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Background:  For endoscopic fenestration of middle cranial fossa arachnoid cysts (MCFACs), the decisions on the location and number of stomas are key issues. However, research on this particular topic has been limited. Thus, this study aimed to compare single- versus multiple-stoma endoscopic fenestration for treating Galassi type III MCFACs., Methods:  This retrospective study included 86 patients with Galassi type III MCFACs treated with endoscopic fenestration. Single-stoma fenestration to the basal cistern was performed in 37 cases, whereas multiple-stoma fenestration to the basal cistern and the carotid cistern was performed in 49 cases. Clinicoradiologic profiles and follow-up data were analyzed., Results:  The rate of symptom relief was 83.7% (72/86), and the rate of cyst shrinkage was 96.5% (83/86). Postoperative ipsilateral subdural effusion, which was significant ( p  = 0.042), and noninfectious fever were the two most common complications in the single- and multiple-stoma groups. No significant differences in intraoperative nerve injury, vascular injury, proportion of cases with cyst reduction, and symptom remission rate were observed between the two groups. The rates of cyst recurrence and secondary surgery in the single-stoma group were higher than those in the multiple-stoma group, although the difference was not significant., Conclusion:  Endoscopic fenestration is an effective and minimally invasive approach for treating Galassi type III MCFACs. Single- and multiple-stoma endoscopic fenestrations have the same curative effect., Competing Interests: None declared., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate the related factors of postoperative recurrence intrigeminal neuralgia (TN) patients treated with fully neuroendoscopic microvascular decompression (MVD). Methods: The clinical baseline data and preoperative MRI imaging data of 112 patients with TN treated by neuroendoscopic MVD from December 2008 to December 2020 in the Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Shijitan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University were retrospectively analyzed, including: area ratio of cerebellopontine area (CPA)(healthy side/affected side), trigeminal nerve(TGN)length ratio(healthy side/affected side), TGN angle ratio(healthy side/affected side), and criminal vessel type. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the factors affecting postoperative recurrence. Results: Among the 112 patients in this group, there were 49 males and 63 females. The age ranged from 20 to 82 (59±9) years, and the course of disease was 0.05 to 30.00 (5.60±5.15) years. Pain was located on the left side in 43 cases (38.39%) and on the right side in 69 cases (61.61%), respectively. All patients were followed up for more than 1 year, with an average follow-up time of 21.5 months, and 11 cases recurred. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that disease duration≥3 years( HR =9.34, 95% CI :1.12-39.07), CPA area ratio(healthy side/affected side)>1 ( HR =27.47, 95% CI :1.69-44.20), criminal vessel type with vein( HR =35.39, 95% CI :1.26-18.60) and criminal vessel type with arteriovenous ( HR =46.07, 95% CI : 2.74-27.75) were the main factors influencing recurrence of MVD surgery (all P <0.05). Conclusion: The disease duration≥3 years, CPA area ratio(healthy side/affected side)>1, and criminal vessel type with vein/arteriovenous are the relevant factors that affect the recurrence rate after the fully neuroendoscopic MVD treatment for trigeminal neuralgia.

Objective: To explore the efficacy and technical features of fully endoscopic microvascular decompression(MVD) in primary trigeminal neuralgia(PTN) via keyhole approach. Methods: The clinical data of 97 patients with PTN underwent fully endoscopic MVD via keyhole approach in the Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University from December 2014 to February 2019 was collected. During fully endoscopic MVD in PTN via keyhole approach, performer use natural clearance without grinding except developed rock bone crest or excessive retraction of the brain tissue, visually and panoramically observe and evaluate the CPA area, accurately identify the responsible vessels, to avoid the omission of responsible vessels or insufficient decompression. And the use of preplaced technology, bridging technology and submersible technology, ensure the efficacy of surgery and reduce the surgical side injuries.Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) pain score was used to evaluate the efficacy and identify the recurrence. The surgical efficacy was analyzed. Results: The offending vessels were identified under endoscope in 96 cases. Among them, arterial compression was found in 77 cases, venous compression in 6 cases, and both arterial and venous compression in 13 cases. About the pain outcomes, 87 cases had immediate and complete relief of pain, 5 cases had almost relief of pain, 4 cases had partial relief of pain, and still needed medication control, but the dose was lower than that before operation, and 1 case had no obvious relief of pain. About complications, there were 4 cases of temporary facial numbness, 1 case of temporary hearing loss, both of them recovered after symptomatic treatment. There was no cerebral infarction or hemorrhage, intracranial or incision infection. All cases were followed up for 3.0-38.0 months with a median period of(22.4±2.2) months. During the follow-up periods, postoperative recurrence occurred in 3 cases. Conclusion: Fully endoscopic MVD for PTN through keyhole approach, provides panoramic view to avoid omission of offending vessels and reduce complications, seemed to be a safe and effective surgical method.

A series of three-dimensional magnetic covalent organic frameworks were designed and synthesized via monomer selection, coating thickness optimization, and composite strategy transformation. Their structure properties including morphology, functional group, surface area, and pore size were characterized. The relationship between the structural properties and analytical performance was systematically investigated by density functional theory calculation and batch extraction experiments for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. It is proven that the extractant modified by monomer 1,4-phthalaldehyde provides a hizgh affinity for high molecule weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the right balance between extraction and elution efficiency. The relationship between coating thickness and mass transfer rate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was studied by accurate tuning of coating layers via layer-by-layer method. A mathematical model was derived and employed to determine that two coating layers were sufficient to provide the highest extraction efficiency with the shortest equilibrium time. The extractants synthesized by two different composite strategies (layer-by-layer and one-step) show opposite selectivity for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. After optimization of the extraction conditions, dispersed solid-phase extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy method was developed providing a wide linear range (5-500 ng L -1 ), good linearity (R 2  > 0.9923), high precision in intra-day (RSD% < 8.2%) and inter-day (RSD% < 12.3%) detection, and low detection limits (1.5-15.1 ng L -1 ). The method was applied to the simultaneous determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with acceptable recoveries, which were 87-109% for groundwater, 83-116% for East Lake water, and 82-116% for Yangtze River water samples.

Cerebral ventricular infection (CVI) is one of the most dangerous complications in neurosurgery because of its high mortality and disability rates. Few studies have examined the application of neuroendoscopic surgical techniques (NESTs) to assess and treat CVI. This multicenter, retrospective study was conducted using clinical data of 32 patients with CVI who were assessed and treated by NESTs in China. The patients included 20 men and 12 women with a mean age of 42.97 years. NESTs were used to obliterate intraventricular debris and pus, fenestrate or incise the intraventricular compartment and reconstruct cerebrospinal fluid circulation, and remove artificial material. Intraventricular irrigation with antibiotic saline was applied after neuroendoscopic surgery (NES). Secondary hydrocephalus was treated by endoscopic third ventriculostomy or a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Neuroendoscopic findings of CVI were used to classify patients into Grade I (n = 3), Grade II (n = 13), Grade III (n = 10), and Grade IV (n = 6) CVI. The three patients with grade I CVI underwent one NES, the 23 patients with grade II/III CVI underwent two NESs, and patients with grade IV CVI underwent two (n = 3) or three (n = 3) NESs. The imaging features and grades of neuroendoscopy results were positively related to the number of neurosurgical endoscopic procedures. Two patients died of multiple organ failure and the other 30 patients fully recovered. Among the 26 patients with secondary hydrocephalus, 18 received ventriculoperitoneal shunt and 8 underwent endoscopic third ventriculostomy. There were no recurrences of CVI during the 6- to 76-month follow-up after NES. Application of NESTs is an innovative method to assess and treat CVI, and its neuroendoscopic classification provides an objective, comprehensive assessment of CVI. The study trial was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, China., Competing Interests: None

