The Role of Interfacial Water in CO2 Electrolysis over Ni-N-C Catalyst in a Membrane Electrode Assembly Electrolyzer.

CO2 electrolysis is a promising route for achieving net-zero emission through decarbonization. To realize CO2 electrolysis toward practical application, beyond catalyst structures, it is also critical to rationally manipulate catalyst microenvironments such as the water at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Here, the role of interfacial water in CO2 electrolysis over Ni-N-C catalyst modified with different polymers is investigated. Benefiting from a hydrophilic electrode/electrolyte interface, the Ni-N-C catalyst modified with quaternary ammonia poly(N-methyl-piperidine-co-p-terphenyl) shows a Faradaic efficiency of 95% and a partial current density of 665 mA cm-2 for CO production in an alkaline membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer. A scale-up demonstration using a 100 cm2 electrolyzer achieves a CO production rate of 514 mL min-1 at a current of 80 A. In-situ microscopy and spectroscopy measurements indicate that the hydrophilic interface significantly promotes the formation of the *COOH intermediate, rationalizing the high CO2 electrolysis performance.

AKAP12 inhibits esophageal squamous carcinoma cell proliferation, migration, and cell cycle via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) consistently ranks as one of the most challenging variants of squamous cell carcinomas, primarily due to the lack of effective early detection strategies. We herein aimed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and biological role associated with A-kinase anchoring protein 12 (AKAP12) in the context of ESCC. Bioinformatic analysis had revealed significantly lower expression level of AKAP12 in ESCC tissue samples than in their non-cancerous counterparts. To gain deeper insights into the potential role of AKAP12 in the progression of ESCC, we conducted a single-gene set enrichment analysis of AKAP12 on ESCC datasets. Our findings suggested that AKAP12 exhibits functions inhibiting cell cycle progression, tumor proliferation, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. To further validate our findings, we subjected ESCC cell lines to AKAP12 overexpression using CRISPR/Cas9-SAM. In vitro analyses demonstrated that increased expression of AKAP12 significantly reduced cell proliferation, migration, and cell cycle progression. Simultaneously, genes associated with this biological role undergo corresponding regulatory shifts. These observations provided valuable insights into the biological role played by AKAP12 in ESCC progression. In summary, AKAP12 shows promise as a new potential biomarker for early ESCC diagnosis, offering potential advantages for subsequent therapeutic intervention and disease management.

Hardness and electronic properties of Si-C-N structures.

Three novel hexagonal Si-C-N structures, namely SiC3N3, SiC7N6, and SiC13N14, were constructed on the basis of the α-Si3N4 crystal structure. The stability of the three structures is demonstrated by analyzing their elastic constants and phonon dispersion spectra and by calculating their formation energies. The calculated band structures and partial densities of states suggest that the SiC3N3 and SiC7N6 structures possess hole conductivity. The electron orbital analyses indicate that the SiC3N3 and SiC7N6 crystals possess three-dimensional and one-dimensional conductivity, respectively. SiC13N14 is a semiconductor with a wide bandgap of 4.39 eV. Based on two different hardness models and indentation shear stress calculations, the Vickers hardness values of SiC3N3, SiC7N6, and SiC13N14 are estimated to be 28.04/28.45/16.18 GPa, 31.17/34.19/20.24 GPa, and 40.60/41.59/36.40 GPa. This result indicates that SiC3N3 and SiC7N6 are conductive hard materials while SiC13N14 is a quasi superhard material.

