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Delivery and penetration of chemotherapeutic drugs into neoplasm through the tumor vasculature are essential mechanisms to enhance the efficiency of chemotherapy. "Vascular targeting" strategy focuses on promoting the infiltration of chemotherapeutic drugs into neoplastic tissues. In this study, we achieved a targeted therapy by coupling tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) with TCP-1, a novel vascular-targeting peptide, in an orthotopic colorectal cancer model in mice. High dose of TCP-1-conjugated TNFα (TCP-1/TNFα: 5μg/mouse) displayed potent antitumor activity by inducing apoptosis and reducing microvessel number in tumors than unconjugated TNFα, with no evidence of increased toxicity. In the combined therapy, the antitumor action of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was potentiated when the mice were pretreated with a low dose of TNFα (1ng/mouse) and to a greater extent by the same concentration of TCP-1/TNFα. In this regard, TCP-1/TNFα combined with 5-FU synergistically inhibited the tumor growth, induced apoptosis and reduced cell proliferation. More importantly, TCP-1/TNFα normalized the tumor vasculature and facilitated the infiltration of immune cells to neoplasm as well as attenuated the immunosuppressing effects of TNFα in bone marrow and spleen. At the same time, TCP-1/TNFα significantly improved 5-FU absorption into the tumor mass. Taken together, these findings underscore the therapeutic potential of TCP-1 as a drug carrier in cancer therapy. TCP-1 is a novel vascular-targeting peptide and appears to be a promising agent for drug delivery. TCP-1 fused with TNFα holds great promise for colorectal cancer therapy.

Objective To investigate the effects of FAT10ΔGG, a carboxyl-terminal diglycine deficient mutant, on the proliferation and apoptosis of cervical cancer cell line HeLa. Methods Specimens of cervical carcinoma in situ and normal cervix tissue, 5 each, were collected. The expressive levels of FAT10 protein in these specimens were detected by Western blotting. Sitedirected mutagenesis was applied to construct the mutant pcDNA3.0-flag-FAT10ΔGG plasmid. The HeLa cells were then transiently transfected with wild-type FAT10, FAT10ΔGG and empty vector (used as negative control), and the wild-type HeLa cells served as blank control. The transfection efficiency of FAT10 or FAT10ΔGG was detected by Western blotting, and cell proliferation was determined by CCK-8 assay. Cisplatin was used to induce cell apoptosis after cells were transfected for 24h, and the cell apoptotic rates of all groups were determined by flow cytometry. Results Western blotting showed a significantly increased expression of FAT10 protein in cervical carcinoma tissues compared with that in normal cervical tissue. Over-expression of wild FAT10 in HeLa cells obviously promoted cell proliferation, but this promotion was significantly inhibited in cells transfected with its diglycine mutant. Compared with blank control group (22.7%±4.2%) and negative control group (24.1%±3.8%), the apoptotic rate was significantly reduced in wild FAT10 group (10.9%±2.0%, P0.05). Conclusion FAT10 can promote cell proliferation and inhibit cell apoptosis through its carboxyl-terminal diglycine motif, and it may play an essential role in carcinogenesis and development of cancer. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2014.12.01

The current investigation is trying to study the impact of the mixture of Chinese herbs Qi Wei Bai Zhu San (QWBZS) on bacterial lactase gene from antibiotics-induced diarrhea (AAD) mice, as the good curative effect of QWBZS on diarrhea. Mice (6 mice per group) were randomly selected as control, model and treatment groups. To induce diarrhea, mice in both model and treatment groups were intragastrically injected with mixture of gentamycin sulfate and cefradine (23.33 mL kg−1 day−1) twice per day and continuously for totally 5 days. After the success of establishing diarrhea model, the mice in treatment group were gavaged with QWBZS for 3 days. Intestinal contents in all three groups were then collected and DNA was extracted in aseptic environment for the following sequencing. The results showed that mice from QWBZS treatment group had obviously detectable levels of intestinal bacteria, such as Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, which produce phyla lactase specifically. In comparison with other groups, the mice in treatment group had more abundant expression of lactase gene from Acidovorax sp. KKs102, Stenotrophomonas sp. LMG11000, Pseudomonas oleovorans, Eggerthella and Burkholderia. Interestingly, the Shannon index decreased significantly after the treatment with QWBZS (P

