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Objective To analyze and evaluate the prevention and control policies for thalassemia, identify the usage and distribution of policy tools, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the policies, and propose improvement suggestions. Methods From the perspective of policy instruments, an analytical framework of "policy tools-stakeholders" has been constructed. Utilizing the Policy Modeling Consistency (PMC) index model, a quantitative evaluation was conducted. The characteristics of policy tool usage were identified, problems in the policies were discovered, and strategies for policy optimization were explored. Results The study found that the overall quality of Guangxi's thalassemia prevention and control policies is relatively high, but there are also issues such as fewer joint documents issued by multiple departments, lack of demand-oriented policy tools (18.46%), slightly vague policy nature, and difficulty in balancing long-term and short-term policy effectiveness. Conclusion The prevention and treatment policy for Mediterranean anemia should start by enhancing the utilization of demand-driven tools, taking into account the short-term and long-term effectiveness of the policy, and mobilizing the participation of multiple stakeholders to improve policy quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rosa roxburghii Tratt., a deciduous shrub of the family Rosaceae, is usually used as food and medicinal materials and also cultivated as an ornamental. Plant endophytic fungi are a large class of microbial resources not fully researched, with great potential applications. Two strains of Ascodesmis and Talaromyces were isolated during a survey of biodiversity on endophytic fungi of R. roxburghii in China. Multigene phylogenetic analyses showed that each of the two fungi formed a distinct lineage and separated from known congeneric species and they are proposed as two novel taxa.Ascodesmis rosicola sp. nov. usually has one or two conspicuous simple or branched ridges extending to the majority of the ascospore surface and remarkably small asci, distinguishing it from the previously-described species in the genus Ascodesmis. Talaromyces rosarhiza sp. nov., of the section Talaromyces, is closely related to T. francoae. It differs from the latter by having both monoverticillate and biverticillate conidiophores, while those of T. francoae are biverticillate. Both novel endophytes are illustrated and described.

Rosa roxburghii Tratt. is widely applied in food, cosmetics, and traditional medicine, and has been demonstrated to possess diverse bioactivities. Plant endophytic fungi are important microbial resources with great potential for application in many fields. They not only establish mutualistic symbiosis with host plants but also produce a variety of bioactive compounds. Therefore, in the present study, endophytic fungi were isolated from R. roxburghii, the diversity and antimicrobial activities were evaluated. As a result, 242 strains of endophytic Sordariomycetes were successfully isolated. Multigene phylogenetic analyses showed that these isolates included eight orders, 19 families, 33 genera. The dominant genera were Diaporthe (31.4%), Fusarium (14.4%), Chaetomium (7.9%), Dactylonectria (7.0%), Graphium (4.5%), Colletotrichum (4.1%), and Clonostachys (4.1%). For different tissues of R. roxburghii, alpha diversity analysis revealed that the diversity of fungal communities decreased in the order of root, fruit, stem, flower, leaf, and seed, and Clonostachys and Dactylonectria exhibited obvious tissue specificity. Meanwhile, functional annotation of 33 genera indicated that some fungi have multitrophic lifestyles combining endophytic, pathogenic, and saprophytic behavior. Additionally, antimicrobial activities of endophytic Sordariomycetes against Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Botryosphaeria dothidea, Colletotrichum capsici, Pyricularia oryzae, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Pseudomonas syringae, Pantoea agglomerans, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were screened. Dual culture test assays showed that there were 40 different endophytic species with strong inhibition of at least one or moderate inhibition of two or more against the 12 tested strains. The results from the filter paper diffusion method suggested that extracellular metabolites may be more advantageous than intracellular metabolites in the development of antimicrobial agents. Eleven isolates with good activities were screened. In particular, Hypomontagnella monticulosa HGUP194009 and Nigrospora sphaerica HGUP191020 have shown promise in both broad-spectrum and intensity. Finally, some fungi that commonly cause disease have been observed to have beneficial biological activities as endophytic fungi. In conclusion, this study showed the species composition, alpha diversity, and lifestyle diversity of endophytic Sordariomycetes from R. roxburghii and demonstrated these isolates are potential sources for exploring antimicrobial agents.

