[Effects of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ on Modulating Angiopoietin-Like Protein 4 Synthesis in Caco-2 Cells Exposed to Clostridium butyricum].

Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) is considered to be one of the important circulating mediators linking intestinal microorganisms and host lipid metabolism. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor у (PPARγ) on modulating ANGPTL4 synthesis in Caco-2 cells exposed to Clostridium butyricum. The viability of Caco-2 cells and the expression of PPARγ and ANGPTL4 in Caco-2 cells were detected after the Caco-2 cells were co-cultured with C. butyricum at the concentration of 1 x 10^(6), 1 x 10^(7) and 1 x 10^(8) CFU/mL. The results showed that cell viability was enhanced by C. butyricum. Besides, PPARγ and ANGPTL4 expression and secretion in Caco-2 cells was significantly increased by 1 x 10^(7) and 1 x 10^(8) CFU/mL of C. butyricum. Furthermore, the effects of PPARγ on modulating ANGPTL4 synthesis in Caco-2 cells regulated by 1 x 10^(8) CFU/mL of C. butyricum was also be expounded in PPARγ activation/inhibition model based on Caco-2 cells and via ChIP technique. It was found that C. butyricum promoted the binding of PPARγ to the PPAR binding site (chr19: 8362157-8362357, located upstream of the transcriptional start site of angptl4) of the angptl4 gene in Caco-2 cells. However, the PPARγ was not the only way for C. butyricum to stimulate ANGPTL4 production. Taken together, PPARγ played a role in the regulation of ANGPTL4 synthesis by C. butyricum in Caco-2 cells.

[Finite element analysis of the graft stresses after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the stress distribution characteristics of the graft after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, so as to provide theoretical reference for the surgical plan of ACL reconstruction. METHODS: Based on 3D MRI and CT images, finite element models of the uninjured knee joint and knee joint after ACL reconstruction were established in this study. The uninjured knee model included femur, tibia, fibula, medial collateral ligament, lateral collateral ligament, ACL and posterior cruciate ligament. The ACL reconstruction knee model included femur, tibia, fibula, medial collateral ligament, lateral collateral ligament, ACL graft and posterior cruciate ligament. Linear elastic material properties were used for both the uninjured and ACL reconstruction models. The elastic modulus of bone tissue was set as 17 GPa and Poisson' s ratio was 0.36. The material properties of ligament tissue and graft were set as elastic modulus 390 MPa and Poisson's ratio 0.4. The femur was fixed as the boundary condition, and the tibia anterior tension of 134 N was applied as the loading condition. The stress states of the ACL of the intact joint and the ACL graft after reconstruction were solved and analyzed, including tension, pressure, shear force and von Mises stress. RESULTS: The maximum compressive stress (6.34 MPa), von Mises stress (5.9 MPa) and shear stress (1.83 MPa) of the reconstructed ACL graft were all at the anterior femoral end. It was consistent with the position of maximum compressive stress (8.77 MPa), von Mises stress (8.88 MPa) and shear stress (3.44 MPa) in the ACL of the intact knee joint. The maximum tensile stress of the graft also appeared at the femoral end, but at the posterior side, which was consistent with the position of the maximum tensile stress of ACL of the uninjured knee joint. More-over, the maximum tensile stress of the graft was only 0.88 MPa, which was less than 2.56 MPa of ACL of the uninjured knee joint. CONCLUSION: The maximum compressive stress, von Mises stress and shear stress of the ACL graft are located in the anterior femoral end, and the maximum tensile stress is located in the posterior femoral end, which is consistent with the position of the maximum tensile stress of the ACL of the uninjured knee joint. The anterior part of ACL and the graft bore higher stresses than the posterior part, which is consistent with the biomechanical characteristics of ACL.

[Changes of electroencephalography power spectrum during joint position perception test after anterior cruciate ligament rupture].

