Evaluation of CD98 light chain-LAT1 as a potential marker of cancer stem-like cells in glioblastoma.

OBJECTIVE: Glioma stem cells (GSCs) are a minority population of glioma cells that regarded as the cause of tumor formation and recurrence. Identifying new molecular strategies targeting GSCs must be urgently developed to treat glioblastoma. In this study, one of CD98 light chain-L type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) was found as a potential GSC marker. LAT1 served as EAA transporter has been shown to be closely related with tumor invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, and radiosensitivity. METHODS: LAT1+ and LAT1- glioma cells were sorted by flow cytometry. Cellular immunofluorescence, sphere-formation arrays, and in vitro limiting dilution experiments were used to identify cell stemness. Differentiated glioma stem cells were cultured, and the expressions of ß-tubulinIII, GFAP, and LAT1 were detected by Western blot. Nude mouse models were constructed to observe tumor formation and metastasis in nude mice. RESULTS: LAT1+ glioma cells were testified a small percentage of all cells and selected as the subsequent sorting marker. LAT1+ cells were separated from U87 and U251 cells could express high level of stem cell markers, and possessed GSC properties including self-renewal ability and multi-directional differentiation potential. But LAT1- cells did not have these characteristics. In addition, LAT1+ cells were able to generate tumors in vivo, tumor size of LAT1+ cells formed were much bigger than that of LAT1- cells. CONCLUSION: Our study, including molecular, cell, vitro and vivo experiments, has shown that LAT1+ cells possess GSC properties, and present for the first time that LAT1 can be used as a new marker for GSCs screening.

Bio-inspired semi-transparent silver nanowire conductor based on a vein network with excellent electromechanical and photothermal properties.

A bio-inspired conductive binary-network of vein-silver nanowires (AgNWs) was embedded in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) to prepare a semi-transparent stretchable conductor (vein-AgNWs-PDMS) by a simple dipping process. The special conductive structure was constructed by using veins with a porous structure as an ideal skeleton to load AgNW networks, which allowed the vein-AgNWs-PDMS composite to show a low sheet resistance of 1 Ω sq-1 with 74% transmittance. The figure of merit of vein-AgNWs-PDMS is as high as 2502 and can be adjusted easily by controlling the times of the dipping cycle. Furthermore, the vein-AgNWs-PDMS conductor can retain high conductivity after 150% mechanical elongation and exhibit excellent electromechanical stability in repeated stretch/release tests with 60% strain (500 cycles). As an example of an application, patterned light-emitting diode (LED) arrays using the vein-AgNWs-PDMS conductors have been fabricated, and worked well under deformation. Moreover, the photo-thermal properties of the vein-AgNWs-PDMS composite have been demonstrated by a position heating experiment using near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation and the generated heat can be effectively dissipated through the vein network to avoid local overheating. Due to the high-performance and facile fabrication process, the vein-AgNWs-PDMS conductors will have multifunctional applications in stretchable electronic devices.

Application of 18 F-FDG microPET/CT in the screening of cerebral ischemia reperfusion models / 中华核医学与分子影像杂志

Objective To investigate the feasibility of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) microPET/CT in the screening of cerebral ischemia reperfusion ( CIR) models. Methods The suture-occluded method was used to establish CIR rat models with reversible middle cerebral artery embolism. After that only awake rats whose Zea-Longa scores were 1-4 were selected for the following experiments, and 18 male SD rats were selected. Garcia scale with 18 points was used to evaluate the neurological function of rats at 2 and 24 h post-operation. At the same time points, 18 F-FDG was injected into caudal vein after anesthesia and micro-PET/CT scan was conducted at 40 min post-injection. Visual and semi-quantitative analyses were adopted to analyze the images. The autopsy and HE staining were performed on accidentally dead rats. The other alive rats were sacrificed after microPET/CT scan at 24 h post-operation, and their brain tissues were taken out quickly to detect the infarction by triphenyl tetrazolium chloride ( TTC) staining. The pathological results were taken as the gold criteria. Fisher exact test was used to compare the difference of accuracy for diagno-sing CIR models between neurological function score ( NFS) and microPET/CT. Results According to the pathology, there were 11 CIR models, 4 with subarachnoid hemorrhage ( SAH) , 3 with SAH and cerebral hemorrhage. Between 8-12 h post-operation, 4 rats died accidentally. At 2 h post-operation, the diagnostic accuracies of NFS and microPET/CT were 11/18 and 15/18 (P<0.05). At 24 h post-operation, the diag-nostic accuracies of NFS and microPET/CT were 11/14 and 14/14, respectively, no statistical difference was observed( P>0.05) . Conclusion 18 F-FDG microPET/CT is better than NFS in screening CIR models in early stage.

