Netrin-1 mitigates acute lung injury by preventing the activation of the Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-κB (TLR4/NF-κB) signaling.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is one of the most common high-risk diseases associated with a high mortality rate and is still a challenge to treat effectively. Netrin-1 (NT-1) is a novel peptide with a wide range of biological functions, however, its effects on ALI have not been reported before. In this study, an ALI model was constructed using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and treated with NT-1. Pulmonary function and lung wet to dry weight ratio (W/D) were detected. The expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2) were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found that the levels of NT-1 were reduced in the LPS-induced ALI mice model. Administration of NT-1 improved histopathological changes of lung tissues and lung function in LPS-challenged ALI mice. We also report that NT-1 decreased Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and ameliorated pulmonary edema. Additionally, treatment with NT-1 reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines such as IL-8, IL-1ß, and CXCL2 in lung tissues of LPS-challenged ALI mice. Importantly, NT-1 reduced cell count in BALF and mitigated oxidative stress (OS) by reducing the levels of MDA and increasing the levels of GSH. Mechanistically, it is shown that NT-1 reduced the levels of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and prevented nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65. Our findings indicate that NT-1 is a promising agent for the treatment of ALI through inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB signaling.

Mismatched Refractive Index Strategy for Fabricating Laser-Driven Wood Diffusers from Bulk Wood for Illumination Applications.

Laser-diode-based solid-state lighting is primarily used in state-of-the-art illumination systems. However, these systems rely on light-converting inorganic phosphors, which have low quantum efficiencies and complex manufacturing conditions. In this study, a mismatched refractive index strategy is proposed to directly convert natural bulk wood into a laser-driven wood diffuser using a simple delignification and polymer infiltration method. The resulting material has the potential to be used in laser-driven diffuse illumination applications. The optical performance of the laser-driven wood diffuser is optimized by changing the density of natural wood. The optimal coefficient of illuminance variation of the wood diffuser is as low as 17.7%, which is significantly lower than that of commercial diffusers. The illuminance uniformity is larger than 0.9, which is significantly higher than the ISO requirements for indoor workplace lighting. The laser damage threshold is 7.9 J cm-2, which is considerably higher than those of the substrates of commercially available phosphors. Furthermore, the optimized wood diffuser exhibits outstanding mechanical properties, excellent thermal stability, tolerance to harsh environmental conditions, and low speckle contrast. These results show that the laser-driven wood diffuser is a promising laser-color converter that is suitable for indoor, long-distance outdoor, undersea, and other high-luminance laser lighting applications.

FEUSNet: Fourier Embedded U-Shaped Network for Image Denoising.

Deep convolution neural networks have proven their powerful ability in comparing many tasks of computer vision due to their strong data learning capacity. In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end denoising network, termed Fourier embedded U-shaped network (FEUSNet). By analyzing the amplitude spectrum and phase spectrum of Fourier coefficients, we find that low-frequency features of an image are in the former while noise features are in the latter. To make full use of this characteristic, Fourier features are learned and are concatenated as a prior module that is embedded into a U-shaped network to reduce noise while preserving multi-scale fine details. In the experiments, we first present ablation studies on the Fourier coefficients' learning networks and loss function. Then, we compare the proposed FEUSNet with the state-of-the-art denoising methods in quantization and qualification. The experimental results show that our FEUSNet performs well in noise suppression and preserves multi-scale enjoyable structures, even outperforming advanced denoising approaches.

Robotic Grasp Detection Network Based on Improved Deformable Convolution and Spatial Feature Center Mechanism.

In this article, we propose an effective grasp detection network based on an improved deformable convolution and spatial feature center mechanism (DCSFC-Grasp) to precisely grasp unidentified objects. DCSFC-Grasp includes three key procedures as follows. First, improved deformable convolution is introduced to adaptively adjust receptive fields for multiscale feature information extraction. Then, an efficient spatial feature center (SFC) layer is explored to capture the global remote dependencies through a lightweight multilayer perceptron (MLP) architecture. Furthermore, a learnable feature center (LFC) mechanism is reported to gather local regional features and preserve the local corner region. Finally, a lightweight CARAFE operator is developed to upsample the features. Experimental results show that DCSFC-Grasp achieves a high accuracy (99.3% and 96.1% for the Cornell and Jacquard grasp datasets, respectively) and even outperforms the existing state-of-the-art grasp detection models. The results of real-world experiments on the six-DoF Realman RM65 robotic arm further demonstrate that our DCSFC-Grasp is effective and robust for the grasping of unknown targets.

