Search

Objective: According to market demand, meat duck breeding mainly includes 2 breeding directions: lean Pekin duck (LPD) and fat Pekin duck (FPD). The aim of the present study was to compare carcass and meat quality traits between 2 strains, and to provide basic data for guidelines of processing and meat quality improvement. Methods: A total of 62 female Pekin ducks (32 LPDs and 30 FPDs) were slaughtered at the age of 42 days. The live body weight and carcass traits were measured and calculated. Physical properties of breast muscle were determined by texture analyzer and muscle fibers were measured by paraffin sections. The content of inosine monophosphate (IMP), intramuscular fat (IMF) and fatty acids composition were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, Soxhlet extraction method and automated gas chromatography respectively. Results: The results showed that the bodyweight of LPDs was higher than that of FPDs. FPDs were significantly higher than LPDs in subcutaneous fat thickness, subcutaneous fat weight, subcutaneous fat percentage, abdominal fat percentage and abdominal fat shear force (p0.05). The polyunsaturated fatty acid content of LPDs was significantly higher than that of FPDs (p

Body weight–related traits and feeding behavior traits are important in poultry breeding and production. To investigate the heritability of feeding behavior and their genetic correlation with body weight–related traits in Pekin ducks, 5,594 Pekin ducks were selected. The information about body weight–related traits and feeding behavior from 3 to 6 wk of age were recorded by automatic electronic feeders. The heritability estimates for body weight, residual feed intake, and feeding behavior traits are relatively high (ranging from 0.29 to 0.65). We observed that total feed intake, meal feed intake, body weight at the age of 3 wk, and daily body weight gain had strong positive genetic correlations with body weight at the age of 6 wk. Moreover, body weight at the age of 3 wk also showed a positive genetic correlation with the feed conversion ratio (0.33). Total feeding time, daily feed intake, and feeding rate had significant positive phenotypic correlations with feed efficiency. However, the average interval between meals, the number of daily visits, and the number of meals all had a low genetic or phenotypic relationship with body weight and feed efficiency. In conclusion, our study revealed that body weight, residual feed intake, and feeding behavior traits were all highly heritable traits, and the selection for certain feeding behaviors could improve feed efficiency in Pekin ducks. This study is the first report about genetic parameter estimates about feeding behaviors in ducks based on large datasets and provides solid data for genetic study in ducks.

To analyze quality standards of cattle bile and sheep bile, and to discuss the related problems in the standards. The results showed that physical forms of the related medicinal materials of cattle bile and sheep bile were chaotic, and the technical methods adopted in the quality standards were generally backward. In addition, there were still problems that some medicinal material standards lacked necessary test items, which were especially obvious in the relevant medicinal material standards of sheep bile and brought difficulties to quality evaluation and control. We suggest that physical forms of cattle bile and sheep bile in quality standards should be determined, and inspection items should be completed. Based on mainstream analytical technology, some technical methods of these standards should be improved.

Peking duck is the most representative of the meat-type duck breed, and it is also one of the most popular meats in Asia. Few studies were reported on the fast assessment of duck meat quality. This study aimed to develop a fast measuring of duck fat content by using the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) method. We measured 273 duck breast muscle intramuscle fat (IMF) content and spectra. Partial least-squares regression (PLSR) was used to model the fat content prediction by using the spectra in the wavelengths between 950 and 1650 nm. The best predictive abilities were obtained after the first derivative pretreatment, with coefficient of calibration (R2C) of 0.92, with coefficient of prediction (R2P) of 0.90, ratio performance to deviation (RPD) of 2.72, and ratio of error range (RER) of 15.45, for samples of 30 g duck. Results demonstrated that the near-infrared spectroscopy is a useful tool for fat content assessment of Peking duck meat.

