Search

To realize the harvesting of energy generated by human movement, in this study, a piezoelectric–electromagnetic composite was designed for harvesting the energy generated by low-frequency human motion is designed by combining the principle of power generation and electromagnetic energy conversion of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric materials. First, the structure and working principle of the piezoelectric–electromagnetic composite energy trap were designed and analyzed. Next, the system dynamics model of piezoelectric–electromagnetic coupling power generation was established, and the main influencing factors of the composite energy trap were derived. Moreover, the influence of PVDF piezoelectric materials with different size parameters on the output voltage and the influence of the frequency of the moving permanent magnet on electromagnetic power generation were analyzed. Finally, the prototype was constructed and tested. The results revealed that the output voltage of the piezoelectric–electromagnetic composite energy trap placed horizontally is higher than that of the composite energy trap placed vertically at step frequencies of over 90 steps/min, and the maximum output voltage is 25.6 V at the step frequency of 140 steps/min. The electric energy generated by the composite energy trap can supply power to low-power electronic devices, thus demonstrating the feasibility of collecting human-motion energy for power generation.

Ultraviolet rays are the main cause of skin aging. Isoflavone structures are good anti-ultraviolet natural compounds and have an especially strong anti-ultraviolet B (UVB) effect. However, the anti-ultraviolet A (UVA) effect of isoflavones is more controversial. Therefore, this study aims to discover which isoflavone analogue possesses a strong anti-ultraviolet A. We found the isoflavonoid intermediate deoxybenzoin-3A (DOB-3A) to be a similar isoflavone structural compound with strong anti-ultraviolet A effects. Ultraviolet rays with a wavelength of 350 nm are used to irradiate the fibroblasts of the human skin. Western blot, flow cytometry, and transmission electron microscope analyses were used to explore its anti-ultraviolet A mechanism. We established the results that DOB-3A (1) reduced the death of fibroblasts caused by ultraviolet A, (2) avoided the damage to the organelles and structures after UVA irradiation, (3) inhibited the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hydrogen peroxide-induced damage, and (4) decreased the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) caused by UVA. Based on the above findings, DOB-3A is a very good anti-ultraviolet A isoflavone-related structure. Because it is simple to synthesize and has good effects, DOB-3A is a suitable anti-ultraviolet A product with an isoflavone structure. Moreover, DOB-3A's structure provides a reference for the synthesis of anti-UVA isoflavones.

This letter proposes the world’s first deep learning (DL)-assisted video encoder LSI fabricated in a 10-nm process with a core area of 0.76 mm2 to integrate quad-core DL accelerators and $4\text{K}\times 2\text{K}$ H.264/H.265 video encoders. A visual-contact-field network (VCFNet) DL model is newly designed to predict human focus information with extraordinary reduction of encoding complexity, leading to 82.3% power reduction. Moreover, input channel reduction and layer merging approaches reduce VCFNet complexity by 69%. Operated at 0.9 V and 504 MHz, the proposed DL-assisted 4K video encoder LSI consumes 56.54 mW to achieve 0.22 nJ/pixel of energy efficiency, cutting 0.1-14 nJ/pixel compared to conventional designs.

Objective To assess the incidence rate and risk of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in patients with previous human papillomavirus (HPV) infection compared with those without HPV infection. Methods All patients with HPV infection (n = 66,314) in the NHIRD (2003–2013) were individually matched with up to four control subjects without HPV infection by age and sex (n = 265,256). All of the patients were tracked until an AS event was noted. Chi-square test was used to analyze the distribution of sociodemographic characteristics in the HPV cohort and non-HPV cohort. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate the HRs for the development of AS, adjusting for age, sex, urbanization, length of hospital stay, medications, and comorbidities adjustment. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot the cumulative incidence curves. Results The HPV cohort had a 1.329 (95% C.I. = 1.138–1.552) times higher risk of AS than that of the non-HPV cohort after adjusting for sex, age, urbanization, length of hospital stay, comorbidities, and medications. Additionally, we applied propensity score weighting to reconfirm the accuracy of our analysis, and the results showed a 1.348 (95% C.I. = 1.153–1.575) times greater risk of AS in the HPV cohort compared with the non-HPV cohort. The cumulative incidence curves plotted by the Kaplan-Meier method revealed that after 120 follow-up months, the HPV cohort displayed a higher cumulative incidence of AS than that of the non-HPV cohort. (Log-rank test p Conclusions Patients with HPV infection had a higher risk of developing AS compared with non-HPV patients.

