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Plant-parasitic nematodes have developed a series of enzymes to degrade the rigid plant cell wall; β-1,4-endoglucanase is a very important component. Ditylenchus destructor is a migratory endoparasite for which few molecular data have been published. Two novel β-1,4-endoglucanases (Dd-eng-la and Dd-eng-2) were cloned and characterised from D. destructor. The DD-ENG-1A putative protein consists of a signal peptide, a catalytic domain and a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM). By contrast, the CBM domain is absent from DD-ENG-2. The exon/intron structure and phylogenetic tree indicate that both cellulase genes could have evolved from common ancestral genes. Southern blotting confirmed that the β-1,4-endoglucanases were of nematode origin and a member of a small multi-gene family. In situ hybridisation localised the expression of Dd-eng-la and Dd-eng-2 to the subventral pharyngeal glands. RT-PCR showed that both genes were expressed in the adult female and second-stage juvenile. The stylet secretions of D. destructor showed clear cellulase activity in carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) plate assay, and similar results were observed in total homogenates and DD-ENG-1A and DD-ENG-2 recombinant proteins. These results demonstrated that D. destructor can produce and secrete functional cellulases. Silencing the putative β-1,4-endoglucanases by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) resulted in an average decrease in infection of 50%. Successful RNAi in vitro was demonstrated in this study, which confirmed that Dd-eng-la and Dd-eng-2 play important roles in nematode parasitism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work for the first time demonstrated that hierarchically meso-mesoporous silicas can be facilely prepared in a simple ternary non-ionic surfactant templating system (TEOS/HCl(aq.)/P123) based on a previously reported partitioned cooperative self-assembly (PCSA) principle. As a result, unique clew-like hierarchically meso-mesoporous (HMM) silica particles with the first mode of worm-like mesostructures (3D-interconnected wormholes with pore size of 7-10 nm) and the second mode of 3D-interconnected intra-particulate mesochannels (16-32 nm in sizes) can be obtained in a controllable way without resorting to complicated synthesis procedures or special additives or multi-templates. Associated with the large mesopore sizes in both modes, very large mesoporosity (up to 2.37 cm[sup 3] g[sup -1]) can be achieved. Based on systematic investigations on the synthesis conditions, synthesis domains for preparation of such HMM silicas were also presented. It is proposed that the formation of two mode mesoporosities follows different mechanisms: the first mode mesoporosity results from the self-assembly between P123 and silicate, though it is shown to be disordered due to the partitioning effect, while the formation of the second mode mesoporosity starts from loosely packed silicate/P123 hybrid aggregates/flocs formed upon the 1st addition of TEOS, and then is initiated and finished by the 2nd TEOS addition. This synthesis protocol therefore constitutes a new, simple and reliable pathway to prepare HMM silicas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the systematic study and design optimization of CMOS-compatible on-chip ferrite-integrated inductors, including detailed quantitative analysis by simulation and circuit modeling, new ferrite fabrication and characterization, ferrite-integrated-inductor design, measurement, and optimization. A new ferrite nanopowder-mixed-photoresist spin-coating/inkjetting technique is discussed. The design and characterization of ferrite-integrated inductors with various ferrite-filling structures are presented. Measurement shows substantial improvement of up to +160% in inductance (L) and +220% in quality factor (Q) across the multigigahertz frequency spectrum with a self-resonance frequency (fo) over 20 GHz for the new ferrite-integrated inductors. This study clearly suggests that the new ferrite-integrated inductor technique is a potential solution to the realization of radio-frequency systems-on-a-chip requiring high-performance compact on-chip inductors. This work is presented in two parts. Part I discusses the design and simulation of ferrite-integrated inductors. This paper is Part II, presenting experimental results for material research and device implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a systematic investigation and design optimization of CMOS-compatible on-chip ferrite-integrated inductors, including a detailed quantitative analysis by simulation and circuit modeling, new ferrite material fabrication and characterization, and ferrite-integrated-inductor design, characterization and optimization. A new ferrite nanopowder-mixed-photoresis spin-coating/inkjetting technique is discussed. The design and characterization of ferrite-integrated inductors with various ferrite-filling structures are presented. Measurement shows substantial improvement of up to +160% in inductance (L) and +220% in quality factor (Q) across the multigigahertz frequency spectrum with a self-resonance frequency (fo) of over 20 GHz for the new ferrite-integrated inductors. This paper clearly suggests that the new ferrite-integrated-inductor technique is a potentially viable solution to the realization of radio-frequency systems-on-a-chip requiring high-performance compact on-chip inductors. This work is presented in two parts. This paper is Part I, discussing the design and simulation of ferrite-integrated inductors. Part II discusses the experimental work, including material research and device implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Though neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) level appears to be related with stroke events in general population, its relationship with stroke in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients is still uncertain. This study aims to investigate the association between NLR and the first occurrence of stroke in PD patients. Methods. In this retrospective cohort study, 1507 PD patients were enrolled from four centers in China and stratified into tertiles of NLR levels. The incidence of the