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The coffee-ring effect is an eye-catching circle originating from a material-suspended liquid droplet at a solid substrate after liquid evaporation, but the low speediness has restricted practical applications. When nanomaterial aqueous solutions are dropped onto porous nitrocellulose (NC), the liquid is immediately absorbed through the porous tunnels of paper fibers, and nanomaterials are rapidly enriched on the contact lines between droplets and membranes. We called this ultrafast variant of the coffee ring effect the "tunneling coffee ring" (TCR). When nanomaterial sizes are smaller than that of pores, a larger-diameter ring of nanomaterials quickly materializes. The real-time particle size-dependent TCRs and liquid diffusion rings exhibit a dual-ring pattern on the NC membrane. The tunneling speed of the capillary effect is so fast that the pattern appears within seconds. We apply the TCR effect as a size-surface affinity-particle/fluid separation sensor for bacteria. Dextran-modified Au and MoS 2 nanostructures are proposed to be antibody-free microbe kits. Our TCR effect is used to distinguish between particles of different sizes and affinities, which are highly relevant in complicated systems without electricity and equipment in resource-poor settings.

In this work, 4-amino-3-hydrazino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole (AHMT) was pre-doped into agarose hydrogels; consequently, sustained hydrogel systems with modulated release performance were constructed for simple operation and recyclability in point-of-care detection of formaldehyde (FA). With the increase in FA concentrations, the absorbance response of the supernatant solutions showed linear relationships and the color of the reaction mixtures gradually increased. The detection limit was calculated to be 0.013 μg mL -1 . To verify its practical application, a simple, rapid and low-cost FA detection platform was built on the basis of the optimized conditions, and the method shows the merits of simplicity, high sensitivity and selectivity. More importantly, the developed hydrogels are recyclable and can be used at least five times without any loss in sensing performance. Significantly, the sensory hydrogels can be employed by non-skilled people for monitoring food safety and applied for the practical detection of FA in foods.

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are a type of rising-star fluorescence nanomaterials, but their properties and applications are hindered by the multi-step synthesis and purification routes, as well as the lack of desired supporting substrates. To enhance optical performance and working efficiency, the synthesis and applications of AuNCs are suggested to be merged with emerging substrates. Herein, glutathione-modified hydrophilic rice papers are incubated in chloroauric acid aqueous solutions, and the oxidation-reduction reaction between glutathione and Au ions enables the in situ formation of fluorescent AuNCs on the solid fibres of rice papers. The in situ growth of fluorescent AuNCs on rice papers resulted in eye-catching fluorescence tracks, similar to traditional Chinese conventional calligraphy; thus, this fluoresence calligraphy is defined in this work. The entire process, including synthesis and signal responses, is extremely simple, rapid, and repeatable. Moreover, the diversity of additive chemical reagents in the studied rice papers resulted in responsive fluorescence calligraphy, and the as-synthesized AuNC materials exhibited high reliability and optical stability. Significantly, with the integration of synchronous formation and application of Au nanoclusters on hydrophilic paper substrates, high-performance logical gates and information encryption systems were constructed, remarkably facilitating the progress of molecular sensing and important information transmission.

The transfer of chirality from molecules to synthesized nanomaterials has recently attracted significant attention. Although most studies have focused on graphene and plasmonic metal nanostructures, layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), particularly MoS 2 , have recently garnered considerable attention due to their semiconducting and electrocatalytic characteristics. Herein, we report a new approach for the synthesis of chiral molybdenum sulfide nanomaterials based on a bottom-up synthesis method in the presence of chiral cysteine enantiomers. In the synthesis process, molybdenum trioxide and sodium hydrosulfide serve as molybdenum and sulfur sources, respectively. In addition, ascorbic acid acts as a reducing agent, resulting in the formation of zero-dimensional MoS 2 nanodots. Moreover, the addition of cysteine enantiomers to the growth solutions contributes to the chirality evolution of the MoS 2 nanostructures. The chirality is attributed to the cysteine enantiomer-induced preferential folding of the MoS 2 planes. The growth mechanism and chiral structure of the nanomaterials are confirmed through a series of characterization techniques. This work combines chirality with the bottom-up synthesis of MoS 2 nanodots, thereby expanding the synthetic methods for chiral nanomaterials. This simple synthesis approach provides new insights for the construction of other chiral TMD nanomaterials with emerging structures and properties. More significantly, the as-formed MoS 2 nanodots exhibited highly defect-rich structures and chiroptical performance, thereby inspiring a high potential for emerging optical and electronic applications.

Numerous high-performance nanotechnologies have been developed, but their practical applications are largely restricted by the nanomaterials' low stabilities and high operation complexity in aqueous substrates. Herein, we develop a simple and high-reliability hydrogel-based nanotechnology based on the in situ formation of Au nanoparticles in molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 )-doped agarose (MoS 2 /AG) hydrogels for electrophoresis-integrated microplate protein recognition. After the incubation of MoS 2 /AG hydrogels in HAuCl 4 solutions, MoS 2 nanosheets spontaneously reduce Au ions, and the hydrogels are remarkably stained with the color of as-synthetic plasmonic Au hybrid nanomaterials (Au staining). Proteins can precisely mediate the morphologies and optical properties of Au/MoS 2 heterostructures in the hydrogels. Consequently, Au staining-based protein recognition is exhibited, and hydrogels ensure the comparable stabilities and sensitivities of protein analysis. In comparison to the fluorescence imaging and dye staining, enhanced sensitivity and recognition performances of proteins are implemented by Au staining. In Au staining, exfoliated MoS 2 semiconductors directly guide the oriented growth of plasmonic Au nanostructures in the presence of formaldehyde, showing environment-friendly features. The Au-stained hydrogels merge the synthesis and recognition applications of plasmonic Au nanomaterials. Significantly, the one-step incubation of the electrophoretic hydrogels leads to high simplicity of operation, largely challenging those multiple-step Ag staining routes which were performed with high complexity and formaldehyde toxicity. Due to its toxic-free, simple, and sensitive merits, the Au staining integrated with electrophoresis-based separation and microplate-based high-throughput measurements exhibits highly promising and improved practicality of those developing nanotechnologies and largely facilitates in-depth understanding of biological information.

