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Abstract Background Anaplasma phagocytophilum is wide spread throughout the world and impacts both human and animal health. Several distinct ecological clusters and ecotypes of the agent have been established on the basis of various genetic loci. However, information on the genetic variability of A. phagocytophilum isolates in China represents a gap in knowledge. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and genetic characterization of A. phagocytophilum in small ruminants in central and southeastern China. Methods The presence of A. phagocytophilum was determined in 421 blood samples collected from small ruminants by PCR. Positive samples were genetically characterized based on 16S rRNA and groEL genes. Statistical analyses were conducted to identify ecotypes of A. phagocytophilum strains, to assess their host range and zoonotic potential. Results Out of 421 sampled small ruminants, 106 (25.2%) were positive for A. phagocytophilum. The positive rate was higher in sheep (35.1%, 40/114) than in goats (26.4%, 66/307) (P

Yixing purple clay teapot is a famous product due to the evolution of tea culture, which has been continued to this day and gradually become a system of cultural hybridity. It is because of its profound cultural and historical accumulation that it has achieved its position in pottery. With the continuous improvement in technology and the accumulation of experience of generations of purple clay artisans, the patterns of the purple clay pots they make are also in a great variety of fantasies. This paper will explore the design aesthetic basis of purple clay teapot from two directions of the visual angle of purple clay teapot, namely the modelling of purple clay teapot and its decoration.

Purpose. To report the surgical outcomes of 27-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for symptomatic vitreous floaters. Methods. 47 eyes of 47 patients (39 males, 83.0%) with symptomatic vitreous floaters who underwent 27-gauge PPV and followed up for more than 6 months were included. The mean age was 34.7 ± 13.5 years. Results. No operative complication occurred. At first day postoperatively, the intraocular pressure (IOP) was significantly lower than that at other time points (8.6 ± 2.7 mmHg, p

Purpose. To investigate the effect of menstrual cycle on perioperative bleeding of primary vitreoretinal surgery. Methods. Data on female patients who had vitrectomy surgery was retrospectively collected. Exclusion criteria were history of trauma, vitreous hemorrhage, previous vitreoretinal surgery, diabetic retinopathy, endophthalmitis, acute retinal necrosis, single vitreous opacity, and use of antiplatelet agents. Perioperative bleeding was defined as hemorrhage in the iris, vitreous, choroidal, retina, or subretina during surgery or up to one day postoperatively. 69 patients had surgery during the perimenstrual phase (group M, days 1–7 and days 21–28) and 86 during periovulatory phase (group O, days 8–20) were enrolled. Results. The proportion of operative bleeding in group M (14.5%) and group O (10.5%) was not found to be significantly different (p=0.45). No postoperative bleeding was recorded in both groups. The univariate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of perimenstrual phase for operative bleeding were 0.69 (0.26–1.81). After adjusting for patients’ age, vitreoretinal diseases, and surgeons, the multivariate OR and 95% CI were 0.71 (0.27–1.86). Conclusion. This study suggests that the timing of the menstrual period does not affect perioperative bleeding for primary vitreoretinal surgery. Menstruation appears not to be a contraindication for vitreoretinal surgery.

Purpose. To report the safety and efficacy of adjustable postoperative position for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). Methods. Retrospective review of 536 consecutive RRD eyes that underwent vitrectomy surgery for retina repair from year 2008 to 2014. The retinal breaks were divided into superior, lateral (nasal, temporal, and macular), and inferior locations, according to the clock of breaks. Patients with superior and lateral break location were allowed to have facedown position or lateral decubitus position postoperatively, while patients with inferior break location were allowed to have facedown position. Results. 403 eyes of 400 patients were included. The mean follow-up interval was 22.7 ± 21.3 months. The overall primary retinal reattachment rate was 93.3%. There were 24 (6.0%), 273 (67.7%), and 106 (26.3%) patients with superior, lateral, and inferior break location, respectively. The primary reattachment rate was 95.8%, 92.3%, and 95.3% accordingly. After further divided the break location into subgroups as a function of duration of symptom, postoperative lens situation, number of retinal breaks, and different vitreous tamponade, the primary reattachment rates were all higher than 82%. Conclusion. Adjustable postoperative positioning is effective and safe for RRD repair with different break locations. Choosing postoperative position appropriately according to retinal break locations could be recommended.

