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Additional file 1: Figure S1 (A) In vitro biocompatibility of O-CS-DOX NDs at varied concentrations for 24 h treatment. (B) In vitro biocompatibility of O-CS-DOX NDs at varied concentrations for 48 h treatment.

Supplemental Material for A novel strategy against hepatitis B virus: Glycyrrhetnic acid conjugated multi-component synergistic nano-drug delivery system for targeted therapy by QingXia Guan, XiaoYing Zhou, FangFang Yang, Xue Zhang, YanHong Wang, WeiNan Li and XiuYan Li in Journal of Biomaterials Applications

Han Chen,1,2,* Xiaoying Zhou,1,2,* Xinyu Tang,2,3 Shuo Li,1,2 Guoxin Zhang1,2 1Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 2The First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Guoxin ZhangDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300# Guangzhou Road, Nanjing 210029, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail guoxinz@njmu.edu.cnBackground or Purpose: It is important to predict nodal metastases in patients with early esophageal cancer to stratify patients for endoscopic resection or esophagectomy. This study was to establish a novel artificial neural network (ANN) and assess its ability by comparing it with a traditional logistic regression (LR) model for predicting lymph node (LN) metastasis in patients with superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SESCC).Methods: A primary cohort was established, composed of 733 patients who underwent esophagectomy for SESCC from December 2012 to December 2019. The following steps were applied: (i) predictor selection; (ii) development of an ANN and a LR model, respectively; (iii) cross-validation; and (iv) evaluation of performance between the two models. The diagnostic assessment was performed with sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), accuracy, C-index, net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI).Results: The established ANN model had 6 significant predictors: a past habit of alcohol taking, tumor size, submucosal invasion, histologic grade, lymph-vessel invasion, and preoperative CT result. The ANN model performed better than the LR model in specificity (91.20% vs 72.59%, p=0.006), PPV (56.49% vs 39.78%, p=0.020), accuracy (90.72% vs 74.49%, p< 0.0001), C-index (91.5% vs 86.8%, p< 0.001), and IDI (improved by 23.3%, p< 0.001). There were no differences between these two models in sensitivity (87.06% vs 83.21%, p=0.764), NPV (98.17% vs 95.21%, p=0.627), and NRI (improved by − 1.1%, p=0.824).Conclusion: This ANN model is superior to the LR model and may become a valuable tool for the prediction of LN metastasis in patients with SESCC.Keywords: superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, lymph node metastasis, neural network, machine learning

Rapeseed is a very important oil crop in China; however, its production is challenging due to the absence of effective weed management strategies. This is predominantly because of a shortage of herbicide resistance genes. Acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) herbicides inhibit AHAS, a key enzyme involved in branched-chain amino acid synthesis that is required for plant growth. A rapeseed line designated M342 with AHAS herbicide resistance was developed through seed mutagenesis and was studied to assess the level and mode of inheritance of the resistance and to identify the molecular basis of resistance. M342 possessed a high level of cross-resistance to sulfonylureas (SUs) and imidazolinones (IMIs). This resistance was due to AHAS insensitivity to these herbicides and was inherited as a dominant trait conferred by a single nuclear-encoded gene. Molecular analysis revealed the presence of a Trp574Leu mutation in M342, and an allele-specific cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (AS-CAPS) marker was developed and cosegregated with herbicide resistance in the F2, BC1, and BC2 populations. This mutation altered the transcript levels of BnAHAS1 and BnAHAS3 in M342 compared with those in the wild type, but it did not affect the agronomic or quality traits. The simple genetic inheritance of this mutation and the availability of the cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker and herbicide resistance gene should facilitate the development of herbicide-resistant rapeseed cultivars for effective weed control in China.

In this study, ten trace elements in Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam., Lamiaceae, from different regions, periods and parts in Xinjiang were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry following microwave-assisted acid digestion. The decreasing sequence of elements levels was K > Ca > Mg > Fe > Cu > Zn > Na > Mn > Cd > Pb. Chemometric approaches, such as correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to classify Z. clinopodioides according to its elements contents. Principal component analysis revealed 83.51% of the variance with the first four principal component variables. Hierarchical cluster analysis indicated five groups from the eighteen regions, and the result of classification can correspond to the geographical distribution for the most regions. Variation in the elements exhibited a decreasing trend, but of different types in the studied periods. Elemental contents distributed in leaves were higher than those in flowers and stems. Therefore, chemometric approaches could be used to analyze data to accurately classify Z. clinopodioides according to origins. This study provided some elemental information on chemotaxonomy, diversity, changing pattern, distribution, and metabolism of Z. clinopodioides at spatial and temporal levels, and could be used as a reference of planting and quality standards. Keywords: Ziziphora clinopodioides, Trace elements, Atomic absorption spectrometry, Chemometric approaches, Diversity, Variation and distribution