We report a comparative study of low-lying valence electronic states of carbon dioxide by high-resolution inelastic x-ray and electron scattering. Momentum-transfer-dependent inelastic squared form factors for the two states ${}^{1}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}$ and ${}^{1}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Pi}}}_{\mathrm{u}}$ and generalized oscillator strength for the 9 eV feature from the ground state ${X}^{1}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{\mathrm{g}}^{+}$ have been derived from the inelastic x-ray scattering method at an impact photon energy around 10 keV, and the electron energy-loss spectra measured at an incident electron energy of 1500 eV. It is found from the comparison between the present results and the previous outcomes that the recent calculations taking the vibronic effects into consideration satisfactorily reproduce the inelastic squared form-factor profile for the ${}^{1}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}$ transition and the generalized oscillator strength profile for the 9 eV feature. However, the vibronic effects seem to play no role in the ${}^{1}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Pi}}}_{\mathrm{u}}$ transition. The difference existing between the inelastic x-ray scattering and electron energy-loss spectroscopy results in the larger momentum-transfer squared region may be attributed to the increasing role of the higher-order Born terms. Furthermore, the controversy concerning the designations of electronic states around 11 eV is solved by assigning the two peaks centered at 10.98 and 11.05 eV to the vibrational progression ${}^{1}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{{+}^{\ensuremath{'}}}$ and ${}^{1}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}$, and the peak centered at 11.16 eV to the forbidden transition ${2}^{1}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}}_{\mathrm{u}}$ based on the present results.

The dipole (γ,γ) method, which is the inelastic X-ray scattering operated at a negligibly small momentum transfer, has been developed to determine the absolute optical oscillator strengths of the valence-shell excitations of atoms and molecules. This new method is free from the line saturation effect, and its Bethe-Born conversion factor varies much more slowly with the excitation energy than that of the dipole (e, e) method. Thus the dipole (γ,γ) method provides a reliable approach to obtain the benchmark optical oscillator strengths of the valence-shell excitations for gaseous atoms and molecules. In this paper, we give a review of the dipole (γ,γ) method and some recent measurements of absolute optical oscillator strengths of gaseous atoms and molecules.

Cannabinoid CB1 receptors are implicated in various forms of learning and memory, including acquisition and reinstatement of cocaine-associated memory. However, roles of CB1 receptors in consolidation and extinction processes of cocaine-associated memory and the brain areas potentially involved remain unknown. This study examined the effect of rimonabant, a CB1 receptor antagonist, administered systemically or directly into the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) on memory consolidation and extinction of cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP). Male C57BL/6J mice were trained to acquire cocaine-induced CPP. Rimonabant (0.1–3 mg/kg, i.p. or 1.5 μg bilaterally in the mPFC) or vehicle was administered either immediately after each CPP training (consolidation) or forced extinction (extinction) trial. Cocaine-induced CPP was tested after training, extinction, or cocaine priming. Systemic or intra-mPFC administration of rimonabant impaired consolidation of CPP induced by a high dose (20 or 40 mg/kg) of cocaine but facilitated that induced by a low dose (2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg). Moreover, systemic or intra-mPFC administration of rimonabant enhanced extinction of CPP memory induced by a high-dose (20 mg/kg) cocaine. Our results suggest that antagonism of CB1 receptors in the mPFC bidirectionally modulates consolidation but facilitates extinction of cocaine-induced CPP memory. Therefore, CB1 receptor blockade with the concomitant extinction behavioral procedure may hint important therapeutic intervention strategies for the heavy cocaine addicts in a clinical setting.

A high isolation and compact microstrip diplexer for broadband and wireless local area network (WLAN) application is proposed in this paper. It is achieved by using the combination of a broadband bandpass filter (BPF) composed of one open stub and two short stubs of different size loaded in 50Ω feed lines. The tapped stub can not only generate two zeros to deepen the stopband, but also connect other BPF without deterioration of in-band performance. Hence, the compact diplexer combines two BPFs without extra junction matching network. The mutual loading effect approximately equivalent to a coupled resonator can create one zero at the passband edge to improve the isolation. The proposed microstrip diplexer is designed and fabricated, and it has a 1dB fractional bandwidths (FBW) of 60% at 3.5GHz for broadband channel and 3% at 5.8GHz for WLAN channel . The simulated and measured results are presented and good agreement is obtained.

The generalized oscillator strengths of the low-lying valence-shell excitations of N2, O2, and C2H2 have been studied by the high-energy electron scattering, the high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering, and the multireference single- and double-excitation configuration-interaction methods. Good agreement between the present electron-scattering results and the X-ray-scattering ones for the a′′1Σg+v′=0 and a′′1Σg+v′=1+b1Πuv′=0 excitations of N2 and the A′3Δu excitation of O2 is achieved in the small squared momentum transfer region, while obvious discrepancies among them are observed in the large squared momentum transfer region. This phenomenon indicates that the first Born approximation is satisfied in the small squared momentum transfer region, while it does not hold in the large squared momentum transfer region at an incident electron energy of 1500 eV, in view of the fact that the first Born approximation is satisfied in the X-ray scattering. In addition, the present calculation for the a′′1Σg+ excitation shows that the traditional assigned v′ = 0 and 1 of the a″1Σg+ excitation correspond to v′ = 9 and 13 of the 21Σg+ excitation and reproduces the X-ray-scattering results of the a′′1Σg+v′=0 excitation very well except the ones in the small squared momentum transfer region. We also report the generalized oscillator strengths of the A + B excitations of C2H2, and its profile shows that the bending geometry has great influence on the transition feature.The generalized oscillator strengths of the low-lying valence-shell excitations of N2, O2, and C2H2 have been studied by the high-energy electron scattering, the high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering, and the multireference single- and double-excitation configuration-interaction methods. Good agreement between the present electron-scattering results and the X-ray-scattering ones for the a′′1Σg+v′=0 and a′′1Σg+v′=1+b1Πuv′=0 excitations of N2 and the A′3Δu excitation of O2 is achieved in the small squared momentum transfer region, while obvious discrepancies among them are observed in the large squared momentum transfer region. This phenomenon indicates that the first Born approximation is satisfied in the small squared momentum transfer region, while it does not hold in the large squared momentum transfer region at an incident electron energy of 1500 eV, in view of the fact that the first Born approximation is satisfied in the X-ray scattering. In addition, the present calculation for the a′′1Σg+ exci...

