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DABCO-catalyzed (5+1) cycloaddition of MBH carbonate undergoes an α-double deprotonation pathway to de novo assemble the benzene ring.

Ni3S4 quantum dots (QDs) have great potential for supercapacitors due to their unique quantum effects, high specific surface area, high water solubility and good stability, but the current preparation process is cumbersome and toxic. Here, we highlight a facile and environmentally-friendly synthesis of Ni3S4 QDs for the first time by virtue of the synergy of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and ethanol. The synergistic mechanism was revealed by using XRD to investigate the effect of the synthesis solvent. When QDs were used as a supercapacitor electrode material they exhibited excellent electrochemical properties, and the specific capacitance at 1 A g−1 was 1440 F g−1. In addition, Ni3S4 QDs and activated carbon (AC) are assembled into a Ni3S4 QD//AC asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC), which delivered a maximum energy density of 60.4 W h kg−1. This work provides new ideas for the preparation of QDs and opens up new concepts for the synthesis of nickel sulfide.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common chronic complication of diabetes. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential role of lncRNA LINC-00162 in the pathogenic process of DN. LncRNA microarray analysis, real-time PCR, IHC computational analysis and luciferase assay were performed to explore the regulatory relationship among LINC00162, miR-383 and HDAC9. There was an obvious difference between T2D + DN and T2D - DN patients in their levels of eGRF and albuminuria. A significant difference was observed between T2D + DN and T2D - DN groups in terms of their LINC00162 expression. In particular, LINC00162 and HDAC9 were highly expressed, while miR-383 was lowly expressed in tissues derived from the T2D + DN group compared with those in tissues derived from the T2D - DN group. MiR-383 was able to bind to LINC00162, while HDAC9 was a direct downstream target of miR-383 with a complementary miR-383 binding site located in the 3' UTR of HDAC9. LINC00162 reduced miR-383 expression and further up-regulated HDAC9 expression, while miR-383 mimics reduced HDAC9 expression under a dose-dependent manner. In summary, we suggested for the first time that down-regulation of LINC00162 was associated with the development of DN in T2D via the up-regulation of miR-383 expression and reduction of HDAC9 expression.

Central nervous system (CNS) trauma, including traumatic brain injury (TBI) and traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), is characterized by high morbidity, disability, and mortality. TBI and SCI have similar pathophysiological mechanisms and are often accompanied by serious inflammatory responses. Pyroptosis, an inflammation-dependent programmed cell death, is becoming a major problem in CNS post-traumatic injury. Notably, the pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a key protein in the pyroptosis signaling pathway. Therefore, underlying mechanism of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the development of CNS trauma has attracted much attention. In this review, we briefly summarize the molecular mechanisms of NLRP3 inflammasome in pyroptosis signaling pathway, including its prime and activation. Moreover, the dynamic expression pattern, and roles of the NLRP3 inflammasome in CNS post-traumatic injury are summarized. The therapeutic applications of NLRP3 inflammasome activation inhibitors are also discussed.

Organic dye contaminants are becoming a worldwide challenge for water resources due to their non-natural degradation, highly toxic and carcinogenic. In this work, the molecular ferroelectric material (MV)[BiI3Cl2] synthesized by the solvothermal method was first applied to the adsorption of organic dye contaminants. Interestingly, the adsorption capacity of the (MV)[BiI3Cl2] powder was found to reach a high value of 793 and 10,476 mg g−1 for fluorescein sodium and Congo red, respectively. The adsorption process can be well described by the Langmuir model. It was argued that the electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding and π-π interaction might play a major role in the adsorption process.

Viscosity at the liquidus temperature (TL), ηL, is a critical parameter for the design of new glasses, particularly for industrial glass production where crystallization must be suppressed. However, a direct viscometric determination of ηL for a glass-forming system is difficult due to crystallization. Here we propose an alternative approach for determining ηL through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Specifically, DSC is used to measure both the viscosity curve and liquidus temperature of a glass-forming system and then derive its ηL value. The ηL values determined using DSC are found to be in excellent agreement with those measured through viscometry. The DSC approach is applicable to various glass-forming systems covering a wide range of fragilities and ηL values spanning over five orders of magnitude. Other advantages of this approach are its accuracy and small sample requirements.

