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Abstract Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), known for causing gastric inflammation, gastritis and gastric cancer, prompted our study to investigate the differential expression of cytokines in gastric tissues, which is crucial for understanding H. pylori infection and its potential progression to gastric cancer. Focusing on Il-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-18, and TNF-α, we analysed gene and protein levels to differentiate between H. pylori-infected and non-infected gastritis. We utilised real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for gene quantification, immunohistochemical staining, and ELISA for protein measurement. Gastric samples from patients with gastritis were divided into three groups: (1) non-gastritis (N-group) group, (2) gastritis without H. pylori infection (G-group), and (3) gastritis with H. pylori infection (GH-group), each consisting of 8 samples. Our findings revealed a statistically significant variation in cytokine expression. Generally, cytokine levels were higher in gastritis, but in H. pylori-infected gastritis, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 levels were lower compared to H. pylori-independent gastritis, while IL-12, IL-18, and TNF-α levels were higher. This distinct cytokine expression pattern in H. pylori-infected gastritis underscores a unique inflammatory response, providing deeper insights into its pathogenesis.

Abstract The motional consensus of self-propelled particles is studied in both noise-free cases and cases with noise by the standard Vicsek model. In the absence of noise, we propose a simple method, using grid-based technique and defining the normalized variance of the ratio of the number of particles locally to globally, to quantitatively study the movement pattern of the system by the spatial distribution of the particles and the degree of aggregation of particles. It is found that the weaker correlation of velocity leads to larger degree of aggregation of the particles. In the cases with noise, we quantify the competition between velocity alignment and noise by considering the difference of the variety of order parameter result from the velocity alignment and noise. The variation of the effect of noise on motional consensus is non-monotonic for the change of the probability distribution of noise from uniform to non-uniform. Our results may be useful and encourage further efforts in exploring the basic principles of collective motion.

Abstract To develop MRI-based radiomics model for predicting prostate cancer (PCa) in men with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels of 4–10 ng/mL, to compare the performance of radiomics model and PI-RADS v2.1, and to further verify the predictive ability of radiomics model for lesions with different PI-RADS v2.1 score. 171 patients with PSA levels of 4–10 ng/mL were divided into training (n = 119) and testing (n = 52) groups. PI-RADS v2.1 score was assessed by two radiologists. All volumes of interest were segmented on T2-weighted imaging, diffusion weighted imaging, and apparent diffusion coefficient sequences, from which quantitative radiomics features were extracted. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to establish radiomics model for predicting PCa. The diagnostic performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The radiomics model exhibited the best performance in predicting PCa, which was better than the performance of PI-RADS v2.1 scoring by the junior radiologist in the training group [area under the curve (AUC): 0.932 vs 0.803], testing group (AUC: 0.922 vs 0.797), and the entire cohort (AUC: 0.927 vs 0.801) (P

Abstract We investigated the effect of CYP2C19 polymorphisms on the clinical outcomes of clopidogrel therapy in patients after stenting procedure for cerebral artery stenosis in northeast China. 568 patients performed CYP2C19 genotype screening in the neurosurgery department of our hospital; 154 patients were finally recruited according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and followed-up for 6 months. Ischemic events including (1) transient ischemic attack (TIA); (2) stent thrombosis; (3) ischemic stroke; and (4) death were defined as primary clinical endpoints. The frequencies of CYP2C19*1, *2 and *3 alleles in 568 patients were 63.1%, 31.1% and 5.8%, respectively. 154 patients were classified into extensive (65 patients; 42.2%), intermediate (66 patients; 42.9%), and poor (23 patients; 14.9%) metabolizer groups. A χ2 test showed a significant difference in primary clinical endpoints at 6 months (P = 0.04), and a multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the CYP2C19 loss-of-function (LOF) alleles associated with post-procedure prognosis. The Kaplan–Meier curve revealed that there was no significant difference in ischemic events between *2 and *3 alleles carriers. Our study verifies that CYP2C19 *2 and *3 have significant impact on the clinical outcomes of clopidogrel therapy in patients with stenting procedure for cerebral artery stenosis in China.

