Difference in association of carbohydrate intake with all-cause mortality between middle-aged and older Korean adults with and without diabetes mellitus: A prospective study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The relationship between diet and health, particularly the role of carbohydrates, has been extensively studied. However, carbohydrate intake based on individual health conditions remains unclear. Here, we aimed to investigate whether the association between carbohydrate intake and all-cause mortality varied between individuals with and without diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: This prospective cohort study used data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). Overall, 143,050 participants were included, with 10.1% having DM. Dietary intake was assessed using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the association between carbohydrate intake and mortality after adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: The study showed that 5436 deaths occurred during the median follow-up period of 10.1 years. A significant interaction between carbohydrate intake and DM was observed in the study population (interaction p = 0.061). Higher carbohydrate intake proportion was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality among individuals with DM (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], p-value = 1.10 [1.01-1.20], p = 0.032). Conversely, no association was observed between the proportion of carbohydrate intake and all-cause mortality in participants without DM. Additionally, both total sugar and added sugar intakes were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in participants with DM (adjusted HR, p-value = 1.02 [1.01-1.04], p < 0.001 and 1.18 [1.13-1.24], p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: High carbohydrate (%) and added sugar intake were associated with an increased mortality risk in individuals with DM. Reducing carbohydrate intake and opting for healthy carbohydrates to mitigate mortality risk may be beneficial for individuals with DM, particularly when compared with the general population.

Computational identification of antibody-binding epitopes from mimotope datasets.

Introduction: A fundamental challenge in computational vaccinology is that most B-cell epitopes are conformational and therefore hard to predict from sequence alone. Another significant challenge is that a great deal of the amino acid sequence of a viral surface protein might not in fact be antigenic. Thus, identifying the regions of a protein that are most promising for vaccine design based on the degree of surface exposure may not lead to a clinically relevant immune response. Methods: Linear peptides selected by phage display experiments that have high affinity to the monoclonal antibody of interest ("mimotopes") usually have similar physicochemical properties to the antigen epitope corresponding to that antibody. The sequences of these linear peptides can be used to find possible epitopes on the surface of the antigen structure or a homology model of the antigen in the absence of an antigen-antibody complex structure. Results and Discussion: Herein we describe two novel methods for mapping mimotopes to epitopes. The first is a novel algorithm named MimoTree that allows for gaps in the mimotopes and epitopes on the antigen. More specifically, a mimotope may have a gap that does not match to the epitope to allow it to adopt a conformation relevant for binding to an antibody, and residues may similarly be discontinuous in conformational epitopes. MimoTree is a fully automated epitope detection algorithm suitable for the identification of conformational as well as linear epitopes. The second is an ensemble approach, which combines the prediction results from MimoTree and two existing methods.

Study on the mechanism of electroacupuncture regulating macrophage polarization to improve ulcerative colitis in rats. / ç”µé’ˆè°ƒèŠ‚å·¨å™¬ç»†èƒžæžåŒ–æ”¹å–„å¤§é¼ æºƒç–¡æ€§ç»“è‚ ç‚Žçš„æœºåˆ¶ç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture(EA) at "Changbing Decoction" on alleviating ulcerative colitis (UC) and regulating the polarization of colonic macrophages in rats, so as to explore its mechanisms underlying improvement of UC. METHODS: Twenty-six male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups：normal group(6 rats), model group(8 rats), EA group(6 rats), and western medication group(6 rats). The rat model of UC was established by using 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) solution drinking water for 7 days, followed by drinking 1% DSS solution during treatment period. After 7-day model establishment, EA treatment(10 Hz/50 Hz, 20 min) was applied to "Zhongwan"(CV12), bilateral "Tianshu"(ST25) and "Shangjuxu"(ST37) for 3 d, and rats in the western medication group were given mesalazine suspension(200 mg/kg) by gavage for 3 d. The body weight, spleen weight and colon length of rats were measured. The disease activity index (DAI) score was evaluated. The morphological changes and inflammatory cell infiltration of colon were detected after HE staining and pathological scores were eva-luated. The contents of tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α), interleukin(IL)-1ß, IL-2 and IL-10 in serum were detected by ELISA. The protein expressions of M1 and M2 macrophage markers nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and arginase 1(Arg1) were detected by fluorescence double staining and Western blot, respectively. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect iNOS and Arg1 mRNA expressions. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, rats in the model group had increased pathological damage degree and inflammatory cell infiltration in the colon tissue, slowed-down body weight gain, decreased colon length, spleen weight, serum anti-inflammatory factors IL-2 and IL-10 contents, colonic Arg1/CD68 fluorescence positive expression, and Arg1 protein and mRNA expressions(P<0.01, P<0.05), as well as increased DAI scores, colon histopathological scores, contents of serum pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1ß, colonic iNOS/CD68 fluorescence positive expression, iNOS protein and mRNA expressions(P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the above indicators were significantly improved in rats of the EA group and the western medication group(P<0.01, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: EA of "Changbing Decoction" can improve UC of rats by regulating the polarization of colonic macrophages, inhibiting the generation of M1 macrophages and promoting the generation of M2 macrophages.

