Search

NUAK1 is a serine/threonine kinase that has been shown to be associated with poor prognosis in several cancers. Although NUAK1 is frequently overexpressed at the transcript level in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the actual role of NUAK1 and the mechanism of its overexpression in HCC has yet to be reported. In the present study, we found that NUAK1 expression was significantly increased in human HCC tumor tissues. Overexpression of NUAK1 dramatically enhanced HCC cells proliferation and migration in vitro. Stable induction of NUAK1 expression promoted tumor growth and tumor metastases to the lungs in the subcutaneous xenograft models and intravenous metastasis models. At the cellular level, enforced expression of Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) activated the Akt signaling pathway, thereby promoting the mRNA and protein expression of NUAK1 in HCC cells. By contrast, depletion of DKK1 was found to attenuate the mRNA and protein expression of NUAK1. In the subcutaneous xenograft models, stable induction of DKK1 expression not only accelerated tumor growth but also increased p-Akt and NUAK1 expression; whereas knockdown of DKK1 inhibited tumor growth, p-Akt and NUAK1 expression. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis of 20 HCC clinical samples showed that the expression level of NUAK1 was positively correlated with DKK1 and p-Akt. Taken together, we provide the first evidence that DKK1 promotes NUAK1 transcriptional expression via the activation Akt in HCC.

To systematically assess the efficacy of psychological intervention for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) in easing negative emotion and improving quality of life, so as to provide evidence-based reference for clinical psycho-intervention of HNC patients.PubMed, Central, Embase, clinicaltrials.gov, ICTRP, Web of science, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and Wan Fang database were searched from inception to 15th, May for randomized controlled trails conducted to assess psychological intervention for HNC patients. The retrieval, screening, quality evaluation, and data extraction were elaborately proceeded by two reviewers independently. Meta analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software.Eighteen RCTs were included with 2 097 participants. Meta analysis showed that compared to control group, psychological intervention group manifested greater decrease in anxiety scores [SMD=-2.33, 95%CI（-2.96，-1.70）, P＜0.000 01] and depression scores [SMD=-2.26, 95%CI（-2.78，-1.74）, P＜0.000 01], and better increase in QOL scores [SMD=6.04, 95%CI（1.53，10.56）, P=0.009] and SQL-90 scores [MD=29.99, 95%CI（-36.22, -23.76），P＜0.000 01].The anxiety and depression of HNC patients can be effectively relieved through psychological intervention, so that their quality of life and metal health status can be improved. Due to the limitation of quality of included RCT , the result remains to be further validated by more well-designed and better-qualified study.

Insular thyroid carcinoma (ITC) is an uncommon poorly differentiated thyroid malignancy. Due to its rarity, its demographic and clinicopathological features and survival remains unclear. The present study aimed to describe the features and survival of ITC, determine its prognostic factors, and establish a prognostic nomogram.Patients with ITC were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 2004 to 2019. The features and survival of patients with ITC and other thyroid carcinomas were compared after balancing the baseline characteristics using propensity score matching (PSM). Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were used to identify the prognostic factors for ITC. Moreover, overall survival (OS)- or cancer-specific survival (CSS)-specific nomograms were established to predict ITC prognosis.A total of 206 patients with ITCs were identified. The 1-, 2-, 5-, and 10-year OS rates of 206 patients with ITC were 90.3%, 82.0%, 62.2%, and 42.5%, respectively. The median OS was 93 months (95% CI, 73.0-140.0), while the median CSS was 141 months (95% CI, 93.0-173.0). After PSM analysis, the survival analysis of the matched cohort revealed that ITC had a worse clinical outcome than papillary thyroid cancer and follicular thyroid cancer, and better survival than anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that age, N stage, M stage, and surgery were independent prognostic factors for both OS and CSS in ITC patients. The C-indices for the OS- and CSS-specific nomograms were 0.778 (95% CI, 0.724-0.832) and 0.808 (95% CI, 0.754-0.862), respectively. The calibration curve and ROC analysis indicated that the nomogram models exhibited a good discriminative ability. Decision curve analysis suggested that the nomogram models had a significant positive net benefit and were better than the traditional TNM staging system at predicting survival.ITC has distinct clinicopathological characteristics and survival compared to other thyroid carcinomas, and the established nomogram could predict the survival probability of patients with ITC accurately with a higher net benefit.

Human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) are considered promising multipotent cell sources for tissue regeneration. Regulation of apoptosis and maintaining the cell homeostasis is a critical point for the application of hDPSCs. Osteomodulin (OMD), a member of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan family, was proved an important regulatory protein of hDPSCs in our previous research. Thus, the role of OMD in the apoptosis of hDPSCs was explored in this study. The expression of OMD following apoptotic induction was investigated and then the hDPSCs stably overexpressing or knocking down OMD were established by lentiviral transfection. The proportion of apoptotic cells and apoptosis-relative genes and proteins were examined with flow cytometry, Hoechst staining, Caspase 3 activity assay, qRT-PCR and western blotting. RNA-Seq analysis was used to explore possible biological function and mechanism. Results showed that the expression of OMD decreased following the apoptotic induction. Overexpression of OMD enhanced the viability of hDPSCs, decreased the activity of Caspase-3 and protected hDPSCs from apoptosis. Knockdown of OMD showed the opposite results. Mechanistically, OMD may act as a negative modulator of apoptosis via activation of the Akt/Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β)/β-Catenin signaling pathway and more functional and mechanistic possibilities were revealed with RNA-Seq analysis. The present study provided evidence of OMD as a negative regulator of apoptosis in hDPSCs. Akt/GSK-3β/β-Catenin signaling pathway was involved in this process and more possible mechanism detected needed further exploration. This anti-apoptotic function of OMD provided a promising application prospect for hDPSCs in tissue regeneration.

