Emission dynamics of hybrid plasmonic gold/organic GaN nanorods

We studied the emission of bare and aluminum quinoline (Alq₃)/gold coated wurtzite GaN nanorods by temperature- and intensity-dependent time-integrated and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL). The GaN nanorods of ∼1.5 μm length and ∼250 nm diameter were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Gold/Alq₃ coated GaN nanorods were synthesized by organic molecular beam deposition. The near band-edge and donor-acceptor pair luminescence was investigated in bare GaN nanorods and compared with multilevel model calculations providing the dynamical parameters for electron-hole pairs, excitons, impurity bound excitons, donors and acceptors. Subsequently, the influence of a 10 nm gold coating without and with an Alq₃ spacer layer was studied and the experimental results were analyzed with the multilevel model. Without a spacer layer, a significant PL quenching and lifetime reduction of the near band-edge emission is found. The behavior is attributed to surface band-bending and Förster energy transfer from excitons to surface plasmons in the gold layer. Inserting a 5 nm Alq₃ spacer layer reduces the PL quenching and lifetime reduction which is consistent with a reduced band-bending and Förster energy transfer. Increasing the spacer layer to 30 nm results in lifetimes which are similar to uncoated structures, showing a significantly decreased influence of the gold coating on the excitonic dynamics.

Bacterial diversity and community structure during fermentation of Chinese sauerkraut with Lactobacillus casei 11MZ-5-1 by Illumina Miseq sequencing

The bacterial diversity and community structure involved in Chinese sauerkraut is one of the most important factors shaping the final characteristics of traditional foods. In this research, Lactobacillus casei 11MZ-5-1 was applied in Chinese sauerkraut fermentation as a starter culture. Illumina Miseq sequencing analysis was used to reveal the bacterial diversity and community structure during Chinese sauerkraut fermentation. A total of 177 283 high-quality reads of 16S rRNA V4 regions were obtained. The inoculation of L. casei 11MZ-5-1 decreased considerably the bacterial richness and bacterial diversity. This inoculum led to the replacement of Lactococcus by Lactobacillus. The levels of Pseudomonas and Enterobacter bacteria decreased. These findings reveal the evolution of important bacterial groups that are involved in fermentation and will facilitate improvements in the Chinese sauerkraut fermentation process.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This research thoroughly revealed the effects of Lactobacillus casei 11MZ-5-1 starter cultures on bacterial communities during Chinese sauerkraut fermentation. Illumina Miseq sequencing was effective technique to monitor the bacterial diversity and community structure. The inoculation of L. casei 11MZ-5-1 led to the decline of bacterial richness and diversity together with a consistent predominance of Lactobacillus during spontaneous fermentation. The result collectively suggested L. casei 11MZ-5-1 is a promising starter in Chinese sauerkraut manufacturing.

Localization of orofacial representation in the corona radiata, internal capsule and cerebral peduncle in Macaca mulatta

Subcortical white matter injury is often accompanied by orofacial motor dysfunction, but little is known about the structural substrates accounting for these common neurological deficits. We studied the trajectory of the corticobulbar projection from the orofacial region of the primary (M1), ventrolateral (LPMCv), supplementary (M2), rostral cingulate (M3) and caudal cingulate (M4) motor regions through the corona radiata (CR), internal capsule (IC) and crus cerebri of the cerebral peduncle (ccCP). In the CR each pathway was segregated. Medial motor area fibers (M2/M3/M4) arched over the caudate and lateral motor area fibers (M1/LPMCv) curved over the putamen. At superior IC levels, the pathways were widespread, involving the anterior limb, genu and posterior limb with the M3 projection located anteriorly, followed posteriorly by projections from M2, LPMCv, M4 and M1, respectively. Inferiorly, all pathways maintained this orientation but shifted posteriorly, with adjacent fiber bundles overlapping minimally. In the ccCP, M3 fibers were located medially and M1 fibers centromedially, with M2, LPMCv, and M4 pathways overlapping in between. Finally, at inferior ccCP levels, all pathways overlapped. Following CR and superior IC lesions, the dispersed pathway distribution may correlate with acute orofacial dysfunction with spared pathways contributing to orofacial motor recovery. In contrast, the gradually commixed nature of pathway representation inferiorly may enhance fiber vulnerability and correlate with severe, prolonged deficits following lower subcortical and midbrain injury. Additionally, in humans these findings may assist in interpreting orofacial movements evoked during deep brain stimulation, and neuroimaging tractography efforts to localize descending orofacial motor pathways.

