Panax Quinquefolius Saponin of Stem and Leaf Attenuates Intermittent High Glucose-Induced Oxidative Stress Injury in Cultured Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells via PI3K/Akt/GSK-3 β

Panax quinquefolius saponin of stem and leaf (PQS), the effective parts of American ginseng, is widely used in China as a folk medicine for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases treatment. In our previous studies, we have demonstrated that PQS could improve the endothelial function of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats with high glucose fluctuation. In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of PQS against intermittent high glucose-induced oxidative damage on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase kinase (PI3K)/Akt/GSK-3β pathway involved. Our results suggested that exposure of HUVECs to a high glucose concentration for 8 days showed a great decrease in cell viability accompanied by marked MDA content increase and SOD activity decrease. Moreover, high glucose significantly reduced the phosphorylation of Akt and GSK-3β. More importantly, these effects were even more evident in intermittent high glucose condition. PQS treatment significantly attenuated intermittent high glucose-induced oxidative damage on HUVECs and meanwhile increased cell viability and phosphorylation of Akt and GSK-3β of HUVECs. Interestingly, all these reverse effects of PQS on intermittent high glucose-cultured HUVECs were inhibited by PI3K inhibitor LY294002. These findings suggest that PQS attenuates intermittent-high-glucose-induced oxidative stress injury in HUVECs by PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway

Damage Mechanism of Cu6Sn5 Intermetallics Due to Cyclic Polymorphic Transitions.

The formation of high-melting-point Cu6Sn5 interconnections is crucial to overcome the collapse of Sn-based micro-bumps and to produce reliable intermetallic interconnections in three-dimensional (3D) packages. However, because of multiple reflows in 3D package manufacturing, Cu6Sn5 interconnections will experience cyclic polymorphic transitions in the solid state. The repeated and abrupt changes in the Cu6Sn5 lattice due to the cyclic polymorphic transitions can cause extreme strain oscillations, producing damage at the surface and in the interior of the Cu6Sn5 matrix. Moreover, because of the polymorphic transition-induced grain splitting and superstructure phase formation, the reliability of Cu6Sn5 interconnections will thus face great challenges in 3D packages. In addition, the Cu6Sn5 polymorphic transition is structure-dependent, and the η ’↔ η polymorphic transition will occur at the surface while the η ’↔ ηs ↔ η polymorphic transition will occur in the deep matrix. This study can provide in-depth understanding of the structural evolution and damage mechanism of Cu6Sn5 interconnections in real 3D package manufacturing

Determination of reference intervals of serum levels of human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) in Chinese women

The detailed numbers of subjects from different centers. (DOCX 17.3 kb

Resolving the genetic heterogeneity of prelingual hearing loss within one family: Performance comparison and application of two targeted next generation sequencing approaches.

published_or_final_versio

GJB2 mutation spectrum in 2063 Chinese patients with nonsyndromic hearing impairment

Background: Mutations in GJB2 are the most common molecular defects responsible for autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing impairment (NSHI). The mutation spectra of this gene vary among different ethnic groups. Methods: In order to understand the spectrum and frequency of GJB2 mutations in the Chinese population, the coding region of the GJB2 gene from 2063 unrelated patients with NSHI was PCR amplified and sequenced. Results: A total of 23 pathogenic mutations were identified. Among them, five (p.W3X, c.99delT, c.155_c.158delTCTG, c.512_c.513insAACG, and p.Y152X) are novel. Three hundred and seven patients carry two confirmed pathogenic mutations, including 178 homozygotes and 129 compound heterozygotes. One hundred twenty five patients carry only one mutant allele. Thus, GJB2 mutations account for 17.9% of the mutant alleles in 2063 NSHI patients. Overall, 92.6% (684/739) of the pathogenic mutations are frame-shift truncation or nonsense mutations. The four prevalent mutations; c.235delC, c.299_c.300delAT, c.176_c.191del16, and c.35delG, account for 88.0% of all mutantalleles identified. The frequency of GJB2 mutations (alleles) varies from 4% to 30.4% among different regions of China. It also varies among different sub-ethnic groups. Conclusion: In some regions of China, testing of the three most common mutations can identify at least one GJB2 mutant allele in all patients. In other regions such as Tibet, the three most common mutations account for only 16% the GJB2 mutant alleles. Thus, in this region, sequencing of GJB2 would be recommended. In addition, the etiology of more than 80% of the mutant alleles for NSHI in China remains to be identified. Analysis of other NSHI related genes will be necessary

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements