Fabrication and enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2production of B-doped N-deficient g-C3N4/CdS Hybrids with robust 2D/2D hetero-interface interaction.

2D layered photocatalysts with proper electronic structure have sparked much attention in the field of visible-light photocatalysis for H2production. Herein, by simply calcining the mixture of ultrathin g-C3N4(CNN) and NaBH4, heteroatom B and N defect were simultaneously introduced into g-C3N4. The obtained modified g-C3N4(BDCNN) was further coupled with 2D flower-like CdS nanosheet. The optimal 2D/2D BDCNN/CdS-15% heterojunction behaved ideal photocatalytic activity for H2revolution by water splitting, and the highest H2revolution rate was as high as 1013.8µmol g-1h-1, which was 6.7 times, 2 times, and 5.8 times of the corresponding values of pristine CNN, BDCNN and CdS respectively. It was evidenced that the band structure of 2D/2D BDCNN/CdS-15% was well tuned for better visible-light adsorption and higher separation efficiency of photo-induced carriers for enhancing H2revolution performance. The achievement in this study provided informative principles for exploring g-C3N4based heterojunctions with higher H2-production performance.

Valproic acid counteracts polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-induced tumorigenic effects by regulating the polarization of macrophages.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common persistent organic pollutants that are carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic, causing a variety of harm to human health. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of how valproic acid (VPA) interferes with the carcinogenesis of PAHs protect normal tissues via the regulation of macrophages' function. Using the established model of transformed malignant breast cancer by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), a representative PAH carcinogen, we discovered VPA induces the polarization of macrophages toward the M1 phenotype in the tumor tissues, facilitates the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IFN-γ, IL-12 and TNF-α, activates CD8+ T cells to secret Granzyme B thus to promote the apoptosis of tumor cells and suppresses the viability of vascular endothelial cells in tissue stroma of tumor. Surprisingly, VPA selectively induces macrophages to polarize towards the M2 phenotype in normal tissues and promotes the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10 to enhance cell proliferation. Additionally, at the cellular level, VPA can directly regulate the polarization of macrophages to affect the growth of vascular endothelial cells by simulating the living conditions of tumor and normal cells. Collectively, VPA exerts an interventional effect on tumor growth and a protective effect on normal tissues by regulation of selective macrophages' polarization in their microenvironment.

Enhanced H2evolution performance by carbonized SiC/g-C3N4heterojunction under visible-light illumination.

In this study, carbonized silicon carbide/graphitic carbon nitride ((SiC/C)/g-C3N4) composites were fabricated via a facile calcination method. The optimal SiC/C/g-C3N4composite shows an excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity for water splitting, with the highest hydrogen evolution amount being 200.2µmol, which is four times higher than that of pure g-C3N4when triethanolamine and platinum (1.0 wt%) are used as the sacrificial agent and cocatalyst, respectively. With an intimate interface between SiC/C and g-C3N4, the energy band structure of g-C3N4was well engineered for photocatalytic H2production. This study provides a novel method for fabricating g-C3N4-based heterojunctions for application in environmental conservation.

Cultivation of humanistic values in medical education through anatomy pedagogy and gratitude ceremony for body donors.

