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Background: Premature rupture of membranes is an important cause of preterm birth and its associated high infant mortality and morbidity, and is an important public health problem worldwide, but the mechanism is unknown, and clinical treatment is currently mainly conservative, with a lack of effective interventions. We compared the differential metabolites in vaginal secretions between patients with preterm premature rupture of membranes and those with normal pregnancies and screened for the protective substance N-acetyl-d-galactosamine (GalNAc), an important ligand for galectin, which has several biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and in vitro wound healing properties. Methods: We evaluated the inflammatory response, oxidative stress, proliferation migration, EMT and ECM remodelling of human amniotic epithelial cells (WISH) by ELISA, ROS, transwell, scratch and CCK-8 assays, and examined the expression of PCNA and AKT by Western Blot. Results: The results showed that GalNAc enhanced galectin production and inhibited cellular inflammation and oxidative stress, promoted cellular EMT and migration, and altered ECM composition. In addition, GalNAc reduced the total and phosphorylated protein levels of AKT enhancing the pro-cell migration ability of GalNAc to stimulate wound healing. Conclusions: The results showed that GalNAc enhanced galectin production and inhibited cellular inflammation and oxidative stress, promoted cellular EMT and migration, synthesized GAG and altered ECM composition. The GalNAc-galectin pathway may provide a theoretical basis and a new target for the prevention and treatment of premature rupture of membranes. This study provides a theoretical basis and a new target for the prevention and treatment of premature rupture of membranes.

Background Childhood neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs) may cause visual impairment and brain or spinal cord damage, and the effects may be permanent if left untreated. Since the incidence of NMOSD cases in children is relatively low, the understanding of NMOSD among children is inadequate. Methods This investigation examined the clinical and neuroimaging characteristics of childhood NMOSD. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical information of 11 NMOSD patients admitted to our centre from 2012 to 2021. The disease status was assessed by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score. Results The two major symptoms observed in the study cohort were optic neuritis (ON) (9/11) and encephalopathy (7/11). Antibody tests were performed on 8 children, 2 of whom showed serum aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibody positivity, and another 2 presented with serum myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody positivity. All patients showed white matter hyperintensity on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Interestingly, a rare radiological sign, enlarged perivascular space (PVS), which is more commonly observed in the elderly or adults, was found in 4 participants with more severe clinical manifestations. Conclusions While NMOSD in children is less commonly diagnosed through clinical evaluations, the symptoms of ON and encephalopathy should raise the possibility of the disease. As the diagnosis of NMOSD in children is relatively difficult, enlarged PVS may represent a promising biomarker for the diagnosis and evaluation of NMOSD.

Cervical cancer (CC) continues to be one of the most common cancers among females worldwide. It takes a few years or even decades for CC to arise in a minority of women with cervical precancers. An increasing corpus of studies today indicates that local microecology and carcinogenesis are intimately related. To investigate the changes in cericovaginal microecology with the development of cervical cancer, we performed 16S rDNA sequencing and metabolomic analysis in cericovaginal fluid from 10 LSIL patients, 10 HSIL patients, 10 CC patients and 10 healthy controls to reveal the differential flora and metabolites during cervical carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis is associated with alterations in microbiome diversity, individual taxa, and functions with notable changes in

