Metasurface array for single-shot spectroscopic ellipsometry

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is a potent method that is widely adopted for the measurement of thin film thickness and refractive index. However, a conventional ellipsometer, which utilizes a mechanically rotating polarizer and grating-based spectrometer for spectropolarimetric detection, is bulky, complex, and does not allow real-time measurements. Here, we demonstrated a compact metasurface array-based spectroscopic ellipsometry system that allows single-shot spectropolarimetric detection and accurate determination of thin film properties without any mechanical movement. The silicon-based metasurface array with a highly anisotropic and diverse spectral response is combined with iterative optimization to reconstruct the full Stokes polarization spectrum of the light reflected by the thin film with high fidelity. Subsequently, the film thickness and refractive index can be determined by fitting the measurement results to a proper material model with high accuracy. Our approach opens up a new pathway towards a compact and robust spectroscopic ellipsometry system for the high throughput measurement of thin film properties

Prediction of instantaneous driving safety in emergency scenarios based on connected vehicle basic safety messages

Purpose – Basic safety message (BSM) is a core subset of standard protocols for connected vehicle system to transmit related safety information via vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I). Although some safety prototypes of connected vehicle have been proposed with effective strategies, few of them are fully evaluated in terms of the significance of BSM messages on performance of safety applications when in emergency. Design/methodology/approach – To address this problem, a data fusion method is proposed to capture the vehicle crash risk by extracting critical information from raw BSMs data, such as driver volition, vehicle speed, hard accelerations and braking. Thereafter, a classification model based on information-entropy and variable precision rough set (VPRS) is used for assessing the instantaneous driving safety by fusing the BSMs data from field test, and predicting the vehicle crash risk level with the driver emergency maneuvers in the next short term. Findings – The findings and implications are discussed for developing an improved warning and driving assistant system by using BSMs messages. Originality/value – The findings of this study are relevant to incorporation of alerts, warnings and control assists in V2V applications of connected vehicles. Such applications can help drivers identify situations where surrounding drivers are volatile, and they may avoid dangers by taking defensive actions

DNA damage and decrease of cellular oxidase activity in piglet sertoli cells exposed to gossypol

The study was designated to explore the toxic effects of gossypol on piglet sertoli cells. Sertoli cells were isolated from piglet testes using a two-step enzyme digestion and followed by differential plating. Piglet sertoli cells were cultured and classified into five groups, that is, group A, the control without gossypol, group B with 2.5 μg/ml gossypol, group C with 5 μg/ml gossypol, group D with 10 μg/ml gossypol and group E with 20 μg/ml gossypol. We found that sertoli cells’ growth was inhibited by gossypol at dose 2.5 μg/ml when compared with the control group. The oxidase activity of sertoli cell also decreased at 2.5 μg/m gossypol. Moreover, DNA damage of sertoli cells was observed at 5 μg/ml gossypol. Putting this into consideration, our study suggests that exposure of gossypol to sertoli cells leads to an inhibition of sertoli cell growth and oxidase activity of sertoli cells at a low concentration, whereas gossypol results in DNA damage of sertoli cells at a higher concentration.Keywords: Gossypol, sertoli cells, oxidase, DNA damag

Nitroxoline suppresses metastasis in bladder cancer via EGR1/circNDRG1/miR-520h/smad7/EMT signaling pathway

Bladder cancer is one of the most common and deadly cancer worldwide. Current chemotherapy has shown limited efficacy in improving outcomes for patients. Nitroxoline, an old and widely used oral antibiotic, which was known to treat for urinary tract infection for decades. Recent studies suggested that nitroxoline suppressed the tumor progression and metastasis, especially in bladder cancer. However, the underlying mechanism for anti-tumor activity of nitroxoline remains unclear. Methods: CircRNA microarray was used to explore the nitroxoline-mediated circRNA expression profile of bladder cancer lines. Transwell and wound-healing assay were applied to evaluate the capacity of metastasis. ChIP assay was chosen to prove the binding of promotor and transcription factor. RNA-pulldown assay was performed to explore the sponge of circRNA and microRNA. Results: We first identified the circNDRG1 (has_circ_0085656) as a novel candidate circRNA. Transwell and wound-healing assay demonstrated that circNDRG1 inhibited the metastasis of bladder cancer. ChIP assay showed that circNDRG1 was regulated by the transcription factor EGR1 by binding the promotor of host gene NDRG1. RNA-pulldown assay proved that circNDRG1 sponged miR-520h leading to the overexpression of smad7, which was a negative regulatory protein of EMT. Conclusions: Our research revealed that nitroxoline may suppress metastasis in bladder cancer via EGR1/circNDRG1/miR-520h/smad7/EMT signaling pathway

Drug loaded homogeneous electrospun PCL/gelatin hybrid nanofiber structures for anti-infective tissue regeneration membranes

YesInfection is the major reason for guided tissue regeneration/guided bone regeneration (GTR/GBR) membrane failure in clinical application. In this work, we developed GTR/GBR membranes with localized drug delivery function to prevent infection by electrospinning of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and gelatin blended with metronidazole (MNA). Acetic acid (HAc) was introduced to improve the miscibility of PCL and gelatin to fabricate homogeneous hybrid nanofiber membranes. The effects of the addition of HAc and the MNA content (0, 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt.% of polymer) on the properties of the membranes were investigated. The membranes showed good mechanical properties, appropriate biodegradation rate and barrier function. The controlled and sustained release of MNA from the membranes significantly prevented the colonization of anaerobic bacteria. Cells could adhere to and proliferate on the membranes without cytotoxicity until the MNA content reached 30%. Subcutaneous implantation in rabbits for 8 months demonstrated that MNA-loaded membranes evoked a less severe inflammatory response depending on the dose of MNA than bare membranes. The biodegradation time of the membranes was appropriate for tissue regeneration. These results indicated the potential for using MNA-loaded PCL/gelatin electrospun membranes as anti-infective GTR/GBR membranes to optimize clinical application of GTR/GBR strategies

Rabies screen reveals GPe control of cocaine-triggered plasticity.

