Progress on deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate (DKDP) crystals for high power laser system application.

In this review, we introduce the progress in the growth of large-aperture DKDP crystals and some aspects of crystal quality including determination of deuterium content, homogeneity of deuterium distribution, residual strains, nonlinear absorption, and laser-induced damage resistance for its application in high power laser system. Large-aperture high-quality DKDP crystal with deuteration level of 70% has been successfully grown by the traditional method, which can fabricate the large single-crystal optics with the size exceeding 400 mm. Neutron diffraction technique is an efficient method to research the deuterium content and 3D residual strains in single crystals. More efforts have been paid in the processes of purity of raw materials, continuous filtration technology, thermal annealing and laser conditioning for increasing the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) and these processes enable the currently grown crystals to meet the specifications of the laser system for inertial confinement fusion (ICF), although the laser damage mechanism and laser conditioning mechanism are still not well understood. The advancements on growth of large-aperture high-quality DKDP crystal would support the development of ICF in China.

[Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer 4 (StarD4) promotes breast cancer cell proliferation and its mechanism].

Oncogene StarD4 had the function of promoting proliferation and metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), but its clinical value and molecular mechanism are unknown. This paper found that StarD4 was highly expressed in cancer tissues of TNBC patients, and higher expression level of StarD4 in TNBC patient resulted in poorer prognosis. Based on transcriptomics of MDA-MB-231 cell model, the results of bioinformatics analysis showed that down-regulated expression level of StarD4 led to overall downregulation of cholesterol-relative genes and significant enrichment of cancer mechanism and pathway. Further analysis and investigation verified that StarD4 might cross-promote the protein stability of receptor ITGA5 through the cholesterol pathway to enhance TNBC progression, which provides guidance for clinical application of TNBC diagnosis and treatment.

STARD4 promotes breast cancer cell malignancy.

Breast cancer (BRCA) is one of the most common malignancies encountered in women worldwide. Lipid metabolism has been found to be involved in cancer progression. Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein­related lipid transfer 4 (STARD4) is an important cholesterol transporter involved in the regulatory mechanism of intracellular cholesterol homeostasis. However, to the best of our knowledge, the molecular functions of STARD4 in BRCA are unclear. Immunohistochemical staining and public dataset analysis were performed to investigate the expression levels of STARD4 in BRCA. In the present study, high expression of STARD4 was identified in BRCA samples and higher STARD4 expression was significantly associated with shorter distant metastasis­free survival time in patients with BRCA, which indicated that STARD4 may be associated with BRCA progression. Cell cytometry system Celigo® analysis, Cell Counting K­8 assays, flow cytometry, wound healing assays and transwell assays were used to investigate the effects of STARD4 knockdown on proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and migration in BRCA cells. Loss­of­function assays demonstrated that STARD4 acted as an oncogene to promote proliferation and cell cycle progression, while suppressing apoptosis in BRCA cells in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, knockdown of STARD4 significantly suppressed BRCA metastasis. To assess the mechanism of action of STARD4, microarray analysis was performed following STARD4 knockdown in MDA­MB­231 cells. The data were analyzed in detail using bioinformatics, and a series of genes, including E74 like ETS transcription factor 1, cAMP responsive element binding protein 1 and p21 (RAC1) activated kinase 2, which have been previously reported to be crucial genes implicated in the malignant phenotype of cancer cells, were identified to be regulated by STARD4. Loss­of function assays demonstrated that knockdown of STARD4 suppressed BRCA proliferation and migration. These findings suggested that STARD4 had an oncogenic effect in human BRCA progression.

Effects of HER2 on the invasion and migration of gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) initiates a variety of signals that lead to the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer. Though drugs targeting HER2 have been applied in clinical practice, drug resistance remains a big challenge. This study aimed to propose a new therapeutic target by exploring the regulating pathway of HER2. METHODS: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blot and immunohistochemistry staining were used respectively to detect the expression of HER2, Twist, E-cadherin and Fascin1 in both HER2 knockdown and overexpressed cell lines. Trans-well chamber assay and wound healing assay were used to detect the invasive ability of gastric cancer cells. The correlation between HER2 and Twist was analyzed based on specimens obtained from 118 patients with gastric cancer. RESULTS: HER2 silencing decreased the expression of Twist (P<0.05) and increased the expression of E-cadherin (P<0.05), while the expression of Fascin1 remained unchanged (P>0.05) and the migration and invasion abilities of cancer cells were weakened (P<0.01). On the contrary overexpression of HER2 increased the expression of Twist (P<0.05) and decreased the expression of E-cadherin (P<0.05), while the expression of Fascin1 still remained unchanged (P>0.05), and the migration and invasion abilities of cancer cells were enhanced (P<0.01). Our data indicated that the HER2 kinase domain was not involved in the regulation of Twist or E-cadherin. In addition, the expression of HER2 was positively correlated with the EMT-related transcription factor Twist in gastric cancer tissues. CONCLUSION: HER2 could promote the invasion and migration of gastric cancer cells by down-regulating E-cadherin and up-regulating Twist, which indicated that E-cadherin and Twist were both promising therapeutic targets.

Hybrid Mo-C T Nanowires as Highly Efficient Catalysts for Direct Dehydrogenation of Isobutane.

Direct dehydrogenation of isobutane to isobutene has drawn extensive attention for synthesizing various chemicals. The Mo-based catalysts hold promise as an alternative to the toxic CrO x- and scarce Pt-based catalysts. However, the low activity and rapid deactivation of the Mo-based catalysts greatly hinder their practical applications. Herein, we demonstrate a feasible approach toward the development of efficient and non-noble metal dehydrogenation catalysts based on Mo-C T hybrid nanowires calcined at different temperatures. In particular, the optimal Mo-C700 catalyst exhibits isobutane consumption rate of 3.9 mmol g-1 h-1 and isobutene selectivity of 73% with production rate of 2.8 mmol g-1 h-1. The catalyst maintained 90% of its initial activity after 50 h of reaction. Extensive characterizations reveal that such prominent performance is well correlated with the adsorption abilities of isobutane and isobutene and the formation of η-MoC species. In contrast, the generation of ß-Mo2C crystalline phase during long-term reaction causes minor decline in activity. Compared to MoO2 and ß-Mo2C, η-MoC plays a role more likely in suppressing the cracking reaction. This work demonstrates a feasible approach toward the development of efficient and non-noble metal dehydrogenation catalysts.

Perfect Thermal Emission by Nanoscale Transmission Line Resonators.

Thermal radiation with a narrow-band emission spectrum is of great importance in a variety of applications such as infrared sensing, thermophotovoltaics, radiation cooling, and thermal circuits. Although resonant nanophotonic structures such as metamaterials and nanocavities have been demonstrated to achieve the narrow-band thermal emission, maximizing their radiation power toward perfect emission still remains challenging. Here, based on the recently developed quasi-normal mode theory, we prove that thermal emission from a nanoscale transmission line resonator can always be maximized by tuning the waveguiding loss of the resonator or bending the structure. By use of nanoscale transmission line resonators as basic building blocks, we experimentally demonstrate a new type of macroscopic perfect and tunable thermal emitters. Our experimental demonstration in conjunction with the general theoretical framework from the quasi-normal mode theory lays the foundation for designing tunable narrow-band thermal emitters with applications in thermal infrared light sources, thermal management, and infrared sensing and imaging.

Primary malignant mixed tumor of bone: a case report.

BACKGROUND: An extremely rare primary mixed tumor occurring in left proximal femurs of a 47-year old female is reported. CASE REPORT: She had left hip pain for three months in April 2004. Radiological examinations revealed that a translucent expansive lesion in the left greater trochanter. She received the curettage of lesion and bone graft surgery. Curettage specimens were diagnosed as malignant mixed tumor, considered to be metastatic. Five months late the lesion recurred. She underwent obturator neurotomy plus total hip replacement of left hip. A long-term of more than ten years follow-up showed there were no evidence of disease recurrence or metastasis and no any signs of other tumor in her body. DISCUSSION: The tumor contained myoepithelial component with positive immunostain of S-100 protein, p63, CK-pan, and vimentin, epithelial component confirmed by CK-pan, CK-LMW and cartilage, which indicated the tumor was a mixed tumor. Cellular atypia, relative high mitosis index, cartilage consistent with grade I chordrosarcoma, focal coagulative necrosis, and infiltration between trabeculae found in the tumor indicated that the tumor had a low grade malignant nature. During long-time follow-up there were no signs of any tumor found in the patient, which strongly suggested that the tumor be a primary one.

TGF-ß induces fascin expression in gastric cancer via phosphorylation of smad3 linker area.

BACKGROUND: Fascin is an actin-bundling protein critical for tumor invasion. TGF-ß could induce fascin expression in gastric cancer cells. In this study, we attempted to explore the role of p-smad3L in the expression of fascin induced by TGF-ß in gastric cancer cells. METHODS: Pseudopodia were evaluated by immunofluorescence. Fascin expression was detected by RT-PCR and western blot. Smad3 siRNA was used to repress the endogenous smad3. The phosphorylations of smad3 linker region at sites s204, s208 and s213 were detected by western blot. The fascin promoter reporter activity was measured by dual luciferase assay. RESULTS: TGF-ß could increase the formation of pseudopodia and the expression of fascin in gastric cancer cells. Smad3 depletion abrogated the expression of fascin induced by TGF-ß. The phosphorylation of smad3 linker region at serine 204, 208 and 213 was enhanced in gastric cancer cells after TGF-ß treatment. The fascin promoter reporter activity was significantly enhanced with TGF-ß treatment in both wild-type Smad3 group and Smad3EPSM group (P<0.05). Furthermore, the fascin promoter reporter activity in the wild-type Smad3 transfectant cells was significantly higher than that in Smad3EPSM cells (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: fascin expression induced by TGF-ß depends on smad3, at least in part, depends on smad3 linker phosphorylation.

Large-Scale Nanophotonic Solar Selective Absorbers for High-Efficiency Solar Thermal Energy Conversion.

An omnidirectional nanophotonic solar selective absorber is fabricated on a large scale using a template-stripping method. The nanopyramid nickel structure achieves an average absorptance of 95% at a wavelength range below 1.3 µm and a low emittance less than 10% at wavelength >2.5 µm.

Near-field energy extraction with hyperbolic metamaterials.

Although blackbody radiation described by Planck's law is commonly regarded as the maximum of thermal radiation, thermal energy transfer in the near-field can exceed the blackbody limit due to the contribution from evanescent waves. Here, we demonstrate experimentally a broadband thermal energy extraction device based on hyperbolic metamaterials that can significantly enhance near-field thermal energy transfer. The thermal extractor made from hyperbolic metamaterials does not absorb or emit any radiation but serves as a transparent pipe guiding the radiative energy from the emitter. At the same gap between an emitter and an absorber, we observe that near-field thermal energy transfer with thermal extraction can be enhanced by around 1 order of magnitude, compared to the case without thermal extraction. The novel thermal extraction scheme has important practical implications in a variety of technologies, e.g., thermophotovoltaic energy conversion, radiative cooling, thermal infrared imaging, and heat assisted magnetic recording.

Effect of supersaturation on hillock of directional Growth of KDP crystals.

KDP single crystals were grown in aqueous solution by using "point seeds" with a defined crystallographic direction of 59° to the Z axis. When hillock slopes on the (100) face of KDP crystals were measured within the supersaturation (σ) range of 0 < σ ≤ 0.06, the slope of hillocks with hollow cores depended nonlinearly on supersaturation. Below σ = 0.02, the hillock slope depended on supersaturation, but when σ was ≥ 0.02, the hillock slope increased more gradually and was less dependent on supersaturation. Hollow funnel-shaped growth dislocation on the (100) face of KDP crystals was observed at σ = 0.04, characterized by large holes with micro-steps and step bunching inside, the formation of which were analyzed. The result verified that the reversed growth appears to occur within hollow channels found on growth hillocks.

NK/T cell lymphoma involving mediastinum: report of a case and review of literature.

Extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma is a very aggressive malignant neoplasia with a poor prognosis. Herein we reported a case of NK/T cell lymphoma involving mediastinum. It was a 28-year-old Chinese male patient. The tumor cells were medium-sized, had irregularly folded nuclei, and inconspicuous or small nucleoli with coagulative necrosis. The tumor cells were positive for CD3ε, TIA-1, but negative for CD56. In situ hybridization revealed that tumor cells also expressed Epstein-Barr virus encoded RNA. To our knowledge, this is the first case of NK/T cell lymphoma involving mediastinum.

Primary synovial sarcoma in the orbit.

Synovial sarcoma is a rare malignant neoplasm that accounts for approximately 6% to 9% of all soft-tissue tumors. It occurs predominately in upper and lower extremities of young adults. We report the first case of a primary orbital synovial sarcoma in an 18-month-old girl.

[Pathogen identification of 10 suspected cases of sparganosis mansoni].