Trivalent Au ions are easily reduced to be zerovalent atoms by coexisting reductant reagents, resulting in the subsequent accumulation of Au atoms and formation of plasmonic nanostructures. In the absence of stabilizers or presence of weak stabilizers, aggregative growth of Au nanoparticles (NPs) always occurs, and unregular multidimensional Au materials are consequently constructed. Herein, the addition of nanomole-level mercury ions can efficiently prevent the epitaxial accumulation of Au atoms, and separated Au NPs with mediated morphologies and superior plasmonic characteristics are obtained. Experimental results and theoretical simulation demonstrate the Hg-concentration-reliant formation of plasmonic nanostructures with their mediated sizes and shapes in the presence of weak reductants. Moreover, the sensitive plasmonic responses of reaction systems exhibit selectivity comparable to that of Hg species. As a concept of proof, polymeric carbon dots (CDs) were used as the initial reductant, and the reactions between trivalent Au and CDs were studies. Significantly, Hg atoms prevent the epitaxial accumulation of Au atoms, and plasmonic NPs with decreased sizes were in situ synthesized, corresponding to varied surface plasmonic resonance absorption performance of the CD-induced hybrids. Moreover, with the integration of sensing substrates of CD-doped hydrogels, superior response stabilities, analysis selectivity, and sensitivity of Hg 2+ ions were achieved on the basis of the mercury-mediated in situ chemical reactions between trivalent Au ions and reductant CDs. Consequently, a high-performance sensing strategy with the use of Au NP-staining hydrogels (nanostaining hydrogels) was exhibited. In addition to Hg sensing, the nanostaining hydrogels facilitated by doping of emerging materials and advanced chem/biostrategies can be developed as high-performance on-site monitoring routes to various pollutant species.

Stiffness variation can greatly enhance soft robots' load capacity and compliance. Jamming methods are widely used where stiffness variation is realized by jamming of particles, layers, or fibers. It is still challenging to make the variable stiffness components lightweight and adaptive. Besides, the existing jamming mechanisms generally encounter deformation-induced softening, restricting their applications in cases where large deformation and high stiffness are both needed. Herein, a multifunctional granular chain assemblage is proposed, where particles are formed into chains with threads. The chain jamming can be classified into two types. Granular chain jamming (GCJ) utilizes typical particles such as spherical particles, which can achieve both high stiffness and great adaptability while keeping jamming components relatively lightweight, while by using cubic particles, a peculiar deformation-induced stiffening mechanism is found, which is termed as stretch-enhanced particle jamming (SPJ). The versatility of GCJ and SPJ mechanisms in soft robots is demonstrated through soft grippers, soft crawlers, or soft bending actuators, where great passive adaptability, high load capacity, joint-like bending, friction enhancement, or postponing buckling can be realized, respectively. This work thus offers a facile and low-cost strategy to fabricate versatile soft robots.

Through symbiosis with plants, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi effectively improve the availability of soil nitrogen (N). However, the mechanism through which AM and associated extraradical mycelium affect soil N mineralization remains unknow. We carried out an in situ soil culture experiment by using in-growth cores in plantations of three subtropical tree species, Cunninghamia lanceolata , Schima superba , and Liquidambar formosana . We measured soil physical and chemical properties, net N mineralization rate, and the activities of four kinds of hydrolase (leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), β-1,4-glucosidase (βG), cellobiohydrolase (CB)) and two kinds of oxidases (polyphenol oxidase (POX) and peroxidase (PER)) involved in soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization in treatments of mycorrhiza (with absorbing roots and hyphae), hyphae (hyphae only), and control (mycorrhiza-free). The results showed that mycorrhizal treatments significantly affected soil total carbon and pH but did not affect N mineralization rates and all enzymatic activities. Tree species significantly affected net ammonification rate, net N mineralization rate and activities of NAG, βG, CB, POX and PER. The net N mineralization rate and enzyme activities in the C. lanceolata stand were significantly higher than that in monoculture broad-leaved stands of either S. superba or L. formosana . There was no interactive effect of mycorrhizal treatment and tree species on any of soil properties, nor on enzymatic activities or net N mineralization rates. Soil pH was negatively and significantly correlated with five kinds of enzymatic activities except for LAP, while net N mineralization rate significantly correlated with ammonium nitrogen content, available phosphorus content, and the activity level of βG, CB, POX, and PER. In conclusion, there was no difference in enzymatic activities and N mineralization rates between rhizosphere and hyphosphere soils of three subtropical tree species in the whole growing season. The activity of particular carbon cycle-related enzymes was closely related to soil N mineralization rate. It is suggested that differences in litter quality and root functional traits among different tree species affect soil enzyme activities and N mineralization rates through organic matter inputs and shaping soil condition.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of percutaneous ablation versus hepatectomy in an elderly population with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: Retrospective data on patients aged ≥ 65 years with very-early/early stages of HCC (≤ 50 mm) were obtained from three centers in China. Inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis was performed after stratifying the patients by age (65 - 69, 70 - 74 and ≥ 75 years)., Results: Of the 1,145 patients, 561 and 584 underwent resection and ablation, respectively. For patients aged 65 - 69 and 70 - 74 years, resection resulted in significantly better overall survival (OS) than ablation (age 65 - 69, P < 0.001, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.27; age 70 - 74, P = 0.012, HR = 0.64). However, in patients aged ≥ 75 years, resection and ablation resulted in a similar OS (P = 0.44, HR = 0.84). An interactive effect existed between treatment and age (effect of treatment on OS, age 65 - 69 as the reference, for age 70 - 74, P = 0.039; for age ≥ 75, P = 0.002). The HCC-related death rate was higher in patients aged 65 - 69, and the liver/other cause-related death rate was higher in patients aged > 69. Multivariate analyses showed that the type of treatment, number of tumors, α-fetoprotein level, serum albumin level and associated diabetes mellitus were independent factors associated with OS, but not hypertension or heart diseases., Conclusion: With increasing patient age, the treatment outcomes of ablation become similar to those of resection. A higher liver/other cause-related death rate in very elderly patients may shorten the life expectancy, which may lead to the same OS regardless of whether resection or ablation is chosen., Competing Interests: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to this manuscript., (Copyright 2023, Zou et al.)

