Room-Temperature Anisotropic Actuation Driven by a Synergistic Order-Disorder and Displacive Phase Transition in a Ferroelectric Crystal.

Actuating materials convert different forms of energy into mechanical responses. To satisfy various application scenarios, they are desired to have rich categories, novel functionalities, clear structure-property relationships, fast responses, and, in particular, giant and reversible shape changes. Herein, we report a phase transition-driven ferroelectric crystal, (rac-3-HOPD)PbI3 (3-HOPD = 3-hydroxypiperidine cation), showing intriguingly large and anisotropic room-temperature actuating behaviors. The crystal consists of rigid one-dimensional [PbI3] anionic chains running along the a-axis and discrete disk-like cations loosely wrapping around the chains, leaving room for anisotropic shape changes in both the b- and c-axes. The shape change is switched by a ferroelectric phase transition occurring at around room temperature (294 K), driven by the exceptionally synergistic order-disorder and displacive phase transition. The rotation of the cations exerts internal pressure on the stacking structure to trigger an exceptionally large displacement of the inorganic chains, corresponding to a crystal lattice transformation with length changes of +24.6% and -17.5% along the b- and c-axis, respectively. Single crystal-based prototype devices of circuit switches and elevators have been fabricated by exploiting the unconventional negative temperature-dependent actuating behaviors. This work provides a new model for the development of multifunctional mechanically responsive materials.

Biodegradable Alkali-Swellable Emulsion Polymers: Industrial and Commercial Thickeners.

Sustainability and circularity are key issues facing the global polymer industry. The search for biodegradable and environmentally-friendly polymers that can replace conventional materials is a difficult challenge that has been met with limited success. Alternatives must be cost-effective, scalable, and provide equivalent performance. We report that latexes made by the conventional emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate and functional vinyl ester monomers are efficient thickeners for consumer products and biodegrade in wastewater. This approach uses readily-available starting materials and polymerization is carried out in water at room temperature, in one pot, and generates negligible waste. Moreover, the knowledge that poly(vinyl ester)s are biodegradable will lead to the design of new green polymer materials.

Circulating secretoneurin level reflects angiographic coronary collateralization in stable angina patients with chronic total occlusion.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between circulating secretoneurin (SN) and angiographic coronary collateralization in stable angina patients with chronic coronary total occlusion (CTO). METHODS: SN concentrations in serum were measured in 641 stable angina patients with CTO by radioimmunoassay. The status of coronary collaterals from the contra-lateral vessel was visually estimated using the Rentrop grading system, and was categorized into poor (grade 0 or 1) or good (grade 2 or 3) collateralization. RESULTS: Serum SN levels were significantly higher in patients with good coronary collaterals compared to those with poor collaterals (175.23 ± 52.09 pmol/L vs. 143.29 ± 42.01 pmol/L, P < 0.001). Serum SN increased stepwise across Rentrop score 0 to 3 (P < 0.001), and increasing SN tertiles were associated with higher proportion of good coronary collateralization (OR, 1.907; 95% CI, 1.558 ~ 2.335, P < 0.001). After adjustment for confounding variables, serum SN (per tertile) remained an independent factor for predicting good coronary collaterals (OR, 1.870; 95% CI, 1.515 ~ 2.309; P < 0.001). Moreover, the diagnostic value of serum SN (per tertile) was consistent after stratifying patients based on gender, age, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, history of smoking, severity of coronary artery disease and kidney function (OR: 1.511 ~ 2.680, P interaction ≥ 0.327). CONCLUSION: Elevated circulating SN reflects good angiographic coronary collaterals in stable angina patients with CTO. The findings may provide insight into decision-making for these patients.

