[Mortality and cause of death of hospitalized neonates in Weifang, China: a multicenter study]. / æ½åŠå¸‚ä½é™¢æ–°ç”Ÿå„¿ç— æ­»çŽ‡åŠæ­»äº¡åŽŸå› çš„å¤šä¸­å¿ƒç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To study the changes in the mortality rate and cause of death of hospitalized neonates in grade A tertiary hospitals in Weifang City of Shandong Province during a 10-year period. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 461 neonates who died in three grade A tertiary hospitals in Weifang City of Shandong Province from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2021. The related clinical data were collected to examine the changes of neonatal mortality with time, gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW). The main causes of death of the neonates were compared between the first 5 years (2012-2016) and the last 5 years (2017-2021) in the period. RESULTS: A total of 43 037 neonates were admitted from 2012 to 2021, among whom 461 died, resulting in a mortality rate of 1.07%. The mortality rate in the last 5 years was significantly lower than that in the first 5 years [0.96% (211/22 059 vs 1.19% (250/20 978); P<0.05]. The mortality rate of neonates decreased with the increases in GA and BW (P<0.05). In the first 5 years, the top three main causes of neonatal death were respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), sepsis, and pneumorrhagia, while in the last 5 years, the top three causes were sepsis, pneumorrhagia, and RDS. The leading cause of death was severe asphyxia for the neonates with a GA of <26 weeks and a BW of <750 g in both the first and last 5 years. For the neonates with a GA of 26-<28 weeks, the leading cause of death changed from RDS in the first 5 years to pneumorrhagia in the last 5 years. For the neonates with a BW of 750-<1 000 g, the leading cause of death changed from pneumorrhagia in the first 5 years to RDS in the last 5 years. For the neonates with a GA of 28-<32 weeks and a BW of 1 000-<1 500 g, the leading cause of death was RDS in both the first and last 5 years. For the neonates with a GA of 32-<37 weeks and a BW of 1 500-<2 500 g, the leading cause of death changed from RDS in the first 5 years to sepsis in the last 5 years. The leading cause of death was sepsis for the neonates with a GA of 37-<42 weeks and a BW of 2 500-<4 000 g in both the first and last 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: The mortality rate of neonates in the grade A tertiary hospitals in Weifang City of Shandong Province has been decreasing in the past 10 years, and it decreases with the increases in GA and BW. Sepsis, RDS, and pneumorrhagia are the leading causes of neonatal death. The mortality rate caused by RDS decreases from the first 5 years to the last 5 years, while the mortality rate caused by sepsis or pneumorrhagia increases from the first 5 years to the last 5 years. Therefore, reducing the incidence rates of sepsis, RDS, and pneumorrhagia is the key to reducing neonatal mortality.

Application of intervention of information motivation behavior skill (IMB) model in the cardiac rehabilitation of patients with coronary heart disease.

Objectives: To explore the effects of information motivation behavior skill (IMB) model in the cardiac rehabilitation of patients with coronary heart disease. Methods: We analyzed data from medical records of patients with coronary heart disease who had received cardiac rehabilitation treatment in the Department of Cardiology of our hospital from April 2019 to May 2021. Data from 52 patients who had received routine nursing rehabilitation (Mode-I) and 56 patients that received IMB model-oriented nursing rehabilitation (Mode-II) was included. We calculated indexes of cardiopulmonary function, physical fitness, and nursing satisfaction, and self-efficacy scores (GSEs) before and three months after the intervention for patients in the two rehabilitation groups. Results: We found similar LVEFs, SVs, anaerobic thresholds, peak oxygen uptake scores, PEFs, and FVCs in patients undergoing either of the two rehabilitation modes before the interventions (P>0.05). However, these indexes were significantly higher in patients undergoing Mode-II rehabilitation after the intervention, compared to Mode-I group (P<0.05). We found similar aerobic endurances, upper limb and lower limb muscle strengths in patients undergoing either method before the intervention (P>0.05). After the treatment, these parameters were higher in the Mode-II group compared to Mode-I group (P<0.05). The scores of daily life behavior management, cognitive symptom management, and disease management between the two groups were similar before the intervention (P>0.05). After the intervention, patients undergoing Mode-II rehabilitation had significantly higher values than patients in the Mode-I group (P<0.05). The nursing satisfaction of the patients in the Mode-II group (94.64%) was significantly higher than that of patients in the Mode-I group (80.77%) (P<0.05). Conclusion: IMB model intervention measures can improve cardiopulmonary function and physical fitness, and enhance the patients' self-efficacy, resulting in high nursing satisfaction.