Background The fatty acid composition of B. napus’ seeds determines the oil’s nutritional and industrial values, and affects seed germination. Many studies have reported correlations among C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 based on phenotypic data; however, the genetic basis of the fatty acid composition in B. napus is still not well understood. Results In this study, unconditional and conditional quantitative trail locus (QTL) mapping analyses were conducted using a recombinant inbred line in six environments. In total, 21 consensus QTLs each for C16:0, C18:0 and C18:2, 16 for C18:1 and 22 for C18:3 were detected by unconditional mapping. The QTLs with overlapping confidence intervals were integrated into 71 pleiotropically unique QTLs by meta-analysis. Two major QTLs, uuqA5–6 and uuqA5–7, simultaneously affected the fatty acids, except C18:0, in most of environments, with the homologous genes fatty acid desaturase 2 (FAD2) and glycerol-3-phosphate sn-2-acyltransferase 5 (GPAT5) occurring in the confidence interval of uuqA5–6, while phosphatidic acid phosphohydrolase 1 (PAH1) was assigned to uuqA5–7. Moreover, 49, 30, 48, 60 and 45 consensus QTLs were detected for C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3, respectively, by the conditional mapping analysis. In total, 128 unique QTLs were subsequently integrated from the 232 conditional consensus QTLs. A comparative analysis revealed that 63 unique QTLs could be identified by both mapping methodologies, and 65 additional unique QTLs were only identified in conditional mapping. Conclusions Thus, conditional QTL mapping for fatty acids may uncover numerous additional QTLs that were inhibited by the effects of other traits. These findings provide useful information for better understanding the genetic relationships among fatty acids at the QTL level. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1268-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Black phosphorus (BP) has emerged as a promising material candidate for next generation electronic and optoelectronic devices due to its high mobility, tunable band gap and highly anisotropic properties. In this work, polarization resolved ultrafast mid-infrared transient reflection spectroscopy measurements are performed to study the dynamical anisotropic optical properties of BP under magnetic fields up to 9 T. The relaxation dynamics of photoexcited carrier is found to be insensitive to the applied magnetic field due to the broadening of the Landau levels and large effective mass of carriers. While the anisotropic optical response of BP decreases with increasing magnetic field, its enhancement due to the excitation of hot carriers is similar to that without magnetic field. These experimental results can be well interpreted by the magneto-optical conductivity of the Landau levels of BP thin film, based on an effective k*p Hamiltonian and linear response theory. These findings suggest attractive possibilities of multi-dimensional controls of anisotropic response (AR) of BP with light, electric and magnetic field, which further introduces BP to the fantastic magnetic field sensitive applications.

The anterior communicating artery (ACoA) is the most common site of cerebral aneurysms, accounting for as much as 36% of aneurysms. Microsurgical clipping and coil embolization are treatment modalities for ruptured and nonruptured cerebral aneurysms. Compared with surgical clipping, coil embolization has a relatively lower mortality and incidence of cognitive impairment in patients. However, successful management of the patient with twice ruptured ACoA aneurysm is facing critical challenges.This article has described a case of twice ruptured aneurysm with the first rupture occurring when the patient was admitted and the second rupture occurring during coil embolization. Perioperative nursing assessment, monitoring, intervention, patient teaching, and the nurse's role are discussed from a nursing perspective.

In this paper, a polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) is used as the sensing element for microfluidic velocity measurement. The proposed fiber microfluidic velocity sensor adopts the Sagnac loop structure, where the PMF is incorporated in the fiber loop. The microfluidic velocity measurement is realized by monitoring the output spectrum of the Sagnac loop. Different microfluidic velocity causes different pressure on the side of the PMF, which leads to the wavelength shift of the output spectrum of the Sagnac loop. Experimental results show that a quadratic relationship between the microfluidic velocity and the dip shift of the output spectrum has been observed with the microfluidic velocity range from 0∼900um/min. The proposed microfluidic velocity fiber sensor owns significant behavior in various applications such as chemical engineering and medical equipment technology.

A fiber sphere-embedded long-period fiber grating (LPFG) sensor has been proposed and fabricated for curvature measurement with high sensitivity. Compared with the normal LPFG, the embedded fiber sphere excites cladding modes and two dips of the output spectrum have been observed. The curvature measurement can be realized by monitoring the shift of the two dips. Experimental results show that the highest curvature sensitivity is up to −104.642 nm/m − 1 with the curvature ranging from 0 to 0.71 m − 1. The temperature response of the sensor has also been studied and a quadratic linear relationship between the dip shift and the temperature has been observed. The highest temperature sensitivity is 0.36 nm / ° C with the temperature range between 20°C and 90°C.