[Long-term effectiveness of transvaginal high uterosacral ligament suspension]

Objective: To assess the long-term effectiveness of the transvaginal high uterosacral ligament suspension (HUS) in women suffering from advanced pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Methods: A retrospective review of records identified 118 women who underwent transvaginal HUS with or without additional concomitant anterior and (or) posterior repairs from June 2003 to August 2009 in the First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of People's Liberation Army. Of 118 women, 104 women completed the follow-up during study period; these 104 women were analysed. Follow-up visits were performed 2, 6 and 12 months after surgery and then annually. Anatomic results of POP was established by pelvic examination using pelvic organ prolapse quantitation system (POP-Q) staging. Funtional results were obtained by patient global impression of improvement (PGI-I), pelvic floor distress inventory-short form 20 (PFDI-20) and pelvic floor impact questionnaire short form (PFIQ-7). Surgical success required the fulfillment of all 3 criteria: (1) prolapse leading edge of 0 cm or less and apex of 1/2 total vaginal length or less; (2) the absence of pelvic organ prolapse symptoms as reported on the PFDI-20 question No. 3 ( "Do you usually have a bulge or something falling out that you can see or feel in your vaginal area?" ); and (3) no prolapse reoperations or pessary use during the study period. Results: The mean follow-up time was (9.1±1.5) years. The overall surgery success rate was 91.3% (95/104) according to above all 3 criteria. Prolapse recurrence rates were isolated anterior 6.7% (7/104), isolated apical 0, isolated posterior 2.9% (3/104) and multiple compartments 1.0% (1/104). Five women (4.8%, 5/104) developed bothersome vaginal bulge symptoms. None of recurrent women underwent retreatment, including either surgery or use of a pessary at last follow-up. The subjective satisfaction rate was 90.4% (94/104). PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 scores showed a statistically significant improvement from preoperative 72 and 65 points to postoperative 17 and 9 points respectively (all P<0.01). There was a 2.9% (3/104) rate of intraoperative ureteral kinking and 3.8% (4/104) rate of postoperative morbidity. Conclusions: The transvaginal HUS for vault prolapse offers good long-term anatomical results with excellent vault suspension. With additional concomitant anterior and (or) posterior repairs, it will be a reconstructive surgery for the majority of advanced POP. It is minimal traumatic and appropriate for different type of POP, especially for the eldly patients. It is worthy of being popularized for clinical application.

[The advances in research on precisely inducing retinal ganglion cells from stem cells]

The injury and repair of retinal neurons is a common scientific problem in the occurrence, development and prognosis of neuronal visual impairment. Transplant of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) differentiated from stem cells opens a new avenue for treatment of glaucoma and optic neuronal degenerative diseases. For the goal to explore the optimal method for RGCs replacement, this review summarizes the current information regarding the classification and application of stem cells, the growth characteristics of RGCs and the precise methods to induce RGCs, and discusses some important issues that need resolving and are related to RGCs transplantation. It is hoped that this article will provide useful theoretical basis for the research of this field. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 381-385).

Impact of FOXP3 Polymorphisms on the Blood Level of Tacrolimus in Renal Transplant Recipients

INTRODUCTION

Tacrolimus is an immunosuppressive medication for organ transplantation. FOXP3(+) T regulatory cells (Tregs) play roles in suppression of rejection and induction of graft tolerance. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between the polymorphism of FOXP3 and the blood level of tacrolimus in renal transplant recipients.

METHODS

This retrospective study included 100 renal transplant recipients receiving tacrolimus treatment and 100 healthy control subjects. Genotyping for FOXP3 rs3761547 AA, AG, GG, rs3761548 AA, AC, CC and rs223236 AA, AG, GG was performed. Concentrations of tacrolimus, creatinine, and urea nitrogen levels in blood were measured.

RESULTS

Frequencies of genotypes of FOXP3 rs3761548 AA, AC, and CC, rs3761547 AA, AG, GG and rs 223236 AA, AG, GG in renal transplant recipients were similar to those in normal people. The blood level of tacrolimus in recipients with rs3761548 CC was significantly higher than that in recipients with rs3761548 AA and AC (P < .001). No difference in the blood level of tacrolimus was found in recipients with different genotypes of rs3761547 and rs223236. Compared to rs3761548 AA and AC groups, there was no difference of Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) glomerular filtration rate and the level of blood urea nitrogen before transplantation; however, these 2 parameters were significantly improved after transplantation in the rs3761548 CC group. The level of tacrolimus was correlated positively with MDRD glomerular filtration rate and negatively with the blood urea nitrogen level in recipients with rs3761548 CC genotype after transplantation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study identified a new relationship between FOXP3 rs3761548 and the blood level of tacrolimus. These results suggest that the polymorphism of FOXP3 may affect tacrolimus pharmacokinetics.

Controlling the exciton emission of gold coated GaAs-AlGaAs core-shell nanowires with an organic spacer layer

Excitons are the most prominent optical excitations and controlling their emission is an important step towards new optical devices. We have investigated the exciton emission from uncoated and gold/aluminum quinoline (Alq₃) coated GaAs-AlGaAs-GaAs core-shell nanowires (NWs) using temperature-, intensity- and polarization dependent photoluminescence (PL). Plasmonic GaAs-AlGaAs-GaAs NWs with a ∼10 nm thick Au coating but without an Alq₃ spacer layer reveal a significant reduction of the PL intensity of the exciton emission compared with the uncoated NW sample. Plasmonic NW samples with the same nominal Au coverage and an additional Alq₃ interlayer of 3 or 6 nm thickness show a clearly stronger PL intensity which increases with rising Alq₃ spacer thickness. Time-resolved (TR) PL measurements reveal an increase of the exciton decay rate by a factor of up to two with decreasing Alq₃ spacer thickness suggesting the presence of Förster energy transfer from NW excitons to plasmon oscillations in the gold film. The weak change of the decay time, however, indicates that Förster energy-transfer is only partially responsible for the PL quenching in the gold coated NWs. The main reason for the reduction of the PL emission is attributed to a gold induced band-bending in the GaAs NW core which causes exciton dissociation. With increasing Alq₃ spacer thickness the band-bending decreases leading to a reduction of the exciton dissociation and PL quenching. Our interpretation is supported by electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements which show a signal reduction and blue shift of defect (possibly EL2) transitions when gold particles are deposited on NWs compared with bare or Alq₃ coated NWs.

Meta-analysis of alkaline phosphatase and prognosis for osteosarcoma

Many studies have evaluated the relationships between alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels and the prognosis for osteosarcoma. However, a consensus has yet to be reached. We completed a meta-analysis to assess the significance of ALP and prognosis for osteosarcoma. We retrieved eligible documents from the PubMed and Embase databases and extracted related data from those documents. The overall survival (OS), hazard ratio (HR) and event-free survival (EFS) HR were obtained after combination to evaluate the impacts of ALP levels on prognosis for osteosarcoma. After screening, a total of 12 documents published between 1999 and 2013 were included. The ALP levels on OS were evaluated in nine documents. The pooled HRs was 1.78 (95% CI: 1.52-2.07, p < .05). The ALP levels on EFS were determined in eight documents. The pooled HRs was 1.58 (95% CI: 1.37-1.82, p < .05). Begg's test (OS, p > .754; EFS, p > .386) and Egger's test (OS, p > .649; EFS, p > .274) showed that there was no significant publication bias during analytic process. In summary, our meta-analysis shows that a higher level of ALP can decrease the OS and EFS in patients with osteosarcoma and ALP is an important biological indicator for patients with osteosarcoma.

Biology and Control of Snail Intermediate Host of Schistosoma japonicum in The People's Republic of China

Schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma japonicum is a severe parasitic disease in The People's Republic of China and imposed considerable burden on human and domestic animal health and socioeconomic development. The significant achievement in schistosomiasis control has been made in last 60years. Oncomelania hupensis as the only intermediate host of S. japonicum plays a key role in disease transmission. The habitat complexity of the snails challenges to effective control. In this review we share the experiences in control and research of O. hupensis.