Mediastinal Cryobiopsy for Pathological Diagnosis of Fibrosing Mediastinitis-Associated Pulmonary Hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: Fibrosing mediastinitis is a benign but fatal disorder characterized by the proliferation of fibrous tissue in the mediastinum, causing encasement of mediastinal organs and extrinsic compression of adjacent bronchovascular structures. FM-associated pulmonary hypertension (FM-PH) is a serious complication of FM, resulting from the external compression of lung vessels. Pathologic assessment is important for etiologic diagnosis and effective treatment of this disease. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-year-old male patient presented at our hospital and was diagnosed with FM-PH. He declined surgical biopsy that is the reference standard for pathologic assessment, in consideration of the potential risks. Therefore, an endobronchial ultrasound examination was performed, which identified the subcarinal lesion. Under ultrasound guidance, four needle aspirations were carried out, followed by one cryobiopsy. Histopathological examination of transbronchial needle aspiration specimens was inconclusive, while samples from cryobiopsy suggested a diagnosis of idiopathic FM. Further immunophenotyping demonstrated the infiltration of lymphocytes, macrophages, and FOXP3-positive cells in FM-PH. CONCLUSION: Mediastinal cryobiopsy might be a novel and safe option for FM-PH patients who are unwilling or unsuitable for surgical procedure.

Clinicopathological characteristics and gene mutations in 11 patients with lipoprotein glomerulopathy.

OBJECTIVE: Lipoprotein glomerulopathy (LPG) is a rare disorder characterized by the development of glomerular lipoprotein thrombosis. LPG exhibits familial aggregation, with mutations in the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene identified as the leading cause of this disease. This study aimed to investigate APOE gene mutations and the clinicopathological features in eleven LPG patients. METHODS: Clinicopathological and follow-up data were obtained by extracting DNA, followed by APOE coding region sequencing analysis. This study analyzed clinical and pathological manifestations, gene mutations, treatment and prognosis. RESULTS: The mean age of the eleven patients was 33.82 years. Among them, five had a positive family history for LPG, ten presented with proteinuria, four exhibited nephrotic syndrome, and six presented with microscopic hematuria. Dyslipidemia was identified in ten patients. In all renal specimens, there was evident dilation of glomerular capillary lumens containing lipoprotein thrombi, and positive oil red O staining was observed in frozen sections of all samples. APOE gene testing revealed that one patient had no mutations, while the remaining ten patients exhibited mutations in the APOE gene, with three patients presenting with multiple mutations simultaneously. Following the confirmation of LPG diagnosis, treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)/angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) was initiated, and the disease progressed slowly. CONCLUSION: LPG is histologically characterized by lamellated lipoprotein thrombi in glomeruli, and kidney biopsy is essential for diagnosis. Mutations in the APOE gene are the leading cause of LPG. This study revealed clinicopathological characteristics and APOE gene mutations in patients with LPG, which helps us better understand the disease.

Development of Two-Dimensional Offline Coupling of Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation and Capillary Electrophoresis for the Separation of a Five-Component Submicrometer Particle Mixture.

Submicrometer colloidal particles are widely applied in a variety of industrial products. While precise size and surface charge control is crucial to the stability and functionality of these materials, a tool to determine these properties with sufficient resolution, detection sensitivity, and robustness is still not available. The recently reported offline coupling of asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation and capillary electrophoresis (AF4 × CE) shows success in improving the separation resolution for nanoparticles; however, challenges remain for sensitive multiple-component submicrometer particle analysis because of wide size and mobility distributions. We here report offline coupling of an AF4 method and a CE method, which utilized the online reversed electrode polarity stacking mode, to successfully characterize a five-component, submicrometer particle mixture. The mixture was successfully separated and detected with an improved inter- and intracomponent resolution. Therefore, our developed platform holds great potential for industrial applications involving multiple-component particle mixtures.

