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The nuanced role of spin effects remains a critical gap in designing proficient open‐shell catalysts. This study elucidates an iron‐catalyzed allylic C(sp3)−H silylation/alkyne hydrosilylation reaction, in which the spin state of the open‐shell iron catalyst dictates the reaction kinetics and pathway. Specifically, spin crossover led to alkyne hydrosilylation, whereas spin conservation resulted in a novel allylic C(sp3)−H silylation reaction. This chemoselectivity, governed by the spin‐crossover efficiency, reveals an unexpected dimension in spin effects and a first in the realm of transition‐metal‐catalyzed in situ silylation of allylic C(sp3)−H bonds, which had been previously inhibited by the heightened reactivity of alkenes in hydrosilylation reactions. Furthermore, this spin crossover can either accelerate or hinder the reaction at different stages within a single catalytic reaction, a phenomenon scarcely documented. Moreover, we identify a substrate‐assisted C−H activation mechanism, a departure from known ligand‐assisted processes, offering a fresh perspective on C−H activation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the head-and-neck area primarily involvesthe Waldeyer ring (WR) and sinonasal area (SN). However, the differential clinical outcomes between patients with WR-DLBCL and those with SN-DLBCL in the rituximab era remain unclear. Methods: To avoid confounding factors contributed by advanced DLBCL with WR and SN involvement, we assessed the clinical outcomes of patients with stage I/II WR-DLBCL and SN-DLBCL and compared them with those having corresponding stages of DLBCL in the lymph nodes but without other extranodal involvement (LN-DLBCL) in the same period. We compared the patients' clinical characteristics, treatment modalities, event-free survival (EFS), and overall survival (OS) among the three subgroups. Results: We analyzed 67, 15, and 106 patients with WR-DLBCL, SN-DLBCL, and LN-DLBCL, respectively, between January 2000 and December 2019. All patients received front-line rituximab-based regimens, and>80% received rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone-based regimens More patients with SN-DLBCL had revised International Prognostic Index (RIPI) score 3 (27%) when compared with those with WR-DLBCL (7%) and those with LN-DLBCL (10%, p=0.181). Patients with WR-DLBCL, LN-DLBCL, and SN-DLBCL had 5-year EFS and OS rates of 80.7%, 59.5%, and 41.9% (p=0.021) and 83.7%, 70.8%, and 55.8% (p=0.032), respectively. Compared to patients with LN-DLBCL, those with WR-DLBCL also had a significantly favorable 5-year EFS rate (p=0.021) and 5-year OS rate (p=0.023). Three of the 15 patients with SNDLBCL experienced lymphoma recurrence in the brain after front-line treatment. In multivariate analyses, R-IPI scores of 1–2 and 3 served as significantly poor prognostic factors for patients with poor EFS and OS. Conclusions: Compared to patients with LN-DLBCL, patients with WR-DLBCL receiving front-line rituximab-based treatments had favorable clinical outcomes; however, patients with SN-DLBCL had worse clinical outcomes. Further studies on molecular prognostic factors and treatment strategies for SN-DLBCL are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stereoconvergent transformation of E/Z mixtures of olefins to products with a single steric configuration is of great practical importance but hard to achieve. Herein, we report an iron‐catalyzed stereoconvergent 1,4‐hydrosilylation reactions of E/Z mixtures of readily available conjugated dienes for the synthesis of Z‐allylsilanes with high regioselectivity and exclusive stereoselectivity. Mechanistic studies suggest that the reactions most likely proceed through a two‐electron redox mechanism. The stereoselectivity of the reactions is ultimately determined by the crowded reaction cavity of the α‐diimine ligand‐modified iron catalyst, which forces the conjugated diene to coordinate with the iron center in a cis conformation, which in turn results in generation of an anti‐π‐allyl iron intermediate. The mechanism of this stereoconvergent transformation differs from previously reported mechanisms of other related reactions involving radicals or metal‐hydride species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endobronchial ultrasound bronchoscopy (EBUS) and needle confocal laser endomicroscopy (nCLE) are techniques for screening benign and malignant lesions of the hilar and mediastinal lymph node (HMLN). This study investigated the diagnostic potential of EBUS, nCLE, and combined EBUS and nCLE in HMLN lesions. We recruited 107 patients with HMLN lesions who were examined by EBUS and nCLE. A pathological examination was performed, and the diagnostic potential of EBUS, nCLE, and combined EBUS‐nCLE approach was analyzed according to the results. Among the 107 cases of HMLN lesions, 43 cases were benign and 64 cases were malignant on pathological examination, 41 cases were benign and 66 cases were malignant on EBUS examination; 42 cases were benign and 65 cases were malignant on nCLE examination; 43 cases were benign and 64 cases were malignant on combined EBUS‐nCLE examination. The combination approach had 93.8% sensitivity, 90.7% specificity, and 0.922 area under the curve, which was higher than those of EBUS (84.4%, 72.1%, and 0.782, respectively) and nCLE diagnosis (90.6%, 83.7%, and 0.872, respectively). The combination approach had a higher positive predictive value (0.908), negative predictive value (0.881), and positive likelihood ratio (10.09) than that of EBUS (0.813, 0.721, and 3.03, respectively) and nCLE (0.892, 0.857, and 5.56, respectively), whereas, the negative likelihood ratio was lower than that for EBUS (0.22) and nCLE (0.11). No serious complications occurred in patients with HMLN lesions. To summarize, the diagnostic efficacy of nCLE was better than EBUS. The EBUS‐nCLE combination is a suitable approach for diagnosing HMLN lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the monomers of proteins, amino acids are critical in chemistry and biology, playing important roles in multiple fields such as synthetic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and materials chemistry. Unlike proteinogenic amino acids, unnatural amino acids can be difficult to obtain from living organisms and generally are synthesized chemically. Recently, a method involving the asymmetric N−H bond carbene insertion reaction with α‐diazoacetates as the carbene precursor has shown high enantioselectivity and good functional group tolerance, allowing for the facile synthesis of natural and unnatural amino acids and the introduction of new concepts in catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photosynthetic microorganisms, especially microalgae and cyanobacteria, have been well‐developed as attractive biomaterials with their eigen oxygen production capability, high‐value metabolites, and diverse biofunctionalities. Moreover, recent advances in nanotechnology and materials sciences also witnessed promising prospects by integrating unique properties of distinctive functional materials with photosynthetic microorganisms to construct material‐decorated photosynthetic microorganisms (MPMs) that can foster diversified biomedical functions. These integrated MPM hybrids can serve as smart cargoes for targeting therapeutic delivery, mainly due to their modifiable surface morphology, actuated propulsion, good biocompatibility, and spacious encapsulating effect. Moreover, attributing to the intrinsic oxygenation and autofluorescence, the MPMs can also act as the oxygen supplier to conduct various oxygen‐related modulation and image‐guided therapies. This review systematically outlines the recent advances of MPMs as unique platforms to achieve their targeted drug delivery. In addition, promising applications of these micro‐sized biohybrids for in situ oxygen modulation and oxygen‐related therapeutic manipulation are also summarized. Some relevant applications regarding their synergistic theranostics and the feasibility as the macro‐sized scaffold for tissue engineering and wound healing are also carefully covered. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives of these multifunctional material‐microbe hybridized conjugations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomineralization‐controlled exo‐/endoskeleton growth contributes to body growth and body size diversity. Molluscan shells undergo ectopic biomineralization to form the exoskeleton and biocalcified "pearl" involved in invading defence. Notably, exo‐/endoskeletons have a common ancestral origin, but their regulation and body growth are largely unknown. This study employed the pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata marntensii, a widely used experimental model for biomineralization in invertebrates, to perform whole‐genome resequencing of 878 individuals from wild and breeding populations. This study characterized the genetic architecture of biomineralization‐controlled growth and ectopic biomineralization. The insulin‐like growth factor (IGF) endocrine signal interacted with ancient single‐copy transcription factors to form the regulatory network. Moreover, the "cross‐phylum" regulation of key long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) in bivalves and mammals indicated the conserved genetic and epigenetic regulation in exo‐/endoskeleton growth. Thyroid hormone signal and apoptosis regulation in pearl oysters affected ectopic biomineralization in pearl oyster. These findings provide insights into the mechanism underlying the evolution and regulation of biomineralization in exo‐/endoskeleton animals and ectopic biomineralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Andrographolide(ADE) has been demonstrated to inhibit tumor growth through direct cytotoxicity on tumor cells. However, its potential activity on tumor microenvironment (TME) remains unclear. Tumor‐associated macrophages (TAMs), composed mainly of M2 macrophages, are the key cells that create an immunosuppressive TME by secretion of cytokines, thus enhancing tumor progression. Re‐polarized subpopulations of macrophages may represent vital new therapeutic alternatives. Our previous studies showed that ADE possessed anti‐metastasis and anoikis‐sensitization effects. Here, we demonstrated that ADE significantly suppressed M2‐like polarization and enhanced M1‐like polarization of macrophages. Moreover, ADE inhibited the migration of M2 and tube formation in HUVECs under M2 stimulation. In vivo studies showed that ADE restrained the growth of MDA‐MB‐231 and HCC1806 human breast tumor xenografts and 4T‐1 mammary gland tumors through TAMs. Wnt5a/β‐catenin pathway and MMPs were particularly associated with ADE's regulatory mechanisms to M2 according to RNA‐seq and bioinformatics analysis. Moreover， western blot also verified the expressions of these proteins were declined with ADE exposure. Among the cytokines released by M2, PDGF‐AA and CCL2 were reduced. Our current findings for the first time elucidated that ADE could modulate macrophage polarization and function through Wnt5a signaling pathway, thereby playing its role in inhibition of triple‐negative breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we report the development of a method for highly regio‐, stereo‐, and enantioselective B−H bond insertion reactions of α‐silylcarbenes generated from 1‐silylcyclopropenes in the presence of a chiral copper(I)/bisoxazoline catalyst for the construction of chiral γ,γ‐disubstituted allylic gem‐silylboranes, which cannot be prepared by any other known methods. This reaction is the first highly enantioselective carbene insertion reaction of α‐silylcarbenes ever to be reported. The method shows general applicability for various 3,3‐disubstituted silylcyclopropenes and exclusively affords E‐products. The novel chiral γ,γ‐disubstituted allylic gem‐silylborane products are versatile allylic bimetallic reagents with high stability and have great synthetic potential, especially for the construction of complex molecules with continuous chiral centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasipaa spinosa is an Asian commercial Dicroglossidae species noted for its spiny chest found in adult males. Here, we report the first chromosomal level Q. spinosa genome employing PacBio long read sequencing and high‐resolution chromosome conformation capture (Hi‐C) technology. The total length of the final assembled genome was 2,839,292,578 bp, with contig N50 of 3.79 Mb and scaffold N50 of 327.44 Mb. Approximately 99.30% of the length of the assembled genome sequences were anchored to 13 chromosomes with the assistance of Hi‐C reads. A total of 26,173 protein‐coding genes were predicted, and 95.98% of the genes were functionally annotated. The annotated genes covered a total of 92.10% of the complete vertebrate core gene set according to the BUSCO pipeline evaluation. Approximately 41 million years ago, Q. spinosa began to diverge from its dicroglossid sister taxon Nanorana parkeri. The Q. spinosa genome revealed obvious chromosomal fissions compared with Xenopus tropicalis, which probably represented a specific chromosome evolutionary history within frogs. Population analysis showed that Chinese Q. spinosa could be divided into eastern and western genetic clusters, with the western population showing higher diversity than the eastern population. The effective population size of Q. spinosa showed a continuously decreasing trend from one million years ago to 10,000 years ago. In summary, this study sheds light on Q. spinosa evolution and population differentiation, providing a valuable genomic resource for further biological and genetic studies on this species, and other closely related frog taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with conventional fracturing, shale reservoir fracturing has the characteristics of 1000 tons of sand and 10,000 cubic meters of liquid. The concentrated reflection of the fracturing fluid is low friction and strong carrier which are required. A novel bifunctional associative polymer was synthesized by free radical micellar polymerization with twin tails and long chain hydrophobic monomers. The structures and characteristics of the polymer were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H NMR spectroscopy, DSC, SEM and AFM. Sand‐carrying of the fracturing fluid experiments shows when the quartz sand has a particle size of 0.3 and 0.6 mm, the sedimentation velocities are about 0.12 and 0.40 cm