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The combination of tumor ablation and immunotherapy is a promising strategy against tumor relapse and metastasis. Photothermal therapy (PTT) triggers the release of tumor-specific antigens and damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in-situ. However, the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment restrains the activity of the effector immune cells. Therefore, systematic immunomodulation is critical to stimulate the tumor microenvironment and augment the anti-tumor therapeutic effect. To this end, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-stabilized platinum (Pt) nanoparticles (Pt NPs) conjugated with a PD-L1 inhibitor (BMS-1) through a thermo-sensitive linkage were constructed. Upon near-infrared (NIR) exposure, BMS-1 was released and maleimide (Mal) was exposed on the surface of Pt NPs, which captured the antigens released from the ablated tumor cells, resulting in the enhanced antigen internalization and presentation. In addition, the Pt NPs acted as immune adjuvants by stimulating dendritic cells (DCs) maturation. Furthermore, BMS-1 relieved T cell exhaustion and induced the infiltration of effector T cells into the tumor tissues. Thus, Pt NPs can ablate tumors through PTT, and augment the anti-tumor immune response through enhanced antigen presentation and T cells infiltration, thereby preventing tumor relapse and metastasis.

Development of co-processing technology in the cement industry in China is important for environmentally sound disposal and recycling of waste, and contributes to sustainable development of the cement industry. However, dioxin pollution could negatively affect promotion of this technology. Therefore, it is necessary to study the emission characteristics of dioxins in cement kilns. In this study, the emission characteristics of dioxins and factors influencing their generation during co-processing solid wastes were studied in 14 new dry cement kilns. The dioxin concentrations were very similar regardless of whether solid wastes were fed into the kiln. In blank runs without co-processing, the average dioxin concentration was 0.0097 ng international toxic equivalents (I-TEQ)/Nm

In physical vapor deposition (PVD), the energy and incident angle of ions can be adjusted easily by applying an electromagnetic field so that coatings with different structures and properties can be produced. In this work, several high-ionization coating techniques are employed to deposit TiAlN coatings to compare the effectiveness of each technique and resulting coating properties. The continuous high-power magnetron sputtering (C-HPMS) technique shows advantages in the deposition rate and coating performance. In addition, a deposition rate of 400 nm/min is achieved by C-HPMS, whereas those of high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and arc ion plating (AIP) are 85 nm/min and 225 nm/min, respectively. The coating also shows a particle-free and dense morphology with a smaller surface roughness of 22.4 nm. Owing to efficient ionization, the TiAlN coating deposited by C-HPMS has a high hardness of 33.2 GPa which is comparable to those prepared by AIP and HiPIMS but with small residual stress. The results provide valuable information on how to choose the proper techniques and parameters to produce coatings with the desirable adhesion strength, tribological properties, as well as corrosion resistance.

Nanostructured hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been applied widely as a scaffold material for bone tissue engineering for its good osteoinduction and biodegradability. However, the degradation process and the distribution of degraded HAp within the bone-defect cavity is still not clear. To visually study the behavior of HAp in bone repair process, a membrane of HAp/terbium (Tb)-HAp nanowires (NWs) was prepared with a concentric circle structure (CCS), of which the inner circle and the outer ring were constructed with Tb-HAp and HAp NWs, respectively. HAp/Tb-HAp CCS membrane possessed good osteogenic capacity and efficient fluorescence in the center for visualization. The in vitro experimental results proved that the Tb-HAp and HAp NWs membranes both presented high cytocompatibility and adequate efficiency to induce osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs). HAp/Tb-HAp CCS membranes were then implanted into a rat calvarial bone-defect model to study the behavior of HAp in bone repair process in vivo by tracking the fluorescence distribution. The results showed that the fluorescence of Tb-HAp diffused gradually from the inner circle to the outer ring, which suggested that the HAp was first degraded, and then the degraded product was diffused and finally reconstructed. Further, the histological results proved that the doping of Tb did not impair the promotive effect of HAp on bone repair process. Therefore, this study provided a visual method to observe the degradation-diffusion-reconstruction behavior of HAp nanomaterials in bone repair process. Statement of significance The study of dynamic degradation process of implanted hydroxyapatite (HAp) materials in bone-defect cavity is of great significance to bone tissue engineering applications. Here, we designed a HAp/Tb-HAp nanowires (NWs) membrane with concentric circle structure (CCS) to visibly observe the behavior of HAp during bone repair process. HAp/Tb-HAp CCS membrane possessed both osteoinduction ability and fluorescence property. Calvarial bone-defect repair experiments in vivo showed that the fluorescence of Tb-HAp diffused gradually from inner circle to outer ring, which suggested that HAp was first degraded, then diffused and finally reconstructed. Therefore, this invention provides not only a visible method to observe the degradation-diffusion-reconstruction behavior of HAp-based biomaterials, but also a basic understanding of the dynamic change of HAp-based biomaterials.