Identification of neural circuit changes that contribute to behavioural plasticity has routinely been conducted on candidate circuits that were preselected on the basis of previous results. Here we present an unbiased method for identifying experience-triggered circuit-level changes in neuronal ensembles in mice. Using rabies virus monosynaptic tracing, we mapped cocaine-induced global changes in inputs onto neurons in the ventral tegmental area. Cocaine increased rabies-labelled inputs from the globus pallidus externus (GPe), a basal ganglia nucleus not previously known to participate in behavioural plasticity triggered by drugs of abuse. We demonstrated that cocaine increased GPe neuron activity, which accounted for the increase in GPe labelling. Inhibition of GPe activity revealed that it contributes to two forms of cocaine-triggered behavioural plasticity, at least in part by disinhibiting dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area. These results suggest that rabies-based unbiased screening of changes in input populations can identify previously unappreciated circuit elements that critically support behavioural adaptations

Highly toughened polylactide with novel sliding graft copolymer by in situ reactive compatibilization, crosslinking and chain extension

YesThe “sliding graft copolymer” (SGC), in which many linear poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) side chains are bound to cyclodextrin rings of a polyrotaxane (PR), was prepared and employed to toughen brittle polylactide (PLA) with methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) by reactive blending. The SGC was in situ crosslinked and therefore transformed from a crystallized plastic into a totally amorphous elastomer during reactive blending. Meanwhile, PLA-co-SGC copolymer was formed at interface to greatly improve the compatibility between PLA and SGC, and the chain extension of PLA also occurred, were confirmed by FTIR, GPC, SEM, and TEM. The resulting PLA/SGC/MDI blends displayed super impact toughness, elongation at break and nice biocompatibility. It was inferred from these results the crosslinked SGC (c-SGC) elastomeric particles with sliding crosslinking points performed as stress concentrators and absorbed considerable energy under impact and tension process.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (50933001, 51221002 and 51320105012)

Cortex phellodendri

Cortex phellodendri is used to reduce fever and remove dampness and toxin. Berberine is an active ingredient of C. phellodendri. Berberine from Argemone ochroleuca can relax airway smooth muscle (ASM); however, whether the nonberberine component of C. phellodendri has similar relaxant action was unclear. An n-butyl alcohol extract of C. phellodendri (NBAECP, nonberberine component) was prepared, which completely inhibits high K+- and acetylcholine- (ACH-) induced precontraction of airway smooth muscle in tracheal rings and lung slices from control and asthmatic mice, respectively. The contraction induced by high K+ was also blocked by nifedipine, a selective blocker of L-type Ca2+ channels. The ACH-induced contraction was partially inhibited by nifedipine and pyrazole 3, an inhibitor of TRPC3 and STIM/Orai channels. Taken together, our data demonstrate that NBAECP can relax ASM by inhibiting L-type Ca2+ channels and TRPC3 and/or STIM/Orai channels, suggesting that NBAECP could be developed to a new drug for relieving bronchospasm

Epidemiological characteristics and risk factors for cystic and alveolar echinococcosis in China: an analysis of a national population-based field survey

Background Human cystic and alveolar echinococcosis are neglected tropical diseases that WHO has prioritized for control in recent years. Both diseases impose substantial burdens on public health and the socio-economy in China. In this study, which is based on the national echinococcosis survey from 2012 to 2016, we aim to describe the spatial prevalence and demographic characteristics of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis infections in humans and assess the impact of environmental, biological and social factors on both types of the disease. Methods We computed the sex-, age group-, occupation- and education level-specific prevalences of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis at national and sub-national levels. We mapped the geographical distribution of echinococcosis prevalence at the province, city and county levels. Finally, by analyzing the county-level echinococcosis cases combined with a range of associated environmental, biological and social factors, we identified and quantified the potential risk factors for echinococcosis using a generalized linear model. Results A total of 1,150,723 residents were selected and included in the national echinococcosis survey between 2012 and 2016, of whom 4161 and 1055 tested positive for cystic and alveolar echinococcosis, respectively. Female gender, older age, occupation at herdsman, occupation as religious worker and illiteracy were identified as risk factors for both types of echinococcosis. The prevalence of echinococcosis was found to vary geographically, with areas of high endemicity observed in the Tibetan Plateau region. Cystic echinococcosis prevalence was positively correlated with cattle density, cattle prevalence, dog density, dog prevalence, number of livestock slaughtered, elevation and grass area, and negatively associated with temperature and gross domestic product (GDP). Alveolar echinococcosis prevalence was positively correlated with precipitation, level of awareness, elevation, rodent density and rodent prevalence, and negatively correlated with forest area, temperature and GDP. Our results also implied that drinking water sources are significantly associated with both diseases. Conclusions The results of this study provide a comprehensive understanding of geographical patterns, demographic characteristics and risk factors of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis in China. This important information will contribute towards developing targeted prevention measures and controlling diseases from the public health perspective. Graphical Abstract

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead