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Let G ⊊ R n G\subsetneq \mathbb {R}^n be an open set. It is shown by Hästö that G G equipped with the j ~ G \tilde {j}_G metric is Gromov hyperbolic. The purpose of this paper is to show that there is a natural quasisymmetric correspondence between the Gromov boundary of ( G , j ~ G ) (G, \tilde {j}_G) and its Euclidean boundary ∂ G \partial G . Both bounded and unbounded cases are in our considerations.

PurposeAcademic social network site (ASNS) is a new form of academic service in the social media age, and the study of ASNS user behavior is of great significance to academic librarians due to its recent popularity. This research explores the influencing factors of the continuous usage intention of ASNSs.Design/methodology/approachA survey of academics in China was conducted, and 361 responses were collected and analyzed with a structural equation model, which involves satisfaction, continuous usage intention, expectation confirmation, perceived usefulness (PU), social identity, referent network size and perceived interactivity (PI).FindingsSatisfaction, expectation confirmation, PU, referent network size, social identity and PI significantly impact continuous usage intention. Satisfaction is a mediating variable by which expectation confirmation, PU, referent network size, social identity and other influencing factors affect continuous usage intention. Expectation confirmation and referent network size are two endogenous variables that can explain and predict the continuous usage intention of ASNSs.Originality/valueExisting research does not consciously distinguish between adoption, use and continuous use, and only scant studies have conducted empirical research. Further, despite the widespread ASNS usage in China, Chinese scholars' studies are few, as existing studies have mainly focused on users of the UK, the US and India.

Graph sampling frequently compresses a large graph into a limited screen space. This paper proposes a hierarchical structure model that partitions scale-free graphs into three blocks: the core, which captures the underlying community structure, the vertical graph, which represents minority structures that are important in visual analysis, and the periphery, which describes the connection structure between low-degree nodes. A new algorithm named hierarchical structure sampling (HSS) was then designed to preserve the characteristics of the three blocks, including complete replication of the connection relationship between high-degree nodes in the core, joint node/degree distribution between high- and low-degree nodes in the vertical graph, and proportional replication of the connection relationship between low-degree nodes in the periphery. Finally, the importance of some global statistical properties in visualization was analyzed. Both the global statistical properties and local visual features were used to evaluate the proposed algorithm, which verify that the algorithm can be applied to sample scale-free graphs with hundreds to one million nodes from a visualization perspective.

Landslide is a global environmental geological hazard caused by natural or human activities. Since the impoundment of the Three Gorges reservoir area, the geological disasters such as collapses, landslides and other kinds of geological disasters increased obviously due to the periodic fluctuation of the water level in the Yangtze River. Wanzhou District is located in the center of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, which plays an important role in the prevention and control of geological hazards in the whole Three Gorges Reservoir Area. This is because a large number of deep bedrocks old landslides are distributed among this region, such as Taibaiyan ancient landslide, Caojiezi ancient landslide, Anlesi ancient landslide, Pipaping ancient landslide, and Diaoyanping ancient landslide. In this study, Quasi-Persistent Scatterers InSAR (QPS-InSAR) time-series method is proposed to identify and monitor the ancient landslides in Wanzhou. In this method, the High-coherent test is applied to Quasi-Persistent Scatterers (PSC) selection, and PSC and persistent scatterer are combined to improve the density of measurement points in vegetation area. The QPS-InSAR method is also characterized by the appropriate combination of differential interferograms produced by a Minimum Spanning Tree and the employment of the phase triangulation algorithm to estimate the optimal phase. This technique was performed on 8 scenes of L-band ALOS PALSAR ascending data acquired during 2015–2018, then deformation rate maps and time series for ancient landslide were generated, which were applied to retrieve time series displacement for the large-scale landslide in Wanzhou District. The experiment results show that there are obvious landslide deformation patterns detected in this region with displacement velocity larger than − 21 mm/yr during the observation period. Finally, the influencing factors such as geological conditions, distribution of rainfall and reservoir water level change in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, and deformation mechanism of Wanzhou landslide are analyzed. The monitoring results will help the local government to carry out regular landslide inspection and strengthen landslide disaster early warning.