The way of accurately regulating the growth of chiral plasmonics is of great importance for exploring the chirality information and improving its potential values. Herein, cysteine enantiomers modulate the anisotropic and epitaxial growth of gold nanoplasmonics on seeds of exfoliated MoS 2 nanosheets. The heterostructural Au and MoS 2 hybrids induced by enantiomeric cysteine are presented with chiroptical characteristics, dendritic morphologies, and plasmonic performances. Moreover, the synthesis, condition optimization, formation mechanism, and plasmonic properties of Au and MoS 2 dendritic nanostructures are studied. The chirality characteristics are identified using the circular dichroism spectra and scanning electron microscopy. Time-resolved transmission electron microscopy and UV-vis spectra of the intermediate products captured are analyzed to confirm the formation mechanism of dendritic plasmonic nanostructures at heterostructural surfaces. The specific dendritic morphologies originate from the synergistic impacts of heterostructural MoS 2 interfaces and enantiomeric cysteine-induced anisotropic manipulation. Significantly, the developed synthesis strategy of chiral nanostructures at heterostructural interfaces is highly promising in promoting the understanding of the plasmonic function and crucial chirality bioinformation.

Laccase (LAC) is a blue multicopper oxidase that contains four copper ions, which is involved in lignin polymerization and flavonoid biosynthesis in plants. Although dozens of LAC genes have been identified in Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (a model medicinal plant), most have not been functionally characterized. Here, we explored the expression patterns and the functionality of SmLAC25 in S. miltiorrhiza. SmLAC25 has a higher expression level in roots and responds to methyl jasmonate, auxin, abscisic acid, and gibberellin stimuli. The SmLAC25 protein is localized in the cytoplasm and chloroplasts. Recombinant SmLAC25 protein could oxidize coniferyl alcohol and sinapyl alcohol, two monomers of G-lignin and S-lignin. To investigate its function, we generated SmLAC25-overexpressed S. miltiorrhiza plantlets and hairy roots. The lignin content increased significantly in all SmLAC25-overexpressed plantlets and hairy roots, compared with the controls. However, the concentrations of rosmarinic acid and salvianolic acid B decreased significantly in all the SmLAC25-overexpressed lines. Further studies revealed that the transcription levels of some key enzyme genes in the lignin synthesis pathway (e.g., SmCCR and SmCOMT) were significantly improved in the SmLAC25-overexpressed lines, while the expression levels of multiple enzyme genes in the salvianolic acid biosynthesis pathway were inhibited. We speculated that the overexpression of SmLAC25 promoted the metabolic flux of lignin synthesis, which resulted in a decreased metabolic flux to the salvianolic acid biosynthesis pathway., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The transfer of the concept of chirality from molecules to synthesized nanomaterials has attracted attention amongst multidisciplinary teams. Here we demonstrate heterogeneous nucleation and anisotropic accumulation of Au nanoparticles on multilayer MoS 2 planes to form chiroptically functional nanomaterials. Thiol amino acids with chiral conformations modulate asymmetric growth of gold nanoarchitectures on seeds of highly faceted Au/MoS 2 heterostructures. Consequently, dendritic plasmonic nanocrystals with partial chiral morphologies are synthesized. The chirality of dendritic nanocrystals inherited from cysteine molecules refers to the structural characteristics and includes specific recognition of enantiomeric molecules. With integration of the intrinsic photothermal properties and inherited enantioselective characteristics, dendritic Au/MoS 2 heterostructures exhibit chirality-dependent release of antimicrobial drugs from hydrogel substrates when activated by exogenous infrared irradiation. A three-in-one strategy involving synthesis of chiral dendritic heterostructures, enantioselective recognition, and controlled drug release system is presented, which improves nanomaterial synthetic technology and enhances our understanding of crucial chirality information., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Objective: To summarize the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of forest encephalitis, and provide basis for revising relevant diagnostic criteria. Methods: From January to December 2020, the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of forest encephalitis cases in the data of China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang Chinese journals from 2009 to 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The measurement data are expressed in Mean±SD, numbers, and the counting data of gender, region and occupation are expressed in numbers and composition ratio. Descriptive analysis of relevant data is carried out. Results: There were 1 153 confirmed cases of forest encephalitis reported in domestic literature, including 910 males and 243 females. Age: 16-78 years old; Cases were mainly distributed in Jilin Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province. The cases included forest rangers (112/518), freelancers (104/518) and loggers (88/518). The common symptoms and signs were fever 81.2% (936/1153), headache 70.3% (811/1153), meninges irritation 29.0% (334/1153), vomiting 25.3% (292/1153), nausea 21.8% (251/1153), etc. Only 48.1% (555/1153) of the patients obtained positive pathogenic test results from blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid specimens. 42.1% (485/1153) had definite diagnosis grade, 354 cases were mild, 58 cases were moderate, and 73 cases were severe. Among 730 patients with forest encephalitis who received complete treatment, 511 cases were cured, 148 cases were improved, 48 cases were not cured, and 23 cases died. Conclusion: The epidemic of forest encephalitis has strict regional, seasonal and occupational characteristics. Early diagnosis and treatment can reduce the mortality and disability rate.