Analysis of cytokines levels in human serum is critical as it can be a "symptom diagnostic biomarker" in COVID-19, giving real-time information about human health status. Here, we present the construction and performance of a low-price immunosensor (∼US$0.428 per test) based on microfluidic paper-based system to detect cytokine for predicting the health status of COVID-19 patients. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) was selected as the detection model for the close relationship between IL-6 and COVID-19. The assay, which we integrated into foldable paper system, leverages the magnetic immunoassay, the streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase (HRP) associated with tetramethyl benzidine/hydrogen peroxide (TMB/H

The alarming increase in soil contamination by heavy metals, such as cadmium and zinc demands immediate attention. The dioecious tree Populus cathayana, a phytoremediation plant, plays an important role in rehabilitating heavy metal contaminated areas. In this study, male and female P. cathayana plants were treated with Cd (20 mg kg

Background Activity-dependent release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is essential for the rapid and sustained antidepressant actions of ketamine, and a recent study shows a similar requirement for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Since BDNF is reported to stimulate VEGF expression and/or release in neuroblastoma cells, the present study tested the hypothesis that the actions of BDNF are mediated by VEGF. Methods The role of VEGF in the antidepressant behavioral actions of BDNF was tested by intra-mPFC coinfusion of a VEGF neutralizing antibody and by neuron-specific deletion of VEGF. The influence of BDNF on the release of VEGF and the role of VEGF in the neurotrophic actions of BDNF were determined in rat primary cortical neurons. The role of BDNF in the behavioral and neurotrophic actions of VEGF was also determined. Results The results show that the rapid and sustained antidepressant-like actions of intra-mPFC BDNF are blocked by coinfusion of a VEGF neutralizing antibody, and that neuron-specific mPFC deletion of VEGF blocks the antidepressant-like actions of BDNF. Studies in primary cortical neurons demonstrate that BDNF stimulates the release of VEGF and that BDNF induction of dendrite complexity is blocked by a selective VEGF–fetal liver kinase 1 receptor antagonist. Surprisingly, the results also show reciprocal interactions, indicating that the behavioral and neurotrophic actions of VEGF are dependent on BDNF. Conclusions These findings indicate that the antidepressant-like and neurotrophic actions of BDNF require VEGF signaling, but they also demonstrate reciprocal interdependence for BDNF in the actions of VEGF.

Black carbon (BC) mitigation can reduce adverse environmental impacts on climate, air quality, human health, and water resource availability. To facilitate the identification of mitigation priorities, we use a state-of-the-science global chemistry-climate coupled model (AM3), with additional tagged BC tracers representing regional (East Asia, South Asia, Europe and North America) and sectoral (land transport, residential, industry) anthropogenic BC emissions to identify sources with the largest impacts on air quality, human health and glacial deposition. We find that within each tagged region, domestic emissions dominate BC surface concentrations and associated premature mortality (generally over 90%), as well as BC deposition on glaciers (∼40–95% across glaciers). BC emissions occurring within each tagged source region contribute roughly 1–2 orders of magnitude more to their domestic BC concentrations, premature mortality, and BC deposition on regional glaciers than that caused by the same quantity of BC emitted from foreign regions. At the sectoral level, the South Asian residential sector contributes ∼60% of BC associated premature mortality in South Asia and ∼40–60% of total BC deposited on southern Tibetan glaciers. Our findings imply that BC mitigation within a source region, particularly from East and South Asian residential sectors, will bring the largest reductions in BC associated air pollution, premature mortality, and glacial deposition.