Abstract We investigated the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) in chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (CIHH)-induced cardiac protection. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to CIHH treatment simulating 5000 m altitude for 28 days, 6 hours per day. The heart was isolated and perfused with Langendorff apparatus and subjected to 30-min ischemia followed by 60-min reperfusion. Cardiac function, infarct size, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity were assessed. Expression of ERS molecular chaperones (GRP78, CHOP and caspase-12) was assayed by western blot analysis. CIHH treatment improved the recovery of left ventricular function and decreased cardiac infarct size and activity of LDH after I/R compared to control rats. Furthermore, CIHH treatment inhibited over-expression of ERS-related factors including GRP78, CHOP and caspase-12. CIHH-induced cardioprotection and inhibition of ERS were eliminated by application of dithiothreitol, an ERS inducer, and chelerythrine, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor. In conclusion CIHH treatment exerts cardiac protection against I/R injury through inhibition of ERS via PKC signaling pathway.

Abstract An environment-friendly fluorescent nano-hybrid hydrogel has been synthesized successfully, from cellulose nanocrystal (CNC), acrylic acid (AA) and phosphorescent Eu2+/Dy3+ doped SrAl2O4 via free radical polymerization. The hydrogel network matrix fixed Eu2+/Dy3+ doped SrAl2O4 nanoparticles by polymer chains with coordinate bonds that prevented particles from aggregating and quenching in water. The fluorescent nano-hybrid hydrogel exhibited extremely high water absorption of which the swelling ratio in distilled water and NaCl salt solution were respectively of 323.35 g/g and 32.65 g/g. Furthermore, the hydrogel displayed excellent water retention property that can keep half of the moisture even exposed to 80 °C for 210 min. Besides, the hydrogel had bright green fluorescence under the sunlight or ultraviolet excitation, and the fluorescence intensity was up to 125477 after swelling 50 times in water. The time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) afterglow decay examination showed that the fluorescent emission persisted for 4 h after hydrogels excited at 368 nm wavelength UV-light for 10 min. The fluorescence intensity behaved significant linear relationship with the swelling ratio. As a result, these hydrogels were considered as promising candidates for the preparation of stable and sensitive sensor materials in green water detection.

Abstract We propose and numerically demonstrate a conversion and multicasting scheme of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states by using N-core supermode fiber (NCSF), where the topological charges of converted OAM states mainly depend on the injected OAM state and the number of fiber cores. The conversion efficiency (CE) of the converted OAM states could be optimized by properly designing the fiber structure. Take N = 6 as an example, ~37% CE could be achieved at telecom bands. Moreover, even for a fabricated NCSF, the CE could be dynamically changed by stretching the fiber or by adjusting the refractive index of the fiber cores through external control of the environmental conditions. Meanwhile, OAM multicasting could also be realized in the designed NCSF. The crosstalk between the multicasted OAM channels and their neighboring ones are assessed to be less than −30 dB. The proposed fiber-based OAM conversion and multicasting system is compatible with the existing optical fiber communication systems, showing potential applications in the future.

