1,737 research outputs found
Composition and Morphology of Nanocrystals in Urines of Lithogenic Patients and Healthy Persons
The composition and morphology of nanocrystals in urines of healthy persons and lithogenic patients were comparatively investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was shown that the main composition of urinary nanocrystals in healthy persons were calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD), uric acid, and ammonium magnesium phosphate (struvite). However, the main compositions of urinary nanocrystals in lithogenic patients were struvite, β-tricalcium phosphate, uric acid, COD, and calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM). According to the XRD data, the size of nanocrystals was calculated to be 23∼72 nm in healthy urine and 12∼118 nm in lithogenic urine by Scherer formula. TEM results showed that the nanocrystals in healthy urine were dispersive and uniform with a mean size of about 38 nm. In contrast, the nanocrystals in lithogenic urine were much aggregated with a mean size of about 55 nm. The results in this work indicated that the urinary stone formation may be prevented by diminishing the aggregation and the size differentiation of urinary nanocrystals by physical or chemical methods
Universal critical properties of the Eulerian bond-cubic model
We investigate the Eulerian bond-cubic model on the square lattice by means
of Monte Carlo simulations, using an efficient cluster algorithm and a
finite-size scaling analysis. The critical points and four critical exponents
of the model are determined for several values of . Two of the exponents are
fractal dimensions, which are obtained numerically for the first time. Our
results are consistent with the Coulomb gas predictions for the critical O()
branch for and the results obtained by previous transfer matrix
calculations. For , we find that the thermal exponent, the magnetic
exponent and the fractal dimension of the largest critical Eulerian bond
component are different from those of the critical O(2) loop model. These
results confirm that the cubic anisotropy is marginal at but irrelevant
for
A comprehensive analysis of the prognostic characteristics of microRNAs in breast cancer
Both overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) are significant when determining a patient’s prognosis for breast cancer (BC). The effect of DSS-related microRNAs on BC susrvival, however, is not well understood. Here, we spotted differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) in the TCGA database of BC DSS, identified eight DSS-related miRNAs, and constructed a risk model. AUC values at 1, 3, and 5 years were 0.852, 0.861, and 0.868, respectively, indicating a risk model’s excellent prognostic prediction ability. Then, we validated miRNA roles in BC OS and finally defined miR-551b as an independently prognostic miRNA in BC. According to function analysis, miR-551b is strongly linked with the emergence and spread of cancer, including protein ubiquitination, intracellular protein transport, metabolic pathways, and cancer pathways. Moreover, we confirmed the low expression of miR-551b in BC tissue and cells. After miR-551b inhibition or overexpression, cell function was either dramatically increased or diminished, respectively, indicating that miR-551b could regulate BC proliferation, invasion, and migration. In conclusion, we thoroughly clarified BC-related miRNAs on DSS and OS and verified miR-551b as a crucial regulator in the development and prognosis of cancer. These results can offer fresh ideas for BC therapy
Low compressible noble metal carbides with rock-salt structure: ab initio total energy calculations of the elastic stability
We have systematically studied the mechanical stability of all noble metal
carbides with the rock-salt structure by calculating their elastic constants
within the density function theory scheme. It was found that only four carbides
(RuC, PdC, AgC and PtC) are mechanically stable. In particular, we have shown
that RuC, PdC, and PtC have very high bulk modulus, which has been remarkably
observed by the most recent experiment for the case of PtC. From the calculated
density of states, we can conclude that these compounds are metallic, like the
conventional group IV and group V transition metal carbides.Comment: Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 071913 (2006
Potential super-hard Osmium di-nitride with fluorite structure: First-principles calculations
We have performed systematic first-principles calculations on di-carbide,
-nitride, -oxide and -boride of platinum and osmium with the fluorite
structure. It is found that only PtN, OsN and OsO are
mechanically stable. In particular OsN has the highest bulk modulus of
360.7 GPa. Both the band structure and density of states show that the new
phase of OsN is metallic. The high bulk modulus is owing to the strong
covalent bonding between Os 5\textit{d} and N 2\textit{p} states and the dense
packed fluorite structure.Comment: Phys. Rev. B 74,125118 (2006
Oral administration of a select mixture of Bacillus probiotics generates Tr1 cells in weaned F4ab/acR− pigs challenged with an F4+ ETEC/VTEC/EPEC strain
Dose effect of oral administration of BLS-mix on the growth of newly weaned pigs before and after F4 + ETEC/VTEC/EPEC challenge. The table shows the growth of newly weaned pigs before and after F4+ ETEC/VTEC/EPEC challenge. In the first 2 weeks following the challenge, average daily weight gain and feed intake were lower in ETEC pigs compared with CONT pigs (P = 0.011 and P = 0.018, respectively), but there were no differences relative to the CONT pigs in these parameters in the LDBE or HDBE groups
Altered Lung Microbiome and Metabolome Profile in Children With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated With Congenital Heart Disease
BackgroundsPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by progressive pulmonary vascular functional and structural changes, resulting in increased pulmonary vascular resistance and eventually right heart failure and death. Congenital Left-to-Right shunts (LTRS) is one type of congenital heart disease (CHD) and PAH associated with the congenital Left-to-Right shunt (PAH-LTRS) is a severe disease in children. However, changes in the lung microbiome and their potential impact on PAH-LTRS have not been not fully studied. We hypothesized that lung microbiota and their derived metabolites have been disturbed in children with PAH-LTRS, which might contribute to the progression and outcomes of PAH-LTRS.MethodsIn this study, 68 age- and sex-matched children of three different groups (patients with PAH-LTRS cohort, patients with LTRS but have no pathologic features of PAH cohort, and healthy reference cohort) were enrolled in the current study. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples from these participants were conducted for multi-omics analysis, including 16S rRNA sequencing and metabolomic profiling. Data progressing and integration analysis were performed to identify pulmonary microbial and metabolic characteristics of PAH-LTRS in children.ResultsWe found that microbial community density was not significantly altered in PAH-LTRS based on α-diversity analysis. Microbial composition analysis indicated phylum of Bacteroidetes was that less abundant while Lactobacillus, Alicycliphilus, and Parapusillimonas were significantly altered and might contribute to PAH in children with LTRS. Moreover, metabolome profiling data showed that metabolites involved in Purine metabolism, Glycerophospholipid metabolism, Galactose metabolism, and Pyrimidine metabolism were also significantly disturbed in the PAH-LTRS cohort. Correlation analysis between microbes and metabolites indicated that alterations in the microbial composition from the lung microbiota could eventually result in the disturbance in certain metabolites, and might finally contribute to the pathology of PAH-LTRS.ConclusionLung microbial density was not significantly altered in patients with PAH-LTRS. Composition analysis results showed that the relative microbiome abundance was different between groups. Metabolome profiling and correlation analysis with microbiota showed that metabolome also altered in children with PAH-LTRS. This study indicated that pulmonary microbes and metabolites disturbed in PAH-LTRS could be potentially effective biomarkers and provides valuable perspectives on clinical diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of pediatric PAH-LTRS
Charge-changing cross section measurements of 300 MeV/nucleon Si on carbon and data analysis
Charge-changing cross section () measurements via the
transmission method have made important progress recently aiming to determine
the charge radii of exotic nuclei. In this work, we report a new
measurement of 304(9) MeV/nucleon Si on carbon at
the second Radioactive Ion Beam Line in Lanzhou (RIBLL2) and describe the data
analysis procedure in detail. This procedure is essential to evaluate the
systematic uncertainty in the transmission method. The determined
of 1125(11) mb is found to be consistent with the
existing data at similar energies. The present work will serve as a reference
in the determinations at RIBLL2.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Chinese Physics
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