To investigate the current status of oral health cognition behavior and oral health status of children, and to provide countermeasures for the prevention and treatment of oral diseases in children.A total of 387 primary school students in the urban area of Shanghai from December 2018 to February 2019 were surveyed using Children's Oral Health Questionnaire and child oral health impact profile（COHIP）. SPSS 24.0 software package was used to conduct statistical analysis of the results through descriptive, univariate and multivariate analysis.The cognition of oral health of children aged 6-9 years old in Shanghai urban area was generally good, but their oral health behavior was average. The caries rate of 387 children reached 57.4%, and the oral health status was not good. Correlation analysis and regression analysis showed that children's oral health behavior was positively correlated with oral health cognition（r=0.260，P0.05）, and negatively correlated with positive and negative effects of oral health status（r=-0.333，-0.181，P0.05）, while children's oral health cognition had no significant effect on their oral health status（P0.05）.The better the oral health behavior habits of children, the greater the positive impact on oral health status; the development of oral health education for children requires more attention to the cultivation of oral health behavior patterns.

BACKGROUND Baicalein, one of the major flavonoids in the plant [i]Scutellaria baicalensis[/i], can regulate the invasive ability of cancer cells. The invasion of trophoblasts is similar to the invasion of tumor cells into host tissues. The appropriate invasion of trophoblast cells into the endometrium is an important factor for successful embryo implantation. In this research, we investigated the effect of baicalein on the invasion and migration of trophoblast cells and its possible molecular mechanism. MATERIAL AND METHODS We treated HTR-8/SVneo cells with different concentrations (0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 µM) of baicalein. The invasion and migration abilities of HTR-8/SVneo cells were studied. Protein levels and gene expression related to invasion and migration were analyzed by Western blot analysis and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, respectively. RESULTS Baicalein enhanced the migration and invasion of HTR-8/SVneo cells. In addition, gene expression and protein levels of MMP-9 in HTR-8/SVneo cells changed in the presence of baicalein. Moreover, the data show that baicalein activated the NF-κB pathway. Baicalein was also able to rescue effects of an NF-κB-specific inhibitor (JSH-23) on the migration and invasion of HTR-8/SVneo cells. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, our results indicate that baicalein enhances migration and invasion of HTR-8/SVneo cells, which is important for successful pregnancy.

We investigate the role of the coherent displacements in the entanglement and the quantum teleportation when PS-TMSCs considered as an entangled resource. We find that the scheme of asymmetric photon-subtraction operation and the displacement parameters involving in the two-mode squeezed coherent state (TMSCs) will decrease the EPR correlation and the fidelity of the coherent teleportation. While the EPR correlation and the fidelity of the coherent teleportation can be effectively enhanced by the symmetric photon subtraction. In addition, the improvement increases with the number of the symmetric operations in small-squeezing regime.

We investigate how the photon-subtraction operation affects the quantum optical nonclassicalities and the entanglement of photon-subtracted two-mode squeezed coherent states (PS-TMSCS). For such non-Gaussian entangled states, the normalization factor and Mandel Q parameter, as well as, the quantity of the Hillery–Zubairy inequality are analytically derived, and they are all periodic functions of the compound phase χ = ϕ 1 + ϕ 2 − θ involved in the TMSCS. We show that the fields in such states exhibit remarkable sub-Poissonian photon statistics, especially at the optimal phase χ = 0. The Wigner function of the PS-TMSCS is modulated by a factor which is related to two-variable Hermite polynomials. And the shape of the Wigner function is phase-sensitive, which is different from that of the TMSCS. As characterized by the Hillery–Zubairy entanglement criterion, we show that the quantity of Hillery–Zubairy E gets more negative not only for a larger value of r but also for greater values of photon subtraction numbers ( m , n ) at the optimal compound phase = 0.

We theoretically investigate the quantum enhanced metrology using two-mode squeezed twin-Fock states and parity detection. Our results indicate that, for a given initial squeezing parameter, compared with the two-mode squeezed vacuum state, both phase sensitivity and resolution can be enhanced when the two-mode squeezed twin-Fock state is considered as an input state of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. Within a constraint on the total photon number, although the two-mode squeezed vacuum state gives the better phase sensitivity when the phase shift φ to be estimated approaches to zero, the phase sensitivity offered by these non-Gaussian entangled Gaussian states is relatively stable with respect to the phase shift itself. When the phase shift slightly deviates from φ = 0, the phase sensitivity can be still enhanced by the two-mode squeezed twin-Fock state over a broad range of the total mean photon number where the phase uncertainty is still below the quantum standard noise limit. Finally, we numerically prove that the quantum Cramér–Rao bound can be approached with the parity detection.

