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BackgroundPrimary hepatic lymphoma (PHL) is a rare malignant tumor. Extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) is an indolent lymphoma occurring at extranodal sites. The stomach is the most common organ affected by MALT lymphoma, whereas liver-related lymphoma is rarely reported. Its atypical clinical presentation often delays the diagnosis. Owing to the rarity of PHL, identifying its optimal treatment still remains a challenge. Herein, we report a case of PHL of the MALT type mimicking hepatic adenoma that was treated by hepatectomy without chemotherapy and review the scarce literature. Our findings suggest that surgery is an alternative approach to cure patients with localized hepatic lymphoma.Case summaryA 55-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of upper abdominal discomfort, and a liver lesion was detected by computed tomography. She did not have nausea, fever, fatigue, jaundice, weakness, night sweats, or weight loss before admission. And her previous medical history was unremarkable. There were no positive signs on physical examination. Based on her preoperative examination including magnetic resonance imaging, the liver lesion was suspected to be a hepatic adenoma; however, the possibility of it being a malignancy like hepatocellular carcinoma was not excluded. Therefore, a decision of resection of the lesion was made. During the operation, hepatectomy of segment 4b and cholecystectomy were performed. The patient recovered well; however, after postoperative pathological examination, the lesion was diagnosed as a hepatic lymphoma of MALT type. The patient was reluctant to undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy. At 18-month follow-up, no significant recurrence was observed, indicating that the treatment had a curative effect.ConclusionNotably, primary hepatic lymphoma of MALT type is a rare, low-grade B-cell malignancy. Making an accurate preoperative diagnosis of this disease is usually difficult, and liver biopsy is an appropriate avenue to improve the diagnostic accuracy. In patients with a localized tumor lesion, hepatectomy followed by chemotherapy or radiotherapy should be considered to achieve better outcomes. Although this study describes an unusual type of hepatic lymphoma mimicking a benign tumor, it has its inherent limitations. More clinical studies are required to establish guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of this rare disease.

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Recently, microRNAs (miRNA), small noncoding RNAs, have taken center stage in the field of human molecular oncology. However, their roles in tumor biology remain largely unknown. According to the assumption that miRNAs implicated in a specific tumor phenotype will show aberrant regulation of their target genes, we introduce an approach based on the miRNA target–dysregulated network (MTDN) to prioritize novel disease miRNAs. Target genes have predicted binding sites for any miRNA. The MTDN is constructed by combining computational target prediction with miRNA and mRNA expression profiles in tumor and nontumor tissues. Application of the proposed method to prostate cancer reveals that known prostate cancer miRNAs are characterized by a greater number of dysregulations and coregulators and the tendency to coregulate with each other and that they share a higher proportion of targets with other prostate cancer miRNAs. Support vector machine classifier, based on these features and changes in miRNA expression, is constructed and gives an average overall prediction accuracy of 0.8872 in cross-validation tests. The classifier is then applied to miRNAs in the MTDN. Functions enriched by dysregulated targets of novel predicted miRNAs are closely associated with oncogenesis. In addition, predicted cancer miRNAs within families or from different families show combinatorial dysregulation of target genes, as revealed by analysis of the MTDN modular organization. Finally, 3 miRNA target regulations are verified to hold in prostate cancer cells by transfection assays. These results show that the network-centric method could prioritize novel disease miRNAs and model how oncogenic lesions are mediated by miRNAs, providing important insights into tumorigenesis. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(10); 1857–66. ©2011 AACR.

The application of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in biomedical research has advanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of disease and provided valuable insights into new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. With the expansion of capacity for high-throughput scRNA-seq, including clinical samples, the analysis of these huge volumes of data has become a daunting prospect for researchers entering this field. Here, we review the workflow for typical scRNA-seq data analysis, covering raw data processing and quality control, basic data analysis applicable for almost all scRNA-seq data sets, and advanced data analysis that should be tailored to specific scientific questions. While summarizing the current methods for each analysis step, we also provide an online repository of software and wrapped-up scripts to support the implementation. Recommendations and caveats are pointed out for some specific analysis tasks and approaches. We hope this resource will be helpful to researchers engaging with scRNA-seq, in particular for emerging clinical applications.

The specific source of ancient sedimentary manganese (Mn) deposits is commonly complex. Here we use systematic major and trace element data with strontium (Sr) and neodymium (Nd) isotopic analyses of the Ortokarnash Mn(II) carbonate ores and associated carbonate rocks from the Upper Carboniferous Kalaatehe Formation (ca. 320 Ma) in order to constrain the Mn source. This formation consists of three members: the first member is a volcanic breccia limestone, the second member is a sandy limestone, and the third member is a black marlstone with the Mn(II) carbonate interlayers. Petrographic observations in combination with low Al2O3 (

