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Gut microbiota disturbance, autophagy dysregulation, and accumulation of hepatic bile acids (BAs) are essential features of liver injury. Therefore, regulating autophagy and BA metabolism are potential strategies for treating liver diseases. Vine tea has been seen beyond a pleasant tea in food science. Our previous study found that vine tea extract (VTE) intervention alleviated acute liver injury (ALI) by restoring gut microbiota dysbiosis. In this study, we aim to investigate the effect of VTE on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatic autophagy and BA metabolism disorder in mice. The results showed that VTE effectively suppressed CCl4-induced liver fibrosis and hepatic autophagy. LC-MS/MS assay suggested that VTE affected fecal BA production by reducing the fecal BA levels and improving cholestasis in ALI mice. Besides, VTE inhibited BA synthesis, promoted BA transport in the liver, and enhanced BA reabsorption in the ileum through the farnesoid X receptor (FXR)-related signaling pathway. The hepatic expressions of Fxr and Abca1 were elevated by VTE. Finally, the depletion of gut microbiota in ALI mice had a negative impact on abnormal autophagy and BA metabolism. It was also noted that the administration of VTE did not provide any additional improvement in this regard. Overall, VTE ameliorated ALI by reversing hepatic autophagy and abnormal BA metabolism, and the beneficial effects of VTE on liver injury depended on the existence of gut microbiota.

Hyla sanchiangensis (Anura: Hylidae) is endemic to China and is distributed across Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces. The mitogenomes of H. sanchiangensis from two different sites (Jinxiu, Guangxi, and Wencheng, Zhejiang) were sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted, including 38 mitogenomes of Hylidae from the NCBI database, and assessed the phylogenetic relationship of H. sanchiangensis within the analyzed dataset. Two mitogenomes of H. sanchiangensis showed the typical mitochondrial gene arrangement with 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and one non-coding control region (D-loop). The lengths of the 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes from both samples (Jinxiu and Wencheng) were 933 bp and 1604 bp, respectively. The genetic distance (p-distance transformed into percent) on the basis of the mitogenomes (excluding the control region) of the two samples was calculated as 4.4%. Hyla sanchiangensis showed a close phylogenetic relationship with the clade of (H. annectans + H. tsinlingensis), which was supported by ML and BI analyses. In the branch-site model, five positive selection sites were found in the clade of Hyla and Dryophytes: Cytb protein (at position 316), ND3 protein (at position 85), and ND5 protein (at position 400) have one site, respectively, and two sites in ND4 protein (at positions 47 and 200). Based on the results, we hypothesized that the positive selection of Hyla and Dryophytes was due to their experience of cold stress in historical events, but more evidence is needed to support this conclusion.

Abstract Bladder cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease that characterized by genomic instability and a high mutation rate. Heterogeneity in tumor may partially explain the diversity of responses to targeted therapies and the various clinical outcomes. A combination of cytology and cystoscopy is the standard methodology for BC diagnosis, prognosis, and disease surveillance. However, genomics analyses of single tumor‐biopsy specimens may underestimate the mutational burden of heterogeneous tumors. Liquid biopsy, as a promising technology, enables analysis of tumor components in the bodily fluids, such as blood and urine, at multiple time points and provides a minimally invasive approach that can track the evolutionary dynamics and monitor tumor heterogeneity. In this review, we describe the multiple faces of BC heterogeneity at the genomic and transcriptional levels and how they affect clinical care and outcomes. We also summarize the outcomes of liquid biopsy in BC, which plays a potential role in revealing tumor heterogeneity. Finally, we discuss the challenges that must be addressed before liquid biopsy can be widely used in clinical treatment.