The herbal medicine Yin Huang Mixture (YHHJ; patent no. 200910031240.7) is an aqueous extract composed from various herbs, including Artemisia capillaries Thunb, Hypericum japonicum Thunb, Eucommia ulmoides Oliver, Rheum officinale Baill, Gardenia jasminoides Ellis, Poria cocos Wolf and Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz. Previous studies have indicated that YHHJ treatment has a beneficial effect on ameliorating itching and reducing serum bile acid levels in patients with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). However, the molecular mechanisms of action of YHHJ in ICP have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, the present study investigated an experimental hepatocellular cholestasis model to explore the regulatory role of YHHJ on the expression of the bile acid carriers, multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) and the bile salt export pump (BSEP). Initially, 5 mg/kg/day 17-α ethinylestradiol (EE) was used to induce cholestasis in rats and primary isolated rat hepatocytes. Subsequently, 9 or 36 g/kg/day YHHJ water extract was administrated. Blood samples were collected and serum biochemical parameters of total bile acids (TBA), total bilirubin (TBil), alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase levels were determined. Rat livers and primary isolated rat hepatocytes were obtained and the protein and mRNA expression levels of MRP2 and BSEP were analyzed by western blot analysis and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Results revealed that EE-induced hepatocellular cholestasis was associated with a significant increase in serum TBA and TBil levels, whereas, YHHJ treatment significantly reversed this effect (P

We set up the fermionic thermal entangled state approach to address Fermi operator master equations for the amplitude- and phase-decay processes and find the explicit Kraus operator-sum representations (KOSR) describing time-evolution of Fermi systems. As an application of KOSR, the evolution law of the two-level atomic system interacting with a photon field in these two decay processes is analytically derived, which shows that the interaction system has a quantum jump as a result of dissipation, but it always remains unchanged in the phase-decay process.

Background Lung cancer is a disease with a poor prognosis and psychological impact. Lung cancer causes both physical and psychological burdens on patients, and financial burdens on families and society. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between depression and influencing factors in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods A quantitative study was applied. Data was obtained from the Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital in China. One hundred and four patients with NSCLC were surveyed. Self-rating depression scale (SDS), social support rating scale (SSRS), and visual analog scale (VAS) were used. Results Among the 104 patients, 48 (46.1%) were diagnosed with depression. Gender (P = 0.000), disease duration (P = 0.006), self-care ability (P = 0.004), and pain (P = 0.003) were statistically significant predictors of self-reported depression in non-small-cell lung cancer patients. Conclusions Self-reported depression is highly prevalent in NSCLC patients. In addition, gender, disease duration, self-care ability, pain and social support may increase self-reported depression.

We investigate how photon addition operations affect some higher-order nonclassical properties and the intermodal entanglement of a non-Gaussian entangled state generated by adding photons to both modes of a two-mode squeezed coherent state (TMSCS). We show that the photon addition operation can enhance the degrees of the sum squeezing and the difference squeezing for appropriate combinations of several parameters involved in the TMSCS. We consider the existing Hillery-Zubairy entanglement criterion, and find that the quantity of Hillery-Zubairy E gets more negative not only for a larger value of the squeezing parameter r but also for greater values of photon addition numbers ( m , n ). Our results may imply that the highest enhancement is obtained when same number of operations (i.e., m = n ) is applied to both modes. However, for the photon-added TMSCS (PA-TMSCS), the more violation to the Hillery-Zubairy inequality does not necessarily following strong sum squeezing and difference squeezing. This because their behaviors with three phases and squeezing parameter r involved in the TMSCS are somewhat different.

The unitary equivalence of different bipartite entangled states with continuous variables under unitary transformations are investigated. With the help of the technique of integration within an ordered product of operators, the corresponding unitary operators are also derived. These results may deepen people's understanding to the various bipartite entangled states, and enrich the representations and transformations theory in quantum mechanics.

We investigate the sensitivity of phase estimation in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer with photon-subtracted two-mode squeezed vacuum states. Our results show that, for given initial squeezing parameter, both symmetric and asymmetric photon subtractions can further improve the quantum Cramér–Rao bound (i.e., the ultimate phase sensitivity), especially for single-mode photon subtraction. On the other hand, the quantum Cramér–Rao bound can be reached by parity detection for symmetric photon-subtracted two-mode squeezed vacuum states at particular values of the phase shift, but it is not valid for asymmetric photon-subtracted two-mode squeezed vacuum states. In addition, compared with the two-mode squeezed vacuum state, the phase sensitivity via parity detection with asymmetric photon-subtracted two-mode squeezed vacuum states will be getting worse. Thus, parity detection may not always be the optimal detection scheme for nonclassical states of light when they are considered as the interferometer states.

