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Showing papers by "Tongji University published in 2010"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the compressive strength of C fly ash (CFA) and a mixed alkali activator of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution was investigated, where the modulus of the activator viz., molar ratio of SiO 2 /Na 2 O was 1.5, and proper content of this activator as evaluated by the mass proportion of Na 2 O to CFA was 10%.
Abstract: Geopolymers prepared from a class C fly ash (CFA) and a mixed alkali activator of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution were investigated. A high compressive strength was obtained when the modulus of the activator viz., molar ratio of SiO 2 /Na 2 O was 1.5, and the proper content of this activator as evaluated by the mass proportion of Na 2 O to CFA was 10%. The compressive strength of these samples was 63.4 MPa when they were cured at 75 °C for 8 h followed by curing at 23 °C for 28 d. In FTIR spectroscopy, the main peaks at 1036 and 1400 cm −1 have been attributed to asymmetric stretching of Al–O/Si–O bonds, while those at 747 cm −1 are due to the Si–O–Si/Si–O–Al bending band. The main geopolymeric gel and calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) gel co-exist and bond some remaining unreacted CFA spheres as observed in XRD and SEM–EXDA. The presence of gismondine (zeolite) was also observed in the XRD pattern.

621 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors fabricated an acoustic composite structure consisting of a periodic array of interspaced membranes and side holes, which exhibits two critical frequencies, omega{SH} and omega{c}.
Abstract: We fabricated an acoustic composite structure consisting of a periodic array of interspaced membranes and side holes. Experimental data on the transmission, effective density, and phase velocity are presented. The system exhibits two critical frequencies, omega{SH} and omega{c}. Our metamaterial is double negative and transparent for frequencies lower than omega{SH}. For the frequencies omega{SH}

484 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors performed genome-wide mapping of epigenetically marked nucleosomes to determine their position both near transcription start sites and at distal regulatory elements, including enhancers.
Abstract: Chromatin plays a central role in eukaryotic gene regulation. We performed genome-wide mapping of epigenetically marked nucleosomes to determine their position both near transcription start sites and at distal regulatory elements, including enhancers. In prostate cancer cells, where androgen receptor binds primarily to enhancers, we found that androgen treatment dismisses a central nucleosome present at androgen receptor binding sites that is flanked by a pair of marked nucleosomes. A new quantitative model built on the behavior of such nucleosome pairs correctly identified regions bound by the regulators of the immediate androgen response, including androgen receptor and FOXA1. More importantly, this model also correctly predicted previously unidentified binding sites for other transcription factors present after prolonged androgen stimulation, including OCT1 and NKX3-1. Therefore, quantitative modeling of enhancer structure provides a powerful predictive method to infer the identity of transcription factors involved in cellular responses to specific stimuli.

459 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Halloysite nanotubes had the potential to be utilized as low-cost and relatively effective adsorbent for cationic dyes removal andThermodynamic parameters of DeltaG(0), DeltaH(0) and DeltaS( 0) indicated the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic.

449 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Although CNT devices are promising candidates for biosensors with high sensitivity, the variation in the device characteristics is an obstacle to the device reliability and the device sensitivity is still limited by surface area and electrical properties of CNTs.
