher expression of TRPV1. Neuronal hyperresponsiveness in SS triggered by capsaicin (CAP), lactic acid, phenoxyethanol or nicotinamide may be through activation of TRPV1 and increased TRPV1 expression. CAP activates TRPV1 in HaCaT-TRPV1-OE cells, and more than 100 plants or chemicals were tested for their inhibitory effects before being screened for CR. CR (1%-4%) inhibited TRPV1 activation induced by CAP or phenoxyethanol or nicotinamide. Meanwhile, CR (0.25%) suppressed TRPV1 protein expression induced by phenoxyethanol or lactic acid. In vivo results showed that CR not only instantly relieved lactic acid-induced skin discomfort under 5 min but also enhanced skin tolerance to lactic acid after 7 days of continuous use., Conclusions: Topical application of CR showed an instant and long-lasting improvement in SS by modulating the activation and expression of TRPV1. Moreover, it has been suggested that CR might act as a TRPV1 inhibitor to reduce skin irritation or sensitivity., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

A novel molecular-imprinted polymer (MIP)-based enzyme-free biosensor was created for the selective detection of glycoprotein transferrin (Trf). For this purpose, MIP-based biosensor for Trf was prepared by electrochemical co-polymerization of novel hybrid monomers 3-aminophenylboronic acid (M-APBA) and pyrrole on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (cMWCNTs). Hybrid epitopes of Trf (C-terminal fragment and glycan) have been selected as templates. The produced sensor exhibited great selective recognition ability toward Trf under optimal preparation conditions, offering good analytical range (0.125-1.25 μM) with a detection limit of 0.024 μM. The proposed hybrid epitope in combination with hybrid monomer-mediated imprinting strategy was successfully applied to detect Trf in spiked human serum samples, with recoveries and relative standard deviations ranging from 94.7 to 106.0% and 2.64 to 5.32%, respectively. This study provided a reliable protocol for preparing hybrid epitopes and monomers-mediated MIP for the synergistic and effective determination of glycoprotein in complicated biological samples., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Lenvatinib plus an anti-PD-1 antibody has shown promising antitumor effects in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but with clinical benefit limited to a subset of patients. We developed and validated a radiomic-based model to predict objective response to this combination therapy in advanced HCC patients., Methods: Patients ( N = 170) who received first-line combination therapy with lenvatinib plus an anti-PD-1 antibody were retrospectively enrolled from 9 Chinese centers; 124 and 46 into the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Radiomic features were extracted from pretreatment contrast-enhanced MRI. After feature selection, clinicopathologic, radiomic, and clinicopathologic-radiomic models were built using a neural network. The performance of models, incremental predictive value of radiomic features compared with clinicopathologic features and relationship between radiomic features and survivals were assessed., Results: The clinicopathologic model modestly predicted objective response with an AUC of 0.748 (95% CI: 0.656-0.840) and 0.702 (95% CI: 0.547-0.884) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. The radiomic model predicted response with an AUC of 0.886 (95% CI: 0.815-0.957) and 0.820 (95% CI: 0.648-0.984), respectively, with good calibration and clinical utility. The incremental predictive value of radiomic features to clinicopathologic features was confirmed with a net reclassification index of 47.9% ( p < 0.001) and 41.5% ( p = 0.025) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Furthermore, radiomic features were associated with overall survival and progression-free survival both in the training and validation cohorts, but modified albumin-bilirubin grade and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio were not., Conclusion: Radiomic features extracted from pretreatment MRI can predict individualized objective response to combination therapy with lenvatinib plus an anti-PD-1 antibody in patients with unresectable or advanced HCC, provide incremental predictive value over clinicopathologic features, and are associated with overall survival and progression-free survival after initiation of this combination regimen., Competing Interests: Hui-Chuan Sun has received honorarium or lecture fees from Roche, Bayer, MSD, Eisai, Hengrui, Innovent, TopAlliance, Abbott, Beigene, Gilead, and Zelgen during the last 5 years. Jia Fan is an Editorial Board Member of Liver Cancer. All remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2022 by The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

A novel deep eutectic solvent-magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (DES-MMIP) for the specific removal of oxalic acid (OA) was prepared by an environmentally friendly deep eutectic solvent, consisting of betaine, citric acid, and glycerol, which acted as the functional monomer for polymerization. The structure and morphology of DES-MMIPs were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer. DES-MMIPs had a core-shell structure, with magnetic iron oxide as the core, and showed good thermal stability and high adsorption capacity (18.73 mg/g) for OA. The adsorption process of OA by DES-MMIPs followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. DES-MMIPs had significant selectivity for OA and their imprinting factor was 3.26. When applied to real samples, high performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that DES-MMIPs could remove OA from both spinach and blood serum. These findings provide potential methods for removal of OA from vegetables and for specific removal of OA in renal dialysis., (© 2022. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The development of effective drug-loaded dressings has been considered a hot research topic for biomedical therapeutics, including the use of botanical compounds. For wound healing, adequate dressings can provide a good microenvironment for drug release, such as lidocaine. Biological macromolecular materials such as alginate show excellent properties in wound management. This study involves the preparation and evaluation of biocompatible multilayered-structure microspheres composed of chitosan, porous gelatin, and calcium alginate microspheres. The multilayered structure microspheres were named chitosan@ porous gelatin@ calcium alginate microspheres (CPAMs) and the drugs were rapidly released by the volume expansion of the calcium alginate microspheres. The in vitro release curve revealed that the peak release of lidocaine from CPAMs was reached within 18[Formula: see text]min. After 21[Formula: see text]min, the remaining lidocaine was then slowly released, and the active drug release was converted to a passive drug release phase. The initial release effect of lidocaine was much better than that reported in the published studies. Additionally, blood coagulation experiments showed that CPAMs coagulated blood in 60[Formula: see text]s, and the blood liquidity of the CPAMs group was worse than that of the woundplast group. Therefore, the coagulation characteristics of CPAMs were superior to the commonly used woundplast containing lidocaine healing gel. These study outcomes indicated that the CPAMs acted as fast-release dressings for faster pain control and better coagulation properties.