The cytosolic isozyme of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK1) was the first rate-limiting enzyme in the gluconeogenesis pathway, which exerted a critical role in maintaining the blood glucose levels.PCK1has been established to be involved in various physiological and pathological processes, including glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, diabetes, and tumorigenesis. Nonetheless, the association ofPCK1with aging process and the detailed underlying mechanisms ofPCK1on aging are still far to be elucidated. Hence, we herein constructed thePCK1-deficient (pck1Δ) andPCK1overexpression (PCK1 OE)Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results unveiled thatPCK1deficiency significantly shortened the replicative lifespan (RLS) in theS. cerevisiae, while overexpression ofPCK1prolonged the RLS. Additionally, we noted that the ROS level was significantly enhanced inPCK1-deficient strain and decreased inPCK1 OEstrain. Then, a high throughput analysis by deep sequencing was performed in thepck1Δ and wild-type strains, in an attempt to shed light on the effect ofPCK1on the lifespan of aging process. The data showed that the most downregulated mRNAs were enriched in the regulatory pathways of glucose metabolism. Fascinatingly, among the differentially expressed mRNAs,PFK1was one of the most upregulated genes, which was involved in the glycolysis process and ROS generation. Thus, we further constructed thepfk1Δpck1Δ strain by deletion ofPFK1in thePCK1-deficient strain. The results unraveled thatpfk1Δpck1Δ strain significantly suppressed the ROS level and restored the RLS ofpck1Δ strain. Taken together, our data suggested thatPCK1deficiency enhanced the ROS level and shortened the RLS ofS. cerevisiaeviaPFK1.

Microwave irradiation is an effective method for faster heating to shorten reaction time of oxidative valorization of lignin. However, studies using microwave irradiation for lignin oxidation all employ homogeneous catalysis. Thus, this study aims to investigate heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of lignin under microwave irradiation. Especially, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are adopted as transition metal-containing heterogeneous catalysts for lignin oxidation. In particularly, MOFs (MIL-101 (Cr), MIL-101 (Fe), UiO-66, HKUST-1, and MOF-801) are also prepared using microwave irradiation and used as for oxidative conversion of a model lignin compound, vanillyl alcohol (VAL), to the valuable products, vanillin (VN) and vanillic acid (VAC), using H2O2 as an oxidant. While the tested MOFs all exhibit catalytic activities for VAL conversion to VN/VAC, MIL-101 and MOF-801 appear to be relatively effective. Through investigating the effect of temperature, VAL conversion to VN/VAC is less favorable at higher temperature possibly due to degradation of H2O2 at high temperatures. While a higher dosage of H2O2 increases VAL conversion, the additionally added H2O2 seems to further oxidize VN to VAC instead of converting more VAL to VN. Through the EPR analyses, the mechanism of VAL conversion to VN/VAC may be attributed to both the OH-based and non-OH• routes. The most effective MOF, MOF-801, also exhibited very similar catalytic activities over several cycles. The results indicate that MOFs can convert VAL to valuable products of VN and VAC within a very short time (10 min) under microwave irradiation. MOF-801 was also validated as a promising MOF for VAL conversion.

