[The medical research of "chicken blood therapy"].

In 1952, inspired by the "tissue therapy" which was being carried out nationwide at that time, Yu Changshi, a folk science enthusiast, proposed "chicken blood therapy" . In 1959, it was supported as an important achievement in technological innovation and technological revolution movement. In the following years, some researchers and many hospitals organized by the leaders of Jing'an District of Shanghai successively carried out the animal experiment, the first phase clinical experiment and the second phase clinical experiment of this therapy, and this therapy was also widely spread during this period.However, the expert meeting in 1965 gave it a basically negative conclusion on the basis of insecurity and poor long-term effect.

Mechanical writing of in-plane ferroelectric vortices by tip-force and their coupled chirality.

Recent experiments have demonstrated the existence of vortex or flux-closure domains in ferroelectric nanostructures, which are attractive to develop high-density data storage and novel configurable electronic devices. However, it remains challenging to stabilize in-plane vortex or flux-closure domains in ferroelectric film for the absence of a lateral geometry confinement. Based on a 3D phase field model, here we show that stabilization of isolated or interacting in-plane vortices in ferroelectric film can be achieved via applying a mechanical tip-force. The formation of such dipole vortices is caused by a conjoint effect of the tip-force-induced depolarization effect and in-plane strain. The effects of factors like film thickness, misfit strain, tip force and temperature on the vortex formation are systematically revealed and summarized as phase diagrams. The interaction between tip-induced vortices is also investigated. It is found that as the two tips get closer than the critical distance, the two initially isolated vortices become coupled, with identical or opposite chirality, depending on the distance between the two tips. A maximum data storage density of isolated in-plane vortices in ferroelectric thin film is estimated to be ~1 Tb in-2. Our work thus demonstrates a mechanical strategy to stabilize dipole vortices, and provides a comprehensive insight into the characteristics of ferroelectric film under a mechanical tip force.

Circulating miR-31-5p may be a potential diagnostic biomarker in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Aberrant expression of miR-31-5p has been detected in various cancers and plays a significant role in tumorigenesis. Low miR-31-5p expression was present in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues and cell lines and acted as a tumor suppressive miRNA. Currently, circulating miRNAs are emerging as novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis of cancers using a non-invasive method. However, circulating miR-31-5p has rarely been reported in NPC. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore peripheral blood miR-31-5p levels as a noninvasive biomarker and evaluate its clinical value for the early diagnosis of patients with NPC. A total of 110 participants were recruited, including 55 NPC patients and 55 healthy controls. Peripheral blood samples were collected from these participants, and total RNA was extracted to quantify the relative expression of miR-31-5p by RT-qPCR. We found a significantly lower expression of miR-31-5p in the NPC patients than in the healthy controls. Furthermore, low expression of miR-31-5p was highly correlated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (I+II vs III+IV, p=0.001), T classification (T1 vs T2+T3+T4, p=0.036) and local lymph node metastasis (N1-N3 vs N0, p=0.002), but not distant metastasis (p=0.288). Moreover, miR-31-5p showed a moderate diagnostic performance (AUC=0.866, sensitivity = 0.782, specificity = 0.818). Thus, we concluded that circulating miR-31-5p can be a potentially novel and non-invasive biomarker for the early diagnosis of NPC and an attractive therapeutic target in NPC patients.

[Association between polymorphism in notch signaling pathway and lung cancer risk].

Objective: To analyze the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of Notch signaling pathway and susceptibility to lung cancer. Methods: The present study was a hospital-based case-control study. All 1 121 patients of lung cancer diagnosed by histopathology three hospitals in Fujian and Nanjing were selected as cases from January 2006 to December 2012. At the same time, 1 121 healthy population from other departments of the hospital to visit patients or community, excluding those with tumor, chronic disease, and immediate family members of lung cancer, were enrolled in control group. A uniform questionnaire was used to collect general information. Matrix-assisted laster desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) was used to identify the polymorphisms of 9 SNP (Notch3 rs3815188, Notch4 rs915894, Notch4 rs520692, DLL1 rs1033583, JAG1 rs8708, JAG2 rs9972231, HEY1 rs1046472, HEY2 rs3734637, HES2 rs11364) in 1 121 lung cancer patients and 1 121 healthy controls. The association between SNP and lung cancer was analyzed by χ(2) and logistic regression model. Results: The average age of cases and controls was (58.70±10.73) and (58.98±10.85) years old. The OR for genotype AC carriers of HEY1 rs1046472 was 0.80 (95%CI: 0.66-0.97) when comparing with genotype CC. The OR for genotype AC+AA carriers of HEY1 rs1046472 was 0.81 (95% CI: 0.67-0.98) when comparing with genotype CC. The OR for genotype AC carriers of HEY2 rs3734637 was 0.82 (95%CI: 0.67-0.99) when comparing with genotype AA. In the stratified analysis, Notch3 rs3815188, DLL1 rs1033583, JAG1 rs8708, JAG2 rs9972231, HEY1 rs1046472, HEY2 rs3734637, HES2 rs11364 were associatied with the risk of lung cancer, P were 0.041, 0.030, 0.043, 0.003, 0.004, 0.026 and 0.038, respectively.The interactions analysis done by logistic regression model showed JAG1 rs8708 and family history, JAG2 rs9972231 and BMI had interaction in the study, OR were 2.07 (95% CI:1.21-3.52) and 1.73 (95% CI:1.21-2.47), respectively. Conclusion: Notch3 rs3815188, DLL1 rs1033583, JAG1 rs8708, JAG2 rs9972231, HEY1 rs1046472, HEY2 rs3734637 and HES2 rs11364 were significantly associated with susceptibility to lung cancer.

Morphology-controlled epitaxial vanadium dioxide low-dimensional structures: the delicate effects on the phase transition behaviors.

As an important strongly correlated electron material, VO2 undergoes a metal-insulator transition (MIT) accompanied by a huge change of several orders of magnitude in conductance and transmittance. The MIT behavior can be controlled by low-dimensional structures (LDSs) and the interaction between LDSs and substrates. Consequently, fabricating the LDSs and understanding the phase transition behaviors have great significance for the investigation of fundamental properties and applications. Using the pulsed laser deposition technique, we fabricate abundant LDSs (i.e., from zero-dimensional nanodots, one-dimensional nanowires, nanobelts and nanorods to two-dimensional nanoplatelets and ultra-thin films, and zero-/one-/two-dimensional mixed structures), and investigate the controllability of each deposition factor on the growth of the LDSs. TEM results confirm the high crystallinity of the as-synthesized LDSs. AFM results and ab initio calculations demonstrate the great influence of substrates on the growth orientation of the LDSs. More importantly, we systematically investigate the phase transition characteristics of the LDSs by temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy and XRD. The results clearly reveal the structural dependence of the phase transition features due to the delicate effects of substrates and structures. Our technique provides a rapid, controllable and easy method for fabricating VO2 LDSs, which can lead to a deeper understanding of the electrical, optical, and magnetic properties and potential applications of VO2.

[Diagnostic value of narrow-band imaging in detection of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value and feasibility of narrow-band imaging in detection of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: One thousand three hundred and sixty-four NPC patients who had completed NPC treatment were enrolled. All patients were followed-up with imaging, serological examination of EB virus and nasopharyngeal endoscopy(WL and NBI mode), in which (1) both white light (WL) and NBI modes were done; (2) positive endoscopic patients were given nasopharyngeal biopsy; (3) using histologic finding as criterion standard, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Yonden's index of two modes were compared. Kappa index was used to evaluate the consistency between the two modes and pathological results respectively; (4) the positive rates of WL and NBI in patients with early recurrent (stage Ⅰ+ Ⅱ) were compared. Results: A total of 265 cases were suspected as having recurrent lesions by endoscopy in WL mode and 68 cases of them were pathologically diagnosed as having NPC; and 82 cases were suspected as having recurrent lesions by endoscopy in NBI mode and 74 cases of them were pathologically diagnosed as having NPC. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Yonden's index of WL mode were 91.89%, 0, 25.09% and -0.0811, respectively, with a kappa of -0.045; the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Yonden's index of NBI mode were 100.00%, 95.94%, 97.05% and 0.9594, respectively. Conclusion: NBI has higher sensitivity, specificity, early diagnosis rate and Yonden's index than WL.

[Effect of gender on the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer].

Objective: To analyze the effect of gender on the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Data of 1 195 patients with NSCLC were analyzed by Chi-square, Kaplan-Meier, log-rank tests and Cox regression models. Results: Women had a longer survival than men (median overall survival 31.64 versus 22.71 months, P<0.01) in the participants of this study. Differences seen in overall survival remained the similar, after stratified by age, pathologic types, clinical stage, sizes, pleural effusion and surgery of the patients, respectively. Data from the multivariate analysis revealed that factors as smoking, clinical stage, metastatic when diagnosis was made and surgery, but not gender, were independent prognostic factors for patients with NSCLC. After adjustment for potential confounders, we found that smoking was a major confounding factor, affecting the relationship between gender and prognosis of NSCLC. Conclusion: Gender did not seem an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients while the survival advantages of females might be attributed to the lower prevalence of smoking in this population.

