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Background The underlying mechanism of neurosyphilis was not fully understood. Purpose To assess gray matter (GM) microstructure in patients with early-stage neurosyphilis without overt conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormality using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and surface-based morphometry (SBM) analyses. Material and Methods Three-dimensional high-resolution T1-weighted imaging data from 19 individuals with neurosyphilis and 19 healthy controls were analyzed. A battery of neuropsychological tests was performed before each MRI examination. The differences of GM volume and cerebral cortical morphological data between the two groups were compared. The correlations between MRI metrics and neuropsychology/laboratory tests in the patient group were investigated. Results Regional decreased GM volumes in patients with neurosyphilis were found in the left frontal cortices (Rolandic operculum, middle frontal, and precentral) and bilateral temporal/occipital cortices (bilateral middle temporal, left lingual, and right middle occipital) ( P Conclusion Early-stage neurosyphilis without conventional MRI abnormality presented regional GM volume reduction and cortical morphological changes, which might be related to cognitive impairment and intra-cranial infection. VBM and SBM analyses might be useful for understanding the underlying neural trait of neurosyphilis.

Preeclampsia, a progressive disease involving multiple systems, afflicts pregnancy specifically. It contributes to severe maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. It has been reported that preeclampsia initiates from a mismatch between the utero-placental supply and demand, which subsequently triggers the release of placental syncytiotrophoblast stress-derived factors and an imbalance of proangiogenic/antiangiogenic factors, eventually causing maternal systemic endothelial lesions and systemic inflammatory response. Currently, treatments available for preeclampsia are very limited in number. Hence, prediction and prevention carry special significance. Herein, we reviewed the current understanding of preeclampsia, especially findings on the prediction and prevention of preeclampsia published within the past 5 years. We discussed the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) screening model based on placental growth factor (PlGF) and the effects of aspirin, calcium, exercise, and termination of pregnancy in preventing preeclampsia. The efficacy and safety of other new preventive measures still need further validation.

PdAg alloy is an industrial catalyst for acetylene-selective hydrogenation in excess ethene. While significant efforts have been devoted to increase the selectivity, there has been little progress in the catalyst performance at low temperatures. Here by combining a machine-learning atomic simulation and catalysis experiment, we clarify the surface status of PdAg alloy catalyst under the reaction conditions and screen out a rutile-TiO2 supported Pd1Ag3 catalyst with high performance: i.e., 85% selectivity at >96% acetylene conversion over a 100 h period in an experiment. The machine-learning global potential energy surface exploration determines the Pd-Ag-H bulk and surface phase diagrams under the reaction conditions, which reveals two key bulk compositions, Pd1Ag1 (R3m) and Pd1Ag3 (Pm3m), and quantifies the surface structures with varied Pd:Ag ratios under the reaction conditions. We show that the catalyst activity is controlled by the PdAg patterns on the (111) surface that are variable under reaction conditions, but the selectivity is largely determined by the amount of Pd exposure on the (100) surface. These insights provide the fundamental basis for the rational design of a better catalyst via three measures: (i) controlling the Pd:Ag ratio at 1:3, (ii) reducing the nanoparticle size to limit PdAg local patterns, (iii) searching for active supports to terminate the (100) facets.

The rheological properties of concrete have a great impact on the workability, and the L-box test can obtain the relationship between the morphology and the yield value of the material under free flow conditions. However, as an elastoplastic fluid, the low water-cement ratio concrete can hardly flow freely without the admixture. The vibrating process is often used in the production to meet the requirements, but the rheological properties of the material under vibration are difficult to measure. A new vibration test method for the flowability of low water-cement ratio concrete is proposed in combination with the L-box idea. The flow morphology and flow velocity of two kind of low water-cement ratio concrete in the L-box are observed under the condition of controlling the vibration frequency. After that, theoretically analyzing the yield value of the material under vibration is applied. The results show that with the increase of vibration frequency, the average flow velocity of the material increases, but the trend is gradually slower. With the increase of vibration frequency, the yield value of low water-cement ratio concrete is much lower than before. This test method can be used in related engineering applications of vibrating compacted concrete.

