Clinical outcomes of serum potassium in patients with percutaneous coronary intervention: insights from a large single-center registry.

Background: Serum potassium homeostasis plays an important role in myocardial electrical stability, but the impact of altered serum potassium levels on the major adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events (MACCE) in patients with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been evaluated. Aim: To evaluate the association between serum potassium level and the risk of MACCE in PCI patients. Materials and methods: This retrospective study involved 8,263 in-patients from a single-center registry who were successfully treated with PCI between January 2003 and December 2020. Clinical data were collected for 24 h after admission. Data were analyzed from June 2003 to December 2021. The primary outcome was MACCE, defined as a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, revascularization, stroke, and heart failure-related hospitalization. Results: The median [interquartile range (IQR)] follow-up for all patients was 4.0 (2.1, 5.8) years, and 1,632 patients (19.7%) were diagnosed with MACCE. High serum potassium levels were associated with a 20% increased risk of MACCE (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05-1.38, P = 0.008) and 72% increased risk of all-cause death (HR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.39-2.14, P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that the risk of MACCE was higher in patients at the highest quartile of serum potassium (Q4 vs. Q1: adjusted HR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.02-1.35, P = 0.026). Moreover, a higher serum potassium level was always associated with a higher risk of all-cause death (Q4 vs. Q1: adjusted HR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.17-1.91, P = 0.001). A U-shaped relationship between serum potassium levels, MACCE, and all-cause death was derived in patients undergoing PCI. Serum potassium levels, maintained within the range of 3.8-4.0 mmol/L before PCI, exhibited the lowest risk of associated MACCE and all-cause death. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the serum potassium level could be associated with higher risks of MACCE and all-cause death in PCI patients. In particular, serum potassium levels maintained at 3.8-4.0 mmol/L before PCI could lower the risk of MACCE and all-cause death.

Risk stratification algorithm for clinical outcomes in anemic patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: To explore the crosstalk between baseline or visit hemoglobin and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events (MACCE) in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients and to construct risk stratification models to predict MACCE amongst these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort in patients undergoing PCI procedures at Beijing Friendship Hospital between January 2013 and December 2020. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were employed for data analyses. The composite MACCE was the primary endpoint and we used machine learning algorithms to evaluate risk factors associated with MACCE. Model performance was measured using Brier scores and receiver-operating characteristic curves. The association between risk factors and MACCE probability was examined using partial dependency plots. RESULTS: 8,298 PCI-treated patients were enrolled in the study. 1,919 of these patients had anemia. During a four-year median follow-up period, 1,636 patients (19.71%) had MACCE. The visit hemoglobin and hemoglobin change was associated with higher risk of MACCE respectively (visit hemoglobin: hazard ratio [HR]: 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.98-0.99; p < 0.001; hemoglobin change: HR: 0.99; 95%CI: 0.98-0.99; p < 0.001). Gradient Boosting (GB) was the BPM, with a mean C-statistic value of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.76-0.80) for predicting MACCE (Brier score: 0.26). The best indicator for MACCE was a low estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] (71 mL/min/1.73m2) at admission, followed by a high serum HbA1c (6.6%) level. A simple risk tree successfully classified patients (17-40.5%) with increased risks of MACCE. The high- vs. low-risk HR for MACCE was 2.04 (95% CI: 1.48-2.82). CONCLUSIONS: Visit hemoglobin and long-term hemoglobin changes were more predictive of MACCE risk than baseline hemoglobin levels. Our findings indicated that increasing hemoglobin levels might improve the long-term prognosis of anemia patients. We established a new risk stratification model for MACCE, which may more efficiently prioritize targeted screening for at-risk anemic patients undergoing PCI.

Visit hemoglobin and long-term hemoglobin changes predicted the risk of MACCE better than baseline hemoglobin.Patients with anemia will benefit from increasing hemoglobin levels.A new risk stratification model for MACCE was established to identify at-risk anemic patients undergoing PCI.

