Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis with Acupuncture Based on Pathophysiological.

Allergic rhinitis is a prevalent allergic diseases and has a profound impact on physical well-being. In recent years, more and more people have changed to allergic diseases, such as allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, allergic dermatitis and so on. In the incidence of allergic rhinitis, covering all ages. The common clinical treatment of allergic rhinitis are drugs and immunotherapy, but these therapies have certain limitations. Therefore, an effective and economical treatment for AR is urgently needed. Acupuncture are widely used in the clinical treatment of various diseases, but the effect of acupuncture in the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) is significant, and the mechanism of acupuncture in the treatment of AR is also a hot spot. Acupuncture is one of the traditional treatment methods of traditional Chinese medicine, which achieves therapeutic effect by pressing a needle or other means at a specific location on the skin to produce a special sensation. Among them, acupuncture, as a popular treatment method, has attracted more and more attention. In this review, we provide an overview of the current understanding of acupuncture and AR, as well as current studies investigating the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for AR.

[Role of macrophage polarization in hypertension and traditional Chinese medicine intervention: a review].

Hypertension is known to be a chronic inflammatory state and a key risk factor for heart failure, coronary heart disease, and atherosclerosis. Macrophages in the circulatory system are the main cell group that constitutes the immune system and participates in the inflammatory response. Depending on the local microenvironment, macrophages can be polarized into pro-inflammatory(M1) and anti-inflammatory(M2) phenotypes. When blood pressure is elevated, M1 macrophages can release pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines to generate an immune response. However, an excessive immune response can lead to tissue damage, and M2 macrophages release anti-inflammatory cytokines to promote the repair of wounds and tissue damage. It is clear that the dynamic balance between M1 and M2 macrophages resembles the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) theory of Yin and Yang. That is, when Yin and Yang are imbalanced, the human body will exhibit pathological states, e.g., altered blood pressure rhythms. Studies have confirmed that TCM can produce positive therapeutic effects on hypertension by regulating macrophage polarization. Therefore, this study reviews the studies about the TCM regulation of macrophage polarization and summarized the mechanisms of TCM intervention in hypertension, with the aim of providing evidence for clinical treatment and ideas for scientific research design.

The Predictive Value of CD3+/CD8+ Lymphocyte Infiltration and PD-L1 Expression in Colorectal Cancer.

AIM: The immune system plays an important role in tumor development and treatment. In this study, we aimed to determine the relationships among the expressions of PD-L1, CD3, CD8, MMR proteins, clinicopathological features, and prognosis of CRC. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of PD-L1, CD3, and CD8 in 771 patients with CRC. RESULTS: The expression of PD-L1 in TC was related to the right colon, adenocarcinoma, and dMMR, and in IC, it was related to younger CRC patients and the TNM stage. The expression of CD3 and CD8 in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was related to lymph node metastasis and the TNM stage. The expression of PD-L1 in TC and IC was correlated with the infiltration of CD3+ and CD8+ lymphocytes. Univariate survival analysis showed that the expression of PD-L1 in TC, IC, and dMMR was related to a better prognosis. Multivariate survival analysis showed that age, TNM stage, and dMMR were independent prognostic factors for CRC. The OS of the chemotherapy was significantly higher than that of the non-chemotherapy in III-IV TNM stage patients; CRC patients with positive PD-L1 expression in TC or IC and dMMR did not benefit from chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: PD-L1 expression in TC and IC was closely related to the density of CD3 and CD8 infiltration in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. The expression of CD3 and CD8 in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and the expression of PD-L1 in IC were linked to the TNM stage of CRC patients. PD-L1 expression in TC and IC and MMR status may act as an important biomarker for guiding the postoperative treatment of III-IV TNM stage CRC patients.

The predictive value and correlation of ß-catenin, CMTM6, and PD-L1 expression in colorectal cancer.