OBJECTIVE: To measure the electroencephalography (EEG) of the patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture when performing joint position perception movement task, to compare the differences between the ACL rupture side and the unaffected side, to identify the EEG change in the power spectrum caused by the ACL rupture, and to provide evidence for the diagnosis, treatment and rehabi-litation for ACL injury as well as knee instability. METHODS: Sixteen male patients, selected from the Department of Sports Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital from November 2014 to April 2015, with only ACL rupture on one side used isokinetic muscle strength testing equipment were enrolled in the study to perform unilateral active knee joint positional movement and passive knee joint positional movement tasks. EEG was recorded to compare between the affected and unaffected limb of ACL rupture patients when doing single leg movement tasks, including passive knee joint position test and active knee joint position sensation test. The target position of the active knee joint position movement task and the passive knee joint position movement task was 30 degrees of knee flexion. RESULTS: During the passive knee joint position test, there was no significant difference in EEG power spectrum of Delta[F (1, 15)=0.003, P=0.957, ηP2 =0.001], Theta[F (1, 15)=0.002, P=0.962, ηP2 < 0.001], Alpha[F (1, 15)=0.002, P=0.966, ηP2 =0.001], Beta[F (1, 15)=0.008, P=0.929, ηP2 =0.001] at Fz, Cz, and Pz between the affected and unaffected limbs in the ACL patients. During the active knee joint position movement task, the EEG power spectrum of Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta at Fz and Cz location, on the affected side was significant higher than on the unaffected side. CONCLUSION: This study compared the differences between the ACL rupture side and the unaffected side during active knee position movement task and passive knee position movement task, and identifyied the EEG changes in the power spectrum caused by the ACL rupture, It was found that the central changes caused by unilateral ACL rupture still existed during contralateral (unaffected) side movement. The EEG power spectrum of the affected side during active exercise was significantly higher than that of the unaffected side This study provides new electrophysiological evidence for the study of ACL injury.

[Effects of visual restoration on dynamic plantar pressure features in elder individuals].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effects of visual restoration after cataract surgery on plantar pressure and biomechanics of foot in elder individuals. METHODS: Thirty-two patients [male/female 5/27, (70.1±5.2) years old] with age-related cataract were recruited between October 2016 and December 2019. The footscan system was employed to record the data of plantar pressure during level walking before and 1-month after the cataract surgery. Parameters of peak pressure (PP), impulse (I), pressure-time integral (PTI) and time to peak pressure (TPP) from the regions of the 1st toe (T1), 2nd to 5th toes (T2-5), 1st to 5th metatarsal heads (M1-M5), midfoot (MF), medial hindfoot (HM) and lateral hindfoot (HL) were analyzed respectively. RESULTS: Post-operatively, the visual function was effectively reconstructed with improved visual acuity in both eyes (Z=-4.878, -4.801; P < 0.001). The PP (t=2.266, P=0.031) and I (t=2.152, P=0.039) values in M2 region on the dominant side (right foot) increased statistically at post-operative phase, while the changes of pressure and temporal para-meters in other regions remained stable. There was laterality in plantar pressure at pre-operative phase, manifested as greater PP values in M1, M2, MF, and HM regions on the dominant sides (t=-2.414, -2.478, -2.144, -5.269; P < 0.05), greater PP values in T1, M3, M5 and HL regions on the non-dominant sides (t=4.830, 3.155, 2.686, 3.683; P < 0.05), greater I values in M1, MF, and HM regions on the dominant sides (t=-2.380, -2.185, -5.320; P < 0.05) and greater I values in T1, M3, M5 and HL regions on the non-dominant sides (t=4.489, 2.247, 2.838, 3.992; P < 0.05). post-operatively, the pressure tended to be compatible between the two sides in regions of M3 and MF, while the magnitude of laterality in regions of M1 (ZPP△= -2.721, P=0.007; ZI△=-2.581, P=0.010), M2 (ZPP△=-2.674, P=0.007; ZI△=-2.375, P=0.018) and M5 (ZPP△=1.991, P=0.046; ZI△=2.150, P=0.032) was further increased. CONCLUSION: Changes in plantar pressure after cataract surgery were characterized as increased pressure in the 2nd metatarsal head area on the dominant side. Visual restoration might intensify the laterality in the medial of forefoot on the dominant side and the lateral of forefoot on the non-dominant side.