A simple, cost-effective, and ultrafast microwave method for preparing ternary Cu-Co sulfides (CuCo2S4) is reported for the first time. The electrochemical tests demonstrate the highest specific capacitance of 580 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, and an good cycling stability demonstrated by a 80% capacitance retention after 2000 cycles at a current of 5 A g−1. An asymmetric supercapacitor based on CuCo2S4 as the positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as negative electrode is successfully assembled, the CuCo2S4//AC-ASC demonstrates good cycle performance (∼99.5% capacitance after 6000 cycles) and high energy density (15 W h kg−1 at a power density of 400 W kg−1) in the wide voltage region of 0–1.6 V. Meanwhile, two asymmetric supercapacitors links in series cannot only light a red light-emitting diode, but also drive a rotating motor.

A facile and cost-effective microwave method is developed to prepare ternary nickel cobalt sulfide (NiCo2S4) interconnected nanosheet arrays on nickel foam (NF). When acting as an electrochemical supercapacitor electrode material, the as-prepared NiCo2S4/NF shows a high specific capacitance of 1502 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1, and outstanding cycling stability of 91% capacitance retention after 8000 cycles. In addition, a asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) is composed of NiCo2S4/NF as positive electrode and activated carbon as negative electrode, which exhibits a high energy density of 34.7 W h kg−1 at a power density of 750 W kg−1 and long-term cyclic stability (83.7% capacity retention after 8000 cycles). Even at a high power density of 15 kW kg−1, it still remains an energy density of 17.9 W h kg−1, which is able to light up a light-emitting diode. These findings provide a new and facile approach to fabricate high-performance electrode for supercapacitors.

Three-dimensional flower-like molybdenum disulfide microspheres composed of nanosheets were prepared by a hydrothermal method using ammonium molybdate as the molybdenum source and thiourea as the sulfur source. Structural and morphological characterizations were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrochemical properties of MoS2 electrode were studied by performing cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). When used as an electrode material for supercapacitor, the hybrid MoS2 showed a high specific capacity of 518.7 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 and 275 F g−1 at a high discharge current density of 10 A g−1. In addition, a symmetric supercapacitor composed of MoS2 as positive and negative electrodes was prepared, which exhibited a high energy density of 12.46 W h kg−1 at a power density of 70 W kg−1 and still maintains an impressive energy density of 6.42 W h kg−1 at a large power density of 7000 W kg−1. The outstanding performance of the MoS2 electrode material indicates its great potential for applications in high-performance energy storage systems.

Zero-dimensional amorphous Ni3S4 quantum dots (QDs) are easy to agglomerate due to their huge surface energy and van der Waals force, and have a large number of interfaces that hinder electron transfer. Although the zeolite imidazole framework nanosheets (ZIN-P) have a conductive conjugated system, but the specific capacity is relatively low. Here, we propose a synergistic strategy that combines amorphous Ni3S4 QDs and ZIN-P, so that the electrochemical performance of the composite material is better than that of a single component. It was demonstrated that the electrochemical performance of the composite material can be enhanced twice versus that of amorphous Ni3S4 QDs and 6 times versus that of ZIN-P. Subsequently, Ni3S4 QDs@ZIN-P and activated carbon were assembled into an asymmetric supercapacitor, the energy density can reach 41.5 Wh kg−1. This work is expected to add new ideas for the rational design of electrode material structure.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a most common arrhythmia with high morbidity and mortality. However, the conventional detection of AF is time-consuming and laborious because it is mainly completed by physician's visual inspection of electrocardiogram (ECG). Thus, it is essential to build the intelligent computer-aided diagnosis system strategy for AF detection. In this work, we present a novel intelligent approach based on the multi-scale convolution kernel (MCK) and Squeeze-and-Excitation network (SENet) for AF detection. The model not only is able to overcome the limitations that exist in the single-scale convolution kernel of traditional convolution neural network (CNN), but also explicitly establish the inter-dependences between the extracted feature channels and screen out the critical ECG features for AF signals recognition, thus improving the model performance. The results demonstrate that the proposed model achieves noticeable performance improvements with the accuracy of 98.3% and 97.5% using a subject-independent validation scheme on the two public databases. Besides, the corresponding ablation experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed MCK strategy. To our knowledge, this is the first time to redesign the convolution kernel in traditional CNN for AF detection, while showing its great potential as an auxiliary tool to help physicians.

