Identification of sequence polymorphisms in the D-Loop region of mitochondrial DNA as a risk factor for gastric cancer

<div><p></p><p>The accumulation of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the displacement loop (D-Loop) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been identified for their association with cancer risk in different types of cancers. We investigated the gastric cancer risk profile of D-Loop SNPs in a case-control study. The frequent alleles of nucleotides 73G/A, 235A/G, 309C/C insert, 324C/G, 16,362T/C and 16,519C/T were significantly associated with an increased risk for gastric cancer, whereas the frequent alleles of nucleotides 523–524AC/del were associated with resistance to gastric cancer. In conclusion, SNPs in the mtDNA D-Loop were found to be valuable markers for gastric cancer risk evaluation.</p></div

Size-Controlled Synthesis of Bifunctional Magnetic and Ultraviolet Optical Rock-Salt MnS Nanocube Superlattices

Wide-band-gap rock-salt (RS) MnS nanocubes were synthesized by the one-pot solvent thermal approach. The edge length of the nanocubes can be easily controlled by prolonging the reaction time (or aging time). We systematically explored the formation of RS-MnS nanocubes and found that the present synthetic method is virtually a combination of oriented aggregation and intraparticle ripening processes. Furthermore, these RS-MnS nanocubes could spontaneously assemble into ordered superlattices via the natural cooling process. The optical and magnetic properties were investigated using measured by UV–vis absorption, photoluminescence spectra, and a magnetometer. The obtained RS-MnS nanocubes exhibit good ultraviolet optical properties depending on the size of the samples. The magnetic measurements suggest that RS-MnS nanocubes consist of an antiferromagnetic core and a ferromagnetic shell below the blocking temperatures. Furthermore, the hysteresis measurements indicate these RS-MnS nanocubes have large coercive fields (e.g., 1265 Oe for 40 nm nanocubes), which is attributed to the size and self-assembly of the samples

Polymorphism and Formation Mechanism of Nanobipods in Manganese Sulfide Nanocrystals Induced by Temperature or Pressure

Manganese sulfide (MnS) nanocrystals (NCs) with three different phases were synthesized by one-pot solvent thermal approach. The crystal structures and morphologies were investigated using powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. We found that the crystal structure and morphology of MnS NCs could be controlled by simply varying the reaction temperature. The detailed growth process of MnS nanobipods, including the zinc blende (ZB)-core formation and wurtzite (WZ)-arms growth, provides direct experimental evidence for the polymorphism model. Furthermore, we have studied the stability of metastable ZB- and WZ-MnS NCs under high pressure and found that ZB-nanoparticles and ZB/WZ-nanobipods are stable below their critical pressure, 5.3 and 2.9 GPa, respectively. When pressures exceed the critical point, all these metastable MnS NCs directly convert to the stable rock salt MnS