Lu Chen,1 Shan-Yong Zhou,2 Wei Zhu,3 Sheng-Ping Liu,4 Jing-Xi Zhang,5 He Zhuang,5 Jing-Ling Zhang,5 Yong-Sheng Li,6 Fei Gao4 1Department of paediatrics, Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Fuzhou, 350000, People’s Republic of China; 2Fujian Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Urology, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350001, People’s Republic of China; 4Fujian Institute of Hematology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory on Hematology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Clinical Laboratory, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Urology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Fei Gao; Yongsheng Li, Tel/Fax +86 591-83357896-8242, Email xuzhougaofei@126.com; Lysdr163@163.comIntroduction: Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) has been regarded as a gold standard for early diagnosis and prognosis monitoring of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in clinical practice. Owing to its low concentration in blood, accurate determination of cTnI often requires high sensitivity. However, current established point-of-care (POC) assays are insufficient to meet clinically analytical requirements due to their low sensitivity.Methods: To this end, we established a highly sensitive and reliable POC lateral flow strip based on lanthanide-doped nanoparticles (NPs) for cTnI determination in human blood samples. The capture of cTnI on the lateral flow strip was performed in a sandwich assay, where Eu3+-doped vanadate nanoparticles (GdVO4:30% Eu NPs) were used as luminescent probes to allow quantification.Results: Our platform realized the analytical sensitivity enhancement with limit-of-detection (LOD) as low as 17 pg mL− 1 for cTnI detection, which was lower than the commercial counterpart; meanwhile, it displayed high specificity, excellent reproducibility and outstanding accuracy for analyzing clinical serum samples.Conclusion: Overall, this strategy provided an ultrasensitive, cost-effective and user-friendly platform for on-site cTnI detection, demonstrating the prospect of lanthanide-doped NPs-based POC diagnosis of disease-related biomarkers.Keywords: cardiac troponin I, GdVO4:30% Eu NPs, lateral flow test strip, point-of-care test

ObjectiveCurrent pharmacological intervention for the cancer-related pain is still limited. The aim of this study was to explore whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) could be an effective adjuvant therapy to reduce pain in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).MethodsThis was a randomized, sham–controlled study. A total of 41 advanced NSCLC patients with uncontrolled pain (score≥4 on pain intensity assessed with an 11-point numeric rating scale) were randomized to receive active (10 Hz, 2000 stimuli) (n = 20) or sham rTMS (n = 20) for 3 weeks. Pain was the primary outcome and was assessed with the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Secondary outcomes were oral morphine equivalent (OME) daily dose, quality of life (WHO Quality of Life-BREF), and psychological distress (the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale). All outcomes were measured at baseline, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks.ResultsThe pain intensity in both groups decreased gradually from day 3 and decreased to the lowest at the week 3, with a decrease rate of 41.09% in the rTMS group and 23.23% in the sham group. The NRS score of the rTMS group was significantly lower than that of the sham group on the week 2 (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d =1.135) and week 3 (p=0.017, Cohen’s d = -0.822). The OME daily dose, physiology and psychology domains of WHOQOL-BREF scores, as well as the HAM-A and HAM-D scores all were significantly improved at week 3 in rTMS group.ConclusionAdvanced NSCL patients with cancer pain treated with rTMS showed better greater pain relief, lower dosage of opioid, and better mood states and quality of life. rTMS is expected to be a new effective adjuvant therapy for cancer pain in advanced NSCLC patients.

We describe here the effects of metal complexation on the molecular recognition behavior of cavitands with quinoxaline walls. The nitrogen atoms of the quinoxalines are near the upper rim of the vase-like shape and treatment with Pd(II) gave 2:1 metal:cavitand derivatives. Characterization by (1)H, (13)C NMR spectroscopy, HR ESI-MS, and computations showed that the metals bridged adjacent quinoxaline panels and gave cavitands with C(2v) symmetry. Both water-soluble and organic-soluble versions were prepared and their host/guest complexes with alkanes, alcohols, acids, and diols (up to C12) were studied by (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Analysis of the binding behavior indicated that the metals rigidified the walls of the receptive vase conformation and enhanced the binding of hydrophobic and even water-soluble guests, compared to related cavitands reported previously. The results demonstrated that the conformational dynamics of the cavitand were slowed by the coordination of Pd(II) and stabilized the host’s complexes.

In this paper, the plane-pair partial element equivalent circuit method coupled with the field equivalence principle is developed and applied to calculate the radiated fields of multilayer power planes. The proposed method can be used to solve near-field and far-field radiation problems for multilayer parallel-plane structures with decoupling capacitors. The proposed method is validated by full-wave simulation and experiment. In addition, the proposed method achieves ten times higher computational efficiency than the full-wave simulation.

Background. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) critically impacts the modulation of tumor developments and progressions. Our study is aimed at investigating the expressing patterns, clinical significance, and biological roles of lncRNA TSPEAR-AS2 (TSPEAR-AS2) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Material and Approach. The expressing states achieved by TSPEAR-AS2 were examined in OSCC specimens and cell lines by RT-PCR. The clinical significance of TSPEAR-AS2 was statistically analyzed. OSCC proliferating, invading, and migrating processes were examined with the use of wound healing assays, transwell, colony formation, and cell counting kit-8. Additionally, the downstream molecular mechanism of TSPEAR-AS2 in OSCC was explored. Results. TSPEAR-AS2 was overexpressed in OSCC tumors and cells. High TSPEAR-AS2 was associated with advanced TNM stage. Patients with high TSPEAR-AS2 expression displayed a shorter disease-free survival and total survival of OSCC patients than those with low TSPEAR-AS2 expressing level. It was found that knockdown of TSPEAR-AS2 could inhibit the proliferating, invading, and migrating processes pertaining to OSCC cells. Luciferase reporter tests and RNA pull-down results revealed that TSPEAR-AS2 enhanced the expressions of PPM1A by regulating miR-487a-3p, and TSPEAR-AS2 could be adopted as a miR-487a-3p sponge to inhibit PPM1A expression. Conclusion. Our study highlighted the significance of the TSPEAR-AS2/miR-487a-3p/PPM1A axis within OSCC progression and offered a novel biomarker and novel strategies for OSCC treatments.