[Characteristics and related factors of plantar pressure in the chronic ankle instability individuals].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze characteristics and related factors of the plantar pressure during the level walking and single leg standing in the chronic ankle instability (CAI) individuals. METHODS: From April 2019, 75 CAI individuals and 40 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. Both of the static and dynamic plantar pressure were measured during six times level walking and three times single leg standing testing. The data including peak force, time to peak force in various foot contact areas and the time to boundary (TTB) and velocity of center of pressure (COP) were measured and compared between the affected side and the unaffected side and between the CAI cases and the healthy individuals. The correlations between the plantar pressure and the gender, Beighton score, affected side and body mass index (BMI) were analyzed. RESULTS: The characteristics of plantar pressure distribution in the CAI individuals included: (1) During the level walking, the affected side showed the similar pressure contribution as the unaffected side (P>0.05). While compared with healthy individuals, there was a significantly higher peak force in the 5th metatarsal area (t=-3.86, P=0.03) of the affected side, lower peak force in the 1st (t=2.99, P=0.02), 2nd metatarsal head areas (t=2.09, P=0.01) of the affected side, medial hindfoot areas of both sides (affected, t=2.33, P=0.01; unaffected, t=3.74, P=0.02) and toes areass of both sides (affected, t=2.23, P=0.01; unaffected, t=3.28, P=0.02) and a delay to peak force in the 4th metatarsal head area (t=3.33, P=0.01) of the affected side. (2) During the single leg standing, the CAI individuals showed significantly worse balance control in the anterior/posterior direction (P < 0.05) and lateral/medial direction (P < 0.05) compared with the healthy controls, and the affected side had more severe balance control deficit in the lateral/medial direction (P < 0.05). (3) The women (P < 0.05) and the individuals with higher Beighton scores (P < 0.05) showed worse balance control deficit in the lateral/medial direction. CONCLUSION: CAI individuals showed significantly a more lateral shifted plantar distribution during the level walking compared with the healthy individuals and the tendency was worse on the affected sides, and showed worse balance control in the anterior/posterior direction and lateral/medial direction during the single leg standing. The women and those with generalized ligament laxity showed significantly worse balance control.

ReaxFF reactive force field for molecular dynamics simulations of liquid Cu and Zr metals.

We develop a ReaxFF reactive force field used for the molecular dynamics simulations of thermophysical properties of liquid Cu and Zr metals. The ReaxFF parameters are optimized by fitting to the first-principles density-functional calculations on the equations of state for bulk crystal structures and surface energies. To validate the force field, we compare the ReaxFF results with those from experiments and embedded-atom-method (EAM) potentials. We demonstrate that the present ReaxFF force field well represents structural characteristics and diffusion behaviors of elemental Cu and Zr up to high-temperature liquid regions. It reasonably reproduces the thermodynamic processes associated with crystal-liquid interface. In particular, the equilibrium melting temperatures show better agreement with experimental measurements than the results from EAM potentials. The ReaxFF reactive force field method exhibits a good transferability to the nonreactive processes of liquid systems.

