Directions of rectification and photocurrent in a ferroelectric BiFeO3 crystal can be switched by applying high‐voltage pulses at room temperature. The switching is highly repeatable though cycling ...and also stable with time. This switchable photocurrent and diode effect results from the combination of polarization flipping and electromigration of oxygen vacancies.
Summary
Background
Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition has been demonstrated to change the expression of a restricted set of cellular genes. T cells are essential in the pathogenesis of ...allergen‐induced airway inflammation. It was recently reported that treatment with HDAC inhibitors induces a T cell‐suppressive effect.
Objective
The purpose of this study was to determine whether treatment with trichostatin A (TSA), a representative HDAC inhibitor, would reduce allergen‐induced airway inflammation in a mouse asthma model.
Methods
BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) and challenged with an aerosol of OVA. TSA (1 mg/kg body weight) was injected intraperitoneally every 2 days beginning on day 1. Mouse lungs were assayed immunohistochemically for HDAC1, a major HDAC subtype, and for infiltration of CD4+ cells. The effect of TSA on airway hyper‐responsiveness (AHR) was determined, and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of these mice was assayed for the number and types of inflammatory cells, and for the concentrations of IL‐4, IL‐5, and IgE.
Results
HDAC1 was localized within most airway cells and infiltrating inflammatory cells of asthmatic lungs. Treatment with TSA significantly attenuated AHR, as well as the numbers of eosinophils and lymphocytes in BALF. TSA also reduced infiltration of CD4+ and inflammatory cells and mucus occlusions in lung tissue, and decreased the concentrations of IL‐4, IL‐5, and IgE in BALF.
Conclusion
TSA attenuated the development of allergic airway inflammation by decreasing expression of the Th2 cytokines, IL‐4 and IL‐5, and IgE, which resulted from reduced T cell infiltration. Our results suggest that HDAC inhibition may attenuate the development of asthma by a T cell suppressive effect.
The effects of oxygen on the mechanical properties and the lattice strain of commercial pure CP) Ti and Ti-6Al-4V alloys are discussed here in terms of the Vickers hardness, tensile strength and ...elongation. The Vickers hardness and tensile strength of the CP Ti and the Ti-6Al-4V alloys increased with an increase in the oxygen concentration. On the other hand, the elongation of the CP Ti decreased considerably as the oxygen concentration increased, while that of the Ti-6Al-4V alloys gradually decreased as the oxygen concentration increased. Thus, the oxygen concentration has a greater effect on the mechanical properties of CP Ti compared to its effects on the Ti-6Al-4V alloy. This can be explained in terms of the difference in the solid solution effect of oxygen between the CP Ti and the Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Where, the mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy were previously affected by an earlier lattice expansion caused by an increment in the c/a ratio of the Ti-6Al-4V during the Al and V alloying process.
Aims/hypothesis
The unfolded protein response (UPR) in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and autophagy are known to be related. We investigated the role of autophagy in UPR of pancreatic beta cells and the ...susceptibility of autophagy-deficient beta cells to the ER stress that is implicated in the development of diabetes.
Methods
Rat insulin promoter (RIP)-
Cre
+
;autophagy-related 7 (
Atg7
)
F/W
mice were bred with
ob/w
mice to derive RIP-
Cre
+
;
Atg7
F/F
-
ob/ob
mice and to induce ER stress in vivo.
GFP-LC3
+
-
ob/ob
mice were generated to examine in vivo autophagic activity. Real-time RT-PCR was performed to study the expression of the genes of the UPR machinery. Proteolysis was assessed by determining release of incorporated radioactive leucine.
Results
Production of UPR machinery was reduced in autophagy-deficient beta cells, which was associated with diminished production of p85α and p85β regulatory subunits of phosphoinositide 3-kinase. Because of compromised UPR machinery, autophagy-deficient beta cells were susceptible to ER stressors in vitro. When mice with beta cell-specific autophagy deficiency, which have mild hyperglycaemia, were bred with
ob/ob
mice to induce ER stress in vivo, severe diabetes developed, which was accompanied by an increase in beta cell death and accumulation of reactive oxygen species. The increased demand for UPR present in obesity was unmet in autophagy-deficient beta cells. Autophagy level and autophagic activity were enhanced by lipid, while proteolysis was reduced.
Conclusions/interpretation
These results suggest that autophagy is important for intact UPR machinery and appropriate UPR in response to lipid injury that increases demand for UPR. Autophagy deficiency in pancreatic beta cells may contribute to the progression from obesity to diabetes.