Objective: To investigate the implementation of Diagnostic Criteria of Occupational Acute Neurotoxic Diseases Caused by Chemicals (GBZ 76-2002) for accumulating basis of standard revision. Methods: In February 2020, 85 experts in occupational diseases and neurology from 39 medical and health institutions were selected as the respondents. The modified Delphi method was used to establish the standard evaluation index system and special group was organized for discussing the pre-survey and completing the questionnaire survey. Questionnaire survey was performed to investigate the grasp of the standards, application and modification suggestions of respondents. Results: The respondents' mastery of standard-related knowledge mainly came from work experience (84.7%, 72/85) , standard learning (81.2%, 69/85) and training (75.3%, 64/85) . Among the institutions in which the respondents worked, 98.8% (84/85) could carry out CT examinations, 96.5% (82/85) could carry out nerve conduction velocity and electromyography examinations, 89.4% (76/85) could carry out EEG examinations, 80% (68/85) could carry out evoked potential examinations and 72.9% (62/85) could carry out MRI examinations. Among the toxicants diagnosed as occupational acute toxic myelopathy, 10.6% (9/85) were organic phosphorus and 9.4% (8/85) were asphyxiating gas; Among the toxicants diagnosed as delayed peripheral neuropathy, pesticides accounted for 25.9% (22/85) and asphyxiating gases accounted for 12.9% (11/85) . 85.9% (73/85) of the respondents believed that the basis for the classification of acute toxic encephalopathy needed to supplement objective evidence; 80.0% (68/85) of the respondents thought that the diagnosis and classification of peripheral neuropathy should be refined according to the abnormal indexes of neuroelectromyography. Conclusion: The applicability of the criteria needs to be improved because the current criteria has a long application cycle without enough objective investigation bases in classification criteria index.

Norepinephrine (NE) is an important neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. NE is released from locus coeruleus neurons and is involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Neuroinflammation is a common manifestation of many kinds of neurological diseases. The activation of microglia directly affects the status of neuroinflammation. Several kinds of adrenergic receptors, which anchor on microglia and can be regulated by NE, affect the activation of microglia and neuroinflammation. NE influences chronic pain, anxiety, and depression by regulating the activation of microglia., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests., (© 2021 The Authors. Ibrain published by Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University (AHZMU) and Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Objective: To explore the effects of narrative therapy on cognition, emotion and treatment satisfaction of convalescent patients with occupational acute chemical toxic encephalopathy. Methods: From June to July 2019, 60 convalescent patients with occupational chemical poisoning encephalopathy were randomly divided into narrative group and control group, with 30 cases in each group. The control group received routine clinical treatment. On the basis of receiving the original clinical treatment, patients in the narrative group added narrative treatment once a week to explain discomfort in specific life situations through conversation from the perspective of disease and psychology. 30 min each time for 6 weeks. The patients were investigated with Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA scale) every 2 weeks to evaluate the degree of cognitive impairment. The changes of depression, anxiety and treatment satisfaction were investigated before and after intervention. Results: There was no significant difference in MoCA scores between the two groups before intervention ( P >0.05) . After 6 weeks of treatment, MoCA scores of narrative group and control group gradually increased with the extension of treatment time, and the increase degree of MoCA score of narrative group was greater than that of control group ( P <0.01) . Before intervention, there was no significant difference in depression, anxiety score, prevalence and satisfaction index between narrative group and control group ( P >0.05) . After the intervention, the scores and prevalence of depression and anxiety in the narrative group were significantly lower than those in the control group, and the scores of feeling in the process of seeing a doctor and how to obtain their own disease information were significantly higher than those in the control group ( P <0.05) . Conclusion: Narrative therapy can improve the cognitive function and emotion of patients with occupational chemical poisoning, and improve the treatment satisfaction of patients.

Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of red blood cell indices and fomulas for the differential diagnosis of the thalassemia trait (TT) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) for children in Shenzhen area of Guangdong Province in China., Methods: A total of 849 child patients from Shenzhen were enrolled, including 536 cases of TT and 313 cases of IDA. The sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive predictive values (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and Youden's indices (YI) were analyzed using five red blood cell indices ［including red blood cell count, average red blood cell volune(MCV), average amount of red blood cell hemoglobin(CMH), red blood hemoglobin cancentration(MCHC), red blood cell distribution width(RDW)］ and 10 red blood cell paramter formulas including Mentzer, Green and King, Srivastava, Ricerca, RDWI, Sirdah, Huber-Herklotz, Ehsani, Shine and Lal, and England and Fraser. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn., Results: Green and King was the most reliable index, as it had the highest YI (63.7%) and area under ROC curve (AUC) (0.875), the SEN and SPE was 82.5% and 81.2%. The YI, SEN, SPE, and AUC for RDWI were 62.8%, 79.1%, 83.7%, and 0.870, respectively., Conclusion: The formulas of Green and King and RDWI can be used for the differential diagnosis of TT and IDA, suitable for chidren in Shenzhen, China.

Current defect theories significantly guide broad research progress, whereas the recognition of defect status remains challenging. Herein, MoS2 defect type, density and exposed state are visually identified with a reagent indicator of HAuCl4. Mo-terminated defects spontaneously reduce [AuCl4]- anions and oxidized Mo species are dissociated. Consequently, MoS2 edges guide the epitaxial branch of Au nanocrystals (NCs), followed by sequential growths at their planar defects. The size-evolution processes of LaMer growth and planar packages of the aggregative growth of Au/MoS2 nanoseeds result in the occupation of Au atomic layers on heterostructures. Consequently, shell-core hybrids are presented with localized surface plasmon resonance characteristics. The mechanism is systematically explored via the discriminated performance of plasmonic characteristics of Au nanostructures on semiconducting MoS2 substrates. With plasmonic identification, defect-associated size and interfacial diversities of MoS2 are visually information-rich. Tunable morphologies and synergistic optical characteristics of plasmonic semiconductor heterostructures inspire many more applications through the edge and planar defects intrinsic in layered MoS2.

