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Abstract: Dysbiotic gut microbiota has been identified as a primary mediator of inherent inflammation that underlies the pathogenesis of obesity. Cordyceps comprises the larval body and the stroma of Cordyceps sinensis (BerK.) Sacc. parasiting on Hepialidae larvae of moths (H. pialusoberthur) with potent metabolic regulation functions. The underlying anti-obesity mechanisms, however, remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the water extract of Cordyceps attenuates glucose and lipid metabolism disorders and its associated inflammation in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and microbiomic analysis showed that Cordyceps reduced the amounts of Enterococcus cecorum, a bile-salt hydrolase-producing microbe to regulate the metabolism of bile acids in the gut. Importantly, E. cecorum transplantation or liver-specific knockdown of farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a bile acid receptor, diminished the protective effect of Cordyceps against HFD-induced obesity. Together, our results shed light on the mechanisms that underlie the glucose- and lipid-lowering effects of Cordyceps and suggest that targeting intestinalE. cecorum or hepatic FXR are potential anti-obesity and anti-inflammation therapeutic avenues.

Raillietina echinobothrida (R. echinobothrida) is one of the most pathogenic and prevalent tapeworms threat to the commercial chickens in China. However, there is a lack of research on their molecular identification and morphological characteristics. This study explored the molecular identification markers for R. echinobothrida in North China based on 18s ribosomal RNA (18s rRNA) gene and the ribosomal DNA second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) gene. The BLAST results of 18s rRNA (1643 bp) and ITS-2 (564 bp) gene sequences showed that the isolated intestinal tapeworms were R. echinobothrida. Phylogenetic trees obtained by maximum likelihood (ML) or neighbor-joining (NJ) method revealed that the R. echinobothrida in North China had the closest evolutionary relationship with the species found on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, China. Morphological observations by hematoxylin staining and scanning electron microscope showed four round suckers and a retractable rostellum on the spherical scolex of R. echinobothrida. Two rows of alternately arranged hooks distributed around the rostellum. There were 30–40 testes in each mature segment. A well-developed cirrus pouch lied outside the excretory duct of mature segment. The gravid segment contained 200–400 eggs and there was a well-developed oncosphere in each egg. In addition, abundant ultrastructural features in mature proglottid of R. echinobothrida in North China were identified by transmission electron microscopy. In conclusion, the present study established ways of molecular phylogenetic identification for R. echinobothrida based on 18s rRNA and ITS-2 gene, and identified the morphological and ultrastructural characteristics of R. echinobothrida in North China.

Cadmium is a highly toxic metal threatening human and animal health. N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) was reported to play a positive role in disease treatment and immune regulation. The present study aimed to explore the effect of NAC administration on Cd-induced cytotoxicity and abnormal immune response on chicken peritoneal macrophages. Peritoneal macrophages isolated from Isa Brown male chickens were exposed to CdCl2 (20 or 50 μM) and/or NAC (500 μM) for different time periods. Results showed that Cd caused dose-dependent damage on chicken peritoneal macrophages characterized by morphologic and ultrastructural alterations, increased cell apoptosis, reactive oxygen species accumulation and mitochondrial injury. Cd exposure inhibited phagocytic activity of chicken peritoneal macrophages, and promoted transcriptional status of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) in both unactivated macrophages and cells in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimuli. Pretreatment with 500 μM NAC did not affect growth of normal chicken peritoneal macrophages, while remarkably inhibiting Cd-caused cell death, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial membrane depolarization. NAC pretreatment significantly prevented intracellular Cd2+ accumulation in the Cd-exposed macrophages. Inhibitory effects of NAC on Cd-induced ROS accumulation and mitochondrial injury on chicken macrophages were confirmed in HD-11 macrophage cell line. In addition, NAC pretreatment promoted the phagocytic activity of Cd-exposed chicken peritoneal macrophages, and significantly inhibited expression of pro-inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) in both Cd-exposed macrophages and Cd-treated cells in response to LPS stimuli. In conclusion, the present study firstly demonstrated the antagonistic effect of NAC against Cd-caused damage and abnormal immune response on chicken peritoneal macrophages. Protective effect of NAC on chicken macrophages was highly related to its suppression on Cd-induced ROS overproduction, pro-inflammatory reaction and intracellular Cd2+ accumulation.

The utility of electronically conductive metal-organic frameworks (EC-MOFs) in high performance devices has been limited to date by a lack of high quality thin film. Here, we report the controllable thin film fabrication of an EC-MOF, Cu3(HHTP)2, (HHTP=2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene), by a spray layer-by-layer liquid-phase epitaxial method. The EC-MOF thin film can not only be precisely prepared among 10 ~ 100 nm in thickness with increment of ~ 2 nm per growing cycle, but also show smooth surface, good crystallinity and high orientation. The chemiresistor gas sensor based on this high quality Cu3(HHTP)2 thin film is one of the best room temperature sensors for NH3 in all reported sensors based on various materials.

Negative pressure wave positioning method is a technique for pipeline leakage detection and location, which is widely used in various fields. Wireless sensor technology has the advantages of low power consumption, easy networking and high positioning accuracy, which is the preferred technology for wireless location. This paper discusses a pipeline monitoring system based on negative pressure wave and wireless sensor. This system combines the advantages of high positioning accuracy, wide application range and small nodal volume. In order to prove the practicality, reliability and accuracy of this system, experimental results and comparison with other method are given, positioning error within 5%.

The change law of gel time of calcium carbonate-acid water glass grouting material with the content of calcium carbonate is researched in this paper. But the gel time does not increase evenly with reduction calcium carbonic reducing. It increases suddenly because there is sudden exceeding range with the solution pH value increasing. Meanwhile, the change relation of strength of pure gelation with suitable gel time and time is measured. Firming sand strength experiment is conducted by the better mixture ratio. The strength of pure gelation body increases with the time and the content of calcium carbonate increasing. It is closely related with the reaction mechanism of calcium carbonate-acid water glass. The active Ca2+in this system can react with a series of silicate ion to form silicate precipitate which is filled with colloid and forming skeletonation. And the correlation between firming sand strength and the calcium carbonic acid content is non-significant. Finally, the contrast test of the water glass-glyoxal is done, which is the preparation for the subsequent engineering application.

The situation of the global energy is tending to be in short supply, but geotherm is the inexhaustible renewable energy. Extracting reservoir geothermal water from old oil well can achieve economic benefits of oil - heat joint production. Since 2005, Huabei oilfield has been engaging in geothermal comprehensive utilization research projects and developed the large displacement electrical submersible pumps suitable for high temperature. For the operation management of this equipment, the working condition diagnosis analysis research has been carried out, 16 kinds of current curve template and 73 kinds of pump characteristic curve template have been established using ADO remote data access technology, and the volume efficiency and energy efficiency dynamic control model and chart have been established as well. The production situation analysis using the chart can timely find out the problems existing in the production and puts forward the improvement measures to achieve the purpose of energy saving and consumption reduction.

When solving large scale combinatorial optimization problems, Max-Min Ant System requires long computation time. MPI-based Parallel Max-Min Ant System described in this paper can ensure the quality of the solution, as well as reduce the computation time. Numerical experiments on the multi-node cluster system show that when solving the traveling salesman problem, MPI-based Parallel Max-Min Ant System can get better computational efficiency.

Artesunate (ART) is a semi-synthetic derivative of artemisinin extracted from the plant Artemisia annua is a safe and effective antimalarial drug. In the present investigation, ART was found also to inhibit angiogenesis in vivo and in vitro. The anti-angiogenic effect in vivo was evaluated in nude mice by means of human ovarian cancer HO-8910 implantation and immunohistochemical stainings for microvessel (CD31), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF receptor KDR/flk-1. Tumor growth was decreased and microvessel density was reduced following drug treatment with no apparent toxicity to the animals. ART also remarkably lowered VEGF expression on tumor cells and KDR/flk-1 expression on endothelial cells as well as tumor cells. The in vitro effect of ART was tested on models of angiogenesis, namely, proliferation, migration and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). The results showed that ART significantly inhibited angiogenesis in a dose-dependent form in the range of 0.5∼50 µmol/l. Additionally, the inhibitory effect of ART on HVUEC proliferation was stronger than that on Hela, JAR, HO-8910 cancer cells, NIH-3T3 fibroblast cells and human endometrial cells, indicating that ART was selectively against HUVEC. These findings and the known low toxicity of ART are clues that ART may be a promising angiogenesis inhibitor.

To identify the susceptible gene (s) for type 2 diabetes in the previously mapped region, 1p36.33-p36.23, in Han population of North China using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and to analyze the haplotypes of the gene (s) related to type 2 diabetes.Twenty three SNPs located in 10 candidate genes in the mapped region were chosen from public SNP domains with bioinformatic methods, and the single base extension (SBE) method was used to genotype the loci for 192 sporadic type 2 diabetes patients and 172 normal individuals, all with Han ethical origin, to perform this case-control study. The haplotypes with significant difference in the gene (s) were further analyzed.Among the 23 SNPs, 8 were found to be common in Chinese Han population. Allele frequency of one SNP, rs436045 in the protein kinase C/zetagene (PRKCZ) was statistically different between the case and control groups(P0.05). Furthermore, haplotypes at five SNP sites of PRKCZ gene were identified.PRKCZ gene may be associated with type 2 diabetes in Han population in North China. The haplotypes at five SNP sites in this gene may be responsible for this association.