Advances in colonic manometry in adults with colonic motility disorders / 中华胃肠外科杂志

In recent years, colonic manometry has been gradually introduced into clinical practice. It helps clinicians to gain a better understanding of the physiology and pathophysiology of colonic contractile activity in healthy adults and patients with colonic dysfunction. More and more patterns of colonic motility are being discovered with the help of colonic manometry. However, the clinical significance of these findings still needs to be further investigated. This review enhances our understanding of colonic motility and the current state of development and application of colonic manometry, as well as the limitations, future directions and potential of the technique in assessing the impact of treatment on colonic motility patterns, by analyzing and summarizing the literature related to colonic manometry.

Photovoltaic Effect in BiFeO3 Film Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputtering.

A polycrystalline BiFeO3 film was deposited on ITO substrate by RF magnetron sputtering method. Small crystallite size and compact structure are obtained for BiFeO3 film which has the excellent ferroelectric properties. The measured photovoltaic response reveals an open-circuit voltage of ~0.52 V and a short-circuit current density of ~10 µA/cm² under the illumination of 100 mW/cm² irradiance. Moreover, a tunable photovoltaic effect with light illumination is observed under different voltage sweep mode. High initial sweep voltage can enhance the photovoltaic effect largely, however, the photovoltaic response decreases with the increase of voltage sweep interval. The results indicate the ferroelectric polarization plays an important role in the photovoltaic effect.

Improved Photovoltaic Effect of p-i-n Structured BiFeO3 Film Deposited by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering.

Pure phase polycrystalline BiFeO3 film was deposited onto FTO substrate by RF magnetron sputtering method. SEM result shows that BiFeO3 film has the obvious porosity and large clusters which lead to the poor ferroelectric and photovoltaic properties in FTO/BiFeO3/Ag device. However, these properties are improved in p-i-n structured FTO/TiO2/BiFeO3/HTM/Ag device by incorporating the electron and hole transport materials. The hysteresis loop measurement demonstrates the excellent ferroelectric property with large remnant polarization (2Pr = 180 µC/cm²) and low leakage current. The J-V curve shows the short-circuit current density is dozens of times larger than that of FTO/BiFeO3/Ag device. Moreover, the photovoltaic output depends on the poling field where the positive poling improves the short-circuit current density to -85 µA/cm2 and the negative poling reduces both the photocurrent and photovoltage. It is believed that the ferroelectric polarization plays a dominant role in the photovoltaic effect.

Oxymatrine Sensitizes the HaCaT Cells to the IFN-γ Pathway and Downregulates MDC, ICAM-1, and SOCS1 by Activating p38, JNK, and Akt.

Decreased interferon (IFN)-γ levels and increased levels of macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC) and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 are known to be involved in allergic skin diseases, such as eczema and atopic dermatitis. Activation of the IFN-γ and its downstream interleukin-12 (IL-12) pathway can correct these diseases. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) is a cytokine signaling inhibitor that blocks downstream pathways of IFN-γ by blocking the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathways. Oxymatrine (OMT), a quinolizidine alkaloid extracted from the herbal medicine Radix Sophorae flavescentis, is used to treat allergic skin diseases in China. The non-cytotoxic concentrations of OMT in HaCaT cells were determined through 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IFN-γ were used to stimulate HaCaT cells, and OMT was added to this system with tacrolimus (FK506) as a positive control. The mRNAs of cytokines, MDC, ICAM-1, IL-12p35, IL-12p40, and IFN-γ receptor (IFN-γR)α were detected by RT-PCR. Western blot analyses were performed to assess activation of the MAPK (p38, Jun N-terminal kinase, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase) and Akt signaling pathways. OMT increased the mRNA levels of the IL-12 and IFN-γRα, reduced the mRNA levels of ICAM-1, MDC, and SOCS1. But FK506 increased the mRNA levels of IL12 and inhibited the expression of ICAM-1 mRNAs and had no effects on the IFN-γRα, MDC, and SOCS1 mRNA in HaCaT cells stimulated with TNF-α and IFN-γ. Thus, the mechanisms through which OMT and FK506 ameliorate allergic skin diseases differ.

An ultrasensitive fluorescent aptasensor for detection of cancer marker proteins based on graphene oxide-ssDNA.

A novel biosensing platform was developed by integrating a new ssDNA aptamer and graphene oxide (GO) for highly sensitive and selective detection of liver cancer biomarkers (alpha-fetoprotein, AFP). The key concept of this biosensing platform is that the fluorescence of dye-modified ssDNA can be effectively quenched by GO after forming the hybrid structure of graphene oxide-ssDNA (GO-ssDNA). The AFP can selectively react with GO-ssDNA and lead to the decomposition of GO-ssDNA, which results in the recovery of fluorescence, and an increase in fluorescence intensity with the increasing concentration of AFP in the range of 0 to 300 pg mL-1. The linear range was obtained from 1 to 150 pg mL-1 and the detection limit was 0.909 pg mL-1. Moreover, this biosensing platform can be applied to serum and cell imaging for the detection of AFP. The results show that the proposed biosensor has great potential application in AFP-related clinical diagnosis and research.