Transferrin (Trf) is a new type of active drug targeting carrier and disease biomarker that regulates the balance of iron ions in human body. The recognition and isolation of Trf is of great significance for disease diagnosis and treatment. Thus, a new type of magnetic dual affinity epitope molecularly imprinted polymer coated on Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 @DEMIP) was successfully prepared for specific recognition of Trf. C-terminal nonapeptide and Trf glycan were selected as bi-epitope templates for metal chelation and boron affinity immobilization, respectively. 4-vinylphenylboric acid (4-VP), N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM) and zinc acrylic were used as functional monomers. Results showed that Fe 3 O 4 @DEMIP exhibited excellent specific recognition ability adsorption capacity toward Trf, with an adsorption of 43.96 mg g -1 (RSD = 3.28%) and a more satisfactory imprinting factor (about 6.60) than that of other reported imprinting methods. In addition, Fe 3 O 4 @DEMIP displayed pH, temperature and magnetic sensitivity properties to realize temperature and pH-controlled recognition and release of target proteins and magnetic rapid separation. Furthermore, the Fe 3 O 4 @DEMIP coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was successfully used for specific recognition of Trf in biosamples. This study provides a reliable protocol for preparing metal chelation and boron affinity dual affinity bi-epitope molecularly imprinted polymers for synergistic and efficient recognition of biomacromolecules in the complex biological systems., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a powerful anticancer natural product, with its separation and purification having been widely studied. In this work, new molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) using deep eutectic solvents (DESs) with different molar ratios were prepared as functional monomers. These were then used as adsorbents in solid phase extraction (SPE) for the separation of PTX from its structural analogs. The polymers were characterized by energy disperive X-rays (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results suggested that the formative regular DES-MIPs had an even pore-size distribution and a large specific surface area. The dynamic adsorption and static adsorption showed that the DES-MIPs had excellent adsorption performance, with a maximum adsorption capacity and optimum adsorption time of 87.08 mg/g and 180 min, respectively. The selective adsorption experiments showed that the material had outstanding selectivity, and the maximum selectivity factor was 6.20. For stability, after six consecutive adsorption and desorption cycles, the DES-MIPs maintained the perfect stability and reusability. Furthermore, the fabricated SPE column was successfully utilized for extracting and eluting PTX. This study provides a reliable protocol for the separation and purification PTX from its structural analogs and the DES-MIPs materials have excellent potential application value in pharmaceutical industry., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this work, efficient, sensitive bifunctional-monomer chitosan magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (BCMMIPs) were fabricated and successfully applied to concentrate the metabolites of Epimedium flavonoids in rat testis and bone that were later analyzed using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. Using chitosan and methacrylic acid as co-functional monomers, BCMMIPs exhibited a large adsorption capacity (7.60 mg/g), fast kinetics (60 min), and good selectivity. Chitosan is bio-compatible and non-toxic, and methacrylic acid provides multiple hydrogen bond donors. The BCMMIPs were injected into rat testis to specifically enrich the total flavonoid metabolites in vivo and were used to extract metabolites from bone in vitro. The results showed that the BCMMIPs coupled with UPLC-Q-TOF-MS successfully identified 28 compounds from testis and 18 compounds from bone, including 19 new compounds. This study provided a reliable protocol for the concentration of metabolites from complex biological samples, and several new metabolites of Epimedium flavonoids were found in vivo and in vitro., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this report, a non-toxic Dual Template Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (DMIPs) was synthesized with quercetin and schisandrin b as template molecules, using deep-eutectic solvents as functional monomers for the first time. The DMIPs were used to efficiently and simultaneously enrich quercetin and schisandrin b from the mixed crude extracts of penthorum and schisandra. The results indicated that the DMIPs exhibited rapid adsorption kinetics (80 min for adsorption equilibrium) and high selectivity. The largest adsorbing capacities to quercetin and schisandrin b were 23.58 mg/g and 41.64 mg/g, respectively. After presaturation with quercetin and schisandrin b, the nontoxic saturated DMIPs were fed to the mice. Blood samples of the mice were taken and both quercetin and schisandrin b were successfully detected. The pharmacokinetics of quercetin and schisandrin b were similar to reports in the literature where mice were directly fed with botanicals. Our study provides a reliable protocol such that DMIPs can be used to separate and enrich several target molecules simultaneously from complex biological systems. Our findings suggested that the DMIPs have potential application as a drug delivery system of compound herbal formulas., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Biocompatible magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (BMMIPs) were prepared with Zein for the first time, and were used to enrich tetracycline compounds selectively. Innovative combination of BMMIPs and electrochemistry to obtain lower detection line to satisfy industrial detection demands. Using Zein as the crosslinking agent, the polymers were synthesized on the surface of Fe 3 O 4 particles. The scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction technologies were used to characterize BMMIPs. Through optimization, BMMIPs attained large adsorption capacity (236.40 mg/g) with fast kinetics (40 min) and followed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. BMMIPs had good recognition ability, the selective factors of oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, doxycycline were 4.78, 4.23, and 3.39, respectively. Excellent linearity was attained in the range of 0.025-500 μg/mL, with low detection limits and low quantitation limits of 0.025 and 0.083 μg/mL. According to our exploring, BMMIPs was ideal materials for enrichment of tetracycline in complex biological samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most prevalent primary liver cancer in adults. Previous studies in our laboratory found that long non-coding RNA metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) was upregulated in HCC cells, which could affect the metastasis and invasion of HCC. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Herein, we studied the interaction between MALAT1 and miR-140 on the regulation of angiogenesis and immunosuppressive properties. We revealed that the expression of MALAT1 and VEGF-A was significantly increased in HCC cells. Knockdown of MALAT1 in HCC cells suppressed the production of VEGF-A, impaired the angiogenesis of HUVECs, and facilitated the polarization of macrophage toward the M1 subset. Mechanistically, the interaction between MALAT1 and miR-140 or between miR-140 and VEGF-A was confirmed by multiple assays. Besides, a negative correlation between MALAT1 and miR-140 was found in HCC tissues. Furthermore, miR-140 inhibition significantly increased VEGF-A expression, promoted angiogenesis of HUVECs, and redirected the polarization of macrophages toward the M2 subset. In addition, in vivo studies also verified the regulatory network of the MALAT1/miR-140 axis on VEGF-A in HCC progression. In summary, this study revealed the mechanism that MALAT1 worked as a putative HCC promotor via inhibiting miR-140. Therefore, targeting MALAT1 or miR-140 might alleviate the progression of HCC in the future.