Objective: To study the operative method, special technique and curative effect of complete neuroendoscopic microvascular decompression(MVD) related to vertebrobasilar artery compression. Methods: Thirteen patients with functional cranial nerve disease caused by vertebrobasilar artery as direct or indirect responsible vessel accepted complete endoscopic MVD, including 11 patients with hemifacial spasm and 2 patients with trigeminal neuralgia. The procedure and curative effect of endoscopic surgery were analyzed retrospectively. Results: All procedures of complete neuroendoscopic MVD were successfully completed.Intraoperative observation by endoscope showed that 6 cases were oppressed directly by vertebral artery, 2 cases were oppressed directly by basilar artery, 5 cases were combined oppressed by displaced basilar artery and other vessels (1 case was superior cerebellar artery and 4 cases were anterior inferior cerebellar artery). During the operation, Teflon sheets was placed directly into the compression point in 2 cases, the "Pre-placed" technique was used to place Teflon sheets in 7 cases, and the "Set up bridge" technique was used to place Teflon sheets in 4 cases. Follow-up for 8-38 months,the symptoms disappeared completely in 12 cases and improved in 1 case. No deaths and severe complications occurred, such as postoperative bleeding, cerebellar infarction and intracranial infection. Conclusion: MVD related to vertebrobasilar artery compression can be performed by complete neuroendoscopic technique, which can achieve sufficient decompression effect and curative effect.Flexible use of the special technology of placing Teflon sheets by single-hand under endoscope, such as the "Pre-placed" and "Set up bridge" technique, is an important technical guarantee for the successful completion of endoscopic MVD.

Millions of tons of paper and its derivatives are annually wasted without being recycled and reused. To promote the comprehensive utilization of resources and eco-friendly preparation, waste filter paper, printer paper, and napkins were chosen as carbon sources to one-step synthesize three types of three dimensional (3D) net-like magnetic mesoporous carbon (MMC) by an eco-friendly and low-cost method. These mesoporous (3.90-7.68 nm) composites have a high specific surface area (287-423 m 2 g -1 ), well-developed porosity (0.24-0.74 cm 3 g -1 ) and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups. Compared to the other two composites, the adsorbent derived from filter paper showed the highest adsorption capacity towards methylene blue (MB) ( q max = 332.03 mg g -1 ) and rhodamine B (RhB) ( q max = 389.59 mg g -1 ) with a high adsorption rate (<5 min). According to the effect of pH value on adsorption capacity, and combining the analysis of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the main adsorption mechanisms can be summarized as hydrogen bonds, electrostatic interactions, and π-π interaction. Besides, the occurrence of redox reactions between Fe 2+ /Fe 0 and dye cannot be ignored. Finally, experiments on reusability were performed. They showed that the 3D net-like MMC could be easily regenerated and still maintained a removal efficiency of above 80% for RhB and 90% for MB after five cycles., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of soft neuroendoscopic techniques in the treatment of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH). Methods: A retrospective analysis of 201 cases of CSDH diagnosed and treated at Beijing Shijitan Hospital (CMU) from January 2006 to December 2017 was conducted. From January 2006 to December 2010, 126 cases of CSDH were treated with skull drilling and drainage (non-endoscopic group). From January 2011 to December 2017, 75 cases of CSDH were treated with soft neuroendoscopy (endoscopic group). The operation time of the non-endoscopic and endoscopic groups, the hematoma clearance rate on the first day after surgery, the time of the drainage tube, the length of hospital stay, the incidence of complications, mortality and recurrence rate were compared. Results: There were no deaths in both groups. The average operation time of the non-endoscopic group was 43 min, compared with the average operation time of the endoscopy group of 50 min, there was no significant difference ( P> 0.05). The average hematoma clearance rate on the first day after surgery in the endoscopy group (98.2%) was significantly higher than that in non-endoscopic group (87.3%) ( P< 0.01). The average time of drainage tube in the endoscopy group (23 h) was significantly shorter than that in the non-endoscopic group (50 h) ( P< 0.01). On the first postoperative day, the proportion of patients with mRS≤3 in the endoscopic group was significantly higher than that in the non-endoscopic group ( P< 0.01). At the time of discharge, the proportion of patients with mRS≤3 in the endoscopy group was also significantly higher than that in the non-endoscopic group, P< 0.05. There was no significant difference in the average hospital stay between endoscopy group (7 d) and non-endoscopic group (8 d) ( P> 0.05). The postoperative complication rate in the endoscopy group was significantly lower than that in the non-endoscopic group ( P< 0.01). During 0.5-8 years of follow-up, the recurrence rate of CSDH in the endoscopic group (5.33%) was significantly lower than that in the non-endoscopic group (15.07%) ( P< 0.01). Conclusion: The application of visualization features of soft neuroendoscopy in the treatment of CSDH can significantly improve hematoma clearance, shorten the time of drainage tube, reduce postoperative complications and recurrence rate, and improve surgical outcomes.

Objective: To investigate the effect of microRNA-210 on the spinal cord injury (SCI) and its underlying mechanism., Materials and Methods: The mouse SCI model was established. Mice were randomly assigned into 4 groups, namely the sham operation group (sham group), surgery group (SCI group), surgery+NC group (SCI+NC group) and surgery+microRNA-210 overexpression group (SCI+microRNA-210 mimics group). The mRNA levels of microRNA-210 and the key genes in the JAK-STAT pathway of the four groups were detected by Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) at different time points. Protein levels of JAK2 and STAT3 in mice of the four groups were detected by Western blot. To investigate the role of microRNA-210 in SCI recovery, changes in the motor function of mice were detected., Results: Grip strengths of right and left forelimbs in mice from the sham group were temporarily decreased at the early stage after surgery, which were gradually recovered to the preoperative levels on the 3rd postoperative day. However, mice in SCI group were unable to complete the grip strength determination at the early stage after surgery. Mice in SCI group were capable of grasping on the 7th postoperative day. Besides, grip strengths of mice in SCI group were remarkably lower than those of sham group until the end-point (on the 50th day). Furthermore, mRNA levels of microRNA-210 in mice of SCI group were decreased in a time-dependent manner (p<0.05). Higher grip strengths were observed in mice of SCI+microRNA-210 mimics group in comparison with those of SCI group and SCI+NC group (p<0.05). In addition, Western blot showed that protein levels of JAK2 and STAT3 in mice of SCI group were increased in a time-dependent manner (p<0.05). Moreover, protein levels of JAK2, STAT3, and MCP-1 in mice of SCI+NC group were remarkably higher than those in the sham group and SCI+microRNA-210 mimics group (p<0.05)., Conclusions: MicroRNA-210 is down-regulated in SCI mice. Grip strengths of SCI mice can be recovered after microRNA-210 overexpression via inhibiting inflammatory response by the JAK-STAT pathway.