Three new metal–organic coordination polymers, [Co2(bbix)3(dnba)4(H2O)]·0.5bbix (1), [Co(bbix)1.5(aip)]·H2O (2) and [Co(bbix)(fma)]·3H2O (3) (bbix = 1,4-bis(benzimidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene, Hdnba = 3,5-dinitrobenzoate acid, H2aip = 5-amino-isophthalic acid and H2fma = fumaric acid), were obtained under hydrothermal conditions and structurally characterized. Coordination polymer 1 shows a linear chain formed by dinuclear [Co2(dnba)4(H2O)] units and bbix ligands. The chains are further extended into a supramolecular layer by π–π stacking interactions between dnba and bbix. Coordination polymer 2 features a layer constructed from CoII ions and bbix ligands, and the aip anions only consolidate the layer structure. Coordination polymer 3 possesses a three-dimensional (3D) 3-fold interpenetrated diamond framework. In 3, the fma anions link the CoII ions to form a wave-like chain, which is further extended into a 3D architecture by the bbix ligands. The structural analyses clearly indicate that the nature of the secondary auxiliary ligands can effectively influence the coordination environments of the CoII ions and the dimensionality of the coordination polymers 1–3. In addition, the electrochemical and photoluminescent properties of 1–3, as well as magnetic properties of 1, have been investigated.

Three new metal-organic coordination polymers [Co(4-bbc)2(bbbm)] (1), [Co(3,5-pdc)(bbbm)]·2H2O (2) and [Co(1,4-ndc)(bbbm)] (3) (4-Hbbc=4-bromobenzoic acid, 3,5-H2pdc=3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid, 1,4-H2ndc=1,4-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid and bbbm=1,1-(1,4-butanediyl)bis-1H-benzimidazole) were hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized. Polymer 1 is a 1D chain formed by the bbbm ligands and CoII ions. Polymer 2 exhibits a 2D network with a (3·4·5)(32·4·5·62·74) topology. Polymer 3 possesses a 3D three-fold interpenetrating framework. The versatile structures of title polymers indicate that the aromatic carboxylates have an important influence on the dimensionality of 1–3. Moreover, the thermal stability, electrochemical and luminescent properties of 1–3 were investigated.

To investigate the effects and the molecular mechanisms of fucoxanthin, a major carotenoid found in edible seaweed, on HeLa cells. The cytotoxicity of fucoxanthin was evaluated using MTT assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis were evaluated using flow cytometric analysis. Autophagy was detected with acridine orange staining and transient transfection of the GFP-LC3 plasmid into the cells. Protein expression was detected with Western blotting. Treatment of HeLa cells with fucoxanthin (10–80 μmol/L) for 48 h caused dose-dependent cytotoxicity with an IC50 value of 55.1±7.6 μmol/L. Fucoxanthin (10, 20, and 40 μmol/L) dose-dependently induced G0/G1 arrest, but did not change the apoptosis of HeLa cells. The same concentrations of fucoxanthin dose-dependently increased the protein expression of LC3 II (the autophagosome marker) and Beclin 1 (the initiation factor for autophagosome formation) in HeLa cells. Moreover, fucoxanthin dose-dependently decreased the levels of phosphorylated Akt and its downstream proteins p53, p70S6K, and mTOR, and increases the expression of PTEN in HeLa cells. Pretreatment of HeLa cells with 3-methyladenine (5 mmol/L) blocked the cytotoxic effect of fucoxanthin as well as fucoxanthin-induced autophagy. Fucoxanthin exerts autophagy-dependent cytotoxic effect in HeLa cells via inhibition of Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Four new metal–organic complexes [Co2(bbix)4(2,6-pdc)2]·4H2O (1), [Co(bbbm)1.5(2,6-pdc)]·2H2O (2), [Ni(bbmmb)2(dnba)2(H2O)2] (3) and [Ni(bbbm)1.5(dnba)2(H2O)]·(0.5bbbm)(H2O) (4) (bbix = 1,4-bis(benzimidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene, bbbm = 1,1′-(1,4-butanediyl)bis-1H-benzimidazole, bbmmb = 4,4′-bis(benzimidazol-1-ylmethyl)biphenyl, 2,6-H2pdc = 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid and Hdnba = 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid) constructed from bis(benzimidazole)-based ligands with different flexibility and organic carboxylates co-ligands have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Complex 1 possesses a binuclear Co2(bbix)2 ring. The adjacent binuclear units are packed into a one-dimensional (1D) supramolecular chain through very weak π–π stacking interactions. Complex 2 shows a two-dimensional (2D) 3-connected (63) topology connected by the flexible bbbm ligands. Complex 3 features a discrete mononuclear structure. The adjacent mononuclear units are linked by the H-bond interactions to form a 1D supramolecular chain. Complex 4 exhibits a 1D infinite chain formed by the Ni2(bbbm)2 rectangular macrocycles and bbbm ligands. The results clearly reveal that the flexibility of bis(benzimidazole)-based ligands have a great influence on the dimensionality and final structures of 1–4. The electrochemical and fluorescence properties for 1–4 have been investigated.