The vibrationally resolved generalized oscillator strengths of the first and strongest singlet excitation AA2″1← X1A1 of ammonia have been determined at an impact electron energy of 1500 eV with an energy resolution of 80 meV. The comprehensive comparison of the present results with the previous experimental and theoretical ones shows that the high-energy limit, where the first Born approximation holds, has been reached at an impact electron energy of 1500 eV in K2 1 a.u. even at 1500 eV. It is also observed that the minimum position of the generalized oscillator strength of the vibronic state shifts toward the larger squared momentum transfer with the increasing vibrational quantum number. By extrapolating the generalized oscillator strength to the zero momentum transfer, the optical oscillator strength of the AA2″1 state has been obtained, which gives an independent cross check to the previous results. The integral cross sections of the AA2″1 state have been obtained systematically from the threshold to 5000 eV with the aid of the BE-scaling method.

To investigate the effect of small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated silencing of PC4 and SFRS1 interacting protein 1 (PSIP1) on invasion and migration of human glioma U87 cells.Chemically synthesized siRNA targeting PSIP1 gene was transfected into U87 cells via lipofectamine, and the gene silencing effect was determined using real-time PCR. The changes in the invasion and migration abilities of the transfected cells were assessed with Transwell assay and wound healing assay, respectively. Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of N-cadherin, β-catenin and the transcription factor Slug.The mRNA and protein level of PSIP1 was significantly reduced in U87 cells after transfection with PSIP1 siRNA (P0.0001). PSIP1 knockdown in U87 cells resulted in significant suppression of cell invasion and migration abilities (P0.01) and also reduced N-cadherin, β-catenin and Slug expressions.s Silencing of PSIP1 impairs the invasion and migration abilities of glioma cells and lowers the expressions of N-cadherin, β-catenin and Slug, suggesting that PSIP1 may regulate Slug by classical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to modulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition and promote the invasion and migration of glioma cells.

The dipole (γ, γ) method, which is the inelastic x-ray scattering operated at a negligibly small momentum transfer, is proposed and realized to determine the absolute optical oscillator strengths of the vanlence-shell excitations of atoms and molecules. Compared with the conventionally used photoabsorption method, this new method is free from the line saturation effect, which can seriously limit the accuracies of the measured photoabsorption cross sections for discrete transitions with narrow natural linewidths. Furthermore, the Bethe-Born conversion factor of the dipole (γ, γ) method varies much more slowly with the excitation energy than does that of the dipole (e, e) method. Absolute optical oscillator strengths for the excitations of 1s2 → 1 snp(n = 3 − 7) of atomic helium have been determined using the high-resolution dipole (γ, γ) method and the excellent agreement of the present measurements with both those measured by the dipole (e, e) method and the previous theoretical calculations indicates that the dipole (γ, γ) method is a powerful tool to measure the absolute optical oscillator strengths of the valence-shell excitations of atoms and molecules.

The Bi2Ti4O11 nanorods were obtained by a one-step alcohol-thermal method. The sample was synthesized at 100°C and calcined at 600°C, using Bi(NO3)3•5H2O, TiCl4 and absolute ethanol as reactants. It then characterized by XRD, SEM and UV-vis DRS. The results showed that the sample was nanorod with diameter about 30nm and length about 200nm. The photocatalytic experiment represented that the photocatalyst could effectively degrade more than 99% Rhodamine B( RhB) within 85 min under irradiating of visible light.

This study was designed to investigate mechanisms of the protective effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza polysaccharide (SMPS) against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced immunological liver injury (ILI) in Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-primed mice. Two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis showed that three proteins are down-regulated and six proteins are up-regulated by SMPS. SMPS reduces the degree of liver injury by up-regulating the enzymes of the citric acid cycle, namely malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex. LPS significantly increases nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and MDA level in BCG primed mice liver, whereas SMPS treatment protects against the immunological liver injury through inhibition of the NF-κB activation by up-regulation of PRDX6 and the subsequent attenuation of lipid peroxidation, iNOS expression and inflammation.