[Effect of electroacupuncture on colonic autophagy and AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway in rats with acute ulcerative colitis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture （EA） at "Zhongwan" （CV12）, "Tianshu" （ST25） and "Shangjuxu" （ST37） （an acupoint prescription "Changbingfang" for treatment of intestinal disorders） on autophagy and expression of AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway in rats with ulcerative colitis （UC）, so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of UC. METHODS: Thirty-two male SD rats were randomly divided into control, model, medication and EA groups, with 8 rats in each group. The UC model was established by free drinking of 5% dextran sulfate sodium salt solution for 7 days. EA stimulation （10 Hz/50 Hz） was delivered to CV12, ST25 and ST37 for 20 min, once a day for 3 consecutive days. Rats of the medication group received gavage of mesalazine suspension （200 mg/kg） once a day, 3 times in total. The rats' general conditions were recorded for calculating the disease activity index （DAI） score （0-4 points）. Histomorphological changes of colon were observed via HE staining. The levels of serum interleukin 6 （IL-6）, tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） and IL-10 were measured by ELISA. The mRNA expressions of LC3B and p62 were tested by fluorescence quantitative PCR. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of LC3B, p62 and AMPK/mTOR pathway related proteins in colon tissues. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the DAI score, contents of serum IL-6 and TNF-α, the expression levels of p62 protein and mRNA, ratio of p-mTOR/mTOR were significantly increased （P<0.01）； while the content of serum IL-10, the expression levels of LC3B mRNA, ratio of LC3BⅡ/LC3BⅠ and p-AMPK/AMPK were decreased （P<0.01, P<0.05） in the model group. Relevant to the model group, modeling-induced increases of DAI score, serum IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10 contents, expressions of p62 protein and mRNA, LC3B mRNA, ratio of p-mTOR/mTOR, LC3BⅡ/LC3BⅠ and p-AMPK/AMPK were reversed in both medication and EA groups （P<0.01, P<0.05）. The effect of EA was apparently superior to that of mesalazine in up-regulating ratio of LC3BⅡ/LC3BⅠ and p-AMPK/AMPK, p62 mRNA expression （P<0.01, P<0.05）, and in down-regulating ratio of p-mTOR/mTOR （P<0.05）. H.E. staining showed severe damage of the colonic mucosal barrier with infiltration of a large number of inflammatory cells in the model group, which was milder in medication and EA groups. CONCLUSION: EA of acupoint recipe "Changbingfang" can improve the symptoms in UC rats, which may be related to its functions in promoting colonic autophagy, increasing AMPK phosphorylation level, and decreasing mTOR phosphorylation level.

Cultivated Artemisia rupestris L. polysaccharide CARP2 as an adjuvant for influenza vaccines to prolong immune responses.

