Search

To study the role of the PI3K-AKT/mTor signalling pathway, mediated by the STAT3 gene, in the epigenetic pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia.HTR8/Svneo, JEG-3, JAR, and Bewo trophoblast cell lines were divided into a PE group and a control group. STAT3 gene overexpression and interference silencing, immunofluorescence, Real Time-PCR and Western blot, GST-pull down, CHIP, Dual-Luciferase reporter gene test, Rescue experiment, LC-MS/MS analysis. Methods and materials also comprised CCK-8, transwell invasion, MSP and BSP, flow cytometry and wound-healing assay.Compared with the control group, the expression of DNMT1 mRNA and protein was increased, while the expression of STAT3, PTEN, TSC2 mRNA and protein was decreased. There was improvement after 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-AZA-DC) intervention.GST-pull down confirms that STAT3 interacts with PTEN and TSC2. CHIP verifies that STAT3 binds directly to PTEN, and double luciferase reporter experiments verify that STAT3 regulates PTEN promoter activity. STAT3 expression of PTEN is, meanwhile, saved by knock down of PTEN in HTR8/SVneo cells. LC-MS/MS analysis showed upregulation of STAT3, PTEN, TSC2 and TSC2. MSP and BSP analysis screened out the significant difference genes of STAT3, PTEN and TSC2. Following 5-AZA-DC intervention, apoptosis downregulation, invasion upregulation and cell-proliferation upregulation were evinced.Trophoblast STAT3 was an important gene mediating the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia induced by the PI3K-AKT/mTor signal axis. In the context of epigenetic therapy for pre-eclampsia, STAT3 may be deployed as a potential target.

Objective Femoral hernias constantly present as incarceration or strangulation and require emergency surgery. Incarcerated and strangulated femoral hernia repair remains challenging and controversial. The aim of our study was to analyze the efficacy of preperitoneal tension-free hernioplasty via lower abdominal midline incision for incarcerated and strangulated femoral hernia. Methods Data of 47 patients who underwent emergency surgery for incarcerated or strangulated femoral hernias from January 2009 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the surgical incisions, they were divided into two groups: the observation group (21 cases) had a lower abdominal midline incision, and the control group (26 cases) had a traditional inguinal incision. General data of patients, intraoperative findings, operative time and postoperative complications were compared. Results Patient characteristics showed that the two groups were comparable.15 cases (31.9%) underwent intestinal resection, and 32 cases (68.1%) underwent first-stage tension-free repair in total. The rate of first-stage tension-free hernioplasty was significantly higher in the observation group (18/21, 85.7% vs 14/26 53.8%, P = 0.020). No additional incision was required in the observation group, while six cases of the control group (23.1%) had an additional incision for intestinal resection and anastomosis (P = 0.026). Mean operative time (53.6 ± 24.7 min vs 77.9 ± 36.5 min, P = 0.012) and the length of hospital stay (6.3 ± 4.2 days vs 10.3 ± 6.9 days, P = 0.020) were significantly shorter in the observation group. The time of return to normal physical activity resulted significantly reduced compared to the control group (9.2 ± 4.1 days vs 13.3 ± 6.6 days, P = 0.017). The total incidence of postoperative complication (including chronic pain, foreign body sensation, hernia recurrence, wound infection and seroma/hematomas) in the observation group was lower (14.3% vs 42.3% P = 0.037). There were two recurrences in the control group. No mesh-related infection and no mortalities in two groups. Conclusions Midline preperitoneal approach for incarcerated and strangulated femoral hernia is a convenient and effective technique. It can improve the rate of first-stage tension-free repair of incarcerated femoral hernia and allow intestinal resection through the same incision, and with lower rate of postoperative complications.

长链非编码RNA（long non-coding RNAs, lncRNA）是一类长度超过200个核苷酸且因缺乏开放性阅读框架而丧失蛋白编码能力的转录本，但是lncRNA能够在转录以及转录后等不同水平以诸多方式调控肿瘤的发生发展。GAPLINC（gastric adenocarcinoma associated, positive CD44 regulator, long intergenic non-coding RNA）定位于人类染色体18p11.31，在多种恶性肿瘤（胃癌、结直肠癌、胆管癌等）中异常高表达并能够通过不同的作用机制调控肿瘤细胞的增殖、抗凋亡、侵袭和转移。此外，GAPLINC还可作为生物标志物在肿瘤的早期诊断、靶向治疗及患者的预后评估等方面具有重要的应用前景。该文就GAPLINC在恶性肿瘤中的调控作用及应用前景作一综述。.

From March 2015 to February 2018, 4 728 women aged 18 to 45 years old with single-pregnancy at the gestational age of 13 to 27 weeks in Hefei were recruited to analyze the trend of vitamin D status. The average levels of serum 25(OH)D in 2015, 2016 and 2017 were (43.22±18.41) nmol/L, (39.3±15.1) nmol/L and (36.6±17.0) nmol/L, and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency were 69.5%, 77.6% and 81.4%, respectively. Compared with 2015, the levels of serum 25(OH)D in pregnant women in 2016 and 2017 decreased by 5.23 (952015年3月至2018年2月，在合肥市招募孕13~27周、年龄为18~45岁的常住单胎妊娠孕妇4 728名，分析维生素D状态的变化趋势。2015—2017年的血清25（OH）D水平分别为（43.2±18.4）、（39.3±15.1）和（36.6±17.0）nmol/L，维生素D缺乏率分别为69.5%、77.6%和81.4%。与2015年相比，2016年和2017年孕妇的血清25（OH）D水平分别下降5.23（95

Nd (3 %) and Ti (2 %) codoped BiFeO3 (BNFTO) films with different layer and film thicknesses were deposited on LaNiO3(100)/Si substrates using a metal organic decomposition method. The BNFTO films show a highly (100)-preferred orientation. The hysteresis loops of both films are asymmetric with negatively imprinted polarizations, suggesting that both samples are self-polarized regardless of the layer and film thicknesses. More importantly, the P–E hysteresis loops for both films can recover to their asymmetric shapes after high-field measurements, indicating the self-polarizations are quite stable. These results are explained based on the stabilization of the defect complexes. The effects of the self-polarization on the leakage, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the BNFTO films are investigated.

The high-concentration precursor solution of Bi0.9La0.1FeO3 (BLFO) was fabricated and stored under the different temperatures (40, 20, 0 °C). After 10 days, the solution at the temperature of 40 °C generated both bismuth acetate precipitation and nitrogen dioxide gas and at the temperature of 20 °C generated nitrogen dioxide gas, while the solution still maintains stability and transparency at the temperature of 0 °C. These results show that low temperature is an important way to improve the stability of high-concentration precursor solution in sol–gel method. Furthermore, the stability precursor solution is adopted to prepare BLFO thick film on indium tin oxide/glass substrate by spin coating combined with sequential layer annealing. The film exhibits a perovskite structure without impurity phase; especially, a comparatively high remanent polarization (P r) of 42.85 μC/cm2 can be obtained, which may be related to lanthanum doping, preferred (110) orientation and relatively compact microstructure. XRD patterns and cross-sectional structure of Bi0.9La0.1FeO3 thick film, polarization–electric field (P–E) loops at various voltages.

Nd (3 %) and Ti (2 %) co-doped BiFeO3 (BNFTO) thin film was deposited on indium tin oxide-coated glass substrate by a metal organic decomposition process. The BNFTO film exhibits a single perovskite phase with random orientation and good insulating property with low leakage current. Asymmetrical polarization–electric field loops are observed in the BNFTO film: This is mainly attributed to the role of oxygen vacancy-related defect complexes in the film. Additionally, the capacitance of the sample is strongly dependent on both the applied voltage and measuring frequency. Furthermore, with the increase in applied voltages or decrease in frequencies, the dielectric tunability is gradually enhanced. The related physics mechanism for the enhanced performance is also discussed. High dielectric constant of 165, dielectric tunability of 27 % and figure of merit of 13.5 are achieved when a measuring frequency of 1 kHz is applied. These present results can be regarded as a base for further development of high-performance BiFeO3 films. Polarization–electric field (P–E) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) curves of the BNFTO film measured under various electric fields and applied bias voltages.

