A 2D nanosphere array for atomic spectroscopy

We are interested in the spectroscopic behaviour of a gas confined in a micrometric or even nanometric volume. Such a situation could be encountered by the filling-up of a porous medium, such as a photonic crystal, with an atomic gas. Here, we discuss the first step of this program, with the generation and characterization of a self-organized 2D film of nanospheres of silica. We show that an optical characterization by laser light diffraction permits to extract some information on the array structure and represents an interesting complement to electron microscopy.Comment: accept\'e pour publication \`a Annales de Physique- proceedings of COLOQ1

Isolation and fractionation of cellulose nanocrystals from kenaf core

In this study, cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) were produced using acid hydrolysis method. Kenaf core was pretreated with 4 wt. % sodium hydroxide (NaOH), followed by bleaching using 1.7 wt. % sodium chlorite (NaClO2) in acetate buffer. The bleached fiber was acid hydrolyzed for 45 and 55 min using 64 wt. % sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The size distribution of the CNC segregated via differential centrifugation with different speed was also investigated. The CNC suspension obtained was centrifuged at 3000, 6000, 9000 and 12000 rpm. The resultant CNC suspension collected was characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FTIR results showed the progressive removal of non-cellulosic constituents for each subsequent treatment. It also showed that the CNC produced after hydrolysing for 55 min has the highest degree of crystallinity (81.15%). CNC produced from acid hydrolysis process of 45 min have lengths between 50 and 270 nm while CNC produced from acid hydrolysis process of 55 min have length around 40 to 370 nm

CXCL-8 Regulates Head and Neck Carcinoma Progression through NOD Signalling Pathway

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) ranks sixth among the most common cancers in the world. Interlukin-8 (CXCL-8), a major role in inflammatory response and tumor microenvironment, correlates with tumor progression, metastasis and invasion. We explored CXCL-8 promotes tumor progression in different differentiation HNSCC cells. This project would apply to development on biomarker and target in HNSCC as well as provide a basis of early diagnosis and treatment for clinical. CXCL-8, NOD1 (nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 1) and receptor-interacting protein kinase (RIPK2) levels were detected statistically higher in patient tissue with HNSCC than in non-cancerous matched tissue (NCMT) in the microarray and qRT-PCR study, whereas NOD2 was weakly expressed. Similar results were obtained for CXCL-8, NOD1, NOD2 and RIP2 from RT-PCR and western blotting. High CXCL-8, NOD1 and RIP2 expressions were found on HNSCC patient tissue than that of NCMT, whereas NOD2 was weakly expressed. The analytical results indicate that CXCL-8 is required in NOD 1-mediated signalling pathways in HNSCC

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor stimulated by Helicobacter pylori increases proliferation of gastric epithelial cells

AIM: Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) is associated with increased gastric inflammatory and epithelial expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and gastric epithelial cell proliferation. This study aimed at determining whether H pylori directly stimulates release of MIF in monocytes, whether the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) is involved for this function, and whether MIF stimulated by H pylori increases gastric epithelial cell proliferation in vitro. METHODS: A cytotoxic wild-type H pylori strain (TN2)and its three isogenic mutants (TN2△cag, TN2△cagA and TN2△cagE) were co-cultured with cells of a human monocyte cell line, THP-1, for 24 h at different organism/cell ratios. MIF in the supernatants was measured by an ELISA. Cells of a human gastric cancer cell line, MKN45, were then co-cultured with the supernatants, with and without monoclonal anti-MIF antibody for 24 h. The cells were further incubated for 12 h after addition of (3)H-thymidine, and the levels of incorporation of (3)H-thymidine were measured with a liquid scintillation counter. RESULTS: The wild-type strain and the isogenic mutants, TN2△cagA and TN2△cagE, increased MIF release at organism/cell ratios of 200/1 and 400/1, but not at the ratios of 50/1 and 100/1. However, the mutant TN2△cag did not increase the release of MIF at any of the four ratios. (3)H-thymidine readings for MKN-45 cells were significantly increased with supernatants derived from the wild-type strain and the mutants TN2△cagA and TN2△cagE, but not from the mutant TN2△cag. Moreover, in the presence of monoclonal anti-MIF antibody, the stimulatory effects of the wild-type strain on cell proliferation disappeared. CONCLUSION: H pylori stimulates MIF release in monocytes, likely through its cag PAI, but not related to cagA or cagE. H pylori-stimulated monocyte culture supernatant increases gastric cell proliferation, which is blocked by anti-MIF antibody, suggesting that MIF plays an important role in H pylori-induced gastric epithelial cell proliferation