min−1, respectively. The drag reduction experimental results show that when the flow rate rises to 55 L·min−1, drag reduction rate can reach 68.1%. The polymer polyacrylamide has good shear performance, but the permeability damage rate is up to 16.10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a fully integrated phased array using multi‐layer printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication technologies is presented. This array is directly fed by 50 Ω coaxial cables, without balanced‐to‐unbalanced transitions. An asymmetric dipole is used to achieve stable input impedance. Furthermore, to broaden the operating bandwidth, a coupling patch is designed beneath the asymmetric dipole , which also eliminates the common‐mode resonance and decreases the array profile. In addition, three wide‐angle impedance matching (WAIM) layers with different structures are utilised to improve the scan range in all scanning planes. Infinite array simulations indicate that the proposed array can operate over a 5.1:1 bandwidth (2.4 ∼ 12.2 GHz) with an active voltage standing wave ratio below 3 while scanning up to ± 60° in H plane and ±75° in the E plane. Furthermore, the proposed antenna, whose cross‐polarization levels remain below −35 and −7.5 dB when scanning up to 75° in the E plane and 60° in the D plane, demonstrates the merits of high polarization purity. Array simulations are verified by the measurements of a 12 × 12 prototype, and good agreement is observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scarcity of reliable methods for synthesizing chiral gem‐diarylmethine borons limits their applications. Herein, we report a method for highly enantioselective dirhodium‐catalyzed B−H bond insertion reactions with diaryl diazomethanes as carbene precursors. These reactions afforded chiral gem‐diarylmethine borane compounds in high yield (up to 99 % yield), high activity (turnover numbers up to 14 300), high enantioselectivity (up to 99 % ee) and showed unprecedented broad functional group tolerance. The borane compounds synthesized by this method could be efficiently transformed into diaryl methanol, diaryl methyl amine, and triaryl methane derivatives with good stereospecificity. Mechanistic studies suggested that the borane adduct coordinated to the rhodium catalyst and thus interfered with decomposition of the diazomethane, and that insertion of a rhodium carbene (generated from the diaryl diazomethane) into the B−H bond was most likely the rate‐determining step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) have a great potential to proliferate, undergo multi-directional differentiation, and exert immunoregulatory effects. There is already much enthusiasm for their therapeutic potentials for respiratory inflammatory diseases. Although the mechanism of MSCs-based therapy has been well explored, only a few articles have summarized the key advances in this field. We hereby provide a review over the latest progresses made on the MSCs-based therapies for four types of inflammatory respiratory diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma, and the uncovery of their underlying mechanisms from the perspective of biological characteristics and functions. Furthermore, we have also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the MSCs-based therapies and prospects for their optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumour radioresistance is a major problem for cancer radiation therapy. To identify the underlying mechanisms of this resistance, we used human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and focused on the Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein (IAP) family, which contributes to tumourigenesis and chemoresistance. We investigated the possible correlation between radioresistance in six NSCLC cell lines and IAP protein levels and tested the radiosensitizing effect of birinapant in vitro, a molecule that mimics the second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase. We found that birinapant-induced apoptosis and inhibited the proliferation of NSCLC cells after exposure to radiation. These effects were induced by birinapant downregulation of cIAP protein levels and changes of cIAP gene expression. Overall, birinapant can inhibit tumour growth of NSCLC cell lines to ironizing radiation and act as a promising strategy to overcome radioresistance in NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral plasmonic films with gold nanohelices in polymer matrix are fabricated by templated electroless plating using self‐assembled enantiomeric polylactide‐based block copolymers (BCPs) as templates. By taking advantage of the helicity control of forming helical phase from the self‐assembly of chiral BCPs, mirror‐image signals from Cotton effect in electronic circular dichroism spectra can be clearly identified. The polymeric films with gold nanohelices show chiral plasmonic properties, as further evidenced by simulation from finite‐difference time‐domain method. This study may shed the light on fabrication of chiral plasmonic materials with adaptability in the applications for optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel optical type in‐cell fingerprint sensor (iFP) technology, which can detect a user's fingerprint on display. By using low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) TFT process, new sensor material, and active pixel sensor circuit (APS), this sensor can detect a fingerprint image with good performance. The FPS/Touch/Display Driver IC (FTDI) is also implemented in this work, and successfully demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoptive immunotherapy is a new potential method of tumour therapy, among which anti‐CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T‐cell therapy (CAR‐T cell), is a typical treatment agent for haematological malignancies. Previous clinical trials showed that the quality and phenotype of CAR‐T cells expanded ex vivo would seriously affect the tumour treatment efficacy. Although magnetic beads are currently widely used to expand CAR‐T cells, the optimal expansion steps and methods have not been completely established. In this study, the differences between CAR‐T cells expanded with anti‐CD3/CD28 mAb‐coated beads and those expanded with cell‐based aAPCs expressing CD19/CD64/CD86/CD137L/mIL‐15 counter‐receptors were compared. The results showed that the number of CD19‐specific CAR‐T cells with a 4‐1BB and CD28 co‐stimulatory domain was much greater with stimulation by aAPCs than that with beads. In addition, the expression of memory marker CD45RO was higher, whereas expression of exhausted molecules was lower in CAR‐T cells expanded with aAPCs comparing with the beads. Both CAR‐T cells showed significant targeted tumoricidal effects. The CAR‐T cells stimulated with aAPCs secreted apoptosis‐related cytokines. Moreover, they also possessed marked anti‐tumour effect on NAMALWA xenograft mouse model. The present findings provided evidence on the safety and advantage of two expansion methods for CAR‐T cells genetically modified by piggyBac transposon system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roem.) or luffa is a diploid herbaceous plant with 26 chromosomes (2n = 26) and belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae. To address the limited knowledge of the genome of Luffa species, the chromosome‐level genome of L. cylindrica was assembled and analysed using PacBio long reads and Hi‐C data. We combined Hi‐C data with a draft genome assembly to generate chromosome‐length scaffolds. Thirteen scaffolds corresponding to the 13 chromosomes were assembled from 1,156 contigs to a final size of 669 Mb with a contig N50 size of 5 Mb and a scaffold N50 size of 53 Mb. After removing redundant sequences, 416.31 Mb (62.18% of the genome) of repeat sequences was detected. Subsequently, 31,661 protein‐coding genes with an average of 5.69 exons per gene were identified in the L. cylindrica genome using de novo methods, transcriptome data and homologue‐based approaches. In addition, 27,552 protein‐coding genes (87.02%) were annotated in five databases. According to the phylogenetic analysis, L. cylindrica is closely related to Cucurbita and Cucumis species and diverged from their common ancestor ~28.6–67.1 million years ago. Genome collinearity analysis was performed in Cucurbita moschata, Cucumis sativus and L. cylindrica, and it demonstrated a high degree of conserved gene order in these three species. The completeness of the genome will provide high‐quality genomic knowledge on breeding and reveal genetic variation in L. cylindrica. See also the perspective by Annarita Marrano, Alice E. Palmer and Brook T. Moyers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanism of how TUG1 interferes with the expression of C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), peroxisome‐proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ coactivator‐1 alpha (PGC‐1α), which contributes to the development of diabetic nephropathy. Real‐time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were performed to explore the regulatory relationship among TUG1, CHOP, PGC‐1α, and caspase‐3. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick‐end labeling was performed to confirm TUG1 involved in diabetic nephropathy (DN) through influencing podocytes apoptosis. TUG1 was highly expressed in a cell following treatment with high glucose, and PGC‐1α and cleaved caspase‐3 levels were much lower, while CHOP level was much higher in high glucose group (HG), furthermore, CHOP inhibited PGC‐1α expression. TUG1 negatively regulated CHOP expression, and positively regulated PGC‐1α expression. Meanwhile, total caspase‐3 level in cell treated with or without HG transfected with CHOP small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA), TUG1, and TUG1 siRNA showed no evident difference with their corresponding control, while CHOP siRNA and TUG1 evidently decreased, and TUG1 siRNA remarkably increased cleaved caspase‐3 level in HG or normal glucose groups in comparison with corresponding control. TUG1 and PGC‐1α levels were much lower, while CHOP level was much higher in participants diagnosed with DN. A higher level of CHOP protein and lower level of PGC‐1α were observed in subjects diagnosed with DN. Finally, podocytes apoptosis in the DN group was significantly promoted compared with that in nondiabetic renal disease group. Our current study has suggested for the first time that the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) TUG1 influenced podocytes apoptosis via mediating endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)–CHOP–PGC‐1α signaling pathway in HG‐induced DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polyp detection rate (PDR) is an important quality indicator for colonoscopy. Several factors have been shown to be associated with PDR. However, whether the moderate sedation is a factor for polyp detection remains controversial. This study aims to assess factors associated with polyp detection including the moderate sedation factor during colonoscopy. Patients who underwent colonoscopy from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015 were enrolled into this retrospective study. Patients with poor colon preparation and failure to reach the cecum were excluded. The clinical factors, including patient's sex, age, midazolam/fentanyl sedation, indications, endoscopist colonoscopy volume, and use of antispasmodic agent were evaluated by multivariate analysis. A total of 3373 patients were included in this study. The mean age was 55.8 years, and 1980 patients (58.7%) were male. Among the 3373 patients, 2513 (74.5%) underwent midazolam/fentanyl‐based sedated colonoscopy. The multivariate analysis showed that male sex, age over 50 years old, midazolam/fentanyl sedation and indications of screening and surveillance were significantly associated with polyp detection. Moreover, when stratified by sex and age, the midazolam/fentanyl sedation was associated with polyp detection in male patients and patients over 50 years old. This study has highlighted the role of midazolam/fentanyl sedation administered by colonoscopists as a modifiable factor that may increase polyp detection during colonoscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable body temperature‐responsive shape memory polyurethanes, with self‐healing function, were synthesized here from PCDL, MDI and different chain extenders, in which the chain extenders are designed to adjust their transition temperatures and shape memory properties. Once deformed at proper temperature, they show more than 96% shape fixation until heated near body temperature, where they recover their original shape (100%) within 20 s. Moreover, these polyurethanes could be self‐healing at proper temperature, which makes them available in many medical fields. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:E310–E316, 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and Aim: The need for all‐oral hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatments with higher response rates, improved tolerability, and lower pill burden compared with interferon‐inclusive regimen has led to the development of new direct‐acting antiviral agents. Ravidasvir (RDV) is a second‐generation, pan‐genotypic NS5A inhibitor with high barrier to resistance. The aim of this phase 2 study (EVEREST study) was to assess the efficacy and safety of interferon‐free, 12‐week RDV plus ritonavir‐boosted danoprevir (DNVr) and ribavirin (RBV) regimen for treatment‐naïve Asian HCV genotype 1 (GT1) patients without cirrhosis. Methods: A total of 38 treatment‐naïve, non‐cirrhotic adult HCV GT1 patients were enrolled in this multicenter, open‐label, single‐arm phase 2 study (NCT03020095). All patients received a combination of RDV 200 mg once daily (q.d.) plus DNVr 100 mg/100 mg twice daily (b.i.d.) and oral RBV 1000/1200 mg/day (body weight < 75/≥ 75 kg) for 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was the rate of sustained virologic response 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12). Results: Of 38 patients, all (100%) achieved SVR12. During the study, no treatment‐related serious adverse events, no patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events, and no deaths were reported. Six of 37 (16%) patients with available sequences had HCV NS5A resistance‐associated variants at baseline. All patients (6/6) with baseline NS5A resistance‐associated variants achieved SVR12. Conclusions: Twelve‐week RDV and DNVr in combination with RBV for 12 weeks achieves the SVR12 rate of 100% in treatment‐naïve non‐cirrhotic Asian patients with HCV GT1 infection. This interferon‐free regimen is also safe and well tolerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report fabrication processes of indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) and low temperature poly silicon (LTPS) hybrid TFTs array technology. And the SiOx/IGZO interface quality modification and the performance of different thickness of active layer of IGZO device has been investigated by positive gate bias temperature stress method. The optimum processes conditions have been used on the 1.4” inch circular LCD to improve and pass operation tests of high temperature operation (HTO) 274hrs and temperature‐humidity‐bias (THB) 462 hrs to reach mass production phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the unique property, the low leakage current of crystalline indium gallium zinc oxide (c-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs), it can archive the low power consumption of a panel within low frame rate driving. Low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) TFTs as components of shift register circuit can fulfill small border size. The c-IGZO TFTs for pixel switch and the LTPS TFTs for gate driver on array backplane have been both deposited on glass substrate. We demonstrate a prototype of 1.4 inch circular LCD with c-IGZO and LTPS hybrid backplane technology to achieve small border size and low power consumption. And the panel shows good picture quality without flickering when very low frame rate driving (6Hz). In addition, the optical property and crystallinity of c-IGZO have been studied in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lupins are important grain legume crops that form a critical part of sustainable farming systems, reducing fertilizer use and providing disease breaks. It has a basal phylogenetic position relative to other crop and model legumes and a high speciation rate. Narrow-leafed lupin ( NLL; Lupinus angustifolius L.) is gaining popularity as a health food, which is high in protein and dietary fibre but low in starch and gluten-free. We report the draft genome assembly (609 Mb) of NLL cultivar Tanjil, which has captured >98% of the gene content, sequences of additional lines and a dense genetic map. Lupins are unique among legumes and differ from most other land plants in that they do not form mycorrhizal associations. Remarkably, we find that NLL has lost all mycorrhiza-specific genes, but has retained genes commonly required for mycorrhization and nodulation. In addition, the genome also provided candidate genes for key disease resistance and domestication traits. We also find evidence of a whole-genome triplication at around 25 million years ago in the genistoid lineage leading to Lupinus. Our results will support detailed studies of legume evolution and accelerate lupin breeding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims Oral antiviral therapy may reduce the disease progression of chronic hepatitis B ( CHB) patients. We aimed to further investigate the efficacy of long-term entecavir therapy in reduction of the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC), cirrhotic events and mortality in a large group of CHB-related cirrhosis patients. Methods The C- TEAM (Cirrhosis-Taiwanese EntecAvir Multicenter) study was a nationwide, multicenter, retrospective-prospective cohort study in Taiwan. We enrolled treatment-naïve patients with CHB-related cirrhosis and baseline HBV- DNA≥2000 IU/mL receiving long-term entecavir therapy and compared the development of HCC, cirrhotic events and mortality with that of a historical untreated cohort. Results In total, 1315 entecavir-treated and 503 untreated patients with cirrhosis were enrolled, with median treatment and follow-up durations of 4 and 6 years respectively. Compared with the untreated cohort, entecavir therapy was associated with a 60% HCC risk reduction [hazard ratio ( HR): 0.40, 95% confidence interval ( CI): 0.28-0.57]. Additionally, an older age, the male gender, HBeAg positivity, alpha-fetoprotein ( AFP)≥7 ng/mL before therapy were independent predictors of HCC development. Further analysis showed that entecavir therapy significantly reduced risks of variceal bleeding, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, and liver-related and all-cause mortality. These findings were confirmed by propensity score-matched cohorts in sensitivity analysis. In patients under entecavir therapy, an older age, the male gender, HBeAg positivity, AFP level ≥7 ng/mL before therapy, and 1-year virological response were predictive of HCC development. Conclusions Four-year entecavir therapy significantly reduces the risk of HCC, cirrhotic events and mortality in patients with CHB-related cirrhosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatic iron accumulation may be responsible for the pathology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is both increasingly prevalent in conjunction with obesity and associated with comorbidities. The efficacy of iron reduction therapies, such as phlebotomy or dietary iron restriction, has been demonstrated in patient and animal models, including models of diabetes and obesity; however, the effects on and exact mechanisms responsible for iron depletion in NAFLD have not been clearly elucidated. Our study investigated the role of iron depletion by deferoxamine (DFO) treatment of ob/ob mice with hepatic steatosis. We found that DFO reduced hepatic iron deposition and regulated intracellular iron concentration in a homeostatic process following 15 days of treatment. Compared with vehicle treatment, DFO significantly improved hepatic steatosis by upregulating proteins related to lipid metabolism. Meanwhile, the reduction of free radical formation and proinflammatory cytokines, as well as the increase of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α pathway proteins and Bcl2/Bax ratio, further indicated that DFO was effective for liver protection and hepatic adaptation. These findings show that the intraperitoneal delivery of DFO provides a potential means of both preventing the progression of NAFLD and accelerating healing of hepatic steatosis, with the potential for rapid clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY The high-power fast charger (HPFC) incorporating a power stage with a controlling loop is presented in this paper. A power stage is composed of an inter-leaved boost power factor correction and a DC-DC full-bridge phase-shifted (FBPS) converter, and that the HPFC can supply a constant-voltage (CV) or a constant-current (CC) power to charge a secondary lithium-ion battery pack. In addition, the ripple current can be reduced due to the DC-DC FBPS converter combines with the current-doubler rectifier at HPFC's output side. Also, the controlling loop is equipped with a voltage compensator and a current compensator, and this design is for the sake of HPFC, which can either operate in CV or CC output mode. Moreover, the shut-down situation will be prevented by proposed bi-phase charging controller, when the charging current is adjusted from the fist CC level to the second CC level. Analysis and design