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A new nanosized polyoxometalate modified by benzylarsonate ligands, [(C7H7AsO3)6W12O36]12- (1a), was successfully isolated and structurally characterized as Na2(C2H8N)4H6[(C7H7AsO3)6W12O36]·30H2O (1). Controlled protonation of 1a led it to self-reorganize into isomer cage cluster [(C7H7AsO3)6W12O30(OH)4(H2O)2]4- (2a) with an organic ligand arranging in "half-open" mode. The reversibly switchable cage transform was monitored by 1H NMR. Also, the origin of the solid supramolecular chirality in the crystal 1 and the aggregation process of 1a were preliminarily studied.

Highly fluorescent, water-soluble and green Au nanoclusters (AuNCs) have been synthesized by one-step method with wool keratin as reducer and silk fibrion as stabilizer. Understanding of AuNCs syntheses mechanism and luminescent property is essential for the syntheses of biocompatible AuNCs. This report demonstrates the thiol groups’ dependent syntheses with wool keratin (WK) and silk fibroin (SF) solution with different component ratios. Significantly, it was found that the percentage of SF was critical in determining the size of AuNCs. Interestingly, the fibrils of SF, which is made of stick shaped β sheet crystals, contributes to the cage of AuNCs, while the WK dedicates the thiol groups to synthesize WK@AuNCs. Using the transmission electron microscopy, we show that the WK&SF@AuNCs can grow due to the degradation of protein or particle coalescence from the electron beam irradiation. Through the combination of these two processes, the dynamic growth of nanocrystals involves the variation of Au nanocrystals with a bimodal distribution.

A highly efficient fluorescence gold nanoclusters probe for copper (II) (Cu2+) ions among various ions has been prepared through wool keratin as chelating and reducing agent. The main features of fluorescent gold nanoclusters supported on wool keratin (AuNCs@WK) probe are the high fluorescence in aqueous solution, the simplicity of synthesis and the hypotoxicity for living cells. The fluorescence probe exhibits high stability of pHs and shows more sensitivity under acidic condition. Upon exposure to various metal irons, only AuNCs@WK system with Cu2+ ions shows a fluorescence turnoff response changing from red to blue under UV light, which lead to the dramatically decreased fluorescent intensity of AuNCs@WK at 690 nm. Moreover, the high sensitivity of AuNCs@WK around 1 µM meets the need of detection standards. The slope of Stern–Volmer plot at low concentration of Cu2+ ions is greater than it at high concentrations, which indicates the aggregated AuNCs are from small amounts to large numbers with the increasing concentration of Cu2+ ions. The design mechanism of AuNCs@WK probe is the coordination of reactive groups to produce the complex (wool keratin-Cu-wool keratin) at 1:2 between Cu2+ ions and fluorescence probe. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity in cells indicates that AuNCs@WK system is safe for the selective imaging of copper ions in living cells.

A isoxazoline-[60]fullerene derivative has been prepared. Its complex with Zn-tetraporphyrin has been first evidenced by X-Ray diffraction. The solutions studies of the complex show its high stability and demonstrated the coordination have clear influence on the redox behavior of the components. The structure agrees also well with the theoretically calculated one.

Background Compound Kushen Injection (CKI) has been clinically used in China for 15 years to treat various types of solid tumors, including colorectal cancer. Here we examine cell cycle arrest, induced autophagy, and mutant p53 pathways perturbed by CKI in colorectal cancer cells. We and other groups have shown that CKI alters p53 gene expression patterns and suppresses proliferation in colorectal cancer cells. Methods We measured the effect of CKI on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and autophagy in sw480 and sw620 colorectal cancer cells in vitro, and carcinogenesis and the progression of azoxymethane/dextran sodium sulfate-induced colorectal cancer in ICR mice in vivo. We also used RNA sequencing to analyze mRNA expression altered by CKI, and further validated the expression of mutant p53 and several genes in the cell cycle pathway using reverse transcriptase-quantitative PCR and western blotting. Using network pharmacology (BATMAN-TCM database), we have also predicted the active ingredients in CKI involved in regulating the expression of mutant p53. Results We show evidence that CKI significantly suppressed proliferation and cell cycle progression, and induced autophagy of sw480 and sw620 cells in vitro; it also inhibited the development of inflammatory colorectal cancer in vivo. We also show that the down-regulated expression of mutant p53 and adjustments in several key genes related closely to cell-cycle progression. Furthermore, N-oxysophocarpine, lupenone, and geranylacetone were predicted to be the active ingredients of CKI involved in the down-regulated expression of mutant p53. Conclusion Our results indicate that CKI likely acts as a potential anti-cancer therapeutic agent that targets the cell cycle pathway, suggesting a key role in the development of a novel subsidiary therapeutic approach against mutant p53 in patients with colorectal cancer.