HL-2M is a medium-sized copper-conductor tokamak under construction at the Southwestern Institute of Physics. The designed plasma parameters of HL-2M are as follows: $\text{plasma}\ \text{current}=2.5\ \text{MA}$ , $\text{toroidal}\ \text{field}=2.2\ \text{T}$ , $\text{major}\ \text{radius}=1.78\ \text{m}$ , $\text{minor}\ \text{radius}=0.65\ \text{m}$ , $\text{flux swing} > 14\ \text{V}\cdot\text{s}$ , and plasma pulse ∼5 s, with a plasma shape of $\text{elongation}=2$ and $\text{triangularity} > 0.5$ . To fulfill physics needs, the HL-2M coil system is designed to drive, shape, and confine plasma. It includes poloidal field coils and toroidal field coils (TFCs). HL-2M takes advantage of a demountable TFC to facilitate assembly of components inside the TFC and make the whole tokamak flexible for experiment and operation and provide good accessibility to plasma for plasma heating, diagnostic, and control. This structure also results in difficulties to design and fabricate magnets. The design and development of the coils are presented.

Genistein (GEN), a type of soy isoflavones, is similar to estrogen structurally and functionally. The effects of dietary gen on the reproductive performance and bone status of breeder hens were investigated. A total pf 720 laying broiler breeder (LBB) hens were randomly allocated into 3 groups with supplemental dietary GEN doses (0, 40, 400 mg/kg). Each treatment has 8 replicates of 30 birds. The results indicated that supplemental GEN significantly improved the egg production and eggshell strength of LBB hens. Dietary GEN was deposited into the egg yolk, which decreased malonaldehyde in the follicle and egg yolk. The levels of vitellogenin (VTG), progesterone, and follicle-stimulating hormone in the serum of GEN-treated groups were elevated compared with the control group. Furthermore, GEN treatment downregulated the mRNA expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein in the fallopian tube, whereas 40 mg/kg GEN treatment upregulated estrogen receptor α expression. Both the mRNA expression of VTG-II in the liver and mRNA expression of amphiregulin in the fallopian tube were upregulated after 40 and 400 mg/kg GEN treatment. In the 400 mg/kg GEN-treated group, the levels of calcitonin and alkaline phosphatase in the serum were increased compared with the control group, which was consistent with the increased levels of calcium and phosphorus in the tibia. Supplemental GEN (400 mg/kg) improved the tibia strength of LBB hens, whereas 40 mg/kg GEN had better effects on laying performance. In summary, dietary GEN could improve the egg production and quality, as well as the bone status of LBB hens during the late egg-laying period.

Calcium homeostasis of osteoblasts (OBs) has an important role in the physiology and pathology of bone tissue. In order to study the mechanisms of intracellular calcium homeostasis, MC3T3-E1 cells and Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with different concentrations of fluoride. Then, we examined intracellular-free calcium ion ([Ca(2+)]i) in MC3T3-E1 cells as well as mRNA and protein levels of Cav1.2, the main subunit of L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs), Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange carriers (NCS), and plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase (PMCA), inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) channels, sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase 2b (SERCA2b)/ATP2A2 in vitro, and rat bone tissues in vivo. Our results showed that [Ca(2+)]i of fluoride-treated OBs increased in a concentration-dependent manner with an increase in the concentration of fluoride. We also found that the low dose of fluoride led to high expression levels of Cav1.2, NCS-1, and PMCA and low expression levels of IP3R and SERCA2b/ATP2A2, while the high dose of fluoride induced an increase in SERCA2b/ATP2A2 levels and decrease in Cav1.2, PMCA, NCS-1, and IP3R levels. These results demonstrate that calcium channels and calcium pumps of plasma and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes keep intracellular calcium homeostasis by regulating Cav1.2, NCS-1, PMCA, IP3R, and SERCA2b/ATP2A2 expression.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH), PTH-related peptide (PTHrP), and calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) play important roles in maintaining calcium homeostasis. Here, we study the effect of fluoride on expression of PTH, PTHrP, and CaSR both in vitro and in vivo. MC3T3-E1 cells and Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with different concentrations of fluoride. Then, the free calcium ion concentration in cell culture supernatant and serum were measured by biochemical analyzer. The expression of PTH, PTHrP, and CaSR was analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blot. We found that the low dose of fluoride increased ionized calcium (i[Ca(2+)]) and the high dose of fluoride decreased i[Ca(2+)] in cell culture supernatant. The low dose of fluoride inhibited the PTH and PTHrP expression in MC3T3-E1 cells. The high dose of fluoride improved the PTHrP expression in MC3T3-E1 cells. Interestingly, we found that NaF decreased serum i[Ca(2+)] in rats. Fluoride increased CaSR expression at both messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels in MC3T3-E1 cells and rats. The expression of PTHrP protein was inhibited by fluoride in rats fed regular diet and was increased by fluoride in rats fed low-calcium diet. Fluoride also increased the expression of PTH, NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL), and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in rats. The ratio of RANKL/OPG in rats fed low-calcium food in presence or absence of fluoride was significantly increased. These results indicated that fluoride might be able to affect calcium homeostasis by regulating PTH, PTHrP, and CaSR.

