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The magnetic response of magnetorheological organogels is investigated by using a commercial plate-plate magnetorheometer at oscillatory shear. The experimental characteristic time results show that the field-induced aggregation of iron particles can be accelerated by increasing the strength of field. In contrast, the gel structure of matrix could hinder the particle motion and the microstructure development. The fast aggregation process dominates in the contribution to the total growth of storage modulus. Nonetheless, this contribution of fast process decreases with increasing the gelator content, and in the meanwhile, the corresponding proportion of slow aggregation process increases. The rearrangement from on-state structures to another on-state structures take a longer time than the off-on response as verified in the pre-magnetization tests. The particle aggregation induced by magnetic field is thermally influenced due to the temperature sensibility of the matrix. The periodical step magnetic field perturbation tests suggest that response is reversible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Digoxin is a kind of plant-derived cardiac glycoside that is mainly used to treat heart diseases, especially in congestive heart failure or arrhythmia. However, its potentiality presented in anti-tumor remains unexplored. The purpose of this study was designed to investigate the beneficial pharmacological activity of digoxin on breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231, MM231). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was utilized to detect the proliferation of the breast cancer MM231. The apoptotic cell numbers were determined by the flow cytometry analysis. The expressions of Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma-2) and Bax (Bcl2-associated X protein) were detected by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Digoxin dose-dependently blocked the cell growth of the breast cancer MM231 through MTT assay, whereas the apoptotic numbers were significantly elevated as reflected in acridine orange staining and flow cytometry analysis. In addition, findings from Western blotting method indicated that digoxin intervention showed reduced Bcl-2 expression and elevated Bax level in MM231 cells, characterized by increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Digoxin plays a potential anti- tumor role in breast cancer in vitro, possibly by inducing mitochondria-dependent apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C16H11NO10U, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 16.4675(12) Å, b = 11.7192(8) Å, c = 9.6663(7) Å, β = 100.823(2)°, V = 1832.3(2) Å3, Z = 4, R gt(F) = 0.0277, wR ref(F2) = 0.0673, T = 170.0 K.

On December 31st, 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission issued the first report of the pneumonia epidemic of novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Studies regarding the relationships between traffic and the epidemic situation are far from systematic. When the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, Hubei province, an important transportation hub of China, it occurred at the peak of Spring Festival-related travel. Therefore, the relationships between the spread of the epidemic and the impact of traffic have remained underexplored. This paper systematically analyzes the spatiotemporal characteristics, hazards, and the growth trend of COVID-19 spread from a macroscopic and full sample perspective, to provide a comprehensive understanding toward epidemic prevention and control in China and abroad. The analysis performed in this article is based on the publicly available data, using the basic reproductive number measure and complex network method. This study found the following. First, the overall growth of the epidemic is exponential, and the outbreak of Hubei province in China has a strong spread in the eastern and southern directions. Provinces such as Jiangsu, Hunan, and Fujian have seen rapid day-to-day growth rates, and the epidemic situation is generally more serious in the capital or the developed city in each province. Based on analyzing the disturbance of the spread of the epidemic through traffic control, the average incubation period of COVID-19 was approximately found to be four days and the number of basic regenerations showed a downward trend in fluctuation. As of April 8th, the R0 in all regions of China tended to be one. The ratio of cure to death outside Hubei province is much higher than that within Hubei province, indicating that with sufficient medical resources, the risk of the epidemic can be greatly reduced, and it is not to be feared. Second, the quarantine policy of Hubei has a greater impact on cities with higher centrality. From the perspective of changes in centrality, most cities in the northern region have increased their centrality, indicating that the region's connection with Hubei Province is relatively weak. The cities with decreasing centrality are mainly located in the Beijing-Guangzhou line and the Yangtze River Delta. Similarly, the changes in the bottom 20 cities on the centrality ranking are also analyzed. Except for a slight change in the ranking, the cities have been not affected. Additionally, before and after the "closing of the Hubei province", the number of edges of China's railway network, Beta and gamma indicators all declined, but the decline was not significant. Thus, although Hubei plays an important role in China's railway network, in general, the " quarantine of the Hubei province" does not have a particularly large impact on China's entire railway network.

To explore the diagnostic value of recombinant heparin-binding hemagglutinin adhesin (HBHA) protein antigen in spinal tuberculosis.

Phenol, also known as carbolic acid or phenic acid, is a priority pollutant in aquatic ecosystems. The present study has investigated metabolic activities and transcription profiles of cytochrome P450 enzymes in Chironomus kiinensis under phenol stress. Exposure of C. kiinensis larvae to three sublethal doses of phenol (1, 10 and 100 µM) inhibited cytochrome P450 enzyme activity during the 96 h exposure period. The P450 activity measured after the 24 h exposure to phenol stress could be used to assess the level (low or high) of phenol contamination in the environment. To investigate the potential of cytochrome P450 genes as molecular biomarkers to monitor phenol contamination, the cDNA of ten CYP6 genes from the transcriptome of C. kiinensis were identified and sequenced. The open reading frames of the CYP6 genes ranged from 1266 to 1587 bp, encoding deduced polypeptides composed of between 421 and 528 amino acids, with predicted molecular masses from 49.01 to 61.94 kDa and isoelectric points (PI) from 6.01 to 8.89. Among the CYP6 genes, the mRNA expression levels of the CYP6EW3, CYP6EV9, CYP6FV1 and CYP6FV2 genes significantly altered in response to phenol exposure; therefore, these genes could potentially serve as biomarkers in the environment. This study shows that P450 activity combined with one or multiple CYP6 genes could be used to monitor phenol pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) plantations cover large and continuously increasing areas of humid tropical lowlands. Landscapes dominated by oil palms usually consist of a mosaic of mono-cultural, homogeneous stands of varying age, which may be heterogeneous in their water use characteristics. However, studies on the water use characteristics of oil palms are still at an early stage and there is a lack of knowledge on how oil palm expansion will affect the major components of the hydrological cycle. To provide first insights into hydrological landscape-level consequences of oil palm cultivation, we derived transpiration rates of oil palms in stands of varying age, estimated the contribution of palm transpiration to evapotranspiration, and analyzed the influence of fluctuations in environmental variables on oil palm water use. We studied 15 two- to 25 year old stands in the lowlands of Jambi, Indonesia. A sap flux technique with an oil palm specific calibration and sampling scheme was used to derive leaf-, palm- and stand-level water use rates in all stands under comparable environmental conditions. Additionally, in a two- and a 12 year old stand, eddy covariance measurements were conducted to derive evapotranspiration rates. Water use rates per leaf and palm increased 5-fold from an age of two years to a stand age of approx. 10 years and then remained relatively constant. A similar trend was visible, but less pronounced, for estimated stand transpiration rates of oil palms; they varied 12-fold, from 0.2 mm day-1 in a 2 year old to 2.5 mm day-1 in a 12 year old stand, showing particularly high variability in transpiration rates among medium-aged stands. Confronting sap flux and eddy-covariance derived water fluxes suggests that transpiration contributed 8% to evapotranspiration in the 2 year old stand and 53% in the 12 year old stand, indicating variable and substantial additional sources of evaporation, e.g. from the soil, the ground vegetation and from trunk epiphytes. Diurnally, oil palm transpiration rates were characterized by an early peak between 10 and 11 a.m.; there was a pronounced hysteresis in the leaf water use response to changes in vapor pressure deficit for all palms of advanced age. On the day-to-day basis this resulted in a relatively low variability of oil palm water use regardless of fluctuations in vapor pressure deficit and radiation. We conclude, that oil palm dominated landscapes show some spatial variations in (evapo)transpiration rates, e.g. due to varying age-structures, but that the temporal variability of oil palm transpiration is rather low. Stand transpiration rates of some studied oil palm stands compared to or even exceed values reported for different tropical forests, indicating a high water use of oil palms under certain site or management conditions. Our study provides first insights into the eco-hydrological characteristics of oil palms as well as a first estimate of oil palm water use across a gradient of plantation age. It sheds first light on some of the hydrological consequences of the continuing expansion of oil palm plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]