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The first mitotic division in mammalian zygotes is unique. The fertilized egg reactivates its cell cycle, and the maternal and paternal genomes start to reprogram to become totipotent. The first division is very sensitive to a range of perturbations, particularly the DNA damage, leading to the embryo's failure to enter the first mitosis. We discovered that a point mutation in the human CHEK1 gene resulted in an Arginine 442 to Glutamine change at the C-terminus of the CHEK1 protein. CHEK1 R442Q mutation caused the zygote to arrest just before the first division. Heterozygote individuals appeared to be healthy except that the female carriers are infertile. Expressing the corresponding mouse mutant Chk1 protein in zygotes also caused arrest before the first mitosis. Treating Chk1 R442Q mouse zygotes with low concentrations of CHEK1 inhibitor enabled the embryos to overcome the cell cycle arrest and resume normal development. Our results revealed an unexpected zygote mitotic checkpoint, which is extremely sensitive to the CHEK1 kinase activity. The fine-tuning of the DNA damage checkpoint permits the arrested one-cell embryos to overcome the first mitotic block and develop into healthy animals. These findings have important implications in assisted human reproduction.

Background The yield of microalgae biomass is the key to affect the accumulation of fatty acids. A few microalgae can assimilate organic carbon to improve biomass yield. In mixotrophic cultivation, microalgae can use organic carbon source and light energy simultaneously. The preference of the main energy source by microalgae determines the biomass yield. Auxenochlorella protothecoides is an oleaginous mixotrophic microalga that can efficiently assimilate glucose and accumulate a large amount of biomass and fatty acids. The current study focused on the effect of light on the growth and glucose assimilation of A. protothecoides. Results In this study, we found that the uptake and metabolism of glucose in A. protothecoides could be inhibited by light, resulting in a reduction of biomass growth and lipid accumulation. We employed comparative proteomics to study the influence of light on the regulation of glucose assimilation in A. protothecoides. Proteomics revealed that proteins involving in gene translation and photosynthesis system were up-regulated in the light, such as ribulose-phosphate 3-epimerase and phosphoribulokinase. Calvin cycle-related proteins were also up-regulated, suggesting that light may inhibit glucose metabolism by enhancing the production of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) in the Calvin cycle. In addition, the redox homeostasis-related proteins such as thioredoxin reductase were up-regulated in the light, indicating that light may regulate glucose uptake by changing the redox balance. Moreover, the increase of NADH levels and redox potential of the medium under illumination might inhibit the activity of the glucose transport system and subsequently reduce glucose uptake. Conclusions A theoretical model of how glucose assimilation in A. protothecoides is negatively influenced by light was proposed, which will facilitate further studies on the complex mechanisms underlying the transition from autotrophy to heterotrophy for improving biomass accumulation.

Purpose. Studies have shown that corneas of young children were more susceptible to Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation damage. However, there exist limited information about the harm of UVB to eyes and preventive measures on infancy. Vitamin C as an antioxidant is widely used to prevent many diseases. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the protective effect of vitamin C on the cornea of infant rats with acute UVB injury. Method. Thirty-six infant rats were randomly divided into three groups: control (CON) group, UVB (UVB) group, and UVB+vitamin C (UVB+VitC) group. The UVB group was exposed to UVB irradiation (8 J/cm2, 15 min/d, 7 d) and the UVB+vitamin C group suffered the same UVB irradiation treated with vitamin C at the dose of 40 mg/kg via intraperitoneal injection. Then, corneal morphology was detected in vivo and in vitro at 7 d post-UVB exposure. Furthermore, serum inflammatory factors (IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α) and oxidative status (4-HNE and MDA) were detected by ELISA, and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-α (VEGF-α) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the cornea was detected by western blot or immunofluorescent staining. Results. Slit lamp detection revealed that the area of corneal desquamation and corneal neovascularization in the UVB+VitC group was significantly less than those in the UVB group at 7 d post-UVB exposure (all p<0.05). OCT results showed that the thickness of the central cornea in the UVB+VitC group was decreased than that in the UVB group (p<0.05). The serum inflammatory factors (IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α) and oxidative status (4-HNE and MDA) in the UVB group were significantly increased compared with the CON group (all p<0.05), while those factors in the UVB+VitC group were decreased compared with those in the UVB group. Furthermore, the expression of VEGF-α in the UVB+VitC group was dramatically decreased compared with that in the UVB group (p<0.05), and the expression of SOD2 in the UVB+VitC group was dramatically increased compared with that in the UVB group at 7 d post-UVB exposure (p<0.05). Conclusion. Vitamin C could protect infant rats from corneal injury induced by UVB via alleviating corneal edema, improving corneal inflammatory reaction, and decreasing VEGF-α expression.

To explore the effects of copper (Cu) on energy metabolism and AMPK-mTOR pathway-mediated autophagy in kidney, a total of 240 one-day-old broiler chickens were randomized into four equal groups and fed on the diets with different levels of Cu (11, 110, 220, and 330 mg/kg) for 49 d. Results showed that excess Cu could induce vacuolar degeneration and increase the number of autophagosomes in kidney, and the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level and mRNA levels of energy metabolism-related genes were decreased with the increasing dietary Cu level. Moreover, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence showed that the positive expressions of Beclin1 and LC3-II were mainly located in cytoplasm of renal tubular epithelial cells and increased significantly with the increasing levels of Cu. The mRNA levels of Beclin1, Atg5, LC3-I, LC3-II, Dynein and the protein levels of Beclin1, Atg5, LC3-II/LC3-I and p-AMPKα1/AMPKα1 were markedly elevated in treated groups compared with control group (11 mg/kg Cu). However, the mRNA and protein levels of p62 and p-mTOR/mTOR were significantly decreased with the increasing levels of Cu. These results suggest that impaired energy metabolism induced by Cu may lead to autophagy via AMPK-mTOR pathway in kidney of broiler chickens.