Two new two-dimensional (2D) metal–organic coordination polymers [Co(ox)(bbbm)]·H2O (1) and [Cu(ox)(bppdca)]·2H2O (2) (H2ox = oxalic acid, bbbm = 1,1-(1,4-butanediyl)bis-1H-benzimidazole and bppdca = N,N′-bis(pyridin-3-yl)-2,6-pyridinedicarboxamide) were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and structurally characterized. Both 1 and 2 exhibit a 2D four-connected network formed by the CoII/CuII ions as four-connected nodes; and, the ox anions and bbbm/bppdca ligands as linkers with a (44.62) topology as determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. In addition, the thermal stability, electrochemical and luminescent properties for 1 and 2 were investigated.

Two new metal–organic coordination polymers [Co4(bbbm)4(1,2-BDC)4(H2O)]·2H2O (1) and [Co(bbbm)(1,4-BDC)] (2) (bbbm = 1,1-(1,4-butanediyl)bis-1H-benzimidazole, 1,2-H2BDC = 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid and 1,4-H2BDC = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid) were obtained under hydrothermal conditions and structurally characterized. Polymer 1 exhibits a two-dimensional (2D) 4-connected network with the CoII ions as four-connected nodes, and the bbbm and 1,2-BDC ligands as linkers. Polymer 2 possesses a novel three-dimensional (3D) 3-fold interpenetrated framework. The position of carboxyl groups for benzenedicarboxylates dominates the final structures of 1 and 2. Furthermore, elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, electrochemical properties and solid state fluorescence for 1 and 2 were investigated.

Two new polymeric networks, [Co(pbbm)(nip)] · H2O (1) and [Ni(pbbm)(nip) · (H2O)] (2) (pbbm = 1,1-(1,3-propanediyl)bis-1H-benzimidazole, H2nip = 5-nitroisophthalic acid) have been hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 is an interesting one-dimensional (1D) tube-like chain utilizing [Co2(pbbm)2] metallocycle as subunit. Complex 2 is also an interesting 1D tube-like chain based on [Ni2(pbbm)2] loop subunit. In the title complexes, the π-π stacking and H-bonding interactions extend the 1D tube into 3D supramolecular framework, respectively. The structural differences between the title complexes indicate the importance of metal ions for the creation of molecular architectures. Furthermore, the luminescent properties of 1 and 2 were investigated.

Three new CoII coordination polymers, namely [Co(DNBA)2(pbdmbm)] (1), [Co2(H2O)2(DNBA)2(ebdmbm)2] (2) and [Co2(DNBA)2(pbbm)2] (3) have been obtained by hydrothermal reactions of CoII with flexible bis(benzimidazole) ligands [1,1′-(1,3-propanediyl)bis(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole) (pbdmbm), 1,1′-(1,2-ethanediyl)bis(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole) (ebdmbm), 1,1′-(1,3-propanediyl)bis(benzimidazole) (pbbm)] plus 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (HDNBA). The complexes have been characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analyses, IR and TG. Complexes 1 and 3 exhibit one-dimensional chains composed of CoII centers bridged by flexible bis(benzimidazole) ligands. Complex 2 is a three-dimensional NaCl-type supramolecular framework constructed from binuclear units, which are formed by two CoII centers and two ebdmbm ligands. The spacer length and substituents on the bis(benzimidazole) ligands are crucial for the construction of these structures. The photoluminescence properties of the complexes and the cyclic voltammetry behavior of complex 1 are described.

Three new polymeric frameworks, [Ni(bbbm)(L1)2] n (1), [Ni(bbbm)(L2)2] n (2), and {[Co(bbbm)(L3)]·H2O} n (3) (bbbm = 1,4-bis(N-benzimidazolyl) butane, HL1 = 4-bromobenzoic acid, HL2 = 3-methylbenzoic acid, and H2L3 = glutaric acid) have been hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 features a one-dimensional (1D) linear chain structure bridged by bbbm ligands, which is further connected into a supramolecular double chain structure through intermolecular π–π stacking interactions. Complex 2 contains 1D zigzag chain, which is further arranged into a 2D supramolecular architecture by hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking interactions. In the structure of 3, there are infinite 1D zigzag Co(II)-bbbm chains linked together by L3 ligands to generate an undulated 2D (4,4) sheet, which is further connected by intermolecular π–π stacking interactions to form a 3D supramolecular network. Furthermore, thermal stability and luminescent property of 1–3 were investigated. Three new two/three-dimensional supramolecular complexes [Ni(bbbm)(L1)2] n (1), [Ni(bbbm)(L2)2] n (2), and {[Co(bbbm)(L3)]·H2O} n (3) [bbbm = 1,4-bis(N-benzimidazolyl) butane] have been synthesized from hydrothermal reaction of a metal salt with ligands: bbbm and one carboxylate ligand, 4-bromobenzoic acid (HL1), 3-methylbenzoic (HL2), and glutaric acid (H2L3).

