Enhanced gypsum scaling by organic fouling layer on nanofiltration membrane: Characteristics and mechanisms.

To investigate how the characteristics of pregenerated organic fouling layers on nanofiltration (NF) membranes influence the subsequent gypsum scaling behavior, filtration experiments with gypsum were carried out with organic-fouled poly(piperazineamide) NF membranes. Organic fouling layer on membrane was induced by bovine serum albumin (BSA), humic acid (HA), and sodium alginate (SA), respectively. The morphology and components of the scalants, the role of Ca(2+) adsorption on the organic fouling layer during gypsum crystallization, and the interaction forces of gypsum on the membrane surface were investigated.

[Unrelated Donor Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation Combined with Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies].

Objective: To explore the safety and efficiency of unrelated donor peripheral blood stem cells (URD-PBSC) transplantation combined with umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSC).

Methods: The clinical data of 49 patients received unrelated donor peripheral blood stem cells transplantation (URD-PBSCT) for treating hematologic malignancies were retrospectively evaluated, including 12 ANLL, 17 ALL, 18 CML and 2 MDS. Out of them, 22 patients received the URD-PBSCT combined with UC-MSC and 27 patients received only URD-PBSCT.

Synthesis, α-glucosidase inhibitory and molecular docking studies of prenylated and geranylated flavones, isoflavones and chalcones.

Three series of prenylated and/or geranylated flavonoids were synthesized and evaluated for their α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. The 3',5'-digeranylated chalcone (16) was identified as a new α-glucosidase inhibitor whose activity (IC50=0.90 μM) was 50-fold more than that of acarbose (IC50=51.

Extramammary Paget's Disease in Two Brothers.

Extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD), which is considered to be an adenocarcinoma of the apocrine glands, is a rare, slow-growing neoplasm. The standard treatment for local EMPD is surgical resection, however, so far, no effective treatment is found for advanced EMPD. Trastuzumab, which is a recombinant monoclonal antibody against the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 HER2 has been proved to be effective in the treatment of advanced EMPD in some cases where HER2 protein is overexpressed.

[Accumulation of antibiotics, heavy metals and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in duck bio-bed].

Objective: The objective of this study is to understand the accumulation of antibiotics, metals in the litter, and evolution features of bacterial antimicrobial-resistance during the fermentation of duck bio-bed.

Methods: The experiment was conducted in meat duck bio-bed farm of Jiangsu province from November 2011 to July 2013. The new litter and spent litter from 4th, 8th meat duck flock were studied for the accumulation of consumed antimicrobials and metals.

A Comparative Transcriptome Analysis between Wild and Albino Yellow Catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco).

Body colours are important and striking features for individual survival and reproductive success, in particular in vertebrates where mating behaviour and mate preference may be strongly influenced by non-normal phenotypes. Pigmentation disorders may be generated by disruption of one or many independent genes as well as by environmental factors. The first discovery of albino yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco Richardson) with golden skin colour from fish farms in China provides us valuable material to study the molecular mechanism underlying the abnormalities of pigmentation.

Efficacy comparison between cryoablation and radiofrequency ablation for patients with cavotricuspid valve isthmus dependent atrial flutter: a meta-analysis.

We perform this meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of cryoablation versus radiofrequency ablation for patients with cavotricuspid valve isthmus dependent atrial flutter. By searching EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed and Cochrane electronic databases from March 1986 to September 2014, 7 randomized clinical trials were included. Acute (risk ratio[RR]: 0.

MoS2 Surface Structure Tailoring via Carbonaceous Promoter.

Atomically thin semiconducting transition-metal dichalcogenides have been attracting lots of attentions, particularly, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) monolayers show promising applications in field effect transistors, optoelectronics and valleytronics. However, the controlled synthesis of highly crystalline MoS2 remain a challenge especially the systematic approach to manipulate its structure and morphology. Herein, we report a method for controlled synthesis of highly crystalline MoS2 by using chemical vapor deposition method with carbonaceous materials as growth promoter.

Small non-coding RNAs and aptamers in diagnostics and therapeutics.

Small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) such as small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and RNA aptamers have recently emerged as highly versatile and valuable tools in disease diagnostics and therapeutics, largely due to their key regulatory functions in many human diseases including cancer, viral infections, genetic disorders, etc. Recent technological advancements as described in the previous chapters have greatly aided the discovery of sncRNAs and their applications for disease detection and therapy. Here, we describe the advantages of using sncRNAs as diagnostic and therapeutic tools, followed by some of the most recent examples of their use and a vision for the future perspectives.

Access to polysubstituted indoles or benzothiophenes via palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of furfural tosylhydrazones with 2-iodoanilines or 2-iodothiophenols.

Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of furfural tosylhydrazones with 2-iodoanilines or 2-iodothiophenols produces polysubstituted indoles or benzothiophenes, respectively. The reaction proceeds through 2-furylmethylene palladium iodide intermediates, which undergo furan ring opening followed by ring closure to form indoles or benzothiophenes. This reaction will expand the synthetic applications of furfural derivatives.