CMTM6 is a major regulator of PD-L1 expression. Aberrant Wnt pathway signaling occurs in most sporadic colorectal cancers (CRC). However, the significance and correlation of ß-catenin, CMTM6, and PD-L1 immunohistochemical expression in CRC is still unknown and need to be further verified. We evaluated the expression levels of ß-catenin, CMTM6, PD-L1, and MMR (mismatch repair) proteins by immunohistochemistry in CRC tissue microarray (TMA), and evaluated the association among ß-catenin, CMTM6, PD-L1 expression, MMR status, and clinicopathological features in 704 CRC patients. Positive expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells (TC) is associated with more frequent dMMR (mismatch repair deficient) status, CMTM6 expression, right colon, and younger CRC patients. The expression of PD-L1 in tumor-infiltrating immune cells (IC) is associated with a higher frequency of adenocarcinoma, ß-catenin, and CMTM6 expression. In univariate analysis, age, histological subtype, histologic grade, lymphatic metastasis, TNM stage, MMR status, and expression of PD-L1 protein in IC were significantly associated with the overall survival. In multivariate analysis, age, histologic grade, TNM stage, MMR status, and expression of PD-L1 protein in IC were independent prognostic factors. The overall survival of the adjuvant chemotherapy group was significantly higher than those non-chemotherapy in TNM stage III-IV CRC patients, but no significant overall survival improvement was found in the positive PD-L1 in TC, positive PD-L1 in IC, positive CMTM6, low ß-catenin expression, or dMMR status subgroups. Expression of CMTM6 and PD-L1 in CRC are positively associated with ß-catenin and reliable biomarkers for the prediction of responding to chemotherapy. The expression of ß-catenin/CMTM6/PD-L1 and MMR status may be valuable biomarkers for guiding different treatment strategies in CRC patients.

Role of self-assembled surfactant structure on the spreading of oil on flat solid surfaces.

Uniform spreading of oil on solid surfaces is important in many processes where proper lubrication is required and this can be controlled using surfactants. The role of oil-solid interfacial self-assembled surfactant structure (SASS) in oil spreading is examined in this study for the case of hexadecane-surfactant droplet spreading on a flat horizontal copper surface, with triphenyl phosphorothionate surfactants having varying chain lengths (0 to 9). It is shown that the frictional forces (F(SASS)) as determined by the SASS regulate droplet spreading rate according to surfactant chain length; surfactants with longer chains led to higher reduction in the spreading rate. The extent of such forces, F(SASS), depends on the surfactant density of the evolving SASS, and specific configuration the evolving SASS exhibit as per the orientations of the surfactant chains therein. Thus, F(SASS)=[k(1)+k(2(t))] Γ(δ(t)), where Γ(δ(t)) is the surfactant adsorption density of SASS at time 't' during evolution, and, k(1) and k(2(t)) are the force coefficients for Γ(δ(t)) and orientations (as a function of spreading time) of the surfactant chains respectively. As a SASS evolves/grows along with adsorption of surfactants at the spreading induced fresh interface, the k1Γ(δ(t)) component of F(SASS) increases and contributes to reduction in the net spreading force (S). With a decrease in the net spreading force, the existence of a cross-over period, during which the transition of the spatial dynamics of the chains from disordered to realignment/packing induced ordered orientation occurs, has been inferred from the F(SASS) vs. chain length relationships. Such relationships also suggested that the rate of realignment/packing is increased progressively particularly due the realignment/packing induced decrease in the net spreading force. Therefore, the realignment process is a self-induced process, which spans a measurable period of time (several minutes), the cross-over period, during which the net spreading force decreases essentially due to such self-induced process.

Stresses exerted by ZnO, CeO2 and anatase TiO2 nanoparticles on the Nitrosomonas europaea.

Recent studies have shown that nano-bio interfaces are the most complex and the least understood. Notably, nanotoxicity of these nanoparticles is not even well recognized. In this work, we examined the toxic effects of different nanoparticles on bacteria cells (Nitrosomonas europaea). The four nanoparticles involved are: 25 nm anatase TiO(2), 200 nm anatase TiO(2), ZnO and CeO(2) particles. These particles will have different electrical charges in the cell cultivating media. It has been observed that even with only 4 h of dosing, all of the particles caused apparent morphological damage to the cells. Experimental results suggest that ZnO particles exert the stress on cells by its dissolution and releasing of Zn(2+) ions. The TEM and AUC (analytical ultracentrifuge) result suggest that cells become heavier in presence of CeO(2) and TiO(2) particles. No visible clear intrusions of bulk nanoparticles were observed. However, both the analytical ultracentrifuge and TEM results show that cells are heavier when being damaged.