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response resulting from the excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. Sirtuin 1 (SirT1) actively deacetylates histone proteins, and facilitates chromatin compaction and gene silencing. In the present study, a cell model of sepsis, comprising lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-tolerant THP-1 cells, was used to investigate whether the SirT1 activator, resveratrol, repressed the transcription of TNF-alpha. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and real-time PCR were used to determine the transcription of the TNF-alpha promoter. The result revealed that the binding of SirT1 to the TNF-alpha promoter was decreased by LPS stimulation in normal cells. However, in LPS-tolerant cells, nuclear protein levels of SirT1 remained elevated, and LPS stimulation had no significant effect on the binding of SirT1 to the TNF-alpha promoter. However, the activity of SirT1 was increased and binding of ace-H4K16 to the TNF-alpha promoter was decreased with resveratrol treatment in the tolerant cells. It was concluded that resveratrol stimulated sirtuin activity in LPS-tolerant THP-1 cells, and repressed TNF-alpha transcription through the deacetylation of H4K16, without affecting the methylation of H3K9. Resveratrol offers potential as an infective candidate to alleviate inflammation in patients with sepsis.

To fabricate biocompatible composite films with tunable performance, both silk fibroin (SF, β-crystallite rich) and keratin (α-helix rich) materials are engineered at the mesoscale based on the molecular synergy. While SF materials display a hierarchical structure initiated from the β-crystallite molecular networks, keratin materials reveal the networks crossly linked by disulfide bonding. It is surprising to see that the β-crystallites of SF materials induce the conversion of the free unfolded molecular chains of keratin to β-folding (β-crystallites) in the SF/keratin composites. Furthermore, the α-helices from the keratin components in the SF/keratin composites can transit to β-sheets under stress, which gives rise to the strain-hardening, and a better flexibility and elasticity. It follows that the tensile and biodegradable performance of the SF/keratin composites can be programmed by adjusting the ratio of SF versus keratin in the composites. Raising the SF ratio in the composite films increases the density of β-crystallites in the networks, giving rise to the enhanced toughness and reduced biodegradation rate, but poor deformation recovery. On the other hand, increasing the ratio of keratin in the composite films increases the extensibility, strain-hardening effect. These make them excel bio-optical materials with controllable properties.

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are widely used in the synthesis of metal oxides as important organic–inorganic compound precursors. A perovskite ABO3-type Co-based MOF [NH4][Co(HCOO)3] was synthesized from a simple mixture without any adjuvant. Porous Co3O4 microspheres are used as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), which are obtained from [NH4][Co(HCOO)3] as a precursor through a pyrolysis process in air. The obtained pagoda cauliflower-shaped Co3O4 microspheres exhibit an excellent electrochemical performance.

The main wheat production area in Henan Province was classified into five regions based on observed wheat production data, historical meteorological data and soil data from thirty sites du-ring 1981 to 2014. The changes in the risk of yield loss of winter wheat under water stress condition in each region were calculated with WOFOST model. From 1981 to 2014, the yield reduction rate of winter wheat showed an increasing trend at all the sites with the increase rate of 2.8%-5.0% per 10 years. The yield reduction rate decreased from north to south in Henan Province. The event of yield reduction rate over 20% occurred about once every 10 years in southern Henan Province, and once every 2 years at Xinxiang, Fengqiu and Puyang in northern Henan Province. The event of yield reduction rate over 50% occurred about once every 3 years at Xinxiang and Zhengzhou but was rare in southern Henan Province. The highest hazard areas were mainly distributed in north and middle parts of Henan Province, the lowest hazard areas were distributed at Lushi in western Henan Pro-vince, Nanyang in southwestern Henan Province, Xinyang in southern Henan Province and south part of Zhumadian, the medium hazard areas were distributed in the other regions of Henan Province.以河南省30个站点1981—2014年冬小麦观测资料、历史气象资料和土壤资料为依据,将河南冬小麦主产区划分为5个区域,基于WOFOST作物生长模拟模型,分析了水分胁迫条件下河南省冬小麦减产风险值的变化规律.结果表明: 1981—2014年,各区域冬小麦减产率均呈上升趋势,平均每10 a增加2.8%～5.0%.冬小麦减产率由北向南呈降低趋势,减产率超过20%的事件在豫南地区约10年一遇,豫北的新乡、封丘和濮阳一带约2年一遇;减产率超过50%的事件,在新乡、郑州地区约3年一遇,豫南少遇.豫北及豫中偏北的大部分地区为冬小麦减产风险高值区,豫西卢氏、豫西南南阳、豫南信阳和驻马店南部地区为冬小麦减产风险低值区,其他地区为风险中值区.