To investigate the effectiveness of pedicled superior gluteal artery perforator bilateral quadrilobed flaps for repairing large sacrococcygeal pressure sores.Between June 2003 and August 2011, 6 paraplegia patients with large sacrococcygeal pressure sores were repaired with the pedicled superior gluteal artery perforator bilateral quadrilobed flaps. There were 2 males and 4 females with an average age of 45.6 years (range, 37-62 years). The mean disease duration was 8.4 months (range, 3-26 months). According to National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) standard, 6 cases rated as degree IV. The size of pressure sores ranged from 15 cm x 13 cm to 18 cm x 16 cm. The size of flaps ranged from 18 cm x 14 cm to 21 cm x 15 cm.After operation, all flaps survived successfully. The wounds healed by first intention in 5 cases; partial dehiscence of incision occurred in 1 case, which was cured after dressing change for 26 days. Six patients were followed up 6-24 months (mean, 12.5 months). The appearance and texture of the flaps were smooth and soft with good elasticity and no ulceration.Pedicled superior gluteal artery perforator bilateral quadrilobed flaps can repair large sacrococcygeal pressure sores. The appearance of flaps is smooth and has good compression-resistance effect.

In order to acquire the information about the insertion copy number and integration site of T-DNA in the genome of transgenic high oleic acid rapeseed ( Brassica napus L.), we isolated the genomic DNA from the transgenic line W-4, the T2 generation plants, then the transgenic genomic DNA was digested with Bam HI prior to conducting Southern bolt with the probe of a segment of NPT II labeled with Dig. The results showed that only one copy of T-DNA was detected to be integrated into the genome of transgenic line W-4. To isolate the flanking sequence of both right border and left border of T-DNA insertion in the genome, the thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR (TAIL-PCR) was employed by using three or four nested specific primers designed based on the sequence of the vector pCNFIRnos and a short arbitrary degenerate primer (AD1 or AD2) , respectively. The PCR products corresponding to flanking sequences of the right and left border were specifically amplified. The flanking sequence of right border is 470 bp in length which includes a 290 bp genomic sequence and a 180 bp vector sequence based on analysis of VecScreen, while the left border flanking sequence is 641 bp in length including a 365 bp genomic sequence and a 276 bp vector sequence. Further sequence alignment analysis revealed that the 180 bp sequence is identical to the RB border of pCNFIRnos vector, which exists a 62 bp deletion, whereas the later of 276 bp is better identical to the left border of pCNFIRnos vector besides a change from G to A happened. Therefore, it was suggested that the integration of the T-DNA in the genome of transgenic line W-4 should be a kind of vector backbone-free integration. Furthermore, there is no any information about homologous sequence of acquired flanking sequences found in the genome based on the Blastn analysis, which implied that the T-DNA should be integrated into non-coding region of the genome. In conclusion, we considered that the information about the T-DNA insertion copy number, integration site and flanking sequences in the genome of the transgenic rapeseed W-4 might be very useful for the biosafety assessment of genetically modified rapeseed and for the indentification of the transgenic high oleic acid rapeseed.

Background: DNA methylation of CpG sites on genetic loci has been linked to increased risk of asthma in children exposed to elevated ambient air pollutants (AAPs). Further identification of specific CpG sites and the pollutants that are associated with methylation of these CpG sites in immune cells could impact our understanding of asthma pathophysiology. In this study, we sought to identify some CpG sites in specific genes that could be associated with asthma regulation (Foxp3 and IL10) and to identify the different AAPs for which exposure prior to the blood draw is linked to methylation levels at these sites. We recruited subjects from Fresno, California, an area known for high levels of AAPs. Blood samples and responses to questionnaires were obtained (n = 188), and in a subset of subjects (n = 33), repeat samples were collected 2 years later. Average measures of AAPs were obtained for 1, 15, 30, 90, 180, and 365 days prior to each blood draw to estimate the short-term vs. long-term effects of the AAP exposures. Results: Asthma was significantly associated with higher differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of the Foxp3 promoter region (p = 0.030) and the IL10 intronic region (p = 0.026). Additionally, at the 90-day time period (90 days prior to the blood draw), Foxp3 methylation was positively associated with NO2, CO, and PM2.5 exposures (p = 0.001, p = 0.001, and p = 0.012, respectively). In the subset of subjects retested 2 years later (n = 33), a positive association between AAP exposure and methylation was sustained. There was also a negative correlation between the average Foxp3 methylation of the promoter region and activated Treg levels (p = 0.039) and a positive correlation between the average IL10 methylation of region 3 of intron 4 and IL10 cytokine expression (p = 0.030). Conclusions: Short-term and long-term exposures to high levels of CO, NO2, and PM2.5 were associated with alterations in differentially methylated regions of Foxp3. IL10 methylation showed a similar trend. For any given individual, these changes tend to be sustained over time. In addition, asthma was associated with higher differentially methylated regions of Foxp3 and IL10.