White light emission with tuneable colour temperature and high colour rendering index from CdS/Si multi-interface nanoheterojunctions.

CdS/Si multi-interface nanoheterojunctions (CdS/Si-NPA) were fabricated by depositing CdS nanocrystallites (nc-CdS) on silicon nanoporous pillar arrays (Si-NPA) by chemical bath deposition. White electroluminescence (EL) with a high colour rendering index from a prototypical light emitting diode based on CdS/Si-NPA has been reported, which does not need complex colour mixing or conversion techniques. The white EL can be composed into three primary colours, which include blue emissions from the Si-NPA, the green emissions from the bandgap emission of nc-CdS and red emissions from the defects in the nc-CdS. Through the annealing treatment, the chromaticity coordinate and correlated colour temperature can be tuned. This indicates that CdS/Si-NPA is a potential candidate in the one-chip white LEDs.

Expression of flotillin-2 in human non-small cell lung cancer and its correlation with tumor progression and patient survival.

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have revealed that flotillin-2 (FLOT2) played important roles in cancer progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of FLOT2 expression in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect FLOT2 mRNA expression in lung cancer cell lines, normal bronchial epithelial cells, 24 pairs of NSCLC tissues and matched adjacent non-tumor tissues. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to examine FLOT2 protein expression in paraffin-embedded tissues from 90 NSCLC patients. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of FLOT2 expression. RESULTS: FLOT2 mRNA expression was evidently up-regulated in lung cancer cell lines and NSCLC tissues compared with normal bronchial epithelial cells and adjacent non-tumor tissues. In the 90 cases of tested NSCLC samples, FLOT2 protein level was positively correlated with tumor stage, and lymph node metastasis. Patients with high FLOT2 expression had shorter overall survival compared with the low FLOT2 expression group. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that high FLOT2 expression was an independent poor prognostic factor for NSCLC patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provided that high FLOT2 expression was associated with poor outcomes in NSCLC patients, and FLOT2 could be a potential prognostic biomarker for lung cancer progression.

Expression of miR-32 in human non-small cell lung cancer and its correlation with tumor progression and patient survival.

INTRODUCTION: miR-32 has recently been found to be implicated in many critical processes in various types of human cancer. However, its clinical significance in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not yet been elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the expression of miR-32 in NSCLC and analyzed its association with clinical features and prognosis of NSCLC patients. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure expression level of miR-32 in lung cancer cell lines, normal bronchial epithelial cells, 90 pairs of tumor samples and adjacent non-tumor tissues. To determine its prognostic value, overall survival was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed using the Cox proportional hazard analysis. RESULTS: The expression of miR-32 was significantly decreased in lung cancer cell lines and NSCLC tissues compared with normal bronchial epithelial cells and adjacent non-tumor tissues (P < 0.05). This reduction of miR-32 was associated with tumor stage and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Moreover, Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that patients with low miR-32 expression had shorter overall survival time than those with high miR-32 expression (P < 0.05). Univariate analysis revealed statistically significant correlations between overall survival and miR-32 level, tumor stage and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Furthermore, miR-32 levels, tumor stage and lymph node metastasis were independently associated with overall survival (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results provided the first evidence that down-regulation of miR-32 was correlated with NSCLC progression, and miR-32 might be a potential molecular biomarker for predicting the prognosis of patients.

Associations between polymorphisms in IL-12A, IL-12B, IL-12Rß1, IL-27 gene and serum levels of IL-12p40, IL-27p28 with esophageal cancer.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether IL-12A, IL-12B, IL-12Rß1, and IL-27 gene polymorphisms and serum levels of IL-12, IL-27 are associated with esophageal cancer. METHODS: We genotyped IL-12A gene rs568408, IL-12B gene rs3212227, IL-12Rß1 gene 378 C/G, IL-27 gene rs153109, rs17855750, and rs181206 polymorphisms in a case-control study of 426 esophageal cancer patients and 432 health controls, using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and serum IL-12p40 and IL-27p28 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Both serum IL-12p40 and IL-27p28 levels were significantly higher in controls than those in patients (P < 0.01). Rs568408 AG/AA, rs3212227 CC/AC, and IL-12Rß1 378 GG/GC genotypes were associated with significantly increased risk of esophageal cancer (rs568408: χ(2) = 5.704, P = 0.017; rs3212227: χ(2) = 7.689, P = 0.006; IL-12Rß1 378C/G: χ(2) = 5.206, P = 0.023). Moreover, rs3212227 CC/AC and 378 GG/GC genotypes were observed significantly associated with decreased serum IL-12p40 level in patients compare to other genotypes (rs3212227: t = 2.129, P = 0.034; IL-12Rß1 378 C/G: t = 2.178, P = 0.030). Furthermore, frequency of rs3212227 CC/AC genotypes was significantly higher in patients with poor differentiation than those with AA genotype (χ(2) = 4.314, P = 0.035). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the impaired production of IL-12p40 and IL-27p28 behaves as risk factors for esophageal cancer occurrence. IL-12B gene rs3212227 CC/AC and IL-12Rß1 gene 378 GG/GC genotypes, which associated with decreased IL-12p40 level, may contribute to esophageal cancer susceptibility.