A new nanosized polyoxometalate modified by benzylarsonate ligands, [(C

The microwave-driven synthesis of a heteropoly blue cluster yields a redox active cluster, [(HPO3)6Mo21O60(H2O)4]8−, templated by six phosphite anions whereby two phosphites template a tri-lucunary {Mo15} Dawson structure, and one templates a {Mo6} ring with two of the three remaining phosphites acting as bridging ligands connecting the ring to the {Mo15}.

As an indirect measurement, acoustic emission (AE) of fiber break reflects the deformation energy during rupturing. It can be employed to evaluate the tensile properties of single fiber in fiber-bundle tensile test. In this paper, the extension of single wool fiber in the fiber-bundle are calculated using AE method. Comparing to the control samples whose extension distribution is derived from the stress-strain curve of fiber bundle, it is believed that the extension distribution calculated from AEs is more accurate and reliable, since it is not affected by the discreteness of fiber strength. The experimental results also show that there is a good linear relationship between the break force of single wool fibers and their AE energy.

Tencel fabrics were treated with low pressure plasma with air for different treatment time. The samples were tested their thickness and calculated each mean value of fabrics treated with different time. The result indicated that samples became thicker with the prolonged plasma treatment time. The samples were also divided into two groups and tore along warp and weft direction, respectively, to measure the influence of plasma treatment time on the tearing strength. The result of the measurement implied that the tearing strength of samples treated 1 minute by plasma decreased dramatically, when they were compared with the untreated ones. However, the decrease of the tearing strength became slight when the plasma treatment increased to 5, 10 and 20 minutes.

The effects of aqueous solutions on the behavior of rocks are of great concern in many geotechnical applications. Many factors regarding the corrosion process should be considered, including temperature and the solute. In this paper, the evolution of the meso-structure of gypsum from Xishan, Taiyuan, China, with a purity of 95.86 %, is studied under the coupling effect of brine solution (with concentrations of 0, 3.08 and 5.989 mol/L) and temperature (23, 40 and 70 °C) using scanning electron microscopy. Results indicate that an aqueous solution can significantly soften gypsum rocks. Unaltered gypsum rock is initially compact in structure and fissures or fractures are less obvious. After being corroded by an aqueous solution, the original compact gypsum is largely damaged in structure and the gypsum's crystal clusters change from jointed connections to separated connections. Moreover, some of the crystal clusters are broken into pieces and layers, or split into small columns. In this study, ∂ is defined as the corrosion damage ratio representing the corroding effect of the aqueous solution on the gypsum rock. The lager the value of ∂, the more serious the gypsum structure damage. Study results show that with a rising temperature, the corrosion damage ratio ∂ also gradually increases. The corrosion damage ratio ∂ increases with the brine changing from a fresh concentration to a half-saturated concentration. However, when the brine concentration is changed from half-saturated to saturated, the damage ratio ∂ decreases, partly due to halite crystallization of the saturated brine on the gypsum's surface. This study enhances insight into the micro-structure development mechanism of soluble rock under different aqueous solution conditions.

As high polymer materials, textile materials are easily to be carbonized and then disappear, so it is almost impossible to study the origin of it from physical evidence. Based on the objective historical facts, through analysis and inference, the paper believed that textile materials, as soft materials, are better than stone tools in the aspects of obtaining, making, functions and uses. Two hypotheses about the origin of textile materials are proposed. The first is that textile materials originate from tools, and the origin time of it is not later than stone tools. The second is that signs and clothing application of textile materials both evolve from its usage as tools, so the origin sequence of textile materials is tools, signs, and clothing.

The Tencel fabrics were treated by the atmospheric pressure plasma with air for different length of time and dyed with the C.I. Reactive Black 5 at 1%, 5% and 10% o.m.f. The effect of the prolonged plasma treatment time was characterized by both the weight loss and the whiteness index analyses, which implied that with the increase of the plasma treatment time, the treated fabrics were lighter and yellower than the untreated ones. The contact angle decreased dramatically from 139° to instantly spread. The results of SEM showed that, with the prolonged treatment time, more significant crater-like surface morphology on the fiber of Tencel samples was formed. Compared with untreated samples, the values of dye bath exhaustion and total fixation effect were higher. But they did not increase with the prolonged plasma treatment time. With the prolonged storage time after the plasma treatment, the result to ageing effect indicated that the values of dye bath exhaustion and total fixation effect reduced. The Integ values for characterizing the coloring effect were evaluated by the CIE system of color measurement. In most cases, the Integ values reached the highest ones when the plasma treatment time was 10 or 20 min. When the concentration of the dye bath was low (at 1% o.m.f.), the longer plasma treatment time was, the higher the Integ value was. However, if the fabrics after plasma treatment were stored for 21 days, the longer plasma treatment time did not cause the larger Integ value. When the concentration was 1%, the Integ value increased with the weight loss increasing, which was different from the values of fabrics with 5% and 10% concentration. If the dyeing concentration was low, the fixation had a more significant effect on the color fastness to wet rubbing; in contrast, if the dyeing concentration was high, the surface roughness had a more important effect on it.