Abstract: Novel nanomaterials, such as nanowires and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), have attracted considerable attention in electrical detection of chemical and biological species for clinical diagnosis and practical pharmaceutical applications during the past decade. [ 1–3 ] Electrical detection of biomolecules using nanomaterials can often achieve high sensitivity because nanomaterials are extremely sensitive to electronic perturbations in the surrounding environment. By using CNTs and CNT-based fi eldeffect transistors (FETs), biosensors have been demonstrated for the detection of protein binding [ 4–7 ] and DNA hybridization events. [ 8 , 9 ] The detection limit of reported CNT protein sensors is normally at 0.1–10 nM level, [ 2 , 5 , 10 ] and an improved detection limit could reach 1 ng/ml through cleaving the protein using an enzyme. [ 7 ] Although CNT devices are promising candidates for biosensors with high sensitivity, the variation in the device characteristics is an obstacle to the device reliability and the device sensitivity is still limited by surface area and electrical properties of CNTs. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, has potential applications in the electrical detection of biological species due to their unique physical properties. [ 11–13 ] Intrinsic graphene is a zero-gap semiconductor that has remarkably high electron mobility ( ∼ 15 000 cm 2 ⋅ V − 1 ⋅ s − 1 ) at room temperature, [ 12 ] which is even higher than that of CNTs. [ 14 ] Although graphene has been explored for various applications, [ 15–26 ] there are only limited reports on graphenebased biosensors until recently. [ 27–33 ] For instance, large-sized graphene fi lm FETs were fabricated for the electrical detection of DNA hybridization; [ 27 ] graphene oxide (GO) was used in single-bacterium and label-free DNA sensors. [ 29 ] In addition, electrolyte-gated graphene FETs for electrical detection of pH and protein adsorption were reported. [ 30 ] Despite the sparse demonstration of graphene for biosensing applications, graphene-based FETs have not been reported for detection of protein binding (antibody to antigen) events. Because the carrier

446 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Tao Yu1, Jie Ren1, Shumao Li1, Hua Yuan1, Yan Li1 
TL;DR: In this paper, Ramie fiber reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites were prepared by a two-roll mill and Ramie was treated by alkali and silane (3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane and γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane).
Abstract: Ramie fiber reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites were prepared by a two-roll mill. Ramie was treated by alkali and silane (3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane and γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane). Effect of surface treatment on the properties of the composites was studied. The tensile, flexural and impact strength of the composites have a significant improvement. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results show that the storage moduli of the composites with treated ramie increase with respect to the plain PLA and the composites with untreated fiber whereas tangent delta decreases. The Vicat softening temperature of the composites with treated fiber is greatly higher than that of the composites with untreated fiber. The results of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) show that fiber treatment can improve the degradation temperature of the composites. Moreover, the morphology of fracture surface evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicates that surface treatment can get better adhesion between the fiber and the matrix.

404 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The addition of vandetanib to docetaxel provides a significant improvement in PFS in patients with advanced NSCLC after progression following first-line therapy, supported investigation of the combination in this larger, definitive phase 3 trial (ZODIAC).
Abstract: Summary Background Vandetanib is a once-daily oral inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and rearranged during transfection (RET) tyrosine kinases. In a randomised phase 2 study in patients with previously treated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adding vandetanib 100 mg to docetaxel significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with docetaxel alone, including a longer PFS in women. These results supported investigation of the combination in this larger, definitive phase 3 trial (ZODIAC). Methods Between May, 2006, and April, 2008, patients with locally advanced or metastatic (stage IIIB–IV) NSCLC after progression following first-line chemotherapy were randomly assigned 1:1 through a third-party interactive voice system to receive vandetanib (100 mg/day) plus docetaxel (75 mg/m 2 intravenously every 21 days; maximum six cycles) or placebo plus docetaxel. The primary objective was comparison of PFS between the two groups in the intention-to-treat population. Women were a coprimary analysis population. This study has been completed and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00312377. Findings 1391 patients received vandetanib plus docetaxel (n=694 [197 women]) or placebo plus docetaxel (n=697 [224 women]). Vandetanib plus docetaxel led to a significant improvement in PFS versus placebo plus docetaxel (hazard ratio [HR] 0·79, 97·58% CI 0·70–0·90; p vs 7/690 [1%]), neutropenia (199/689 [29%] vs 164/690 [24%]), leukopenia (99/689 [14%] vs 77/690 [11%]), and febrile neutropenia (61/689 [9%] vs 48/690 [7%]) were more common with vandetanib plus docetaxel than with placebo plus docetaxel. The most common serious adverse event was febrile neutropenia (46/689 [7%] in the vandetanib group vs 38/690 [6%] in the placebo group). Interpretation The addition of vandetanib to docetaxel provides a significant improvement in PFS in patients with advanced NSCLC after progression following first-line therapy. Funding AstraZeneca.

