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Nowadays, it has become an imminent challenge of developing a robust and efficient oil/organic solvent absorbing/releasing along with oil–water separating material. Herein, a simple and environment-friendly one-step immersion method is developed for fabricating superhydrophobic carbon felts with extraordinary properties. The as-prepared superhydrophobic carbon felts reveal outstanding durability and stability even exposed to various harsh environments, such as acid, base, salt, organic solvent, and UV light for quite long time. The superhydrophobic carbon felts exhibit excellent fire resistance, and the materials can stand at least 5 times of ethanol-soaking and burning without marked influencing on the superhydrophobicity. Meanwhile, the resultant materials reveal outstanding oil adsorption and oil–water separation performance. The superhydrophobic carbon felt can still absorb 7 times its own mass of cooking oil even after 10 extrusion cycles. Moreover, the oil–water separation efficiency can still reach 98.85% after 10 times of separation. Consequently, the materials can be used in oil/organic solvent collection and oil–water separation successfully. Therefore, the simple, environment-friendly, cost-effective fabrication method together with the extraordinary durability and stability, excellent and efficient performance will find its potential applications in industrial production and environmental remediation. A simple and environment-friendly one-step immersion method for fabricating superhydrophobic carbon felts is developed. The as-prepared superhydrophobic carbon felts reveal excellent fire resistance along with extraordinary durability and stability upon various harsh environments. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic carbon felts exhibit outstanding oil/organic solvent adsorption/releasing and oil–water separation performance.

Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have different functions in different diseases. There is seldom research on the functions of lncRNAs in Crohn’s disease (CD). By RNA-seq technology, we identify a lncRNA associated with Crohn's disease. However, the mechanism of lncRNA regulation remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the association of LINC01272 with epithelial cell-mesenchymal transition and the underlined mechanism in CD.Methods: RNA is detected by qRT-PCR. Interaction of protein and RNA was determined by RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation. Luciferase reporter assays were used to detect the targeted miRNA of LINC01272. Tissue fibrosis was observed by Masson and HE staining. The protein expression is determined by western blot and immunofluorescence. Results: LINC01272 was highly expressed in patients with CD. Knockdown of LINC01272 inhibited TGF-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Additionally, LINC01272 regulated TGF-β1 induced EMT by miR-153-5p axis and knockdown of LINC01272 inhibited EMT in the CD mice in vivo. Conclusion: LINC01272 activated epithelial-mesenchymal transition through miR-153-5p in CD.

Background Esophageal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the digestive system in China. However, the specific pathogenic factors and mechanisms of esophageal cancer are not yet clear. Here, the distribution of esophageal flora in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics are analyzed. Methods Fifty-four patients with ESCC diagnosed in our hospital from June 2018 to January 2020 were selected. The patients’ gender, age, course of the disease, the grade of pathological tissue, and degree of differentiation were recorded. The distribution of esophageal mucosa flora in patients with ESCC and significant esophageal flora in the esophageal mucosa of different patients were compared. Results At the genus level, Proteus, Firmicutes, Bacteroides, and Fusobacterium are the main dominant bacteria in esophageal cancer tissues. At the subordinate level, Prevotella, Clostridia, Streptococcus, Delftia, Klebsiella, Serratia, and some unclassified florae belong to the dominant species. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in the abundance of bacteria between the esophageal cancer tissues and the normal cancerous tissues (P>0.05). Also, there was no difference in the diversity of bacterial flora in ESCC tissues of different parts, different morphology, different staging, and different lymph node metastasis (P>0.05). The abundance of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroides was significantly higher than Clostridia. Furthermore, Actinobacteria and Spirochaetae had the lowest abundance of Spirochaetae. The abundance of Spirochaetae of ulcerative type was significantly higher than medullary type ESCC, while the abundance of Actinobacteria of both medullary and ulcerative types was significantly lower than other types (P0.05). The abundance of Proteobacteria was significantly reduced with the presence of lymph node metastasis, while Bacteroides abundance increased significantly (P