Multiplex PCR system for the rapid diagnosis of respiratory virus infection: systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To provide a summary of evidence for the diagnostic accuracies of three multiplex PCR systems (mPCRs)-BioFire FilmArray RP (FilmArray), Nanosphere Verigene RV+ test (Verigene RV+) and Hologic Gen-Probe Prodesse assays-on the detection of viral respiratory infections. METHODS: A comprehensive search up to 1 July 2017 was conducted on Medline and Embase for studies that utilized FilmArray, Verigene RV+ and Prodesse for diagnosis of viral respiratory infections. A summary of diagnostic accuracies for the following five viruses were calculated: influenza A virus (FluA), influenza B virus, respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus and adenovirus. Hierarchical summary receiver operating curves were used for estimating the viral detection performance per assay. RESULTS: Twenty studies of 5510 patient samples were eligible for analysis. Multiplex PCRs demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) equal to or more than 0.98 for all the above viruses except for adenovirus (AUROC 0.89). FilmArray, Verigene RV+ and ProFlu+ (the only Prodesse assay with enough data) demonstrated a summary sensitivity for FluA of 0.911 (95% confidence interval, 0.848-0.949), 0.949 (95% confidence interval, 0.882-0.979) and 0.954 (95% confidence interval, 0.871-0.985), respectively. The three mPCRs were comparable in terms of detection of FluA. CONCLUSIONS: Point estimates calculated from eligible studies showed that the three mPCRs (FilmArray, Verigene RV+ and ProFlu+) are highly accurate and may provide important diagnostic information for early identification of respiratory virus infections. In patients with low pretest probability for FluA, these three mPCRs can predict a low possibility of infection and may justify withholding empirical antiviral treatments.

Anisotropic stress inhibits crystallization in Cu-Zr glass-forming liquids.

Liquids attain a metastable state without crystallizing by cooling rapidly to a given temperature below the melting point. With increasing supercooling, the nucleation rate would show an increase based on the prediction of the classical nucleation theory. It is generally thought that the nucleation rate will reach the maximum upon approaching the glass transition temperature, Tg, for glass-forming liquids. We report that there exists a supercooled region above Tg in which the crystallization has actually been severely suppressed. Our molecular dynamics simulations show that the growth of embryos in the supercooled Cu60Zr40 melt is subjected to a strong anisotropic stress associated with the dynamic heterogeneity. Its long-range effect drives the embryo to grow into a ramified morphology so that the interface energy dominates over the embryo growth, leading to the suppression of nucleation.

Preparation, characterization and luminescence properties of a new hydrous red phosphor CaB3 O5 (OH):Eu3+ with different morphologies.

A new borate phosphor CaB3 O5 (OH):Eu3+ with different morphologies was synthesized using a hydrothermal method and its luminescence properties were studied. The effects of surfactants on the crystal structures, morphologies and luminescence properties of the samples were studied. The results showed that the surfactants play an important role in controlling the morphology and improving the luminescence properties of phosphors. The luminescence intensity and R/O(I615/I592) value were enhanced for the prepared sample by adding PEG4000. The prepared sample exhibited a higher R/O than some anhydrous calcium borate phosphors, indicating that this product could serve as a new potential red phosphor.

TC-N19, a novel dual inhibitor of EGFR and cMET, efficiently overcomes EGFR-TKI resistance in non-small-cell lung cancer cells.

Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) show a clinical benefit when used to treat patients with EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but this treatment unfortunately fails in patients with TKI-resistant tumors. We here provide evidence that TC-N19 (N19), a novel dual inhibitor of EGFR and cMET, efficiently overcomes the EGFR-TKI resistance in EGFR-mutated NSCLC cells via simultaneous degradation of both proteins by ubiquitin proteasomes. Comparison with HSP90 inhibitor treatment and knockdown of EGFR and cMET by small hairpin RNAs reveal that the reduction of EGFR and cMET expression by N19 is responsible for overcoming the intrinsic TKI resistance mediated by paxillin (PXN) in high PXN-expressing cells, PXN-overexpressing PC9 cells (PC9-PXN), the EGFR-T790M-mediated TKI resistance in H1975 and CL97 cells, and the acquired resistance to gefitinib in gefitinib-resistant PC9 cells (PC9GR). Annexin V-PI staining assay showed that the induction of apoptosis in NSCLC cells by N19 depended on the reduction in levels of both proteins. Xenograft tumor formation in nude mice induced by a PC9-PXN-stable clone and by PC9GR cells was nearly completely suppressed by N19 treatment, with no changes in animal body weight. MTT assays of normal lung cells and reticulocytes showed no cytotoxicity responses to N19. In summary, N19 may act as a novel dual inhibitor of EGFR and cMET that induces apoptosis in TKI-resistant EGFR-mutated NSCLC cells and suppresses xenograft tumor formation. We suggest that N19 may be a potential new-generation TKI or HSP90 inhibitor used for treatment of NSCLC patients who show resistance to current TKI-targeting therapies.