Role of autophagy in doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity:review / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

Doxorubicin (Dox) is an effective wide-spectrum antitumor drug. However, its clinical application may be hampered by dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. The mechanisms of cardiotoxicity have not been clearly elucidated, but are known to involve oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis. Autophagy is a lysosome-dependent protein degradation pathway. More recently, many studies have suggested that autophagy plays an important role in Dox-induced cardiotoxicity. This paper gives a systematic review of the role of autophagy in Dox-induced cardiotoxicity.

The inhibitory effect of Withaferin A on the growth of orthotopic xenograft tumor of hepatocellular carcinoma in nude mice and the mechanism / 中国医师杂志

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of Withaferin A ( WFA) on the growth of orthotopic xenograft tumor of hepatocellular carcinoma in nude mice and the mechanism of its antitumoral effect. Methods For in vivo model, anti-tumor efficacy of Withaferin A was evaluated in nude mice mod-els of human liver cancer orthotopic xenograft. The nude mice were randomly divided into model group, Sunitinib group,and Withaferin A groups [6, 3 mg/(kg·d)]. All mice were given intraperitoneal injec-tion for 14 days. Tumor volume and tumor weight were observed. Antiangiogenic effects were assessed in vi-vo by the tumor inhibition rate and microvessel density. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction ( QPCR) as-say was used to detect the mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF) , basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) from tumor tissues. For in vitro experiments, the cell count kit 8 ( CCK8 ) assay was used to detect the effect of Withaferin A on HepG2 cells proliferation. QPCR assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) were used to detect the mRNA expression of VEGF. Results Compared to the model group, the high-dose Withaferin A group and the Sunitinib group had a significantly lower tumor weight (P<0. 05). The tumor inhibition rate was 42. 69％ in the high-dose Withaferin A group, 20. 22％ in the low-dose With-aferin A group, and 49. 43％ in the Sunitinib group. The growth of HepG2 cells was significantly inhibited by different concentrations of Withaferin A,and the 50％ concentration of inhibition ( IC50 ) of Withaferin A were (2. 64 ± 0. 18)μmol/L at 24 h. Withaferin A (6,3 μmol/L) could inhibit the protein and mRNA ex-pression of VEGF ( P<0. 05 ) . Conclusions Withaferin A significantly reduces the growth of orthotopic xenograft tumor of hepatocellular carcinoma in nude mice via antiangiogenic effect. Downregulation of the protein and mRNA expression of VEGF by WFA may be one mechanism of its anti-liver cancer effect.

Selective Extraction of Heavy and Light Lanthanides from Aqueous Solution by Advanced Magnetic Nanosorbents.