The widespread application of artificial superhydrophobic material is hindered by the poor durability and regeneration of artificial superhydrophobicity. The problem is expected to be resolved by endowing the superhydrophobic material with self-similarity. Herein, Copper-based superhydrophobic material intensified by furfuryl alcohol resin (Cu/FAR) with long-term durability and high strength is developed, and the obtained Cu/FAR composite reveals excellent and durable superhydrophobicity. Moreover, it is a remarkable fact that the as-prepared superhydrophobic Cu/FAR exhibits outstanding durability and maintenance of superhydrophobicity grounded on the good self-similarity in micro-structure, chemical structure and composition both externally and internally. Consequently, the superhydrophobicity can be maintained or regenerated without difficulty even if superhydrophobic surface has been damaged or fouled accidentally. Therefore, the method provides a new thought to prepare superhydrophobic material with robust durability and outstanding maintenance.

// Wenxia Bai 1 , Shudong Wang 3 , Shanshan An 2 , Mengjie Guo 4 , Guangming Gong 3 , Wenya Liu 3 , Shaoxin Ma 2 , Xin Li 2 , Jihua Fu 2, * and Wenbing Yao 1, * 1 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Druggability of Biopharmaceuticals, School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China 2 Department of Physiology, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China 3 Department of Pharmaceutics, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, China 4 School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Wenbing Yao, email: wbyao@cpu.edu.cn Jihua Fu, email: jihua_fu@cpu.edu.cn Keywords: chronic renal failure; STAT1 Received: August 13, 2017 Accepted: September 23, 2017 Epub: January 10, 2018 Published: March 20, 2018 ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the effect of single and combination therapy using chitosan (K), gynostemma (J), and motherwort (Y) on an experimental rat model of chronic renal failure (CRF) induced by adenine and the underlying mechanisms. CRF rats were treated with individual or combinational therapy with two or three of these agents. Biochemical indicators showed that the levels of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and uric acid decreased and the levels of albumin and hemoglobin increased by single or combination therapy of these drugs. Drug treatment also decreased oxidative stress damage of renal tissues in CRF rats. Histopathological lesions were attenuated in each drug treatment group by various degrees. Additionally, drug treatment affected the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins including plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, collagen I, matrix metalloprotease-1, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1. In particular, the combination therapy of K, J, and Y was superior to the respective monotherapy, which supported the prescription of KJY combination. We further studied the inhibitory effect of KJY on LPS-induced inflammation in RAW264.7 macrophages. The results showed that KJY inhibited LPS-induced secretion of inflammatory cytokines (Interferon-gamma, Interleukin-1 Beta, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10, cyclooxygenase-2 and Tumor necrosis factor-α in RAW264.7 macrophages. Combination therapy of KJY suppressed the protein expression of Cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase in vivo and in vitro . Further study indicated that KJY inhibited STAT1 activation by down regulating p-STAT1 to exert anti-inflammatory effect and improve renal function in rats with chronic renal failure.

It still remains a great challenge to fabricate superhydrophobic materials with excellent durability and mechanical stability by facile and scalable methods, and which is also one of the most important practical application limitations for superhydrophobic materials. In this work, various superhydrophobic materials were fabricated by the scalable two-step spraying method. Grounded on the strong bonding strength of polydopamine (PDA) intermediate layer, the as-prepared superhydrophobic materials exhibited outstanding durability and mechanical stability. The materials maintained the superhydrophobicity even after long time exposure in a variety of harsh environments such as strong acid/base, organic solvent, and UV light irradiation as well as long distance of mechanical abrasion. In addition, the superhydrophobic materials revealed excellent oil-absorption and releasing performance, and the absorption-releasing process could be repeated many times without the reduction of oil absorption capacity. Therefore, the environment-friendly and scalable preparation method along with the outstanding durability, mechanical stability, and oil absorption capability of superhydrophobic materials would find wide application in industrial production and environmental remediation.