Association of Chinese Herbal Medicine use with the depression risk among the long-term breast cancer survivors: A longitudinal follow-up study

Background Breast cancer patients are at elevated risk of depression during treatment, thus provoking the chance of poor clinical outcomes. This retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate whether integrating Chinese herbal medicines citation(CHM) into conventional cancer therapy could decrease the risk of depression in the long-term breast cancer survivors. Methods A cohort of patients aged 20–70 years and with newly diagnosed breast cancer during 2000–2008 was identified from a nationwide claims database. In this study, we focused solely on survivors of breast cancer at least1 year after diagnosis. After one-to-one matching for age, sex, and baseline comorbidities, breast cancer patients who received (n = 1,450) and did not receive (n = 1,450) CHM treatment were enrolled. The incidence rate and hazard ratio citation(HR) for depression between the two groups was estimated at the end of 2012. A Cox proportional hazard model was constructed to examine the impact of the CHM use on the risk of depression. Results During the study period, the incidence rate of depression was significantly lower in the treated cohort than in the untreated cohort [8.57 compared with 11.01 per 1,000 person-years citation(PYs)], and the adjusted HR remained significant at 0.74 (95% CI 0.58–0.94) in a Cox proportional hazards regression model. The corresponding risk further decreasing to 43% among those using CHM for more than 1 year. Conclusion Finding from this investigation indicated that the lower risk of depression observed in breast cancer patients treated with CHM, suggesting that CHM treatment should be considered for disease management toward breast cancer. Yet, the optimal administered dose should be determined in further clinical trials

Exploring the Mechanism Responsible for Cellulase Thermostability by Structure-Guided Recombination

Cellulases from Bacillus and Geobacillus bacteria are potentially useful in the biofuel and animal feed industries. One of the unique characteristics of these enzymes is that they are usually quite thermostable. We previously identified a cellulase, GsCelA, from thermophilic Geobacillus sp. 70PC53, which is much more thermostable than its Bacillus homolog, BsCel5A. Thus, these two cellulases provide a pair of structures ideal for investigating the mechanism regarding how these cellulases can retain activity at high temperature. In the present study, we applied the SCHEMA non-contiguous recombination algorithm as a novel tool, which assigns protein sequences into blocks for domain swapping in a way that lessens structural disruption, to generate a set of chimeric proteins derived from the recombination of GsCelA and BsCel5A. Analyzing the activity and thermostability of this designed library set, which requires only a limited number of chimeras by SCHEMA calculations, revealed that one of the blocks may contribute to the higher thermostability of GsCelA. When tested against swollen Avicel, the highly thermostable chimeric cellulase C10 containing this block showed significantly higher activity (22%-43%) and higher thermostability compared to the parental enzymes. With further structural determinations and mutagenesis analyses, a 3_(10) helix was identified as being responsible for the improved thermostability of this block. Furthermore, in the presence of ionic calcium and crown ether (CR), the chimeric C10 was found to retain 40% residual activity even after heat treatment at 90°C. Combining crystal structure determinations and structure-guided SCHEMA recombination, we have determined the mechanism responsible for the high thermostability of GsCelA, and generated a novel recombinant enzyme with significantly higher activity

Brazilein from Caesalpinia sappan

Brazilein, a natural, biologically active compound from Caesalpinia sappan L., has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and to inhibit the growth of several cancer cells. This study verifies the antioxidant and antitumor characteristics of brazilein in skin cancer cells and is the first time to elucidate the inhibition mechanism of adipocyte differentiation, cestocidal activities against Hymenolepis nana, and reduction of spontaneous movement in Anisakis simplex. Brazilein exhibits an antioxidant capacity as well as the ability to scavenge DPPH• and ABTS•+ free radicals and to inhibit lipid peroxidation. Brazilein inhibited intracellular lipid accumulation during adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells and suppressed the induction of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), the master regulator of adipogenesis, suggesting that brazilein presents the antiobesity effects. The toxic effects of brazilein were evaluated in terms of cell viability, induction of apoptosis, and the activity of caspase-3 in BCC cells. The inhibition of the growth of skin cancer cells (A431, BCC, and SCC25) by brazilein is greater than that of human skin malignant melanoma (A375) cells, mouse leukemic monocyte macrophage (RAW 264.7 cells), and noncancerous cells (HaCaT and BNLCL2 cells). The anthelmintic activities of brazilein against Hymenolepis nana are better than those of Anisakis simplex