In the study, the adjuvant features of the immunoregulatory polysaccharide component CARP2 isolated from cultivated Artemisia rupestris L. for influenza virus vaccine (IVV) and the mechanism responsible for its action in DCs were further explored. CARP2 showed a typical absorbance peak of polysaccharides in spectral analysis. At two doses of CARP2-adjuvanted IVV, IgG, hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers, and effector/memory T cells were generated and lasted for 275 days without adverse events. CARP2 primed rapid HI and IgG, IgG2a/IgG1 ratio, splenocyte proliferation, and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), and facilitated the generation of INF-γ and IL-4 by activating DCs and regulatory T cells (Tregs). Additionally, CARP2 achieved the ten-fold dose-sparing effect. In vitro, CARP2 stimulated DCs to prime the production of Th1/Th2 cytokines and CCR7 and activated MyD88-dependent pathway by upregulating the expressions of TLR4, MyD88, TRAF-6, and p65. In contrast, MyD88, TRAF-6, and NF-κB inhibitors partially blocked the effect through reducing related cytokines and proteins. Overall, CARP2 promoted IVV efficacy, which was involved in the modulation of Th1/Th2 responses and shifted toward Th1-polarizing response via TLR4/MyD88/TRAF/NF-κB activation in DCs.

Atomic Defect Induced Saturable Absorption of Hexagonal Boron Nitride in Near Infrared Band for Ultrafast Lasing Applications.

Defect-induced phenomena in 2D materials has received increasing interest among researchers due to the novel properties correlated with precise modification of materials. We performed a study of the nonlinear saturable absorption of the boron-atom-vacancy defective hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) thin film at a wavelength of ~1 µm and its applications in ultrafast laser generation. The h-BN is with wide band gap of ~6 eV. Our investigation shows that the defective h-BN has a wide absorption band from visible to near infrared regimes. First-principle calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) indicate that optical property changes may be attributed to the boron-vacancy-related defects. The photoluminescence spectrum shows a strong emission peak at ~1.79 eV. The ultrafast Z-scan measurement shows saturable absorbance response has been detected for the defective h-BN with saturation intensity of ~1.03 GW/cm2 and modulation depth of 1.1%. In addition, the defective h-BN has been applied as a new saturable absorber (SA) to generate laser pulses through the passively Q-switched mode-locking configuration. Based on a Nd:YAG waveguide platform, 8.7 GHz repetition rate and 55 ps pulse duration of the waveguide laser have been achieved. Our results suggest potential applications of defective h-BN for ultrafast lasing and integrated photonics.

A Plasmon-Enhanced SnSe2 Photodetector by Non-Contact Ag Nanoparticles.

The 2D layered materials are promising candidates for broadband, low-cost photodetectors. One deficiency of 2D materials is the relatively low absorbance of light, limiting the applications of the 2D photodetectors. Doping of plasmonic nanoparticles into 2D materials may enhance the optical absorbance owing to the localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) effect; however, considerable defects may be introduced into the 2D materials at the same time, resulting in certain degradation of device performance. Here, a novel design of 2D photodetectors with enhanced photoresponsivity by non-contact plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) is proposed, consisting of a hybrid structure of few-layer SnSe2 transferred a fused silica (SiO2 ) plate with embedded Ag NPs. The system of Ag NPs-in-SiO2 shows strong LSPR effect with significantly enhanced optical absorption, acting on SnSe2 in a non-contact configuration. Benefiting from well-preserved intrinsic features of SnSe2 and LSPR effect, the responsivity of the photodetector is enhanced by 881 times with the bias voltage of 0.1 V, which is superior to previously reported results of plasmon-enhanced 2D photodetectors. Moreover, the SiO2 with embedded Ag NPs is recyclable and can be easy to be recombined with different 2D materials. This work offers additional strategy for development of efficient, low-cost 2D photodetectors by using plasmonic NPs.

An MRI-Based Radiomics Model for Predicting the Benignity and Malignancy of BI-RADS 4 Breast Lesions.

OBJECTIVES: The probability of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data Systems (BI-RADS) 4 lesions being malignant is 2%-95%, which shows the difficulty to make a diagnosis. Radiomics models based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can replace clinicopathological diagnosis with high performance. In the present study, we developed and tested a radiomics model based on MRI images that can predict the malignancy of BI-RADS 4 breast lesions. METHODS: We retrospective enrolled a total of 216 BI-RADS 4 patients MRI and clinical information. We extracted 3,474 radiomics features from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE), T2-weighted images (T2WI), and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) MRI images. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and logistic regression were used to select features and build radiomics models based on different sequence combinations. We built eight radiomics models which were based on DCE, DWI, T2WI, DCE+DWI, DCE+T2WI, DWI+T2WI, and DCE+DWI+T2WI and a clinical predictive model built based on the visual assessment of radiologists. A nomogram was constructed with the best radiomics signature combined with patient characteristics. The calibration curves for the radiomics signature and nomogram were conducted, combined with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. RESULTS: Pearson's correlation was used to eliminate 3,329 irrelevant features, and then LASSO and logistic regression were used to screen the remaining feature coefficients for each model we built. Finally, 12 related features were obtained in the model which had the best performance. These 12 features were used to build a radiomics model in combination with the actual clinical diagnosis of benign or malignant lesion labels we have obtained. The best model built by 12 features from the 3 sequences has an AUC value of 0.939 (95% CI, 0.884-0.994) and an accuracy of 0.931 in the testing cohort. The sensitivity, specificity, precision and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of testing cohort are 0.932, 0.923, 0.982, and 0.791, respectively. The nomogram has also been verified to have calibration curves with good overlap. CONCLUSIONS: Radiomics is beneficial in the malignancy prediction of BI-RADS 4 breast lesions. The radiomics predictive model built by the combination of DCE, DWI, and T2WI sequences has great application potential.

Research Status of Differentially Expressed Noncoding RNAs in Type 2 Diabetes Patients.

AIMS: Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) play an important role in the occurrence and development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This paper summarized the current evidences of the involvement microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the differential expressions and their interaction with each other in T2DM. METHODS: The differentially expressed miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs in the blood circulation (plasma, serum, whole blood, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells) of patients with T2DM were found in PubMed, GCBI, and other databases. The interactions between ncRNAs were predicted based on the MiRWalk and the DIANA Tools databases. The indirect and direct target genes of lncRNAs and circRNAs were predicted based on the starBase V2.0, DIANA Tools, and LncRNA-Target databases. Then, GO and KEGG analysis on all miRNA, lncRNA, and circRNA target genes was performed using the mirPath and Cluster Profile software package in R language. The lncRNA-miRNA and circRNA-miRNA interaction diagram was constructed with Cytoscape. The aim of this investigation was to construct a mechanism diagram of lncRNA involved in the regulation of target genes on insulin signaling pathways and AGE-RAGE signaling pathways of diabetic complications. RESULTS: A total of 317 RNAs, 283 miRNAs, and 20 lncRNAs and circRNAs were found in the circulation of T2DM. Dysregulated microRNAs and lncRNAs were found to be involved in signals related to metabolic disturbances, insulin signaling, and AGE-RAGE signaling in T2DM. In addition, lncRNAs participate in the regulation of key genes in the insulin signaling and AGE-RAGE signaling pathways through microRNAs, which leads to insulin resistance and diabetic vascular complications. CONCLUSION: Noncoding RNAs participate in the occurrence and development of type 2 diabetes and lead to its vascular complications by regulating different signaling pathways.

Plasmonic core-shell nano-heterostructures with temperature-dependent optical nonlinearity.

Plasmonics in bimetallic heterostructures have emerged as powerful tools for tunable ultrafast dynamics in nonlinear optical responses. Despite numerous studies on the mechanism of nonlinearity tailoring with various influence factors, so far, a fundamental investigation of temperature-controlled nonlinearity modulation remains blank in heterostructure systems. Here, we report on the fabrication of embedded Y@Ag/AgY core-shell nanostructures (CSNs) in fused silica for tunable nonlinearity with a laser-intensity-dependent temperature switch. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in CSNs is substantially modified, resulting in the reconstruction of near field intensity for spatial temperature manipulation. In addition, the size effect and incident intensity dependence on the temperature of CSNs reveal improved laser tolerance with laser intensity threshold increased by 5.7 times. These results provide additional strategies for photothermal-effect-controlled nonlinearity modification in bimetallic heterostructures and unlock the potential for temperature-sensitive photonic devices under extreme conditions.

