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Ependymomas are the most prevalent intramedullary neoplasms in adults. Few cases have been reported on exophytic intramedullary ependymoma or multiple non-conus, and non-filum intradural extramedullary (IDEM) ependymomas. Here, we reported a 30-years old female with exophytic ependymoma in T10-11 and multiple IDEM ependymomas in T3-S2 and who's condition ultimately improved. This is the first case of exophytic ependymoma of the spinal cord with multiple IDEM ependymomas.

This review aimed to explore the concept, etiology, classification, classical cortical mapping, assessment, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, mechanism, recovery, prognosis, and influencing factors for Chinese post‐stroke aphasia (PSA). The review emphasized the necessity and significance of neuroimaging assessment of brain and blood vessels and neuropsychological assessment in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Chinese PSA. In addition, it suggested and recommended to use “dichotomies of internal and external, and anterior and posterior” as a starting point, based on the anatomic location of brain and blood vessels and their relationship with language area and language disorder. As a result, the formulated Chinese PSA classification was more suitable to guide the clinical treatment of cerebral stroke. Diagnosis, classification, and differential diagnosis of Chinese PSA types were performed according to the “dichotomy” and “four elements.” The formulated “flow diagram” enabled to determine the classification of Chinese PSA types. It was beneficial for patients to establish targeted and individualized rehabilitation training plans. This review introduced the use of memantine, piracetam, donepezil, etc. in PSA treatment, evaluated clinical studies conducted in China and abroad, investigated the mechanism of action related to the use of drugs in PSA treatment, and explored the therapeutic mechanism of rehabilitation training. It suggested the use drugs of memantine, piracetam, donepezil, etc. combine with non‐pharmacotherapy and rehabilitation training in clinical studies on PSA treatment and also in practical settings., This review aimed to explore the concept, etiology, classification, classical cortical mapping, assessment, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, mechanism, recovery, prognosis, and influencing factors for Chinese post‐stroke aphasia (PSA).

Lead-free double perovskite materials with efficient and stable self-trapped exciton (STE) emissions show enormous potential for next-generation solid-state lighting. However, the low-emission efficiency and difficulty of spectral regulation are two major obstacles to their application. Here, all-inorganic rare-earth-based double perovskite Cs

Mammalian ste20-like kinase 4 (MST4) and autophagy have been implicated in ailments such as inflammatory and cancers.In this study, the expression of MST4 data was extracted from TCGA, GTEx, and GEPIA. The infiltration of immune cells and methylation level of MST4 in tumor and normal tissues were extracted from GEPIA 2021, TISIDB, UALCAN, EWAS, MethSurv, and MEXPRESS database. We also predict the efficacy of outcome prediction with receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). All proteins expressions of MST4, P62, and LC3 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in paired Gastric cancer (GC) and para-cancerous normal tissue samples. We verify the effects of MST4 on irradiation-induced gastric death, and also investigate effects of MST4 activating autophagy in GC cell lines with various in vitro assays using western blotting.We have confirmed the high transcription level of MST4 from TCGA, USLCAN, HPA, and other portals, but a rapid decrease in protein level. More, MST4 can be considered as an independent prognostic molecule, which has significant prognostic significance in tumor grade, anti-tumor treatment, histological type, and time-dependent ROC curve. The methylation degree of MST4 promoter region in tumor is much lower than that in normal tissue, which may be the main reason for the remarkably high transcription level of MST4. In addition, MST4 transcription level was significantly inversely proportional to the infiltration level of most immune cells. The MST4 up-regulation and the positive association of MST4 with autophagy expression were cross-validated in open-access datasets.MST4, as an autophagy-associated protein, plays a potential role in inducing cell death by increasing protein content in radiotherapy.

