Search

Xanthohumol (Xn) is a chalcone compound isolated from Humulus lupulus Linn. and has various biological activities. In this study, eight Xn derivatives were synthesized by Williamson, Mannich, Reimer-Tiemann, and Schiff base reactions, and five cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, CNE-2Z, SMMC-7721, H1975) were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxic activity. Among these, 2-((E)-2,4-dihydroxy-5-((E)-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acryloyl)-6-methoxy-3-(3-methylbut-2-en-1-yl)benzylidene)hydrazine-1-carboximidamide (8) exhibited the best potent cytotoxic activity against the five cancer cells, with IC50 values ranging from 4.87 to 14.35 µM. Wound-healing and transwell assays also showed that compound 8 could better inhibit the migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells, and western blotting assays showed that it could reduce protein expression of HIF-1α, MMP-2 and MMP-9. In addition, flow cytometry assays showed that compound 8 could induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells by up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2 and Akt expression.

Adult neurogenesis declines with age due to the less functional neural stem cells (NSCs) and niches, but the underlying molecular bases for this impaired condition remain unclear. Here we analyzed >55,000 single-cell transcriptomes from two discrete neurogenic niches across the mouse lifespan, and identified new features and populations in NSCs, new markers, and neurogenic regional-specific alternations during aging. Intercellular communication analysis revealed defects in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-TrkB signaling cascade in old NSCs. Carboxypeptidase E (CPE) was found to be highly enriched in NSCs, and played a crucial role in mature/proBDNF balance and adult neurogenesis. Diminishment of CPE with aging resulted in impaired generation of BDNF, thus limiting the neurogenesis in old neurogenic niches. Restoring CPE expression markedly rescued the adult neurogenesis by increasing the production of mature BDNF, offering an attractive therapeutic strategy for the treatment of certain disorders in regions associated with constitutive neurogenesis.

AMA GC5000BTX was used to monitor the mixing ratio of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene

Previous studies have shown that gestational inflammation can accelerate age-associated cognitive decline (AACD) in maternal mice; enriched environments (EEs) have been reported to protect normally aging mice from AACD and improve mitochondrial function. However, it is unclear whether the nitrosative stress-related proteins tet methylcytosine dioxygenase 1 (TET1) and S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) are involved in the accelerated aging process of gestational inflammation and whether EEs can slow this process.In this study, CD-1 female mice on the 15th day of pregnancy were injected with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (50 μg/kg; LPS group) or an equivalent amount of normal saline (CON group) from the abdominal cavity for 4 consecutive days. Twenty-one days after delivery, half of the LPS-treated mice were randomly selected for EE until the end of the behavioral experiment (LPS-E group). When the female rats were raised to 6 months and 18 months of age, the Morris water maze (MWM) was used to detect spatial learning and memory ability; RT-PCR and Western blots were used to measure the mRNA and protein levels of hippocampal TET1 and GSNOR.As for the control group, compared with 6-month-old mice, the spatial learning and memory ability of 18-month-old mice decreased, and the hippocampal TET1 and GSNOR mRNA and protein levels were decreased. Gestational inflammation exacerbated these age-related changes, but an EE alleviated the effects. Pearson's correlation analysis indicated that performance during the learning and memory periods in the MWM correlated with the levels of hippocampal TET1 and GSNOR.Our findings suggest that gestational inflammation accelerates age-related learning and memory impairments and that postpartum EE exposure could alleviate these changes. These effects may be related to hippocampal TET1 and GSNOR expression.

Due to general unavailability and common side effects of tetracycline, the clinical application of bismuth quadruple therapy (BQT) is greatly limited. Whether amoxicillin can replace tetracycline in BQT remains unknown. This study aimed to compare the eradication rate, safety and compliance between amoxicillin-containing and tetracycline-containing BQT as a first-line regimen for Helicobacter pylori eradication.This randomized trial was conducted on 404 naïve patients for H. pylori eradication. The participants were randomly assigned to 14-day amoxicillin-containing (bismuth potassium citrate 110 mg four times/day, esomeprazole 20 mg twice daily, metronidazole 400 mg four times/day and amoxicillin 500 mg four times/day) and tetracycline-containing (tetracycline 500 mg four times/day and the other three drugs used as above) BQT. Safety and compliance were assessed within 3 days after eradication. Urea breath test was performed 4-8 weeks after eradication to evaluate outcome.As for the eradication rates of amoxicillin-containing and tetracycline-containing BQT, the results of both intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses showed that the difference rate of the lower limit of 95% confidence interval was above -10.0% (intention-to-treat analysis: 81.7% vs. 83.2%, with a rate difference of -1.5% [-6.3% to 9.3%]; per-protocol analysis: 89.0% vs. 91.6%, -2.6% [-4.1% to 9.3%]). The incidence of adverse events in amoxicillin-containing BQT was significantly lower than tetracycline-containing BQT (29.5% vs. 39.7%). Both groups achieved relatively good compliance (92.0% vs. 89.9%).The eradication efficacy of amoxicillin-containing BQT was non-inferior to tetracycline-containing BQT as a first-line regimen for H. pylori eradication with better safety and similar compliance.