Lesional infiltration of mast cells, Langerhans cells, T cells and local cytokine profiles in alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic inflammatory disease mediated by an array of cells and cytokines. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) of histological sections with antibodies to mast cell tryptase, CD4, CD8, CD1a and semi-quantitative real-time PCR analysis of Th1- and Th2-type cytokines were performed in 55 patients to investigate the infiltration features of mast cells (MCs), T lymphocytes and Langerhans cells (LCs) in scalp lesions of patients with AA. In AA patients, increased MCs mainly infiltrated the peri-follicular and peri-vascular areas, and correlated positively with numbers of CD8(+) T lymphocytes in deep peri-follicular areas (P = 0.

Base-mediated decomposition of amide-substituted furfuryl tosylhydrazones: synthesis and cytotoxic activities of enynyl-ketoamides.

Base-mediated decomposition of amide-substituted furfuryl tosylhydrazones afforded practical access to novel multifunctionalized enynyl-ketoamides. In addition, furfuryl tosylhydrazones with stable furan rings underwent an interesting tosyl-group migration to form sulfones, which have potential synthetic applications. Some of the obtained enynyl-ketoamides demonstrated good cytotoxicities against human tumor cell lines.

Carbon-nanotube-encapsulated FeF₂ nanorods for high-performance lithium-ion cathode materials.

Application of iron fluoride, a promising candidate of cathode materials for lithium ion batteries, is being hindered by its poor electrochemical performance caused by low electronic conductivity and large volume change. Design of carbon-encapsulated transitional metal compounds (including fluoride, oxide, sulfide, etc.) structure is one of the most effective strategies in improving their lithium-ion storage performance.

The clinical and trichoscopic features of syphilitic alopecia.

Background: Syphilitic alopecia is not common in patients with secondary syphilis. Though the clinical and histopathological findings of syphilitic alopecia have been described, the trichoscopy features are unknown yet.

Main Observation: A 42-year-old Chinese man was admitted to our clinic with a complaint of hair loss.

"Butterfly effect" in CuO/graphene composite nanosheets: a small interfacial adjustment triggers big changes in electronic structure and Li-ion storage performance.

Generally speaking, excellent electrochemical performance of metal oxide/graphene nanosheets (GNSs) composite is attributed to the interfacial interaction (or "synergistic effect") between constituents. However, there are no any direct observations on how the electronic structure is changed and how the properties of Li-ion storage are affected by adjusting the interfacial interaction, despite of limited investigations on the possible nature of binding between GNSs and metal oxide. In this paper, CuO nanosheets/GNSs composites with a little Cu2O (ca.

Highly parallel algorithms for visual-perception-guided surface remeshing.

A proposed framework for remeshing polygonal models employs mesh-free techniques for processing surface sample points. It's robust to input models with problematic connectivity, and the geometric processing of points runs easily in parallel on a GPU. The framework extracts visual-perception information in the image space and maps it back to the Euclidean space.

Conformational changes of graphene nanosheets induced by metal: melting metal can spin a graphene cocoon to encapsulate itself.

Graphene nanosheets can be driven to change their conformation by melting metal and, finally, a cocoon coating can be constructed to encapsulate the metal sphere. Interaction beween metal and oxygenated defects plays a leading role in conformational changes of graphene nanosheets.

MicroRNA-373 is upregulated and targets TNFAIP1 in human gastric cancer, contributing to tumorigenesis.

The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating gene expression is currently an area of intense interest. Previous studies have shown that miRNA-372 plays crucial roles in gastric tumorigenesis by targeting the mRNA of tumor necrosis factor, α-induced protein 1 (TNFAIP1). The present study showed that miR-373 is upregulated in gastric adenocarcinoma tissue and gastric carcinoma cell lines when compared to normal gastric tissues.

Silencing MED1 sensitizes breast cancer cells to pure anti-estrogen fulvestrant in vitro and in vivo.

Pure anti-estrogen fulvestrant has been shown to be a promising ER antagonist for locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer. Unfortunately, a significant proportion of patients developed resistance to this type of endocrine therapy but the molecular mechanisms governing cellular responsiveness to this agent remain poorly understood. Here, we've reported that knockdown of estrogen receptor coactivator MED1 sensitized fulvestrant resistance breast cancer cells to fulvestrant treatment.

Caudatin induces cell apoptosis in gastric cancer cells through modulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Caudatin has been reported to trigger apoptosis in several types of cancer cell lines. In the present study, we investigated whether caudatin has therapeutic value in gastric cancer and examined the effects of caudatin on the expression of β-catenin in human gastric carcinoma cell lines. Here, we showed that caudatin treatment resulted in a dose- and time‑dependent inhibition of proliferation of the gastric carcinoma cell lines.

Curcumin inhibits AP-2γ-induced apoptosis in the human malignant testicular germ cells in vitro.

Aim: To investigate the effects of curcumin on proliferation and apoptosis in testicular cancer cells in vitro and to investigate its molecular mechanisms of action.

Methods: NTera-2 human malignant testicular germ cell line and F9 mouse teratocarcinoma stem cell line were used. The anti-proliferative effect was examined using MTT and colony formation assays.

[Progress in application of microbeam X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy in forensic science].

Microbeam X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) spectrometry has been raised as an analytical technique of microbeam during the recent years. With its advantages of high sensitivity, small sample requirement, high testing accuracy and non-destruction, the technique is widely utilized in forensic science. This review bases on recent researches at home and abroad, describes its applications including identification of gunshot residue, visualization of fingerprints, discrimination of drug source, production process, and other material evidences of analysis in crime scene.