The data presented in the present study demonstrate that the hypoxic plateau environment has a profound impact on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes in Han and Tibetan individuals. The plateau-changed signatures of the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes were not restored to the nonplateau status in the Han cohorts, even when the individuals returned to the plain from the plateau for several months. Our study will improve the understanding of the great impact of hypoxic environments on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes as well as the adaptation mechanism and intervention targets for plateau adaptation., The intestinal microbiota is significantly affected by the external environment, but our understanding of the effects of extreme environments such as plateaus is far from adequate. In this study, we systematically analyzed the variation in the intestinal microbiota and 76 blood clinical indexes among 393 healthy adults with different plateau living durations (Han individuals with no plateau living, with plateau living for 4 to 6 days, with plateau living for >3 months, and who returned to the plain for 3 months, as well as plateau-living Tibetans). The results showed that the high-altitude environment rapidly (4 days) and continually (more than 3 months) shaped both the intestinal microbiota and clinical indexes of the Han population. With prolongation of plateau living, the general characteristics of the intestinal microbiota and clinical indexes of the Han population were increasingly similar to those of the Tibetan population. The intestinal microbiota of the Han population that returned to the plain area for 3 months still resembled that of the plateau-living Han population rather than that of the Han population on the plain. Moreover, clinical indexes such as blood glucose were significantly lower in the plateau groups than in the nonplateau groups, while the opposite result was obtained for testosterone. Interestingly, there were Tibetan-specific correlations between glucose levels and Succinivibrio and Sarcina abundance in the intestine. The results of this study suggest that a hypoxic environment could rapidly and lastingly affect both the human intestinal microbiota and blood clinical indexes, providing new insights for the study of plateau adaptability. IMPORTANCE The data presented in the present study demonstrate that the hypoxic plateau environment has a profound impact on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes in Han and Tibetan individuals. The plateau-changed signatures of the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes were not restored to the nonplateau status in the Han cohorts, even when the individuals returned to the plain from the plateau for several months. Our study will improve the understanding of the great impact of hypoxic environments on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes as well as the adaptation mechanism and intervention targets for plateau adaptation.

Copper (Cu) is a necessary trace mineral due to its biological activity. Excessive Cu can induce inflammatory response in humans and animals, but the underlying mechanism is still unknown. Here, 240 broilers were used to study the effects of excessive Cu on oxidative stress and NF-κB-mediated inflammatory responses in immune organs. Chickens were fed with diet containing different concentrations of Cu (11, 110, 220, and 330 mg of Cu/kg dry matter). The experiment lasted for 49 days. Spleen, thymus, and bursa of Fabricius (BF) on day 49 were collected for histopathological observation and assessment of oxidative stress status. Additionally, the mRNA and protein levels of NF-κB and inflammatory cytokines were also analyzed. The results indicated that excess Cu could increase the number and area of splenic corpuscle as well as the ratio of cortex and medulla in thymus and BF. Furthermore, excessive Cu intake could decrease activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px); but increase contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), TNF-α, IL-1, IL-1β; up-regulate mRNA levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1, IL-1β, IL-2, iNOS, COX-2, NF-κB and protein levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, NF-κB, p–NF–κB in immune organs. In conclusion, excessive Cu could cause pathologic changes and induce oxidative stress with triggered NF-κB pathway, and might further regulate the inflammatory response in immune organs of chicken.

Low plasma triiodothyronine (T3) concentration indicates nonthyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS), which might be associated with a poor outcome in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). This study evaluated the relationship between NTIS and prognostic indicators in patients admitted to the ICU and examined the fT3 cut-off points that could be associated with 28-day mortality. This prospective observational study included patients admitted to the ICU of The Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University from February to November 2018. The baseline variables and the occurrence of low free T3 (FT3) were collected. The patients were divided into the NTIS (FT3<3.28) and non-NTIS groups. Among 305 patients, 118 (38.7%) were in the NTIS group. FT3 (P<0.001) and FT4 (P=0.001) were lower, while the 28-day mortality rate (P<0.001) and hospitalization expenses in ICU (P=0.001) were higher in the NTIS group. The univariable analyses identified NTIS, FT3, free thyroxine/FT3, APACHEII, sequential organ failure score, duration of mechanical ventilation, creatinine, oxygenation index, white blood cells, albumin, age, and brain natriuretic peptide as being associated with 28-day mortality (all P<0.05). The cut-off value of FT3 for 28-day mortality was 2.88 pmol/L. The 28-day mortality rate and hospitalization expenses in the ICU were higher in patients with NTIS. NTIS was independently associated with 28-day mortality.

Additional file 2: Table S1. Downregulated proteins of the comparative proteome. Table S2. Upregulated proteins of the comparative proteome.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. TEM images of A. protothecoides cells from HC and MC. C: chloroplast; L: lipid bodies; S: starch granules. (A) Cells from the illuminated culture (× 1.2 K); (B) Cells from the illuminated culture (× 3 K); (C) Cells from the dark culture (× 1.2 K); (D) Cells from the dark culture (× 3 K). Figure S2. Quantum yield (Φ) of PSII of A. protothecoides under the light and dark conditions with 0.5-g/L glycine. Figure S3. DEPs in photosynthesis. Figure S4. DEPs in fatty acid biosynthesis. Figure S5. DEPs in citrate cycle (TCA cycle). Figure S6. Schematic representation of a theoretical model of how glucose assimilation in A. protothecoides is negatively influenced by light.

Butachlor being an important member of chloroacetanilide herbicides, is frequently used in agriculture to control unwanted weeds. Exposure to butachlor can induce cancer, human lymphocyte aberration, and immunotoxic effects in animals. The current experimental trial was executed to determine the potential risks of herbicide butachlor to immunotoxicity and its mechanism of adverse effects on the spleen. For this purpose, mice were exposed to 8 mg/kg butachlor for 28 days, and the toxicity of butachlor on the spleen of mice was evaluated. We found that butachlor exposure led to an increase in serum ALB, GLU, TC, TG, and TP and changes in the morphological structure of the spleen of mice. More importantly, results showed that butachlor significantly increased the expression level of ATG-5, decreased the protein expression of LC3B and M-TOR, and significantly decreased the mRNA content of M-TOR and p62. Results revealed that the mRNA contents of APAF-1, CYTC, and CASP-9 related genes were significantly decreased after butachlor treatment. Subsequently, the mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-10) were reduced in the spleen of treated mice. This study suggested that butachlor induce spleen toxicity and activate the immune response of spleen tissue by targeting the CYTC/BCL2/M-TOR pathway and caspase cascading activation of spleen autophagy and apoptosis pathways which may ultimately lead to immune system disorders.