398 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
08 Apr 2010-Nature
TL;DR: In this paper, the genomic locations of histone H3 molecules bearing lysine trimethylation modifications before and after the maternal-zygotic transition in zebrafish were mapped to study the changes in chromatin structure that accompany pluripotency and genome activation.
Abstract: After fertilization the embryonic genome is inactive until transcription is initiated during the maternal-zygotic transition. This transition coincides with the formation of pluripotent cells, which in mammals can be used to generate embryonic stem cells. To study the changes in chromatin structure that accompany pluripotency and genome activation, we mapped the genomic locations of histone H3 molecules bearing lysine trimethylation modifications before and after the maternal-zygotic transition in zebrafish. Histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), which is repressive, and H3K4me3, which is activating, were not detected before the transition. After genome activation, more than 80% of genes were marked by H3K4me3, including many inactive developmental regulatory genes that were also marked by H3K27me3. Sequential chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated that the same promoter regions had both trimethylation marks. Such bivalent chromatin domains also exist in embryonic stem cells and are thought to poise genes for activation while keeping them repressed. Furthermore, we found many inactive genes that were uniquely marked by H3K4me3. Despite this activating modification, these monovalent genes were neither expressed nor stably bound by RNA polymerase II. Inspection of published data sets revealed similar monovalent domains in embryonic stem cells. Moreover, H3K4me3 marks could form in the absence of both sequence-specific transcriptional activators and stable association of RNA polymerase II, as indicated by the analysis of an inducible transgene. These results indicate that bivalent and monovalent domains might poise embryonic genes for activation and that the chromatin profile associated with pluripotency is established during the maternal-zygotic transition.

365 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The characterizations with XRD, BET and SEM indicated that the ultrasound irradiation in the preparation induced the production of Fe(3)O(4) MNPs possessing smaller particle sizes, greater BET surface area, chemical composition and then catalytic property of the Fe(2+)/Fe(3+) during the preparation process.

336 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an integrated decision support system was developed to assess existing office building conditions and to recommend an optimal set of sustainable renovation actions, considering trade-offs between renovation cost, improved building quality, and environmental impacts.

329 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A new rough set approach to feature selection based on ACO is proposed, which adopts mutual information based feature significance as heuristic information and a novel feature selection algorithm is given.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A modified monomer addition model combined with aggregation model is proposed to analyze the formation mechanism of silica particles in Stöber process with high concentration of tetra-ethyl-orthosilicate up to 1.24 M.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The test of ABI ≤ 0.90 can be a simple and useful tool to identify PAD with serious stenosis, and may be substituted for other non-invasive tests in clinical practice.
Abstract: The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is a simple, inexpensive diagnostic test for peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, it has shown variable accuracy for identification of significant stenosis. The authors performed a structured review of the sensitivity and specificity of ABI ≤ 0.90 for the diagnosis of PAD. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane databases, Science Citation Index database, and Biological Abstracts database were searched for studies of the sensitivity and specificity of using ABI ≤ 0.90 for the diagnosis of PAD. Eight studies comprising 2043 patients (or limbs) met the inclusion criteria. The result indicated that, although strict inclusion criteria on studies were formulated, different reference standards were found in these studies, and methods of ABI determination and characteristics of populations varied greatly. A high level of specificity (83.3-99.0%) and accuracy (72.1-89.2%) was reported for an ABI ≤ 0.90 in detecting ≥ 50% stenosis, but there were different levels of sensitivity (15-79%). Sensitivity was low, especially in elderly individuals and patients with diabetes. In conclusion, the test of ABI ≤ 0.90 can be a simple and useful tool to identify PAD with serious stenosis, and may be substituted for other non-invasive tests in clinical practice.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors' results confirm the manageable safety profile of first-line bevacizumab in combination with various standard chemotherapy regimens for treatment of advanced non-squamous NSCLC.