Development and characterization of novel expressed sequence tag-derived simple sequence repeat markers in Hevea brasiliensis (rubber tree).

Cultivated clones of Hevea brasiliensis have a narrow genetic base. In order to broaden the genetic base, it is first necessary to investigate the genetic diversity of wild populations. Expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers were developed to investigate the genetic diversity of Hevea populations. Four hundred and thirty microsatellites were identified and 148 primers were designed to amplify the loci. Twenty-nine primer pairs were synthesized and evaluated for their ability to detect genetic polymorphisms among 40 wild accessions of H. brasiliensis. Twenty-one of the 29 loci were polymorphic. The number of alleles per locus in the 40 accessions ranged from 2 to 7. H(O) and H(E) at each locus ranged from 0.0000 to 0.9000 and from 0.0000 to 0.8704, respectively. All 21 loci could amplify in H. brasiliensis, H. pauciflora, H. nitida, H. spruceana, and H. camargoana. The EST-SSR primers developed herein can be used in genetic diversity and structure studies in H. brasiliensis.

Comparison of NMOSFET and PMOSFET devices that combine CESL stressor and SiGe channel.

Strained-Si technology could enhance the carrier mobility and improve the device performance. Contact-etch-stop-layer (CESL) structure with different stress and SiGe channel was fabricated with 90-nm technology. The electrical properties of N and PMOSFET devices combining CESL and SiGe channel were investigated. The short channel effects (SCE), such as drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL), were also studied. Moreover, the stress contour in the SiGe channel has been simulated with TCAD to understand the relationship between stress distribution and device performance for different CESL structures. It is observed that the stress in the channel region was independent of the type of N or PMOSFET devices, but it was dependent on the CESL type and channel length. Based on the experimental and simulation results, it is confirmed that the device performance is associated with the stress in the channel, and the approach of CESL stressor and SiGe channel is shown to effectively improve the mobility of NMOSFETs and PMOSFETs.

Field-induced expansion deformation in Pb islands on Cu(111): evidence from energy shift of empty quantum-well states.

We use scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to measure the energy shift of empty quantum-well (QW) states in Pb islands on the Cu(111) surface. It is found that, with an increase of the electric field, the behavior of the energy shift can be grouped into two different modes for most QW states. In the first mode, the state energy moves toward high energy monotonically. In the second mode, the state energy shifts to a lower energy initially and then turns around to a higher energy. Moreover, we have observed that the QW states of higher energy behave in preference to the first mode, but they gradually change to the second mode as the Pb island becomes thicker. This thickness-dependent behavior reflects the existence of local expansion in the Pb islands, due to the electric field, and that the expansion is larger for a thicker island. QW states can thus be used for studying the localized lattice deformation in the nanometer scale.

A novel RING finger protein, Znf179, modulates cell cycle exit and neuronal differentiation of P19 embryonal carcinoma cells.

Znf179 is a member of the RING finger protein family. During embryogenesis, Znf179 is expressed in a restricted manner in the brain, suggesting a potential role in nervous system development. In this report, we show that the expression of Znf179 is upregulated during P19 cell neuronal differentiation. Inhibition of Znf179 expression by RNA interference significantly attenuated neuronal differentiation of P19 cells and a primary culture of cerebellar granule cells. Using a microarray approach and subsequent functional annotation analysis, we identified differentially expressed genes in Znf179-knockdown cells and found that several genes are involved in development, cellular growth, and cell cycle control. Flow cytometric analyses revealed that the population of G0/G1 cells decreased in Znf179-knockdown cells. In agreement with the flow cytometric data, the number of BrdU-incorporated cells significantly increased in Znf179-knockdown cells. Moreover, in Znf179-knockdown cells, p35, a neuronal-specific Cdk5 activator that is known to activate Cdk5 and may affect the cell cycle, and p27, a cell cycle inhibitor, also decreased. Collectively, these results show that induction of the Znf179 gene may be associated with p35 expression and p27 protein accumulation, which lead to cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase, and is critical for neuronal differentiation of P19 cells.

