Family association study between INSR gene polymorphisms and PCOS in Han Chinese

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex disease having both genetic and environmental components. Candidate genes with insulin metabolism have been hypothesized to be involved in the etiology of this syndrome. In the present study, we investigated the genetic association between polymorphisms in the insulin receptor (INSR) gene and PCOS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 260 family trios were recruited and performed a family-based analysis to assess linkage and association between four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs1799817, rs2059807, rs8108622 and rs10500204) of INSR gene and PCOS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT), we failed to find that rs1799817 (p = 0.486), rs2059807 (p = 0.195), rs8108622 (p = 0.866) and rs10500204 (p = 1.0) were significantly overtransmitted to PCOS offspring from their parents.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>No significant evidence of association or linkage was found in the four tested markers, indicating that our family samples did not support susceptibility of the INSR gene to PCOS.</p

Glycyrrhizin inhibits the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells via upregulation of expressions of miR-200c and e-cadherin

Purpose: To determine the inhibitory effect of glycyrrhizin (GLA) on cell invasion and metastasis in mammary carcinoma cells, and the mechanisms of actions involved.Methods: The effect of GLA at different concentrations on proliferation of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and BT549 cells was assayed by MTT method. Transwell assay was used to determine the effect of GLA at different concentrations on invasiveness and metastasis of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and BT549 cells. The influence of LGA on expressions of microRNA-200c and miR-200c was assayed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Results: There was no statistically significant difference in cell proliferation amongst cells treated with 5 and 20 μM GLA and untreated breast cancer cells. However, the proliferation of cells treated with 40 μM GLA was significantly reduced (p &lt; 0.05). In the cell invasion and migration experiments, cell population transferred to the base of Transwell chamber in the two cell lines treated with GLA was markedly decreased, relative to cells without GLA treatment, while the number of cells decreased with increase in GLA concentration (p &lt; 0.05). Results from image-pro-plus analysis revealed that the population of cells quantitatively crossing the Transwell compartment membrane decreased with increase in GLA concentration (p &lt; 0.05). The expression of e-cadherin was increased by GLA treatment in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, GLA treatment led to significant changes in amounts of miR-200s a, b and c, with changes in miR-200c being the most significant (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: GLA suppresses the invasiveness and metastasis of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and BT549 cells via upregulation of the expressions of miR-200c and e-cadherin. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the development of new breast cancer drugs. Keywords: Glycyrrhiza, GLA, miR-200c, E-cadherin, Inhibition, Breast cancer cells, Invasion, Metastasi

Effect of the spectrally selective features of the cover and emitter combination on radiative cooling performance

Radiative cooling (RC) shows good potential for building energy saving by throwing waste heat to the cosmos in a passive and sustainable manner. However, most available radiative coolers suffer from low cooling flux. The situation becomes even deteriorated in the daytime when radiative coolers are exposed to direct sunlight. To tackle this challenge, an idea of employing both a spectrally selective cover and a spectrally selective emitter is proposed in this study as an alternative approach. A comparative study is conducted among four RC modules with different spectral characteristics for the demonstration of how the spectral profiles of the cover and the emitter affects the RC performance. The results under given conditions show that the RC module with a spectrally selective cover and a spectrally selective emitter (SC/SE) reaches a net RC power of 62.4 W/m2 when the solar radiation is 800 W/m2, which is about 1.8 times that of the typical RC module with a spectrally non-selective cover and a spectrally selective emitter (n-SC/SE). When the ambient temperature is 30°C, the SC/SE based RC module realizes a daytime sub-ambient temperature reduction of 20.0°C, standing for a further temperature decrement of 9.2°C compared to the n-SC/SE based RC module

Ginsenoside induces cell death in breast cancer cells via ROS/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

Purpose: To study the influence of ginsenoside on breast carcinoma, and the mechanism of action involved.Methods: Different concentrations of ginsenoside were used to treat MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay, while protein expressions of p-Akt and p-PI3K were determined using Western blotting. The concentrations of reactive oxidative reactants and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were assessed using fluorescence immunoassay and immunofluorescence assay. The mechanism of action involved in ginsenoside-mediated apoptosis was determined based on ROS/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.Results: There was no change in the inhibition of MCF-7 cell proliferation in control cells with time (p &gt; 0.05). However, inhibition of MCF-7 cell proliferation in ginsenoside group was significantly higher than that in the control group (p &lt; 0.05); furthermore, it increased with time and ginsenoside concentration. Apoptosis was markedly and concentration-dependently higher in ginsenoside-treated MCF-7 cells than in controls (p &gt; 0.05). There were lower protein levels of p-PI3K and p-Akt in ginsenoside-exposed MCF-7 cells than in control group; the protein expressions&nbsp; decreased with increase in ginsenoside concentration (p &lt; 0.05). The expressions of ROS in ginsenoside-treated MCF-7 cells declined, relative to the untreated group; in addition, the expressions decreased with increase in ginsenoside concentration (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: Ginsenoside suppresses proliferation of MCF-7 cell line, and exerts apoptotic effect on the cells via inhibition of the ROS/PI3K/Akt signal pathway. This provides a new approach to treat breast cancer. Keywords: Breast cancer cells, Ginsenoside, Apoptosis, ROS/PI3K/Akt signaling pathwa

From Castor Oil‐Based Multifunctional Polyols to Waterborne Polyurethanes: Synthesis and Properties

