Giant and controllable Goos—Hänchen shift of a reflective beam off a hyperbolic metasurface of polar crystals

We conduct a theoretical analysis of the massive and tunable Goos–Hänchen(GH) shift on a polar crystal covered with periodical black phosphorus(BP)-patches in the THz range. The surface plasmon phonon polaritons(SPPPs), which are coupled by the surface phonon polaritons(SPh Ps) and surface plasmon polaritons(SPPs), can greatly increase GH shifts.Based on the in-plane anisotropy of BP, two typical metasurface models are designed and investigated. An enormous GH shift of about-7565.58 λ_(0) is achieved by adjusting the physical parameters of the BP-patches. In the designed metasurface structure, the maximum sensitivity accompanying large GH shifts can reach about 6.43 × 10^(8) λ_(0)/RIU, which is extremely sensitive to the size, carrier density, and layer number of BP. Compared with a traditional surface plasmon resonance sensor, the sensitivity is increased by at least two orders of magnitude. We believe that investigating metasurface-based SPPPs sensors could lead to high-sensitivity biochemical detection applications.

Insulin-like growth factor 2 targets IGF1R signaling transduction to facilitate metastasis and imatinib resistance in gastrointestinal stromal tumors

BACKGROUND Gastrointestinal stromal tumors(GISTs)are typical gastrointestinal tract neoplasms.Imatinib is the first-line therapy for GIST patients.Drug resistance limits the long-term effectiveness of imatinib.The regulatory effect of insulin-like growth factor 2(IGF2)has been confirmed in various cancers and is related to resistance to chemotherapy and a worse prognosis.AIM To further investigate the mechanism of IGF2 specific to GISTs.METHODS IGF2 was screened and analyzed using Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO:GSE225819)data.After IGF2 knockdown or overexpression by transfection,the phenotypes(proliferation,migration,invasion,apoptosis)of GIST cells were characterized by cell counting kit 8,Transwell,and flow cytometry assays.We used western blotting to evaluate pathway-associated and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)-associated proteins.We injected transfected cells into nude mice to establish a tumor xenograft model and observed the occurrence and metastasis of GIST.RESULTS Data from the GEO indicated that IGF2 expression is high in GISTs,associated with liver metastasis,and closely related to drug resistance.GIST cells with high expression of IGF2 had increased proliferation and migration,invasiveness and EMT.Knockdown of IGF2 significantly inhibited those activities.In addition,OEIGF2 promoted GIST metastasis in vivo in nude mice.IGF2 activated IGF1R signaling in GIST cells,and IGF2/IGF1R-mediated glycolysis was required for GIST with liver metastasis.GIST cells with IGF2 knockdown were sensitive to imatinib treatment when IGF2 overexpression significantly raised imatinib resistance.Moreover,2-deoxy-D-glucose(a glycolysis inhibitor)treatment reversed IGF2 overexpressionmediated imatinib resistance in GISTs.CONCLUSION IGF2 targeting of IGF1R signaling inhibited metastasis and decreased imatinib resistance by driving glycolysis in GISTs.

In situ AFM investigation of dual-mode self-assembling peptide

Nanostructures/patterns formed by biomolecules can produce different physicochemical properties in terms of hydrophobicity, zeta-potential, color, etc., which play paramount roles in life. Peptides, as the main bio-building blocks, can form nanostructures with different functions,either in solutions or on interfaces. Previously, we synthesized a short peptide with the inspiration of an Alzheimer’s disease-related peptide: amyloid β peptide(A-p),namely GAV-9, which can epitaxially self-assemble into regular nanofilaments on liquid-solid interfaces, and it was found that both the hydrophobicity and charge state of the interfaces can significantly influence its assembling behavior. It was also reported that another A-β-containing dipeptide, FF,can self-assemble into nanostructures in solutions. Owing to the close relationship between these two short peptides, it is interesting to conjugate them into a de novo peptide with two separated structural domains and study its self-assembling behavior. To this end, herein we have synthesized the GAV-FF peptide with a sequence of NH2-VGGAVVAGVFF-CONH2 and verified its selfassembling property using the in situ liquid-phase atomic force microscopy. The results show that the GAV-FF peptide can self-assemble into nanofilaments both in solutions and on aqueous-solid interfaces, but with different morphologies. The FF domain accelerates the template-assisted self-assembling(TASA) process of the GAV domain, which in return enhances the solubility of FF in aqueous solutions and further participates in the fibrillization of FF. The current results could help deepen the understanding of the aggregation mechanism of diseaserelated peptides and could also shed light on the strategies to create artificial bio-functional nanostructures/patterns,which hold a significant potential for biomedical applications.

