SWCNT-MoS -SWCNT Vertical Point Heterostructures.

A vertical point heterostructure (VPH) is constructed by sandwiching a two-dimensional (2D) MoS flake with two cross-stacked metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes. It can be used as a field-effect transistor with high on/off ratio and a light detector with high spatial resolution. Moreover, the hybrid 1D-2D-1D VPHs open up new possibilities for nanoelectronics and nano-optoelectronics.

Similarity measurement of lung masses for medical image retrieval using kernel based semisupervised distance metric.

Purpose: To develop a new algorithm to measure the similarity between the query lung mass and reference lung mass data set for content-based medical image retrieval (CBMIR).

Methods: A lung mass data set including 746 mass regions of interest (ROIs) was assembled. Among them, 375 ROIs depicted malignant lesions and 371 depicted benign lesions.

Autophagy activated by tuberin/mTOR/p70S6K suppression is a protective mechanism against local anaesthetics neurotoxicity.

The local anaesthetics (LAs) are widely used for peripheral nerve blocks, epidural anaesthesia, spinal anaesthesia and pain management. However, exposure to LAs for long duration or at high dosage can provoke potential neuronal damages. Autophagy is an intracellular bulk degradation process for proteins and organelles.

Dose-response relationship between serum uric acid levels and risk of incident coronary heart disease in the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort.

Background: In prospective studies, relationship of serum uric acid (SUA) with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence is inconsistent. We evaluated the association of SUA with incident CHD and the potential modifying effect of major CHD risk factors related to SUA among a middle aged and elderly Chinese population.

Methods: We included 16, 063 participants who were free of CHD, stroke, cancer and renal diseases at baseline from Sep.

Ferroelectric BiFeO as an Oxide Dye in Highly Tunable Mesoporous All-Oxide Photovoltaic Heterojunctions.

As potential photovoltaic materials, transition-metal oxides such as BiFeO (BFO) are capable of absorbing a substantial portion of solar light and incorporating ferroic orders into solar cells with enhanced performance. But the photovoltaic application of BFO has been hindered by low energy-conversion efficiency due to poor carrier transport and collection. In this work, a new approach of utilizing BFO as a light-absorbing sensitizer is developed to interface with charge-transporting TiO nanoparticles.

MicroRNA-125b Prevents Cardiac Dysfunction in Polymicrobial Sepsis by Targeting TRAF6-Mediated Nuclear Factor κB Activation and p53-Mediated Apoptotic Signaling.

Background:  This study examined the effect of microRNA-125b (miR-125b) on sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction.

Methods:  Mouse hearts were transfected with lentivirus expressing miR-125b (LmiR-125b) 7 days before cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis. Cardiac function was examined by echocardiography before and 6 hours after CLP (n = 6/group).

Assessment of eco-environmental quality of Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone.

Regional eco-environmental quality is the key and foundation to the sustainable socio-economic development of a region. Eco-environmental quality assessment can reveal the capacity of sustainable socio-economic development in a region and the degree of coordination between social production and the living environment. As part of a new development strategy for Fujian Province, the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone (hereafter referred to as the Economic Zone) provides an important guarantee for the development of China's southeastern coastal area.

Green tea consumption is associated with reduced incident CHD and improved CHD-related biomarkers in the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort.

Prospective studies on the association of green tea with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence were scarce. This study examined whether green tea can reduce CHD incidence and have a beneficial effect on CHD-related risk markers in middle-aged and older Chinese population. We included 19,471 participants who were free of CHD, stroke or cancer at baseline from September 2008 to June 2010, and were followed until October 2013.

The efficiency of magnetic hyperthermia and in vivo histocompatibility for human-like collagen protein-coated magnetic nanoparticles.

Magnetic hyperthermia is a promising technique for the minimally invasive elimination of solid tumors. In this study, uniform magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) with different particle sizes were used as a model system to investigate the size and surface effects of human-like collagen protein-coated MNPs (HLC-MNPs) on specific absorption rate and biocompatibility. It was found that these HLC-MNPs possess rapid heating capacity upon alternating magnetic field exposure compared to that of MNPs without HLC coating, irrespective of the size of MNPs.

Risk Analysis for Pathological Changes in Pulmonary Parenchyma Based on Lung Computed Tomography Images.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to design a content-based medical image retrieval system, which helps excavate and assess pathological change of pulmonary parenchyma for risks analysis.

Methods: A data set including lung computed tomography images obtained from 115 patients who experienced pathological changes in pulmonary parenchyma is used. Using morphological theory, images are preprocessed and decomposed into groups of pixel blocks (words), which construct vocabulary.

Polydatin Attenuates H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress via PKC Pathway.

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction, which is found to precede the development of diverse cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The aim of this study was to observe the protective effects of PD against H2O2-induced oxidative stress injury (OSI) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the possible mechanism of PD in OSI treatment. HUVECs were subjected to H2O2 in the absence or presence of PD.

Association Between Interleukin-6 -572 C>G and -174 G>C Polymorphisms and Hypertension: A Meta-analysis of Case-control Studies.

