Properties and application of polyimide-based composites by blending surface functionalized boron nitride nanoplates

Properties and application of polyimide-based composites by blending surface functionalized boron nitride nanoplate

Effects of surface-functionalized aluminum nitride on thermal, electrical, and mechanical behaviors of polyarylene ether nitrile-based composites

Aluminum nitride (AlN) with high thermal conductivity was blended in polyarylene ether nitrile (PEN) to obtain a composite system. A ball milling process could provide AlN particles of smaller size with higher surface silylation for homogeneous particle distribution in polymeric matrix. Thermal, electrical, and mechanical behaviors of the produced composites were characterized to investigate the effects of particles on the performance of PEN-based composites with functionalized AlN. The composite exhibited thermal conductivity of 0.779 W m−1 K−1, a dielectric constant of 7.7, dielectric loss of 0.032, electrical resistivity of 1.39 GΩ.cm, and break strength of 36 N when the fraction of functionalized AlN increased to 42.3 vol%. A fitted equation based on the improved Russell's model could effectively predict a trend for thermal conductivity of the composite systems with consideration of interfacial resistance between AlN and surrounding PEN

Metallothionein 2A inhibits NF-κB pathway activation and predicts clinical outcome segregated with TNM stage in gastric cancer patients following radical resection

Background: Metallothionein 2A (MT2A) as a stress protein, plays a protective role in gastric mucosal barrier. Its role in the development of gastric cancer (GC) is unclear. The mechanism of MT2A will be investigated in gastric tumorigenesis. Methods: MT2A expression was detected in 973 gastric specimens. The biological function was determined through ectopic expressing MT2A in vitro and in vivo. The possible downstream effectors of MT2A were investigated in NF-kappa B signaling. The protein levels of MT2A, I kappa B-alpha and p-I kappa B-alpha (ser32/36) expression were analyzed in a subset of 258 patients by IHC staining. The prognostic effects of MT2A, status of I kappa B-alpha and TNM stage were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Results: Decreased MT2A expression was detected in cell lines and primary tumors of GC. In clinical data, loss of MT2A (MT2A + in Normal (n = 171, 76.0%); Intestinal metaplasia (n = 118, 50.8%); GC (n = 684. 22.4%, P < 0.001)) was associated with poor prognosis (P < 0.001), advanced TNM stage (P = 0.05), and down-regulation of I kappa B-alpha expression (P < 0.001). Furthermore, MT2A was the independent prognostic signature segregated from the status of I kappa B-alpha and pathological features. In addition, MT2A inhibited cell growth through apoptosis and G2/M arrest, which negatively regulated NF-kappa B pathway through up-regulation of I kappa B-alpha and down-regulation of p-I kappa B-alpha and cyclin D1 expression. Conclusions: MT2A might play a tumor suppressive activity through inhibiting NF-kappa B signaling and may be a prognostic biomarker and potential target for individual therapy of GC patients.Medicine, Research & ExperimentalSCI(E)PubMed4ARTICLE1731

Decreased fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase-2 expression promotes glycolysis and growth in gastric cancer cells

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that cancer is a metabolic disease. Here, we investigated the potential role of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase-2 (FBP2), the enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate to fructose-6-phosphate and inorganic phosphate in glucose metabolism, in gastric cancer (GC) development. Results: Our data indicated that FBP2 was downregulated in GC tissues (86.2%, 100/116), and absent or low FBP2 expression in GC tissues was correlated with poor survival of GC patients (P = 0.019). Conversely, ectopic expression of FBP2 in GC cells activated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signalling, inhibited the Akt-mTOR pathway, suppressed glucose metabolism, enhanced apoptosis, and reduced cell proliferation. Bisulphite genomic sequencing (BGS) in gastric cancer cell lines revealed that the FBP2 promoter region was densely methylated, and treatment of GC cells with the demethylation reagent, 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (5-Aza), led to an increase in FBP2 expression. Importantly, forced expression of FBP2 abrogated tumour formation of these GC cells in nude mice. Conclusion: Our results indicate that FBP2 does negatively regulate cell growth, and reduced expression of FBP2 may contribute to carcinogenesis for GC. These findings suggest that restoration of FBP2 expression can be a promising strategy for the target therapy of GC.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000325138200001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Biochemistry & Molecular BiologyOncologySCI(E)PubMed13ARTICLE11101

A metastatic invasive mole arising from iatrogenic uterus perforation

Abstract Background Invasive mole derives from hydatidiform mole, but its pathogenesis remains unknown. Invasive mole arising from iatrogenic uterine perforation has not been reported yet. Case presentation A reproductive woman was admitted because she suffered form severe abdominal pain and acute intra-abdominal hemorrhage after suction evacuation due to misdiagnosis as inevitable abortion. The patient underwent hysteroscopy and laparoscopy, by which an iatrogenic uterine perforation and omentum and pelvic peritoneum metastases were confirmed. All lesions were removed and the final pathological diagnosis was metastatic invasive mole. The patient underwent post-operative chemotherapy with methotrexate and presented a good prognosis. Conclusion Invasive mole arising form iatrogenic uterine perforation displays an unusual metastatic manner other than general invasive moles. The prevention of uterine perforation should be emphasized during suction evacuation for mole pregnancy

