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Qian Ye, Junying Guo, Yansong Chen, Zhaolei Cui, Yan Chen Department of Laboratory Medicine, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, 350014, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Zhaolei Cui; Yan ChenDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, Fujian Cancer Hospital, No. 420 Fuma Road, Jin’an District, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, 350014, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail cuileidizi@163.com; chenyan220422@fjmu.edu.cnObjective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) VCA-IgA antibody, EBV DNA and HSP90α alone or in combinations for the diagnosis and prognostic prediction of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods: A total of 113 treatment-naïve patients with NPC and 40 healthy controls were enrolled. Plasma HSP90α and serum EBV VCA IgA antibody were detected using ELISA, and plasma EBV DNA was quantified using qPCR assay. The effectiveness of plasma HSP90α level, serum EBV VCA IgA antibody and plasma EBV DNA was examined in the diagnosis and prognosis prediction of NPC.Results: Higher plasma HSP90α, serum EBV VCA IgA antibody and plasma viral load of EBV DNA were detected in NPC patients than in healthy controls (P < 0.001). The plasma HSP90α levels, serum EBV VCA IgA antibody titers and plasma viral load of EBV DNA were significantly greater in NPC patients with stages III and IV than in those with stages I and II (P < 0.001), and significantly lower plasma HSP90α levels, serum EBV VCA IgA antibody titers and plasma viral load of EBV DNA were found in the good prognosis group than in the poor prognosis group post-treatment (P < 0.05). The area under representative operating curves (AUCs) of plasma HSP90α, serum EBV VCA IgA antibody and plasma EBV DNA alone and in combination were 0.884, 0.841, 0.934 and 0.954 for the diagnosis of NPC, respectively. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses identified HSP90α as an independent prognostic factor for NPC.Conclusion: The combination of plasma HSP90α, serum EBV VCA IgA antibody and plasma EBV DNA shows high diagnostic performance for NPC, and plasma HSP90α may be a potential marker for diagnosis and prognosis prediction of NPC.Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, EBV VCA-IgA antibody, EBV DNA, HSP90α, diagnostic performance, prognosis prediction

This study aimed to investigate the anti-cancer effect of lobetyolin on breast cancer cells. Lobetyolin was incubated with MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells for 24 h. Glucose uptake and the mRNA expression of GLUT4 ( SLC2A4), HK2 and PKM2 were detected to assess the effect of lobetyolin on glucose metabolism. Glutamine uptake and the mRNA expression of ASCT2 ( SLC1A5), GLS1, GDH and GLUL were measured to assess the effect of lobetyolin on glutamine metabolism. Annexin V/PI double staining and Hoechst 33342 staining were used to investigate the effect of lobetyolin on cell apoptosis. Immunoblot was employed to estimate the effect of lobetyolin on the expression of proliferation-related markers and apoptosis-related markers. SLC1A5 knockdown with specific siRNA was performed to study the role of ASCT2 played in the anti-cancer effect of lobetyolin on MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells. C-MYC knockdown with specific siRNA was performed to study the role of c-Myc played in lobetyolin-induced ASCT2 down-regulation. Myr-AKT overexpression was performed to investigate the role of AKT/GSK3β signaling played in lobetyolin-induced down-regulation of c-Myc and ASCT2. The results showed that lobetyolin inhibited the proliferation of both MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells. Lobetyolin disrupted glutamine uptake via down-regulating ASCT2. SLC1A5 knockdown attenuated the anti-cancer effect of lobetyolin. C-MYC knockdown attenuated lobetyolin-caused down-regulation of ASCT2 and Myr-AKT overexpression reversed lobetyolin-caused down-regulation of both c-Myc and ASCT2. In conclusion, the present work suggested that lobetyolin exerted anti-cancer effect via ASCT2 down-regulation-induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells.

