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Pig domestication and management strategy has been increasingly discussed in recent years, focusing on the temporal-spatial differences of pig management strategies. The East Liao River Basin with diverse ecosystems, cultural exchanges, and collisions plays an important role in the cultural development, exchange, and integration processes between Northeast China and the Central Plains. Multiple studies have revealed that various forms of subsistence economy, such as nomadism, fishing and hunting, and farming, existed in this region. However, no report or discussion has been presented concerning the status of domestic animal management strategies over a long-term in the East Liao River Basin. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes analysis were performed on the fauna bones at the Changshan site in Siping, Jilin, China, from the Bronze Age (c. 2000–256 BC) to the Liaojin Dynasties (907–1234 AD), to reconstruct their dietary pattern and reveal the status of domestic animal management strategies, especially the diachronic changes in pig feeding strategies. The results showed that pigs (–19.3 ± 1.6%, 5.3 ± 0.9%, n = 27), horses (–18.4 ± 1.7%, 4.8 ± 1.4%, n = 7), and sheep (–19.8 ± 1.5%, 5.7 ± 0.5%, n = 6) primarily received their subsistence through C3-based food. Nevertheless, cattle (–16.4 ± 3.5%, 6.0 ± 2.1%, n = 2) and the past human (–13.9%, 10.3%, n = 1) lived on mixed C3/C4-based food. Notably, the stable isotope data for pigs from the Bronze Age (–19.1 ± 2.0%, 5.4 ± 1.0%, n = 9) to the Liaojin Dynasties (–19.8 ± 0.6%, 5.1 ± 0.7%, n = 15) were similar, indicating that the management and/or feeding strategy of domestic pigs were relatively stable with a free range in a wild ecosystem over a long period. Related studies have shown that pigs in captivity were mainly fed by millet-based food in the West Liao River Basin and the middle reaches of the Yellow River valley, where millet agriculture were adequately developed. Abundant natural resources, including plants, wild animals, and fishes, could provide sufficient food to the past population in the East Liao River Basin. Thus, the millet-based agriculture was just an auxiliary subsistence strategy in the Changshan site, leading to a gap in the driving force for long-term intensive management of pig.

KOR-3, also known as ORL-1, is a member of the opioid receptor family, encoding the murine receptor for orphanin FQ/nociceptin. In the current studies we have identified five different splice variants of KOR-3 in mouse brain, three of which have not been previously reported. In addition to variants with a 15 bp deletion at the 3′-end of the first coding exon (KOR-3d) and an 81 bp insertion between the second and third coding exons (KOR-3e), three new variants with insertions of 34 (KOR-3a), 98 (KOR-3b), and 139 bp (KOR-3c) between the first and second coding exons have been obtained. The expression of the three variants in mouse brain varies markedly among brain regions with a distribution which is quite distinct from KOR-3 itself. Of greatest interest was the presence of high levels of KOR-3a in the striatum, a region with no demonstrable KOR-3, and in the cortex. KOR-3c was seen in the periaqueductal gray and hypothalamus, regions where KOR-3 predominated. The brainstem had similar levels of KOR-3, KOR-3a, and KOR-3d. In contrast, KOR-3d was most prominent in the cerebellum. KOR-3b levels were very low throughout.

The acute blood-contacting properties of five silicone-containing elastomers and a poly(vinyl alcohol) coated silicone elastomer were assessed using a canine ex vivo shunt model. The silicone-containing elastomers studied included two thermoset amorphous silica reinforced dimethyl methylvinyl siloxane-based polymers which were extruded as Silastic® RX-50 Medical Grade Tubing (RX-50) and Silastic® Medical Grade Tubing H.P. (HP). They also included three experimental thermoplastic silicone-urea urethane copolymers received as X7-4074 (SP-1), X7-4037 (SP-2), and X7-4943 (SP-3). The RX-50 tubing material showed less thrombus deposition compared to the silicone-urea urethane copolymers. This suggests that the blood-contacting response of a silicone elastomer is strongly affected by the incorporation of the urea urethane segments. Among the silicone-urea urethane copolymers, the SP-3 material showed higher levels of platelet and fibrinogen deposition than the SP-1 and SP-2 materials, whereas the SP-1 and SP-2 samples had similar levels of deposition. These results indicate that the blood-contacting properties of the silicone-urea urethane copolymers were influenced more by the molecular weight of the polydimethylsiloxane than by the type of diol used in the urea urethane segments. The maximal platelet deposition on the poly vinyl alcohol-coated silicone was approximately an order of magnitude greater than those on the silicone-containing elastomers indicating that the PVA coating was more thrombogenic.