Impact of internal design on the accuracy of 3-dimensionally printed casts fabricated by stereolithography and digital light processing technology.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Altering the internal design of 3-dimensionally (3D) printed dental casts may help to reduce material and time consumption. However, it remains unclear whether such changes would compromise the accuracy of the casts. Further research is also needed to determine the optimal internal design that would maximize printing accuracy. PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the impact of internal design on the accuracy (trueness and precision) of 3D printed dental casts fabricated by stereolithography (SLA) and digital light processing (DLP) technology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A reference digital cast was obtained by scanning a maxillary typodont with an intraoral scanner to create 4 types of internal designs, including hollow interior with perforated base (HWB), hollow interior without base (HB), all solid (S), and internal support structure with perforated base (SWB). Digital casts with different internal designs were printed by two 3D printers with different technologies (SLA and DLP). The printed casts were scanned by a desktop scanner to obtain standard tessellation language (STL) format research digital casts. All reference and research digital casts were imported into a software program for comparison and analysis of accuracy. Differences between the reference and research digital casts were quantitatively indicated by the root mean square (RMS) value. The Kruskal-Wallis 1-way ANOVA was used to test significant differences between the different internal design types and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to test significant differences between the two 3D printers (α=.05). RESULTS: The Kruskal-Wallis 1-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in the trueness and precision of different internal design types (all P<.001) for casts printed by both 3D printers. The trueness and precision were significantly worse for the HB design than for the other design types for casts printed by both 3D printers (all P<.05). Regardless of the design type, the trueness was significantly better for casts printed by the SLA-based printer than for casts printed by the DLP-based printer (all P<.05). The precision was significantly worse for casts printed by the SLA-based printer than for casts printed by the DLP-based printer (all P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: The internal design may affect the accuracy of 3D printing. The base is necessary to ensure the accuracy of 3D printed dental casts, whereas the internal support structure did not affect the accuracy of 3D printed dental casts. An all-solid design led to higher precision, but not higher trueness. Dental casts printed with SLA technology have higher trueness and lower precision than those printed with DLP technology.

Directing the Selectivity of CO Electrolysis to Acetate by Constructing Metal-Organic Interfaces.

Electrochemically converting CO2 to valuable chemicals holds great promise for closing the anthropogenic carbon cycle. Owing to complex reaction pathways and shared rate-determining steps, directing the selectivity of CO2 /CO electrolysis to a specific multicarbon product is very challenging. We report here a strategy for highly selective production of acetate from CO electrolysis by constructing metal-organic interfaces. We demonstrate that the Cu-organic interfaces constructed by in situ reconstruction of Cu complexes show very impressive acetate selectivity, with a high Faradaic efficiency of 84.2 % and a carbon selectivity of 92.1 % for acetate production, in an alkaline membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer. The maximum acetate partial current density and acetate yield reach as high as 605 mA cm-2 and 63.4 %, respectively. Thorough structural characterizations, control experiments, operando Raman spectroscopy measurements, and density functional theory calculation results indicate that the Cu-organic interface creates a favorable reaction microenvironment that enhances *CO adsorption, lowers the energy barrier for C-C coupling, and facilitates the formation of CH3 COOH over other multicarbon products, thus rationalizing the selective acetate production.

MicroRNA-34a in coronary heart disease: Correlation with disease risk, blood lipid, stenosis degree, inflammatory cytokines, and cell adhesion molecules.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNA-34a (miR-34a) plays an essential role in regulating blood lipid, inflammation, cell adhesion molecules, and atherosclerosis, the latter factors are closely involved in the etiology of coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the clinical value of miR-34a in CHD patients' management is rarely reported. Hence, this study aimed to assess the correlation of miR-34a with disease risk, blood lipid, coronary artery stenosis, inflammatory cytokines, and cell adhesion molecules of CHD. METHODS: A total of 203 CHD patients and 100 controls were recruited in this study, then their plasma samples were collected to detect the miR-34a by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Furthermore, serum samples from CHD patients were obtained for inflammatory cytokines and cell adhesion molecule measurement by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: MiR-34a was elevated in CHD patients compared to controls (p < 0.001) and it disclosed a good diagnostic value of CHD (area under curve: 0.899, 95% confidence interval: 0.865-0.934). Besides, miR-34a positively correlated with triglyceride (p < 0.001), total cholesterol (p = 0.022) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.004), but not with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.110) in CHD patients. Moreover, miR-34a associated with Gensini score in CHD patients (p < 0.001). As to inflammation-related indexes and cell adhesion molecules, MiR-34a expression was positively linked with C-reactive protein (p < 0.001), tumor necrosis factor alpha (p = 0.005), interleukin (IL)-1ß (p = 0.020), IL-17A (p < 0.001), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (p < 0.001), and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (p = 0.010) in CHD patients, but not with IL-6 (p = 0.118) and IL-10 (p = 0.054). CONCLUSION: MiR-34a might serve as a biomarker in assistance of diagnosis and management of CHD.