BACKGROUND: One of the most important objectives of modern medical education is to empower medical students to become humanistic clinicians. Human anatomy plays a crucial role in this mission by using cadavers to cause reflections on death, dying, illness, and the role of medical practitioners in humanistic care. The objective of this study was to introduce, describe, and evaluate the impact of a ceremony in honor of the body donors on ethical and humanistic attitudes of medical students. METHODS: We used a phenomenological research approach to explore and understand the lived experiences of the anatomy teachers as they teach anatomy in the context of humanism and ethics. A separate survey of third-year medical students was carried out to understand their perceptions of changes in themselves, respect for donors and donor families, and their relationship with patients. Data were collected in two phases: a desktop review of teaching materials followed by in-depth interviews of the main anatomy teachers followed by a self-administered, 5-item Likert scaled questionnaire given to students. RESULTS: In the present article, we describe the rituals conducted in honor of body donors at our School of Medicine. We also describe the lived experiences of anatomy teachers as they work on improving humanistic education quality through the introduction of the concept of "silent mentor" which refers to a cadaver that quietly allows medical students to learn from it. In turn, a ceremony in honor of body donors who have altruistically donated their bodies so that learning anatomy through dissection would be possible is also introduced. A survey of the impact of the ceremony in honor of body donors on medical students revealed positive responses in terms of promoting studying anatomy (3.96 Vs 3.95) as well as reflections on own death (4.44 Vs 4.35), the life of body donors (4.07 Vs 4.04), and how to humanely view future patients and their significant others (4.32 Vs 4.24) relative to those that did not attend the ceremony (5-item Likert scale). The majority of the students that attended the ceremony also indicated that it had a positive impact on their future doctor-patient relationship, thinking about the possibility of donating their body for teaching as well as about medical ethics. Most of them also think that attending the ceremony helped reduce their anxiety, fear, and disgust of seeing corpses or dissecting and 90% insisted that memorial ceremonies should continue being conducted at Zhongshan Medical School. CONCLUSION: The combination of the anatomy component of the basic medical curriculum and gratitude ceremonies as well as activities to promote body bequeathal programs might help to accomplish the goal of cultivating high-quality medical students and professionals for the future. The long-term benefits would be a medical graduate who exudes empathy, relates well with patients and their significant others, leading to a productive doctor-patient relationship.

Spatiotemporal expression of Nogo-66 receptor after focal cerebral ischemia.

NgR, the receptor for the neurite outgrowth inhibitor Nogo-66, plays a critical role in the plasticity and regeneration of the nervous system after injury such as ischemic stroke. In the present study, we used immunohistochemistry to investigate the regional expression of NgR in rat brain following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). NgR protein expression was not observed in the center of the lesion, but was elevated in the marginal zone compared with control and sham-operated rats. The cerebral cortex and hippocampus (CA1, CA2, and CA3) showed the greatest expression of NgR. Furthermore, NgR expression was higher in the ipsilesional hemisphere than on the control side in the same coronal section. Although time-dependent changes in NgR expression across brain regions had their own characteristics, the overall trend complied with the following rules: NgR expression changes with time showed two peaks and one trough; the first peak in expression appeared between 1 and 3 days after MCAO; expression declined at 5 days; and the second peak occurred at 28 days.

Transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy with central neck dissection: experimental studies on human cadavers.

BACKGROUND: With the development of natural orifice trans-luminal endoscopic surgery, studies on transoral video-assisted thyroidectomy in preclinical experiments (e.g., human anatomy and animal trials) were progressing gradually. From 2009 to 2011, embalmed human cadavers were dissected to define the anatomical location, surgical planes, and related neural and vascular structures to create a safe transoral access to the front cervical spaces. Recently, experimental transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy was performed to verify the feasibility of this approach on 15 fresh specimens. METHODS: Fifteen specimens were placed in the supine position with slight neck extension. Endoscopic incision was made on the midline between the Wharton's duct papillae and two other incisions were made on mandibular first premolar buccal mucosa. Sublingual combined bilateral vestibular tunnels were created from oral cavity to the cervical region. The neck subplatysmal working space was insufflated with CO2 at 6-8 mmHg. The bilateral thyroid lobes and central lymph nodes were dissected under craniocaudal view. RESULTS: Three incisions were made in the oral cavity without any incisions on the body surfaces. The distance from the oral cavity to front neck region was the shortest. Bilateral thyroid lobes and central neck region were fully resected via transoral approach. This approach provided a craniocaudal view, in which retrosternal thyroid gland and lymph nodes were easily accessible. The recurrent laryngeal nerve could be identified safely on the inferior cornu of the thyroid cartilage. The only structure at risk was the mental nerve. Camera motion was somewhat limited by the maxillary dentition. The volume of harvested thyroid nodule through sublingual tunnel in the fifteen human cadavers was (40 ± 15) cm(3). CONCLUSION: The transoral procedure is progressive and innovative which not only gives the best cosmetic result and minimal access trauma but also provides a craniocaudal view.