Rapid detection of adulteration of dehydroepiandrosterone in slimming products by competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and lateral flow immunochromatography

In this study, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) hapten and high sensitivity polyclonal antibody against DHEA were prepared, a competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ciELISA) and lateral flow immunochromatography (LFA) for the determination of DHEA in slimming products were developed for the first time. The sample pretreatment was very simple and fast, the limit of detection (LOD) of the ciELISA for DHEA in slimming products was 9.6 μg/kg. The average recoveries of slimming tea, slimming tablets and slimming capsules ranged from 93.2% to 99.4%, 86.8% to 100.0%, and 80.5% to 115.4%, respectively, with the coefficient of variations (CVs) between 7.7% and 14.1%, 2.7% and 11.0%, and 2.2% and 8.6%, respectively. The pAb had negligible cross-reactivity to the structural and functional analogs of DHEA. Simultaneously, the LFA showed a cut-off value of 500 μg/kg in slimming products, and the results could be attained within 3 min. A parallel HPLC analysis in 30 commercial slimming products validated a good agreement with the proposed ciELISA and LFA

Spatial variability and driving factors of soil multifunctionality in drylands of China

Drylands are highly vulnerable to climate change and human activities. The drylands of China account for approximately 10.8% of global drylands, and China is the country most severely affected by aridity in Asia. Therefore, studying the spatial variation characteristics in soil multifunctionality (SMF) and investigating the driving factors are critical for elucidating and managing the functions of dryland ecosystems in China. Based on the environmental factors (mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT), solar radiation (Srad), soil acidity (pH), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and cation exchange capacity (CEC)) and aridity from the Dataset of soil properties for land surface modeling over China, we used non-linear regression, ordinary least square (OLS) regression, structural equation model (SEM), and other analytical methods to investigate the relationships of SMF with environmental factors across different aridity levels in China. SMF in different dryland regions varied significantly and showed a patchy distribution, with SMF index values ranging from −1.21 to 2.42. Regions with SMF index values from −0.20 to 0.51 accounting for 63.0% of dryland area in China. OLS regression results revealed that environmental factors like MAP, MAT, Srad, pH, EVI, and CEC were significantly related to SMF (P ​< ​0.05). MAP and MAT were correlated to SMF at the whole aridity level (P ​< ​0.05). SEM results showed that the driving factors of SMF differed depending on the aridity level. Soil pH was the strongest driving factor of SMF when the aridity was less than 0.80 (P ​< ​0.001). Both soil CEC and EVI had a positive effect on SMF when aridity was greater than 0.80 (P ​< ​0.01), with soil CEC being the strongest driving factor. The importance ranking revealed that the relative importance contribution of soil pH to SMF was greatest when aridity was less than 0.80 (66.9%). When aridity was set to greater than 0.80, the relative importance contributions of CEC and EVI to SMF increased (45.1% and 31.9%, respectively). Our findings indicated that SMF had high spatial heterogeneity in drylands of China. The aridity threshold controlled the impact of environmental factors on SMF

Defensive Resistance of Cowpea <i>Vigna unguiculata</i> Control <i>Megalurothrips usitatus</i> Mediated by Jasmonic Acid or Insect Damage

Vigna unguiculata is a vital vegetable crop in Southeast Asia, and Megalurothrips usitatus can cause huge damage to this crop. Enhancing the resistance of V. unguiculata against M. usitatus is a promising way to protect this crop; however, there is limited information regarding the mechanism underlying the resistance of V. unguiculata against M. usitatus. Here, a behavior assay was performed to explore the resistance of V. unguiculata against M. usitatus after insect damage or treatment by jasmonic acid (JA). Furthermore, transcriptome and metabonomics analysis was used to detect the putative mechanism underlying the resistance of V. unguiculata against M. usitatus. The pre-treatment of Vigna unguiculata with JA or infestation with Megalurothrips usitatus alleviated the damage resulting from the pest insect. We further identified differentially expressed genes and different metabolites involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and alpha-linolenic acid metabolism. Genes of chalcone reductase and shikimate O-hydroxycinnamoyltransferase involved in flavonoid biosynthesis, as well as lipoxygenase and acyl-CoA oxidase involved in alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, were upregulated in plants after herbivory or JA supplementation. The upregulation of these genes contributed to the high accumulation of metabolites involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and the alpha-linolenic acid metabolism pathway. These transcriptional and metabolite changes are potentially responsible for plant defense and a putative regulatory model is thus proposed to illustrate the cowpea defense mechanism against insect attack. Our study provides candidate targets for the breeding of varieties with resistance to insect herbivory by molecular technology

Additional file 2: of Meta-analysis of the safety of voriconazole in definitive, empirical, and prophylactic therapies for invasive fungal infections

Sensitive analysis and the funnel plots under the five outcomes. The sensitive analysis part included the influence of individual study involved in the evaluation of tolerability, neurotoxicity, visual toxicity, hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity (see in Figure S1-S5). (PDF 433 kb