Copper (Cu), a hazardous heavy metal, can lead to toxic effects on host physiology. Recently, specific mitochondria-localized miRNAs (mitomiRs) were shown to modulate mitochondrial function, but the underlying mechanisms remain undefined. Here, we identified mitomiR-1285 as an important molecule regulating mitochondrial dysfunction and mitophagy in jejunal epithelial cells under Cu exposure. Mitochondrial dysfunction and mitophagy were the important mechanisms of Cu-induced pathological damage in jejunal epithelial cells, which were accompanied by significant increase of mitomiR-1285 in vivo and in vitro. Knockdown of mitomiR-1285 significantly attenuated Cu-induced mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction, ATP deficiency, mitochondrial membrane potential reduction, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species accumulation, and mitophagy. Subsequently, bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that IDH2 was a direct target of mitomiR-1285. RNA interference of IDH2 dramatically reversed the effect that mitomiR-1285 knockdown relieved mitochondrial dysfunction and mitophagy induced by Cu, and the opposite effect was shown by overexpression of IDH2. Therefore, our results suggested that mitomiR-1285 aggravated Cu-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and mitophagy via suppressing IDH2 expression. These findings identified the important mechanistic connection between mitomiRs and mitochondrial metabolism under Cu exposure, providing a new insight into Cu toxicology.

In this study, the microscopic adsorption behaviors of two ionic surfactants, sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), on the lignite surface were investigated at the molecular level through molecular dynamics simulations. A series of properties of surfactant–lignite adsorption systems, including relative concentration profiles, radial distribution functions, surface areas (surface roughness), mean square displacements, and interaction energies were calculated to illustrate the microscopic adsorption behaviors in detail. Analysis of the equilibrated interfacial properties indicated that the adsorption of SDS on the lignite surface is dominated by van der Waals force and can decrease the surface area (roughness) of lignite. In addition, there is no preferential orientation for SDS adsorption on lignite surface. However, driven by electrostatic attraction, the head group of DTAB can be strongly adsorbed on the lignite surface. Furthermore, it was also found that the effect of surfactant adsorption on the surface wettability of lignite showed the same trends as the adsorption strength. The change in the wettability of lignite resulting from surfactant adsorption was discussed in depth, and the explanations were given based on the charge characteristics of head group of surfactant and adsorption orientation. The simulation evaluations of the adsorption behaviors and wettability alteration of lignite surface caused by these two ionic surfactants agreed well with the existing experimental data. This investigation present here visualized the microscopic characteristics of surfactant adsorption and facilitated a better understanding about the involved mechanism.

Abundant oxygen-containing functional groups make lignite high moisture content, which reduces the utilization efficiency of lignite. The decrease in hydrophilicity of lignite surface can be achieved by treating with surfactant. In the present work, two kinds of nonionic surfactants with different hydrophilic groups, n-dodecyl β-D-maltoside (C12G2) and dodecyl hepta glycol (C12E7), were selected to modify the wettability of lignite surface by molecular dynamics simulation. Because of the drastic differences in compositions and structure of their headgroups, different behaviors were observed. The adsorption results of simulation indicate that polyhydroxy surfactant, C12G2, adsorbs strongly on lignite surface as a comparison to the poly ether surfactant, C12E7. However, the extent of hydrophobicity of modified lignite surface by these surfactants is inconsistent with their adsorption capabilities. Compared to the raw lignite, the hydrophilicity of lignite significantly decreases by adsorption of C12E7, while the C12G2 makes the lignite even more hydrophilicity. The strong polar oxygen-containing functional groups of lignite surface are covered by ethers in C12E7 with weaker polarity, which weakens the interaction between water and lignite. The hydrophilicity of lignite adsorbed C12G2 is strengthened due to the increase in surface polarity by the introduction of polar hydroxyl groups. The results of simulations are in accord with the available experimental data.

Decrease in hydrophilicity of lignite and moisture readsorption after adsorption of a series of lauryl polyoxyethylene ether (C12(EO)n) were studied with the measurement of wetting heat and moisture readsorption ratio. Effect of the hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) of C12(EO)n on efficiency of the decrease in lignite hydrophilicity was investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption were used to disclose the coverage characteristics of the different functional groups and the aggregations in pores of lignite by the adsorbed surfactant. Results indicated that both wetting heat and moisture readsorption ratio of lignite decreased significantly using different C12(EO)n. The size order of wetting heat of lignite after adsorption of different C12(EO)n with variation of the HLB values were almost consistent with that of moisture readsorption. The low HLB values of C12(EO)n especially with HLB of around 13.62 and 12.49/9.75 are most efficient respectively for the decrease in wetting heat and moisture readsorption of lignite. Coverage of oxygen-containing groups by surfactant was mainly devoted to the decrease in hydrophilicity of lignite. Among those oxygen groups in lignite surface, the COO/COOH and C-O/OH were responsible for adsorption priorities. Aggregations of surfactant in pores were beneficial for decreasing moisture readsorpiton of lignite surface due to the decreased storing space of moisture.