High-Performance Solar-Blind Ultraviolet Photodetectors Based on ß-Ga2O3 Thin Films Grown on p-Si(111) Substrates with Improved Material Quality via an AlN Buffer Layer Introduced by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition.

We have achieved significantly improved device performance in solar-blind deep-ultraviolet photodetectors fabricated from ß-Ga2O3 thin films grown via metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on p-Si(111) substrates by improving material quality through the use of an AlN buffer layer. High-structural-quality ß-Ga2O3 films with a (-201) preferred orientation are obtained after the introduction of the AlN buffer. Under 3 V bias, the dark current reaches a minimum of 45 fA, and the photo-to-dark current ratio (PDCR) reaches 8.5 × 105 in the photodetector with the metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure. The peak responsivity and detectivity are 38.8 A/W and 2.27 × 1015 cm·Hz1/2/W, respectively, which are 16.5 and 230 times that without the buffer layer. Additionally, benefiting from the introduction of the AlN layer, the photodetection performance of the ß-Ga2O3/AlN/Si heterojunction is significantly improved. The PDCR, peak responsivity, and detectivity for the ß-Ga2O3/AlN/p-Si photodetector at 5 V bias are 2.7 × 103, 11.84 A/W, and 8.31 × 1013 cm·Hz1/2/W, respectively. The improved structural quality of ß-Ga2O3 is mainly attributed to the decreased in-plane lattice mismatch of 2.3% for ß-Ga2O3(-201)/AlN(002) compared to that of 20.83% for ß-Ga2O3(-201)/Si(111), as well as the elimination of the native amorphous SiOx surface layer on the Si substrate during the initial growth of oxide thin films.

Evaluation of metoprolol standard dosing pathway in Chinese patients with acute coronary syndrome: a prospective multicenter single-arm interventional study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of metoprolol standard dosing pathway (MSDP) in Chinese patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: In this multicenter, prospective, open label, single-arm and interventional study that was conducted from February 2018 to April 2019 in fifteen Chinese hospitals. A total of 998 hospitalized patients aged ≥ 18 years and diagnosed with ACS were included. The MSDP was applied to all eligible ACS patients based on the standard treatment recommended by international guidelines. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients achieving the target dose at discharge (V2). The secondary endpoints included the heart rate and blood pressure at V2 and four weeks after discharge (V4), and percentage of patients experiencing bradycardia (heart rate < 50 beats/min), hypotension (blood pressure < 90/60 mmHg) and transient cardiac dysfunction at V2 and V4. RESULTS: Of the 998 patients, 29.46% of patients achieved the target dose (≥ 95 mg/d) at V2. The total population was divided into two groups: target group (patients achieving the target dose at V2) and non-target group (patients not achieving the target dose at V2). There was significant difference in the reduction of heart rate from baseline to discharge in the two groups (-4.97 ± 11.90 beats/min vs. -2.70 ± 9.47 beats/min, P = 0.034). There was no significant difference in the proportion of bradycardia that occurred in the two groups at V2 (0 vs. 0, P = 1.000) and V4 (0.81% vs. 0.33%, P = 0.715). There was no significant difference in the proportion of hypotension between the two groups at V2 (0.004% vs. 0.004%, P = 1.000) and V4 (0 vs. 0.005%, P = 0.560). No transient cardiac dysfunction occurred in two groups during the study. A total of five adverse events (1.70%) and one serious adverse event (0.34%) were related to the pathway in target group. CONCLUSIONS: In Chinese ACS patients, the feasibility and tolerability of the MSDP have been proved to be acceptable.

A high responsivity, high detectivity, and high response speed MSM UVB photodetector based on SnO2 microwires.