[Acupuncture of "Zhibian (BL 54) through Shuidao (ST 28)" for female stress urinary incontinence: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe effect of "Zhibian (BL 54) through Shuidao (ST 28)" acupuncture for quality of life of female patients with stress urinary incontinence. METHODS: A total of 90 female patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 45 cases in each group. The patients in the observation group were treated with "Zhibian (BL 54) through Shuidao (ST 28)" acupuncture method, and the patients in the control group were treated with non-permeable sham acupuncture at Zhibian (BL 54). The needles were retained for 30 min in both groups, once a day, and the treatment was totally given 10 times. The score of urinary incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QOL) was recorded before and after treatment and during the follow-up 1 month after treatment in the two groups, and the 1 h urine pad test and the 72 h urination diary card were used to evaluate the 1 h urine leakage and the 24 h urine leakage frequency of the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment and during follow-up, the I-QOL scores in the observation group were higher than those before treatment (P<0.05), and were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment and during follow-up, the 1 h urine leakage and the 24 h urine leakage frequency in the observation group were lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), and less than those in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture of "Zhibian (BL 54) through Shuidao (ST 28)" can improve the quality of life of female patients with stress urinary incontinence, and improve the volume and frequency of urine leakage.

A Novel Hierarchical Nanostructure for Enhanced Optical Nonlinearity Based on Scattering Mechanism.

Surface modification of nonlinear optical materials (NOMs) is widely applied to fabricate diverse photonic devices, such as frequency combs, modulators, and all-optical switches. In this work, a double-layer nanostructure with heterogeneous nanoparticles (NPs) is proposed to achieve enhanced third-order optical nonlinearity of NOMs. The mechanism of modified optical nonlinearity is elucidated to be the scattering-induced energy transfer between adjacent NPs layers. Based on the LiNbO3 platform, as a typical example, double layers of embedded Cu and Ag NPs are synthesized by sequential ion implantation, demonstrating twofold magnitude of near-infrared enhancement factor and modulation depth in comparison with a single layer of Cu NPs. With the elastic collision model and thermolysis theory being considered, the shift of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak reveals the formation mechanism of the double-layer nanostructure. Utilizing the enhanced optical nonlinearity of LiNbO3 as modulators, a Q-switched mode-locked waveguide laser at 1 µm is achieved with shorter pulse duration. It suggests potential applications to improve the performance of nonlinear photonic devices by using double-layer metallic nanostructures.

Prediction of the mechanisms of Xiaoai Jiedu Recipe in the treatment of breast cancer: A comprehensive approach study with experimental validation.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) holds a great promise for preventing complex chronic diseases through a holistic way. Certain Chinese medicine formulae from TCM are effective for treating and preventing cancer in clinical practice. Xiaoai Jiedu Recipe (XJR) is a Chinese medicine formula that has been used to treat breast cancer (BC). However, its active ingredients and therapeutic mechanisms on tumor are unclear. Therefore, further investigation is necessary. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aims to elucidate the active compounds of XJR and its molecular mechanisms for the treatment of BC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive approach was used to clarify the pharmacodynamic basis of XJR and its pharmacological mechanism, including the acquisition of differentially expressed genes of BC, screening of active ingredients and their targets, construction of complex internetwork between drugs and diseases, and analysis of the key subnetwork. Finally, these results were validated by in vitro experiments and comparison with literature reviews. RESULTS: By using bioinformatics, 5211 differentially expressed genes of BC were identified, more than half of them had been reported in previous studies. By using network analysis, 113 potential bioactive compounds in the ten component herbs of XJR and 157 BC-related targets were identified, which were significantly enriched in 85 pathways and 1321 GO terms. The in vitro studies showed that quercetin and ursolic acid, the active components of XJR, could effectively inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer cells, and the combination of the two components could significantly decrease the mitochondrial membrane potential and suppress the activation of PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, thus inducing apoptosis of cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS: XJR played an important role in anti-BC through multi-component, multi-target and multi-pathway mechanisms, in which quercetin and ursolic acid may be the key active components. The anticancer effect of multi-component application was better than that of a single component. This study not only deepened our understanding of the role of TCM in the prevention and treatment of diseases, but also provided a reference for the in-depth research, development and application of the ancient medicine.