Combined Morphological and Spectroscopic Diagnostic of HER2 Expression in Breast Cancer Tissues Based on Label-Free Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer type worldwide. Overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is an important subtype of breast cancer and results in an increased risk of recurrence and metastasis in patients. At present, immunohistochemistry (IHC) is used to detect the expression of HER2 in breast cancer tissues as the golden standard. However, IHC has some shortcomings, such as large subjective impact, long time consumption, expensive reagents, etc. In this paper, a combined morphological and spectroscopic diagnostic method based on label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for HER2 expression in breast cancer is proposed. It can not only quantitively detect HER2 expression in breast cancer tissues by spectroscopic measurements but also give morphological images reflecting the distribution of HER2 in tissues. The results show that the consistency between this method and IHC is 95% and achieves the annotation of tumor regions on tissue sections. This method is time-consuming, quantifiable, intuitive, scalable, and easy to understand. Combined with deep learning approaches, it is expected to promote the development of clinical detection and diagnosis technology for breast cancer and other cancers.

Epidermal growth factor receptor regulates lineage plasticity driving transformation to small cell lung cancer.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is clinically and genetically heterogeneous, with concurrent RB1/TP53 mutations, indicating an increased risk of transformation into small cell lung cancer (SCLC). When tumor cells convert into a different histological subtype, they lose their dependence on the original oncogenic driver, resulting in therapeutic resistance. However, the molecular details associated with this transformation remain unclear. It has been difficult to define molecular mechanisms of neuroendocrine (NE) transformation in lung cancer due to a lack of pre- and post-transformation clinical samples. In this study, we established a NSCLC cell line with concurrent RB1/TP53 mutations and built corresponding patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models to investigate the mechanisms underlying transformation to SCLC. Studying these PDX models, we demonstrate that EGFR loss facilitates lineage plasticity of lung adenocarcinoma initiated by biallelic mutations of TP53 and RB1. Gene expression analysis of these EGFR knockout tumors revealed altered expression of neuroendocrine synapse-associated lineage genes. There is an increased expression of epigenetic reprogramming factors like Sox2 and gene associated with neural development like NTRK in these EGFR knockout tumors. These findings uncovered the role of EGFR in the acquisition of plasticity, which is the ability of a cell to substantially modify its identity and take on a new phenotype, and defined a novel landscape of potential drivers of NE transformation in lung cancer.

A systematic review and meta-analysis on prevalence of and risk factors associated with depression, anxiety and insomnia in infectious diseases, including COVID-19: a call to action.

Infectious disease epidemics have become more frequent and more complex during the 21st century, posing a health threat to the general public and leading to psychological symptoms. The current study was designed to investigate the prevalence of and risk factors associated with depression, anxiety and insomnia symptoms during epidemic outbreaks, including COVID-19. We systematically searched the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, OVID, Medline, Cochrane databases, bioRxiv and medRxiv to identify studies that reported the prevalence of depression, anxiety or insomnia during infectious disease epidemics, up to August 14th, 2020. Prevalence of mental symptoms among different populations including the general public, health workers, university students, older adults, infected patients, survivors of infection, and pregnant women across all types of epidemics was pooled. In addition, prevalence of mental symptoms during COVID-19 was estimated by time using meta-regression analysis. A total of 17,506 papers were initially retrieved, and a final of 283 studies met the inclusion criteria, representing a total of 948,882 individuals. The pooled prevalence of depression ranged from 23.1%, 95% confidential intervals (95% CI: [13.9-32.2]) in survivors to 43.3% (95% CI: [27.1-59.6]) in university students, the pooled prevalence of anxiety ranged from 25.0% (95% CI: [12.0-38.0]) in older adults to 43.3% (95% CI: [23.3-63.3]) in pregnant women, and insomnia symptoms ranged from 29.7% (95% CI: [24.4-34.9]) in the general public to 58.4% (95% CI: [28.1-88.6]) in university students. Prevalence of moderate-to-severe mental symptoms was lower but had substantial variation across different populations. The prevalence of mental problems increased over time during the COVID-19 pandemic among the general public, health workers and university students, and decreased among infected patients. Factors associated with increased prevalence for all three mental health symptoms included female sex, and having physical disorders, psychiatric disorders, COVID infection, colleagues or family members infected, experience of frontline work, close contact with infected patients, high exposure risk, quarantine experience and high concern about epidemics. Frequent exercise and good social support were associated with lower risk for these three mental symptoms. In conclusion, mental symptoms are common during epidemics with substantial variation across populations. The population-specific psychological crisis management are needed to decrease the burden of psychological problem and improve the mental wellbeing during epidemic.