Effect of hope therapy on fertility stress and pregnancy rate in infertile patients undergoing intrauterine insemination.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of hope therapy on fertility stress and pregnancy rate in infertile patients undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI). METHODS: In this retrospective study, 180 infertile patients undergoing IUI during May 2017 and October 2019 were enrolled and grouped into a study group (n=90) receiving hope therapy and control group (n=90) receiving routine infertility care. The two groups were compared in terms of anxiety and depression, scores of Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI), scores of coping style, social support before and after intervention, and post-intervention hormone levels. RESULTS: (1) Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) scores showed no significant difference in both groups before intervention (P>0.05). After intervention, the study group exhibited lower scores of HAMA and HAMD than the control group (P<0.05). (2) The two groups showed no significant difference in FPI scale scores before intervention (P>0.05). After intervention, the study group exhibited lower scores of FPI than the control group (P<0.05). (3) The two groups had no significant difference in negative coping and positive coping scores before intervention (P>0.05). After intervention, the study group had lower negative coping scores and higher positive coping scores than the control group (P<0.05). (4) After intervention, the study group showed lower scores of obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensibility, depression, and anxiety, and significantly higher proportion of patients with SCL-90 positive factors regarding depression and anxiety than the control group (P<0.05). (5) The study group showed higher serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) than the control group after intervention (P<0.05). (6) The study group had a higher pregnancy rate than the control group at 6 months' follow-up (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Hope therapy for infertile patients undergoing IUI can help improve their adverse mood, improve their fertility attitude, and improve pregnancy rate while decreasing the scores of depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive factors.

The effects of comprehensive nursing intervention on the negative emotions of patients with infertility.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of comprehensive nursing intervention (CNI) on the negative emotions of patients with infertility. METHODS: A total of 132 patients were recruited as the study cohort and randomly divided into an observation group (n=62) and a control group (n=70). The patients in both groups underwent routine treatment and nursing. In addition, the patients in the observation group were administered CNI. The quality of life (QOL) scores and depression levels of all the patients were evaluated after the intervention. RESULTS: Before the CNI, the QOL scores and the anxiety and depression levels showed no significant differences between two the groups (P>0.05). After the intervention, the observation group showed much higher mild-depression and non-depression levels, higher mild-anxiety and non-anxiety levels and higher QOL and physiological function scores than the control group (all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: CNI has an effect on the negative emotions of patients with infertility.

CircASXL1 Knockdown Restrains Hypoxia-Induced DDP Resistance and NSCLC Progression by Sponging miR-206.

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is a primary prevalent type of cancer in people worldwide. Cisplatin (DDP) has been widely used to treat NSCLC; however, its curative effect was restrained under hypoxia. In this study, the effects of hypoxia treatment on DDP resistance and NSCLC progression and underneath mechanism were revealed. METHODS: The expression of circular RNA ASXL1 (circASXL1) and microRNA-206 (miR-206) in NSCLC tissues, cells and hypoxia-mediated NSCLC cells was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The expression of proliferation, metastasis and apoptosis-related proteins, drug resistance-related protein and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α) protein was detected by Western blot. The effects of circASXL1 knockdown on hypoxia-induced DDP resistance and NSCLC progression were revealed by cell counting kit-8 proliferation (CCK-8), cell colony formation, transwell and flow apoptosis assays. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay was performed to determine whether circASXL1 could form silence-inducing complexes with miRNA. The associated relationship between circASXL1 and miR-206 was predicted by circBank online database, and identified by RNA pull-down and dual-luciferase reporter assays. The effects between circASXL1 knockdown and miR-206 downregulation on tumor growth in vivo were investigated by in vivo tumor formation assay. RESULTS: CircASXL1 expression was dramatically upregulated, whereas miR-206 was significantly down-regulated in NSCLC tissues, cells and hypoxia-mediated NSCLC cells as compared to control groups. CircASXL1 knockdown reversed hypoxia-mediated promotion effects on DDP resistance, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and inhibition impact on cell apoptosis, whereas these effects were restored by miR-206 inhibitor. Additionally, circASXL1 was found to form silence-inducing complexes with miRNA and act as a sponge of miR-206. CircASXL1 silencing downregulated HIF-1α expression by controlling miR-206 expression. Furthermore, circASXL1 silencing repressed tumor growth in vivo by sponging miR-206. CONCLUSION: CircASXL1 knockdown inhibited DDP resistance, cell proliferation, migration and invasion, whereas induced cell apoptosis under hypoxia by associating with miR-206 in NSCLC. This study provides a new sight in treating NSCLC with DDP under hypoxia.