We report a high performance UVB photodetector with a metal-semiconductor-metal device structure based on high crystal quality SnO2 microwires prepared by chemical vapor deposition. Under 10 V bias, a low dark current of 3.69 × 10-9 A and a high light-to-dark current ratio of 1630 were achieved. The device showed a high responsivity of about 1353.0 A·W-1 under 322 nm light illumination. The detectivity of the device is as high as 5.4 × 1014 Jones, which ensures the detection of weak signals in the UVB spectral region. Due to the small amount of deep-level defect-induced carrier recombination, the light response rise time and fall time are shorter than 0.08 s.

Rapid Response Solar Blind Deep UV Photodetector with High Detectivity Based On Graphene:N/ßGa2 O3 :N/GaN p-i-n Heterojunction Fabricated by a Reversed Substitution Growth Method.

This work reports a high-detectivity solar-blind deep ultraviolet photodetector with a fast response speed, based on a nitrogen-doped graphene/ßGa2 O3 /GaN p-i-n heterojunction. The i layer of ßGa2 O3 with a Fermi level lower than the central level of the forbidden band of 0.2 eV is obtained by reversed substitution growth with oxygen replacing nitrogen in the GaN matrix, indicating the majority carrier is hole. X-ray diffractometershows that the transformation of GaN into ßGa2 O3 with (-201) preferred orientation at temperature above 900 °C in an oxygen ambient. The heterojunction shows enhanced self-powered solar blind detection ability with a response time of 3.2 µs (rise)/0.02 ms (delay) and a detectivity exceeding 1012 Jones. Under a reverse bias of -5 V, the photoresponsivity is 8.3 A W-1 with a high Ilight /Idark ratio of over 106 and a detectivity of ≈9 × 1014 Jones. The excellent performance of the device is attributed to 1) the continuous conduction band without a potential energy barrier, 2) the larger built-in potential in the heterojunction because of the downward shift of Fermi energy level in ß-Ga2 O3 , and 3) an enhanced built-in electric field in the ßGa2 O3 due to introducing p-type graphene with a high hole concentration of up to ≈1020 cm-3 .

Association of haemoglobin glycation index with outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome: results from an observational cohort study in China.

BACKGROUND: The hemoglobin glycation index (HGI) is the difference between measured and estimated glycation of hemoglobin. However, there is limited evidence to investigate the HGI and the clinical outcomes of acute coronary syndrome patients. This study aimed to evaluate the association between HGI and the clinical outcomes of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in a China cohort. METHOD: This single-center retrospective study was carried out in the Cardiovascular Center of Beijing Friendship Hospital, a total of 11004 consecutive patients with ACS from Dec 2012-Dec 2020 were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into quintiles according to their HGI levels. The incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) was recorded. RESULT: HGI were divided into five quintiles quintiles: -0.906 (-7.188, -0.663), -0.491 (-0.663, -0.343), -0.196 (-0.342, -0.039), 0.170 (-0.039, 0.485), and 1.156 (0.485, 7.875), respectively. Competing risk regression revealed that HGI was positively related to all-cause death, CV death, and composite MACCEs. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis indicated that hypertension (HR:1.109, P = 0.013), previous stroke (HR:1.208, P < 0.001), past PCI (HR: 1.268, P < 0.001), age (HR: 1.011, P < 0.001), BMI (HR: 0.987, P = 0.012), heart rate (HR: 1.004, P = 0.001), NSTEMI (HR: 1.205, P < 0.001), WBC (HR: 1.020, P = 0.008), eGFR (HR: 0.993, P < 0.001), HDL-C (HR: 0.809, P = 0.002), LVEF (HR:0.240, P < 0.001), LM/three-vessel or proximal LAD involved (HR: 1.208 P < 0.001; HR:0.914, P = 0.019, respectively), and antiplatelet agents during hospitalization (HR:0.806, P = 0.020) independently predicted the incidence of MACCEs in ACS patients. Restricted cubic spline indicated a U-shaped association between the HGI and risk of MACCEs. CONCLUSION: Both low HGI and high HGI was associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome, compared with moderate HGI.