The traditional mean squared error (MSE) criterion can be formulated as a quadratic function of a vector of control filter coefficients, and it is easy to obtain optimal control filter coefficients. Although the MSE criterion can lead to noise reductions in the control area, an unpredictable directional residual sound field is generated. In this paper, we propose a method for multi-channel active harmonic noise control with a local minimax error criterion based on the Nelder−Mead algorithm, which leads to reductions at all error positions and greater reductions at controllable positions. Directional noise reduction experiments of two areas are presented for two different error criteria at discrete locations in an anechoic chamber. Compared with a system employing the traditional MSE criterion, the results show that an active noise control system with the proposed criterion can achieve extra reductions at specified locations and overall noise reductions at the same time. The present research offers some important insights into directional control.

Active headrest can reduce the low-frequency noise around ears based on the principle of active noise control. This paper presents a combination of robust algorithm and head-tracking for a feedforward active headrest to reduce the broadband noise for a sleeper on a high-speed train. A robust algorithm based on the feedforward active noise control is proposed to improve the noise control performance during head rotations. The head-tracking system with infrared rangefinders tracks the head position based on the Kalman filter to further improve system performance with head movements. Experiments were conducted on a model of a sleeper on a high-speed train. The experimental results show that the proposed active headrest system effectively controls broadband noise with head movements and rotations.

Background and objective It has been proven that cobrotoxin has anti-tumor effect while its role in lung cancer is rarely studied. The aim of this study is to assay the anti-tumor effect of cobrotoxin in cell line A549, and also to explore its possible mechanism related to autophagy and P38-MARK pathway. Methods Using MTT method to observe the inhibition effect of cobrotoxin on the growth of adenocarcinoma cell A549 and human lung fibroblast cell HFL1, as well as on that of A549 pretreated with 3-MA and SB203580, which are the inhibitor of autophagy and P38-MARK pathway respectively. Cell colony tablet cloning experiment was executed to detect the effect of cobrotoxin on colony formation of A549. Determining the protein levels of beclin-1, LC3, p38 and pP38 in A549 by Western blot after cells were exposed to cobrotoxin, or to cobrotoxin combined with either 3-MA or SB203580. Results All of different concentrations of cobrotoxin inhibited the growth of A549, but had no obvious effect on that of HFL1. After treating with 3-MA or SB203580, the suppress effect of cobrotoxin on A549 reduced. What’s more, different concentrations of cobrotoxin all significantly suppressed the colony formation of A549. The expression of beclin-1 and pP38 in A549 increased obviously after exposure to cobrotoxin, and also the ratio of LC3 II to LC3 I amplified with a dose-dependant manner, but P62 decreased. The protein level of beclin-1 and the ratio of LC3 II to LC3 I in cells pretreated with 3-MA were reduced, while that of p62 was increased. Also, in cells that treated with SB203580 before exposed to cobrotoxin, the expression of beclin-1, pP38 and the ratio of of LC3 II to LC3 I were reduced, but the expression of P62 increased. Conclusion Cobrotoxin can suppress the growth of A549 in vitro. And the activating of P38-MARK pathway, then upregulating autophagy, was involved in cobrotoxin induced anti-tumor process.

Carcinoma associated fibroblasts (CAFs) form the main constituents of tumor stroma and play an important role in tumor growth and invasion. The presence of CAFs is a strong predictor of poor prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Despite significant progress in determining the role of CAFs in tumor progression, the mechanisms contributing to their activation remain poorly characterized, in part due to fibroblast heterogeneity and the scarcity of reliable fibroblast surface markers. To search for such markers in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), we applied a novel approach that uses RNA-sequencing data derived from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA). Specifically, our strategy allowed for an unbiased identification of genes whose expression was closely associated with a set of bona fide stroma-specific transcripts, namely the interstitial collagens COL1A1, COL1A2, and COL3A1. Among the top hits were genes involved in cellular matrix remodeling and tumor invasion and migration, including platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRβ), which was found to be the highest-ranking receptor protein genome-wide. Similar analyses performed on ten additional TCGA cancer datasets revealed that other tumor types shared CAF markers with OSCC, including PDGFRβ, which was found to significantly correlate with the reference collagen expression in ten of the 11 cancer types tested. Subsequent immunostaining of OSCC specimens demonstrated that PDGFRβ was abundantly expressed in stromal fibroblasts of all tested cases (12/12), while it was absent in tumor cells, with greater specificity than other known markers such as alpha smooth muscle actin or podoplanin (3/11). Overall, this study identified PDGFRβ as a novel marker of stromal activation in OSCC, and further characterized a list of promising candidate CAF markers that may be relevant to other carcinomas. Our novel approach provides for a fast and accurate method to identify CAF markers without the need for large-scale immunostaining experiments.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are becoming increasingly widespread in the environment. Free cadmium ions released from commonly used NPs under ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation are potentially toxic to living organisms. With increasing levels of UV-B radiation at the Earth's surface due to the depletion of the ozone layer, the potential additive effect of NPs and UV-B radiation on plants is of concern. In this study, we investigated the synergistic effect of CdTe quantum dots (CdTe-QDs), a common form of NP, and UV-B radiation on wheat seedlings. Graded doses of CdTe-QDs and UV-B radiation were tested, either alone or in combination, based on physical characteristics of 5-day-old seedlings. Treatments of wheat seedlings with either CdTe-QDs (200 mg/L) or UV-B radiation (10 KJ/m(2)/d) induced the activation of wheat antioxidant enzymes. CdTe-QDs accumulation in plant root cells resulted in programmed cell death as detected by DNA laddering. CdTe-QDs and UV-B radiation inhibited root and shoot growth, respectively. Additive inhibitory effects were observed in the combined treatment group. This research described the effects of UV-B and CdTe-QDs on plant growth. Furthermore, the finding that CdTe-QDs accumulate during the life cycle of plants highlights the need for sustained assessments of these interactions.

Autophagy can be induced under nutrition stress conditions. Bcl-2 is a pro-survival protein which inhibits apoptosis and autophagy. However, the role of Bcl-2 in autophagy regulation and cell survival under nutrition deprivation has not been fully understood. This study sought to investigate if Bcl-2 upregulation is essential in limiting autophagic activity and prevent cell death under nutrition deprivation conditions. Autophagic activity was monitored by the changes in GFP-LC3 localization and protein levels of Beclin1, LC3-II, cathepsin D and p62 in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells underwent serum deprivation. Manipulation of Bcl-2 function was achieved with siRNAs and small molecular inhibitors. The cell viability and apoptosis were assessed with MTT assay and Annexin V/PI staining. The results showed that serum starvation increased protein levels of LC3-II and Beclin1 but decreased autophagy substrate p62. Autophagy activation induced by serum deprivation and rapamycin was accompanied by an upregulation of Bcl-2 protein levels. When Bcl-2 was knocked down with siRNA or inhibited with HA 14-1 or ABT-737, serum starvation induced profound cell death and enhanced autophagic flux under nutrition deprivation conditions, while knockdown of autophagic gene Beclin1 or autophagy inhibitors (bafilomycin A1 and E64D), rescued cell death. In contrast, overexpression of Bcl-2 inhibited autophagy and blocked cell death in response to serum deprivation. These data suggest that Bcl-2 plays an essential role in limiting autophagy activation and preventing initiation of programmed cell death. Thus Bcl-2 may be an important mechanism for balancing beneficial and detrimental impacts of autophagy on cell survival.

The present study seeks to investigate the role of cathepsin L in glutamate receptor-induced transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation and excitotoxicity in rats striatal neurons. Stereotaxic administration of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor agonist Quinolinic acid (QA) into the unilateral striatum was used to produce the in vivo excitotoxic model. Co-administration of QA and the cathepsin L inhibitor Z-FF-FMK or 1-Naphthalenesulfonyl-IW-CHO (NaphthaCHO) was used to assess the contribution of cathepsin L to QA-induced striatal neuron death. Western blot analysis and cathepsin L activity assay were used to assess the changes in the levels of cathepsin L after QA treatment. Western blot analysis was used to assess the changes in the protein levels of inhibitor of NF-κB alpha isoform (IκB-α) and phospho-IκB alpha (p-IκBα) after QA treatment. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to detect the effects of Z-FF-FMK or NaphthaCHO on QA-induced NF-κB. Western blot analysis was used to detect the effects of Z-FF-FMK or NaphthaCHO on QA-induced IκB-α phosphorylation and degradation, changes in the levels of IKKα, p-IKKα, TP53, caspase-3, beclin1, p62, and LC3II/LC3I. The results show that QA-induced loss of striatal neurons were strongly inhibited by Z-FF-FMK or NaphthaCHO. QA-induced degradation of IκB-α, NF-κB nuclear translocation, up-regulation of NF-κB responsive gene TP53, and activation of caspase-3 was strongly inhibited by Z-FF-FMK or NaphthaCHO. QA-induced increases in beclin 1, LC3II/LC3I, and down-regulation of p62 were reduced by Z-FF-FMK or NaphthaCHO. These results suggest that cathepsin L is involved in glutamate receptor-induced NF-κB activation. Cathepsin L inhibitors have neuroprotective effects by inhibiting glutamate receptor-induced IκB-α degradation and NF-κB activation.