Liquid-phase exfoliation routes unavoidably generate 2D nanostructures with inhomogeneous morphologies. Herein, thickness-dependent sorting of exfoliated nanostructures is achieved via a treatment of differential-zone centrifugation in the surfactant aqueous phase. With this approach, homogeneous MoS 2 nanosheets are obtained, and due to the intrinsic semiconducting characteristics, those 2D nanosheets are endowed with desired optical properties, rivaling classic gold nanoparticles in sensing applications. Furthermore, MoS 2 nanosheets with high uniformity and chemical inertness are coupled with proteins, exhibiting high performance in stability and anti-interferences for bioanalysis. As a consequence of aggregation-induced steric effect, distinguishing running shifts of antibody-anchored conjugates in gel electrophoresis are visually responsive to those specific antigens. This assay enables the easy and fast monitoring of tumor biomarkers just according to "naked-eye" identification of band location in electrophoresis results, which are presented by an alternative visual probe of 2D MoS 2 -protein conjugates. The developed visual immunoassay with the synergistic effect of gel electrophoresis techniques and 2D semiconductors pushes significant progress in "home-made" tests for disease early diagnosis., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Following research on two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), zero-dimensional (0D) TMDs nanostructures have also garnered some attention due to their unique properties; exploitable for new applications. The 0D TMDs nanostructures stand distinct from their larger 2D TMDs cousins in terms of their general structure and properties. 0D TMDs possess higher bandgaps, ultra-small sizes, high surface-to-volume ratios with more active edge sites per unit mass. So far, reported 0D TMDs can be mainly classified as quantum dots, nanodots, nanoparticles, and small nanoflakes. All exhibited diverse applications in various fields due to their unique and excellent properties. Of significance, through exploiting inherent characteristics of 0D TMDs materials, enhanced catalytic, biomedical, and photoluminescence applications can be realized through this exciting sub-class of TMDs. Herein, we comprehensively review the properties and synthesis methods of 0D TMDs nanostructures and focus on their potential applications in sensor, biomedicine, and energy fields. This article aims to educate potential adopters of these excitingly new nanomaterials as well as to inspire and promote the development of more impactful applications. Especially in this rapidly evolving field, this review may be a good resource of critical insights and in-depth comparisons between the 0D and 2D TMDs., (© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A new method-multifractal temporally weighted detrended cross-correlation analysis (MF-TWXDFA)-is proposed to investigate multifractal cross-correlations in this paper. This new method is based on multifractal temporally weighted detrended fluctuation analysis and multifractal cross-correlation analysis (MFCCA). An innovation of the method is applying geographically weighted regression to estimate local trends in the nonstationary time series. We also take into consideration the sign of the fluctuations in computing the corresponding detrended cross-covariance function. To test the performance of the MF-TWXDFA algorithm, we apply it and the MFCCA method on simulated and actual series. Numerical tests on artificially simulated series demonstrate that our method can accurately detect long-range cross-correlations for two simultaneously recorded series. To further show the utility of MF-TWXDFA, we apply it on time series from stock markets and find that power-law cross-correlation between stock returns is significantly multifractal. A new coefficient, MF-TWXDFA cross-correlation coefficient, is also defined to quantify the levels of cross-correlation between two time series.

Purpose: MicroRNA-93 (miR-93) usually acts as a promoter of tumor progression in several human carcinomas. It has been found distinctly high in eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR). The present study aims to investigate the role of plasma miR-93 in the progression of type 2 diabetic retinopathy (T2DR)., Methods: Our study subjects were made up of 140 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients who were assigned into DR (DR patients, n = 75), NDR (non-DR patients, n = 65), and control (healthy individuals, n = 127) groups. Levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), triglyceride (TG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and fasting insulin (FIsn) were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed for the levels of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), qRT-PCR for the miR-93 expression in plasma, and mRNA expressions of IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF; receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the diagnostic performance of miR-93 to T2DR, Pearson correlation analysis for correlation analysis between miR-93 and other indexes detected before and multivariate logistic regression analyses for the risk factors for T2DR., Results: The DR and NDR groups exhibited elevated course of disease, and decreased levels of FBG, FPG, TG, HbA1c, TC, BUN, Cr, HDL-C, FIsn, IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF but declined LDL-C level as compared to the control group. The course of disease was longer and the levels of FBG, FPG, HbA1c, IL1, IL6 and VEGF were higher in the DR group than those in the NDR group (all P < 0.05). The miR-93 expression and RNA expressions of IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF were higher in the DR group than those in the NDR group (P < 0.05). The best cutoff for miR-93 to assess T2DR was 1.31, with a Youden index of 0.63, sensitivity of 73.33%, specificity of 89.24%, and area under the curve (AUC) of 0.866. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that miR-93 expression was positively associated with course of disease, the levels of FPG, HbA1c, TNF-α and VEGF. T2DM patients with longer disease course, higher levels of FBG, HbA1c, VEGF and miR-93 expression were risk factors for developing DR., Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that plasma miR-93 is associated with the progression of T2DR and it can sever as a diagnostic marker for T2DR.

Inflammation plays an important role in cerebral ischemia reperfusion, which can cause severe damage to the brain and may lead to cerebral hemorrhage transformation. p38-mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38mapk) has been implicated in the etiology of a number of diseases because it is a cause of inflammation, but comparatively little research has been carried out into its role in the etiology of ischemia reperfusion. We investigated the expression of p38mapk in cerebral ischemia reperfusion to gain a better understanding of its potential role in hemorrhagic transformation (HT). One hundred rats were randomly divided into three groups: an ischemia reperfusion group, an ischemia group, and a sham-operated group. We carried out neurological deficit assessments, infarct volume measurements, histopathological examinations, and immunohistochemistry analyses. p38mapk was overexpressed in the ischemia reperfusion group, which exhibited severe tissue damage and greater edema than the other two groups. These results suggest that p38mapk plays an important role in cerebral ischemia reperfusion, and may be one of the causes of HT., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

With the avalanche of the newly found protein sequences in the post-genomic epoch, there is an increasing trend for annotating a number of newly discovered enzyme sequences. Among the various proteins, enzyme was considered as the one of the largest kind of proteins. It takes part in most of the biochemical reactions and plays a key role in metabolic pathways. Multifunctional enzyme is enzyme that plays multiple physiological roles. Given a multifunctional enzyme sequence, how can we identify its class? Especially, how can we deal with the multi-classes problem since an enzyme may simultaneously belong to two or more functional classes? To address these problems, which are obviously very important both to basic research and drug development, a multi-label classifier was developed via three different prediction models with multi-label K-nearest algorithm. Experimental results obtained on a stringent benchmark dataset of enzymes by jackknife cross-validation test show that the predicting results were exciting, indicating that the current method could be an effective and promising high throughput method in the enzyme research. We hope it could play an important complementary role to the existing predictors in identifying the classes of enzymes.