Tailor-made chitosan fiber was prepared via hydrothermal treatment to serve as a micro-solid phase extraction (micro-SPE) sorbent for the analysis of petroleum acids (PAs) in crude oils. Chitosan fiber, which is commercial and cheap, has a diameter of about 10 μm and a length of a few centimeters. The fibrous property of the sorbent enables the micro-SPE to deal with viscous crude oil samples because of the low back-pressure during extraction, while the abundant hydroxyl groups and amino groups on the surface of chitosan fiber can provide high density of specific sites for adsorption of PAs. Moreover, it was found that hydrothermal treatment at certain conditions could tune the surface properties of chitosan fiber, leading to significant improvement of the capacity of the fiber in adsorption of PAs. Using hydrothermally treated chitosan fiber as sorbent, the micro-SPE was applied to the determination of PAs in crude oils, with the advantages of easy-operation, rapidness and high sensitivity (the limits of detection range from 0.7 ng/g to 5.4 ng/g). Furthermore, coupled with comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC × GCMS), the treated chitosan fiber packed micro-SPE method showed a great potential for comprehensive profiling of PAs in crude oils., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of endoscopic neurosurgery combined with intraventricular lavage for pyogenic ventriculitis. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 45 patients with pyogenic ventriculitis in six hospitals which included Beijing Shijitan Hospital and Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2001 to 2017. Twenty-four patients (non-endoscopic group) were treated with external ventricular drainage combined with intraventricular antibiotics administration from 2001 to 2009. Twenty-one patients (endoscopic group) was treated by endoscopic neurosurgery combined with intraventricular antibiotics lavage from 2010 to 2017. The drainage time, mortality, and modified Rankin score (mRS) after 6 months of follow-up were compared between the two groups. Results: Drainage time: (20±6) days in the endoscopic group, and (42±10) days in the non-endoscopic group. There was a significant difference between the two groups ( P <0.001). Days in hospital: (29±7) days in the endoscopic group, and (51±11) days in the non-endoscopic group. There were significant differences between the two groups ( P <0.001). Mortality: 8 patients (33.3%) died in the non-endoscopy group, and 1 patient (4.76%) died in the endoscopy group. There was a significant difference between the two groups ( P =0.017). After 6 months of follow-up, patients of mRS≤3 were 14 cases (66.67%) in the endoscopy group, and 7 cases (29.17%) in the non-endoscopic group. There was a significant difference between the two groups ( P =0.001). Conclusion: Endoscopic neurosurgery combined with intraventricular antibiotics saline lavage for pyogenic ventriculitis is an effective assessment and treatment method, and it is worth further promotion and application.

Objective: miRNAs have been confirmed to be related to cell proliferation and apoptosis. In this study, we detected the potential effect of miR-448 on glioma cell proliferation and apoptosis., Materials and Methods: miR-448 and CTTN expression levels were detected in glioma cell lines with quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cells were transfected with miR-448 mimics and inhibitor by using lipofectamine 2000 respectively. The proliferative ability of transfected cells was detected via methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) and cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assays. Cell apoptosis and cell-cycle were tested using flow cytometry. The regulatory correlation between miR-448 and CTTN was explored by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay., Results: Lower expression of miR-448 and higher level of CTTN were detected in glioma cells. MiR-448 could regulate cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, and cell cycle. CTTN was negatively regulated by miR-448., Conclusions: miR-448 downregulates CTTN to inhibit cell proliferation and promote apoptosis in glioma, which indicates a potential therapeutic target of glioma.

Magnetic aqueous ammonia (MAA) was prepared as a magnetic extractant for dispersive microextraction of petroleum acids (PAs). The amount of extractant in MAA was custom-made by a simple approach. In the MAA composed of an aqueous ammonia coating and Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 core, the coating is a base extractant that can selectively extract acids, while the magnetic core serves as a support to achieve dispersion as well as rapid magnetic retrieval of the extractant during the extraction processes. This is the first use of reusable, stable and modifiable Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 as a support instead of bare Fe 3 O 4 in a magnetic particle assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction technique. The parameters that affect extraction efficiency were investigated. The sampling step as well as the desorption step can be completed in 2 min. The linear ranges are 5-5000 ng g -1 , while the limits of quantification range from 2.5 to 6.2 ng g -1 . The recoveries in spiked crude oil samples are in the range of 79.1% to 112.1% with relative standard deviations less than 11.3% (intra-day) and 13.4% (inter-day). Finally, the proposed method was applied to the analysis of PAs in diluted crude oils with different maturities. In comparison to the existing methods for extraction of PAs, the proposed method provides superior performances including high throughput (12-well plate), high degree of sample clean-up, and low consumption of separation material, solvent and time., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Objective: To explored the clinical application of the three-dimensional finite element model of atlantoaxial complex fracture. Methods: A three-dimensional finite element model of cervical spine (FEM/intact) was established by software of Abaqus6.12.On the basis of this model, a three-dimensional finite element model of four types of atlantoaxial complex fracture was established: C(1) fracture (Jefferson)+ C(2) fracture (type Ⅱfracture), Jefferson+ C(2) fracture(type Ⅲfracture), Jefferson+ C(2) fracture(Hangman), Jefferson+ stable C(2) fracture (FEM/fracture). The range of motion under flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation were measured and compared with the model of cervical spine. Results: The three-dimensional finite element model of four types of atlantoaxial complex fracture had the same similarity and profile.The range of motion (ROM) of different segments had different changes.Compared with those in the normal model, the ROM of C(0/1) and C(1/2) in C(1) combined Ⅱ odontoid fracture model in flexion/extension, lateral bending and rotation increased by 57.45%, 29.34%, 48.09% and 95.49%, 88.52%, 36.71%, respectively.The ROM of C(0/1) and C(1/2) in C(1) combined Ⅲodontoid fracture model in flexion/extension, lateral bending and rotation increased by 47.01%, 27.30%, 45.31% and 90.38%, 27.30%, 30.0%.The ROM of C(0/1) and C(1/2) in C(1) combined Hangman fracture model in flexion/extension, lateral bending and rotation increased by 32.68%, 79.34%, 77.62% and 60.53%, 81.20%, 21.48%, respectively.The ROM of C(0/1) and C(1/2) in C(1) combined axis fracture model in flexion/extension, lateral bending and rotation increased by 15.00%, 29.30%, 8.47% and 37.87%, 75.57%, 8.30%, respectively. Conclusions: The three-dimensional finite element model can be used to simulate the biomechanics of atlantoaxial complex fracture.The ROM of atlantoaxial complex fracture is larger than nomal model, which indicates that surgical treatment should be performed.

Objective: To explore the role of microRNA (miR) 137 in spinal cord injury and its mechanism., Materials and Methods: The model of spinal cord injury in mice was established to detect the recovery differences of grip strength in upper and lower limbs of mice. The expressions of miR-137 and neuronal differentiation 4 (NEUROD4) were detected at the same time. The inflammation level and the oxidative stress response after spinal cord injury were subsequently detected after overexpression of miR-137. Target genes of miR-137 were identified by bioinformatics. Finally, dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was used to identify the target genes of miR-137., Results: By establishing the model of spinal cord injury in mice, the strength of upper and lower limbs recovered after 7 days of injury in mice. The expression of miR-137 in spinal cord injury was found to decrease in a time-dependent manner by quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), while the expression of NEUROD4 gradually increased. Inflammation indicators and oxidative stress level were found to be significantly higher after spinal cord injury. However, the inflammation level and oxidative stress were significantly reduced after transfection of miR-137. Finally, we predicted the target gene of miR-137 through bioinformatics website and found that NEUROD4 was a potential target gene of miR-137. Using dual luciferase reporter assays, we found that NEUROD4 bound to miR-137. After overexpression of miR-137, the expression of NEUROD4 was significantly reduced. Overexpression of NEUROD4 could promote spinal cord injury inflammation and oxidative stress. After intracellular transfection of NEUROD4 and miR-137 at the same time, the inflammation level and oxidative stress of spinal cord injury decreased significantly., Conclusions: These results suggested that miR-137 promoted the recovery of spinal cord injury by degrading NEUROD4 to relieve the spinal cord inflammation and the progression of oxidative stress, thus promoting the recovery of spinal cord injury.

Stable and reusable porphyrin-based magnetic nanocomposites were successfully synthesized for efficient extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from environmental water samples. Meso-Tetra (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP), a kind of porphyrin, can connect the copolymer after amidation and was linked to Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 magnetic nanospheres via cross-coupling. Several characteristic techniques such as field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, vibrating sample magnetometry and a tensiometer were used to characterize the as-synthesized materials. The structure of the copolymer was similar to that of graphene, possessing sp 2 -conjugated carbon rings, but with an appropriate amount of delocalized π-electrons giving rise to the higher extraction efficiency for heavy PAHs without sacrificing the performance in the extraction of light PAHs. Six extraction parameters, including the TCPP:Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 (m:m) ratio, the amount of adsorbents, the type of desorption solvent, the desorption solvent volume, the adsorption time and the desorption time, were investigated. After the optimization of extraction conditions, a comparison of the extraction efficiency of Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -TCPP and Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 @GO was carried out. The adsorption mechanism of TCPP to PAHs was studied by first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Combining experimental and calculated results, it was shown that the π-π stacking interaction was the main adsorption mechanism of TCPP for PAHs and that the amount of delocalized π-electrons plays an important role in the elution process. Under the optimal conditions, Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -porphyrin showed good precision in intra-day (<8.9%) and inter-day (<13.0%) detection, low method detection limits (2-10 ng L -1 ), and wide linearity (10-10000 ng L -1 ). The method was applied to simultaneous analysis of 15 PAHs with acceptable recoveries, which were 71.1%-106.0% for ground water samples and 73.7%-107.1% for Yangtze River water samples, respectively., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe trauma to the central nervous system. Long non-coding RNAs have been reported to play essential roles in spinal cord injury. This study mainly explored the role of micro-125 in the regulation of spinal cord injury by regulating STAT3., Materials and Methods: The stable mouse model of cervical spinal cord contusion was established by Infinite Horizon spinal cord striker, and the model mice' motor function was analyzed. Bioinformatics databases were used to screen the target mRNAs of micro-125b. qRT-PCR was performed to detect the expression of micro-125b and its target genes in injury area of mice' spinal cord. Western Blot and ELISA were introduced to detect the expression of inflammation and apoptosis-related proteins in each group. The recovery status of spinal cord after SCI was assessed by motor function scores and axon counts of mice in each group., Results: Micro-125b appeared to be significantly down-regulated over-time after SCI. JAK1 and STAT1, two important neuregulin proteins, were predicted to be the target genes of micro-125b, and overexpression of micro-125b induced the decrease of phosphorylated JAK1 and STAT1. Enhanced micro-125b expression also allowed axons from the injury area of spinal cord to extend into the outer periphery of the damaged area, thus improving the motor function of the injured rats. Besides, overexpression of micro-125b demonstrated significant neuronal protective effects by reducing apoptosis and inflammatory responses in neurons., Conclusions: Our data revealed that micro-125b was down-regulated in injured spinal cord, and overexpression of micro-125b promoted the repair and regeneration following spinal cord injury through the regulation of the JAK/STAT pathway.

Osteosarcoma is the most common and highly aggressive bone neoplasm often occurs among adolescents and young people. In despite of the major advances in the treatment, the overall survival of osteosarcoma patients remains poor. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as key regulators involved in tumorigenesis and progression of osteosarcoma. However, the exact roles and mechanisms of lncRNAs in osteosarcoma remain unclear. In this study, the functions and underlying molecular mechanisms of a novel lncRNA, ITGB2 antisense RNA1 (ITGB2-AS1) were investigated in osteosarcoma. The expression levels of ITGB2-AS1 were up-regulated in osteosarcoma tissue samples and cell lines determined by qRT-PCR assay. Osteosarcoma patients with high ITGB2-AS1 expression had a significantly poor prognosis. In addition, knockdown of ITGB2-AS1 inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells using MTT assay and flow cytometry detection. Furthermore, wound healing and transwell invasion assay revealed that depletion of ITGB2-AS1 suppressed the migration and invasion abilities of osteosarcoma cells. Molecular mechanism study indicated that ITGB2-AS1 inhibition impaired Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway in osteosarcoma cells. Taken together, our study suggested that ITGB2-AS1 played critical roles in the development and progression of osteosarcoma via Wnt/β-catenin signalling, indicating that ITGB2-AS1 might be a valuable diagnostic biomarker and potential anticancer therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.

