Nickel phosphide-embedded graphene as counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells.

Nickel phosphide-embedded graphene, prepared by the hydrothermal reaction of red phosphorus, nickel chloride, and graphene oxide in a mixture of ethylene glycol-water, is investigated as the counter electrode of DSSCs. It is demonstrated that the DSSC with the nickel phosphide-embedded graphene as the new counter electrode presents an excellent performance competing with that of the Pt electrode.

Decreased long noncoding RNA ADIPOQ promoted cell proliferation and metastasis via miR-219c-3p/TP53 pathway in colorectal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of Long non-coding RNA ADIPOQ and its facilitating effects on proliferation and invasion of colorectal cancer by modulating the expression of TP53 via sponging with miR-219c-3p. PATIENTS AND METHODS: qRT-PCR was performed to detect the expressions of ADIPOQ and TP53 in human colorectal cancer tissues and cells. CCK-8 assay was performed to evaluate the Caco-2 cells proliferation and transwell assay was performed to evaluate the Caco-2 cells migration. The relationship between ADIPOQ and miR-219c-3p was detected by statistical analysis. Target prediction and Luciferase activity assay were conducted to investigate the binding site and interaction between ADIPOQ and miR-219c-3p. Further, we cloned the mice TP53 3'-UTR into the Luciferase reporter vector and constructed miR-219c-3p binding mutants to verify the inhibited regulation of miR-219c-3p to the TP53 expression. RESULTS: The results suggested that the expression of ADIPOQ and TP53 was downregulated in human colorectal cancer tissues and Caco-2 cells. qRT-PCR and CCK-8 assay showed that ADIPOQ expression is correlated with the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. Transwell assay showed that ADIPOQ regulated the migration ability of colorectal cancer cells. The bioinformatics prediction and Luciferase assay demonstrated that ADIPOQ serves as ceRNA for miR-219c-3p to further regulate the expression of TP53. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, we found that lncRNA-ADIPOQ was downregulated in human colorectal cancer cells, which could facilitate tumor proliferation, migration and invasion as a ceRNA by sponging with miR-219c-3p.

Clinical research on monitoring CSFP through lumbar epidural pressure.

OBJECTIVE: Explore the relationship between lumbar Epidural Pressure (LEDP) and CSFP through clinical studies and to determine whether LEDP can represent CSFP. METHODS: We selected 150 cases of cerebral diseases at random for this study. A special mini transducer was implanted into the lumbar epidural space between the third and the 4th lumbar vertebra by means of a No. 18 Touhy needle for monitoring of LEDP. In the meantime, a traditional lumbar puncture was made between the 4th and the 5th lumbar vertebrae and CSFP, which was taken as the standard value, was measured using an ordinary catheter. The transducer was adjusted until the LEDP was equal to CSFP and was designated LEDP0. The LEDP0 was monitored continuously and was translated into a continuous curve. In each and every case, a lumbar puncture was repeated at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours to obtain CSFP for comparison and to explore the relationship between LEDP0 and CSFP. While monitoring LEDP0, we observed the variation in pressure when the patient breathed, coughed, changed posture, and also if the clinical symptoms changed with intracranial hypertension. RESULT: The values of the intracranial pressure measured by these two methods were identical. CONCLUSION: LEDP responded to the changes of CSFP.