While it has been well-documented that excessive fluoride exposure caused the skeletal disease and osteoblasts played a critical role in the advanced skeletal fluorosis, the underlying mechanism that mediated these effects remain poorly understood. The present study was undertaken to examine the effect of fluoride on bone of rats and MC3T3-E1 cells in vitro. Herein we found pathological features of high bone turnover in fluoride-treated rats, which was supported by an increase of osteogenic and osteoclastogenic genes expression in different stages of fluoride exposure. The skeletal toxicity of fluoride was accompanied by activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and subsequent unfolded protein response (UPR). A novel finding of this study was that expression of PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) was the same trend with receptor activator for nuclear factor-κ B ligand (RANKL), and NF-E2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2) was the same trend with Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) in bones of rats exposed to varied fluoride condition. Based on these data, we hypothesized that up-regulation of PERK probably played a role in mediating bone turnover induced by fluoride. Action of fluoride on MC3T3-E1 cells differentiation was demonstrated through analysis of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mineralized nodules formation. Meantime, an increase of binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP) expression indicated the active ER stress in cells exposed to various dose of fluoride. Blocking PERK expression using siRNA showed the obvious decrease of osteogenic and osteoclastogenic factors expression in MC3T3-E1 cells exposed to certain dose of fluoride that could positively stimulate osteoblastic viability. In conclusion these findings underscore the importance of PERK in modulating fluoride induced bone formation and bone resorption. Understanding the link between PERK and bone turnover could probe into the mechanism underlying different bone lesion of skeletal fluorosis.

Chronic spinal cord lesions (CSCL) which result in irreversible neurologic deficits remain one of the most devastating clinical problems. Its pathophysiological mechanism has not been fully clarified. As a crucial factor in the outcomes following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) disruption is considered as an important pathogenic factor contributing to the neurologic impairment in SCI. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a multirole element in the spinal cord vascular event. On one hand, VEGF administrations can result in rise of BSCB permeability in acute or sub-acute periods and even last for chronic process. On the other hand, VEGF is regarded to be correlated with angiogenesis, neurogenesis and improvement of locomotor ability. Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a primary regulator of VEGF during hypoxic conditions. Therefore, hypoxia-mediated up-regulation of VEGF may play multiple roles in the BSCB disruption and react on functional restoration of CSCL. The purpose of this article is to further explore the relationship among HIF-1, hypoxia-mediated VEGF and BSCB dysfunction, and investigate the roles of these elements on CSCL.

To study the effects and importance of fluoride on FBs in the development of extraperiosteal calcification and the ossification of skeletal fluorosis, the presence of the osteogenic phenotype, which is indicated by the expression of core-binding factor α1 (Cbfa1) and osteocalcin (OCN), in an FB cell line (L929) and in osteoblasts (OBs) exposed to fluoride was determined. Fibroblasts and osteoblasts were exposed to different concentrations of fluoride (0, 0.0001, 0.001, 0.1, 1.0, 10.0 and 20.0 mg/L F(-)). By using RT-PCR and ELISA, the mRNA levels of Cbfa1 and OCN were measured at 48 h, and the protein levels of Cbfa1 and OCN were measured at 2, 4, 24, 48 and 72 h. The data demonstrated the following: (1) The Cbfa1 protein level in fluoride-treated fibroblasts clearly increased at 48 h in the groups treated with 0.0001, 0.001, 0.1, 1.0 and 20.0 mg/L F(-). The Cbfa1 protein level of the group treated with 10 mg/L F(-) at 72 h was higher than that of the control group. The level of Cbfa1 mRNA in the fibroblasts was much higher at 48 h in the group treated with 10.0 mg/L F(-) than in the control group. (2) The OCN protein level in fluoride-treated fibroblasts was significantly higher than that of the control group in the 0.0001, 0.1, 1.0, 10.0 and 20.0 mg/L F(-) groups at 2 h, and in the 0.001 and 0.1 F(-) groups at 4 h. A slightly higher level of OCN mRNA in fluoride-treated fibroblasts was also found in the 1.0 and 20.0 mg/L F(-) groups compared to the control group. (3) The expressions of Cbfa1 and OCN in osteoblasts treated with the same experimental conditions as the fibroblasts were up-regulated by fluoride following the same trend as in the fibroblasts. Our results showed an increase in the expression of Cbfa1 and OCN in fibroblasts and osteoblasts exposed to fluoride and suggested that the osteogenic function of fibroblasts induced by fluoride could play an important role in the development of extraperiosteal ossification during skeletal fluorosis.

In this paper, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) film of fruit and vegetable was prepared through extrusion blow molding process.The LDPE was used as matrix resin and medical stone powder as the main filler. Stearic acid was added into film as a kind of surfactant. Effect of particle size, stearic acid proportion,filler amount and stretch pocessing on properties of MAP film was studied through measuring its oxygen and water vapor permeability,tensile strength as well as elongation ratio.Experimental investigation indicated that for preparing MAP film with high permeability, the controlled conditions such as 325 mesh medical stone powder, additive amount of 20 phr with stretch processing, stearic acid proportion of 2/10 were required.

Paget’s disease of bone (PDB) or osteitis deformans, which is characterized by excessive bone formation and resorption with abnormal remodeling resulting in polyostotic or monostotic lesions, was first described by James Paget in 1877 [1]. Even though PDB is the second most common metabolic bone disease in European countries, it is relatively rare in the East, especially in China, Japan, and other Asian countries [2, 3]. PDB seldom occurs before the age of 50 and it is a disorder in which focal abnormalities of increased bone turnover lead to complications such as bone pain, deformity, and pathological fractures. Diagnosis of PDB can be delayed or misdiagnosed, because of its insidious onset, variety of clinical manifestations, and radiographic findings similar to those of skeletal metastases, primary hyperparathyroidism, osteomyelitis, or osteosarcoma [4–7]. Consequently, patients with PDB tend to miss the opportunity of effective intervention at an early stage. We report one case of a Chinese female PDB patient with consecutive multilevel vertebral lesion (L1–L4), who was initially misdiagnosed as skeletal metastases and vertebral hemangioma. Case report

As the strongest electronegative element, fluorine can stimulate the production of superoxide radicals in cells. In view of the important roles of kidneys in bone metabolism, the authors analyzed the quantitative pathomorphological characteristics of renal damage and the potential cellular apoptosis and oxidative stress mechanisms in rats treated with excessive fluoride. Wistar rats were exposed to 50 mg F−(110.5 mg NaF)/L, 100 mg F−(221.0 mg NaF)/L and 150 mg F−(331.5 mg NaF)/L in drinking water for 70 and 140 d, respectively. Microscope with image analysis was used to quantitate pathomorphological changes in renal tissues of the rats. Reactive oxygen species(ROS), the cell cycle and apoptosis of renal cells were measured by flow cytometry and TUNEL technique(terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling), respectively. The ion concentrations in serum and renal functional parameters were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer. Quantitative analysis results demonstrate the expanded Bowman’s space of glomerulus and obvious dilatation of renal tubule. TUNEL technique revealed that NBT/BCIP (nitro blue tetrazolium/5-bromo-4-chloro-3′-indolylphosphate, p-toluidine salt)-staining positive apoptotic cells selectively located in medullocortical junction areas. The data suggest that renal damage in chronic fluorostic rats is associated with the cellular apoptosis and oxidative stress.