Many autophagy-related genes, to our knowledge, have been identified as Crohn's disease (CD) polymorphic sites by genomic wide studies. As a novel member of the microtubule-associated protein 1 (MAP1) family, MAP1S is a microtubule-binding proteins involved in autophagy. However, its expression and potential functions in CD have not been understood. For the first time, we discovered the up-regulated MAP1S and autophagy level (indicated by LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ) in inflamed epithelium among CD patients. Similarly, in TNBS-induced murine colitis model, MAP1S expression was obviously increased. Meanwhile, we found the co-location of MAP1S and active-caspase 3 which acted as “apoptotic executor” which might indicate the basis of their co-efficient. At the cellular level, MAP1S silencing inhibited starvation-induced over-expression of active-caspase 3 partially via Wnt/β-catenin signaling activation in HCT-116 cells. Finally, we demonstrated that IWP-2, an inhibitor of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling, reversed the down-regulation of active-caspase 3 induced by MAP1S siRNA in HCT-116 cells. Taken together, our results suggested that MAP1S were up-regulated among CD patients and MAP1S-related autophagy inhibits apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway which might play a vital role in the protection of intestinal mucosal barrier and inhibition the progression of CD.

Previous studies have implicated protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type O (PTPRO) as a key regulator in inflammation-associated diseases; however, its role in ulcerative colitis (UC) remains largely unknown. Thus, we aim to elucidate the potential role and underlying mechanism of PTPRO in UC. In this study, increased expression of PTPRO, toll-like receptor (TLR4) and inflammatory cytokines were observed in mucosal tissues (MTs) from inflamed areas and lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs) of patients with UC compared with those from healthy controls. Then, it was manifested that PTPRO promoted the expression of TLR4 and proinflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide-induced (LPS-induced) inflammatory macrophage model. Besides, PTPRO inhibited the proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) but enhanced the apoptosis of IECs in macrophages. Moreover, levels of phosphorylated nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)/p65 and inhibitor of NF-κB α (IκBα) were more significantly increased in PTPRO overexpressed macrophages. In addition, the area under receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.807 (95%CI = 0.686-0.958, P < .001) suggesting PTPRO as an ideal diagnostic marker for UC. Taken these, the present study shows strong evidence that PTPRO exaggerates inflammation in UC via TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.

In order to improve the durability and stability of artificial superhydrophobic materials, the superhydrophobic surface with excellent self-healing performance on aluminum alloy is prepared by an environment-friendly method with boiling water treatment and PDA@HDTMS nanocapsule deposition. The as-prepared superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surfaces exhibit outstanding durability and stability when subjected to a variety of circumstances. Meanwhile, the superhydrophobic aluminum alloy is endowed with excellent self-cleaning performance and corrosion resistance. The robust durability and stability as well as outstanding self-cleaning and corrosion resistance are quite favourable to the practical application. More importantly, the as-prepared superhydrophobic surfaces take on superior self-healing performance, and it provides a novel idea to improve the durability of superhydrophobic materials from another vision.

An efficient near-infrared (NIR) quantum cutting (QC) CaMoO 4 :Tb 3+ , Yb 3+ phosphor promising for silicon solar cells was successfully prepared using combustion method. Upon the excitation at 306 nm, a green visible photon is emitted by Tb 3+ , while two NIR photons are emitted by Yb 3+ through cooperative energy transfer (CET) from one Tb 3+ ion to two Yb 3+ ions. Visible to NIR emission, decay lifetimes of Tb 3+ , and quantum efficiency (QE) are studied for samples with various Yb 3+ concentration. It has been found that the luminescence intensity at around 997 nm from Yb 3+ increases, however, it decreases at a high Yb 3+ co-doping content of 10% due to concentration quenching, while the emission and lifetime of Tb 3+ decreases monotonically as compared to that of Tb 3+ doped CaMoO 4 . The maximum energy transfer efficiency (ETE) and the corresponding down-conversion (DC) QE are estimated to be 60.4% and 160.4%, respectively.