PP2A-C may be a promising candidate for postmortem interval estimation

International Journal of Legal Medicine - Determining the postmortem interval (PMI) is an important task in forensic pathology. However, a reliable means of determining the PMI between...     

Differences in topological properties of functional brain networks between menstrually-related and non-menstrual migraine without aura

Brain Imaging and Behavior - Menstrually-related migraine without aura refers to a specific type of migraine that is associated with the female ovarian cycle. Compared with non-menstrual migraine...     

网络成瘾者表象扫描中抑制控制的对照研究

目的 探讨网络成瘾者表象扫描任务中抑制控制能力与正常人的差异.方法 采用改进的表象扫描实验任务比较了30名网瘾者和30名正常被试表象扫描中的抑制控制能力.结果 短距离扫描条件下网瘾者反应时的抑制效应量稍大于对照组（t=1.982,P=0.059）,两组错误率的抑制效应量差异不显著;长距离扫描条件下网瘾者反应时和错误率的抑制效应量均显著大于对照组（t =2.271,P＜0.05;t =2.186,P＜0.05）;正、反向扫描任务中网瘾组的表象扫描效率与对照组均无显著差异.结论 网瘾者表象扫描任务中的抑制控制能力不足,但其表象扫描能力保持完好.     

Novel MIR143‐NOTCH fusions in benign and malignant glomus tumors

Glomus tumors (GT) have been classified among tumors of perivascular smooth muscle differentiation, together with myopericytoma, myofibroma/tosis, and angioleiomyoma, based on their morphologic overlap. However, no molecular studies have been carried out to date to investigate their genetic phenotype and to confirm their shared pathogenesis. RNA sequencing was performed in three index cases (GT1, malignant GT; GT2, benign GT and M1, multifocal myopericytoma), followed by FusionSeq data analysis, a modular computational tool developed to discover gene fusions from paired‐end RNA‐seq data. A gene fusion involving MIR143 in band 5q32 was identified in both GTs with either NOTCH2 in 1p13 in GT1 or NOTCH1 in 9q34 in GT2, but none in M1. After being validated by FISH and RT‐PCR, these abnormalities were screened on 33 GTs, 6 myopericytomas, 9 myofibroma/toses, 18 angioleiomyomas and in a control group of 5 sino‐nasal hemangiopericytomas. Overall NOTCH2 gene rearrangements were identified in 52% of GT, including all malignant cases and one NF1‐related GT. No additional cases showed NOTCH1 rearrangement. As NOTCH3 shares similar functions with NOTCH2 in regulating vascular smooth muscle development, the study group was also investigated for abnormalities in this gene by FISH. Indeed, NOTCH3 rearrangements were identified in 9% of GTs, all present in benign soft tissue GT, one case being fused to MIR143. Only 1/18 angioleiomyomas showed NOTCH2 gene rearrangement, while all the myopericytomas and myofibroma/toses were negative. In summary, we describe novel NOTCH1–3 rearrangements in benign and malignant, visceral, and soft tissue GTs. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Encapsulation of single cells on a microfluidic device integrating droplet generation with fluorescence-activated droplet sorting

Encapsulation of single cells is a challenging task in droplet microfluidics due to the random compartmentalization of cells dictated by Poisson statistics. In this paper, a microfluidic device was developed to improve the single-cell encapsulation rate by integrating droplet generation with fluorescence-activated droplet sorting. After cells were loaded into aqueous droplets by hydrodynamic focusing, an on-flight fluorescence-activated sorting process was conducted to isolate droplets containing one cell. Encapsulation of fluorescent polystyrene beads was investigated to evaluate the developed method. A single-bead encapsulation rate of more than 98 % was achieved under the optimized conditions. Application to encapsulate single HeLa cells was further demonstrated with a single-cell encapsulation rate of 94.1 %, which is about 200 % higher than those obtained by random compartmentalization. We expect this new method to provide a useful platform for encapsulating single cells, facilitating the development of high-throughput cell-based assays.     

Bioremediation of cadmium-contaminated paddy soil using an autotrophic and heterotrophic mixture

Cadmium (Cd) pollution poses a serious risk to human health and ecological security. Bioremediation can be a promising and effective remediation technology for treating Cd contaminated soils. In this study, seven heterotrophic strains were isolated from Cd contaminated soil and 7 autotrophic strains were isolated from acid mine drainage. Cd removal efficiencies were compared after leaching with autotrophic bacteria (Att-sys), heterotrophic isolates (Htt-sys) and cooperative leaching systems (Co-sys) in laboratory agitating reactors. The results indicated that Cd removal efficiency of Co-sys (32.09%) was significantly higher than that of Att-sys (23.24%) and Htt-sys (0.74%). By analyzing the soil microbial community in different bioleaching systems, we found that the addition of heterotrophic isolates significantly promoted the growth of some heavy metal resistant inhabitants (Massilia, Alicyclobacillus, Micromonospora, etc.), and Co-sys had a minor effect on the growth of soil indigenous microbes. In Co-sys, the content of the four Cd fractions all decreased compared with other leaching systems. The analysis of soil physicochemical parameters during the leaching process showed that pH and ORP (oxidation reduction potential) were not the only determinants for Cd removal efficiency in Co-sys, synergistic metabolic activities of autotrophic and heterotrophic strains may be other determinants. This study demonstrated that cooperative bioremediation may prove to be a safe and efficient technique for field application in heavy metal soil pollution.

Bioremediation can be a promising and effective remediation technology for treating Cd contaminated soils. Cooperative bioremediation using heterotrophic and autotrophic mixtures proved to be an efficient, short-term bioremediation strategy for heavy metal contaminated soil.     

Room-temperature synthesis of water-dispersible sulfur-doped reduced graphene oxide without stabilizers

Sulfur-Doped graphene has attracted significant attention because of its potential uses in sensors, catalysts, and energy storage applications. In conventional approaches, the sulfur-doped graphene is fabricated with graphene oxide and sulfur-containing compounds through thermal annealing or hydrothermal process, which generally involves special equipment and heat treatment, and requires additional stabilizers to make it solution-processable. In this work, we report a facile one-step approach to synthesize water-dispersible sulfur-doped reduced graphene oxide (S-rGO). Graphene oxide (GO) could be readily reduced and converted to S-rGO simultaneously by directly mixing GO dispersion with hydrosulfide hydrate (NaSH·xH₂O) at room temperature. The sulfur doping is confirmed by high resolution S 2p XPS spectrum and element mapping. The colloidal dispersion state of S-rGO is confirmed by the investigation of Tyndall effect, the zeta potential and particle size distribution measurement. Compared with previously reported strategies, NaSH can initiate the reduction and sulfur doping at room temperature, demand no heat treatment, require no equipment and form stable aqueous S-rGO dispersion without using any stabilizer. These advantages will facilitate large-scale production of water-dispersible (sulfur doped) graphene and further boost their applications in sensors, catalysts and energy storage devices.

Room-temperature synthesis of sulfur-doped reduced graphene oxide, which can form stable aqueous dispersion without using any stabilizer.     

Impacts of carrier trapping and ion migration on charge transport of perovskite solar cells with TiOx electron transport layer

The ion migration in perovskite materials has been extensively studied by researchers, but the charge dynamic distribution caused by ion migration and carrier trapping is partly unclear. To investigate the impacts of ion migration and defect induced carrier trapping on the carrier transport and the carrier collection, we measured the evolution of the photocurrent response in microseconds, milliseconds and seconds for the perovskite solar cells pretreated at different biases. Our results reveal that the photocurrent of the solar cells pretreated at negative bias decreases with time and achieves its minimum at several milliseconds, then rises and achieves its maximum at tens of seconds. For the device pretreated at positive bias beyond built-in potential, the time to reach maximum photocurrent is much shorter than that of the solar cell pretreated at negative bias. The transient photocurrent responses to the sequence of single-light-pulses also show that there is obvious carrier trapping in a positive bias treated device, which indicates that defect induced carrier trapping is the critical factor for the perovskite solar cells with an n-TiO_x electron transport layer. In order to improve the performance of the perovskite solar cells with nano-TiO_x ETL, it is very necessary to significantly reduce defects. Our results also demonstrate that cation accumulation at the interface between the perovskite active layer and ETL can enhance the device performance to a certain extent.

The ion migration in perovskite materials has been extensively studied by researchers, but the charge dynamic distribution caused by ion migration and carrier trapping is partly unclear.