In this work, a polyoxometalate (POM) incorporated polymer monolith microextraction (PMME) was successfully proposed and employed in the selective extraction of basic antidepressants in undiluted urine sample. This hybrid monolith exhibited strong cation-exchange interaction (SCX) with positively charged antidepressants when pH was 3.0, because of the multiple ionizable moieties on polyanionic POM. As such, antidepressants in complex sample matrices were efficiently extracted by the monolith, and the matrix effect was significantly reduced. In addition, due to the high amount of anionic POM, the monolith exhibited remarkable extraction capacities for target antidepressants ranging from 4.7 to 5.8mg/g. Further, the POM incorporated PMME was coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV). Thus, antidepressants in undiluted urine sample was efficiently extracted under optimized extraction conditions online. The limits of detection (LODs) for the target antidepressants ranged from 0.7 to 1.4ng/mL, and the linear range was 5-1000ng/mL with determination coefficients (R 2 ) higher than 0.9960. The recoveries ranged from 86.8% to 104.0% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 0.4-10.1%. The proposed procedure was successfully applied to determine antidepressant in human urine. Taken together, the developed method presented a new strategy for the analysis of basic drugs in undiluted urine sample, which could be used for monitoring medicines in pharmacokinetic analysis., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Phosphorylation is a crucial post-translational modification, which plays pivotal roles in various biological processes. Analysis of phosphopeptides by mass spectrometry (MS) is intractable on account of their low stoichiometry and the ion suppression from non-phosphopeptides. Thus, enrichment of phosphopeptides before MS analysis is indispensable. In this work, we employed pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), as an immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) ligand for the enrichment of phosphopeptides. PLP was grafted onto several substrates such as silica (SiO 2 ), oxidized carbon nanotube (OCNT) and silica coated magnetic nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 ). Then the metal ions Fe 3+ , Ga 3+ and Ti 4+ were incorporated for the selective enrichment of phosphopeptides. It is indicated that Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -PLP-Ti 4+ has a superior selectivity towards phosphopeptides under as much as 1000-fold interferences of non-phosphopeptides. Further, Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -PLP-Ti 4+ exhibited high efficiency in selective enrichments of phosphopeptides from complex biological samples, including human serum and tryptic digested non-fat milk. Finally, Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -PLP-Ti 4+ was successfully employed in the sample pretreatment for profiling phosphopeptides in a tryptic digest of rat brain proteins. Our experimental results evidenced a great potential of this new chelator-based material in phosphoproteomics study., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Treatments that target cancer stem cells play an important role in the controlling and eliminating of tumor initiation as well as in development, progression, and chemotherapy/radiotherapy resistance. In our previous study, we cultured and harvested human laryngeal cancer stem cells (CSCs) and applied microRNA biochips to screen differentially expressed miRNAs that were related to radiation tolerance in irradiated human laryngeal CSCs. According to the predicted genes and pathways of differential miRNAs target, down-regulated expression of hsa-miR-138-2-3p under radiation was thought to play a key role in enhancing the radio-sensitivity in human laryngeal squamous cancer stem cells., Method: To investigate the radiational enhancement of hsa-miR-138-2-3p, we transfected hsa-miR-138-2-3p mimics that were synthesized based on the sequences of hsa-miR-138-2-3p in vitro into human laryngeal CSCs (Hep-2, M2e, and TU212 cell lines) to make hsa-miR-138-2-3p overexpressed, and the tumorous specialities of CSCs, like cell proliferation, invasion, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and DNA damage were evaluated by CCK-8 assay, clone formation assay, invasion assay, flow cytometry, and comet assay. Furthermore, we explored the signal transduction pathways that regulated the cancer stem cell initiation, development, invasion, apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, which were controlled by hsa-miR-138-2-3p., Result: Overexpressed hsa-miR-138-2-3p played a key role in many anti-cancer biological processes in human laryngeal CSCs: (1) it decreased laryngeal CSCs proliferation and invasion in response to radiotherapy; (2) it increased the proportion of early and late apoptosis in laryngeal CSCs after radiation, raised G1 phase arrest in laryngeal CSCs after radiation, and decreased the proportion of S stage cells of cell cycle that were related to radio-resistance in laryngeal CSCs; (3) it down-regulated the expression of β-catenin in Wnt signal pathway that was related to the tolerance of laryngeal CSCs to radiotherapy; (4) it down-regulated the expression of YAP1 in Hippo signal pathway that regulated cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis; (5) it up-regulated the expression of p38 and JNK1 in MAPK signal pathway that was concerned to radio-sensitivity., Conclusion: In the present study, it was found that hsa-miR-138-2-3p regulated the Wnt/β-catenin pathways, the Hippo/YAP1 pathways, and the MAPK/p38/JNK1 pathways that were involved in cell proliferation, invasion, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, radio-resistance and radio-sensitivity in laryngeal CSCs. These results will be useful for a better understanding of the cell biology of hsa-miR-138-2-3p in laryngeal CSCs, and for serving hsa-miR-138-2-3p as a promising biomarker and as a target for diagnosis and for novel anti-cancer therapies for laryngeal cancers., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Based on a homemade device, gas purge microsyringe extraction (GP-MSE) of crude oil samples was developed for the first time. As a simple, fast, low-cost, sensitive and solvent-saving technique, GP-MSE provides some outstanding advantages over the widely used sample preparation methods for crude oils such as column chromatography (ASTM D2549). Several parameters affecting extraction efficiency were optimized, including extraction temperature, extraction time, extraction solvent, condensing temperature and purge gas flow rate. With the optimized GP-MSE conditions, several real crude oil samples were extracted, and trace diamondoids were determined using comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS). In total, more than 100 diamondoids were detected and 27 marker compounds were identified and quantified accurately. The limits of detection (LODs, S/N=3) were less than 0.08μg/L for all diamondoids. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was below 8%, ranging from 1.1 to 7.6%. The linearity of the developed method was in the range of 0.5-100.0μg/L with correlation coefficients (R 2 ) more than 0.996. The recoveries obtained at spiking 50μg/L were between 81 and 108% for diamondoids in crude oil samples. The developed method can also be extended to the analysis of other components in crude oils and other complex matrices., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Synthesis of functionalized mesoporous silica material with large particle size remains a chanllenge. In this work, polyethylenimine (PEI) functionalized mesoporous silica (PFMS) with particle size as large as 100 μm was successfully synthesized by a facile method. In the synthesis process, PEI served as four roles simultaneously, including functionalized reagent, alkaline catalyst, template for particle formation, and pore-structure-directing agent. The surface areas of the products were higher than 260 m 2 /g. Benefiting from the large particle size and high surface area, PFMS was packed in a pipet tip to fabricate a convenient and miniaturized solid phase extraction apparatus for sample preparation. Additionally, based on the extremely abundant basic sites in the organic units of PFMS, the in-pipet-tip system was used as an anion-exchanger for phosphopeptide enrichment. The specificity of the developed method was investigated by capture of phosphopeptides from tryptic digests of standard protein mixtures, tryptic digests of nonfat milk, and human serum. Furthermore, the method was utilized to analyze phosphopeptides in tryptic digests of rat brain lysate, and 2251 unique phosphopeptides were successfully detected.

Appropriate sample preparations prior to analysis can significantly enhance the sensitivity of ambient ionization techniques, especially during the enrichment or purification of analytes in the presence of complex biological matrix. Here in, we developed a rapid analysis method by the combination of thin film microextraction (TFME) and desorption corona beam ionization (DCBI) for the determination of antidepressants in human plasma. Thin films used for extraction consisted of sub-micron sized highly ordered mesoporous silica-carbon composite fibers (OMSCFs), simply prepared by electrospinning and subsequent carbonization. Typically, OMSCFs thin film was immersed into the diluted plasma for extraction of target analytes and then directly subjected to the DCBI-MS for detection. Size-exclusion effect of mesopores contributed to avoid of the protein precipitation step prior to extraction. Mass transfer was benefited from high surface-to-volume ratio which is attributed to macroporous network and ordered mesostructures. Moreover, the OMSCFs provided mixed-mode hydrophobic/ion-exchange interactions towards target analytes. Thus, the detection sensitivity was greatly improved due to effective enrichment of the target analytes and elimination of matrix interferences. After optimization of several parameters related to extraction performance, the proposed method was eventually applied for the determination of three antidepressants in human plasma. The calibration curves were plotted in the range of 5-1000 ng/mL with acceptable linearity (R(2) >0.983). The limits of detection (S/N=3) of three antidepressants were in ranges of 0.3-1 ng/mL. Reproducibility was achieved with RSD less than 17.6% and the relative recoveries were in ranges of 83.6-116.9%. Taken together, TFME-DCBI-MS method offers a powerful capacity for rapid analysis to achieve much-improved sensitivity., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Anion-exchange chromatography (AEX) is one of the chromatography-based methods effectively being used for phosphopeptide enrichment. However, the development of AEX materials with high specificity toward phosphopeptides is still less explored as compared to immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) or metal oxide affinity chromatography (MOAC). In this work, magnetic graphitic carbon nitride (MCN) was successfully prepared and introduced as a promising AEX candidate for phosphopeptide enrichment. Due to the extremely abundant content of nitrogen with basic functionality on the surface, this material kept excellent retention for phosphopeptides at pH as low as 1.8. Benefiting from the large binding capacity at such low pH, MCN showed remarkable specificity to capture phosphopeptides from tryptic digests of standard protein mixtures as well as nonfat milk and human serum. In addition, MCN was also applied to selective enrichment of phosphopeptides from the tryptic digests of rat brain lysate and 2576 unique phosphopeptides were successfully identified., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we proposed a method to fabricate magnetic carbon nitride (CN) nanosheets by simple physical blending. Low-cost CN nanosheets prepared by urea possessed a highly π-conjugated structure; therefore the obtained composites were employed as magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) sorbent for extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in edible oil samples. Moreover, sample pre-treatment time could be carried out within 10 min. Thus, a simple and cheap method for the analysis of PAHs in edible oil samples was established by coupling magnetic CN nanosheets-based MSPE with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Limits of quantitation (LOQs) for eight PAHs ranged from 0.4 to 0.9 ng/g. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 15.0%. The recoveries of PAHs for spiked soybean oil samples ranged from 91.0% to 124.1%, with RSDs of less than 10.2%. Taken together, the proposed method offers a simple and cost-effective option for the convenient analysis of PAHs in oil samples., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Sample preparation methods with high selectivity, efficiency, and matrix resistance are essential for phosphoproteomic analysis. In this study, carboxyl cotton chelator-titanium(IV) (CCC-Ti4+) fibers, a novel CCC-based fibrous sorbent with excellent biocompatibility, were successfully synthesized on the basis of the coordination effect between double carboxyl groups on CCC and Ti4+. The synthesis of CCC-Ti4+ fibers was easy, and the incorporated titanium content was high. On the basis of immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC), CCC-Ti4+ fibers were used for specific capture of phosphopeptides using a lab-in-syringe solid-phase extraction (SPE) from multiple biological samples, including standard protein digests, nonfat milk digests, human serum, and animal tissue. The proposed sorbent exhibited high selectivity (β-casein/BSA=1:1000) and good sensitivity (10 fmol) in phosphopeptides analysis. Meanwhile, the lab-in-syringe SPE greatly simplified the entire process of enrichment. Thanks to the good biocompatibility of CCC-based material, CCC-Ti4+ fibers showed excellent performance in phosphopeptide enrichment from protein-rich human serum. Finally, CCC-Ti4+ fibers were applied for selective capture of phosphopeptides from tryptic digests of rat brain lysate followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. Using the proposed method, we identified 3950 unique phosphosites from 1 mg of rat brain in a single experiment, which is much better than previously reported IMAC-based strategies. Taken together, this efficient method will find broad application in large-scale phosphoproteomics analysis because of the rapid (3 min) convenient procedure and excellent performance.