Network-pharmacology-based research on protective effects and underlying mechanism of Shuxin decoction against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury with diabetes

BACKGROUND Patients with diabetes mellitus are at higher risk of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury(MI/RI).Shuxin decoction(SXT)is a proven recipe modification from the classic herbal formula"Wu-tou-chi-shi-zhi-wan"according to the traditional Chinese medicine theory.It has been successfully used to alleviate secondary MI/RI in patients with diabetes mellitus in the clinical setting.However,the underlying mechanism is still unclear.AIM To further determine the mechanism of SXT in attenuating MI/RI associated with diabetes.METHODS This paper presents an ensemble model combining network pharmacology and biology.The Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database was accessed to select key components and potential targets of the SXT.In parallel,therapeutic targets associated with MI/RI in patients with diabetes were screened from various databases including Gene Expression Omnibus,DisGeNet,Genecards,Drugbank,OMIM,and PharmGKB.The potential targets of SXT and the therapeutic targets related to MI/RI in patients with diabetes were intersected and subjected to bioinformatics analysis using the Database for Annotation,Visualization and Integrated Discovery.The major results of bioinformatics analysis were subsequently validated by animal experiments.RESULTS According to the hypothesis derived from bioinformatics analysis,SXT could possibly ameliorate lipid metabolism disorders and exert anti-apoptotic effects in MI/RI associated with diabetes by reducing oxidized low density lipoprotein(LDL)and inhibiting the advanced glycation end products(AGE)-receptor for AGE(RAGE)signaling pathway.Subsequent animal experiments confirmed the hypothesis.The treatment with a dose of SXT(2.8 g/kg/d)resulted in a reduction in oxidized LDL,AGEs,and RAGE,and regulated the level of blood lipids.Besides,the expression of apoptosis-related proteins such as Bax and cleaved caspase 3 was down-regulated,whereas Bcl-2 expression was up-regulated.The findings indicated that SXT could inhibit myocardial apoptosis and improve cardiac function in MI/RI in diabetic rats.CONCLUSION This study indicated the active components and underlying molecular therapeutic mechanisms of SXT in MI/RI with diabetes.Moreover,animal experiments verified that SXT could regulate the level of blood lipids,alleviate cardiomyocyte apoptosis,and improve cardiac function through the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway.

3D打印骨折模型在肱骨远端C型骨折中的应用

目的比较应用3D打印骨折模型手术与传统手术治疗肱骨远端C型骨折的疗效分析。方法回顾性分析承德医学院附属医院2013年1月—2017年1月收治的59例肱骨远端C型骨折治疗患者。其中27例患者自愿采用3D打印技术,打印出实体模型,并在3D模型上进行模拟手术,术中按照术前计划手术。32例进行常规X射线,CT三维重建扫描,常规传统手术治疗。记录两组手术时间、术中透视次数及术中出血量,并根据Mayo评分评价肘关节术后3个月功能恢复情况,术后6个月肘关节活动度、骨折愈合时间及手术并发症发生率。结果 3D打印组手术后3个月Mayo肘关节评分、术后6个月肘关节活动度优于传统手术组(P<0.05),3D打印组手术时间、术中透视次数及术中出血量等低于传统手术组(P<0.05);两组骨折愈合时间及并发症发生率比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论肱骨远端C型疾病治疗应用3D打印骨折模型辅助手术治疗,可取得更好的临床效果。

miR-15a在眼科疾病中的研究现状及进展

miRNA-15a(miR-15a)是位于13q14基因上的非编码RNA小分子,随着研究的深入,其对全身各组织器官及细胞的生长、凋亡等调控作用越发被重视,成为现今研究较多的miRNA。本文主要针对miR-15a的作用机制及在眼科疾病中的研究现况进行阐述,为进一步研究眼科疾病及治疗提供可借鉴的参考依据。

Tunable enhanced spatial shifts of reflective beam on the surface of a twisted bilayer of hBN