considerations of the proposed circuits are presented in details. Experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions and confirm the validity of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim Chronic hepatitis C ( CHC) infection is a leading cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. Pegylated interferon ( PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin ( RBV) combination therapy remains the standard of care for CHC genotype 1 in many Asian countries, and single nucleotide polymorphism or genotype of the interleukin- 28B ( IL28B) gene is associated with the development of sustained virologic response ( SVR). The predictive value of IL28B genotype for retreatment outcomes of patients with CHC was only partly clarified and deserves further investigation. Methods A total of 75 CHC genotype 1 Taiwanese patients who relapsed after 24-week PEG-IFN/ RBV combination therapy and received retreatment with a 48-week PEG-IFN/ RBV therapy were consecutively enrolled since November 2009. The associations among IL28B rs8099917 genotype, virologic kinetics, and treatment outcomes were evaluated. Results Rapid virologic response ( RVR) at week 4, end-of-treatment virologic response ( EOT-VR) and SVR was 37%, 73%, and 52%, respectively. Relapse rate was 29%. None of patients had rs8099917 GG genotype. Patients with TT genotype ( n = 54, 72%) had higher rates of RVR (50% vs 5%, P = 0.0002), end-of-treatment virologic response (85% vs 43%, P = 0.0001), and SVR (67% vs 14%, P = 0.0001) than those with GT genotype ( n = 21, 28%). Combination of IL28B TT genotype and achieving RVR had 85% positive and 90% negative predictive values of SVR. Conclusions About half of the Taiwanese CHC relapsers to a previous 24-week combination therapy achieve SVR after retreatment for 48 weeks. IL28B genotype influences on-treatment viral kinetics and SVR rate in these retreated patients. Baseline IL28B genotype and RVR can serve as early predictors for treatment success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of environmental pH-responsive block copolymers PEG-polyurethane with tertiary amine groups in the main chain and free carboxyl groups in the side chain were synthesized, including poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), 1,4-bis (hydroxyethyl) piperazine, 1,6-diisocyanato hexamethylene, and 2,2-dimethylolpropionic acid. The chemical structure, molecular weight, and pH-dependent capacity of pH-responsive PEG-polyurethane were examined by 1H-NMR, FTIR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and an acid-base titration. Moreover, the fluorescent dye fluorescein isothiocyanate was conjugated with PEG-polyurethane by the similar polymerization method and the obtained polymer was measured by ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and fluorescent spectroscopy. The results indicated that the pH-responsive PEG-polyurethane showed a pH-buffering phenomenon and fluorescent imaging in a range of pH values. As a result, we demonstrated its potential application for optical imaging; however, it is believed that more applications in the areas of biomedicine will be possible owing to its free carboxyl acid terminal residues in the stimuli-responsive polymer. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submicrometer core-shell polybutadiene- graft-polystyrene (PB- g-PS) copolymers were synthesized by emulsion grafting polymerization with 1,2-azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator. Then, PB- g-PS copolymers were blended with high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and PS to prepare HIPS/PS/PB- g-PS. It is generally accepted that PS could only be toughened by 1-3-μm rubber particles effectively. From the Izod impact test, however, the results showed that PS could be toughened effectively by submicrometer rubber particles (around 300 nm) in our study. Moreover, the impact strength of HIPS/PS/PB- g-PS is much higher than that of HIPS due to the synergism between submicrometer rubber particles and micrometer salami particles. Subsequently, the stress-whitening zones for HIPS, PS/PB- g-PS, and HIPS/PS/PB- g-PS were also observed in detail by transmission electron microscope. Based on mechanical properties and deformation morphologies, the deformation mechanism in the HIPS/PS/PB- g-PS blends was given as follows: crazes could be initiated from large rubber particles, passed through 'craze-bridge' rubber particles, and ended to neighboring small one, which prevented excessively crazing to be form cracks, absorbed energy, and finally enhanced the toughness of PS. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes in patients undergoing balloon-assisted enteroscopy (BAE) with heat probe or argon plasma coagulation and to identify risk factors for recurrent bleeding. Methods Data of the patients who were consecutively referred to our institution with angiodysplastic bleeding of the small intestine between August 2005 and February 2010 were reviewed. These 39 patients underwent BAE and were followed up for 6 months. Results In all, 31 patients had melena and 8 had hematochezia. On BAE, 26 patients received endoscopic therapy, 3 underwent surgical intervention due to endoscopic therapy failure, and 10 underwent observation because a definite source of bleeding was not identified. Ten patients (25.6%) had recurrent bleeding during follow-up, including eight patients in the endoscopic therapy group and two in the observation group. Higher rates of recurrent bleeding were observed in association with the presence of melena initially ( P = 0.028), but there were no significant differences in the rate of recurrence between patients who did and did not receive endoscopic therapy ( P = 0.470). Age greater than 65 years ( P = 0.058) and jejunal bleeding ( P = 0.050) tended to increase the risk of recurrent bleeding compared with other factors. Conclusions BAE may be a beneficial approach to treat angiodysplastic bleeding in the small intestine. Elderly patients and those with melena or jejunal bleeding should be closely monitored for recurrent bleeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate the usefulness of needle biopsy in the diagnosis of early sacroiliitis to improve the diagnostic level and outcome of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods One hundred nine patients in whom early AS was highly suspected, but in whom only sacroiliitis of grade I or lower on radiography/computed tomography (CT) was seen, were recruited for study. CT-guided needle biopsy of the sacroiliac joints was performed, and the patients were followed up for 5-10 years. Results Of the 109 patients, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to confirm the presence or absence of sacroiliitis in 77 patients. Of these, 23 patients were determined to have sacroiliitis on MRI, and 54 had no sacroiliitis on MRI. Needle biopsy was performed on all 109 patients. Features of inflammation were found in 85 patients, which included all 23 patients with MRI evidence of sacroiliitis and 38 of the 54 patients without MRI evidence of sacroiliitis. No features of inflammation were found on needle biopsy in 24 of the patients, including the remaining 16 patients who did not have sacroiliitis on MRI. The sensitivity