In this study, polyaniline coated SiO2 nanofibers (PANI/SiO2) was prepared by combining electrospinning technique with in-situ polymerization. The proposed strategy for the preparation of PANI/SiO2 can eliminate the aggregation of PANI and the yield of PANI/SiO2 was high. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that PANI nanoparticles were uniformly coated on the surface of SiO2 nanofibers. The as-prepared PANI/SiO2 nanofibers were then applied as the sorbent for in-syringe dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) for the extraction of fluoroquinolones (FQs) from honey samples. The influence of SiO2 amount on the formation of PANI/SiO2 and several parameters that affect the extraction efficiency were investigated. Under optimized conditions, a rapid, simple and effective method for the determination of FQs in honey sample was developed by coupling with liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector (LC-FLD) analysis. Due to the fast extraction equilibrium, the whole sample pretreatment process could be accomplished within 4 min. The limits of detection (LODs) for the target FQs were found to be 0.1-1.3 ng/g. The recoveries in honey sample were in the range of 81.4-118.1% with the RSDs of 0.8-14.4% (intra-day) and 1.4-14.9% (inter-day). This study offers a new strategy for the preparation of functional SiO2 nanofibers using post-electrospinning modification by in-situ polymerization, which could be generally applied in the preparation of various separation materials with electrospun nanofibers., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the current study, a novel nickel(II)-immobilized sulfhydryl cotton fiber (SCF-Ni(2+)) was prepared in a simple way based on the coordination effect between Ni(2+) and thiol group on the surface of SCF. The composition and element mapping of SCF-Ni(2+) fibers were demonstrated by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Based on the high affinity of Ni(2+) to 6×His on histidine-tagged (His-tagged) proteins, SCF-Ni(2+) fibers were then further used as an immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) adsorbent for selective binding and rapid separation of His-tagged proteins using an in- pipette-tip SPE format. Our results showed that SCF-Ni(2+) adsorbent can selectively capture His-tagged proteins from protein mixture and Escherichia coli cell lysates. Taken together, the developed method provides a rapid, convenient and efficient approach for the purification of His-tagged proteins., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A simple method was developed for the preparation of ordered mesoporous silica-carbon composite nanofibers (OMSCFs). The OMSCFs exhibited high carbon content, continuously long fibrous properties, uniform accessible mesopores, and a large surface area. The OMSCFs were also found to have ion-exchange capacity. On the basis of the size-exclusion effect of the mesopores and mixed-mode hydrophobic/ion-exchange interactions, the OMSCFs were applied for rapid enrichment of endogenous peptides by using a miniaturized solid-phase extraction format. The adsorption mechanism was studied, and the eluting solution was optimized with standard peptide/protein solutions and protein digests. Employing a successive three-step elution strategy, followed by LC-MS/MS analysis, led to excellent performance with this approach in the extraction and prefractionation of peptides from human serum., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A novel in-syringe dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE) system using electrospun silica fibers as adsorbents has been developed in the current work. A few milligrams of electrospun silica fibers were incubated in sample solution in the barrel of a syringe for microextraction assisted by vortex. Due to the benefit of dispersion and the high mass transfer rate of the sub-microscale electrospun silica fibers, the extraction equilibrium was achieved in a very short time (less than 1 min). Moreover, thanks to the long fibrous properties of electrospun fibers, the separation of the adsorbent from sample solution was easily achieved by pushing out the sample solution which therefore simplified the sample pretreatment procedure. Besides, the analytical throughput was largely increased by using a multi-syringe plate to perform the extraction experiment. The performance of the in-syringe dSPE device was evaluated by extraction of endogenous cytokinins from plant tissue samples based on the hydrophilic interaction. Six endogenous cytokinins in 20 mg of Oryza sativa L. (O. sativa) leaves were successfully determined under optimized conditions using in-syringe dSPE combined with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The results demonstrated that the in-syringe dSPE method was a rapid and high-throughput strategy for the extraction of target compounds, which has great potential in microscale sample pretreatment using electrospun fibers.

Sulfhydryl cotton fiber (SCF) has been widely used as adsorbent for a variety of metal ions since 1971. Thanks to the abundant thiols on SCF, in this study, we reported a universal method for the facile preparation of SCF-based materials using "thiol-ene" click chemistry for the first time. With the proposed method, two types of SCF-based materials, phenylboronic acid grafted sulfhydryl cotton fiber (SCF-PBA) and zirconium phosphonate-modified sulfhydryl cotton fiber (SCF-pVPA-Zr(4+)), were successfully prepared. The grafted functional groups onto the thiol group of SCF were demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The prepared fibrous materials exhibited excellent fiber strength, good stability in aqueous or nonaqueous solutions, and great biocompatibility. Moreover, we developed filter-free in-pipet-tip SPE using these SCF-based materials as adsorbent for the enrichment of ribonucleosides, glycopeptides and phosphopeptides. Our results showed that SCF-PBA adsorbent can selectively capture ribonucleosides and glycopeptides from complex biological samples. And SCF-pVPA-Zr(4+) adsorbent exhibited high selectivity and capacity in the enrichment of phosphopeptides from the digestion mixture of β-casein and bovine serum albumin (BSA), as well as human serum and nonfat milk digest. Generally, the preparation strategy can be a universal method for the synthesis of other functionalized cotton-based adsorbents with special requirement in microscale biological analysis.

In the current study, polystyrene/oxidized carbon nanotubes (PS/OCNTs) film was prepared and applied as both an adsorbent of thin film microextraction (TFME) and matrix for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) for the first time. The uniform size of PS/OCNTs film with OCNTs evenly and firmly immobilized in PS was obtained by electrospinning. And a novel TFME device was developed using the prepared PS/OCNTs film to enrich benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) from water, and also BaP and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) from urine sample. Then the extracted analytes on the PS/OCNTs film were directly applied to MALDI-MS analysis with PS/OCNTs film as the MALDI matrix. Our results show that PS/OCNTs film is a good TFME adsorbent toward the analytes and an excellent matrix for the sensitive determination of BaP and 1-OHP using MALDI-TOF-MS. The employment of PS/OCNTs as the matrix for MALDI can effectively avoid the large variation of signal intensity normally resulting from heterogeneous distribution of the adsorbed analyte on matrix layer, which therefore significantly improve spot-to-spot reproducibility. The introduction of PS in the film can prevent OCNTs from flying out of MALDI plate to damage the equipment. In addition, PS/OCNTs film also largely extended the duration of ion signal of target analyte compared to OCNTs matrix. The developed method was further successfully used to quantitatively determine BaP in environmental water and 1-OHP in urine samples. The results show that BaP and 1-OHP could be easily detected at concentrations of 50pgmL(-1) and 500pgmL(-1), respectively, indicating the high detection sensitivity of this method. For BaP analysis, the linear range was 0.1-20ngmL(-1) with a correlation coefficient of 0.9970 and the recoveries were in the range of 81.3 to 123.4% with the RSD≤8.5% (n=3); for urinary 1-OHP analysis, the linear range was 0.5-20ngmL(-1) with a correlation coefficient of 0.9937 and the recoveries were in the range of 79.2 to 103.4% with the RSD≤7.6% (n=3). Taken together, the developed method provides a simple, rapid, cost-effective and high-throughput approach for the analysis of BaP in environmental water and endogenous 1-OHP in urine samples., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mesoporous silica embedded pipette tips (mSiO2-Tips) were successfully prepared by a simple method and applied to rapid enrichment of endogenous peptides for the first time. The prepared mSiO2-Tips showed low back pressure when solvent was pipetted up and down. As a result, mSiO2-Tip could selectively trap peptides and exclude high-MW proteins simultaneously based on size-exclusion mechanism due to the uniform mesopore structure of the sorbent bed. The in-pipette-tip SPE approach was proved to be easy-operation, sensitive and fast (less than 2 min) for the analysis of peptides, which was further successfully applied in the efficient enrichment of peptides from human plasma., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

SiO2-TiO2 composite fibers, prepared by electrospinning, were successfully applied to the rapid enrichment of phosphopeptides using a lab-in-syringe approach for the first time. Because of their large surface area, mesoporous structure, extraordinary length and appropriate Lewis acidity, the as-prepared SiO2-TiO2 composite fibers exhibited high selectivity and capacity in the enrichment of phosphopeptides from the digestion mixture of β-casein and bovine serum albumin (BSA), as well as human blood serum and nonfat milk. The targeted phosphopeptides could be easily enriched and detected even when the total amount of β-casein was decreased to only 10 fmol, indicating the high detection sensitivity of this method. In addition, the whole enrichment extraction procedure can be finished in less than 3 min, which can avoid or decrease the degradation of endogenous phosphoproteins by proteases released ex vivo during time-consuming treatments. The developed method is rapid, cost-effective, selective, sensitive, operationally simple, and does not require any harsh conditions and intricate equipment, providing an ideal candidate for the enrichment of phosphopeptides from complex biological samples either in the lab or in the field.

In this study, a facile hydrothermal reduction strategy was developed for the preparation of reduced graphene oxide-encapsulated silica (SiO2@rGO). Compared with other conventional methods for the synthesis of SiO2@rGO, the proposed strategy endowed the obtained SiO2@rGO with larger amount of immobilized rGO. The prepared functionalized silica shows remarkable adsorption capacity toward chlorophenols (CPs) and peptides. When it was used as solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent, a superior recovery could be obtained compared to commercial sorbents, such as C18 silica, graphitized carbon black and carbon nanotubes. Based on these, the prepared material was used as SPE sorbent for the enrichment of CPs, and a method for the analysis of CPs in water samples was established by coupling SPE with high performance liquid chromatography-ultra violet detection (SPE-HPLC/UV). In addition, the obtained SiO2@rGO was further successfully extended to the enrichment of peptides in bovine serum albumin (BSA) digests., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To explore the operative techniques and efficacy of trans-sylvian-insular approach endoscopic surgery for hypertensive basal ganglia hemorrhage., Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted in 54 patients with hypertensive basal ganglia hemorrhage from December 2009 to December 2011. All of them underwent neuroendoscopic surgery via a trans-sylvian-insular approach. The hematoma volume was 30 - 40 ml (n = 8), 40 - 50 ml (n = 42) and > 50 ml (n = 4). And the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was 8 - 12 (n = 48) and 13 - 15 (n = 6)., Results: The clearance rate of hematoma was > 90% (n = 44) and 80% - 90% (n = 10). None suffered re-hemorrhage or death., Conclusion: As a mini-invasive and efficacious approach for hypertensive basal ganglia hemorrhage, trans-sylvian-insular approach endoscopic surgery has a high clearance rate of hematoma is high and causes minimal damage to normal brain tissue. It is worth of clinical promotion.

Silica fiber with highly ordered mesoporous structure and continuously long fibrous property was synthesized on a large-scale for the first time. It can be applied to the rapid (less than 3 min) and effective enrichment of endogenous peptides with a novel lab-in-syringe approach.

Protein phosphorylation is a common posttranslational modification, and involved in many cellular processes. Like endogenous peptides, endogenous phosphopeptides contain many biomarkers of preclinical screening and disease diagnosis. In this work, titanium-containing magnetic mesoporous silica spheres were synthesized and applied for effective enrichment of peptides from both tryptic digests of standard proteins and human serum. Besides, the enriched peptides can be further separated into nonphosphopeptides and phosphopeptides by a simple elution. First, titanium-containing magnetic mesoporous silica spheres were synthesized by a sol-gel method and found to have high surface area, narrow pore size distribution, and useful magnetic responsivity. Then, as the prepared material was used for selective capturing of phosphopeptides, it demonstrated to have higher selectivity than commercial titanium dioxide. Moreover, via combination of size-exclusion mechanism, hydrophobic interaction, and affinity chromatography, titanium-containing magnetic mesoporous silica spheres were successfully applied to simultaneously extract and separate nonphosphopeptides and phosphopeptides from standard protein digestion and human serum., (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Phosphorylation, one of the most important post-translational modifications of protein, plays a crucial role in a large number of biological processes. Large-scale identification of protein phosphorylation by mass spectrometry is still a challenging task because of the low abundance of phosphopeptides and sub-stoichiometry of phosphorylation. In this work, a novel strategy based on the specific affinity of zirconium arsenate to the phosphate group has been developed for the effective enrichment of phosphopeptides. Zirconium arsenate-modified magnetic nanoparticles (ZrAs-Fe(3)O(4)@SiO(2)) were prepared by covalent immobilization of zirconium arsenate on Fe(3)O(4)@SiO(2) magnetic nanoparticles under mild conditions, and characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The prepared ZrAs-Fe(3)O(4)@SiO(2) was applied for the selective enrichment of phosphopeptides from the digestion mixture of phosphoproteins and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Our results demonstrated that the ZrAs-Fe(3)O(4)@SiO(2) magnetic nanoparticles possess higher selectivity for phosphopeptides and better capture capability towards multiply-phosphorylated peptides than commercial zirconium dioxide (ZrO(2)), which has been widely employed for the enrichment of phosphopeptides. In addition, endogenous phosphopeptides from human serum can be effectively captured by ZrAs-Fe(3)O(4)@SiO(2) magnetic nanoparticles. It is the first report, to the best of our knowledge, in which the zirconium arsenate-modified magnetic nanoparticles were successfully applied to the enrichment of phosphopeptides, which offers the potential application of this new material in phosphoproteomics study.