Stratified meta-analysis by ethnicity revealed that ADRB3 Trp64Arg polymorphism was associated with coronary artery disease in Asians, but not in Caucasians.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies demonstrated that ADRB3, beta-3 adrenergic receptor, participated in lipolysis and thermogenesis in adipose tissue. Consequently, this gene has attracted an increasing number of genetic studies examining its association with coronary artery disease (CAD) in different ethnicities in recent years, but no conclusion has been reached so far. The aim of this study was to explore whether the well-studied locus ADRB3 Trp64Arg in this gene confers a race-specific effect to CAD by conducting a stratified meta-analysis involving 15 independent studies and 11,802 subjects. METHODS: Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of association. Publication bias was quantified and examined with Begg's funnel plot test and Egger's linear regression method. The overall meta-analysis or stratified meta-analysis by ethnicity was performed by using STATA 12.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 15 eligible studies involving 5779 CAD cases and 6023 health controls were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results indicated that ADRB3 Trp64Arg polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased risk of CAD. Further stratified analysis by ethnicity revealed that ADRB3 Trp64Arg polymorphism was significantly associated with CAD in Asians (allelic: OR = 1.48, 95%CI 1.13-1.94, P = .005; homozygous: OR = 2.66, 95%CI 1.87-3.77, P < .001; recessive: OR = 2.46, 95%CI 1.74-3.47, P < .001), but not in Caucasians (allelic: OR = 1.09, 95%CI 0.93-1.27, P = .290; homozygous: OR = 1.31, 95%CI 0.61-2.86, P = .490; recessive: OR = 1.31, 95%CI 0.60-2.84, P = 2.494). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that ADRB3 Trp64Arg polymorphism confers a race-specific effect to CAD.

A Seven-Long Non-coding RNA Signature Improves Prognosis Prediction of Lung Adenocarcinoma: An Integrated Competing Endogenous RNA Network Analysis.

Early and precise prediction is an important way to reduce the poor prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients. Nevertheless, the widely used tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) staging system based on anatomical information only often could not achieve adequate performance on foreseeing the prognosis of LUAD patients. This study thus aimed to examine whether the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), known highly involved in the tumorigenesis of LUAD through the competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) mechanism, could provide additional information to improve prognosis prediction of LUAD patients. To prove the hypothesis, a dataset consisting of both RNA sequencing data and clinical pathological data, obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, was analyzed. Then, differentially expressed RNAs (DElncRNAs, DEmiRNAs, and DEmRNAs) were identified and a lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network was constructed based on those differentially expressed RNAs. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that this ceRNA network was highly enriched in some cancer-associated signaling pathways. Next, lasso-Cox model was run 1,000 times to recognize the potential survival-related combinations of the candidate lncRNAs in the ceRNA network, followed by the "best subset selection" to further optimize these lncRNA-based combinations, and a seven-lncRNA prognostic signature with the best performance was determined. Based on the median risk score, LUAD patients could be well distinguished into high-/low-risk subgroups. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that LUAD patients in the high-risk group had significantly shorter overall survival than those in the low-risk group (log-rank test P = 4.52 × 10-9). The ROC curve indicated that the clinical genomic model including both the TNM staging system and the signature had a superior performance in predicting the patients' overall survival compared to the clinical model with the TNM staging system only. Further stratification analysis suggested that the signature could work well in the different strata of the stage, gender, or age, rendering it to be a wide application. Finally, a ceRNA subnetwork related to the signature was extracted, demonstrating its high involvement in the tumorigenesis mechanism of LUAD. In conclusion, the present study established a lncRNA-based molecular signature, which can significantly improve prognosis prediction for LUAD patients.

8.8 GHz Q-switched mode-locked waveguide lasers modulated by PtSe2 saturable absorber.

We demonstrate high-repetition-rate fundamentally Q-switched mode-locked Nd:YAG waveguide laser modulated by platinum diselenide (PtSe2) saturable absorber. The laser operation platform is a femtosecond laser-written monolithic Nd:YAG waveguide, and the saturable absorber is large-area few-layer PtSe2 that possesses relatively lower saturation intensity and higher modulation depth in comparison with graphene. With the superb ultrafast nonlinear saturable absorption properties of as-synthesized PtSe2, the waveguide laser could operate at ~8.8 GHz repetition rate and ~27 ps pulse duration, while maintaining a relatively high slope efficiency of 26% and high stability with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) up to 54 dB. Our work indicates the promising applications of laser-written Nd:YAG waveguides and atomically thin PtSe2 for on-chip integration of GHz laser sources toward higher repetition rates and shorter pulse duration.