Curcumin widely exists in food, and rapid selective and accurate detection of curcumin have great significance in chemical industry. In this experiment, a new magnetic biocompatibility molecularly imprinted polymer was prepared with nontoxic and biocompatible Zein to adsorb curcumin selectively. The polymer has high biocompatibility, good adsorption capacity, and specific adsorption for curcumin. Combined with portable electrochemical workstations, the polymer can be used to detect curcumin rapidly and cost-effectively. Using curcumin as a template and Zein as the crosslinking agent, the polymers were synthesized on the surface of Fe 3 O 4 particles for solid phase extraction. The experimental results showed that the polymer reached large adsorption capacity (32.12 mg/g) with fast kinetics (20 min). The adsorption characteristic of the polymer followed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Hexacyanoferrate was used as electrochemical probe to generate signals, and the linear range was 5-200 µg/mL for measuring curcumin. The experimental analysis showed that the polymer was an ideal material for selective accumulation of curcumin from complex samples. This approach has been successfully applied to the determination of curcumin in food samples with electrochemical detection, indicating that this is a feasible and practical technique., (© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Prunus itosakura is a flowering tree species with high ornamental and economic values. We determined the first complete chloroplast genome of P. itosakura using genome skimming approach. The cp genome was 157,813 bp long, with a large single-copy region (LSC) of 85,931 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 19,120 bp separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 26,381 bp. It encodes 129 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA genes. We also reconstructed the phylogeny of Prunus sensu lato using maximum likelihood (ML) method, including our data and previously reported cp genomes of related taxa. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that P. itosakura is closely related with Prunus subhirtella var. subhirtella ., Competing Interests: The authors are grateful to the opened raw genome data from public database. The authors report no conflicts of interest and are responsible for the content and writing of the paper., (© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Background: Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA), which is present in the blood, is related to the apoptosis and necrosis of cancer cells; inflammation also influences the total plasma level of cfDNA. However, the total plasma cfDNA level has not been investigated in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who experience cancer and HBV infection at the same time. The aim of the study was to investigate total plasma cfDNA in patients with HBV-related HCC., Methods: HBV-related HCC patients were included from January 2018 to May 2019. All patients underwent hepatectomy and were diagnosed with HCC by histopathology. Peripheral blood samples were obtained preoperatively, and the levels of total plasma cfDNA were quantitated by a fluorometric double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) assay. We examined the correlation between cfDNA and clinical parameters, and recurrence-free survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves., Results: Forty-eight HBV-related HCC patients were included. The average age in years was 50.90±13.15, and the mean albumin level was 41.63±5.38 g/L. HBV-DNA, Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) class, TNM stage, tumor number and vascular invasion showed a relationship with total plasma cfDNA (P<0.05), and albumin, prothrombin time (PT) and tumor diameter had linear correlation with plasma cfDNA. Based on multivariate analysis, tumor diameter, vascular invasion, and CTP class (P<0.05) were independent risk factors of total plasma cfDNA. Median recurrence times for low-cfDNA and high-cfDNA groups were 14.729±0.712 and 9.264±1.22 months (P=0.026)., Conclusions: In addition to tumor diameter and vascular invasion, CTP class can influence total plasma cfDNA in HBV-related HCC patients, and the total plasma cfDNA level can be used as a biomarker to predict early recurrence in HBV-related HCC patients., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2019 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To explore the protective effects of quercetin (QE) on triptolide (TP) induced liver injury and the relevant mechanism., Methods: Forty C57BL/6 mice were equally divided into 4 groups, control group, TP model group, 20 mg/kg QE treatment group and 80 mg/kg QE treatment group randomly. The 20 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg QE groups were gastrointestinal administration with QE at the dose of 0.2 mL/10 g for 10 d, twice daily, while other groups were administrated with equivalent normal saline. Four hours post the last dose, animals were gastrointestinal administered with TP at a dose of 500 μg/kg per mouse, except for NS control. All the mice were sacrificed 22 h later, blood and liver tissue samples were collected. The pathologic change of liver tissue was detected by HE staining. The level of aminotransferase (AST) and aspartate alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum, and the level of glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in liver tissue homogenates were detected using the commercial kits. The level of interleukin (IL)-17, IL-10 and IL-6 in liver tissue homogenates was measured by ELISA. Hepatic expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was detected by Western blot., Results: Compared with the control group, in the TP model group, hepatic lobule structure atrophied and even disappeared, hepatic cell necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration are obvious. Additionally, in TP model group, serum ALT, AST and MDA levels were significantly increased, SOD and GSH levels were decreased, IL-6 and IL-17 levels were increased, IL-10 levels were decreased, and TLR4 protein levels were increased ( P < 0.05). Compared with the TP model group, liver tissue injury and inflammatory cell infiltration were reduced in the QE group, and serum levels of ALT, AST, MDA, IL-6 and IL-17 were all decreased. TLR4 expression was down-regulated ( P < 0.05) in both QE groups, and the decease levle was more significant in the high-dose QE group ( P < 0.05, compared with the low-dose QE group)., Conclusion: Quercetin can reduce TP-induced liver injury by reducing oxidative damage, promoting antioxidant and regulating cytokine secretion., (Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Science Edition).)

Integral imaging is a promising three-dimensional (3D) imaging technique that captures and reconstructs light field information. Microlens arrays are usually used for the reconstruction process to display 3D scenes to the viewer. However, the inherent chromatic aberration of the microlens array reduces the viewing quality, and thus, broadband achromatic imaging remains a challenge for integral imaging. Here, we realize a silicon nitride metalens array in the visible region that can be used to reconstruct 3D optical scenes in the achromatic integral imaging for white light. The metalens array contains 60 × 60 polarization-insensitive metalenses with nearly diffraction-limited focusing. The nanoposts in each high-efficiency (measured as 47% on average) metalens are delicately designed with zero effective material dispersion and an effective achromatic refractive index distribution from 430 to 780 nm. In addition, such an achromatic metalens array is composed of only a single silicon nitride layer with an ultrathin thickness of 400 nm, making the array suitable for on-chip hybrid-CMOS integration and the parallel manipulation of optoelectronic information. We expect these findings to provide possibilities for full-color and aberration-free integral imaging, and we envision that the proposed approach may be potentially applicable in the fields of high-power microlithography, high-precision wavefront sensors, virtual/augmented reality and 3D imaging., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2019.)

Two flavone di-C-glycosides, a pair of isomers, were isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis. The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were elucidated by means of physical data, including 1D and 2D NMR and HR-ESI-MS. Supporting theoretical calculations of the compound conformational landscape has also been conducted for geometry optimization. This is the first report of the natural occurrence of β-furanoarabinoside. In addition, the effects of compounds 1 and 2 on NO, pro-inflammatory cytokines, PGE2 and COX-2 levels were measured in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells. The pair of isomers exhibited significant inhibitory effects on inflammation.

In this work, surface molecularly imprinted polymers (SMIPs) were prepared as a specific sorbent to remove the limonin from the lemon juice for the first time, and then the MIPs containing limonin were directly made into a water-soluble gel to treat inflammation of mice. The resulting polymers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer spectra. And the polymerization conditions and adsorption performances of the resultant nanomaterials were further investigated in detail. Results showed that the MIPs have higher adsorption capacity (27.72 mg/g) compared with surface molecularly non-imprinted polymers (NIPs) (8.12 mg/g). The selectivity experiment indicated that the polymers had excellent selective recognition for limonin and the selectivity factors were calculated as 2.75 and 1.83 for nomilin and obakunone, respectively. The MIPs were successfully used as adsorbent for selectively removing limonin from lemon juice and the MIPs extracted almost all the limonin from lemon juice according to the HPLC results. Furthermore, the MIPs with limonin were processed into water-soluble gel, which can be used to reduce the inflammation and enhance wound healing of model mice., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Thermo-responsive magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared by simple surface molecular imprinting polymerization for the selective adsorption and enrichment of formononetin from Trifolium pretense by temperature regulation. Using formononetin as a template, N-isopropylacrylamide as the thermo-responsive functional monomer, and methacrylic acid as an assisting functional monomer, the polymers were synthesized on the surface of the magnetic substrate. The results show that imprinted polymers attained controlled adsorption of formononetin in response to the temperature change, with large adsorption capacity (16.43 mg/g), fast kinetics (60 min) and good selectivity at 35°C compared with that at 25 and 45°C. The selectivity experiment indicated that the materials had excellent recognition ability for formononetin and the selectivity factors were between 1.32 and 2.98 towards genistein and daidzein. The excellent linearity was attained in the range of 5-100 μg/mL, with low detection limits and low quantitation limits of 0.017 and 0.063 μg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the thermo-responsive magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers were successfully utilized for enriching and purifying formononetin from Trifolium pretense. The analytical results indicate that the imprinted polymers are promising materials for selective identification and enrichment of formononetin in complicated herbal medicines by simple temperature-responsive regulation., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

An efficient method combined with fingerprint and chemometric analyses was developed to evaluate the quality of the traditional Chinese medicine plant Penthorum chinense Pursh. Nine samples were collected from different regions during different harvest periods, and 17 components in the form of extracts were simultaneously examined to assess quality by using high-performance liquid chromatography. The hepatoprotective effects of components were investigated by assessing the inhibition of SMMC-7721 cell growth. The results indicated that the quality control method was accurate, stable, and reliable, and the hierarchical heat-map cluster and the principle component analyses confirmed that the classification of all nine samples was consistent. Quercetin and ellagitannins including pinocembrin-7-O-[3''-O-galloyl-4'',6''-hexahydroxydiphenoyl]-β-glucose (PGHG), thonningianin A, thonningianin B, and other flavonoids were abundant in the extracts, and significantly contributed to the hepatoprotective effects.