Mechanisms of L-DOPA-induced cytotoxicity in rat adrenal pheochromocytoma cells: implication of oxidative stress-related kinases and cyclic AMP.

L-DOPA therapy for Parkinson's disease has a double-edge effect on nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons: L-DOPA increases the intracellular level of dopamine, but it induces neuron cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. To investigate the molecular signaling mechanisms that underlie the concentration-dependent effects of L-DOPA on cell viability, the activities of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and apoptotic enzymes were measured in rat adrenal pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells in the presence of a low concentration (20 muM) and high concentrations (100-200 muM) of L-DOPA. At the low concentration, L-DOPA was not cytotoxic and its presence increased the activities of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2, p38 MAPK, BadSer112, Bcl-2, and caspase-12. At the high concentrations, L-DOPA was cytotoxic and stimulated the activities of ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)1/2, BadSer155, caspase-12 and caspase-3. The increased levels of ERK1/2 and BadSer155 in the presence of high concentrations of L-DOPA did not protect against L-DOPA-mediated cytotoxicity. In addition, the levels of L-type Ca(2+) channel-sensitive intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) and Ca(2+) were elevated in the presence of L-DOPA, and the increase in the levels of intracellular cAMP may also play a role in cellular viability, since cAMP levels and cytotoxicity increased in parallel with L-DOPA concentrations and the addition of forskolin in the medium increased cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. These results suggest that, at a low and non-toxic concentration, L-DOPA may promote cell survival by increasing the activities of ERK1/2, BadSer112 and Bcl-2, while, at high concentrations, L-DOPA activates the caspase-3 cell death enzyme through the JNK1/2 and p38 MAPK signaling pathways as well as endoplasmic reticulum stress that activates caspase-12. Intracellular cAMP levels may also play a role here. The results may lead to an effective therapy for Parkinson's disease.

A silver staining procedure for nucleic acids in polyacrylamide gels without fixation and pretreatment.

Silver staining of nucleic acid has been widely used in molecular marker analysis such as simple sequence repeat (SSR), single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP). Many alternatives to silver staining methods have been described, but these methods are not efficient or cost-effective. Here we report a silver staining method that requires less than 10min for one gel and can save chemicals as well. It has a detection limit of approximately 5.6pg of DNA/mm(2) in nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels and 12.8pg/mm(2) in denaturing polyacrylamide gels.

Antiplatelet autoantibodies elicited by dengue virus non-structural protein 1 cause thrombocytopenia and mortality in mice.

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms responsible for thrombocytopenia associated with dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhage fever (DHF) remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the pathogenic effects of dengue virus (DENV) non-structural protein 1 (NS1) on the elicitation of platelet cross-reactive antibodies. RESULTS: The results showed that anti-DENV NS1 immunoglobulins (Igs) derived from both patients with DF/DHF and recombinant NS1-immunized rabbits could opsonize normal human platelets and enhance platelet-macrophage engagements in vitro. In addition, treatments with anti-NS1 Igs abnormally activated human platelets and induced thrombocytopenia in mice. These prothrombotic characteristics of anti-NS1 Ig might increase the disease burden of coagulant-aberrant DHF patients. To test this hypothesis, we injected anti-NS1 Igs into C57BL/6J mice that were preconditioned into a hypercoagulable state by warfarin treatments. When given before but not after platelet-lysate pre-adsorption, the anti-NS1 Igs injection treatments significantly increased mortality, fibrin deposition in lung, and plasma D-dimer levels, but significantly decreased anticoagulant proteins C, protein S and antithrombin III. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the platelet-bound antibody fractions of anti-NS1 Ig are prothrombotic, which might exacerbate the severity of disease in hosts with an imbalanced coagulant system.

Characterization of a nematic PALC at large oblique incidence angles.