Conventional package lid induces additional unintentional radiation due to the resonances between the conventional metal lid and ground plane on package board. In this paper, a novel package lid is proposed based on the gap waveguide theory, which adopts mushroom-type electromagnetic bandgap structures to mitigate the increased unintentional emission. In addition, a scalable equivalent circuit model is presented as an assistance for designing the proposed package lid. Both the simulation and measurement results confirm that the proposed lid can significantly reduce the unintentional radiation within the specific frequency range as designed.

Heat sink is widely mounted on the integrated circuits to optimize thermal performance. Unfortunately, the cavity resonance between heat sink and package substrate could lead to severe radiation problem, causing that the product fail to satisfy the relevant electromagnetic interference (EMI) standards. It is a critical challenge to simultaneously obtain the excellent radiation attenuation and desirable thermal performance. In order to solve the problem, a combination of ring-shaped absorbing material and flat-shaped graphite is proposed in this paper. Based on a typical wire-bonded package, the effect of graphite on mitigating radiation and optimizing the thermal performance is investigated. As the graphite size varies from 20 to 45 mm, temperature reduction 5 °C and radiation attenuation 10 dB absorption bandwidth is realized. The experiment for EMI radiation is conducted in a semianechoic chamber, and the results of simulation and experiment matched well.

For rapidly and accurately obtaining the performance parameters of ion-exchange resins, an especial online column flow-injection electrochemical method and system (FIA-ECM) was designed. In the research, the waste strong acid type cation-exchange resin (WSCR) was used as test sample, which was again immersed in the saturated ferric trichloride solution and lubricant oil for long time and heated at 110 °C to further deteriorate its ion-exchange performance. And then, the orthogonal and the single factor experiments on WSCR were conducted by using the FIA-ECM system. Under optimized conditions, the resuscitation rate of WSCR reached to 90% which can reuse in industry for various water treatments. Besides, a new conclusion was also obtained by using the FIA-ECM system, namely, exchange capacity of SCR being in drying state is higher than that in wetting state, and new SCR can be transported and saved in drying state, thus can notably reduce transport costs. The conclusion has very important significance in water treatment industry using resins. Merits of FIA-ECM were higher in automation extent, lower in reagent consumption in the test, inexistent in personal errors, and conducive to environmental protection. It can be extended to automatically and rapidly determine performances of various resins or new developed materials with cation-ion exchange capacity and screening of various revitalizers for resins.

Objective: To study the local inflammatory stress response and pain mediator secretion after impacted wisdom tooth extraction with high-speed turbine drill combined with original luxator. Methods: Patients who received impacted wisdom tooth extraction in the First People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province between March 2014 and June 2017 were selected as the research objects and randomly divided into the observation group who accepted impacted wisdom tooth extraction with high-speed turbine drill combined with original luxator and the control group who accepted impacted wisdom tooth extraction with traditional chisel. The contents of inflammatory mediators, stress mediators and pain mediators in gingival crevicular fluid were measured before surgery and 3 days after surgery. Results: Three days after surgery, PTX3, ICAM1, MPO, PGE2, PPARγ, ROS, MDA, 5-HT, CGRP, SP, Gal and ATP contents in gingival crevicular fluid of both groups were higher than those before surgery whereas GPx and T-AOC contents were significantly lower than those before surgery, and PTX3, ICAM1, MPO, PGE2, PPARγ, ROS, MDA, 5-HT, CGRP, SP, Gal and ATP contents in gingival crevicular fluid of observation group were lower than those of control group whereas GPx and T-AOC contents were significantly higher than those of control group. Conclusions: The impacted wisdom tooth extraction with high-speed turbine drill combined with original luxator can reduce the local inflammatory stress response and inhibit the secretion of pain mediators.

The standard method for methanol assay in wine is based on a methanol/KMnO4/H2C2O4/fuchsin sodium sulfite (FSS) reaction system. However, it is difficult to control the degree of colour and the temperature of the reaction product in this assay, and its repeatability is also poor due to the generation of CO and CO2 in the reaction. Therefore, to solve these problems, potassium metabisulfite was selected to replace H2C2O4, and an automatic analysis method was developed which can realize rapid and accurate determination of methanol and can be used to make an online analyzer. It was discovered that the reactions of methanol/KMnO4 and acetaldehyde/FSS are exothermic, while the reactions of methanol/KMnO4 and formaldehyde/FSS are endothermic. Consequently, based on the temperature effect, not only was the interference of ethanol eliminated in detecting methanol in wines, the purpose of the research was achieved to directly and accurately determine methanol without sample pretreatment. By optimizing the system, the obtained conditions for determining methanol in wines were as follows: 20 g L−1 concentration for KMnO4; 3 g L−1 concentration for FSS; 40 cm length for the first reaction coil (RC1); 100 cm length for RC2; 700 cm (I.D.: 0.8 mm) length for RC3; 50 °C for RC3; about 20 °C for RC1 and RC2; 330 μL for the sample volume. The method showed a linear response in the range 25–1000 mg L−1, with a 0.6% RSD, 8.8 mg L−1 detection limit and 25 samples per h, and was successfully used for testing representative wine samples. It also obtained better accuracy than previous methods. Due to its superiority in automated operation, reproducibility, analysis speed and test cost, this method and system can serve as a supplementary standard for methanol assay, and for the quality control of the winemaking process and the final wine-product, as well as for low-alcohol drinks.

Glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN) is an uncommon craniofacial pain syndrome caused by neurovascular conflict. Compared to trigeminal neuralgia or hemifacial spasm, the incidence of GPN was very low. Until now, little is known about the long-term outcome following microvascular decompression (MVD) process. Between 2006 and 2016, 228 idiopathic GPN patients underwent MVD in our department. Those cases were retrospectively reviewed with emphasis on intraoperative findings and long-term postoperative outcomes. The average period of follow-up was 54.3 ± 6.2 months. Intraoperatively, the culprit was identified as the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) in 165 cases (72.3%), the vertebral artery (VA) in 14 (6.1%), vein in 10 (4.4%), and a combination of multiple arteries or venous offending vessels in 39 (17.2%). The immediately postoperative outcome was excellent in 204 cases (89.5%), good in 12 (5.3%), fair in 6 (2.6%) and poor in 6 (2.6%). More than 5-year follow-up was obtained in 107 cases (46.9%), which presented as excellent in 93 (86.9%), good in 6 (5.6%), fair in 3 (2.8%) and poor in 5 (4.7%). Thirty-seven (16.2%) of the patients experienced some postoperative neurological deficits immediately, such as dysphagia, hoarseness and facial paralysis, which has been improved at the last follow-up in most cases, except 2. This investigation demonstrated that MVD is a safe and effective remedy for treatment of GPN.

This paper presents an L-2L de-embedding method for characterizing the electromagnetic properties of through-silicon-vias (TSVs) in 3-D ICs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that discusses the use of de-embedding method for multiport TSVs. The L-2L de-embedding structure and the analysis algorithm are first introduced. Then, the techniques for meeting two crucial requirements in accurately applying the method on multiport TSVs are proposed. To meet these two requirements, the de-embedding structure is designed to enhance the symmetry and the shielding TSVs are used to decrease the mutual admittance. The simulation results show that with the appropriate design, the shielding TSVs are able to greatly reduce the mutual admittance with little impact on TSVs and RDLs. Finally, the performance of the designed structures with and without shielding TSVs is examined via both full-wave simulation and the measurements. With the full-wave simulation results of TSVs as reference, it turns out that the de-embedding accuracy is significantly improved with the shielding TSVs. Moreover, the de-embedding results based on the measurements show good agreements with those of the simulation ones.

Significance Many studies have investigated secondary formamides as mixtures of cis and trans isomers. They are widespread in nature, but relatively low energetic barriers to interconversion prevent the isolation and characterization of the pure isomers. Here, we determine hydrophilic differences between the isomers by binding in a water-soluble, synthetic molecular container. The container offers a range of environments from hydrophilic to hydrophobic and distinguishes subtle differences in the polarities of formamide isomers. Using NMR methods, we find that cis formamides are more hydrophobic than the corresponding trans isomers. The conclusion holds for diformamides, where we staged an intramolecular competition between cis and trans formamides within the container. Stable and isolable compounds are not required for the determination with this method.

Background: In this analysis, we aimed to systematically compare the procedural and post-operative complications (POC) associated with laparoscopic versus open abdominal surgery for right-sided colonic cancer resection. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, and Google scholar for English studies comparing the POC in patients who underwent laparoscopic versus open surgery (OS) for right colonic cancer. Data were assessed by the Cochrane-based RevMan 5.4 software (The Cochrane Community, London, UK). Mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to represent the results for continuous variables, whereas risk ratios (RR) with 95% CIs were used for dichotomous data. Results: Twenty-six studies involving a total number of 3410 participants with right colonic carcinoma were included in this analysis. One thousand five hundred and fifteen participants were assigned to undergo invasive laparoscopic surgery whereas 1895 participants were assigned to the open abdominal surgery. Our results showed that the open resection was associated with a shorter length of surgery (MD: 48.63, 95% CI: 30.15–67.12; P = .00001) whereas laparoscopic intervention was associated with a shorter hospital stay [MD (–3.09), 95% CI [–5.82 to (–0.37)]; P = .03]. In addition, POC such as anastomotic leak (RR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.60–1.55; P = .88), abdominal abscess (RR: 1.13, 95% CI: 0.52–2.49; P = .75), pulmonary embolism (RR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.09–1.69; P = .21) and deep vein thrombosis (RR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.39–2.28; P = .89) were not significantly different. Paralytic ileus (RR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.67–1.11; P = .26), intra-abdominal infection (RR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.15–4.48; P = .82), pulmonary complications (RR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.57–1.20; P = .32), cardiac complications (RR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.42–1.27; P = .27) and urological complications (RR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.52–1.33; P = .44) were also similarly manifested. Our analysis also showed 30-day re-admission and re-operation, and mortality to be similar between laparoscopic versus OS for right colonic carcinoma resection. However, surgical wound infection (RR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.50–0.86; P = .002) was significantly higher with the OS. Conclusions: In conclusion, laparoscopic surgery was almost comparable to OS in terms of post-operative outcomes for right-sided colonic cancer resection and was not associated with higher unwanted outcomes. Therefore, laparoscopic intervention should be considered as safe as the open abdominal surgery for right-sided colonic cancer resection, with a decreased hospital stay.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with an increased risk of vascular complications. Lupus nephritis is a major manifestation of SLE in the clinic. Lupus nephritis is elevated by T helper type 17 (Th17) cells, the major pro‑inflammatory T‑cell subset, leading to autoimmunity modulation. Therapeutic treatments targeting leukocyte recruitment may be useful in attenuating vascular complications linked to SLE progression. 3,7,3',4'‑Tetrahydroxyflavone (fisetin) is a flavonol and a member of the flavonoid polyphenols. It is present in various fruits and vegetables, including persimmons, apples, kiwis, grapes, onions, strawberries and cucumbers. In the present study, the effects of fisetin against SLE induced by pristane (PRI) were evaluated in mice. Fisetin was indicated to reduce PRI‑induced anti‑double stranded DNA, anti‑ small nuclear ribonucleoprotein and the ratio of albumin to creatinine in urine. In addition, the chemokine (C‑X‑C motif) ligand (CXCL) signaling pathway was activated for PRI treatment, which was reversed by fisetin administration by reducing CXCL‑1 and 2, chemokine (C‑C motif) ligand 3, as well as CXC receptor 2 expression. In addition, the induction of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)‑6, tumor necrosis factor‑α, IL‑1β, as well as the chemokine interferon‑γ, by PRI were downregulated by fisetin treatment in mice. Furthermore, Th17 cells and their associated cytokines were highly induced by PRI treatment, which was inhibited by fisetin administration. The present results indicated that fisetin may be an effective management for SLE by targeting the CXCL signaling pathway and regulating Th17 differentiation during lupus nephritis development.

In this paper, a novel compact and wideband common-mode suppression structure is proposed, which is composed of a meander line and several quarter wavelength resonators. A simple and accurate transmission line model is employed to describe the stopband behavior of the proposed structure. The resonance frequencies and harmonics of quarter wavelength resonators are employed to form stopbands of the common mode. Those stopbands together with the stopband of the meander line are connected in series, which are useful to expand the common-mode suppression bandwidth. Meanwhile, compensation strips are proposed to reduce the insertion loss of the differential mode. A reduction of 15 dB of common-mode propagation above 0.8 GHz is obtained by using the proposed hybrid structure. The measurement results of printed circuit boards, which are designed and fabricated on the simulation model, show good correlation with the simulation results.

The mechanisms for pathogenesis of cardiac valve calcification were explored by studying the regulation of the Wnt signaling pathway during the transformation from cardiac valvular myofibroblasts to osteoblast-like phenotype.Studies were carried on primary cultured porcine aortic valvular myofibroblasts. The cells were randomly divided into four groups and treated with angiotensin II (Ang II) according to the following: Ang II (10(-6) mol/l), Valsartan (Val) (10(-5) mol/l), Ang II plus Val (Ang II 10(-6) mol/l + Val 10(-5) mol/l) or mock treated as the control. Protein expression of Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and Wnt pathway components, Wnt3a and β-catenin, was investigated to assess the activation of the Wnt signaling pathway and determine whether cells undergo the transformation to osteoblast-like phenotype.Ang II treatment of myofibroblasts led to significant up-regulation of α-SMA expression and activation of the cells. Neither the BMP2 or ALP proteins, nor the mRNA was detectable in the control group or the Val-treated group; however, there was a significant increase in Ang II-treated group (P 0.01). The Wnt/β-catenin signaling ligand, Wnt3a, was not expressed in the control or Val-treated groups, whereas in Ang II-treated cells, both Wnt3a and β-catenin gene expression were enhanced (P 0.01).The effect of Ang II can be inhibited by the addition of Val (P 0.05).Ang II might act on the Ang II receptor on valvular interstitial cells (VICs) and lead to activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and hence cause the activation, differentiation and proliferation of myofibroblasts, and finally, osteoblast-like phenotype transformation, leading to calcification of heart valves.

Based on fluorescence capillary analysis technology, a method for quantitating lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in a micro-volume sample was developed. Sample and reagent consumptions were merely 2 and 16 μL per time, respectively. The optimized test conditions were as follows. The reaction reagent consisted of 0.10 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.5), 0.30 mM NADH and 1.20 mM pyruvate. NADH standard was prepared with a phosphate buffer of pH 8.0, and its linear response was controlled in 0.05 - 0.30 mM. LDH standards containing 2.0 mM PEG could exhibit long-term stability. Under the optimized conditions, a linear response for LDH from 50 to 1200 U L(-1) and a detection limit of 31 U L(-1) were obtained with good precision (RSD: 2.1 - 2.2%, n = 10) and better recovery of 96 - 105%. The method's characteristics was high sensitivity, low consumptions, simple operations, good precision and reliability, lending itself to the miniaturization of fluorophotometer which transformed into a bedside instrument in the hospital.

To investigate autonomic substrates of brainstem-gut circuitry identified using trans-synaptic tracing with pseudorabies virus (PRV)-152, a strain that expresses enhanced green fluorescent protein, and PRV-614, a strain that expresses enhanced red fluorescent protein, injecting into the rat rectum wall. 3-7 days after PRV-152 injection, spinal cord and brainstem were removed and sectioned, and processed for PRV-152 visualization using immunofluorescence labeling against PRV-152. 6 days after PRV-614 injection, brainstem was sectioned and the neurochemical phenotype of PRV-614-positive neurons was identified using double immunocytochemical labeling against PRV-614 and TPH. We observed that the largest number of PRV-152- or PRV-614-positive neurons was located in the gigantocellular reticular nucleus (Gi), lateral paragigantocellular (LPGi), rostral ventrolateral reticular nucleus (RVL), solitary tract nucleus (Sol), locus coeruleus (LC), raphe magnus nucleus (RMg), subcoeruleus nucleus (SubCD). Double-labeled PRV-614/tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) neurons were concentrated in the RMg, LPGi and Sol. These brainstem neurons are candidates for relaying autonomic command signals to the gut. The autonomic substrate of brainstem-gut circuitry likely plays an important role in mediating different aspects of stress behaviors.