The phase structures, magnetic properties, electronic structures, and anisotropy of the full Heusler alloy Co2NbGa were studied using the first-principles method, and the results were compared with experiments. The L21-type cubic structure was the most stable, which was in good agreement with the experimental measurement. The Curie temperature obtained by the mean field theory was also very close to the experimental value. The electronic structures and magnetic properties showed that the Co2NbGa alloy was a half-metallic ferromagnet with 100% spin polarization at equilibrium, and the robustness of the half-metallic feature was preserved in lattice ranges of 5.79 to 6.42 Å. The Co2NbGa alloy was an anisotropic material with stable mechanical properties at L21-type cubic and XA-type tetragonal structures, and the influence of Hubbard U and vacancy defects on the physical nature was also studied and discussed. The 100% spin polarization, high Curie temperature, and stable equilibrium structure make Co2NbGa alloy a promising candidate in spintronics and magnetoelectronic.

A novel spin gapless semiconductor material Ba2MnTeO6 is found and reported by first-principles calculations. In this paper, we study the influence of spin orbit coupling, strain and Coulomb interaction on the properties of ferromagnetic Ba2MnTeO6 in order to test the stability of physical properties. It turns out that the spin orbit coupling has no significant effect on the electronic structures of the Ba2MnTeO6 at equilibrium state. Under the action of uniform compressive strain and tensile strain, Ba2MnTeO6 transforms from spin gapless semiconductor to semiconductor and half-metal respectively. At the same time, as the strain increases, the semiconductor band gap gradually widens, and the half-metallic gap gradually narrows. After considering Coulomb interaction, Ba2MnTeO6 will also be transformed into a semiconductor, and the semiconductor band gap will increase with the increasing of U values. Furthermore, the mechanical performance studies show that Ba2MnTeO6 is an anisotropic material with stable structure. As the first pure double perovskite type spin gapless semiconductor, the high spin polarization and accurately adjustable physical properties of ferromagnetic Ba2MnTeO6 indicate that it has broad application prospects in the fields of spintronics and optoelectronic materials and devices.

Molecular spintronics has triggered a tremendous revolution in the fields of information storage, transport, and processing, within which the exploitation of multipurpose spintronic devices is one of the key challenges. In this paper, based on a nonmagnetic molecular object with two transport-active orbits connected parallelly to two magnetic electrodes, we reveal such structure behaves as an electronically-controllable multifucntional spin device. Dual and bipolar spin selectors are realized, without need to repeat the operation or reverse the spin state of the electrodes. The selection schemes could be engineered by tuning the distance between two orbits, which essentially stems from the inter-correlation between the spinterface and the local exchange interactions. Through a detailed design of the interfacial and local parameters, we disclose these behaviors are robust in the strongly correlated limit, but may be affected significantly by the strength of the spin imbalance of the electrode and the local energy level. Our results may afford an important guideline for a competitive magnetoelectronics molecular device, which could be easily manipulated through purely chemical technologies.

