Heterogeneity of PTEN and PPAR-γ in cancer and their prognostic application to bladder cancer.

The aim of the present study was to determine the prognostic value of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) and phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) for bladder cancer. Data were collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a public database, and were analyzed to assess PTEN and PPAR-γ heterogeneity as well as distinct trends in bladder cancers. Furthermore, PPAR-γ and PTEN expression levels and their association with one another were evaluated.

Potential Roles of Adiponectin Isoforms in Human Obesity with Delayed Wound Healing.

Adiponectin is an adipokine with anti-insulin resistance and anti-inflammatory functions. It exists in serum predominantly in three multimeric complexes: the trimer, hexamer, and high-molecular-weight forms. Although recent studies indicate that adiponectin promotes wound healing in rodents, its role in the wound healing process in humans is unknown.

Characterization and evolution of antibiotic resistance of Salmonella in municipal wastewater treatment plants.

The objective of this study was to investigate the evolution of antibiotic resistance phenotypes, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and Class 1 integron of Salmonella in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). A total of 221 Salmonella strains were isolated from different stages of three WWTPs. After the susceptibility testing, high frequency of resistance was observed for tetracycline (TET, 47.

Discovery and Validation of Serum MicroRNAs as Early Diagnostic Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer in Chinese Population.

Prostate cancer (PCa) incidence has been rising in Chinese population. Current PSA-based biopsy has limited positive rate. Our research focused on development of serum markers for the diagnosis of PCa in patients with elevated PSA.

Clinical and Molecular Features of Chronic Granulomatous Disease in Mainland China and a XL-CGD Female Infant Patient After Prenatal Diagnosis.

Purpose: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is the most common phagocyte defect disease. Here, we describe 114 CGD patients in our center and report a rare female infant with XL-CGD to provide a better understanding of diagnosis, treatment, and prenatal diagnosis of CGD.

Method: Patients were diagnosed by DHR-1,2,3 flow cytometry assays and gene analysis.

Erasable and recreatable two-dimensional electron gas at the heterointerface of SrTiO and a water-dissolvable overlayer.

While benefiting greatly from electronics, our society also faces a major problem of electronic waste, which has already caused environmental pollution and adverse human health effects. Therefore, recyclability becomes a must-have feature in future electronics. Here, we demonstrate an erasable and recreatable two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), which can be easily created and patterned by depositing a water-dissolvable overlayer of amorphous SrAlO (-SAO) on SrTiO (STO) at room temperature.

Exploration of supersaturable lacidipine ternary amorphous solid dispersion for enhanced dissolution and in vivo absorption.

Amorphous solid dispersion stands out among different formulation strategies for the improvement of dissolution rate and bioavailability via generating supersaturated drug solution, which provides a higher solubility than the crystalline counterpart, leading to a promoted intestinal absorption. Soluplus (SOL), termed as the fourth generation of solid dispersion carrier, presented a preferable effect on supersaturation maintaining and bioavailability enhancement for poorly water soluble drugs. However, some binary drug/SOL systems still suffer from insufficient dissolution and unsatisfied in vivo absorption.

Effect of CXCL12/CXCR4 on migration of decidua-derived mesenchymal stem cells from pregnancies with preeclampsia.

Problem: Systemic immuno-inflammatory response caused by maternal immune imbalance is central to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE). We hypothesized that changes in the number of decidual mesenchymal stem cells (dMSCs) may be associated with maternal immune imbalance. We aimed to evaluate the expression of CXCL12/CXCR4 axis in patients with PE and its influence on the migration behavior of dMSCs, to further clarify the pathogenesis of PE.

Integrative prognostic subtype discovery in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.

Objective: We sought to identify novel molecular subtypes of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC) by the integration of gene expression and proteomics data and to find the underlying biological characteristics of ovarian cancer to improve the clinical outcome.

Methods: The iCluster method was utilized to analysis 131 common HGSC samples between TCGA and Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium databases. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to estimate the overall survival of patients, and the differences in survival curves were assessed using the log-rank test.

Visible-light photocatalytic aerobic oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides with a perylene diimide photocatalyst.

Photosensitized oxygenation has been recognised as a modern method of incorporating oxygen into a substrate, as it offers environmentally benign alternatives to several conventional synthetic procedures. A metal-free aerobic selective sulfoxidation photosensitized by a perylene diimide photocatalyst has been developed. The reaction utilizes visible light as the driving force and molecular oxygen as the oxidant.

Synergistic effect of Soluplus and hyaluronic acid on the supersaturation maintenance of lovastatin: The facilitated in vitro-in vivo performance and improved physical stability.

The objective of present study was to explore whether polysaccharide could be employed as potential crystal growth inhibitor and provides synergistic effect on the supersaturation maintaining of lovastatin (LOV) in combination of nucleation inhibitor. Soluplus (SOL) and hyaluronic acid (HA) were selected as the most effective nucleation and crystal growth inhibitor respectively. The interaction between SOL and HA was elucidated via characterizing the particle size, zeta potential, surface hydrophobicity, solvent relaxation time (T) and FT-IR.

Basic fibroblast growth factor blockade enhances lung cancer cell invasion by activating the AKT/MMP-2/VEGF pathway.

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) can stimulate cancer cell growth and invasion; however, the influence of bFGF blockade remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the effects of bFGF blockade on the growth and invasion in A549 (high bFGF expression) and H2122 (low bFGF expression) lung cancer cells. We found that the blocking of bFGF by a neutralizing monoclonal antibody suppressed the growth of A549 cells but not of H2122 cells, as well as strongly induced the invasiveness of A549 cancer cells.