Imaging and estimating the surface heterogeneity on a droplet containing cosolvents.

Cosolvents have numerous applications in many industries as well as scientific research. The shortage in the knowledge of the structures in a cosolvent system is significant. In this work, we display the spatial as well as the kinetic distribution of the cosolvents using droplets as paradigms. When an alcohol/water-containing sessile droplet evaporates on a substrate, it phase segregates into a water-enriched core and a thin alcohol prevailing shell. This is considered to be due to the different escaping rate of solvents out of the liquid-vapor (l-v) interfaces. In between the core and shell phases, there exists a rough and solid-like liquid-liquid (l-l) wall interface as marked by the fluorescent polystyrene spheres and imaged by a confocal microscope. Holes and patches of beads are observed to form on this phase boundary. The water-dispersed beads prefer to partition within the core. The shell prevails in the droplet during most of the drying and shrinks with the l-v boundary. By monitoring the morphological progression of the droplet, the composition of the cosolvent at the liquid-vapor interface is obtained.

Multicomponent polymer coating to block photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles.

Chemical grafting of anti-oxidant molecules with an additional hydrophobic polymer coating directly onto TiO(2) particle surfaces, using sonochemistry, is found to eliminate photocatalytic degradation enabling highly effective screening against UV radiation.

DNA migration and separation on surfaces with a microscale dielectrophoretic trap array.

We studied the surface migration of DNA chains driven by a dc electric field across localized dielectrophoretic traps. By adjusting the length scale of the trap array, separation of a selected band of DNA was accomplished with a scaling exponent between mobility and number of base pairs similar to that obtained in capillary electrophoresis. We then provided a model, which predicts the trapping and extension of DNA chains at a dielectrophoretic trap responsible for the surface mobility and separation.

Dual-syringe reactive electrospinning of cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogel nanofibers for tissue engineering applications.

A facile fabrication of a cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel nanofibers by a reactive electrospinning method is described. A thiolated HA derivative, 3,3'-dithiobis(propanoic dihydrazide)-modified HA (HA-DTPH), and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) are selected as the cross-linking system. The cross-linking reaction occurs simultaneously during the electrospinning process using a dual-syringe mixing technique. Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) is added into the spinning solution as a viscosity modifier to facilitate the fiber formation and is selectively removed with water after the electrospinning process. The nanofibrous structure of the electrospun HA scaffold is well preserved after hydration with an average fiber diameter of 110 nm. A cell morphology study on fibronectin (FN)-adsorbed HA nanofibrous scaffolds shows that the NIH 3T3 fibroblasts migrate into the scaffold through the nanofibrous network, and demonstrate an elaborate three-dimensional dendritic morphology within the scaffold, which reflects the dimensions of the electrospun HA nanofibers. These results suggest the application of electrospun HA nanofibrous scaffolds as a potential material for wound healing and tissue regeneration. [image: see text] Laser scanning confocal microscopy demonstrates that the NIH3T3 fibroblast develops an extended 3D dendritic morphology within the fibronectin-adsorbed electrospun HA nanofibrous scaffold.

Separation of DNA with different configurations on flat and nanopatterned surfaces.

We demonstrate that electrophoresis on a flat Si substrate is an effective method in separation of DNA with different configurations, e.g., linear, supercoiled, and relaxed or DNA of different length, e.g., supercoiled DNA ladder. The surface separation arises from the different number of contacts due to the conformational differences between adsorbed DNA chains. Imposing a Au nanopattern on the Si surface further improves the separation effect. The simulation of electric field on this patterned surface by the finite element method shows that Au nanodots act as local pinning points for DNA segments due to dielectrophoretic force. The results of molecular dynamics simulation showed that the conformational differences between adsorbed polymer chains were amplified on the patterned surface and enhanced separations were achieved, which are consistent with the experimental results.

Drying of DNA droplets.

The evaporation kinetics of droplets containing DNA was studied, as a function of DNA concentration. Drops containing very low DNA concentrations dried by maintaining a constant base, whereas those with high concentration dried with a constant contact angle. To understand this phenomenon, the distribution of the DNA inside the droplet was measured using confocal microscopy. The results indicated that the DNA was condensed mostly on the surface of the droplets. In the case of high concentration droplets, it formed a shell, whereas isolated islands were found for droplets of low DNA concentrations. Rheologic results indicate the formation of a hydro gel in the low concentration drops, whereas phase separation between the self-assembled DNA structures and the water phase occurred at higher concentration.