Neuroinflammation and the NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 inflammasome play crucial roles in secondary tissue damage following an initial insult in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Maraviroc, a C-C chemokine receptor type 5 antagonist, has been viewed as a new therapeutic strategy for many neuroinflammatory diseases. We studied the effect of maraviroc on TBI-induced neuroinflammation. A moderate-TBI mouse model was subjected to a controlled cortical impact device. Maraviroc or vehicle was injected intraperitoneally 1 hour after TBI and then once per day for 3 consecutive days. Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling) analyses were performed to evaluate the molecular mechanisms of maraviroc at 3 days post-TBI. Our results suggest that maraviroc administration reduced NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 inflammasome activation, modulated microglial polarization from M1 to M2, decreased neutrophil and macrophage infiltration, and inhibited the release of inflammatory factors after TBI. Moreover, maraviroc treatment decreased the activation of neurotoxic reactive astrocytes, which, in turn, exacerbated neuronal cell death. Additionally, we confirmed the neuroprotective effect of maraviroc using the modified neurological severity score, rotarod test, Morris water maze test, and lesion volume measurements. In summary, our findings indicate that maraviroc might be a desirable pharmacotherapeutic strategy for TBI, and C-C chemokine receptor type 5 might be a promising pharmacotherapeutic target to improve recovery after TBI.

As antibiotics and heavy metals are often mixed in animal feed, their excretion through animal feces would cause bacteria to produce antibiotic resistance genes and heavy metal resistance genes. The pollution of antibiotics resistance gene and heavy metal resistance gene has become a major threat to human health and ecological environment. From the perspective of bacterial evolution, we proposed the importance of bacterial long-term evolution experiments about antibiotics and heavy metals. There is a complex co-selection resistance between antibiotic resistance genes and heavy metal resistance genes, which interact with each other and collectively determine the environmental behavior of bacteria. Horizontal transfer of resistance gene increases its variability in the environment. Mobile genetic elements play an important role in horizontal transfer of resistance gene. As for resistance gene pollution control, advanced oxidation technology has a good resistance gene removal effect. The UV/TiO动物饲料中常混有抗生素和重金属,导致外排的动物粪便中携带有抗生素和重金属,引发细菌产生耐药性和重金属抗性,继而产生抗生素抗性基因和重金属抗性基因。抗生素和重金属抗性基因污染已成为威胁人类身体健康及破坏生态环境的重大问题。本文从细菌进化的角度,明确了细菌的抗生素和重金属长期进化试验对抗性机制研究的重要性;抗生素抗性基因与重金属抗性基因间存在复杂的协同选择抗性,两者间相互影响,共同决定着细菌环境行为;抗性基因的水平转移增加了细菌在环境中的可变性,可移动遗传元件在抗性基因水平转移中发挥着重要作用。在抗性基因污染控制方面,高级氧化技术具有很好的抗性基因去除效果,尤其是UV/TiO

Radiomics is a novel technique in which quantitative phenotypes or features are extracted from medical images. Machine learning enables analysis of large quantities of medical imaging data generated by radiomic feature extraction. A growing number of studies based on these methods have developed tools for neuro-oncology applications. Despite the initial promises, many of these imaging tools remain far from clinical implementation. One major limitation hindering the use of these models is their lack of reproducibility when applied across different institutions and clinical settings. In this article, we discuss the importance of standardization of methodology and reporting in our effort to improve reproducibility. Ongoing efforts of standardization for neuro-oncological imaging are reviewed. Challenges related to standardization and potential disadvantages in over-standardization are also described. Ultimately, greater multi-institutional collaborative effort is needed to provide and implement standards for data acquisition and analysis methods to facilitate research results to be interoperable and reliable for integration into different practice environments.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Leptomeningeal metastases (LMs) carry a poor prognosis. Existing LM scoring systems show limited reproducibility. We assessed the contribution of education level on the reproducibility of LM scoring using structured planning and implementation of new experiments (SPINE), a novel web-based platform. METHODS Stringent radiological definitions of LM and a customized interactive scoring system were implemented in SPINE. Five patients with brain LM and 3 patients with spine, but no brain LM, were selected. Each patient's baseline post-contrast T1-weighted brain MRI was analyzed by three attending neuroradiologists, two neuroradiology fellows, and two radiology residents. Raters identified and characterized all LMs based on: (1) location (cerebrum, cerebellum, brainstem, ventricle, and/or cranial nerves); (2) shape (nodular and/or linear/curvilinear); (3) size (≥ or

Pd (metal) is of key value as a heterogeneous hydrogenation catalyst for its high activity and stability. It, however, fails in selective acetylene hydrogenation: at high H2 pressures and 100% conv...