Highly Sensitive Electrochemical Biosensor for Circulating Tumor Cells Detection via Dual-Aptamer Capture and Rolling Circle Amplification Strategy.

A fast and simple strategy for early detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is urgently required because of cancer metastasis. In this work, we assembled an electrochemical biosensor by two aptamers that could form hairpin and specifically recognize K562 cells. The thiolated capture aptamer was fixed on the gold electrode surface.

Design of Virus-Mimicking Polyelectrolyte Complexes for Enhanced Oral Insulin Delivery.

The viscous and elastic mucus layer is still an undesirable barrier for oral insulin delivery. To solve the problem, virus-mimicking nanosized polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) was designed and their capacity in enhancing peroral insulin absorption in combination with bifunctional material sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) coating was investigated. Inspired by nature, virus-mimicking chitosan (CS)-modified L-Phe derivatives were synthesized to simulate the components of viral envelopes and then PECs between CS-g-N-Phe copolymers and insulin were prepared to achieve both structure and composition simulation of virus envelope.

Synergetic effect of nucleation and crystal growth inhibitor on in vitro-in vivo performance of supersaturable lacidipine solid dispersion.

Limited supersaturation maintaining duration is the main challenge for amorphous solid dispersion design. Nucleation or crystal growth inhibitors may function in different ways but the combination use of nucleation and crystal growth inhibitors in supersaturated system is rarely explored. Thus, using Lacidipine (LCDP) as a Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) II model drug, the aim of this study was to explore whether the combination use of nucleation and crystal growth inhibitors could provide a synergistic effect on the in vitro-in vivo performance of poorly water-soluble drugs.

MTB driven B cells producing IL-35 and secreting high level of IL-10 in the patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis.

Regulatory B cells (Bregs) have critical roles as a negative regulator of immunity, mainly due to the fact that it secrets high a level of interleukin 10 (IL-10). Recently, a new subset of Bregs was identified as a key source of IL-35, which is an immunosuppressive cytokine and conventionally thought to be secreted by regulatory T cells (Tregs). Our previous study showed that the level of IL-35 in serum was elevated in the patients with active tuberculosis (ATB).

A naphthalimide-aminal-based pH-sensitive fluorescent donor for lysosome-targeted formaldehyde release and fluorescence turn-on readout.

A naphthalimide-aminal-based fluorescent donor (NAP-FAD-1) is a pH-sensitive smart donor, which features accelerated FA release at pH 5.0 compared to that at pH 7.4 and fluorescence turn-on readout for facile tracking and quantification of FA release.

Classification and prediction of inertial cavitation activity induced by pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound.

Classification and prediction of ultrasound-induced microbubble inertial cavitation (IC) activity may play an important role in better design of ultrasound treatment strategy with improved efficiency and safety. Here, a new method was proposed by combining support vector machine (SVM) algorithm with passive cavitation detection (PCD) measurements to fulfill the tasks of IC event classification and IC dose prediction. By using the PCD system, IC thresholds and IC doses were firstly measured for various ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) solutions exposed to pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound (pHIFU) at different driving pressures and pulse lengths.

Water quality prediction based on recurrent neural network and improved evidence theory: a case study of Qiantang River, China.

Water quality prediction is an effective method for managing and protecting water resources by providing an early warning against water quality deterioration. In general, the existing water quality prediction methods are based on a single shallow model which fails to capture the long-term dependence in historical time series and is more likely to cause a high rate of false alarms and false negatives in practical water monitoring application. To resolve these problems, a new model combining recurrent neural network (RNN) with improved Dempster/Shafer (D-S) evidence theory (RNNs-DS) is proposed in this paper.

[Analysis of age-specific cytogenetic changes among 515 patients withacute myeloid leukemia].

Objective: To characterize cytogenetic changes and prognosis of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from different age groups.

Methods: The karyotypes of 515 AML patients were analyzed by using short-term culture of bone marrow cells and R-banding technique. Combined with FAB typing and genetic testing, cytogenetic changes and prognosis of different age groups were analyzed.

Intereye and intraeye asymmetry analysis of retinal microvascular and neural structure parameters for diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic values of intereye or intraeye asymmetry of retinal perfused vessel density and neural structure parameters for detection of glaucoma.

Methods: In total, 152 healthy subjects and 72 bilateral primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients were enrolled. Total POAG group contains all glaucoma patients.

Formation and characterization of polytetrafluoroethylene nanofiber membranes for high-efficiency fine particulate filtration.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) porous membranes are widely used for high-temperature filtration. The polytetrafluoroethylene nanofiber membranes for fine particulate filtration were prepared by sintering the precursor electrospun polytetrafluoroethylene/polyvinyl/boric acid alcohol composite membranes. The effects of PTFE/PVA mass ratio and sintering temperature on the morphology and properties of the prepared membranes were investigated to obtain the PTFE nanofibers with different diameters, and the film has been characterized by SEM, TG, XRD, FT-IR, and EDS, and the mechanical and hydrophobic properties of the membranes were also investigated.

Leucine attenuates muscle atrophy and autophagosome formation by activating PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in rotator cuff tears.

Rotator cuff tears (RCTs), the most common tendon injury, are always accompanied by muscle atrophy, which is characterized by excessive protein degradation. Autophagy-lysosome systems are the crucial proteolytic pathways and are activated in atrophying muscle. Thus, inhibition of the autophagy-lysosome pathway might be an alternative way to minimize skeletal muscle atrophy.