Maximizing surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensitivity of surfactant-free Ag-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites through optimization of silver nanoparticle density and magnetic self-assembly

Author name used in this publication: Zhi Yong Bao2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Antioxidant N-acetylcysteine attenuates the reduction of brg1 protein expression in the myocardium of type 1 diabetic rats

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Hyperglycemia-induced inhibition of DJ-1 expression compromised the effectiveness of ischemic postconditioning cardioprotection in rats

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High pseudocapacitive cobalt carbonate hydroxide films derived from CoAl layered double hydroxides

A thin nanosheet of mesoporous cobalt carbonate hydroxide (MPCCH) has been fabricated from a CoAl-LDH nanosheet following removal of the Al cations by alkali etching. The basic etched electrode exhibits enhanced specific capacitance (1075 F g−1 at 5 mA cm−2) and higher rate capability and cycling stability (92% maintained after 2000 cycles)

N-acetylcysteine attenuates myocardial dysfunction and postischemic injury by restoring caveolin-3/eNOS signaling in diabetic rats

published_or_final_versio

An Immunoassay for Dibutyl Phthalate Based on Direct Hapten Linkage to the Polystyrene Surface of Microtiter Plates

BACKGROUND: Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is predominantly used as a plasticizer inplastics to make them flexible. Extensive use of phthalates in both industrial processes and other consumer products has resulted in the ubiquitous presence of phthalates in the environment. In order to better determine the level of pollution in the environment and evaluate the potential adverse effects of exposure to DBP, immunoassay for DBP was developed. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A monoclonal antibody specific to DBP was produced from a stable hybridoma cell line generated by lymphocyte hybridoma technique. An indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA) employing direct coating of hapten on polystyrene microtiter plates was established for the detection of DBP. Polystyrene surface was first oxidized by permanganate in dilute sulfuric acid to generate carboxyl groups. Then dibutyl 4-aminophthalate, which is an analogue of DBP, was covalently linked to the carboxyl groups of polystyrene surface with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC). Compared with conjugate coated format (IC(50)=106 ng/mL), the direct hapten coated format (IC(50)=14.6 ng/mL) improved assay sensitivity after careful optimization of assay conditions. The average recovery of DBP from spiked water sample was 104.4% and the average coefficient of variation was 9.95%. Good agreement of the results obtained by the hapten coated icELISA and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry further confirmed the reliability and accuracy of the icELISA for the detection of DBP in certain plastic and cosmetic samples. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The stable and efficient hybridoma cell line obtained is an unlimited source of sensitive and specific antibody to DBP. The hapten coated format is proposed as generally applicable because the carboxyl groups on modified microtiter plate surface enables stable immobilization of aminated or hydroxylated hapten with EDC. The developed hapten coated icELISA can be used as a convenient quantitative tool for the sensitive and accurate monitoring DBP in water, plastic and cosmetic samples

A fast and test-proven methodology of assessing RTN/fluctuation on deeply scaled nano pMOSFETs

Random Telegraph Noise (RTN)/fluctuation is one of the most serious reliability issues in modern deeply scaled CMOS. The current RTN characterization methods need to select devices and can only capture the fast traps, thus it is very difficult to predict and validate device long-term fluctuation behavior. A new fast and test-proven methodology of assessing RTN/fluctuation is proposed in this work. By using the Within Device Fluctuation (WDF), all the devices’ fluctuation can be captured. Moreover, WDF can be well explained and simulated as a sum of all the As-grown Traps (AT) induced RTN

Nitrogen Level Changes the Interactions between a Native (Scirpus triqueter) and an Exotic Species (Spartina anglica) in Coastal China

The exotic species Spartina anglica, introduced from Europe in 1963, has been experiencing a decline in the past decade in coastal China, but the reasons for the decline are still not clear. It is hypothesized that competition with the native species Scirpus triqueter may have played an important role in the decline due to niche overlap in the field. We measured biomass, leaf number and area, asexual reproduction and relative neighborhood effect (RNE) of the two species in both monoculture and mixture under three nitrogen levels (control, low and high). S. anglica showed significantly lower biomass accumulation, leaf number and asexual reproduction in mixture than in monoculture. The inter- and intra-specific RNE of S. anglica were all positive, and the inter-specific RNE was significantly higher than the intra-specific RNE in the control. For S. triqueter, inter- and intra-specific RNE were negative at the high nitrogen level but positive in the control and at the low nitrogen level. This indicates that S. triqueter exerted an asymmetric competitive advantage over S. anglica in the control and low nitrogen conditions; however, S. anglica facilitated growth of S. triqueter in high nitrogen conditions. Nitrogen level changed the interactions between the two species because S. triqueter better tolerated low nitrogen. Since S. anglica is increasingly confined to upper, more nitrogen-limited marsh areas in coastal China, increased competition from S. triqueter may help explain its decline

Novel tumor suppressive function of Smad4 in serum starvation-induced cell death through PAK1–PUMA pathway

DPC4 (deleted in pancreatic cancer 4)/Smad4 is an essential factor in transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signaling and is also known as a frequently mutated tumor suppressor gene in human pancreatic and colon cancer. However, considering the fact that TGF-β can contribute to cancer progression through transcriptional target genes, such as Snail, MMPs, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes, loss of Smad4 in human cancer would be required for obtaining the TGF-β signaling-independent advantage, which should be essential for cancer cell survival. Here, we provide the evidences about novel role of Smad4, serum-deprivation-induced apoptosis. Elimination of serum can obviously increase the Smad4 expression and induces the cell death by p53-independent PUMA induction. Instead, Smad4-deficient cells show the resistance to serum starvation. Induced Smad4 suppresses the PAK1, which promotes the PUMA destabilization. We also found that Siah-1 and pVHL are involved in PAK1 destabilization and PUMA stabilization. In fact, Smad4-expressed cancer tissues not only show the elevated expression of PAK1, but also support our hypothesis that Smad4 induces PUMA-mediated cell death through PAK1 suppression. Our results strongly suggest that loss of Smad4 renders the resistance to serum-deprivation-induced cell death, which is the TGF-β-independent tumor suppressive role of Smad4