Given a membrane protein sequence, how can we identify its type, particularly when a query protein may have the multiplex character, i.e., simultaneously exist at two or more different types. However, most of the existing predictors or methods can only be used to deal with the single-type or "singleplex" membrane proteins. Actually, multiple-type or "multiplex" membrane proteins should not be ignored because they usually posses some unique biological functions worthy of our special notice. In this study, three different models were developed, which have the ability to deal with the systems containing both singleplex and multiplex membrane proteins. The overall success rate thus obtained was 0.6440, indicating that the study may become a very useful high-throughput tool in identifying the functional types of membrane proteins.

Objective: To study the non-alkaloid chemical constituents of Macleaya cordata., Methods: Alcohol extraction and liquidliquid partitionmethods were used to extract the chemical constituents. Silica gel,reverse-phase octadecylsilyl( ODS), and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatographic methods were applied for isolation and purification. Spectroscopic methods including MS and NMR were used to determine their structures., Results: Eleven non-alkaloid compounds were isolated from the fruits of Macleaya cordata, and their structures were identified as 3-( 3,4-dihydroxy) phenylpropanoic acid methyl ester( 1),ferulic acid( 2),1-octacosanol( 3),syringic acid( 4),p-hydroxy-benzoic acid( 5),p-coumaric acid( 6),quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucoside( 7),N-p-coumaroyl tyramine( 8),10-eicosenoic acid( 9) and β-sitosterol( 10) and daucosterol( 11)., Conclusion: Compounds 1,3 ~9 are isolated from Macleaya cordata for the first time.

In this study, we exhibit the recycling of agriculture wastes of ramie stalk as bioadsorbents for Cd(2+) removal. Based on our experimental results, it is realized that Cd(2+) adsorption to ramie stalk is highly pH sensitive, indicating the adsorption is driven by surface complexation reaction. The high adsorption capacity of ramie stalk toward Cd(2+) (qm = 10.33 mg g(-1), 0.09 mol-Cd g(-1)), which corresponds to around 21.95% of active adsorption sites available of ramie stalk, is believed to be closely related to its high cellulose and lignin content. The inhomogeneous surface of ramie stalk due to the high cellulose and lignin content also accounts for the observation that the adsorption kinetic is described well by the pseudo second order kinetic model. Results from thermodynamic studies suggest that the adsorption process is endothermic and spontaneous. All these properties demonstrate the potential of ramie stalk as a low cost bioadsorbent for the application of heavy metal removal.

Two new ent-kaurane diterpene glycosides, ranunculosides A (1) and B (2), and a new benzophenone, ranunculone C (3), were isolated from the aerial part of Ranunculus muricatus Linn. The chemical structures of compounds 1-3 were established to be (2S)-ent-kauran-2β-ol-15-en-14-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, (2S,4S)-ent-kauran-2β,18-diol-15-en-14-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, and (R)-3-[2-(3,4-dihydroxybenzoyl)-4,5-dihydroxy-phenyl]-2-hydroxylpropanoic acid, respectively, by spectroscopic data and chemical methods. The absolute configuration of 1 was determined by the combinational application of RP-HPLC analysis and Mosher's method.

Switching dynamics among saddles in a network of nonlinear oscillators can be exploited for information encoding and processing (hence computing), but stable attractors in the system can terminate the switching behavior. An effective control strategy is presented to sustain switching dynamics in networks of pulse-coupled oscillators. The support for the switching behavior is a set of saddles, or unstable invariant sets in the phase space. We thus identify saddles with a common property, localize the system in the vicinity of them, and then guide the system from one metastable state to another to generate desired switching dynamics. We demonstrate that the control method successfully generates persistent switching trajectories and prevents the system from entering stable attractors. In addition, there exists correspondence between the network structure and the switching dynamics, providing fundamental insights on the development of a computing paradigm based on the switching dynamics.

Predicting membrane protein type is a challenging problem, particularly when the query proteins may simultaneously have two or more different types. Most of the existing methods can only be used to deal with the single-label proteins. Actually, multiple-label proteins should not be ignored because they usually bear some special functions worthy of in-depth studies. By introducing the "multi-labeled learning" and hybridizing evolution information through Grey-PSSM, a novel predictor called iMem-Seq is developed that can be used to deal with the systems containing both single and multiple types of membrane proteins. As a demonstration, the jackknife cross-validation was performed with iMem-Seq on a benchmark dataset of membrane proteins classified into the eight types, where some proteins belong to two or there types, but none has ≥25% pairwise sequence identity to any other in a same subset. It was demonstrated via the rigorous cross-validations that the new predictor remarkably outperformed all its counterparts. As a user-friendly web-server, iMem-Seq is freely accessible to the public at the website http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/iMem-Seq .

Membrane proteins were found to be involved in various cellular processes performing various important functions, which are mainly associated to their type. Given a membrane protein sequence, how can we identify its type(s)? Particularly, how can we deal with the multi-type problem since one membrane protein may simultaneously belong to two or more different types? To address these problems, which are obviously very important to both basic research and drug development, a new multi-label classifier was developed based on pseudo amino acid composition with multi-label k-nearest neighbor algorithm. The success rate achieved by the new predictor on the benchmark dataset by jackknife test is 73.94%, indicating that the method is promising and the predictor may become a very useful high-throughput tool, or at least play a complementary role to the existing predictors in identifying functional types of membrane proteins.

Objective: To study the alkaloids of Macleaya cordata and their anti-tumor activities., Method: Alcohol and liquid-liquid extraction were used methods were used to extract the alkaloids constituents, and silica gel, reverse-phase octadecylsilyl (ODS), sephadex LH-20 chromatographic methods and HPLC were applied to isolate and purify compounds. MS, NMR spectroscopic methods were used to determine their structures. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of these chemical components for MCF-7 and SF-268 cell lines was measured by MTT method., Result: Twelve alkaloids were isolated from the fruits of M. cordata, and their structures were identified as: maclekarpine E (1), 6-acetonyldihyrochelerythrine (2), cavidilinine (3), 6-acetonyldihyrosanguinnarine (4), O-methylzanthoxyline (5), 6-methoxy-dihydrosanguinarine (6), spallidamine (7), 6-hydroxyldihydrochelerythrine (8), arnotianamida (9), dihydrosanguinarine (10), protopine (11), and cryptopine (12)., Conclusion: Compounds 1, 3, 7-9 were isolated from M. cordata for the first time, and compound 5 is a new natural product. The results of cytotoxic assay indicated that compound 6 showed strong cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and SF-268 cell lines with IC50 values of 0.61 μmol · L(-1) and 0.54 μmol · L(-1), respectively.