In this paper, we investigate Hölder continuity of quasiconformal mappings in ℝ n {\mathbb{R}^{n}} from the points of view of quasihyperbolic geometry and the theory of Gromov hyperbolic spaces. We establish several characterizations of Gromov hyperbolic domains satisfying the Gehring–Martio-type quasihyperbolic boundary conditions. As applications, we generalize certain results concerning Hölder continuity of conformal mappings, establishing counterparts of results of Becker and Pommerenke, Smith and Stegenga, and Näkki and Palka in higher-dimensional Euclidean spaces.

In this paper, we provide partial solutions to a problem raised by Vaisala on local properties of free quasiconformal mappings. In particular, we show that a locally free quasiconformal mapping is a globally free quasiconformal mapping under the condition of locally relative quasisymmetry.

Sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) is associated with poor survival rates. The identification of potential therapeutic targets for preventing sepsis-induced ALI has clinical importance. Here, we show that estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα) protects against sepsis-induced ALI through ERRα-mediated apoptosis and autophagy. ERRα was upregulated in inflammation models from lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-treated rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) and cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced septic rats. In vitro , overexpression of ERRα ameliorated LPS-induced degradation of adherens junctional molecules, upregulation of bax, cleaved caspase 3 and cleaved caspase 9 levels and downregulation of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 level, and promoted the formation of autophagic flux, while the knockdown of ERRα exacerbated LPS-induced apoptosis and inhibited the activation of autophagy. Rats injected with ERRα agonist were subjected to CLP to elucidate the role of ERRα in sepsis-induced ALI in vivo . Administration of ERRα agonist alleviated the pathological damage of lung tissue, increased the levels of tight junction proteins and adherens junction proteins, and decreased the expression of apoptosis-related proteins. Promoting the expression of ERRα significantly enhanced the process of autophagy and reduced CLP-induced ALI. Mechanistically, ERRα is essential to regulate the balance between autophagy and apoptosis to maintain the adherens junctional integrity. These findings indicate that activation of ERRα provides a new therapeutic opportunity to prevent sepsis-induced ALI.

In the process of synthetic aperture radar image noise suppression by the bi‐dimensional empirical mode decomposition (BEMD) algorithm, the edge effect is a key problem in the BEMD operation. To weaken this effect, an improved BEMD‐kernel principal component analysis (BEMD‐KPCA) method of image denoising is proposed in this study. Experimental results show that the BEMDKPCA algorithm has a good capability of improving edge effects in the BEMD decomposition process and satisfying the requirement of the reliable decomposition results. Compared with the traditional BEMD method, the proposed approach has a good effect on suppressing speckle noise. Additionally, the denoised image from the decomposed components of the IMFs processed by the BEMD‐KPCA method sufficiently preserves the edge and detail information, confirming its high coherency with the original image.

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the invariant properties of uniform domains under flattening and sphericalization in nonlocally compact complete metric spaces. Moreover, we show that quasi-Möbius maps preserve uniform domains in nonlocally compact spaces as well.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the equivalence conditions for uniform perfectness of quasimetric spaces. We also obtain the invariance property of uniform perfectness under quasim?bius mappings in quasimetric spaces. In the end, two applications are given.

By introducing new deformations on symbolic Cantor sets and ultrametric spaces, we prove that doubling ultrametric spaces admit bilipschitz embedding into Cantor sets. If in addition the spaces are uniformly perfect, we show that they are quasisymmetrically equivalent to Cantor sets. As an application, we provide a new proof for a recent work of Heer (Anal. Geom. Metr. Spaces, 2017) regarding quasim\"obius uniformization of Cantor set., Comment: 8 pages, BMMS revised

In this paper, we introduce a class of mappings related to the distance ratio metric and study its connection to the freely quasiconformal mapping in Banach spaces. Moreover, we investigate the invariance of Gromov hyperbolic, natural and uniform domains under this class of mappings.

Let $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ be a Gromov hyperbolic, $\varphi$-length John domain. We show that there is a uniformly continuous identification between the inner boundary of $\Omega$ and the Gromov boundary endowed with a visual metric, By using this result, we prove the boundary continuity not only for quasiconformal homeomorphisms, but also for more generally rough quasi-isometries between the domains equipped with the quasihyperbolic metrics.

Although the perceptions of library user education of academic libraries has been studied in a general context, specific studies on perspective of library and information science students are relatively few, especially in the context of Asia. Filling this research gap is particularly important because it affects the experiential learning of these pre-professionals, and shapes future library user education directions. As such, this study aims at understanding and comparing the views and perceptions of library user education programs in Greater China from the perspective of library and information science students. A total number 305 questionnaire survey responses were collected from three different universities in Greater China, namely: The University of Hong Kong (HKU), National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), and Peking University (PKU). Results from this survey study reveal high evaluations of library user education programs and library user education librarians as a whole, as well as possible ways for librarians to better promote such programs. Such ratings are attributed to findings from previous studies on why students choose librarianship as a career, as well as the importance of experiential learning embedded in the Library and Information Science programs at each university. Findings of this study also suggest that as pre-professionals (soon-to-be professional librarians), these student respondents recognize the values behind library user education as an important part of their overall learning practices. Results from this study will be useful in identifying how future library professionals in Greater China perceive library user education programs, and librarians – therefore potentially helping librarians improve the delivery of these services.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., Objectives: To investigate whether XueBiJing injection improves clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia. Design: Prospective, randomized, controlled study. Setting: Thirty-three hospitals in China. Patients: A total of 710 adults 18–75 years old with severe community-acquired pneumonia. Interventions: Participants in the XueBiJing group received XueBiJing, 100 mL, q12 hours, and the control group received a visually indistinguishable placebo. Measurements and Main Results: The primary outcome was 8-day improvement in the pneumonia severity index risk rating. Secondary outcomes were 28-day mortality rate, duration of mechanical ventilation and total duration of ICU stay. Improvement in the pneumonia severity index risk rating, from a previously defined endpoint, occurred in 203 (60.78%) participants receiving XueBiJing and in 158 (46.33%) participants receiving placebo (between-group difference [95% CI], 14.4% [6.9–21.8%]; p < 0.001). Fifty-three (15.87%) XueBiJing recipients and 84 (24.63%) placebo recipients (8.8% [2.4–15.2%]; p = 0.006) died within 28 days. XueBiJing administration also decreased the mechanical ventilation time and the total ICU stay duration. The median mechanical ventilation time was 11.0 versus 16.5 days for the XueBiJing and placebo groups, respectively (p = 0.012). The total duration of ICU stay was 12 days for XueBiJing recipients versus 16 days for placebo recipients (p = 0.004). A total of 256 patients experienced adverse events (119 [35.63%] vs 137 [40.18%] in the XueBiJing and placebo groups, respectively [p = 0.235]). Conclusions: In critically ill patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia, XueBiJing injection led to a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint of the pneumonia severity index as well a significant improvement in the secondary clinical outcomes of mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation and duration of ICU stay.

This study was undertaken to examine the regulatory role of multidrug resistance-associated protein 4 (MRP4) in an experimental model of sepsis-induced acute lung injury in rats. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture in anesthetized rats. Animals were then randomly assigned to receive intravenous injection of vehicle or MRP4 inhibitor (MK571, 20 mg/kg). The pathological changes were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Lung water content, lung vascular permeability and inflammatory cell count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were quantified. Serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were measured. In addition, lung tissue cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Furthermore, the effects of MRP4 knockdown on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endothelial permeability and the cytoskeleton of rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) were detected. The protein expression levels of MRP4, Rac1, VE-cadherin, β-catenin and ZO-1 were measured by Western blot analysis. MK571 significantly reduced lung tissue damage, lung water content and lung vascular permeability. Lung tissue cAMP levels were attenuated in MK571-treated animals compared with vehicle controls. MK571 also decreased sepsis-induced inflammatory cell accumulation in BALF. In addition, the MK571 group had significantly lower serum TNF-α and IL-6 levels compared with vehicle controls. Consistently, knockdown of MRP4 protected against LPS-induced increase in the endothelial permeability and the destruction of cytoskeleton in vitro. Furthermore, silencing MRP4 gene significantly reduced MRP4 protein expression and restored the protein expression of Rac1, VE-cadherin, β-catenin and ZO-1 in rat PMVECs in response to LPS stimulation. These data suggest that inhibition of MRP4 significantly alleviates sepsis-induced acute lung injury in rats.