Clinical outcomes and safety of osimertinib plus anlotinib for patients with previously treated EGFR T790M-positive NSCLC: A retrospective study.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Although osimertinib achieved convincing efficacy for patients with EGFR T790M-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as second-line treatment in the AURA3 clinical trials, patients developed drug resistance ultimately. Therefore, the present study was to investigate the clinical outcome and safety of osimertinib plus anlotinib for patients with previously treated EGFR T790M-positive NSCLC. METHODS: Designed as a retrospective study, this study consecutively included a total of 33 patients with advanced NSCLC who possessed a EGFR T790M-positive mutation and progressed after the first-line therapy. Eligible patients were treated with osimertinib plus anlotinib. Baseline characteristics of the patients were collected during hospitalization. Efficacy of the combination regimen was assessed with the change of target lesion using imaging evidence according to RECIST 1.1 criteria, and all the patients were followed up regularly. Adverse reactions were collected and documented during the treatment. Univariate analysis according to baseline characteristic subgroups was performed using log-rank test, and multivariate analysis was carried out by Cox regression analysis. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The best overall response of the patients during osimertinib and anlotinib combination indicated that complete response was found in one patient, partial response was observed in 26 patients, stable disease was noted in 5 patients and progressive disease was reported in one patient. Therefore, objective response rate (ORR) of the combination regimen was 81.8% (95%CI: 64.5%-93.0%), and disease control rate (DCR) was 97.0% (95%CI: 84.2%-99.9%). Furthermore, the median progression-free survival (PFS) of the 33 patients with NSCLC was 15.5 months (95%CI: 6.19-24.81). In addition, the median overall survival (OS) of the 33 patients with NSCLC was 23.8 months (95% CI: 17.67-29.93). Safety profile suggested that the most common adverse reactions of the patients with NSCLC who received anlotinib plus osimertinib were hypertension (63.6%), fatigue (57.6%), diarrhoea (48.5%%), dermal toxicity (39.4%) and proteinuria (33.3%). Interestingly, multivariate Cox regression analysis for PFS demonstrated that ECOG performance status was an independent factor to predict the PFS of the combination regimen. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Osimertinib plus anlotinib regimen preliminarily exhibited encouraging clinical outcomes and acceptable safety profile for patients with previously treated EGFR T790M-positive NSCLC numerically. This conclusion should be validated in prospective clinical trials.

Influence of Liquid on the Tooth Surface on the Accuracy of Intraoral Scanners: An In Vitro Study.

PURPOSE: To assess the influence of liquid attached on the tooth surfaces on the accuracy (trueness and precision) of intraoral scanners and the effectiveness of the drying method (using compression air) to exclude the influence of liquid on the scanning results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A mandibular jaw model was scanned using an industrial computed tomography scanner to obtain a reference model. A scanning platform was designed to simulate three specific tooth surface states (dry, wet, blow-dry). Two kinds of liquids (ultra-pure water and artificial saliva) were used for the test. Two intraoral scanners (Trios 3 and Primescan) were used to scan the mandibular jaw model 10 times under each condition. All scanning data were processed and analyzed using dedicated software (Geomagic Control 2015). Trueness and precision comparison were conducted within the 12 groups of 3D models divided based on different intraoral scanners and liquids used under each condition. The root mean square (RMS) value was used to indicate the difference between the aligned virtual models. The color maps were used to evaluate and observe the deviation distribution patterns. The 3-way ANOVA (condition, intraoral scanner, liquid) followed by the Tukey test were used to assess precision and trueness. The level of significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The mean RMS values obtained from wet condition were significantly higher than those of the dry and blow-dry condition (p < 0.001, F = 64.033 for trueness and F = 54.866 for precision), which indicates less accurate trueness and precision for wet condition. For two different types of liquids, the mean RMS value was not significantly different on trueness and precision. The deviations caused by liquid were positive and mainly distributed in the pits and fissures of the occlusal surface of posterior teeth, the interproximal area of the teeth, and the margin of the abutments. CONCLUSIONS: Liquid on the tooth surface could affect intraoral scanning accuracy. Blow-drying with a three-way syringe can reduce scanning errors.

Effects of standard and total two-field lymph node dissection on prognosis of patients undergoing Esophagectomy.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of standard two-field lymph node dissection (2FLND) and total 2FLND on the short-term and long-term clinical efficacy and complications of patients undergoing esophagectomy. Methods: The clinical data of 268 patients undergoing radical Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy in our hospital from January 2008 to November 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. According to different methods of lymph node dissection (LND), the patients were divided into standard 2FLND group (n = 121) and total 2FLND group (n = 147). The LND status, postoperative complications, survival rate and lymph node recurrence of the two groups were analyzed. Results: Lymph node metastasis rate showed no statistically significant difference between the standard 2FLND group and the total 2FLND group (71.1% and 63.3%, respectively, P > 0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications was 5.8% (7/121) in the standard 2FLND group, which was lower than that in the total 2FLND group [17.0% (25/147)], with a statistically significant difference (χ 2 = 7.948, P < 0.01). The 5-year survival rate of the standard 2FLND group and the total 2FLND group was 29.8% and 28.6%, respectively, without statistically significant difference (χ 2 = 0.005, P > 0.05). The lymph node recurrence rate in the standard 2FLND group was 41.3% (50/121), which was higher than 19.0% (28/147) of the total 2FLND group (χ 2 = 15.959, P < 0.01). Conclusion: Compared with standard 2FLND, total 2FLND does not improve the postoperative survival of patients with esophageal carcinoma, and the risk of complications is higher.