MicroRNAs are often deregulated in most cancer types and have important functions in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. Here, we studied the function of microRNA-34 (miR-34a) in osteosarcoma MG63 and U-2OS cells by expressed with pre-miR-34a, anti-miR-34a and corresponding negative controls, respectively. Cells proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis was measured by MTT and flow cytometry assay. The effect of miR-34a on DUSP1 expression was evaluated by luciferase assays, real-time PCR and western blot assay. The data showed that miR-34a reduced the proliferation of MG63 cells through prompting cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, cell apoptosis, and suppressed cell adhesion ability. Whereas anti-miR-34a increases U-2OS cell proliferation by preventing cell apoptosis, and promotes cell adhesion. Finally, we identified Dual-specificity phosphatase 1 (DUSP1) as the target gene of miR-34a in osteosarcoma cells and confirmed that DUSP1 enhanced the proliferation through inhibiting cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and apoptosis, and inhibits the decreased cell adhesion induced by miR-34a. However, inhibition of DUSP1 resulted in substantially decreased proliferation and adhesion, and cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and cell apoptosis similar to that observed with miR-34a in U-2OS cells. Our findings find out an important function of miR-34a as a novel tumor-suppressor in osteosarcoma pathogenesis through inhibition of DUSP1.

An automatic system for simultaneous determination of K(+), Na(+), Cl(-) and Ca(2+) in serums was established on the basis of a negative-pressure flow-injection using micro-electrodes, and parameters of the system were optimized. The total ionic strength adjustment buffer consisted of 0.25 mmol L(-1) K(+), 48.6 mmol L(-1) Na(+), 2.56 mmol L(-1) Cl(-), 0.25 mmol L(-1) Ca(2+) and 23 mmol L(-1) Na(2)B(4)O(7)-H(3)BO(3); the flow rate was 1.58 mL min(-1), the sampling volume was 45 µL, and the mixing coil length was 30 cm. The system could conduct 480 detections h(-1), and its RSD was less than 1.6%. Recoveries were 97.3 - 103.6%, and linear responses were 2.0 - 22.0 mmol L(-1) for K(+), 89.6 - 253.0 mmol L(-1) for Na(+), 20.1 - 248.2 mmol L(-1) for Cl(-), and 0.35 - 10.0 mmol L(-1) for Ca(2+), respectively. The ion concentration ranges were in ranges of human serum electrolytes. The system features minimized sorption of fibrin in sensors and prolonged sensor life.

Introduction: Moderate hypoxia has been implicated in the development of delirium. One mechanism may be an increase of Dopamine (DA) and Serotonin (5-HT) levels. Our previous studies indicated that hypoxia increased levels of both neurotransmitters (NT) and that nimodipine (NIMO) administered immediately after hypoxia preserved short term memory. We tested the hypothesis that these observations may be related to a NIMO dependent reduction of hypoxia in- duced NT elevation. Methods: Following IACUC approval, In Vivo microvoltammetry sensors (BRODERICK PROBE ® ) were implanted in the dorsal striatum of Na Pentobarbital anesthetized adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Extracellular NT levels were recorded for 15m during the establishment of baseline values in room air (N=6). Three sequential thirty-minute periods under hypoxia (10% O2) followed. First: under hypoxia alone; second after i.p. injection of NIMO (0.1mg/kg); and third following i.p. injection of NIMO (1.0mg/kg). Measurements were analyzed with ANOVA with post hoc Tukeys test. P-values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: NT levels are expressed as percentages of baseline values. Treatment values were averaged over each sequential thirty-minute period following each intervention. Moderate hypoxia resulted in the increase of DA to 172% (SEM=18) and 5-HT to 68% (SEM=4) above baseline. Under continuing hypoxia, NIMO (0.1mg/kg) caused DA levels to fall to 112% (SEM=14) and 5-HT to 13% (SEM=5) above baseline. NIMO (1.0mg/kg) caused DA levels to fall to 34% (SEM=6) above baseline and 5-HT to 20% (SEM=2) below baseline. Conclusion: Moderate hypoxia increased levels of DA and 5-HT in the striatum of rats. NIMO administration during on- going hypoxia caused the levels of both neurotransmitters to fall towards baseline. The results may have implications for understanding and treating cognitive decline due to hypoxia.

To develop a new kind of non-viral inorganic gene vector, embedded dual-mesoporous silica spheres (EDMSNs) was modified with polyethyleneimine (PEI) or 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTMS). Then gene loading and transfection ability of the obtained EDMSNs-PEI and EDMSNs-NH2 was tested by choosing the pCMV-EGFP-N1 plasmids (pDNA) as a gene model. Particle morphologies, particle sizes, zeta potentials, and pore structure parameters of EDMSNs-NH2 and EDMSNs-PEI were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. Both EDMSNs-NH2 and EDMSNs-PEI display obvious dual-mesoporous structure and well-defined spherical morphology. Average dynamic sizes of EDMSNs-NH2 and EDMSNs-PEI are 343.2 and 338.9 nm, while zeta potentials of EDMSNs-NH2 and EDMSNs-PEI are +18 and +43 mV, respectively. The results of gel electrophoresis, CCK-8 assay, and fluorescence microscope show that the pDNA loading amount of EDMSNs-PEI is 8%, much higher than that (1%) of EDMSNs-NH2. In addition, EDMSNs-PEI exhibits lower cytotoxicity than that of pure PEI polymers and lipofectamine2000. When the mass ratio of EDMSNs- PEI/pDNA is 33 : 1, the transfection rate of the 293T cells by EDMSNs-PEI/pDNA reaches a maximum at 72 h. In conclusion, EDMSNs-PEI, compared with EDMSNs-NH2, has a higher positive potential and pDNA loading capacity, which can be used as a promising non-viral inorganic gene vector for the treatment of diseases such as malignant glioma.

