Efficacy and prognosis following combined cinepazaide maleate/nimodipine therapy in cerebral vasospasm patients after hemorrhage

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and prognosis following treatment of cerebral vasospasm (CVS) patients with a combination of cinnarizide maleate and nimodipine after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).Methods: Eighty-eight patients with CVS after SAH were selected and divided into control group (CG) and study group (EG), each with 44 patients (n = 44). Patients in CG were treated with intravenous infusion of cinnarizide maleate, while those in EG received intravenous infusion of cinnarizide maleate together, and their clinical efficacy and prognosis were compared.Results: Compared with CG, total treatment effectiveness (response) in EG was significantly higher, while levels of inflammatory factors were lower (p < 0.05). Serum protein levels of S100 β and ET-1, and MCA blood flow velocity in EG were notably lower (p < 0.05), but GCS scores were highercompared with CG (p < 0.05). The NIHSS scores were lower and BI indices were higher in EG than in CG (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Treatment of CVS patients after SAH using a combination of cinnarizide maleate and nimodipine effectively reduces the levels of inflammatory factors, improves quality of prognosis, and relieves symptoms of CVS, when compared with administration of cinnarizide maleate only. Therefore, the combination treatment is recommended for the management of CVS after SAH

Association between polymorphisms in the promoter region of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene and Alzheimers disease

Several studies have evaluated the role of polymorphisms in the promoter region of APOE gene that encodes apolipoprotein E (APOE) and the susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The aim of this literature review and meta-analysis was to investigate the relationship between the APOE promoter region single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs449647, -491A/T; rs769446, -427T/C and rs405509 -219T/G) and the risk of developing AD. Eligible controlled studies published up to November 2016 were retrieved from main online scientific and medical databases. Odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) were used to calculate the strength of the relationship. A total of 23 publications (19 for rs449647, ten for rs769446 and ten for rs405509) were retrieved that included 5,703 patients with AD and 5,692 controls. The C allele of the rs769446 variant of the promoter region of APOE gene was significantly associated with an increase of risk of AD (OR = 1.271, 95 % CI = 1.114–1.449, P < 0.0001), while other genetic models of this variant were not related with susceptibility to AD. Rs449647 and rs405509 polymorphisms of APOE gene were not associated with an increase of risk of AD. The findings of this literature review and meta-analysis have shown that rs769446 polymorphism in the promoter region of APOE gene could be a risk factor for AD. Future large-scale studies on the role of polymorphisms in the promoter region of APOE gene in AD are still awaited

Exhaled gas detection by Ir-doped CNT for primary diagnosis of lung cancer

Given the serious threat of lung cancer due to the strong concealment at early stage, primary diagnosis becomes quite essential to guarantee human health. The adsorption behaviors of introduced Ir-CNT upon two categories of typical gases of lung cancer (aniline and o-toluidine) have been investigated based on DFT method. At the same time, the sensing characteristics towards these two gases were conducted as well by our prepared sensors prepared by drying the Ir deposited CNT aqueous solution onto the interdigital electrode substrate. Results indicate that Ir-CNT based material can be desirable and promising for sensing upon exhaled gas of lung cancer patient, because of the excellent adsorptions upon two kinds of main typical gases. Such strong interactions of Ir-CNT towards typical gas adsorbed leads to the significant electronic redistributions of the modified surface, thereby causing apparent reduction in conductivity after adsorptions. This could be detected by a practical prepared resistivity-type sensor. Our theoretical calculations are in good accordance with the experimental results, which demonstrate the feasibility of Ir-CNT for potential application in the near future in the field of lung cancer diagnosis

Enhancement of Gas Sensing Characteristics of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes by CF4 Plasma Treatment for SF6 Decomposition Component Detection

H2S and SO2 are important gas components of decomposed SF6 of partial discharge generated by insulation defects in gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). Therefore, H2S and SO2 detection is important in the state evaluation and fault diagnosis of GIS. In this study, dielectric barrier discharge was used to generate CF4 plasma and modify multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). The nanotubes were plasma-treated at optimum discharge conditions under different treatment times (0.5, 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, and 12 min). Pristine and treated MWNTs were used as gas sensors to detect H2S and SO2. The effects of treatment time on gas sensitivity were analyzed. Results showed that the sensitivity, response, and recovery time of modified MWNTs to H2S were improved, but the recovery time of SO2 was almost unchanged. At 10 min treatment time, the MWNTs showed good stability and reproducibility with better gas sensing properties compared with the other nanotubes

Effects of background gas on sulfur hexafluoride removal by atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge plasma

The effects of background gases (He, Ar, N2 and air) on SF6 removal in a dielectric barrier reactor were investigated at atmospheric pressure. A comparison among these background gases was performed in terms of discharge voltage, discharge power, mean electron energy, electron density, removal efficiency and energy yield for the destruction of SF6. Results showed that the discharge voltage of He and Ar was lower than that of N2 and air, but the difference of their discharge power was small. Compared with three other background gases, Ar had a relatively superior destruction and removal rate and energy yield since the mean electron energy and electron density in SF6/H2O/Ar plasma were both maintained at a high level. Complete removal of 2% SF6 could be achieved at a discharge power of 48.86 W with Ar and the corresponding energy yield can reach 4.8 g/kWh