Abstract: Summary Background Results of two phase 3 trials have shown first-line bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy improves clinical outcomes in patients with advanced or recurrent non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The SAiL (MO19390) study was undertaken to assess the safety and efficacy of first-line bevacizumab combined with standard chemotherapy regimens in clinical practice. Methods Between August, 2006, and June, 2008, patients with untreated locally advanced, metastatic, or recurrent non-squamous NSCLC were recruited to this open-label, single group, phase 4 study from centres in 40 countries. Eligible patients had histologically or cytologically documented inoperable, locally advanced, metastatic, or recurrent disease (stage IIIB–IV); an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–2; and adequate haematological, hepatic, and renal function. Patients received bevacizumab (7·5 or 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks) plus standard chemotherapy for up to six cycles, followed by single-agent bevacizumab until disease progression. The primary endpoint was safety; analysis was by intention to treat (ITT). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00451906. Findings At the final data cutoff (July 24, 2009), an ITT population of 2212 patients was assessed. The incidence of clinically significant (grade ≥3) adverse events of special interest was generally low; thromboembolism occurred in 172 (8%) patients, hypertension in 125 (6%), bleeding in 80 (4%), proteinuria in 67 (3%), and pulmonary haemorrhage in 15 (1%). 57 (3%) patients died because of these adverse events, with thromboembolism (26 patients, 1%) and bleeding (17, 1%) as the most common causes. The most common grade 3 or higher serious adverse events deemed by investigators to be associated with bevacizumab were pulmonary embolism (28 patients; 1%) and epistaxis, neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, and deep vein thrombosis (all of which occurred in 13 patients [1%]). Bevacizumab was temporarily interrupted after 28 (2%) of 1347 bleeding events and 72 (7%) of 1025 hypertension events, and permanently discontinued after 110 (8%) bleeding events and 40 (4%) hypertension events. No new safety signals were reported. Interpretation Our results confirm the manageable safety profile of first-line bevacizumab in combination with various standard chemotherapy regimens for treatment of advanced non-squamous NSCLC. Funding F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Journal ArticleDOI
13 Aug 2010-ACS Nano
TL;DR: Substantial differences in fluorescent signals are observed ex vivo between tumor regions treated with the targeted nanocarrier system and the nontargeted nanoccarrier system, indicating considerable targeting effects due to anti-PSMA functionalization of the nanOCarriers.
Abstract: For early cancer diagnosis and treatment, a nanocarrier system is designed and developed with key components uniquely structured at nanoscale according to medical requirements. For imaging, quantum dots with emissions in the near-infrared range (∼800 nm) are conjugated onto the surface of a nanocomposite consisting of a spherical polystyrene matrix (∼150 nm) and the internally embedded, high fraction of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (∼10 nm). For drug storage, the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel (PTX) is loaded onto the surfaces of these composite multifunctional nanocarriers by using a layer of biodegradable poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). A cell-based cytotoxicity assay is employed to verify successful loading of pharmacologically active drug. Cell viability of human, metastatic PC3mm2 prostate cancer cells is assessed in the presence and absence of various multifunctional nanocarrier populations using the MTT assay. PTX-loaded composite nanocarriers are synthesized by conjugating anti-p...

Journal ArticleDOI
06 May 2010-Nature
TL;DR: It is reported that a new regulator of RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) in Arabidopsis is reported, and it is indicated that RDM1 is a component of the RdDM effector complex and may have a role in linking siRNA production with pre-existing or de novo cytosine methylation.
Abstract: DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mark in many eukaryotes. In plants, 24-nucleotide small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) bound to the effector protein, Argonaute 4 (AGO4), can direct de novo DNA methylation by the methyltransferase DRM2 (refs 2, 4-6). Here we report a new regulator of RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) in Arabidopsis: RDM1. Loss-of-function mutations in the RDM1 gene impair the accumulation of 24-nucleotide siRNAs, reduce DNA methylation, and release transcriptional gene silencing at RdDM target loci. RDM1 encodes a small protein that seems to bind single-stranded methyl DNA, and associates and co-localizes with RNA polymerase II (Pol II, also known as NRPB), AGO4 and DRM2 in the nucleus. Our results indicate that RDM1 is a component of the RdDM effector complex and may have a role in linking siRNA production with pre-existing or de novo cytosine methylation. Our results also indicate that, although RDM1 and Pol V (also known as NRPE) may function together at some RdDM target sites in the peri-nucleolar siRNA processing centre, Pol II rather than Pol V is associated with the RdDM effector complex at target sites in the nucleoplasm.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results showed that the photocatalytic degradation kinetics of MB fitted the pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an overall summary on the recent progress in developing electrically tunable dielectric materials, based on ferroelectrics and non-ferroelectric, with a specific attention to the strategies employed to improve the performances of ferroelectric materials for microwave device applications.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results highlight the critical role of E‐cadherin‐mediated cell–cell contact in reprogramming and suggest new routes for more efficient iPS cell generation.
Abstract: The low efficiency of reprogramming and genomic integration of virus vectors obscure the potential application of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells; therefore, identification of chemicals and cooperative factors that may improve the generation of iPS cells will be of great value. Moreover, the cellular mechanisms that limit the reprogramming efficiency need to be investigated. Through screening a chemical library, we found that two chemicals reported to upregulate E-cadherin considerably increase the reprogramming efficiency. Further study of the process indicated that E-cadherin is upregulated during reprogramming and the established iPS cells possess E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell contact, morphologically indistinguishable from embryonic stem (ES) cells. Our experiments also demonstrate that overexpression of E-cadherin significantly enhances reprogramming efficiency, whereas knockdown of endogenous E-cadherin reduces the efficiency. Consistently, abrogation of cell-cell contact by the inhibitory peptide or the neutralizing antibody against the extracellular domain of E-cadherin compromises iPS cell generation. Further mechanistic study reveals that adhesive binding activity of E-cadherin is required. Our results highlight the critical role of E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell contact in reprogramming and suggest new routes for more efficient iPS cell generation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Increased STAT3 activity mediates activation of renal interstitial fibroblasts and the progression of renal fibrosis, and inhibition of STAT3 signaling with S3I-201 may hold therapeutic potential for fibrotic kidney diseases.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, several Bayesian models were developed to model the crash data from 170 signalized intersections in the state of Florida and the safety impacts of risk factors such as geometric design features, traffic control, and traffic flow characteristics were evaluated.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that nTregs treated with atRA were resistant to Th17 and other Th cell conversion and maintained Foxp3 expression and suppressive activity in the presence of IL-6 in vitro.
Abstract: Recent studies have demonstrated that plasticity of naturally occurring CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (nTregs) may account for their inability to control chronic inflammation in established autoimmune diseases. All-trans retinoic acid (atRA), the active derivative of vitamin A, has been demonstrated to promote Foxp3+ Treg differentiation and suppress Th17 development. In this study, we report a vital role of atRA in sustaining the stability and functionality of nTregs in the presence of IL-6. We found that nTregs treated with atRA were resistant to Th17 and other Th cell conversion and maintained Foxp3 expression and suppressive activity in the presence of IL-6 in vitro. atRA decreased IL-6R expression and signaling by nTregs. Of interest, adoptive transfer of nTregs even from arthritic mice treated with atRA suppressed progression of established collagen-induced arthritis. We suggest that nTregs treated with atRA may represent a novel treatment strategy to control established chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The aim is to identify the specific microRNA associated with the cancer and to predict the carcinogenetic mechanism of microRNA on the basis of these results.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the difference of microRNA expression profiles between colonic cancer without lymph node metastasis and the para-cancerous control, to identify the specific microRNA associated with the cancer and to predict the carcinogenetic mechanism of microRNA on the basis of these results. METHODS: The microRNA (miRNA) were extracted and isolated from six specimens, including colonic cancerous and para-cancerous ones, all of which were confirmed to be without lymph node metastasis. Agilent microRNA microarrays consisting of 723 probes were used for screening the expression differences of microRNA. Data were analyzed using feature extraction software. The expression level of differentially expressed microRNA using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was validated. RESULTS: A total of 14 miRNAs were found to be associated with colonic cancer, in which the expression of miR-106b, miR-135b, miR-18a, miR-18b, miR-196b, miR-19a, miR-224, miR-335, miR-424, miR-20a*, miR-301b and miR-374a were up-regulated and the expression of miR-378 and miR-378* were downregulated in colonic cancer tissues, compared with the para-cancerous control. The expression level of miR-18a and miR-135b were validated in accordance with the results of RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: The miRNAs are differentially expressed between colonic tumor tissues and para-cancerous tissues. Many of these miRNAs are expected to participate in the process of multiple tumorigenesis. These miRNAs could play an important role in the carcinogenesis of colon. These results provide new insights in human colorectal cancer genesis.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the source and transport of detrital fine-grained sediments in the northeastern South China Sea (SCS) and surrounding fluvial drainage basins.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the catalytic activity of FeOOH on ozonation of oxalic acid at pH 4.0 and 7.0 conditions was investigated in a semi-continuous experimental mode.
Abstract: The catalytic activity of FeOOH on ozonation of oxalic acid at pH 4.0 and 7.0 conditions was investigated in a semi-continuous experimental mode. The results indicate that FeOOH can effectively promote the generation of hydroxyl radicals ( OH) under acidic and neutral pH conditions, resulting in the enhancement of the degradation efficiency of oxalic acid by ozone. It is deduced that the hydroxyl groups both of in neutral state (Me-OH) and positive charge state (Me-OH2+) can perform as the active sites for ozone decomposition into hydroxyl radicals generation. The ligand exchange of hydroxyl groups by phosphate adsorption deteriorates the catalytic activity of FeOOH on ozonation, but the phosphate is found to desorb from FeOOH during the catalytic ozonation process, resulting in the reactivation of the catalytic activity of FeOOH.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that miR-145 inhibits proliferation of NSCLC cells through c-Myc, and it is found that CDK4 was regulated byMiR- 145 in cell cycle control and may provide a novel approach for the treatment ofNSCLC.
Abstract: MicroRNAs are important gene regulators that potentially play a profound role in tumorigenesis. Increasing evidence indicates that miR-145 is a tumor suppressor capable of inhibiting breast and colon cancer cell growth both in vitro and in vivo. However, the biological function of miR-145 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is largely unknown. In colon cancer cells, c-Myc is a confirmed direct target for miR-145. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of miR-145 and c-Myc on proliferation of NSCLC cells, using the NSCLC cell lines A549 and H23 as models. We determined the expression level of miR-145 in tumor tissues relative to adjacent non-tumor tissues, and in NSCLC cell lines relative to non-malignant lung cells. Downregulation of miR-145 was seen in tumor tissues and the two NSCLC cell lines by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. MTT and focus formation assays were conducted to measure cell proliferation rates. Cell growth was inhibited and the G1/S transition was blocked by miR-145 in transfection assays of A549 and H23 cells. We further showed that c-Myc was a direct target for miR-145. Introduction of miR-145 dramatically suppressed the c-Myc/eIF4E pathway, which was demonstrated to be crucial for cell proliferation in NSCLC cells. Furthermore, we found that CDK4 was regulated by miR-145 in cell cycle control. Taken together, our study results demonstrate that miR-145 inhibits proliferation of NSCLC cells through c-Myc. Increasing miR-145 expression may provide a novel approach for the treatment of NSCLC.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The improved PbO(2) electrode exhibits a similar morphology, surface wetting ability, high OEP, and electrochemical performance with boron-doped diamond film (BDD) electrode, however, the physical resistance of the Pb omitting electrode is much lower than that of BDD, exhibiting higher conductivity.