Matrine Regulates Proliferation, Apoptosis, Cell Cycle, Migration, and Invasion of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells Through the circFUT8/miR-944/YES1 Axis.

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is the major histological subtype of cancer cases. In the present study, we investigated the association between Matrine, an active component of Chinese medicine, and circFUT8 in NSCLC cells. METHODS: The proliferation ability of NSCLC cells was assessed by MTT and colony-forming assays. Flow cytometry assay was performed to show the apoptosis and cell cycle distribution in NSCLC cells. The protein expression levels of Bcl-2, Cleaved Caspase-3 (C-Caspase3), and YES proto-oncogene 1 (YES1) were measured by Western blot assay. Migration and invasion of NSCLC cells were determined by transwell assay. The expression levels of circFUT8, miR-944 and YES1 were quantified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay. The interaction relationship between miR-944 and circFUT8 or YES1 was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The anti-tumor role of Matrine in vivo was explored by a xenograft experiment. RESULTS: Matrine functioned as a carcinoma inhibitor by repressing proliferation, cell cycle process, migration, and invasion while inducing apoptosis in NSCLC cells. Importantly, overexpression of circFUT8 counteracted Matrine-induced effects on NSCLC cells. MiR-944, interacted with YES1, was a target of circFUT8. Under Matrine condition, overexpression of circFUT8 increased proliferation, migration, and invasion while inhibited apoptosis, which was abolished by the upregulation of miR-944. Whereas the silencing of YES1 counteracted miR-944 inhibitor-induced effects on NSCLC cells. Eventually, we also confirmed that Matrine impeded NSCLC tumor growth in vivo. CONCLUSION: Matrine regulated proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration, and invasion of NSCLC cells through the circFUT8/miR-944/YES1 axis, which provided novel information for Matrine in NSCLC.

Circular RNA circ_0005774 contributes to proliferation and suppresses apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia cells via circ_0005774/miR-192-5p/ULK1 ceRNA pathway.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) have been emerging as new players in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Hsa_circ_0005774 (circ_0005774) is an upregulated circRNA in pediatric AML, while its role is uncovered. Thus, we intended to measure the function and mechanism of circ_0005774 in AML leukemogenesis. Real time-quantitative PCR revealed that circ_0005774 was highly expressed in blood of pediatric AML patients and AML cells (HL-60 and NB4), accompanied with downregulated miRNA-192-5p (miR-192-5p) which was a crucial tumor-associated and leukemia-related miRNA. Circ_0005774 was abundant in miRNA response element according to CSCD software, and miR-192-5p was identified as a target of circ_0005774, as evidenced by RNA immunoprecipitation and dual-luciferase reporter assays. Cell viability assay, flow cytometry and western blotting were performed to measure cell functions. Accordingly, blocking circ_0005774 and/or overexpressing miR-192-5p could enhance apoptosis rate of HL-60 and NB4 cells, but suppress cell viability and cell cycle entrance, accompanied with depression of proliferation markers including proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), CyclinD1 and B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2). Meanwhile, depleting miR-192-5p counteracted the role of circ_0005774 knockdown in AML cells. Uncoordinated 51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) was previously demonstrated to be associated with diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic strategy for AML, and restoring ULK1 could abrogate miR-192-5p overexpression-induced effects in HL-60 and NB4 cells. Notably, ULK1 was a downstream target of miR-192-5p and indirectly modulated by circ_0005774. In conclusion, circ_0005774 knockdown repressed cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis of AML cells partially through regulating miR-192-5p/ULK1 axis.

MiR-194-5p serves as a potential biomarker and regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of hippocampus neuron in children with temporal lobe epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study is to explore the expression level and the clinical significance of miR-194-5p to the children with temporal lobe epilepsy, and investigate its functions in regulating cell behaviors of hippocampal neurons. METHODS: The expression level of miR-194-5p was detected in the serum of 59 temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) children and 63 healthy children. To further study the role of miR-194-5p in the development of TLE in children, the epileptiform discharge model was established in rat hippocampal neurons to mimic TLE conditions in children. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the ROC curve were established to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum microRNAs to the differentiation of the TLE group and healthy group. The influence of miR-194-5p on the proliferation and apoptosis of hippocampus neurons was examined by using MTT and flow cytometric apoptosis assay. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to confirm the target gene of miR-194-5p. RESULTS: The result demonstrated that miR-194-5p was significantly dysregulated in plasma of TLE patients. Analysis of ROCs showed that the miR-194-5p had high specificity and sensitivity in the diagnosis of the TLE in children. The expression of miR-194-5p was found to increase in the hippocampal cells cultured in the magnesium-free medium through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Hyper-expressed of miR-194-5p reversed TLE-induced reduction for the cell viability, and inhibited the cell apoptosis induced by TLE. Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) was proved to be a direct target gene of miR-194-5p. CONCLUSION: MiR-194-5p is a likely potential biomarker and treatment target of TLE in children. IGF1R might be involved in the regulatory role of miR-194-5p in hippocampus neuron apoptosis.

Pneumatic separation for crushed spent lithium-ion batteries.

Pneumatic separation was used to separate the valuable current collectors and harmful separators in spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to avoid the plastic pollution caused by the separators in this study. Theoretical calculations for suspension velocities of the current collectors and separators indicate that they could be separated under special conditions. Furthermore, a special Z-shaped pneumatic separator was used to separate the current collectors and separators for the first time. Experiments for manually cut samples indicate that the efficiency of pneumatic separation is approximately 100% with the sizes and airflow velocities in the range of 3-4 cm and 6.96-7.8 m/s, respectively. Furthermore, industrial experiments of pneumatic separation indicate that the recoveries of the current collectors and separators are approximately 99.23% and 98.64%, respectively. Computer simulations of the separation process indicate that the turbulence and the changes in high-speed zones in the pneumatic separator benefit the separation of current collectors and separators. In conclusion, pneumatic separation is a promising technology to separate crushed current collectors and separators.

Circ_0085296 suppresses trophoblast cell proliferation, invasion, and migration via modulating miR-144/E-cadherin axis.

BACKGROUND: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been revealed to be important regulators in the biological behavior of cells, and aberrant circRNAs may be associated with the etiology of pre-eclampsia (PE). However, the role and underlying molecular mechanisms of circ_0085296 in PE remain unclear. METHODS: The expression of circ_0085296, microRNA (miR)-144, and E-cadherin was detected using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot, respectively. Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were analyzed by cell counting kit-8, colony formation and transwell assay. The interaction between miR-144 and circ_0085296 or E-cadherin was analyzed by the dual-luciferase reporter assay and pull-down assay. RESULTS: Circ_0085296 was elevated in PE placental tissues, knockdown of circ_0085296 promoted trophoblast cell proliferation, invasion, and migration, while circ_0085296 up-regulation showed opposite effects. MiR-144 was down-regulated in PE placental tissues, and restoration of miR-144 induced proliferation, invasion, and migration in trophoblast cells. Further mechanistic analysis found miR-144 directly bound to circ_0085296 and E-cadherin, and circ_0085296 functioned as a sponge of miR-144 to regulate E-cadherin expression. Furthermore, miR-144 inhibition or E-cadherin overexpression attenuated the effectsof circ_0085296 on cell processes in trophoblast cells. CONCLUSION: Circ_0085296 inhibited trophoblast cell proliferation, invasion, and migration via regulating miR-144/E-cadherin axis, providing a novel insight into the pathogenesis of PE and a new prospective therapeutic target for PE patients.

Icariin sustains the proliferation and differentiation of Aß25-35-treated hippocampal neural stem cells via the BDNF-TrkB-ERK/Akt signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVES: Icariin (ICA) can be potentially used to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the mechanism was not clear. The current study explored the effects of ICA on hippocampal neural stem cells, aiming to provide a comprehensive basis for its clinical application. METHODS: Hippocampal neural stem cells were isolated from newborn rats and their differentiation ability was evaluated by performing immunofluorescence staining. Next, Aß cell model was constructed by treating the cells with Aß25-35, and then the model was further treated by ICA or shBDNF or the two in combination. The viability and differentiation of the cells were, respectively, analyzed by 3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) and flow cytometry. The expression of BDNF-TrkB-ERK/Akt signaling pathway was assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) or Western blot (WB). RESULTS: The hippocampal neural stem cells can differentiate into neurons and astrocytes. ICA effectively promoted the viability and differentiation of Aß cell models. The expression levels of BDNF and TrkB in Aß cell models were obviously decreased, which were noticeably increased by ICA. Moreover, BDNF knockdown further inhibited the viability and differentiation of Aß model cells, which could be reversed by ICA. BDNF knockdown not only suppressed the expressions of BDNF and TrkB in Aß cell models but also effectively prevented the phosphorylation of ERK/Akt; however, these phenomena were significantly alleviated by ICA treatment. DISCUSSION: ICA promoted the proliferation and differentiation of Aß25-35-treated hippocampal neural stem cells through BDNF-TrkB-ERK/Akt signaling pathway. The current findings might contribute to the treatment of AD.