Background: Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) is a method that combines cognitive behavioral relapse prevention with mindfulness practice. Research suggests that MBRP can effectively reduce withdrawal/craving in people with substance use disorder (SUD). An important part of MBRP is to practice mindfulness meditation to cope with high-risk situations for relapse, such as stimuli and situations associated with drug taking. Virtual reality cue exposure (VRCE) may be a complementary approach to MBRP as it allows for controlled and graded presentations of various high-risk situations with distal and proximal drug cues. The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of MBRP combined with VRCE, in comparison to MBRP alone or treatment as usual, on craving and emotional responses in people with methamphetamine use disorders., Method/design: The study is a parallel randomized controlled study including 180 participants with methamphetamine use disorder. Three parallel groups will receive 8 weeks of MBRP combined with VRCE, MBRP alone, or treatment as usual, respectively. Craving, virtual cue reactivity, anxiety, depression, emotion regulation, mindfulness and drug-related attention bias will be assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 3 and 6 months of follow-up., Discussion: This innovative study aims at investigating the effects of MBRP combined with VRCE in people with SUD. The combined intervention may have important clinical implications for relapse prevention due to its ease of application and high cost-effectiveness. This study may also stimulate research on the neuronal and psychological mechanisms of MBRP in substance use disorder., Trial Registration Number: ChiCTR-INR-17013041., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a multifunctional cell process involved in the pathogenesis of numerous conditions, including fibrosis and cancer. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and fatal disease characterized by fibroblast accumulation and collagen deposition in the lungs. The fibroblasts involved in this process partially originate from lung epithelial cells via the EMT. Evidence suggests that the EMT contributes to progression, invasion, and metastasis of various types of cancer. We screened a series of 80 compounds for the ability to interfere with the EMT and potentially be applied as a therapeutic for IPF and/or lung cancer. We identified 2-aminopurine (2-AP), a fluorescent analog of guanosine and adenosine, as a candidate in this screen. Herein, we demonstrate that 2-AP can restore E-cadherin expression and inhibit fibronectin and vimentin expression in TGF-β1-treated A549 lung cancer cells. Moreover, 2-AP can inhibit TGF-β1-induced metastasis of A549 cells. This compound significantly attenuated bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary inflammation, the EMT, and fibrosis. In addition, 2-AP treatment significantly decreased mortality in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis. Collectively, we determined that 2-AP could inhibit metastasis in vitro by suppressing the TGF-β1-induced EMT and could attenuate BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in vivo. Results of this study suggest that 2-AP may have utility as a treatment for lung cancer and pulmonary fibrosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

In this work, a modified pretreatment method using magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) was successfully applied to study the metabolites of an important botanical with ultraperformance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). The MMIPs for glucoside-specific adsorption was used to identify metabolites of Pulsatilla chinensis in rat feces. Polymers were prepared by using Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles as the supporting matrix, d-glucose as fragment template, and dopamine as the functional monomer and cross-linker. Results showed that MMIPs exhibited excellent extraction performance, large adsorption capacity (5.65 mg/g), fast kinetics (60 min), and magnetic separation. Furthermore, the MMIPs coupled with UPLC-Q-TOF-MS were successfully utilized for the identification of 17 compounds including 15 metabolites from the Pulsatilla saponin metabolic pool. This study provides a reliable protocol for the separation and identification of saponin metabolites in a complex biological sample, including those from herbal medicines.

Triptolide (TP) is a diterpene triepoxide with various biological activities, but its clinical applications have been limited by potential hepatotoxicity, which can be attributed to T helper 17 (Th17)/T regulatory (Treg) cell imbalance. Quercetin (QE), a natural flavonoid, has been reported to have many benefits and medicinal properties, including hepatoprotective activity against TP-induced liver injury. However, the hepatoprotection mechanisms have not been clarified. The present study was designed to explore the protective effect and the mechanism of QE against TP-induced liver injury. Treatment with QE (20, 50 and 80mg/kg) prior to TP administration restored TP-induced alterations in a certain dose range indicating that QE was able to inhibit TP-induced liver injury. One mechanism underlying this effect was the shifting balance in Th17 and Treg cells from Th17 dominance to Treg dominance. Furthermore, QE markedly decreased the expression level of the Th17-related pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-6, as well as the Th17 transcription factor retinoid-related orphan receptor-γt (ROR-γt). TP induced downregulation in the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, but the expression of Treg transcription factor forkhead/winged-helix family transcriptional repressor p3 (FoxP3) was restored by QE. In the process of exploring the possible hepatoprotective mechanisms of QE, we found that QE significantly reduced both protein and mRNA expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which in turn not only inactivated myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MYD88), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and related inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-17, but also simultaneously increased the levels of T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (Tim-3). Furthermore, blocking of TLR4 enhanced the effect of QE in regulating the Th17/Treg imbalance. In summary, this report has demonstrated for the first time that the protection afforded by QE against TP-induced liver injury was associated with a shift in the balance of Th17 and Treg cells to Treg dominance, which was regulated by Tim-3 and TLR4-MyD88-NF-κB signaling pathway., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Long-term and synchronous monitoring of PM 10 and PM 2.5 was conducted in Chengdu in China from 2007 to 2013. The levels, variations, compositions and size distributions were investigated. The sources were quantified by two-way and three-way receptor models (PMF2, ME2-2way and ME2-3way). Consistent results were found: the primary source categories contributed 63.4% (PMF2), 64.8% (ME2-2way) and 66.8% (ME2-3way) to PM 10 , and contributed 60.9% (PMF2), 65.5% (ME2-2way) and 61.0% (ME2-3way) to PM 2.5 . Secondary sources contributed 31.8% (PMF2), 32.9% (ME2-2way) and 31.7% (ME2-3way) to PM 10 , and 35.0% (PMF2), 33.8% (ME2-2way) and 36.0% (ME2-3way) to PM 2.5 . The size distribution of source categories was estimated better by the ME2-3way method. The three-way model can simultaneously consider chemical species, temporal variability and PM sizes, while a two-way model independently computes datasets of different sizes. A method called source directional apportionment (SDA) was employed to quantify the contributions from various directions for each source category. Crustal dust from east-north-east (ENE) contributed the highest to both PM 10 (12.7%) and PM 2.5 (9.7%) in Chengdu, followed by the crustal dust from south-east (SE) for PM 10 (9.8%) and secondary nitrate & secondary organic carbon from ENE for PM 2.5 (9.6%). Source contributions from different directions are associated with meteorological conditions, source locations and emission patterns during the sampling period. These findings and methods provide useful tools to better understand PM pollution status and to develop effective pollution control strategies., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Pulsatilla chinensis (Bunge) Regel is commonly used in Asia, and anemoside B4 (AB4) is its major saponin, with diverse pharmaceutical effects. Previous studies showed that intestinal flora plays an important role in the metabolism of herbs administered orally. In this study, the metabolic profile of AB4 with microflora in rat small and large intestines in vitro was investigated. Gut microflora was collected from different intestinal segments and anaerobically incubated with AB4 at 37°C for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h, respectively. A total of 10 metabolites were detected and identified by ultra- performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, involving the products of oxygenation and deglycosylation reactions. Gut microflora in the large intestine generated more comprehensive metabolic pathways, which appears to be attributable to the wider range of bacterial types and numbers of bacteria. Human cancer cell lines SMMC-7721, Hela and MCF-7 were treated with metabolite pools by MTT assay, together with M6 as the greatest deglycosylation product. As a result, M6 exhibited a reduction in cell viability of SMMC-7721 with an IC 50 value of 22.28 ± 1.26 μg/mL. The present study provided scientific evidence for AB4 metabolism in small and large intestines, which is helpful to reveal the active forms of AB4 in vivo., (Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Previous studies have demonstrated that fatty acid synthase (FASN) is overexpressed in osteosarcoma (OS) cells and tissues and, therefore, knockdown of FASN may inhibit OS cell proliferation, migration and invasion via regulation of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt) signaling pathway in vitro . However, the tumor microenvironment has a crucial role in the determination of tumor malignant phenotype. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of knockdown of FASN on OS progression and the potential molecular mechanism in nude mice with orthotopic tumor implants in vivo . Results demonstrated that the knockdown of FASN markedly suppressed the growth and metastasis of OS, at least partially, by blocking the HER2/PI3K/Akt signal pathway in mice with intratibial 143B OS xenografts. These results suggest that the FASN/HER2/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway may be a potential therapeutic target for OS management.