In this work, club-like glucose/copper cobalt sulfide (C@CuCo2S4) electrode material has been firstly synthesized via a hydrothermal method using glucose as a carbon source. The morphology and structure properties of the composite materials are investigated by SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, and EDS. The galvanostatic charge-discharge test of C@CuCo2S4 shows a great specific capacitance of 854 F g−1 at a discharge current density of 1 A g−1, which is much higher than that of the precursor CuCo2S4. Furthermore, an asymmetric supercapacitor using the C@CuCo2S4 electrode and activated carbon is assembled, which exhibits high energy density of 37.8 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 400 W kg−1 and excellent cycling stability with 96.5% capacitance retention after 7000 cycles at a current density of 5 A g−1. In addition, two asymmetric devices in a series have better practical application value.

In this reported work, S-Ni2(OH)2CO3@MWCNTs nanocomposites were prepared using a one-step hydrothermal method. Among them, S atoms are doped into Ni2(OH)2CO3 without replacing OH−, and there is electronic interaction between Ni2(OH)2CO3 and S atoms or MWCNTs. Finally, four materials with similar morphologies were prepared to establish a system model to determine how S doping affects the electrochemical performance of the host material. The experimental results show that S doping can improve the electrochemical performance of S-Ni2(OH)2CO3@MWCNTs. The asymmetric supercapacitors is assembled using S-Ni2(OH)2CO3@MWCNTs and activated carbon, with an energy density of 45 Wh kg−1 and excellent long-term cycle stability. This research provides a new strategy for improving the electrochemical performance of supercapacitor electrode materials.

In this reported work, Ni3S4 quantum dots (QDs) composite graphene/carbon nanotube (G/CNTs) composites were prepared using a one-step method. Among them, graphene is produced by carbon nanotubes and Ni catalyst. G/CNTs can not only prevent the agglomeration of Ni3S4 QDs, but also preclude this insulating drawback caused by the interface of QDs. XPS analysis data showed that after adding G/CNTs to Ni3S4 QDs, the electron interaction was stronger, which promotes the electron transport in the material. The electrochemical test results of the electrode material showed that G/CNTs increased the specific capacitance of the Ni3S4 QDs by 4.5 times and its rate capability from 22% to 82%. The energy density of asymmetric supercapacitor assembled with electrodes containing the Ni3S4 QDs@G/CNTs and activated carbon achieved 50 Wh kg−1. This work provides a reasonable way for improving the electrochemical performance of supercapacitor electrode materials.

Dy 2 Ti 2 O 7 ceramic samples were prepared via the solid-state reaction route. The dielectric properties of the sample were systematically investigated in the temperature range from 4 K to 973 K and the frequency range of 100 Hz to 1 MHz. Both Raman and low-temperature (down to 4 K) dielectric measurements indicate incipient ferroelectricity in the Dy 2 Ti 2 O 7 sample. In addition, two relaxations were observed in the temperature range above 450 K. Our results indicate that the two relaxations are related to conductivity relaxation associated with singly and doubly ionized oxygen vacancies.