Selective CO2 Electroreduction to Ethanol over a Carbon-Coated CuOx Catalyst.

The design of efficient copper(Cu)-based catalysts is critical for CO2 electroreduction into multiple carbon products. However, most Cu-based catalysts are favorable for ethylene production while selective production of ethanol with high Faradaic efficiency and current density still remains a great challenge. Herein, we design a carbon-coated CuOx (CuOx @C) catalyst through one-pot pyrolysis of Cu-based metal-organic framework (MOF), which exhibits high selectivity for CO2 electroreduction to ethanol with Faradaic efficiency of 46 %. Impressively, the partial current density of ethanol reaches 166 mA cm-2 , which is higher than that of most reported catalysts. Operando Raman spectra indicate that the carbon coating can efficiently stabilize Cu+ species under CO2 electroreduction conditions, which promotes the C-C coupling step. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the carbon layer can tune the key intermediate *HOCCH goes the hydrogenation pathway toward ethanol production.

A Reconstructed Cu2 P2 O7 Catalyst for Selective CO2 Electroreduction to Multicarbon Products.

The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) over Cu-based catalysts shows great potential for converting CO2 into multicarbon (C2+ ) fuels and chemicals. Herein, we introduce an A2 M2 O7 structure into a Cu-based catalyst through a solid-state reaction synthesis method. The Cu2 P2 O7 catalyst is electrochemically reduced to metallic Cu with a significant structure evolution from grain aggregates to highly porous structure under CO2 RR conditions. The reconstructed Cu2 P2 O7 catalyst achieves a Faradaic efficiency of 73.6 % for C2+ products at an applied current density of 350 mA cm-2 , remarkably higher than the CuO counterparts. The reconstructed Cu2 P2 O7 catalyst has a high electrochemically active surface area, abundant defects, and low-coordinated sites. In situ Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations reveal that CO adsorption with bridge and atop configurations is largely improved on Cu with defects and low-coordinated sites, which decreased the energy barrier of the C-C coupling reaction for C2+ products.

High-Rate CO2 Electroreduction to C2+ Products over a Copper-Copper Iodide Catalyst.

Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) to multicarbon hydrocarbon and oxygenate (C2+ ) products with high energy density and wide availability is of great importance, as it provides a promising way to achieve the renewable energy storage and close the carbon cycle. Herein we design a Cu-CuI composite catalyst with abundant Cu0 /Cu+ interfaces by physically mixing Cu nanoparticles and CuI powders. The composite catalyst achieves a remarkable C2+ partial current density of 591 mA cm-2 at -1.0 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode in a flow cell, substantially higher than Cu (329 mA cm-2 ) and CuI (96 mA cm-2 ) counterparts. Induced by alkaline electrolyte and applied potential, the Cu-CuI composite catalyst undergoes significant reconstruction under CO2 RR conditions. The high-rate C2+ production over Cu-CuI is ascribed to the presence of residual Cu+ and adsorbed iodine species which improve CO adsorption and facilitate C-C coupling.

Temperature-Dependent CO2 Electroreduction over Fe-N-C and Ni-N-C Single-Atom Catalysts.