To characterize the sources of to PM10 and PM2.5, a long-term, speciate and simultaneous dataset was sampled in a megacity in China during the period of 2006-2014. The PM concentrations and PM2.5/PM10 were higher in the winter. Higher percentages of Al, Si, Ca and Fe were observed in the summer, and higher concentrations of OC, NO3(-) and SO4(2-) occurred in the winter. Then, the sources were quantified by an advanced three-way model (defined as an ABB three-way model), which estimates different profiles for different sizes. A higher percentage of cement and crustal dust was present in the summer; higher fractions of coal combustion and nitrate+SOC were observed in the winter. Crustal and cement contributed larger portion to coarse part of PM10, whereas vehicular and secondary source categories were enriched in PM2.5. Finally, potential source contribution function (PSCF) and source regional apportionment (SRA) methods were combined with the three-way model to estimate geographical origins. During the sampling period, the southeast region (R4) was an important region for most source categories (0.6%-11.5%); the R1 (centre region) also played a vital role (0.3-6.9%)., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the most common cause of acute liver failure. Disruption of the Th17/Treg balance can lead to hepatic inflammation, which causes the main symptoms of DILI. Here we investigate the protective mechanisms of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on triptolide (TP)-induced DILI that shows the Th17/T reg imbalance. Pretreatment with EGCG (5[Formula: see text]mg/kg) for 10 days before TP (0.5[Formula: see text]mg/kg) administration in mice significantly reduced the increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level ([Formula: see text]) induced by TP treatment. The hepatic histology analysis further proved that EGCG protected mice from TP-induced liver injury. The imbalance of Th17/T reg was induced by TP treatment, as shown by the upregulation of TLR4 and downregulation of Tim3 expression. EGCG pretreatment can maintain the expression of TLR4 and Tim3 at normal levels to restore the Th17/T reg imbalance. In addition, EGCG can block the TP-induced expression of the downstream targets of TLR4, including MyD88, NF[Formula: see text]B, and retinoid related orphan receptor (ROR-[Formula: see text]t), while EGCG can restore the TP inhibition of forkhead/winged-helix family transcriptional repressor p3 (FoxP3) that is the downstream target of Tim3. Consequently, EGCG pretreatment can effectively inhibit the Th17-related pro-inflammatory cytokine (e.g. IL-17 and IL-6) upregulation induced by TP treatment. However, TP inhibition of T reg -related anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 production was restored by EGCG pretreatment. Taken together, these results suggest that EGCG possesses significant protective properties against TP-induced hepatic inflammatory injury, and that these properties are carried out via the restoration of the Th17/T reg imbalance by the inhibition of the TLR4 signaling pathway and the enhanced activation of the Tim3 signaling pathway.

Elevated expression of Aurora-B affects cell apoptosis and proliferation in a variety of solid tumors. However, the role of Aurora-B has been poorly evaluated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the present study, it was found that Aurora-B was overexpressed in tissue specimens obtained from 174 patients with lung cancer. It was also demonstrated that knockdown of Aurora-B induces apoptosis and inhibits the growth of lung cancer A549 cells in vitro and in vivo . Furthermore, it was found that silencing Aurora-B decreased the activity of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. Therefore, it was concluded that knockdown of Aurora-B induces apoptosis and inhibits growth in NSCLC A549 cells, in addition to inhibiting the activity of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Targeting Aurora-B may provide a novel target for lung cancer therapy.

The transport of particulate matter (PM) and chemical species is an essential mechanism for determining the fate of PM pollutants and their effects. To determine source transport quantitatively, an ambient PM2.5 dataset from a megacity in China was analysed using a novel method called "Source Directional Apportionment" (SDA). The SDA method is developed in this work to quantify contributions of each source category from various directions. The three steps of SDA are (1) to estimate source categories and time series of source contributions to PM with a factor analysis model, (2) to identify directions by trajectory cluster analysis and (3) to quantify source directional contributions for each source category by combining the time series of source contributions to the back trajectories in each direction. For PM2.5 in Chengdu, crustal dust, vehicular exhaust, coal combustion and secondary sulphate are all important contributors to PM; secondary nitrate and cement dust are relatively less influential. Four potential source directions were identified in Chengdu during the sampling period from 2009 to 2011. The percentages of source directional contributions from Directions 1-4 (northeast, southwest to south, southwest and west) were estimated as follows: crustal dust (7.9%, 9.1%, 6.4% and 6.2%, respectively), cement dust (1.0%, 1.2%, 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively), vehicular exhaust (6.4%, 6.0%, 5.6% and 7.0%, respectively), secondary sulphate (5.1%, 5.2%, 5.6% and 8.6%, respectively) and secondary nitrate (2.0%, 2.4%, 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively). Finally, the source directional contributions to important chemical species were quantified to determine their transport from sources to receptor., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