In view of the poor anti-noise performance of traditional methods, the principle of camera calibration is analyzed based on calibration template with planar circles, and a new calibration technique is proposed based on pin-hole perspective model. Firstly, the edges of image ellipses are located in sub-pixel by spatial-moment operator. Then elliptic equations are obtained by the Least Square Fitting method, and common tangents of two arbitrary ellipses are also calculated. Finally, the extrinsic and intrinsic parameters are computed by the Radial Alignment Constraint (RAC) model. Experiments results indicate that proposed method has a goof performance of lower computation complexity and higher precision.

A 31-inch FHD (1920times1080) AM-OLED TV was developed by using a-IGZO TFTs. Co-planar type of a-IGZO TFT was fabricated at Gen 4.5 glass substrate with IGZO (1:1:1) AC sputtering system for AM-OLED. We also used Fine Metal Mask (FMM) for R,G,B sub-pixel arrangement.

In this paper, we report a 7-inch QVGA flexible PMOLED display. A 100-um PEN substrates was laminated on glass by roll-to-sheet lamination process. Our process reveals no bubble producing after lamination. The array was by sheet-to-sheet process at Gen 4.5. The 14 inch quad-QVGA PMOLED system is also proposed.

In this paper, a new image enhancement method is proposed based on fractional differential, which can select the differential order automatically by the difference of mutual information (DMI). DMI describes the increase of mutual information in original and enhancement image. Being a measure of ascertaining the ehancement effect, it is considered getting the information balance in the images processed by different differential order. According to it, a criterion of selection differential order is put forward. Image convolutions are implemented with fractional operator in different scales, and then DMI of adjacent scales are calculated. The differential order can be selected in which the DMI is the mininum. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is effective, and has better result compared with other methods.

Relevance to ethnopharmacology Dahuangzhechong pill (DHZCP), a well-known and canonical Chinese medicine formula from “The Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber”, is officially approved and recommended by Chinese association of integrative medicine for the prevention and treatment of hepatic fibrosis in China. Aim of the study To test the hypothesis that therapeutic effects of DHZCP on hepatic fibrosis are conferred by regulating cytokine profile through a mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Materials and methods Hepatic fibrosis is inducted by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats which then were randomly divided into six groups: hepatic fibrosis model group, high dose DHZCP group, low dose DHZCP group, Fufang Biejia Ruangan Pian (FBRP) group, Colchicine group and control group. Pathological, immunohistochemical, multiplex immunoassay and protein expression studies (Western blotting) are performed. Results DHZCP significantly decreases the levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, hyaluronic acid, laminin, type IV collagen and procollagen III, and reverses hepatic fibrosis in rat model. DHZCP also could reduce the expression of α-smooth muscle actin, and lower the serum level of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 13 (IL-13). The expressions of phosphorylated p38 MAPK and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) are down-regulated, while no significant changes are found in phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Conclusions DHZCP can alleviate hepatic fibrosis induced by CCl4. The anti-fibrotic effects of DHZCP are conferred by decreasing the secretion of TNF-α and IL-13 through down-regulating p38 and ERK phosphorylation.

The generalized oscillator strengths for the valence-shell excitations of A2Σ+, C2Π, and D2Σ+ electronic-states of nitric oxide have been determined at an incident electron energy of 1500 eV with an energy resolution of 70 meV. The optical oscillator strengths for these transitions have been obtained by extrapolating the generalized oscillator strengths to the limit that the squared momentum transfer approaches to zero, which give an independent cross-check to the previous experimental and theoretical results. The integral cross sections for the valence-shell excitations of nitric oxide have been determined systematically from the threshold to 2500 eV with the aid of the newly developed BE-scaling method for the first time. The present optical oscillator strengths and integral cross sections of the valence-shell excitations of nitric oxide play an important role in understanding many physics and chemistry of the Earth’s upper atmosphere such as the radiative cooling, ozone destruction, day glow, aurora, a...

Using the inelastic x-ray scattering with a high resolution of 70 meV, squared form factors of molecular carbon monoxide have been determined from the ground state X-1 Sigma(+) to the vibronic states of A(1)Pi and B-1 Sigma(+). Since the first Born approximation is satisfied in inelastic x-ray scattering, the inelastic squared form factors of the valence-shell excitations of carbon monoxide measured by this work not only provide the experimental benchmark data but also serve as the high-energy limit for the electron impact method. Based on the present experimental results, the validity conditions of the previous electron impact works are discussed. It is found that for the excitations of A(1)Pi(v' = 0-6) the first Born approximation is reached in the region of q(2) < 0.7 a.u. at an impact electron energy of 1.5 keV, while for B-1 Sigma(+)(v' = 0) the first Born approximation does not fully hold at the impact electron energy of 1.5 keV except for the q(2) < 0.15 a.u. The large discrepancies between the present inelastic x-ray scattering results and the theoretical calculations for most transitions suggest that the formerly reported calculations are not accurate enough.