Autophagy is involved in the pathogenesis of multiple pathogen infection. Previous studies have reported that human cytomegalovirus (CMV) activates autophagy in the early stage of infection and then inhibits autophagy. Little is known about the role of autophagy in murine CMV (MCMV) infection, especially in MCMV-induced hepatitis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of autophagy in MCMV hepatitis. BALB/c mice were infected with MCMV and a series of experiments involving western blot, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, HE (Hematoxylin and Eosin) staining and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were performed in this study. The expression of SQSTM1/p62, PI3K, the ratio of phosphorylated Akt to total Akt, and the ratio of phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) to total mTOR were increased, and the expression of light-chain 3 (LC3)-II were decreased in the livers of infected mice on days 3 and 7 postinfection (p.i.). Compared with the untreated infected group, increased transcription level of MCMV glycoprotein B (gB), increased expression levels of interleukin1-β (IL-1β), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), decreased expression level of type I interferon α (IFN-α), as well as aggravated liver pathological injury were detected in starvation-treated infected group on days 3 and 7 p.i.; whereas decreased transcription level of MCMV gB, decreased expression levels of IL-1β, AST and ALT, increased expression level of type I IFN-α, as well as alleviated liver pathological injury were detected in chloroquine (CQ)-treated infected group on day 3 p.i. In conclusion, autophagy is inhibited through activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in the liver of BALB/c mice during MCMV infection, and autophagy may promote MCMV replication and aggravate liver pathological damage and inflammation. Further understanding of the interactions between autophagy and MCMV infection and its potential mechanism may bring new important cues to the control of MCMV infection and antiviral therapy.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether autophagy regulates the expression of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) immediately early two viral protein (IE2). Rapamycin and 3-methyladenine (3-MA) were used to stimulate or suppress autophagy during HCMV infection. UL122 recombinant plasmid was transfected to overexpress IE2 and small interference RNA against autophagy-related protein 3 (ATG3) was used to knockdown ATG3. Western blot was performed to measure the expression of viral proteins and autophagy levels. Immunofluorescence was used to detect the immediately early 1 viral protein (IE1) expression. In human embryonic lung fibroblasts, infection of HCMV promotes the lipidation of light chain 3 (LC3) at 6 and 24 hours post infection (hpi), which was accompanied by the increased expression of viral protein IE2. When only IE2 was overexpressed via UL122 recombinant plasmid transfection without HCMV infection, the autophagy hallmarks LC3II and ATG3 were upregulated. Furthermore, viral protein IE2 expression was reduced at 24 and 48 hpi either by the treatment of autophagy inducer rapamycin or by the inhibitor 3-MA before HCMV infection. At the same time, small interference ATG3 transient transfection, used to suppress autophagy, significantly inhibited IE2 expression. However, when 3-MA was used to regulate autophagy levels after HCMV infection, expression of IE2 and IE1 were both decreased, while autophagy inducer rapamycin treatment after HCMV infection increased IE2 expression slightly. IE2 was involved in autophagy induced by HCMV infection and blocking autophagy could inhibit the expression of HCMV viral protein IE2, which might be one way for autophagy to restrict HCMV replication.

Premature rupture of membranes (PROM) is usually associated with pregnant and neonatal complications. Most of the PROM cases are caused by ascending asymptomatic genital infection. In China, PROM (15.3%) is more common than spontaneous preterm labor (7.3%) and leads to more adverse pregnancy outcomes. Here, we designed a prospective cohort study to measure the metabolomics changes in vaginal swab samples and explored their potential contribution to PROM. A total of 260 differentially expressed metabolites were identified and further analyzed. In the PROM group, N-acetyl-d-galactosamine and sucrose were downregulated (P = 0.0025, P = 0.0195, respectively), both of which are the upstream metabolites of the glycolysis pathway. Furthermore, estriol 3-sulfate 16-glucuronide (P = 0.0154) and 2-methoxy-17beta-estradiol 3-glucosiduronic acid (P = 0.004), two final metabolites in steroid hormone biosynthesis, were both downregulated in the PROM group. Finally, we found two catechin metabolites (epigallocatechin-7-glucuronide, P = 0.0009; 4′-methyl-epigallocatechin-7-glucuronide, P = 0.01) as well as DL-citrulline (P = 0.0393) were also significantly downregulated in the PROM group compared with the healthy control (HC) group, which are related to important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities in the human body. Altogether, metabolite changes in glycolysis, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and antioxidant/anti-inflammatory pathways may contribute to (or be a consequence of) vaginal dysbiosis and PROM. Metabolite pathway analysis is a new and promising approach to further investigate the mechanism of PROM and help prevent its unfavorable pregnant outcomes at a functional level. Trial registration number: ChiCTR2000034721