PM10 and PM2.5 samples were simultaneously collected during a one-year monitoring period in Chengdu. The concentrations of 16 particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Σ16PAHs) were measured. Σ16PAHs concentrations varied from 16.85 to 160.24 ng m(-3) and 14.93 to 111.04ngm(-3) for PM10 and PM2.5, respectively. Three receptor models (principal component analysis (PCA), positive matrix factorization (PMF), and Multilinear Engine 2 (ME2)) were applied to investigate the sources and contributions of PAHs. The results obtained from the three receptor models were compared. Diesel emissions, gasoline emissions, and coal and wood combustion were the primary sources. Source apportionment results indicated that these models were able to track the ΣPAHs. For the first time, the cancer risks for each identified source were quantitatively calculated for ingestion and dermal contact routes by combining the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) values with the estimated source contributions. The results showed that gasoline emissions posed the highest cancer risk, even though it contributed less to Σ16PAHs. The results and method from this work can provide useful information for quantifying the toxicity of source categories and studying human health in the future., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Accumulating evidence has revealed that an elevated expression level of Aurora-B is associated with metastasis in various types of malignant tumor. However, it is currently unclear whether this molecule is involved in non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) metastasis, and the molecular mechanisms associated with Aurora-B and metastasis remain unknown. In the present study, in order to investigate whether Aurora-B is involved in the development and metastasis of NSCLC, the Aurora-B protein expression in NSCLC tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry and its association with metastasis was analyzed. The results revealed that the expression levels of the Aurora-B protein in tissues obtained from NSCLC patients with lymph node metastasis were significantly higher than those without metastatic disease. Furthermore, the effect of Aurora-B inhibition on A549 cell migration and invasion, as well as the activity of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway was evaluated. Aurora-B was inhibited in the A549 cells using short hairpin RNA, and the cell migration and invasion rates were investigated using wound healing and Transwell invasion assays. In addition, the expression of the main proteins in the PI3K/Akt/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 were measured by western blot analysis. The results demonstrated that cell migration and invasion were decreased as a result of silencing Aurora-B. Furthermore, the activity of the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway and the expression of MMP-2 and -9 protein were suppressed by silencing Aurora-B. The results of the present study indicate that the knockdown of Aurora-B suppresses A549 cell invasion and migration via the inhibition of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in vitro and thus, targeting Aurora-B may present a potential treatment strategy for NSCLC.

To investigate the long-term trends and variations of the levels, compositions, size distribution and sources of particulate matter (PM), long-term monitoring campaigns of PM10 and PM2.5 were performed in a megacity in China (Chengdu) during the period from 2009 to 2011. The average concentration of PM10 was 172.01±89.80 μg/m(3) and that of PM2.5 was 103.15±59.83 μg/m(3), with an average PM2.5/PM10 of 0.60. Enrichments of the important species indicated that the fractions of crustal elements were higher in PM10 than those in PM2.5, while the abundance of organic carbon (OC) and secondary ions was enriched in the fine PM. Quantitative source apportionments of both PM10 and PM2.5 were performed by PMF. PM10 and PM2.5 in Chengdu were influenced by similar source categories, and their percentage contributions were in the same order: crustal dust was the highest contributor, followed by vehicular exhaust, secondary sulfate, secondary nitrate and cement dust. Crustal dust and cement dust contributed a higher percentage to PM10 than to PM2.5, while vehicular exhaust and secondary particles provided higher percentage contributions to PM2.5. In addition, PMF-HCA was performed to investigate the characteristics of the sources of the clustered samples, identifying three periods: crustal dust dominant-period, secondary sulfate dominant-period and comprehensive source influenced-period. Planting, reduction of precursors, and banning high-emission vehicles should be implemented to control crustal dust, secondary particles and vehicular exhaust in Chengdu. Furthermore, the size-resolved and the period-resolved control would be more effective., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The multiple myeloma SET domain (MMSET) involved in the t(4;14)(p16;q32) chromosomal translocation encodes a histone lysine methyltransferase. High expression of MMSET is common translocation in multiple myeloma (MM) and is associated with the worst prognosis. Recent studies have shown that overexpression of MMSET is significant in other tumor types compared to their normal tissues. However, little is known about its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In these study we investigate the expression of MMSET in HCC and to make correlations with clinicopathologic features. Twenty-eight pairs of HCC and adjacent non-tumor tissues, and eight normal liver tissues were collected for MMSET detection by western blotting and real time-PCR analysis. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of MMSET in HCC and adjacent non-tumor tissues from 103 patients. Overexpression of MMSET was significantly associated with Edmondson stage, vascular invasion. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier curves showed that MMSET upregulated was associated with shorter overall survival and disease-free survival in HCC patient. In conclusion, our study demonstrates for the first time that overexpression of MMSET is an independent prognostic factor and is correlated with poor survival in HCC patients.

Purpose: Exposing the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) during all types of thyroid surgery is essential to protect this nerve. Endoscopic thyroidectomy (ET) has gained acceptance from both patients and physicians, in part due to the cosmetic benefits. Therefore, the avoidance of intraoperative RLN impairment during ET is of critical significance. We have developed a standard approach to expose the RLN during ET that prevents RNL impairment., Patients and Methods: ET was performed in 120 consecutive patients with thyroid disease. In order to develop a standard procedure that protects the RLN, several steps that differed from the traditional open procedure were introduced. First, the thyroid gland was freed from the isthmus instead of the superior pole. Then, the inferior pole of the thyroid gland was meticulously freed, and the lateral side of the thyroid gland was freed followed by the superior pole. At this point, the RLN was easily visualized in the tracheoesophageal groove. The thyroidectomy was then performed simultaneously with exposure of the RLN from the inferior to superior aspects. All RLNs were exposed when hemithyroidectomies, subtotal thyroidectomies, or total thyroidectomies were performed. The operative time and parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcium levels were recorded prospectively and analyzed., Results: Using this method, all RLNs were easily exposed within 15 minutes. Only one case of transient RLN palsy occurred due to accidental contact of the harmonic scalpel to the nerve. Postoperative hypocalcemia occurred in 23 cases (19.2%), and the PTH level decreased significantly in 33 cases (27.5%). The PTH levels returned to normal within 3 months., Conclusion: Use of the described approach to expose and protect the RLN when performing ET is safe and feasible.