The Compton profiles of methane and ethane molecules have been determined at an incident photon energy of 20 keV based on the third generation synchrotron radiation, and the statistical accuracy of 0.2% is achieved near pz = 0. The density functional theory with aug-cc-pVTZ basis set was used to calculate the Compton profiles of methane and ethane. The present experimental Compton profiles are in better agreement with the theoretical calculations in the whole pz region than the previous experimental results, which indicates that the present experimental Compton profiles are accurate enough to serve as the benchmark data for methane and ethane molecules.

Metabolomic research has revealed that metabolites play an important role in prostate cancer development and progression. Previous studies have suggested that prostate cancer cell proliferation is induced by advanced glycation end products (AGEs) exposure, but the mechanism of this induction remains unknown. This study investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the proliferative response of prostate cancer cell to the interaction of AGEs and the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). To investigate this mechanism, we used Western blotting to evaluate the responses of the retinoblastoma (Rb), p-Rb and PI3K/Akt pathway to AGEs stimulation. We also examined the effect of knocking down Rb and blocking the PI3K/Akt pathway on AGEs induced PC-3 cell proliferation. Our results indicated that AGE-RAGE interaction enhanced Rb phosphorylation and subsequently decreased total Rb levels. Bioinformatics analysis further indicated a negative correlation between RAGE and RB1 expression in prostate cancer tissue. Furthermore, we observed that AGEs stimulation activated the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and that blocking PI3K/Akt signaling abrogated AGEs-induced cell proliferation. We report, for the first time, that AGE-RAGE interaction enhances prostate cancer cell proliferation by phosphorylation of Rb via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

The integral cross sections (ICSs) of the electron scattering of nitrogen molecule are of great importance to the understanding of many different aspects of atmospheric physics. Based on the generalized oscillator strengths (GOSs) of these dipole-allowed transitions crosschecked by the high-energy electron scattering and high-resolution X-ray scattering, their ICSs are obtained systematically from the threshold to 5000 eV for the first time with the aid of the BE-scaling method, and the corresponding ICSs at the moderate and high energies are the only available data to the best of our knowledge.

Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) PCA3 has been a well-established urine biomarker for the detection of prostate cancer (PCa). Our previous study showed a novel LncRNA FR0348383 is up-regulated in over 70% of PCa compared with matched benign tissues. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of urinary FR0348383 for men undergoing prostate biopsy due to elevated PSA (PSA 4.0 ng/ml) and/or abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE).Post-DRE first-catch urine specimens prior to prostate biopsies were prospectively collected. After the whole transcriptome amplification, quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction was applied to quantify urine FR0348383 and PSA levels. The FR0348383 score was calculated as the ratio of PSA and FR0348383 mRNA (PSA mRNA/FR0348383 mRNA × 1000). The diagnostic value of FR0348383 score was evaluated by logistic regression and decision curve analysis.213 cases with urine samples containing sufficient mRNA were included, 94 cases had serum PSA level 4.0-10.0 ng/ml. PCa was identified in 72 cases. An increasing FR0348383 score was correlated with an increasing probability of a positive biopsy (P 0.001). Multivariable logistic analysis indicated FR0348383 score (P 0.001), PSA (P = 0.004), age (P = 0.007), prostate volume (P 0.001) were independent predictors of PCa. ROC analysis demonstrated FR0348383 score outperformed PSA, %free PSA, and PSA Density in the prediction of PCa in the subgroup of patients with grey area PSA (AUC: 0.815 vs. 0.562 vs. 0.599 vs. 0.645). When using a probability threshold of 30% in the grey zone cohort, The FR0348383 score would save 52.0% of avoidable biopsies without missing any high grade cancers.FR0348383 transcript in post-DRE urine may be a novel biomarker for detection of PCa with great diagnostic value, especially in the grey zone cohort. The application of FR0348383 score in clinical practice might avoid unnecessary prostate biopsies and increase the specificity of PCa diagnosis.