miR-193a-3p is a tumor-related miRNA playing an essential role in tumorigenesis and progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between miR-193a-3p expression and clinical value and to further explore the potential signaling of miR-193a-3p in the carcinogenesis of NSCLC. RNA-sequencing and microarray data were collected from the databases GEO, ArrayExpress and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Furthermore, in silico assessments were performed to analyze the prospective pathways and networks of the target genes of miR-193a-3p. In total, 453 cases of NSCLC patients and 476 normal controls were included in blood samples, while 920 cases of NSCLC patients and 406 normal controls were included in tissue samples. The pooled positive likelihood ratio, the pooled negative likelihood ratio and the pooled diagnostic odds ratio were calculated to reflect the diagnostic value of miR-193a-3p in blood and tissue samples. Moreover, the areas under the curve of the summary receiver operating characteristic curve of blood and tissue were 0.64 and 0.79, respectively. In addition, we found a lower level of miR-193a in NSCLC tissues than in non-cancerous controls based on TCGA. A gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis demonstrated that miR-193a-3p could be related to key signaling pathways in NSCLC. Also, several vital pathways were illustrated by KEGG. Lower expression of miR-193a-3p in tissue samples of NSCLC may be associated with tumorigenesis and be a predictor of deterioration of NSCLC patients, and pathway analysis revealed crucial signaling pathways correlated with the incidence and progress of NSCLC.

While zero valent aluminum (ZVAl) is considered as a promising catalyst for Oxone activation, relevant studies are very limited and ZVAl is typically obtained by chemical-reagent grade aluminum. However, as aluminum is the third richest element on earth, many aluminum wastes (AWs) are readily available for preparing ZVAl without energy-intensive mining and metalworking. Herein, we propose for the first time to valorize AWs to prepare ZVAl via HCl-pretreatment; the resulting HCl-pretreated AW (HPAW) is evaluated for Oxone activation by decolorizing Amaranth (AMR) dye as a model test. Oxone activation behaviors by HPAW are investigated by examining various effects on AMR decolorization, including dosages of HPAW and Oxone, temperature, initial pH, and co-existing compounds. Even though electrons from HPAW can induce the formation of OH , the resulting OH could not effectively decolorize AMR. However, the electrons from HPAW can “activate” Oxone to generate SO 4 - , which completely and rapidly decolorizes AMR. This effective AMR decolorization is attributed to SO 4 - and also to OH derived from the reaction of water with SO 4 - . The Oxone activation by HPAW is much favorable under neutral conditions and at elevated temperatures, whereas the presence of co-existing compounds (e.g., NaCl and anionic surfactant) inhibits Oxone activation and then AMR decolorization significantly. HPAW can be also reused for Oxone activation even without regeneration. These features demonstrate that AW can be valorized easily by HCl-pretreatment and becomes an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for Oxone activation.

The first-reported FocusNet display LSI integrating an 11-layer fully convolutional neural network and supporting color, contrast, and sharpness visual quality enhancement engine is designed. A FocusNet deep learning (DL) model is proposed to predict the human's focus region applying a tone mapping curve so as to decrease the pixel luminance, leading to 19.5mW of system power saving on OLED smart-phone. Implemented in 10nm CMOS technology, the proposed DL-assisted FocusNet display LSI costs 3.21M gates and 52kB SRAM with 0.7mm2 area. Operated at 0.9V and 205MHz, this LSI consumes 8.54mW of power dissipation.

Silk fibroin protein, gastrodia elata, and tea tree oil are naturally derived and have been used throughout human history. This work develops an all-natural and highly porous foam-containing silk fibroin protein and above herbal extract, as a dressing for wound management. Scanning electron microscopic analyses and measurements of porosity by Archimedes method revealed a highly porous structure with porosity ranging from 40%–80%, depending on the preparation condition. In vitro, cytotoxicity test of a series of gastrodia elata–containing silk fibroin protein and tea tree oil–containing silk fibroin protein foam dressings on 3T3 fibroblast cells showed 90%–100% cell viability, which indicated that the produced all-natural dressings have no significant cytotoxicity toward skin cells. In another anti-inflammatory assay using the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory Raw 264.7 macrophages model, the produced two dressings exhibited up to 70% and 90.1% of reduction in the formation of nitrite, in comparison with the untreated group. In vivo studies showed that all herbal extract–containing foam dressings accelerated wound recovery and achieved full closure of the wound within 21 days, and the histological analysis of regenerative skin tissues indicated that the produced foam dressings enhance the generation of thicker, denser, and more abundant collagen fibers in the dermis layer in comparison with the positive and negative control groups.

