Switchable bifunctional metasurfaces: nearly perfect retroreflection and absorption at the terahertz regime.

Here we make use of vanadium dioxide (VO2) to design a bifunctional metasurface working at the same targeted frequency. With the increase of temperature, the functionality of the designed metasurface can switch from a multichannel retroreflector to a perfect absorber, caused by the phase transition of VO2 from insulator to conductor. Different from traditional bifunctional metasurfaces designed by simple composition of two functionalities, our proposed bifunctional metasurface is based on the interaction between two functionalities. The device shows good potential for the combination of wavefront manipulation and optical absorption, therefore providing a promising approach for switchable detection and antidetection devices.

3D broadband waveguide cloak and light squeezing in terahertz regime.

In this work, by engineering a dielectric layer with gradient thickness in a circular waveguide, we present a simple method of realizing a 3D broadband waveguide cloak at terahertz regime. It is numerically shown that such a proposed device exhibits nearly perfect cloaking performance with a broadband response for transverse electric polarization, and the working mechanism behind the waveguide cloaking is attributed to dynamic evolution of the guided mode. Distinct from all previous cloaks using transformation optics, our proposed cloak scheme only requires isotropic dielectric material and therefore is much easier to implement, which enables more superiorities in potential applications.

Enhanced Resistance of Triploid Crucian Carp to Cadmiuminduced Oxidative and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stresses.

BACKGROUND: Cadmium is a major heavy metal pollutant. Even at low concentrations in waste water Cadmium can accumulate in algae and sediments, and it is absorbed by both plants and aquatic animals, like shellfish and fish. Triploid crucian carp is an important economic fish, and have been farmed on a large scale in China. OBJECTIVE: to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying Cadmium stress of triploid crucian carp. METHOD: we applied following experimental method to conduct research: transcriptomes analysis, histological observation, Quantitative real-time PCR and enzyme activity analysis et al. Results: in the present study, we obtained following important results: 1) Under Cd stress, the mortality and abnormality rates in triploid crucian carp were lower than those of diploid strains and the effects of Cadmium treatment on the liver were revealed by histological observation; 2) the liver transcriptomes of triploid crucian carp were obtained and the data was analyzed; 3) 14 genes related to algae and sediments stress were screened from transcriptome data, and the expression of these genes was verified by Quantitative real-time PCR. The results were consistent with the gene results in transcriptome data; 4) Quantitative real-time PCR and enzyme activity analysis all confirmed triploid crucian carp resistance to Cadmium stress was regulated by both oxidative stress and ER stress responses; 5) We found that IRE-1 and PERK, not ATF- 6, were involved in the enhance Cadmium resistance of triploid crucian carp. CONCLUSION: these studies demonstrate that triploid crucian carp have strong resistance to Cadmium.

MiR-323b-5p acts as a novel diagnostic biomarker for critical limb ischemia in type 2 diabetic patients.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major contributor to peripheral artery disease (PAD), especially in cases that advance to critical limb ischemia (CLI). Accumulating evidence indicates that miRNAs play an important role in the development of PAD and T2DM. Due to the limited value of current diagnostic methods for CLI in T2DM patients, we compared the miRNA expression profiles of Chinese T2DM patients with or without CLI to find out whether distinctive miRNAs could serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers. We statistically identified 7 miRNAs (hsa-miR-200b-3p, hsa-miR-2115-3p, hsa-miR-431-5p, hsa-miR-486-5p, hsa-miR-210-3p, hsa-miR-1264, hsa-miR-323b-5p) which were up-regulated in the CLI group, whereas other 4 miRNAs (hsa-miR-5579-3p, hsa-miR-665, hsa-miR-4285, hsa-miR-500a-3p) were down-regulated. Our validation test suggested a relatively high diagnostic accuracy of serum hsa-miR-323b-5p levels for the detection of CLI in T2DM patients, with a sensitivity of 62.67% and a specificity of 80.65%. The area under the curve (AUC) for miR-323b-5p + confounding risk factors was 0.94 (95% CI: 0.884-0.994, P < 0.001), which was higher than that for miR-323b-5p. Taken together, our results indicate that circulating hsa-miR-323b-5p could be a promising serum biomarker for the diagnosis of critical limb ischemia in type 2 diabetic patients.

Effect of single nucleotide polymorphism in thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor on the risk of diabetic macrovascular disease.

Hypofibrinolysis is commonly found in patients with diabetes mellitus and is associated with the increased risk for many diabetic complications. An important inhibitor of fibrinolysis, thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI), participates in hypofibrinolysis in diabetes mellitus and may be involved in diabetic macrovascular disease. The present study was designed to determine whether TAFI polymorphisms (505G/A and 1040C/T) and TAFI levels are correlated with the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and macrovascular diseases (MVDs). A total of 249 clinical samples were collected, including 102 healthy individuals (H group), 44 T2DM patients without MVD (T group) and 103 T2DM patients with MVD (M group). The 505G/A polymorphism was equally represented in the three groups. In contrast, analysis of the 1040C/T polymorphism revealed a statistically lower percentage of the T allele in the M group than in the H group (P = 0.014). This difference was due to decreased T/T homozygotes in the M groups compared with the H group (P = 0.029). The antigen TAFI level was 31.72 ±â€Š13.64% in the H group, 62.56 ±â€Š18.77% in the T group (P < 0.05, compared with the H group) and 63.70 ±â€Š15.76% in the M group (P < 0.05, compared with the H group). As high plasma TAFI level is associated with the increasing risk of T2DM, it may thus serve as a potential marker for the diagnosis of T2DM.