Air pressure amplitude serves as a critical control parameter in periodic pressure solid state fermentation process. Effects of air pressure amplitudes on thermostable xylanase production byThermomyces lanuginosusSD-21 were investigated. Under the optimum periodic pressure amplitude, namely: at lower limit of 0.05 MPa and upper limit of 1.5 MPa. Among the lignocellulosic substrates tested, corn cob and wheat bran supported a high xylanase (EC 3.2.1.8) secretion byHumicola lanuginosain solid-state fermentation (SSF). Enzyme production reached a peak in 96 h followed by a decline thereafter. Enzyme production was very high, xylanase activity 8237 IU /g of dry moldy bran can be obtained in the system compared with 4520 IU/g in conventional tray fermenter, cultivation of the mold in large enamel trays yielded a xylanase titer comparable with that in flasks. Parametric optimization resulted in a 45.13% increase in enzyme production in PPSSF.

Three new polymeric frameworks, [Cd(bbbi)(ita)(H2O)] · H2O (1), [Cd(bbbi)(fma)] (2), and [Cd(bbbi)(fma)(H2O)] · 2H2O (3) (bbbi = 1,1-(1,4-butanediyl)bis-1 H-benzimidazole, H2ita = itaconic acid, and H2fma = fumaric acid), have been hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 is a 2-D (4,4) network containing infinite 1-D zigzag Cd(II)-bbbi chains linked by auxiliary ita ligands. In the structure of 2, infinite 1-D linear Cd(II)-bbbi chains are linked by fma ligands to generate an undulated 2-D (4,4) network. In 3, an in situ ligand transformation occurred with malate converted to H2fma by dehydration. Thus, a 2-D (4,4) grid network constructed from bbbi and fma was obtained. The carboxylates with different substituents play an important role in the formation of the final frameworks and coordination modes of Cd(II). Thermal stability and luminescent properties of 1–3 were investigated.

Conserved domain such as nucleotide binding site (NBS) was found in several cloned plant disease resistance genes. Based on the NBS domain, resistance gene analogues (RGAs) have been isolated. A full-length cDNA, SPR1 was obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method. Sequence analysis indicated that the length of SPR1 was 3 066 bp, including a complete open reading frame of 2 667 bp encoding SPR1 protein of 888 amino acids. Compared with known NBS-LRR genes, it presented relatively high amino acid sequence identity. The polypeptide has a typical structure of nonTIR-NBS-LRR genes, with NB-ARC, CC, and LRR domains. The SPR1-related sequences belonged to multicopy gene family in sweetpotato genome according to the result of Southern blotting. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed SPR1 expressed in all tested tissues. The cloning of putative resistance gene from sweetpotato provides a basis for studying the structure and function of sweetpotato disease-resistance relating genes and disease resistant genetic breeding in sweetpotato. The gene has been submitted to the GenBank database, and the accession number is EF428453.

1-Amino-2-pyrid-3-yl-5-(2-benzoylethylthio)-s-triazole (1) was condensed with 1-amino-3-mercapto-5- [(un)substituted phenyl]-s-triazoles and subsequently substituted with chloroacetic acid to afford bis-s-triazole sulfanylacetic acid mono-Schiff bases (3a–3e), which were condensed with 9-formylanthracene to produce asymmetric bis(s-triazole Schiff base) sulfanylacetic acids (4a–4e). The structures of new synthesized compounds were characterized by elemental analysis and spectral data, and their in vitro antitumor activity against L1210, CHO and HL60 cell lines was evaluted via the respective IC50 values by methylthiazole trazolium (MTT) assay.

Excessive release of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) protein from ischemic cardiomyocytes activates inflammatory cascades and enhances myocardial injury after reperfusion. Here we report evidence that electroacupuncture of mice at Neiguan acupoints can inhibit the up-regulation of cardiac HMGB1 following myocardial ischemia and attenuate the associated inflammatory responses and myocardial injury during reperfusion. These benefits of electroacupuncture were partially reversed by administering recombinant HMGB1 to the mice and further potentiated by administering anti-HMGB1 antibody. Electroacupuncture-induced inhibition of HMGB1 release was markedly reduced by unilateral vagotomy or administration of nicotinic receptor antagonist, but not by chemical sympathectomy. The cholinesterase inhibitor neostigmine mimicked the effects of electroacupuncture on HMGB1 release and myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury. Culture experiments with isolated neonatal cardiomyocytes showed that acetylcholine, but not noradrenaline, inhibited hypoxia-induced release of HMGB1 via a α7nAchR-dependent pathway. These results suggest that electroacupuncture acts via the vagal nerve and its nicotinic receptor-mediated signaling to inhibit HMGB1 release from ischemic cardiomyocytes. This helps attenuate pro-inflammatory responses and myocardial injury during reperfusion.