The Zn2+ doped non-stoichiometric [(Na0.7K0.2Li0.1)0.45Bi0.55](Ti1−x Zn x )O3+δ (NKLBTZn x , x = 0–4 at.%) thin films were deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide/glass substrates via a metal organic decomposition method. The effect of Zn2+ doping content on microstructure, insulating characteristic and dielectric properties were mainly investigated. All the thin films exhibit similar single perovskite structures without detectable secondary phase and the grain size gradually decreases with the increase of Zn2+ doping content. Compared with other films, NKLBTZn0.01 thin film shows enhanced insulating characteristic with lower leakage current, and improved dielectric properties with a relatively higher dielectric tunability and lower dielectric loss. Moreover, with the increasing of electric field or decreasing of measuring frequency, the dielectric tunability is progressively increased. The tunability and figure of merit for the NKLBTZn0.01 thin film at 300 kV/cm and 1 kHz are 40.1 % and 7.0, respectively. These findings suggest that NKLBTZn thin film has potential applications in microwave dielectric devices.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is the second most common primary malignant hepatobiliary cancer worldwide. The circular RNA (circRNA) Cdr1as has been found to play critical roles in various cancers. However, the relationship between circRNA Cdr1as and CCA is still ambiguous. The aim of this study was to explore the expression level of Cdr1as in CCA and to further investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic value of Cdr1as.We investigated the circRNA Cdr1as expression in 54 paired tumor and adjacent normal tissues of CCA patients by using quantitative Real-time PCR, and evaluated the relevance between Cdr1as expression level and the clinicopathological features. We further assessed the association of Cdr1as expression with overall survival and its prognostic efficacy.The expression of circRNA Cdr1as in tumor tissues was higher than that in adjacent normal tissues. The overexpression of Cdr1as was closely associated with the advanced TNM stage, lymph node invasion, and postoperative recurrence. The overall survival of CCA patients with high Cdr1as expression was worse than that of the CCA patients with low Cdr1as expression. According to multivariate analysis, the Cdr1as expression could be considered as an independent prognostic biomarker for cholangiocarcinoma with acceptable sensitivity and specificity.Our finding suggested that circRNA Cdr1as may serve as a potential vicious molecular biomarker to predict the aggressive tumor progression and worse prognosis for CCA patients.

To investigate the expression of long noncoding RNA CCAT1 in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) and to assess the CCAT1 expression as a prognostic biomarker for CCA.The CCAT1 expression in tumor tissues and paired adjacent normal tissues from 91 CCA patients was detected by quantitative real-time PCR. The association of the CCAT1 expression with clinicopathological features of CCA patients and the prognostic value of the CCAT1 expression for overall survival was also evaluated by Kaplan-Meier, Cox regression model and ROC analysis.The CCAT1 expression was significantly upregulated in CCA tumor tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. The CCAT1 expression was obviously associated with histological differentiation, lymph node invasion, and TNM stage. The overall survival of CCA patients with high CCAT1 expression was worse. Furthermore, the CCAT1 expression could be considered as an independent prognostic factor in predicting the overall survival for CCA patients.Our study showed that lncRNA CCAT1, which was upregulated and associated with aggressive malignant behavior, may serve as a novel prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for cholangiocarcinoma.

The paper proposes a novel processing method of additional shielding gas for compensation to overcome welding defects, which often occur when high temperature solid and liquid phase welds are exposed to air. This method properly modifies the current pulsed MIG welding device by adding an airflow control branch of shielding gas for compensation, so that weld formation of the high-temperature, solid-liquid phase from the welding torch nozzle can be manually intervened and secondary gas protection of the weld surface can be implemented. This modified welding device with additional airflow is then used to conduct bead-on-plate pulsed MIG welding experiments using 18-8 type austenitic stainless steel as the base material. The study of microstructure and physical properties of the weld indicates that after introducing a certain amount of shielding gas for compensation, not only is weld formation significantly improved, but there is also timely track and protection of the weld surface. This largely inhibits the occurrence of welding defects during high-speed pulsed MIG single-wire welding and helps improve welding efficiency, and this study might demonstrate the necessity of further research and exploration.

Medulloblastoma is the most common type of malignant brain tumor in children. Despite a relatively high long-term survival rate, complications still represent great burden for the majority of patients receiving traditional therapy. Therefore, the development of new effective treatments and drugs is urgently needed. A cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assay were used to evaluate medulloblastoma cell proliferation and colony formation, respectively. Cell cycles and apoptosis were assessed by flow cytometry. A western blot was performed to determine the levels of protein expression. Axenograft model of medulloblastoma was established to evaluate the in vivo anticancer effects of icariin. The CCK-8 assay showed that icariin decreased cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The colony formation assay indicated that icariin potently inhibited the colony formation ability of Daoy and D341 cells. Icariin-induced proliferation inhibition may be due to S-phase arrest in medulloblastoma cells. In addition, icariin induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, as shown by the results of annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) double staining and Hoechst 33342 staining. Icariin progressively inhibited tumor growth and induced apoptosis in a mouse model. Moreover, cell cycle regulators Cyclin A, CDK2, and Cyclin B1, and apoptosis-related proteins caspase-3, caspase-9, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and Bcl-2 were modulated in response to treatment with icariin in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that icariin may exert anticancer effects. Thus, it is a promising drug for medulloblastoma treatment.