In order to raise the maintenance efficiency of the armored vehicles Lead-Acid battery, this paper introduces an state monitoring system of Lead-Acid battery. The system used the ATMEGA8 as the control core. Through designing measuring circuit of the terminal voltage, internal resistance and temperature as well as building a human-computer interaction user interface using the C++builder, the system can fast and accurately monitors the state of battery. At the same time, we try to use the lock-in amplifying technology to measure the battery inner resistance. The experiment results show that the system easy to use and has a high accuracy.

The SAE J1939 is a typical CAN bus network communication protocol of integrated electronic system of armored vehicles, which adopts the PDU as a data transmission unit. The agreement can quickly parse out the meaning of the received data to according to data definition; The fault code is used to transfer fault diagnosis information while the SAE J1939 is employed, from which equipment faults can be easily obtained. In this paper, the protocol is described and applied to fault diagnosis application of the engine electronic control box in the armored vehicle. The results proved the protocol is reliable and effective.

Studies on the role of insulin and insulin receptor (InsR) in the process of skeletal fluorosis, especially in osteogenic function, are rare. We evaluated the effect of increasing F⁻ doses on the marker of bone formation, serum insulin level and pancreatic secretion changes in vivo and mRNA expression of InsR and osteocalcin (OCN) in vitro. Wistar rats (n = 50) were divided into two groups, i.e. a control group and fluoride group. The fluoride groups were treated with fluoride by drinking tap water containing 100 mg F⁻/L. The fluoride ion-selective electrode measured the fluoride concentrations of femurs. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP), OCN, insulin and glucagon of serum were tested to observe the effect of fluoride action on them. Meantime, the pancreas pathological morphometry analysis via β cells stained by aldehyde fuchsin showed the action of fluoride on pancreas secretion. MC3T3-E1 cells (derived from newborn mouse calvaria) were exposed to varying concentrations and periods of fluoride. The mRNA expression of InsR and OCN was quantified with real-time PCR. Results showed that 1-year fluoride treatment obviously stimulated ALP activity and OCN level along with increase of bone fluoride concentration of rats, which indicated that fluoride obviously stimulated osteogenic action of rats. In vitro study, the dual effect of fluoride on osteoblast function is shown. On the other hand, there was a significant increase of serum insulin level and a general decrease of glucagon level, and the histomorphometry analysis indicated an elevated insulin-positive area and increase in islet size in rats treated with fluoride for 1 year. In addition, fluoride obviously facilitated the mRNA expression of InsR in vitro. To sum up, there existed a close relationship between insulin secretion and fluoride treatment. The insulin signal pathway might be involved in the underlying occurrence or development of skeletal fluorosis.

In order to improve the accuracy of the measurement of battery internal resistance, a lead-acid battery internal resistance measurement system was designed using the AC injection method and LabVIEW software. The system is based on LabVIEW software, design a stable sin signal produce program and data acquisition program. At the same time, Signal conditioning modules which were developed by NI were used to suppress the noise. The experiment results show that the system easy to use and has a high accuracy.

HL-2M is a medium-sized copper-conductor tokamak under construction at the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP). The designed plasma parameters of HL-2M are as follows, plasma current=2.5 MA, toroidal field = 2.2 T, major radius =1.78 m, minor radius = 0.65 m, flux-swing > 14 Vs, plasma pulse ∼ 5 s, with a plasma shape of elongation = 2 and triagularity > 0.5. HL-2M coil system is to drive, shape and confine plasma. It includes poloidal field (PF) coils and toroidal field coils (TFC). HL-2M takes advantage of a demountable TFC to facilitate assembly of components inside TFC, resulting in flexibility for experiment and operation and good accessibility to plasma for plasma heating, diagnostic and control. The design and development of the coils are presented.