OBJECTIVE: To diagnose 10 cases of clinically suspected cases of sparganosis mansoni by pathogen identification. METHODS: In the period from August 2009 to August 2011, 10 biopsy specimens were obtained from 10 patients of four hospitals to identify the pathogen. Among the 10 cases, 4 cases showed abdominal subcutaneous mass, 3 showed eyelid swelling, 1 displayed brain lesions, 1 showed pulmonary mass, and 1 showed pleural effusion. There was one parasite each from three patients with eyelid swelling, and one patient with abdominal subcutaneous mass, which were observed by naked eye and microscope morphologically and histologically. Specimens from other six cases were examined by microscope after paraffin embedding, sectioning, and HE staining. For further identification, the parasite biopsy tissue specimens were detected by immunohistochemistry with Sparganum mansoni-immunized rabbit serum as the primary antibody. RESULTS: Three intact worms, from three patients with eyelid swelling, showed typical S. mansoni morphological characteristics. One residue parasite from the abdominal subcutaneous mass showed network structures and full of calcareous corpuscles in the body under microscope same as that of S. mansoni. The histological structure in three of the six sections showed typically the body wall with folds, which was dense, thick and deeply eosine stained, part of the tegument outside was covered by micro-hairs. In the worm body there was net-like loose structure and calcareous corpuscles without cavity. The structure of the other three worm sections was atypical. The six worm sections were positive by immunohistochemical detection. CONCLUSION: The 10 clinically suspected cases are diagnosed as sparganosis mansoni.

Enhanced proliferation, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of nicotine-promoted gastric cancer by periostin.

AIM: To investigate the contribution of periostin in nicotine-promoted gastric cancer cell proliferation, survival, invasion, drug resistance, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). METHODS: Gastric cancer cells were treated with nicotine and periostin protein expression was determined by immunoblotting. Periostin mRNA in gastric cancer cells was silenced using small interfering RNA (siRNA) techniques and periostin gene expression was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Gastric cancer cells transfected with control or periostin siRNA plasmid were compared in terms of cell proliferation using the methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay. Cell apoptosis was compared using annexin V-fluoresceine isothiocyanate and propidium iodine double staining. Tumor invasion was determined using the Boyden chamber invasion assay, and the EMT marker Snail expression was evaluated by immunoblotting. RESULTS: Nicotine upregulated periostin in gastric cancer cells through a COX-2 dependent pathway, which was blocked by the COX-2-specific inhibitor NS398. Periostin mRNA expression was decreased by ~87.2% by siRNA in gastric cancer cells, and stable periostin-silenced cells were obtained by G418 screening. Periostin-silenced gastric cancer cells exhibited reduced cell proliferation, elevated sensitivity to chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, and decreased cell invasion and Snail expression (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Periostin is a nicotine target gene in gastric cancer and plays a role in gastric cancer cell growth, invasion, drug resistance, and EMT facilitated by nicotine.

Vertical optical antennas integrated with spiral ring gratings for large local electric field enhancement and directional radiation.

We propose a device for reproducible achievement of enormous enhancement of local electric field intensities. In each device, a metallic spiral ring grating is employed for efficient excitation of local surface plasmon resonance in the tiny gap of a vertically oriented optical antenna. Radiation from the optical antenna is collimated by the ring grating which facilitates efficient collection. As a numerical example, for a gold nanosphere placed one nanometer above the center of a gold spiral ring grating, our simulations predict an increase in local electric field intensity of up to seven orders of magnitude compared to planewave illumination, and collection efficiencies of up to 68% by an objective with a numerical aperture of 0.7. Single molecule SERS application is discussed.

Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma: a report of six cases and a review of the Chinese literature.

GOALS: The main purpose of this study is to broaden the clinicopathological spectrum and increase recognition of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS) through analysis of the clinical and pathological features of 50 cases. METHODS: The clinicopathological features of total 50 cases of FDCS were analyzed including a review of 44 cases reported in Chinese literature before October 2009 and six original cases from the pathology files conducted by the authors. RESULTS: The youngest patient came under observation in this study is only seven years old. Including the cases contributed by the authors, our literary review indicated that male dominated the tumor cases (M: F = 3: 2). 28 cases (56%) present with this disease in extranodal sites. Tumor cells demonstrated positive staining for the follicular dendritic cell markers CD21 (47/49), CD35 (43/45), CD23 (20/23) and CD68 (23/25). In situ hybridization for Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA was performed in 10 cases. Nevertheless, EBV expression was absent in all these cases. The follow-up analysis of all cases shows that 26 (81.2%) patients were alive and disease free; 6 (18.8%) patients were alive with recurrent disease or metastasis; and nobody had died of this disease at the time of last follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of the FDCS is based on the findings of morphology and immunohistochemistry. The FDCS occurred in China should be viewed and treated as a low-grade sarcoma, and the role of the EBV in the pathogenesis of this tumor is still uncertain. There is a possibility that the tumor might be racial or geographic correlated, because most cases were reported from Eastern Asia area; it's particular the case of the liver or spleen tumor.