The Upper Paleozoic in the north part of Tianhuan depression in the Ordos Basin, NW China has lower hydrocarbon generation intensity and complex gas-water relationship, the main factors controlling the formation of tight sandstone gas and the distribution of tight sandstone gas in the low hydrocarbon generation intensity area are studied. Through two-dimensional physical simulation experiment of hydrocarbon accumulation, analysis of reservoir micro-pore-throat hydrocarbon system and dissection of typical gas reservoirs, the evaluation models of gas injection pressure, reservoir physical property, and gas generation threshold were established to determine the features of tight gas reservoirs in low hydrocarbon intensity area: (1) at the burial depth of less than 3 000 m, the hydrocarbon generation intensity of (7−10)×108 m3/km2 is high enough to maintain effective charging; (2) tight sandstone in large scale occurrence is conducive to accumulation of tight gas; (3) differences in reservoir physical property control the distribution of gas pool, for the channel sandstone reservoirs, ones with better physical properties generally concentrate in the middle of sandstone zone and local structural highs; ones with poor physical properties have low gas content generally. Based on the dissection of the gas reservoir in the north Tianhuan depression, the formation of tight gas reservoirs in low hydrocarbon generating intensity area are characterized by “long term continuous charging under hydrocarbon generation pressure, gas accumulation in large scale tight sandstone, pool control by difference in reservoir physical property, and local sweet spot”, and the tight gas pools are distributed in discontinuous “sheets” on the plane. This understanding has been proved by expanding exploration of tight sandstone gas in the north Tianhuan depression. Key words: Ordos Basin, Tianhuan depression, hydrocarbon generation intensity, tight sandstone gas, reservoir-forming mechanism, distribution pattern

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has a very poor prognosis because of its highly invasive nature, and the 5-year survival rate has not changed appreciably for the past 30 years. Although cylindromatosis (CYLD), a deubiquitinating enzyme, is thought to be a potent tumour suppressor, its biological and clinical significance in OSCC is largely unknown. This study aimed to clarify the roles of CYLD in OSCC progression. Our immunohistochemical analyses revealed significantly reduced CYLD expression in invasive areas in OSCC tissues, whereas CYLD expression was conserved in normal epithelium and carcinoma in situ. Furthermore, downregulation of CYLD by siRNA led to the acquisition of mesenchymal features and increased migratory and invasive properties in OSCC cells and HaCaT keratinocytes. It is interesting that CYLD knockdown promoted transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signalling by inducing stabilization of TGF-β receptor I (ALK5) in a cell autonomous fashion. In addition, the response to exogenous TGF-β stimulation was enhanced by CYLD downregulation. The invasive phenotypes induced by CYLD knockdown were completely blocked by an ALK5 inhibitor. In addition, lower expression of CYLD was significantly associated with the clinical features of deep invasion and poor overall survival, and also with increased phosphorylation of Smad3, which is an indicator of activation of TGF-β signalling in invasive OSCC. These findings suggest that downregulation of CYLD promotes invasion with mesenchymal transition via ALK5 stabilization in OSCC cells. Copyright © 2017 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Copper (Cu) is one of the ubiquitous environmental pollutants which have raised wide concerns about the potential toxic effects and public health threat. For deeply investigating the nephrotoxicity induced by Cu, the effects of Cu on mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in kidney were first to analyze by combining metabolomics and molecular biology techniques. In this study, broiler chicks were fed with different contents of Cu (11, 110, 220, and 330 mg/kg Cu) for 49 d. The results of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining and transmission electron microscope showed that Cu could induce apoptosis in kidney, characterized by the increasing of TUNEL-positive cells and mitochondrial vacuolation. Additionally, a total of 62 differential metabolites were detected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and mainly enriched in the metabolic pathways including riboflavin metabolism, glutathione metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism, which were closely to mitochondrial metabolism. Meanwhile, the decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), increased mitochondrial membrane permeability and the change of mRNA and protein expression levels associated with mitochondria-mediated apoptosis and mitochondrial dynamics confirmed that Cu could induce mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Therefore, our results demonstrated that Cu induced mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in kidney. Moreover, this study highlighted the metabolic characteristics of Cu to kidney, which suggested that mitochondrial metabolism could be considered as an important factor influencing toxicity.

The poor flotation behavior of low-rank coal is mainly caused by the high content of functional oxygen groups present on the coal surface. Polar collectors, especially oxygenated collectors, play a significant role in the flotation enhancement of low-rank coal. In this study, to improve the low-rank coal flotation performance, octanoic acid was selected as a polar collector and the corresponding promotion mechanism was investigated at the molecular scale theoretically. The flotation results showed that an increased low-rank coal flotation response can be obtained by using an octanoic acid collector compared to a nonpolar dodecane collector. To obtain a molecular-level explanation of this phenomenon, a method of density functional theory (DFT) combined with molecular dynamics simulation was employed to explore the involved micro-mechanism. DFT calculation results suggested that the octanoic acid collector can interact with benzoic acid and phenol (representatives of oxygen-containing groups on the low-rank coal surface) through hydrogen bonding and repel water molecules present on benzoic acid and phenol. Based on theoretical calculations, in the presence or absence of water molecules, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions are responsible for the strong affinity of octanoic acid to carboxyl group and hydroxyl group on the low-rank coal surface. Therefore, it was favorable for octanoic acid to form a stable adsorption layer on the low-rank coal surface, thus contributing to low-rank coal flotation significantly.

The alternative development of coal-bearing hydrocarbon source rocks and low-porosity and low-permeability tight sandstone reservoirs of the Triassic Xujiahe Formation in the Sichuan Basin is favorable for near-source hydrocarbon accumulation. The natural gas composition of the Xujiahe Formation in the Sichuan Basin is dominated by hydrocarbon gases, of which the methane content is 80.16%–98.67%. Typically, the C2+ content is larger than 5% in main wet gas. The dry gas is mainly distributed in the western and northern regions of the basin. The non-hydrocarbon gases mainly contain nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and helium, with a total content of δ13C4 occurs in some natural gas with a low evolution degree; such gas is mainly coal-related gas from humic-type source rocks of the Xujiahe Formation. As for the natural gas, δ2HCH4 values ranged from −195‰ to −161‰, δ2HC2H6 values ranged from −154‰ to −120‰, and δ2HC3H8 values ranged from −151‰ to −108‰. The dry coefficient, δ13C and δ2HCH4 are all positively correlated with the maturity of source rocks. The higher the maturity of source rocks is, the larger the natural gas dry coefficient is and the larger the δ13C and δ2HCH4 values are, indicative of the characteristic of near-source accumulation. The δ2HC2H6 value of natural gas is influenced by paleosalinity to a relatively large extent; the higher the paleosalinity is, the larger the δ2HC2H6 value is. The Pr/Ph value of the condensate oil ranged from 1.60 to 3.43, illustrating light oxidization–light reduction and partial-oxidization characteristics of the depositional environment of coal-bearing source rocks of the Xujiahe Formation. The natural gas light hydrocarbon (C5–C7) from the Xujiahe Formation presented two characteristics: the first was the relatively high aromatic hydrocarbon content (19%–32.1%), which reveals the characteristic of natural gas with humic substances of high-maturity; the second was the low content of aromatic hydrocarbon (0.4%–9.3%), reflecting water-washing during the accumulation of the natural gas. The reported research outcomes indicate a potential mechanism for natural gas accumulation in the Xujiahe Formation, which will further guide natural gas exploration in this region.