Body Mass Index and Long-Term Follow-Up Outcomes in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction by the Median of Non-HDL Cholesterol: Results From an Observational Cohort Study in China.

Background: The association between obesity, non-HDL cholesterol, and clinical outcomes in subjects with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is incompletely understood. The aim of this investigation was to explore the association between body mass index (BMI), non-high density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol, and long-term follow-up prognosis. Methods: This present study used data obtained by the Cardiovascular Center of Beijing Friendship Hospital Database Bank. We identified 3,780 consecutive AMI populations aged 25-93 years from 2013 to 2020. Participants were categorized as normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI <22.9 kg/m2), overweight (23.0 ≤ BMI <24.9 kg/m2), obese class I (25.0 ≤ BMI <29.9 kg/m2), and obese class II (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2). The endpoint of interest was cardiovascular (CV) death, all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, unplanned revascularization, and cardiac hospitalization. Results:Participants with higher BMI were younger and more likely to be males compared with lower BMI groups. Elevated non-HDL cholesterol was present in 8.7, 11.0, 24.3, and 5.9% of the normal, overweight, obese class I, and obese class II groups, respectively. After multivariate adjustment, compared to normal-weight participants with decreased non-HDL cholesterol (reference group), obese participants with and without elevated non-HDL cholesterol had a lower risk of mortality (with obese class I and elevated non-HDL cholesterol: hazard ratio [HR] 0.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.28-0.67; with obese class I and decreased non-HDL cholesterol: HR, 0.68, 95% CI, 0.47-0.98; with obese class II and elevated non-HDL cholesterol: HR, 0.42, 95% CI, 0.20-0.87; with obese class II and decreased non-HDL cholesterol: HR, 0.35, 95% CI, 0.16-0.72). Conclusion: In AMI participants performing with PCI, obesity had a better long-term prognosis which probably unaffected by the level of non-HDL cholesterol.

Acute Myocardial Infarction in Young Men Under 50 Years of Age: Clinical Characteristics, Treatment, and Long-Term Prognosis.

AIM: The prevalence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is increasing in young adults, especially in men. This study aims to compare the characteristics and explore the association between age and clinical outcomes in male adults who first experienced AMI. METHODS: A total of 2737 male patients with AMI were divided into three groups by age: <50, 50-65, and ≥65 years. Clinical characteristics and long-term results (all-cause and cardiac deaths, nonfatal MI, revascularization, nonfatal stroke, cardiac rehospitalization) were identified across different age subgroups. The association between age and the outcomes was assessed by Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: This population was followed up for a median of 36.7 months. Patients <50 years had a lower prevalence of diabetes (19.4%) and previous stroke (1.8%), while they were more often to be smokers (77.1%), obese (26%), dyslipidemia (74.7%), and with the single-vessel disease (16.2%). The risk of cardiovascular and all-cause death in patients ≥65 years was higher than patients <50 years, which was noticed through competing risk regression analysis after adjusting for confounding factors (adjusted HR 3.24; 95% CI 2.26-4.22, p=0.020 for cardiovascular death, adjusted HR 4.17; 95% CI 1.91-9.10, p<0.001 for all-cause death). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, although men who suffered from first AMI under the age of 50 had lower mortality, they had a higher burden of modifiable traditional risk factors. The management of modifiable lifestyles should be addressed to all young AMI patients.

Predictive Effect of Renal Function on Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults With Acute Myocardial Infarction: Results From an Observational Cohort Study in China.

