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Aspirin eugenol ester (AEE) was a novel drug compound with aspirin and eugenol esterified. AEE had various pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, anti-oxidative stress and so on. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of AEE on the acute lung injury (ALI) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats. In vitro experiments evaluated the protective effect of AEE on the LPS-induced A549 cells. The tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were measured in the cell supernatant. The Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups (n = 8): control group, model group (LPS group), LPS + AEE group (AEE, 54 mg·kg−1), LPS + AEE group (AEE, 108 mg·kg−1), LPS + AEE group (AEE, 216 mg·kg−1). The lung wet-to-dry weight (W/D) ratio and immune organ index were calculated. WBCs were counted in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and total protein concentration was measured. Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) staining of lung tissue was performed. Glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), myeloperoxidase (MPO), malondialdehyde (MDA), macrophage mobility inhibitory factor (MIF), TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β activity were measured. The metabolomic analysis of rat serum was performed by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS. From the results, compared with LPS group, AEE improved histopathological changes, reduced MDA, CRP, MPO, MDA, and MIF production, decreased WBC count and total protein content in BALF, pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, immune organ index and lung wet-dry weight (W/D), increased antioxidant enzyme activity, in a dose-dependent manner. The results of serum metabolomic analysis showed that the LPS-induced ALI caused metabolic disorders and oxidative stress in rats, while AEE could ameliorate it to some extent. Therefore, AEE could alleviate LPS-induced ALI in rats by regulating abnormal inflammatory responses, slowing down oxidative stress, and modulating energy metabolism.

Human Tau (hTau) accumulation and synapse loss are two pathological hallmarks of tauopathies. However, whether and how hTau exerts toxic effects on synapses remain elusive.Mutated hTau (P301S) was overexpressed in the N2a cell line, primary hippocampal neurons and hippocampal CA3. Western blotting and quantitative polymerase chain reaction were applied to examine the protein and mRNA levels of synaptic proteins. The protein interaction was tested by co-immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays. Memory and emotion status were evaluated by a series of behavioural tests. The transcriptional activity of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) was detected by dual luciferase reporter assay. Electrophoresis mobility shift assay and chromosome immunoprecipitation were conducted to examine the combination of NRF2 to specific anti-oxidative response element (ARE) sequences. Neuronal morphology was analysed after Golgi staining.Overexpressing P301S decreased the protein levels of post-synaptic density protein 93 (PSD93), PSD95 and synapsin 1 (SYN1). Simultaneously, NRF2 was decreased, whereas Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1) was elevated. Further, we found that NRF2 could bind to the specific AREs of DLG2, DLG4 and SYN1 genes, which encode PSD93, PSD95 and SYN1, respectively, to promote their expression. Overexpressing NRF2 ameliorated P301S-reduced synaptic proteins and synapse. By means of acetylation at K312, P301S increased the protein level of KEAP1 via inhibiting KEAP1 degradation from ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, thereby decreasing NRF2 and reducing synapse. Blocking the P301S-KEAP1 interaction at K312 rescued the P301S-suppressed expression of synaptic proteins and memory deficits with anxiety efficiently.P301S-hTau could acetylate KEAP1 to trigger synaptic toxicity via inhibiting the NRF2/ARE pathway. These findings provide a novel and potential target for the therapeutic intervention of tauopathies.

Florfenicol was widely used as antibiotic in the livestock and poultry breeding industry, resulting in a serious problem of drug resistance. In order to solve the resistance of florfenicol, this study designed and synthesized a new series of florfenicol-polyarginine conjugates and tested for antimicrobial activities. Drug-sensitive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), were sensitive to several of the compounds tested. These conjugates also showed excellent activity against drug-resistant strains such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and florfenicol resistant Escherichia coli strains (2017XJ30, 2019XJ20), one of which as E6 had a minimum inhibitory concentration of 12.5 μmol/L. These conjugates did not allow bacteria to develop resistance and also decreased bacterial growth by membrane depolarization and disruption. Additionally, florfenicol succinate (C1) showed certain activity after coupling with arginine. This suggested that conjugating arginine to florfenicol succinate effectively modulated the properties of prodrugs. These new conjugates may provide useful insights for expanding the pool of antibiotics.

With the continuous development of low-level-light (LLL) night vision technology, the LLL night vision devices show the characteristics of many varieties, large performance differences, and wide application fields. How to sort out the main line of development from numerous LLL night vision devices has become a research hot spot for practitioners of low-light night vision devices. The development history of the zero-generation, first-generation, second-generation, third-generation, and ultra-second generation LLL night vision devices was reviewed. The industry-recognized methods for distinguishing the zero-generation, first-generation, second-generation, ultra-second generation, and third-generation low-light night vision devices were summarized. The concept of the fourth-generation low-light night vision device was put forward, and at the same time the position of several atypical low-light night vision devices in the technical field of low-light night vision devices was explained, and a tree diagram was drew, so that the technical characteristics of each low-light night vision device and their position in the field of low-light night vision device technology could be intuitively, accurately, and comprehensively understood. The proposed perspectives have a certain reference role for researchers engaged in low-light night vision device technology.