Background Anti-inflammation via inhibition of NF-κB pathways in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is one therapeutic approach to hepatic fibrosis. Tanshinone IIA (C19H18O3, Tan IIA) is a lipophilic diterpene isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, with reported anti-inflammatory activity. We tested whether Tan IIA could inhibit HSC activation. Materials and Methods The cell line of rat hepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6) was stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (100 ng/ml). Cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assay. HSC-T6 cells were pretreated with Tan IIA (1, 3 and 10 µM), then induced by LPS (100 ng/ml). NF-κB activity was evaluated by the luciferase reporter gene assay. Western blotting analysis was performed to measure NF-κB-p65, and phosphorylations of MAPKs (ERK, JNK, p38). Cell chemotaxis was assessed by both wound-healing assay and trans-well invasion assay. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect gene expression in HSC-T6 cells. Results All concentrations of drugs showed no cytotoxicity against HSC-T6 cells. LPS stimulated NF-κB luciferase activities, nuclear translocation of NF-κB-p65, and phosphorylations of ERK, JNK and p38, all of which were suppressed by Tan IIA. In addition, Tan IIA significantly inhibited LPS-induced HSCs chemotaxis, in both wound-healing and trans-well invasion assays. Moreover, Tan IIA attenuated LPS-induced mRNA expressions of CCL2, CCL3, CCL5, IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, ICAM-1, iNOS, and α-SMA in HSC-T6 cells. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that Tan IIA decreased LPS-induced HSC activation.

Most of the time people stay in the indoor environment, so Taiwan government established indoor air quality (IAQ) regulations to protect public health and the living environment. This study defined fuzzy sets and fuzzy rules according to the national IAQ and standard ANSI/ASHRAE 55-1992. The fuzzy controller determine the operation time of air conditioner and exhaust fan to meet the national IAQ regulations and accepted thermal comfort. Using relay to switch the power of AC exhaust fan ON during operation time computed by fuzzy controller is cheaper and simpler than using variable frequency technology to control the wind velocity of AC exhaust fan. The study used exhaust fan to draw the outside cool and dried air into inside to help air conditioner to meet the standard thermal comfort quickly, so the air conditioner can decrease the operation time to save power.

Vibronically resolved squared form factors of ${a}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}}{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{g}}^{+}$, $b{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{u}$, ${b}^{\ensuremath{'}}{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{u}}^{+}$, ${c}_{3}{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{u}$, ${c}_{4}^{\ensuremath{'}}{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{u}}^{+}$, and ${o}_{3}{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{u}$ of molecular nitrogen are determined by inelastic x-ray scattering with a high resolution of 70 meV. Through a comparison with the previous results measured by electron energy loss spectroscopy, it is found that the first Born approximation is satisfied at an incident electron energy of 300 eV in the small momentum transfer region for a dipole-allowed transition of $b{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{u}$, but the first Born approximation is not reached at an impact energy of 500 eV for the dipole-forbidden transition of ${a}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}}{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{g}}^{+}$. It is also observed from the present experimental results that the momentum transfer dependence behavior of the excitations to $b{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{u}({\ensuremath{\nu}}^{\ensuremath{'}}=3,4)$ is different from that of the excitations to $b{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{u}({\ensuremath{\nu}}^{\ensuremath{'}}=1,2)$, which can be attributed to the perturbation of ${c}_{3}{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{u}$ to $b{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{u}$. The present results provide experimental benchmark data of inelastic squared form factors of molecular nitrogen.

The high-resolution x-ray-scattering technique is used to study the elastic scattering of atoms and molecules in the gas phase. The elastic squared form factor, which is the square of the Fourier transformation of the electron density distribution in position space and reveals the pure electronic structure of atoms and molecules in the ground state, of molecular hydrogen is measured at an incident photon energy of about 9889 eV and an energy resolution of about 70 meV. Although it is generally thought that the x-ray-scattering technique is identical to high-energy electron scattering, at least for elastic scattering these two techniques have an apparent difference, i.e., the pure electronic structure of a molecule in the ground state can be determined by x-ray scattering while it cannot be obtained by the high-energy electron impact method due to the interference between the scattering of separate nuclei and of the electrons in the target. The present experimental results match the theoretical calculations very well, which demonstrates that high-resolution x-ray scattering is a powerful tool to study the electronic structure of atoms and molecules in the ground state.

To explore the epidemiological characteristics of viral diarrhea of norovirus (NV), sapovirus (SV) and astrovirus (AstV) among children in Zhuhai during winter and spring.Stool specimens were collected from children with viral diarrhea in Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Zhuhai from November 21, 2009 to April 3, 2010. Nucleic acid of NV, SV and AstV from negative specimens of rotavirus and adenovirus were detected by using Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the types of positive samples of NV were also classified at the same time.The total detection rate of the three viruses is 21.49 percent, the highest detection rate is 29.05% in December 2009, the lowest detection rate is 12.20% in February 2010, 87.96% of positive specimens were from children patients aged from 0 to 30 months. The season detection rate of NV, SV and AstV are 14.70%, 2.75% and 4.04% respectively. There were significant differences of NV and SV detection rates in every month of the season, whereas the AstV detection rate was comparatively stable. The highest detection rate of NV is 34.09% in children patients aged from 12 to 18 months, the highest SV detection rate is 12.5% in children patients aged from 60 to 120 months, and the highest AstV detection rate is 16.67% in children patients aged from 24 to 30 months. All the NV were belong to G II genogroup.NV is one of the main pathogens causing viral diarrhea among children in Zhuhai during winter and spring, SV and AstV are also important pathogens. So we should strengthen the monitoring of viral diarrhea caused by NV, SV and AstV in infants and young children.