Background: The impact of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) on the risk of death and cardiovascular events in individuals with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is less well established, particularly in the old Chinese population. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of eGFR with clinical outcomes among older subjects with AMI. We further developed a nomogram for the prediction of 1- and 3-year survival in this population. Methods: A cohort of 2,366 AMI subjects aged over 60 years in 2013-2020 were enrolled in the Cardiovascular Center of Beijing Friendship Hospital Database (CBD) Bank. Outcomes including cardiovascular (CV) death, all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), non-fatal stroke, revascularization, and cardiac rehospitalization were collected overall and by eGFR category at baseline. eGFR was estimated by the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation (CKD-EPI). Subjects were categorized into four groups according to quartiles of eGFR: ≤ 63.02, 63.03-78.45, 78.46-91.50, >91.51 ml/min/1.73 m2. Hazard ratios (HRs), corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) as well as the nomogram were assessed using Cox regression models. Validation of the nomogram was estimated by discrimination and calibration. Results: Incidence rates and multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios of CV and all-cause death decreased significantly across quartiles of eGFR over a median follow-up time of 36.7 months. In adjusted analysis, compared with eGFR ≤ 63.02 ml/min/1.73 m2, patients with eGFR of 63.03-78.45, 78.46-91.50, >91.51 ml/min/1.73 m2 experienced decreased risks of CV death [respective HRs of 0.58 (95% CI, 0.38-0.90), 0.61 (95% CI, 0.38-0.99), and 0.48 (95% CI, 0.25-0.90); all p < 0.05] and all-cause death [respective HRs of 0.64 (95% CI, 0.47-0.88), 0.61 (95% CI, 0.42-0.88), and 0.54 (95% CI, 0.35-0.84); all p < 0.05]. Age, eGFR quartiles, BMI, glycated hemoglobin, LVEF, LM/multi-vessel disease, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) prescribed at discharge were associated with all-cause death. The developed model predicted 1- and 3-year probability of survival, which performed well in both discrimination and calibration. Conclusion: In older patients with AMI, early identification of eGFR reduced and cardiovascular risks management may prevent poor clinical outcomes.

An ultrahigh responsivity self-powered solar-blind photodetector based on a centimeter-sized ß-Ga2O3/polyaniline heterojunction.

Wide band gap semiconductors are promising UV photodetector materials due to their suitable bandgap, high crystal quality, strong absorption and large carrier mobility. Up to now, deep UV photodetectors are mainly based on epitaxial thin films, which have some undesired properties such as p-type doping difficulty. Lattice mismatch hinders the further development of these devices. Here, a high performance self-powered solar-blind UV photodetector was realized by a facile combination of a centimeter-sized single crystal ß-Ga2O3 microwire and polyaniline. Owing to the excellent organic/inorganic hybrid p-n junction, the device shows an ultrahigh responsivity of 21 mA W-1 at 246 nm with a sharp cut-off wavelength of 272 nm without an external power supply. Moreover, the dark current is 0.08 pA, which is smaller than those of almost all the previous metallic oxide based solar-blind UV photodetectors. The photodetector also shows a high UV/visible rejection ratio (102) at zero bias voltage. Finally, a physical model of the self-powered photodetector is also proposed. This work provides a simple, low-cost, and effective method for preparing high performance self-powered solar-blind UV photodetectors based on organic/inorganic heterojunctions.

Autoimmune Diseases May Increase Adverse Cardiovascular Events After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Outcomes of patients with autoimmune diseases after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), as compared to those without autoimmune disease, remain unclear. METHODS: We searched Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from their inception to 1 April 2017. All studies comparing the following outcomes of patients with and without autoimmune diseases after PCI were included: long-term mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), repeat revascularisation, myocardial ischaemia or myocardial infarction (MI), restenosis, and in-hospital mortality. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) and the quality assessment form of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (USA) (AHRQ) were used for assessing the risk of bias, and the certainty of evidence was rated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). RESULTS: A total of 11 studies were included in our analysis. Compared with patients without autoimmune diseases, those with autoimmune diseases carried an increased risk of MACEs (relative risk (RR): 2.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20-4.16; heterogeneity: p=0.128, I2=56.9%), repeat revascularisation (RR: 1.66, 95% CI 95%: 1.01-2.72; heterogeneity: p=0.057, I2=65.1%), ischaemia or MI (RR: 2.80, 95% CI: 1.38-5.65; heterogeneity: p=0.871, I2=0.0%), and restenosis (RR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.39-3.07; heterogeneity: p=0.665, I2=0.0%) during the one-year follow-up after PCI, and carried an increased risk of MACEs (RR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.04-1.17) and death (RR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.25-1.51) during the 11-year follow-up after PCI. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence of very low quality showed that during the one-year follow-up period, patients with autoimmune diseases after PCI were more likely to experience MACEs, repeat revascularisation, myocardial ischaemia or MI, and restenosis. During the 11-year follow-up period, patients with autoimmune diseases after PCI were more likely to die. It is therefore important to watch for restenosis, repeat ischaemia or MI and other adverse events more carefully in patients with autoimmune diseases after PCI.