Whether hypertension is associated with -572 C>G or -174 G>C polymorphism in interleukin (IL)-6 genes still remains hazy and ambiguous.We conducted a meta-analysis to offer a more reliable and clearer evaluation about the association.Electronic literature databases including PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Google Scholar, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang database were searched.

Retinoic acid triggers meiosis initiation via stra8-dependent pathway in Southern catfish, Silurus meridionalis.

Existing studies demonstrated that retinoic acid (RA) regulates meiotic initiation via stra8-independent pathway in teleosts which lack stra8 in their genomes. However, stra8 was recently identified from several fish species including Southern catfish (Silurus meridionalis). To explore the existence of stra8-dependent pathway in RA mediated meiotic initiation in fishes, in the present study, the genes encoding RA synthase aldh1a2 and catabolic enzyme cyp26a1 and cyp26b1 were cloned from the Southern catfish.

[Chemical Constituents from Oldenlandia diffusa].

Objective: To study the chemical constituents of water extracted fraction from Oldenlandia diffusa.

Methods: The compounds were isolated and purified by column chromatography on macroporous resin,silica gel,MCI gel,Sephadex LH-20,ODS medium pressure liquid chromatography and RP-semi-preparative HPLC. The structures of compounds were elucidated on the basis of physicochemical and spectral analysis.

Association between thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor gene polymorphisms and venous thrombosis risk: a meta-analysis.

Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is an important antifibrinolytic factor that has been shown in increased concentrations to be associated with an increased risk for venous thrombosis. However, the effect of TAFI gene polymorphisms on the risk of venous thrombosis remains debatable. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the association of three single nucleotide polymorphisms: 505G>A (rs3742264), 1040 C>T (rs1926447) and -438G>A (rs2146881) with venous thrombosis risk using a meta-analysis.

Fast Adaptive Thermal Camouflage Based on Flexible VO₂/Graphene/CNT Thin Films.

Adaptive camouflage in thermal imaging, a form of cloaking technology capable of blending naturally into the surrounding environment, has been a great challenge in the past decades. Emissivity engineering for thermal camouflage is regarded as a more promising way compared to merely temperature controlling that has to dissipate a large amount of excessive heat. However, practical devices with an active modulation of emissivity have yet to be well explored.

Association between JAK2 rs4495487 Polymorphism and Risk of Budd-Chiari Syndrome in China.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are the leading cause of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS), and the C allele of JAK2 rs4495487 was reported to be an additional candidate locus that contributed to MPNs. In the present study, we examined the role of JAK2 rs4495487 in the etiology and clinical presentation of Chinese BCS patients. 300 primary BCS patients and 311 healthy controls were enrolled to evaluate the association between JAK2 rs4495487 polymorphism and risk of BCS.

The correlation analysis of tumor necrosis factor-alpha-308G/A polymorphism and venous thromboembolism risk: A meta-analysis.

Objective: Venous thromboembolism is a common complex disorder, being the resultant of gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha is a proinflammatory cytokine which has been implicated in venous thromboembolism risk. A promoter 308G/A polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene has been suggested to modulate the risk for venous thromboembolism.

Neuroprotective agents for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.

Hypoxic-ischemic (H-I) brain injury in newborns is a major cause of morbidity and mortality that claims thousands of lives each year. In this review, we summarize the promising neuroprotective agents tested on animal models and pilot clinical studies of neonatal H-I brain injury according to the different phases of the disease. These agents target various phases of injury including the early phase of excitotoxicity, oxidative stress and apoptosis as well as late-phase inflammatory reaction and neural repair.

Attenuation of Cardiac Dysfunction in Polymicrobial Sepsis by MicroRNA-146a Is Mediated via Targeting of IRAK1 and TRAF6 Expression.

Cardiac dysfunction is a major consequence of sepsis/septic shock and contributes to the high mortality of sepsis. Innate and inflammatory responses mediated by TLRs play a critical role in sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction. MicroRNA-146 (miR-146) was first identified as a negative regulator in innate immune and inflammatory responses induced by LPS.

HSPA12B: a novel facilitator of lung tumor growth.

Lung tumor progression is regulated by proangiogenic factors. Heat shock protein A12B (HSPA12B) is a recently identified regulator of expression of proangiogenic factors. However, whether HSPA12B plays a role in lung tumor growth is unknown.

A non-aggregation spectrometric determination for mercury ions based on gold nanoparticles and thiocyanuric acid.

We provide a highly sensitive and selective colorimetric assay to detect mercury ions (Hg(2+)) in aqueous environment using thiocyanuric acid (TCA) molecule-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). This method is based on the thiophilicity of Hg(2+) and AuNPs as well as the unique optical properties of TCA-functionalized AuNPs. In the presence of TCA, AuNPs aggregate due to the strong attraction between thiol groups of TCA and surface-bounded AuCl4(-)/AuCl2(-) ions, which induces the visible color change from red to blue.

Impaired autophagosome clearance contributes to local anesthetic bupivacaine-induced myotoxicity in mouse myoblasts.

Background: The current study examined the role(s) of autophagy in myotoxicity induced by bupivacaine in mouse myoblast C2c12 cells.

Methods: C2c12 cells were treated with bupivacaine. Myotoxicity was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay (n = 3 to 30), live/dead assay (n = 3 to 4), and morphological alterations (n = 3).