A2BP1 gene polymorphisms association with olanzapine-induced weight gain.

The ataxin-2 binding protein 1 (A2BP1) gene is reported to be one of the susceptibility genes in schizophrenia, autism, and obesity. The aim of this study was to explore the association of A2BP1 gene polymorphisms with antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) in Chinese Han population. Three hundred and twenty-eight patients with schizophrenia were followed-up for an 8-week period of treatment with olanzapine.

Crystal-Orientation-Modulated Exchange Bias in Orthorhombic-YMnO3/La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 Multiferroic Heterostructures.

The magnetic properties of the all-oxide multiferroic heterostructures composed of orthorhombic YMnO3 (YMO) with E-type antiferromagnetic and double-exchange ferromagnetic (FM) La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 (LSMO) were studied.

Surface Roughness Impacts on Granular Media Filtration at Favorable Deposition Conditions: Experiments and Modeling.

Column tests were conducted to investigate media roughness impacts on particle deposition in absence of an energy barrier (i.e., high ionic strength).

Preparation of Ag@Ag₃PO₄@ZnO ternary heterostructures for photocatalytic studies.

In this article, we report a novel Ag@Ag3PO4@ZnO ternary heterostructures synthesized through a three-step approach. Firstly, single-crystalline Ag nanorods are fabricated and served as the templates for subsequent Ag3PO4 deposition. Secondly, Ag3PO4 crystals are grown around Ag core nanorods through a solution co-precipitation process, leading to the Ag@Ag3PO4 binary heterostructures.

Scanning-free BOTDA based on ultra-fine digital optical frequency comb.

We realize a scanning-free Brillouin optical time domain analyzer (BOTDA) based on an ultra-fine digital optical frequency comb (DOFC) with 1.95MHz frequency spacing and 2GHz bandwidth. The DOFC can be used to reconstruct the Brillouin gain spectrum (BGS) and locate the Brillouin frequency shift (BFS) without frequency scanning and thus can improve the measurement speed about 100 times compared with the conventional BOTDA.

Transient characteristics for proton gating in laterally coupled indium-zinc-oxide transistors.

The control and detection over processing, transport and delivery of chemical species is of great importance in sensors and biological systems. The transient characteristics of the migration of chemical species reflect the basic properties in the processings of chemical species. Here, we observed the field-configurable proton effects in a laterally coupled transistor gated by phosphorosilicate glass (PSG).

A GSHS-like gene from Lycium chinense maybe regulated by cadmium-induced endogenous salicylic acid and overexpression of this gene enhances tolerance to cadmium stress in Arabidopsis.

A GSHS gene, LcGSHS , was cloned from L. chinense for the first time. Evidence is presented here that endogenous SA accumulation maybe important for the regulation of LcGSHS expression level.

Carbohydrate Intake, Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load, and Stroke: A Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies.

The objective of this study was to investigate associations between carbohydrate intake/glycemic index (GI)/glycemic load (GL) and stroke risk. A literature search of MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and CBM databases was performed to retrieve eligible studies published up to March 2014. Pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the strength of this association.

LcBiP, a endoplasmic reticulum chaperone binding protein gene from Lycium chinense, confers cadmium tolerance in transgenic tobacco.

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation is very toxic to plants. The presence of Cd may lead to excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and then cause inhibition of plant growth. The endoplasmic reticulum chaperone binding protein (BiP) is an important functional protein, which has been shown to function as a sensor of alterations in the ER environment.

Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 1 from Lycium chinense.

Carotenoids are key precursor for aroma compounds in plants. Although the fruit of Lycium chinense contains numerous carotenoids, the formation mechanism of aroma compounds in L. chinense is still poorly understood.

Positive feedback regulation of a Lycium chinense-derived VDE gene by drought-induced endogenous ABA, and over-expression of this VDE gene improve drought-induced photo-damage in Arabidopsis.

Violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) plays an important role in protecting the photosynthetic apparatus from photo-damage by dissipating excessively absorbed light energy as heat, via the conversion of violaxanthin (V) to intermediate product antheraxanthin (A) and final product zeaxanthin (Z) under light stress. We have cloned a VDE gene (LcVDE) from Lycium chinense, a deciduous woody perennial halophyte, which can grow in a large variety of soil types. The amino acid sequence of LcVDE has high homology with VDEs in other plants.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Enhance Angiogenesis and Follicle Survival in Human Cryopreserved Ovarian Cortex Transplantation.

Transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue is a novel technique to restore endocrine function and fertility especially for cancer patients. However, the main obstacle of the technique is massive follicle loss as a result of ischemia in the process of transplantation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been acknowledged to play an important role in supporting angiogenesis and stabilizing long-lasting blood vessel networks through release of angiogenic factors and differentiation into pericytes and endothelial cells.

The spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) regulates Alzheimer amyloid-β production and Tau hyperphosphorylation.

We have previously shown that the L-type calcium channel (LCC) antagonist nilvadipine reduces brain amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation by affecting both Aβ production and Aβ clearance across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Nilvadipine consists of a mixture of two enantiomers, (+)-nilvadipine and (-)-nilvadipine, in equal proportion. (+)-Nilvadipine is the active enantiomer responsible for the inhibition of LCC, whereas (-)-nilvadipine is considered inactive.

Improved 1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) production in mulberry leaves fermented by microorganism.

DNJ, an inhibitor of α-glucosidase, is used to suppress the elevation of postprandial hyperglycemia. In this study, we focus on screening an appropriate microorganism for performing fermentation to improve DNJ content in mulberry leaf. Results showed that Ganoderma lucidum was selected from 8 species and shown to be the most effective in improvement of DNJ production from mulberry leaves through fermentation.

Liquid-solid phase transition alloy as reversible and rapid molding bone cement.