Rationale and Objectives Recently, advanced magnetic resonance imaging has been widely adopted to investigate altered structure and functional activities in patients with diffuse axonal injury (DAI), this patient presumed to be caused by shearing forces and results in significant neurological effects. However, little is known regarding cerebral temporal dynamics and its predictive ability in the clinical dysfunction of DAI. Materials and Methods In this study, static and dynamic fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF), an improved approach to detect the intensity of intrinsic neural activities, and their temporal variability were applied to examine the alteration between DAI patients (n = 24) and healthy controls (n = 26) at the voxel level. Then, the altered functional index was used to explore the clinical relationship and predict dysfunction in DAI patients. Results We discovered that, compared to healthy controls, DAI patients showed commonly altered regions of static fALFF, and its variability was mainly located in the left cerebellum posterior lobe. Furthermore, decreased static fALFF values over the left cerebellum posterior lobe and bilateral medial frontal gyrus showed significant correlations with disease duration and Mini-Mental State Examination scores. More important, the increased temporal variability of dynamic fALFF in the left caudate could predict the severity of the Glasgow Coma Scale score in DAI patients. Conclusion Overall, these results suggested selective abnormalities in intrinsic neural activities with reduced intensity and increased variability, and this novel predictive marker may be developed as a useful indicator for future connectomics or artificial intelligence analyses.

We developed and identified a new set of polymorphic EST-SSR markers in Sophora japonica Linn. and analyzed their genetic diversity. Sophora japonica is a native species in China with ornamental and medicinal value. To explore the genetic diversity and the genetic differentiation of this species, expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers were developed based on de novo transcriptome sequencing. In total 35,844 unigenes were obtained with an average length of 923 bp. 7,520 potential EST-SSRs were identified from 6,084 unigenes, of which there was one SSR per 4.40 kb. The dinucleotide repeats were the most common SSRs. Based on the SSR-containing sequence, 30 superior EST-SSRs were developed from 100 primer pairs and further used to characterize the genetic diversity and genetic differentiation of S. japonica in five populations. The results showed that the genetic diversity of the five groups was high, but the frequency of gene exchange between the groups was not. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that the genetic variation within individuals was 86.10%, which means the individual variation was the more significant in selective breeding of S. japonica. Nei’s genetic identity and genetic distance analyses yielded a high genetic identity value of 0.896 and mean genetic distance of 0.1095 suggesting high similarities among the five tested S. japonica populations. Based on genetic distance, S. japonica populations were classified into two groups. The findings of this study provide insights into the genetic information of S. japonica and will guide the development of conservation and management strategies for existing S. japonica germplasm.

A growing body of experimental evidence suggests that sirtuins (SIRTs) are associated with tumorigenesis in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Nevertheless, the involvement of SIRTs in the pathogenesis of DTC and their clinical value remain ill-defined and should be thoroughly examined. We explored the transcription of SIRTs and survival data of patients with DTC by the systematic utilization of bioinformatics to analyze data of publicly accessible databases including Oncomine, cBioPortal, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), Protein Atlas, LinkedOmics, and GSCALite. The examination of gene expression profiles showed that SIRT2, SIRT3, SIRT4, SIRT5, and SIRT6 were downregulated in DTC tissues compared with the normal thyroid tissues. The decreased expression levels of SIRT2, SIRT4, and SIRT5 were correlated with advanced tumor stages. The survival results showed that the increased SIRT4 mRNA expression level was associated with improved overall survival (OS) in the DTC patients. In addition, patients with DTC with high SIRT2, SIRT3, SIRT4, and SIRT5 mRNA levels had higher disease-free survival (DFS). These results showed that SIRT2, SIRT3, SIRT4, SIRT5, and SIRT6 are potential targets for precise treatment of DTC patients and that SIRT2, SIRT3, SIRT4, and SIRT5 are novel potential biomarkers for the prognosis of DTC.

Mounting evidences have indicated that cyclophosphamide (CyC)a potent anticancer and cytotoxic agent is associated with various organ and systemic toxicities and the cytotoxic effects observed after administration of CyC still challenges its clinical use. Chrysin (Chy) is a dietary flavonoid with prevailing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study evaluated the protective properties of Chy against CyC-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. The animals were orally treated with Chy (25 and 50 mg/kg/day) for 35 days and exposed to CyC (i. p., 100 mg/kg) once a week for four weeks. The results indicated that CyC caused significant cardiotoxicity as manifested by notable increases in heart weight, cardiac function biomarkers such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), troponin T and aspartate transaminase (AST). In addition, cardiac malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL1 β) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels were considerably increased. Meanwhile, cardiac antioxidant enzymes activities such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), as well as glutathione (GSH) level were suppressed, while HE stained histopathological assessment showed marked alterations in cardiac tissues. CyC also significantly lowered red blood cells (RBC) and white blood cells (WBC) parameters, whereas treatment with Chy significantly restored the altered biochemical and histopathological features. Conclusively, aforementioned results inferred that Chy offered cardioprotective potentials against CyC-induced cardiotoxicity which may be due to its antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Background Sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (S-AKI) is a frequent complication of critical patients and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The glomerular endothelial cell injury is the main characteristics during S-AKI. Ca2+ influx is a key step in the establishment of endothelial injury. Transient receptor vanilloid subtype 4 (TRPV4) ion channels are permeable to Ca2+ and are widely expressed in endothelial cells. However, the role of TRPV4 on glomerular endothelial inflammation in S-AKI has remained elusive. Methods Mouse glomerular endothelial cells (MRGEC) were used to test the molecular mechanism of TRPV4 on LPS-induced glomerular endothelial inflammation. The cecal-ligation-and-puncture (CLP) model was established by ligation of cecum with 4-0 suture and punctured with a 21-gauge needle. Then 0.2mL faeces was extruded from the puncture site to trigger peritoneal inflammation. Results In the present study, we found that blocking TRPV4 diminishes LPS-induced cytosolic Ca2+-elevations, which are essential for glomerular endothelial inflammation and barrier function. Furthermore, TRPV4 regulated LPS-induced phosphorylation and translocation of NF-κB and IRF-3 in mouse glomerular endothelial cells (MRGEC). Clamping intracellular Ca2+ mimics the LPS-induce response seen in the absence of TRPV4. In vivo, pharmacological blockade or knock down of TRPV4 reduced the inflammatory response of glomerular endothelial cells, inhibited translocation of NF-κB and IRF-3, increased survival rate and improved renal function in CLP-induced sepsis but without altering renal cortical blood perfusion. Conclusions Taken together, these results suggested that inhibition of TRPV4 ameliorates glomerular endothelial inflammation, kidney dysfunction, and increased mortality via mediating Ca2+ overload and NF-κB/IRF-3 activation. These discoveries may provide novel pharmacological strategies for the treatment of glomerular endothelial dysfunction and kidney injury during endotoxemia, sepsis, and other inflammatory diseases.

Background Over the past few decades, cyclophosphamide (CP) has been extensively used as a broad-spectrum alkylating agent for the treatment of various cancers and solid tumors. However, the therapeutic actions on CP are not limited to only cancer cells, as it simultaneously exerts significant toxicities on healthy cells through the instigation of oxidative stress and oxidative damages. CP induced testicular toxicity is associated with impaired spermatogenesis, reduced sperm functionality, reproductive hormone and testicular weight. This study was aimed at unravelling the protective effects of emodin (EMD) on testicular toxicity following CP treatment. Methods Twenty-four male Wistar rats were allotted into 4 groups as normal control group (NCG), CP control group (CPCG), EMD25+CP (25 mg/kg in 5% tween 80) and EMD50+CP groups (50 mg/kg in 5% tween 80). EMD was orally administered for 35 consecutive days, while four doses of CP (100 mg/kg/week) were administered intraperitoneally from the second to fifth week of treatment. Thereafter, the animals were sacrificed and histopathological examination of the testes as well as serum/testicular biochemical assays were conducted. Results The results revealed that CP significantly impeded sperm function parameters including sperm count, viability and motility as well as decreased reproductive hormones (testosterone, LH and FSH) levels. In addition, CP enhanced testicular oxidative stress and proinflammatory markers (MDA, IL-6 and TNF-α), while simultaneously decreasing testicular antioxidant enzymes (GSH, GPx, SOD and CAT). Evidence of marked histopathological alterations was also observed in the H&E stained testicular tissues of CP treated rats. EMD significantly prevented these CP induced negative effects. Conclusion This study provides a basis for the potential use of EMD in counteracting chemotherapy induced testicular toxicity. The results further suggest that EMD testicular protective effects in CP-treated rats may be mediated through its modulatory role on oxidative stress and inflammation.