Vasculopathy is an important complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which is closely related to oxidative stress and inflammation. Haptoglobin (Hp), an acute-phase protein, binds to hemoglobin (Hb) and prevents haeme-iron oxidative damage. To investigate the distribution of the frequencies of Hp genotypes and to analyse the association between Hp gene polymorphisms and vascular complications in diabetes patients. The study included 171 patients with T2DM without vascular complications and 797 patients with T2DM with vascular complications. The clinical characteristics of the studied population were recorded. Hp genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction–sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP). Our results showed that the frequencies of Hp genotypes in all 968 T2DM patients were as follows: Hp1-1, 4.98%; Hp2-1, 38.07%; and Hp2-2, 56.95%. Although there was no significant difference in the Hp allele or genotype frequencies among individuals with vascular complications in the T2DM groups and controls regardless of gender, we found that the distribution of the Hp2-2 genotype and allele frequency was higher in males with diabetic retinopathy than in the control group (p

Transparent conductive oxide (TCO) semiconductors are attracted considerable attention due to a wide range of applications, such as flat panel display (FPD), touch panels, solar cells, and other optoelectronic devices. Owing to the different carrier conduction paths between n-type and P-type TCOs, the n-type TCO used in TFTs usually have high Ion/Ioff current ratio (>107) and high electron mobility (>10 cm2/V·s), P-type TCO TFTs are both lower than that of n-type one. For complementary circuits design and applications, however, both P-type and n-type semiconductor materials are equally important. For SnO thin films, it is important to adjust the ratio of Sn2+ (SnO P-type) and Sn4+ (SnO2 n-type) in order to modulate the electrical characteristics. In this investigation of post treatment for SnO thin films, both microwave annealing (MWA) and furnace annealing process with 02 ambient are studied. The results show that SnO thin films are optimized at 300 °C, 30 minutes furnace annealing, the P-type SnO/SnO2 thin film shows surface mean roughness 0.168 nm, [Sn2+]/[Sn4+] ratio as 0.838, at least 80% transmittance between 380 nm-700 nm visible light. Withthe results, SnO can be even used to fabricate high performance P-type thin film transistors (TFTs) device for future applications.

Infectious diseases, including COVID-19, are crucial public health issues and may lead to considerable fear among the general public and stigmatization of, and discrimination against, specific populations. This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of stigma in infectious disease epidemics. We systematically searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases since inception to June 08, 2021, and reported the prevalence of stigma towards people with infectious diseases including SARS, H1N1, MERS, Zika, Ebola, and COVID-19. A total of 50 eligible articles were included that contributed 51 estimates of prevalence in 92722 participants. The overall pooled prevalence of stigma across all populations was 34% [95% CI: 28-40%], including enacted stigma (36% [95% CI: 28-44%]) and perceived stigma (31% [95% CI: 22-40%]). The prevalence of stigma in patients, community population, and health care workers, was 38% [95% CI: 12- 65%], 36% [95% CI: 28-45%], and 30% [95% CI: 20-40%], respectively. The prevalence of stigma in participants from low- and middle-income countries was 37% [95% CI: 29-45%], which is higher than that from high-income countries (27% [95% CI: 18-36%]) though this difference was not statistically significant. A similar trend of prevalence of stigma was also observed in individuals with lower education (47% [95% CI: 23-71%]) compared to higher education level (33% [95% CI: 23-4%]). These findings indicate that stigma is a significant public health concern, and effective and comprehensive interventions are needed to counteract the damaging effects of the infodemics during infectious disease epidemics, including COVID-19, and reduce infectious disease-related stigma.

