High-sensitivity fiber optic temperature sensor based on CTFBG-FPI and Vernier effect.

A novel high-sensitivity temperature sensor based on a chirped thin-core fiber Bragg grating Fabry-Perot interferometer (CTFBG-FPI) and the Vernier effect is proposed and demonstrated. With femtosecond laser direct writing technology, two CTFBG-FPIs with different interferometric cavity lengths are inscribed inside a thin-core fiber to form a Vernier effect system. The two FPIs consist of two pairs of CTFBGs with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 66.5 nm staggered in parallel. The interferometric cavity lengths of the two FPIs were designed to be 2 mm and 1.98 mm as the reference arm and sensing arm of the sensor, respectively. The temperature sensitivity of this sensor was measured to be -1.084 nm/°C in a range of 40-90°C. This sensor is expected to play a crucial role in precision temperature measurement applications.

MicroRNA-148b is down-regulated in non-small cell lung cancer and associated with poor survival.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to clarify the clinicopathological significance of miRNA-148b (miR-148b) expression in NSCLC, and to explore the correlation between miR-148b level and the prognosis of patients with NSCLC. METHODS: 151 patients diagnosed with NSCLC between May 2007 and April 2012 were included in the present study. Real-time RT-PCR method was used to assess the expression levels of miR-148b. The differences between two groups were assessed using Student's t -test, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate overall survival. RESULTS: The expression of miR-148b was decreased in tumor tissues compared to corresponding adjacent normal lung tissues (0.37 ± 0.12 vs. 1.00 ± 0.53, P < 0.05). Low miR-148b expression was significantly associated with TNM stage (P = 0.014), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.031), and distant metastasis (P = 0.008). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with low expression of miR-148b had significantly worse overall survival rates compared with those who had cancers with high miR-148b expression (log-rank test P = 0.039). Furthermore, multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed that miR-148b expression was independently associated with overall survival of patients with NSCLC (HR = 2.357, 95% CI: 1.612-9.212, P = 0.011). CONCLUSION: our data indicate that decreased expression of miR-148b in NSCLC tissues has prognostic value.

Di-µ-methano-lato-κ(4)O:O-bis-[bis-(3-methyl-5-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-κN(2))(nitrato-κO)copper(II)].

Copper nitrate in methanol solution cleaves the N-C(methanol) bond when reacted with 3-methyl-5-phenyl-pyrazole-1-methanol to yield the centrosymmetric dinuclear title compound, [Cu(2)(CH(3)O)(2)(NO(3))(2)(C(10)H(10)N(2))(4)], in which the Cu(II) atom is linked to a nitrate ion, two methano-late ions and two pyrazole ligands in a distorted square-pyramidal environment. The O atom of the nitrate anion occupies the apical site. The crystal structure features intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.