Introduction The clinical significance, biological roles and potential mechanism of Rab18 remain unknown in most human cancers, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methods We used immunohistochemistry to examine Rab18 protein expression in 112 cases of HNSCC specimens. We overexpressed and knockdown Rab18 in FaDu and Detroit562 cancer cell lines. Biological roles and mechanisms of Rab18 were examined using MTT, colony formation, Matrigel invasion assay, Western blotting, Annexin V and JC1 staining. Results Rab18 was upregulated in 45/112 (40.2%) cases of HNSCC tissues, which correlated with advanced T classification, positive nodal metastasis and tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage. The Oncomine and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) analyses indicated that Rab18 was elevated in human HNSCC tissues and correlated with poor patient survival. Functionally, Rab18 overexpression increased growth rate, colony numbers, cell cycle progression and invading ability in FaDu cells. Rab18 downregulated cisplatin-induced apoptosis and upregulated the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm). Western blot revealed that Rab18 overexpression induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, with downregulation of E-cadherin and upregulation of N-cadherin, Vimentin and Twist. Rab18 overexpression also upregulated Survivin protein and Rab18 knockdown showed the opposite effects on these proteins. Treatment of STAT3 inhibitor, SH-4-54, inhibited cell invasion, increased E-cadherin and downregulated N-cadherin, Twist and Survivin. SH-4-54 also abolished the effects of BCAT1 on these proteins, as well as cell invasion. Conclusion In summary, our data showed that Rab18 was overexpressed in human HNSCC and functioned as an oncoprotein. Rab18 regulated HNSCC cell proliferation, invasion and cisplatin sensitivity through STAT3 signaling in HNSCC.

It has long been a challenge in physics and chemistry to acquire a global picture of the energy landscape of a specific material, as well as the kinetic transformation process between configurations of interest. Here we have presented a comprehensive approach to deal with the structure transformation problem, along with the illustration of the energy landscape, as exemplified with the case of Au13. A configuration space based on interatomic distances was proposed and demonstrated to have a strong correlation between structure and energy, with application in structure analysis to screen for trial transition pathways. As several representative configurations and their transition pathways ascertained and by projecting on a plane, a visual two-dimensional contour map was sketched revealing the unique energy landscape of Au13. It shows that the 2D and 3D clusters form two funnels in the high-dimensional configuration space, with a transition pathway with a 0.976 eV barrier bridging them.

The applicability of the Zung self-rating depression scale (SDS) in pregnancy is unknown. We aimed to identify redundant items and evaluate the Zung SDS’s structural validity. Two samples of pregnant women were invited from two districts in Shanghai (Yangpu sample, n = 6468 and Huangpu sample, n = 402). The Yangpu sample was randomly split into YGroup1/2/3. Item’s properties were evaluated via the item response theory in YGroup1. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were correspondingly executed in YGroup2 and YGroup3. Those items with discrimination parameter (α) lower than 0.65 or factor loading smaller than 0.4 were deleted from the scale. The final structure was validated in the Huangpu sample. Items 4 (sleep), 7 (weight loss), 8 (constipation) and 9 (tachyarrhythmia) exhibited low discrimination power. Items 2 (diurnal variation), 5 (appetite), 10 (fatigue) and 19 (suicide idea) made a low contribution to all factors. A three-factor model was eventually constructed as cognitive (Items 14, 16, 17, 18 and 20), psychomotor (Items 6, 11 and 12) and affective (Items 1, 3, 13 and 15). The Zung SDS needs modification before applied to pregnant women in China. The items describing the overlap symptoms of the physical change in pregnancy and mood disorder should be deleted.

To study whether the two methods of energy calculation affects the value of relative energy contribution in men's T54 wheelchair racing events.Ten men's T54 wheelchair racers (age (22.9±5.2) yrs、sitting height (90.9±3.2) cm、body mass (59.3±8.3) kg) participate in 1 incremental test and 4 time trials (400 m、800 m、1 500 m、5 000 m). A portable gas analyzer, polar heart rate belt and a blood lactate analyzer were used to measure VOThe anaerobic and total energy portions from MAOD were lower than those from PCr-La-OThe study proves that the two-calculation method causes W

Boron monolayers have been increasingly attractive, while it is still a challenge to understand their structural stabilities, due to electron deficiency and multi-center bonds. In this work, we propose the average electron compensation (AEC) mechanism for boron monolayers based on high-throughput first-principles calculations. It is found that the AEC parameter (λ) tends to be zero for the stable free-standing boron monolayers. In addition, this mechanism can quantitatively describe the stability of boron monolayers on various metal substrates, providing direct suggestions for experimentalists to synthesize various boron monolayers for practical applications.