Plasmonic Ag nanoparticles embedded in lithium tantalate crystal for ultrafast laser generation.

We report the Ag nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in LiTaO3 (AgNP:LT) by direct Ag+ ion implantation. Transmission electron microscope imaging indicates that the embedded Ag NPs have an average diameter of 3.65 nm. The linear optical absorption spectrum of AgNP:LT peaking at 477 nm is observed owing to the typical effect of localized surface plasmon resonance. Z-scan investigation shows ultrafast saturable absorption of AgNP:LT at the near infrared 1 µm wavelength, which enables AgNP:LT to be a new saturable absorber (SA) for the generation of 1 µm Q-switched mode-locked pulsed laser with pulse duration of 35 ps and repetition rate of 8.74 GHz. This work not only opens a new way to tailor the nonlinearity of LiTaO3 by embedding Ag+ NPs, but also develops AgNP:LT as a new SA for ultrafast laser generation.

Ag nanoparticles embedded in Nd:YAG crystals irradiated with tilted beam of 200 MeV Xe ions: optical dichroism correlated to particle reshaping.

We report on the fabrication of reshaped Ag nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in a Nd:YAG crystal by combining Ag ion implantation and swift heavy Xe ion irradiation. The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect is proved to be efficiently modulated according to the phenomenon of polarization-dependent absorption. The LSPR peak located at 448 nm shows red shift and blue shift at 0° and 90° polarization, respectively, which is in good agreement with calculation by discrete dipole approximation. Based on the near-field intensity distribution, the interaction between reshaped NPs shows a non-ignorable effect on the optical absorption. Furthermore, the polarization-dependence of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity is analyzed, which is positively related to the modulated LSPR absorption. It demonstrates the potential of the enhancement of PL intensity by embedded plasmonic Ag NPs. This work breaks the conventional view of the quenching effect of NPs by ion irradiation and opens a new way to realize the modulation of optical dichroism.

Nonlinear Absorption Response Correlated to Embedded Ag Nanoparticles in BGO Single Crystal: From Two-Photon to Three-Photon Absorption.

We report on the embedded silver (Ag) nanoparticles fabricated by Ag+ ion implantation into the Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) crystal. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) phenomenon has been observed by linear optical absorption spectrum, which is accordance with the expectation based on Mie theory calculation. Further proofs are given by SRIM, TEM and SAED analysis, which explain the slight difference between experiment and calculation. Based on the z-scan system, it is found that the nonlinear optical response is converted from two-photon absorption to three-photon absorption under the 515 nm femtosecond pulse excitation within the LSPR band. The nonlinear absorption coefficient is measured to be ~3.1 × 10-9 cm/W (two-photon absorption coefficient) and ~8.9 × 10-14cm3/W2 (three-photon absorption coefficient) for pure BGO crystal and the sample embedded with Ag nanoparticles (Ag:BGO), respectively. Finally, we have proposed a model to explain the asymmetric nonlinear transmittance, which is in good agreement with the experimental results.

Tailoring optical nonlinearities of LiNbO3 crystals by plasmonic silver nanoparticles for broadband saturable absorbers.

We report on the synthesis of plasmonic Ag nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in a LiNbO3 crystal (AgNP:LN) by ion implantation and its application as an efficient broadband saturable absorber (SA) to realize Q-switched pulsed laser generation at both visible and near-infrared wavelength bands. The nonlinear optical response of AgNP:LN is considered as a synergistic effect between Ag NPs and LiNbO3. We apply the AgNP:LN as visible-near-infrared broadband saturable absorbers (SAs) into Pr:LuLiF4 bulk and Nd:YVO4 waveguide laser cavity, achieving efficient passively Q-switched laser at 639 nm and 1064 nm, respectively. This work paves a new way to tailor the nonlinear optical response of LiNbO3 crystals by using plasmonic Ag NPs, manifesting the significant potential as broadband SAs in the aspect of pulsed lasing.