Research Progress and Application of Polyimide-Based Nanocomposites.

Polyimide (PI) is one of the most dominant engineering plastics with excellent thermal, mechanical, chemical stability and dielectric performance. Further improving the versatility of PIs is of great significance, broadening their application prospects. Thus, integrating functional nanofillers can finely tune the individual characteristic to a certain extent as required by the function. Integrating the two complementary benefits, PI-based composites strongly expand applications, such as aerospace, microelectronic devices, separation membranes, catalysis, and sensors. Here, from the perspective of system science, the recent studies of PI-based composites for molecular design, manufacturing process, combination methods, and the relevant applications are reviewed, more relevantly on the mechanism underlying the phenomena. Additionally, a systematic summary of the current challenges and further directions for PI nanocomposites is presented. Hence, the review will pave the way for future studies.

The microRNA miR-184 regulates the CYP303A1 transcript level to control molting of Locusta migratoria.

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs) play essential physiological functions in insects. CYP303A1 is highly conserved in insect species studied to date, and shows an indispensable role for adult eclosion in both Locusta migratoria and Drosophila melanogaster. However, how CYP303A1 is regulated to control insect developmental processes remains uninvestigated. In this study, we discovered functional binding sites for miR-184 in the coding sequence of LmCYP303A1. The luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-184 could target LmCYP303A1 and regulate its expression in vitro. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-184 through microinjection of agomir to locusts reduced the transcripts of LmCYP303A1 and led to abnormal molting, which is similar to the phenotype of silencing LmCYP303A1 by direct injection of dsLmCYP303A1 to locusts. Meanwhile, down-regulation of miR-184 by injection of antagomir increased the LmCYP303A1 transcript and caused molting defects. These findings suggested that miR-184 could target LmCYP303A1 to regulate the molting process in L. migratoria, which might be considered as a novel target for pest control.

Correlation between glycosylated serum albumin and glycosylated haemoglobin in the southwest Chinese population: Establishment of a regression model.

AIMS: To correlate glycated albumin (GA) and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and establish a novel formula for estimating HbA1c from GA. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 20,381 cases and excluded HbA1c and GA outliers by residual analysis. HbA1c ranged from 4.0-12.0% and GA from 7.5-45%. The HbA1c range of 4.0-8.0% in both sexes was stratified into eight groups with an increase of 0.5%, and the means of GA and HbA1c were compared. HbA1c was divided into 38 groups with increments of 0.1% (range, 4.3-8.0%), and the correlation between HbA1c and GA was investigated. RESULTS: There was no significant sex-based difference between HbA1c and GA. The analysis showed that when HbA1c was 6.2% or GA was 12.28%, the linear relationship between the two parameters was not continuous. When HbA1c was <6.2% or GA < 12.28%, we devised the formula: HbA1c = 1.136 × GA - 7.289 (R2 = 0.824). For HbA1c ≥ 6.2% or GA ≥ 12.28%, the equation was: HbA1c = 0.252 × GA + 3.163 (R2 = 0.948). CONCLUSION: A discontinuous linear relationship exists between HbA1c and GA when HbA1c is 6.2% or GA is 12.28%, although with a significant turning point. The GA value can be used to estimate the HbA1c value with the two regression equations to accurately estimate the long-term average blood glucose level of patients.