Efficacy of 11 anticoagulants for the prevention of venous thromboembolism after total hip or knee arthroplasty: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: To systematically review the efficacy of 11 anticoagulants in the treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after total hip or knee arthroplasty. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, VIP, and China Biology Medicine databases were electronically searched for studies assessing the efficacy of different anticoagulants for the prevention of VTE after total hip or knee arthroplasty from January 1, 2010, to January 27, 2022. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and graded the evidence using Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis. The network meta-analysis was then performed using Stata 16.0 software and R 4.1.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 61 articles were included. The results of network meta-analysis showed that apixaban, edoxaban, fondaparinux, rivaroxaban, and darexaban were the most effective anticoagulants for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis in patients undergoing total hip or knee arthroplasty (P < .05), while there was no difference in the efficacy among the anticoagulants for the prevention of pulmonary embolism (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Apixaban, edoxaban, fondaparinux, rivaroxaban, and darexaban have the best efficacy for the prevention of VTE after total hip or knee arthroplasty.

Absence of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in conization specimens from patients with colposcopic biopsy-confirmed high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: Retrospective study of 1695 cases.

Few studies have investigated the absence of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in excised specimens, and sample sizes of these studies were limited. This study retrospectively analyzed clinical characteristics of 1695 patients with CIN 2/3 to determine the incidence rate and relative factors of CIN 1 or less in conization specimens from patients with colposcopic biopsy-confirmed CIN 2/3. The study group comprised 430 cases of CIN 1 or less in conization specimens, and the control group comprised 1142 cases with high-grade CIN lesions in conization specimens. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were established to evaluate relative factors. The 1-9 years follow-up data were analyzed to determine the persistence/recurrence rate. Multivariate logistic regression showed that patients aged 18-24 years (OR (95% CI) = 2.224 (1.014, 4.877)); with a negative hrHPV test result (OR (95% CI) = 3.210 (1.627, 6.331)); a cytology test result of normal (OR (95% CI) = 5.184 (3.138, 8.563)), ASC-US (OR (95% CI) = 3.420 (2.102, 5.564)), LSIL (OR (95% CI) = 2.588 (1.475, 4.541)), or ASC-H (OR (95% CI) = 2.434 (1.306, 4.539)); an indication of CIN 2 on biopsy (OR (95% CI) = 2.290 (1.694, 3.096)), and no glandular involvement (OR (95% CI) = 1.616 (1.205, 2.169)) were more likely to have an absence of high-grade dysplasia in conization specimens. There was no difference in the persistence/recurrence rate between the two groups (x2 = 1.55, P = 0.46). An age of 18-24 years, a negative hrHPV test result, a non-HSIL cytology test result, an indication of CIN 2 on biopsy, and no glandular involvement were relative factors for an absence of high-grade dysplasia in conization specimens. For patients with relative factors, especially young women, informed follow-up should be considered.

Salinomycin-Loaded High-Density Lipoprotein Exerts Promising Anti-Ovarian Cancer Effects by Inhibiting Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition.

Background: Effective treatments for ovarian cancer remain elusive, and survival rates have long been considered grim. Ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) are associated with cancer progression and metastasis, as well as drug resistance and eventual treatment failure. Salinomycin (Sal) has an extensive effect on a variety of cancer stem cells (CSCs); however, its poor water solubility and toxicity to healthy tissues at high doses limit further research into its potential as an anti-cancer drug. We proposed a therapeutic strategy by constructing a tumor-targeting carrier that mimics high-density lipoprotein (HDL) to synthesize salinomycin-loaded high-density lipoprotein (S-HDL). This strategy helps reduce the side effects of salinomycin, thereby improving its clinical benefits. Methods: OCSCs were isolated from ovarian cancer cells (OCCs) and the uptake of HDL nanoparticles was observed using laser confocal microscopes. After the cell viability analysis revealed the inhibitory effect of S-HDL on OCCs and OCSCs, the main biological processes influenced by S-HDL were predicted with a transcriptome sequencing analysis and verified in vitro and in vivo. Results: Cellular uptake analysis showed that the HDL delivery system was able to significantly enhance the uptake of Sal by OCCs, tentatively validating the targeting role of recombinant HDL, so that S-HDL could reduce the toxicity of Sal and increase its anti-ovarian cancer effects. Conversely, S-HDL could exert anti-ovarian cancer effects by inhibiting the proliferation of OCCs and OCSCs, promoting apoptosis, blocking EMT, and suppressing stemness and angiogenesis-related protein expression in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: S-HDL had stronger anti-ovarian cancer effects than unencapsulated Sal. Thus, it may be a potential agent for ovarian cancer treatment in the future.

Optimized XGBoost Model with Small Dataset for Predicting Relative Density of Ti-6Al-4V Parts Manufactured by Selective Laser Melting.

Determining the quality of Ti-6Al-4V parts fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) remains a challenge due to the high cost of SLM and the need for expertise in processes and materials. In order to understand the correspondence of the relative density of SLMed Ti-6Al-4V parts with process parameters, an optimized extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) decision tree model was developed in the present paper using hyperparameter optimization with the GridsearchCV method. In particular, the effect of the size of the dataset for model training and testing on model prediction accuracy was examined. The results show that with the reduction in dataset size, the prediction accuracy of the proposed model decreases, but the overall accuracy can be maintained within a relatively high accuracy range, showing good agreement with the experimental results. Based on a small dataset, the prediction accuracy of the optimized XGBoost model was also compared with that of artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) models, and it was found that the optimized XGBoost model has better evaluation indicators such as mean absolute error, root mean square error, and the coefficient of determination. In addition, the optimized XGBoost model can be easily extended to the prediction of mechanical properties of more metal materials manufactured by SLM processes.

Value of clinical tests in diagnosing anterior cruciate ligament injuries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This study compared 4 clinical tests with reference to magnetic resonance imaging and arthroscopic visualization to comprehensively evaluate their diagnostic value for anterior cruciate ligament injuries. METHODS: We systematically searched 10 electronic databases from January 1, 2010, to May 1, 2021. Two reviewers collected data in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines. The quality of each study was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 tool. A meta-analysis was performed using Meta-Disc version 1.4 and Stata SE version 15.0. RESULTS: Eighteen articles involving 2031 participants were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that for the Lachman test, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnosis odds ratio, area under the curve (AUC) of summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC), and Q* were 0.76 (95% CI, 0.73-0.78), 0.89 (95% CI, 0.87-0.91), 5.65 (95% CI, 4.05-7.86), 0.28 (95% CI, 0.23-0.36), 22.95 (95% CI, 14.34-36.72), 0.88, and 0.81, respectively. For the anterior drawer test, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnosis odds ratio, AUC of SROC, and Q* were 0.64 (95% CI, 0.61-0.68), 0.87 (95% CI, 0.84-0.90), 3.57 (95% CI, 2.13-5.96), 0.44 (95% CI, 0.32-0.59), 8.77 (95% CI, 4.11-18.74), 0.85, and 0.78, respectively. For the pivot shift test, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnosis odds ratio, AUC of SROC, and Q* were 0.59 (95% CI, 0.56-0.62), 0.97 (95% CI, 0.95-0.98), 13.99 (95% CI, 9.96-19.64), 0.44 (95% CI, 0.35-0.55), 29.46 (95% CI, 15.60-55.67), 0.98, and 0.94, respectively. For the lever sign test, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnosis odds ratio, AUC of SROC, and Q* were 0.79 (95% CI, 0.75-0.83), 0.92 (95% CI, 0.87-0.95), 9.56 (95% CI, 2.76-33.17), 0.23 (95% CI, 0.12-0.46), 47.38 (95% CI, 8.68-258.70), 0.94, and 0.87, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Existing evidence shows that these clinical tests have high diagnostic efficacy for anterior cruciate ligament injuries, and that every test has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, the above results should be validated through additional studies, considering the limited quality and quantity of our sample.

Anticancer Effects of Amlodipine Alone or in Combination With Gefitinib in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Amlodipine is a Ca2+ channel blocker commonly used to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and angina; however, its anticancer effects in lung cancer A549 cells remain unknown. In the present study, we explored the antitumor effects and molecular mechanisms underlying the action of amlodipine in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 cells in vitro and in vivo. We observed that amlodipine suppressed the proliferation of A549 lung cancer cells by arresting the tumor cell cycle. Mechanistically, our results revealed that amlodipine could attenuate the phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt and Raf/MEK/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways through epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and modulated cell cycle-related proteins such as cyclin D1, p-Rb, p27, and p21. Subsequently, amlodipine combined with gefitinib could synergistically inhibit cell proliferation by arresting the cell cycle. Moreover, amlodipine combined with gefitinib effectively attenuated the growth of A549 lung cancer xenografts when compared with monotherapy, affording an excellent therapeutic effect. Collectively, our results indicate that amlodipine alone or combined with the novel anticancer drug gefitinib might be a potential therapeutic strategy for NSCLC patients with wild-type EGFR.