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the properties of a mapping which is required to be roughly bilipschitz with respect to the Apollonian metric (roughly Apollonian bilipschit...

This study aims to explore the usage behaviors of smartphones for learning purposes by Library and Information Science (LIS) students of mainland China. A quantitative questionnaire was used for collecting the subjects' usage behavior, their perceptions on learning experience through using smartphones, and their needs of accessing library services using smartphones. The authors analyzed the results from two major universities in mainland China. This research discovered that LIS students in mainland China used smartphones for their daily-life matters more readily than for learning purposes. They were also interested in accessing library services with smartphones, but not many of them were already using these services. The undergraduate and postgraduate respondents had some differences in their usage preferences and behaviors. This paper suspected those library services are already available but the promotion has been inadequate. There are obviously opportunities for educators, librarians, and technology providers to get some insights to improve mobile learning (m-learning) in universities and for students to learn better with mobile technology and apps. This study provides insights into the users' needs and the application of m-learning in mainland China, where scant similar studies have been conducted before.

This study is based on the belief of that enquiry-based learning should be made an integral part of any student’s learning, especially at university level. To find out the students’ perceptions towards library user education, 426 questionnaire surveys have been collected from the Peking University (PKU), China and the University of Tsukuba (UT), Japan. The results of this study indicate that compared with UT, PKU students on the whole expressed higher ratings in many areas towards the user education programs provided by their respective library, and they also had a more positive view about the professional competence of the user education (reference services) librarians. The researchers believed that the different perceptions found between the PKU and UT groups were a direct result of the distinctive learning practices and curricular requirements exercised between the two universities. There are not many articles that explore the relation between enquiry-based learning and the library user education in Asia. The findings of this study are useful for identifying the different learning modes amongst these two groups of students, as well as other barriers that were preventing the library user education programs to be integrated into Inquiring-based learning, and the university’s core curriculum as a whole.

The main purpose of this paper is to study the characterizations of John spaces. We obtain five equivalent characterizations for length John spaces. As an application, we establish a dimension-free quasisymmetric invariance of length John spaces. This result is new also in the case of the Euclidean space.

