Inverse design of sub-wavelength convergent grating based on the "stepped particle swarm algorithm".

In this Letter, a novel "stepped particle swarm optimization" (SPSO) based on field intensity adjustment is proposed. After that, we used this algorithm to design a sub-wavelength converging grating that could be integrated with the detector on the back. Firstly, the advantages of reverse design in the process of two-dimensional or multi-element grating pattern design were summarized by comparing the theory of forward and reverse design. Then, the common "particle swarm optimization" (PSO) and our proposal were compared in the reverse design process; we found that the field strength at the focal point obtained by the improved algorithm was approximately twice of the conventional PSO, and the SPSO had higher computational efficiency and better global convergence. The value of the SPSO had been steadily enlarged, which significantly improved the performance of the sub-wavelength convergent grating. Finally, the property of the sub-wavelength converging grating was simulated, and we found that the grating could achieve good convergence in the focal length range of 100-150 µm, and had a strong ability to compensate for the position deviation of the incident light. In actual optical communications, this sub-wavelength converging grating will play an important role in alleviating the bandwidth and quantum efficiency, improving the performance of the detectors.

Clinical significance and prognosis of serum tenascin-C in patients with sepsis.

BACKGROUND: Tenascin-C is a pro-inflammatory glycoprotein with various biological functions. High expression of tenascin-C is found in inflammation, tissue remodeling, and autoimmune diseases. However, its expression and clinical significance in sepsis remain unclear. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between serum tenascin-C levels and disease severity and prognosis in patients with sepsis. METHODS: A total of 167 patients with sepsis admitted to the ICU were enrolled. Lood samples were collected within 24 h of admission. Serum tenascin-C levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Follow-up was performed to observe 30-day mortality. RESULTS: Serum tenascin-C levels were significantly elevated in patients with sepsis compared with non-sepsis controls (P < 0.001). Serum tenascin-C levels were higher in nonsurvivors (58 cases) who died within 30 days (34.5%) compared to survivors (109 cases) (P < 0.001). In patients with sepsis, serum tenascin-C levels were significantly positively correlated with SOFA scores (P = 0.011), serum creatinine (P = 0.006), C-reactive protein (CRP) (P = 0.001), interleukin-6 (IL-6) (P < 0.001), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) (P = 0.026). Logistic multivariate regression models showed that serum tenascin-C levels were independent contributor of 30-day mortality. Kaplan-Meier curves showed that septic patients with high levels of serum tenascin-C (≥56.9 pg/mL) had significantly higher 30-day mortality than those with lower serum tenascin-C (< 56.9 pg/mL) (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Elevated serum tenascin-C was found in septic patients and associated with severity and poor prognosis.

A novel antimony-selective ArsR transcriptional repressor and its specific detection of antimony trioxide in environmental samples via bacterial biosensor.

Extensively industrial applications and ever-accelerated anthropogenic activities have resulted in the dramatic accumulation of Sb2O3 contaminant in the environment, leading to adverse health effects on humans and ecosystems. Although arsenite has been subjected to numerous studies and ArsR-based whole-cell biosensors have been successfully applied in field testing of arsenite, there is limited information on the biological recognition element of Sb2O3 and its actual application in biosensor construction and environmental monitoring. In this study, we identified a specific recognition element of Sb2O3, SxArsR, in Sphingobium xenophagum C1 by the induced bioluminescent signal analysis of gene expression in response to Sb2O3 exposure. Compared to the other four groups of characterized ArsRs, the novel SxArsR lacks the third cysteine residue for binding of arsenite and has a conserved histidine-cysteine "HCXC" binding site that directly and specifically binds for Sb2O3. Sb2O3 can remove SxArsR from the core operator/promoter binding sequence in the -79 region upstream of the start codon of sxarsR. Based on the specificity of SxArsR protein and the sensitivity of SxArsR-binding DNA sequence, SxArsR-based whole-cell biosensor was constructed and showed a linear relationship (R2 = 0.99) from 0.01 to 6.0 µM of Sb2O3 with a detection limit of 0.01 µM. The novel bacterial biosensor also exhibited a good performance in the detection of Sb2O3 in environmental water and sediment samples. Overall, SxArsR-based biosensor represents a promising strategy for Sb2O3 detection and may have a profound impact on further practical application of ArsR biosensor in the dual-signal simultaneous detection of arsenite and Sb2O3.

Length-Dependent Photoelectric Property of ZnO Nanowires.