Compared with conventional photometric methods of measuring cell parameters, including the cell gap and the pretilt angle of a nematic parallel-aligned liquid crystal (PALC) using multiple wavelengths at normal incidence, this research proposes the use of a phase-sensitive interferometric ellipsometer to determine cell parameters precisely based on a single wavelength at large oblique incidence angles. The advantage of this method is that it detects the phase difference using an optical heterodyne interferometer in which a common phase noise rejection mode is provided. Thus, there is a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the phase measurement. In addition, a range of large oblique incidence angles on the PALC is used so that a high sensitivity measurement of the cell parameters is obtained experimentally. During the measurements, the multiple reflections and spatial shifting effect of the emerging extraordinary ray (E-ray) and ordinary ray (O-ray) from the PALC at large oblique incidence angles are able to be reduced effectively by the use of retro-reflected geometry in the interferometer. The experimental results verify that the sensitivities for the cell gap and pretilt angle measurements are 0.3 nm and 0.01 degrees , respectively.

Vitamin E attenuates crystal formation in rat kidneys: roles of renal tubular cell death and crystallization inhibitors.

We previously reported that oxidative stress and renal tubular damage occur in chronic hyperoxaluric rats. However, the in vivo responses of renal epithelial cells after vitamin E administration and their correlations with calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal formation have not been evaluated. Male Wistar rats received 0.75% ethylene glycol (EG) for 7, 21, or 42 days to induce CaOx deposition (EG group). Another group of EG-treated rats received 200 mg kg(-1) of vitamin E intraperitoneally (EG+E group) to evaluate its effect on hyperoxaluria. Urinary electrolytes and biochemistry and levels of lipid peroxides and enzymes were examined, together with serum vitamin E levels. Levels of the tubular markers, alpha and mu glutathione S-transferase, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), osteopontinin (OPN), and Tamm-Horsfall protein (THP) were also measured, and TUNEL staining was performed to examine the viability of the tubular epithelium. There were no significant differences between the two age-matched controls either untreated or given vitamin E. Compared to untreated controls, tubular cell death was increased at all time points in EG rats with a gradual increase in CaOx crystals, whereas the number of PCNA-positive cells was only significantly increased on day 21. In EG+E rats, tubular cell death was decreased compared to the EG group, and cell proliferation was seen at all time points, while CaOx crystal deposition was decreased, but hyperoxaluria, urinary lipid peroxides, and enzymuria were unaffected. Vitamin E supplement prevented the loss of OPN and THP in renal tissues by EG and the reduction in their levels in the urine. The beneficial effect of vitamin E in reducing CaOx accumulation is due to attenuation of tubular cell death and enhancement of the defensive roles of OPN and THP.

Efficacy and tolerability of acarbose in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with diet and sulfonylureas.

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of acarbose in the improvement of glycemic control in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled by diet and sulfonylureas. A 24-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter group comparison study was conducted. Patients were randomized to receive acarbose titrated up to 100-mg tid (n=36) or matching placebo (n=33). Concomitant sulfonylurea treatment remained unchanged throughout the study. The primary efficacy parameter was the change in HbA(1c) from baseline to double-blind endpoint. Secondary efficacy variables consisted of the change from baseline to endpoint in blood glucose (fasting and 1-h postprandial), serum insulin (fasting and 1-h postprandial), and urinary glucose. In the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis, acarbose treatment was associated with significantly greater reductions in glycated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) (-0.91% vs. placebo 0.13%, P=.0018) and 1-h postprandial blood glucose levels (-2.84 mmol/l vs. placebo -0.28 mmol/l, P=.002) compared to placebo. There were no significant differences between the treatment groups regarding changes in fasting blood glucose, fasting or 1-h postprandial serum insulin, urinary glucose, or body weight. Adverse events occurred with similar frequency in both treatment arms except for drug-related gastrointestinal side-effects associated with acarbose (acarbose 48.5% and placebo 12.5%). This study has shown that the use of acarbose in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled by diet and sulfonylureas is efficacious in improving metabolic control and that acarbose is safe and well tolerated.