Copper is an important trace mineral in the diet of poultry due to its biological activity. However, limited information is available concerning the effects of high copper on mitochondrial dysfunction. In this study, 72 broilers were used to investigate the effects of high dietary copper on liver mitochondrial dysfunction and electron transport chain defect. Birds were fed with different concentrations [11, 110, 220, and 330 mg of copper/kg dry matter (DM)] of copper from tribasic copper chloride (TBCC). The experiment lasted for 60 d. Liver tissues on d 60 were subjected to histopathological observation. Additionally, liver mitochondrial function was recorded on d 12, 36, and 60. Moreover, a site-specific defect in the electron transport chain in liver mitochondria was also identified by using various chemical inhibitors of mitochondrial respiration. The results showed different degrees of degeneration, mitochondrial swelling, and high-density electrons in hepatocytes. In addition, the respiratory control ratio (RCR) and oxidative phosphorylation rate (OPR) in liver mitochondria increased at first and then decreased in high-dose groups. Moreover, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generation velocity in treated groups was higher than that in control group, which were magnified by inhibiting electron transport at Complex IV. The results indicated that high dietary copper could decline liver mitochondrial function in broilers. The presence of a site-specific defect at Complex IV in liver mitochondria may be responsible for liver mitochondrial dysfunction caused by high dietary copper.

This clinical observation study aimed to investigate the relationship between the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptors with the severity and the occurrence of late acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in early trauma.Sixty patients with multiple injuries were divided into three groups according to the Injury Severity Score (ISS) and the serum levels of VEGF, soluble VEGF receptor 1 (sVEGFR1), and sVEGFR2, were measured. Ten healthy people were recruited as controls. The incidence of late ARDS was also monitored, and its relationship to the above measures analyzed.VEGF was not associated with ISS (p0.05); sVEGFR1 was positively associated with ISS (r = 0.459, p0.0001); however, sVEGFR2 was negatively associated with ISS (r = 0.510, p0.0001). The serum VEGF levels between the ARDS group and the non-ARDS group showed no significant difference (p0.05). sVEGFR1 in the ARDS group was significantly higher than that in the non-ARDS group (p0.0001), and sVEGFR2 in the ARDS group was significantly lower than that in the non-ARDS group (p0.0001).In conclusion, the increasing of sVEGFR1 and the decreasing of sVEGFR2 in early trauma might be closely related to the occurrence of late ARDS.Prognostic study, level III.

A hybrid implicit–explicit-finite-difference time-domain (HIE-FDTD) method is modified to simulate the graphene. In this method, both the intraband and interband conductivity of grahene are considered. A simple Pade fit method is used to represent the interband conductivity which has complex relation with the angular frequency, and is incorporated into the HIE-FDTD method directly through an auxiliary difference equation. An infinite graphene sheet is simulated using presented technique and the result is compared with that of the conventional FDTD scheme and theoretical value. The results show that the HIE-FDTD method has excellent computational accuracy and considerably higher computational efficiency than FDTD scheme. Besides, the numerical example presents that the interband conductivity of the graphene has important effect on the numerical result at high frequency range, especially when the chemical potential is small.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are an important system to study early human development, model human diseases, and develop cell replacement therapies. However, genetic manipulation of hPSCs is challenging and a method to simultaneously activate multiple genomic sites in a controllable manner is sorely needed. Here, we constructed a CRISPR-ON system to efficiently upregulate endogenous genes in hPSCs. A doxycycline (Dox) inducible dCas9-VP64-p65-Rta (dCas9-VPR) transcription activator and a reverse Tet transactivator (rtTA) expression cassette were knocked into the two alleles of the AAVS1 locus to generate an iVPR hESC line. We showed that the dCas9-VPR level could be precisely and reversibly controlled by addition and withdrawal of Dox. Upon transfection of multiplexed gRNA plasmid targeting the NANOG promoter and Dox induction, we were able to control NANOG gene expression from its endogenous locus. Interestingly, an elevated NANOG level did not only promote naïve pluripotent gene expression but also enhanced cell survival and clonogenicity, and it enabled integration of hESCs with the inner cell mass (ICM) of mouse blastocysts in vitro. Thus, iVPR cells provide a convenient platform for gene function studies as well as high-throughput screens in hPSCs.

In this letter, a stopband frequency selective surface (FSS) with great incident angle independence and polarization stability is proposed and fabricated. Each element of the FSS consists of a cross spiral patch and four same second iteration of H-shaped fractal parts in C4 rotation symmetry. This FSS exhibits great stability with the incident angle ranging from 0° to 80° for both TE and TM polarizations. In addition, patch dimension of the FSS element can tune the resonant frequency. However it has a negligible influence on incident angle independence and polarization stability. This means the proposed FSS can be applied in different frequency ranges and has potential values in practical applications. Both simulation and measurement of this FSS demonstrate stable transmission characteristics under different incident angles and polarizations and show satisfactory consistence.

The interband conductivity of graphene approximated by using Pade fit method is incorporated into the alternating-direction implicit finite difference time domain (ADI-FDTD) method to simulate graphene. The accuracy of the Pade fit method is verified. The ADI-FDTD method is unconditionally stable, so its computational efficiency is greatly larger than that of FDTD method, which is validated by numerical example. Besides, it shows that the interband conductivity of graphene has important effect on numerical result at high frequency range, especially when chemical potential is small.