Material removal and tribological behaviors of fused silica (FS) were studied by scratching under Rockwell indenters with various tip radii, aiming to find scientific clues to understand microscopic removal mechanisms of hard-brittle materials. It was found that the elastic depth took the main part of the total scratched depth of FS, while the remanent depth became obvious only under the smallest indenter. Coefficient of friction (CoF) had a sharp increase at the velocity of 200 mm/min in most circumstances, and plastic removal without cracking of FS could be obtained at higher velocities under the smallest indenter. The ploughing model could analyze the ploughing and adhesion parts of CoF during scratching, although overestimated the ploughing one for FS. It was deduced that during scratching on FS, variations of CoF were mainly attributed to adhesion, while plastic removal of the hard-brittle FS was facilitated by higher pressures and higher velocities.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of CD36 rs1761667 gene polymorphisms on the expression of CD36 and inflammatory cytokines and the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD).A total of 138 patients with PD (60 men and 78 women) and 132 healthy controls (48 men and 84 women) from a northern Han Chinese population were enrolled in this case-control study. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to detect the CD36 rs1761667 genotype. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the expression of CD36, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in the plasma.The frequency of the rs1761667 AA genotype was significantly higher in patients with PD than that in healthy controls, suggesting AA genotype to be a risk factor for PD. When compared with those in healthy controls, CD36 levels were significantly lower in patients with PD, whereas IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α levels were significantly higher in patients with PD. Furthermore, GA and AA carriers with PD showed lower levels of CD36, and GG, GA, and AA carriers showed higher levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α than those in healthy controls. In the PD patient group, AA and GA carriers had lower expression levels of CD36 than GG carriers did, and CD36 levels were lower in AA carriers than in GA carriers. Conversely, AA carriers had elevated expression levels of IL-6 compared with that of GG and GA carriers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α levels were risk factors for PD in a northern Han Chinese population.The CD36 rs1761667 AA genotype may increase susceptibility to PD and the expression of inflammatory cytokines.

Gut inflammation is increasingly corroborated to take part in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). The PGLYRP2 gene has been proven to increase susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The present study aimed to explore the genetic relationship between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the PGLYRP2 gene and the risk of sporadic PD in the Han population of northern China. The genotypes of the rs3813135 T/C, rs733731 C/T and rs892145 A/T polymorphisms of the PGLYRP2 gene in 400 Chinese Han patients with PD and 400 healthy age-and sex-matched individuals were identified by the Polymerase Chain Reaction and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The results showed that the frequency of the rs892145 AT heterozygote significantly differed between the PD and control groups (OR = 1.459, 95%CI = 1.459-1.039, P = 0.029), as well as the early-onset PD and control groups (P = 0.024). The rs3813135 polymorphism yielded only one significant result: C allele was more common in the male PD group than in the male control group (P = 0.045). Conversely, no significant difference in the genotype frequency of rs733731 was found between the PD and control groups. Five common haplotypes were assessed, of which the TTA and TCA haplotypes were related to PD susceptibility. In summary, our results indicated that the PGLYRP2 gene is associated with sporadic PD in the Chinese Han population, in which the rs892145 AT heterozygote might increase the risk of PD and possibly the risk of early-onset PD. Moreover, linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis showed these three PGLYRP2 polymorphisms has a strong linkage in causing mutations.

With the ever-increasing influence of heavy metal ions in environmental pollution, it is highly desirable to develop facile, rapid, and low-cost methods for the multiplexed detection of heavy metal ions in aqueous media sensitively and quantitatively. In this study, we report a facile electrochemical method for the selective, quantitative and multiplexed detection of cadmium (Cd2+), lead (Pb2+), and copper (Cu2+) ions in aqueous media. In this method, a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) is modified first with reduced graphene oxide(rGO) microflaks followed by the controlled in situ electro-deposition of a very thin mercury film. The final working electrode, denoted as (Hg|rGO)film|GCE, was employed as the detector for reported multiplexed detection of multi-ions, taking advantages of the well-established polaragraphic principles. The rGO layer was known to be capable of significantly increasing the heterogeneous interface electron-transfer rate and therefore the detection sensitivity, while the highly dispersed over-potentials of heavy metal ions on mercury allowed the multiplexed detection of several heavy metals ions at different working potentials. The differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) was employed as the detection mode to further boost up the detection sensitivity. Very good quantitative relationships were observed between the peak current in DPASV and the concentration of the ions being detected. The cross-interference in the multiplexed detection was found negligible. The limit of detections (LODs) of Cd2+, Pb2+, and Cu2+ ions in aqueous phase at the (Hg/rGO)film/GCE working electrode were found to be 0.17, 0.18 and 0.69 μg/L, respectively.