Exposure to excessive fluoride poses a threat to human health, including increased susceptibility to developing the skeletal fluorosis. Despite its recognized importance as an endemic disease, little is known about how fluoride directly impacts on osteoblasts. We previously reported that fluoride-stimulating monolayer-cultured osteoblast proliferation or inhibiting cell viability depended on fluoride-exposure concentration and period, both accompanied with active oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to provide extra insight into skeletal fluorosis by comparing their regulation of oxidative stress in rats and OS732 cells (a human osteoblast-like cell line) cultured in the three-dimensional approach. Our in vivo and in vitro studies proved that exposure to fluoride promoted varying extents of oxidative stress. Three-dimensional cultured OS732 cells revealed the action of fluoride on cell viability from excitatory to inhibitory trend according to fluoride-exposure concentration and time. The study provided insight into the mechanism of skeletal fluorosis. Also, this study distinguished itself by identifying oxidative stress as a potential modulator of osteogenesis in skeletal fluorosis.

Proteomical analysis is defined as the characterization of the entire set of protein encoded a genome. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) are main techniques used in proteomic analysis to achieve information about protein expression profiles. Knowledge about the mechanism of skeletal fluorosis can be gained by recognizing changes in protein expression. To better understand the skeletal fluorosis process, osteoblasts isolated from calvarial of neonatal mouse were cultured and treated with 2 ppm fluoride for 72 h, and proteins of the osteoblast were profiled by 2-DE. With the analysis of Image-Master 2D analysis software, we detected a total number of 493 matching spots on 2-DE images. Among them, 28 protein spots showed twofold significant alteration (P < 0.05) in fluoride-exposed groups. Moreover, 12 proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF MS. These identified proteins in fluoride-exposed group were associated with cell proliferation, metabolism, and oxidative folding. Thus, our study provides useful information on fluoride-related changes of proteome and shows that proteomical analysis is a powerful methodology for the better understanding of skeletal fluorosis.

Our earlier studies showed that the apoptosis of renal tubules can be induced by sodium fluoride (NaF). The present study was designed to estimated the effects of B-cell lymphoma/leukemia 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated protein X (Bax), and osteopontin (OPN) on the apoptosis of renal tubular cells induced by NaF at different levels. The technique of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and densitometer scanning volume density were used to evaluate the changes of Bcl-2, Bax, and OPN mRNA in tubular cells treated with different doses of NaF (0, 1, 5, 7.5, 12.5 mgF-/L) for 48 h. Compared to control, the level of Bax mRNA significantly increased at cells of the 7.5- and 12.5-mg F-/L groups and the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA obviously decreased at cells of the 5- and 7.5-mg F-/L groups. The NaF also enhanced the expression of OPN mRNA in a dose-dependent manner, but the strongest expression of OPN mRNA was observed at cells of the 7.5-mg F-/L group. The results suggested that NaF induces the apoptosis in renal tubules via activation of the Bax expression and Bcl-2 suppression; OPN probably acts as protective role against apoptosis in fluoride-treated renal cells.

Recently a number of multicast routing protocols for ad hoc networks have been proposed, however, most of them do not provide proper tradeoffs between effectiveness, efficiency and scalability. In this paper, a novel multicast routing protocol is presented for ad hoc networks. The protocol, termed as dynamic-ring-based multicast routing protocol (DRMR), uses the concept of dynamic ring whose radius can be adjusted dynamically and DRMR configures this type of ring for all group member nodes. According to the principle of zone routing, two nodes whose rings overlap can create route to each other, thus, when the ring graph composed of all rings is connected, each member node has one or more routes to others. DRMR uses the method of expanding ring search (ERS) to maintain the connected ring graph, and also can decrease the radius of the ring to reduce the overhead. The performances of DRMR were simulated and evaluated with NS2, and results show that DRMR has a high data packet delivery ratio, low control overhead and good scalability.