The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) family is one of the largest families of transcription factors (TFs) in plants and is responsible for various functions, including regulating development and responses to abiotic/biotic stresses. However, the roles of bZIPs in the regulation of responses to drought stress and salinity stress remain poorly understood in Jatropha curcas L., a biodiesel crop. In the present study, 50 JcbZIP genes were identified and classified into ten groups. Cis-element analysis indicated that JcbZIP genes are associated with abiotic stress. Gene expression patterns and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) showed that four JcbZIP genes (JcbZIPs 34, 36, 49 and 50) are key resistance-related genes under both drought and salinity stress conditions. On the basis of the results of cis-element and phylogenetic analyses, JcbZIP49 and JcbZIP50 are likely involved in responses to drought and salinity stress; moreover, JcbZIP34 and JcbZIP36 might also play important roles in seed development and response to abiotic stress. These findings advance our understanding of the comprehensive characteristics of JcbZIP genes and provide new insights for functional validation in the further.

The development of protein-based in situ forming hydrogel remains a big challenge due to the limited chemical groups in proteins. Keratins are a group of cysteine-rich structural protein found abundant in skin and skin appendant. Recently, our lab has established a disulfide shuffling strategy to prepare keratin hydrogels via oxygen (O2) oxidation. However, such hydrogel still needed to be molded in advance. In this work, inspired by the fact that glucose commonly exists in body fluids, a glucose-triggered in situ forming keratin hydrogel was developed based on the disulfide shuffling strategy via a higher oxidation force of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The hydrogel precursor solution consisted of keratin, cysteine and glucose oxidase (GOD), which could generate H2O2 in an indirect and mild way via GOD-catalyzed oxidation of glucose in body fluids. Our findings demonstrated that the GOD-catalyzed oxidation method not only shortened the gelation time but improved the mechanical strength of the hydrogel by comparison with O2 oxidation and direct addition of H2O2 solution methods, and realized in situ gelation within 3 min on a full-thickness wound bed in normal mice. Moreover, the in situ forming keratin hydrogel was applied as a drug depot for wound repair, and the deferoxamine-loaded one accelerated healing in the full-thickness wounds of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, notably by promoting angiogenesis and neovascularization in wounds. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Studies show that keratin hydrogels possess tissue regeneration capacity, especially in skin wound repair. However, most of the reported keratin hydrogels needed to be molded in advance and cannot fit irregular wound shape. This work describes a glucose-triggered in situ forming keratin hydrogel via a disulfide shuffling strategy under the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide. Of note, the hydrogen peroxide was supplied indirectly by glucose oxidase-catalyzed oxidation of glucose in wound fluids, and this method needed no additional crosslinking agents or chemical modifications on keratins. Our findings showed that this hydrogel realized in situ gelation within 3 min on a full-thickness wound bed and enabled an injectable mode with good filling ability toward irregular wounds. Moreover, this hydrogel could be applied as a drug depot for the treatment of diabetic wounds.

The existence of bio-accumulative lead hinders the commercialization of optoelectronic applications of Pb-based halide perovskites (PVKs). Therefore, researchers are seeking for comparative lead-free PVKs. Owing to the identical electronic configuration with Pb, Bi-based PVKs are proved to be one of the most promising candidates. Because strain is widely existed altering materials’ characteristics, it is crucial to study the influences of strain on the Bi-based PVKs. Our theoretical work investigates the strain influences on two kinds of Bi-based PVKs, i.e., Cs3Bi2Br9, and Cs2BiAgBr6. It is observed that both the tensile and compressive strains effectively change the crystal structures and the bandgaps, i.e., enlargement under tensile strain while shrinkage under compressive strain. Simultanously, the absorption spectra of these PVKs are also discussed. The strain study of Bi-based PVKs will offer guidance to the further development of lead-free PVKs.

Interphase mass transport is important for many industrial applications ranging from multiphase reaction and separation but remains a great challenge in maximizing the interface area and mass-trans...