Deformation-Thermal Co-Induced Ferromagnetism of Austenite Nanocrystalline FeCoCr Powders for Strong Microwave Absorption

Nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloy powders are promising microwave absorbents since they can work at diverse frequencies and are stable in harsh environments. However, when the alloy powders are in austenite phase, they are out of the screen for microwave absorbents due to their paramagnetic nature. In this work, we reported a strategy to enable strong microwave absorption in nanocrystalline austenite FeCoCr powders by deformation-thermal co-induced ferromagnetism via attritor ball milling and subsequent heat treatment. Results showed that significant austenite-to-martensite transformation in the FeCoCr powders was achieved during ball milling, along with the increase in shape anisotropy from spherical to flaky. The saturation magnetization followed parabolic kinetics during ball milling and rose from 1.43 to 109.92 emu/g after milling for 4 h, while it exhibited a rapid increase to 181.58 emu/g after subsequent heat treatment at 500 &deg;C. A considerable increase in complex permeability and hence magnetic loss capability was obtained. With appropriate modulation of complex permittivity, the resultant absorbents showed a reflection loss of below &minus;6 dB over 8~18 GHz at thickness of 1 mm and superior stability at 300 &deg;C. Our strategy can broaden the material selection for microwave absorbents by involving Fe-based austenite alloys and simply recover the ferromagnetism of industrial products made without proper control of the crystalline phase

Determination of Bitterness of <i>Andrographis Herba</i> Based on Electronic Tongue Technology and Discovery of the Key Compounds of Bitter Substances

Andrographis Herba (AH), the dry aerial segments of Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Nees, is a common herbal remedy with bitter properties in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory. Although bitterness is one of the features representing Chinese medicine, it has not been implemented as an index to assess the quality and efficacy of TCM because of peoples&#8217; subjectivity to taste. In this study, 30 batches of AH with different commercial classifications (leaves, stems, or mixtures of both) were collected. Bitterness of AH was quantified by electronic tongue technology. Meanwhile, chemical compositions were characterized through establishing high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprints. The result indicated that the radar curves of the bitterness from different AH commercial classifications displayed different taste fingerprint information. Based on six taste factors, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) score three-dimensional (3D) plot exhibited a clear grouping trend (R2X, 0.912; Q2, 0.763) among the three different commercial classifications. Six compounds (Peaks 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8) with positive correlation to bitterness were discovered by a Spearman correlation analysis. Peaks 2, 6, 7, 8 were identified as andrographolide, neoandrographolide, 14-deoxyandrographolide, and dehydroandrographolide, respectively. The electronic tongue can be used to distinguish AH samples with different commercial classifications and for quality evaluation

Recent Progress and Future Prospect of CRISPR/Cas-Derived Transcription Activation (CRISPRa) System in Plants

Genome editing technology has become one of the hottest research areas in recent years. Among diverse genome editing tools, the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated proteins system (CRISPR/Cas system) has exhibited the obvious advantages of specificity, simplicity, and flexibility over any previous genome editing system. In addition, the emergence of Cas9 mutants, such as dCas9 (dead Cas9), which lost its endonuclease activity but maintains DNA recognition activity with the guide RNA, provides powerful genetic manipulation tools. In particular, combining the dCas9 protein and transcriptional activator to achieve specific regulation of gene expression has made important contributions to biotechnology in medical research as well as agriculture. CRISPR/dCas9 activation (CRISPRa) can increase the transcription of endogenous genes. Overexpression of foreign genes by traditional transgenic technology in plant cells is the routine method to verify gene function by elevating genes transcription. One of the main limitations of the overexpression is the vector capacity constraint that makes it difficult to express multiple genes using the typical Ti plasmid vectors from Agrobacterium. The CRISPRa system can overcome these limitations of the traditional gene overexpression method and achieve multiple gene activation by simply designating several guide RNAs in one vector. This review summarizes the latest progress based on the development of CRISPRa systems, including SunTag, dCas9-VPR, dCas9-TV, scRNA, SAM, and CRISPR-Act and their applications in plants. Furthermore, limitations, challenges of current CRISPRa systems and future prospective applications are also discussed

Fiber-specific increase of carotenoid content promotes cotton fiber elongation by increasing abscisic acid and ethylene biosynthesis

Cotton fiber is a raw material for the global textile industry and fiber quality is essential to its industrial application. Carotenoids are plant secondary metabolites that may serve as dietary components, regulate light harvesting, and scavenge reactive oxygen species. Although carotenoids accumulate predominantly in rapidly elongating cotton fibers, their roles in cotton fiber development remain poorly understood. In this study, a fiber-specific promoter proSCFP was applied to drive the expression of GhOR1Del, a positive regulator of carotenoid accumulation, to upregulate the carotenoid level in cotton fiber in planta. Fiber length, strength, and fineness were increased in proSCFP:GhOR1Del transgenic cotton and abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene contents were increased in elongating fibers. The ABA downstream regulator GhbZIP27a stimulated the expression of the ethylene synthase gene GhACO3 by binding to its promoter, suggesting that ABA promoted fiber elongation by increasing ethylene production. These findings suggest the involvement of carotenoids and ABA signaling in promoting cotton fiber elongation and provide a strategy for improving cotton fiber quality

Ordered clustering of single atomic Te vacancies in atomically thin PtTe2 promotes hydrogen evolution catalysis

10.1038/s41467-021-22681-4Nature Communications121235