The use of lanthanide elements for applications in various industries such as the chemical industry and in biomedical engineering is examined. Topics discussed include lanthanide nanoparticles as MRI ...contrast agents, lanthanide upconversion nanoparticles for biosensing, bioimaging, and therapy and nanoceria for nanomedicine.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Cotton stalk bark fiber (CSBF) was extracted at high temperature and under high pressure, under the condition of the alkali content of 11 wt%. Experimental results proved that the extraction yield of ...CSBF was 27.3 wt%, and the residual alkali concentration was 2.1 wt%. Then five kinds of modifiers including methyl methacrylate (MMA), MMA plus initiator, epoxy propane, copper ethanolamine, and silane coupling agent were chosen to modify the surface of CSBF. It was found by measuring water retention value (WRV) that these five kinds of modifiers were all effective and the silane coupling agent was best modifier among all. The optimal modifying conditions of silane coupling agent were obtained: modifier concentration was 5%, the mixing temperature was 20°C, the mixing time was 1 h, and vacuum drying time was 1 h. Under the optimal condition, the WRV of the modified CSBF was 89%. It is expected that these modified CSBF may be a filler with strengthening effect in wood plastic composites (WPC) fields.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Background and Aim
Additional simethicone (SIM) can improve adequate bowel preparation and adenoma detection rate (ADR). However, there is no consensus on the optimal dose of SIM. In this study, we ...compared the adequate bowel preparation rate with supplementation of split‐dose 2 L polyethylene glycol (PEG) with low‐dose SIM (200 mg) versus high‐dose SIM (1200 mg).
Methods
This was a prospective, randomized, observer‐blinded trial involving consecutive subjects undergoing colonoscopy. The primary outcome was adequate bowel preparation as assessed by Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS) score.
Results
Four hundred subjects were randomly allocated to low‐dose SIM or high‐dose SIM group. Baseline characteristics were comparable in the two groups (P > 0.05). No significant between‐group differences were observed with respect to total bubble scale (BS) (8.49 ± 1.00 vs 8.39 ± 1.10, P = 0.07), total BBPS score (8.70 ± 0.81 vs 8.29 ± 1.18, P = 0.98), ADR (33.68% vs 31.79%, P = 0.69) or withdrawal time (13 range, 10–16 min vs 13 10–15 min, P = 0.96). The intubation time in low‐dose SIM group was significantly shorter than that in high‐dose SIM group (8 (4–16) min vs 10 6–17 min, P = 0.04). In addition, BS scores as well as diminutive ADR in right colon were superior in the low‐dose SIM group (2.68 ± 0.59 vs 2.52 ± 0.73, P = 0.03 and 54.29% vs 30.30%, P = 0.046, respectively).
Conclusion
Addition of low‐dose SIM to split‐dose 2 L PEG was as effective as addition of high‐dose SIM with respect to adequate bowel preparation, ADR and patient tolerance. However, low‐dose SIM was superior with respect to intubation time, right colon BS scores, right colon diminutive ADR and cost savings.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Background and Purpose
The Slo3 potassium (KCa5.1) channel, which is specifically expressed in the testis and sperm, is essential for mammalian male fertilization. The sequence divergence of the ...bovine, mouse and human Slo3 α‐subunit revealed a rapid evolution rate across different species. The rat Slo3 (rSlo3) channel has not been cloned and characterized previously.
Experimental Approach
We used molecular cloning, electrophysiology (inside‐out patches and outside‐out patches) and mutagenesis to investigate the biophysical properties and pharmacological characteristics of the rSlo3 channel.
Key Results
The rat Slo3 channel (rSlo3) is gated by voltage and cytosolic pH rather than intracellular calcium. The characteristics of voltage‐dependent, pH‐sensitivity and activation kinetics of the rSlo3 channel differ from the characteristics of other Slo3 orthologues. In terms of pharmacology, the 4‐AP blockade of the rSlo3 channel also shows properties distinct from its blockade of the mSlo3 channel. Iberiotoxin and progesterone weakly inhibit the rSlo3 channel. Finally, we found that propofol, one of the widely used general anaesthetics, blocks the rSlo3 channel from both intracellular and extracellular sides, whereas ketamine only blocks the rSlo3 channel at the extracellular side.