Naringenin, a flavanone, has been reported for a wide range of pharmacological activities. However, there are few reports on the absorption, transport and antioxidant effects of naringenin. The study was to explore the uptake, transport and antioxidant effects of naringenin in vitro. Cell transmembrane resistance, lucifer yellow transmission rate, and alkaline phosphatase activity were used to evaluate the successful construction of cell model. The results showed that the absorption and transport of naringenin by Caco-2 cells were time- and concentration-dependent. Different temperatures (37 and 4°C) had a significant effect on the uptake and transport of naringenin. Verapamil, potent inhibitor of P-glycoprotein, significantly inhibit naringenin transport in Caco-2 cells. The results revealed that naringenin was a moderately absorbed biological macromolecule and can penetrate Caco-2 cells, mainly mediated by the active transport pathway involved in P-glycoprotein. At the same time, naringenin pretreatment could significantly increase the viability of H2O2-induced Caco-2 cells. Twenty four differential metabolites were identified based on cellular metabolite analysis, mainly including alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, histidine metabolism, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, purine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, citrate cycle, riboflavin metabolism, and D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism. We concluded that the transport of naringenin by Caco-2 cells is mainly involved in active transport mediated by P-glycoprotein and naringenin may play an important role in oxidative stress-induced intestinal diseases.

Additional file 1. Figure S1: Early OCPs were the primary cellular source of CCL7 in CRC-microenvironment. (A) Schematic of sorting dominant cellular types from bone marrow at 10 days post injection of MC-38 cells. (B) Representative image of flow cytometry strategy of isolating neutrophils and eosinophils. (C) Representative image of flow cytometry strategy of isolating T cells. (D) Representative image of flow cytometry strategy of isolating BMMSCs. (E) qRT-PCR analysis detected mRNA level of CCL7 in neutrophils, eosinophils, T cells, BMMSCs and early OCPs isolated from 10 days post injection of MC-38 compared to that in MC-38 cells. n=3, each sample was pooled from 5-8 mice. **p

BACKGROUND The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy study found that edetate disodium (disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) chelation therapy significantly reduced the incidence of cardiac events in stable post-myocardial infarction patients, and a body of epidemiological data has shown that accumulation of biologically active metals, such as lead and cadmium, is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, limited studies have focused on the relationship between angiographically diagnosed coronary artery disease (CAD) and lead exposure. This study compared blood lead level (BLL) in Chinese patients with and without CAD. METHODS In this prospective, observational study, 450 consecutive patients admitted to Beijing Anzhen Hospital with suspected CAD from November 1, 2018, to January 30, 2019, were enrolled. All patients underwent coronary angiography, and an experienced heart team calculated the SYNTAX scores (SXscore) for all available coronary angiograms. BLLs were determined with atomic absorption spectrophotometry and compared between patients with angiographically diagnosed CAD and those without CAD. RESULTS In total, 343 (76%) patients had CAD, of whom 42% had low (0−22), 22% had intermediate (23−32), and 36% had high (≥ 33) SXscore. BLLs were 36.8 ± 16.95 μg/L in patients with CAD and 31.2 ± 15.75 μg/L in those without CAD (P = 0.003). When BLLs were categorized into three groups (low, middle, high), CAD prevalence increased with increasing BLLs (P < 0.05). In the multivariate regression model, BLLs were associated with CAD (odds ratio (OR): 1.023, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.008−1.039; P = 0.0017). OR in the high versus low BLL group was 2.36 (95% CI: 1.29−4.42,P = 0.003). Furthermore, BLLs were independently associated with intermediate and high SXscore (adjusted OR: 1.050, 95% CI: 1.036–1.066; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION BLLs were significantly associated with angiographically diagnosed CAD. Furthermore, BLLs showed excellent predictive value for SXscore, especially for complex coronary artery lesions.