Background: The goal of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is to restore knee kinematics. Knee prosthesis design plays a very important role in successful restoration. Here, kinematics models of normal and prosthetic knees were created and validated using previously published data. Methods: Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans of a healthy, anticorrosive female cadaver were used to establish a model of the entire lower limbs, including the femur, tibia, patella, fibula, distal femur cartilage, and medial and lateral menisci, as well as the anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate, medial collateral, and lateral collateral ligaments. The data from the three-dimensional models of the normal knee joint and a posterior-stabilized (PS) knee prosthesis were imported into finite element analysis software to create the final kinematic model of the TKA prosthesis, which was then validated by comparison with a previous study. The displacement of the medial/lateral femur and the internal rotation angle of the tibia were analyzed during 0-135° flexion. Results: Both the output data trends and the measured values derived from the normal knee's kinematics model were very close to the results reported in a previous in vivo study, suggesting that this model can be used for further analyses. The PS knee prosthesis underwent an abnormal forward displacement compared with the normal knee and has insufficient, or insufficiently aggressive, rollback compared with the lateral femur of the normal knee. In addition, a certain degree of reverse rotation occurs during flexion of the PS knee prosthesis. Conclusions: There were still several differences between the kinematics of the PS knee prosthesis and a normal knee, suggesting room for improving the design of the PS knee prosthesis. The abnormal kinematics during early flexion shows that the design of the articular surface played a vital role in improving the kinematics of the PS knee prosthesis.

To further expand an effective modified route for the shift from an antibacterial fluoroquinolone (FQ) to an antitumor FQ, two series of title compounds based on an isostere of the FQ C3 carboxylic group with two fused heterocyclic rings, [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4- b ][1,3,4]thiadiazine and pyrazolo[5,1- c ][1,2,4]triazole, respectively, were designed and synthesized starting from the current antibacterial FQs, and their in vitro antitumor activity against L1210, CHO cell lines were evaluated via their respective IC 50 values.

We theoretically analyze the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlation, the quadrature squeezing, and the continuous-variable quantum teleportation when considering non-Gaussian entangled states generated by applying multiple-photon subtraction and multiple-photon addition to a two-mode squeezed vacuum state (TMSVs). Our results indicate that in the case of the multiple-photon-subtracted TMSVs with symmetric operations, the corresponding EPR correlation, the two-mode squeezing degree, the sum squeezing, and the fidelity of teleporting a coherent state or a squeezed vacuum state can be enhanced for any squeezing parameter r and these enhancements increase with the number of subtracted photons in the low-squeezing regime, while asymmetric multiple-photon subtractions will generally reduce these quantities. For the multiple-photon-added TMSVs, although it holds stronger entanglement, its EPR correlation, two-mode squeezing, sum squeezing, and the fidelity of a coherent state are always smaller than that of the TMSVs. Only when considering the case of teleporting a squeezed vacuum state does the symmetric photon addition make somewhat of an improvement in the fidelity for large-squeezing parameters. In addition, we analytically prove that a one-mode multiple-photon-subtracted TMSVs is equivalent to that of the one-mode multiple-photon-added one. And one-mode multiple-photon operations will diminish the above four quantities for any squeezing parameter r., 12 pages, 8 figures

Background Lung cancer is a disease with a poor prognosis and psychological impact. Lung cancer causes both physical and psychological burdens on patients, and financial burdens on families and society. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between depression and influencing factors in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods A quantitative study was applied. Data was obtained from the Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital in China. One hundred and four patients with NSCLC were surveyed. Self-rating depression scale (SDS), social support rating scale (SSRS), and visual analog scale (VAS) were used. Results Among the 104 patients, 48 (46.1%) were diagnosed with depression. Gender (P = 0.000), disease duration (P = 0.006), self-care ability (P = 0.004), and pain (P = 0.003) were statistically significant predictors of self-reported depression in non-small-cell lung cancer patients. Conclusions Self-reported depression is highly prevalent in NSCLC patients. In addition, gender, disease duration, self-care ability, pain and social support may increase self-reported depression.

Methods based on enzyme labels have been developed for colorimetric immunoassays, but most involve poor sensitivity and are unsuitable for routine use. Herein, we design an enhanced colorimetric immunoassay for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) coupling with an enzyme-cascade-amplification strategy (ECAS-CIA). In the presence of target PSA, the labeled alkaline phosphatase on secondary antibody catalyzes the formation of palladium nanostructures, which catalyze 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine-H2O2 system to produce the colored products, thus resulting in the signal cascade amplification. Results indicated that the ECAS-CIA presents good responses toward PSA, and allows detection of PSA at a concentration as low as 0.05 ng mL(-1). Intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation are below 9.5% and 10.7%, respectively. Additionally, the methodology is validated for analysis of clinical serum specimens with consistent results obtained by PSA ELISA kit. Importantly, the ECAS-CIA opens a new horizon for protein diagnostics and biosecurity.

