The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-17 (IL-17) has recently been shown to promote angiogenesis. In addition, a receptor for IL-17, IL-17 receptor C (IL-17RC), is enriched in patients with wet, ...age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease characterized by the formation of choroidal neovascularization. However, the role of IL-17 in choroidal endothelial cells (CECs) angiogenesis has not been defined. This study was conducted to determine the effect of IL-17 on proliferation, migration, and tube formation of human CECs.
Expression patterns of IL-17 receptor A (IL-17RA) and IL-17RC on isolated human CECs were analyzed by flow cytometry and immunofluorescent staining. Proangiogenic effects of IL-17 on CECs was determined by proliferation assays with a water-soluble tetrazolium cell proliferation reagent kit, wound healing migration assays, and tube formation assays using basement membrane matrix. Cytoskeletal changes were observed by F-actin immunofluorescent staining. Activated Rac1 and RhoA levels were analyzed by pull-down assays.
Interleukin-17RA and IL-17RC were present on human CECs. Interleukin-17 enhanced migration and tube formation but did not affect proliferation. Moreover, IL-17 induced rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton and upregulated activated Rac1 and RhoA in CECs. The PI3K inhibitor wortmannin suppressed CEC migration, cytoskeleton rearrangement, and upregulation of activated Rac1 and RhoA induced by IL-17.
Interleukin-17 elicits a proangiogenesis effect on human CECs in vitro by promoting migration and tube formation. The promoted migration effect was dependent on PI3K-Rac1 and RhoA-mediated actin cytoskeleton remodeling.
Isothermal section at 700 °C of the ternary Mn–As–Pr system was established by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersion spectroscopy techniques. This isothermal ...section consists of 11 single-phase, 20 two-phase regions, and 10 three-phase regions. The maximum solubility of Pr in MnAs is less than 1.25 at.%Pr and that of Mn in AsPr is less than 3 at.%Mn. The phase Mn4As3 does not exist under the applied experimental conditions. An existence of a new ternary phase Ω is observed in the Mn–As–Pr system at 700 °C. Since all the attempts to prepare a single ternary phase (Ω) sample were unsuccessful, the structure of phase Ω has not been solved and its chemical composition is approximately defined as Mn16As25Pr9 from the SEM-EDS analyses.
•The isothermal section of the Mn–As–Pr system at 700 °C is established.•The formation of new ternary phase Ω with a composition Mn16As25Pr9 is determined.•The maximum solubilities of Pr in MnAs and Mn in AsPr are determined.
(1−
x
)(Li
0.05
Na
0.475
K
0.475
)(Nb
0.95
Sb
0.05
O
3
)−
x
BiFeO
3
ceramics were prepared by the conventional sintering method. The microstructure, phases and their relative volume fractions were ...investigated in detail by using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Fullprof and Topas softwares were also used to refine the X-ray diffraction data to confirm the crystal structure. The refinement results show that for
x
≤ 0.008, the ceramics consists of the orthorhombic and tetragonal perovskite phases, and the fraction of the orthorhombic phase decreases from 50.66 % for
x
= 0.0 to 40.62 % for
x
= 0.008. When
x
= 0.01, the ceramics has a mixed microstructure with three coexisting phases: the orthorhombic, tetragonal perovskite phases and tetragonal tungsten bronze-type structure phase, and the fraction of the tetragonal tungsten bronze-type structure phase is 6.72 %. The selected area electron diffraction data is also consistent with the space groups for all of the above phases. This system also exhibits good ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties for applications, for example, at
x
= 0.004, the ceramic samples have a piezoelectric constant (
d
33
) of 272 pC/N and remanent polarization (
P
r
) of 20.6 μC/cm
2
.
An Antilock Braking System (ABS) is one of the most important safety facilities equipped in modern vehicles. A self-test is therefore embedded into its ECU to identify any electronic malfunction. ...However there is no effective method to predict or check its mechanical conditions routinely to ensure its functionality. Because the ABS system is merely actuated above a particular speed in emergency stops, the current brake test facilities are not adequate for ABS test. Because of the dangers involved it would not be acceptable to use a public road to implement such a practice for fault detection so an alternative means must be sought. To provide a safe and convenient solution this paper proposes a novel method to predict ABS faults whilst the vehicle is stationary. In this situation a model-based approach is applied to predict various faults from the ABS, especially from its hydraulic subsystem. As such, a mathematic model is developed to describe the operating processes of ABS including possible faulty conditions. An autonomous control strategy is also designed to actuate the control module independently without the knowledge of the control algorithms embedded in an ABS control module. This approach is evaluated through a Simulink simulation.
Some studies investigated the association of paraoxonase 1 (PON1) polymorphisms with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) risk. However, the result was still inconsistent. The aim of this study was to ...investigate whether there is an association between the PON1 polymorphisms and PCOS risk. Electronic databases, such as PubMed, EMBASE, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases, were searched for identification of the studies. The associations between PON1 polymorphisms and PCOS risk was quantified using ORs with 95% CIs. A total of 8 eligible studies with 2272 cases and 1811 controls were included in this meta-analysis. PON1 Leu55Met polymorphism was associated with a significantly increased risk of PCOS (OR=1.31; 95%CI, 1.10-1.55). However, no association was found in Asians and Caucasians (Table 2). We also found that PON1 Q192R polymorphism was associated with a significantly increased risk of PCOS (OR=1.81; 95%CI, 1.17-2.82). Additionally, this polymorphism increased PCOS risk in Asians (OR=1.26; 95%CI, 1.13-1.41). Furthermore, PON1 C108T polymorphism showed increased PCOS risk (OR=1.46; 95%CI, 1.08-1.97). No association between this polymorphism and PCOS risk was found in Asians and Caucasians. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggested that PON1 polymorphisms were associated with PCOS risk.
Metastasis remains one of the greatest challenges involved in treating gastric cancer (GC). Ropivacaine (Rop) is not only a well-documented local anesthetic medicament but also has been reported to ...exert an antitumor role in cancer development. This study explored the effects of ropivacaine on the growth, migration and invasion of gastric cancer and the underlying mechanisms.
Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay was conducted to test the effect of Rop on the proliferation of AGS and BGC-823 GC cells. Moreover, cell apoptosis, migration and invasion were examined by flow cytometry and transwell assay, respectively. The expression of miR-520a-3p was determined by qRT-PCR. miRNA targeting sites were analyzed using bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assay. Protein levels of WEE1 and PI3K/AKT were detected by Western blot. Furthermore, the tumor-forming experiment of nude mice was used to detect the growth of cells in vivo.
Rop inhibited proliferation but promoted apoptosis of GC cells. Besides, the migration and invasion of GC cells were also inhibited by Rop. Moreover, miR-520a-3p expression was enhanced by Rop, and transfection with miR-520a-3p mimic decreased cell proliferation, migration and invasion. The upregulation of miR-520a-3p was partly contributed to the inhibitory effect of ropivacaine on GC cell lines. Finally, Rop inactivated WEE1 and PI3K/AKT pathway via upregulation of miR-520a-3p.
Our results suggested that Rop decreased growth, migration and invasion of GC cells via regulating miR-520a-3p expression and further inactivated WEE1 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways.
OBJECTIVETo assess the association between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among participants with and without diabetes from cohorts in the Asia–Pacific region.
...RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSHazards ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for CVD were calculated from Cox models, stratified by sex and region and adjusted for age using individual participant data from 36 cohort studies. Repeat measurements of SBP were used to adjust for regression dilution bias.
RESULTSDuring follow-up, 7387 fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular endpoints were recorded among 368 307 participants (6.4% with diabetes). SBP was associated with coronary heart disease (CHD), ischaemic stroke and haemorrhagic stroke in a continuous log-linear fashion among individuals with diabetes, as well as those without diabetes. Overall, each 10 mmHg higher usual SBP was associated with 18% (95% CI9–27%) and 23% (19–26%) greater risk for CHD among those with and without diabetes, respectively. The corresponding values for ischaemic stroke were 29% (14–45%) and 43% (37–50%), and for haemorrhagic stroke, 56% (32–83%) and 74% (66–82%). The test for heterogeneity by diabetes status in each of these associations was not significant (P ≥ 0.10).
CONCLUSIONSSystolic blood pressure is an important marker of risk of CVD in people with and without diabetes. A given reduction in systolic blood pressure is likely to have a similar relative effect on reducing the risk of a cardiovascular event, regardless of diabetes status.