Objective. To explore the safety of anlotinib capsules combined with the PD-1 inhibitor (camrelizumab) in the third-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and their effect on serum tumor markers. Methods. 88 patients with advanced NSCLC treated in the Oncology Department of our hospital from December 2018 to December 2019 were selected as research subjects and randomly and equally split into the single treatment group (STG) and combined treatment group (CTG). The levels of serum tumor markers after treatment were detected in both groups, and the incidence of adverse reactions during treatment was recorded. Results. Compared with the STG, CTG achieved obviously higher total effective rate ( P P P P

The current status of the diagnosis and management of poststroke aphasia (PSA) in China is unknown. To analyze the physicians’ strategy and knowledge about the management of PSA in clinical practice and the needs for standardization of diagnosis and treatment. This survey was conducted in March-August 2019 at 32 tertiary hospitals in 16 provinces/municipalities in China. The attending physicians from the Neurology and Neuro-rehabilitation/Rehabilitation Departments were included. The online questionnaire inquired about patient information, physicians’ diagnosis and treatment behavior for PSA, and physicians’ understanding of PSA. A total of 236 physicians completed the survey. Regarding PSA assessment, 99.2% of the physicians reported using medical history and physical examination, 93.2% reported using neuroimaging, and 76.3% reported using dedicated scales. Most physicians used a combination of drug and non-drug treatment. Neuro-regenerators/cerebral activators and anti-dementia drugs were the most common pharmacotherapies; butylphthalide, edaravone, and memantine were most frequently prescribed. Six months poststroke was rendered as a spontaneous language recovery period, and a ≥6-month treatment for PSA was suggested by many physicians. The lack of standardized treatment regimen/clinical guidelines and the limited number of approved drugs for PSA were the primary challenges encountered by physicians during practice. The majority of the physicians agreed with the necessity of guidelines or consensus for the diagnosis and treatment of PSA. The knowledge gaps exist among physicians in China regarding the assessment and management of PSA. The improved awareness of the available guidelines/consensus could improve the performance of the physicians.

Background: The new coronavirus-related pneumonia is causing a global pandemic without specific antiviral drug. Ribavirin has activity against extensive RNA and DNA viruses. We plan to systematically review the use of ribavirin in patients with coronavirus-related pneumonia and meta-analyze the data with updated studies. Methods: EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure will be searched from 2002 to June 2021 without language restriction to identify randomized controlled trials. Subjects consist of patients with coronavirus-related pneumonia. Ribavirin of any dose or route will be compared with the control group of other medication, placebo, or no medication. The primary outcome is the hospital mortality. The secondary outcome includes the hospital length of stay, ventilator-free days in 28 days, median time from start of study treatment to negative nasopharyngeal swab, and adverse events. The Mantel-Haenszel method will be used for analysis of dichotomous data and the risk ratios will be reported with 95% confidence interval; the inverse-variance method will be used for continuous data and the mean differences will be reported. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses will be further performed. The funnel plots or Egger test will be used for detection of publication bias. The GRADE methodology will be used for summarizing the quality of evidence. The trial sequential analysis will be conducted to test whether the current meta-analysis is conclusive. Results: The efficacy and safety of ribavirin for treatment of coronavirus-related pneumonia will be systematically reviewed and summarized. The forthcoming results of the ongoing studies focusing on ribavirin in patients with the 2019 noel coronavirus disease will also be included. Conclusion: The relevant studies will be summarized and advanced evidence will be provided. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020178900

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is very commonly performed among the cardiovascular surgeries, and delayed recovery (DR) is a kind of serious complications in patients with CPB. It is necessary to assess the risk factors for DR in patients with CPB, to provide evidence into the management of CPB patients. Patients undergoing CPB in our hospital from January 2018 to March 2020 were included. Cases that consciousness has not recovered 12 hours after anesthesia were considered as DR. The preoperative and intraoperative variables of CPB patients were collected and analyzed. Logistic regressions were conducted to analyze the potential influencing factor. A total of 756 CPB patients were included, and the incidence of DR was 9.79%. There were significant differences on the age, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glutamic pvruvic transaminase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and serum creatinine (SCr) between patients with and without DR (all P .05); there were significant differences on the duration of CPB, duration of aortic cross clamp (ACC), duration of surgery, minimum nasopharyngeal temperature, and transfusion of packed red blood cells between patients with and without DR (all P