Mitochondria-mediated cardiomyocyte apoptosis is involved in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury. Clematichinenoside (AR) is a triterpenoid saponin isolated from the roots of Clematis chinensis with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory cardioprotection effects against MI/R injury, yet the anti-apoptotic effect and underlying mechanisms of AR in MI/R injury remain unclear. We hypothesize that AR may improve mitochondrial function to inhibit MI/R-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. In this study, we replicated an in vitro H9c2 cardiomyocyte MI/R model by hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) treatment. The viability of H9c2 cardiomyocytes was determined by MTT assay; apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry and TUNEL experiments; mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening was analyzed by a calcein-cobalt quenching method; and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) was detected by JC-1. Moreover, we used western blots to determine the mitochondrial cytochrome c translocation to cytosolic and the expression of caspase-3, Bcl-2, and Bax proteins. These results showed that the application of AR decreased the ratio of apoptosis and the extent of mPTP opening, but increased ΔΨm. AR also inhibited H/R-induced release of mitochondrial cytochrome c and decreased the expression of the caspase-3, Bax proteins. Conversely, it remarkably increased the expression of Bcl-2 protein. Taken together, these results revealed that AR protects H9c2 cardiomyocytes against H/R-induced apoptosis through mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic signaling pathway.

The interaction of endophyte-grass associations are conditional on nitrogen (N) availability, but the reported responses of these associations to N are inconsistent. We hypothesized that this inconsistency is caused, at least in part, by phosphorus (P) availability. In this experiment, we compared the performance of endophyte-infected (EI) and endophyte-free (EF) Achnatherum sibiricum subjected to four treatments comprising a factorial combination of two levels of N (N+ vs. N-, i.e. N supply vs. N deficiency) and two levels of P (P+ vs. P-, i.e. P supply vs. P deficiency) availability. The results showed that A. sibiricum-Neotyphodium associations were conditional on both N and P availability, but more conditional on N than P. Under N+P- conditions, endophyte infection significantly improved acid phosphatase activity of EI plants, such that the biomass of EI plants was not affected by P deficiency (i.e. similar growth to N+P+ conditions), and resulted in more biomass in EI than EF plants. Under N-P+ conditions, biomass of both EI and EF decreased compared with N+P+; however, EI biomass decreased slowly by decreasing leaf N concentration more rapidly but allocating higher fractions of N to photosynthetic machinery compared with EF plants. This change of N allocation not only improved photosynthetic ability of EI plants but also significantly increased their biomass. Under N-P- conditions, EI plants allocated higher fractions of N to photosynthesis and had greater P concentrations in roots, but there was no significant difference in biomass between EI and EF plants. Our results support the hypothesis that endophyte-grass interactions are dependent on both N and P availability. However, we did not find a clear cost of endophyte infection in A. sibiricum.

Abstract Background The 32-item Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32), a questionnaire for screening bipolar disorders, has been utilised in several countries, but it unclear if the Chinese version of the HCL-32 is valid. Methods Consecutive patients with bipolar disorders (BP, N = 300) and unipolar major depression (UP, N = 156) completed the Chinese version of the HCL-32. The subjects underwent a structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis-I disorders (SCID). Results The eigenvalues for the first three factors in the HCL-32 were calculated as 5.16 (active/elated), 2.72 (risk-taking) and 2.48 (irritable) using factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha for the HCL-32 was calculated to be 0.88. Positive responses to twenty-eight items were significantly more frequent by patients with BP than those with UP, and the other four items (7th, 21st, 25th and 32nd) showed no such trend. Fourteen was the optimal cut-off for discriminating between BP and UP. The HCL-32 distinguished between BP-II and UP, with 13 being the optimal cut-off. A cut-off of 13 yielded a sensitivity of 0.77 and a specificity of 0.62 between BP and UP. Conclusions This study demonstrated that the simplified Chinese version of HCL-32 was valid for patients with mood disorders. The optimal cut-off of 13 for distinguishing between BP-II and UP was valid and could be used to improve the sensitivity of screening BP-II patients when the HCL-32 is used in psychiatric settings in China.