Elucidating how the plant species respond to variable light conditions is essential to understand the ecological adaptation to heterogeneous environments. Plant performance and gene regulatory network underpinning the adaptation have been well-documented in sun-grown species. In this study, we surveyed phenotypic and transcriptomic features of four shade-grown and one sun-grown woody species of the family Araliaceae under distinct light conditions. Our phenotypic comparisons demonstrate that the four shade-grown species possess lower light saturation point and higher assimilation ability of the net photosynthetic rate compared to the sun-grown species. In particular, the four shade-grown species maintain similar photosynthesis efficiency in both highlight and lowlight conditions. However, a significantly decreased photosynthesis rate was observed under lowlight condition of the sun-grown species compared to highlight condition. In addition, our leaf anatomical analyses reveal that while all the five species show different anatomical structures under distinct light conditions, the shade-grown species possess lower degree of phenotypic plasticity relative the sun-grown species. Further comparisons of the transcriptome profiling show that all the five species exhibit gene expression divergence among different light conditions. The differentially expressed genes identified in the five species are functionally related to photosynthesis, secondary metabolites and other basic metabolisms. More importantly, differential regulation of the photosynthesis- and photomorphogenesis-related genes are potentially correlated with the phenotypic responses to distinct light conditions of the five species. Our study provides new insights on how the sun- and shade-grown woody species respond to shade and sunlight environments.

The thermal stability of enzymes dramatically limits their application in the industrial field. Based on the crystal structure, we conducted a semi-rational design according to the B-factor and free energy values to improve the stability of dextranase from Streptococcus mutans (SmdexTM). The B-factor values of Asn102, Asn503, Asp501 and Asp500 were the highest predicted by B-FITTER. Then Rosetta was used to simulate the saturation mutations of Asn102, Asn503, Asp501 and Asp500. The mutated amino acid was designed according to the change of acG. The results showed that the thermal stability of N102P, N102C, D500G, and D500T was improved, and the half-lives of N102P/D500G and N102P/D500T at 45 °C were increased to 3.14 times and 2.44 times, respectively. Analyzing the interaction of amino acids by using Discovery Studio 4.5, it was observed that the thermal stability of dextranase was improved due to the increase in hydrophobicity and the number of hydrogen bonds of the mutant enzyme. The catalytic efficiency of N102P/D500T was increased. Compared with the hydrolyzed products of SmdexTM, the mutant enzymes do not change the specificity of hydrolysates.

Objective: Based on the quality analysis of Nauclea officinalis in different growth years and different months in the same year, the most suitable harvest year and the specific month in the same year were determined according to the evaluation of the active components in the stem of medicinal parts of Nauclea officinalis. Methods: LC-MS/MS method was used to investigate the quality of Nauclea officinalis from different growth years and different months in the same year, mainly including the content determination of the active ingredients in the medicine. Results: With the prolongation of production life, the content of active ingredients in stem of Nauclea officinalis increased continuously. After reaching a certain number of years, the content of active ingredients increased little;In the middle of the same year, from mid-October to mid- June of the next year, the content of iso-vincin lactam was relatively high, especially between the end of March and the end of May. The content was high and stable, and the highest point was the stem sample collected in May. Conclusion: The content of each component in the stem of Nauclea officinalis with a growth life of more than 5 years has reached a relatively high and stable level.Nauclea officinalis with a growth life of more than 5 years should be collected as raw materials for medicinal materials. The month with high and stable content of isocyanoside lactam, namely May of each year, was taken as the best harvest time of gallbladder in one year. The best harvest time was from mid-October to mid-June of the next year, or from March to May of each year.

Stopping maneuver is an important research topic in ship maneuverability. The stopping ability of ship is not only related to the hydrodynamic characteristics of hull, rudder and propeller, but also related to the capacity of main engine. However, there are few researches on the capacity of main engine under reversed propulsion condition. In the paper, a numerical water tank is established to simulate the propeller loads using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software STAR CCM+. The numerical model is firstly validated by experimental data, and then is used to investigate the propeller loads on a full-scale model with different ship speed and propeller speed. By dimensionless, the relations between the advance coefficient and the load coefficients are shown as J - KT curves and J - KQ curves. Furtherly, the flow structures near the propeller and the pressure on the propeller with different J values are investigated. The simulations reveal that the flow velocities induced by the reversed propulsion of the propeller is similar to the wake flow by ship with J = -0.49. That is the reason for the minimum points of J - KT and J - KQ curve occurring in cases with J = -0.49. Subsequently, the capacity of the main engine and the output load of the propeller are considered comprehensively. The relations between the ship speeds and the maximum output loads on the propeller are discussed in details.