Tumor evolution selectively inactivates the core microRNA machinery for immune evasion.

Cancer cells acquire genetic heterogeneity to escape from immune surveillance during tumor evolution, but a systematic approach to distinguish driver from passenger mutations is lacking. Here we investigate the impact of different immune pressure on tumor clonal dynamics and immune evasion mechanism, by combining massive parallel sequencing of immune edited tumors and CRISPR library screens in syngeneic mouse tumor model and co-culture system. We find that the core microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis and targeting machinery maintains the sensitivity of cancer cells to PD-1-independent T cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Genetic inactivation of the machinery or re-introduction of ANKRD52 frequent patient mutations dampens the JAK-STAT-interferon-γ signaling and antigen presentation in cancer cells, largely by abolishing miR-155-targeted silencing of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1). Expression of each miRNA machinery component strongly correlates with intratumoral T cell infiltration in nearly all human cancer types. Our data indicate that the evolutionarily conserved miRNA pathway can be exploited by cancer cells to escape from T cell-mediated elimination and immunotherapy.

Synthesis and Characterization of Salinomycin-Loaded High-Density Lipoprotein and Its Effects on Cervical Cancer Cells and Cervical Cancer Stem Cells.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer stem cells (CCSCs), a small part of tumor population, are one of the important reasons for metastasis and recurrence of cervical cancer. Targeting CCSCs may be an effective way to eliminate tumors. Salinomycin (Sal) has been proved to be an effective anticancer drug in many studies, especially for cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, the cytotoxicity of salinomycin limits its further research as an anticancer drug. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) nanoparticles are an excellent drug carrier, which can reduce the toxicity of Sal, have a certain targeting effect and improve the clinical benefit of Sal. METHODS: Salinomycin-loaded high-density lipoprotein (S-HDL) was synthesized and characterized by various analytical techniques. CD44highCD24low CCSCs were isolated from HeLa cells by magnetic separation. The uptake of HDL nanoparticles was observed by laser confocal microscopy, and the effect of S-HDL on the proliferation of CCCs and CCSCs was detected by cell viability analysis. Genome-wide analysis was used to analyze the effects of S-HDL on the biological processes of CCCs and then cell apoptosis, cell cycle and cell migration were selected for verification. RESULTS: S-HDL had a particle size of 38.98 ± 1.78 nm and an encapsulation efficiency of 50.73 ± 4.29%. Cell uptake analysis showed that HDL nanoparticles could enhance the drug uptake of CCCs and CCSCs and may target CCCs and CCSCs. In cell viability analysis, CCCs and CCSCs showed high sensitivity to S-HDL. S-HDL can more efficiently prevent CCSCs from developing tumorspheres than Sal in tumorsphere formation study. S-HDL had stronger ability to induce cell cycle arrest, promote cell apoptosis and inhibit cell migration compared with free Sal, which was consistent with the results of Genome Wide analysis. CONCLUSION: S-HDL can effectively target and eliminate CCCs and CCSCs, which is a potential drug for the treatment of cervical cancer.

The Molecular Mechanism of Multiple Organ Dysfunction and Targeted Intervention of COVID-19 Based on Time-Order Transcriptomic Analysis.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the novel coronavirus that has spread rapidly around the world, leading to high mortality because of multiple organ dysfunction; however, its underlying molecular mechanism is unknown. To determine the molecular mechanism of multiple organ dysfunction, a bioinformatics analysis method based on a time-order gene co-expression network (TO-GCN) was performed. First, gene expression profiles were downloaded from the gene expression omnibus database (GSE161200), and a TO-GCN was constructed using the breadth-first search (BFS) algorithm to infer the pattern of changes in the different organs over time. Second, Gene Ontology enrichment analysis was used to analyze the main biological processes related to COVID-19. The initial gene modules for the immune response of different organs were defined as the research object. The STRING database was used to construct a protein-protein interaction network of immune genes in different organs. The PageRank algorithm was used to identify five hub genes in each organ. Finally, the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database played an important role in exploring the potential compounds that target the hub genes. The results showed that there were two types of biological processes: the body's stress response and cell-mediated immune response involving the lung, trachea, and olfactory bulb (olf) after being infected by COVID-19. However, a unique biological process related to the stress response is the regulation of neuronal signals in the brain. The stress response was heterogeneous among different organs. In the lung, the regulation of DNA morphology, angiogenesis, and mitochondrial-related energy metabolism are specific biological processes related to the stress response. In particular, an effect on tracheal stress response was made by the regulation of protein metabolism and rRNA metabolism-related biological processes, as biological processes. In the olf, the distinctive stress responses consist of neural signal transmission and brain behavior. In addition, myeloid leukocyte activation and myeloid leukocyte-mediated immunity in response to COVID-19 can lead to a cytokine storm. Immune genes such as SRC, RHOA, CD40LG, CSF1, TNFRSF1A, FCER1G, ICAM1, LAT, LCN2, PLAU, CXCL10, ICAM1, CD40, IRF7, and B2M were predicted to be the hub genes in the cytokine storm. Furthermore, we inferred that resveratrol, acetaminophen, dexamethasone, estradiol, statins, curcumin, and other compounds are potential target drugs in the treatment of COVID-19.