Peptides based on cell-adhesive regions of fibronectin, Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS), and vitronectin, Arg-Gly-Asp-Val (RGDV), were covalently bound to a polyurethane backbone via amide bonds. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies were used to monitor the reactions. The amount of grafted peptide was determined by amino acid analysis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggested the presence of the grafted peptide at the polymer-air interface in vacuo. Dynamic contact angle analysis showed that, in water, the peptide-grafted polyurethane surfaces were more polar than the underivatized polyurethane indicating enrichment of peptide groups at the surface. The attachment and spreading of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) on the underivatized and peptide-grafted polyurethanes was investigated. The GRGDSY- and GRGDVY-grafted substrates supported cell adhesion and spreading even without serum in the culture medium. The GRGDVY-grafted substrate supported a larger number of adherent cells and a higher extent of cell spreading than the GRGDSY-grafted substrate. These RGD-containing peptide-grafted polyurethane copolymers may be useful in providing an easily prepared celladhesive substrate for various biomaterial applications.

A cDNA clone (S2-1a) isolated from a mouse brain cDNA library, using a guinea pig sigma1 cDNA as probe, has high homology to the predicted protein sequence of the guinea pig (88%) and human (90%) sigma1 receptors. Northern analysis revealed a major mRNA of approximately 1.8 kb in a wide range of mouse tissues, with highest levels in brain, liver, kidney, and thymus. Southern analysis and chromosomal mapping in the mouse suggested a single-copy gene in region A5-B2 of chromosome 4. Expression of the clone in MCF-7 and CHO cells led to a pronounced increase in (+)-[3H]pentazocine binding with a selectivity profile consistent with sigma1 receptors. In vitro translation yielded a protein of approximately 28 kDa, as did transfection of a probe containing the hemagglutinin (HA) epitope (S2-1a.HA) into CHO cells, as determined by western analysis using an antibody directed against HA. (+)-[3H]-Pentazocine binding to immunopurified HA-tagged receptor demonstrated conclusively that S2-1a.HA encodes a high-affinity (+)-[3H]pentazocine binding site with characteristics of a murine sigma1 receptor. An antisense oligodeoxynucleotide designed from S2-1a potentiated opioid analgesia in vivo.

Polyurethanes which are grafted with propyl sulphonate functionality have excellent blood-contacting properties. In a canine ex vivo series shunt experiment, very low platelet deposition was observed on these materials and those platelets which were adherent remained unspread. In contrast to this, large amounts of fibrinogen, of the order of a monolayer or greater, were deposited on these surfaces in this ex vivo experiment. This led to the hypothesis that perhaps the deposited fibrinogen did not retain its platelet-adhesive activity. In this paper, we investigate the possibility that these materials exert their antithrombotic effects through the adsorbed protein layer. Protein adsorption kinetics and isotherms on these sulphonated polyurethanes are determined. Multilayer protein adsorption or absorption into the hydrogel-like materials is found for each of the proteins studied, and the greatest amounts of protein are seen on the most highly sulphonated polyurethanes. Further, the blood-contacting response of these materials is investigated after pre-conditioning with either fibrinogen, fibronectin or albumin. When these materials are pre-adsorbed with either fibrinogen or fibronectin, a very thrombogenic response was observed, which suggests that the platelet-adhesive activity of these proteins is not being reduced. Pre-adsorption of albumin did not improve the thromboresistance of these surfaces.

We have determined the electronic and atomic structure of N doped TiO2 using a combination of hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles density functional theory calculations. Our results reveal that N doping of TiO2 leads to the formation of oxygen vacancies and the combination of both N impurity and oxygen vacancies accounts for the observed visible light catalytic behavior of N doped TiO2.