It has long been a challenge in physics and chemistry to acquire a global picture of the energy landscape of a specific material, as well as the kinetic transformation process between configurations of interest. Here we have presented a comprehensive approach to deal with the structure transformation problem, along with the illustration of the energy landscape, as exemplified with the case of Au13. A configuration space based on interatomic distances was proposed and demonstrated to have a strong correlation between structure and energy, with application in structure analysis to screen for trial transition pathways. As several representative configurations and their transition pathways ascertained and by projecting on a plane, a visual two-dimensional contour map was sketched revealing the unique energy landscape of Au13. It shows that the 2D and 3D clusters form two funnels in the high-dimensional configuration space, with a transition pathway with a 0.976 eV barrier bridging them.

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the most common malignant tumor in the head and neck, and can seriously affect the daily life of patients. To study the mechanisms of LSCC, the microarray of GSE51958 was analyzed in the present study. GSE51958 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus, and included a collection of LSCC tissue samples and matched adjacent non-cancerous tissue samples from 10 patients. Differentially-expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using limma package. Next, a weighted co-expression network was constructed for the DEGs by WGCNA package in R. Modules of the weighted co-expression network were obtained through constructing a hierarchical clustering tree using the hybrid dynamic shear tree method. Using the clusterProfiler package, the potential functions of DEGs in the modules correlated with LSCC were predicted by pathway enrichment analysis. In total, 959 DEGs were screened from the LSCC samples compared with the adjacent non-cancerous samples, including 553 upregulated and 406 downregulated genes. The appointed black, brown, gray, pink and yellow modules were screened for the DEGs in the weighted co-expression network. For the DEGs in the brown and yellow modules, the enriched pathways were cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and metabolic pathways, respectively. The DEGs in the pink module were involved in the majority of pathways. With high connectivity degrees in the pink module, TPX2, microtubule-associated (TPX2; degree, 25), minichromosome maintenance complex component 2 (MCM2; degree, 25), ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domains 1 (UHRF1; degree, 22), cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2; degree, 20) and protein regulator of cytokinesis 1 (PRC1; degree, 20) may be involved in LSCC. Overall, In conclusion, from the integrated bioinformatics analysis of genes that may be associated with LSCC, 959 DEGs were obtained from LSCC samples compared with adjacent non-cancerous samples, and TPX2, MCM2, UHRF1, CDK2 and PRC1 were found to hold a possible association with the disease.

Background Recently, the Chinese government has promoted preconception care (PCC) to prevent birth defects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of PCC in Shanghai, China, following a 3-year municipal project providing ‘Free Pre-pregnancy Health Evaluation Services’ to 20 000 residents. Methods A retrospective questionnaire survey was undertaken among 12 309 pregnant women and 8997 of their partners during their initial prenatal visit in six hospitals with the most births in Shanghai. Results A total of 90% (n = 11 113) of the women and 87% (n = 7856) of the men were aware of PCC, and 40% (n = 4890) of the women and 35% (n = 3185) of the men had previously participated in PCC. Logistic regression showed that PCC participants were more likely to have a planned pregnancy, receive support from their partner for PCC services, were older, and have higher educational attainment and higher household incomes. Regardless of gender, there were significant differences between the participating and non-participating groups in terms of prepregnancy changes in lifestyle and behaviour, such as folic acid supplementation, smoking cessation (for men only), avoiding passive smoking, abstaining from alcohol/drugs, and rubella/hepatitis B immunity. Conclusions The government-led efforts proved to be effective in promoting PCC participation and positive lifestyle and behavioural changes in couples of childbearing age. Future efforts should target couples who are young, poorly educated, and/or from low-income families. Strategies must ensure that the couples' knowledge of and positive attitudes toward PCC are translated into their practical participation in PCC.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the role of miRNAs in UGT1A regulation. Materials & methods: Based on bioinformatic prediction results, luciferase reporter assay and cell-transfection experiments were performed to study effects of miR-298 on UGT1A expression. Correlation study was conducted in human livers. Results: miR-298 overexpression reduced mRNA level of UGT1A1 and UGT1A4 in HepG2 and LS174T cells, and that of UGT1A3 and UGT1A9 in LS174T cells. miR-298 repression increased mRNA level of UGT1A4 in HepG2 and LS174T cells, and that of UGT1A1 and UGT1A3 in LS174T cells. Inverse correlations between miR-298, as well as miR-491–3p, and UGT1A3 and 1A4 mRNA levels were observed in livers. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that miR-298 and miR-491–3p downregulates UGT1A expression.

The two-dimensional boron monolayers were reported to be metallic both in previous theoretical predictions and experimental observations, however, we have firstly found a family of boron monolayers with the novel semiconducting property as confirmed by the first-principles calculations with the quasi-particle G0W0 approach. We demonstrate that the vanished metallicity characterized by the pz-derived bands cross the Fermi level is attributed to the motif of a triple-hexagonal-vacancy, with which various semiconducting boron monolayers are designed to realize the band-gap engineering for the potential applications in electronic devices. The semiconducting boron monolayers in our predictions are expected to be synthesized on the proper substrates, due to the similar stabilities to the ones observed experimentally., 12 pages, 4 figures

Discovery of agents for oral infectious diseases is always encouraged in natural products chemistry. A bioassay-guided isolation led to the isolation of two new acetylenic acids (1, 2) along with seven known ones (3–9) from the ethanol extract of Thesium chinense Turcz, a commonly used oral anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory herb. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic and chemical evidence. Exocarpic acid (3) demonstrated the most promising activity against three tested oral pathogenic bacterial strains, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Streptococcus mutans, with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 0.86, 3.43, and 13.70 μg/mL, respectively. Compounds 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 also showed potential activities against periodontal bacteria (P. gingivalis, F. nucleatum).

We have improved our distance matrix and eigen-subspace projection function (EPF) [X.-T. Li et al., J. Chem. Phys. 146, 154108 (2017)] to describe the atomic structure for periodic systems. Depicting the local structure of an atom, the EPF turns out to be invariant with respect to the choices of the unit cell and coordinate frame, leading to an intrinsic representation of the crystal with a set of EPFs of the nontrivial atoms. The difference of EPFs reveals the difference of atoms in local structure, while the accumulated difference between two sets of EPFs can be taken as the distance between configurations. Exemplified with the cases of carbon allotropes and boron sheets, our EPF approach shows exceptional rationality and efficiency to distinguish the atomic structures, which is crucial in structure recognition, comparison, and analysis.

Previous studies have demonstrated a dynamic epigenetic regulation of genes expression in placenta trophoblasts and a dynamic imbalance of DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation. Reduced IGF-1 has been observed in preeclampsia. This study was to investigate the interactive roles between IGF-1 and the global DNA methylation/hydroxymethylation, and the status of DNA methylation/hydroxymethylation and associated enzymes such as DNMTs and TETs in peeeclamptic placentas and hypoxic trophoblasts. It was found that IGF-1 was decreased in preeclamptic placentas and hypoxic trophoblasts when compared to the control group using immunohistochemisty, western blot, qRT-PCR and ELISA. Pyrophosphate sequencing showed IGF-1 promoter was significantly hypermethylated in preeclamptic placentas, which was responsible for reduced IGF-1 expression. Preeclamptic placentas and hypoxic trophoblasts were hypermethylated and hypohydroxymethylated accompanied by remarkably higher 5mC, DNMT1 and DNMT3b, and lower DNMT3a, 5hmC, TET1, TET2 and TET3 detected by immunohistochemisty, western blot, qRT-PCR and ELISA. Pearson’s correlation confirmed a statistically significant negative correlation between IGF-1 and DNMT1. Furthermore, both treatment with 5-Aza-dc and DNMT1-siRNA significantly increased the expression of IGF-1 in HTR8 cells, indicating the potential mechanism of DNMT1-mediated DNA methylation in IGF-1 regulation. However, IGF-1 didn’t change DNA methylation or hydroxymethylation. These findings suggest that preeclampsia is associated with hypermethylation of IGF-1 promoter mediated by DNMT1 and provide new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of preeclampsia.