Placebo Response Rates in Acupuncture Therapy Trials for Functional Dyspepsia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a functional digestive disease with limited management selection. Previous studies revealed that acupuncture therapy is effective for FD. However, because sham controls were not implemented in most clinical trials following acupuncture therapy, it is difficult to differentiate overall treatment responses from placebo. This study aims to quantify placebo responses in clinical trials in which FD patients received sham manual acupuncture (MA) and sham electroacupuncture (EA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Randomized controlled trials of MA and EA for FD patients were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases, as well as 4 Chinese language databases from inception to January 2021. RevMan 5.20 software was used for pooled analysis of symptom scores and quality of life. The symptom scores were combined using standard mean difference (SMD) or weighted mean difference (WMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The quality of included studies was tested using modified Jadad scale and Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) checklist. Egger's test, Begg's test, and sensitivity analyses were conducted using Stata 11.0 statistical software. The protocol of this study is registered in PROSPERO as CRD42021233858. RESULTS: After screening, the current systematic review included 13 randomized controlled trials, of which 8 studies were used in the meta-analysis. Regarding subjective outcomes, the combined effect of sham MA on FD symptoms was [SMD=-0.42, 95% CI (-0.72, -0.12); P=0.005], whereas sham EA treatment was [SMD=-0.54, 95% CI (-0.81, -0.27); P<0.001]. The combined effect on FD quality of life of post-sham MA group was [SMD=-0.32, 95% CI (-0.52, -0.12); P=0.002]. With regard to objective outcomes, the combined effect of sham EA on dominant frequency was [WMD=-0.11, 95% CI (-0.30, -0.08); P=0.24], while the combined effect of sham EA on dominant power was [WMD=-3.35, 95% CI (-8.04, 1.35); P=0.16]. CONCLUSIONS: Sham MA and sham EA remarkably improve symptoms and quality of life scores of FD without influencing objective outcomes, highlighting the significance of sham controls in acupuncture therapy clinical trials.

Haemophilus Influenzae-Induced Corneal Ulcer and Endophthalmitis Triggered by Hair Dye.

ABSTRACT: The present report describes a 79-year-old woman developed eye pain in her right eye after accidental exposure to the hair dye when she dyed her hair. Her visual acuity was no light perception and intraocular ocular pressure was 10 mmHg in her right eye. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy revealed a huge corneal ulcer with the central cornea almost perforated and severe hypopyon in anterior chamber and moderate opacity in vitreous. Time-of-flight mass-spectrum of cornea scraping confirmed that the pathogen was haemophilus influenzae. Right-eye enucleation was performed. Topical chloramphenicol eye drops (0.25%) and ciprofloxacin (0.3%) and the ceftezole intravenous infusion were applied. The infection was controlled and the patient recovered well on 1 month follow-up. Doctors should be aware of the diagnosis and treatment of this complication associated with the application of hair dye as the popularity of this procedure increases.

The mediating effects of adversity quotient and self-efficacy on ICU nurses' organizational climate and work engagement.

AIM: This study aimed to explore the mediating effects of adversity quotient and the moderating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between the organizational climate and the work engagement of intensive care unit nurses. BACKGROUND: A good organizational climate can contribute to a high level of work engagement. Adversity quotient and self-efficacy are the key factors affecting nurses' work engagement, while the mechanism of these factors in the organizational climate and work engagement remains unclear. This study was conducted to contribute to the relevant field research. METHODS: The study used a cross-sectional research design and surveyed 323 intensive care unit nurses working in a public hospital in China. The data were analysed using descriptive statistical methods: Pearson correlation analysis and PROCESS macro Model 7 in the regression analysis. RESULTS: Organizational climate was positively correlated with work engagement and adversity quotient. The indirect effect of organizational climate on work engagement through adversity quotient was positive. Furthermore, self-efficacy moderated the relationship between the two factors. CONCLUSION: Cultivating organizational climate and adversity quotients is an important strategy to improve the work engagement of intensive care unit nurses, particularly for nurses with high self-efficacy. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Administrators should make efforts to create a good organizational climate and cultivate nurses' adversity quotients and self-efficacy to decrease their intent to leave.