ZnNb 2 O 6 ceramics were prepared via conventional solid-state reaction route. The dielectric properties of ZnNb 2 O 6 were investigated in the temperature range from room temperature (RT) to 700 °C and frequency range of 10 3 − 2 × 10 6 Hz. Our results revealed that the sample exhibits an intrinsic dielectric response with a dielectric constant of ∼20.9 below 150 °C followed by two thermally activated relaxations (R1 and R2) at higher temperatures. Both R1 and R2 are related to oxygen vacancies inherent in the sample. At temperatures higher than ∼550 °C, an external relaxation (R3) induced by dc bias was observed. By means of the dielectric permittivity, electric modulus, impedance and admittance, R1 was attributed to be a dipole-type relaxation due to the hoping motions of oxygen vacancies. R2 and R3 were ascribed to be a Maxwell-Wagner-type relaxation resulting from the space charge due to the hoping vacancies blocked by grain boundaries and electrodes, respectively.

The mixed alkaline earth effect (MAEE) is important for several families of industrial borosilicate and aluminosilicate glasses, including glasses used in pharmaceutical packaging and as substrates for flat panel displays. Despite the technological importance of the mixed alkaline earth effect, the physical origin of this phenomenon is not well understood, and there is currently no model to offer quantitative prediction of the effect. In this work, the MAEE is studied both experimentally and through modeling in a series of boroaluminosilicate glasses with systematic substitution of CaO with MgO. The network structure is characterized by magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) analyses of 27Al, 11B, 29Si, and 23Na. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are conducted to simulate the glass structures and calculate the evolution of the bond angle distributions with composition. Based on the structural data, a topological constraint model is proposed to capture the MAEE on glass transition temperature (Tg), liquid fragility index (m), and Young's modulus (E) of the glasses. Results of the topological constraint model are in good quantitative agreement with experimental data. The success of the constraint model confirms that the mixed alkaline earth effect is the result of a shift in angle around oxygen in the cation-oxygen-cation bond in the glass network. This is related to the constraint strength that ultimately governs the nonlinear property variation.

The dielectric properties of FeNbO 4 ceramics were systematically investigated in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 5 MHz and temperature from 75 to 300 K. It is observed that the sample exhibits colossal dielectric behavior and three dielectric relaxations. Both the low- and middle-temperature relaxations were found to be bulk effect related to localized carriers hopping. It is revealed that the low temperature relaxation is caused by the hopping motion of the self-trapped electrons and the middle temperature relaxation is related to the electrons hopping between Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ ions. By means of complex impedance analysis the high-temperature relaxation was argued to originate from Maxwell–Wagner relaxation due to grain boundary response.

In this paper, a simple, low-cost and fast microwave technology of growing vertically cross-linked manganese cobalt sulfide (MCS) on Ni foam (NF) is successfully developed for the first time. As a binder-free electrode for supercapacitors and delivers high capacitance of 2084 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, excellent rate performance (1200 F g−1 at 100 A g−1) and good cycling stability (80.6% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles). In addition, a asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) is composed of MCS/NF as positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as negative electrode. The asymmetric supercapacitor achieves a remarkable performance with a specific capacitance of 134.6 F g−1, an energy density of 48 Wh kg−1, and a power density of 11.8 kW kg−1, which is able to light up a light-emitting diode. This work not only provides a green and rapid synthesis method for preparing electrode materials, but also provides an innovative idea.

Oncocytic meningioma is an uncommon variant of meningioma, with only 20 reported cases to date, that is histologically characterized by the presence of neoplastic cells with granular eosinophilic cytoplasm rich in mitochondria. We present the clinicopathological features of a case of oncocytic meningioma in a 49-year-old Chinese female, along with a literature review. Brain computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a slightly hyperintense mass located in the right frontal region and attached to the dura. In addition, it was homogeneously enhanced following contrast administration. She underwent gross total surgical resection of the tumor and adjacent dura. Grossly, the well-demarcated, nonencapsulated mass had a solid and tan-white appearance with soft and rubbery consistency. The lesions were composed primarily of sheets, nests, and cords of large polygonal bland cells with finely granular eosinophilic cytoplasm rich in mitochondria. Mitotic figures were rare, and necrosis was absent. There was no infiltration of the dura or brain cortex. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the neoplastic cells were positive for vimentin, epithelial membrane antigen, antimitochondrial antibody, and progesterone receptor, whereas MIB-1 stained only approximately 1% of the tumor cells. This is the first known report of an oncocytic meningioma arising in a Chinese patient. The patient was followed for 19 months without any evidence of metastasis or recurrence.