This study is to investigate the antitumor activity of ophiopogonin B (OP-B). MTT assay, flow cytometric analysis, acridine orange staining, Lyso-Tracker Red staining and HeLa-GFP-LC3 transfect cells assay were used to detect the proliferation activity, apoptosis and autophagy of HeLa cells. The results showed that OP-B exerted potent antiproliferative activity on HeLa cells, the cell growth inhibition effect of OP-B was not due to apoptosis and OP-B could induce autophagy of HeLa cells. OP-B also induced the protein expression up-regulation of Beclin-1 and promoted LC3 I transformation LC3 II, which were representative proteins of autophagy. Furthermore, 3-MA, an inhibitor of autophagy, not only inhibited OP-B-mediated autophagy but also almost completely reversed the antiproliferative effect of OP-B, suggesting that the growth inhibition effect of OP-B was autophagy dependent. Western blotting demonstrated that OP-B inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt and its' downstream vital protein, such as mTOR and p70S6K. In addition, OP-B also induced the protein expression up-regulation of PTEN, which is a negative regulation protein for Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. However, OP-B did not affect the protein expression of total Akt. Collectively, the antitumor effects of OP-B were autophagy-dependent via repression Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Therefore, OP-B is a prospective inhibitor of Akt/mTOR and may be used as an alternative compound to treat cervical carcinoma.

Treatment with the combination of Chinese herbs and cytotoxic chemotherapies showed a higher survival rate in clinical trials. In this report, the results demonstrated that the tanshinone II A, a key component of Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge, when it is combined with the cytotoxic drug cisplatin showed synergistic antitumor effects on human prostate cancer PC3 cells and LNCaP cells in vitro. Antiproliferative effects were detected with MTT assay. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometer. Protein expression was detected by Western blotting. The intracellular concentration of cisplatin was detected by high performance liquid chromatography. The results demonstrated that tanshinone II A significantly enhanced the antiproliferative effects of cisplatin on human prostate cancer PC3 cells and LNCaP cells with the increase of the intracellular concentration of cisplatin. These effects were correlated with cell cycle arrested at S phase and cell apoptosis. The apoptosis might be achieved through death receptor pathway and mitochondrial pathway. Furthermore, the Bcl-2 family members were also involved in this apoptotic process. Collectively, these results indicated that the combination of tanshinone II A and cisplatin had a better treatment effect in vitro not only on androgen-dependent LNCaP cells but also on androgen-independent PC3 cells.

To establish a model of ER stress-induced apoptosis with tunicamycin and to examine whether Bim is dysregulated and its potential role in resistance of melanoma cells to apoptosis under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress.A model of ER stress-induced apoptosis was established with tunicamycin. Apoptotic cells were quantitated using the annexin V/propidium iodide method by flow cytometry. Hoechst staining was also used to confirm the apoptotic cell death. Western blotting was used to measure the activation of caspase-3 and -9, and the expression of Bim, GRP78, CHOP, and Foxo1 at the protein level. The expression of Bim, CHOP and Foxo1 at the mRNA level was quantitated by qPCR. The siRNA technique was used to inhibit the expression of Bim.Treatment of the melanoma cells with tunicamycin did not induce significant apoptosis and activation of caspase cascade, whereas it caused marked activation of caspase-3 and -9, and apoptosis in HEK293 cells which were used as a control. With exposure to tunicamycin (3 µmol/L) for 12, 24, 36 hours the Bim protein levels were not increased in Mel-RM and MM200 cells. Its mRNA levels were 0.37 ± 0.05, 0.13 ± 0.02 and 0.02 ± 0.01 in Mel-RM cells, while 0.41 ± 0.06, 0.16 ± 0.04 and 0.21 ± 0.03 in MM200 cells, respectively. The expression of Bim mRNA was significantly reduced compared with that in the control groups of the two cell lines (P0.01). siRNA knockdown of Bim protected HEK293 cells against activation of caspase-3. The cell apoptosis of Bim siRNA group was (5.69 ± 0.38)%, significantly lower than that of the siRNA control group (40.32 ± 1.64)% and blank control group (35.46 ± 2.01)% (P0.01). In the melanoma cells after exposure to tunicamycin (3 µmol/L) for 6, 12, 24, and 36 hours the transcription factor CHOP at mRNA level were significantly increased and the expressions at protein level were also up-regulated. The expressions of another transcription factor Foxo1 at mRNA level significantly decreased and the expressions at protein level were down-regulated, too.The lack of Bim up-regulation contributes to the resistance of melanoma cells to ER stress-induced apoptosis and may be a mechanism by which melanoma cells adapt to ER stress conditions. Transcription factors CHOP and Foxo1 may be responsible for the dysregulation of Bim in melanoma cells upon ER stress.

Multi-quadric (MQ) interpolation is a numerical method to solve partial differential equations (PDEs). The purpose of this paper was to discuss the effectiveness of the method applied in groundwater flow simulation, and the influence of shape parameters, support domain, node spacing, and time steps on results. We used MQ method for the numerical solution of four cases of 2D groundwater flow in confined aquifer. Case one was a flow in a confined aquifer with constant transmissivity (T), while case two was with T varying continuously. Case three represented the flow to a fully penetrated pumping well in a confined aquifer. Case four was a transient flow in confined aquifer with constant transmissivity. The method was found to have good agreement with analytical solution of the four cases. The error was affected by the combination of shape parameters, size of support-domain, and node spacing of MQ method. Good accuracy could be obtained under comparatively big time step, when space and time discretizations were dealt with MQ method and the finite difference method, respectively.