To investigate the cellular mechanisms of multiple myeloma (MM), we used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for proteomics analysis of CD138+ plasma cells from patients with MM and healthy controls. We found that the 60-kDa heat shock protein (HSP60, also known as HSPD1) was significantly upregulated in myeloma cells. HSP60 is an important chaperone protein that regulates the homeostasis of mitochondrial proteins and maintains mitochondrial function. Knockdown (KD) of HSP60 in myeloma cells resulted in inhibition of proliferation and reduced the quality of the mitochondria. Mitochondrial stress tests showed that HSP60 KD inhibited glycolysis and mitochondrial activity. Metabolomics showed a decrease in glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolites, and inhibited the formation of creatine and phosphocreatine by the reaction of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) with amino acids mediated by demethyladenosine transferase 1, mitochondrial (TFB1M) and reduced energy storage substances. Moreover, HSP60 silencing influenced the synthesis of ribonucleotides and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) by the pentose phosphate pathway to inhibit cell proliferation. HSP60 KD inhibited 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which inhibited the key enzyme 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3), effecting the metabolism of fatty acids by inhibiting malonyl-coenzyme A. Our data suggest that reduced HSP60 expression alters metabolic reprogramming in MM, inhibits tumour progression and reduces mitochondrial-dependent biosynthesis, suggesting that HSP60 is a potential therapeutic target for MM treatment.

Multiple morphological abnormalities of the sperm flagella (MMAF) is a rare disease associated with male infertility. In our previous study, we identified a homozygous CFAP43 splice-site variant, c.3661-2delA, in a patient with MMAF. However, the mutational effect of this variant was unknown. Here, using a minigene assay, we demonstrated that the c.3661-2delA variant may cause exon-30 to be skipped, thus generating the p.E1221_K1256del protein. By secondary and three-dimensional structural biology prediction analysis, we found that the mutant protein became 'tighter' in comparison with the wild-type protein, resulting in amino acid rearrangements in CFAP43 protein structure. We elucidated the molecular mechanism of the c.3661-2delA splice-site variant causing MMAF in the current study.

The quality of canola oil was aimed during prolonged frying was detected by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR spectroscopy). Results showed that the quality of canola oil after prolonged frying could be judged by NIR combined with statistical methods. In addition, the accuracy of the three classification methods used in this study is over 90%. And the classification results are relatively close to those of chemical value detection. This study may provide a means of rapidly and accurately to identify whether vegetable oil is safe to eat after prolonged frying.

Invasive plant species may alter soil nutrient availability to facilitate their growth and competitiveness. However, the roles and functional mechanisms of plant-associated microbes that mediate these soil biogeochemical cycles remain elusive. Here, we studied how soil microorganisms and their functional processes differed between soils invaded by Ageratina adenophora and adjacent non-invaded soils in a region of China with heavy invasion. Our results indicated that soil nitrogen contents were over 4.32 mg/kg higher (p 0.05) in both rhizosphere soils and bulk soils dominated by A. adenophora as compared with those in soils dominated by non-invaded plants. Concurrently, soil microbial-mediated functional processes, i.e. nitrogen fixation rate, nitrification rate and ammonification rate, were also significantly (p 0.05) higher in either rhizosphere soils or bulk soils of invasive A. adenophora. Using a functional gene microarray, we found higher relative abundances of soil microbial genes involved in N cycling processes in A. adenophora soils, e.g. nifH, required for nitrogen fixation, which significantly correlated with ammonia contents (r = 0.35 in bulk soils, r = 0.37 in rhizosphere soils, p 0.05) and the nitrogen fixation rate (r = 0.44, p 0.05). We also found that the relative abundances of labile carbon decomposition genes were higher in invasive A. adenophora soils, implying a potential higher availability of carbon. These results suggest that the soil surrounding the invasive plant A. adenophora is a self-reinforcing environment. The plant litter and rhizosphere environment of the invasive may influence soil microbial communities, promoting self-supporting soil processes. Alternatively, the regions invaded by A. adenophora may have already had properties that facilitated these beneficial microbial community traits, allowing easier invasion by the exotics. Both scenarios offer important insights for the mitigation of plant invasion and provide an ecosystem-level understanding of the invasive mechanisms utilized by alien plants.

Movable fluid parameter is an important index to evaluate the seepage characteristics of tight sandstone reservoir. Combined with high-pressure displacement and nuclear magnetic resonance movable fluid testing principle, the nuclear magnetic resonance movable fluid characteristics of six typical tight sandstone core samples of Xujiahe Formation in Central Sichuan Basin were studied. Based on mercury injection capillary pressure curve, the nuclear magnetic resonance T2 spectrum distribution was converted into pore throat According to the radius distribution, the minimum pore throat radius of the movable fluid and the contribution of different pore sizes to the movable fluid are determined. The research shows that the movable fluid saturation of the tight sandstone reservoir in the second member of Xujiahe Formation in Central Sichuan is closely related to the pressure difference, with good logarithmic correlation, and the main contribution to the movable fluid saturation is the reservoir space > 0.1 μm. 70% of the total movable fluid saturation is injected at a lower pressure (about 5MPa). In the later stage, high pressure injection can only enter the reservoir pore with small pore size, and the total amount is small and increases slowly. Therefore, the total contribution of high pressure drive to gas saturation in the later stage is small.

Among different synthetic compounds copper (Cu) is persistently and frequently used as growth promoter, antibacterial, antifungal and antiparasitic agent and has become common environmental pollutant. Therefore, this study explores the cardio-toxic effects of control group (10 mg/kg bw Cu) and treatment group (125 and 250 mg/kg bw Cu), and it association with process of autophagy and metabolomics in myocardium of pigs kept in three different experimental treatments for a period of 80 days. The results of serum biochemical parameters showed a significantly increase in creatinine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in pigs exposed to 125 mg/kg bw and 250 mg/kg bw Cu. Meanwhile, the severe structural abnormalities in cardiomyocytes were found when exposed to 250 mg/kg Cu at day 80. In addition, the mRNA and proteins (Beclin1, ATG5 and LC3II) expression levels were significantly increased and p62 was significantly decreased in cardiomyocytes exposed to 250 mg/kg Cu at day 80 of the trial. Further, UPLC-QTOF/MS technique showed that 7 metabolites were up-regulated and 37 metabolites were down-regulated in cardiomyocytes after 250 mg/kg Cu treatment, with a principal impact on the metabolic pathways including glycerophospholipid metabolism, one carbon pool by folate, fatty acid elongation and fatty acid degradation, which were related to autophagy. Overall, our study identified the autophagy processes and metabolites in metabolic pathways in Cu-induced myocardium injury, which provided useful evidence of myocardium toxicity caused by Cu exposure via metabolomics and multiple bioanalytic methods.