Endometrial Intraepithelial Neoplasia (EIN) in endometrial biopsy specimens categorized by the 1994 World Health Organization classification for endometrial hyperplasia.

Our study is to determine the presence of endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia (EIN) in endometrial biopsy specimens classified by the 1994 World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for endometrial hyperplasia. Endometrial biopsy specimens that were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) were examined and categorized by the WHO 1994 criteria and for the presence of EIN as defined by the International Endometrial Collaborative Group. ß-catenin expression was examined by immunohistochemistry. A total of 474 cases of HE stained endometrial biopsy tissues were reviewed. There were 379 cases of simple endometrial hyperplasia, 16 with simple atypical endometrial hyperplasia, 48 with complex endometrial hyperplasia, and 31 with complex atypical endometrial hyperplasia. Among the 474 endometrial hyperplasia cases, there were 46 (9.7%) that were classified as EIN. Of these 46 cases, 11(2.9%) were classified as simple endometrial hyperplasia, 1 (6.3%) as simple atypical endometrial hyperplasia, 6 (12.5%) as complex endometrial hyperplasia, and 28 (90.3%) as complex atypical endometrial hyperplasia. EIN was associated with a higher rate of ß-catenin positivity than endometrium classified as benign hyperplasia (72% vs. 22.5%, respectively, P < 0.001), but a lower rate than endometrial adenocarcinoma (72% vs. 96.2%, respectively, P < 0.001). In benign endometrial hyperplasia, high ß-catenin expression was noted in the cell membranes, whereas in EIN and endometrial adenocarcinoma high expression was noted in the cytoplasm. In conclusion, EIN is more accurate than the WHO classification for the diagnosis of precancerous lesions of the endometrium.

Colorimetric surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRI) biosensor array based on polarization orientation.

A colorimetric surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging biosensor array based on polarization orientation rotation is presented in this paper. It measures the spectral characteristic variations caused by the steep phase difference between the p- and s-polarization occurring at surface plasmon excitation. It provides one-order of magnitude sensor resolution improvement comparing to existing phase-sensitive SPR imaging sensors and the two-dimensional (2D) sensing capability of the imaging sensor enables multiplex, high throughput array based simultaneous detection for a range of different bio-molecular interactions. Experiments on the binding interactions detection between anti-bovine serum albumin (anti-BSA) and BSA antigen have been performed. All binding interactions occurred at 5×4 protein array were real-time monitored simultaneously. A sensor resolution of 8.26ng/ml (125pM) has been demonstrated, which is one-order of magnitude (12 times) better than the detection limit reported by existing phase-sensitive SPR imaging sensors in the literature, while no time-consuming phase modulation and phase extraction processes are required. Furthermore, the optical colorimetric image read-out of the sensor is easy to be identified by the end users comparing to conventional intensity or phase information. The colorimetric SPR imaging biosensor array can find promising potential applications in high throughput clinical disease diagnosis, protein biomarkers screening and drug screening.

Salvianolic acid B inhibits the amyloid formation of human islet amyloid polypeptide and protects pancreatic beta-cells against cytotoxicity.

The misfolding of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) is regarded as one of the causative factors of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), one of the most commonly used of traditional Chinese medicines, is often used in Compound Recipes for treating diabetes, however with unclear mechanisms. Since salvianolic acid B (SalB) is the most abundant bioactive ingredient of salvia miltiorrhiza water-extract. In this study, we tested whether SalB has any effect on the amyloidogenicity of hIAPP. Our results clearly suggest that SalB can significantly inhibit the formation of hIAPP amyloid and disaggregate hIAPP fibrils. Furthermore, photo-crosslinking based oligomerization studies suggest SalB significantly suppresses the toxic oligomerization of hIAPP monomers. Cytotoxicity protection effects on pancreatic INS-1 cells by SalB were also observed using MTT-based assays, potentially due to the inhibition on the membrane disruption effects and attenuated mitochondria impairment induced by hIAPP. These results provide evidence that SalB may further be studied on the possible pharmacological treatment for T2DM.

Silibinin inhibits the toxic aggregation of human islet amyloid polypeptide.

In type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), misfolded human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) forms amyloid deposits in pancreatic islets. These amyloid deposits contribute to the dysfunction of ß-cells and the loss of ß-cell mass in T2DM patients. Inhibition of hIAPP fibrillization has been regarded as a potential therapeutic approach for T2DM. Silibinin, a major active flavonoid extracted from herb milk thistle (Silybum marianum), has been used for centuries to treat diabetes in Asia and Europe with unclear mechanisms. In this study, we tested whether silibinin has any effect on the amyloidogenicity of hIAPP. Our results provide first evidence that silibinin inhibits hIAPP fibrillization via suppressing the toxic oligomerization of hIAPP and enhances the viability of pancreatic ß-cells, therefore silibinin may serve as a potential therapeutic agent for T2DM.