Conclusion and Implications
Our findings suggest that the rSlo3 channel possesses unique biophysical and pharmacological properties. Our results provide new insights into the diversities of the Slo3 family of channels, which are valuable for estimating the effects of the use of these drugs to improve sperm quality.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary
Acid‐soluble collagens (ASCs) were extracted and characterised from different tissues of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea). The yields of ASCs in bones, skins, scales and muscles ...were 3.22 ± 0.47%, 42.30 ± 1.15%, 2.82 ± 0.31% and 0.89 ± 0.12%, respectively. SDS‐PAGE and ATR‐FTIR analysis showed that all ASCs were type I collagen with intact triple helical structure and consisted of α1,3‐chain, α2‐chain, β‐chain and γ‐chain. Quantitative analysis of SDS‐PAGE revealed that the ratio of β‐chains in ASC from scales was lower than other tissues. The imino acid contents of ASC from bones, skins, scales and muscles were 169, 167, 162 and 173 residues/1000 residues, respectively. The maximum transition temperature (Tm) of ASC from scales was 30.15 °C, lower than the other three ASCs, indicated that the thermal stability of collagen was affected by both the content of imino acid and β‐chains. The results also implied that thermal stability of ASC might exist the tissue specificity among different fish species.
Acid‐soluble collagens (ASCs) were extracted and characterised from different tissues of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea).
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The E3 ubiquitin ligase Ubr1 is a core player in yeast ubiquitylation and protein quality control required for cellular events including proteasomal degradation and gene activity but has been rarely ...explored in filamentous fungi. We show here an essentiality of orthologous Ubr1-mediated ubiquitylation for the activation of central developmental pathway (CPD) and the CPD-controlled cellular events in
Beauveria bassiana
, a filamentous fungal insect pathogen that undergoes an asexual cycle in vitro or in vivo. As a result of
ubr1
disruption, intracellular free ubiquitin accumulation increased by 1.4-fold, indicating an impaired ability for the disruptant to transfer ubiquitin to target proteins. Consequently, the disruptant was compromised in polar growth featured with curved or hook-like germ tubes and abnormally branched hyphae, leading to impeded propagation of aberrant hyphal bodies in infected insect hemocoel and attenuated virulence. In the mutant, sharply repressed expression of three CDP activator genes (
brlA
,
abaA
, and
wetA
) correlated well with severe defects in aerial conidiation and submerged blastospore (hyphal body) production in insect hemolymph or a mimicking medium. Moreover, the disruptant was sensitive to cell wall perturbation or lysing and showed increased catalase activity and resistance to hydrogen peroxide despite null response to high osmolarity or heat shock. Most of the examined genes involved in polar growth and cell wall integrity were down-regulated in the disruptant. These findings uncover that the Ubr1-mediated ubiquitylation orchestrates polar growth and the CDP-regulated asexual cycle in vitro and in vivo in
B. bassiana
.
Key points
•
Ubr1 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase essential for ubiquitylation in Beauveria bassiana.
•
Ubr1-mediated ubiquitylation is required for activation of central development pathway.
•
Ubr1 orchestrates polar growth and asexual cycle in vitro and in vivo.