Numerous oxygen-containing groups present on the low rank coal (LRC) surface makes a poor flotation performance of LRC only using common oily collector. Increasing the spreading strength of oily collector on the LRC surface is of great significance for improving its flotation behavior. In this study, molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) was employed to investigate the microscopic spreading characteristics of non-polar oil droplet on the LRC surface. For this purpose, the configurations of non-polar oil droplet, spreading area, and interaction energy were calculated. It was found that on the raw LRC surface, the non-polar oil droplet remained spherical with a small spreading area and weak interaction strength. Besides, a non-ionic surfactant, dodecyl nonaethoxyl ether (C12EO9) was used to modify the surface wettability of LRC to enhance the non-polar oil droplet spreading. After surfactant pretreatment, a pancake-like oil film was formed on the LRC surface with a larger spreading area and more negative interaction energy compared with the case of the raw LRC surface. Based on these observations, the microscopic insights were provided about the spreading of non-polar oil droplet on the surface of LRC, as well as the role of surfactant enhancing its spreading intensity. In addition, the effect of the oxygen-containing groups on the spreading behaviors of non-polar oil droplet was also explored. The results suggested that carboxyl and hydroxyl are the main groups that hinder the spreading of the non-polar oil droplet on LRC surface. The simulation results are in accordance with the available experimental data.

To develop nomograms for effective prediction of cause-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) of patients who underwent radical operation for stage I-III appendiceal adenocarcinoma.Clinical information from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results database was retrieved from 2004 to 2015 and subjected to multivariate analysis to explore variables that affect the OS and CSS. Results were used to construct nomograms to assess the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS and CSS rates, then their calibration accuracy and discriminative power were examined using Kaplan-Meier curves, calibration plots, and C statistics.Overall, 1,241 patients were included in the analysis. We found 7 and 5 factors that could independently alter the prognosis, then used for creating nomograms for evaluating the OS and CSS, respectively, with respective C-index values of 0.741 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.729-0.754) and 0.747 (95% CI: 0.733-0.762). Calibration and receiver operating characteristic curves further revealed excellent predictive performance.We successfully built highly accurate nomograms for evaluating the 1-, 3-, and 5-year CSS and OS rates in subjects who underwent radical operation for stage I-III appendiceal adenocarcinoma. Further studies, involving prospective validations, are required to validate these nomograms.

The diet of broiler chickens supplemented with increasing concentrations of copper (Cu) was assessed for the effect of Cu on liver mitochondrial function. A total of 160, 1-d-old Cobb 500 broilers (Gallus domesticus) were randomly assigned in equal numbers into 4 groups, which differed in the concentration of copper supplements in the diet; 11 (control), 110, 220 and 330 mg of Cu/kg dry matter. Liver mitochondrial function was recorded at 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 d of age. Supplementation with 110 mg Cu/kg dry matter enhanced mitochondrial function and activities of complexes I-V, and this was significant at 36 d of age compared with the other diets (P 0.05). Supplementation with 220 mg Cu/kg dry matter and 330 mg Cu/kg dry matter enhanced mitochondrial function and activities of complexes I-V at 12, 24 and 36 d of age, but displayed reduced function (P 0.05) at 48 and 60 d of age except in complex IV (P 0.05). Mitochondrial hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production was also increased (P 0.05) with an increase of copper supplementation in the diet. The results indicate that appropriate dietary copper supplements are sufficient for improving mitochondrial function and activities of the respiratory complexes. Higher concentrations of copper, on the other hand, lead to copper toxicity by affecting certain respiratory complexes.

A novel miniaturized single-feed cross-aperture coupled circularly polarized (CP) microstrip patch antenna loaded by four identical shorting strips is proposed and discussed. Each shorting strip underneath the edges of the radiating patch is connected to the ground plane via an array of three identical and equidistant shorting pins. With the assistance of the capacitance offered by the radiating patch and the shorting strips, and the inductance induced by the shorting pins, the patch size and overall size of the proposed antenna have been significantly reduced by 75% and 69%, respectively, compared with the conventional antenna. An antenna prototype with an overall size of 50 mm× 50 mm× 7.548 mm (0.317λ0 × 0.317λ0 × 0.048λ0) and a patch size of 29.43 mm × 27.85 mm (0.186λ0 × 0.176λ0) has been fabricated and measured, which shows a measured 10-dB return loss bandwidth of 92 MHz (4.76%) from 1.886 to 1.978 GHz with a maximum right-handed CP (RHCP) gain of 4.9 dBic. The measured 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth is 28 MHz (1.46%) from 1.899 to 1.927 GHz with a 3-dB AR beamwidth of more than 140 ◦ across the operating bandwidth.

The aim of this study was to compare the oil content, fatty acid composition, and biodiesel properties of eight Prunus L. species in Inner Mongolia, to provide a basis for selecting appropriate species to produce biodiesel. In the eight species, oil content ranged from 38.92% to 58.82%. In Prunus pedunculata Pall., Prunus sibirica L., Prunus mongolica Maxim., Prunus humilis Bunge, Prunus ansu Kom., and Prunus triloba Lindl., oil contents were higher than 45%. Percentages of fatty acids varied greatly among different species, but all species contained a large percentage of critical oleic acid (35.03–77.02%). The biodiesel properties of seed kernel oil methyl ester of the eight species were determined and compared with the relevant specifications of ASTM D6751, EN 14214, and GB/T 20828. P. triloba Lindl., P. ansu Kom., P. pedunculata Pall., and P. sibirica L. were the most efficient feedstock for biodiesel production and suitable for further use and development.