Involvement of phospholipase C-γ in the pro-survival role of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in developing motoneurons in rat spinal cords.

The glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has been proven to be the most powerful neurotrophic factor in neuronal development. However, it remains uncertain as to which intracellular signaling pathway interacting with GDNF is invovlved in motoneuron (MN) development. In this study, we investigated whether phosphoinositide phospholipase C-γ (PLC-γ) is involved in GDNF-promoted MN development. The primary spinal MNs from 12- to 14-day-old embryos of Sprague-Dawley rats were cultured and survival was sustained by GDNF. A specific inhibitor of PLC-γ, 1-[6-((17b-3-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-yl) amino)hexyl]-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (U73122), was used to block the pro-survival effect of GDNF. Our results showed that MN-like cells appeared at 72 h after initial implantation and were sustained for a period of up to seven days under GDNF treatment. These cultured MNs expressed neuron-specific enolase, SMI-32, 75-kDa low-affinity neurotrophic receptor and choline acetyltransferase. The survival rate of the cultured MNs at 24 h was significantly lower in the GDNF + U73122-treated group (31.87±2.17%), compared either with that of the GDNF- (81.38±1.13%) or GDNF + DMSO (79.39±1.22%)-treated groups. The present data suggest that PLC-γ may be one of the intracellular signals that play a role in the survival-promoting effects of GDNF in developing spinal MNs.

Postgraduate fellows as teaching assistants in human anatomy: an experimental teaching model at a Chinese research university.

Postgraduate fellowship training programs are expanding at Chinese universities. This growing cadre of advanced trainees calls for the development of new learning and training models wherein postgraduate fellows have an ample opportunity to teach more junior learners, thereby expanding their own knowledge base and competitiveness for future employment. Educational reform at Sun Yat-Sen University has recently allowed postgraduate fellows to act as teaching assistants for undergraduate anatomy courses. This model is common in western countries but is novel in China.

[Surgical anatomy of totally trans-oral video-assisted thyroidectomy].

OBJECTIVE: To define the anatomical approach, anatomical planes and related vessels and nerves to create a safe and reproducible combined sublingual and bi-vestibular access for trans-oral video-assisted thyroidectomy. METHODS: From November 2009 to May 2011, twenty-five embalmed human specimens were dissected for anatomical information of the cervical region, the mandible region and the supra-hyoid muscles. On twenty fresh frozen human specimens after an experimental trans-oral endoscopic thyroidectomy, the related vascular, neural structures and muscles were evaluated. RESULTS: The optical access port was placed in the midline sublingual. The geniohyoid muscle, mylohyoid muscle and the anterior belly of the digastric muscle were divided in the midline in order to reach the plane under the platysma muscle. The mucosa was sagittal incised bilaterally in the vestibular of oral cavity for working trocar, at the level of the first molar of the mandible. The working trocar reached directly the periosteum of the mandible, under the facial vessel and the marginal branch of facial nerve, and then passed below the platysma muscle into the infra-laryngeal working area. The distance from mental nerve to mandibular midline and between mental nerve and facial artery were (25.8 ± 0.9) mm and (29.4 ± 0.9) mm respectively. Anatomical dissections showed that after an experimental trans-oral combined sublingual and bi-vestibular access, all muscles of the floor of the oral cavity as well as the related vascular and neural structures are intact. The maximum nodule size of the resected specimens in the totally trans-oral approach was up to 50 mm. CONCLUSION: The combined sublingual and bi-vestibular access of trans-oral video-assisted thyroidectomy is safe and reproducible.