Production of high quality interpolation maps of heavy metals is important for risk assessment of environmental pollution. In this paper, the spatial correlation characteristics information obtained from Moran's I analysis was used to supplement the traditional geostatistics. According to Moran's I analysis, four characteristics distances were obtained and used as the active lag distance to calculate the semivariance. Validation of the optimality of semivariance demonstrated that using the two distances where the Moran's I and the standardized Moran's I, Z(I) reached a maximum as the active lag distance can improve the fitting accuracy of semivariance. Then, spatial interpolation was produced based on the two distances and their nested model. The comparative analysis of estimation accuracy and the measured and predicted pollution status showed that the method combining geostatistics with Moran's I analysis was better than traditional geostatistics. Thus, Moran's I analysis is a useful complement for geostatistics to improve the spatial interpolation accuracy of heavy metals.

In the title compound, C(16)H(16)N(2)O(5)·CH(4)O, the two benzene rings in the Schiff base mol-ecule form a dihedral angle of 17.1 (1)°. In the crystal, inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the components into corrugated sheets parallel to the (101) plane.

This study explored the spatial pattern of heavy metals in Beijing agricultural soils using Moran's I statistic of spatial autocorrelation. The global Moran's I result showed that the spatial dependence of Cr, Ni, Zn, and Hg changed with different spatial weight matrixes, and they had significant and positive global spatial correlations based on distance weight. The spatial dependence of the four metals was scale-dependent on distance, but these scale effects existed within a threshold distance of 13 km, 32 km, 50 km, and 29 km, respectively for Cr, Ni, Zn, and Hg. The maximal spatial positive correlation range was 57 km, 70 km, 57 km, and 55 km for Cr, Ni, Zn, and Hg, respectively and these were not affected by sampling density. Local spatial autocorrelation analysis detected the locations of spatial clusters and spatial outliers and revealed that the pollution of these four metals occurred in significant High-high spatial clusters, Low-high, or even High-low spatial outliers. Thus, three major areas were identified and should be receiving more attention: the first was the northeast region of Beijing, where Cr, Zn, Ni, and Hg had significant increases. The second was the southeast region of Beijing where wastewater irrigation had strongly changed the content of metals, particularly of Cr and Zn, in soils. The third area was the urban fringe around city, where Hg showed a significant increase.

NDVI based on NOAA/AVHRR from 1982 to 2003 are used to monitor variable rules for the growing season in spring of vegetation in the north-south transect of eastern China (NSTEC). The following, mainly, are included: (1) The changing speed of greenness period in spring of most regions in NSTEC is slow and correlation with the year is not distinct; (2) The regions in which greenness period in spring distinctly change mainly presented an advance; (3) The regions in which inter-annual fluctuation of greenness period in spring is over 10 days were found in 3 kinds of areas: the area covered with agricultural vegetation types; the areas covered with evergreen vegetation types; the areas covered with steppe vegetation types; (4) changes of vegetation greenness period in spring have spatio-temporal patterns.

Single factor water quality identification index was adopted to assess the surface water quality of Miyun reservoir watershed in Beijing using nearly 20 years monitoring data of 4 sites, also the surface water quality pollution sources were analyzed. The results indicated TP had the largest temporal variation at every monitoring site, coefficients of variation were 93.86%, 86.08%, 50.56% and 139.47%, respectively. The following element was Hg, the coefficients of its variation were 86.08%, 25.75%, 56.52% and 47.01%, respectively. While TN, permanganate index, BOD5, Pb and Cr were relatively stable with small coefficient of temporal variation. The permanganate index, BOD5, Pb and Cr did not exceed to the Chinese surface drinking water standard limit in the study period, while Hg had high pollution risk in several years, such as monitoring sites S1 and S3 in 1992, monitoring sites S4 in 1996. The major pollutants of Miyun reservoir watershed in Beijing were TN and TP, and TN had larger pollution risk compared with TP in most years. Comparing to that before the 1990s, the decade average fertilizer, pesticide and agricultural plastic mulch inputs after the 1990s had increased by 46%, 173% and 359%, respectively. The husbandry proportion in agriculture rose from 24.4% to 39.8%, and the average gross industrial production by 424%. The upstream of Miyun reservoir had larger pollution risk than its downstream. In addition, Chaohe watershed contributed more TN and TP to the reservoir than Baihe watershed.

The research object of the present paper is the water quality of Han Shiqiao wetland water. Water spectrum and quality parameters were measured on the site and in the lab. The authors simulated the relationships between water quality parameters and the best bands or combination, and built the multiple linear regression equation to obtain characteristic spectrum of the key water quality parameters. Besides, several key issues involved in applying ASTER satellite imagery to water quality include atmospheric correction, discussing methods for ASTER data bands analysis, and choosing the best bands and band combination. Results indicated that although the simulation model is not universal, the analysis of spectral characteristics based on ground spectrometer could provide foundations for the choice of remote sensing characteristics bands. The band ratio of water quality parameters simulated from ASTER spectral characteristics moves to relatively long-wave band. Finally, based on the analysis of ASTER remote sensing characteristics bands, the authors built water quality parameters regression model. The models for water quality parameters were recommended, and the accuracies of these models were analyzed. Making use of regression model, we executed spatial distribution map of water quality parameters to achieve wetland water monitoring with remote sensing in terms of variation in space and with time.