Given its peak luminosity and early-time spectra, ASASSN-15lh was classified as the most luminous supernova ever discovered. Here, we report a UV rebrightening of ASASSN-15lh observed with Swift ...during our follow-up campaign. The rebrightening began at t ... 90 d (observer frame) after the primary peak and was followed by a ~120-d long plateau in the bolometric luminosity, before starting to fade again at t ... 210 d. ASASSN-15lh rebrightened in the Swift UV bands by ...mUVW2 ... -1.75 mag, ...mUVM2 ... -1.25 mag and ...mUVW1 ... -0.8 mag, but did not rebrighten in the optical bands. Throughout its initial decline, subsequent rebrightening and renewed decline, the spectra did not show evidence of interactions between the ejecta and circumstellar medium such as narrow emission lines. There are hints of weak Ha emission at late-times, but Margutti et al. have shown that it is narrow line emission consistent with star formation in the host nucleus. By fitting a blackbody, we find that during the rebrightening, the effective photospheric temperature increased from TBB ... 11 000 K to TBB ... 18 000 K. Over the ~ 550 d since its detection, ASASSN-15lh has radiated ~1.7 -1.9 x 10 super( 52) erg. Although its physical nature remains uncertain, the evolution of ASASSN-15lh's photospheric radius, its radiated energy and the implied event rate, are all more similar to those of H-poor superluminous supernovae than to tidal disruption events. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Background and purpose
High uric acid (UA) levels have been shown to exert a neuroprotective effect in Parkinson's disease (PD) by inhibiting oxidative stress in the nigrostriatal pathway. However, ...the association between striatal dopamine activity and UA level has not been clarified.
Methods
A total of 213 patients with early PD were enrolled. All patients underwent positron emission tomography using 18F‐N‐(3‐fluoropropyl)‐2beta‐carbon ethoxy‐3beta‐(4‐iodophenyl) nortropane and a venous blood test for quantification of serum UA. All patients were stratified into either the lower UA group or the higher UA group using the median UA level. After normalizing the positron emission tomography images, differences in the regional standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) were analyzed with a volume‐of‐interest template. All tested SUVRs were also compared after categorizing patients by gender.
Results
The UA affected dopamine transporter SUVRs in different ways by gender. In female patients, the higher UA level group showed a smaller reduction in dopamine transporter uptake in the posterior putamen, whereas there was no such association observed in male patients.
Conclusions
Higher UA levels were correlated with higher dopamine transporter uptake in the putamen in female patients with early PD. This finding suggests that UA has a neuroprotective effect, as demonstrated by the relatively preserved striatal dopamine activity in women.
Abstract Background and aim Adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (FABP4) is abundantly expressed in adipocytes and plays a role in glucose homeostasis. We analysed the relationship between serum ...FABP4 levels and the progression of metabolic syndrome in healthy adults. Methodsand results A total of 465 subjects were selected from participants in a medical check-up programme at a Health Promotion Center. Baseline serum FABP4 levels were measured, and the subjects were evaluated for the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) according to the recommendations of the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The subjects were re-evaluated 4 years later. Baseline FABP4 concentrations were significantly higher in subjects with MetS than in those without MetS ( P < 0.001). At the 4-year follow-up, subjects in the highest FABP4 tertile at baseline exhibited higher values for body mass index, fat mass and percent body fat, as well as blood pressure, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α levels (all P < 0.05). The subjects with higher FABP4 levels had lower HDL-cholesterol concentrations ( P < 0.05). After adjustment for age, sex, change in percent body fat and baseline values for other metabolic and inflammatory parameters, FABP4 levels at baseline were shown to be strongly associated with the development of MetS by year 4 (odds ratio (OR), 5.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.71–12.23 for highest tertile vs. lowest tertile, P < 0.001) Conclusion Baseline serum FABP4 levels appear to be a significant predictor for the future development of MetS, independent of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
CO2 capture from coal- or natural gas-derived flue gas has been widely considered as the next opportunity for the large-scale deployment of gas separation membranes. Despite the tremendous progress ...made in the synthesis of polymeric membranes with high CO2/N2 separation performance, only a few membrane technologies were advanced to the bench-scale study or above from a highly idealized laboratory setting. Therefore, the recent progress in polymeric membranes is reviewed in the perspectives of capture system energetics, process synthesis, membrane scale-up, modular fabrication, and field tests. These engineering considerations can provide a holistic approach to better guide membrane research and accelerate the commercialization of gas separation membranes for post-combustion carbon capture.
It is unclear whether the amount of sodium consumed and the degree of saltiness of food is associated with obesity. We examined the association between sodium intake and obesity using the concept of ...sodium density.
This study included 5025 children (7-18 years) and 20586 adults (≥ 19 years) who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHANES), 2007-2010. We defined sodium density(mg/g) as the ratio of daily dietary sodium intake (mg/day) and daily food weight consumed (g/day). We examined the association between sodium density and obesity, and abdominal obesity in children and adults.
The overall prevalences of obesity and abdominal obesity were 31.4 and 24.5%, respectively, in adults and 4.5 and 6.5%, respectively, in children. The multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for obesity in adults with the highest quintile of sodium density compared with the lowest quintile was 1.18 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04-1.35), and a significant dose-response association (P for trend=0.002) was observed. The OR for abdominal obesity in adults with the highest quintile of sodium density was not statistically significant after adjusting for confounding factors, but showed a significant dose-response association (P for trend=0.043). In children, OR values for obesity and abdominal obesity in the highest quintile of sodium density were 1.78 (95% CI, 1.13-2.80) and 2.13 (95% CI, 1.16-3.91), respectively, and both showed significant dose-response associations (P for trend <0.001).
Our results indicate that high sodium intake may be a potential risk factor for weight gain independent of calorie intake.
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