Flotation collectors have a significant effect on the flotation performance and efficiency of fine low rank coal (LRC) particles. In this study, a mixed collector consisting of a nonpolar collector (dodecane) and a polar collector (C12EO4, tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether) was used to improve the flotation performance of LRC. The results show that flotation behavior can be enhanced with the addition of C12EO4 in dodecane. The yield, combustible matter recovery, and flotation efficiency index increase with a larger volume ratio of C12EO4 in the mixed collector. A molecular dynamics simulation (MD) approach was applied to explore the microscopic strengthening mechanism of the mixed collector. The simulation demonstrated that the interaction strength and spreading ability of the mixed collector on the LRC surface increased due to electrostatic attraction and hydrogen bonding between the mixed collector and the LRC surface (as indicated by interaction energy and contact surface area), thereby enhancing flotation performance of the LRC. The effect of C12EO4 on the emulsification and dispersibility of dodecane is also discussed.

In this work, a combined molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and experiments were adopted to study the microscopic mechanism of the benzene ring in nonionic surfactants on low-rank coal (LRC) flotation. Two nonionic surfactants with identical headgroups, nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPEO) and dodecyl ethoxyl ethers (C12EO), were selected as the research objects. Two LRC surface models with varying metamorphism degrees were constructed. The rationality of the constructed surface models was firstly discussed from the chemical composition and structure. The morphology of the surfactants and the adsorption energy obtained by MD suggested that the arrangement of polar oxygen atoms in the surfactant depended on its interaction with the polar groups of LRC, and the presence of the benzene ring in the nonionic surfactant hardly changed its arrangement on the LRC surface. The benzene ring in the nonionic surfactant can enhance its adsorption on the higher rank coal surface via the π-bonds while it cannot promote its adsorption on the lower rank coal surface. The results obtained from the experiments are in accordance with the simulation results.

To study the effects of nonionic surfactants polarity on the quality of flotation clean low-rank coal (LRC), three nonionic surfactants of different polarity, n-dodecyl β-D-maltoside (DDM), nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPEO) and dodecyl ethoxyl ethers (C12EO) were selected and their flotation behaviors were experimentally investigated. By analysing the adsorption behaviors of surfactants and interfacial water on the kaolinite (0 0 1) surface and (0 0 1 ¯ ) surface, it could be concluded that the three surfactants could not replace the water molecules adsorbed on kaolinite (0 0 1) surface due to the strong adsorption between the water molecule and the kaolinite (0 0 1) surface. And the ability of the three surfactants to replace the water molecules adsorbed on kaolinite (0 0 1 ¯ ) surface is as follow: DDM > NPEO > C12EO, i.e. increasing the polarity of surfactants makes it easier to adsorb on kaolinite surface. In addition, the surfactants adsorption layer on kaolinite (0 0 1 ¯ ) surface is more compact with the increase in nonionic surfactant polarity. The results of simulations are in according with the experimental data. The presented study offers directions in surfactant selection and design in LRC cleaning.

The ability of automotive millimeter-wave (MMW) radar to identify the road targets has a direct impact on the performance of Advanced Driver Assist System(ADAS). There are obvious differences in the Micro-Doppler features of the radar echo of pedestrians, automobiles and motorcycles. In this paper, a recognition method based on deep learning is proposed to realize the targets identification and classification by training and learning the Micro-Doppler features of the road targets. In this method, the time-frequency spectrogram of moving target echoes of the millimeter-wave radar is used as the training sample, convolutional neural network (CNN) is adopted to extract features and reduce dimension, and the output layer of the CNN is extended and fed into a recurrent neural networks (RNN) for sequence learning since the Micro-Doppler features of moving targets have obvious temporal correlation. The output layer of the network uses softmax regression to identify specific road targets. The Recognition results of measured data show that the proposed method has higher recognition accuracy and better recognition ability of road moving targets, compared with other machine learning methods that only use CNN.

over the last years, radar based driver assistance and active safety systems have been widely used all over the world. Multiple targets can be simultaneously detected and tracked with the range, velocity and azimuth information of targets measured by millimeter-wave automotive radar sensors. However, the micro-Doppler phenomenon resulting from rolling wheels makes it difficult to get the correct estimate of the wheeled vehicle's radial velocity. Without the accurate velocity estimation of wheeled vehicles, Lane Change Assistant (LCA) may wrongly issue an alarm and Blind Spot Detection (BSD) may terminate an alarm too late or too early in 24GHz BSD & LCA radar system. In this paper a novel method is proposed to get the accurate velocity estimation of wheeled vehicles with micro-Doppler phenomenon. Based on the proposed algorithm that takes the symmetry of micro-Doppler spectrum, spatial locations of the reflectors and the relative amplitudes of various Doppler components into account together, the reflector corresponding to the vehicle body is extracted from those reflectors which belong to the same target. The validity of the proposed method has been verified by the Experimental results.

The purpose of this research was to discuss the effects of copper (Cu)-induced toxicity on oxidative stress and autophagy in hypothalamus of broilers. In this study, 240 one-day-old broilers were randomly divided into 4 groups and the contents of dietary Cu in 4 groups were 11 mg/kg (control group), 110 mg/kg (group I), 220 mg/kg (group II), and 330 mg/kg (group III). The experiment lasted for 49 days and the hypothalamus tissues were collected for histological observation and detection of Cu content. Additionally, the indicators related to oxidative stress in hypothalamus were determined. Moreover, the mRNA expression levels of autophagy-related genes and the protein expression levels of Beclin1, LC3-II/LC3-I, and p62 in hypothalamus were measured. Results showed that the treated groups were observed vacuolar degeneration in hypothalamus compared to control group, and the Cu content in hypothalamus was increased with the increase of dietary Cu. Furthermore, the activities of SOD, CAT, T-AOC were increased in group I and group II and then decreased in group III, and the content of MDA and the mRNA levels of Nrf2, HO-1, SOD-1, CAT, GCLC, GCLM, and GST in treated groups were elevated compared to control group. Moreover, the mRNA expression levels of Beclin1, Atg5, LC3-I, LC3-II and the protein expression levels of Beclin1 and LC3-II/LC3-I up-regulated significantly with the increasing levels of Cu. However, the mRNA expression levels of p62 and mTOR and the protein expression level of p62 down-regulated remarkably. Taken together, our present study evidenced that excessive intake of Cu could induce oxidative stress and autophagy in hypothalamus of broilers.