Lactate dehydrogenase C4 (LDH-C4) as a cancer/testis antigen (CTA) is abnormally expressed in some malignant tumors. However, the expression and clinical significance of LDH-C4 in breast cancer (BC) has not been characterized.We determined LDHC mRNA expression in serum and serum-derived exosomes of BC patients by quantitative RT-PCR. We also evaluated the protein expression of LDH-C4 in BC tissues using high-throughput tissue microarray analysis and immunohistochemistry.Our results showed high mRNA expression level of LDHC in serum and serum-derived exosomes of BC patients. The LDHC level in serum and exosomes could distinguish BC cases from healthy individuals based on their AUCs of 0.9587 and 0.9464, respectively. Besides, the LDHC level in exosomes of BC patients associated with tumor size, and positively correlated with HER2 and Ki-67 expressions (all with P 0.05). Serum and exosomal level of LDHC negatively correlated with medical treatment and positively with the recurrence of BC. Survival analysis showed that LDH-C4 expression negatively correlated with BC prognosis.Serum and exosomal LDHC may be an effective indicator for the diagnosis, efficacy evaluation, and monitoring the recurrence of BC. LDH-C4 may act as a biomarker that predicts BC prognosis.

The present study reports a study of water droplets impacting on cold thin water films on a superhydrophilic surface. A thermal infrared imager was used to record the surface temperature distribution after the droplet impact on the liquid films. A ring-shaped high temperature zone was found after impact with the temperature first increasing and then gradually decreasing in the radial direction. Numerical simulations were then used to study the velocity distribution and the droplet motion inside the liquid film. The droplet spreading motion was restricted by liquid in the film for lower We which then reduces the heat transfer in that area and causes the formation of a ring-shaped high temperature distribution. The ring structure shape then changes with the increasing of We. This hot ring becomes wider and the temperature difference between the ring and the impact center decrease with the increasing of We. As We continues to increase, the ring-shaped temperature distribution disappears with the highest temperature at the center and the temperature in radial direction monotonically decreasing from the center to the edge. The initial film thickness also affects the temperature distribution after droplet impact. A thicker film causes the ring-shaped hot region to gradually move inward until it reaches the center and forms a hottest region in the impact center. Thus, the ring-shaped temperature distribution only occurs for lower We and thinner films. The shape and position of the temperature distribution after droplet impact on the cold, thin liquid films can then be precisely controlled by regulating the impact We and the initial film thickness. These results will greatly facilitate the design of precision spraying processes.

In order to analyze the interaction relationship between heavy metals and other mineral elements during the processes of absorption and translocation by plant grown on heavy metal-contaminated area, the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Mn, Cd, Pb, Ca, Mg, Fe, and K in the medicinal plant Paeonia ostii T. Hong et J. X. Zhang and its rhizospheric soil were determined, which grow around an abandoned copper tailings reservoir in Tongling City, China. Geo-accumulation index (Igeo) calculation indicated that Cu and Pb are the main pollution elements in the rhizospheric soil. Moreover, the Cu and Pb concentrations in the cortex moutan of P. ostii exceeded the maximum permissible limits for food product safety. The bioaccumulation factor values of the tested metals in plant roots were found < 0.50, with the exception of Ca (maximum 5.99). The translocation factor values of detected heavy metals Cd and Pb were more than 1.00, which indicated that P. ostii could be considered a potential accumulator plant for Cd and Pb. Significant positive correlations including Cu-Cd, Cu-Zn, Cu-Pb, Cd-Zn, Cd-Fe, Cd-Fe, Zn-Pb, Pb-Fe, Mn-Fe, and Ca-Mg in the cortex moutan and Cu-Zn, Cu-Fe, Zn-Mg, Zn-Fe, and Mn-K in the leaves were observed (P < 0.05). Significant positive correlation between Cu, Zn, Mg, and Fe was also confirmed in the processes of absorption and translocation from the soil to plant (P < 0.05), which evidenced that synergistic element interactions of the essential elements Cu, Zn, Mg, and Fe are a result of the similarity in their ionic radii and octahedral coordination geometry.

Halide lead perovskites are considered as one of the most promising optoelectronic materials in decades, but the toxicity and bio-accumulation of lead retard the commercialization. Therefore, seeking suitable lead-free perovskites and their variants are of vital importance. In this work, all-inorganic zinc halide perovskite variant Cs2ZnCl4 crystals with Sb3+ doping are synthesized via hydrothermal method. Transparent millimeter-sized crystals exhibit bright red photoluminescence (PL) under room temperature (RT) on account of self-trapped exciton (STE) emission of Sb3+, from 3P1 to 1S0 states. Temperature-dependent PL and time-resolved PL exhibit bimodality and intensity variations, revealing that Jahn-Teller effect of 3P1 state results two energy minima, and thermal activation may contribute to the spectrum change. Further, DFT calculations are carried out and the influences of Sb3+ doping are revealed. A bandgap reduction is achieved via doping, and the band edges are localized at Sb3+. A combination of experimental and theoretical studies demonstrates well that the soft lattice structure and the 5s2 lone pairs of Sb are vital for the STE emission.