Brief Exercises Affect Gene Expression in Circulating Monocytes

We aimed to give a systematic hypothesis on the functions of exercise on circulating monocytes by identifying a discrete set of genes in circulating monocytes that were altered by exercise. The microarray expression profile of GSE51835 was downloaded from gene expression omnibus (GEO) database for the identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using limma and affy packages in R language. Gene Ontology (GO) terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed for DEGs, followed by the construction of co-expression network and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. The top 10 nodes in PPI network were screened, and subnetwork was constructed for the key genes identification. Totally, 35 DEGs, including 2 upregulated genes and 33 downregulated genes, were identified. The enriched GO terms were mainly linked to immune response and defence response, and the enriched KEGG pathways were mainly associated with natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity and graft-versus-host disease. Dual-specificity phosphatase 2 (DUSP2) was identified as a key node in the co-expression network. In the PPI network, CD247 module (CD247), chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 (CXCR4), granzyme B (GZMB) and perforin 1 (PRF1) were identified as key nodes. An important interaction, GZMB/PRF1, was detected. Five key genes, including DUSP2, CD247, CXCR4, GZMB and PRF1, and an interaction of GZMB/PRF1, were significant factors in the immune processes of circulating monocytes, which might be regulated by brief exercises, leading to the enhancement of immune function.

Cytoarchitecture and cortical connections of the anterior insula and adjacent frontal motor fields in the rhesus monkey

The cytoarchitecture and cortical connections of the ventral motor region are investigated using Nissl, and NeuN staining methods and the fluorescent retrograde tract tracing technique in the rhesus monkey. On the basis of gradual laminar differentiation, it is shown that the ventral motor region stems from the ventral proisocortical area (anterior insula and dorsal Sylvian opercular region). The cytoarchitecture of the ventral motor region is shown to progress in three lines, as we have recently shown for the dorsal motor region. Namely, root (anterior insular and dorsal Sylvian opercular area ProM), belt (ventral premotor cortex) and core (precentral motor cortex) lines. This stepwise architectonic organization is supported by the overall patterns of corticocortical connections. Areas in each line are sequentially interconnected (intralineal connections) and all lines are interconnected (interlinear connections). Moreover, root areas, as well as some of the belt areas of the ventral and dorsal trend are interconnected. The ventral motor region is also connected with the ventral somatosensory areas in a topographic manner. The root and belt areas of ventral motor region are connected with paralimbic, multimodal and prefrontal (outer belt) areas. In contrast, the core area has a comparatively more restricted pattern of corticocortical connections. This architectonic and connectional organization is consistent in part, with the functional organization of the ventral motor region as reported in behavioral and neuroimaging studies which include the mediation of facial expression and emotion, communication, phonic articulation, and language in human.

Frontal and frontoparietal injury differentially affect the ipsilateral corticospinal projection from the nonlesioned hemisphere in monkey (Macaca mulatta)

Upper extremity hemiplegia is a common consequence of unilateral cortical stroke. Understanding the role of the unaffected cerebral hemisphere in the motor recovery process has been encouraged, in part, by the presence of ipsilateral corticospinal projections (iCSP). We examined the neuroplastic response of the iCSP from the contralesional primary motor cortex (cM1) hand/arm area to spinal levels C5-T1 after spontaneous long-term recovery from isolated frontal lobe injury and isolated frontoparietal injury. High-resolution tract tracing, stereological, and behavioral methodologies were applied. Recovery from frontal motor injury resulted in enhanced numbers of terminal labeled boutons in the iCSP from cM1 compared with controls. Increases occurred in lamina VIII and the adjacent ventral sectors of lamina VII, which are involved in axial/proximal limb sensorimotor processing. Larger frontal lobe lesions were associated with greater numbers of terminal boutons than smaller frontal lobe lesions. In contrast, frontoparietal injury blocked this response; total bouton number was similar to controls, demonstrating that disruption of somatosensory input to one hemisphere has a suppressive effect on the iCSP from the nonlesioned hemisphere. However, compared with controls, elevated bouton numbers occurred in lamina VIII, at the expense of lamina VII bouton labeling. Lamina IX boutons were also elevated in two frontoparietal lesion cases with extensive cortical injury. Because laminae VIII and IX collectively harbor axial, proximal, and distal motoneurons, therapeutic intervention targeting the ipsilateral corticospinal linkage from cM1 may promote proximal, and possibly distal, upper-limb motor recovery following frontal and frontoparietal injury.