Background: Focal cortical dysplasia type IIb (FCD IIb) and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) are well-recognized causes of chronic intractable epilepsy in children. Accumulating evidence suggests that activation of the microglia/macrophage and concomitant inflammatory response in FCD IIb and TSC may contribute to the initiation and recurrence of seizures. The membrane glycoproteins CD47 and CD200, which are highly expressed in neurons and other cells, mediate inhibitory signals through their receptors, signal regulatory protein α (SIRP-α) and CD200R, respectively, in microglia/macrophages. We investigate the levels and expression pattern of CD47/SIRP-α and CD200/CD200R in surgically resected brain tissues from patients with FCD IIb and TSC, and the potential effect of soluble human CD47 Fc and CD200 Fc on the inhibition of several proinflammatory cytokines associated with FCD IIb and TSC in living epileptogenic brain slices in vitro. The level of interleukin-4 (IL-4), a modulator of CD200, was also investigated.Methods: Twelve FCD IIb (range 1.8-9.5 years), 13 TSC (range 1.5-10 years) patients, and 6 control cases (range 1.5-11 years) were enrolled. The levels of CD47/SIRP-α and CD200/CD200R were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot. The expression pattern of CD47/SIRP-α and CD200/CD200R was investigated by immunohistochemical analysis, and the cytokine concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assays.Results: Both the messenger RNA and protein levels of CD47, SIRP-α, and CD200, as well as the mRNA level of IL-4, were downregulated in epileptogenic lesions of FCD IIb and TSC compared with the control specimens, whereas CD200R levels were not significantly changed. CD47, SIRP-α, and CD200 were decreasingly expressed in dysmorphic neuron, balloon cells, and giant cells. CD47 Fc and CD200 Fc could inhibit IL-6 release but did not suppress IL-1β or IL-17 production.Conclusions: Our results suggest that microglial activation may be partially caused by CD47/SIRP-α- and CD200/CD200R-mediated reductions in the immune inhibitory pathways within FCD IIb and TSC cortical lesions where chronic neuroinflammation has been established. Upregulation or activation of CD47/SIRP-α and CD200/CD200R may have therapeutic potential for controlling neuroinflammation in human FCD IIb and TSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single quantum emitters (SQEs) are at the heart of quantum optics and photonic quantum-information technologies. To date, all the demonstrated solid-state single-photon sources are confined to one-dimensional (1D; ref. 3) or 3D materials. Here, we report a new class of SQEs based on excitons that are spatially localized by defects in 2D tungsten-diselenide (WSe2) monolayers. The optical emission from these SQEs shows narrow linewidths of ∼130 μeV, about two orders of magnitude smaller than those of delocalized valley excitons. Second-order correlation measurements revealed a strong photon antibunching, which unambiguously established the single-photon nature of the emission. The SQE emission shows two non-degenerate transitions, which are cross-linearly polarized. We assign this fine structure to two excitonic eigenmodes whose degeneracy is lifted by a large ∼0.71 meV coupling, probably because of the electron-hole exchange interaction in the presence of anisotropy. Magneto-optical measurements also reveal an exciton g factor of ∼8.7, several times larger than those of delocalized valley excitons. In addition to their fundamental importance, establishing new SQEs in 2D quantum materials could give rise to practical advantages in quantum-information processing, such as an efficient photon extraction and a high integratability and scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single photons are attractive candidatesof quantum bits (qubits)for quantum computation and are the best messengers in quantum networks.Future scalable, fault-tolerant photonic quantum technologies demandboth stringently high levels of photon indistinguishability and generationefficiency. Here, we demonstrate deterministic and robust generationof pulsed resonance fluorescence single photons from a single semiconductorquantum dot using adiabatic rapid passage, a method robust againstfluctuation of driving pulse area and dipole moments of solid-stateemitters. The emitted photons are background-free, have a vanishingtwo-photon emission probability of 0.3% and a raw (corrected) two-photonHong–Ou–Mandel interference visibility of 97.9% (99.5%),reaching a precision that places single photons at the threshold forfault-tolerant surface-code quantum computing. This single-photonsource can be readily scaled up to multiphoton entanglement and usedfor quantum metrology, boson sampling, and linear optical quantumcomputing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-photon sources based on semiconductor quantum dots offer distinct advantages for quantum information, including a scalable solid-state platform, ultrabrightness and interconnectivity with matter qubits. A key prerequisite for their use in optical quantum computing and solid-state networks is a high level of efficiency and indistinguishability. Pulsed resonance fluorescence has been anticipated as the optimum condition for the deterministic generation of high-quality