Background: Equipoise exists regarding the implementation of evidence-based guidelines for nutritional therapy in critical illness because some previous cluster-randomised controlled trials (cRCTs) demonstrate patient benefits whilst others do not. We aimed to resolve this issue by initiating an appropriately powered cRCT to assess whether active implementation of an evidence-based guideline for nutrition therapy in critical illness could reduce mortality. Methods: We did a multicentre, cluster-randomised, parallel-controlled trial in 97 intensive care units (ICUs) throughout China. We developed an up-to-date, evidence-based nutrition guideline. ICUs randomly allocated to implement the guideline formed a local "intervention team", which actively implemented the guideline using standardized educational materials. ICUs assigned to the control group remained unaware of the guideline. All ICUs enroled critically ill patients who were expected to stay longer than seven days. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 28 days of enrolment . Findings Between March, 2018 and July, 2019, we enrolled 1,373 patients at 48 guideline ICUs and 1,399 patients at 49 control ICUs. Implementation of the nutrition guideline resulted in significantly earlier enteral nutrition (EN) initiation (1.20 vs. 1.55 mean days to initiation of EN; difference -0.40 [95% CI, -0.71 to -0.09]; P=0.01) and delayed parenteral nutrition (PN) initiation (1.29 vs. 0.80 mean days to start of PN; difference 1.06 [95% CI, 0.44 to 1.67]; P=0.001). There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality (14.2% vs. 15.2%; difference -1.6% [95% CI -4.3% to 1.2%]; p=0.42) between study groups. Interpretation: Active implementation of an evidence-based guideline can change practice. Our active implementation strategy improved the provision of nutrition therapy to critically ill patients. However, in our cRCT, this improvement in care did not translate to a reduction in mortality. We did not identify any safety concerns associated with the active implementation of our evidence-based guideline for nutrition therapy. Trial Registration: The study was registered in the ISRCTN registry before enrolment commenced (No. ISRCTN12233792). Funding Statement: The study was funded by the Key Research and Development Program Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (no. BE2015685) and Nutricia, Wuxi, China. Declaration of Interests: Dr. GSD reported receiving academic research grants related to nutrition in critical illness from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, Fresenius Kabi Deutschland GmbH and Baxter Healthcare Pty Ltd and speakers honoraria from Fresenius Kabi Deutschland GmbH, Baxter Healthcare Australia, Pty Ltd, Nestle Healthcare, Vevy, Switzerland and Nutricia Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. China. Dr. AvZ reports personal fees from Baxter, personal fees from Nestle, personal fees from Fresenius Kabi, grants and personal fees from Nutricia, grants from Cardinal Health grants from Mermaid grants from Lyric, outside the submitted work. Dr. WqL reported receiving speakers honoraria from Nutricia Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. China. No other disclosures were reported. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the local hospital ethics committees of all the participating ICUs. At each site, informed consent was obtained from the patients or their next of kin before enrolment.

Suppose that $X$ and $Y$ are quasiconvex and complete metric spaces, that $G\subset X$ and $G'\subset Y$ are domains, and that $f: G\to G'$ is a homeomorphism. In this paper, we first give some basic properties of short arcs, and then we show that: if $f$ is a weakly quasisymmetric mapping and $G'$ is a quasiconvex domain, then the image $f(D)$ of every uniform subdomain $D$ in $G$ is uniform. As an application, we get that if $f$ is a weakly quasisymmetric mapping and $G'$ is an uniform domain, then the images of the short arcs in $G$ under $f$ are uniform arcs in the sense of diameter., Comment: Comput. Methods Funct. Theory;2018. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1501.07375

Aiming at the problems existing in the current radio energy transmission system, we propose a wireless power transmission (WPT) system with the parallel–parallel (PP)-compensated structure. The transmitter of the transmission system adopts a separate topological structure to suppress the current shock and noise. In order to improve the efficiency of the WPT, reduce the static loss, and reduce the current oscillation loss on the power side, the input current ripple can be improved by two parallel phase-shifting methods. In this paper, two topological theories are analyzed, and the simulation and experiment results verify the correctness of these theories under both static and on-load conditions. After the final two-way phase-shift, 61.99% of the ripple is reduced. It provides a new approach for the design of WPT systems with PP structure.

Most studies on Chinese academic resource selection have used a qualitative approach, focusing on issues such as resource distribution and accessibility. To fill the research gap, the current article analyses the responses of 190 undergraduate students of the Peking University to a questionnaire survey, revealing various academic resources' access methods, usage frequency, and access obstacles, while exploring underlying factors affecting resource usage with a focus on the language impacts. Further, the application of the innovation diffusion model to study the utilization of library electronic resources is novel. The current findings showed that open-shelf books, electronic journals, and open-access resources were highly utilized because of their high quality. Electronic resources were displacing printed resources. Based on Bass's innovation diffusion model, diffusion of different electronic resources among undergraduate students fit well with the S-curve, though with significantly different slopes, for ...

The aim of this note is to construct a ψ-uniform domain G in the complex plane C such that the identity mapping id: ( G , j G ) → ( G , k G ) is not an η-quasi-symmetric mapping for any homeomorphism η: [ 0 , ∞ ) → [ 0 , ∞ ) . This result shows that the answer to the related open problem, posed by Hasto, Klen, Sahoo and Vuorinen, is negative.