The initial nucleation of ultrafine particle recently attracts more attention as a key factor in visibility degradation during early haze. In this study, we have performed Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation to investigate the particle-induced initial nucleation process during early haze. Our calculation results show that the water molecules aggregate surrounding nuclei to form heterogeneous cluster under a certain RH, the synergistic effect of multiple-bonding interactions makes heterogeneous cluster incline to form and stably exist with lower total energy as well as approximately 3–10 times expansionary volume, the hygroscopic growth of aerosol particles would play an important role in affecting the atmospheric visibility. The electron cloud density transferring from the exterior H2O molecule to the interior nuclei in the cluster is characterized by migration effect or nonuniform distribution. The decreasing energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) in the heterogeneous cluster would lead to a red-shifted absorption wavelength λmax. It exerts the blue, indigo and violet visible-light absorption of corresponding wavelength for NO, NO2, NO3− and O3 heterogeneous clusters to enhance light extinction, thus contributing to visibility degradation, during early haze periods. It helps to intensify the color-enhancing effect of visible light with longer wavelength, such as red, orange as well as yellow light, to promote the evolution of early haze in clean weather period. This study shows that one of the important mechanisms of atmospheric visibility degradation in haze event is the heterogeneous cluster formation in the size range of about 2–4 nm during initial nucleation stage. Our results highlight that prevention of gas-phase chemical species (NO, NO2 and SO2) emission, and also regulatory controls of the concentrations of NO3−, O3 in atmosphere are necessary to prevent deterioration of the air quality in future.

Copper mine tailings are often contaminated by a range of heavy metals, which can restrict plant growth. The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of soil contamination by copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and manganese (Mn) in a deserted copper mine tailings site, as well as the translocation of these heavy metals into the rhizosphere soil and the root, fibril and shoot tissues of a tolerant plant, Celosia argentea. In order of concentration, the heavy metal concentrations in the soils were Cu ≥ Mn > Zn ≥ Cr > Pb > Cd, and the mean concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd in the rhizosphere were 1.8, 1.6, 1.5, and 1.2 times greaterthanin the non-rhizosphere soil, respectively. The concentrations of all examined heavy metals except for Pb were higher than the second-level criterion of the Chinese soil environmental quality standard (CSES) (GB15618-1995) in both soil samples. The pollution load indexes of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr in the rhizosphere were 28.13, 1.69, 0.148, 8.67, and 1.49, respectively, using the CSES. Cu and Cr were mainly stored in the roots of C. argentea, whileCd, Mn, and Zn accumulated in the shoots. The translocation factors of Zn, Cd, and Mn were greater than 1, and the Cd enrichment factor of the C. argentea shoots was close to 1. This indicates that C. argentea is a hyperaccumulator of Cd, and could be used in the phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soils.

The aim of this study was to explore the correlation of pretreatment serum tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) with prognosis in primary breast cancer. A total of 361 patients with grades I–III breast cancer had been followed up from January 2001 to February 2011. Serumal TPS level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to investigate associations between pretreatment TPS level and clinicopathological parameters and patient outcomes. First, at the univariate analysis, the expression of TPS was related with some clinicopathological traditional prognostic factors such as tumor size (P = 0.030), histologic grade (P = 0.001) and lymph node status (P = 0.008). Second, overall survival were significantly shorter among patients with elevated pretreatment serum TPS (P = 0.038). However, finally, multivariate Cox regression indicated that the level of pretreatment serum TPS was not an independent prognostic parameter for overall survival in primarily breast cancer patients (P > 0.05). The expression of pretreatment serum TPS is closely correlated with clinicopathology parameters and overall survival of patients with primarily breast cancer, but its level has no independent prognostic value.