In this study a 552-bp region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit III (COX3) was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced from individual Babesia species. Sequence variation between Babesia species from China ranged between 0 and 32.4%. We analyzed the phylogenetic performance of the partial sequence of the COX3 gene to resolve Babesia relationships as compared to the nuclear 18S rRNA and the mitochondrial cytochrome b (COB) gene, These data indicate that the COX3 gene seems to be superior to the COB gene and the 18S rRNA in recognizing close lineages among some Babesia species. Our work indicates that the COX3 gene does complement and corroborate the phylogenetic inferences observed with the nuclear 18S rRNA and the COB gene previously reported. The combined phylogenetic analysis based on the nuclear 18S rRNA and the COX3 gene significantly improved (bootstrap) intraspecies support of the phylogenetic relationship. The presence of additional variable sites in the COX3 gene allowed an improved interspecies differentiation of Babesia species in this study. The data could be applicable for the survey of parasite dynamics, epidemiological studies as well as prevention and control of the disease.

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a rare, locally aggressive well-differentiated endothelial tumor, which frequently develops from the peripheral veins. Meningeal EHE has only been reported in four previous cases. Here we report the case of a 38-year-old female with EHE of the meninges and secondary involvement of the skull. The patient presented with occasional headaches and slightly blurred vision. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed a mass under the occipital bone and parietal bone, with involvement of the skull. Total resection of the tumor and involved occipital bone was performed. Histopathologically, the tumor cells had abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and round nuclei arranged in sheets or in a nested pattern. Multiple vascular spaces containing red blood cells were observed. Intracytoplasmic vacuolization and occasional intraluminal erythrocytes were common. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were diffuse, intense staining for vascular markers and patchy immunoreactions for epithelial markers. Local recurrence was observed 1 month after surgery, but no regional or distant metastasis was found until 25 months. To our knowledge, this is the first case of EHE of meninges with skull involvement occurring in a female.

In this study, a mitochondrial marker consisting of an approximately 550-bp region of the Cytochrome b genes (COB) was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced from individual Babesia species. Sequence variation between Babesia species from China was 1.6–30.8%. The constructed phylogenetic tree based on the three unlinked gene sequences (partial COB gene, 18S rDNA and ITS) that evolve at different rates by the method of Neighbor-joining revealed the phylogenetic relationship of Babesia species in China compared with other published corresponding sequences from Babesia species. These data indicate that the 18S rDNA more reliably distinguish the deeper branches among some Babesia species than the partial COB gene and ITS, however, the partial COB gene sequence is better for recognizing close lineages among some Babesia species than the 18S rDNA and ITS sequences. So the combined phylogenetic analysis based on the multiple unlinked loci with different evolving rates can facilitate to establish the more reliable phylogenetic relationship of the Babesia genus. The data could be applicable for the survey of parasite dynamics, epidemiological studies as well as prevention and control of the disease.

Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to have critical regulatory roles in human cancer biology. LncRNA CCAT2 is a novel identified lncRNA that was previously reported to be up-regulated in different cancers, however, its role in prostate cancer remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and role of lncRNA CCAT2 in prostate cancer. The expression levels of lncRNA CCAT2 in PCa tissues and cell lines (DU145 and 22RV1) were evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and its association with prognosis of patients was analyzed by statistical analysis. Furthermore, the effect of CCAT2 on proliferation, migration, and invasion was studied in PCa cells. We found that the expression level of CCAT2 was higher in PCa tissues and cells compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues and normal prostate stromal immortalized cells WPMY-1. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that patients with high CCAT2 expression level had poorer overall survival and progression-free survival than those with low CCAT2 expression. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that the status of CCAT2 expression was an independent prognostic indicator for this disease. We also found that knockdown of CCAT2 could inhibit cell growth, migration, and invasion in vitro. In addition, knockdown of CCAT2 stimulated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through abrogating N-cadherin, vimentin expression and intensifing the expression levels of E-cadherin. In conclusion, our data suggested that lncRNA CCAT2 was a novel molecule involved in PCa progression, which provided a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for new therapies in patients with prostate cancer.

We studied the imaging and histopathological features of primary hepatic diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in order to explore the clinicopathological features, diagnosis, differential diagnoses, and treatment. Immunolabelling was performed in seven cases of primary hepatic diffuse large B-cell lymphoma using histological and immunohistochemical techniques. The clinical manifestations; imaging, histopathological, and immunohistochemical features; treatment; and prognosis of primary hepatic diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were observed and analyzed in light of the relevant literature. The average age of the seven patients was 63.4 years. Moreover, bulge of the upper right abdomen and progressive athrepsia and anemia were observed in all seven patients. Computed tomography (CT) revealed the presence of multiple solid hypodense lesions. Further, CT also revealed an enhanced irregular focus. Histopathological analysis revealed the following characteristics: heavy infiltration composed mainly of medium-sized round cells with a lightly stained cytoplasm, prominent nucleoli and vesicular nuclei, nuclear fission and visible sky star phenomena. The tumor cells showed diffuse expression of CD19, CD20, and CD79a, with the percentage of Ki67-positive cells being 75%-80%. All these findings indicated that primary hepatic diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is rare and generally has a poor prognosis. Biopsy and immunohistochemical staining are helpful in its diagnosis. Further, the differential diagnoses include secondary liver diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, low/undifferentiated cancer of the liver, hepatoblastoma, leukemia of the liver, and other tumors. Early surgery and chemotherapy can have a good curative effect.

In this work, bentonite magnetic nanoparticles synthesized by a typical coprecipitation method were used as the adsorbent for the magnetic solid-phase extraction of six quinolones (ciprofloxacin, difloxacin, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, sarafloxacin, and lomefloxacin) from milk samples followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection. Under the optimized conditions, the linear quantitation range for the six quinolones was 0.3-200 ng/mL, and the correlation coefficients of the calibration curves ranged from 0.9994 to 0.9999. The detection limit of the method was 0.1 ng/mL. Recoveries of quinolones from pure and low-fat spiked milk samples varied from 80.4 to 92.7% and from 81.3 to 93.5%, respectively. These results demonstrated that the proposed method for the determination of six quinolones in milk samples was rapid, reliable, and efficient.

Objective: We studied the clinicopathological features of type AB thymoma with liver metastases and explore the histological types, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, treatment and prognosis for this disease. Methods: Liver metastasis specimens were derived from one case of type AB thymoma 5 years after operation and were examined histologically using light microscopy and immunohistochemistry. A comprehensive analysis was performed on the patient’s clinical manifestations, histopathology, immunohistochemistry features, differential diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in combination with a review of the relevant literature. Results: Metastases were detected 5 years after initial operation on a 49-year-old, female patient with type AB thymoma. The pathological diagnosis for the liver metastases was type AB thymoma. Immunohistochemistry staining showed CKpan (+), CD3 (+), CD2 (+), TdT (+), CD5 (+), P53 (+), Hep-1 (-), and Ki67-positive cells (25%). The expression level of galectin-3 was higher than in the mediastinal thymoma tissue identified 5 years prior. Conclusion: Liver metastases of type AB thymoma are extremely rare. This case indicated that type AB thymoma with low malignant potential might recur and develop distant metastases. Overexpression of p53, galectin-3 and Ki67 in type AB thymoma might coordinately manipulate the process of development, progression and malignant transformation of type AB thymomas.

