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The Australian predatory mite, Transeius montdorensis, is an important natural enemy of Bemisia tabaci, thrips, spider mites, and many other pests, and thus might be important for their biological control. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether temperature influences the development of T. montdorensis when preying on B. tabaci. The survival rate and development time of T. montdorensis under different temperature conditions were compared when fed with 1 st to 3 rd instar nymphs of B. tabaci as its prey. We analyzed the association between temperature and the growth rate of T. montdorensis. The results show that the developmental period of T. montdorensis was significantly affected by temperature. The development period of T. montdorensis was the longest (23.23 days) at 15 ℃ and the shortest (4.62 days) at 35 ℃. From 15–35 ℃, the developmental period of T. montdorensis correlated negatively with temperature. In addition, increasing temperature (15–30 ℃) promoted T. montdorensis survival. The survival rate was 64% at 15 ℃ and was highest (92%) at 30 ℃; however, survival was reduced as the temperature increased from 30 to 35 ℃; with only 66% survival at 35 ℃. The logistic equation is better at correlating temperature and development than the linear one. The different developmental stages of T. Montdorensis varied in the temperature thresholds of development and effective thermal summation. The temperature threshold of development was 10.45 ℃ at the immature stage, which had an effective thermal summation of 99.87 d ·℃.

Empathy has not been well studied in patients following ischemic stroke. We aimed to evaluate the relationships of multimodal neuroimaging parameters with the impairment of empathy in patients who had experienced subacute ischemic stroke. Patients who had experienced a first-event acute ischemic stroke were recruited, and we assessed their empathy using the Chinese version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) 3 months after the index stroke. Multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was conducted in all the participants to identify acute infarction and assess brain volumes, white matter integrity, and other preexisting abnormalities. We quantified the brain volumes of various subcortical structures, the ventricles, and cortical lobar atrophy. The microstructural integrity of the white matter was reflected in the mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), and the regional mean values of FA and MD were quantified after mapping using the ICBM_DTI_81 Atlas. Twenty-three (56.1%) men and 18 (43.9%) women (mean age: 61.73 years, range: 41–77 years) were included. The median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at discharge was 1 (range: 0–4). On univariate analysis, the EQ was correlated with right cortical infarction (r = −0.39, p = 0.012), putamen volume (r = 0.382, p = 0.014), right putamen volume (r = 0.338, p = 0.031), and the FA value of the right sagittal stratum. EQ did not correlated with the MD value in any region of interest or pre-existing brain abnormalities. Multiple stepwise linear regression models were used to identify factors associated with EQ. After adjusting for age and the NIHSS score on admission, the frequency of right cortical infarcts negatively correlated with EQ (standardized β = −0.358, 95% confidence interval =−0.708 to −0.076, p = 0.016), and the putamen volume positively correlated with EQ (standardized β = 0.328, 95% confidence interval =0.044 to 0.676, p = 0.027). In conclusion, in patients who have experienced subacute ischemic stroke, right cortical infarction and a smaller putamen volume are associated with the impairment of empathy.

// Keke Wang 1,* , Xiaojiang Deng 2,* , Zhihua Shen 1 , Yanan Jia 1 , Ranran Ding 3 , Rujia Li 1 , Xiaomin Liao 1 , Sisi Wang 1 , Yanping Ha 1 , Yueqiong Kong 4 , Yuyou Wu 4 , Junli Guo 4 and Wei Jie 1 1 Department of Pathology, School of Basic medicine Sciences, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, P.R. China 2 Department of Cardiovascular, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China 3 Department of Pathology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, P.R. China 4 Cardiovascular Institute of 1st Affiliated Hospital & Key Laboratory of Tropical Diseases and Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, P.R. China * Joint first authors Correspondence to: Junli Guo, email: // Wei Jie, email: // Keywords : high glucose, vascular smooth muscle cell, Pim-1, cell proliferation, STAT3 signaling, Pathology Section Received : March 09, 2017 Accepted : June 28, 2017 Published : July 18, 2017 Abstract Serine/threonine kinase proviral integration site for Moloney murine leukemia virus 1 (Pim-1) plays an essential role in arterial wall cell proliferation and associated vascular diseases, including pulmonary arterial hypertension and aortic wall neointima formation. Here we tested a role of Pim-1 in high-glucose (HG)-mediated vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. Pim-1 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression levels in arterial samples from streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia rats were increased, compared with their weak expression in normoglycemic groups. In cultured rat VSMCs, HG led to transient Pim-1 expression decline, followed by sustained expression increase at both transcriptional and translational levels. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that HG increased the expression of the 33-kDa isoform of Pim-1, but at much less extent to its 44-kDa plasma membrane isoform. D-glucose at a concentration of 25 mmol/L showed highest activity in stimulating Pim-1 expression. Both Pim-1 inhibitor quercetagetin and STAT3 inhibitor stattic significantly attenuated HG-induced VSMC proliferation and arrested cell cycle progression at the G1 phase. Quercetagetin showed no effect on Pim-1 expression but decreased the phosphorylated-Bad (T112)/Bad ratio in HG-treated VSMCs. However, stattic decreased phosphorylated-STAT3 (Y705) levels and caused transcriptional and translational down-regulation of Pim-1 in HG-treated VSMCs. Our findings suggest HG-mediated Pim-1 expression contributes to VSMC proliferation, which may be partly due to the activation of STAT3/Pim-1 signaling.

Natural rubber (NR)/epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)/carbon black (CB), natural rubber/butadiene rubber (BR)/carbon black and natural rubber/isobutylene-isoprene rubber (IIR)/carbon black compounds were prepared by mechanical mixing method. The mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical properties for the compounds were investigated respectively. The temperature range of tanδ>0.3 of NR/ENR40/CB compound was wider and shifted to high temperature than NR/CB compound. Comprehensive analysis indicated that NR/BR/CB and NR/IIR/CB compounds had no better damping performance than NR/CB compounds, while NR/ENR/CB compound had better damping performance.

In the present study, a new LC–MS/MS method for the determination of roemerine in rat plasma and tissue samples was developed and successfully used to study the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of roemerine after oral and intravenous (i.v.) administration in rats. The plasma and tissue samples were processed by liquid–liquid extraction with n-hexane. Isocorydine was used as the internal standard (IS) for sample processing and analysis. The MS/MS detection was carried out by monitoring the transitions of m/z 280→249 and m/z 342→279 for roemerine and the IS, respectively. The calibration curve displayed excellent linearity over the concentration range of 10–2000 ng/mL (n = 8, r 2 ≥ 0.995), and the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was determined to be 10 ng/mL. This method was rapid, accurate, highly sensitive, and fully validated. The pharmacokinetic study showed that roemerine was rapidly absorbed and eliminated with a tmax of 0.22 ± 0.08 h, t1/2 of 1.59 ± 0.46 h, CL of 4.44 ± 0.42 L/h/kg, and Vd of 10.16 ± 2.95 μg/L following oral administration. Additionally, roemerine showed an excellent oral bioavailability of 84% and a wide tissue distribution with brain penetration. Highest concentrations of roemerine were found in the liver and lung, followed by kidney, spleen, heart, and brain, in that order.

In this study, a new LC-ESI-MS/MS-based method was validated for the quantitation of hemslecin A in rhesus monkey plasma using otophylloside A as internal standard (IS). Hemslecin A and the IS were extracted from rhesus monkey plasma using liquid–liquid extraction as the sample clean-up procedure, and were subjected to chromatography on a Phenomenex Luna CN column (150 × 2.0 mm, 3.0 µm) with the mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0.02 mol/mL ammonium acetate (55:45, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. Detection was performed on an Agilent G6410B tandem mass spectrometer by positive ion electrospray ionization in multiple reaction monitoring mode, monitoring the transitions m/z 580.5 [M + NH4]+ 503.4 and m/z 518.2 [M + NH4]+ 345.0 for hemslecin A and IS, respectively. The assay was linear over the concentration range of 0.5–200 ng/mL and was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study in rhesus monkeys. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Foshan Zumiao is one of the three major treasures of the Lingnan ancient buildings and the establishment of the Digital Zumiao is a cultural project of important significance. By means of the combination of the overall-view images obtained by high dynamical light rendering technique (HDR) and the images with digital back ultrahigh resolution, with the multimedia database as the bolster, the Digital Zumiao realizes the reflection of the entity space of the Zumiao building in the virtual environment. Based on this target and experienced the processes and works such as the data survey and acquisition of the Digital Zumiao, analysis and processing of images and word data, and the set up of multimedia database of the Digital Zumiao etc. the virtual reality system and the digitalizing system of the Digital Zumiao were established .

Ethnopharmacological relevance Qing Ye Dan is a well-known herbal drug that is widely used to treat viral hepatitis in the Yi and Hani minority regions in the Yunnan province of China. Materials and methods An LC–MS/MS method was developed to determine the levels of swertiamarin in rat plasma. Swertiamarin and naringin (internal standard, IS) were extracted from rat plasma using solid-phase extraction (SPE) to purify the samples. The pharmacokinetics of the following different administration methods of swertiamarin in rats were studied: oral administration of swertiamarin alone, a Qing Ye Dan tablet (QYDT) and co-administration of swertiamarin and oleanolic acid, with each method delivering approximately 20 mg/kg of swertiamarin. Non-compartmental pharmacokinetic profiles were constructed by using the software DAS (version 2.1.1), and the pharmacokinetic parameters were compared using an unpaired Student's t -test. Results The results showed that the pharmacokinetic parameters C max , AUC 0–∞ , V z/F and CL z/F were significantly different ( P Conclusions The data indicate that oleanolic acid and the other ingredients present in QYDT could affect the pharmacokinetic behaviour of swertiamarin in rats.

Objective To explore the role of proto-oncogene Pim-1 in the proliferation and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells. Methods Pim-1 expressions in NPC cell lines CNE1, CNE1-GL, CNE-2Z and C666-1 were examined by RT-PCR, western blotting and immunoflucesence, respectively. After CNE1, CNE1-GL and C666-1 cells were treated with different concentrations of Pim-1 special inhibitor, quercetagetin, the cell viability, colony formation rate and migration ability were analyzed. Results Pim-1 expression was negative in well-differentiated CNE1 cells, whereas expressed weakly positive in poor-differentiated CNE-2Z cells and strongly positive in undifferentiated C666-1 cells. Interestingly, CNE1-GL cells that derived from CNE1 transfected with an Epstein Barr virus latent membrane protein-1 over-expression plasmid displayed stronger expression of Pim-1. Treatment of CNE1-GL and C666-1 cells with quercetagetin significantly decreased the cell viability, colony formation rate and migration ability but not the CNE1 cells. Conclusions These findings suggest that Pim-1 overexpression contributes to NPC proliferation and migration, and targeting Pim-1 may be a potential treatment for anti-Pim-1-expressed NPCs.

NR/ENR/silica composites with different ENR amount were prepared in an open two-roll laboratory mixing mill at room temperature. Dynamic properties of ENR filled NR/silica were performed by dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer (DMA) and compression fatigue analyzer. DMA and compression fatigue test results showed that the effect of ENR on dynamic properties of NR/silica was significant. DMA displayed the tanδ of NR/ENR/silica composites at 0 °C was increased with increasing ENR amount. Compression fatigue test indicated the presence of ENR decreased the heat produced during compression test and the heat build-up is the least when NR to ENR ratio is 80 to 20. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the morphology of NR/silica filled with ENR. It is found that silica self-aggregation was improved in the presence of ENR and sea-island structure was formed in NR/silica when 30phr ENR added, which maybe the reason of decrement of heat produced during compression.

Epoxidized Natural Rubber is prepared with latex processing technology. The relationships of the epoxidation with the reaction times and temperature were investigated. The structure of ENR was characterized by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FIIR). It is found that, the by products, ring-open components increases with the reaction temperatures and the reaction times. It is found that as the level of epoxidation increased, the number of tetrahydrofuran ring increased.

The tensile strength and elongation at break of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) was investigated by adding different concentration of calcium stearate. Two grades of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR), namely, ENR 25 and ENR 40 were used as model materials. Semi-efficient vulcanization (semi-EV) was used throughout the study. The tensile property of unaged and aged ENR vulcanizates was determined by using U-CAN electron tensile testing machine. Results indicate that tensile strength and elongation at break of unaged ENR 25 and ENR40 vulcanizates increase gradually with increasing concentration of calcium stearate up to about 1phr of calcium stearate and after which, the tensile strength and elongation at break drop with a further increase in calcium stearate loading. For a similar alcium stearate concentration, the tensile strength and elongation at break of ENR 40 vulcanizates exhibits a consistently higher value than that of ENR 25 vulcanizates, which is due to the higher crosslink density of ENR40 which contains more epoxide groups than ENR 25. For aged samples, the addition of calcium stearate could enhance the tensile strength and elongation at break of aged samples. Percentage retention of tensile strength and elongation at break also gradually increases with calcium stearate loading. That means that the incorporation of calcium stearate is found to improve the aging resistance of ENR vulcanizates. This is because calcium stearate neutralizes sulfur acids which can catalyze ring-opening of expoxide groups via ether crosslinks.

Epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)/fumed silica vulcanizates were prepared by mechanical mixing method. Fumed silica content can affect mechanical properties of the composites, and ten parts per hundreds of rubber (phr) fumed silica lead to the best tensile strength. The interaction between ENR and fumed silica was characterized by Kraus equation, crosslink density (tested by NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that the dispersion of silica in ENR was better than in natural rubber (NR), hydrogen bond was produced between ENR and fumed-silica in ENR/silica blends, and glass transition temperature of ENR/silica vulcanizate was higher than pure ENR vulcanizate. TGA and DMA confirmed that there was intense interaction between ENR and silica.

Two grades of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR), namely, ENR 25 and ENR 40 were mixing through adding 0-5 phr calcium stearate. The effect of calcium stearate concentration on cure characteristics of ENR was studied. The cure properties were determined by Moving Die Rheometer (MDR 2000) at 150°C. It showed that the scorch time (TS1) for ENR 25 and ENR 40 increased to a maximum value at 1 phr of calcium stearate, and further addition of calcium stearate maked it decrease. The cure time (T90), maximum torque (MH) and torque difference (MH﹣ML) of ENR decreased with increasing calcium stearate loading. For a fixed calcium stearate concentration, the scorch time (TS1) and cure time (T90) of ENR 40 were shorter than that of ENR 25, which is attributed to the activation of an adjacent double bond by the epoxide group in ENR. The results indicate that the effect of calcium stearate concentration on the cure characteristics of epoxidized natural rubber is remarkable.

Inflammation has been demonstrated to be widely involved in the carcinogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the prognostic significance of lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) in metastatic NPC is not fully addressed. The purpose of the study is to investigate the prognostic impact of pre-treatment absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), absolute monocyte count (AMC), and LMR on patients with newly diagnosed metastatic NPC undergoing chemotherapy. Between January 2006 and December 2010, patients with newly diagnosed metastatic NPC undergoing chemotherapy were retrospectively collected. The prognostic significance of baseline clinical features and inflammatory markers was investigated. A total of 256 patients were eligible for the study. The best cut-off value of ALC, AMC, and LMR was 2.25 × 109/L, 0.35 × 109/L, and 5.07, respectively. Patients in the high LMR group had a significantly longer overall survival (OS) (25.0 months [24.50–25.49]) than patients in the low LMR group (16.0 months [15.51–16.49]; p < 0.001). In addition, ALC ≥ 2.25 × 109/L (HR, 0.59; 95 % CI, 0.43–0.81; p = 0.001) and LMR ≥5.07 (HR, 0.42; 95 % CI, 0.30–0.59; p < 0.001) remained as independent prognostic factors for superior OS, while AMC did not retained its prognostic significance in COX multivariate analysis. Pre-treatment ALC and LMR were demonstrated to be independent prognostic factors in patient with newly diagnosed metastatic NPC receiving chemotherapy. Future prospective studies are needed to validate the findings.

In this study, a new LC-ESI-MS/MS-based method was validated for the quantitation of hemslecin A in rhesus monkey plasma using otophylloside A as internal standard (IS). Hemslecin A and the IS were extracted from rhesus monkey plasma using liquid-liquid extraction as the sample clean-up procedure, and were subjected to chromatography on a Phenomenex Luna CN column (150 × 2.0 mm, 3.0 µm) with the mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0.02 mol/mL ammonium acetate (55:45, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. Detection was performed on an Agilent G6410B tandem mass spectrometer by positive ion electrospray ionization in multiple reaction monitoring mode, monitoring the transitions m/z 580.5 [M + NH4 ](+) → 503.4 and m/z 518.2 [M + NH4 ](+) → 345.0 for hemslecin A and IS, respectively. The assay was linear over the concentration range of 0.5-200 ng/mL and was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study in rhesus monkeys.