Search

This study proposes an analytical method in conjunction with existing experimental temperature to estimate the unknown relaxation time and thermal diffusivity of processed meat based on the hyperbolic heat conduction model. This analytical method is a combination of the Laplace transform and least squares methods. The thermal contact resistance at the interface between adjacent samples at different temperatures is assumed to be negligible. The relaxation time is estimated from the temperature jump at a specific measurement location. The thermal diffusivity is determined from the definition of the dimensionless spatial coordinate and the resulting relaxation time. The results show that the relaxation time and thermal diffusivity obtained are in good agreement with the existing results. The obtained dimensionless temperature history at a specific measurement location is close to the experimental temperature data. This means that the Cattaneo–Vernottee (CV) model can be suitable for this study. The proposed analytical inverse method can be applied to determine a more accurate estimate of such problems. A comparison of the estimate obtained from CV and dual phase lag models is made. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a group of hereditary disorders characterized by low bone mass and recurrent fractures. Most OI cases follow an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance and are attributed to mutations in genes encoding type I collagen ( COL1A1 / COL1A2 ). Genomic structural variations involving type I collagen genes are extremely rare in OI. Case report In this study, we characterized a de novo balanced translocation of t(5;7)(q32;q21.3) that caused an extremely rare type of OI in a patient from a non-consanguineous family. The clinical phenotypes of this OI included recurrent fractures, low bone mass, macrocephaly, blue sclera and failure to thrive. Next-generation sequencing was used to identify the translocation, and Sanger sequencing was used to validate and map the breakpoints. The breakpoint on chromosome 7 disrupted the COL1A2 gene in the 17th exon, presumed to affect type I collagen production and give rise to OI. The breakpoint on chromosome 5 disrupted the protein phosphatase 2 regulatory subunit B, beta gene ( PPP2R2B ) within the first intron. Conclusions This is the first report of a copy-neutral structural variant involving COL1A2 that leads to a rare type of OI. This study expands the genotypic spectrum of OI and demonstrates the effectiveness of targeted sequencing for breakpoint mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies the Laplace transform method in conjunction with the sequential-in-time concept and experimental temperature data to determine the unknown surface temperature and surface heat flux on a hot surface of the test material. The advantage of the present inverse scheme is that the unknown surface temperature and surface heat flux on a hot surface are determined without any iterative process and the initial guess. More importantly, their functional forms do not need to be assumed in advance. However, the whole time domain may be divided into several sub-time intervals. Later, the appropriate polynomial function in each sub-time interval is selected to fit the experimental temperature data at each measurement location. The results show that the present results are not very sensitive to the measurement location. In order to validate the accuracy of the present method, two experimental examples and an analytical example are illustrated. The comparison between the present results, exact results and other existing estimated results is made. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rhizome of Smilax glabra has been used for a long time as both food and folk medicine in many countries. The present study focused on the active constituents from the rhizome of S. glabra, which possess potential anti-inflammatory activities. As a result, nine known compounds were isolated from the rhizome of S. glabra with the bioassay-guiding, and were identified as syringaresinol (1), lasiodiplodin (2), de-O-methyllasiodiplodin (3), syringic acid (4), 1,4-bis(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,3-bis(hydroxymethyl)-1,4-butanediol (5), lyoniresinol (6), trans-resveratrol (7), trans-caffeic acid methyl ester (8), and dihydrokaempferol (9). Among these compounds, 2 and 3 were isolated for the first time from S. glabra. In addition, the potential anti-inflammatory activities of the isolated compounds were evaluated in vitro in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced RAW264.7 cells. Results indicated that 4 and 7 showed significant inhibitory effects on NO production of RAW264.7 cells, and 1, 2, 3, and 5 showed moderate suppression effects on induced NO production. 1, 7, and 5 exhibited high inhibitory effects on TNF-α production, with the IC50 values less than 2.3, 4.4, and 16.6 μM, respectively. These findings strongly suggest that compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 were the potential anti-inflammatory active compositions of S. glabra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antisense oligonucleotides have been used for a variety of purposes in microRNA (miRNA) research including functional evaluation, target recognition, and gene studies. Although several Tc-radiolabeled oligonucleotides have been reported in antisense imaging, none of those were related to miRNA tracing. Moreover, separation after labeling was always required to achieve acceptable radiochemical purity. In this study, we prepared a Tc-radiolabeled oligonucleotide under optimized conditions for the purpose of tracing miRNA. A 22mer anti-miRNA oligonucleotide (AMO) was designed completely complementary to the sequence of mature miR-21. AMO probe modified with 2′-O-Methyl and phosphorothioate backbone was designed and synthesized. This probe was conjugated with a bifunctional chelator S-acetylmercaptoacetyltriglycine (NHS-MAG3) via a primary amine on 5′-end. Furthermore, it was radiolabeled and its optimization labeling conditions were performed by varying the amount of stannous ion, Tc-pertecnetate, and reaction time, respectively. Finally, the labeled product was identified by gel electrophoresis and evaluated for its serum stability. The AMO was synthesized with partial 2′-OMe and phosphorothioate modification to improve its stability. Excess of MAG3 impurity was removed by precipitation of tin and MAG3 after the conjugation. The labeling efficiency reached 97 % under the optimal reaction conditions of 2 μg/μL SnCl·2HO addition, Tc solution with high specific activity, and 90-min reaction at room temperature. Gel electrophoresis confirmed that the peak of radioactivity located the same position of oligomer, which identified the successful radiolabeling. After incubated with human fresh serum for 12 h, labeled AMO showed good stability with high radiochemical purity and no significant degradation. A Tc-labeled AMO targeting miR-21 can be prepared with high labeling efficiency under optimized conditions, which provides a good support for the future use of miRNA-targeted tracing and imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]