We investigated Goos-Hänchen(GH)and Imbert-Fedorov(IF)shifts of a reflective beam on a twisted bilayer of hexagonal boron nitride(hBN),where a left circularly polarized beam was incident on the surface.Our results demonstrate that the twist angle between the two optical axes plays an important role in obtaining large shifts with a high reflectivity.The GH shift with 10λ_(0) is achieved,while the reflectivity is near 100%by tuning the twist angle.The maximum of the IF shift is found in the certain condition satisfied by the reflective coefficients,and the shift strongly depends on the twist angle between the optical axes of the two slabs.The spatial shifts obtained directly from the GH and IF shift definitions were provided,which indicate that the theoretical results from the stationary phase method are believable.These results may open up a new way for developing the nano-optical devices.

Solvent effects on gold nanoparticle formation from photochemical reduction of Au(Ⅲ)by UV irradiation

Colloidal gold nanoparticles(AuNPs) have attracted more and more attention in areas of materials science, biotechnology and organic chemistry due to their unique functions as molecular markers and their applications in diagnostic imaging and catalysis. The AuNP synthesis approaches have been well developed; however, the solvent effects have not been systematically studied yet.Here we analyzed and compared solvent effects on AuNP formation using UV irradiation of Au(Ⅲ) without adding any other ligands. By monitoring the surface plasmonresonance absorption of Au(Ⅲ)-containing solutions,results showed that both ketone and alcohol solvents can induce Au(Ⅲ) to form gold nanospheres; on the other hand, solvents like ACN and THF can induce Au(Ⅲ) to form nanostructures with longer dimensions. The possible mechanism was discussed, which could facilitate efficient photochemical synthesis of AuNPs and might apply to other metal NP synthesis.

Application and prospect of toxicity quality markers of Chinese materia medica based on metabolomics

In view of the problem that the quality evaluation indicators divorced from effectiveness and safety in Chinese materia medica（CMM）, Prof. Chang-xiao Liu et al have put forward a concept of quality markers（Q-markers） of CMM, which provided a new thought for improving the CMM quality control method. The toxicity Q-markers of CMM are described as follows, the early toxicity prediction of CMM, the discovery, formation and susceptibility research of toxicity Q-markers of CMM. Metabolomics is a systematic biology approach, closely related to the toxicity phenotype of organism, has unique advantages in toxicity Q-markers research. The toxicity Q-markers of CMM are explained from the following four aspects in this review： 1） the establishment of toxicity prediction model of CMM, which is based on metabolomics,pattern recognition, and other techniques; 2） the discovery of toxicity Q-markers of CMM based on metabolomic, which is meaning that the toxicity Q-markers are interpreted regarding to the chemical composition analysis of CMM, preliminary screening and verification of the toxicity Q-markers and toxicity mechanism research; 3） the research on the formation of toxicity Q-markers based on metabolomics,which is described from biosynthetic pathway analysis and the secondary metabolites analysis of toxicity Q-markers; and 4） the susceptibility study of toxicity Q-markers based on metabolomics, namely, the key targets, and metabolic pathways of toxicity Q-markers are explained according to the target organ toxicity susceptibility caused by CMM, and then the toxicity susceptibility mechanism of CMM is clarified. Therefore, the application of metabolomics helps to systematically and comprehensively discover the quality control indicators related to the CMM safety, which further provides a rational evidence for the clinical application of toxicity of CMM.

Sensitivity study of searching for τ^-→γμ^- at HIEPA

The charged lepton flavor violation process is a clean and sensitive probe of new physics beyond the Standard Model. A sensitivity study is performed to the process τ^-→γμ^- based on a 3 fb^(-1) inclusive Monte Carlo sample of e^+e^- collisions at a center-of-mass energy of4.26 or 4.6 Ge V, in the framework of the BESIII software system. The 90 % confidence level upper limits on B(τ^-→γμ^-) are estimated assuming no signal is produced. We also obtain the sensitivity on B(τ^-→γμ^-) as a function of the integrated luminosity, to serve as a reference for the HIEPA being proposed in China. It is found that 6.34 ab^(-1) are needed to reach the current best upper limit of 4:4 10^(-8) and about 2510 ab^(-1) are needed to reach a sensitivity of 10^(-9) if the detector design is similar to that of BESIII.