Abstract A novel castor oil‐based multifunctional polyol (CM) is fabricated through mild thiol‐ene photo induced reactions using castor oil (CO) and 1‐thioglycerol (MPD) as building blocks. The effect of the reaction time, molar ratio of thiol to carbon–carbon double bond, and the loadings of photo‐initiator are optimized. The resulting CM is combined with CO and employed as cross‐linkers to prepare castor oil‐based water‐borne polyurethane emulsion with desirable mechanical properties and water resistance. Owing to the incorporation of CM cross‐linker with high hydroxyl value of 371 mg KOH/g (which is 2.27 times higher than that of the CO), the prepared castor oil‐based waterborne polyurethane (CMWPU) possesses compacted 3D network structure with high cross‐linking degree, leading to improved glass transition temperature (45 °C), tensile strength (10.8 MPa), water contact angle (87.4°), and decreased water absorption rate (16.12%) with 20% CM additions. Overall, this work illustrates the feasibility of introducing bio renewable CM combined with CO to develop castor oil‐based WPU employing a sustainable development strategy

Building energy-saving potential of a dual-functional solar heating and radiative cooling system

Space heating and cooling devices that rely on renewable resources are in demand amid energy crises in parts of the world. However, common renewable space heating and cooling devices are mono-functional. For regions with heating and cooling seasons, using two mono-functional devices might double the installation and maintenance costs, and prolong the payback period. This study proposed a dual-functional renewable heating and cooling device by utilising solar power and nocturnal radiative cooling. The device is a modified solar heating (SH) collector that optimises the nocturnal radiative cooling (RC) to become an SHRC collector. Investigation of the SHRC collector’s performance and energy-saving potential of a building-integrated SHRC collector was conducted using CFD and EnergyPlus. Analysis of the SHRC collector’s performance in various environmental conditions shows that the SHRC collector can reach 42 % thermal efficiency at zero-reduced temperature and > 50 W/m2 of net cooling power. Also, studies on the optimal air duct and air gap height reveal that a 1 cm air duct and 4 cm air gap as the best options for the SHRC collector design. Simulations of the building-integrated SHRC with a collector area of 9.43 m2 for a typical 100 m2 house building demonstrate the multi-seasonal advantage of the SHRC collector, with at least 1.5 kWh more daily savings than the SH and RC collectors in typical winter and summer days. Furthermore, the simulations estimate the annual combined heating and cooling energy savings by the SHRC collector around 32.7 % in Madrid, 25.5 % in Tokyo, and 14.0 % in Isfahan

Feasibility of realizing daytime solar heating and radiative cooling simultaneously with a novel structure

Recent breakthroughs in preparing near-perfect emitters have made it possible to realize daytime radiative cooling under intensive solar radiation. However, a typical radiative cooler cannot deliver heat and may even cause an undesired cooling effect on cold days. Instead of rejecting the solar radiation back to the sky, this work proposes a new concept of capturing this “free” renewable energy while dumping waste heat through radiative cooling. The new structure features an upper solar-transparent radiative emitter and a lower solar absorber. Simulation results suggest that, to realize daytime solar heating and radiative cooling simultaneously, the emitter solar-absorptivity should be extremely low, and the absorbed solar heat should be instantly and effectively taken away by thermal carriers. With an ambient temperature of 25°C and a maximum solar irradiance of 1000 W/m2, the emitter can always reach a sub-ambient temperature if the absorber temperature is lower than 33.9°C in the non-vacuum case, and can exceed 70°C if the air cavity between the emitter and absorber is vacuumized. A performance simulation in three consecutive days in Shanghai reveals that the emitter can realize daytime radiative cooling with a temperature reduction of over 9.3°C from the ambient temperature around noon

Performance analysis of a novel bifacial solar photothermic and radiative cooling module

Solar energy and universe coldness are two renewable and clean energy constantly sent from outer space to the earth. Solar thermal collectors and radiative coolers respectively harvest heat and cooling energy in this context. However, their static and monofunctional spectral properties mismatch energy demands in regions with large air temperature fluctuations throughout the whole year. In this work, a rotatable bifacial solar photothermic and radiative cooling (PT-RC) module capable of flexibly switch between solar heating and radiative cooling modes is proposed to realize smart thermal management. In the solar heating mode with solar irradiance of 1000 W/m2, the PT-RC module shows 83.3% solar thermal efficiency, which is even slightly higher than that of a typical solar thermal module. In the radiative cooling mode, the PT-RC module reaches up to 69.9 W/m2 net radiative cooling power and 11.7 °C temperature reduction. The heat and cooling energy of the PT-RC module throughout a typical day in Hefei city totals 17.7 MJ. This bifacial PT-RC module provides an alternative solution for integrating solar energy and universe coldness and shows potential in flexibly providing heat and cooling energy in different seasons

An analytical study of the nocturnal radiative cooling potential of typical photovoltaic/thermal module

Radiative cooling (RC) sees great developments in recent years due to its unique feature of sending waste heat to the cold universe without any additional energy consumption, which is extensively proved in many application scenarios, including its integration into solar installations. The comprehensive solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) technology is becoming popular due to its multi-function and high overall efficiency. The integration of RC into a PV/T collector can further contribute to such merits by adding a night sky cooling function, so a PV/T-RC collector can produce electricity and heat during the daytime and provide cooling energy during the nighttime. Without any structural modification, a flat-plate PV/T collector with a typical glass cover is confirmed to be able to realize a good radiative cooling in the present study. A mathematic model for the nighttime performance evaluation of a typical PV/T module was developed to characterize the nocturnal cooling capacity of the module. Results suggest that the absorber plate can be cooled to nearly 9.5 °C below the ambient air over a consecutive five hours nighttime period. Further parametric studies were carried out to investigate the effect of some key structural and environmental parameters on the radiative cooling performance of the PV/T module. Under some favorable radiative cooling conditions, the absorber plate can realize a stagnation temperature of nearly 11 °C lower than the ambient temperature and reach a maximum cooling power of over 50 W/m2