The experimental Compton profile of the propane molecule is measured at an incident photon energy of 20 keV based on the third generation synchrotron radiation, and the statistical accuracy of 0.2% is achieved near pz = 0. The calculated Compton profile by the density functional theory with aug-cc-pVTZ basis set reproduces the experimental observation very well. The joint experimental and theoretical investigation provides the benchmark data of the electronic structure of propane.

The oscillator strengths of the valence-shell excitations of molecular nitrogen have significant applicational values in studies of the Earth's atmosphere and interstellar gases. In this work, the absolute oscillator strengths of the valence-shell excitations of molecular nitrogen in 12.3?13.4 eV were measured by the novel dipole (?, ?) method, in which the high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering is operated at a negligibly small momentum transfer and can simulate the photoabsorption process. Because the experimental technique used in the present work is distinctly different from those used previously, the present experimental results give an independent cross-check to previous experimental and theoretical data. The excellent coincidence of the present results with the dipole (e, e) and those that were extrapolated indicates that the present oscillator strengths can serve as benchmark data.

The optical oscillator strengths of the 3p54s and excitations of argon are of crucial importance in determining the elemental abundance of argon from astronomical observations. Substantial efforts have been made to determine the optical oscillator strengths of the 3p54s and transitions of argon, however, significant discrepancies among the reported values still exist. In this work, the absolute optical oscillator strengths of the 3p54s and transitions of argon have been measured by a newly developed high-resolution dipole (γ, γ) method. A comprehensive comparison with the previous experimental and theoretical data was then made as a cross-check.

To investigate the prognostic value of ultra-sensitive pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) level in the early phase of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) attack.Patients diagnosed as ACS were enrolled and the level of circulatory PAPP-A was measured within 12 hours after ACS attack. The patients were followed at the time of 1st, 6th, and 12th months post-ACS attack in order to observe the incidence of the cardiovascular adverse events. According to the highest quintile, the patients were divided into 2 groups: high level (≥26.08 μg/L) group and low level (26.08 μg/L) group, to evaluate the association between the level of PAPP-A and the incidence of the cardiovascular events.Compared with the low level group, the incidence of the composite outcome is significantly increased in the high level group, and the values of OR are 4.76, 4.38, 3.75 for 1st, 6th, 12th months respectively (P=0.000). For myocardial infarction (MI) + cardiac death (CD) the values of OR were 9.81, 6.08, 4.12 (P0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrates that PAPP-A was an independent risk factor for the cardiovascular adverse events in the early, median, and late phase of ACS (P0.05).In the early phase of ACS attack, the elevation of PAPP-A is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of cardiovascular adverse events.

The use of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) as green media for electrochemical application has attracted great attention recently. However, the effects of RTILs used as additives for electrodeposition of metals have hardly been explored. In the present work, the electrochemical deposition of copper was investigated on a pure copper plate from acid cupric sulfate solutions in the presence of RTILs (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, [bmim] BF4) additive by cyclic voltammetric technique, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). For comparison, the electrodeposition of copper from acid cupric sulfate solutions was also investigated. The voltammograms showed that the cathodic peak potential shifted toward more negative potential and cathodic peak current increased when 1.0 x 10(-4) mol x L(-1) [bmim] BF4 was added into acid cupric sulfate solutions. SEM images indicated that the shinning electrodeposits of copper were lamellar structure and the size of layered grain decreased with addition of [bmim]BF4 additive. The XRD results indicated that copper deposits exhibited face-centered cubic structure and (220) highly preferred orientation. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities of copper deposits were measured by using methyl orange (MO) as the probe molecules. The copper electrodeposit obtained in acid cupric sulfate solutions with [bmim]BF4 is shown to be excellent substrate for SERS measurements, demonstrating significant enhancement and good stability. The enhancement factor was calculated to be up to 4.7 x 10(5). It was also found that copper electrodeposit stored for 60 days in air shows no significant degradation in its sensitivity.

To investigate effect of Sanhuangyinchi decoction (SHYCD) on liver damage and the pro-apoptotic factor caspase-3 in rats with acute hepatic failure.SD rats were randomly divided into blank control group, model group, Angongniuhuang group (AGNH) and SHYCD group. Acute hepatic failure was induced in the rats by intraperitoneal injections of D-GaLN and LPS, and the death rate, ALT, TBIL, PT and caspase-3 activity was observed or tested.At 36 h after the injections, the death rate of the rats was 74.29% (26/35) in the model group, 31.43% (11/35) in AGNH group and 28.57%(10/35) in SHYCD group. The death rate, ALT, TBIL, PT and caspase-3 activity in AGNH and SHYCD groups were significantly lower than those in the model group (P0.01). SHYCD showed stronger effect than AGNH in depressing TBIL and the activity of caspase-3 (P0.05).SHYCD can improve the liver function and inhibit the activity of caspase-3 in rats, which can be the possible mechanism for its therapeutic effect against acute hepatic failure.