Background: Abnormal neuronal differentiation plays an important role in central nervous system (CNS) development abnormalities such as Down syndrome (DS), a disorder that results directly from overexpression of genes in trisomic cells. Receptor-interacting protein 140 (RIP140) is significantly upregulated in DS brains, suggesting its involvement in DS CNS development abnormalities. However, the role of RIP140 in neuronal differentiation is still not clear. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of RIP140 overexpression on the differentiation of neuro-2a (N2a) neuroblastoma cells, in vitro. Methods: Stably RIP140-overexpressing N2a (N2a-RIP140) cells were used as a neurodevelopmental model, and were constructed by lipofection and overexpression validated by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot. Retinoic acid (RA) was used to stimulate N2a differentiation. Combining the expression of Tuj1 at the mRNA and protein levels, the percentage of cells baring neurites, and the number of neurites per cell body was semi-quantified to determine the effect of RIP140 on differentiation of N2a cells. Furthermore, western blot and the ERK1/2 inhibitor U0126 were used to identify the specific signaling pathway by which RIP140 induces differentiation of N2a cells. Statistical significance of the differences between groups was determined by one-way analysis of variance followed by the Dunnett test. Results: Compared to untransfected N2a cells RIPl40 expression in N2a-RIP140 cells was remarkably upregulated at both the mRNA and protein levels. N2a-RIP140 cells had a significantly increased percentage of cells baring neurites, and numbers of neurites per cell, as compared to N2a cells, in the absence and presence of RA (P < 0.05). In addition, Tuj1, a neuronal biomarker, was strongly upregulated in N2a-RIP140 cells (P < 0.05) and phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2) levels in N2a-RIP140 cells were dramatically increased, while differentiation was inhibited by the ERK1/2-specific inhibitor U0126. Conclusions: RIP140 overexpression promotes N2a cell neuronal differentiation by activating the ERK1/2 pathway.

A wireless electrochemical recording device was developed for the neurotransmitters real-time detection with a low-power microcontroller MSP430 as main control unit, including current detection module, waveform generator module and data transceiver module. This device has a small size (2.3 cm × 1.8 cm × 0.6 cm) and low power consumption. In the experiment, firmware program was designed based on uC/OS operating system and online display and analysis of recording data were carried out by the proposed system combined with the PC software. The system implemented two electroanalytical methods, fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) and fixed-potential amperometry, to measure neurotransmitter concentrations at microelectrode. By using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry method, a linear relationship ( R = 0.99) between the concentration of dopamine and response current was acquired in the concentration range of 0.5 × 10 −6 −7.0 × 10 −5 M. In the in-vivo experiments, the electrically evoked dopamine was recorded in the caudate-putamen area of brain in rats. The experimental results show that the system has high detection accuracy, realizing the qualitative and quantitative analysis of brain neurotransmitter.

Tyrosine 177 and the Src homology 2 (SH2) domain play important roles in linking p185Bcr-Abl to downstream pathways critical for cell growth and survival. However, a mutant p185(Y177FR552L) (p185(YR)), in which tyrosine 177 and arginine 552 in the SH2 domain are mutated, is still capable of transforming hematopoietic cells in vitro. Transplant of these cells into syngeneic mice also leads to leukemogenesis, albeit with a phenotype distinct from that produced by wild-type p185Bcr-Abl (p185(wt))-transformed cells. Here we show that G-protein coupled receptor 34 (Gpr34) expression is markedly up-regulated in p185(YR)-transformed cells compared to those transformed by p185(wt). Knockdown of Gpr34 in p185(YR) cells is sufficient to suppress growth factor-independent proliferation and survival in vitro and attenuate leukemogenesis in vivo. The Erk and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathways are activated in p185(YR) cells and the activation is dependent on Gpr34 expression. These studies identify Gpr34 as an alternative pathway that may mediate p185Bcr-Abl-induced transformation and leukemogenesis.

As soft materials, textile materials play important roles in primitive times. Through analysing the patterns in painted pottery, the article propose that the patterns can only be drawn by textile materials, so pens made of textile materials must have been existed in the New Stone Age. It can be deduced that there are two developmental stages of pens, the first is ‘the Old Pens’ stage, at which textile materials are directly used for drawing; the second is ‘the New Pens’ stage, at which textile materials and stick are bound together as pens. What’s more, New Pens predate the existence of painted pottery, as they are tools of drawing on painted pottery.