In this paper, control strategies of water and fertilizer precision irrigation are studied and water saving requirements are considered in the purpose of achieving accurate control of water and fertilizer ratio in agricultural irrigation and water conserving. This study mainly established a grey prediction model of water and focused on use of fertilizer in irrigation and implementation of fuzzy PID control. On a basis of grey prediction, the speed of water and fertilizer pump has been under fuzzy PID control. It also has made MATLAB simulation, and then applied to some actual projects effectively.

We studied images and histopathological features of primary esophageal malignant melanoma to explore the clinical pathological features, diagnosis, differential diagnoses, and treatment. Immunolabelling was conducted on six cases of esophageal malignant melanoma using histological and immunohistochemical techniques. Combined with the related literature, the clinical manifestations, imaging, histopathological and immunohistochemical features, treatment, and prognosis of primary esophageal malignant melanoma were observed and analyzed. The six patients with primary esophageal malignant melanoma were all male with an average age of 63.4 years. Poor food intake was observed in all patients, and the symptoms showed progressive aggravation. Endoscopic feed tube revealed dark brown and black nodular and polypoid lesions, 1/4-1/2 loop cavity. Tumor histopathology revealed the following characteristics: tumor cells arranged in nests, sheets and cords, round or polygonal, abundant and red-stained cytoplasm, melanin granules in the cytoplasm, heterogeneous nucleus sizes, centered or deviated nuclei, clearly identifiable nucleoli, and apparent pathological mitosis. The immune phenotype was as follows: tumor cells had diffuse expression of HMB45, Melan A, and S100. The cells were CK negative, and the Ki67-positive cell number was 40%-45%. Primary esophageal malignant melanoma is rare with high malignancy and poor prognosis. Immunohistochemical staining is helpful for diagnosing this tumor. The differential diagnosis includes low differentiated carcinoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor, esophageal sarcomatoid carcinoma, esophageal lymphoma, and other tumors.

Piroplasmosis is a serious debilitating and sometimes fatal disease. Phylogenetic relationships within piroplasmida are complex and remain unclear. We compared the intron–exon structure and DNA sequences of the RPS8 gene from Babesia and Theileria spp. isolates in China. Similar to 18S rDNA, the 40S ribosomal protein S8 gene, RPS8, including both coding and non-coding regions is a useful and novel genetic marker for defining species boundaries and for inferring phylogenies because it tends to have little intra-specific variation but considerable inter-specific difference. However, more samples are needed to verify the usefulness of the RPS8 (coding and non-coding regions) gene as a marker for the phylogenetic position and detection of most Babesia and Theileria species, particularly for some closely related species.

Background: Borreliosis are among both the longest known and most recently recognized infectious diseases. Although Borrelia species have been isolated in many parts of the world including China, Little is known about the epidemiology of Borrelia burgdorferi pathogen in domestic animals from Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China (XUAR). Methods: In an attempt to assess the potential risk of B. burgdorferi infection in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, a total of 99 blood samples collected from domestic animals in the north of XUAR were screened by polymerase chain reaction based on the 5S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer and flagellin gene. Results: 14 of the 99 specimens (14%) were found to be positive by PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of 5S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer and flagellin gene sequences identified a B. burgdorferi- like bacteria, Ili district (10/72, 13.8%) and Altay district (4/27, 14.8%). Conclusions: This study has reported the occurrence of B. burgdorferi- like bacteria in Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China and suggested that B. burgdorferi bacteria encompassed a large area in China. Further studies on the characterization and culture of B. burgdorferi- like bacteria found in domestic animals should be performed to further clarify this. Additionally, the screening of human specimens for borreliosis in this region will define the incidence of infection.