Patients with HIV-1 immune-related thrombocytopenia have a unique antibody (Ab) against integrin GPIIIa49-66 capable of inducing oxidative platelet fragmentation via Ab activation of platelet nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase and 12-lipoxygenase releasing reactive oxygen species. Using a phage display single-chain antibody (scFv) library, we developed a novel human monoclonal scFv Ab against GPIIIa49-66 (named A11) capable of inducing fragmentation of activated platelets. In this study, we investigated the in vivo use of A11. We show that A11 does not induce significant thrombocytopenia or inhibit platelet function. A11 can prevent the cessation of carotid artery flow produced by induced artery injury and dissolve the induced thrombus 2 hours after cessation of blood flow. In addition, A11 can prevent, as well as ameliorate, murine middle cerebral artery stroke, without thrombocytopenia or brain hemorrhage. To further optimize the antithrombotic activity of A11, we produced a bifunctional A11-plasminogen first kringle agent (SLK), which homes to newly deposited fibrin strands within and surrounding the platelet thrombus, reducing effects on nonactivated circulating platelets. Indeed, SLK is able to completely reopen occluded carotid vessels 4 hours after cessation of blood flow, whereas A11 had no effect at 4 hours. Thus, a new antithrombotic agent was developed for platelet thrombus clearance.

Based on the immobilization enzyme technology and the fluorescence capillary analysis method, the authors have developed a highly sensitive fluorescence reaction system and a novel immobilization multienzyme glucose fluorescence capillary biosensor for determining glucose contents. Reaction principle of the system is that under the catalysis of glucose oxidase (GOD) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) immobilized on inner surface of a medical capillary, beta-D-glucose reacts with dissolved oxygen to form gluconic acid-delta-lactone and hydrogen peroxide, and then the latter reacts with l-tyrosine to produce a tyrosine dimer, which has maximal excitation and emission wavelengths at 320 nm and 410 nm, respectively. Fluorescence of the dimer is proportional to the concentration of the beta-D-glucose. Optimization conditions suitable for the reaction system and the biosensor were as follows. Concentration of the L-tyrosine used as fluorescence reagent was 0.15 mol L(-1), the active concentrations of the GOD and the HRP for the immobilization were 15 kU L(-1) and 8 kU L(-1), respectively. Consumptions of the sample and reagents in one determination were 5.0 microL and 15 microL, respectively. Quantitative range of the biosensor for the glucose was in the range 1-10 micromol L(-1), its relative standard deviation was less than 4.9%, and its detection limit was 0.62 micromol L(-1). The biosensor's recovery was in the range 96-105%. Results of some serum determined with the biosensor and with a commercial glucose-kit were well coincident to each other. Accordingly, the biosensor can be applied to the determination of serum glucose contents in the diagnosis of diabetes.

BACKGROUND Hypotension and a resultant decrease in cerebral blood flow have been implicated in the development of cognitive dysfunction. We tested the hypothesis that nimodipine (NIMO) administered at the onset of nitroglycerin (NTG)-induced hypotension would preserve long-term associative memory. METHODS The passive avoidance (PA) paradigm was used to assess memory retention. For PA training, latencies (seconds) were recorded for entry from a suspended platform into a Plexiglas tube where a shock was automatically delivered. Latencies were recorded 48 h later for a testing trial. Ninety-six Swiss-Webster mice (30-35 g, 6-8 wk), were randomized into 6 groups 1) saline (control), 2) NTG immediately after learning, 3) NTG 3 h after learning, 4) NTG and NIMO, 5) vehicle, and 6) NIMO alone. The extent of hypotension and changes in brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO(2)) and in cerebral blood flow were studied in a separate group of animals. RESULTS All groups exhibited similar training latencies (17.0 +/- 4.6 s). Mice subjected to hypotensive episodes showed a significant decrease in latency time (178 +/- 156 s) compared with those injected with saline, NTG + NIMO, or delayed NTG (580 +/- 81 s, 557 +/- 67 s, and 493 +/- 146 s, respectively). A Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance indicated a significant difference among the 4 treatment groups (H = 15.34; P < 0.001). In a separate group of mice not subjected to behavioral studies, the same dose of NTG (n = 3) and NTG + NIMO (n = 3) caused mean arterial blood pressure to decrease from 85.9 +/- 3.8 mm Hg sem to 31.6 +/- 0.8 mm Hg sem and from 86.2 +/- 3.7 mm Hg sem to 32.6 +/- 0.2 mm Hg sem, respectively. Mean arterial blood pressure in mice treated with NIMO alone decreased from 88.1 +/- 3.8 mm Hg to 80.0 +/- 2.9 mm Hg. The intergroup difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). PbtO(2) decreased from 51.7 +/- 4.5 mm Hg sem to 33.8 +/- 5.2 mm Hg sem in the NTG group and from 38.6 +/- 6.1 mm Hg sem to 25.4 +/- 2.0 mm Hg sem in the NTG + NIMO groups, respectively. There were no significant differences among groups. CONCLUSION In a PA retention paradigm, the injection of NTG immediately after learning produced a significant impairment of long-term associative memory in mice, whereas delayed induced hypotension had no effect. NIMO attenuated the disruption in consolidation of long-term memory caused by NTG but did not improve latency in the absence of hypotension. The observed effect of NIMO may have been attributable to the preservation of calcium homeostasis during hypotension, because there were no differences in the PbtO(2) indices among groups.