An optimal supply of phosphate (Pi) fertilizer is important to ensure crop yield and quality and to maintain agricultural sustainability. In this study, an in planta monitoring system was developed to conveniently monitor the P status of crops. A phosphate starvation-induced gene (TPSI1) from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was used to reflect P status in plants. Using agroinfiltration and agroinjection techniques, the GUS reporter gene driven by the TPSI1 promoter was transiently expressed in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) leaves and tomato fruits to reflect their P status. We showed that the vegetative growth of tobacco and the yield and quality of tomato were affected by the supply of Pi fertilizer. We further demonstrated that the expression of a GUS reporter gene driven by the TPSI1 promoter could accurately report on P status in tobacco leaves and tomato fruits in real time. Expression of the GUS reporter gene was independent of deficiencies in mineral nutrients other than P, demonstrating the specificity of this system. The above results indicate that the employed agroinfiltration/agroinjection-based diagnostic system is useful for monitoring P status in plants.

Heralded universal quantum gates can largely decrease the quantum resource consumed in the integration of a multiqubit quantum circuit. Here, we present a scheme for heralded universal quantum computing, including the construction of the CNOT gate, Fredkin gate, and Toffoli gate on the electron spins in diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers assisted by low- Q microtoroidal resonators. These quantum gates can achieve unity fidelity, as the infidelity induced by the imperfect input–output process is transferred into photon loss. The clicks on different single-photon detectors can either herald the success of the quantum gates or instruct an immediate recycling procedure, even without reinitializing the NV centers. Besides the heralding, this scheme is also more realistic, observing that the non-monochromatic auxiliary photon and the inhomogeneous NV centers have no adverse impact on fidelity. The high fidelity and efficiency with experimental parameters show that the scheme is feasible with current technology.

This paper proposes the world's first deep learning (DL)-assisted video encoder LSI fabricated in a 10nm process with a core area of 0.76mm2 to integrate quad-core DL accelerators and 4K×2K H.264/H.265 video standards. A visual-contact-field network (VCFNet) DL model is newly designed to predict human focus information for extraordinary reducing the encoding complexity, leading to 82.3% of power reduction. Moreover, input channel reduction and layer merging approaches reduce VCFNet complexity by 69%. Operated at 0.9V and 504MHz, the proposed DL-assisted 4K video encoder LSI consumes 56.54mW to achieve 0.22nJ/pixel of energy efficiency, cutting 0.1-14nJ/pixel compared to conventional designs [1]–[3].

Lung cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide and despite recent improvements in lung cancer treatments patient mortality remains high. miR-193a-5p serves a crucial role in the initiation and development of cancer; it is necessary to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of miR-193a-5p in lung cancer, which may enable the development of improved clinical diagnoses and therapies. The present study investigated the diagnostic value of peripheral blood and tissue miR-193a-5p expression using a microarray meta-analysis. Peripheral blood miR-193a-5p was revealed to be upregulated in patients with lung cancer. The pooled area under the curve (AUC) was 0.67, with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.74 and 0.56, respectively. Conversely, the peripheral tissue miR-193a-5p expression in patients with lung cancer was significantly downregulated. The pooled AUC was 0.83, and the sensitivity and specificity were 0.65 and 0.89, respectively. Through bioinformatics analysis, three Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) terms, pathways in cancer, prostate cancer and RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, were identified as associated with miR-193a-5p in lung cancer. In addition, in lung cancer, six key miR-193a-5p target genes, receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2 (ERBB2), nuclear cap-binding protein subunit 2 (NCBP2), collagen α-1(I) chain (COL1A1), roprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), casein kinase II subunit α (CSNK2A1) and nucleolar transcription factor 1 (UBTF), were identified, five of which were significantly upregulated (ERBB2, NCBP2, COL1A1, CSNK2A1 and UBTF). The protein expression of ERBB2, NCBP2, COL1A1, CSNK2A1 and UBTF was also upregulated. NCBP2 and CSNK2A1 were negatively correlated with miR-193a-5p. The results demonstrated that miR-193a-5p exhibited opposite expression patterns in peripheral blood and tissue. Upregulated peripheral blood miR-193a-5p and downregulated tissue miR-193a-5p may be promising diagnostic biomarkers in lung cancer. In addition, the KEGG terms pathways in cancer, prostate cancer and RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway may suggest which pathways serve vital roles in lung cancer by regulating miR-193a-5p. In addition, six genes, ERBB2, COL1A1, PCSK9, UBTF and particularly NCBP2 and CSNK2A1, may be key target genes of miR-193a-5p in lung cancer.