The use of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) as green media for preparation of nanomaterials is very attractive. Herein, anisotropic silver nanoparticles were synthesized via chemical reduction silver nitrate with sodium hypophosphite, employing brønsted acidic functionalized ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium dihydrogen phosphate ([bmim] H2PO4), which acted both as reaction medium and as a capping/shape-directing agent. The structure, morphology and optical absorption properties of anisotropic silver nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-Visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectra. The XRD patterns revealed that the crystal was cubic structure for anisotropic silver nanoparticles. The SEM image indicated that the anisotropic silver nanoparticles were block-like with average lateral dimensions of about 30 nm, and they were self-assembled into two-dimensional disordered multilayer on the silicon wafer, and the particles appeared to be closely packed. The UV-Vis absorption spectrum exhibited a strong absorption peak around 438 nm and a weak peak at 353 nm, which came from dipole and quadrupole oscillation resonance, indicating the formation of non-spherical silver nanoparticles. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active of the anisotropic silver nanoparticles were investigated using trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)-ethylene (BPE) as probe molecule. The results indicate that self-assembled silver film of anisotropic silver nanoparticles on the silicon wafer is excellent substrate for SERS measurements, demonstrating significant enhancement, trace detection capability, and good stability. The minimum analytic concentration was 10(-9) mol x L(-1) for trans-1,2-bis (4-pyridyl)-ethylene (BPE) molecules. It was also found that silver film stored for 90 days in air shows no significant degradation in its sensitivity.

To identify the underlying mechanisms of the protective effects of Dingxin Recipe (: , DXR), a Chinese compound prescription that has been used clinically in China for more than 20 years, on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced arrhythmias in rat model.A total of 30 rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham group, I/R group, and DXR-pretreated I/R (DXR-I/R) group. Rats in the DXR-DXRI/R group were intragastrically administrated with DXR (12.5 g/kg per day) for consecutive 7 days, while rats I/in the sham and I/R groups were administrated with normal saline. Arrhythmias were introduced by I/R and electrocardiograms (ECG) were recorded. Two-dimensional (2-D) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix-matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) were used to identify assisted differentially expressed proteins. Immunohistochemistry, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-RQPCR), Western blot, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to analyze proteins PCR), obtained in the above experiments.DXR significantly reduced the incidence and mean duration of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation and dramatically decreased the mortality, as well as arrhythmia score, compared with those of the I/R group. Among successfully identified proteins, prohibitin (PHB) and heart fatty acid binding protein (hFABP) were up-regulated in DXR-pretreated I/R rats compared with those of the I/R rats. In addition, compared with the I/R group, the level of glutathione (GSH) was elevated accompanied by reduced expressions of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and neutrophil infiltration in I/R rats with DXR pretreatment.DXR could alleviate I/R-induced arrhythmias, which might be related to increased expression of PHB. The enhanced expression of PHB prevented against the depletion of GSH and consequently inhibited apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, up-regulation of PHB might ameliorate I/R-induced cell death and leakage of hFABP by suppressing neutrophil infiltration and IL-6 expressions.

In the present study, 22 certified milk samples without melamine were collected, then 50 adulterated milk samples with added different content of melamine (0.1-1 500 mg x kg(-1)) were prepared. The near-infrared (NIR) spectra of these milk samples were measured. The possibility of using NIR spectra to detect melamine in milk was studied. Partial least square regression (PLSR) was applied to construct the calibration model between NIR spectra and the content of melamine. The results showed that NIR spectroscopy can not accurately predict the content of melamine because of its poor detection limit. However, the combination of NIR spectra and partial least square-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) was applied to differentiate the certified milk samples and the adulterated milk sample. The classification accuracy was 100%. Therefore, NIR spectra could be used to preliminarily detect whether the milk was adulterated with melamine. As a complementary detecting method to the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), NIR spectra could improve the detecting efficiency of milk

To construct a red fluorescent protein reporter gene driven by human catalase gene promoter.The red fluorescent protein reporter gene plasmid pDsRed-CATp containing human catalase gene promoter was constructed by gene recombination technique. The plasmid was transiently transfected into NIH/3T3 cells to observe their response to H(2)O(2) stimulation.The plasmid was constructed correctly as verified by double enzyme digestion and sequence analysis. The plasmid was lowly expressed in resting NIH/3T3 cells, but the expression level increased obviously after stimulation by H(2)O(2). CONCLSIONS: A red fluorescent protein reporter gene plasmid driven by human catalase gene promoter has been constructed successfully with a sensitive response to H(2)O(2) stimulation. This system provides a convenient tool for the study of the regulatory mechanism of catalase gene expression.