Amplified Fluorescence by Hollow-Porous Plasmonic Assembly: A New Observation and Its Application in Multiwavelength Simultaneous Detection.

Surface plasmon coupled emission (SPCE) is a new analytical technique that provides increased and directional radiation based on the near-field interaction between fluorophores and surface plasmons but suffers from the limitation of insufficient sensitivity. The assembly of hollow-porous plasmonic nanoparticles could be the qualified candidate. After the introduction of gold nanocages (AuNCs), fluorescence signal enhancement was realized by factors over 150 and 600 compared with the normal SPCE and free space emission, respectively, with a fluorophore layer thickness of approximately 10 nm; hence, the unique enhancement of SPCE by the AuNCs effectively overcomes the signal quenching induced by resonance energy transfer (in normal SPCE). This enhancement was proven to be triggered by the superior wavelength match, the enhanced electromagnetic field, and new radiation channel and process induced by the AuNC assembly, which provides an opportunity to increase the detection sensitivity and establish an optimal plasmonic enhancement system. The amplified SPCE system was employed for multiwavelength simultaneous enhancement detection through the assembly of mixed hollow nanoparticles (AuNCs and gold nanoshells), which could broaden the application of SPCE in simultaneous sensing and imaging for multianalytes.

Fluorescence enhancement of surface plasmon coupled emission by Au nanobipyramids and its modulation effect on multi-wavelength radiation.

Surface plasmon coupled emission (SPCE), a novel surface-enhanced fluorescence technique, can generate directional and amplified radiation by the intense interaction between fluorophores and surface plasmons (SPs) of metallic nanofilms. For plasmon-based optical systems, the strong interaction between localized and propagating SPs and "hot spot" structures show great potential to significantly improve the electromagnetic (EM) field and modulate optical properties. Au nanobipyramids (NBPs) with two sharp apexes to enhance and restrict the EM field were introduced through electrostatic adsorption to achieve a mediated fluorescence system, and the emission signal enhancement was realized by factors over 60 compared with the normal SPCE. It has been demonstrated that the intense EM field produced by the NBPs assembly is what triggered the unique enhancement of SPCE by Au NBPs, which effectively overcomes the inherent signal quenching of SPCE for ultrathin sample detection. This remarkable enhanced strategy offers the chance to improve the detection sensitivity for plasmon-based biosensing and detection systems, and expand the range of applications for SPCE in bioimaging with more comprehensive and detailed information acquisition. The enhancement efficiency for various emission wavelengths was investigated in light of the wavelength resolution of SPCE, and it was discovered that enhanced emission for multi-wavelength could be successfully detected through the different emission angles due to the angular displacement caused by wavelength change. Benefit from this, the Au NBP modulated SPCE system was employed for multi-wavelength simultaneous enhancement detection under a single collection angle, which could broaden the application of SPCE in simultaneous sensing and imaging for multi-analytes, and expected to be used for high throughput detection of multi-component analysis.

Autosomal dominant osteopetrosis type II resulting from a de novo mutation in the CLCN7 gene: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Osteopetrosis is a family of extremely rare diseases caused by failure of osteoclasts and impaired bone resorption. Among them, autosomal dominant osteopetrosis type II (ADO II), related to the chloride channel 7 (CLCN7) gene, is the most frequent form of osteopetrosis. In this study, we report a de novo mutation of CLCN7 in a patient without the family history of ADO II. CASE SUMMARY: A 5-year-old Chinese boy with ADO II was found to have a de novo mutation in the CLCN7 gene [c.746C>T (p.P249L)]. Typical clinical manifestations, including thickening of the cortex of spinal bones and long bones, non-traumatic fracture of the femoral neck, and femoral head necrosis, were found in this patient. The patient is the first reported case of ADO II with the missense mutation c.746C>T (p.P249L) of the CLCN7 gene reported in China. We also review the available literature on ADO II-related CLCN7 mutations, including baseline patient clinical features, special clinical significance, and common mutations. CONCLUSION: Our report will enrich the understanding of mutations in ADO II patients. The possibility of a de novo mutation should be considered in individuals who have no family history of osteopetrosis.

Genetic Profile and Clinical Characteristics of Brugada Syndrome in the Chinese Population.

BACKGROUND: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is an inheritable arrhythmia syndrome that can lead to sudden cardiac death in patients while the heart structure is normal. However, the genetic background of more than 65% of BrS probands remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to report the variant spectrum in a Chinese cohort with suspected BrS and to analyze their distinct clinical and electrocardiographic features. METHODS: Patients with suspected BrS from Tongji Hospital between 2008 and 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: A total of 79 probands were included in this study. Patients with type 1 BrS electrocardiogram (ECG) had a prolonged QRS duration compared to patients with type 2/3 BrS ECG. Of them, 59 probands underwent genetic testing. Twenty-five patients (42.37%) showed abnormal genetic testing results, and eight of them (13.56%) carried pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) mutations. Mutation carriers presented much more prominent depolarization and repolarization abnormalities than non-carriers, including a prolonged P-wave duration, QRS duration, QTc interval, decreased QRS amplitude, and deviation of the electrocardiographic axes (T-wave axis and R-wave axis). Furthermore, our study identified four novel P/LP mutations: Q3508X in TTN, A990G in KCNH2, G1220E, and D372H (in a representative pedigree) in SCN5A. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed the variant spectrum of a suspected Chinese BrS cohort, and we identified four novel P/LP mutations in TTN, KCNH2, and SCN5A.

(t, n) Threshold d-Level Quantum Secret Sharing.