miR‐193a‐3p is a tumor‐related miRNA playing an essential role in tumorigenesis and progression of non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between miR‐193a‐3p expression and clinical value and to further explore the potential signaling of miR‐193a‐3p in the carcinogenesis of NSCLC. RNA‐sequencing and microarray data were collected from the databases GEO, ArrayExpress and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Furthermore, in silico assessments were performed to analyze the prospective pathways and networks of the target genes of miR‐193a‐3p. In total, 453 cases of NSCLC patients and 476 normal controls were included in blood samples, while 920 cases of NSCLC patients and 406 normal controls were included in tissue samples. The pooled positive likelihood ratio, the pooled negative likelihood ratio and the pooled diagnostic odds ratio were calculated to reflect the diagnostic value of miR‐193a‐3p in blood and tissue samples. Moreover, the areas under the curve of the summary receiver operating characteristic curve of blood and tissue were 0.64 and 0.79, respectively. In addition, we found a lower level of miR‐193a in NSCLC tissues than in non‐cancerous controls based on TCGA. A gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis demonstrated that miR‐193a‐3p could be related to key signaling pathways in NSCLC. Also, several vital pathways were illustrated by KEGG. Lower expression of miR‐193a‐3p in tissue samples of NSCLC may be associated with tumorigenesis and be a predictor of deterioration of NSCLC patients, and pathway analysis revealed crucial signaling pathways correlated with the incidence and progress of NSCLC.

Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is becoming integral to a movie's story and appeal, and even dominates the film's success at box office. Currently the CGI realism is evaluated by post-production supervisors, and few objective realism assessments focus on this area. This paper investigates enhanced feature learning and classifier training for CGI assessment by deep learning. A training-set-selection method is proposed to select proper samples, which is crucial to deep learning training. Then the selected samples are converted into entropy images with enhanced features. We adopt a convolutional neural network for feature learning and classifier training to estimate the realism of CGI. Experimental results show that the developed matric has acceptable accuracy when compared to the grout truth. In addition, the rating result of the proposed assessment is very close to that of human visual perception.

In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures were grown on interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells (IBC-SSCs) by using the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The effect of these ZnO nanostructures grown by different precursor concentrations on the conversion efficiency of solar cells was investigated. The as-prepared ZnO products were analyzed by XRD, SEM, EDS, UV–vis, and PL, then were grown onto IBC-SSCs. The IBC-SSCs conversion efficiency without any ZnO nanostructure was 8.88%, and with a ZnO nanostructure, it reached 12.15%. which effectively enhances the conversion efficiency of IBC-SSCs.

Mobile devices have been playing an important role in our daily lives. Therefore, to extend the standby time of mobile devices has become a focal topic to both industry and academia. Based on the brightness, contrast and motion analysis, this paper proposes a new backlight dimming and pixel compensation method for display power saving when playing video. First, we calculate the brightness and contrast of the frame followed by extracting the motion vectors of the video to obtain the frame speed. Then, we determine the optimized backlight level and pixel compensation value using subjective visual model. Finally, we process pixel compensation by GPU rendering. Experimental results show that our method achieved on average 23% of power saving and preserved good visual quality through the subjective video quality assessment.

