[Research Progress in Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Leukemia Complicated with Pulmonary Infection--Review].

Acute leukaemia is a group of aggressive malignancies with a high mortality rate. The reduction in functional immune cells due to the disease itself and radiotherapy/chemotherapy makes the patients susceptible to co-infections, of which pulmonary infection is a major cause of death. Early accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment may prevent the spread of infection in patients with acute leukaemia complicated with pulmonary infection, thus reduce serious complications such as sepsis, respiratory failure and multi-organ failure.

Can small bowel obstruction during pregnancy be treated with conservative management? A review.

Background: Small bowel obstruction can occur during pregnancy, which, if missed, can lead to dire consequences for both the mother and foetus. Management of this condition usually requires surgical intervention. However, only a small number of patients are treated conservatively.

[The Latest Research Progress of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Multiple Myeloma Patients --Review].

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant proliferative disease of plasma cells. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) play an important role in the progression of MM. Compared with normal donor derived MSC (ND-MSC), MM patients derived MSC (MM-MSC) exhibit abnormalities in genes, signaling pathways, protein expression levels and cytokines secreted by themselves.

[The Latest Research Progress on Myelodysplastic Syndrome Patient-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell--Review].

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of hematological malignancies. Currently, in addition to demethylated chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, MDS patient-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MDS-MSC) play an important role in understanding the pathogenesis of MDS and related therapeutic targets. For example, abnormal expression of DICER1 gene, abnormalities of PI3K/AKT and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways provide new therapeutic targets for MDS.

2D Colloidal Crystals with Anisotropic Impurities.

We report a study of 2D colloidal crystals with anisotropic ellipsoid impurities using video microscopy. It is found that at low impurity densities, the impurity particles behave like floating disorder with which the quasi-long-range orientational order survives and the elasticity of the system is actually enhanced. There is a critical impurity density above which the 2D crystal loses the quasi-long-range orientational order.

Kondo effect and superconductivity in niobium with iron impurities.

Kondo effect is an interesting phenomenon in quantum many-body physics. Niobium (Nb) is a conventional superconductor important for many superconducting device applications. It was long thought that the Kondo effect cannot be observed in Nb because the magnetic moment of a magnetic impurity, e.

2D isotropic-nematic transition in colloidal suspensions of ellipsoids.

Liquid crystals are important condensed matter systems for technological applications, as well as for fundamental studies. An important unresolved issue is the nature of the phase transition in a two-dimensional (2D) liquid crystal system. In contrast to numerous computational studies reported in the last few decades, there have been no convincing experiments to verify these numerical results.

Dynamical processes of interstitial diffusion in a two-dimensional colloidal crystal.

In two-dimensional (2D) solids, point defects, i.e., vacancies and interstitials, are bound states of topological defects of edge dislocations and disclinations.

Rapid fabrication of solid-state nanopores with high reproducibility over a large area using a helium ion microscope.

The fabrication of solid-state nanopores in an insulating membrane has attracted much attention for biomolecule analysis such as DNA sequencing and detection in recent years. For practical applications and device integration, the challenges include precise size control for sub 10 nm nanopores, excellent repeatability and rapid fabrication over a large area to reduce the cost for mass production. A helium ion beam could provide an effective fabrication approach to produce such solid-state nanopores.

On the distribution of DNA translocation times in solid-state nanopores: an analysis using Schrödinger's first-passage-time theory.

In this short paper, a correction is made to the recently proposed solution of Li and Talaga to a 1D biased diffusion model for linear DNA translocation, and a new analysis will be given to their data. It was pointed out by us recently that this 1D linear translocation model is equivalent to the one that was considered by Schrödinger for the Ehrenhaft–Millikan measurements on electron charge. Here, we apply Schrödinger’s first-passage-time distribution formula to the data set in Li and Talaga.

Detection of DNA hybridizations using solid-state nanopores.

We report an experimental study of using DNA translocation through solid-state nanopores to detect the sequential arrangement of two double-stranded 12-mer hybridization segments on a single-stranded DNA molecule. The sample DNA is a trimer molecule formed by hybridizing three single-stranded oligonucleotides. A polystyrene bead is attached to the end of the trimer DNA, providing a mechanism in slowing down the translocation and suppressing the thermal diffusion, thereby allowing the detection of short features of DNA by standard patch-clamp electronics.

Reverse DNA translocation through a solid-state nanopore by magnetic tweezers.

Voltage-driven DNA translocation through nanopores has attracted wide interest for many potential applications in molecular biology and biotechnology. However, it is intrinsically difficult to control the DNA motion in standard DNA translocation processes in which a strong electric field is required in drawing DNA into the pore, but it also leads to uncontrollable fast DNA translocation. Here we explore a new type of DNA translocation.

