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Characterizing the 6 × 6 complex Hadamard matrices (CHMs) is an open problem in linear algebra and quantum information. We name the 6 × 6 CHMs except the H 2 -reducible matrices and the Tao matrix as the non- H 2 -reducible matrices. As far as we know, no non- H 2 -reducible matrices with analytic form have been found. In this paper, we find some non- H 2 -reducible matrices with analytic form. We also characterize some special 6 × 6 CHMs. Using our result one can further narrow the range of MUB trio (a set of four MUBs in C 6 consists of an MUB trio and the identity). Our results may lead to the complete classification of 6 × 6 CHMs and the solution of MUB problem in C 6 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To alleviate the contradiction in healthcare resources, the Chinese government formally established the framework of a hierarchical medical system in 2015, which contains the following brief generalities: " separate treatment of emergencies and slows, first-contact care at the primary, two-way referral, and upper and lower linkage, ". This study systematically summarizes and models the connotations of China's hierarchical medical system and a sample of 11,200 chronic disease patients in Tianjin, the largest port city in northern China, was selected for the empirical study to investigate the relationship between chronic disease patients' policy perceptions of the hierarchical medical system and their preference for healthcare. We found that under the strategy of separate treatment, improving the healthcare accessibility, drug supply, and lowering the cost of medical care would have a positive impact on increasing the preference of patients with chronic diseases to go to the primary hospitals. Under the two-way triage strategy, improving the level of physician services, referral convenience and treatment Standards have a positive impact on chronic disease patients' preference for primary care; The impact of the hierarchical medical system on the preference for healthcare differed between groups, focusing on differences in health literacy level, age and household type; The role of " upper and lower linkage " is crucial in the hierarchical medical system and it plays a part in mediating the influence of the " separate treatment of emergencies and slows" design and the "two-way referral " order on the treatment preferences of chronic disease patients. The results of the study provide a reference for the further development of a scientific and rational hierarchical medical system in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroinflammation is one of the three important pathological features in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's disease (PD). The regulation of neuroinflammation can reduce the severity of neurological damage to alleviate diseases. Numerous studies have shown that the phenotype switch of microglia is tightly associated with the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)-mediated inflammatory pathway. Therefore, the small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy for downregulating the expression of NF-κB, provides a promising therapeutic strategy for Parkinson's disease treatments. Considering the brain delivery challenges of siRNA, a sequential targeting inflammation regulation (STIR) delivery system based on poly(amino acid)s is developed to improve the therapeutic effects of Parkinson's disease treatments. The STIR system sequentially targets the blood-brain barrier and the microglia to enhance the effective concentration of siRNA in the targeted microglia. The results demonstrate that the STIR nanoparticles can transform microglial phenotypes and regulate brain inflammation, thus achieving neuronal recovery and abnormal aggregation of α-synuclein protein (α-syn) reduction in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Herein, this STIR delivery system provides a promising therapeutic platform in PD treatments and has great potential for other neurodegenerative diseases' therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, rapid development of tissue engineering technology provides possibilities for the construction of artificial tissues or organs. In construction of engineered kidneys, researchers used native decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) as the scaffolds to recellularization. However, thrombosis has been a great issue that hinders the progress of transplantation in vivo. In this study, heparin was immobilized to the collagen part of decellularized scaffold with collagen-binding peptide (CBP). Through the anticoagulant and endothelial cell reperfusion experiments, it can be demonstrated that the heparinized scaffolds absorbed less platelets and red blood cells which can effectively reduce the formation of thrombosis. Moreover, it is conducive to long-term adhesion of endothelial cells which is important for the formation of subsequent vascularization. Taken together, our results reveal that the whole kidney can be modified by CBP-heparin composite to reduce the thrombosis and provide the better conditions for neovascularization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the clinical significance of suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-2 and SOCS6 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression levels of SOCS2 and SOCS6 mRNA and protein in tumor, para-tumor and normal liver tissues were detected in 106 HCC patients by real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. According to qRT-PCR and western blot analyses, we first found that both the expression levels of SOCS2 and SOCS6 mRNA and protein in HCC were significantly lower than those in para-tumor (both P < 0.001) and normal liver tissues (both P < 0.001). Then, the correlation analysis showed that both SOCS2 and SOCS6 protein downregulation were significantly correlated with advanced TNM stage (both P < 0.001) and high serum AFP ( P = 0.008 and 0.01, respectively). Especially, the reduced expression of SOCS2 more frequently occurred in HCC patients with vascular invasion ( P = 0.03), and that of SOCS6 was also associated with tumor recurrence ( P = 0.01). Moreover, HCC patients with low expression of SOCS2 and SOCS6 had significantly shorter overall ( P = 0.008 and 0.01, respectively) and disease-free survival (both P = 0.01). Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that both SOCS2 and SOCS6 downregulation were independent prognostic factors of overall ( P = 0.01 and 0.03, respectively) and disease-free survival ( P = 0.01 and 0.03, respectively) in HCC. Our data demonstrate for the first time that SOCS2 and SOCS6 expression were remarkably reduced in HCC and may be served as potential prognostic markers for patients with this deadly disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]