Acrylic bone cement has been an essential non-metallic implant used as fixing agent in the cemented total joint arthroplasty (THA). However, the currently available materials based mainly on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) still encounter certain limitations, such as time-consuming polymerization, thermal and chemical necrosis and troublesome revision procedure. Here from an alternative way, we proposed for the first time to adopt the injectable alloy cement to address such tough issues through introducing its unique liquid-solid phase transition mechanism.

LchERF, a novel ethylene-responsive transcription factor from Lycium chinense, confers salt tolerance in transgenic tobacco.

An ERF gene, LchERF , was cloned from L. chinense for the first time. Overexpression of LchERF conferred salt stress tolerance in transgenic tobacco lines during seed germination and vegetative growth.

Expression of cholera toxin B subunit-lumbrokinase in edible sunflower seeds-the use of transmucosal carrier to enhance its fusion protein's effect on protection of rats and mice against thrombosis.

Lumbrokinase (LK) is a group of serine proteases with strong fibrinolytic and thrombolytic activities and is useful for treating diseases caused by thrombus. Cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) has been widely used to facilitate antigen delivery by serving as an effective mucosal carrier molecule for the induction of oral tolerance. We investigate here the application of CTB as a transmucosal carrier in enhancing its fusion protein-LKs effect to protect rats against thrombosis.

Base-induced self-assembly for one-dimensional coordination polymers via chiral pendant-armed Schiff base mononuclear Pb(II) macrocycles.

A pair of 18-membered [1 + 1] chiral pendant-armed Schiff base macrocyclic mononuclear Pb(II) complexes with an unusual N1O2 coordination mode, synthesized from two chiral isomeric dialdehyde components, can be further self-assembled to one-dimensional ribbon coordination polymers by adding NaOH as a base to remove two phenolic protons.

Construction of pendant-armed Schiff-base macrocyclic dinuclear zinc complexes and their selective recognition of acetate ions.

Two new flexible extended dialdehydes (H2hpdd and H2pdd) with different functional pendant arms (-CH2CH2PhOH and -CH2CH2Ph) have been synthesized and reacted with 1,2-bis(2-aminoethoxy)ethane to prepare Schiff-base macrocyclic complexes in the presence of a Zn(II)-ion template. As a result, two preorganized dinuclear Zn(II) intermediates (1 and 2), as well as two 42-membered folded [2+2] macrocyclic dinuclear Zn(II) complexes (3 and 4), were produced. The central zinc ions in compounds 1-4 showed distinguishable coordination patterns with the dialdehydes and the [2+2] macrocyclic ligands, in which a subtle pH-adjustment function of the two pendant arms (with or without the phenolic hydroxy group) was believed to play a vital role.

Spinous TiO₂ and Au@TiO₂ octahedral nanocages: amorphisity-to-crystallinity transition-driven surface structural construction and photocatalytic study.

Novel spinous TiO2 and Au@TiO2 octahedral nanocages have been prepared through a well-designed three-step strategy including templated TiO2 wet coating, subsequent structural ripening and final template removal or transformation. The strategy is built on an amorphisity-to-crystallinity transition-driven surface structural construction, which emphasizes the critical steps of crystallization-controlled TiO2 coating and consequent structural ripening. The influence of some key parameters, such as coating temperature, ripening temperature and ripening time, on the structure and morphology of the spinous TiO2 and Au@TiO2 nanocages have been investigated.

Zinc halide template effects on the construction of [1 + 1] flexible Schiff-base macrocyclic complexes having pendant-armed dialdehyde components.

Two novel pendant-armed dialdehydes (1a and 1b) were prepared by a one-step reaction between 5-chloro-3-(chloromethyl)-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde/5-methyl-3-(chloromethyl)-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde and cyclohexylamine involving two nucleophilic substitutions, and they were used to react with 1,3-propanediamine to prepare Schiff-base macrocyclic complexes in the presence of ZnX2 salts (X = Cl, Br, and I). As a result, five dinuclear (2a, 2b, 3b, 4a, and 4b) and one mononuclear (3a) [1 + 1] flexible macrocyclic Zn(II) complexes have been structurally and spectrally characterized. The zinc centers in three pairs of macrocyclic complexes have the common four-coordinate tetrahedral geometry with one or two coordinated halide ions, where the template Zn(II) cations and the auxiliary halide anions with different sizes and coordination abilities are believed to play important roles in forming the resulting macrocyclic complexes.

A distributed fiber vibration sensor utilizing dispersion induced walk-off effect in a unidirectional Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel ultra-long range and sensitive distributed fiber vibration sensor. Only one unidirectional Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is employed in this scheme as the sensing element. In this sensor structure, we utilize chromatic dispersion-induced walk-off effect between the vibration signals sensed by two distributed feedback (DFB) lasers at different wavelengths to locate the vibration position.

Preparation of a nano emodin transfersome and study on its anti-obesity mechanism in adipose tissue of diet-induced obese rats.

Objective: To describe the preparation of nano emodin transfersome (NET) and investigate its effect on mRNA expression of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and G0/G1 switch gene 2 (G0S2) in adipose tissue of diet-induced obese rats.

Methods: NET was prepared by film-ultrasonic dispersion method. The effects of emodin components at different ratios on encapsulation efficiency were investigated.

Numerical simulations on conformable laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy through combined use of multi-beam heating and biodegradable nanoparticles.

Clinically, precisely heating and thus completely ablating diseased tumor tissue through laser beam is still facing many technical challenges. In this study, numerical simulation of a conformal heating modality based on multi-beam laser along with biodegradable magnesium nanoparticles (Mg-NPs) was put forward to treat liver tumor with large size or irregular shape. Further, a Gaussian-like distribution was proposed to investigate the influence of Mg-NP deposition on the nanoenhanced laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT).