We report on the first Belle search for a light CP-odd Higgs boson, A^{0}, that decays into low mass dark matter, χ, in final states with a single photon and missing energy. We search for events ...produced via the dipion transition ϒ(2S)→ϒ(1S)π^{+}π^{-}, followed by the on-shell process ϒ(1S)→γA^{0} with A^{0}→χχ, or by the off-shell process ϒ(1S)→γχχ. Utilizing a data sample of 157.3×10^{6} ϒ(2S) decays, we find no evidence for a signal. We set limits on the branching fractions of such processes in the mass ranges M_{A^{0}}<8.97 GeV/c^{2} and M_{χ}<4.44 GeV/c^{2}. We then use the limits on the off-shell process to set competitive limits on WIMP-nucleon scattering in the WIMP mass range below 5 GeV/c^{2}.
A cell line ZBE3 isolated from a continuous cell culture derived from zebrafish Danio rerio blastomeres by clonal growth was characterized. ZBE3 cells had been subcultured for >120 passages since the ...initial primary culture of the blastomeres. The ZBE3 cells grow stably at temperature from 20 to 32° C with an optimum temperature of 28° C in ESM2 or ESM4 medium with 15% foetal bovine serum (FBS). The optimum FBS concentration for ZBE3 cell growth ranged from 15 to 20%. Cytogenetical analysis indicated that the modal chromosome number of ZBE3 cells was 50, the same as the diploid chromosome number of D. rerio. Significant cytopathic effect was observed in ZBE3 cells after infection with redspotted grouper nervous necrosis virus, Singapore grouper iridovirus and grass carp reovirus, and the viral replication in the cells was confirmed by real‐time quantitative PCR and transmission electron microscopy, indicating the susceptibility of ZBE3 cells to the three fish viruses. After transfected with pEGFP‐N3 plasmid, ZBE3 cells showed a transfection efficiency of about 40% which was indicated by the percentage of cells expressing green fluorescence protein. The stable growth, susceptibility to fish viruses as well as high transfection efficiency make ZBE3 cells be a useful tool in transgenic manipulation, fish virus‐host cell interaction and immune response in fish.
Squeezing of the quadratures of the electromagnetic field has been extensively studied in optics and microwaves. However, previous works focused on the generation of squeezed states in a low ...impedance (Z_{0}≈50 Ω) environment. We report here on the demonstration of the squeezing of bosonic edge magnetoplasmon modes in a quantum Hall conductor whose characteristic impedance is set by the quantum of resistance (R_{K}≈25 kΩ), offering the possibility of an enhanced coupling to low-dimensional quantum conductors. By applying a combination of dc and ac drives to a quantum point contact, we demonstrate squeezing and observe a noise reduction 18% below the vacuum fluctuations. This level of squeezing can be improved by using more complex conductors, such as ac driven quantum dots or mesoscopic capacitors.
Multilayered balloon catheters are attracting more attention in recent years. Multilayered balloon catheters have some unique properties such as meso-/microscale dimensions, small wall thickness, and ...strict requirements of dimensional accuracy. In this study, three-layered polymeric balloon catheters composed of polyamide, ethylene vinyl acetate, and polypropylene (PA/EVA/PP) are successfully fabricated using a three-layered coextrusion die and the polymer melt flowing behavior through the extrusion die are analyzed. Both the diameter and wall thicknesses have been selected as the targeted structural parameters to investigate the effects of pulling speed, air injection volume rate, and screw speed on the quality of the extrudates. The optimal combination of these three operating conditions has been achieved. It is found that pulling speed can significantly affect the diameters of the extruded balloon catheters. The variation interval values of outer profile diameter and inner cavity diameter with the extrusion experiments are 20.95% and 13.04%, respectively. The screw speed of each layer has a great influence on the wall thickness of each layer. Through the influence of outer screw speed, middle screw speed and inner screw speed, the variation interval values for outer layer wall thickness, middle layer wall thickness, and inner layer wall thickness are 31.06%, 35.69%, and 31.35%, respectively. The air injection volume rate has negligible effect.
Liver cancer is a malignant cancer with great harmfulness. Fenofibrate is a peroxisome proliferation activated receptor (PPARα) agonist widely used in the treatment of dyslipidemia. Previous studies ...have shown that fenofibrate may promote cell proliferation, but the underlying mechanism has not been fully characterized. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of PPARα agonist fenofibrate in cell proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells compared with that of THLE-2 cells. SMMC-7721 and THLE-2 cells were treated with different concentrations of fenofibrate. Cell proliferation was analyzed by MTT, using flow cytometry for cell cycle analysis, and CyclinD1, Cyclin-dependent kinases2 (CDK2) and Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA) were analyzed by Western blotting. RT-qPCR method was used to assess CDK2, CyclinD1 and PCNA mRNA levels. The results showed that 10−9–10−4 mol/L fenofibrate could induce cell growth and 10−4, 10−5, 10−6 mol/L fenofibrate could reduce the number of G0/G1 phase cells and increased in the number of cells in S and G2/M phase of cell cycle in SMMC-7721 cells. Furthermore, fenofibrate could significantly increase the expression of cell cycle related protein (CyclinD1, CDK2)and cell proliferation related proteins (PCNA). The use of PPARα inhibitor MT886 inhibited cell cycle progression and promote tumor cell apoptosis. But fenofibrate had no obvious effect on THLE-2 cells. These results revealed the effect of fenofibrate on the cell cycle of liver cancer cells, and provided a reasonable explanation for studying how fenofibrate promotes cell proliferation.
Minutes of the 2022 China Rhinology Annual Meeting Zhang, T; Jin, Y; Wang, H G ...
Zhonghua er bi yan hou tou jing wai ke za zhi = Chinese journal of otorhinolaryngology head and neck surgery,
2022-Dec-07, Letnik:
57, Številka:
12
Journal Article
We investigated the hydraulic efficiency of spark-generated bubbles under conditions of different discharge polarities and different electrode numbers. A positive polarity discharge can generate a ...larger spark-induced bubble than a negative polarity discharge generated using the same electrical and electrode parameters. The hydraulic efficiency of both the positive and negative polarity discharges decreases with the increasing number of electrodes. Increasing the number of electrodes leads to faster energy injection times and higher average powers. We found that the hydraulic efficiency increases when energy injection time increases but that it decreases when the average power increases. When the energy injection time is longer than 100 µs and the average power is less than 100 kW, hydraulic efficiencies of more than 15% and 10% were realized for the positive and negative polarity discharges, respectively. These results indicate that longer energy injection times will be helpful in gaining higher hydraulic efficiency for these bubbles.
Background
Chronic pain in masticatory muscles is a major medical problem. Although mechanisms underlying persistent pain in masticatory muscles are not fully understood, sensitization of nociceptive ...primary afferents following muscle inflammation or injury contributes to muscle hyperalgesia. It is well known that craniofacial muscle injury or inflammation induces regulation of multiple genes in trigeminal ganglia, which is associated with muscle hyperalgesia. However, overall transcriptional profiles within trigeminal ganglia following masseter inflammation have not yet been determined. In the present study, we performed RNA sequencing assay in rat trigeminal ganglia to identify transcriptome profiles of genes relevant to hyperalgesia following inflammation of the rat masseter muscle.
Results
Masseter inflammation differentially regulated >3500 genes in trigeminal ganglia. Predominant biological pathways were predicted to be related with activation of resident non-neuronal cells within trigeminal ganglia or recruitment of immune cells. To focus our analysis on the genes more relevant to nociceptors, we selected genes implicated in pain mechanisms, genes enriched in small- to medium-sized sensory neurons, and genes enriched in TRPV1-lineage nociceptors. Among the 2320 candidate genes, 622 genes showed differential expression following masseter inflammation. When the analysis was limited to these candidate genes, pathways related with G protein-coupled signaling and synaptic plasticity were predicted to be enriched. Inspection of individual gene expression changes confirmed the transcriptional changes of multiple nociceptor genes associated with masseter hyperalgesia (e.g., Trpv1, Trpa1, P2rx3, Tac1, and Bdnf) and also suggested a number of novel probable contributors (e.g., Piezo2, Tmem100, and Hdac9).
Conclusion
These findings should further advance our understanding of peripheral mechanisms involved in persistent craniofacial muscle pain conditions and provide a rational basis for identifying novel genes or sets of genes that can be potentially targeted for treating such conditions.
► CFA induced long lasting mechanical hyperalgesia in the rat hindpaw. ► No sex differences in baseline or changes in mechanical sensitivity were observed. ► Activation of peripheral KOR attenuated ...inflammatory mechanical hyperalgesia. ► High dose of KOR agonist produced moderate but significant sex differences.
Activation of peripheral κ opioid receptors (KOR) effectively relieves pain and hyperalgesia in preclinical and clinical models of pain. Although centrally located KOR activation results in sexually dimorphic effects, it is unclear whether peripheral KOR also produces sex dependent effects in persistent inflammatory pain conditions. In this study, we investigated whether local administration of a specific KOR agonist, U50, 488 relieve mechanical hyperalgesia induced by the injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in the rat hindpaw, and whether there are sex differences. The effects of U50, 488 were assessed three days after the induction of CFA-induced inflammation, a time point at which mechanical hyperalgesia was most prominent. There were no sex differences in baseline and CFA-induced changes in mechanical thresholds between male and female rats. Local treatment of U50, 488 produced moderate, but significant, anti-hyperalgesia in both male and female rats. However, U50, 488 was significantly more effective in male rats at the highest dose of U50, 488. We confirmed that the highest dose of U50, 488 used in this study did not produce systemic effects, and that the drug effect is receptor specific. On the basis of these results, we suggest that local KOR agonists are effective in mitigating mechanical hyperalgesia under a persistent inflammatory pain condition and that sex differences in anti-hyperalgesic effects become more evident at high doses.
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