Growing evidences suggested that inflammatory process played a critical role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Given that TLR2 has been implicated in the perpetuation of inflammatory responses in the central nervous system (CNS), we investigated the association between two genetic variants (rs3804099 and rs3804100) of TLR2 and sporadic PD in Han Chinese population. 395 Han Chinese sporadic PD patients and 413 healthy age and gender-matched controls were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) method. The sporadic PD patients showed a higher T allele frequency than the healthy-matched control ( p = 0.019). Furthermore rs3804099 dominate model TT versus ( vs .) TC + CC increase the risk of sporadic PD (OR = 1.376, 95%CI = 1.043–1.814, p = 024). From the subgroup analysis, the variant allele T of rs3804099 was higher in sporadic PD cases (73.1%) than in controls (67.4%) in the late-onset cohort. Meanwhile rs3804099 revealed significant association in dominant model: Subjects with TT genotypes vs . those with TC + CC genotype showed evident significant in late-onset cohort (LOPD OR = 1.417, 95%CI = 1.051–1.911, p = 022). In contrast, allele frequencies at rs3804100 were similar between patients and controls. Taken together, this study reveals that polymorphism of TLR2 locus is associated with risk of sporadic PD in the North-eastern part of Han Chinese population. Further studies are required to evaluate the association.

A novel gelator NDH containing naphthalimide substituted with a 4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1,3-diol group was synthesized and characterized. Driven by dynamic coordination interactions between the imidazoline-1,3-diol unit and alkali, NDH self-assembled into a wide range of metallogels in pentanol triggered by sonication just at room temperature. The coordination interactions between NDH and Li+ were further certified by 1H NMR and XRD analysis. The gels were characterized by several experiments such as UV–vis, fluorescent, SEM and rheology experiments. Notably, the ion conductivity of Li+/metallogels confirmed that the three dimensional network in the organogels does not affect the ions diffusion in the large interconnected liquid domains. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to prove that NDH/LiClO4-gel had stronger electrical conductivity than that of NDH/LiCl-gel.

Background The mechanisms underlying stress-induced inflammation that contribute to major depressive disorder are unknown. We examine the role of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)/purinergic type 2X7 receptor (P2X7R) pathway and the NLRP3 (nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat, pyrin domain containing 3) inflammasome in interleukin (IL)-1β and depressive behavioral responses to stress. Methods The influence of acute restraint stress on extracellular ATP, glutamate, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor alpha in hippocampus was determined by microdialysis, and the influence of acute restraint stress on the NLRP3 inflammasome was determined by western blot analysis. The influence of P2X7R antagonist administration on IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor alpha and on anxiety and depressive behaviors was determined in the chronic unpredictable stress rodent model. The role of the NLRP3 inflammasome was determined by analysis of Nlrp3 null mice. Results Acute restraint stress rapidly increased extracellular ATP, an endogenous agonist of P2X7R; the inflammatory cytokine IL-1β; and the active form of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the hippocampus. Administration of a P2X7R antagonist completely blocked the release of IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor alpha, another stress-induced cytokine, and activated NLRP3. Moreover, P2X7R antagonist administration reversed the anhedonic and anxiety behaviors caused by chronic unpredictable stress exposure, and deletion of the Nlrp3 gene rendered mice resistant to development of depressive behaviors caused by chronic unpredictable stress. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that psychological "stress" is sensed by the innate immune system in the brain via the ATP/P2X7R–NLRP3 inflammasome cascade, and they identify novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of stress-related mood disorders and comorbid illnesses.