A new cytotoxic benzophenanthridine isoquinoline alkaloid, named cordatine (1), together with one known alkaloid 8-methoxydihydrochelerythrine (2), was isolated from the fruits of Macleaya cordata. The structure of the new compound was elucidated by spectroscopic methods including 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS. Both compounds indicated significant cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and SF-268 cell lines.

Membrane protein is an important composition of cell membrane. Given a membrane protein sequence, how can we identify its type(s) is very important because the type keeps a close correlation with its functions. According to previous studies, membrane protein can be divided into the following eight types: single-pass type I, single-pass type II, single-pass type III, single-pass type IV, multipass, lipid-anchor, GPI-anchor, peripheral membrane protein. With the avalanche of newly found protein sequences in the post-genomic age, it is urgent to develop an automatic and effective computational method to rapid and reliable prediction of the types of membrane proteins. At present, most of the existing methods were based on the assumption that one membrane protein only belongs to one type. Actually, a membrane protein may simultaneously exist at two or more different functional types. In this study, a new method by hybridizing the pseudo amino acid composition with multi-label algorithm called LIFT (multi-label learning with label-specific features) was proposed to predict the functional types both singleplex and multiplex animal membrane proteins. Experimental result on a stringent benchmark dataset of membrane proteins by jackknife test show that the absolute-true obtained was 0.6342, indicating that our approach is quite promising. It may become a useful high-through tool, or at least play a complementary role to the existing predictors in identifying functional types of membrane proteins.

The chemical constituents of 95% ethanol extract of Melastoma dodecandrum were isolated and purified by chromatography on silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and HPLC, to obtain thirteen compounds eventually. On the basis of their physico-chemical properties and spectroscopic data, these compounds were identified as quercetin (1), quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), quercetin-3-O-(6"-O-p-coumaroyl) -β-D-glucopyranoside (3), kaempferol (4), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), kaempferol-3-O- [2",6"-di-O-(E)-coumaroyl]-β-D-glucopyra-noside (6), luteolin (7), luteolin-7-O-(6"-p-coumaroyl) -β-D-glucopyranoside (8), apigenin (9), apigenin-7-(6"-acetyl-glucopyranoside) (10) , naringenin (11), isovitexin (12), and epicatechin-[8,7-e] -4β-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3,4-dyhydroxyl-2(3H)-pyranone (13). Eight compounds(3,5,6,8-11 and 13) were obtained from M. dodecandrum for the first time.

Electrochemically induced Fenton (electro-Fenton) reaction was used for efficient and controllable preparation of hydroxyl radicals, leading to the generation of luminescent quantum dots through etching of as-exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets. Morphologic changes of MoS2 nanosheets during the electro-Fenton reaction were monitored using transmission electron microscopy, showing that etching of MoS2 nanosheets induced by hydroxyl radicals resulted in rapid homogeneous fracturing of the sheets into small dots via a transition of nanoporous morphology. The as-generated dots with vertical dimensional thickness of ca. 0.7 nm and plane size of ca. 5 nm were demonstrated to be MoS2 quantum dots (MoS2-QDs), and their photoluminescence properties were explored based on quantum confinement, edge effect, and intrinsic characteristics. Moreover, the degree of etching and the concomitant porosity of MoS2 nanosheets could be conveniently tuned via the electro-Fenton reaction time, resulting in a new morphology of nanoporous MoS2 nanosheets, with potential new applications in various significant areas.

A middle-aged woman with rheumatic heart disease, mitral valve prolapse and incompletely closed mitral valve medium, patent foramen ovale, merge multiple uterine fibroids, and moderate blood loss anemia underwent mitral valve replacement surgery with total abdominal hysterectomy under general anesthesia and cardiopulmonary bypass condition. The surgery was successful, and postoperative bleeding, blood clots, heart failure, and other related complications did not occur. Heart valve replacement surgery with the surgical treatment of uterine fibroids effectively improves the safety of surgical treatment for patients as well as reduces the patient's medical expenses and risk of secondary surgery and trauma.

Three new iridoid glycosides, 6″-O-trans-feruloylgenipin gentiobioside (1), 2'-O-trans-p-coumaroylgardoside (2), 2'-O-trans-feruloylgardoside (3), were isolated from the fruit of Gardenia jasminoides var. radicans MAKINO (Rubiaceae). The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of MS, NMR spectra analysis, glycoside hydrolysis, and sugar derivatization coupled with HPLC analysis.

We develop an approach to understanding long chaotic transients in networks of excitatory pulse-coupled oscillators. Our idea is to identify a class of attractors, sequentially active firing (SAF) attractors, in terms of the temporal event structure of firing and receipt of pulses. Then all attractors can be classified into two groups: SAF attractors and non-SAF attractors. We establish that long transients typically arise in the transitional region of the parameter space where the SAF attractors are collectively destabilized. Bifurcation behavior of the SAF attractors is analyzed to provide a detailed understanding of the long irregular transients. Although demonstrated using pulse-coupled oscillator networks, our general methodology may be useful in understanding the origin of transient chaos in other types of networked systems, an extremely challenging problem in nonlinear dynamics and complex systems.