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CEKLJ, DOBA, EMUNI, FZAB, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
As one of the most promising alternative refrigerants, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-methoxypropane (HFE-356 mmz) is considered to have the potential to be applied in a high temperature heat pump and the ...organic Rankine cycle. The gaseous pvT properties of HFE-356 mmz were measured using the isochoric method in the temperature range from 333.068 K to 451.226 K, the pressure range from 104.9 to 1997.3 kPa, and the density range from 75.0 mol·m–3 to 882.0 mol·m–3. The three-term truncated virial equation of state for gaseous HFE-356 mmz was also fitted based on the experimental data.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
A novel stereo porous and highly stable photocatalyst CdS/TiO2-400 (composite CdS/TiO2 calcined at 400 °C) was synthesized by hydrolysis-hydrothermal-calcined method without the assistance of ...template. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV–vis DRS), transient photocurrents, photoluminescence emission spectra (PL) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) to study their crystallinity, morphologies, structure, optical properties and specific surface area. The experimental results validated that as-prepared CdS/TiO2-400 could effectively improve the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and displayed superior photocatalytic activity in the degradation process of methyl orange (MO), oxytetracycline (OTC) and tetracycline (TC). The promoted photocatalytic activity was attributed to the calcination procedure and high specific surface area. A possible photocatalytic mechanism of CdS/TiO2-400 was proposed on the basis of trapping experiments.
The 3D porous CdS/TiO2-400with large specific surface area promoted their photocatalytic activity and stability effectively under visible light. Display omitted
•3D porous CdS/TiO2 heterojunction was fabricated in the absence of template.•The prepared CdS/TiO2 owned large specific surface area.•Crystal phase was of changed from cubic into hexagonal.•High stability of photocatalyst was achieved.•Excellent photocatalytic activity of CdS/TiO2 over MO, OTC and TC.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
To overcome the instability of pectin-Ca2+ gels based oral colon-specific drug delivery system (OCDDS) in the upper gastrointestinal tract, the chemical cross-linked pectin carriers were prepared by ...adding succinic anhydride and glutaric dialdehyde as the cross-linking reagents. The diclofenac sodium was employed as the water-soluble drug model to calculate the controlled release properties. The encapsulation efficiency and loading efficiency were measured and the sample PG1 shows the best efficiency of 78.81% and 7.78%, respectively. The simulative release rate was estimated and the cumulative release rate of sample PG1 reached to a maximum of 3.04, 3.66 and 79.43% in SGF, SSIF and SCF. The release data was employed to fit the First order, Higuchi, Bhaskar, and Ritger-peppas model and the goodness of the fit was calculated by the regression coefficient. The succinic anhydride and glutaric dialdehyde cross-linked pectin were characterized by FTIR to prove the cross-linking reaction. In addition, FE-SEM characterization of sample PG1 indicated the rally microsphere with smooth surface. The sample PG1 after the digestion was also characterized by the FE-SEM, and irregularly structure was obtained.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The cardiac mechanosensitive BK (Slo1) channels are gated by Ca2+, voltage, and membrane stretch. The neuropeptide GsMTx4 is a selective inhibitor of mechanosensitive (MS) channels. It has been ...reported to suppress stretch-induced cardiac fibrillation in the heart, but the mechanism underlying the specificity and even the targeting channel(s) in the heart remain elusive. Here, we report that GsMTx4 inhibits a stretch-activated BK channel (SAKcaC) in the heart through a modulation specific to mechano-gating. We show that membrane stretching increases while GsMTx4 decreases the open probability (Po) of SAKcaC. These effects were mostly abolished by the deletion of the STREX axis-regulated (STREX) exon located between RCK1 and RCK2 domains in BK channels. Single-channel kinetics analysis revealed that membrane stretch activates SAKcaC by prolonging the open-time duration (τO) and shortening the closed-time constant (τC). In contrast, GsMTx4 reversed the effects of membrane stretch, suggesting that GsMTx4 inhibits SAKcaC activity by interfering with mechano-gating of the channel. Moreover, GsMTx4 exerted stronger efficacy on SAKcaC under membrane-hyperpolarized/resting conditions. Molecular dynamics simulation study revealed that GsMTx4 appeared to have the ability to penetrate deeply within the bilayer, thus generating strong membrane deformation under the hyperpolarizing/resting conditions. Immunostaining results indicate that BK variants containing STREX are also expressed in mouse ventricular cardiomyocytes. Our results provide common mechanisms of peptide actions on MS channels and may give clues to therapeutic suppression of cardiac arrhythmias caused by excitatory currents through MS channels under hyper-mechanical stress in the heart.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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