•Aerobic composting was conducted for feces disposal at controlled temperatures of 35 and 55°C.•The route of nitrogen loss was Norg ammonification followed by NH3(g) emission.•At 55°C Norg ...ammonification was restrained and nitrogen loss was very low.•The microbial community underwent successions differently at different temperatures.•Certain microbial species identified could perform nitrogen-fixation or sustain low pH at 55°C.
Batch experiments were conducted for feces composting using an aerobic composting reactor with sawdust as bulky matrix. In the 14-day composting processes at 35±2 and 55±2°C, compost samples were collected daily and chemical analyses and PCR-DGGE were carried out for investigating the influence of composting temperature on organic decomposition, nitrogen transformation, and microbial communities. At 55±2°C, in addition to a slightly higher COD removal, nitrogen loss was greatly restrained. As organic nitrogen took about 85% of the total nitrogen originated from human feces, the suppression of ammonification process under thermophilic environment might be the main reason for less nitrogen loss at 55±2°C. By PCR-DGGE analysis, the microbial community was found to undergo successions differently at 35±2 and 55±2°C. Certain sequences identified from the compost at 55±2°C represented the microbial species which could perform nitrogen-fixation or sustain a lower pH in the compost so that gaseous ammonia emission was suppressed.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in gastric cancer development and progression. However, the expression and role of miRNAs in gastric cancer stromal cells are still unclear.
The miRNAs differentially ...expressed in gastric cancer tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (GC-MSCs) relative to adjacent non-cancerous tissue-derived MSCs (GCN-MSCs) and in cancer tissues relative to adjacent non-cancerous tissues were screened using miRNA microarray and validated by quantitative RT-PCR. The impact of GC-MSCs on HGC-27 cells was observed in vitro using colony formation and transwell assays, and these cells were subcutaneously co-injected into mice to assess tumour growth in vivo. Exogenous downregulation of miR-221 expression in cells was achieved using an miRNA inhibitor.
miR-214, miR-221 and miR-222 were found to be commonly upregulated in GC-MSCs and cancer tissues. Their levels were tightly associated with lymph node metastasis, venous invasion and the TNM stage. Gastric cancer tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells significantly promoted HGC-27 growth and migration and increased the expression of miR-221 via paracrine secretion, and the targeted inhibition of miR-221 in GC-MSCs could block its tumour-supporting role. GC-MSC-derived exosomes were found to deliver miR-221 to HGC-27 cells and promoted their proliferation and migration.
Gastric cancer tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells favour gastric cancer progression by transferring exosomal miRNAs to gastric cancer cells, thus providing a novel mechanism for the role of GC-MSCs and new biomarkers for gastric cancer.
Endovascular recanalization has been attempted in patients with symptomatic chronic ICA occlusion, however, the heterogeneity of recanalization outcomes and the perioperative complications present ...challenges for the clinical application. Our aim was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of endovascular recanalization for symptomatic chronic ICA occlusion and identify potential predictors for successful recanalization.
This study included 47 consecutive patients with symptomatic chronic ICA occlusion who underwent endovascular recanalization at our institution. Patients' clinical information, radiologic characteristics, procedural results, and outcomes were recorded. Factors related to technical success were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses.
The technical success rate was 74.5% (35/47); 12.8% of patients (6/47) experienced intraoperative complications, but none had permanent neurologic deficits. Three months after recanalization, 21 of the 29 recanalized patients (72.4%) and 3 of the 10 failed patients (30.0%) demonstrated improved mRS scores. Restenosis or re-occlusion occurred in 12.9% of patients (4/31) with successful recanalization. Multivariate analysis showed that tapered or blunt stump (
= .016), distal ICA occlusion segment (below the cavernous segment versus at or above the ophthalmic segment,
= .003; at the cavernous or clinoid segment versus at or above the ophthalmic segment,
= .027), and radiologic occlusion to recanalization of ≤3 months (
= .044) were significantly associated with successful recanalization. Patients were assigned points according to the coefficients of the prediction model, and the technical success rates were 0%, 46.2%, 90.5%, and 100% in patients with 1, 2, 3, and 4 points, respectively.
Endovascular recanalization is a safe and effective treatment for symptomatic chronic ICA occlusion in selected patients. A residual stump, low levels of the distal ICA occlusion segment, and a short radiologic occlusion time were identified as positive predictors of technical success.
Aim To evaluate the performance of the combination of diffusion-weighted (DW) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for differentiating radiologically indeterminate ...malignant from benign orbital masses. Materials and methods Sixty-five patients with orbital masses (36 benign and 29 malignant) underwent DW and DCE MRI examinations for pre-treatment evaluation. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was derived from DW imaging data using the mono-exponential model. The volume transfer constant (Ktrans ), the flux rate constant between the extravascular extracellular space and the plasma (Kep ), and the extravascular extracellular volume fraction (Ve ) were calculated using modified Tofts model. Differences in quantitative metrics were tested using independent-samples t test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were used to determine and compare the diagnostic ability of each significant metric. Results The malignant group demonstrated significantly lower ADC (0.711±0.260 versus 1.187±0.389, p <0.001) and higher Kep values (1.265±0.637 versus 0.871±0.610, p =0.008) than the benign group. Optimal diagnostic performance (area under the ROC curve AUC, 0.941; sensitivity, 0.966; specificity, 0.917) could be achieved using combined ADC and Kep values as the diagnostic index. The diagnostic performance of the combination of ADC and Kep was significantly better than Kep alone ( p =0.006). Compared with ADC alone, combined ADC and Kep values also showed higher AUC (0.941 versus 0.898), although the difference did not reach statistical significance ( p =0.220). Conclusion Kep and ADC could help to differentiate radiologically indeterminate malignant from benign orbital masses. The combination of DW and DCE MRI might improve the differentiating performance.
Carbon nanotube (CNTs) reinforced Mg matrix composites were successfully fabricated by a novel approach. After hot extrusion, the influence of CNTs on microstructure and mechanical properties of ...Mg–6Zn matrix was investigated. The results showed that most CNTs distributed uniformly and individually in the composites, and good interfacial bonding was achieved. CNTs significantly refined the grains of Mg–6Zn matrix, and the CNTs evidently improved the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and Young's modulus. Grain refinement, load transfer mechanism and Orowan strengthening mechanism play important roles on the increase of the yield strength.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related degenerative disease accompanied by an increasing number of senescent cells and chronic low-grade inflammation. Rhoifolin (ROF) showed considerable inhibition to ...inflammation, but its role in chondrocyte senescence and OA progress has not been fully characterized. We aimed to evaluate the protective effects of ROF on OA through a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments.
The role of ROF in the expression of senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factors was investigated using RT-qPCR, western blotting, and ELISA. Chondrocyte senescence was assessed by SA-β-gal staining. We applied molecular docking to screen candidate proteins regulated by ROF. Meanwhile, SASP factors and cellular senescence were further assessed after the transfection of Nrf2 siRNA. In the anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) rat model, X-ray, hematoxylin-eosin (HE), and Masson's staining were performed to evaluate the therapeutic effects of ROF on OA.
We found that ROF inhibited SASP factors expression and senescence phenotype in IL-1β-treated chondrocytes. Furthermore, ROF suppressed IL-1β-induced activation of the NF-κB pathway cascades. Also, molecular docking and knock-down studies demonstrated that ROF might bind to Nrf2 to suppress the NF-κB pathway. In vivo, ROF ameliorated the OA process in the ACLT rat model.
ROF inhibits SASP factors expression and senescence phenotype in chondrocytes and ameliorates the progression of OA via the Nrf2/NF-κB axis, which supports ROF as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of OA.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the leading cause of joint pain and disability in middle-aged and elderly patients, and is characterized by progressive loss of articular cartilage that eventually leads to a ...complex process involving degradation of various components of the cartilage matrix, chief among them are the cartilage-specific type II collagen (CII) and aggrecan. While the loss of aggrecan is thought to be an early and reversible process, degradation of CII is considered to be irreversible and a key step in the loss of structural and functional integrity of cartilage. Among the various matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-13 is specifically expressed in the cartilage of human OA patients and is not present in normal adult cartilage. It is the major collagenase in OA cartilage and has the highest activity against CII. However, the clinical utility of broad-spectrum MMP inhibitors developed for treatment of OA has been restricted by dose- and duration-dependent musculoskeletal side effects in humans. Consequently, selectively inhibiting the MMP-13 would seem to be an attractive therapeutic objective. This review mainly focuses on selective MMP-13 inhibitors development in terms of OA since the late 90s, in terms of synthetic compounds of low molecular mass incorporating specific zinc-binding groups, non-zinc-binding groups. In addition, dual inhibitors of MMP-13 and aggrecanase are also reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on logistic concerns for lead compound search as well as the structure-activity relationship (SAR) in this field. Through these methods, new hope is emerging for the treatment of OA through selective inhibition of MMP-13.
Beam background simulation and experiment at BEPCII Shi, H.C.; Wang, B.; Shi, H.Y. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
20/May , Letnik:
1050
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A high-level beam background is a crucial challenge to future upgrades to the BEPCII collider. We report on the first separate measurement of main beam background components at BEPCII. The separation ...measurement enables the beam background extrapolation towards the beam parameters assumed for the upgraded BEPCII. The measured rates of each background component are also compared with a brand-new simulation based on SAD and Geant4. The discrepancy between experiment and simulation remains 1∼2 magnitudes after calibration with beam lifetime, which should be further investigated.
Sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1; gene name SREBF1) is known to be the master regulator of lipid homeostasis in mammals, including milk fat synthesis. The major role of SREBP1 in ...controlling milk fat synthesis has been demonstrated in bovine mammary epithelial cells. Except for a demonstrated role in controlling the expression of FASN, a regulatory role of SREBP1 on milk fat synthesis is very likely, but has not yet been demonstrated in goat mammary epithelial cells (GMEC). To explore the regulatory function of SREBP1 on de novo fatty acids and triacylglycerol synthesis in GMEC, we overexpressed the mature form of SREBP1 (active NH2-terminal fragment) in GMEC using a recombinant adenovirus vector (Ad-nSREBP1), with Ad-GFP (recombinant adenovirus of green fluorescent protein) as control, and infected the GMEC for 48 h. In infected cells, we assessed the expression of 20 genes related to milk fat synthesis using real time-quantitative PCR, the protein abundance of SREBP1 and FASN by Western blot, the production of triacylglycerol, and the fatty acid profile. Expression of SREBF1 was modest in mammary compared with the other tissues in dairy goats but its expression increased approximately 30-fold from pregnancy to lactation. The overexpression of the mature form of SREBP1 was confirmed by >200-fold higher expression of SREBF1 in Ad-nSREBP1 compared with Ad-GFP. We observed no changes in amount of the precursor form of SREBP1 protein but a >10-fold increase of the mature form of SREBP1 protein with Ad-nSREBP1. Compared with Ad-GFP cells (control), Ad-nSREBP1 cells had a significant increase in expression of genes related to long-chain fatty acid activation (ACSL1), transport (FABP3), desaturation (SCD1), de novo synthesis of fatty acids (ACSS2, ACLY, IDH1, ACACA, FASN, and ELOVL6), and transcriptional factors (NR1H3 and PPARG). We observed a >10-fold increase in expression of INSIG1 but SCAP was downregulated by Ad-nSREBP1. Among genes related to milk fat synthesis and lipid droplet formation, only LPIN1 and DGAT1 were upregulated by Ad-nSREBP1. Compared with the Ad-GFP, the cellular triacylglycerol content was higher and the percentage of C16:0 and C18:1 increased, whereas that of C16:1, C18:0, and C18:2 decreased in Ad-nSREBP1 cells. Overall, the data provide strong support for a central role of SREBP1 in the regulation of milk fat synthesis in goat mammary cells.
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