Hsa_circ_0119412 Contributes to Development of Retinoblastoma by Targeting miR-186-5p/ELK4 Axis.

Increasing evidences indicate the crucial role of circRNAs in tumorigenesis, but little is understood about their molecular mechanism in retinoblastoma (RB). This paper was designed for exploring the circ_0119412 function in cases with RB and the potential mechanism. RT-qPCR was utilized to ascertain circ_0119412 and miR-186-5p levels in RB tissues and cells, and western blotting was used to quantify ELK4 in RB cells. In addition, CCK-8 and scratch assays were carried out for evaluation of cell proliferation and migration, respectively. Apoptosis-related proteins levels (Bax and Bcl-2) were measure by western blotting. Tumor growth in vivo was detected utilizing xenograft tumor experiment. The targeting relationship between circ_0119412, miR-186-5p, and ELK4 was validated using a dual-luciferase reporter assay and an RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. In RB tissues and cells, Circ_0119412 and ELK4 expression were upregulated, while miR-186-5p expression was downregulated. In vitro assay revealed that downregulating circ_0119412 accelerated the cell apoptosis of RB cells and slowed down their migration and proliferation, and the in vivo assay indicated that circ_0119412 downregulation reduced the weight and volume of tumor in nude mice. In addition, miR-186-5p interference promoted the malignant behavior of RB cells, while ELK4 silencing showed an opposite trend. Mechanically, circ_0119412 can promote RB malignant phenotypes via miR-186-5p/ELK4 axis. Circ_0119412 was found to be upregulated in RB, and could accelerate the progression of RB via the miR-186-5p/ELK4 axis, indicating circ_0119412 may serve a promising clinical therapeutic target of RB.

Relationship Between Government Expenditures on Health and Residents' Consumption: New Evidence From China Based on the Bootstrap Rolling-Window Causality Test.

This paper explores the necessity of expanding government expenditures on health (GEH) from the perspective of promoting residents' consumption (RC). It employs bootstrap full- and subsample rolling-window Granger causality tests to investigate the mutual causal influence between GEH and RC. It finds that GEH have a positive impact on RC in some periods and a negative impact in other periods. The positive effect from GEH to RC reveals that Chinese governments at all levels should continue to increase GEH, narrow the gap between their medical and health investments and those of developed countries', directly reduce current medical expenses of residents, and increase the immediate consumption of residents. However, this opinion cannot always be upheld because a negative impact from GEH to RC also exists. The current paper shows that the government should improve the efficiency of the use of health expenditures; effectively shorten the time lag of government health fiscal policies; and promote the positive effect of government health expenditures on RC.

Facile synthesis of single-crystalline Fe-doped copper vanadate nanoparticles for the voltammetric monitoring of lethal hazardous fungicide carbendazim.

The highly selective and sensitive electrochemical detection of highly toxic fungicide carbendazim (CBZ) by the iron (Fe)-doped copper vanadate (CuVO4; CuV) is discussed. The Fe-doped copper vanadate (Fe-CuV) is prepared by the simple co-precipitation method followed by an annealing process which produced high crystallinity. The material properties of Fe-CuV are characterized by XRD, Raman spectrometry, XPS analysis, HRTEM, and SAED pattern. The electrochemical characterization of Fe-CuV towards CBZ detection are done by CV and DPV techniques. The Fe-CuV/GCE exhibits good electroanalytical activity towards the electro-oxidation of CBZ at the potential of 0.81 V vs Ag/AgCl. The developed sensor electrode revealed a linear range of 0.01 to 83.1 µM and a limit of detection of about 5 nM. In addition, Fe-CuV/GCE reveals good storage stability (RSD = 2.63%) and reproducibility (RSD = 2.85%) for the electro-oxidation of CBZ. The electrode material was applied to the detection of CBZ in apple juice and soy milk samples, and the results were discussed. Thus, our projected Fe-CuV/GCE can be employed as electrode material in a rapid onsite sensor for the detection and determination of noxious pollutants.

Electrocatalytic evaluation of graphene oxide warped tetragonal t-lanthanum vanadate (GO@LaVO4) nanocomposites for the voltammetric detection of antifungal and antiprotozoal drug (clioquinol).

Metastable and rarely reported GO warped tetragonal phase t-lanthanum vanadate nanocomposites (GO@LaVO4-NCs) are reported for the sensitive electrochemical determination of antifungal drug Clioquinol (CQ). The hydrothermal method was adopted for synthesis of GO@LaVO4-NCs. The electrochemical performance of CQ was examined using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential plus voltammetry (DPV) at GO@LaVO4-NCs modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The electrocatalytic oxidation of CQ at the GO@LaVO4-NCs/GCE shows the highest anodic peak current at a potential of +0.51 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The proposed sensor provides excellent sensitivity of 4.1894 µA µM-1 cm-2, a very low detection limit (LOD) of 2.44 nM, and a wide range of 25 nM to 438.52 µM towards CQ detection. Finally, the detection of CQ in biological media was successfully done using the GO@LaVO4-NCs/GCE and possesses recoveries of 94.67-98.0%.

Preparation of K+ intercalated MnO2-rGO composite for the electrochemical detection of nitroaniline in industrial wastewater.

This work reports the electrochemical detection of highly hazardous material 4-Nitroaniline (4-NA) based on the metal oxide-rGO composite materials. The potassium intercalated MnO2-rGO composite material was prepared by a simple one-pot reduction method. The K+ intercalation on K-MnO2-rGO was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman analysis. The amorphous nature of prepared material was scrutinized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern analysis. The elemental compositions are done by energy dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX) mapping. The prepared composite material K-MnO2-rGO was used to determine the 4-NA by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The electroanalytical performances of fabricated K-MnO2-rGO/SPCE were compared with the K-MnO2 and rGO in pH 7. The developed 4-NA sensor showed good sensitivity (2.85 µA µM-1 cm-2), linear range (0.001-10.53 µM), and LOD (0.7 nM). Furthermore, the K-MnO2-rGO/SPCE exhibited high selectivity with the other potential interfering nitro compounds in river water and pond water samples. Therefore the developed sensor can be applied for the determination of noxious pollutants in real-time monitoring devices.