Background Autophagy dysfunction plays a crucial role in tau accumulation and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed to investigate whether and how the accumulating tau may in turn affect autophagy. Methods The primary hippocampal neurons, N2a and HEK293T cells with tau overexpression were respectively starved and treated with vinblastine to study the effects of tau on the initiating steps of autophagy, which was analysed by Student's two-tailed t-test. The rapamycin and concanamycin A were employed to inhibit the mammalian target of rapamycin kinase complex 1 (mTORC1) activity and the vacuolar H+-ATPase (v-ATPase) activity, respectively, which were analysed by One‐way ANOVA with post hoc tests. The Western blotting, co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence staining were conducted to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying the tau effects of mTORC1 signaling alterations, as analysed by Student's two-tailed t-test or One‐way ANOVA with post hoc tests. The autophagosome formation was detected by immunofluorescence staining and transmission electron microscopy. The amino acids (AA) levels were detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results We observed that overexpressing human full-length wild-type tau to mimic AD-like tau accumulation induced autophagy deficits. Further studies revealed that the increased tau could bind to the prion-related domain of T cell intracellular antigen 1 (PRD-TIA1) and this association significantly increased the intercellular level of amino acids (Leucine, P = 0.0038; Glutamic acid, P = 0.0348; Alanine, P = 0.0037; Glycine, P = 0.0104), with concordant upregulation of mTORC1 activity [phosphorylated eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (p-4EBP1), P P = 0.0001, phosphorylated unc-51-like autophagy-activating kinase 1 (p-ULK1), P = 0.0015] and inhibition of autophagosome formation [microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 II (LC3 II), P = 0.0073; LC3 puncta, P Conclusions Our findings reveal that AD-like tau accumulation inhibits autophagosome formation and induces autophagy deficits by activating the TIA1/amino acid/mTORC1 pathway, and thus this work reveals new insight into tau-associated neurodegeneration and provides evidence supporting the use of new therapeutic targets for AD treatment and that of related tauopathies.

To explore the preparation method of copper (Cu)-doped hydroxyapatite (HA) microspheres loaded with vancomycin (Van), and evaluate their antibacterial and osteogenic effectsThe Cu doped HA microspheres (Cu-HA) with molar doping ratios of 1%, 5%, 10%, and 20% were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis. The microscopic morphology changes were observe with scanning electron microscope. X-ray diffractometer (XRD) was used to study the phase composition and analyze the crystallinity of the sample. Cu-HA with a molar doping ratio of 10% was selected for analysis of the elemental composition of the sample with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and was then coated with polydopamine (PDA) as the medium to prepare Cu-HA-PDA. XRD and Fourier infrared spectrometer were used to examine the coating effect of the sample. Van was load on Cu-HA-PDA to prepare Cu-HA-PDA-Van. HA, Cu-HA, HA-PDA, and Cu-HA-PDA-Van were added to α medium at 10 mg/mL to prepare different groups of extract solutions.The main components of the extract solutions were examined, and the Van concentration was checked. We examined the toxic effect of material extract solutions on osteogenic precursor cells and the proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, and checked the expression of osteocalcin (Various types of Cu-doped HA (Cu-HA) were successfully synthesized. As the proportion of Cu increased, the morphology gradually changed from being strip or belt-shaped to a uniform spherical shape. Cu-HA of 10% molar doping ratio showed a clearly microspherical shape and a petal-like porous micro-nano morphology on the surface. EDS and XRD analyses showed that the main structure of the material was still made up of hydroxyapatite crystals and Cu was successfully doped with HA. The infrared spectrometer showed that the PDA was successfully coated on the surface of the material. Examination of the main components of the extract solution once again verified that the Cu element had successfully entered and replaced part of the Ca element in the HA. The 10 mg/mL Cu-HA-PDA-Van extract solution contained 0.27 mg/mL of Van.Cu element was used to control the microscopic morphology of HA, and the Cu-HA-PDA-Van microspheres prepared by successfully coating of PDA and loading of Van had good antibacterial properties and biological activity.

A visible-light-driven iminyl radical-mediated C–C bond cleavage and functionalization of cycloketone oxime esters have been accomplished. This protocol is simple and does not require expensive and toxic photoredox and/or transition-metal catalysis, providing a novel catalyst-free strategy for alkylation, allylation, vinylation and alkynylation through addition of C(sp3)-centered radicals to various unsaturated acceptors. The commercially available and photoactive Hantzsch ester effectively serves as an electron donor, as well as a hydrogen atom source.

Aspirin eugenol ester (AEE) is a new pharmaceutical compound esterified by aspirin and eugenol, which has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and other pharmacological activities. This study is aimed at identifying the protective effect of AEE against H2O2-induced apoptosis in rat adrenal pheochromocytoma PC12 cells and the possible mechanisms. The results of cell viability assay showed that AEE could increase the viability of PC12 cells stimulated by H2O2, while AEE alone had no significant effect on the viability of PC12 cells. Compared with the control group, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were significantly decreased, and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly increased in the H2O2 group. By AEE pretreatment, the level of MDA was reduced and the levels of SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px were increased in H2O2-stimulated PC12 cells. In addition, AEE could reduce the apoptosis of PC12 cells induced by H2O2 via reducing superoxide anion, intracellular ROS, and mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) and increasing the levels of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). Furthermore, the results of western blotting showed that compared with the control group, the expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt, and Bcl-2 was significantly decreased, while the expression of Caspase-3 and Bax was significantly increased in the H2O2 group. In the AEE group, AEE pretreatment could upregulate the expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt, and Bcl-2 and downregulate the expression of Caspase-3 and Bax in PC12 cells stimulated with H2O2. The silencing of PI3K with shRNA and its inhibitor-LY294002 could abrogate the protective effect of AEE in PC12 cells. Therefore, AEE has a protective effect on H2O2-induced PC12 cells by regulating the PI3K/Akt signal pathway to inhibit oxidative stress.

Moyamoya disease patients with hemorrhagic stroke usually have a poor prognosis. This study aimed to determine whether hemorrhagic moyamoya disease could be distinguished from MRA images using transfer deep learning and to screen potential regions that contain rich distinguishing information from MRA images in moyamoya disease.A total of 116 adult patients with bilateral moyamoya diseases suffering from hemorrhagic or ischemia complications were retrospectively screened. Based on original MRA images at the level of the basal cistern, basal ganglia, and centrum semiovale, we adopted the pretrained ResNet18 to build three models for differentiating hemorrhagic moyamoya disease. Grad-CAM was applied to visualize the regions of interest.For the test set, the accuracies of model differentiation in the basal cistern, basal ganglia, and centrum semiovale were 93.3%, 91.5%, and 86.4%, respectively. Visualization of the regions of interest demonstrated that the models focused on the deep and periventricular white matter and abnormal collateral vessels in hemorrhagic moyamoya disease.A transfer learning model based on MRA images of the basal cistern and basal ganglia showed a good ability to differentiate between patients with hemorrhagic moyamoya disease and those with ischemic moyamoya disease. The deep and periventricular white matter and collateral vessels at the level of the basal cistern and basal ganglia may contain rich distinguishing information.

A novel approach to assemble the (12S)-12-Hydroxymonocerin’s core skeleton was developed in 29% overall yield, in which a three component Linchpin coupling, stereocontrolled reduction and an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts/Marson cyclization were utilized as key steps.

Poly (ethylene terephthalate)/poly (trimethylene terephthalate) (PET/PTT) blends were prepared and their melting and crystallization properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The glass transition temperatures suggest apparently that PET and PTT have good miscibility at amorphous state. The blends with more PET content less likely undergo a melting/recrystallization process during DSC heating scan. In the blends, PET component with higher supercooling degree will crystallize first, and then the crystallites of PET will be the nucleating agents for PTT, which greatly improves the crystallization rate of PTT.

Concerning the security issues in the running elevator and the fact that elevator monitoring is an effective means to ensure the safe running of the elevator, and the special equipment, users, manufacturers, and government supervision departments will need to master the operating conditions of the elevator. Therefore, combining with the main components, embedded microprocessor, RF communications modules, sensors and GPRS designed the remote elevator monitoring terminal, and complete real-time acquisition of the state data of the running elevator via GPRS communication module to send data to a remote network server. Monitoring terminal cooperates with the web server, database, and host computer software, then realize the remote monitoring and control of the elevator group. Practice has proved the feasibility, effectiveness and reliability of the design of the monitoring terminal.

After the fuel changed fromgasoline to kerosene of internal combustion engine, the engine cold startperformance is poor due to the poor spray evaporation of kerosene fuel. In thepaper, the ignition factors are to be analyzed based on the gas dischargetheory. Improving the spark plug discharge and increasing the ignition energyare used to improve the cold start performance of engine. The experimentalresults show that the method can improve the cold start performance of engine,which provides the basis for the engine burning kerosene fuel

To determine the optimal thresholds in image segmentation, a new multilevel thresholding method based on improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, use the conception of independent peaks to divide the histogram to several regions, secondly, the optimization object function using maximum between-class variance (MV) method can be gotten in each area, by the non-uniform mutation and Geese-LDW PSO optimization of the object function, the optimal thresholds can be gotten, and the image can be segmented with the thresholds. Compared with the basic MV algorithm and genetic algorithm (GA) modified MV, the experimental results show that the new method not only realizes the image segmentation well, but also improves the speed.

Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) infection is a systemic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positive lymphoprolifetative disease characterized by fever, lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, unusual pattern of anti- EBV antibodies, and/or increased EBV genomes in affected tissues. Most cases are from Asia. So far, there is hardly any adult case reported from mainland of China. We herein presented a 33-year-old man with fever, facial erythema and rash, lymphadenopathy, lower limbs weakness, splenomegaly and liver lesion. EBV VCA, EA and EBNA were all positive. EBV DNA could be found in serum and PBMC. In situ hybridization of EBV encoded RNA in skin and liver biopsy was positive. Viral load in serum decreased under interferon alpha therapy. To our knowledge, it’s the first adult case reported from mainland of China.

The Shengli crude oil fractions of saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes (SARA) were obtained by the classic SARA method, and acidic fractions were extracted by ethanol/water (7:3, v/v) solution mixed with 1.5 mass % NaOH. The interfacial tensions (IFTs) of solutions of two different betaines with different structures against n-alkanes, kerosene, and crude oil fractions dissolved in kerosene were studied in this paper. The experimental results show that, for linear betaine, a small quantity of crude oil fractions, especially acidic fractions and resins, can decrease IFTs of the system by forming a mixed adsorption film, which enhances the dynamic behavior and the compactness of interfacial films to some degree. Therefore, it has a synergistic effect between crude oil fractions and linear betaine. However, for the branched betaine with a larger hydrophobic part, it displays the absolutely opposite tendency because a small amount of active substances present in kerosene can have a synergistic effect...

The aim of this study is to explore the effects of quenching and milling processing on setting property of calcium phosphate cement (CPC). For this purpose, non-quenched α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) and quenched α-TCP were synthesized and their corresponding cement systems were prepared. The particle size of α-TCP powder was introduced as a variable. Then, setting properties of these CPC systems were estimated. By a comparison between non-quenched CPC and the quenched one, it is found that milling processing mainly influences the initial setting stage by decreasing reactant particle size whereas the quenching treatment affects the final setting stage by changing α-TCP content, which supports that CPC setting initially depends on the surface area of reactants and subsequently on the diffusion through the hydrated layer formed around the reactants.

An approach is proposed to avoid model structure determination in system identification using NARMAX (nonlinear auto-regressive moving average with exogenous inputs) model. Identification procedure is formulated as an optimization procedure of a special class of Hopfield network in the proposed approach. The particular structure of these Hopfield networks can avoid the local optimum problem. Training of these Hopfield network achieves model structure determination and parameter estimation. Convergence of Hopfield networks guarantees that a NARMAX model of random initial state will approach a valid identification model with accurate state parameters. Results of two simulation examples illustrate that this approach is efficient and simple.

We have developed a novel method to construct porous hydroxyapatite (HA) by dual-phase mixing—in other words, generating a porous ceramic body and pore-forming template simultaneously. The technique is based on mixing two immiscible phases: HA slurry and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) resin. Naphthalene particles are necessary when greater porosity (>50%) is wanted. After shaping in a mold, the mixture is subjected to polymerization, drying, pyrolysis, and sintering. The porous HA has been thoroughly characterized with Fourier transformation infrared spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry, environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and image analysis. The demanding specifications for bone ingrowth are met: (i) the size of pores and their fenestrations are adjustable, ∼80% within 300–800 μm; (ii) uniform and isotropic porous structure is observed in three directions; (iii) pores are fully interconnected throughout; (iv) the porosity is adjustable up to 60%; and (v) sufficient mechanical strength is present for cell culture and implantation handling. The porous HA can be applied as either implant material or scaffold for bone-tissue engineering.

A novel method of preparing macroporous hydroxyapatite (HA) by dual-phase mixing was developed: HA slurry and Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) resin were mixed together at the volume ratio of 1:1. After pyrolytic removal of the PMMA phase, HA with an open porous structure was obtained. In this way, the porosity of the ceramic was limited to 50%. Attempts to increase the porosity by adding more PMMA resin were confronted with the technical hurdle of sample collapse during the pyrolysis process. To increase the porosity and to improve pore interconnection, an extra foaming step was introduced before the polymerization of PMMA resin. Three foaming agent systems were tried, based on the reactions of citric acid and (bi)carbonate salts: sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate, and ammonium bicarbonate. Although all the three foaming agents were able to increase the porosity up to 70%, keeping all the pores interconnected throughout, only ammonium bicarbonate system turned out to be applicable to make HA scaffolds or implants, because both NaHCO(3) and CaCO(3) systems caused alkalic residues in the final ceramic. The porous HA samples were fully characterized by FTIR, XRD, ESEM (EDX), and optical microscopy.

To explore the influence of water fluoride exposure on reproductive hormones in female.Cross-sectional study was conducted in seven villages of a county in Henan province by using simple random sampling including high fluoride area, defluoridation project area and control area on April, 2011 based on the preliminary study results of fluoride concentration in drinking water. Women who were born and growth or lived in the village at least 5 years and aged 18-48 years old were recruited using cluster sampling. They were divided into high fluoride group (HFG, 116 subjects), defluoridation project group (DFPG, 132 subjects) and control group (CG, 227 subjects) in accordance with the above areas. All subjects accepted questionnaire and physical checkup. Fasting blood and morning urine samples were collected. The concentration of fluoride in urine was determined by fluoride ion selective electrode method. The serum level of GnRH was detected using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The serum level of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone (T), estradiol (E2) were determined by chemiluminesence immunoassay (CLIA).The average age was (39.44 ± 7.34), (38.84 ± 8.03), (37.45 ± 7.70) years old in female from DFPG, HFG and CG respectively, there were no significant differences among the three groups (F = 3.02, P = 0.05). The urine fluoride levels were (1.34 ± 1.07), (2.59 ± 1.57), (0.92 ± 0.46) mg/ml in female from DFPG, HFG and CG respectively, there was a significant difference among three groups (F = 105.38, P0.01). No significant differences were observed of serum GnRH, LH, T, FSH and E2 among three groups in follicular phase (P0.05). The serum levels of E2 in Ovulatory period were 67.73, 58.09, 84.96 pg/ml in female from DFPG, HFG and CG respectively. It was lower in HFG than that in CG (H = 4.00, P0.05). The serum levels of T in Ovulatory period were 0.55, 0.45, 0.55 ng/ml in female from DFPG, HFG and CG respectively. It was lower in HFG than that in DFPG (H = 6.47, P0.05), but no significant difference was observed between HFG and CG (H = 2.41, P0.05). The serum levels of GnRH in Luteal phase were 24.09, 20.16, 23.50 ng/ml in female from DFPG, HFG and CG respectively. It was lower in HFG than that in DFPG (H = 14.14, P0.05) and CG (H = 12.53, P0.05). The serum level of E2 in luteal phase were 81.47, 64.60, 74.55 pg/ml in female from DFPG, HFG and CG respectively. It was lower in HFG than that in DFPG (H = 5.69, P0.05). As for LH, FSH and T, no significant differences were observed among the three groups (P0.05 respectively). The abnormal rates of E2 level were 22.73 (30/102), 37.93 (44/72), 20.26 (46/181) in female from DFPG, HFG and CG respectively. The E2 abnormal rate in female from HFG was higher that from DFPG (χ(2) = 6.82, P0.05) and CG (χ(2) = 12.38, P0.05).Fluoride exposure may influence reproductive hormones in female, especially in ovulatory and luteal phase of menstrual cycle.

A simple micromechanical model based primarily upon the rule-of-mixtures is developed which allows prediction of the effects of fibre preload on the ply stresses (i.e., the initial residual stresses of fibre, adhesive and matrix) induced within VIRALL laminates, and the tensile stress-strain curves and mechanical properties of VIRALL laminates. The analysis of the ply stresses of VIRALL laminates indicates that pre-stressing will dramatically influence the ply stresses. The predicted tensile stress-strain curves of VIRALL laminates are in good agreement with the experimental curves and the results show that the stress-strain curves of VIRALL laminates move upwards when the prestress increases. The predicted tensile mechanical properties of VIRALL laminates at room temperature show good agreement with those obtained experimentally; both show that prestress can improve the tensile properties (i.e., elastic limit strength, 0.2% yield strength and failure strength) of VIRALL laminates.

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection course is divided into 4 immune phases which were mainly characterized by clinical markers. We investigated the immune markers, especially inhibitory receptors, cytokine and chemokine expressions among the immune phases especially between immune tolerance (IT) phase and immune control (IC) phase.Blood and serum samples of 64 patients and serum samples of 22 healthy controls were obtained. We used flow cytometric methods for measurements of PD-1, PD-L1 and flow fluorescence immunoassay for the serum cytokines and chemokines concentrations. IL-27 was measured by ELISA and the receptor IL-27R was detected too.The proportions of PD1 positive cells in CD4+, CD4+CD45RO+, and CD8+ T-cell subsets in IC phase were greater than in IC phase. The frequencies of PD1 expressions in CD8+pentamer+ and CD8+CD45RA-pentamer+ T cells were higher in IC phase than in IT and ICC phases. The serum concentration of IL-27 in IT group was higher than in IC, ICC and HC groups. Concentrations of cytokines TNF-α and IL-10 and chemokines RANTES, IL-8 and IP-10 were higher in HBV infected patients.The reduction of percentages of PD-1 positive cells may contribute to estimate entering the IC phase and decide the opportune moment to start antivirus therapy.

The hemochromatosis (HFE) gene encodes the HFE protein that regulates iron absorption. HFE mutations lead to the hemochromatosis disease of excessive iron absorption. HFE mutations may also influence the sustained virologic response (SVR, long-term virus suppression) in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with interferon-based antiviral therapy. We performed a meta-analysis of all English and Chinese language studies of HFE mutations and SVR in interferon-treated chronic hepatitis C patients indexed in the Medline, PubMed, Embase, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases to November 2011. Seven studies involving 605 patients with HFE mutations (homozygous or heterozygous mutation of C282Y, H63D or S65C) and 1279 with wild-type HFE (no mutation of C282Y, H63D or S65C for both alleles) were analyzed. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with the fixed- or random-effect models. HFE mutations were associated with significantly higher SVR rate (vs. wild-type: OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.23-1.97, P < 0.001), indicating that mutation carriers were likely to achieve SVR in response to interferon-based antiviral therapy. Stratification analysis by HFE mutation type revealed that the H63D mutation was associated with a significantly higher SVR rate (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.09-2.34, P = 0.020), while the C282Y mutation was not (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 0.71-1.98, P = 0.510). Our meta-analysis results indicate that the H63D mutation in HFE is associated with a higher SVR rate in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with interferon-based antiviral therapy.

Employing the Dyson-Maleev transformation and the coherent state ansatz, two partial differential equations of motion from the Hamiltonian of the f.c.c. antiferromagnet CeAs are obtained. By using the multiple scalar method and the long-wavelength approximation, these equations are reduced to a nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The single soliton solution is obtained by using the inverse scattering transformation. For the single soliton bound state, the energy and the spatial configurations of the spin are given.

In the title complex, [Mn(C(8)H(9)N(2)O(4))(2)(H(2)O)(2)]·3.5H(2)O, the Mn(II) cation is six-coordinated by two N,O-bidentate H(2)pimda(-) ligands (H(2)pimda(-) = 5-carb-oxy-2-propyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxyl-ate) and two water mol-ecules in a distorted octa-hedral environment. The complete solid-state structure can be described as a three-dimensional supra-molecular framework stabilized by a wide range of O-H⋯O and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The propyl groups of H(2)pimda(-) are disordered over two sets of sites with refined occupancies of 0.759 (5):0.241 (5) and 0.545 (7):0.455 (7).

In the title complex, [Zn(C(8)H(9)N(2)O(4))(2)(H(2)O)(2)]·3.5H(2)O, the Zn(II) ion is coordinated by two N,O-bidentate H(2)pimda ligands (H(3)pimda = 2-propyl-1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarb-oxy-lic acid) and two water mol-ecules in a distorted octa-hedral environment. In the crystal structure, extensive inter-molecular O-H⋯O and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds stabilize the three-dimensional supra-molecular network. Intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the carboxyl groups are also observed. The propyl groups of the two H(2)pimda ligands are disordered each over two sites, with occupancy factors of 0.752 (5):0.248 (5) and 0.519 (7):0.481 (7). One of the water mol-ecules is half-occupied.

DWT (discrete wavelet transform) has become an attractive tool in image registration, however, it is shift sensitive, which is mainly caused by the aliasing term in downsampling process. Some modified schemes of DWT, such as DTCWT (dual-tree complex wavelet transform), always lead to high computational complexity in registration process because of redundancy. In this paper, a new scheme of wavelet decomposition is proposed to approximately eliminate the aliasing term while the wavelet representation remains redundancy-free. By the new scheme, the shift sensitivity of wavelet representations of original signal has been reduced efficiently. The registration results of two medical images illustrate the superiority of the proposed wavelet decomposition scheme.

To investigate the clinical implications of relationship between myeloperoxidase and acute coronary syndromes (ACS).176 consecutive patients who underwent coronary angiography for coronary atherosclerosis were divided into four groups according to the quartile of MPO Level. The characters and the relationship between MPO and the elements were studied in every group.(1) ACS rate (36.2%) in the fourth quartile group of MPO level was 6 times higher than that (5.2%) in the first quartile group of MPO level, P0.01. (2) Gensini score (65.6 +/- 30.3) in the fourth quartile group of MPO level was significantly higher than that (17.3 +/- 10.2) in the first quartile group (P0.01). WBC [(7.7 +/- 1.6) x 10(9)/L] in the fourth quartile group was also significantly higher than that [(6.6 +/- 1.8) x 10(9)/L] in the first quartile group, P0.05. (3) When TnIor = 0.05 ng/ml, MPO level had a positive correlation with Gensini score (r = 0.321, P = 0.002) and WBC (r = 0.230, P = 0.025). (4) Kaplan-meier event rate curve showed that there was a significant difference of the terminus incident (death, no causing death AMI, vessel reestablish and incidence rate of CABG add up) between the groupsor = 62.9 AUU/L and62.9 AUU/L of MPO serum level at 6-month follow-up visit (chi(2) = 13.5, P = 0.01).Activity level of MPO in human serum seems a good biomarker for diagnosing and predicting ACS, which may be especially helpful in predicting the risk of myocardial infarction in patients with acute chest pain during 6-month follow up.