Abstract: A novel PbO2 electrode with a high oxygen evolution potential (OEP) and excellent electrochemical oxidation performance is prepared to improve the traditional PbO2 electrode, which is modified by changing the microstructure and wetting ability. A middle layer of TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) with a large surface area is introduced on Ti substrate, and a small amount of Cu is predeposited at the bottom of TiO2−NTs. The modification will improve the electrochemical performance by enhancing the loading capacity of PbO2 and the combination between PbO2 and Ti substrate. The hydrophilic surface becomes highly hydrophobic by adding fluorine resin. The improved PbO2 electrode exhibits a similar morphology, surface wetting ability, high OEP, and electrochemical performance with boron-doped diamond film (BDD) electrode. However, the physical resistance of the PbO2 electrode is much lower than that of BDD, exhibiting higher conductivity. The hydroxyl radical utilization is significantly enhanced, resulting in a higher oxida...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was found that pretreating sludge at pH 10 caused the greatest sludge hydrolysis, acidification, soluble C:N and C:P ratios, and Fe(3+) concentration with a suitable short-chain fatty acids composition in the first stage, which resulted in the highest microorganism activity (ATP) and methane production in the second phase.
Abstract: During two-phase sludge anaerobic digestion, sludge is usually hydrolyzed and acidified in the first phase, then methane is produced in the second stage. To get more methane from sludge, most studies in literature focused on the increase of sludge hydrolysis. In this paper a different sludge pretreatment method, i.e., pretreating sludge at pH 10 for 8 d is reported, by which both waste activated sludge hydrolysis and acidification were increased, and the methane production was significantly improved. First, the effect of different sludge pretreatment methods on methane yield was compared. The pH 10 pretreated sludge showed the highest accumulative methane yield (398 mL per g of volatile suspended solids), which was 4.4-, 3.5-, 3.1-, and 2.3-fold of the blank (unpretreated), ultrasonic, thermal, and thermal-alkaline pretreated sludge, respectively. Nevertheless, its total time involved in the first (hydrolysis and acidification) and second (methanogenesis) stages was 17 (8 + 9) d, which was almost the same...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a composite adsorbent, hydroxyapatite/magnetite (HAp/Fe 3 O 4 ), has been prepared for the purpose of removing lead ions from aqueous solution.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The precursors of dichloroacetamide (DCAcAm), the most commonly identified HAcAm in chlorinated or chloraminated drinking water, were screened and a mass of protein-like substances in the HiA fraction, made up of amino acids (AAs), were the likely DCAcAm precursor.
Abstract: Haloacetamides (HAcAms) are an emerging class of nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs). However, there is a limited understanding about the precursors of HAcAms. In this study, we screened the precursors of dichloroacetamide (DCAcAm), the most commonly identified HAcAm in chlorinated or chloraminated drinking water. DCAcAm formation potential (FP) of raw water samples collected in different months from a reservoir in China was determined during chlorination, and the highest DCAcAm FP typically occurred in the summer samples. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a representative summer raw water sample was separated into six fractions by a series of resin elutions. Among them, hydrophilic acid (HiA) DOM showed the maximum DCAcAm FP, followed by hydrophilic bases (HiB) and, to a much lower extent, hydrophobic acids (HoA). Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectra revealed that a mass of protein-like substances in the HiA fraction, made up of amino acids (AAs), were the likely DCAcAm precursors. Finally, we investigated the DCAcAm yields of 20 AAs during chlorination. Among them, seven AAs (aspartic acid, histidine, tyrosine, tryptophan, glutamine, asparagine, phenylalanine) could form DCAcAm during chlorination, with the corresponding DCAcAm yields of 0.231, 0.189, 0.153, 0.104, 0.078, 0.058, and 0.050 mmol/mol AA.