ZnO thin films were deposited on simple glass substrate by sol-gel technique. The structure, morphology and luminescence of the annealed ZnO thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), ultra-violet spectrometer (UVS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, respectively. The XRD experiments shows that all of the samples annealed at 300°C, 400°C, 500°C have a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Absorption spectrum shows that all the samples have high transmittance in the visible range and have a strong absorption near the band edge of ZnO. The morphology of the samples studied by the AFM shows an increase in the annealing temperature causes the surface flatter and the grain size larger. The PL spectrum shows obvious peak near 380nm.

Melatonin confers protective effects on premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) induced by tripterygium glycosides (TG) by reducing oxidative stress. Silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) signaling is found to be associated with the physiology and pathology of ovary. We hypothesize that melatonin could protect POI via activating SIRT1 signaling. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of melatonin on POI and elucidate its potential mechanisms. Mice were assigned to melatonin treatment with or without SIRT1 inhibitor Ex527 or melatonin receptor antagonist luzindole (Luz) and then subjected to POI. Melatonin conferred a protective effect by improving estrous phase, ovarian and uterus mass and index, increasing ovarian follicles, corpus luteum and anti-mullerian hormone (AMH), decreasing atresia follicles and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Melatonin treatment also could reduce malondialdehyde (MDA) level, MDA5, Gp91phox, Caspase3 and Bax expression, and increase total antioxidant activity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and Bcl-2 expression by up-regulating SIRT1 signaling. However, these protective effects were blocked by Ex527 and Luz, indicating that SIRT1 signaling and melatonin receptor might be specially involved in these effects. In summary, these findings suggest that melatonin protects POI by reducing oxidative stress and apoptotic damage via activation of SIRT1 signaling in a receptor-dependent manner.

One-step and controlled pH hydrothermal synthesis of transition metal disulfide using double molybdenum sources to synthesize MoS2 nano-flowers at low temperature was first reported. Anhydrous molybdenum pentachloride (MoCl5) and four sulfur ammonium molybdate ((NH4) 6Mo7O24•4H2O) were the molybdenum source and CS (NH2) 2 was the sulfur source. Through hydrothermal method, MoS2 was obtained at 180 °C. The pH value of system was controlled by adjusting the molar ratio of MoCl5 and (NH4) 6Mo7O24•4H2O. The products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface area (BET) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the products were hexagonal MoS2 with a high crystalline and flower-like structure consisted of small particles. The thickness of petals is a few to tens of nanometers. By changing the molar ratio of molybdenum sources, the resultant phase from the mixed phase transited to the pure phase and the purity of synthetic MoS2 crystal increaseed.

Mesoporous carbon material CMK-3 was successfully prepared by using mesoporous silica material SBA-15 as hard template and sucrose as carbon source through a nanocasting method. In order to improve the hydrophilic properties of the carbon materials, a large amount of carboxylic functional groups have been introduced upon the surface of carbon materials by oxidative treatment. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) exhibit highly ordered mesostructure with 2-D hexagonal symmetry of our sample. An absorption assigned to the -COOH groups is clearly visible in Infrared spectra, suggesting the presence of carboxylic functional groups. Rhodamine B (Rh B) was selected as a model for determining the adsorption activity of the obtained material. This material exhibited a high adsorption capacity, and an extremely rapid adsorption rate.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARG) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily that has attracted considerable attention as a candidate gene for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) based on its function as a key factor involved in the regulation of adipocyte differentiation as well as lipid and glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Many studies have examined the association between P12A polymorphism (rs1801282) in the PPARG gene and risk of GDM, but the results have been inconsistent. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship, a meta-analysis of 2,858 GDM patients and 6,890 controls from nine published case-control studies was performed. An overall random effects odds ratio of 0.89 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.77-1.04, P = 0.15) was found for 12A allele. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significantly decreased risks were found in East Asians, while no significant associations were detected among Caucasian and Middle Eastern populations. Similar results were also observed using dominant genetic model. This meta-analysis suggested an overall weak association between the P12A polymorphism and GDM risk among East Asians. However, additional very large-scale studies are warranted to provide conclusive evidence on the effects of the PPARG gene on risk of GDM.

Highly ordered Ni and Ni-Cu nanowires were electrodeposited into the micropores of the porous anodic alumina (PAA) template which was fabricated by the method of two-step anodizing and the thickness of barrier layer which was formed during the anodizing process was rectified by applying current limited anodization steps. The X-ray diffration (XRD) was used to characterize the Ni and Ni-Cu nanowires and the morphology of these nanowires was examined by the way of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SQUID magnetometry was used to investigate the magetic properties of the nanowires. It is found that the coercivity and remanence ratio of Ni-Cu nanowire is larger than that of Ni nanowire.

The structure stabilities and electronic properties of Mg-X (X = Ni, Pd, Ti, Nb) interfaces are studied by first-principles calculations, including the atomic mixture effect. In particular, the Mg-X interface structures are systemically investigated by minimizing the lattice mismatch, including the lattice constants, cell area, and included angle of the lattice (cell shape). It is found that the optimal interface matches are 4:7, 3:4, 7:8, 9:4 in surface cell atom numbers (limited up to 10 in consideration of computational cost) for Mg-Ni, Mg-Pd, Mg-Ti, Mg-Nb, and the corresponding interface energies are −0.01, −0.9, 0.4, 0.9 J m−2, respectively. We find that atomic mixing at the interface affects the strain, and even stablize the interfaces in the large-mismatch cases. Furthermore, exemplified with the Mg-Pd interface, we find the atoms at the interface can be exchanged under practical condition with assitance of vacancies at the interface.

Cancer patients on chemotherapy treatment often seek herbal therapies and this may alter the clearance of anticancer drugs.Many anticancer drugs are metabolized by CYPs and are substrates of P-glycoprotein, breast cancer resistance protein and multi-drug resistance proteins. CYPs and drug transporters are subject to inhibition and/or induction by the herbal medicines used by cancer patients and the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of anticancer agents may be altered by herbal products. There are increased reports on the interaction of herbal medicines with anticancer agents. A clinical study in cancer patients reported that treatment of St John's wort at 900 mg/day orally for 18 days decreased the plasma levels of the active metabolite of irinotecan, SN-38, by 42%. In healthy subjects, treatment with St John's wort for 2 weeks significantly decreased the systemic exposure of imatinib by 32%. Induction and/or inhibition of CYPs and transporters is considered an important mechanism for these interactions.Potential interactions of herbal medicines with anticancer agents have become a safety concern in cancer chemotherapy.Further studies are warranted to investigate the efficacy and safety profiles of herbal medicines commonly used by cancer patients.

Human CYP2C8 is a key member of the CYP2C family and metabolizes more than 60 clinical drugs. A number of active site residues in CYP2C8 have been identified based on homology modeling and site-directed mutagenesis studies. In the structure of CYP2C8, the large active site cavity exhibits a trifurcated topology that approximates a T or Y shape, which is consistent with the finding that CYP2C8 can efficiently oxidize relatively large substrates such as paclitaxel and cerivastatin. The active site cavity of CYP2C8 contains at least 48 amino acid residues and many of them are important for substrate binding. The structures of CYP2C8 in complex with distinct ligands have revealed that the enzyme can bind divergent substrates and inhibitors without extensive conformational changes. CYP2C8 is a major catalyst in the metabolism of paclitaxel, amodiaquine, troglitazone, amiodarone, verapamil and ibuprofen, with a secondary role in the biotransformation of cerivastatin and fluvastatin. CYP2C8 also metabolises endogenous compounds such as retinoids and arachidonic acid. Many drugs are inhibitors of CYP2C8 and inhibition of this enzyme may result in clinical drug interactions. The pregnane X receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, and glucocorticoid receptor are likely to involve the regulation of CYP2C8. A number of genetic mutations in the CYP2C8 gene have been identified in humans and some of them have functional impact on the clearance of drugs. Further studies are needed to delineate the role of CYP2C8 in drug development and clinical practice.

The reactions of stoichiometric amounts of Cu(CH3COO)2 · 2H2O or Ni(CH3COO)2 · 2H2O with KHL (potassium salt of salicylideneglycine) and 4,4′-bipy or 2,2′-bipy ethanol afforded [Cu2(L)2(μ-4,4′-bipy)(4,4′-bipy)2] · 2H2O (1) (L = salicylideneglycine) and Ni(OAc)2(2,2′-bipy) (H2O)2 (2), respectively. The structure of 1 contains two Cu(II)'s, bridged by 4,4′-bipy; each copper is square pyramidal. Complex 2 contains a Ni(II) in highly distorted octahedral geometry. The two complexes were constructed into 3-D interwoven networks by typical H-bonding (i.e., O−H ··· O and N−H ··· O) and some other intra- or intermolecular weak interactions (i.e., C−H ··· O).