In this work, we describe a novel synthetic strategy of magnetic mesoporous silica spheres (Fe3O4@mSiO2) for the selective enrichment of endogenous peptides. Fe3O4 particles were coated with silica shell by a sol-gel method, followed by pseudomorphic synthesis to transform nonporous silica shell into ordered mesoporous silica shell. The core/shell structure and mesostructure were individually fabricated in two steps, which can be expedient to independently optimize the properties of monodispersion, magnetization and mesostructure. Actually, it was confirmed that the produced Fe3O4@mSiO2 particles possess good monodispersion, high magnetization, superparamagnetism, uniform accessible mesopores, and large surface area and pore volume. With these good properties, Fe3O4@mSiO2 spheres were applied to the rapid enrichment of peptides. Based on the size-exclusion mechanism and hydrophobic interaction with siloxane bridge group mainly on the surface of inside pores, Fe3O4@mSiO2 can selectively capture peptides and exclude high-MW proteins and salts. Furthermore, peptides in human plasma were successfully enriched by Fe3O4@mSiO2., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To explore the therapeutic efficacies of endoscope for fourth ventricular outlet obstruction (FVOO)., Methods: Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) was performed for 30 cases. The circumstances of third ventricular floor and basal cistern were observed and recorded intra-operatively. Meanwhile the fourth ventricular exploration and fistulation were performed across enlarged aqueduct. And the velocity and flow rate of aqueduct, fourth ventricular outlet and stoma were evaluated post-operatively with Cine-MR (magnetic resonance)., Results: Standard ETV was performed successfully in 28 patients. Fourth ventricular exploration (n = 6) and outlet membrane fistulation (n = 2) were carried out. The mean follow-up period was 2.3 years (range: 0.5 - 4.0). The overall success rate was 78.6%., Conclusion: ETV is a viable therapeutic option for FVOO patients. The therapeutic effects of outlet membrane fistulation require further observations.

Objective: To investigate the relationship of alcohol intake and hepatocellular carcinoma among patients with hepatitis B virus infection., Methods: A total of 553 patients with HCC and 160 control subjects affected with hepatitis B virus were recruited. Serum virology, serum biochemistry, as well as demographic information were studied. Finally, risk factors were selected by stepwise Logistic regression analyse. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated for each risk factor. According to alcohol intake, HCC patients were divided into three groups,then to observe the differences between them., Results: Elevated AST, GGT, ALP and AFP levels were seen more frequently in the HCC case groups compared to control group (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that heavy alcohol use, smoking, positive family history of liver cancer is associated with HCC development among patients with hepatitis B virus infection. Significantly increased risk was found among patients for heavy alcohol use [A = 2.66 (2.01-3.50)] and for smoking [A = 2.51 (1.66-3.80)] and for positive family history of liver cancer [A = 1.64 (1.04-2.59)]. Compared to patients who did not have alcohol use, elevated GGT and ALP were seen more frequently in patients who had alcohol use either mild or heavy (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: Heavy alcohol use, smoking, positive family history of liver cancer is positive correlation with HCC development among patients with hepatitis B virus infection in China. In patients with hepatitis B virus infection who also has history of heavy alcohol, the most risk factor of HCC is hepatitis B virus infection, not alcohol.

Objective: To explore the feasibility, operating technique and precautions of endoscopic microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia., Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted for 21 patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia. All underwent neuroendoscopic microvascular decompression for trigeminal nerves., Results: The pains disappeared upon awaking post-anesthesia in 19 patients. In 2 patients, pains became significantly alleviated and disappeared after taking carbamazepine for 1 - 3 months. No patient suffered the injuries of trigeminal nerve and other cranial nerves. None had cerebellum edema or death. During the follow-up period, there was no recurrence of pains., Conclusion: Neuroendoscopic surgery may accomplish microvascular decompression for trigeminal nerve independently. As a minimally invasive and effective technique, it offers a clearer vision of local anatomy and decreases the probability of damaging nerves and vessels. There is no need for pulling cerebellum. It brings minimal damage to normal brain tissue compared with microsurgery. Further popularization is warranted.

Objective: To evaluate the method, strategy and efficacy of treating different types of quadrigeminal cistern arachnoid cysts (QCAC) with neuroendoscope., Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted for 12 QCAC patients with obstructive hydrocephalus. They were classified into 3 types and underwent neuroendoscopic operation at our hospital between November 2005 and November 2009. Their surgical approaches, complications and efficacy were analyzed. The mean age of first diagnosis was 3.7 years old. There were 7 type II cases and 5 type III cases with a varying level of symptoms. The follow-up period was 6 - 24 months. Cine-MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) examination was performed both preoperatively and post-operatively., Results: Among them, 12 patients recovered well without any occurrence of hemorrhage, paralysis, lower cranial nerve injury, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, infection or death. Subdural effusion occurred in 3 cases, but disappeared within 6 months. Seven feverish cases recovered after a symptomatic treatment. The shapes of cysts and ventricles almost returned to a normal level in 8 cases. Three cases of arachnoid cyst had a slight change., Conclusion: In accordance with the QCAC patient types, different neuroendoscopic approaches can fully reconstruct the cerebrospinal fluid circulation. And the use of frameless navigation makes it more precise and safe.

Objective: To assess the pre-operative examination and operative approach for hydrocephalus associated with cerebellar tonsillar hernia., Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted for 24 patients of hydrocephalus associated with cerebellar tonsillar hernia. All subjects received both pre-operative and post-operative Cine MRI examinations to detect the velocity and quantity of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) at the important sites in ventricular system. A majority of cases had endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) while others underwent both ETV and endoscopic posterior cranial fossa decompression., Results: The pre-operative CSF hydrodynamics of all cases were abnormal at foramen magnum. A post-operative CSF flow through stoma might be detected by Cine MRI in all cases. The clinical symptoms improved to different extents in 21 cases while another two cases showed no improvement. Later these two patients underwent endoscopic posterior cranial fossa decompression. Cerebellar tonsillar hernia improved in 14 cases., Conclusion: Cine MRI can detect the CSF hydrodynamics at craniocervical junction so as to help a surgeon determine the time and the plan of operation. Most cases of hydrocephalus associated with cerebral tonsillar hernia are of obstructive hydrocephalus. The efficacy of ETV for hydrocephalus has been confirmed. Also ETV has a therapeutic effect for cerebellar tonsillar hernia and syringomyelia.

Objective: To explore the process and technique of neuroendoscopic operation to treat obstructive hydrocephalus caused by cysts located in the pathway of CSF circulation., Methods: The cine MRI examinations and endoscopic operations were taken to treat 30 cases with obstructive hydrocephalus. Among all the cases, there are 11 intraventricular cysts (8 lateral ventricular cysts, 4 fourth ventricular cysts), 4 suprasellar arachnoid cysts, 1 quadrigeminal cistern arachnoid cyst, 6 Dandy-Walker malformations and 8 posterior fossa arachnoid cysts., Results: CSF dynamic of all patients improved to different extents post-operation. It was observed that CSF passed through the stoma after ETV in all patients. The volume of 9 intraventricular cysts, 4 suprasellar arachnoid cysts, 1 quadrigeminal cistern arachnoid cyst and 4 posterior fossa arachnoid cysts diminished for different degrees. There were no surgery-related serious complications or deaths. There were not cyst enlarged and stoma obstructed cases., Conclusions: Obstructive hydrocephalus caused by cysts in the pathway of CSF circulation is the optimal indication for neuro-endoscopic surgery. After resecting cyst partially, we should take the endoscopic third ventriculostomy to rebuild the passway of CSF and elevate the cranial compliance. Cine MRI and radionuclide cisternography are helpful to understand the CSF dynamic and absorption.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effects of microvascular decompression in treating trigeminal neuralgia., Methods: Surgical experience and operative findings of 2643 cases of trigeminal neuralgia treated by microvascular decompression were analyzed retrospectively., Results: Two thousand four hundred and eighty-seven of 2643 cases were cured, 76 cases were ineffectiveness, 48 cases were effectiveness and 31 were ineffective. One patient died. Two thousand one hundred and thirty-six cases were followed up in 3-240 months, 1918 cases were cured, 85 cases were obviously effective, 39 cases were effective and 30 were ineffective. Sixty-four cases were pain relapsed and 37 cases were cured by second operation among them., Conclusion: The etiology of trigeminal neuralgia is that the unusual vascular oppress the root entry zone, and arachnoid membrane circling the nerve is thickened and sticked. To untie the arachnoid membrane and decompress the offending vascular is the effective methods in treating trigeminal neuralgia.