Rare earth elements (REEs) make unique and vital contributions to our current world of technology. Separating and recycling REEs is of great importance to diversify the sources of REEs and advance the efficient use of REE resources when the supply is limited. In light of separation nanotechnology, diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA) functionalized magnetic nanosorbents have been synthesized and investigated for the highly selective extraction of heavy (Sm-Ho) and light (La-Nd) lanthanides (Ln) from aqueous solutions. The results demonstrated that the separation factor (SF) between heavy-Ln and light-Ln groups reached the maximal value of 11.5 at low pH value of 2.0 in 30 min. For example, the SFs of Gd/La and Dy/La pairs were up to 10 times higher than that reported by other studies. Besides the excellent selectivity, our double-coated magnetic nanoparticles coupled with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (dMNP-DTPA) nanosorbents are more advantageous in that the Ln(III) sorption was effectively and quickly (in 30 min) achieved in acid solutions with pH values as low as 2.0. Such attributes ensure a stronger adaptability to the harsh environments of REE recycling processes. Displacement phenomena were subsequently observed between the heavy-Ln and light-Ln ions that were coexisting in solution and competing for the same sorption sites, causing the increase in sorption capacity of heavy Ln on the surface of nanosorbents with time. The order of affinity of Ln(III) to DTPA-functionalized magnetic nanosorbents perfectly followed the corresponding stability constants between Ln(III) and nonimmobilized DTPA. Displacement phenomena and lanthanide contraction, as well as the surface nanostructures of DTPA-functionalized nanosorbents, significantly improved the separation factors of heavy-Ln/light-Ln pairs. The Ln(III) interaction with DTPA-functionalized magnetic nanosorbents followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics with a correlation coefficient extremely high and close to unity.

Expressions of MK2, HuR, and ICAM-1 in the pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells of the mouse with acute respiratory distress syndrome / 医学研究生学报

Objective Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) plays an important role in mediating pulmonary infiltration of neutrophils .The aim of the study was to observe the expression of ICAM-1 and its potential regulators MK 2/HuR in pulmonary micro-vascular endothelial cells ( PMVEC ) in mice with acute respiratory distress syndrome ( ARDS) induced by lipopolysaccharide ( LPS) . Methods Ten 6-8 weeks old healthy C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into an LPS and a control group of equal number , the former injected intraperitoneally with LPS diluted in 100 μL PBS while the latter with PBS only , both at 5 mg per kg of the body weight .At 24 hours after injection , all the mice were sacrificed .Real-time PCR was used to determine the mRNA expressions of HuR and ICAM-1 in the PMVECs, Western bolt employed to detect the protein expressions of MK2, HuR and ICAM-1, and flow cytometry adopted to measure the ICAM-1 expression on the surface of the PMVECs and pulmonary infiltration of neutrophils . Results The W/D ratio in the lung tissue of the mice was significantly lower in the LPS than in the control group (3.61 ±0.28 vs 6.16 ±0.40, P<0.05), while the rate of neutrophil infiltration markedly higher in the former than in the latter ([13.92 ±3.23]%vs [3.24 ±1.24]%, P<0.05).The mRNA and protein expressions of ICAM-1 in the PMVECs were significantly elevated in the LPS group as compared with that in the control (P<0.05), and so was the mRNA expression of HuR (P<0.05).No remarkable changes were observed in the expressions of total MK 2 and HuR proteins, but phosphorylated MK2 (p-MK2) and cytoplasmic HuR were increased in the LPS-stimulated mice. Conclusion Specific blockage or reduction of the HuR expression in PMVECs may lower the expression of ICAM-1, reduce neutrophil infiltration , and lessen pathophysiological changes in mice with ARDS .

Synthesis of 6-18F-Py-AMD3465 and the microPET/CT imaging of this agent in mice bearing A549 tumor / 中华核医学与分子影像杂志

Objective To synthesize 628F-Py-AMD3465,to investigate its biodistribution in mice and to perform the microPET/CT imaging on mice bearing human lung cancer cell (A549).Methods AMD3465 quaternary ammonium salt precursor was directly labeled with 18F,then 628F-Py-AMD3465 was synthesized through nucleophilic reaction,hydrolysis,neutralization and the product was purified using HPLC.The labeling yield and radiochemical purity were analyzed by HPLC.Fifteen Kunming mice were injected with 5.55 MBq of 628F-Py-AMD3465 and sacrificed at 5,20,40,60 and 120 min postinjection.The selected tissues were harvested and weighed,and the radioactivity in the tissues was measured by an automated γ-spectrometer.The ％ID/g was calculated.MicroPET/CT studies were performed on A549-bearing mice after injecting 6-18F-Py-AMD3465 through vena caudal.Paired t test was used.Results 6-18F-Py-AMD3465 was successfully synthesized with the labeling yield of (9.0±2.0)％,the total synthesis time was about 60 min,and the radiochemical purity was more than 98％.Biodistribution studies showed that the radiouptake was higher in the kidneys and bladder of normal mice,which demonstrated that 6-18 F-Py-AMD3465 was mainly excreted through the kidneys.Biodistribution in A549-bearing mice was similar to that in normal mice.The tumor/muscle ratio at 40 min was 5.0,but the radiouptake of the tumor was still lower than that of the normal lung:(8.05±0.35) ％ID/g vs (9.33±0.66) ％ID/g;t=5.26,P＜0.05.MicroPET/CT imaging showed that the high-uptake location of 6-18F-Py-AMD3465 in tumor-bearing mice was similar to the normal mice,and the tumor uptake reached the maximum level at 45 min post-injection (SUV 0.67).Conclusions 6-18F-Py-AMD3465 can be synthesized by a simple method.A lower uptake could be shown in the tumor compared to that in the lung and the tracer has limited diagnostic value for lung cancer.

Changes of glucose metabolism in mouse models of intracerebral hemorrhage：18 F-FDG microPET/CT study / 中华核医学与分子影像杂志

Objective To investigate the brain glucose metabolism with 18 F?FDG microPET/CT in mouse models of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods A total of 12 healthy adult male mice were randomly divided into sham operation group (group A, n=6) and ICH model group (group B, n=6) by simple random sampling method. The animal models were established by injecting collagenase Ⅳ into the caudate nucleus of mice. Thereafter (5.5±0.3) MBq of 18F?FDG was injected into caudal vein at 6 h, 24 h, 48 h and 3 d, 5 d, 8 d, 14 d, respectively, following anesthesia. 18 F?FDG microPET/CT scans were ac?quired 30 min after the trace injection. SUV in the perihematomal brain tissue of ICH was measured and an?alyzed. Two?sample t test was used to compare SUV between groups. Results ( 1) Some mice had mild neurologic deficit after the sham operation in group A, while all mice had a marked neurologic deficit in group B, especially at 24 h after 18 F?FDG injection. ( 2) After 6 h, FDG uptake in perihematomal brain tis?sue decreased(SUV=0.80±0.04), which significantly lower than that in the opposite side(SUV=1.10± 0?04;t=2.69, P<0.05) and decreased to the minimum at 24 h(SUV=0.50±0.05). 18F?FDG uptake in perihematomal brain tissue began to increase at 3 d(SUV=1.20±0.05) and kept increasing during the 14 d observation. Compared with the group A, glucose metabolism in group B was significantly lower at each time point(t=37.67-86.60, all P<0.05). Conclusions 18 F?FDG microPET/CT may dynamically reflect the changes of brain glucose metabolism in ICH mouse models. The FDG uptake in the center of ICH may disap?pear and the volume of hematoma with decreased uptake may shrink during the observation period.

Conjugates of magnetic nanoparticle-actinide specific chelator for radioactive waste separation.

A novel nanotechnology for the separation of radioactive waste that uses magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) conjugated with actinide specific chelators (MNP-Che) is reviewed with a focus on design and process development. The MNP-Che separation process is an effective way of separating heat generating minor actinides (Np, Am, Cm) from spent nuclear fuel solution to reduce the radiological hazard. It utilizes coated MNPs to selectively adsorb the contaminants onto their surfaces, after which the loaded particles are collected using a magnetic field. The MNP-Che conjugates can be recycled by stripping contaminates into a separate, smaller volume of solution, and then become the final waste form for disposal after reusing number of times. Due to the highly selective chelators, this remediation method could be both simple and versatile while allowing the valuable actinides to be recovered and recycled. Key issues standing in the way of large-scale application are stability of the conjugates and their dispersion in solution to maintain their unique properties, especially large surface area, of MNPs. With substantial research progress made on MNPs and their surface functionalization, as well as development of environmentally benign chelators, this method could become very flexible and cost-effective for recycling used fuel. Finally, the development of this nanotechnology is summarized and its future direction is discussed.

Watermelon-like iron nanoparticles: Cr doping effect on magnetism and magnetization interaction reversal.

Cr-doped core-shell iron/iron-oxide nanoparticles (NPs) containing 0, 2, 5, and 8 at.% of Cr dopant were synthesized via a nanocluster deposition system and their structural and magnetic properties were investigated. We observed the formation of a σ-FeCr phase in 2 at.% of Cr doping in core-shell NPs. This is unique since it was reported in the past that the σ-phase forms above 20 at.% of Cr. The large coercive field and exchange bias are ascribed to the antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 layer formed with the Fe-oxide shell, which also acts as a passivation layer to decrease the Fe-oxide shell thickness. The additional σ-phase in the core and/or Cr2O3 in the shell cause the hysteresis loop to appear tight waisted near the zero-field axis. The exchange interaction competes with the dipolar interaction with the increase of σ-FeCr grains in the Fe-core. The interaction reversal has been observed in 8 at.% of Cr. The observed reversal mechanism is confirmed from the Henkel plot and delta M value, and is supported by a theoretical watermelon model based on the core-shell nanostructure system.

Clinical effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on groupment acute carbon monoxide poisoning / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To summarize the clinical experience of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the patients with groupment acute carbon monoxide poisoning.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>172 patients with acute carbon monoxide poisoning were received hyperbaric oxygen therapy besides some other regular therapies from january 2007 to december 2011. The clinical effect were analyzed retrospectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>160 patients were cured (93%), 12 cases improved (7%), the total effective rate was 100%. The cure rate of the patients with hyperbaric oxygen therapy within 6 hours after the poisoning for 100% (115/115), It was significantly higher than that of patients treated for more than 6 hours [The cure rate was 78.9% (45/57)], The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Treated by hyperbaric oxygen therapy early enough in the patients with acute carbon monoxide poisoning, can prevent or reduce the occurrence of delayed encephalopathy, decreasing disability and mortality.</p>

Microstructure of the native oxide layer on Ni and Cr-doped Ni nanoparticles.

Most metallic nanoparticles exposed to air at room temperature will be instantaneously oxidized and covered by an oxide layer. In most cases the true structural nature of the oxide layer formed at this stage is hard to determine. As shown previously for Fe and other nanoparticles, the nature of the oxides form on the particles can vary with particle size and nature of the oxidation process. In this paper, we report the morphology and structural features of the native oxide layer on pure Ni and Cr-doped Ni nanoparticles synthesized using a cluster deposition process. Structural characterization carried out at the atomic level using aberration corrected high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in combination with electron and X-ray diffractions reveals that both pure Ni and Cr-doped Ni particles exposed to air at room temperature similarly possesses a core-shell structure of metal core covered by an oxide layer of typically 1.6 nm in thickness. There exists a critical size of approximately 6 nm, below which the particle is fully oxidized. The oxide particle corresponds to the rock-salt structured NiO and is faceted on the (001) planes. XPS of O-1s shows a strong peak that is attributed to (OH)-, which in combination with the atomic level HRTEM imaging indicates that the very top layer of the oxide is hydrolyzed.