Antagonizing effect of icaritin on apoptosis and injury of hippocampal neurocytes induced by amyloid beta via GR/BDNF signaling pathway.

Purpose: Amyloid beta is the main component of senile plaques deposited in the hippocampus of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), with neurotoxicity and pro-apoptotic characteristics. Icaritin (ICA) has been found to have the properties of plerosis, regeneration, and anti-apoptosis in the neurocytes, its effects on Aß-induced hippocampal neurocytes were studied in this research.Methods: Different concentrations of Aß25-35 were used to treat mouse hippocampal neuron HT22 cells to determine the optimal concentration for constructing AD model; different concentrations of ICA were used to pretreat HT22 cells to explore their effects on cell activity. Cell injury was evaluated by measuring the viability and apoptosis of HT22 cells using MTT assay, and Annexin V/PI and Hoechst 33342 staining, respectively. Western blot and qPCR were performed to detect the expressions of glucocorticoid receptor (GR), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and apoptosis-related factors. Oxidative stress was assessed by the biochemical analysis of Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and superoxidase dismutase (SOD) activity.Results: Aß25-35 inhibited the viability of HT22 cells and the expression of GR and BDNF in HT22 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. ICA at 20 µmol/L (ICA20) the most significantly increased the viability of HT22 cells and the expressions of GR and BDNF in HT22 cells. ICA20 increased viability, inhibited apoptosis and LDH release, promoted SOD activity and the expressions of GR, BDNF and Bcl-2, and inhibited the expressions of Bax and C Caspase-3 in AD. More importantly, shRNA-GR reversed the positive effects of ICA20 on AD.Conclusions: ICA protected hippocampal neurocytes against Aß25-35 via GR/BDNF signaling pathway.

[Risk factors for elevated serum total bile acid in preterm infants].

OBJECTIVE: To study the risk factors for elevated serum total bile acid (TBA) in preterm infants. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 216 preterm infants who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. According to the presence or absence of elevated TBA (TBA >24.8 µmol/L), the preterm infants were divided into elevated TBA group with 53 infants and non-elevated TBA group with 163 infants. A univariate analysis and an unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the risk factors for elevated TBA. RESULTS: The univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences between the elevated TBA group and the non-elevated TBA group in gestational age at birth, birth weight, proportion of small-for-gestational-age infants, proportion of infants undergoing ventilator-assisted ventilation, fasting time, parenteral nutrition time, and incidence of neonatal respiratory failure and sepsis (P<0.05). The unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that low birth weight (OR=3.84, 95%CI: 1.53-9.64) and neonatal sepsis (OR=2.56, 95%CI: 1.01-6.47) were independent risk factors for elevated TBA in preterm infants. CONCLUSIONS: Low birth weight and neonatal sepsis may lead to elevated TBA in preterm infants.

Investigating Random Linear Coding from a Pricing Perspective.

In this paper, we study the implications of using a form of network coding known as Random Linear Coding (RLC) for unicast communications from an economic perspective by investigating a simple scenario, in which several network nodes, the users, download files from the Internet via another network node, the sender, and the receivers as users pay a certain price to the sender for this service. The mean packet delay for a transmission scheme with RLC is analyzed and applied into an optimal pricing model to characterize the optimal admission rate, price and revenue. The simulation results show that RLC achieves better performance in terms of both mean packet delay and revenue compared to the basic retransmission scheme.

[Diagnostic value and influencing factors for amplitude-integrated EEG in brain injury in preterm infants].

OBJECTIVE: To study the diagnostic value and influencing factors for amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) in brain injury in preterm infants. METHODS: One hundred and sixteen preterm infants with a gestational age (GA) between 27 weeks and 36(+6) weeks were enrolled as subjects. The aEEG scores of all preterm infants were obtained within 6 hours after birth. According to the diagnostic results, the 116 preterm infants were divided into two groups: brain injury (n=63) and non-brain injury (n=53). The risk factors for brain injury were evaluated using logistic regression analysis. According to the aEEG results, the 116 preterm infants were divided into two groups: normal aEEG (n=58) and abnormal aEEG (n=58). The influencing factors for aEEG results in preterm infants were determined using univariate analysis. RESULTS: The brain injury group had a significantly higher rate of abnormal aEEG than the non-brain injury group (83% vs 11%; P<0.05). The infants in the brain injury group from two different GA subgroups (27-33(+6) weeks and 34-36(+6) weeks) had significantly lower aEEG scores than the non-brain injury group from corresponding GA subgroups (P<0.01). Logistic regression analysis showed that low GA (<32 weeks), low birth weight (<1 500 g), abnormal placenta, fetal membranes, and umbilical cord, and hypertension during pregnancy were high-risk factors for brain injury (P<0.05). There were significant differences in GA, birth weight, abnormal placenta, fetal membranes, and umbilical cord, and hypertension during pregnancy between the normal and abnormal aEEG groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors for brain injury are consistent with the influencing factors for aEEG results in preterm infants, suggesting that aEEG contributes to the early diagnosis of brain injury.

Enhancing blue luminescence from Ce-doped ZnO nanophosphor by Li doping.

Undoped ZnO, Ce-doped ZnO, and (Li, Ce)-codoped ZnO nanophosphors were prepared by a sol-gel process. The effects of the additional doping with Li ions on the crystal structure, particle morphology, and luminescence properties of Ce-doped ZnO were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The results indicate that the obtained samples are single phase, and a nanorod shaped morphology is observed for (Li, Ce)-codoping. Under excitation with 325 nm light, Ce-doped ZnO phosphors show an ultraviolet emission, a green emission, and a blue emission caused by Zn interstitials. The spectrum of the sample codoped with a proper Li concentration features two additional emissions that can be attributed to the Ce(3+) ions. With the increase of the Li doping concentration, the Ce(3+) blue luminescence of (Li, Ce)-codoped ZnO is obviously enhanced, which results not only from the increase of the Ce(3+) ion concentration itself but also from the energy transfer from the ZnO host material to the Ce(3+) ions. This enhancement reaches a maximum at a Li content of 0.02, and then decreases sharply due to the concentration quench. These nanophosphors may promise for application to the visible-light-emitting devices. PACS: 78.55.Et; 81.07.Wx; 81.20.Fw.

TiO2 film/Cu2O microgrid heterojunction with photocatalytic activity under solar light irradiation.

Coupling a narrow-band-gap semiconductor with TiO(2) is an effective method to produce photocatalysts that work under UV-vis light irradiation. Usually photocatalytic coupled-semiconductors exist mainly as powders, and photocatalytic activity is only favored when a small loading amount of narrow-band-gap semiconductor is used. Here we propose a heavy-loading photocatalyst configuration in which 51% of the surface of the TiO(2) film is covered by a Cu(2)O microgrid. The coupled system shows higher photocatalytic activity under solar light irradiation than TiO(2) and Cu(2)O films. This improved performance is due to the efficient charge transfer between the two phases and the similar opportunity each has to be exposed to irradiation and adsorbates.

[Long-term subculture and biological characterization of the murine bone marrow endothelial cell line].

The murine bone marrow endothelial cell line (mBMEC) has been maintained by means of subculture and cryopreservation for over 10 years since it was established in our laboratory. This study was aimed to newly identify biological characteristics of this cell line for further study. The cultured mBMEC cells were observed by inverted microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). PECAM-1 (CD31) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) were detected by immunofluorescent staining. The phagocytotic activity of the cells in culture was tested by using fluorescent acetylated low-density lipoprotein (Dil-Ac-LDL). The cell growth kinetics analysis and karyotype analysis were performed. The results showed that the adherent cells were mostly elliptical, rounded and spindle-shaped, and some of them connected to each other to form cord- and network-like arrangements in mBMEC cultures at subconfluence. The adherent cells grew up to confluence as a cobblestone-like monolayer. Several ultrastructural features of the endothelial cells could be observed in TEM sections of the cultured cells. More than 94% of mBMEC cells were positive for either CD31 or vWF. The phagocytotic ingestion of Dil-Ac-LDL occurred in 98.5% of cells. In normal culture conditions, the cells grew with a mean population doubling time of 54.6 hours and the maximal mitotic index was 38 per thousand in the rapid growth period. The colony yields were 4.33% to 7.40% depending on the plating density of cells. Karyotypes of all the cells were aneuploidy with a greater percentage of hyperdiploid. It is concluded that mBMEC cells retain the fundamental properties of endothelial cells, but the growth kinetics and biological behaviors are slightly different from those in the early days after the establishment of this cell line.