High-resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a powerful diagnostic tool for probing chemical and physical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) at various phases. We present detections of K ...transition absorption lines from the low-ionization ions of O I, O II, Ne I, Ne II, and Ne III, and the high-ionization ones of O VI, O VII, O VIII, Ne IX, and Mg XI, as well as details of neutral absorption edges from Mg, Ne, and O in an unprecedented high-quality spectrum of the low-mass X-ray binary Cyg X-2. These absorption features trace the intervening ISM which is indicated by the unshifted line centroids with respect to the rest-frame wavelengths of the corresponding atomic transitions. We have measured the column densities of each ion. We complement these measurements with the radio H I and optical Ha observations toward the same sight line and estimate the mean abundances of Ne, O, and Mg in the cool phase to Ne/H = 0.84+0.13 -0.10 X 10-4, O/H = 3.83+0.48 -0.43 X 10-4, and Mg/H = 0.35+0.09 -0.11 X 10-4, and O and Mg in the hot phase to O/H = 5.81+1.30 -1.34 X 10-4 and Mg/H = 0.33+0.09 -0.09 X 10-4, respectively. These results indicate a mild depletion of oxygen into dust grains in the cool phase and little or no depletion of magnesium. We also find that absorption from highly ionized ions in the hot Galactic disk gas can account for most of the absorption observed toward the extragalactic sight lines like Mrk 421. The bulk of the observed O VI likely originates from the conductive interfaces between the cool and hot gases, from which a significant amount of N V and C IV emission is predicted.
Evidence indicates that the CYP19 gene is a positional and functional candidate for genetic study in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The present study aims to evaluate the association between ...tetranucleotide TTTA repeat polymorphism in the CYP19 gene and PCOS among Han Chinese women.
Clinical materials employed in this study consist of 123 patients with PCOS and 113 healthy controls. The CYP19 tetranucleotide TTTA repeat polymorphism was genotyped with a protocol of PCR and fluorescent capillary electrophoresis.
Common allele of the CYP19 tetranucleotide TTTA repeat polymorphism in this population of Han Chinese women was 11R. The frequency of 11R in PCOS was lower than in the control subjects (34.55% vs 42.92%, p=0.046). The carriers with allele 11R in PCOS had decreased CHO (5.00+/-0.63 vs 6.14+/-0.85 mmol/L, p=0.012). The carriers with allele 7R-TCT in PCOS had increased CHO (5.96+/-0.83 vs 5.08+/-0.65 mmol/L, p=0.027) and LDL (5.11+/-0.77 vs 4.31+/-0.66 mmol/L, p=0.014) compared to the patients carrying other alleles.
The most common allele of the tetranucleotide TTTA repeat polymorphism in the forth intron of CYP19 gene in Han Chinese women is 11R, which was different with the previous study in European Caucasians. Allele 11R may be associated with PCOS in the population of Han Chinese women, and it may refrain from the hypercholesteremia of PCOS. Allele 7R-TCT may be related to the lipid metabolism of PCOS. This CYP19 tetranucleotide TTTA repeat polymorphism is an ethnic and racial variant and moderately contributes to the pathogenesis of PCOS in the population of Han Chinese women.
Rutting and cracking occur simultaneously in asphalt mixtures as observed in the field and in the laboratory. Existing mechanical models have not properly addressed viscoelastic and viscoplastic ...deformation together with cracking attributable to model deficiencies, parameter calibration, and numerical inefficiency. This study developed viscoelasticplastic–fracture (VEPF) models for the characterization of viscoelasticity by Prony model and viscoplasticity by Perzyna’s flow rule with a generalized Drucker–Prager yield surface and a nonassociated plastic potential. Viscofracture damage was modeled by a viscoelastic Griffith criterion and a pseudo J-integral Paris’s law for crack initiation and propagation, respectively. The VEPF models were implemented in a finite element program by using a weak form partial differential equation modeling technique without the need for programming user-defined material subroutines. Model parameters were derived from fundamental material properties by using dynamic modulus, strength, and repeated load tests. Simulations indicated that the viscoelastic–viscoplastic–viscofracture characteristics were effectively modeled by the VEPF models for asphalt mixtures at different confinements and temperatures. An asphalt mixture under monotonic compressive loads exhibited a sequenced process including a pure viscoelastic deformation stage, a coupled viscoelastic–viscoplastic deformation stage, a viscoelastic–viscoplastic deformation coupled with a viscofracture initiation and a propagation stage, and then a viscoelastic–viscofracture rupture stage with saturated viscoplastic deformation. The asphalt mixture under repeated loads yielded an increasing viscoplastic strain at an increasing rate during the first half of the haversine load, while the increment of the viscoplastic strain (per load cycle) decreased with load cycles. The finite element program, which is based on a partial differential equation, effectively modeled the coupled viscoelastic–viscoplastic–viscofracture behaviors of the asphalt mixtures.
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