Effect of anti-arrhythmia drugs on mouse arrhythmia induced by Bufonis Venenum / 药学学报

This study is to investigate the effects of phenytoin sodium, lidocaine (sodium channel blockers), propranolol (beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist), amiodarone (drugs prolonging the action potential duration) and verapamil (calcium channel blockers) on arrhythmia of mice induced by Bufonis Venenum (Chansu) and isolated mouse hearts lethal dose of Chansu. Arrhythmia of mice were induced by Chansu and then electrocardiograms (ECGs) were recorded. The changes of P-R interval, QRS complex, Q-T interval, T wave amplitude, heart rate (HR) were observed. Moreover, arrhythmia rate, survival rate and arrhythmia score were counted. Isolated mouse hearts were prefused, and the lethal dose of Chansu was recorded. Compared with control group, after pretreatment with phenytoin sodium, broadening of QRS complex and HR were inhibited, and the incidence of ventricular arrhythmia was reduced dramatically, while survival rate was improved; the isolated mouse hearts lethal dose of Chansu was increased significantly. After pretreatment with lidocaine, the prolongation of P-R interval and broadening of QRS complex were inhibited, and the incidences of ventricular arrhythmia were reduced dramatically, while survival rate was improved; the isolated mouse hearts lethal dose of Chansu was increased significantly. After pretreatment with propranolol, prolongation of P-R interval, broadening of QRS complex, prolongation of Q-T interval and HR were inhibited, and the incidences of both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias were reduced dramatically, while survival rate was improved. After pretreatment with amiodarone, HR was inhibited, the incidences of ventricular tachycardia were reduced dramatically. Lastly, after pretreatment with verapamil, the prolongation of P-R interval and Q-T interval were inhibited and the incidences of both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias were reduced dramatically; the isolated mouse hearts lethal dose of Chansu was reduced significantly. In in vivo experiments, phenytoin sodium was most effective against the mice arrhythmias induced by Chansu while cautious use of verapamil for Chansu inducing arrhythmia should be noted. It is also concluded that mice ventricular arrhythmias induced by Chansu might be most closely related to sodium channel, supraventricular arrhythmias might be related to beta-adrenergic receptor, and calcium channel plays an important role in conduction block. In in vitro experiments, phenytoin sodium was most effective, followed by lidocaine and propranolol, and amiodarone had no obvious effect and verapamil reduced the lethal dose of Chansu.

Diagnostic value of serum CEACAM1 in patients with pancreatic cancer / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the diagnostic value of serum CEACAM1 in patients with pancreatic cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty patients with pancreatic cancer and 50 with chronic pancreatitis were examine for serum levels of CEACAM1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The cut-off values and area under curve (AUC) of CEACAM1 was obtained by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The diagnostic efficiency of the tumor markers for pancreatic cancer was assessed by the fourfold table.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The serum level and positivity rate of CEACAM1 in pancreatic cancer patients were higher than those in chronic pancreatitis patients (P<0.05). Based on the ROC curve, the cut-off values and AUC of CEACAM1 were 13.835 ng/ml and 0.780, respectively (P<0.05). In pancreatic cancer patients, the diagnostic sensitivities of the tumor markers decreased in the order of CEACAM1 < CA242 < CA19-9 (P<0.05), and the specificity in the order of CA242 < CA19-9 < CEACAM1 (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CEACAM1 shows a higher diagnostic sensitivity than CA19-9 and CA242 for pancreatic cancer, but due to its low specificity this marker alone is not sufficient for diagnostic purposes.</p>

Morphology and electronic structure of the oxide shell on the surface of iron nanoparticles.