BACKGROUND: Premature rupture of membranes (PROM) is a major pregnancy complication in China and usually leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes. The major aim of this study was to search for microorganisms and their related metabolites that have direct relationship with PROM. METHODS: For vaginal discharge samples, metagenomics sequencing was applied to identify microorganisms that were enriched in PROM subjects, and untargeted metabolomics was applied to characterize the metabolites changes in PROM subjects compared to healthy controls (HC). Correlation analysis was then used to explore the relationship between these microorganisms and metabolites changes. RESULTS: Two upstream metabolites of glycolysis, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (GalNAc) and sucrose, were found downregulated in the PROM group (P=0.04 and P=0.041, respectively). Higher percentages of conditional pathogens, such as of Streptococcus (8.4% vs. 6.1% in HC group, P=0.15) and Chlamydia (4.3% vs. 2.3% in HC group, P=0.07) were found in PROM group. Other common conditional pathogens including Prevotella, Staphylococcus, Mycobacterium and Enterobacter, were also higher in PROM group, although their absolute percentages were low and the differences did not reach statistical significance due to relative small sample size. Correlation analysis further demonstrated a positive correlation of downregulation of glycolysis metabolites with higher percentage of conditional pathogens. CONCLUSIONS: Integrated metagenomics and metabolomics analysis can be used to track the subtle changes in the vaginal microenvironment. Downregulation of glycolysis substrates (GalNAc and sucrose) and increase of related pathogenic microorganisms (Streptococcus and Chlamydia) could serve as early warning biomarkers of PROM.

Understanding the underlying mechanism of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) accumulation is of great significance for soil C sequestration and climate change mitigation, as well as soil fertility improvement. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response of C and N accumulation in aggregates and fine soil particles to long-term mineral fertilizer and manure application. Five treatments from a long-term experiment with double maize cropping were examined in this study, i.e., (1) no fertilizer (control); (2) mineral nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium application (NPK); (3) doubled application rate of the NPK (2NPK); (4) pig manure alone (M); and (5) mineral NPK fertilizers and manure combination (NPKM). By using physical particle-sized fractionation, we analyzed soil organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (N), and δ13C of OC in bulk soil and aggregates (53–2000 μm) and, coarse silt-sized fraction (5–53 μm), fine silt-sized fraction (2–5 μm), and clay-sized fraction (

There is limited information on carbon sequestration efficiency (CSE) of soil aggregates in upland and paddy soils under long-term fertilization regimes. In a red soil region of southern China, an upland soil experiment started in 1986 and a paddy soil experiment commenced in 1981. These experiments were conducted using different fertilization treatments. After 30 years, soil organic carbon (SOC) content and stock of different aggregate components were analyzed. The results showed that the SOC contents and stocks in upland soil were lower than in paddy soil. In both upland and paddy soils, the SOC contents and stocks of all aggregate components in NPKM (combined treatment with chemical nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) fertilizers and manure) were the highest among all treatments. Compared with CK (no fertilizer), SOC content of all aggregate components in NPKM was increased by 13.21−63.11% and 19.13−73.33% in upland and paddy soils, respectively. Meanwhile, the change rates in SOC stock of all aggregate components in upland soil were lower than in paddy soil, although the change rate of SOC stock of all aggregate components in NPKM was higher than in other treatments. Furthermore, a linear equation could fit the relationships between carbon (C) input and change rate of SOC stock (P

