A Promising New Anti-Cancer Strategy: Iron Chelators Targeting CSCs

Iron is a trace but vital element in the human body and is necessary for a multitude of crucial processes in life. However, iron overload is known to induce carcinogenesis via oxidative stress. Cancer cells require large amounts of iron for their rapid division and cell growth. Iron was recently found to play a role in cancer stem cells (CSCs); it maintains stemness during development. Iron also plays an important role in stemness by moderating reactive oxygen species. Thus, iron metabolism in CSCs is a promising therapeutic target. In this review, we summarize the roles of iron in cancer cells and CSCs. We also summarize anti-cancer therapeutic studies with iron chelators and describe our expectation of a new therapeutic strategy for CSCs on the basis of our findings

Design and implementation of experimental data access security policy for HEPS container computing platform

China’s High-Energy Photon Source (HEPS), the first national highenergy synchrotron radiation light source, is under design and construction. In the future, at the first stage of HEPS, it is predicted that 24PB raw experimental data will be produced per month from 14 beamlines. Faced with such a huge scale of scientific data and diverse data analysis environments in light source disciplines, the HEPS scientific computing platform was designed and implemented based on container mirroring and dynamic orchestration technology to provide HEPS users with a data analysis environment. In this article, a data security access strategy is designed and evaluated for a scientific computing platform to ensure the security and efficiency of data access for users in the entire process of data analysis. First, the general situation of HEPS is introduced. Second, the challenges faced by the HEPS scientific computing system. Third, the architecture and service process of the scientific computing platform are described from the perspective of IT, some key technical implementations will be introduced in detail. Finally, the application effect of data access security policies on computing platforms will be demonstrated

A Geographical and Temporal Risk Evaluation Method for Red-Light Violations by Pedestrians at Signalized Intersections: Analysis and Results of Suzhou, China

Red-light violations of pedestrians crossing at signal intersections is one of the key factors in pedestrian traffic accidents. Even though there are various studies on pedestrian behavior and pedestrian traffic conflicts, few focus on the risk of different crosswalks for the violating pedestrian group. Due to the spatio-temporal nature of violation risk, this study proposes a geographical and temporal risk evaluation method for pedestrian red-light violations, which combines actual survey and video acquisition. First, in the geographical-based risk evaluation, the pedestrian violation rate at signal intersections is investigated by Pearson correlation analysis to extract the significant influencing factors from traffic conditions, built environment, and crosswalk facilities. Second, in the temporal-based risk evaluation, the survival analysis method is developed to quantify the risk of pedestrian violation in different scenarios as time passes by. Finally, this study selects 16 typical signalized intersections in Suzhou, China, with 881 pedestrian crosswalk violations from a total size of 4586 pedestrians as survey cases. Results indicate that crossing distance, traffic volume on the crosswalk, red-light time, and crosswalk-type variables all contribute to the effect of pedestrian violation from a geographical perspective, and the installation of waiting refuge islands has the most significant impact. From the temporal perspective, the increases in red-light time, number of lanes, and traffic volume have a mitigating effect on the violations with pedestrian waiting time increases. This study aims to provide a development-oriented path by proposing an analytical framework that reconsiders geographical and temporal risk factors of violation. The findings could help transport planners understand the effect of pedestrian violation-related traffic risk and develop operational measures and crosswalk design schemes for controlling pedestrian violations occurring in local communities

Ring-opening polymerization of polyarylates

146-150A series of new macrocyclic arylates have been efficiently synthesized and unambiguously characterized by a combination of GPC, MS (FAB) and 1<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: " calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:arial;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:="" en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">H <span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-us;="" mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">NMR. These macrocycles undergo facile ring opening polymerization in the presence of anionic initiators to give high molecular weight polyarylates.</span

Dandelion sterol improves diabetes mellitus–induced renal injury in in vitro and in vivo study

Abstract The purpose of our research was to evaluate Dandelion sterol's treatment effects on diabetes mellitus–induced renal injury in in vitro and in vivo study. The rats were divided into five groups as normal control (Ctrl), diabetic nephropathy model (Model), Dandelion sterol low‐dose treated (Dan‐Low), Dandelion sterol middle‐dose treated (Dan‐Middle), and Dandelion sterol high‐dose treated (Dan‐High). Measuring serum TNF‐α, IL‐1β, and IL‐6 concentrations by Elisa assay, evaluate kidney pathology by HE staining, kidney cell apoptosis of TUNEL, TLR4, and NF‐κB(p65) proteins expression by IHC assay, and relative gene expressions by RT‐qPCR assay. In the following step, using HK‐2 treated with high glucose to model DN cell model to discuss the relative mechanisms, evaluate TNF‐α, IL‐1β, and IL‐6 concentrations by Elisa assay, evaluate cell apoptosis by flow cytometry, evaluate TLR4 and NF‐κB(p65) proteins expression by WB assay, relative gene expression by RT‐qPCR assay, and NF‐κB(p65) nuclear volume by cellular immunofluorescence. Compared with Ctrl group, TNF‐α, IL‐1β, and IL‐6 concentrations and apoptosis cell number were significantly increased, TLR4/NF‐κB(p65) pathway was significantly stimulated in Model rats and cell groups. With Dan supplement, the diabetic‐induced renal injury was significantly improved (p < .05, respectively). By cell experiment, Dan improved cell apoptosis and inflammatory factors via miR‐140‐5p. Dan improved diabetes mellitus–induced renal injury via regulation of miR‐140‐5p/TLR4 axis in in vitro and in vivo study

Improvement of the Rubbing Fastness of Cotton Fiber in Indigo/Silicon Non-Aqueous Dyeing Systems

In order to solve the poor rubbing fastness of dyed cotton fiber in the indigo/silicon non-aqueous dyeing system, the process parameters of the silicon non-aqueous dyeing system were optimized. Dyed cotton fiber was post-treated to achieve the optimum dyeing conditions for obtaining a better rubbing fastness. Meanwhile, the dyeing performance of cotton fiber in a traditional water bath and silicon non-aqueous dyeing system was compared. The results showed that the rubbing fastness of dyed cotton fiber in the silicon non-aqueous dyeing system (one dyeing) was lower than that of traditional water bath (twelve cycles), although the color depth of dyed cotton fiber was deeper. For obtaining a good rubbing fastness, the optimum temperature was about 70 &deg;C and the optimal dyeing cycle was one. Moreover, fixing agents can significantly improve the rubbing fastness of dyed cotton fiber. Especially, cationic waterborne polyurethane had an optimal fixing effect on the dyed cotton fiber. Soft finishing would weaken the effect of fixing finishing on the dyed cotton fiber, but the softener can significantly improve the handle of dyed cotton fiber

2,4-Dimethylphenol imprinted polymers as a solid-phase extraction sorbent for class-selective extraction of phenolic compounds from environmental water

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was prepared using 2,4-dimethylphenol (2,4-DMP) as template The synthesis is optimized by using three different porogens, chloroform, acetonitrile and toluene The MIP was used as a class-selective sorbent in molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MIP-SPE) for pre-concentration and determination of phenolic compounds from the environmental water The difference in recognition selectivity of the polymer columns was observed in HPLC system The variables affecting the extraction efficiency of MIP-SPE procedure were systematically investigated to facilitate the class-selective extraction of phenols from spiked water samples The spiked aqueous solution was adjusted to pH 6.0 before being percolated through the MIP-SPE cartridge at the flow rate of 0 5 mL min(-1) After rinsing with dichloromethane, the bound phenolic compounds were desorbed with acetonitrile containing 5% aqueous ammonia The developed MIP-SPE method was demonstrated to be applicable to the analysis of phenolic compounds in the environmental water Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B V. All rights reserved