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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often associated with lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), which has the same etiology (smoking, inflammation, oxidative stress, microenvironmental changes, and genetics). Smoking, inflammation, and airway remodeling are the most important and classical mechanisms of COPD comorbidity in LUSC patients. Cancer can occur during repeated airway damage and repair (airway remodeling). Changes in the inflammatory and immune microenvironments, which can cause malignant transformation of some cells, are currently being revealed in both LUSC and COPD patients. We obtained the GSE76925 dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Screening for possible COPD biomarkers was performed using the LASSO regression model and a random forest classifier. The compositional patterns of the immune cell fraction in COPD patients were determined using CIBERSORT. HTR2B expression was analyzed using validation datasets (GSE47460, GSE106986, and GSE1650). HTR2B expression in COPD cell models was determined via real-time quantitative PCR. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker expression levels were determined after knocking down or overexpressing HTR2B. HTR2B function and mechanism in LUSC were analyzed with the Kaplan‒Meier plotter database. HTR2B expression was inhibited to detect changes in LUSC cell proliferation. A total of 1082 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the GSE76925 dataset (371 genes were significantly upregulated, and 711 genes were significantly downregulated). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis indicated that the DEGs were mainly enriched in the p53 signaling and β-alanine metabolism pathways. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis indicated that the DEGs were largely related to transcription initiation from the RNA polymerase I promoter and to the regulation of mononuclear cell proliferation. The LASSO regression model and random forest classifier results revealed that HTR2B, DPYS, FRY, and CD19 were key COPD genes. Immune cell infiltration analysis indicated that these genes were closely associated with immune cells. Analysis of the validation sets suggested that HTR2B was upregulated in COPD patients. HTR2B was significantly upregulated in COPD cell models, and its upregulation was associated with increased EMT marker expression. Compared with that in bronchial epithelial cells, HTR2B expression was upregulated in LUSC cells, and inhibiting HTR2B expression led to the inhibition of LUSC cell proliferation. In conclusions, HTR2B might be a new biomarker and therapeutic target in COPD patients with LUSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying research teams constitutes a fundamental step in team science research, and universities harbor diverse types of such teams. This study introduces a method and proposes algorithms for team identification, encompassing the project-based research team (Pbrt), the individual-based research team (Ibrt), the backbone-based research group (Bbrg), and the representative research group (Rrg), scrutinizing aspects such as project, contribution, collaboration, and similarity. Drawing on two top universities in Materials Science and Engineering as case studies, this research reveals that university research teams predominantly manifest as backbone-based research groups. The distribution of members within these groups adheres to Price's Law, indicating a concentration of research funding among a minority of research groups. Furthermore, the representative research groups in universities exhibit interdisciplinary characteristics. Notably, significant differences exist in collaboration mode and member structures among high-level backbone-based research groups across diverse cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It remains a challenge to obtain biocompatible afterglow materials with long emission wavelengths, durable lifetimes, and good water solubility. Herein we develop a photooxidation strategy to construct near-infrared afterglow carbon nanodots with an extra-long lifetime of up to 5.9 h, comparable to that of the well-known rare-earth or organic long-persistent luminescent materials. Intriguingly, size-dependent afterglow lifetime evolution from 3.4 to 5.9 h has been observed from the carbon nanodots systems in aqueous solution. With structural/ultrafast dynamics analysis and density functional theory simulations, we reveal that the persistent luminescence in carbon nanodots is activated by a photooxidation-induced dioxetane intermediate, which can slowly release and convert energy into luminous emission via the steric hindrance effect of nanoparticles. With the persistent near-infrared luminescence, tissue penetration depth of 20 mm can be achieved. Thanks to the high signal-to-background ratio, biological safety and cancer-specific targeting ability of carbon nanodots, ultralong-afterglow guided surgery has been successfully performed on mice model to remove tumor tissues accurately, demonstrating potential clinical applications. These results may facilitate the development of long-lasting luminescent materials for precision tumor resection.Biocompatible afterglow materials have potential in imaging applications, but are challenging to prepare. Here the authors report the development of carbon nanodots with near-infrared afterglow, and demonstrate their use in imaging for tumour resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and early detection is crucial to reduce the mortality. A reliable computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system can help facilitate early detection of malignant nodules. Although existing methods provide adequate classification accuracy, there is still room for further improvement. This study is dedicated to investigating a new CAD scheme for predicting the malignant likelihood of lung nodules in computed tomography (CT) images in light of a deep learning strategy. Conceived from the residual learning and selective kernel, we investigated an efficient residual selective kernel (RSK) block to handle the diversity of lung nodules with various shapes and obscure structures. Founded on this RSK block, we established a multiview RSK network (MRSKNet), to which three anatomical planes in the axial, coronal, and sagittal directions were fed. To reinforce the classification efficiency, seven handcrafted texture features with a filter-like computation strategy were explored, among which the homogeneity (HOM) feature maps are combined with the corresponding intensity CT images for concatenation input, leading to an improved network architecture. Evaluated on the public benchmark Lung Image Database Consortium and Image Database Resource Initiative (LIDC-IDRI) challenge database with ten-fold cross validation of binary classification, our experimental results indicated high area under receiver operating characteristic (AUC) and accuracy scores. A better compromise between recall and specificity was struck using the suggested concatenation strategy comparing to many state-of-the-art approaches. The proposed pulmonary nodule classification framework exhibited great efficacy and achieved a higher AUC of 0.9711. The association of handcrafted texture features with deep learning models is promising in advancing the classification performance. The developed pulmonary nodule CAD network architecture is of potential in facilitating the diagnosis of lung cancer for further image processing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources tax is an important means to strengthen the integrated water resources management and water governance. The Chinese government started the Tax-for-Fee reform (Fei Gai Shui) in 2016 and piloted the water resources tax in ten provinces. After several years of practice, it is necessary to evaluate and summarize the effectiveness and impact of the water resources tax policy pilot in China. This study first analyzes the function of the water resources tax, built on the global development of water resources tax review. And then, this study reviewed the evolution of the water resources fee/tax policy in China and evaluated the effectiveness of the water resources tax reform. In addition, this study discussed critical success factors for the water resources tax pilot and analyzed crucial questions for further study. The results show that water resource utilization efficiency improved and water use structure optimized through the water resources tax incentives. This study might contribute toward making reasonable decisions in the water policy and governance fields not only in China but in other developing countries as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft and stretchable electronics have emerged as highly promising tools for biomedical diagnosis and biological studies, as they interface intimately with the human body and other biological systems. Most stretchable electronic materials and devices, however, still have Young's moduli orders of magnitude higher than soft bio-tissues, which limit their conformability and long-term biocompatibility. Here, we present a design strategy of soft interlayer for allowing the use of existing stretchable materials of relatively high moduli to versatilely realize stretchable devices with ultralow tissue-level moduli. We have demonstrated stretchable transistor arrays and active-matrix circuits with moduli below 10 kPa—over two orders of magnitude lower than the current state of the art. Benefiting from the increased conformability to irregular and dynamic surfaces, the ultrasoft device created with the soft interlayer design realizes electrophysiological recording on an isolated heart with high adaptability, spatial stability, and minimal influence on ventricle pressure. In vivo biocompatibility tests also demonstrate the benefit of suppressing foreign-body responses for long-term implantation. With its general applicability to diverse materials and devices, this soft-interlayer design overcomes the material-level limitation for imparting tissue-level softness to a variety of bioelectronic devices. Stretchable electronics are attractive for a range of biomedical applications, but are challenging to prepare with suitable mechanical properties. Here, the authors report the use of a soft interlayer that allows the development of stretchable electronics with tissue-like material properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiphoton excited luminescence is of paramount importance in the field of optical detection and biological photonics. Self-trapped exciton (STE) emission with self-absorption-free advantages provide a choice for multiphoton excited luminescence. Herein, multiphoton excited singlet/triplet mixed STE emission with a large full width at half-maximum (617 meV) and Stokes shift (1.29 eV) has been demonstrated in single-crystalline ZnO nanocrystals. Temperature dependent steady state, transient state and time-resolved electron spin resonance spectra demonstrate a mixture of singlet (63%) and triplet (37%) mixed STE emission, which contributes to a high photoluminescence quantum yield (60.5%). First-principles calculations suggest 48.34 meV energy per exciton stored by phonons in the distorted lattice of excited states, and 58 meV singlet-triplet splitting energy for the nanocrystals being consistent with the experimental measurements. The model clarifies long and controversial debates on ZnO emission in visible region, and the multiphoton excited singlet/triplet mixed STE emission is also observed.Here the author study Self-trapped exciton emission for multiphoton excited luminescence in ZnO nanoparticle which until now have not been explored. They provide a reason for the emission enhancement and apply these materials in optical imaging for a proof of concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endothelial dysfunction often accompanies sepsis. We aimed to explore the role of PCSK9 in septic endothelial dysfunction. Sepsis was induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro and cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) surgery in mice in vivo. Evolocumab (EVC) and Pep 2–8, PCSK9 inhibitors, were subsequently used to determine the role of PCSK9 in sepsis-induced endothelial dysfunction in vitro and in vivo, respectively. In addition, the TLR4 agonist, Kdo2-Lipid A ammonium (KLA), was used to determine the related mechanism. Protein expression of eNOS, VE-cadherin, PCSK9, TLR4, MyD88, p-p65, p65, NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 p20 in mice aortas and HUVECs was measured by western blotting, while mRNA expression of TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-18 was determined by qRT-PCR. The level of inflammatory cytokines of mouse aortas was visualized by immunohistochemistry. Vasodilation of the aorta was detected by vascular reactivity experiments. The 96-h survival rate after CLP was assessed. Our findings showed that the expression of eNOS and VE-cadherin decreased, and PCSK9 expression increased, in septic HUVECs or mice. Inhibition of PCSK9 increased eNOS and VE-cadherin expression. Activation of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB and NLRP3 pathways may be responsible for PCSK9-induced endothelial dysfunction in sepsis. Vascular reactivity tests and survival studies showed that inhibition of PCSK9 could prevent the decrease in endothelium-dependent vasodilation function and improve the survival rates of septic mice. In summary, our results suggested that increased PCSK9 expression during sepsis activated the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB and NLRP3 pathways to induce inflammation, which resulted in vascular endothelial dysfunction and decreased survival rates. Thus, inhibition of PCSK9 may be a potential clinical therapeutic target to improve vascular endothelial function in sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP) is a significant and costly cross-basin mega water project in China, and one aim is to improve water use efficiency. To assess the effect of the SNWDP, this study conducts a quantitative evaluation of the middle route of the SNWDP's impact on water use efficiency through the event analysis method based on panel data from 2010 to 2019 of 14 cities along the middle route. The results show the construction of the SNWDP has had a positive impact on water use efficiency in the areas along the project, and the water use efficiency is constantly improving. Further empirical analysis shows that regional groundwater supply, industrial water consumption, and technical level have a significant positive impact on regional water use efficiency. Regional per-capita GDP has a significant negative impact on water use efficiency. The results can provide a scientific basis and decision-making reference for optimizing the SNWDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High thermal conductivity electronic materials are critical components for high-performance electronic and photonic devices as both active functional materials and thermal management materials. We report an isotropic high thermal conductivity exceeding 500 W m−1K−1 at room temperature in high-quality wafer-scale cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) crystals, which is the second highest among large crystals (only surpassed by diamond). Furthermore, the corresponding 3C-SiC thin films are found to have record-high in-plane and cross-plane thermal conductivity, even higher than diamond thin films with equivalent thicknesses. Our results resolve a long-standing puzzle that the literature values of thermal conductivity for 3C-SiC are lower than the structurally more complex 6H-SiC. We show that the observed high thermal conductivity in this work arises from the high purity and high crystal quality of 3C-SiC crystals which avoids the exceptionally strong defect-phonon scatterings. Moreover, 3C-SiC is a SiC polytype which can be epitaxially grown on Si. We show that the measured 3C-SiC-Si thermal boundary conductance is among the highest for semiconductor interfaces. These findings provide insights for fundamental phonon transport mechanisms, and suggest that 3C-SiC is an excellent wide-bandgap semiconductor for applications of next-generation power electronics as both active components and substrates. High thermal conductivity electronic materials are critical for next-generation electronics and photonics. Here, the authors report isotropic high thermal conductivity of 3C-SiC wafers exceeding 500 W m−1K−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cationic Gemini surfactants which were synthesized from long carbon chain alkyl tertiary amines and 1,3-dibromopropane, and polyether ammoniums as clay stabilizers which were synthesized by the reaction of polyether ammine (D230) with formic acid and hydrochloric acid, named as D230FA and D230HC, respectively, were used to preclude hydration expansion and migration of clay minerals in low permeability oilfields, hence facilitating the water injection and oil recovery from the tight reservoirs. The surface tension and interfacial tension (IFT) of surfactants, anti-swelling property of clay stabilizers and the injection performance of the composite system were evaluated in this study. The experimental results show that C14-3-C14 has high interfacial activity and solubility, and the composite system of C14-3-C14 and polyether ammonium salt has good clay stability. The anti swelling rate of Na-clay treated by the solution of 1.5% KCl + 0.1% C14-3-C14 after 10 times of washing with distilled water decreased from 72.6% to 28.0%. While 1% D230FA and 1% D230HC mixed with 0.1% C14-3-C14 + 0.5% KCl have the initially anti swelling rates of 72.1% and 68.3%, and the anti swelling rates after flushing with distilled water reach 61.2% and 58.3%, respectively, indicating good anti-swelling durability. Core flooding experiments show that the injection performance of the composite system depends on the contact angle (θ) and the surface tension (γ), and the composite system contained 1% D230HC with lower value of γ cosθ has better injection performance than that of 1% D230FA. XRD analysis shows the lower interlayer spacing of clay minerals treated with clay stabilizer solution containing polyether ammonium salts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household energy consumption has been one of the most critical factors to climate change. We conducted bibliometric research on household energy consumption by using CiteSpace and HistCite. The Web of Science was used to identify and visualize the evolution of paper citation diagram, the collaboration network, the cocitation network and emerging trends by mapping the knowledge domain of 2984 academic publications between 2011 and 2018 related to household energy consumption. The results showed that the number of academic articles published in the field of household energy consumption and carbon emissions was on the rise, but the number of highly cited articles decreased. The most productive authors and institutions in this subject are in Australia, the USA, China, Britain and Germany. Much of the research has focused on electricity consumption and heat supply, while there have been few studies on other subdomains in the area of energy consumption. The impact of greenhouse gases produced by energy consumption on the environment was the focus of this study. Here, we present an in-depth analysis of household energy consumption and carbon emission research to better understand global trends and hot topics in this field which have emerged over the last few years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile modified soft-urea route is employed for the direct synthesis of high-entropy metal nitride powders. Low-cost metal chlorides and urea are mixed without organic solvent, and the mixture is thermally treated under N2 flow. Both ternary (Hf0.5Ta0.5)N and the five metal high-entropy (Hf0.2Ta0.2Zr0.2Nb0.2V0.2)N synthesized are single-phase solid-solution fine powders. The study provides an effective method for synthesis of multi-component, including high-entropy, metal nitride powders. Further investigation is needed to improve the control of materials' exact stoichiometry, phase, and microstructure and reveal the new materials' chemical/physical properties for various potential applications such as energy and catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emodin is a natural bioactive compound from traditional Chinese herbs that exerts anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective effects. However, the protective effects of emodin in acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity are not clear. The present study examined the effects of emodin on APAP-induced hepatotoxicity and investigated the potential molecular mechanisms. C57BL/6 mice were pretreated with emodin (15 and 30 mg/kg) for 5 consecutive days and then given APAP (300 mg/kg) to establish an APAP-induced liver injury model. Mice were sacrificed to detect the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and albumin (ALB) and the liver tissue levels of glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Histological assessment, Western blotting, and ELISA were performed. Emodin pretreatment significantly reduced the levels of ALT, AST, and ALP; increased the levels of ALB; alleviated hepatocellular damage and apoptosis; attenuated the exhaustion of GSH and SOD and the accumulation of MDA; and increased the expression of antioxidative enzymes, including nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), and NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1). Emodin also inhibited the expression of NLRP3 and reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory factors, including interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Emodin inhibited interferon (IFN)-α, cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), and its downstream signaling effector stimulator of interferon genes (STING) expression to protect the liver against APAP-induced inflammatory responses and apoptosis. These results suggest that emodin protected hepatocytes from APAP-induced liver injury via the upregulation of the Nrf2-mediated antioxidative stress pathway, the inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome, and the downregulation of the cGAS-STING signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this short note we present a new Harnack expression for the Gaussian curvature flow, which is modeled from the shrinking self similiar solutions. As applications we give alternate proofs of Chow's Harnack inequality and entropy estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfaces impede heat flow in micro/nanostructured systems. Conventional theories for interfacial thermal transport were derived based on bulk phonon properties of the materials making up the interface without explicitly considering the atomistic interfacial details, which are found critical to correctly describing thermal boundary conductance. Recent theoretical studies predicted the existence of localized phonon modes at the interface which can play an important role in understanding interfacial thermal transport. However, experimental validation is still lacking. Through a combination of Raman spectroscopy and high-energy-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope, we report the experimental observation of localized interfacial phonon modes at ~12 THz at a high-quality epitaxial Si-Ge interface. These modes are further confirmed using molecular dynamics simulations with a high-fidelity neural network interatomic potential, which also yield thermal boundary conductance agreeing well with that measured in time-domain thermoreflectance experiments. Simulations find that the interfacial phonon modes have an obvious contribution to the total thermal boundary conductance. Our findings significantly contribute to the understanding of interfacial thermal transport physics and have impact on engineering thermal boundary conductance at interfaces in applications such as electronics thermal management and thermoelectric energy conversion. Conventional theories for interfacial thermal transport are derived from bulk phonon properties. Here, the authors report experimental observation of interfacial phonon modes localized at interfaces, changing how interfacial thermal transport should be understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O-GlcNAcylation, an energy-sensitive posttranslational modification, can regulate the activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Previous studies found that Thr866 is the key site for low-glucose-mediated regulation of eNOS O-GlcNAc. However, it is not known whether this activity functions through the Thr866 site concomitant with other physical and chemical factors. Therefore, we first explored the effects of physical and chemical factors on eNOS O-GlcNAc and its Thr866 site. In this study, hypertonic stress, hyperthermia and hydrogen peroxide all increased the expression levels of eNOS O-GlcNAc, whereas hypoxia and high levels of alcohol had no effect. on the expression levels of eNOS O-GlcNAc; by contrast, low pH led to a decrease in eNOS O-GlcNAc levels. Notably, eNOS O-GlcNAc protein levels were unchanged after Thr866 site mutation only under hypertonic conditions, suggesting that hypertonic stress may act through the Thr866 site. Upon exploring the mechanism of hypertonic stress on eNOS O-GlcNAc activity and function, we found that hypertonic stress can upregulate the expression of O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) transferase (OGT), which is dependent on AMPK. When AMPK was knocked out, the upregulation of OGT expression and increased O-GlcNAc modifications induced by hypertonic stress were reversed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense terahertz (THz) electromagnetic fields have been utilized to reveal a variety of extremely nonlinear optical effects in many materials through nonperturbative driving of elementary and collective excitations. However, such nonlinear photoresponses have not yet been obeserved in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), let alone employing them as fast, cost-effective, compact, and room-temperature-operating THz detectors and cameras. Here, we report ubiquitously available LEDs exhibiting photovoltaic signals of ~0.8 V and ~2 ns response time with signal-to-noise ratios of ~1300 when being illuminated by THz field strengths ~240 kV/cm. We also demonstrated THz-LED detectors and camera prototypes. These unorthodox THz detectors exhibited high responsivities (>1 kV/W) with response time four orders of magnitude shorter than those of pyroelectric detectors. The mechanism was attributed to THz-field-induced impact ionization and Schottky contact. These findings not only help deepen our understanding of strong THz field-matter interactions but also contribute to the applications of strong-field THz diagnosis. Interest in the exploration of non-perturbative nonlinear optical phenomena driven by intense terahertz fields has seen a leap forwards with the recent development in femtosecond laser-based table-top sources for strong THz radiation. The authors present intense THz-field-induced effects in ubiquitously available LEDs illuminated by strong THz pulses, paving the way to their use in detecting and imaging intense THz radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an innovative model for infrastructure and public service delivery, public–private partnership (PPP) has become increasingly more popular around the world. PPP is facing the dilemma of development direction and value orientation since current studies and practices are mostly performed from an economic perspective. PPP leads according to sustainable development goals. This study briefly reviews the development of China's PPP and summarizes the characteristics of PPP in China through the theory of evolutionary economic geography. Secondly, a conceptual framework of sustainability-oriented PPP is proposed with three phases named PPP1.0, PPP2.0, and PPP3.0. Thirdly, a case study named the Taizhou commuter-rail Line S1 PPP project has been adopted to verify the theoretical framework of the sustainability-oriented PPP. Lastly, the theoretical framework is analyzed and discussed based on the four dimensions: driving force, subject, process, and object. The results show that the sustainability-oriented PPP framework explains the development process and trend of PPP, not only meeting the PPP development needs in China, but also providing a reference value for other developing countries. This study has implications for decision making in China's PPP policy and makes an innovative contribution to the global PPP knowledge body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the reaction process governing the formation of sol–gel sulfurized copper zinc tin sulfide (Cu2ZnSnS4, CZTS) films and the growth of other secondary sulfide phases is crucial to process optimization and solar cell device performance. In the current study, sulfurization of the relevant single Cu oxide, single Sn oxide, and Cu-Sn oxide films related to the Cu-Zn-Sn-S system was carried out in 100 ppm H2S + 4%H2 + 96%N2 (by volume) at low to intermediate temperatures. At intermediate temperature of 350°C, sulfurization of Cu oxide, Sn oxide, and Cu-Sn oxide precursors showed no evidence for the formation of any binary or ternary sulfide phase(s) as observed during the in situ Raman monitoring experiments. These observations were also confirmed by subsequent x-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses, while the stoichiometric Cu-Zn-Sn oxide film underwent a direct reaction between the oxides and H2S to form CZTS without binary or ternary impurities. In comparison, at lower temperature of 170°C, sulfurization of the single Cu oxide, Sn oxide precursors in 100 ppm H2S + 4%H2 + 96%N2 led to the formation of simple sulfides such as Cu2−xS (with x close to 1) and SnS2. As a result, despite sulfurization of sol–gel-based stoichiometric Cu-Zn-Sn oxide film at 170°C in the same gas mixture leading to CZTS formation, extended exposure to 100 ppm H2S leads to over-sulfurization and formation of detrimental impurities, especially CuS. The implications of the results with respect to the understanding and optimization of the phase formation process for CZTS light absorber material are discussed, and the direction for future research is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface instability of compliant film/substrate bilayers has raised considerable interests due to its broad applications such as wrinkle-driven surface renewal and antifouling, shape-morphing for camouflaging skins, and micro/nano-scale surface patterning control. However, it is still a challenge to precisely predict and continuously trace secondary bifurcation transitions in the nonlinear post-buckling region. Here, we develop lattice models to precisely capture the nonlinear morphology evolution with multiple mode transitions that occur in the film/substrate systems. Based on our models, we reveal an intricate post-buckling phenomenon involving successive flat-wrinkle-doubling-quadrupling-fold bifurcations. Pre-stretch and pre-compression of the substrate, as well as bilayer modulus ratio, can alter surface morphology of film/substrate bilayers. With high substrate pre-tension, hierarchical wrinkles emerge in the bilayer with a low modulus ratio, while a wrinkle-to-ridge transition occurs with a high modulus ratio. Besides, with moderate substrate pre-compression, the