Direct intrahepatic portocaval shunt through transhepatic puncture via retrohepatic inferior vena cava: applied anatomical study.

BACKGROUND: DIPS is to create a portosystemic shunt directly between the portal vein and the retrohepatic inferior vena cava (RIVC) without passing through the hepatic vein. It has been recommended that the DIPS could be applied when routine TIPS is unsuccessful or the patient has anatomical variations of the hepatic vein. The aim of this study was to identify the safe area of the RIVC where the DIPS can be safely established. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The lengths of the safe and unsafe areas of the RIVC were measured. The tributaries of the RIVC were examined. The diameter of these tributaries was measured and their incidence and relation to the safe area of the RIVC were observed. The puncture distances of DIPS and TIPS were measured and compared. RESULTS: The liver together with the RIVC was collected from 31 adult cadavers (age 32-65 years; M/F 25/6). 1. The safe and unsafe areas of the RIVC: the total length of the RIVC was 70.1 +/- 13.0 mm (33.1-92.0 mm), whereas the length of the safe area of the RIVC was 54.3 +/- 12.3 mm (20.2-71.1 mm), which was about over 70% of the total length. The length of the unsafe area at the upper end was 5.9 +/- 1.8 mm (3.0-10.2 mm), and at the lower end was 8.9 +/- 2.9 mm (3.1-20.0 mm). 2. The tributaries of the RIVC: In about 90% of the cadavers (90.3%; 28 out of 31), the LHV and MHV had the common trunk. The other three cadavers (9.7%; 3 out of 31) had independent RHV, MHV and LHV. There were 217 of small hepatic veins draining into the lower segment of the RIVC. Over 70% of the small hepatic veins were smaller than 5 mm in diameter and distributed on the anterior and left wall of the lower RIVC. 3. Puncture distances of the DIPS and TIPS: The distances from the bifurcation of the portal vein to the RIVC, to the right and to middle hepatic veins were 31.2 +/- 7.9 mm (15.0-47.2 mm), 38.6 +/- 8.1 mm (17.2-59.0 mm), and 46.6 +/- 8.2 mm (34.0-68.1 mm), respectively. Thus, the puncture distances via the RIVC, RHV and LHV were significantly different (P < 0.001). The puncture distance of the DIPS was shortest. CONCLUSION: Anatomically, DIPS is a feasible interventional procedure to make a intrahepatic shunt between IVC and portal vein directly, and has its anatomical advantages compared to TIPS.

ZM 447439 inhibition of aurora kinase induces Hep2 cancer cell apoptosis in three-dimensional culture.

Mitotic Aurora kinases are essential for accurate chromosome segregation during cell division. Forced overexpression of Aurora kinase results in centrosome amplification and multipolar spindles, causing aneuploidy, a hallmark of cancer. ZM447439 (ZM), an Aurora selective ATP-competitive inhibitor, interferes with the spindle integrity checkpoint and chromosome segregation. Here, we showed that inhibition of Aurora kinase by ZM reduced histone H3 phosphorylation at Ser10 in Hep2 carcinoma cells. Multipolar spindles were induced in these ZM-treated G(2)/M-arrested cells with accumulation of 4N/8N DNA, similar to cells with genetically suppressed Aurora-B. Cells subsequently underwent apoptosis, as assessed by cleavage of critical apoptotic associated protein PARP. Hep2 cells formed a tumor-like cell mass in 3-dimensional matrix culture; inhibition of Aurora kinase by ZM either destructed the preformed cell mass or prevented its formation, by inducing apoptotic cell death as stained for cleaved caspase-3. Lastly, ZM inhibition of Aurora kinase was potently in association with decrease of Akt phosphorylation at Ser473 and its substrates GSK3alpha/beta phosphorylation at Ser21 and Ser9. Together, we demonstrated that Aurora kinase served as a potential molecular target of ZM for more selective therapeutic cancer treatment.