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MicroRNA (miRNA) is a category of single-stranded non-coding small RNA (sRNA) that regulates gene expression by targeting mRNA. It plays a key role in the temperature-dependent sex determination of Chinese alligator (

The gut microbiota forms a complex microecosystem in vertebrates and is affected by various factors. As a key intrinsic factor, sex has a persistent impact on the formation and development of gut microbiota. Few studies have analyzed sexual dimorphism of gut microbiota, particularly in wild animals. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to analyze the gut microbiota of juvenile and adult Chinese alligators, and untargeted metabolomics to study serum metabolomes of adult alligators. We observed significant sexual differences in the community diversity in juvenile, but not adult, alligators. In terms of taxonomic composition, the phylum Fusobacteriota and genus Cetobacterium were highly abundant in adult alligators, similar to those present in carnivorous fishes, whereas the gut microbiota composition in juvenile alligators resembled that in terrestrial reptiles, indicating that adults are affected by their wild aquatic environment and lack sex dimorphism in gut microbiota. The correlation analysis revealed that the gut microbiota of adults was also affected by cyanobacteria in the external environment, and this effect was sex-biased and mediated by sex hormones. Overall, this study reveals sexual differences in the gut microbiota of crocodilians and their convergence in the external environment, while also providing insights into host–microbiota interactions in wildlife.

GTPase high f requency of l ysogenization X (HflX) is highly conserved in prokaryotes and acts as a ribosome-splitting factor as part of the heat shock response in Escherichia coli. Here we report that HflX produced by slow-growing Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is a GTPase that plays a critical role in the pathogen's transition to a nonreplicating, drug-tolerant state in response to hypoxia. Indeed, HflX-deficient M. bovis BCG (KO) replicated markedly faster in the microaerophilic phase of a hypoxia model that resulted in premature entry into dormancy. The KO mutant displayed hallmarks of nonreplicating mycobacteria, including phenotypic drug resistance, altered morphology, low intracellular ATP levels, and overexpression of Dormancy (Dos) regulon proteins. Mice nasally infected with HflX KO mutant displayed increased bacterial burden in the lungs, spleen, and lymph nodes during the chronic phase of infection, consistent with the higher replication rate observed in vitro in microaerophilic conditions. Unlike fast growing mycobacteria, M. bovis BCG HlfX was not involved in antibiotic resistance under aerobic growth. Proteomics, pull-down, and ribo-sequencing approaches supported that mycobacterial HflX is a ribosome-binding protein that controls translational activity of the cell. With HflX fully conserved between M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis, our work provides further insights into the molecular mechanisms deployed by pathogenic mycobacteria to adapt to their hypoxic microenvironment.

Urban street dusts were collected in commercial area (CA), traffic area (TA), educational area (EA), residential area (RA) and parks area (PA) of Chengdu, China, to investigate the concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr), and analyzed to evaluated possible sources and health risk assessment. The average concentrations (mg/kg) of Pb (82.3), Zn (296), Cu (100), Cd (1.66) and Cr (84.3) in urban street dusts were all higher than the local soil background values. The concentrations of heavy metals in each functional area could be classified as follows: CA > TA > RA > EA > PA. Principal component analysis and Cluster analysis showed mainly derived from the mixed sources of nature and traffic (51.7%). The results of health risk assessment showed no non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of the metals for inhabitants. However, higher concentrations and oral bioaccessibility of the heavy metals in the dusts from CA and TA, indicating there was more health risks to the inhabitants in than that in other functional areas.

Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) is one of the most serious complications of mechanical ventilation (MV) and can increase the mortality of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This work aimed to test the hypothesis that the anti-inflammatory properties of human interleukin-10 (hIL-10) can reduce VILI. Thirty-six healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into three groups (n = 12) as follows: a control group, a VILI group, and a hIL-10 group. Lung function was evaluated by oxygenation index and pulmonary edema, and morphological changes associated with lung injury were assessed by HE staining and quantitative histological lung injury score. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured, and the levels of various inflammatory cytokines were assessed in BALF and plasma. The oxygenation index in the VILI group decreased significantly relative to the control group and improved substantially in the hIL-10 group (P

With the further development of China's energy reform, it puts forward higher requirements for the subject of energy and power professional personnel training based on traditional energy sources. This paper proposed to carry out the "13th Five-Year" education planning idea, of which the modern educational technology and virtual reality technology will be introduced into practice teaching of energy and power undergraduates. In order to enhance the dynamic balance between the demand of electric power industry and personnel training, it’s necessary to reform the practice teaching mode and teaching methods, what’s more, constructing virtual practice teaching platform. Cultivating the compound talents with solid theoretical foundation and collaborative innovation ability, in order that providing strong support for the development of China's energy and electric power industry.