Purpose: To investigate the role of vagus nerve activation in the protective effects of hypercapnia in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) rats. Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to either high-tidal volume or low-tidal volume ventilation (control) and monitored for 4h. The high-tidal volume group was further divided into either a vagotomy or sham-operated group and each surgery group was further divided into two subgroups: normocapnia and hypercapnia. Injuries were assessed hourly through hemodynamics, respiratory mechanics and gas exchange. Protein concentration, cell count and cytokines (TNF-α and IL-8) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), lung wet-to-dry weight and pathological changes were examined. Vagus nerve activity was recorded for 1h. Results: Compared to the control group, injurious ventilation resulted in a decrease in PaO2/FiO2 and greater lung static compliance, MPO activity, enhanced BALF cytokines, protein concentration, cell count, and histology injury score. Conversely, hypercapnia significantly improved VILI by decreasing the above injury parameters. However, vagotomy abolished the protective effect of hypercapnia on VILI. In addition, hypercapnia enhanced efferent vagus nerve activity compared to normocapnia. Conclusion: These results indicate that the vagus nerve plays an important role in mediating the anti-inflammatory effect of hypercapnia on VILI.

The rapid developments of wireless telecommunication networks and the widespread increase of smartphone ownership around the world have created tremendous impacts on the services provided by institutions of higher education worldwide on several dimensions. Unarguably, mobile technologies have created new and unforeseen opportunities for educators, information services providers and students to experience the new horizon of teaching, learning, as well as knowledge transfer and creation. Taking into consideration that since Library and Information Science (LIS) students are training to become future LIS professionals, they are expected to be ready as well as active in integrating mobile technology into their daily learning practices. This study was set up to examine two groups of students (namely: LIS versus non-LIS students) at Peking University – their attitudes and level of activeness in adopting mobile technology in their daily life, as well as in their learning practices. Quantitative questionnaire survey was used for data collection, and a total number of 319 responses (i.e., LIS, 63 and non-LIS, 256) were collected from this study. Findings of this study reveal that no significant differences were found between the two student groups (LIS versus non-LIS) in many areas. In fact, both LIS and non-LIS student groups were using their smartphones to engage in different learning, research, social networking, pastimes, and recreational activities on similar level. However, it was concerning to note that the LIS student group was slightly less active in accessing the online services and resources provided by their university library. This was a particular finding that went against the researchers' original anticipation. However, such unexpected finding did not mean that these LIS students were necessarily less active or ‘open’ as mobile learners. For the reason that in comparison to their non-LIS counterparts, they were equally as active as in terms of using their mobile devices for other learning (particularly collaborative learning) and research purposes. Further studies are recommended to determine various factors that are hindering these LIS students from using the university library's online resources and services on a more active level.