OBJECTIVE To study the variation in plasma concentration after oral administration of Danshen multi-component osmotic pump tablets in Beagle dogs with conventional Danshen tablets as the control preparation, in order to assess the sustained release of Danshen multi-component osmotic pump tablets. METHOD HPLC was adopted for determination, with Shimadzu's ODS-SP column (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 microm), flow rate of 1 mL x min(-1), and column temperature of 30 degrees C. Protein in plasma samples of tanshinone II(A) and salvianolic acid B was removed by ethyl acetate extract and acetone precipitation method respectively. Their pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated based on determination results. RESULT The methodology study on the two constituents with different polarity showed conformity to the requirements. Compared with conventional Danshen tablets, Danshen multi-component osmotic pump tablets showed decrease in Cmax and extension in Tmax after oral administration in Beagle dogs. CONCLUSION Danshen multi-component osmotic pump tablet has a good sustained-release effect compared with conventional Danshen tablets.

Made LLC-PK1 damage model induced by high glucose and observing the protection effect and its mechanisms of LLC-PK1 injury induced by high glucose.The proliferation of LLC-PK1 induced by high glucose was tested by CCK-8 and the apoptosis rat and the contents of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of LLC-PK1 damaged by high glucose was observed by flow cytometry after administration of different concentration alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).High glucose could obviously inhibit the proliferation of LLC-PK1 The apoptotic rates of LLC-PK1 intervened by ALA (50-100 micromol/L) in the preconditioning group and the persistent intervention group were lower than those in the positive control group (P0.05). The contents of ROS of LLC-PK1 in the persistent intervention group were lower than those in the positive control group when the concentration of ALA were from 10 micromol/L to 100 micromol/L (P0.05, P0.01). The contents of ROS of LLC-PK1 in the preconditioning group were lower than those in the positive control group when the concentration of ALA was 50 micromol/L (P0.05).The model of LLC-PK1 induced by high glucose provided fine chances for the intervention of renal tubular epithelial cells in DN. ALA were expected to be a protectant to prevent high glucose damage of renal tubulars. Decreasing the active oxygen generation may be one of the mechanism of the protective effects on LLC-PK1 by ALA.

Malignant transformation in a gastric duplication cyst (GDC) is extremely rare, with only eight reported cases to date. An additional case of an adenocarcinoma arising from a GDC in a 25-year-old male is reported here. Ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT) scans detected a well-defined cyst arising from the greater curvature of the stomach. The patient was submitted to en-bloc resection of the mass with total gastrectomy and regional lymphadenectomy. At the time of laparotomy, the unilocular cyst was full of a thick substance and had no association with the gastric lumen. Microscopic examination revealed that the cystic mass had a well-formed cyst wall with an inner mucosal lining, submucosal layer, muscularis propria, and outer serosal layer. The inner cyst was lined by gastric mucosa. A mediated differentiated adenocarcinoma was found in the duplication cyst, which had invaded the serosa of the cyst wall and the gastric muscular wall. To our knowledge, this is the youngest and only asymptomatic patient in whom neoplastic GDC changes have been reported.

A rare case of xeroderma pigmentosum coexisted with keratoacanthoma in an 18-month-old boy was reported. The boy was admitted with unequal size, irregularly shaped brown spots, patches and depigmentation spots on his face. A well-circumscribed hemispherical mass measuring 3 cm × 3 cm with smooth surface and brown patches was observed beneath his left lower eyelid. Light microscopic examination of the skin lesions revealed epidermal hyperkeratosis, chronic inflammatory infiltration of the superficial dermal layer, and increases in melanocytes and melanin in the basal layer. The mass beneath the left lower eyelid was cup-shaped, consisting of proliferating squamous cells with a central keratin plug. The squamous epithelium was acanthotic with hypergranulosis. The adjacent epidermis formed exophytic projections resulting in a silhouette likened to lips. The patient was treated with a combination of antioxidant drugs, keeping the child from light and surgical excision of the mass. No recurrence has been observed.