Four up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors (UASB) filled with oyster shell (R1), activated carbon (R2), quartz sand (R3), zeolite (R4), respectively had been selected to inspect their effects on the COD removal efficiency, and to compare with the traditional UASB reactor (R0). System stability and pH variation were also inspected. All the reactors were inoculated with sludge from a local sewage treatment plant, and fed with the synthetic wastewater. The organic load rate was 0.96 kgCOD.m-3.d-1during 1-20 days (StageⅠ), 1.86 kgCOD.m-3.d-1during 21-57 days(StageⅡ), and 5.32 kgCOD.m-3.d-1during 58-97 days(StageⅢ), the system temperature was controlled at 35 °C. The influent pH was 7-8. The results reveal that: (1) The average removal rate was 94.5%, 78.0%, 91.4% for R1; 93.6%, 87.7%, 92.5% for R2in the three stages, respectively. R1and R2reactors are suitable to treat low organic load wastewater( 0.96 kgCOD.m-3.d-1) to high organic load wastewater(5.32 kgCOD.m-3.d-1). R3, R4and R0are not suitable for high organic load wastewater. (2) R1and R2reactors can resist the continuous organic shock load, and the system can recover in a short time; R3, R4and R0reactors could not recover during StageⅢ. (3) The system was sensitive to temperature variation, so temperature was an important factor to the system. (4) Anaerobic granular sludge were formed in R1, R2, R3, R4reactors, the amount of granular sludge sequencing was 89.02%, 82.46%, 16.44%, 36.54%, respectively. Compared to the support material size which was 0.15-0.20 mm; the size of granular sludge larger than 0.90mm was 41.5% in R1reactor, and 28.8% in R2reactor. (5) All the reactors had the ability of pH value moderation, so the pH value of all the system were stable. Since oyster shell is a solid waste, oyster shell powder used as the immobilization material not only has good effects of immobilization, but also has a strong economic competitiveness.

Aberrant neuronal activity in injured peripheral nerves is believed to be an important factor in the development of neuropathic pain (NPP). Channel protein pCREB of that activity has been shown to mitigate the onset of associated molecular events in the nervous system, and sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) could inhibit the expression of pCREB. However, whether NaHS could relieve the pain, it needs further experimental research. Furthermore, the clinical potential that NaHS was used to relieve pain was limited so it would be required. To address these issues, the rats of sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI) were given intraperitoneal injection of NaHS containing hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The experimental results showed that NaHS inhibited the reduction of paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWTL), mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT), and the level of pCREB in CCI rats in a dose-dependent manner and they were greatly decreased in NaHSMgroup (P< 0.05). NaHS alleviates chronic neuropathic pain by inhibiting expression of pCREB in the spinal cord of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Cerebral hemorrhage is a common disease of older adults, which could increase the risk of cognitive impairment. Electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics can be analyzed to investigate the applied value in the assessment of cognitive impairment of the patients with cerebral hemorrhage. One hundred eighty-two patients (including patients with cognitive impairment [CHCI] and patients with cognitive normality [CHNC] with cerebral hemorrhage, and 120 normal healthy persons [control; CN]) were recruited between July 2008 to March 2012 at the department of neurology. All patients were analyzed by EEG, and analysis results were compared to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale, using the methods of correlation analysis, clustering analysis, and concordance analysis. The results indicated that patients with CHCI had significantly lower EEG beta power (0.814 ± 0.113 mcV2) relative to CHNC (1.601 ± 0.186 mcV2, P < .01) or CN group (1.713 ± 0.201 mcV2, P < .01). Significant negative correlation was found between the beta power and hemorrhage region, age, hemorrhage size, hemorrhage amount ( r1 = −.92223, r2 = −.81084, r3 = −.79258, r4 = −.84961, respectively, all P < .001). There was good concordance between K-means clustering algorithm calculating the beta power and MoCA scoring (Kappa = 0.899, P < .001). In conclusion, the preliminary findings suggest that the recognition techniques of EEG hold considerable promise for the assessment of cognitive impairment post cerebral hemorrhage, which negatively related to the hemorrhage region, hemorrhage size, hemorrhage amount, and age.