This Part II paper describes the disintegration and dissolution aspects of the qualification of a new hypromellose capsule (HPMC Shell 2). This new capsule does not contain any gelling agent, and is manufactured by a thermal gelation process. Rupture time of the carrageenan-containing capsule (HPMC Shell 1) and HPMC Shell 2, as measured by an improved real-time detection method, showed only slight differences that did not manifest in vivo. The absence of a gelling agent appeared to give HPMC Shell 2 advantages in dissolution in acidic media and in buffers containing potassium ions. Slow drug release of HPMC Shell 1 in 0.1M HCl was attributed to the interaction of carrageenan with drug compounds; whereas the presence of potassium ions, a gelling promoter for carrageenan, caused delay in capsule opening and larger capsule-to-capsule variation. Disintegration and dissolution performances of both hypromellose capsules are comparable in other dissolution media tested. Based on the superior dissolution performances and quality attributes in terms of physical, mechanical and processability that were detailed in Paper I, the new hypromellose capsule was satisfactorily qualified and has since been used in nearly 20 investigational new drug (IND) compounds.

The filamentary composites of Cu–6 wt.% Fe, Cu–6 wt.% Fe–0.05 wt.% RE and Cu–6 wt.% Fe–0.3 wt.% RE were prepared by casting, cold drawing and intermediate heat treatments. The microstructure was observed and the ultimate tensile strength, vickers hardness and electrical conductivity were determined for the composites annealed at different temperatures. The results show that (0.05–0.30) wt.% rare earth elements in Cu–6 wt.% Fe can refine the as-cast microstructure and facilitate the precipitation of secondary Fe particles in the Cu matrix. The filamentary structure of Cu–6 wt.% Fe–0.30 wt.% RE seems to have a higher recrystallized resistance than that of Cu–6 wt.% Fe. With the increase in annealing temperature, the strength and hardness of the composites decrease but the conductivity increases. In particular, there appears a remarkable change of the strength, hardness and conductivity with the annealing temperature over 400 °C. The rare earth elements increase the conductivity of the Cu–6 wt.% Fe composites annealed at different temperatures. The improvement in conductivity from the rare earth elements is more significant for the composites annealed at higher than 400 °C.

In this paper, the dependence of infrared photoresponse of a pyroelectric thin film detector with respect to chopper frequency is studied theoretically and experimentally. The expressions of photocurrent, photovoltage and a special chopper frequency f m at which the maximum photovoltage is generated, are derived. A PMSZT/YBCO heterostructure is taken as the pyroelectric infrared detector and its photocurrent and photovoltage dependence on chopper frequency was measured. The experimental results are satisfactory and in agreement with theoretical analysis.

A novel kind of optical fibre ring cavity, which acts as 'optical capacitor', is presented. As incident light energy can be stored in this kind of cavity, the beam intensity in it may be increased to a value which is much higher than the input intensity. Some applications are also proposed, such as enhancing the efficiency of nonlinear optical conversions, reducing the drive voltage for electro-optic switches or modulators, increasing the energy utilization ratio for optical switches or modulators and so on.

Upon the combination of double refraction and diffraction effects, a new kind of polarization device is proposed, which is made of the birefringent plate with the grooves of a sawtooth profile on its surface. This device may separate an incident light beam into two polarized beams spatially with a high extinction ratio and large beam‐splitting angle, moreover it has a sheet form, large aperture, and low cost, thus being suitable for practical use.

An adjacent sequence iteration method for designing a dif- fractive element with function of controlling wavefront propagation is pre- sented, and a binary optical element for focusing a diode laser beam in a long focal depth is designed with this method, fabricated by means of photolithography and ion-etching techniques. The simulation calculated with the designed element indicates that the design is successful, and the experiment results of long focal depth by testing the produced ele- ment are consistent with the design requirements. © 2004 Society of Photo

A 4f-type optical system for performing matrix multiplication is presented. The system consists of a holographic mask and two Fourier lenses. With this system, the inner products of 4 x 8 and 8 x 4 matrices are calculated, yielding results that are in agreement with theoretical values.