[Association between human papillomavirus infection and lung cancer].

Objective: To investigate the association between human papillomavirus (HPV) and lung cancer. Methods: We examined a series of 83 lung cancer patients with HPV DNA in both lung tumor specimens and adjacent normal specimens from Fujian province. Twenty-one of the most clinically relevant HPV types from the highly conserved L1 region of the viral genome were analyzed, using the PCR amplification and were followed by reverse hybridization with specific probes. Chi-square test of paired design was used to test the difference of HPV positive rates between lung cancer specimens and adjacent normal specimens. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used to analyze the differences of HPV positive rate of tumor specimens on factors as gender, age, histological subtype, clinical stage, smoking status and alcohol consumption. Results: HPV was detected in 7 of the 83 tumor specimens and in 6 of the paired normal lung tissues. There was no significant correlation between HPV and lung cancer (P>0.999). Neither demographic characteristics nor clinical features were found with significant differences on HPV in lung cancer tissues (P>0.05). Conclusion: Our data showed that HPV was not significantly associated with the risk of lung cancer in Fujian province.

Correction: Phase transition characteristics in the conductivity of VO2(A) nanowires: size and surface effects.

Correction for 'Phase transition characteristics in the conductivity of VO2(A) nanowires: size and surface effects' by C. Q. Wang et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 10262-10269.

Phase transition characteristics in the conductivity of VO2(A) nanowires: size and surface effects.

Transition-metal oxides have fascinating characteristics, and have been exploited for various applications, such as Mott transistors, optical switches and strain sensors, etc. Vanadium dioxide is a special and important transition-metal oxide, and exhibits the significant behavior of metal-insulator transition. In this work, single crystalline VO2(A) nanowires have been synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. Due to the size and surface effects, the nanowires with different widths show great disparities in their hysteresis loops, phase transition temperatures and electrical conductivities. Our results show that the phase transition temperature is linearly dependent on the inverse of the nanowire widths, and a similar relationship between the electrical conductivity and the width of the nanowires has also been found. More interestingly, the first-order phase transition of the nanowire even coverts into high-order continuous phase transition when the width is below a critical size. To explore the intrinsic influence of the size and surface effects, the analysis of the transmission electron microscopy measurements showed that the rough surface structure of the nanowire is very different to the internal structure, and the thickness of this rough surface structure almost remains unchanged as the with of the nanowire decreases. Our results indicated that the surface structure has a remarkable effect on the phase transition characteristics decreasing nanowire width, and the suitable heterogeneous nucleation originating from the rough surface structure should play a crucial role in properties of the VO2(A) nanowires. Size-dependent phase transition features of the VO2(A) nanowires also suggest that the size and surface effects must be taken into consideration when designing VO2 nanodevices.

Effect of mechanical loads on stability of nanodomains in ferroelectric ultrathin films: towards flexible erasing of the non-volatile memories.

Intensive investigations have been drawn on nanoscale ferroelectrics for their prospective applications such as developing memory devices. In contrast with the commonly used electrical means to process (i.e., read, write or erase) the information carried by ferroelectric domains, at present, mechanisms of non-electrical processing ferroelectric domains are relatively lacking. Here we make a systematical investigation on the stability of 180° cylindrical domains in ferroelectric nanofilms subjected to macroscopic mechanical loads, and explore the possibility of mechanical erasing. Effects of domain size, film thickness, temperature and different mechanical loads, including uniform strain, cylindrical bending and wavy bending, have been revealed. It is found that the stability of a cylindrical domain depends on its radius, temperature and film thickness. More importantly, mechanical loads have great controllability on the stability of cylindrical domains, with the critical radius nonlinearly sensitive to both strain and strain gradient. This indicates that erasing cylindrical domain can be achieved by changing the strain state of nanofilm. Based on the calculated phase diagrams, we successfully simulate several mechanical erasing processes on 4 × 4 bits memory devices. Our study sheds light on prospective device applications of ferroelectrics involving mechanical loads, such as flexible memory devices and other micro-electromechanical systems.