Background There is a wide variety of preventive methods currently available for the treatment of exposure keratopathy. Because of a lack of evidence from head-to-head randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the relative effects of these preventive methods in exposure keratopathy patients remain unclear. The purpose of our study is to carry out a network meta-analysis comparing the efficacy of different methods for the prevention of exposure keratopathy and rank these nursing methods for practical consideration. Methods A literature search was performed of the MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Library (CNKI), China Science and Technology Journal Database (Weipu), WanFang Database and China Biology Medicine disc. Two authors independently extracted data from each included RCTs according to a predesigned Excel spreadsheet and assessed the methodological quality of included RCTs using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Data was analyzed using the R (V.3.6.2) and the Stata (V.15.0). Results 21 RCTs involving 2022 patients and evaluating 11 preventive methods were included. Rankings based on posterior probabilities revealed that artificial tear ointment might be the best way to prevent exposure keratopathy (35%), polyethylene covers might be the second-best (31%), swimming goggles might be the third-best (21%), foam dressing might be the fourth-best (18%). Conclusions This network meta-analysis indicated that artificial tear ointment, polyethylene covers, swimming goggles and foam dressing might be selected for the prevention of exposure keratopathy in intensive care unit patients, which is important in future research. Although evidence is scant, more attention should be paid to head-to-head comparisons of the most commonly used prevention methods in this field.

The association between matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) gene rs3918242 polymorphism and the risk of stroke has been investigated, but the findings have been found to be contradictory. Thus, this association was assessed by meta-analysis. Potential studies were searched throughout PubMed, Embase, and CNKI. Pooled odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Sixteen original studies analyzing this association were included, involving 3647 stroke patients and 3685 unrelated controls. It was confirmed that MMP-9 gene rs3918242 polymorphism increased the risk of stroke. Stratification analysis of ethnicity revealed an increased risk of stroke among Asians, but not among Caucasians. Subgroup analysis by the type of stroke showed that MMP-9 gene rs3918242 polymorphism increased the risk of ischemic stroke. Sensitivity analysis did not draw different findings. In conclusion, MMP-9 gene rs3918242 polymorphism increases the risk of stroke.

The ultraviolet (UV)-blue radiation of sunlights usually induce the photodegradation of organic photovoltaic materials, leading to the lifetime degeneration of solar cells. A luminescent converter layer for UV-blue to visible photoconversion is a promising way to harvest UV-blue sunlights and transforms them into visible lights that can be directly absorbed by active materials of solar cells. In this work, highly transparent Ag/YVO4:Eu3+/PMMA film were fabricated, which could not only filter out the harmful UV light as well as absorb multiband wavelengths ranging of 400–540 nm, but also could convert them into red lights which match well with band gap of photovoltaic materials. Then, we experimentally and theoretically investigated the luminescence enhancements with various Ag nanoparticles (NPs) size, concentration and excitation wavelengths. The luminescent enhancements were realized under the multiband wavelength excitation ranging of 280–538 nm. The maximum luminescence enhancement is 23-fold for Ag/YVO4:Eu3+/PMMA film under the excitation wavelength of 468 nm matching well with the localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) of Ag NPs. Furthermore, we provide evidence that such enhancement is resulted from excitation field enhancement instead of Purcell effect. Our findings provide us a thinking on designing highly effective and transparent plasmon/luminescent converter, which may be utilized to improve the photostability and efficiency of solar cells.

Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICUAW) occurs frequently in the context of critical illness without alternative plausible cause and specific treatment options, and it is important to identify and summarize the independent risk factors for ICUAW. PubMed, Embase, Central, China Biological Medicine, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP and Wanfang databases were searched from database inception until 10 July 2017. Prospective cohort studies on adult ICU patients who were diagnosed with ICUAW using either clinical or electrophysiological criteria were selected. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata version 12.0. The results were analysed using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Data were pooled using a random-effects model, and heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. Qualitative analysis and systematic review were used for risk factors that were deemed inappropriate to combine. Fourteen prospective cohort studies were included in this review. The meta-analysis showed that Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (OR, 1.05; 95%CI, 1.01-1.10), neuromuscular blocking agents (OR, 2.03; 95%CI, 1.22-3.40) and aminoglycosides (OR, 2.27; 95%CI, 1.07-4.81) were found to be significantly associated with ICUAW. Other risk factors, including female, multiple organ failure, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis, electrolyte disturbances, hyperglycaemia, hyperosmolarity, high lactate level, duration of mechanical ventilation, parenteral nutrition and use of norepinephrine, were statistically significant on multivariable analysis in each single studies. This review provides a number of independent risk factors for ICUAW, which should be guided for early prediction and prevention of the disorder.

The modification of upconversion luminescence (UCL) in In 2 O 3 :Yb 3+ , Er 3+ inverse opal photonic crystals (IOPCs) was investigated. The spontaneous decay rate (SDR) of 4 S 3/2 - 4 I 15/2 in IOPCs was suppressed as high as 2.6 times in contrast to the reference (REF) sample due to the modification of effective refractive index. It is significant to observe that the temperature quenching and concentration quenching in the In 2 O 3 :Yb 3+ , Er 3+ IOPCs was greatly suppressed due to the thin layer structure and connected air cavity.

All-inorganic perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) have attracted tremendous attention due to their extraordinary optical properties, especially CsPbBr3 QDs with their high stability and photoluminescence efficiency. However, studies investigating the biosensing capabilities of PQDs are still limited. In this work, we designed a visible -light-triggered photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor based on CsPbBr3 QDs for the first time. The immobilized three-dimensional (3D) ZnO inverse opal photonic crystals (IOPCs) were applied to dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) sensing. It was found that the CsPbBr3 QDs, as a photoactive material in a PEC sensor, can expand the photocurrent response of the PEC sensor to the visible region, as well as boost its conductivity. This PEC sensor based on a ZnO/CsPbBr3 electrode demonstrates sensitive detection of NADH in phosphate buffer saline solution and serum, with a good linear range from 0.1 μM to 250 μM and a low detection limit of 0.010 μM. Our strategy offers a new approach to perovskite QD-based PEC sensing, which could be more sensitive and convenient for clinical analysis.

A banana flip-flow screen is an effective solution for the screening of high-viscosity, high-water and fine materials. As one of the key components, the vibration characteristics of the inclined flip-flow screen panel largely affects the screen performance and the processing capacity. In this paper, a mathematical model for the vibration characteristic of the inclined flip-flow screen panel is proposed based on Catenary theory. The reasonability of Catenary theory in analyzing the vibration characteristic of flip-flow screen panels is verified by a published experiment. Moreover, the effects of the rotation speed of exciters, the incline angle, the slack length and the characteristics of the screen on the vertical deflection, the vertical velocity and the vertical acceleration of the screen panel are investigated parametrically. The results show that the rotation speed of exciters, the incline angle, the slack length and the characteristics of the screen have significant effects on the vibrations of an inclined flip-flow screen panel, and these parameters should be optimized.

Woody encroachment in grasslands has become increasingly problematic globally. Grazing by domestic animals can facilitate woody encroachment by reducing competition from herbaceous plants and fire frequency. Herbivorous insects and parasitic plants can each exert forces that result in the natural biological control of encroaching woody plants through reducing seeding of their host woody plants. However, the interplay of grazing and dynamics of herbivorous insects or parasitic plants, and its effects on the potential biological control of woody encroachment in grasslands remains unclear. We investigated the flower and pod damage by herbivorous insects, and the infection rates of a parasitic plant on the shrub Caragana microphylla, which is currently encroaching in Inner Mongolia Steppe, under different grazing management treatments (33-year non-grazed, 7-year non-grazed, currently grazed). Our results showed that Caragana biomass was highest at the currently grazed site, and lowest at the 33-year non-grazed site. Herbaceous plant biomass followed the opposite pattern, suggesting that grazing is indeed facilitating the encroachment of Caragana plants in Inner Mongolia Steppe. Grazing also reduced the abundance of herbivorous insects per Caragana flower, numbers of flowers and pods damaged by insect herbivores, and the infection rates of the parasitic plant on Caragana plants. Our results suggest that grazing may facilitate woody encroachment in grasslands not only through canonical mechanisms (e.g. competitive release via feeding on grasses, reductions in fires, etc.), but also by limiting natural biological controls of woody plants (herbivorous insects and parasitic plants). Thus, management efforts must focus on preventing overgrazing to better protect grassland ecosystems from woody encroachment., Summary: Grazing can negatively affect herbivorous insects and parasitic plants on woody plants, and thus limit the effectiveness of their natural biological control effects on woody encroachment.