An interesting phenomenon that the photocurrent (the difference between illumination and dark current) of a ZnO nanowire (NW) under a specified voltage increased as its length increased in a certain range was observed previously and it was supposed to be mainly due to a special mean free path effect (MFPE) which caused a special distribution of dark electron density along the length with two higher electron density regions near the two ends of the NW, respectively, and the lower one in the middle part. However, such an explanation would be unreasonable and the true reasons should be the growing-process caused variation of the oxygen adsorption capacity along the NW length and the length-dependent lifetime of photogenerated carriers. Based on this understanding, a theoretical model to properly explain this phenomenon is proposed and the calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental data. This work has introduced an improved insight into the theory of the length-dependent photoelectric property of ZnO NWs.

[A successfully treated case of colchicine poisoning with lethal dose].

At present, there is no specific antidote for colchicine intoxication, and 0.8 mg/kg is its lethal dose. The prognosis of colchicine intoxication patients is closely related to the dosage, but the individual difference is very great. A 38-year-old man with colchicine poisoning was admitted to the Seventh People's Hospital of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who had ingested 80 mg colchicine tablets (1.19 mg/kg) orally for 4 hours. He was immediately put on gastric lavage, enema, and catharsis. Continuous blood purification was performed for 34 hours and 22 minutes, with a combination of hemoperfusion (HP) and continuous veno-venous hemofiltration dialysis (CVVHDF). He also received a large dose of the glucocorticoid with 80 mg of methylprednisolone injected intravenously every 8 hours and organ function support. The patient was hospitalized for 2 weeks and discharged with improvement. The successful treatment of this case was reported for reference.

MiR-215-5p inhibits the inflammation injury in septic H9c2 by regulating ILF3 and LRRFIP1.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) playing crucial roles in sepsis-induced diseases, including myocardial inflammation. Nevertheless, the expression pattern and role of miR-215-5p in myocardial inflammation are still un-investigated up to now. The purpose of our study is to further inquire the effect of miR-215-5p on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated inflammation injury in H9c2 cells and the possibly associated mechanisms. First of all, LPS-induced H9c2 cells models were constructed and affirmed via detection of pro-inflammatory factors, the viability and apoptosis. MiR-215-5p was overtly down-regulated in LPS-treated H9c2 cells and miR-215-5p overexpression could suppress the inflammation injury. LRRFIP1 was proved to be the target gene of miR-215-5p and meanwhile, miR-215-5p also targeted ILF3 that experimented to bind to and stabilize LRRFIP1. Final rescue assays confirmed that the overexpression of LRRFIP1 or ILF3 rescued the repressive effect of miR-215-5p up-regulation on the inflammation injury in septic H9c2. Totally, miR-215-5p exerted protective function in the inflammation injury in septic H9c2 via targeting ILF3 and LRRFIP1, suggesting an additional treatment method for sepsis-activated myocardial inflammation.

Electroacupuncture prevents cognitive impairment induced by lipopolysaccharide via inhibition of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation.

Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation play an important role in the pathophysiology of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cognitive impairment. This study aims to observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the cognitive function in LPS-induced mice, and its regulation on hippocampal α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7nAChR), oxidative and proinflammatory factors. Adult male C57BL/6 nice were used to establish animal model of LPS-induced cognitive impairment, and were randomly divided into three groups (n = 16): control group, model group (LPS: 5 mg/kg), and EA group. The cognitive function was measured by Morris water-maze test, and protein expression of α7nAChR in hippocampus was detected by immunohistochemistry. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure hippocampal proinflammatory cytokines. The results showed that LPS significantly impaired working and spatial memory of mice, which could be attenuated by EA treatment. EA prevented LPS-induced decrease of α7nAChR protein, acetylcholine (ACh) content and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity, and prevented LPS-induced increase of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity (P < 0.05). EA significantly decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and increased the contents of catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) in hippocampus of LPS-treated Mice (P < 0.05). EA also prevented LPS-induced increase of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in hippocampus (P < 0.05). In conclusion, electroacupuncture can improve the learning and memory in LPS-treated mice, and its mechanism may be related to enhanced expression of α7-nAChR and cholinergic factors, and suppression of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in hippocampus.

Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantification of deglymidodrine in human plasma.

A simple, rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for quantification of deglymidodrine in human plasma. The plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation with trichloroacetate. The chromatographic separation was performed on reversed phase Aquasil C18 column, and the plasma extraction was eluted with a mobile phase solution consisting of acetonitrile (containing 0.02% formic acid) and water (containing 0.02% formic acid). The molecular ion of analyte was detected in positive ionization by multiple reaction monitoring. The mass transitions of m/z 198.4--> 148.1 and m/z 212.4--> 162.3 were used for detection of deglymidodrine and its internal standard, respectively. The assay exhibited linear ranges from 0.25 to 32 ng/ml for the analyte in human plasma. Acceptable precision and accuracy were obtained for concentrations of quality control (QC) samples. The proposed method has been successfully used to analyze human plasma samples for application in oral pharmacokinetic study.