first occurrence of stroke was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier cumulative incidence curve among different NLR tertiles, competing risk analysis was used to calculate the incidence of the first occurrence of stroke in the presence of competing risk of other events, multivariable COX regression analysis was performed to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) for the first occurrence of stroke, as well as forest plot was utilized to describe the relationship between NLR and the first occurrence of stroke in different subgroups. Results. During follow-up, 84 new-onset stroke events were recorded. Kaplan-Meier cumulative incidence curves showed significant differences in the incidence of the first occurrence of stroke among three groups (log-rank test: P < .001). In competing risk analysis, the cumulative incidence curves for tertiles of NLR levels were highly significant for the first occurrence of stroke (P < .001), but they were not statistically different for the occurrence of other events. Compared to the lowest tertile of NLR level, the highest tertile was associated with increased risk of the first occurrence of stroke in the adjusted Cox model (HR = 2.39, 95% CI: 1.37 to 4.15; P < .05). As for forest plot, there was no interaction in all subgroups. Conclusion. High NLR was an independent risk factor for the first occurrence of stroke in PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peritoneal fibrosis is a common complication of long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) and the principal cause of ultrafiltration failure during PD. The initial and reversible step in PD-associated peritoneal fibrosis is the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Although the mechanisms in the EMT have been the focus of many studies, only limited information is currently available concerning microRNA (miRNA) regulation in peritoneal fibrosis. In this study, we aimed to characterize the roles of microRNA-145 (miR-145) and fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10) in peritoneal fibrosis. After inducing EMT with transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) in vitro, we found that miR-145 is significantly up-regulated, whereas FGF10 is markedly down-regulated, suggesting a close link between miR-145 and FGF10 in peritoneal fibrosis, further confirmed in luciferase reporter experiments. Furthermore, in human peritoneal mesothelial cells (i.e. HMrSV5 cells), miR-145 mimics induced EMT, whereas miR-145 inhibition suppressed EMT, and we also observed that miR-145 suppressed FGF10 expression. In vivo, we found that the exogenous delivery of an miR-145 expression plasmid both blocked FGF10 and intensified the EMT, whereas miR-145 inhibition promoted the expression of FGF10 and reversed the EMT. In conclusion, miR-145 promotes the EMT during the development of peritoneal fibrosis by suppressing FGF10 activity, suggesting that miR-145 represents a potential therapeutic target for managing peritoneal fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research used low-cost boric acid and borax as a source of boron, urea as a nitrogen source, dodecyl-trimethyl ammonium chloride (DTAC) as a template, and thus prepared different micro-morphology hexagonal boron nitride powders under a flowing ammonia atmosphere at different nitriding temperatures. The effects of the template content and nitriding temperature on the micro-morphology of hexagonal boron nitride were studied and the formation mechanism analysed. The influences of the template content and nitriding temperature on adsorption performance were also explored. The results showed that at a nitriding temperature of 675 °C, the micro-morphologies of h-BN powder were orderly, inhomogeneous spherical, uniform spherical, beam, and pie-like with increasing template content. The micro-morphology was inhomogeneous spherical at a DTAC dose of 7.5%. The micro-morphology was uniform spherical at a DTAC dose of 10%. At a DTAC dose of 12%, the micro-morphology was a mixture of beam and pie-like shapes. At a certain template content (DTAC at 10%) and at lower nitriding temperatures (625 °C and 650 °C), spherical shell structures with surface subsidence began to form. The porous spheres would appear at a nitriding temperature of 675 °C, and the ball diameter thus formed was approximately 500-600 nm. The ball diameter was about 600-700 nm when the nitriding temperature was 700 °C. At a nitriding temperature of 725 °C, the ball diameter was between 800 and 1000 nm and sintering necking started to form. When the relative pressure was higher, previously closed pores opened and connected with the outside world: the adsorption then increased significantly. The adsorption increased gradually with increased nitriding temperature, and the adsorption was maximised at 276.02 cm³/g under nitrogen at 675 °C. The adsorption decreased when the nitriding temperature continued to increase to between 700 °C and 725 °C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cereal cyst nematodes are the most important plant-parasitic nematodes on cereal crops in wheat producing areas of the world. Heterodera filipjevi was first reported in China in 2010. In this study, species- specific sequence characterized amplified region-polymerase chain reaction (SCAR-PCR) assays for detection and identification of H. filipjevi from infected wheat roots and soil were developed. The species-specific primers were designed according to the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers amplified with random primer OPK16. A 646-bp specific fragment of sequence was generated, which characterized amplified regions in H. filipjevi. The detection limitation of the PCR assay was as low as 0.125 pi second-stage juvenile (J2) lysate, 3.9 x 10-3 pi adult female lysate, and 10-3 pi cyst lysate. The method was able to detect the various stages (J2, J3, J4, and female) of H. filipjevi, and a single of nematode in 0.5 g of soil. H. filipjevi was detected by the method in two of six field samples, and one of those samples contained a mixed population of H. filipjevi and H. avenae. This study is the first to provide a definitive diagnostic assay for H. filipjevi in wheat roots and soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]