The Application of DNA Ploidy Analysis in Large-Scale Population Screening for Cervical Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the application of DNA ploidy analysis in large-scale population screening for cervical cancer. METHODS: From March 2016 to March 2019, eligible subjects were enrolled and recommended to undergo DNA ploidy analysis, the ThinPrep cytology test (TCT), and high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) detection concurrently. Patients with positive results were recommended for colposcopy, and biopsy diagnosis was regarded as the "gold standard." We compared the test efficiencies of the 3 methods and compared the efficiency and accuracy of the TCT in our hospital and the "2-cancer screening" project in Hubei Province during the same period. RESULTS: Among 20,574 women, the positive rates of DNA ploidy analysis, cytology, and hrHPV testing were 4.01%, 4.71%, and 16.28%, respectively. The sensitivities of these methods for screening for grade 2+ cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were 0.70, 0.68, and 0.96, and their specificities were 0.79, 0.82, and 0.45, respectively. On comparing DNA ploidy analysis with the TCT, there was no significant difference in the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and missed diagnosis rate. In opportunistic screening and the 2-cancer screening project, the positive rates of cytology were 4.71% and 2.87%, respectively. And the efficiency and accuracy of the TCT in opportunistic screening were higher than in the 2-cancer screening project. CONCLUSION: Therefore, DNA ploidy analysis, which is of low-cost and does not depend on cytopathologists, can replace cytology and be applied in large-scale population screening for cervical cancer.

Prevalence and Determinants of High-risk HPV Infection among 11549 Women from an Opportunistic Screening in Hubei Province.

High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection plays an important role in the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer. A total of 11 549 women were enrolled from the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province. Each participant accepted hrHPV testing and completed a self-administered questionnaire about basic information and potential risk factors. The univariable and multivariable logistic regression model was used to explore the associations between variants and hrHPV infection. Our results showed that hrHPV prevalence was 16.09% in Hubei Province, among which, hrHPV was more likely to be positive in women aged 51 years or above (OR=1.65, 95% CI: 1.28-2.14), and in women who had symptoms of bleeding after intercourse (OR=1.32, 95% CI:1.17-1.50), had first sexual intercourse at the age of 18 years or below (OR=1.33, 95% CI:1.07-1.64), had at least three male sexual partners (OR=2.50, 95% CI:2.07-3.03), and who had been diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (OR=1.50, 95% CI:1.12-2.03). Married women (OR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.55-0.78) and women who frequently used condoms (OR=0.75, 95% CI:0.67-0.84) had a relatively lower hrHPV prevalence. This study confirms that hrHPV infection was associated with age, marital status, symptoms of intercourse bleeding, history of sexually transmitted infections, and sex-related behaviors. Above all, this study provides a baseline database prior to obtaining vaccinations for dynamic tracking of the changes in hrHPV prevalence.

Anisotropic flexible transparent films from remaining wood microstructures for screen protection and AgNW conductive substrate.

Flexible transparent conductive films or substrates prepared from plastics or cellulose are widely used in optoelectronic devices. However, all of these films or substrates are fabricated by complex and expensive methods, which consume much energy and time. In this work, we report for the first time a remarkably facile and effective approach for fabricating flexible transparent films directly from wood. The resulting films exhibit an array of exceptional optical and mechanical properties. The well-aligned cell structures in natural wood are maintained during delignification, leading to anisotropic films with high transparency (≈90% transmittance). These anisotropic films with well-aligned cell structures show mechanical tensile strengths higher than those of the original wood, and can be used as screen protection films for cellphones. Furthermore, ultrathin, highly transparent, and outstandingly conductive films have been prepared from such films and silver nanowires (AgNWs) using the Meyer technique. A conductive film with an optimal area density (341 mg m-2) of AgNWs showed outstanding synergistic properties, with a transmittance of 80% and a sheet resistance of 11 Ω sq-1, equal to the conductivity of ITO. Of importance here is that the low-cost anisotropic transparent wood film shows promising potential for electronics applications in solar cells, flexible displays, and other products.

Two protein-coding genes act as a novel clinical signature to predict prognosis in patients with ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma.

Ovarian cancer is the seventh most common type of cancer and the eighth most common cause of cancer-associated mortality among women. A number of studies have hypothesized that the expression status of certain genes may be used to predict prognosis in ovarian cancer. In the present study, the RNA expression data from next-generation sequencing and the clinical information of 413 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset was downloaded to identify the association between gene-expression level and the survival time of the patients with ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma. A five-gene model was predicted to be significantly associated with patient survival in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma by using random survival forests variable hunting algorithm and Cox analysis. A total of two genes, mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor and dedicator of cytokinesis 11, of the predicted five genes demonstrated positive expression in the ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma cancer tissues by polymerase chain reaction analysis. Kaplan-Meier and Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis confirmed that the model of the two genes exhibited high sensitivity and specificity to predict the prognostic survival of patients. In conclusion, the expression of the two genes in the two-gene model was associated with the prognostic outcomes of patients with ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma; the model demonstrated potential as a novel prognostic indicator, which may have important clinical significance.

Stanniocalcin-1 protects bovine intestinal epithelial cells from oxidative stress-induced damage.

Chronic enteritis can produce an excess of reactive oxygen species resulting in cellular damage. Stanniocalcin-1(STC-1) reportedly possesses anti-oxidative activity, the aim of this study was to define more clearly the direct contribution of STC-1 to anti-oxidative stress in cattle. In this study, primary intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) were exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for different time intervals to mimic chronic enteritis-induced cellular damage. Prior to treatment with 200 µM H2O2, the cells were transfected with a recombinant plasmid for 48 h to over-express STC-1. Acridine orange/ ethidium bromide (AO/EB) double staining and trypan blue exclusion assays were then performed to measure cell viability and apoptosis of the cells, respectively. The expression of STC-1 and apoptosis-related proteins in the cells was monitored by real-time PCR and Western blotting. The results indicated that both STC-1 mRNA and protein expression levels positively correlated with the duration of H2O2 treatment. H2O2 damaged the bovine IECs in a time-dependent manner, and this effect was attenuated by STC-1 over-expression. Furthermore, over- expression of STC-1 up-regulated Bcl-2 protein expression and slightly down-regulated caspase-3 production in the damaged cells. Findings from this study suggested that STC-1 plays a protective role in intestinal cells through an antioxidant mechanism.

Mussel-inspired polydopamine coating as a versatile platform for synthesizing polystyrene/Ag nanocomposite particles with enhanced antibacterial activities.

Inspired by mussel-adhesion phenomena in nature, we present a simple, mild and green method to prepare polystyrene/Ag (PS/Ag) nanocomposite particles with enhanced antibacterial activities. In this approach, monodisperse polystyrene particles are used as template spheres, which are then coated with polydopamine (PDA) through the self-polymerization of dopamine in a weakly alkaline aqueous environment (pH = 8.5). Silver precursor-[Ag(NH3)2]+ ions are added and absorbed onto the surfaces of the PS/PDA composite spheres by the active catechol and amine groups of the polydopamine coating. Meanwhile, these adsorbed [Ag(NH3)2]+ ions are in situ reduced into metallic silver nanoparticles by the "bridge" of the polydopamine coating, and the formed Ag nanoparticles are home positioned. As polydopamine is an environmentally friendly reagent with abilities as a universal adhesive to any surface and as a mild reductant for noble metal salts, because of its abundant active catechol and amine groups, neither additional reducing and toxic reagents nor special surface modifications of the template are needed in this procedure. Moreover, preliminary antibacterial assays indicate that these PS/Ag nanocomposite particles show enhanced antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli (Gram-negative bacteria) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacteria), while they do not show significant in vitro cytotoxicity against HEK293T human embryonic kidney cells. These results suggest that these PS/Ag nanocomposite particles could be promising antibacterial materials for future biomedical applications.