Left ventricular filling pressure assessed by exercise TDI was correlated with early HFNEF in patients with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients are more susceptible to suffer from heart failure with normal ejection fraction (HFNEF). Therefore, it is critical to evaluate the relationship between left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP) and HFNEF, even if a large proportion of HCM patients have normal LVFP at rest. The objective was to assess the correlation between exercise tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and early HFNEF in HCM patients by treadmill exercise echocardiography combined with cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). METHOD: Twenty-seven non-obstructive HCM patients and 31 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent treadmill exercise echocardiography combined with CPET. N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels were analyzed before and after exercise. RESULT: Five HCM patients had normal LVFP at rest and increased after exercise. For this subgroup, the relationship between minute ventilation and carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2 slope) and NT-proBNP levels were higher compared with controls and the subgroup with normal resting and stress LVFP, but was similar to the subgroup with elevated LVFP both at rest and after exercise. CONCLUSION: Elevated LVFP after exercise suggested the occurrence of early HFNEF in patients with non-obstructive HCM.

Transcription factor Snai1-1 induces osteosarcoma invasion and metastasis by inhibiting E-cadherin expression.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a type of primary malignant bone tumor with a high propensity for local recurrence and distant metastasis. A previous study showed Snail-1 is highly expressed in OS cells. The present study aimed to investigate the association between the transcription factor Snai1 and E-cadherin in OS. SaOS2 OS cells were transfected either with a plasmid expressing short hairpin RNA (shRNA) specific for the Snai1-1 gene (SaOS2-shRNA) or a negative control plasmid (SaOS2-Mock). The expression levels of E-cadherin and Snai1-1 in the transfected and control cells were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. In addition, the study was extended to evaluate the migratory and invasive properties of the cells through a Transwell experiment. The results show that E-cadherin was expressed at a high level in the SaOS2-shRNA cells, which were much less migratory and invasive than the control cells. Overexpression of Snai1-1 in OS is associated with tumor progression, possibly through the suppression of E-cadherin expression and induction of the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, which contributes to the proceeding invasion and metastasis of OS cells.

ZnCdSe/ZnCdMgSe quantum well infrared photodetector.

We report the design, fabrication and characterization of a II-VI Zn(0.51)Cd(0.49)Se / Zn_{0.45(Cd)0.42(Mg)(0.13)Se-based quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) with a bound to quasi-bound transition centered at 8.7 µm. The good growth quality of the epitaxial layers was verified by x-ray diffraction measurements. Absorption and photocurrent measurements yield results consistent with conventional III-V QWIPs. Photocurrent measurements reveal an exponential decrease with temperature. In addition, we also observe more than 4 orders of magnitude increase in photocurrent with applied bias. By compensating the drop in temperature performance with an increase in applied bias, we achieve an operating temperature of up to 140K and a responsivity of 1-10 µA/W.}