Reaction temperature is an important parameter to tune the selectivity and activity of electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) due to different thermodynamics of CO2 RR and competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this work, temperature-dependent CO2 RR over Fe-N-C and Ni-N-C single-atom catalysts are investigated from 303 to 343 K. Increasing the reaction temperature improves and decreases CO Faradaic efficiency over Fe-N-C and Ni-N-C catalysts at high overpotentials, respectively. CO current density over Fe-N-C catalyst increases with temperature, then gets into a plateau at 323 K, finally reaches the maximum value of 185.8 mA cm-2 at 343 K. While CO current density over Ni-N-C catalyst achieves the maximum value of 252.5 mA cm-2 at 323 K, and then drops significantly to 202.9 mA cm-2 at 343 K. Temperature programmed desorption results and density functional theory calculations reveal that the difference of temperature-dependent variation on CO Faradaic efficiency and current density between Fe-N-C and Ni-N-C catalysts results from the varied adsorption strength of key reaction intermediates during CO2 RR.

miR-22-3p Suppresses Endothelial Progenitor Cell Proliferation and Migration via Inhibiting Onecut 1 (OC1)/Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGFA) Signaling Pathway and Its Clinical Significance in Venous Thrombosis.

BACKGROUND Proliferation and migration play crucial roles in various physiological processes, especially in injured endothelial repair. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), as the precursors of endothelial cell, are involved in the regeneration of the endothelial lining of blood vessels. Furthermore, EPCs were found to be a potential choice for venous thrombosis (VT) treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS EPCs were isolated from human peripheral blood of healthy adults and VT patients. Differently expressed micro(mi)RNAs were examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, after which proliferative capacity and migration effect were tested by Cell-Counting Kit 8, scratch wound assay, and transwell assays. Bioinformatic analysis was applied to investigate the potential target messenger ribonucleic acid and a dual-luciferase reporting system was utilized to confirm the binding of miR-22-3p to its target gene. Western blot was carried out to detect candidate protein expression level. Finally, miR-22-3p expression was monitored in VT patients during follow-up to assess its correlation with prognosis of VT. RESULTS Our data revealed that miR-22-3p was upregulated in EPCs derived from deep VT (DVT) individuals and suppression of miR-22-3p contributed to proliferation and migration of EPCs. In addition, miR-22-3p/onecut 1 (OC1)/vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) signaling pathway was involved in regulating EPC migration and proliferation. In addition, lower expression of miR-22-3p in DVT patients indicated decreased risk of VT recurrence. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that miR-22-3p regulates OC1/VEGFA signaling and is involved in regulating EPC proliferation and migration. The expression level of miR-22-3p could be monitored to predict DVT patients' prognosis.

Enhancing CO2 Electroreduction to Methane with a Cobalt Phthalocyanine and Zinc-Nitrogen-Carbon Tandem Catalyst.

Developing copper-free catalysts for CO2 conversion into hydrocarbons and oxygenates is highly desirable for electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR). Herein, we report a cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) and zinc-nitrogen-carbon (Zn-N-C) tandem catalyst for CO2 RR to CH4 . This tandem catalyst shows a more than 100 times enhancement of the CH4 /CO production rate ratio compared with CoPc or Zn-N-C alone. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and electrochemical CO reduction reaction results suggest that CO2 is first reduced into CO over CoPc and then CO diffuses onto Zn-N-C for further conversion into CH4 over Zn-N4 site, decoupling complicated CO2 RR pathway on single active site into a two-step tandem reaction. Moreover, mechanistic analysis indicates that CoPc not only generates CO but also enhances the availability of *H over adjacent N sites in Zn-N4 , which is the key to achieve the high CH4 production rate and understand the intriguing electrocatalytic behavior which is distinctive to copper-based tandem catalysts.

Mechanical properties and superconductivity in two-dimensional B2O under extreme strain.

Because of the particular characteristics of layered materials, searching for new two-dimensional (2D) structures has become the foundation of future device manufacture. Using first-principles calculations and theoretical analysis, we identified a new monolayer B2O and systematically investigated its fundamental mechanical and electronic properties, especially under strain. Due to the complicated puckered hinge structure of monolayer B2O, it possesses an intrinsic negative Poisson's ratio of -0.021. Moreover, we found that the superconducting state of monolayer B2O can be improved, where strain plays an effective role in regulating the properties of the 2D material. The current results elucidate the structure and corresponding properties of monolayer B2O, which may stimulate related fundamental research and potential nanoscale applications.

Rare Helium-Bearing Compound FeO_{2}He Stabilized at Deep-Earth Conditions.

There is compelling geochemical evidence for primordial helium trapped in Earth's lower mantle, but the origin and nature of the helium source remain elusive due to scarce knowledge on viable helium-bearing compounds that are extremely rare. Here we explore materials physics underlying this prominent challenge. Our structure searches in conjunction with first-principles energetic and thermodynamic calculations uncover a remarkable helium-bearing compound FeO_{2}He at high pressure-temperature conditions relevant to the core-mantle boundary. Calculated sound velocities consistent with seismic data validate FeO_{2}He as a feasible constituent in ultralow velocity zones at the lowermost mantle. These mutually corroborating findings establish the first and hitherto only helium-bearing compound viable at pertinent geophysical conditions, thus providing vital physics mechanisms and materials insights for elucidating the enigmatic helium reservoir in deep Earth.