bilayer eventually evolves into a period-tripling mode. Phase diagrams based on neo-Hookean and Arruda-Boyce constitutions are drawn to characterize the influences of different factors and to provide an overall view of ultimate pattern formation. Fundamental understanding and quantitative prediction of the nonlinear morphological transitions of soft bilayer materials hold potential for multifunctional surface regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unified fundamental understanding of interfacial thermal transport is missing due to the complicated nature of interfaces. Because of the difficulty to grow high-quality interfaces and lack of materials characterization, the experimentally measured thermal boundary conductance (TBC) in the literature are usually not the same as the ideally modelled interfaces. This work provides a systematic study of TBC across the highest-quality (atomically sharp, harmonic-matched, and ultraclean) epitaxial (111) Al||(0001) sapphire interfaces to date. The comparison of measured high TBC with theoretical models shows that elastic phonon transport dominates the interfacial thermal transport and other mechanisms play negligible roles. This is confirmed by a nearly constant transmission coefficient by scaling the TBC with the Al heat capacity and sapphire heat capacity with phonon frequency lower than 10 THz. Finally, the findings in this work will impact applications such as electronics thermal management, thermoelectric energy conversion, and battery safety. The mechanism of thermal transport at solid interfaces depends on many parameters in particular the quality of the interface. Here, the authors compare experimental and calculated thermal boundary conductance across high-quality harmonic-matched epitaxial Al-sapphire interfaces and find that elastic phonon processes dominate the ultra-clean interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halofuginone (HF) is an extract from the widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Dichroa febrifuga that facilitates the recovery of wounds and attenuates hepatic fibrosis. However, the role of HF in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of IPEC-J2 cells remains unclear. The current study explored the anti-EMT effect of HF in IPEC-J2 cells and illustrates its molecular mechanism. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), as a recognized profibrogenic cytokine, decreased the level of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and increased the level of the mesenchymal markers, such as N-cadherin, fibronectin (FN), vimentin (Vim), and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), in IPEC-J2 cells depending on the exposure time and dose. HF markedly prevented the EMT induced by TGF-β1. Dissection of the mechanism revealed that HF inhibited IPEC-J2 cell EMT via modulating the phosphorylation of SMAD2/3 and the SMAD2/3-SMAD4 complex nuclear translocation. Furthermore, HF could promote the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor-2α (eIF2α), which modulates the SMAD signaling pathway. These results suggested that HF inhibits TGF-β1-induced EMT in IPEC-J2 cells through the eIF2α/SMAD signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that HF can serve as a potential anti-EMT agent in intestinal fibrosis therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the problem of identifying current coupons for agency-backed to-be-announced pools of residential mortgages. Such coupons, or mortgage origination rates, ensure par-valued pools. In a doubly stochastic reduced form model which allows prepayment intensities to depend upon both current and origination mortgage rates, as well as underlying investment factors, we identify the current coupon as a solution to a degenerate elliptic, nonlinear fixed point problem. Using Schaefer's theorem, we prove existence of a current coupon. We also provide an explicit approximation to the fixed point, valid for compact perturbations off a baseline factor-based intensity model. A numerical example is provided which shows that the approximation performs well in estimating the current coupon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is among the most abundant and highly conserved lncRNAs, which has been detected in a wide variety of human tumors, including gastric cancer, gallbladder cancer, and so on. Previous research has showed that MALAT1 can activate LTBP3 gene in mesenchymal stem cells. However, the specific roles of MALAT1 in glioma stem cells (GSCs) remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to identify the effects of MALAT1 on proliferation and the expression of stemness markers on glioma stem cell line SHG139S. Our results showed that downregulation of MALAT1 suppressed the expression of Sox2 and Nestin which are related to stemness, while downregulation of MALAT1 promoted the proliferation in SHG139S. Further research on the underlying mechanism showed that the effects of MALAT1 downregulation on SHG139S were through regulating ERK/MAPk signaling activity. And we also found that downregulation of MALAT1 could activate ERK/MAPK signaling and promoted proliferation in SHG139 cells. These findings show that MALAT1 plays an important role in regulating the expression of stemness markers and proliferation of SHG139S, and provide a new research direction to target the progression of GSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enhance nitrogen removal from domestic wastewater with a carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio as low as 2.2:1, external carbon source was prepared by short-term fermentation of food wastes and its effect was evaluated by experiments using sequencing batch reactors (SBRs). The addition of fermented food wastes, with carbohydrate (42.8 %) and organic acids (24.6 %) as the main organic carbon components, could enhance the total nitrogen (TN) removal by about 25 % in contrast to the 20 % brought about by the addition of sodium acetate when the C/N ratio was equally adjusted to 6.6:1. The fermented food waste addition resulted in more efficient denitrification in the first anoxic stage of the SBR operation cycle than sodium acetate. In order to characterize the metabolic potential of microorganisms by utilizing different carbon sources, Biolog-ECO tests were conducted with activated sludge samples from the SBRs. As a result, in comparison with sodium acetate, the sludge sample by fermented food waste addition showed a greater average well color development (AWCD), better utilization level of common carbon sources, and higher microbial diversity indexes. As a multi-organic mixture, fermented food wastes seem to be superior over mono-organic chemicals as an external carbon source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shallow fresh groundwater is not common in the middle of basins in arid and semiarid areas with strong evaporation where shallow groundwater is often brackish water or saline water. In this study, the shallow fresh groundwater in the north area of Yanchi county, China was investigated for the main influencing factors and mechanisms of its formation. The results showed that freshwater of HCO and SO types with mean salinity of 0.78 g/L formed in the north of the study area while brackish and saline water of SO·Cl-Na type with mean salinity of 2.28 g/L formed in the west and south of the study area. The fresh groundwater formed owing to the special physico-chemical properties of the aeolian sand which has the good permeation of atmospheric precipitation, the weak evaporation of the groundwater, the low salt contents in the vadose zone and aquifer medium, the weak water-rock interaction and the good hydrodynamic condition. The lateral recharge of low salinity groundwater also played a mixing and diluting role in the formation of the fresh groundwater. The findings should provide a scientific basis for the exploitation and utilization of local groundwater resources and be of significance in the exploration and exploitation of fresh groundwater in arid and semiarid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Laparoscopic methods and fast-track surgery (FTS) can enhance recovery and reduce postoperative hospital stay. However, whether laparoscopic surgery can provide short-term benefits within FTS is controversial. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to evaluate the effect of laparoscopic colorectal surgery within FTS. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Ovid databases for eligible studies. Endpoints were duration of postoperative hospital stay, time to first bowel movement, total postoperative complication rate, readmission rate, mortality within 30 days after surgery, and conversation rate of laparoscopic surgery. Results: Four randomized controlled trials and six clinical controlled trials (1510 patients) were eligible for analyses. Duration of postoperative hospital stay (weighted mean difference, -1.65 days; p < 0.001), time to first bowel movement (-1.13 days; p < 0.001), total postoperative complication rate (risk ratio [RR], 0.65; p < 0.001), readmission rate (0.46; p < 0.001), and mortality (0.45; p < 0.001) were significantly reduced in the laparoscopic surgery group. Overall conversion rate of laparoscopic surgery was 11.1 %. Subgroup analyses based on each FT element demonstrated that studies without the element 'prevention of hypothermia,' 'no bowel preparation,' or 'no routine use of drains' did not show significant differences between two groups with regard to duration of postoperative hospital stay or total prevalence of postoperative complications. Conclusion: Within FTS, laparoscopic methods can significantly shorten postoperative hospital stay, accelerate postoperative recovery, and enhance safety in colorectal surgery. The FT elements 'prevention of hypothermia,' 'no bowel preparation,' and 'no routine use of drains' may play important parts in the combined effect of these two methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the investigation of the thermoelectric properties of large-scale solution-synthesized Bi2Te3 nanocomposites prepared from nanowires hotpressed into bulk pellets. A third element, Se, is introduced to tune the carrier concentration of the nanocomposites. Due to the Se doping, the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of the nanocomposites is significantly enhanced due to the increased power factor and reduced thermal conductivity. We also find that thermal transport in our hot-pressed pellets is anisotropic, which results in different thermal conductivities along the in-plane and cross-plane directions. Theoretical calculations for both electronic and thermal transport are carried out to establish fundamental understanding of the material system and provide directions for further ZT optimization with adjustments to carrier concentration and mobility. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cirrhosis and portal hypertension (PH) has a high incidence in China. Laparoscopic splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization (LS + ED) was confirmed as an effective and safe surgical approach. But compared to open surgery (OS + ED), the rate of portal vein system thrombosis (PVST) was found to be higher after LS + ED. PVST is a common and potentially life-threatening complication after LS + ED in patients with cirrhosis and PH. Anti-coagulation therapy should be given early, but no standard plan for PSVT prophylaxis has been developed for all patients. In this study, the efficacy and safety of early use of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) to prevent PVST were retrospectively evaluated compared with conventional anti-coagulant therapy. Of 219 patients with cirrhosis and PH undergoing LS + ED at our hospital from January 2008 to June 2013, 139 received early anti-coagulant therapy with LMWH, and 80 received conventional anti-coagulant therapy. The rates and types of PVST, perioperative coagulation function, intra-abdominal active bleeding, and esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EGVB) were compared in these two groups. Of the 139 patients in the early anti-coagulation group, 42 (30.2 %) experienced postoperative PVST, including two (1.4 %) with main trunk. Of the 80 patients in the conventional anti-coagulation group, 40 (50.0 %) experienced postoperative PVST, including 12 (15.0 %) with main trunk; three (3.8 %) experienced recurrent EGVB due to main trunk thrombosis, and one (1.3 %) underwent an immediate second laparotomy for uncontrollable active bleeding. The rates of postoperative PVST ( P = 0.004), main trunk thrombosis ( P = 0.000), and EGVB ( P = 0.048) were significantly lower in the early than in the conventional anti-coagulant group, but all tested perioperative indices of coagulation function and rates of intraperitoneal active bleeding were similar. Early anti-coagulation with LMWH is safe and effective in patients with LS + ED for cirrhosis and PH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot water treatment (HWT) of fruit is an effective approach for managing postharvest decay of fruits and vegetables. In the present study, the effects of HWT (45 °C for 10 min) on the growth of Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum in vitro, and gray ( B. cinerea) and blue mold ( P. expansum) development in kiwifruit were investigated. HWT effectively inhibited spore germination and germ tube elongation of B. cinerea and P. expansum. Reactive oxygen species accumulation and protein impairment in the fungi triggered by HWT contributed to the inhibitory effect. Results of in vivo studies showed that HWT controlled gray and blue mold in kiwifruit stored at 4 and 25 °C. HWT induced a significant increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes, including catalase and peroxidase, and the level of total phenolic compounds in kiwifruit. These findings indicate that the inhibition of postharvest decay in kiwifruit by HWT is associated with the inhibition of spore germination of both fungal pathogens and the elicitation of defense response in the kiwifruit host. Moreover, HWT used in this study did not impair fruit quality. HWT appears to represent a potential non-chemical alternative for the effective management of postharvest decay of kiwifruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Gram-stain negative, aerobic, rod-shaped and non-spore-forming bacterium, CC-Bw-6 was isolated from chopped tomato stems. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the strain CC-Bw-6 showed its affiliation with the genus Lysobacter within the class Gammaproteobacteria. Strain CC-Bw-6 was found to be most closely related to Lysobacter panaciterrae KCTC 12601 (97.0 %) and Lysobacter daecheongensis KCTC 12600 (96.8 %), and showed lower similarity (<96.5 %) to other Lysobacter species. DNA-DNA relatedness between strain CC-Bw-6 and L. panaciterrae KCTC 12601 was 10.8 %, the G+C content of the genomic DNA is 69.9 mol%. Strain CC-Bw-6 was determined to possess C iso, C iso 3OH, C iso, C anteiso, C ω5c, C ω5c, C, C iso, C iso, C iso and C 10-methyl/C iso ω9c as predominant fatty acids. The major polar lipid profile consists of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and unidentified phospholipids. The predominant polyamine is spermidine, and ubiquinone-8 is the predominant respiratory quinone. Analysis of phenotypic, geno- and phylogenetic characteristics revealed a distinct taxonomic position of strain CC-Bw-6 with respect to other Lysobacter species. Based on the phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data presented here, we propose a novel species with the name Lysobacter lycopersici sp. nov. The type strain is CC-Bw-6 (=BCRC 80612 = JCM 19164). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel, Gram-staining-negative, rod-shaped, aerobic and motile bacterium, designated strain CC-SKC2, was isolated from the root tumor of a green bell pepper ( Capsicum annuum var. grossum) plant in Taiwan. Cells were positive for oxidase and catalase activities and exhibited growth at 25-37 °C, pH 4.0-9.0 and tolerated NaCl concentrations up to 4.0 % (w/v). Strain CC-SKC2 is able to trigger nodulation in soybean ( Glycine max Merr.), but not in Capsicum annuum var. grossum, red bean ( Vigna angularis), sesbania ( Sesbania roxburghii Merr.) or alfalfa ( Medicago varia Martin.). The novel strain shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Rhizobium rhizoryzae KCTC 23652 and Rhizobium straminoryzae CC-LY845 (both 97.5 %) followed by Rhizobium lemnae L6-16 (97.3 %), Rhizobium pseudoryzae KCTC 23294 (97.1 %), and Rhizobium paknamense NBRC 109338 (97.0 %), whereas other Rhizobium species shared <96.7 % similarity. The DNA-DNA relatedness values of strain CC-SKC2 with R. rhizoryzae KCTC 23652, R. pseudoryzae KCTC 23294 and R. paknamense NBRC 109338 were 11.4, 17.2 and 17.0 %, respectively (reciprocal values were 11.1, 28.3 and 24.0 %, respectively). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA, atpD and recA genes revealed a distinct taxonomic position attained by strain CC-SKC2 with respect to other Rhizobium species. The major fatty acids in strain CC-SKC2 were C, C cyclo ω8c, C 3-OH and/or C iso I and C ω7c and/or C ω6c. The polyamine pattern showed predominance of spermidine and moderate amounts of sym-homospermidine. The predominant quinone system was ubiquinone (Q-10) and the DNA G+C content was 60.5 mol%. On the basis of polyphasic taxonomic evidence presented here, strain CC-SKC2 is proposed to represent a novel species within the genus Rhizobium, for which the name Rhizobium capsici sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CC-SKC2 (=BCRC 80699 = JCM 19535). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Levator resection surgery is commonly performed to correct ptosis, and a large number of postoperative complications are well known. This report presents a previously unreported complication of marginal ectropion after levator resection surgery for congenital ptosis. Methods: The three patients with upper eyelid marginal ectropion in this observational case series previously had undergone levator resection surgery for congenital ptosis. The patients' medical records and clinical photographs were reviewed retrospectively. The patients underwent reoperations for ectropion correction. Unusual tissues identified during the surgery were excised and processed for histopathologic analysis. Results: The patients presented with upper eyelid marginal ectropion and had a history of levator resection surgery for congenital ptosis on the same eye. Ingrown tissues were observed during the second operations for ectropion correction in all three patients. Histopathologic analysis was performed for two of the patients, confirming that the tissue consisted of mucosa. The ectropions were corrected after surgical removal of the ingrown tissues. Conclusions: Marginal ectropion can occur after levator resection surgery. In this study, the ectropion was attributed to mucosal ingrowth, a complication not previously reported. To improve the surgical outcomes, surgeons should be aware of this complication. Level of Evidence V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of detecting community structures of a social network has been extensively studied over recent years, but most existing methods solely rely on the network structure and neglect the context information of the social relations. The main reason is that a context-rich network offers too much flexibility and complexity for automatic or manual modulation of the multifaceted context in the analysis process. We address the challenging problem of incorporating context information into the community analysis with a novel visual analysis mechanism. Our approach consists of two stages: interactive discovery of salient context, and iterative context-guided community detection. Central to the analysis process is a context relevance model (CRM) that visually characterizes the influence of a given set of contexts on the variation of the detected communities, and discloses the community structure in specific context configurations. The extracted relevance is used to drive an iterative visual reasoning process, in which the community structures are progressively discovered. We introduce a suite of visual representations to encode the community structures, the context as well as the CRM. In particular, we propose an enhanced parallel coordinates representation to depict the context and community structures, which allows for interactive data exploration and community investigation. Case studies on several datasets demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of our approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weak signal detection based on stochastic resonance (SR) can hardly succeed when noise intensity exceeds the optimal value of SR. This paper explores a novel parallel bistable SR array mechanism by decomposed multi-scale noises from input signal. A smoother output with lower noise is obtained from the combination of colored noise SR effect and parallel bistable SR array. The influence of noise intensity and array size on the SR effect and output noise intensity is analyzed through numerical simulation. A signal detection method based on the new SR mechanism and normalized scale transform is proposed for the case of heavy background noise. Simulation is conducted to confirm the effectiveness of parameter tuning and amplitude tuning of normalized scale transform on the proposed SR model. The proposed method has three advantages: the input noise intensity of each unit is reduced by wavelet decomposition; the output noise level decreases due to array ensemble average; the SR effect of each unit is optimized by normalized scale transform for high frequency signal. Experiment on bearing inner and outer race fault diagnosis has verified the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed SR model in comparison with traditional SR method and kurtogram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The organophosphorus pesticide poisoning of the silkworm Bombyx mori is one of the major events causing serious damage to sericulture. Added low-dose rare earths are demonstrated to increase resistance in animals. However, very little is known about whether or not added CeCl can increase resistance of silkworm to phoxim poisoning. The present findings suggested that added CeCl to mulberry leaves markedly increased contents of protein, glucose and pyruvate, and carbohydrate metabolism-related enzyme activities, including lactate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase, and attenuated free amino acids, urea, uric acid and lactate levels and inhibited the protein metabolism-related enzymes activities, such as protease, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in the haemolymph of B. mori, under phoxim toxicity. These findings suggest that added CeCl may improve protein and carbohydrate metabolisms, thus leading to increases of growth and survival rate of B. mori under phoxim stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) causes infection in the silkworm that is often lethal. The infection is hard to prevent, partly because of the nature of the virus particles and partly because of the different strains of B. mori. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO NPs) have been demonstrated to have antimicrobial properties. The present study investigated whether TiO NPs added to an artificial diet can increase the resistance of B. mori larvae to BmNPV and examined the molecular mechanism behind any resistance shown. The results indicated that ingested TiO NPs decreased reactive oxygen species and NO accumulation in B. mori larvae under BmNPV infection, which in turn led to a decrease in their growth inhibition and mortality. In addition, the TiO NPs significantly promoted the expression of resistance-related genes, including those encoding superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, acetylcholine esterase, carboxylesterase, heat shock protein 21, glutathione S transferase o1, P53, and transferring and of genes encoding cytochrome p302 and nitric oxide synthase. These findings are a useful addition to the understanding of the mechanism of BmNPV resistance of B. mori larvae in response to TiO NPs addition. Such information also provides a theoretical basis for the use of TiO NPs in sericulture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important agents causing lethal disease in the silkworm is the Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV), while low-dose rare earths are demonstrated to increase immune capacity in animals. However, very little is known about the effects of added CeCl on decreasing BmNPV infection of silkworm. The present study investigated the effects of added CeCl to an artificial diet on resistance of fifth-instar larvae of silkworm to BmNPV infection. Our findings indicated that added CeCl significantly decreased inhibition of growth and mortality of fifth-instar larvae caused by BmNPV infection. Furthermore, the added CeCl obviously decreased lipid peroxidation level and accumulation of reactive oxygen species such as O, HO, OH, and NO and increased activities of the antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase, ascorbate, and glutathione contents in the BmNPV-infected fifth-instar larvae. In addition, the added CeCl could significantly promote acetylcholine esterase activity and attenuate the activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase in the BmNPV-infected fifth-instar larvae. These findings suggested that added CeCl may relieve oxidative damage and neurotoxicity of silkworm caused by BmNPV infection via increasing antioxidant capacity and acetylcholine esterase activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to increasing applications of lanthanides (Ln) in industry and daily life, numerous studies confirmed that Ln exposure may result in organ damages in mice and rats, while very few studies focused on several organs damages simultaneously. In order to compare the toxicity of Ln on organs, mice were exposed to LaCl, CeCl, and NdCl of a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight for consecutive 60 days, respectively, then histopathological changes of liver, kidney, and heart, and their function were investigated. The results showed that long-term exposure to Ln caused cell necrosis and basophilia of liver, ambiguity of renal tubule architecture, congestion of blood vessel and capillary of kidney, and heart hemorrhage. The histopathological changes of liver, kidney, and heart in mice caused by Ce was most severe; the effect by Nd was slighter than Ce but more severe than La. The assay of serum biochemical parameters suggested that Ln exposure severely impaired the functions of liver, kidney, and myocardium in mice. These findings suggested that long-term exposure to Ln resulted in histopathological changes of liver, kidney, and heart, and their function damages. Therefore, we thought that long-term application of the products containing Ln on human should be cautious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerium has been demonstrated to damage liver of mice, but very little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the mouse liver apoptosis. In order to understand the liver injury induced by intragastric administration of cerium chloride (CeCl) for 60 consecutive days, the hepatocyte ultrasrtucture, various oxidative stress parameters, and the stress-related gene expression levels were investigated for the mouse liver. The results demonstrated that CeCl had an obvious accumulation in the mouse liver, leading to a classical laddering cleavage of DNA and hepatocyte apoptosis. CeCl significantly promoted the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and inhibited the stress-related gene expression of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, metallothionein, heat-shock protein 70, glutathione- S-transferase, P53, and transferring, and it effectively activated the cytochrome p450 1A. It implied that CeCl resulted in apoptosis and alteration of expression levels of the genes related with metal detoxification/metabolism regulation and radical scavenging action in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerium (Ce) compounds are now widely applied in medicine, agriculture, animal breeding, and daily life; however, the effects of Ce on human body, especially on the central nervous system, are still unclear. In order to investigate whether Ce exposure cause neurotoxicological effects, ICR mice were exposed to CeCl through intragastric administration at 0, 2, 10, and 20 mg/kg body weight doses everyday for 60 days. The behaviors of spatial recognition memory, brain histopathology, the brain elements and neurochemicals, as well as enzymes activities in mice were determined. The Y-maze test showed that CeCl exposure could significantly impair the behaviors of spatial recognition memory. Specifically, in these Ln-treated mice, the contents of Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe, and Zn in brain were significantly altered, the activities of Na/K-ATPase, Ca-ATPase, Ca/Mg-ATPase, acetylcholine esterase, and nitric oxide synthase were significantly inhibited; monoamines neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine were significantly decreased, while the contents of acetylcholine, glutamate, and nitric oxide were significantly increased. These results indicated that CeCl exposure could impair the learning ability, which is attributed to the disturbance of the homeostasis of trace elements, enzymes, and neurotransmitter systems in the mouse brain. Therefore, our study aroused the attention of Ln application and long-term exposure effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerium (Ce) was shown to cause various toxic effects both in rats and mice; however, the molecular mechanism by which Ce exert theirs toxicity is still understood. In this report, the impairment of liver DNA conformation and liver apoptosis of mice caused by CeCl was studied in vivo using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, various spectral methods, gel electrophoresis, and transmission electron micrograph. We found that the coefficients of liver to body weight of the mice treated with CeCl were significantly increased. Ce could be significantly accumulated in the liver, and it insert itself into DNA base pairs and/or bind to DNA nucleotide, and alter the conformation of DNA. Furthermore, the evaluation by gel electrophoresis and transmission electron micrograph showed that higher dose of Ce could cause DNA cleavage and hepatocyte apoptosis in mice. Therefore, our study aroused the attention of Ce application and exposure effects especially on human liver for long-term and low-dose treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction effect of parameters to surface topography and cutting forces is investigated, and the magnitudes of these parameters are determined in the micro-milling of AISI D2 steel. The results show that the feed per tooth has a prominent impact on the surface topography. Due to the low feed per tooth to cutting edge radius ratio, a high surface roughness and a high amount of burrs are obtained in micro-milling. In micro cutting, the cutting forces present are small; in addition, the radial thrust cutting forces are greater than the principal cutting forces. This research proves that the micro-milling process can be applied to the manufacturing of AISI D2 steel micro parts and presents experimental evidence and possible solutions to the cutting parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]