Most of Quantum Secret Sharing(QSS) are (n, n) threshold 2-level schemes, in which the 2-level secret cannot be reconstructed until all n shares are collected. In this paper, we propose a (t, n) threshold d-level QSS scheme, in which the d-level secret can be reconstructed only if at least t shares are collected. Compared with (n, n) threshold 2-level QSS, the proposed QSS provides better universality, flexibility, and practicability. Moreover, in this scheme, any one of the participants does not know the other participants' shares, even the trusted reconstructor Bob 1 is no exception. The transformation of the particles includes some simple operations such as d-level CNOT, Quantum Fourier Transform(QFT), Inverse Quantum Fourier Transform(IQFT), and generalized Pauli operator. The transformed particles need not to be transmitted from one participant to another in the quantum channel. Security analysis shows that the proposed scheme can resist intercept-resend attack, entangle-measure attack, collusion attack, and forgery attack. Performance comparison shows that it has lower computation and communication costs than other similar schemes when 2 < t < n - 1.

Obesity detection rate among primary school students in the People's Republic of China: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Obesity has become a major public health problem worldwide. The prevalence of obesity is rising alarmingly among children and adolescents in the People's Republic of China, with an estimated 120 million now in the obese range. It is estimated that 8% of children in the People's Republic of China are obese and 12% are overweight. METHODS: Eligible papers on the prevalence of obesity among primary school students in the People's Republic of China and published between 2006 and 2011 were retrieved from PubMed and from online Chinese periodicals, ie, the full-text databases of VIP, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan Fang. Meta-Analyst software was used to collate and analyze the detection rates cited in the papers retrieved. RESULTS: After evaluation of the quality of the papers, 25 were finally included, giving a total sample population size for investigation of obesity of 219,763, in which 28,121 cases were detected. Meta-analysis showed that the combined obesity detection rate was 10.4% (95% confidence interval 8.6-12.6) among primary school students in the People's Republic of China, with a higher detection rate in boys (12.6%) than in girls (7.2%). The prevalence of obesity was higher in the north (11.8%) than in the south (9.5%), east (11.6%), and mid-west (8.0%) regions. Obesity defined according to the World Health Organization weight-for-height standard (14.3%) was higher than that using age-specific and gender-specific cutoff points for body mass index (9.0%). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis found an obesity prevalence rate of 10.4%, which does not seem as high as previous reports of childhood obesity rates in other countries. However, the prevalence of childhood obesity in the People's Republic of China is still worrisome, and is likely to rise even further if we fail to take effective and practical measures now.

Overweight and obesity associated with increased total serum calcium level: comparison of cross-sectional data in the health screening for teaching faculty.

Obesity is a risk of cardiovascular diseases. Our previous studies revealed that serum calcium level may have influence in the blood pressure to older male subjects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between total serum calcium level and overweight and obesity subjects. In our study, overweight and obesity status and total serum calcium level were measured among 2,503 subjects, at age range of 22-94 years, who were recruited for the routine health screening in 2006. The estimated mean for age (p < 0.001), white blood cell count (p = 0.037), hemoglobin concentration (p < 0.001), red blood cell count (p < 0.001), total serum calcium level (p < 0.001), total cholesterol weight (p < 0.001), HDL-cholesterol (p < 0.001), LDL-cholesterol (p < 0.001), and triglyceride (p < 0.001) of overweight and obesity subjects were significantly higher than those of non-overweight subjects. The prevalence of overweight/obesity in subjects according to the log-transformed total serum calcium level quartiles was 16.3-30.5 %. The prevalence of overweight/obesity subjects showed trends that were significant according to the total serum calcium level quartiles (p < 0.001). The odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for overweight/obesity of the second, third, and fourth quartiles compared to the lowest quartile were 1.407 (1.050-1.883), 1.543 (1.136-2.095), and 1.360 (0.995-1.859), respectively, after adjusting for sex and age (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that a higher prevalence of adult overweight/obesity is weakly associated with higher total serum calcium level in the Chinese population.

[Clinical analysis of routine laboratory examination for 464 dental patients].

PURPOSE: To study the clinical value of routine laboratory examination for dental patients. METHODS: Routine blood and infectious disease examinations were performed in 464 dental patients. RESULTS: For the 374 patients who received routine blood test, the percentage of WBC, HGB, PLT and WBC classification abnormality were 13.6%, 8.5%, 10.4% and 20.3% respectively. For the 369 patients who received coagulation tests, the percentage of PT and APTT abnormality were 1.3% and 1.9%. For the 142 patients who received hepatitis B virus examination, the percentage of HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBe and anti-HBc abnormality were 4.9%, 0.7%,59.8%,17.6% and 40.8%,respectively. The positive rate for hepatitis C, syphilis and HIV inspections were 2.9%(2/70), 0.6%(1/150) and 0.5%(1/199),respectively. CONCLUSION: Routine laboratory and infectious disease examinations are important in diagnosis, medical security and cross infection control in dental clinic.

[Self-cleaning and antimicrobial properties of methacrylic acid coupled TiO(2)/PMMA denture base resin].

PURPOSE: To study the influence of TiO2 and methacrylic acid on self-cleaning and antimicrobial properties of denture base resin. METHODS: TiO2 (2%, 4%, 6%) and methacrylic acid were respectively added into two makers' denture base resins. The self-cleaning property was assayed with measuring the decomposition of methylthioninium chloride. The antimicrobial property was tested with the pellicle-sticking method. The data were analysed by SPSS 12.0 software package for two-way ANOVA. RESULTS: The self-cleaning and antimicrobial properties of samples were improved as TiO2 increased. Methacrylic acid had no significant influence on self-cleaning and antimicrobial properties of the samples. The decomposition ratio and antimicrobial ratio of MTi4% (Rijin) were 53.96% and 71.42%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Methacrylic acid coupled TiO2/PMMA denture base resin enjoys good self-cleaning and antimicrobial properties.