The properties of the semiconductor material indium tin oxide (ITO) have been studied. A technique allowing the properties of ITO to be changed by introducing aluminum cations into the structure during cyclic voltammetry has been developed. Changes in transparency, conductivity, and band gap were measured during the course of the experiment. It was shown that these ITO properties can be significantly improved by changes in chemical composition. Keywords: ITO, Semiconductors, Aluminum, Optical materials and properties, Thin films

TiAlN coatings are widely used in high-speed cutting, machining, and other high-temperature applications. However, owing to the high cathode temperature, large amounts of metal droplets are produced during fabrication in arc ion plating (AIP) and the shadowing effect introduces particles and voids in the coatings. Continuous high-power magnetron sputtering (C-HPMS) can produce high ionization rates similar to high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and high deposition rates similar to AIP. In this work, the morphology, adhesion strength, tribological properties, corrosion resistance, and oxidation resistance of Al-rich TiAlN coatings prepared by C-HPMS are studied systematically. Higher Al and Ti ionization rates and deposition rates are achieved by increasing the power density. The largest deposition rate is 0.45 μm/min and coating hardness is 34.4 GPa. More importantly, no particles are produced as manifested by small surface roughness of 17.8 nm.

Although the pressure and shear stress are motivations of the material removal of optical component surface in magnetorheological finishing, pressure is often ignored as the shear stress is the dominant factor in the removal rate prediction. To develop a more precise prediction removal function model, the role of pressure should be considered. Herein, a material removal rate (MRR) model involving the pressure and shear stress is proposed. Experiments were carried out to verify the validity of the MRR model under various process parameters, including the immersion depth, viscosity of magnetorheological fluid, and rotational speed of the polishing wheel. The pressure is shown to be indispensable in predicting the peak and volumetric removal rate. In addition, the MRR model including pressure allows for a better agreement of the removal function topography in comparison with the only shear stress-induced material removal model. This work fills in gaps relating to fundamental MRF mechanisms and provides a new perspective for the study of material removal behaviors of MRF on optics.

Nano-indentation method was brought forward to replace atomic force microscopy (AFM) in simulating microscopic interactions between abrasive particles and material surfaces during polishing process. And main influencing factors including measuring parameters and material's properties were investigated thoroughly. It was found that contact force between the diamond indenter and a fused silica was about 200 μN, while it was about 470 μN between the indenter and an austenitic steel, and in both cases it did not vary with the maximal indentation force ( F max ) and the corresponding loading rate. While adhesion force between the indenter and surfaces of the two materials did not change with F max when the latter was less than its critical value, while it decreased monotonously with increased F max when the latter was higher than its critical value, with slope −1.8615 for the fused silica and −1.5403 for the austenitic steel, and the critical F max was about 20 mN for the fused silica and about 50 mN for the austenitic steel. According to analysis on elastic and plastic deformation during loading process and elastic recovery during unloading process, it was deduced that there would produce marked elastic recovery force when the unloading rate determined by F max was higher, which counteracted the measured adhesion force to some extent and made it less than its corresponding intrinsic value. And material's elasticity had an additional impact. Then it is better to adopt maximal indentation forces less than critical values of materials, to obtain accurate adhesion forces between the indenter and material surfaces, and to simulate accurately microscopic interactions during polishing process.

Candidiasis is often observed in immunocompromised patients and is the 4th most common cause of bloodstream infections. However, antifungals are limited, so novel antifungal agents are urgently needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered as potential alternatives of conventional antibiotics. In the present study, antimicrobial peptide protonectin was chemically synthesized and its antifungal activity and mode of action were studied. Our results showed that protonectin has potent antifungal activity and fungicidal activity against the tested fungi cells. Its action mode involved the disruption of the membrane integrity and the inducing of the production of cellular ROS. Furthermore, protonectin could inhibit the formation of biofilm and kill the adherent fungi cells. In conclusion, with the increase of fungal infection, protonectin may offer a new strategy and be considered as a potential therapeutic agent against fungal disease.

We demonstrate an improvement in energy efficiency and network lifetime for the cluster-based multi-channel cognitive radio sensor network (CRSN). The improvement roots from two techniques proposed in dynamic spectrum access. The first technique exploits packet size adaptation: varying the packet size to adapt the transmission over the state-varying channel. This is to efficiently utilize the battery of sensors by having the most appropriately sized packets successfully transmitted, in accordance with the instantaneous channel conditions. The second technique focuses on channel assignment with awareness of the residual energy of sensors, such that sensors can spend their energy in a balanced way. This helps to prolong the network lifetime, compared to the random channel pairing approach. As all those techniques rely on the estimates of channel states and their performance is tied with the estimation accuracy, we theoretically derive a polynomial-time resolvable expression for the maximum-likelihood (ML) estimator PMF function. In light of this expression, the impact of channel estimation accuracy on network performance is thereby illustrated.