and specificity of MRI for the early diagnosis of sacroiliitis in these patients were 37.7% and 100%, respectively. Thirty-four patients with pathologic evidence of sacroiliitis were followed up for 5-10 years. At the study end point, 16 of these 34 patients continued to show grade I or lower changes on CT, and 18 had changes of grade II or higher. These 18 patients included 7 of the 8 patients with evidence of sacroiliitis on MRI and 6 of the 20 patients confirmed not to have MRI evidence of sacroiliitis at baseline. Conclusion MRI, though of low sensitivity, is specific for the diagnosis of early sacroiliitis. Sacroiliitis can be detected earlier by needle biopsy than by MRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently isolated an exon-4-deleted epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) variant, termed de4 EGFR. Because the extracellular domain alteration of receptors often influences the antitumor effect of therapeutic antibodies, it is essential to test the sensitivity of de4 EGFR+ tumors to anti-EGFR antibodies. Therefore, in this study, the antitumor activities of mAb CH12, an anti-EGFRvIII antibody developed in our laboratory, as well as a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved anti-EGFR antibody, cetuximab (C225), were characterized on de4 EGFR+ models. The results of FACS assays showed that CH12 bound to de4 EGFR with a higher avidity than did C225. Interestingly, CH12, but not C225, significantly inhibited the metastasis and growth of U87MG-de4 EGFR xenografts, with a growth-inhibition ratio of 46.48% in vivo, and prolonged the survival of the tumor-bearing mice by 37.2%. Treatment with CH12 significantly suppressed tumor proliferation and angiogenesis with increased tumor apoptosis. Mechanistically, de4 EGFR protein expression was virtually undetectable in the U87MG-de4 EGFR xenografts treated with CH12. This may account for the observed reduction of Akt and Erk phosphorylation, cyclin D1, Bcl-2, and Bcl-xL expression and the increase of p27 and E-cadherin expression. Intriguingly, LAMP-1, a major component of the lysosome, was significantly up-regulated in the CH12- treated group but not in the C225-treated group, suggesting its contribution to the degradation of de4 EGFR. Taken together, our data demonstrated that mAb CH12 is a promising therapeutic agent for treating de4 EGFR+ gliomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: The technical performance of colonoscopy performed in deeply sedated patients differs from that performed without sedation or under minimal to moderate sedation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the factors affecting cecal intubation during colonoscopy performed under deep sedation. Methods: A total of 5352 consecutive subjects who underwent a screening colonoscopy as part of a health check-up between January 2008 and December 2008 at an academic hospital were reviewed. All endoscopies were performed with deep sedation using combination propofol or propofol alone. Data collected included characteristics of the patients (age, gender, body mass index, bowel habits, history of abdominal or pelvic surgery, quality of bowel preparation, and presence/absence of colonic diverticula) and characteristics of the colonoscopists (experience level, colonoscopy procedure volume, and instrument handling method). These factors were analyzed to evaluate their impact on cecal intubation rates. Results: The crude cecal intubation rate was 98% and the adjusted cecal intubation rate was 98.3%. The mean cecal intubation time was 5.6 ± 3.2 min. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that patient age greater than 60 years, constipation, poor colon preparation and a two-person colonoscopy procedure were independently associated with lower cecal intubation rates. Conclusions: Colonoscopy performed under deep sedation by experienced colonoscopists results in high cecal intubation rates. Among the significant patient-related predictors influencing the cecal intubation, the quality of the bowel preparation was the only modifiable factor. When performed by experienced hands, the one-person method was associated with higher cecal intubation rates than the two-person method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) and PET-CT in initial M staging of head and neck cancer. Methods. After a systematic review of English language studies, sensitivity, specificity, and other measures of wholebody PET and PET-CT were pooled. Summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves were also used to summarize overall test performance. Results. Eight PET and 7 PET-CT studies were identified. The pooled sensitivity estimates for PET and PET-CT were 0.848 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.776-0.905) and 0.875 (95% CI, 0.787-0.936). The pooled specificity estimates were 0.952 (95% CI, 0.933-0.967) and 0.950 (95% CI, 0.931-0.964). The Q* index estimates for PET-CT (0.9409) were not significantly higher than for PET (0.9154; p > .05). Conclusion. Whole-body PET and PET-CT have good diagnostic performance in initial M staging of head and neck cancer; although PET-CT tends to have higher accuracy than PET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orthogonal arrays (OA's) are widely used in design of experiments. Each OA has a specific number of rows that is fixed by the number of factors in the OA and the number of levels in each factor. In a practical application of an industrial experiment, however, because of various operational constraints it could happen that the number of runs of the experiment cannot be set exactly equal to the number of rows of an OA. In this case, a lean design can be used. A lean design is obtained by removing some specific rows and columns from the extended design matrix formed from an OA, so that the resulting sub-matrix still allows efficient estimation of the effects of some of the factors. Tables for 2-level lean designs are already available in the literature. In this paper, the authors will investigate 3-level lean designs and mixed-level lean designs, and construct tables for such designs for convenient use. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melatonin has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of malignant and transformed human prostate epithelial cells by transcriptional up-regulation of p27Kip1 expression via MTNR1A receptor-mediated activation of protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC) in parallel. Given that melatonin MTNR1A receptor is a G protein-coupled receptor, this study was conducted to identify the specific G proteins that mediate the antiproliferative action of melatonin on human prostate epithelial cells. In 22Rv1 and RWPE-1 cells, knockdown of either Gαs or Gαq, but not Gαi2 expression by RNA interference, abrogated the effects of melatonin on p27Kip1 and cell proliferation. Conversely, cellular overexpression of activated mutants of Gαs and Gαq in 22Rv1 and RWPE-1 cells mimicked the effects of melatonin on prostate epithelial cell antiproliferation by increasing p27Kip1 expression through downstream activation of PKA and PKC in parallel. Moreover, melatonin or 2-iodomelatonin induced elevation of adenosine-3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) in 