Cognitive impairment is a common finding in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but little attention has been focused on therapeutic intervention for this complication. Chronic intermittent hypoxia hypercapnia (CIHH) exposure is considered to be responsible for the pathogenesis of COPD. Dl-3n-Butylphthalide (NBP), extracted from Apium graveolens Linn, has displayed a broad spectrum of neuroprotective properties. Our study aimed to investigate the potential of NBP on CIHH-induced cognitive deficits. The cognitive function of rats after CIHH exposure was evaluated by the Morris water maze, which showed that the NBP treated group performed better in the navigation test. NBP activated BDNF and phosphorylated CREB, the both are responsible for neuroprotection. Additionally, NBP decreased CIHH induced apoptosis. Moreover, NBP further induced the expression of HIF-1α, accompanied by the up-regulation of the autophagy proteins Bnip3, Beclin-1 and LC3-II. Finally, NBP also reversed the decreased expression of SIRT1 and PGC-1α, but the expression of Tfam, Cox II and mtDNA remained unchanged. These results suggested that the neuroprotective effects of NBP under CIHH condition possibly occurred through the inhibition of apoptosis, promotion of hypoxia-induced autophagy, and activation of the SIRT1/PGC-1α signalling pathway, while stimulation of mitochondrial biogenesis may not be a characteristic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose to integrate the electro-optic (EO) tuning function into on-chip domain engineered lithium niobate (LN) waveguide. Due to the versatility of LN, both the spontaneously parametric down conversion (SPDC) and EO interaction could be realized simultaneously. Photon pairs are generated through SPDC, and the formation of entangled state is modulated by EO processes. An EO tunable polarization-entangled photon state is proposed. Orthogonally-polarized and parallel-polarized entanglements of photon pairs are instantly switchable by tuning the applied field. The characteristics of the source are theoretically investigated showing adjustable bandwidths and high entanglement degrees. Moreover, other kinds of reconfigurable entanglement are also achievable based on suitable domain-design. We believe tailoring entanglement based on domain engineering is a very promising solution for next generation function-integrated quantum circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep41849 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) via electrostrictive force is a fundamental interaction between light and sound which limits the power in conventional optical fibers. The emergence of optical microfibers with subwavelength diameter, ultralight mass and an intense light field, provides a new platform for photon-phonon coupling, resulting in the radiation pressure mediated contribution of SBS. This study examines the optomechanical system in cylindrical coordinates, reveals the theoretically radiation pressure induced analogous, and demonstrates contrary effect compared with electrostrictive force in solid or hollow silica microfibers. The finding shows that the photon-phonon coupling, which is related to SBS, can be suppressed in a solid microfiber, and even be completely cancelled in a hollow microfiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More and more RING finger genes were found to be implicated in various important biological processes. In the present study, a total of 731 RING domains in 715 predicted proteins were identified in Brassica rapa genome (AA, 2n = 20), which were further divided into eight types: RING-H2 (371), RING-HCa (215), RING-HCb (47), RING-v (44), RING-C2 (38), RING-D (10), RING-S/T (5) and RING-G (1). The 715 RING finger proteins were further classified into 51 groups according to the presence of additional domains. 700 RING finger protein genes were mapped to the 10 chromosomes of B. rapa with a range of 47 to 111 genes for each chromosome. 667 RING finger protein genes were expressed in at least one of the six tissues examined, indicating their involvement in various physiological and developmental processes in B. rapa. Hierarchical clustering analysis of RNA-seq data divided them into seven major groups, one of which includes 231 members preferentially expressed in leaf, and constitutes then a panel of gene candidates for studying the genetic and molecular mechanisms of leafy head traits in Brassica crops. Our results lay the foundation for further studies on the classification, evolution and putative functions of RING finger protein genes in Brassica species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a method to convert linearly polarized incident electromagnetic waves fed by a single source into multi-beam reflections with independent control of polarizations based on anisotropic metasurface at microwave frequencies. The metasurface is composed of Jerusalem Cross structures and grounded plane spaced by a dielectric substrate. By designing the reflection-phase distributions of the anisotropic metasurface along the x and y directions, the x- and y-polarized incident waves can be manipulated independently to realize multi-beam reflections. When the x- and y-polarized reflected beams are designed to the same direction with equal amplitude, the polarization state of the beam will be only controlled by the phase difference between the x- and y-polarized reflected waves. Three examples are presented to show the multi-beam reflections with flexible control of polarizations by using anisotropic metasurfaces and excellent performance. Particularly, we designed, fabricated, and measured an anisotropic metasurface for two reflected beams with one linearly polarized and the other circularly polarized. The measurement results have good agreement with the simulations in a broad bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical-quality single-crystal LiB3O5 (LBO) nanowires are synthesized for the first time using a sol-gel method. The LBO nanowires possess diameters ranging from 200 to 800 nm and lengths of up to 200 μm, and exhibit excellent uniformity, smooth surfaces, and good mechanical properties. A typical propagating loss of 0.038 dB/μm at 532 nm is obtained for a 620 nm-diameter nanowire. This is a decrease of one order of magnitude compared with that of a β-BaB2O4 (BBO) nanowire with similar diameter, which makes the LBO nanowire a promising candidate to construct miniaturized nonlinear photonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hit to lead (H2L) optimization is a key step for drug and agrochemical discovery. A critical challenge for H2L optimization is the low efficiency due to the lack of predictive method with high accuracy. We described a new computational method called Computational Substitution Optimization (CSO) that has allowed us to rapidly identify compounds with cytochrome bc1 complex inhibitory activity in the nanomolar and subnanomolar range. The comprehensively optimized candidate has proved to be a slow binding inhibitor of bc1 complex, ~73-fold more potent (Ki = 4.1 nM) than the best commercial fungicide azoxystrobin (AZ; Ki = 297.6 nM) and shows excellent in vivo fungicidal activity against downy mildew and powdery mildew disease. The excellent correlation between experimental and calculated binding free-energy shifts together with further crystallographic analysis confirmed the prediction accuracy of CSO method. To the best of our knowledge, CSO is a new computational approach to substitution-scanning mutagenesis of ligand and could be used as a general strategy of H2L optimisation in drug and agrochemical design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colonic brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an essential role in pathogenesis of abdominal pain in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D), but regulation on its expression remains unclear. We investigated the role of fecal supernatants (FSN) from IBS-D patients on regulating BDNF expression in colonic epithelial cells of human and mice. Using human Caco-2 cells, we found that IBS-D FSN significantly increased BDNF mRNA and protein levels compared to control FSN, which were remarkably suppressed by the serine protease inhibitor. To further explore the potential mechanisms, we investigated the impact of protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) on BDNF expression. We found a significant increase in PAR-2 expression in Caco-2 after IBS-D FSN stimulation. Knockdown of PAR-2 significantly inhibited IBS-D FSN-induced upregulation of BDNF. Moreover, we found that phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, not NF-κB p65, contributed to PAR-2-mediated BDNF overexpression. To confirm these results, we intracolonically infused IBS-D or control FSN in mice and found that IBS-D FSN significantly elevated colonic BDNF and visceral hypersensitivity in mice, which were both suppressed by the inhibitor of serine protease or antagonist of PAR-2. Together, our data indicate that activation of PAR-2 signaling by IBS-D FSN promotes expression of colonic BDNF, thereby contributing to IBS-like visceral hypersensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder in gastrointestinal system and impairs the quality of life of the patients. Clostridium butyricum (CB) is a probiotics that has been used in several gastrointestinal diseases. The efficacy of CB in treating IBS is still unknown. This prospective, multi-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of CB in treating diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) and analyze the fecal microbiota after treatment. Two hundred patients with IBS-D were recruited and were given CB or placebo for 4 weeks. End points included change from baseline in IBS symptoms, quality of life, stool consistency and frequency. Compared with placebo, CB is effective in improving the overall IBS-D symptoms (-62.12 ± 74.00 vs. -40.74 ± 63.67, P = 0.038) as well as quality of life (7.232 ± 14.06 vs. 3.159 ± 11.73, P = 0.032) and stool frequency (-1.602 ± 1.416 vs. -1.086 ± 1.644, P = 0.035). The responder rates are found higher in CB compared with the placebo (44.76% vs. 30.53%, P = 0.042). The change in fecal microbiota was analyzed and function pathways of CB in treating IBS-D were predicted. In conclusion, CB improves overall symptoms, quality of life and stool frequency in IBS-D patients and is considered to be used as a probiotics in treating IBS-D clinically.

The outcome of bladder cancer after radical cystectomy is heterogeneous. We aim to evaluate the prognostic value of HALP (hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte and platelet) and explore novel prognostic indexes for patients with bladder cancer after radical cystectomy. In this retrospective study, 516 patients with bladder cancer after radical cystectomy were included. The median follow-up was 37 months (2 to 99 mo). Risk factors of decreased overall survival were older age, high TNM stage, high American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade and low HALP score. The predictive accuracy was better with HALP-based nomogram than TNM stage (C- index 0.76 ± 0.039 vs. 0.708 ± 0.041). By combining ASA grade and HALP, we created a novel index-HALPA score and found it an independent risk factor for decreased survival (HALPA score = 1, HR 1.624, 95% CI 1.139-2.314, P = 0.007; HALPA score = 2, HR 3.471, 95% CI: 1.861-6.472, P < 0.001).The present study identified the prognostic value of HALP and provided a novel index HALPA score for bladder cancer after radical cystectomy.

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune liver disease characterized by the destruction of interlobular biliary ductules, which progressively leads to cholestasis, hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually liver failure. Several mouse models have been used to clarify the pathogenesis of PBC and are generally considered reflective of an autoimmune cholangitis. Most models focus on issues of molecular mimicry between the E2 subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC-E2), the major mitochondrial autoantigen of PBC and xenobiotic cross reactive chemicals. None have focused on the classic models of breaking tolerance, namely immunization with self-tissue. Here, we report a novel mouse model of autoimmune cholangitis via immunization with syngeneic bile duct protein (BDP). Our results demonstrate that syngeneic bile duct antigens efficiently break immune tolerance of recipient mice, capturing several key features of PBC, including liver-specific inflammation focused on portal tract areas, increased number and activation state of CD4 and CD8 T cells in the liver and spleen. Furthermore, the germinal center (GC) responses in the spleen were more enhanced in our mouse model. Finally, these mice were 100% positive for anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMAs). In conclusion, we developed a novel mouse model of PBC that may help to elucidate the detailed mechanism of this complex disease.

We investigated the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) in chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (CIHH)-induced cardiac protection. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to CIHH treatment simulating 5000 m altitude for 28 days, 6 hours per day. The heart was isolated and perfused with Langendorff apparatus and subjected to 30-min ischemia followed by 60-min reperfusion. Cardiac function, infarct size, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity were assessed. Expression of ERS molecular chaperones (GRP78, CHOP and caspase-12) was assayed by western blot analysis. CIHH treatment improved the recovery of left ventricular function and decreased cardiac infarct size and activity of LDH after I/R compared to control rats. Furthermore, CIHH treatment inhibited over-expression of ERS-related factors including GRP78, CHOP and caspase-12. CIHH-induced cardioprotection and inhibition of ERS were eliminated by application of dithiothreitol, an ERS inducer, and chelerythrine, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor. In conclusion CIHH treatment exerts cardiac protection against I/R injury through inhibition of ERS via PKC signaling pathway.

A nanostructured laminar W-La 2 O 3 alloy (WL10) with improved ductility was prepared using a surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). φ1.5 mm ZrO 2 WL10 balls subjected to SMAT (called φ1.5 mm ZrO 2 ball SMATed WL10) samples possess the best surface profile and excellent integrated mechanical properties (the ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) value decreases by approximately 200 °C, and the bending strength decreases by 100 Mpa). A highly dense group of laminates was detected near the surface of the φ1.5 mm ZrO 2 ball SMATed WL10 sample. The SMATed WL10 laminates were composed of a micro-grain layer, an ultrafine-grain layer and a nanosized-grain layer. The nanostructured laminar surface layer of the φ1.5 mm ZrO 2 ball SMATed WL10 sample is approximately 1-2 μm. The top surface of the WL10 plates with and without the SMAT process possesses residual compressive stress of approximately -883 MPa and -241 MPa, respectively, in the y direction and -859 MPa and -854 MPa, respectively, in the x direction. The SMAT process could be a complementary method to further improve the toughness of tungsten-based materials.

We propose and numerically demonstrate a conversion and multicasting scheme of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states by using N-core supermode fiber (NCSF), where the topological charges of converted OAM states mainly depend on the injected OAM state and the number of fiber cores. The conversion efficiency (CE) of the converted OAM states could be optimized by properly designing the fiber structure. Take N = 6 as an example, ~37% CE could be achieved at telecom bands. Moreover, even for a fabricated NCSF, the CE could be dynamically changed by stretching the fiber or by adjusting the refractive index of the fiber cores through external control of the environmental conditions. Meanwhile, OAM multicasting could also be realized in the designed NCSF. The crosstalk between the multicasted OAM channels and their neighboring ones are assessed to be less than -30 dB. The proposed fiber-based OAM conversion and multicasting system is compatible with the existing optical fiber communication systems, showing potential applications in the future.

Optical-quality single-crystal LiB 3 O 5 (LBO) nanowires are synthesized for the first time using a sol-gel method. The LBO nanowires possess diameters ranging from 200 to 800 nm and lengths of up to 200 μm, and exhibit excellent uniformity, smooth surfaces, and good mechanical properties. A typical propagating loss of 0.038 dB/μm at 532 nm is obtained for a 620 nm-diameter nanowire. This is a decrease of one order of magnitude compared with that of a β-BaB 2 O 4 (BBO) nanowire with similar diameter, which makes the LBO nanowire a promising candidate to construct miniaturized nonlinear photonic devices.

Uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase 1A (UGT1A) is a major phase II drug-metabolism enzyme superfamily involved in the glucuronidation of endobiotics and xenobiotics in humans. Many polymorphisms in UGT1A genes are reported to inhibit or decrease UGT1A activity. In this study, two UGT1A1 allozymes, UGT1A1 wild-type and a splice mutant, as well as UGT1A9 wild-type and its three UGT1A9 allozymes, UGT1A9*2(C3Y), UGT1A9*3(M33T), and UGT1A9*5(D256N) were single- or double-expressed in a Bac-to-Bac expression system. Dimerization of UGT1A1 or UGT1A9 allozymes was observed via fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and co-immunoprecipitation analysis. SNPs of UGT1A altered the ability of protein-protein interaction, resulting in differential FRET efficiencies and donor-acceptor r distances. Dimerization changed the chemical regioselectivity, substrate-binding affinity, and enzymatic activity of UGT1A1 and UGT1A9 in glucuronidation of quercetin. These findings provide molecular insights into the consequences of homozygous and heterozygous UGT1A1 and UGT1A9 allozymes expression on quercetin glucuronidation.

Multiple mechanisms exist in regulation of host responses to massive challenges from microbiota to maintain immune homeostasis in the intestines. Among these is the enriched Th17 cells in the intestines, which regulates intestinal homeostasis through induction of antimicrobial peptides and secretory IgA among others. However, the means by which Th17 cells develop in response to microbiota is still not completely understood. Although both TLR5 and CD172α(+) lamina propria dendritic cells (LPDC) have been shown to promote Th17 cell development, it is still unclear whether TLR5 mediates the CD172α(+)LPDC induction of Th17 cells. By using a microbiota antigen-specific T cell reporter mouse system, we demonstrated that microbiota antigen-specific T cells developed into Th17 cells in the intestinal LP, but not in the spleen when transferred into TCRβxδ(-/-) mice. LPDCs expressed high levels of TLR5, and most CD172α(+)LPDCs also co-expressed TLR5. LPDCs produced high levels of IL-23, IL-6 and TGFβ when stimulated with commensal flagellin and promoted Th17 cell development when cultured with full-length CBir1 flagellin but not CBir1 peptide. Wild-type CD172α(+), but not CD172α(-), LPDCs induced Th17 cells, whereas TLR5-deficient LPDC did not induce Th17 cells. Our data thereby demonstrated that TLR5 mediates CD172α(+)LPDC induction of Th17 cells in the intestines.

We systematically investigated the geometric, electronic and thermoelectric (TE) properties of bulk black phosphorus (BP) under strain. The hinge-like structure of BP brings unusual mechanical responses such as anisotropic Young's modulus and negative Poisson's ratio. A sensitive electronic structure of BP makes it transform among metal, direct and indirect semiconductors under strain. The maximal figure of merit ZT of BP is found to be 0.72 at 800 K that could be enhanced to 0.87 by exerting an appropriate strain, revealing BP could be a potential medium-high temperature TE material. Such strain-induced enhancements of TE performance are often observed to occur at the boundary of the direct-indirect band gap transition, which can be attributed to the increase of degeneracy of energy valleys at the transition point. By comparing the structure of BP with SnSe, a family of potential TE materials with hinge-like structure are suggested. This study not only exposes various novel properties of BP under strain, but also proposes effective strategies to seek for better TE materials.

Cognitive impairment is a common finding in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but little attention has been focused on therapeutic intervention for this complication. Chronic intermittent hypoxia hypercapnia (CIHH) exposure is considered to be responsible for the pathogenesis of COPD. Dl-3n-Butylphthalide (NBP), extracted from Apium graveolens Linn, has displayed a broad spectrum of neuroprotective properties. Our study aimed to investigate the potential of NBP on CIHH-induced cognitive deficits. The cognitive function of rats after CIHH exposure was evaluated by the Morris water maze, which showed that the NBP treated group performed better in the navigation test. NBP activated BDNF and phosphorylated CREB, the both are responsible for neuroprotection. Additionally, NBP decreased CIHH induced apoptosis. Moreover, NBP further induced the expression of HIF-1α, accompanied by the up-regulation of the autophagy proteins Bnip3, Beclin-1 and LC3-II. Finally, NBP also reversed the decreased expression of SIRT1 and PGC-1α, but the expression of Tfam, Cox II and mtDNA remained unchanged. These results suggested that the neuroprotective effects of NBP under CIHH condition possibly occurred through the inhibition of apoptosis, promotion of hypoxia-induced autophagy, and activation of the SIRT1/PGC-1α signalling pathway, while stimulation of mitochondrial biogenesis may not be a characteristic response.