photons with vanishing effects of dephasing. Here, we generate pulsed single photons on demand from a single, microcavity-embedded quantum dot under s-shell excitation with 3 ps laser pulses. The π pulse-excited resonance-fluorescence photons have less than 0.3% background contribution and a vanishing two-photon emission probability. Non-postselective Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between two successively emitted photons is observed with a visibility of 0.97(2), comparable to trapped atoms and ions. Two single photons are further used to implement a high-fidelity quantum controlled-NOT gate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existence of cancer stem cell is regarded as a main reason for metastasis and/or recurrences. In this study, the cancer stem-like cell derived from TJ905 glioblastoma multiforme cell line was isolated successfully. However, it was observed that generating rate of the cancer stem-like cells was lower than that of TJ905 cells, that expression of the anti-apoptotic and multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) genes were paradoxical to the literatures, which showed the uncertainty of cancer stem cells, and that some stem cell was not the solo factor to maintain tumor growth and resist apoptosis and anti-tumor drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an effective method to alleviate the conflict between large group delay and wide frequency band in electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) design. Two kinds of electrically induced transparency (E-IT) and magnetically induced transparency (M-IT) are proposed, respectively. Then an EIT with wide transparency window is developed by combining the independent E-IT and M-IT structures. All of the transparencies are designed in a closed waveguide system, and high efficiency is obtained at the same time. One sample is fabricated and the bandwidth is increased to more than 3 times without decrease of the group delay and increase of the size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study tried to use CD133 positive U251 glioblastoma stem cells to establish nude mice model of transplanted tumor. CD133 positive U251 stem cells were isolated and identified. Twenty-five male nude mice were divided into three groups: U251 cell group, U251 stem cell group and normal control group. U251 cells and stem cells were respectively inoculated into mouse brain to establish model of transplanted tumor. Mice growing condition and behavior were observed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed to detect tumor growth in brain. HE staining assay, immunohistochemical assay and CD34 marked microvascular density (MVD) test were performed. As a result, the successful rates of both model groups were 100%. Growing condition and behavior in U251 stem cell group was more significantly exaggerated and tumor growth and image in magnetic resonance in U251 stem cell group was more significantly malignant than that in U251 cell group. It could be found that models in U251 stem cell group showed stronger pathogolical malignance features than that in U251 cell group. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in U251 cell and stem cell group showed the transplanted tumor originated from astrocytes. CD34 in U251 stem cell group was highest and significantly higher than that in the other two groups. In conclusion, use of U251 stem cells to establish transplanted tumor model in nude mice is an excellent method and the model is more likely and malignant than the one established by cancer cells, which showed a new animal model to research glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It has been hypothesized that cancer stem cell is responsible for the refractoriness of glioblastoma therapy. This study is to observe the influence of Etoposide on anti-apoptotic and multidrug resistance-associated protein genes in glioblastoma stem-like cells. U251 glioblastoma cells were cultured and CD133 positive cancer stem-like cells were isolated and identified. Cell counting kit-8 assay, cell morphology and flow cytometry were employed for assaying cell survival condition. Real-time quantitative PCR was chosen for detecting mRNA expression of livin, livinα, livinβ, survivin, MRP1 and MRP3. As results, after Etoposide intervention, the U251 stem-like cells showed more resistant property, more intact morphology and lower apoptotic rate than that in U251 cells (p <0.05). It could be found that the expression of livinβ in U251 stem-like cells was significantly higher (p <0.05). After Etoposide intervention, only livinα was suppressed markedly (p <0.05), while livin expression was not notably decreased with livinβ increased on the contrary (p <0.05). MRP1 and MRP3 in U251 stem-like cells were significantly higher than that in cancer cells, and after chemotherapy, the expression of MRP1 increased notably (p <0.05). But the expression of survivin and MRP3 did not show these features. In conclusion, after Etoposide intervention glioblastoma stem-like cells showed a stronger resistance to apoptosis and death, and the anti-apoptotic gene livinβ was more related with the high survival rate and MRP1 appeared to be more related with transporting chemotherapeutics out of glioblastoma stem-like cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]