[Comparative Evaluation of the Value of Quantitative Parameters of Dual-energy CT and MRI for KRAS Mutation in Rectal Cancer].

Objective To evaluate and compare the value of quantitative parameters of preoperative dual-energy CT and MRI on KRAS mutation in rectal cancer,and to explore the correlations between postoperative pathological indicators and KRAS mutation. Methods This study retrospectively analyzed 50 patients with rectal cancer confirmed by surgery and pathology and receiving KRAS genetic testing in Lanzhou University Second Hospital from August 2017 to April 2021.According to the results of genetic testing,the patients were assigned into a wild-type group (29 patients) and a mutant type group (21 patients).The preoperative baseline data included sex,age,and serum tumor markers,and the postoperative pathological data included pathological stage,lymphovascular invasion,perineural invasion,and lymph node metastasis.The quantitative parameters of three-phase energy spectral CT included iodine (water) concentration,water (iodine) concentration,effective atomic number,and normalized iodine concentration.The quantitative parameters of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) included minimum ADC,average ADC,and relative ADC.In addition,the width of the superior rectal vein was obtained from the CT images of the venous phase,and the tumor segmentation,the maximum axial length of tumor,and the maximum longitudinal length of tumor were obtained from the MRI images.The qualitative and quantitative data were compared by χ2 test,t-test,and Mann-Whitney U test.The diagnostic efficacy of the two detection methods for KRAS mutations in rectal cancer was compared,and the receiver operating characteristic curve was employed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy. Results The KRAS mutation rate was higher in the carbohydrate antigen 199 abnormal group than the normal group (P=0.036) and higher in the positive group of lymphovascular invasion (P=0.034).The KRAS mutant type group had higher normalized iodine concentration in the venous phase (P=0.016) and lower average ADC and relative ADC (P=0.008, P=0.002,respectively) than the wild-type group.Among them,relative ADC had the highest diagnostic efficiency (AUC=0.755). Conclusion The quantitative parameters of dual-energy CT and ADC have similar diagnostic efficiency for KRAS mutation in rectal cancer,and relative ADC is superior to other parameters.

Impact of glycemic control on the association of endothelial dysfunction and coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: We investigated whether glycemic control affects the relation between endothelial dysfunction and coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: In 102 type 2 diabetic patients with stable angina, endothelial function was evaluated using brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) with high-resolution ultrasound, and significant stenosis of major epicardial coronary arteries (≥ 50% diameter narrowing) and degree of coronary atherosclerosis (Gensini score and SYNTAX score) were determined. The status of glycemic control was assessed by blood concentration of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). RESULTS: The prevalence of significant coronary artery stenosis (67.9% vs. 37.0%, P = 0.002) and degree of coronary atherosclerosis (Gensini score: 48.99 ± 48.88 vs. 15.07 ± 21.03, P < 0.001; SYNTAX score: 15.88 ± 16.36 vs. 7.28 ± 10.54, P = 0.003) were higher and FMD was lower (6.03 ± 2.08% vs. 6.94 ± 2.20%, P = 0.036) in diabetic patients with poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥ 7.0%; n = 56) compared to those with good glycemic control (HbA1c < 7.0%; n = 46). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that tertile of FMD was an independent determinant of presence of significant coronary artery stenosis (OR = 0.227 95% CI 0.056-0.915, P = 0.037), Gensini score (ß = - 0.470, P < 0.001) and SYNTAX score (ß = - 0.349, P = 0.004) in diabetic patients with poor glycemic control but not for those with good glycemic control (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Poor glycemic control negatively influences the association of endothelial dysfunction and coronary artery disease in T2DM patients.