The potential and challenges of nanopore sequencing.

A nanopore-based device provides single-molecule detection and analytical capabilities that are achieved by electrophoretically driving molecules in solution through a nano-scale pore. The nanopore provides a highly confined space within which single nucleic acid polymers can be analyzed at high throughput by one of a variety of means, and the perfect processivity that can be enforced in a narrow pore ensures that the native order of the nucleobases in a polynucleotide is reflected in the sequence of signals that is detected. Kilobase length polymers (single-stranded genomic DNA or RNA) or small molecules (e.

[Potential impact of water transfer project from Yangtze River to Huaihe River on snail spread and schistosomiasis transmission].

Objective: To investigate the possibility of spread of snails and transmission of schistosomiasis japonica due to the construction of water transfer project from Yangtze River to Huaihe River.

Methods: In order to understand the current endemic situation of schistosomiasis in the project area, the distribution of snails was surveyed by routine methods, level of anti-schistosome antibody in human sera was detected by indirect haemagglutination test (IHA), and the prevalence of schistosomiasis in cattle was detected by egg hatching method. The snail survival and reproduction were observed in Chaohu Lake area(experimental area) and a control area for one year.

Statics and dynamics of 2D colloidal crystals in a random pinning potential.

We report the first experimental study of a model system of a two-dimensional colloidal crystal in a random pinning potential. The colloidal crystal consists of monodispersed charged polystyrene microspheres suspended in deionized aqueous media and confined near a rough charged surface. It is found that the static orientational correlation function g6(r) decays exponentially for intermediate and strong pinning, in agreement with theories.

Emergence of quasi-long-range order below the Bragg glass transition.

We report small angle neutron scattering rocking-curve measurements of the flux line lattices in the peak effect region in a niobium single crystal. It is found that upon cooling in a magnetic field, the transverse orientational order as well as the longitudinal translational order grow rapidly with decreasing temperature, indicating diminishing population of defects in the ordering vortex matter. Surprisingly, during subsequent warming, longitudinal order increases with increasing temperature, presumably due to annealing of flux-lattice screw dislocations.

Peak effect in polycrystalline vortex matter.

We report a study of the peak-effect phase diagram of a strongly disordered type-II superconductor V-21 at. %Ti using ac magnetic susceptibility and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). In this system, the peak effect appears only at fields higher than 3.

Lithography-free formation of nanopores in plastic membranes using laser heating.

Synthetic nanopores are a new class of single-molecule sensors capable of electronically detecting, counting, and characterizing biomolecules. There have been studies of nanopore formation in solid-state materials. This paper reports a novel lithography-free method of nanopore formation in plastic membranes fluidized using laser heating.

Role of AFP mRNA expression in peripheral blood as a predictor for postsurgical recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: To identify the role of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) mRNA expression in peripheral blood one week after surgery as a predictor for recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Published studies fulfilling the selection criteria were identified by searching several databases online. After a methodology assessment using a quality scale designed by European Lung Cancer Working Party, data in each research were aggregated by means of meta-analysis.

Fate of the peak effect in a type-II superconductor: multicriticality in the Bragg-Glass transition.

We have used small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ac magnetic susceptibility to investigate the global magnetic field H vs temperature T phase diagram of a Nb single crystal in which a first-order transition of Bragg-glass melting (disordering), a peak effect, and surface superconductivity are all observable. It was found that the disappearance of the peak effect is directly related to a multicritical behavior in the Bragg-glass transition. Four characteristic phase boundary lines have been identified on the H-T plane: a first-order line at high fields, a mean-field-like continuous transition line at low fields, and two continuous transition lines associated with the onset of surface and bulk superconductivity.

Fabrication of solid-state nanopores with single-nanometre precision.

Single nanometre-sized pores (nanopores) embedded in an insulating membrane are an exciting new class of nanosensors for rapid electrical detection and characterization of biomolecules. Notable examples include alpha-hemolysin protein nanopores in lipid membranes and solid-state nanopores in Si3N4. Here we report a new technique for fabricating silicon oxide nanopores with single-nanometre precision and direct visual feedback, using state-of-the-art silicon technology and transmission electron microscopy.

Diffusion of point defects in two-dimensional colloidal crystals.

Uniform colloidal microspheres dispersed in a solvent will, under appropriate conditions, self-assemble into ordered crystalline structures. Using these colloidal crystals as a model system, a great variety of problems of interest to materials science, physical chemistry, and condensed-matter physics have been investigated during the past two decades. Recently, it has been demonstrated that point defects can be created in two-dimensional colloidal crystals by manipulating individual particles with optical tweezers.