Hydroxyapatite/Silk Fibroin Composite Scaffold with a Porous Structure and Mechanical Strength Similar to Cancellous Bone by Electric Field-Induced Gel Technology.

Repair and regeneration of bone tissue defects is a multidimensional process that has been highly challenging to date. The artificial bone scaffold materials, which play a core role, still face the conflict that a biofriendly porous structure will reduce the mechanical performance and accelerate degradation. Herein, a multistage porous structured hydroxyapatite (HA)/silk fibroin (SF) composite scaffold (e-HA/SF) was successfully constructed by cleverly utilizing electric field-induced gel technology.

Bubble-blowing-inspired sub-micron thick freestanding silk films for programmable electronics.

Thin film electronics that are capable of deforming and interfacing with nonplanar surfaces have attracted widespread interest in wearable motion detection or physiological signal recording due to their light weight, low stiffness, and high conformality. However, it is still a challenge to fabricate freestanding thin film substrates or matrices with only sub-micron thickness in a simple way, especially for those materials with metastable conformations, like regenerated silk protein. Herein, we developed a dip-coating method for the fabrication of sub-micron thick freestanding silk films inspired by blowing soap bubbles.

Silk-Fibroin-Assisted Cathodic Electrolytic Deposition of Calcium Phosphate for Biomedical Applications.

The biological responses of artificial biomaterials are affected strongly by its interfacial topography, especially from nano- to microscale. The structure controllability is essential for the design and synthesis of novel biomedical materials. Herein, the effect of soluble silk fibroin (SF) on the cathodic electrolytic deposition (ELD) behavior of octacalcium phosphate (OCP) coating is studied.

The relationship between c-reactive protein gene +1444C/T, 3407T/C polymorphisms and colorectal cancer susceptibility.

Aim: The present study was conducted to analyze the relationship between c-reactive protein (CRP) gene +1444C/T, 3407T/C (rs2808630) polymorphisms and colorectal cancer susceptibility.

Methods: A total of 142 colorectal cancer patients and 127 healthy controls were recruited into this case-control study. The genotypes of CRP gene +1444C/T, rs2808630 polymorphisms were tested by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and the genotypes distributions of polymorphisms in controls was assessed whether conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE).

Non-Point Source Pollutant Load Variation in Rapid Urbanization Areas by Remote Sensing, Gis and the L-THIA Model: A Case in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, China.

Urban sprawl is a major driving force that alters local and regional hydrology and increases non-point source pollution. Using the Bao'an District in Shenzhen, China, a typical rapid urbanization area, as the study area and land-use change maps from 1988 to 2014 that were obtained by remote sensing, the contributions of different land-use types to NPS pollutant production were assessed with a localized long-term hydrologic impact assessment (L-THIA) model. The results show that the non-point source pollution load changed significantly both in terms of magnitude and spatial distribution.

SOX10 is a novel oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma through Wnt/β-catenin/TCF4 cascade.

SOX (high mobility group) genes play an important role in a number of developmental processes. Potential roles of SOXs have been demonstrated in various neoplastic tissues as tumor suppressors or promoters depending on tumor status and types. The aim of this study was to investigate the function role of SOXs in the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

[GIS and L-THIA based analysis on variations of non-point pollution in the Guanlan River watershed, Shenzhen].

In order to reveal the influence of land use change, on the non-point source pollution load during the rapid urbanization process in the Guanlan River watershed, Shenzhen, Guangdong, with the support of GIS, L-THIA model was used to analyze the changes in spatial distribution of non-point source pollution load in the river watershed from 1996 to 2008. The parameters in L-THIA model were revised according to the environmental conditions of the study region. The results showed that during the urbanization from 1996 to 2008, the load of major pollutants, namely TN, TP and COD, showed an obviously increasing trend with increase rates being 62.