Fine-tuning of multi-color emission characteristics of upconversion lanthanide-ion-doped nanocrystals is of high importance for 3-D color displays, multi-color bio-imaging, and multiplexed cellular labeling. Here, we report a strategy enabling crystal phase transition and morphology transformation between GdF3:Yb3+,Tm3+ and GdOF:Yb3+,Tm3+ nanocrystals for fine-tuning of upconversion multi-color emissions. By controlling the ratio between oleylamine (OM)/octadecene (ODE), the orthorhombic phase of rhombic nanoplates (GdF3:Yb3+,Tm3+) was transformed to the cubic phase of nanospheres (GdOF:Yb3+,Tm3+), along with their upconversion color change from blue to red. Broadband upconversion emission was observed from GdOF:Yb3+,Tm3+ nanocrystals at a high excitation power, which is expected to originate from oxygen defects. Multi-color upconversion nanocrystals providing broadband emission are expected to find their applications in broad band multi-color biomolecular imaging requiring a high imaging resolution.

In2O3:Yb3+,Er3+ nanorod flowers (NRFs) are prepared by a simple hydrothermal method, where sucrose was used as a ligand. The obtained In2O3:Yb3+,Er3+ NRFs were carefully characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), power X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and steady/transient spectroscopy. The dependence of the upconversion luminescence (UCL) of In2O3:Yb3+,Er3+ NRFs on morphology, Yb3+ concentration and excitation power was carefully discussed. It is found that the luminescence intensity ratio of the red emission to green emission (R/G) depended on the morphology and Yb3+ concentration, and the green emissions are dominantly resulting from a three-photon populating process with higher Yb3+ doping concentration. More importantly, the concentration quenching in the In2O3:Yb3+,Er3+ NRFs was greatly suppressed due to boundary effects, and is beneficial for lighting and photon energy conversion devices.

Recently, epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) have revolutionized non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment. However, resistance remains a major obstacle. Anexelekto (AXL) is a member of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and shares the same downstream signaling pathways with EGFR, such as PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK. AXL overexpression in resistant tumors has been implicated in many previous studies in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we further examined whether expression of AXL and its downstream targets increased in gefitinib-resistant PC9 cells (PC9GR). In addition, we hypothesize that knocking down AXL in PC9GR and overexpressing AXL in PC9 using genetic tools can restore and decrease the sensitivity to gefitinib, respectively. We found that silencing AXL could sensitize the resistance to gefitinib, and the downstream pathways were significantly inhibited. Interestingly, we also discovered that increased AXL expression did promote the resistance, and its downstream targets were activated accordingly. Then 69 NSCLC patients who harbored EGFR mutation were recruited to analyze the expression of AXL and the association between AXL expression and clinical characteristics. We found that 5 of the 69 patients were AXL positive (about 7%), and AXL was related to tumor differentiation and tumor size. In this study, we concluded that the molecular mechanisms of AXL mediated resistance involved in the increased activity of the PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK1/2 pathways, and AXL overexpression could promote resistance, but it can be weakened when AXL expression is silenced.

All-inorganic perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) have attracted tremendous attention due to their extraordinary optical properties, especially CsPbBr3 QDs with their high stability and photoluminescence efficiency. However, studies investigating the biosensing capabilities of PQDs are still limited. In this work, we designed a visible -light-triggered photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor based on CsPbBr3 QDs for the first time. The immobilized three-dimensional (3D) ZnO inverse opal photonic crystals (IOPCs) were applied to dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) sensing. It was found that the CsPbBr3 QDs, as a photoactive material in a PEC sensor, can expand the photocurrent response of the PEC sensor to the visible region, as well as boost its conductivity. This PEC sensor based on a ZnO/CsPbBr3 electrode demonstrates sensitive detection of NADH in phosphate buffer saline solution and serum, with a good linear range from 0.1 μM to 250 μM and a low detection limit of 0.010 μM. Our strategy offers a new approach to perovskite QD-based PEC sensing, which could be more sensitive and convenient for clinical analysis.