Due to boosting usage of flexible and damping materials, it is of great significance for both science and engineering to explore active control methods for vibration within time-delayed hysteretic structures. This paper conducts theoretical and experimental research on a time-delayed controller for a flexible plate with a single-layer rubber glued on its back. First of all, the dynamic equation for a composite plate is given on the base of the Kirchhoff–Love assumption, where damping-restoring force is described by the Bouc–Wen hysteresis model. Then, the influence of time delay is taken into account and the state equation of the plate with time delay is obtained. Next, a standard state equation, with implicit time delay, is derived using one specific form of integral transformation and vector augmentation. Finally, an instantaneous optimal control method is used to design an active controller. This controller does not only involve state feedback of the current step, but also a linear addition of former state feedbacks within several steps. In order to verify this method, experimental work is conducted. Problems encountered like differential computation and lifting of displacement signal are also handled. According to a comparison between simulations and experiments, the control method given in this paper is feasible and valid, and it is available for both small and large time delay.

For the first time, a highly porous strong Ti6Al4V was produced by using a "polymeric sponge replication" method. A polymeric sponge, impregnated with a Ti6Al4V slurry prepared from Ti6Al4V powders and binders, was subjected to drying and pyrolyzing to remove the polymeric sponge and binders. After sintering at a high temperature and under high vacuum, a porous Ti6Al4V was produced. Optical microscopical observation, environmental scanning electron microscopy observation (with energy-dispersive micro X-ray analysis), mechanical tests, and metallurgical analyses were performed on the obtained porous Ti6Al4V with regard to the porous structure (both macropores and micropores), mechanical properties, chemical composition, phase compositions, and cell attachment behavior. The porous Ti6Al4V made by this method had a three-dimensional trabecular porous structure with interconnected pores mainly ranging from 400 to 700 microm and a total porosity of about 90%. The compressive strength was 10.3 +/- 3.3 MPa and the elastic constant 0.8 +/- 0.3 GPa. MC3T3-E1 cells attached and spread well in the inner surface of pores. Being similar to cancellous bone with regard to both interconnected porous structure and mechanical properties, the resulting porous Ti6Al4V is expected to be a promising biomaterial for biomedical applications.

In the title complex, [Mn(C8H9N2O4)2(H2O)2]·3.5H2O, the MnII cation is six-coordinated by two N,O-bidentate H2pimda− ligands (H2pimda− = 5-carb­oxy-2-propyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxyl­ate) and two water mol­ecules in a distorted octa­hedral environment. The complete solid-state structure can be described as a three-dimensional supra­molecular framework stabilized by a wide range of O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The propyl groups of H2pimda− are disordered over two sets of sites with refined occupancies of 0.759 (5):0.241 (5) and 0.545 (7):0.455 (7).

In the title complex, [Zn(C8H9N2O4)2(H2O)2]·3.5H2O, the ZnII ion is coordinated by two N,O-bidentate H2pimda ligands (H3pimda = 2-propyl-1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarb­oxy­lic acid) and two water mol­ecules in a distorted octa­hedral environment. In the crystal structure, extensive inter­molecular O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds stabilize the three-dimensional supra­molecular network. Intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the carboxyl groups are also observed. The propyl groups of the two H2pimda ligands are disordered each over two sites, with occupancy factors of 0.752 (5):0.248 (5) and 0.519 (7):0.481 (7). One of the water mol­ecules is half-occupied.

AIM: To construct a hepatitis B virus (HBV)-based vector with a reporter gene and to establish an HBV infection system to evaluate the availability of the vector. METHODS: The HBV-based vectors with green fluorescence protein (GFP) were packaged into the liver of immunodeficient mice through transfer and helper plasmid using hydrodynamic technology. Wild type HBV (wt HBV) was provided by plasmid MC2009. Primary human hepatocytes (PHH) were isolated and infected with recombinant HBV (rHBV) or wt HBV. GFP expression was monitored by confocal and flow cytometry. HBV DNA and HBV surface antigen (HBSAg) were analyzed by PCR and ELISA. RESULTS: 3 × 107 wt HBV copies/mL and 5 × 106 rHBV copies/mL were collected from mice serum. In the wt HBV infected group, HBV progeny was 2 × 107 copies/mL and HBSAg was 770 ng/mL. In the rHBV infected group, GFP fluorescence was detected on d 3 post-infection and over 85% of the parenchymal cells expressed green fluorescence on d 12 post-infection. Compared with wt HBV in the PHH infection system, no rHBV DNA or HBSAg were detected in PHH culture media. CONCLUSION: An effective HBV based vector was developed, which proved to be a useful HBV infection system. This vector and infection system can be applied to develop a therapeutic vector and study the HBV life cycle and viral pathogenesis.