The authors have proposed an immobilized enzymatic fluorescence capillary biosensor (SBAs-IE-FCBS) for the determination of sulfated bile acids (SBAs). The reaction principle of the biosensor is that under the catalysis of the bile acid sulfate sulfatase (BSS) and beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (beta-HSD) immobilized on inner surface of a medical capillary, SBAs desulfates to 3beta-hydroxyl bile acids, then the latter reacts with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)), and is converted into 3-ketosteroid; meanwhile, NAD(+) is converted to reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). NADH continuously reacts with 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium methyl sulfate (1-MPMS) and is converted into NAD(+) circularly and 1-MPMSH(2). Finally resazurin is reduced into resorufin by 1-MPMSH(2), the formed resorufin (lambda(ex)/lambda(em): 540 nm/580 nm) is used for quantifying the concentration of SBAs. Optimized conditions being suitable with the biosensor are as follows: the concentrations of BSS and beta-HSD used for the immobilization all are 5 kUL(-1); the concentrations of 1-MPMS and resazurin all are 25 micromolL(-1); the concentrations of Tris-HCl buffer and NAD(+) are 100 and 400 micromolL(-1), respectively; total volume of the enzyme, reagent and sample is only 18 microL per time for determining; the reaction temperature is 37 degrees C; the reaction time is 15min. The concentration of SBAs is directly proportional to the fluorescence intensity of the biosensor measured from 0.5 to 5.0 micromolL(-1). The relative standard deviation is less than 3.4%, and the detection limit was 0.16 micromolL(-1). The recoveries are in the range 95.5-106%. This SBA-IE-FCBS can be used for quantifying SBAs in urine to diagnose and judge hepatobiliary diseases, etc.

Immunotherapy holds great promise for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other conformational disorders but certain adverse reactions need to be overcome. The meningoencephalitis observed in the first AD vaccination trial was likely related to excessive cell-mediated immunity caused by the immunogen, amyloid-? (A?) 1–42, and the adjuvant, QS?21. To avoid this toxicity, we have been using A? derivatives in alum adjuvant that promotes humoral immunity. Other potential side effects of immunotherapy are increased vascular amyloid and associated microhemorrhages that may be related to rapid clearance of parenchymal amyloid. Here, we determined if our immunization strategy was associated with this form of toxicity, and if the therapeutic effect was age-dependent. Tg2576 mice and wild-type littermates were immunized from 11 or 19 months and their behaviour evaluated prior to killing at 24 months. Subsequently, plaque- and vascular-A? burden, A? levels and associated pathology was assessed. The therapy started at the cusp of amyloidosis reduced cortical A? deposit burden by 31% and A? levels by 30–37%, which was associated with cognitive improvements. In contrast, treatment from 19 months, when pathology is well established, was not immunogenic and therefore did not reduce A? burden or improve cognition. Significantly, the immunotherapy in the 11–24 months treatment group, that reduced A? burden, did not increase cerebral bleeding or vascular A? deposits in contrast to several A? antibody studies. These findings indicate that our approach age-dependently improves cognition and reduces A? burden when used with an adjuvant suitable for humans, without increasing vascular A? deposits or microhemorrhages.

Perioperative hypoxia may contribute to postoperative cognitive impairment. It is unknown, however, whether anesthetics exacerbate or protect against hypoxia-related central nervous system impairment. We sought to determine whether hypoxia alone or in combination with isoflurane disrupts working memory in mice. To this extent, we assigned adult mice to one of four treatments for 1 h: oxygen 21%, oxygen 21% + isoflurane 1.2%, oxygen 8%, or oxygen 8% + isoflurane 1.2%. Mice breathed spontaneously throughout the experiment. Body temperature was maintained at 37 degrees C + 0.5 degrees C. Mice were allowed to recover for 24 h to avoid the confounding influence of residual anesthetics on neurobehavioral performance. Working memory was assessed by use of a Y maze modified for mice. For the training trial, entry to one arm was blocked and mice were permitted to run between the two open arms for 15 min and inspect the objects outside. For the test trial, carried out 1 h later, all arms were open. Time spent in each arm was automatically recorded by a camera and associated software. Mice were tested 1, 4, and 7 days after anesthesia. A different arm was used as the novel arm for each test. Performance was analyzed with repeated-measurements analysis of variance, followed by analysis of simple main effects and by post hoc comparison using Newman-Keuls test when appropriate. P values0.05 were considered significant. Animals subjected to hypoxia (8% oxygen for 1 h) spent significantly less time in the novel arm 1 day after the insult. The impairment, however, was transient. Hypoxic mice performance improved to the level of the control animals on the fourth post-treatment day. Mice subjected to hypoxia plus isoflurane exhibited no impairment and were comparable to the control group at all time points. Hypoxia transiently impairs performance in a spatial memory task. It appears that isoflurane protects against this deleterious effect of hypoxia.