Influence of electric field intensity, ionic strength, and migration distance on the mobility and diffusion in DNA surface electrophoresis.

In order to increase the separation rate of surface electrophoresis while preserving the resolution for large DNA chains, e.g., genomic DNA, the mobility and diffusion of Lambda DNA chains adsorbed on flat silicon substrate under an applied electric field, as a function of migration distance, ionic strength, and field intensity, were studied using laser fluorescence microscope. The mobility was found to follow a power law with the field intensity beyond a certain threshold. The detected DNA peak width was shown to be constant with migration distance, slightly smaller with stronger field intensity, but significantly decreased with higher ionic strength. The molecular dynamics simulation demonstrated that the peak width was strongly related with the conformation of DNA chains adsorbed onto surface. The results also implied that there was no diffusion of DNA during migration on surface. Therefore, the Nernst-Einstein relation is not valid in the surface electrophoresis and the separation rate could be improved without losing resolution by decreasing separation distance, increasing buffer concentration, and field intensity. The results indicate the fast separation of genomic DNA chains by surface electrophoresis is possible.

Electrospun three-dimensional hyaluronic acid nanofibrous scaffolds.

A three-dimensional (3D) hyaluronic acid (HA) nanofibrous scaffold was successfully fabricated to mimic the architecture of natural extracellular matrix (ECM) based on electrospinning. Thiolated HA derivative, 3,3'-dithiobis(propanoic dihydrazide)-modified HA (HA-DTPH), was synthesized and electrospun to form 3D nanofibrous scaffolds. In order to facilitate the fiber formation during electrospinning, Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) was added into the aqueous solution of HA-DTPH at an optimal weight ratio of 1:1. The electrospun HA-DTPH/PEO blend scaffold was subsequently cross-linked through poly (ethylene glycol)-diacrylate (PEGDA) mediated conjugate addition. PEO was then extracted in DI water to obtain an electrospun HA-DTPH nanofibrous scaffold. NIH 3T3 fibroblasts were seeded on fibronectin-adsorbed HA-DTPH nanofibrous scaffolds for 24h in vitro. Fluorescence microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy revealed that the 3T3 fibroblasts attached to the scaffold and spread, demonstrating an extended dendritic morphology within the scaffold, which suggests potential applications of HA-DTPH nanofibrous scaffolds in cell encapsulation and tissue regeneration.

Structure and nanomechanical characterization of electrospun PS/clay nanocomposite fibers.

Electrospinning has been emerging as one of the most efficient methods to fabricate polymer nanofibers. In this paper, PS/clay nanocomposite fibers with varying diameters were electrospun onto solid substrates. The fiber diameters were adjusted from 4 microm to 150 nm by changing the solution concentration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to characterize the fiber morphology. Shear modulation force microscopy (SMFM) was utilized to investigate the surface nanomechanical properties of electrospun fibers as a function of the fiber diameter and temperature. In the absence of clay, no change in T(g) was observed, even though a large increase of shear modulus below the glass transition temperature was found. This effect was postulated to result from the molecular chain alignment during electrospinning. The addition of functionalized clays to the spinning solution produced fibers with a highly aligned montmorillonite layer structure at a clay concentration of 4 wt %. Clay agglomerates were observed at higher concentrations. The existence of clay further enhanced the shear modulus of fibers and increased the glass transition temperature by nearly 20 degrees C.

Factors controlling the drop evaporation constant.

In this paper, we discuss the factors affecting drop evaporation. We found that the droplet morphology at a specific temperature was controlled by the physical properties of the liquid itself, such as the molecular weight, density, diffusion coefficient in air, and heat of vaporization. Two processes are included in drop evaporation: diffusion of liquid molecules into the air (diffusion part) and flow of the liquid molecules from inside the drop to the free outer shell liquid layer within the liquid-vapor interface (evaporation part). The diffusion part remained steady during drying and was not sensitive to the variation of temperature. The evaporation part, however, was an active factor and determined the differences in drop evaporation behaviors.