To investigate the effect of multidrug resistance protein 4 (MRP4) overexpression on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced vascular endothelial hyperpermeability of rat pulmonary micro-vascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) and its molecule mechanism.Three to six passages of PMVECs were cultured in vitro, and they were divided into three groups: the cells in LPS group were only challenged by LPS 10 μg/mL after being cultured in serum-free medium for 24 hours; the cells in Ad-shRNA and Ad-MRP4 groups were infected with the empty virus control or recombinant adenovirus expressing MRP4 for 2 hours, and then were cultured in serum-free medium for 24 hours followed by stimulation of LPS 10 μg/mL. Endothelial permeability was assayed by the Transwell chamber models at 2, 6, 12, and 24 hours after LPS stimulation. Intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The morphological characteristics and distribution of F-actin was determined by laser confocal fluorescence microscope. The protein expressions of MRP4, β-catenin, vascular endothelium-cadherin (VE-cad) and ZO-1 were measured by Western Blot.(1) After LPS stimulation, endothelium permeability and intracellular cAMP levels in PMVECs were significantly increased, peaked at 12 hours, and then decreased after 24 hours. Compared with LPS group and Ad-shRNA group, PMVECs of Ad-MRP4 group were exhibited a significant increase in endothelial permeability [12-hour permeability (A value): 1.88±0.06 vs. 1.12±0.17, 1.10±0.18] and a significant decrease in intracellular cAMP level [12-hour cAMP (μg/L): 2.39±0.02 vs. 2.97±0.01, 3.00±0.02, all P0.05]. There was no significant difference in endothelium permeability and intracellular cAMP levels at all time points between the LPS group and the Ad-shRNA group (all P0.05). (2) Under laser confocal fluorescence microscope, after LPS stimulation, the stress fiber formation was induced in three groups. But there were pronounced irregular aggregation of fiber in PMVECs of Ad-MRP4 group. (3) Furthermore, compared with LPS group and Ad-shRNA group, protein expression of MRP4 in Ad-MRP4 group was dramatically increased (gray value: 0.76±0.03 vs. 0.44±0.02, 0.43±0.02, both P0.05), and the protein expressions of β-catenin, VE-cad, and ZO-1 were significantly decreased [β-catenin (gray value): 0.14±0.03 vs. 0.23±0.04, 0.23±0.03); VE-cad (gray value): 0.21±0.01 vs. 0.34±0.02, 0.35±0.04; ZO-1 (gray value): 0.14±0.02 vs. 0.37±0.06, 0.33±0.07, all P0.05]. There was no significant difference in all protein expressions between the LPS group and Ad-shRNA group (all P0.05).MRP4 overexpression can decrease intracellular cAMP levels, reduce intercellular junction protein expression, and then exaggerate LPS-induced vascular endothelial hyperpermeability.

Tetraspanin 12 (TSPAN12), as an earliest member of tetraspanin family, has been recently shown to be highly expressed in several malignant tumors, such as lung cancer and breast cancer, which plays an important role in regulating cell proliferation, migration and invasion. However, the functional roles of TSPAN12 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain largely unclear. In this study, the expression of TSPAN12 was up-regulated compared to that in paracarcinoma tissues. Higher TSPAN12 expression was significantly correlated with TNM stage, tumor size and lymph node metastasis. The vitro functional analysis, including MTT, colony formation, flow cytometry and transwell assays indicated that lentivirus-mediated TSPAN12 knockdown significantly suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion, induced cell apoptosis of CRC cells. In addition, knockdown of TSPAN12 remarkably decreased the growth of subcutaneously inoculated tumors in nude mice. Our findings for the first time supported that TSPAN12 might play a positive role in the regulation of CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. The inhibition of TSPAN12 may serve as a novel promising therapeutic strategy against human CRC.

We conducted a randomized controlled study on the neuroprotective effect of a commonly used anesthetic, etomidate, in an ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury rabbit model.We studied 24 white adult Japanese rabbits at the animal facility at the Medical College of Wuhan University. Rabbits were randomly assigned into a sham-operation group (group I), an IR group (group II), and an etomidate-treated IR group (group III). Rabbits in groups II and III were subjected to 45 min of infrarenal aortic cross-clamping to induce spinal cord ischemia, while group I rabbits received the sham operation as a control. Following an initial single-dose intravenous injection at 0.6 mg/kg 10 min before aortic clamping, etomidate was infused intravenously at 3mg/(kg . hr) in group III rabbits until unclamping, while 0.9% saline was given as the control in group II.Changes in neurological function scores, histopathology, electromyography, malondialdehyde levels, superoxide dismutase activities, and the concentrations of Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Cu(2+), and Zn(2+) ions were measured. Compared with the sham-operation group, group II showed significant IR injury-associated changes in all parameters evaluated (p0.01), whereas these unfavorable changes were significantly reversed in etomidate-treated animals (p0.05 or p0.01). No significant differences were observed between group I and group III animals in all parameters.Etomidate displayed a potent neuroprotective effect against IR-induced spinal cord injuries. We propose that this effect may be associated with the ability of etomidate to enhance the activities of endogenous antioxidants and maintain the ion balance in IR-affected tissues.