Waterborne polyurethane and chitosan were mixed in different volume ratio, and finished on the cotton of plasma pre-treatment and non-plasma pre-treatment to discuss the influence of plasma pretreatment on the properties of the fabric. Firstly, the mixed aqueous emulsion was made into film and analyzed by FTIR. Secondly, the relationship between the properties of whiteness, wrinkle recovery performance and water vapor permeability of the fabric that finished by the only blended solution and the mixed ratio was studied. Finally, the property changes between the pretreatment with and without plasma was compared. The results showed that, the blended film not only had both polyurethane and chitosan characteristic peaks, but also generated the new characteristic peaks; the three properties of the fabric that finished by the only blended solution changed with the mixed ratio; the plasma pre-treatment would increase the fabric’s whiteness, decrease wrinkle recovery performance, but the water vapor permeability would improve obviously.

The aim of this study was to investigate the ozone treating effects on wool scales and wool mechanical property through experiments and observation. For this purpose, a detailed investigation on the role of mechanical properties surfacing topography, changes in component and membrane structure were investigated. After this, a micro explanation was given to discuss the mechanism of wool shrinkage. For the scales is the element factor for shrinking, so this study is of great significance to the work of shrinkproofing.

The aim of this study was to investigate the water effects on the scales behavior through experiments and observation by SFM and AFM. For this purpose, a detailed investigation on the role of water, PH, and treat time were investigated. After this, a model was built to discuss the swelling and upward of the wet scales. For the scales is the element factor for shrinking, so this study is of great significance to the work of shrinkproofing.

This work studied the differences between wool single jersey made from compact and conventional ring-spun yarns composed of surface-modified fibers with different anti-felting treatments. Wool yarns (100%), produced from the fibers modified by two commercial chemical treatments, Basolan®88 and Kroy-resin, were spun according to compact and conventional ring-spinning systems in two different twist factors of spun yarn. The surface morphology and physical properties of wool fibers and conventional and compact ring yarns and the pilling properties of these fabrics were examined and compared with each other before and after the chemical treatment. The breaking strength of modified fibers decreased if compared with the control. Results indicated that the surface morphology of wool fiber changed by Basolan®88 and Kroy-resin treatment, and a lower friction coefficient increased with the differential frictional effect value. The hairiness index ( S3) of compact yarn was a reduction by 60% and the strength and elongation percentages were higher compared with conventional ring yarn. The fiber packing density of compact yarn was 30% higher from the fiber distribution pattern in the yarn cross-section. Another important finding was that the fabric produced with compact yarn showed better anti-pilling property and more mass loss.

In order to understand the influence of stretching on the nanotribological properties of human hair, the European hair with stretching ratios at 20, 40, 60 and 80% were studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that appropriate stretching ratios (40-60%) make the European hair surface smoother and the friction measurements also verify the result. When the stretching ratio is 80%, the European hair has the highest coefficient of friction. The reason is that cuticle damages lead to the local ratchet and collision between AFM tip and the sample obviously increased. With the increase of stretching ratios, the adhesive force of European hair is nonlinear change, which is attributed to the influence of contact area, water molecules absorbed and the amount of polar molecules.

The paper mainly introduces a new apparatus (CHES-FY) to measure fabric surface friction. Compacted with the KES-FB system, the CHES-FY system has its own superiority. Through designing orthogonal tests, corresponding properties of 16 groups fabrics were measured by CHES-FY system. Based on the correlation analysis between KES-FB system with CHES-FY system, it indicates that the two systems have high correlations. Thereafter, regression equation that includes four parameters through multiple linear regression were achieved. It reports that CHES-FY system is feasible and accurate in measuring fabric surface friction performance.

Based on transfer matrix method (TMM), the model and calculation of 3-D Photonic Crystal with Face-Centered-Cubic (FCC) Structure are presented. The microsphere size, the crystal stack thickness and the incident angle have an influence on optical properties of 3-D Photonic Crystal. With the microsphere size increasing, the wavelength corresponding to the positions of PBG becomes larger causing structural color changing from blue to red. The reflectivity becomes higher and PBG is narrower when the crystal stack thickness increases. With the incident angle becoming larger, the reflectivity does not change significantly, while the wavelength corresponding to the positions of PBG becomes shorter causing structural color changing from red to blue.

The aim of this work was to research the effect of chemical treatment on the structure and property of sisal fiber. The changes of the surface morphology, chemical composition and wettability of different alkali concentration treated sisal fibers were studied using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Optical Contact Angle Meter (OCA). The results showed that the non-cellulosic materials were removed from fiber surface and many branches along the fibers were caused by high alkali concentration. Deconvolving spectra in OH stretching region exhibited the amount of hydrogen bonding decreased firstly and then increased with the alkali concentration increase. The effect of alkali treatment on the wettability of fibers was characterized by the contact angle analyses. The contact angle of fiber decreased gradually with the concentration increase.

Vitamin D has broad range of physiological functions and antitumor effects. 24-Hydroxylase, encoded by the CYP24A1 gene, is the key enzyme for degrading many forms of vitamin D including the most active form, 1,25D3. Inhibition of CYP24A1 enhances 1,25D3 antitumor activity. To isolate regulators of CYP24A1 expression in prostate cancer cells, we established a stable prostate cancer cell line PC3 with CYP24A1 promoter driving luciferase expression to screen a small molecular library for compounds that inhibit CYP24A1 promoter activity. From this screening, we identified, 4,5,6,7-tetrabromobenzimidazole (TBBz), a protein kinase CK2 selective inhibitor as a disruptor of CYP24A1 promoter activity. We show that TBBz inhibits CYP24A1 promoter activity induced by 1,25D3 in prostate cancer cells. In addition, TBBz downregulates endogenous CYP24A1 mRNA level in TBBz-treated PC3 cells. Furthermore, siRNA-mediated CK2 knockdown reduces 1,25D3-induced CYP24A1 mRNA expression in PC3 cells. These results suggest that CK2 contributes to 1,25D3-mediated target gene expression. Finally, inhibition of CK2 by TBBz or CK2 siRNA significantly enhances 1,25D3-mediated antiproliferative effect in vitro and in vivo in a xenograft model. In summary, our findings reveal that protein kinase CK2 is involved in the regulation of CYP24A1 expression by 1,25D3 and CK2 inhibitor enhances 1,25D3-mediated antitumor effect. Cancer Res; 73(7); 2289–97. ©2013 AACR.

Understanding the confounding impacts of climatic and varietal changes on crop phenology is of importance to help make appropriate adaptation measures and target future directions for crop breeding. This paper investigated the changes in winter wheat phenology and analysed the impact of climatic, varietal and sowing date changes on crop phenology during the last three decades by combining field data with modeling. The APSIM crop model was used to quantify the changes in wheat phenology in terms of vernalization and photoperiod sensitivity as well as the changes in thermal time of pre- and post-flowering stage among wheat varieties at six sites in the North China Plain (NCP). The results showed that APSIM model could capture the phenological changes of winter wheat caused by interannual climatic change. There was a large spatial difference in the response pattern of wheat phenology to climatic and varietal changes across NCP. At most sites the increase in temperature shortened the growth duration of winter wheat mainly by shortening the growth period from sowing to jointing. The delayed sowing of winter wheat further shortened the growth period from sowing to jointing at two northern sites (Tianjin and Huimin). Continuous adoption of new wheat varieties shortened the growth period from sowing to jointing at Huimin, Xinxiang and Zhumadian, from jointing to flowering at Tianjin, but helped increase the length of growth period from jointing to flowering at Huimin, Tangyin and Xinxiang and post-flowering growth period at all the sites except for Tangyin. The findings of the study suggest that past cultivar changes in wheat in the NCP have been varied geographically.

Epidemiological data suggest an important role of vitamin D signaling in cancer development and progression, and experimental studies demonstrate that the active vitamin D metabolite 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ (1,25D₃) has broad spectrum antitumor activity. Hypercalcemia has often been suggested to limit the clinical application of these data. The 14-epi-analog of 1,25D₃, inecalcitol [19-nor-14-epi-23-yne-1,25-(OH)₂D₃; TX522], was developed to have superagonistic antitumor activities but low hypercalcemia potential. We examined the antitumor activity of inecalcitol and the underlying mechanisms in a murine squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) model system. In vitro, compared with 1,25D₃, inecalcitol showed enhanced vitamin D receptor (VDR)-mediated transcriptional activity. Inecalcitol suppressed SCC cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value 30 times lower than that of 1,25D₃. Both inecalcitol and 1,25D₃ induced a comparable level of G0/G₁ cell cycle arrest in SCC cells. The level of apoptosis induced by inecalcitol was markedly higher than that of 1,25D₃. Apoptosis was mediated through the activation of the caspase 8/10- caspase 3 pathway. Further, inecalcitol markedly inhibited the mRNA and protein expression of c-IAP1 and XIAP compared with 1,25D₃. In vivo, inecalcitol inhibits SCC tumor growth in a dose-dependent fashion. Notably, inecalcitol induced a significantly higher level of apoptosis in the SCC xenograft model. While in vitro inecalcitol demonstrates apparent enhanced VDR binding and antiproliferative effects compared to 1,25D₃, in vivo these advantages disappear; at doses of inecalcitol that have equivalent antitumor effects, similar hypercalcemia is seen. This may be explained by the pharmacokinetics of 1,25D₃ vs. inecalcitol and attributed to the much shorter serum half-life of inecalcitol.We show that inecalcitol has potent antitumor activity in the SCC model system, and this is associated with a strong induction of apoptosis. These findings support the further development of inecalcitol in cancer treatment.

Wool, a natural keratin fiber, and polylactic acid (PLA), a so-called biodegradable man-made fiber, were assessed on their biodegradability under natural soil and aqueous medium conditions. Cotton, a natural cellulose fiber, was used as positive control. The biodegradation of the three samples were evaluated at 35°C for 42days by the time-dependent changes in weight loss, strength loss and morphology in both conditions. The experimental results indicate that biodegradation activities in natural soil was more efficient and faster than that in aqueous medium; The order of their degradation rates are: cotton>wool>PLA fiber, that implies the natural fibers are more easily degradable than man-made biodegradable PLA fiber; and the mechanical properties decreased faster than biodegradation rate.

Jute nanofibers were prepared by treating jute fibers with chemical pretreatments then applying blender finishing. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations revealed that the structure of the jute fibers changed significantly after 20 times blender. Field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM) images showed that the jute nanofibers exhibited web structure, with diameter in the range of 80-250 nm, and length of more than a few micrometers. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results indicated that hemicellulose and lignin were removed extensively after chemical treatments.The results of X-ray analysis (XRD) indicated that the degree of crystallinity increased compared with the raw material, with the crystallinity approximately 66.27% for jute nano fibers.

Azimuth multichannel is a promising technique of realizing high resolution and wide swath for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging, which consequently leads to extremely high data rate on satellite downlink system and confronts serious ambiguity in subsequent processing due to its strict limitation of pulse repetition frequency (PRF). Ambiguity suppression performance of conventional spectrum construction is disappointing when the samples are approximately overlapped. To overcome these weaknesses, a novel sparse sampling scheme for displaced phase center antennas based on compressed sensing (CS) is proposed in this paper. The imaging strategy sparsely sampled in both range and azimuth direction, leading to a signiflcant reduction of the system data amount beyond the Nyquist theorem, and then operated the CS technique in two dimensions to accomplish target reconstruction. Efiectiveness of the proposed approach was validated through simulation and real data experiment. Simulation results and analysis indicated that the new imaging strategy could provide several favorable capability than conventional imaging algorithm such as less sampled data, better ambiguity suppression, higher resolution, and lower integrated side- lobe ratio (ISLR).

Sowing date is one of the vital factors for determining crop yield. In this study, temporal and spatial variation of optimal sowing date of summer maize was analyzed by statistical model and the APSIM-Maize model in Henan Province, China. The results showed that average summer maize optimal sowing dates ranged from May 30 to June 13 across Henan Province with earlier sowing before June 8 in the southern part and later sowing from June 4 to June 13 in the northern part. The optimal sowing date in mountain area of western Henan Province should be around May 30. Late-maturing variety Nongda 108 should be planted at least two days earlier than middle-maturing variety Danyu 13. Under climate warming background, maize sowing should be postponed for at least 3 days if maize harvesting date could be delayed for a week. It was proposed that sowing should be delayed for about a week for a yearly less precipitation pattern while advanced for about a week for a yearly more precipitation pattern compared to the normal one. Across Henan Province, the optimal sowing dates of summer maize showed no significant change trend in 1971-2010, while the potential sowing period had been extended for some regions, such as south from Zhumadian, Yichuan, Nei-xiang and Nanyang in the middle part of Henan, Linzhou in the northern Henan and Sanmenxia in the western Henan, as a result from advanced maturity of winter wheat due to increasing temperature and winter wheat cultivar change. Optimal sowing dates at 76.7% of the study stations showed no significant difference between the two methods. It was recommended that the northern Henan should sow maize immediately after any rainfall and replant afterward, while the southern Henan should not sow maize until that there were valid precipitation (3.9 mm and 8.3 mm for upper south and south parts, respectively) during sowing period, both required enough precipitation during key water requirement period and optimal temperature during grain-filling period.

In this paper, the subjective and objective methods of color evaluation were briefly presented and compared. At the same time, one model of woven fabric color was introduced. Based on this model, the plain fabric and 3/1 twill fabric were then taken as samples, the color of woven fabric can be respectively evaluated, which can give reference for further manufacture.

Annular electromagnetic stirring (A-EMS) process is verified an advanced metal melt treatment technology. Application research was performed to investigate the solidification behavior of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy in this study. The results indicated that uniformly fine microstructure, less composition macro-segregation and improved mechanical properties were achieved.

BACKGROUND: The active metabolite of vitamin D 1α,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25D3) has exhibited broad-spectrum antitumor activity in xenograft animal models. However, its activity against metastatic disease has not been extensively investigated. METHODS: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or 1,25D3-resistant variant SCC-DR cells were treated with 1,25D3. Actin organization was examined by immunofluorescence assay. Cell migration was assessed by “wound” healing and chemotactic migration assays. Cell invasion was assessed by a Matrigel-based invasion assay and in situ zymography. Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 expression and secretion were examined by immunoblot analysis and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. E-cadherin expression was assessed by flow cytometry, immunoblot analysis, and immunohistochemistry. Knockdown of E-cadherin was achieved by small interfering RNA. An experimental metastasis mouse model was created by intravenous injection of tumor cells; and lung tumor development in the mice was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, gross observation, and histology. RESULTS: SCC cellular morphology and actin organization were altered by 10 nM 1,25D3. 1,25D3 inhibited SCC cell motility and invasion, which were associated with reduced expression and secretion of MMP-2 and MMP-9, and 1,25D3 promoted the expression of E-cadherin. These findings were not observed in SCC-DR cells. Knock down of E-cadherin rescued 1,25D3-inhibited cell migration. Intravenous injection of SCC or SCC-DR cells resulted in the establishment of extensive pulmonary lesions in saline-treated C3H mice. Treatment with 1,25D3 resulted in a marked reduction in the formation of lung tumor colonies in mice that were injected with SCC cells, but not in mice that were injected with SCC-DR cells. CONCLUSIONS: 1,25D3 suppressed SCC cell motility, invasion, and metastasis, partially through the promotion of E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion. Cancer 2013. © 2012 American Cancer Society.

Use the keratin liquid which solved from wool with urea and 2-mercaptoethanol to prepare wool keratin porous membrane at different concentration and frozen temperature. Observe the morphological structure of the membrane by SEM and analyze the SEM pictures. The experimental results indicate that the liquid concentration and frozen temperature are inversely proportional to the porous membrane aperture and porosity, but proportional to the porous membrane density.

Three forms of animals’ adhesion were analyzed: hairy adhesive pads, smooth adhesive pads and claw. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the surface of friction plate with different particle diameters. It’s found that the particle could be seen as conical shape. The self-designed lever-like testing equipment was also used to measure the adhesive force of drosophila melanogaster contacting 6 substrates with different roughness. It was shown that adhesive force decreased first and finally rose with the increase of surface roughness. When the roughness (R value) was about 68.5nm, it showed that the lowest adhesive force was 0.0085mN. Then model of the Van der Waals force was established. In this model, contact form between seta and the substrate was divided into five states, and the theoretical adhesive force at each state was calculated, which successfully simulated with the actual value. However, when surface roughness reached the situation that the gap between adjacent particles was greater than 2μm, the gripping function of the claw made the actual value greater than theoretical one. It was concluded that adhesive force was a compound function of the Van der Waals force generated by hairy adhesive force and the gripping force generated by claw. So it was also speculated that the fibrous fine pads of insects were the basic form adhesion on smooth surface of the substrate.

The concept of photonic crystal and photonic band gap were described in this paper, and the relationship among the transmissivity and wavelength of incident light, layers of thin films, optical thickness of thin films and refractive index of the materials were discussed. A model of the one-dimensional photonic crystal was established by using the transfer matrix method. According to this model, the heat adjustment of room temperature can be realized by using the photonic crystal glass.

In this paper, the microcapsule of PCM (phase change material) was prepared, and the temperature adjustment principle of PCM was introduced. From the SEM, the morphology of microcapsule was shown as circle and uniform, which accorded with the particle distribution. The DSC curve showed the PCM heat change process. In this paper, the thermal transfer of microcapsule on the fabric was also introduced which was very useful for smart fabric application.

High performance aramid fibers display high tenacity, modulus and temperature resistance under various end-use applications. Since no scientific research papers on the subject of Kermel fibers are found, the thermal degradation properties of Kermel and poly-p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole (PBO) fibres are therefore compared in this paper. When heated to temperatures of 100°C, 200 °C, 300°C, and 400°C for 1.5 hours, the tenacity and extension-to-break properties of PBO and Kermel fibres both decrease with temperature, but the modulus first increases, and then decreases until 300°C. By using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to observe the effect of heat treatment on these fibres, the morphologies of PBO and Kermel fibres exhibit fractures when they are ruptured and fibrils are found in their cores.