An experimental setup was developed for conducting core-flood experiments of supercritical CO2 and water under pressures higher than 8.00 MPa and a temperature of 40 °C. Two representative low-permeability sandstone cores were obtained from the Shenhua Group CCS site in the Erdos Basin in China and the experimental study was in support of China's first field test. Unlike most laboratory experiments with two-phase CO2–water flow, dry CO2 was injected in the CO2-flood experiments, and deionized water (without dissolved CO2) was used in the water-flood experiments. In the CO2-flood experiments, dynamic displacement of water by injected CO2 was investigated using transient inlet and outlet pressures and transient flow rates of outflowing CO2 and water. The residual water saturation estimated at the end of the experiments (with an injection rate of 1.2 mL min−1) for both cores is 0.52. The higher residual water saturation can be attributed to the high CO2/water viscosity contrast and non-uniform displacement. The estimated relative CO2 permeability at residual water saturation varies from 0.13 to 0.23. During the water-flood experiments, non-equilibrium CO2 dissolution at the core scale was observed using the transient concentration of total dissolved CO2 in outflowing water. The non-equilibrium dissolution possibly results from non-uniform distribution of water and CO2 caused by sub-core heterogeneity. The endpoint CO2 saturation estimated varies from 0.17 to 0.10 for a low injection rate of 0.2 mL min−1. Additional experiments indicate that higher water injection rate (up to 2 mL min−1) drive more free-phase CO2 out of the cores, with less CO2 mass stored, because of CO2 density change with elevated pressure and weaker capillarity for low-permeability sandstone. Additional experiments with injected water of varying dissolved CO2 concentration (including CO2-saturated conditions) indicate that CO2 dissolution mobilizes additional free-phase CO2 out of the cores by enhanced displacement, and increases relative water permeability after CO2 displacement is complete, even though dissolution only accounts for 6–7% of the total CO2 mass initially in the cores before the experiments.

Background Biclustering algorithm can find a number of co-expressed genes under a set of experimental conditions. Recently, differential co-expression bicluster mining has been used to infer the reasonable patterns in two microarray datasets, such as, normal and cancer cells. Methods In this paper, we propose an algorithm, DECluster, to mine Differential co-Expression biCluster in two discretized microarray datasets. Firstly, DECluster produces the differential co-expressed genes from each pair of samples in two microarray datasets, and constructs a differential weighted undirected sample–sample relational graph. Secondly, the differential biclusters are generated in the above differential weighted undirected sample–sample relational graph. In order to mine maximal differential co-expression biclusters efficiently, we design several pruning techniques for generating maximal biclusters without candidate maintenance. Results The experimental results show that our algorithm is more efficient than existing methods. The performance of DECluster is evaluated by empirical p-value and gene ontology, the results show that our algorithm can find more statistically significant and biological differential co-expression biclusters than other algorithms. Conclusions Our proposed algorithm can find more statistically significant and biological biclusters in two microarray datasets than the other two algorithms.

It is still a great challenge to apply therapeutic concentration of anti-cancer drugs to the tumor site with low system toxicity. An in situ administration strategy was applied to reverse the aerobic glycolysis of tumor in vivo for the first time. Controlled release of therapeutic concentration of dichloroacetate (DCA) from polylactide (PLA) electrospun mats covering the solid tumor locally was designed to suppress the cervical carcinoma in vivo. A dramatic decrease in the volume and weight of tumors was observed for 19 days in tumor-bearing mice, and a totally 96% of the tumor suppression degree was obtained even the initial tumor volume was around 200 mm(3). Half of the mice recovered in less than 3 weeks. Necrosis was examined rather than apoptosis on the tumor cells as the main process of cell death induced by the DCA-loaded electrospun mats. A proposed necroptosis mechanism was presented to explain the signal pathways that were induced by the metabolic remodeling of DCA. It provided support for this strategy that target the bio-energy metabolism of the cervical carcinoma locally is a quick and effective pathway to cure the advanced-carcinoma of cervical. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A new series of compounds, 5-substituted 2-amino-4-chloro-8-((4-methoxy-3,5-dimethylpyridin-2-yl)methyl)-7,8-dihydropteridin-6(5 H )-ones, have been designed and identified as potent and selective inhibitors of Hsp90. These compounds demonstrated nanomolar potency toward both Hsp90-regulated Her2 degradation and the growth of a panel of human tumor cell lines in cell-based assays. High selectivity of these compounds toward Hsp90 was evident given that they did not inhibit a panel of 34 kinases at 10 μM. The structure–activity relationship (SAR) of this series is reported here.