Human interleukin-10 (hIL-10) is a cytokine synthesis inhibitory factor, which is involved in various immune responses. The purpose of this study was to construct an adenoviral vector carrying the hIL-10 gene for expression of biologically active hIL-10 in rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs).A pSNAV2.0-hIL10 plasmid was used as a template to obtain a hIL-10 cDNA fragment that was subcloned by restriction enzyme digestion and ligation into a pDC316-IRES-EGFP-lacZ alpha plasmid carrying an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) marker gene. The pDC316-hIL-10-IRES-EGFP plasmid was linearized by PmeI digestion and used to transfect HEK293 packaging cells using the adenovirus packaging system AdMax. Virus particles were amplified by repeatedly infecting HEK293 cells with the seed virus and then purified by ion exchange. After the number of virus particles and titer was determined, rMSCs were infected with the adenoviral vector. The infection rate was determined by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry, and hIL-10 protein expression in rMSCs was measured by Western blotting.The virus particle concentration, OD260/280 value and virus titer of the amplified and purified recombinant adenovirus were 3.2 × 10(11) VP/ml, approximately 2.0, and 1.1 × 10(10) TCID50/ml, respectively. Bright green fluorescence was observed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry in the recombinant adenovirus-infected rMSCs. GFP expression was considered the multiplicity of infection (MOI) and was time-dependent. The infection rate was 92.9% at 100 MOI.A bicistronic recombinant adenoviral vector for hIL-10 and EGFP gene expression were successfully constructed. The infection rate of rMSCs by the adenovirus was high (92.9% at 100 MOI) and the target gene hIL-10 was highly expressed in cells. The present study provides an experimental basis for further research of immunosuppressive therapy using hIL-10. The expression level of hIL-10 protein as detected by Western blotting was also MOI- and time-dependent.

To investigate four different solutions on the accuracy of two electronic apex locators (EAL) in vitro.1% agar and extracted single-canaled tooth were used to mimic the situation in vivo. Forty-seven teeth were used. Two kinds of electronic apex locator, Raypex 5 and TRRY , were applied to determine the length of the canals being flooded with four different solutions. Experimental measurements and the distances(IF value) between experimental and ideal actual measurements under the same measurement environment were recorded. Paired sample t test were applied to analyze the results by using SPSS10.0 software package.While the canals were flooded with 0.9% NaCl, 5.25% NaOCl, human blood and 17%EDTA, the ratios of the distance within limits of +/-0.5mm were 91.5%, 91.5%, 100% and 97.8% for Raypex 5 and 95.7%, 93.5%, 93.5% and 84.8% for TRRY , respectively. There was a significant difference in accuracy between two EALs regarding blood and 17% EDTA (P0.05).Both Raypex 5 and TRRY can measure root canal length accurately despite the influence of solutions under this experimental environment.

To investigate the diagnostic ability of single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to differentiate between malignant and benign pancreatic lesions.A computerized search was performed on PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE up to August 2014. Nine studies (10 sets of data) with a total of 304 malignant pancreatic lesions and 188 benign pancreatic lesions were included. The characteristics of each study included the study name, year of publication, magnetic resonance modalities used, patient population, strength of field, pulse time, repetition time, echo time (TE), maximum b factor, mean age, mean body weight, fat suppression, number of benign and malignant lesions, and true positive, true negative, false positive and false negative results. All analyses were performed using Meta-DiSc and Stata 11.0.The pooled sensitivity and specificity of single-shot EPI DWI were 0.83 (95%CI: 0.79-0.87) and 0.77 (95%CI: 0.70-0.83), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 5.09 (95%CI: 2.19-11.84) and 0.23 (95%CI: 0.15-0.36), respectively. The P value for the χ(2) heterogeneity for all pooled estimates was0.05. From the fitted summary receiver operating characteristic curve, the area under the curve and Q* index were 0.89 and 0.82, respectively. Publication bias was not present (t = 0.58, P = 0.58). Meta-regression analysis indicated that fat suppression, mean age, TE, and maximum b factor were not sources of heterogeneity (all P0.05).Single-shot EPI DWI is useful to differentiate between malignant and benign pancreatic lesions. Lesion size ≥ 2 cm is the limit for the diagnosis of early lesions.

Aspergillus flavus first gained scientific attention for its production of aflatoxin. The underlying regulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis has been serving as a theoretical model for biosynthesis of other microbial secondary metabolites. Nevertheless, for several decades, the DNA methylation status, one of the important epigenomic modifications involved in gene regulation, in A. flavus remains to be controversial. Here, we applied bisulfite sequencing in conjunction with a biological replicate strategy to investigate the DNA methylation profiling of A. flavus genome. Both the bisulfite sequencing data and the methylome comparisons with other fungi confirm that the DNA methylation level of this fungus is negligible. Further investigation into the DNA methyltransferase of Aspergillus uncovers its close relationship with RID-like enzymes as well as its divergence with the methyltransferase of species with validated DNA methylation. The lack of repeat contents of the A. flavus' genome and the high RIP-index of the small amount of remanent repeat potentially support our speculation that DNA methylation may be absent in A. flavus or that it may possess de novo DNA methylation which occurs very transiently during the obscure sexual stage of this fungal species. This work contributes to our understanding on the DNA methylation status of A. flavus, as well as reinforces our views on the DNA methylation in fungal species. In addition, our strategy of applying bisulfite sequencing to DNA methylation detection in species with low DNA methylation may serve as a reference for later scientific investigations in other hypomethylated species.