KHZ1 and KHZ2, novel members of the autonomous pathway, repress the splicing efficiency of FLC pre-mRNA in Arabidopsis.

As one of the most important events during the life cycle of flowering plants, the floral transition is of crucial importance for plant propagation and requires the precise coordination of multiple endogenous and external signals. There have been at least four flowering pathways (i.e. photoperiod, vernalization, gibberellin, and autonomous) identified in Arabidopsis. We previously reported that two Arabidopsis RNA-binding proteins, KHZ1 and KHZ2, redundantly promote flowering. However, the underlying mechanism was unclear. Here, we found that the double mutant khz1 khz2 flowered late under both long-day and short-day conditions, but responded to vernalization and gibberellin treatments. The late-flowering phenotype was almost completely rescued by mutating FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and fully rescued by overexpressing FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). Additional experiments demonstrated that the KHZs could form homodimers or interact to form heterodimers, localized to nuclear dots, and repressed the splicing efficiency of FLC pre-mRNA. Together, these data indicate that the KHZs could promote flowering via the autonomous pathway by repressing the splicing efficiency of FLC pre-mRNA.

Protective effects of trehalose against Mn-induced α-synuclein oligomerization in mice: Involvement of oxidative stress and autophagy.

Overexposure to manganese (Mn) is widely known to induce alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) oligomerization, which has been attributed to the oxidative damage of α-Syn protein. Trehalose has been shown to induce autophagy and serve as a chemical chaperone, but little information has been reported about its effect on Mn-induced α-Syn oligomerization. In this study, we investigate whether trehalose can effectively interfere with Mn-induced α-Syn oligomerization, using different concentrations of trehalose (2% and 4% (g/vol [mL])) in a mouse model of manganism. After 6 weeks of exposure to Mn, both oxidative stress and autophagy were activated and resulted in α-Syn oligomerization and neuronal cell damage in the mouse brain tissue. Our results also revealed that pretreatment with trehalose significantly reduced the oxidative damage to α-Syn protein and increased autophagy activation. These findings clearly demonstrated that trehalose can relieve Mn-induced α-Syn oligomerization and neuronal cell damage through its anti-oxidative and autophagy-inducing effects.

A correlation between sickness or injury within two weeks, chronic diseases and fatigue among adults aged 18-45 years.

To investigate the prevalence of fatigue, the relationship between sickness or injury within two weeks, chronic diseases and fatigue among adults aged 18-45 years. Thousand five hundred and seventy nine individuals were included in this cross-sectional study. The Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS) was used to assess fatigue defined as CFS score ≥4. The prevalence of fatigue was 25% in this study. Our results showed that only sickness or injury within two weeks (odds ratio [OR]: 2.440) and chronic diseases (OR: 1.727) were significantly related to fatigue. Moreover, their ORs for fatigue remained the same in all models (binary logistic regression models with adjusting for demographic and health-related characteristics one by one). In conclusion, fatigue was prevalent among adults aged 18-45 years. Sickness or injury within two weeks and chronic diseases were the risk factors for fatigue independent of demographic and health-related characteristics.

UV-Vis Spectrum Characteristics of Phycocyanin Purification in Water from Chao Lake.