A one step polyol process has been used to synthesize linear assemblies of Pd nanoparticles (NPs). TEM images show that highly linearly ordered Pd NP chains (about 8.5 nm in diameter) have been formed, and the inter-particle distance is about 1.4 ± 0.6 nm. The Pd NP chains can be obtained by adding NH 3 ·H 2 O and prolonging the heating time. A scaffolding mechanism is proposed to understand the short-ranged order of the Pd NP chains. The as-obtained Pd nanochains at Pd NCh/MWCNTs/GCE displayed high activity in the electrocatalytic oxidation of NO.

Laboratory experiments were carried out using two identical bioreactors to investigate the effect of feeding alkalinity and pH on the formation of aerobic sludge granules in wastewater treatment. Both bioreactors, of 2.4 L each in working volume and seeded with activated sludge, were operated as sequencing batch reactors (SBR) and fed at the same rate with a glucose-based synthetic wastewater. The first SBR, with a low alkalinity of 28.7 mg CaCO 3 /L in the influent, had a pH of about 3.0 in the reactor and achieved rapid formation of fungi-dominating granules in 1 week. The second SBR, with a high alkalinity of 301 mg CaCO 3 /L from the addition of 440 mg NaHCO 3 /L to the influent, maintained a reactor pH of around 8.1 and had a slower formation of bacteria-dominating granules, taking about 4 weeks. After granulation, both reactors performed well in organic degradation and sludge–liquid separation. However, according to examinations carried out using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), the mature fungal granules with a mean size of 7.0 mm had a loosely packed fluffy structure. Both fungi and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were distributed uniformly throughout the granules. The bacterial granules were smaller, with a mean size of 4.8 mm and a compact structure. EPS were distributed throughout and bacteria were mainly situated in the outer layer of the mature granules. Granulation of fungal sludge could be completed more rapidly than bacterial granulation. However, fungal granules were apparently weaker in structure and subject to more breakage and erosion than bacterial granules in aeration turbulence. The results suggest that by controlling the feeding alkalinity and reactor pH, a strategy of species selection can be developed for aerobic sludge granulation at different rates with different microbial communities and structural features.

Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the mechanisms of electrochemical (EC) disinfection of artificial wastewater contaminated by Escherichia coli culture. Comparative disinfection tests with chlorine, ozone and hydroxyl ( OH − ) radicals produced by the Fenton reaction were also conducted. It was demonstrated that the EC process was highly effective for wastewater disinfection. Investigation with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed different appearances of damage to in the surface morphology and structure of the cells after different forms of disinfection. Substantial leakage of intracellular materials was found for the E. coli cells after EC disinfection, which was also observed for the cells treated by the Fenton reaction. However, such cell lysis was noticeable to a less extent for the ozonated cells and hardly noticeable for the chlorinated cells. Electron microscopic examination suggested that the cells were likely inactivated during the EC process by the chemical products with an oxidising power similar to that of hydroxyl radicals and much stronger than that of chlorine. The SEM results support the hypothesis that the predominant killing action of EC disinfection is provided by high-energy intermediate EC products. Therefore, in addition to electro-chlorination, the great capacity of EC disinfection may be attributable to the generation of short-lived germicidal agents, such as free radicals.

The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of C 60 adsorbed on aqueous gold colloid was reported for the first time. We used the pyridine molecule as a intermediate to connect and fix the C 60 molecule to the surface of the golden crystal nanoparticle. The enhancement factor is 10 4 . Not only was the number of vibrational modes greatly increased, but also were the significant Raman bands splitted as well as frequencies up and down shifted, respectively, arising from symmetry lowering and selection rule relaxing of C 60 induced by the gold surface. The splittings of the Raman modes is consistent with the calculation based on group theory.