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is one of the most common spinal cord disorders affecting the elderly. Yet the exact pathophysiology of CSM remains unclear. Vascular response to initial mechanical compression and associated ischemia may involve in secondary pathophysiology. Chronic compressive lesions to cervical cord resulting in lack of perfusion have established considerable evidences to support ischemia as an important pathogenesis both in patients and animal models, a similarity as that of acute spinal cord injury (SCI). In hypoxic condition following SCI, the up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is consistent with increasing hypoxia induced factor-1α (HIF-1α) in acute periods. HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway is thought to play a dual role following SCI. In one hand, VEGF was demonstrated to be correlated with angiogenesis (protecting vascular endothelial cells, increasing blood vessel density and improving regional blood flow), neurogenesis (antiapoptotic, neurotrophic, attenuate axonal degradation), and locomotor ability improvement. In other hand, some studies revealed that VEGF have limited therapeutic effect, even exacerbate the secondary damage following SCI. VEGF administrations in acute or subacute periods result in elevation of blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability even last for chronic course. BSCB permeability elevation initiates a secondary cascade of events involving excitotoxicity, infiltration of leukocytes and tissue edema. With comprehensive understanding of temporal and spatial of HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway, development of therapeutic strategies to promote new vessel growth while minimize the deleterious effects of VEGF-induced microvascular permeability, and thereby improve neurologic function, seems to be feasible and promising.

Osteoblast L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCC) play important roles in maintaining intracellular homeostasis and influencing multiple cellular processes. In particular, they contribute to the activities and functions of osteoblasts (OBs). In order to study how L-type VDCC modulate calcium ion (Ca(2+)) homeostasis and the expression of osteogenic transcription factors in OBs exposed to fluoride, MC3T3-E1 cells were exposed to a gradient of concentrations of fluoride (0, 2.0, 5.0, 10.0 mg/L) in combination with 10 μM nifedipine, a specific inhibitor of VDCC, for 48 h. We examined messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels of Cav1.2, the main subunit of VDCC, and c-fos, c-jun, runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), osterix (OSX), and intracellular free Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)]i) concentrations in MC3T3-E1 cells. Our results showed that [Ca(2+)]i levels increased in a dose-dependent manner with increase in concentration of fluoride. Meantime, results indicated that lower concentrations of fluoride (less than 5 mg/L, especially 2 mg/L) can lead to high expression of Cav1.2 and enhance osteogenic function, while high concentration of fluoride (10 mg/L) can induce decreased Cav1.2 and osteogenic transcriptional factors in MC3T3E1 cells exposed to fluoride. However, the levels of [Ca(2+)]i, Cav1.2, c-fos, c-jun, Runx2, and OSX induced by fluoride were significantly altered and even reversed in the presence of nifedipine. These results demonstrate that L-type calcium channels play a crucial role in Ca(2+) homeostasis and they affect the expression of osteogenic transcription factors in fluoride-treated osteoblasts.

The objective of this study was to determine the expression of classic bone markers and unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling factors through MC3T3-E1 cells exposed to varying concentrations of fluoride. Excessive fluoride exposure caused the skeletal disease. During this process, osteoblasts played a critical role in the advanced skeletal fluorosis. Recent literature showed that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and UPR were involved in numerous aspects of bone biology. Our results indicated that co-exposure of low-dose fluoride and mineral induction medium stimulated the expression of alkaline phosphatase, runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), and osterix in MC3T3-E1 cells. Accordingly, the expression of double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR)-like ER kinase, activating transcription factor 6, and X-box binding protein 1 also increased under the same fluoride exposure condition. The upregulation of three UPR factors was similar with osteogenic differentiation markers and transcription factors, which implied the relation between osteoblast differentiation and UPR pathways. Moreover, the role of UPR affecting osteoblast differentiation was investigated by decreasing the expression of binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP) mRNA through small interfering RNA (siRNA) technique. BiP knockdown led to suppress activation of UPR pathways. The deletion of BiP expression hardly stimulated the osteogenic cells differentiation but inhibited cell function under fluoride and mineralization induction exposure. In conclusion, fluoride had dual effect on osteogenic action. The UPR possibly involved in the mechanism of osteoblasts differentiation induced by fluoride.

