Icaritin inhibits decidualization of endometrial stromal cells.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of Icaritin on the proliferation and decidualization of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs). A total of 20 specimens of endometrium were collected during hysterectomy at the Gynecology Department of Shenzhen Nanshan People's Hospital (Shenzhen, China) between August 2014 and December 2015. The endometrium was digested with high concentrations of collagenase and DNase and filtered with meshes, and then the glandular epithelial and stromal cells were separated by the adhesion purification method.

[Myopic and retinopathy].

Objective: To investigate the incidence of myopic retinopathy and its risk factors.

Methods: The fundus of 1449 patients (2879 eyes) with myopia were retrospectively examined. The clinical relationship between myopic retinopathy and diopter, age, and sex was analyzed.

[Analysis of the effectiveness of laser in situ keratomileusis two years after surgery].

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) for myopia after 2 year follow-up.

Methods: LASIK surgery was performed for 95 eyes (49 cases) with refractive dioptres (from -1.00 to -16.

[Static and dynamic contrast sensitivity of myopic eyes before and after laser in situ keratomileusis].

Objective: To evaluate the static and dynamic contrast sensitivity changes in myopic patients before and after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).

Methods: Seventy-three eyes in 37 patients with myopia (with or without astigmatism) who received LASIK were tested for static and dynamic contrast sensitivities using the METRO VISION MON ELEC I system at 0.7, 1.

Attachment of styrene and phenylacetylene on Si(111)-7 x 7: the influence of substitution groups on the reaction mechanism and formation of pi-conjugated skeletons.

The interactions of styrene and phenylacetylene and their isotope substitutions with a Si(111)-7 x 7 surface have been studied as model systems to mechanistically understand the chemical binding of conjugated pi-electron systems to di-radical-like silicon dangling bonds of the adjacent adatom-rest atom pair. Vibrational studies show that styrene mainly binds to the surface through a diradical reaction involving both the external C=C and its conjugated internal C=C of the phenyl ring with an adjacent adatom-rest atom pair, forming a 5-ethylidene-1,3-cyclohexadiene-like skeleton. On the other hand, phenylacetylene was shown to be covalently attached to Si(111)-7 x 7 through the external C[triple bond]C, forming a styrene-like conjugation system.

Selective formation of cumulative double bonds (C[double bond]C[double bond]N) in the attachment of multifunctional molecules on Si(111)-7 x 7.

The cumulative double bond (C[double bond]C[double bond]N), an important intermediate in synthetic organic chemistry, was successfully prepared via the selective attachment of acrylonitrile to Si(111)-7 x 7. The covalent binding of acrylonitrile on Si(111)-7 x 7 was studied using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and DFT calculations. The observation of the characteristic vibrational modes and electronic structures of the C[double bond]C[double bond]N group in the surface species demonstrates the [4 + 2]-like cycloaddition occurring between the terminal C and N atoms of acrylonitrile and the neighboring adatom-rest atom pair, consistent with the prediction of DFT calculations.