Pathological differential diagnosis of solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm and endocrine tumors of the pancreas.

AIM: To investigate differential points of solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) of the pancreas and pancreatic endocrine tumor (PET). METHODS: Ten cases of SPN and fourteen cases of PET were studied in this retrospective study. Clinical and pathologic features, immunostaining reactions and beta-catenin gene mutations were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of SPN patients was 25.6 years and these patients had no specific symptoms. The mean diameter of the tumors was 11.0 cm, 9/10 cases were cystic or a mixture of solid and cystic structures, and there was hemorrhage and necrosis on the cut surface in 8/10 (80%) cases. Characteristic pseudopapillary structure and discohesive appearance of the neoplastic cells were observed in all 10 (100%) cases. The results of immunostaining showed that nuclear expression of beta-catenin and loss of E-cadherin in all the cases, was only seen in SPN. Molecular studies discovered that 9/10 (90%) cases harbored a point mutation of exon 3 in beta-catenin gene. On the other hand, the mean age of PET patients was 43.1 years. Eight of 14 cases presented with symptoms caused by hypoglycemia, and the other 6 cases presented with symptoms similar to those of SPN. The mean size of the tumors was 2.9 cm, most of the tumors were solid, only 3/14 (21%) were a mixture of solid and cystic structures, and macroscopic hemorrhage and necrosis were much less common (3/14, 21%). Histologically, tumor cells were arranged in trabecular, acinar or solid patterns and demonstrated no pseudopapillary structure and discohesive appearance in all 14 (100%) cases. The results of immunostaining and mutation detection were completely different with SPN that membrane and cytoplastic expression of beta-catenin without loss of E-cadherin, as well as no mutation in beta-catenin gene in all the cases. CONCLUSION: Both macroscopic and microscopic features of SPN are quite characteristic. It is not difficult to distinguish it from PET. If necessary, immunostaining of beta-catenin and E-cadherin is quite helpful to make the differential diagnosis.

Identification of differentially expressed genes in rat silicosis model by suppression subtractive hybridization analysis.

The critical molecular mechanism in the development of the pulmonary fibrosis remains unknown, leaving diagnosed patients with a poor prognosis. To isolate the genes specifically up-regulated in pulmonary fibrosis, we established a rat silicosis model 360 d after treatment with crystalline silica suspension. Radiographs of chests showed that some scattered high-density shadows appeared in the lung field. Typical microscopic fibrosing silicotic nodules formed in the lung, alveolar epithelial cells and bronchial epithelial cells, particularly around the partial fibrosing silicotic nodules; some of them showed atypical hyperplasia that suggested a correlation between silicosis and lung cancer. Suppression subtractive hybridization analysis was performed to compare gene expression in lung tissue with silicosis and normal lung tissue. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction showed that the expressions of seven novel cDNA sequences identified by suppression subtractive hybridization in lung tissue with silicosis differed from normal lung tissue. Bioinformatics analysis showed that 47 positive clones represented 35 genes containing two putative proteins and four predicted similar proteins. The analysis also showed that some screened genes in silicosis, such as prolyl 4-hydroxylases, actin-related protein-2/3 complex and acidic mammalian chitinase, have not been previously reported. These genes may provide new clues for investigating the molecular mechanisms in the development of pulmonary fibrosis.

Micro flow-through PCR in a PMMA chip fabricated by KrF excimer laser.

As the third PCR technology, micro flow-through PCR chip can amplify DNA specifically in an exponential fashion in vitro. Nowadays many academies in the world have successfully amplified DNA using their own-made flow-through PCR chip. In this paper, the ablation principle of PMMA at 248 nm excimer laser was studied, then a PMMA based flow-through PCR chip with 20 cycles was fabricated by excimer laser at 19 kv and 18 mm/min. The chip was bonded together with another cover chip at 105( composite function)C, 160 N and 20 minutes. In the end, it was integrated with electrical thermal thin films and Pt 100 temperature sensors. The temperature controllers was built standard PID digital temperature controller, the temperature control precision was +/- 0.2( composite function)C. The temperature grads between the three temperature zones were 16.5 and 22.2( composite function)C respectively, the gaps between the temperature zones could realize heat insulation.