Yu-Xiong Guo,1,2,* Hong-Xia Ma,1– 3,* Yu-Xin Zhang,2 Zhi-Hong Chen,2 Qiong-Xiang Zhai1,2 1The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510280, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, 524000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Qiong-Xiang ZhaiDepartment of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, 106 Zhongshan Second Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-2083827812-76222Fax +86-20-8328480Email zhaiqx_241@163.comBackground: Intellectual developmental disorders (IDD) generally refers to the persistent impairment of cognitive activities and mental retardation caused by physical damage to the brain or incomplete brain development. We aimed to explore its genetic causes.Methods: In this study, 21 IDD patients were recruited. The Gesell developmental scales (GDS) and Wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC) were used to assess the impaired level of intellectual development for all probands. A superconducting MRI scanner (Philips AcsNT 3.0 T Philips, Best, The Netherlands) was used to perform a plain MRI scan of the skull on the probands. The whole-exome sequencing was carried out using next-generation sequencing in all probands and their families.Results: Eight had seizures and four had typical characteristics of autism. Pregnancy and delivery were uneventful except for three patients. Moderate IDD (52.4%) accounted for the majority. The abnormal MRI results included ventriculomegaly, pachygyria, broadening external cerebral space, abnormal signal change and agenesis of corpus callosum. Eleven variants were identified, including the variant in CREBBP, MECP2, HCFC1, ATRX, RAB39B, CLCN4, DYRK1A and CASKgenes. The function areas result of gene-positive group were compared to that of gene-negative group. Not significant (p> 0.05) items were revealed after this analysis.Conclusion: Eleven variants were identified, including the variant in CREBBP, MECP2, HCFC1, ATRX, RAB39B, CLCN4, DYRK1A and CASK genes. The function areas result of gene-positive group were not significantly different from the gene-negative group.Keywords: intellectual developmental disorders, gene variant, whole-exome sequencing

Objective: To investigate the effects of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) on perineuronal nets (PNNs) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of adult rats. Methods: 28 rats were randomly divided into two groups. The model group adopted CUMS to establish a depression model, and the control group did not give any treatment. The density of PNNs and the percentage of PNNs positive (PNNs+) and parvalbumin positive (PV+) neurons in total PV+ neurons in the mPFC were detected by immunofluorescence. The protein expression of main components of PNNs, Aggrecan and Brevican, and GABA main synthase glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) in the mPFC were detected by Western blot. Results: The density of PNNs and the percentage of PNNs+ and PV+ neurons in total PV+ neurons in the mPFC in the model group were decreased compared with the control group (P

Increasing evidence indicates that exposure to inflammation during pregnancy intensifies the offspring’s cognitive impairment during aging, which might be correlated with changes in some synaptic plasticity-related proteins. In addition, an enriched environment (EE) can significantly exert a beneficial impact on cognition and synaptic plasticity. However, it is unclear whether gestational inflammation combined with postnatal EE affects the changes in cognition and synaptic plasticity-related proteins during aging. In this study, pregnant mice were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharides (LPS, 50 μg/kg) or normal saline at days 15–17 of pregnancy. At 21 days after delivery, some LPS-treated mice were randomly selected for EE treatment. At the age of 6 and 18 months, Morris water maze (MWM) and western blotting were, respectively, used to evaluate or measure the ability of spatial learning and memory and the levels of postsynaptic plasticity-related proteins in the hippocampus, including postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95), α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) GluA1 subunit, and Homer-1b/c. The results showed that 18-month-old control mice had worse spatial learning and memory and lower levels of these synaptic plasticity-related proteins (PSD-95, GluA1, and Homer-1b/c) than the 6-month-old controls. Gestational LPS exposure exacerbated these age-related changes of cognition and synaptic proteins, but EE could alleviate the treatment effect of LPS. In addition, the performance during learning and memory periods in the MWM correlated with the hippocampal levels of PSD-95, GluA1, and Homer-1b/c. Our results suggested that gestational inflammation accelerated age-related cognitive impairment and the decline of PSD-95, GluA1, and Homer-1b/c protein expression, and postpartum EE could alleviate these changes.

OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy and safety of domestic generic levetiracetam in replacement of brand-name levetiracetam in the treatment of children with epilepsy. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 154 children with epilepsy who received domestic generic levetiracetam in the inpatient or outpatient service of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital from May 2019 to December 2020. Domestic generic levetiracetam and brand-name levetiracetam were compared in terms of efficacy and safety. RESULTS: For these 154 children, the epilepsy control rate was 77.3% (119/154) at baseline. At 6 months after switching to domestic generic levetiracetam, the epilepsy control rate reached 83.8% (129/154), which showed a significant increase (P0.05). The incidence of refractory epilepsy in children with no response after switching treatment was significantly higher than that in children with response (P

Objective To explore the mechanism of puerarin inhibiting the proliferation,invasion,and migration of non-small cell lung cancer cells. Methods A549 cells were cultured and treated with different concentrations of puerarin.The inhibition rate (IR) on cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8,and qRT-PCR was performed to detect the mRNA levels of miR-490 and denticleless E3 ubiquitin protein ligase(DTL).Double luciferase reporter assay was employed to identify the targets of miR-490 and DTL based on the establishment of NC mimic group,miR-490 mimic group,NC inhibitor group,and miR-490 inhibitor group.The cells treated by 20 μmol/L puerarin were classified into six groups:DMSO,puerarin,puerarin+NC inhibitor,puerarin+miR-490 inhibitor,puerarin+miR-490 inhibitor+Si-NC,and puerarin+miR-490 inhibitor+Si-DTL.Transwell was used to detect cell migration and invasion.Western blotting was performed to detect the protein levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related markers E-cadherin,N-cadherin,and Vimentin. Results With the increase in puerarin concentration,the IR gradually elevated (

Transmembrane of coiled-coil domains 1 (TMCO1) plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis of calcium (Ca

Understanding the responses of lake sediment carbon process to climate change is an important part of a comprehensive understanding of lake carbon budget. To explore the effects of future rainfall increase on sediment carbon flux, undisturbed sediment samples were collected from the bottom of dry lake Barikun in Hami, Xinjiang for the incubation experiment. Based on the increase rate of precipitation (4 mm·10 a明确湖泊沉积物碳过程对气候变化的响应,是全面了解湖泊生态系统碳收支的重要环节。为探究未来降雨增加对沉积物碳通量的影响,本研究以新疆哈密巴里坤盐湖干涸湖底原状沉积物为对象,基于1960年以来新疆哈密地区降雨量增加速率(4 mm·10 a

Elucidating how plant species respond to variable light conditions is important to understanding the ecological adaptation to heterogeneous natural habitats. However, the phenotypic responses and gene regulatory network of shade-loving plants under distinct light conditions have remained largely unclear. In this study, we assessed the differences in phenotypic and transcriptomic responses between Arabidopsis (sun-loving) and Panax ginseng (shade-loving) to sunlight and dim-light conditions. Our results showed that, compared to the Arabidopsis, ginseng plants not only exhibited a lower degree of phenotypic plasticity in response to distinct light conditions, but also showed higher photosynthetic efficiency under dim-light conditions. Further time-course transcriptome profiling and gene structural analyses revealed that differentially transcriptional regulation together with increased copy number of the photosynthesis-related genes (i.e., electron transfer and carbon fixation) may improve the photosynthetic efficiency of ginseng plants under dim-light conditions. In contrast, the loss-function and inactivation of phytochrome-interacting factors are potentially associated with the observed low degree of phenotypic plasticity of ginseng plants under the changing light conditions. Our study provides new insights on how shade-loving plants respond to variable light conditions. Candidate genes related to shade adaptation in ginseng provide valuable genetic resources for future molecular breeding of high-density planting crops.HighlightThe shade-loving species Panax ginseng possesses lower phenotypic plasticity under distinct light conditions and shows high photosynthesis efficiency under dim-light condition.

The salivary glands of Panorpidae usually exhibit distinct sexual dimorphism and are closely related to the nuptial feeding behavior. In this study, the salivary glands of Neopanorpa longiprocessa were investigated using light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The salivary glands are tubular labial glands and consist of a scoop-shaped salivary pump, a common salivary duct, and a pair of salivary tubes. The male and female salivary glands are remarkably different in the bifurcation position of the common salivary duct and the length and shape of the secretory tubes. Compared with the simple female salivary glands, the male's are more developed as their paired elongated salivary tubes can be divided into two parts, the glabrate anterior tube and the posterior tube with many secretory tubules. The ultrastructural study shows that the male salivary tubes have strong secretory function. The existence of different secretion granules indicates that there are some chemical reactions or mixing occurring in the lumen. Based on the ultrastructural characteristics, the functions of the different regions of the salivary tube have been speculated. The relationship between the salivary glands and nuptial feeding behavior of N. longiprocessa has been briefly discussed based on the structure of the salivary glands.