The genomic amplification of chromosome 1q long arm, the chromosomal region containing Clorf61, is a common event in human cancers. However, the expression pattern of chromosome 1 open reading frame 61 (Clorf61) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its effects on HCC progression remain unclear. We have previously reported that Clorf61 is highly up-regulated during human embryogenesis. In this study, we report that Clorf61 expression is associated with the progression of liver disease. We found that Clorf61 is up-regulated in hepatic cirrhosis tissues and is further up-regulated in primary HCC tumors. Moreover, hepatitis B virus (HBV)-positive patients exhibited significantly higher levels of Clorf61 expression than HBV-negative patients. The evaluation of highly malignant HCC cell lines revealed high protein expression levels of Clorf61. Furthermore, the Clorf61 protein was found to be predominantly distributed within the cytoplasm. The ectopic expression of Clorf61 in the nonmalignant L02 cell line promoted cellular proliferation and colony formation in vitro, as well as cell cycle progression via the regulation of the expression of specific cell cycle-related proteins. In addition, the overexpression of Clorf61 in L02 cells facilitated cellular invasion and metastasis. The down-regulation of epithelial markers (E-cadherin and occludin) and the up-regulation of mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin, vimentin, and snail) suggested that the overexpression of Clorf61 induced the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) that is linked to metastasis. Taken together, our findings demonstrate, for the first time, the roles of Clorf61 in HCC tumorigenesis and metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human embryogenesis is believed to involve an integrated set of complex yet coordinated development of different organs and tissues mediated by the changes in the spatiotemporal expression of many genes. Here, we report a genome-wide expression analysis during wk 4-9 of human embryogenesis, a critical period when most organs develop. About half of all human genes are expressed, and 18.6% of the expressed genes were significantly regulated during this important period. We further identified >5000 regulated genes, most of which previously were not known to be associated with animal development. Our study fills an important gap in mammalian developmental studies by identifying functional pathways involved in this critical but previously not studied period. Our study also revealed that the genes involved here are distinct from those during early embryogenesis, which include three groups of maternal genes. Furthermore, we discovered that genes in a given developmental process are regulated coordinately. This led us to develop an easily searchable database of this entire collection of gene expression profiles, allowing for the identification new genes important for a particular developmental process/pathway and deducing the potential function of a novel gene. The validity of the predictions from the database was demonstrated with two examples through spatiotemporal analyses of the two novel genes. Such a database should serve as a highly valuable resource for the molecular analysis of human development and pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following sections are included: e+e- → hadrons Cross Sections and the Rhad Value Hadronic Vacuum Polarization Input Parameters and their Uncertainties Measurement of R Value at BES-III [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Roughly focused extracorporeal shock waves therapy (ESWT) is characterized by a wide focal area, a large therapy zone, easy positioning, and less pain during treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of roughly focused ESWT on the expression of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in osteoporotic fractures in rats. Methods: Seventy-two female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, 3 months old, were divided into sham-operated group (n = 6) and an ovariectomized (OVX) group (n = 66). Sixty OVX SD rats were used as a model of double proximal tibial osteotomy and inner fixation. The osteotomy site in the left tibia was treated with roughly focused ESWT once at an energy density of 0.26 mJ/mm2, 60 doses/min, and 2000 pact quantities. The contralateral right tibia was left untreated and served as a control. Expression of OPG and BMP-2 in the callus of the osteoporotic fracture area was assessed using immunohistochemistry, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Western blotting analysis. Results: Bone mineral density (BMD) at the proximal tibia, femur, and L5 spine was significantly reduced after ovariectomy. BMD of proximal tibia was 12.9% less in the OVX group than that in the sham-operated group. Meanwhile, bilateral oophorectomy resulted in a lower trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) in the proximal tibia of the sham-OVX animals. Three months after bilateral oophorectomy, BV/TV was 14.29% of baseline BV/TV in OVX legs versus 45.91% in the sham-OVX legs (P < 0.001). These data showed that the SD rats became a suitable model of osteoporosis, 3 months after they were OVX. Immunohistochemical analysis showed higher levels of BMP-2 and OPG expression in the treatment group than those in the control group. Compared with the contralateral controls, decreased expression of OPG and BMP-2 at 3 days after roughly focused ESWT, followed by a later increase at 7 days, was indicated by real-time PCR and Western blotting analysis. The OPG messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels peaked at 6 weeks after the shock wave treatment, paired with a much earlier (at 4 weeks) increase of BMP-2, and declined close to normal at 8 weeks. Conclusions: Roughly focused ESWT may promote the expression of OPG and BMP-2 in the osteoporotic fracture area in rats. BMP-2 and OPG may act synergistically and may lead to a significant enhancement of bone formation and remodeling.

Expression of the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) oncoprotein Tax is correlated with cellular transformation, contributing to the development of adult T-cell leukemia. In this study, we investigated the role of Tax in the regulation of the ZNF268 gene, which plays a role in the differentiation of blood cells and the pathogenesis of leukemia. We demonstrated that ZNF268 mRNA was repressed in HTLV-1-infected cells. We also showed that stable and transient expression of HTLV-1 Tax led to repression of ZNF268. In addition, by using reporter constructs that bear the human ZNF268 promoter and its mutants, we showed that Tax repressed ZNF268 promoter in a process dependent on a functional cAMP-responsive element. By using Tax, cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB)-1, CREB-2, and their mutants, we further showed that Tax repressed ZNF268 through the CREB/activating transcription factor pathway. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated the formation of the complex of TaxCREB-1 directly at the cAMP-responsive element both in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest a role for ZNF268 in aberrant T-cell proliferation observed in HTLV- 1-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]