An iron (Fe) nanoparticle exposed to air at room temperature will be instantly covered by an oxide shell that is typically approximately 3 nm thick. The nature of this native oxide shell, in combination with the underlying Fe(0) core, determines the physical and chemical behavior of the core-shell nanoparticle. One of the challenges of characterizing core-shell nanoparticles is determining the structure of the oxide shell, that is, whether it is FeO, Fe(3)O(4), gamma-Fe(2)O(3), alpha-Fe(2)O(3), or something else. The results of prior characterization efforts, which have mostly used X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy, electron diffraction, and transmission electron microscopic imaging, have been framed in terms of one of the known Fe-oxide structures, although it is not necessarily true that the thin layer of Fe oxide is a known Fe oxide. In this Article, we probe the structure of the oxide shell on Fe nanoparticles using electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) at the oxygen (O) K-edge with a spatial resolution of several nanometers (i.e., less than that of an individual particle). We studied two types of representative particles: small particles that are fully oxidized (no Fe(0) core) and larger core-shell particles that possess an Fe core. We found that O K-edge spectra collected for the oxide shell in nanoparticles show distinct differences from those of known Fe oxides. Typically, the prepeak of the spectra collected on both the core-shell and the fully oxidized particles is weaker than that collected on standard Fe(3)O(4). Given the fact that the origin of this prepeak corresponds to the transition of the O 1s electron to the unoccupied state of O 2p hybridized with Fe 3d, a weak pre-edge peak indicates a combination of the following four factors: a higher degree of occupancy of the Fe 3d orbital; a longer Fe-O bond length; a decreased covalency of the Fe-O bond; and a measure of cation vacancies. These results suggest that the coordination configuration in the oxide shell on Fe nanoparticles is defective as compared to that of their bulk counterparts. Implications of these defective structural characteristics on the properties of core-shell structured iron nanoparticles are discussed.

Brain metastasis treated with Cyberknife / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Cyberknife can greatly raise the fractional dose of stereotactic radiosurgery, thus improving its clinical efficacy. We retrospectively analyzed clinical outcomes of brain metastasis treated with Cyberknife.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We analyzed 40 cases of brain metastases treated with Cyberknife in the Tianjin Cancer Hospital from August 1, 2006 to August 1, 2007, for a total of 68 lesions with maximal diameter of 0.4 - 7.5 cm (average 1.88 cm). Total hypofractional radiated dosage was 18 - 36 Gy (5 - 25 Gy/F, 1 - 5 F) by Cyberknife. We evaluated the remission rate of clinical symptoms, correlation factors to new foci, 3-month local control rates, and 3-month and 1-year survival rates. All patients were followed up for more than 14 months.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After 1 week, clinical remission was 90.0% (36/40). After 3 months, the local control rate and therapeutic effective rate were 77.9% (53/68) and 94.1% (64/68), respectively, as observed by cranium augmentation CT or MRI. The three-month, six-month and 1-year survival rates were 97.5% (39/40), 82.5% (33/40) and 67.5% (27/40), respectively. Fourteen patients had neopathy outside the original lesion after 3 months. Neopathy was not correlated with age, whole-brain radiotherapy, number of original lesions, maximum diameter of the original lesion, therapeutic dose per fraction, therapeutic frequency or total therapeutic dose.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Cyberknife got perfect clinical outcomes by higher dosage per fraction. It is an appropriate and valid treatment shortcut for brain metastasis.</p>

Synthesis and characterization of stable iron-iron oxide core-shell nanoclusters for environmental applications.

Iron-iron oxide core-shell nanoclusters are of great interest due to their potential applications as a remedy for environmental contamination. We report the room-temperature synthesis of core-shell iron-iron oxide nanoclusters using our novel cluster deposition system. Various types of measurements such as Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-ray Diffraction, X-ray Photon Spectroscopy, and Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy are conducted in characterizing nanoclusters. Stable, monodispersive iron-iron oxide core-shell nanocrystals are identified.

Cloning of HLA-A~*0201 and its transient expression on COS-7 cells / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:To clone HLA A *0201 cDNA and express it transiently on COS 7 cells.Methods:HLA A cDNA isolated from the HLA A *0201 positive lymphocytes by using RT PCR was cloned into pBluescript II SK vector directionally.After the sequence was confirmed,the cDNA was inserted into mammalian expression vector pcDNA3.The recombinant vector was transfected into COS 7 cells by cation liposome.The transient expression on the cells was measured by flow cyteometer.Results:The cDNA was identical with HLA A *0201 cDNA published on Genebank.Determined by flow cytemeter,the expressing rate was recorded for 57%.Conclusion:We have cloned HLA A *0201 successfully and expressed it transiently on COS 7 cell,which would be potentially useful in research on killing tumor restricted by HLA A2.