A Study of the Education Terminology in A Brief Study of German Schools and Its Influence on Japanese

A Brief Study of German Schools, the first treatise on modern western education in China after the Opium War, is an important work in the history of educational interaction between China and Japan. The first edition was published in 1873. It was introduced into Japan in 1874, and influenced its educational world during the Meiji era. Here is a question that does it have an impact on Japanese education terms? For answering this question, we studied the using and the creation of educational terminologies in A Brief Study of German Schools and the possibility of its influence on Japanese, by comparing with the Japanese education terms in the 1870s, through the angle of the Sino-Japanese interaction in terminology

1-Diphenyl­methyl-4-[3-(4-fluoro­benzo­yl)prop­yl]piperazine-1,4-diium dichloride monohydrate

In the title compound, C27H31FN2O2+·2Cl−·H2O, the piperazine ring adopts a chair conformation and both N atoms are protonated. The Cl− anions form strong hydrogen bonds to these protons. O/N—H⋯Cl and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the anions, cations and water of hydration into a three-dimensional network

Effect of zinc acetate concentration on optimization of photocatalytic activity of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures

In this work, p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures were fabricated on Ni substrate by hydrothermal-decomposition method using cobaltous nitrate hexahydrate (Co(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O) and zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)(2)center dot 2H(2)O) as precursors with zinc acetate concentration varying from 5.0 to 55.0 mM. Structure and morphology of the developed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Effect of zinc acetate concentration on the photocatalytic activity of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures was investigated by degradation of methyl orange (MO) under the UV light irradiation. The fabricated p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than pure Co3O4 particles. In order to obtain the maximum photocatalytic activity, zinc acetate concentration was optimized. Specifically, at 35 mM of zinc acetate, the p-Co3O4/n-ZnO showed the highest photocatalytic activity with the degradation efficiency of MO reaching 89.38% after 72 h irradiation. The improvement of photocatalytic performance of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures is due to the increased concentration of photo-generated holes on Co3O4 surface and the higher surface-to-volume ratio in the hierarchical structure formed by nano-lamellas

A Two-Step Strategy for Fabrication of Biocompatible 3D Magnetically Responsive Photonic Crystals

Extremely stable and biocompatible 3D magnetically responsive photonic crystals (MRPCs) are successfully prepared in aqueous solution. Classic hydrothermal synthesis was applied for preparation of the Fe3O4@C core. Modified Stöber method was then employed for synthesis of the different size of Fe3O4@C@SiO2. Unlike the traditional magnetic nanoparticles, the highly negative charged superparamagnetic nanospheres (SMNs), i.e., the double-shell structure Fe3O4@C@SiO2 are capable of rapidly self-assembling into 3D MRPCs with full visible and various colors that can be periodically and reversibly tuned under different kinds of external magnetic fields (EMFs) within 1 s. The assembling behavior and mechanism of the 3D MRPCs under EMF were monitored and analyzed. The preparation is simple and the size of the SMN is easily controllable by adjusting the amount of catalyst. Compared with the previous works, the synthesized 3D MRPCs are hydrophilic, and exhibit extremely high stability after 6-month storage. To conclude, our study provides an effective two-step strategy for fabrication of biocompatible 3D MRPCs and it reveals great potentials in biological fields

Surface plasmon enhanced ethylene glycol electrooxidation based on hollow platinum-silver nanodendrites structures.

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect on noble metals to convert solar energy into chemical has attracted a lot of interest. However, the lack of highly efficient photocatalysts is still the forbidden obstacle as well as their large-scale development. Therefore, we focus on plasmon resonance enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation of liquid fuel employing photocatalysts to develop unique hollow platinum-silver (Pt-Ag) nanocrystals. The hollow Pt-Ag is formed of nanodendrites (Pt1-Ag1) which display a great enhancement in catalytic activity towards ethylene glycol oxidation with the mass and specific activity found to be: 7045.2?mA/mg and 14.1?mA/cm2, respectively. This is due to: the SPR effect, efficient electronic distribution and synergistic properties, together with the unique hollow dendritic nanostructures. Impressively, the SPR effect also induces the optimum Pt-Ag nanocatalsyst under visible light irradiation conditions to display 1.7-fold enhancements in catalytic activity compared to that under dark conditions. In addition, 6.2 and 7.0-fold enhancements were obtained when the optimized Pt-Ag was employed as photoelectrocatalyst compared to the commercial Pt/C. Therefore, we present a unique catalyst which produces a high catalytic activity and long-term stability compared to those previously reported. More importantly, we also introduce a promising approach towards the designing of a plasmonic metal nanocatalyst with ideal nanostructures for liquid fuel oxidations

Comprehensive characterization of ERV-K (HML-8) in the chimpanzee genome revealed less genomic activity than humans

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) originate from ancestral germline infections caused by exogenous retroviruses. Throughout evolution, they have become fixed within the genome of the animals into which they were integrated. As ERV elements coevolve with the host, they are normally epigenetically silenced and can become upregulated in a series of physiological and pathological processes. Generally, a detailed ERV profile in the host genome is critical for understanding the evolutionary history and functional performance of the host genome. We previously characterized and cataloged all the ERV-K subtype HML-8 loci in the human genome; however, this has not been done for the chimpanzee, the nearest living relative of humans. In this study, we aimed to catalog and characterize the integration of HML-8 in the chimpanzee genome and compare it with the integration of HML-8 in the human genome. We analyzed the integration of HML-8 and found that HML-8 pervasively invaded the chimpanzee genome. A total of 76 proviral elements were characterized on 23/24 chromosomes, including detailed elements distribution, structure, phylogeny, integration time, and their potential to regulate adjacent genes. The incomplete structure of HML-8 proviral LTRs will undoubtedly affect their activity. Moreover, the results indicated that HML-8 integration occurred before the divergence between humans and chimpanzees. Furthermore, chimpanzees include more HML-8 proviral elements (76 vs. 40) and fewer solo long terminal repeats (LTR) (0 vs. 5) than humans. These results suggested that chimpanzee genome activity is less than the human genome and that humans may have a better ability to shape and screen integrated proviral elements. Our work is informative in both an evolutionary and a functional context for ERVs

Screening of an individualized treatment strategy for an advanced gallbladder cancer using patient-derived tumor xenograft and organoid models

Gallbladder cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy with poor sensitivity to postoperative radiotherapy or chemotherapy; therefore, the development of individualized treatment strategies is paramount to improve patient outcomes. Both patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDX) and patient-derived tumor organoid (PDO) models derived from surgical specimens can better preserve the biological characteristics and heterogeneity of individual original tumors, display a unique advantage for individualized therapy and predicting clinical outcomes. In this study, PDX and PDO models of advanced gallbladder cancer were established, and the consistency of biological characteristics between them and primary patient samples was confirmed using pathological analysis and RNA-sequencing. Additionally, we tested the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs, targeted drugs, and immune checkpoint inhibitors using these two models. The results demonstrated that gemcitabine combined with cisplatin induced significant therapeutic effects. Furthermore, treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors elicited promising responses in both the humanized mice and PDO immune models. Based on these results, gemcitabine combined with cisplatin was used for basic treatment, and immune checkpoint inhibitors were applied as a complementary intervention for gallbladder cancer. The patient responded well to treatment and exhibited a clearance of tumor foci. Our findings indicate that the combined use of PDO and PDX models can guide the clinical treatment course for gallbladder cancer patients to achieve individualized and effective treatment

Proliferation-Attenuating and Apoptosis-Inducing Effects of Tryptanthrin on Human Chronic Myeloid Leukemia K562 Cell Line in Vitro

Tryptanthrin, a kind of indole quinazoline alkaloid, has been shown to exhibit anti-microbial, anti-inflammation and anti-tumor effects both in vivo and in vitro. However, its biological activity on human chronic myeloid leukemia cell line K562 is not fully understood. In the present study, we investigated the proliferation-attenuating and apoptosis-inducing effects of tryptanthrin on leukemia K562 cells in vitro and explored the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that tryptanthrin could significantly inhibit K562 cells proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner as evidenced by MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis. We also observed pyknosis, chromatin margination and the formation of apoptotic bodies in the presence of tryptanthrin under the electron microscope. Nuclei fragmentation and condensation by Hoechst 33258 staining were detected as well. The amount of apoptotic cells significantly increased whereas the mitochondrial membrane potential decreased dramatically after tryptanthrin exposure. K562 cells in the tryptanthrin treated group exhibited an increase in cytosol cyt-c, Bax and activated caspase-3 expression while a decrease in Bcl-2, mito cyt-c and pro-caspase-3 contents. However, the changes of pro-caspase-3 and activated caspase-3 could be abolished by a pan-caspase inhibitor ZVAD-FMK. These results suggest that tryptanthrin has proliferation-attenuating and apoptosis-inducing effects on K562 cells. The underlying mechanism is probably attributed to the reduction in mitochondria membrane potential, the release of mito cyt-c and pro-caspase-3 activation

Identification of differentially expressed HERV-K(HML-2) loci in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is one of the malignant tumors with the highest mortality rate in the world. Survival rates vary significantly among patients at various stages of the disease. A biomarker capable of early diagnosis is required to facilitate the early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are abnormally expressed in various diseases, including cancer, and have been involved in cancer development. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the transcript levels of HERV-K(HML-2) gag, pol, and env in colorectal cancer to systematically investigate the connection between HERV-K(HML-2) and colorectal cancer. The results showed that HERV-K(HML-2) transcript expression was significantly higher than healthy controls and was consistent at the population and cell levels. We also used next-generation sequencing to identify and characterize HERV-K(HML-2) loci that were differentially expressed between colorectal cancer patients and healthy individuals. The analysis revealed that these loci were concentrated in immune response signaling pathways, implying that HERV-K impacts the tumor-associated immune response. Our results indicated that HERV-K might serve as a screening tumor marker and a target for tumor immunotherapy in colorectal cancer