Background Sedation and analgesia are commonly required to relieve anxiety and pain in mechanically ventilated patients. Fentanyl and morphine are the most frequently used opioids. Remifentanil is a selective μ-opioid receptor that is metabolized by unspecific esterases and eliminated independently of liver or renal function. Remifentanil has a rapid onset and offset and a short context-sensitive half-life regardless of the duration of infusion, which may lead to reductions in weaning and extubation. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of remifentanil to that of other opioids in mechanically ventilated patients. Methods We conducted a search to identify relevant randomized controlled studies (RCTs) in the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and SinoMed databases that had been published up to 31 December 2016. The results were analysed using weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results Twenty-three RCTs with 1905 patients were included. Remifentanil was associated with reductions in the duration of mechanical ventilation (mean difference -1.46; 95% CI -2.44 to -0.49), time to extubation after sedation cessation (mean difference -1.02; 95% CI -1.59 to -0.46), and ICU-LOS (mean difference -0.10; 95% CI -0.16 to -0.03). No significant differences were identified in hospital-LOS (mean difference -0.05; 95% CI -0.25 to 0.15), costs (mean difference -709.71; 95% CI -1590.98 to 171.55; I2 88%), mortality (mean difference -0.64; 95% CI -1.33 to 0.06; I2 87%) or agitation (mean difference -0.71; 95% CI -1.80 to 0.37; I2 93%). Conclusions Remifentanil seems to be associated with reductions in the duration of mechanical ventilation, time to extubation after cessation of sedation, and ICU-LOS. No significant differences were identified between remifentanil and other opioids in terms of hospital-LOS, costs, mortality or agitation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13054-017-1789-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Appendix 1: PubMed search strategy. (PDF 18 kb)

Subgroup analyses. Remifentanil was associated with a reduction in duration of mechanical ventilation in subgroups of analgesia and sedation (b) and remifentanil comparing with fentanyl (c). There was no significant difference in subgroups of analgesia only (a), morphine (d), and sufentanil (e). (PDF 112 kb)

Secondary outcomes. There was no significant difference in hospital-LOS (a), costs (b), mortality (c) and agitation (d) in comparison with remifentanil and other opioids. (PDF 92 kb)

Low luminescent intensity/efficiency of upconversion nanocrystals (UCNCs) seriously limits its practical application in energy harvesting and biodetection etc. The surface plasmon modulation based on plasmonic metallic nanostructure is a promising way to largely enhance the luminescent intensity/efficiency of UCNCs. Herein, the silver nanowire network (AgNW-net)/NaYF4:Yb3+, Tm3+ composite film was prepared by the simple drop-casting method. The plasmonic AgNW-ner antenna demonstrates super-broad surface plasmon extinction band extending from 300 nm to 2500 nm, covering the excitation/emission wavelengths of UCNCs. An optimum UCL enhancement as high as 28 folds for UC visible emission and 5 folds for down-conversion near infrared emission were realized by optimizing the size of UCNCs and the excitation power. Systematic experimental studies indicate that the luminescent enhancement is due to excitation filed enhancement instead of Purcell effect. This finding provides a potential composite for harvesting near infrared solar energy.

Methyl mercury is very poisonous, forming from bacteria interacting with mercury in water, soil, or plants, and taken up by humans via the food chain. Therefore, it is important to develop accurate, fast and easy to use biologically-applicable sensors for methyl mercury. Here, we present a novel kind of near infrared light derived biosensor for human serum. It is based on Forster resonance energy transfer on a composite film of In2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ inverse opal photonic crystals and CdTe quantum dots. Using 980 nm laser excitation it minimizes artefacts by autofluorescence, and it features accurate selectivity and a detection sensitivity for down to 13 nM of methyl mercury. This finding opens up a novel fluorescence sensor for methyl mercury detection in biological fields.