Recently oxide-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) are investigated for emerging applications of the next generation display devices and other electronic circuits (Fortunato, E., et al., 2012. Oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors: A review of recent advances. Advanced Materials, 24, pp.2945–2986). Despite of the great success in n-type oxide semiconductors with high transparency and high field-effect mobility, high performance P-type oxide TFTs are so highly desired that complementary circuits can be realized with low power and high performance (Ou, W.C., et al., 2008. Anomalous P-channel amorphous oxide transistors based on tin oxide and their complementary circuits. Applied Physics Letters, 92, p.122113). There are some oxides such as SnO, CuO, Cu2O and NiO are regarded as promising P-type semiconductor materials. In this investigation, tin oxide SnOx is fabricated to be active layer for TFTs device, and furnace annealing with several combinations of nitrogen and oxygen ambient is compared to enhance the electrical characteristics of P-type SnOx TFTs (Park, K.S., et al., 2009. High performance solution-processed and lithographically patterned zinc-tin oxide thin-film transistors with good operational stability. Electrochemical and Solid-State Lett., 12, pp.H256–H258). The results show that with N2+O2 ambient, 30 minutes furnace annealing, the P-type SnOx TFTs device shows better performance with mobility (μFE) 0.883 cm2/V · S, threshold voltage (VT) −4.63 V, subthreshold swing (SS) 1.15 V/decade, and Ion/Ioff ratio 1.01×103.

Amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) Thin Film Transistors (TFTs) has been studied extensively for their perspective applications in next generation active-matrix displays such as liquid crystal displays and flat-panel displays, due to its better field-effect mobility (>10 cm2/V · S), larger Ion/Ioff ratio (>106), and better stability electrical. Hydrogen is known as shallow donors for n-type (channel) oxide semiconductors (Dong, J.J., et al. 2010. Effects of hydrogen plasma treatment on the electrical and optical properties of Zno films: Identification of hydrogen donors in ZnO. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2, pp.1780–1784), and it is also effective passivator for traps (Tsao, S.W., et al., 2010. Hydrogen-induced improvements in electrical characteristics of a-IGZO thin-film transistors. Solid-State Electron, 54, pp.1497–1499). In this study, In-Situ hydrogen plasma is applied to deposit IGZO channel. With atmospheric-pressure PECVD (AP-PECVD), IGZO thin film can be deposited without vacuum system, large area manufacturing, and cost reducing (Chang, K.M., et al., 2011. Transparent conductive indium-doped zinc oxide films prepared by atmospheric pressure plasma jet. Thin Solid Films, 519, pp.5114–5117). The results show that with appropriate flow ratio of Ar/H2 plasma treatment, the a-IGZO TFT device exhibits better performance with mobility (μFE) 19.7 cm2/V · S, threshold voltage (VT) 1.18 V, subthreshold swing (SS) 81 mV/decade, and Ion/Ioff ratio 5.35×107.

Recently resistive random access memory (RRAM) is considered to be the most promising one to become the next generation memory since its simple Metal/Insulator/Metal (MIM) structure, lower power consumption and fabrication cost (Meena, J.S., et al., 2014. Overview of emerging nonvolatile memory technologies. Nanoscale Research Letters, 9(1), p.526). Due to some bottlenecks for current flash memory, such as high operation voltage, low operation speed, poor retention time and endurance, RRAM device is regarded as an alternative solution (Fuh, C.S., et al., 2011. Role of environmental and annealing conditions on the passivation-free In–Ga–Zn–O TFT. Thin Solid Films, 520, pp.1489–1494). In this investigation, the memory layer of RRAM device is IGZO, and it is deposited with AP-PECVD technique which can operate under atmosphere, reduce cost of the process. Microwave annealing (MWA) is used to enhance the RRAM device reliability (Fuh, C.S., et al., 2011. Role of environmental and annealing conditions on the passivation-free In–Ga–Zn–O TFT. Thin Solid Films, 520, pp.1489–1494). Experiment shows that with appropriate MWA treatment, the IGZO RRAM device exhibits better electrical characteristics, reliability issues such as numbers of switching cycle and data retention time are also improved (Teng, L.F., et al., 2012. Effects of microwave annealing on electrical enhancement of amorphous oxide semiconductor thin film transistor. Applied Physics Letters, 101, p.132901).