The aberrant activation of osteoblasts in the early stage is one of the critical steps during the pathogenesis of skeletal fluorosis. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stresses and unfolded protein response (UPR) are initiated to alleviate the accumulation of unfolded proteins against cell injury. The previous researches had demonstrated that fluoride induced ER stress in other cells or tissues. In this study, we determined the ER stress and UPR to investigate their roles in aberrant activation of fluoride-treated osteoblasts. The gene expression of bone markers and UPR factors in MC3T3-E1 cells treated with varying doses of fluoride administration was analyzed. Meantime, levels of glutathione and glutathione disulfide were tested by the ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry applications. Our results indicated that a certain dose and period of fluoride administration induced cell proliferation and differentiation, and Runx2 was involved in the regulation of osteoblastic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. Increase trend of Runx2 expression was consistent with change of marker of ER stress. Fluoride caused ER stress and stimulated UPR during the process of osteoblast maturation, while oxidative stress was also active in the occurrence of ER stress. These data indicated that ER stress and UPR were possibly involved in the action of fluoride on osteoblasts.

High spin states in neutron-deficient 117Xe have been studied by using in-beam γ spectroscopy method. A new positive-parity rotational band has been identified. It decays into the yrast νh11/2 band via five electric dipole transitions. The magnitudes of these E1 transitions are extracted and they are much enhanced compared to the normal E1 transitions. This is taken as an evidence for octupole correlations in 117Xe.

To study the effects of fluoride (F-) on ionized calcium ([Ca2+]i) and calcium channel in osteoblast-like cell (OBLs).Investigating [Ca2+]i was by fluorospectrophotometry and recording the calcium currents of OBLs was using whole patch-clamp technique.The addition of fluoride to the medium made a rapid and significant increase in free [Ca2+]i, especially in 100 ng F- /ml group. There were significances between control group and 50, 100 ng F- /ml groups. And 25 ng/ml F- could stimulate OBLs calcium channel open. Compared with control group, fluoride could significantly increase the amplitudes of calcium currents (P0.01), furthermore the activation was in dose-dependent manner.Fluoride can make calcium channel open and then increase the concentrations of [Ca2+]i.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) were extracted and purified from Wistar rat kidneys by two-step enzymatic hydrolysis and ion exchange chromatography. The sorts of GAGs were identified by electrophoresis on cellulose acetate membrane and separated on a weak anion-exchange column. Those purified GAGs were further totally hydrolyzed with specific glycosaminoglycan lyases. Their disaccharides composition and fine structures were analyzed with SAX-HPLC. The results indicated that GAGs in rat kidneys were mainly composed of heparan sulfate and small amount of dermatan sulfate. Eight kinds of disaccharides were found in heparan sulfate, and the content of acetyl-containing disaccharides was 77.6%, while nonsulfated disaccharides were 59.7%. In dermatan sulfate, six kinds of disaccharides were found. The content of monosulfated disaccharides was 49.8%, and nonsulfated disaccharides were 32.9%.

Our proteomical analysis of osteoblasts exposed to fluoride revealed a distinctive upregulation of proteins in osteoblast. These upregulated proteins play key roles in the protein folding. The PRK-like ER kinase (PERK) signaling, one branch of unfolded protein response (UPR) to combat ER stress, is a transcription factor needed for osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. The mechanism of skeletal fluorosis by which fluoride regulates osteoblast is not fully defined. Here we studied the effect of fluoride on PERK signaling genes and x-box binding protein 1 (xbp-1) in OS7232 cells (human osteoblast-like cell line). Meantime, genes associated with bone turnover were examined in this study. We found that early and continuous fluoride exposure increased the binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP) expression and activated the PERK signaling pathway, resulting in activation of transcription factor 4 (ATF4) and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). The altered expression of cbfa1, osteoprotegerin (OPG)/nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) were viewed in this study. These results showed fluoride impelled a distinctive ER stress response in OS732 cells, primarily by activating PERK and PERK-dependent signaling. Little effects were viewed for activating xbp-1, a common target of the other two canonical sensors of ER stress, ATF6 and IRE1. In this study the altered expression of bone turnover genes were consistent with activation of ER stress and PERK signaling. This study proved that PERK signaling play major roles in action of fluoride on osteoblast, and suggested that bone response in skeletal fluorosis may be due in part to PERK signaling pathway.