The asymmeric unit of the title compound, [Co(C(10)H(9)N(4)O(2)S)(2)(C(5)H(5)N)(2)]·0.5H(2)O, contains the distorted octa-hedral trans-[Co(sdz)(2)(py)(2)] (sdz is the sulfadiazine anion and py is pyridine) complex mol-ecule and a half-mol-ecule of water, which lies on a twofold rotation axis. A three-dimensional network is generated by N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the complex and the water mol-ecules.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the feasibility of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapeutic ablation of uterine fibroids in patients with bowel lies anterior to uterus., Materials and Methods: Twenty-one patients with 23 uterine fibroids underwent MR imaging-guided high intensity focused ultrasound treatment, with a mean age of 39.4+/-6.9 (20-49) years, with fibroids average measuring 6.0+/-1.6 (range, 2.9-9.5)cm in diameter. After being compressed with a degassed water balloon on abdominal wall, MR imaging-guided high intensity focused ultrasound treatment was performed under conscious sedation by using fentanyl and midazolam. This procedure was performed by a Haifu JM focused ultrasound tumour therapeutic system (JM2.5C, Chongqing Haifu Technology Co., Ltd., China), in combination with a 1.5-Tesla MRI system (Symphony, Siemens, Germany), which provides real-time guidance and control. Contrast-enhanced MR imaging was performed to evaluate the efficacy of thermal ablation immediately and 3 months after HIFU treatment. The treatment time and adverse events were recorded., Results: The mean fibroid volume was 97.0+/-78.3 (range, 12.7-318.3)cm(3). According to the treatment plan, an average 75.0+/-11.4% (range, 37.8-92.4%) of the fibroid volume was treated. The mean fibroid volume immediately after HIFU was 109.7+/-93.1 (range, 11.9-389.6)cm(3), slightly enlarged because of edema. The average non-perfused volume was 83.3+/-71.7 (range, 7.7-282.9)cm(3), the average fractional ablation, which was defined as non-perfused volume divided by the fibroid volume immediately after HIFU treatment, was 76.9+/-18.7% (range, 21.0-97.0%). There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment volume and the non-perfused volume. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 months obtained in 12 patients, the fibroid volume decreased by 31.4+/-29.3% (range, -1.9 to 60.0%) in average, with paired t-test showing a statistically significant reduction (P=0.002). The mean treatment time for ablating the average 83.3+/-71.7 (range, 7.7-282.9)cm(3) of fibroid volume was 2.5+/-1.4h (range, 27-390min) in this study, which was relatively short and acceptable to patient and therapist. Four patients experienced mild skin burn (two with skin redness, two with blisters), the skin burn subsided within approximately 2 days. No other adverse events were observed., Conclusions: After the bowel was compressed with a degassed water balloon, MR imaging-guided high intensity focused ultrasound treatment is safe and feasible in ablating uterine fibroids in patients with bowel lies anterior to uterus., (Copyright (c) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The structure of the title compound, [Co(C(5)H(5)N)(2)(H(2)O)(4)](C(10)H(8)ClN(4)O(2)S)(2), consists of a discrete tetra-aqua-bis(pyridine-κN)cobalt(II) cation and two 4-amino-N-(6-chloro-pyridazin-3-yl)benzene-sulfonamidate anions. In the cation, the Co(II) ion sits on an inversion centre and is octa-hedrally coordinated by two pyridine N atoms and four O atoms. A two-dimensional network parallel to (010) is formed via inter-molecular O-H⋯O, O-H⋯N, N-H⋯N and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.

The LIM-homeodomain transcription factor Lmx1a plays critical roles in roof plate formation as well as in the cell fate determination of midbrain dopaminergic neurons during embryonic development, but its function in the adult brain remains unknown. In the present study, as the first step in exploring its function in adult brain, we examined the expression of Lmx1a in the mouse central nervous system (CNS) from birth to adulthood by in situ hybridization. Lmx1a was expressed at high levels in the posterior hypothalamic area, supremammillary nucleus, ventral premammillary nucleus, subthalamic nucleus, ventral tegmental area, compact part of the substantia nigra and parabrachial nucleus from birth to adulthood, and co-localized with its paralogue Lmx1b in these regions. On the other hand, Lmx1a expression in the cochlear nuclei, medial cerebellar nucleus and superior vestibular nucleus was only observed until postnatal day (P) 30 and showed no colocalization with Lmx1b. Lmx1a-expressing neurons in the ventral midbrain were dopaminergic as evidenced by co-expression with tyrosine hydroxylase in these regions. Furthermore, Lmx1a expression was also found in the choroid plexuses and ependymal cells, although its expression was only detected during the first two postnatal weeks. These results suggest that Lmx1a may be involved in postnatal development as well as in maintenance of some aspects of normal brain function.

GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) is an important regulator of central nervous system (CNS) development, but its expression pattern in the postnatal CNS has not been studied. In the present study, we examined the distribution of GATA3 mRNA in the mouse CNS at different postnatal stages by in situ hybridization. During the first 2 weeks of postnatal development, numerous GATA3-expressing cells were found in the intergeniculate leaf, ventral lateral geniculate nucleus, pretectal nucleus, nucleus of the posterior commissure, superior colliculus, inferior colliculus, periaqueductal grey, substantia nigra and raphe nuclei. Few notable changes in the profile of GATA3 expression occurred over this time period. As postnatal development progressed, however, GATA3 expression weakened, and was maintained in only a few regions of the adult CNS. Throughout the brain, we found that GATA3-expressing cells were NeuN-positive, and no colocalization with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was observed. In the substantia nigra, GATA3 was exclusively expressed in cells of the reticulate part and some of which were found to be GABAergic. This study presents a comprehensive overview of GATA3 expression in the CNS throughout postnatal life, and the dynamics that we observed provide insights for further investigations of the roles of GATA3 in postnatal development and the maintenance of the mature CNS.

To investigate the variation of Zn and Cd accumulation and tolerance of Sedum alfredii (a newly reported Zn/Cd hyperaccumulator), field surveys and hydroponic experiments were conducted among three populations of this species: two originating from old Pb/Zn mines in Zhejiang (ZJ) and Hunan (HN) Provinces and one from a "clean" site in Guangdong (GD) Province, China. Under field conditions, up to 12,524 and 12,253 mg kg(-1) Zn, and 1400 and 97 mg kg(-1) Cd in shoots of ZJ and HN plants were recorded respectively. Under hydroponic conditions, ZJ and HN plants accumulated significantly higher Zn and Cd in their leaves and stems, and possessed significantly higher Zn and Cd tolerance than GD plants. Among the two contaminated populations, ZJ plants showed higher Cd tolerance and accumulation (in leaves) than HN plants. The present results indicate that significant differences in Zn and Cd accumulation and tolerance exist in populations of S. alfredii.