Here we analyze the security of quantum dense coding protocol in which the keys are encoded on d-dimensional Hilbert space. The incoherent attack is considered during the qubits transmission through practical quantum channels. To show the performance of the protocol, the mutual information is numerically calculated under the potential eavesdropping behavior by applying a cloning-based individual attack, along with an upper bound on the error rate that ensures unconditional security against incoherent attacks.

AIM This study aimed to investigate the influence of single-nucleotide polymorphism in exon 26 (C3435T) of multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) transporter gene on the concentration of methotrexate (MTX) in Chinese childhood patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receiving intravenous (IV) and intrathecal (IT) high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS MDR1 C3435T polymorphism was investigated in 60 patients with Chinese childhood ALL. The study also compared the MDR1; polymorphism between the patients with Chinese childhood ALL and the published data on Americans, Mexicans, Caucasians, and Thais. The C3435T polymorphism was identified using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and direct sequence analysis. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma concentrations of MTX were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). MTX concentrations were compared according to MDR1 C3435T genotypes. RESULTS The frequencies of MDR1 C3435T genotype in male and female patients with Chinese childhood ALL were significantly different (p = 0.001). For the frequencies of MDR1 C3435T genotype in Hui and Han patients with Chinese childhood ALL there was no difference (p = 0.188). The distribution of allele frequencies in patients with Chinese childhood ALL was similar to the published data on Americans, Mexican, Caucasians, and Thais (p > 0.05). The CSF concentrations of MTX were found to be significantly different between the C allele (CC + CT) carriers and TT homozygous group (p = 0.04). The plasma concentrations of MTX had no significant difference between the C allele (CC + CT) carriers and TT homozygous group (p > 0.1). CONCLUSION This study showed that the polymorphism of MDR1 C3435T influenced the CSF concentration of MTX in patients with Chinese childhood ALL receiving IV and IT HDMTX treatment.

It is necessary to understand vegetation dynamics and their climatic controls for sustainable ecosystem management. This study examines the vegetation dynamics and the effect of climate change on vegetation growth in the pristine conditions of 58 woodland National Nature Reserves (NNRs) located in the upper Yangtze River basin (UYRB) in China which are little influenced by human activities. Changes in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), precipitation, and temperature in the selected NNRs were observed and analyzed for the period between 1999 and 2015. The relationship between time-lag effect of climate and changes in the NDVI were assessed using Pearson correlations. The results showed three major trends. 1) The NDVI increased during the study period; this indicates an increase in the amount of green vegetation, especially due to the warmer climate during the growing season. The NDVIs in March and September were significantly affected by the temperature of the previous months. Spring temperatures increased significantly (P < 0.05) and there was a delay between climatic factors and their effect on vegetation, which depended on the previous season. In particular, the spring temperature had a delayed effect on the NDVI in summer. 2) The way in which vegetation responds to climatic factors varied significantly across the seasons. Temperature had a greater effect on the NDVI in spring and summer and the effect was greater at higher altitudes. A similar trend was observed for precipitation, except for altitudes of 1000–2000 m. 3) Temperature had a greater effect on the NDVI in spring and autumn at higher altitudes. The same trend was observed for precipitation in summer. These findings suggest that the vegetation found in NNRs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River was in good condition between 1999 and 2015 and that the growth and development of vegetation in the region has not been adversely affected by climate change. This demonstrates the effectiveness of nature reserves in protecting regional ecology and minimizing anthropogenic effects.

Neurotransmitters are important in the maintenance of phase transformation of Locusta migratoria (Arthropoda: Orthoptera). Here, the effects of the entomopathogen Paranosema locustae on the neurotransmitter taurine in migratory locusts were studied using biochemical methods. After inoculation with P. locustae, the taurine content of infected locusts significantly declined, but F/C values (ratio between the length of hind femur and the width of the head of locust) increased significantly, compared to healthy locusts. Meanwhile, F/C values of infected locusts that were injected with 2 µg of taurine showed no significant differences from those of healthy locusts, demonstrating that supplemental taurine inhibited the changes in morphological phase caused by P. locustae. Paranosema locustae infection also caused longer developmental durations and lower body weights of locusts, but these changes were unaffected after injection with taurine. These results provided new insights into the mechanisms by which microsporidian parasites affected their locust hosts.