Overexpression of ZEB1 relates to metastasis and invasion in osteosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the expression of ZEB1 in osteosarcoma tissues and to discuss the relationship between ZEB1 expression and osteosarcoma metastasis. METHODS: Using RT-PCR and Western blotting, the mRNA and protein expressions of ZEB1 in the osteosarcoma and normal bone tissues were detected. Using the RNA interference technique, the expression of ZEB1 in the human osteosarcoma MG-63 cell line was downregulated, and the changes in the invasion of MG-63 cells were examined. RESULTS: The positive mRNA expression rate of ZEB1 in the osteosarcoma tissues was significantly higher than that in normal bone tissue (P < 0.05). The protein expression level of ZEB1 in the sarcoma tissues from patients with positive lung metastasis was significantly higher than that from patients without lung metastasis (P < 0.05). After the transfection of ZEB1 siRNA into the MG-63 cells, the protein expression of ZEB1 was significantly reduced (P < 0.05), and the number of cells that passed through the Transwell chamber was significantly lower than that in the non-transfected control group as well as the transfected control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The overexpression of ZEB1 in osteosarcoma may be related to the carcinogenesis and development as well as metastasis and invasion of osteosarcoma.

Snail-1 regulates VDR signaling and inhibits 1,25(OH)-D3 action in osteosarcoma.

Previous research has shown that vitamin D could suppress proliferation, migration and invasion of cancers, but the effects of vitamin D may be related to the expression of Snail-1, which could inhibit the expression of the vitamin-D gene receptor (VDR). Snail-1 is overexpressed in osteosarcoma, this study was conducted to determine whether inhibiting Snail-1 could increase the role of vitamin D as an anti- osteosarcoma agent. We used stable transfection of the SaOS2 cell line as in vitro model to study the effect of 1,25(OH)-D3, which is the most active metabolite of vitamin D. The in vitro antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic and inhibiting of invasion effects were examined. The effects of 1,25(OH)-D3 on the expression of ß-catenin signaling pathways were also studied. Then in vivo antiproliferative effect of 1,25(OH)-D3 was also detected in nude mice injected with either mock-infected or Snail-1 SaOS2 cells. We found that inhibition of Snail-1 signaling by transfection could increase the expression of VDR, enhance the anti-proliferative activity of 1,25(OH)-D3 in osteosarcoma cells, and induce apoptosis and lower invasion in vitro. The effect of 1,25(OH)-D3 was also associated with decreased expression of ß-catenin signaling, which is related to VDR signaling. In vivo, the effect of antiproliferative was higher in mice injected with either Snail-1-infected cells than with mock-infected cells. Our findings suggest that canonical Snail-1/VDR/ß-catenin signaling reflects an important underlying mechanism of osteosarcoma progression. Therefore, strategies to suppress Snail-mediated signaling may lead to the better action of 1,25(OH)-D3 as an anti osteosarcoma treatment.

Baseline susceptibility of the diamondback moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) to chlorantraniliprole in China.

Diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), has evolved resistance to various kinds of insecticides in the field. Chlorantraniliprole, which is a new pesticide of the anthranilic diamide group, provides potent and broad-spectrum activity within the insect order Lepidoptera. This insecticide provides a new option for control of P. xylostella populations resistant to other chemicals. The susceptibility of 16 field populations and seven laboratory maintained strains of P. xylostella to chlorantraniliprole were determined through leaf dip bioassay. The susceptibility variation among 16 field populations was low (five-fold), with median lethal concentrations (LC50 values) varying from 0.221 to 1.104 mg/liter. However, wider ranges of variation in LC50 values (10-fold) were observed among seven laboratory strains. Low level tolerance (six- to 10-fold) was detected in two laboratory-selected strains and three field-collected populations when compared with the susceptible Roth strain. A discriminating concentration (15 mg/liter) was calibrated from pooled toxicological data of the 16 field populations, as an important first step in resistance management, for the routine monitoring of resistance in the future. When assessed at the established discriminating dose 15 mg/liter, seven laboratory strains and five field populations showed an average mortality of 99.75% (from 98 to 100%). Synergism assays showed metabolic enzymes might be involved in chlorantraniliprole detoxification in the susceptible Roth strain, but not in the additional observed tolerance of strains selected for resistance with other insecticides.