Fresh blue algal from Chao Lake was used in this study. The crude extracts of phycocyanin were obtained with freeze-thaw method. The purification of phycocyanin was performed by combining two-step salt precipitation and two-step column chromatography. The reagent grade phycocyanin was achieved. Phycocyanin and impurity solution were obtained respectively in various stages subjected to the UV-Vis absorption spectrum scanning. With the development of the four-step purification process, the absorption peak of phycocyanin solution was redshifted from 260 to 280 nm in the wavelength range from 250 to 300 nm, and the maximum absorption peak of phycocyanin was redshifted from 617 to 620 nm in the wavelength range from 500nm to 700 nm. In the wavelength range from 250 to 700 nm, it showed that the impurity solution mainly contained impurity proteins and part of the phycocyanin in the first salting out, and mainly contained nucleic acids and vitamins substance in the second salting out. The first outflow components mainly contained phycoerythrin separated by the first column chromatography. The last outflow components mainly contained allophycocyanin separated by the second column chromatography. After the four-step purification process, the final purity of phycocyanin (A620/A280) is greater than 4,which met the standard of reagent grade．Thus it can be seen that two-step salt precipitation had a main function which was to remove impurity proteins, nucleic acids and vitamins substance, and two-step column chromatography main function was to remove phycoerythrin and allophycocyanin which were similar to phycocyanin.

[The linear hyperspectral camera rotating scan imaging geometric correction based on the precise spectral sampling].

As the rotation speed of ground based hyperspectral imaging system is too fast in the image collection process, which exceeds the speed limitation, there is data missed in the rectified image, it shows as the_black lines. At the same time, there is serious distortion in the collected raw images, which effects the feature information classification and identification. To solve these problems, in this paper, we introduce the each component of the ground based hyperspectral imaging system at first, and give the general process of data collection. The rotation speed is controlled in data collection process, according to the image cover area of each frame and the image collection speed of the ground based hyperspectral imaging system, And then the spatial orientation model is deduced in detail combining with the star scanning angle, stop scanning angle and the minimum distance between the sensor and the scanned object etc. The oriented image is divided into grids and resampled with new spectral. The general flow of distortion image corrected is presented in this paper. Since the image spatial resolution is different between the adjacent frames, and in order to keep the highest image resolution of corrected image, the minimum ground sampling distance is employed as the grid unit to divide the geo-referenced image. Taking the spectral distortion into account caused by direct sampling method when the new uniform grids and the old uneven grids are superimposed to take the pixel value, the precise spectral sampling method based on the position distribution is proposed. The distortion image collected in Lao Si Cheng ruin which is in the Zhang Jiajie town Hunan province is corrected through the algorithm proposed on above. The features keep the original geometric characteristics. It verifies the validity of the algorithm. And we extract the spectral of different features to compute the correlation coefficient. The results show that the improved spectral sampling method is better than the direct sampling method. It provides the reference for the similar product used on the ground.

Human amniotic epithelial stem cells inhibit microglia activation through downregulation of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1ß and matrix metalloproteinase-12 in vitro and in a rat model of intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AIMS: The molecular mechanisms by which stem cell transplantation improves functional recovery after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are not well understood. Accumulating evidence suggests that microglia cells are activated shortly after ICH and that this activation contributes to secondary ICH-induced brain injury. We studied the effect of human amniotic epithelial stem cells (HAESCs) on microglia activation. METHODS: To study the effect of HAESCs in vitro, we used thrombin to activate the microglia cells. Twenty-four hours after thrombin treatment, the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1ß were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In vivo, the HAESCs were transplanted into the rat striatum 1 day after collagenase-induced ICH. The expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-12 and microglia infiltration in the peri-hematoma tissues were determined 7 days after ICH through the use of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical analysis, respectively. RESULTS: Thrombin-activated microglia expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1ß and MMP-12 was significantly reduced through contact-dependent and paracrine mechanisms when the HAESCs were co-cultured with microglia cells. After transplantation of HAESCs in rat brains, the expression levels of MMP-12 and microglia infiltration in the peri-hematoma tissues were significantly reduced. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations suggest that microglia activation could be inhibited by HAESCs both in vitro and in vivo, which may be an important mechanism by which the transplantation of HAESCs reduces brain edema and ameliorates the neurologic deficits after ICH. Therefore, we hypothesize that methods for suppressing the activation of microglia and reducing the inflammatory response can be used for designing effective treatment strategies for ICH.