Jin-Bao Qin,1,5,* Kang-An Li,2,* Xiang-Xiang Li,1,5 Qing-Song Xie,3 Jia-Ying Lin,4 Kai-Chuang Ye,1,5 Mi-Er Jiang,1,5 Gui-Xiang Zhang,2 Xin-Wu Lu1,51Department of Vascular Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, 2Department of Radiology, Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 3Department of Neurosurgery, Cixi Municipal People's Hospital, Zhejiang Province, China; 4Clinic for Gynecology, Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 5Vascular Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China*These two authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Stem cell therapy has shown great promise for regenerative repair of injured or diseased tissues. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) have become increasingly attractive candidates for cellular therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging has been proven to be effective in tracking magnetic-labeled cells and evaluating their clinical relevance after cell transplantation. This study investigated the feasibility of imaging green fluorescent protein-expressing ADSCs (GFP-ADSCs) labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide particles, and tracked them in vivo with noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging after cell transplantation in a model of mouse carotid artery injury.Methods: GFP-ADSCs were isolated from the adipose tissues of GFP mice and labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide particles. Intracellular stability, proliferation, and viability of the labeled cells were evaluated in vitro. Next, the cells were transplanted into a mouse carotid artery injury model. Clinical 3 T magnetic resonance imaging was performed immediately before and 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 30 days after cell transplantation. Prussian blue staining and histological analysis were performed 7 and 30 days after transplantation.Results: GFP-ADSCs were found to be efficiently labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide particles, with no effect on viability and proliferation. Homing of the labeled cells into the injured carotid artery tissue could be monitored by magnetic resonance imaging.Conclusion: Magnetically labeled ADSCs with expression of GFP can home into sites of vascular injury, and may provide new insights into understanding of cell-based therapy for cardiovascular lesions.Keywords: adipose-derived stem cells, carotid artery injury, magnetic resonance imaging, iron oxide particles, cell therapy

Based on the high penetration rate of mobile devices, reducing power consumption for mobile devices have become increasingly important. In current technology, statistics show that the display of the mobile device dominates the major power consumption of the device (e.g., up to 40% of the total power). Therefore, to efficiently reduce the display power consumption while maintaining the image quality, this paper proposes a novel contrast-aware backlight control algorithm for mobile devices. By transforming the color space for a displayed image from RGB (red, green, blue) to HSI (hue, saturation, intensity), we first calculate the RMS (root mean square) contrast for the image. Then we estimate the "brightness factor" for adjusting the image based on the RMS contrast and the employed HVS (human vision system)-based visual quality assessment technique. At the same time, the estimated brightness factor is used to determine the screen backlight brightness value of the device. As a result, the best tradeoff between the image display quality and the power consumption can be achieved. Our experimental results have demonstrated that 10∼40% reduction of backlight brightness can be achieved, resulting in power consumption of 8∼25%, while good image display quality can be maintained.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) can elicit contrasting effects on tumor progression, depending on different tumor microenvironment. This study aimed to explore the correlation between TAM infiltration and clinicopathologic characteristics, metastasis, and prognosis of supraglottic laryngeal carcinoma. TAMs in intratumoral and peritumoral regions of 84 specimens of supraglottic laryngeal carcinoma tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal CD68 antibody. The density of peritumoral CD68(+) TAMs in recurrence cases (9/11) and in dead cases (17/23) were significantly higher than those in non-recurrence cases (33/73) and in survival cases (25/61), with significant differences (P = 0.024 and 0.007, respectively). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a significant relationship between the infiltration of both intratumoral and peritumoral CD68(+) TAMs and the overall survival of patients. The 5-year survival rate was significantly lower in the group with a high density of intratumoral CD68(+) TAMs than in the group with a low density (39.6% vs. 82.5%, P < 0.05). Similarly, the 5-year survival rate was significantly lower in the group with a high density of peritumoral CD68(+) TAMs than in the group with a low density (50.6% vs. 73.1%, P < 0.05). Cox regression analysis revealed that T classification, distant metastasis, and intratumoral or peritumoral CD68(+) TAMs were independent factors for disease-free survival, whereas T classification and intratumoral CD68(+) TAMs were independent factors for overall survival. The results indicate that TAM infiltration in supraglottic laryngeal carcinoma can be used to predict metastasis and prognosis and is an independent factor for prognosis.

This study have used three different montmorillonite by anionic, nonionic and ammonium chloride modifier to prepare polyethylene / montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites. The kneading process doped modified MMT to polyethylene, according with ASTM D638 to proceed hot-press works, and ASTM D256 to determine the izod pendulum impact resistance of plastics specimen. Prepared nanocomposites continue proceed in tensile and impact testing, finally, we observed low-density polyethylene layered silicate nanocomposites properties were improved, also found that anion modified montmorillonite had significant reinforcement effect in tensile and impact testing.

BackgroundConvincing data on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in Chinese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain limited. We investigated the relevance of demographic characteristics and EGFR mutations, correlations between the efficacy of gefitinib and EGFR mutations in NSCLC, and to identify individuals who would likely benefit from gefitinib.MethodsWe conducted a meta-analysis based on updated individual patient data from six medical centers in mainland China. Outcome measures included the EGFR mutation status, demographic characteristics, response, and survival.ResultsAmong 506 patients with NSCLC who received EGFR mutation analysis, the EGFR mutation rate was 30.04%. Patients with adenocarcinoma had a higher mutation rate than those with non-adenocarcinoma (44.1% vs 9.2%; p < 0.00001). The EGFR mutation rate for smokers was 15.1%, lower than that for non-smokers (45.5%) (p < 0.00001). Male patients had a lower mutation rate than female patients (23.1% vs 42.9%; p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that “adenocarcinoma” and “non-smoker” were independent predictors of EGFR mutations. In a subgroup of 57 patients with complete treatment data, the response rate to gefitinib in the EGFR mutant group was 60.7%, significantly higher than that in the wild-type EGFR group (17.2%) (odds ratio, 5.78; 95% CI, 1.95–17.13; p = 0.002). “EGFR mutation”, “adenocarcinoma,” and “non-smoker” were independent predictors of response. Overall survival in the EGFR mutant group and the wild-type group did not differ significantly (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.32–1.12; p = 0.110). “Adenocarcinoma status” was an independent prognostic factor for survival.ConclusionsIn mainland China, “adenocarcinoma” and “non-smoker” are independent predictors for EGFR mutations. Response to gefitinib favors patients with EGFR mutations. The clinical selected populations for gefitinib are non-smokers with adenocarcinoma.

AIM: To investigate the antiproliferative activity of cinobufacini on human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and the possible mechanism of its action. METHODS: HepG2 cells were treated with different concentrations of cinobufacini. Cell viability was measured by methylthiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). Cytoskeletal and nuclear alterations were observed by fluorescein isothiocyanate-phalloidin and DAPI staining under a laser scanning confocal microscope. Changes in morphology and ultrastructure of cells were detected by atomic force microscopy (AFM) at the nanoscale level. RESULTS: MTT assay indicated that cinobufacini significantly inhibited the viability of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. With the concentration of cinobufacini increasing from 0 to 0.10 mg/mL, the cell viability decreased from 74.9% ± 2.7% to 49.41% ± 2.2% and 39.24% ± 2.1% (P < 0.05). FCM analysis demonstrated cell cycle arrest at S phase induced by cinobufacini. The immunofluorescence studies of cytoskeletal and nuclear morphology showed that after cinobufacini treatment, the regular reorganization of actin filaments in HepG2 cells become chaotic, while the nuclei were not damaged seriously. Additionally, high-resolution AFM imaging revealed that cell morphology and ultrastructure changed a lot after treatment with cinobufacini. It appeared as significant shrinkage and deep pores in the cell membrane, with larger particles and a rougher cell surface. CONCLUSION: Cinobufacini inhibits the viability of HepG2 cells via cytoskeletal destruction and cell membrane toxicity.