22Rv1 and RWPE-1 cells. The effects of 2-iodomelatonin on cAMP were blocked by the nonselective MTNR1A/MTNR1B receptor antagonist luzindole but were not affected by the selective MTNR1B receptor antagonist 4-phenyl-2-propionamidotetraline (4-P-PDOT). Furthermore, knockdown of Gαs mitigated the stimulatory effects of 2-iodomelatonin on cAMP. Collectively, the data demonstrated, for the first time, functional coupling of MTNR1A receptor to Gαs in cancerous or transformed human cells expressing endogenous melatonin receptors. Our results also showed that dual activation of Gαs and Gαq proteins is involved in the signal transduction of MTNR1A receptor-mediated antiproliferative action of melatonin on human prostate epithelial cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compatibility, morphology structure, and mechanical properties of CPVC/ABS (Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene) blends were studied. The core‐shell ratios of ABS were set at 40/60 and 70/30. The interface interactions between ABS and CPVC were changed by modifying the acrylonitrile (AN) content of the shell. The compatibility of CPVC with the shell of ABS was studied by the blends of CPVC/SAN with different AN content in SAN. Dynamic mechanical analysis results of CPVC/SAN were in accordance with the morphological properties of CPVC/ABS. The mechanical properties of CPVC/ABS blends in which the polybutadiene content was set to 15 wt % were studied. Results showed, with the change of AN content, the impact strength followed different way for CPVC/ABS blends with different core‐shell ratios of ABS because of the influence of the compatibility. When the core‐shell ratio was 40/60, the CPVC/ABS blends were much ductile in more widely AN range than the blends, whereas the core‐shell ratio of ABS was 70/30. The differences also showed in the SEM micrographs by the investigation of toughening mechanism. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Delta-like 1 (DLK1), a fetal liver stem cell marker, is strongly expressed in human and rodent fetal liver, but not in adult liver. Notably, dysregulation of DLK1 was found in some human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). However, the effect of DLK1 on HCC cell growth and its underlying mechanism are still largely unknown. Aims: To (i) assess the expression of DLK1 in human HCC and adjacent liver tissues and human HCC cell lines; (ii) evaluate the effect of DLK1 on SMMC-7721, Huh7 HCC cell growth in vitro and in vivo; and (iii) explore the potential mechanism of DLK1 that regulates HCC cell growth. Methods: The expression of DLK1 mRNA and protein were detected using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry respectively. The effect of DLK1 on the proliferation of SMMC-7721 and Huh7 cells was evaluated by colony formation and tumour xenograft assay. The differential expression profiles of DLK1-overexpressing SMMC-7721 cells and control cells were compared using HG-U133 Plus 2 Genechip. The cell cycle distribution of DLK1 forced expressing cells was comparatively analysed. Results: Upregulation of DLK1 was observed in 41 of 57 (71.9%) human HCC samples. Ectopic expression of DLK1 promoted cell proliferation, colony formation and tumorigenicity in SMMC-7721 and Huh7 cells. DLK1 upregulated the expression of interferon-inducible protein 16 (IFI16) and its promoter transcriptional activity, decreased p21waf1/cip1 and induced cell cycle acceleration. However, silencing of IFI16 using small interfering RNA abrogated DLK1-induced proliferation in these cells. Conclusions: IFI16 may be an essential downstream target of DLK1 in HCC cells and required for DLK1-induced cell proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative temperature coefficient material with low thermal constant B and high resistivity were explored for low-temperature thermistor applications. The spinel oxide Fe0.5Cu0.2Ni0.66Mn1.64O4 had a required low B value, but its resistivity was much lower than the required value. To increase the resistivity, yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was introduced into the spinel oxide. The spinel oxide in composite with YSZ (80 mol%) exhibited a much increased resistivity (10 479 Ω·cm at 25°C) while without causing much change in the B value (2842 K). It was found that the electrical conduction of the composite can be described quantitatively using the percolation theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of rosiglitazone on renal matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression and its possible renoprotective mechanisms were investigated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. We examined the urinary excretion rates of albumin (ALB), retinal-binding protein (RBP) and MMP-9 in control healthy rats (group C, n = 8), untreated diabetic rats (group D, n = 8) and diabetic rats treated with rosiglitazone (5mg/kg/day) (group R, n = 8) at eighth week. The renal tissue of diabetic rats was obtained for observing renal pathological changes by electron microscope and examining the expression of renal MMP-9 mRNA by RT-PCR. Our results showed that urinary excretion rates of MMP-9. ALB and RBP were significantly increased concurrently with the expression of renal MMP-9mRNA in group D compared with those of group C. Rosiglitazone significantly reduced urinary excretion rates of ALB, RBP and MMP-9 as well as the expression of renal MMP-9 mRNA. In addition, urinary excretion rate of MMP-9 showed positive relationship with urinary excretion rates of ALB and RBP. In conclusion, rosiglitazone definitely protects diabetic rats against renal injury, which may be partly associated with decreasing expression of renal MMP-9 mRNA and urinary MMP-9 production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The death-associated protein kinase 1 ( DAPK1) gene is a candidate tumor suppressor (TSG) and the abnormal methylation of DAPK1 gene has been found in many carcinomas. The epigenetic changes of TSGs are now recognized as a mechanism contributing to the development of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). To clarify the role of DAPK1 in CML, we examined the methylation status of DAPK1 in 49 patients with CML using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. The aberrant methylation of the DAPK1 gene was found in 25 of 49 (51.0%) CML cases, not in all controls. No correlation was found between DAPK1 gene methylation and the age, hematologic parameters, chromosomal abnormalities, the types and levels of bcr/abl transcripts of CML patients. However, correlation could be observed between the sex and the status of DAPK1 methylation in CML patients ( R = 0.374, P = 0.008). Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between DAPK1 methylation and the stages of CML ( R = 0.354, P = 0.013). The CML patients in accelerated phase (AP) and blast crisis (BC) had higher frequency of DAPK1 methylation than those in chronic phase (CP) (75.0% vs. 34.5%) (χ2 = 7.776, P = 0.005). In one patient, the status of DAPK1 methylation became positive on the transition from CP to AP and BC. These results suggested that DAPK1 promoter methylation might play a significant role in the progression of CML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]