Effects of Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy and Open Esophagectomy on Circulating Tumor Cell Level in Elderly Patients with Esophageal Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) and open esophagectomy (OE) on circulating tumor cell (CTC) level of elderly patients with esophageal cancer (EC). METHODS: A total of 78 elderly EC patients who aged over 64 years were divided into the MIE group (n = 40) and the OE group (n = 38). CTC enrichment was performed through CD326 (EpCAM) immunomagnetic beads positive sorting, and then labeled by CK-PE and CD45. The quantity of CTCs was measured by multiparameter flow cytometry. Double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay ELISA (DAS-ELISA) was used for detecting the levels of IL-6, IL-10, and IFN-γ. RESULTS: Among the 78 elderly EC patients, CTC level after the surgery was higher than that during the surgery, and CTC level during surgery was higher than that before the surgery (both P < 0.05). Postoperative CTC level in the MIE group was lower than that in the OE group, and the variation of CTC level from pre-operation to intra-operation in the MIE group was also lower than that in the OE group (both P < 0.05). Furthermore, there was significant difference in the incidences of intra-operative and postoperative complications between the MIE group and the OE group (17 cases vs. 31 cases, P < 0.05), and the CTC levels of the patients with complications in either group were significantly higher than the patients without complications (both P < 0.05). IL-6 and IL-10 levels significantly increased, while IFN-γ level decreased in both groups during the surgery and 3 days after the surgery compared to those before the surgery; 2 weeks after the surgery, IL-6 and IL-10 levels in the MIE group recovered to the pre-operative levels (all P < 0.05). However, in the OE group, IL-6 and IL-10 levels 2 weeks after the surgery were still significantly higher than those before the surgery (all P < 0.05); IFN-γ levels in both groups recovered to the pre-operative levels, with higher level in the MIE group than that in the OE group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: MIE helped to reduce the survival rate of tumor cells in peripheral blood at the early period of postoperation, and dynamic monitoring CTC level could be used to evaluate the prognosis of EC patients.

Correlations of Promoter Methylation in WIF-1, RASSF1A, and CDH13 Genes with the Risk and Prognosis of Esophageal Cancer.

BACKGROUND This study was designed to explore the correlations of promoter methylation in Wnt inhibitory factor-1 (WIF-1), ras-association domain family member 1A (RASSF1A), and Cadherin 13 (CDH13) genes with the risk and prognosis of esophageal cancer (EC). MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 71 EC tissues from resection and 35 adjacent normal tissues were collected. Methylation status in the promoter region was detected by methylation- and non-methylation-specific primers. Corresponding mRNA levels were detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Correlations between the methylations of these 3 genes and clinicopathologic characteristics were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model were used to investigate the relationships between WIF-1, RASSF1A, and CDH13 promoter methylations and the prognosis of EC. RESULTS Compared with adjacent normal tissues, the methylation frequencies of WIF-1, RASSF1A, and CDH13 genes were significantly higher but the mRNA levels of these 3 genes were significantly lower in EC tissues (all P<0.05). WIF-1 and CDH13 promoter methylations were associated with the degree of tumor differentiation and WIF-1 and RASSF1A promoter methylations were associated with age (all P<0.05). The survival rates of patients with WIF-1, RASSF1A, and CDH13 methylations were significantly lower than those of patients without methylation (all P<0.05). WIF-1, RASSF1A, and CDH13 promoter methylations were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of EC (all P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS WIF-1, RASSF1A, and CDH13 promoter methylations are associated with EC. The methylation levels are negatively related with the prognosis in EC.

Fiber-optic acoustic pressure sensor based on large-area nanolayer silver diaghragm.

A fiber-optic acoustic pressure sensor based on a large-area nanolayer silver diaphragm is demonstrated with a high dynamic pressure sensitivity of 160 nm/Pa at 4 kHz frequency. The sensor exhibits a noise limited detectable pressure level of 14.5 µPa/Hz(1/2). Its high dynamic pressure sensitivity and simple fabrication process make it an attractive tool for acoustic sensing and photo-acoustic spectroscopy.