This classroom activity connection demonstrates the differences between the effects of NaCl (a salt of monovalent metal ions) and CaCl2 (a salt of polyvalent metal ions) on swollen superabsorbent polymer gels. Being ionic compounds, NaCl and CaCl2 both collapse the swollen polymer gels. The gel contracted by NaCl reswells in deionized water, but that contracted by CaCl2 does not reswell. The CaCl2 contracted gel is subsequently immersed in concentrated NaCl solution to reverse the ion exchange. The Ca2+ ions in the contracted gel are released, and Na+ ions are redistributed in the polymer network. The ion-exchange cycle is accomplished and the water-absorbing ability of the gel is recovered. Other compound pairs of monovalent versus polyvalent metal ions involving LiCl, NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, BaCl2, and ZnCl2 give similar results.

Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) exhibit tremendous potential for repair of ischemic diseases. However, studies on the fate, migration, differentiation, and body distribution of the labeled ADSCs are rarely reported. In this study, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were designed, synthesized, and coated with meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) to produce DMSA nanoparticles (DMSA-NPs). The properties, size distribution, and characterization of DMSA-NPs were evaluated. Green fluorescent protein expressing ADSCs (GFP-ADSCs) were obtained and labeled with DMSA-NPs. The viability, cytotoxicity and multi-differentiation capacity of labeled GFP-ADSCs were evaluated in vitro. Labeled and non-labeled GFP-ADSCs were injected into a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia, and 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was acquired. The synthesized DMSA-NPs efficiently labeled the GFP-ADSCs in vitro and in vivo without affecting cell viability, proliferation, cell cycle, and multi-differentiation capacity. The MRI showed hypointense spots in the labeled GFP-ADSCs that lasted up to 8 weeks. Prussian blue staining and immunofluorescence assay at 4 and 8 weeks indicated that the labeled GFP-ADSCs were in and around the ischemic sites and some differentiated into capillaries. This observation is identical to that seen for transplants of unlabeled cells. Labeled cells were also identified mainly in the liver and spleen, with significantly smaller amounts in the lungs, intestines, heart, and kidney. Developed DMSA-NPs were shown to exhibit a considerable potential for use as nanoprobes for MRI of stem cells, which will enhance our understanding of cell-based therapeutic strategies for ischemic diseases.

Background and Purpose: Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among gynecologic cancers because of the lack of effective early detection methods. Accuracies of the human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) and mesothelin in detecting ovarian cancer have never been systematically assessed. The current systematic review aimed to tackle this issue. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched (September 1995-November 2011) for studies on the diagnostic performances of HE4 and mesothelin in differentiating ovarian cancer from other benign gynecologic diseases. QUADAS items were used to evaluate the qualities of the studies. Meta-DiSc software was used to handle data from the included studies and to examine heterogeneity. All included studies for diagnostic performance were combined with sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratios (DORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves, and areas under the SROC curves (AUC). Results: A total of 18 studies and 3,865 patients were eligible for the final analysis. The pooled sensitivity estimates for HE4 (74.4%) were significantly higher than those for mesothelin (49.3%). The pooled specificity estimates for mesothelin (94.5%) were higher than those for HE4 (85.8%). The pooled DOR estimates for HE4 (26.22) were higher than those for mesothelin (24.01). The SROC curve for HE4 showed better diagnostic accuracy than that for mesothelin. The PLR and NLR of HE4 were 6.33 (95% CI: 3.58 to 11.18) and 0.27 (95% CI: 0.21 to 0.34), respectively. The PLR and NLR for mesothelin were 11.0 (95% CI: 6.21 to 19.59) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.42 to 0.62), respectively. The combination of the two tumor markers or their combination with CA-125 increased sensitivity and specificity to different extents. Conclusion: The diagnostic accuracy of HE4 in differentiating ovarian cancer from other benign gynecologic diseases is better than that of soluble mesothelin-related protein. Combinations of two or more tumor markers show more sensitivity and specificity.