Salt stress is the major abiotic stress worldwide, adversely affecting crop yield and quality. Utilizing salt tolerance genes for the genetic breeding of crops is one of the most effective measures to withstand salinization. Sophora alopecuroides is a well-known saline-alkaline and drought-tolerant medicinal plant. Understanding the underlying molecular mechanism for Sophora alopecuroides salt tolerance is crucial to identifying the salt-tolerant genes. In this study, we performed tandem mass tag (TMT) based proteomic profiling of S. alopecuroides leaves under 150 mM NaCl induced salt stress condition for 3 d and 7 d. Data are available on ProteomeXchange (PXD027627). Furthermore, the proteomic findings were validated through parallel reaction monitoring (PRM). We observed that the expression levels of several transporter proteins related to the secondary messenger signaling pathway were altered under salt stress conditions induced for 3 d. However, the expression of the certain transferase, oxidoreductase, dehydrogenase, which are involved in the biosynthesis of flavonoids, alkaloids, phenylpropanoids, and amino acid metabolism, were mainly alerted after 7 d post-salt-stress induction. Several potential genes that might be involved in salt stress conditions were identified; however, it demands further investigation. Although salt stress affects the level of secondary metabolites, their correlation needs to be investigated further. SIGNIFICANCE: Salinization is the most severe abiotic adversity, which has had a significant negative effect on world food security over the time. Excavating salt-tolerant genes from halophytes or medicinal plants is one of the important measures to cope with salt stress. S. alopecuroides is a well-known medicinal plant with anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial effects, anti-saline properties, and resistance to drought stress. Currently, only a few studies have explored the S. alopecuroides' gene function, and regulation and these studies are mostly related to the unpublished genome sequence information of S. alopecuroides. Recently, transcriptomics and metabolomics studies have been carried on the abiotic stress in S. alopecuroides roots. Multiple studies have shown that altered gene expression at the transcript level and altered metabolite levels do not correspond to the altered protein levels. In this study, TMT and PRM based proteomic analyses of S. alopecuroides leaves under salt stress condition induced using 150 mM NaCl for 3 d and 7 d was performed. These analyses elucidated the activation of different mechanisms in response to salt stress. A total of 434 differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) in salt stress conditions were identified and analyzed. For the first time, this study utilized proteomics technology to dig out plentiful underlying salt-tolerant genes from the medicinal plant, S. alopecuroides. We believe that this study will be of great significance to crop genetics and breeding.

The influence of long-term fertilization on soil microbial communities is critical for revealing the association between belowground microbial flora and aboveground crop productivity—a relationship of great importance to food security, environmental protection, and ecosystem functions. Here, we examined shifts in soil chemical properties, microbial communities, and the nutrient uptake and yield of rice subjected to different chemical and organic fertilization treatments over a 40-year period in red paddy soil. Ten different treatments were used: a control without fertilizer, and applications of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), NP, NK, PK, NPK, double NPK, or NPK plus manure. Compared with the effects of withholding one or two nutrients (N, P, or K), the balanced application of chemical NPK and organic fertilizers markedly improved soil nutrient status and rice yield. This improvement of soil fertility and rice yield was not associated with bacterial, archaeal, or fungal alpha diversities. The bacterial abundance and community structure and archaeal abundance effectively explained the variation in rice yield, whereas those of fungi did not. The community structure of bacteria and archaea, but not that of fungi, was correlated with soil properties. Among various soil properties, P was the key factor influencing rice yield and soil microbial communities because of the extremely low content of soil available P. Seven keystones at the operational taxonomic unit level were identified: four archaea (belonging to Thermoplasmata, Methanosaeta, Bathyarchaeia, and Nitrososphaeraceae) and three bacteria (in Desulfobacteraceae and Acidobacteriales). These keystones, which were mainly related to soil C and N transformation and pH, may work cooperatively to influence rice yield by regulating soil fertility. Our results collectively suggest that four decades of balanced fertilization has sustained the bacterial and archaeal abundances, bacterial community structure, and keystones, which potentially contribute to soil fertility and rice yield in red paddy soil.

Since the Chinese slogan “Mass Entrepreneurship, Mass Innovation” was put forward, entrepreneurship has become a hot topic of research in academic circles and even people from all walks of life. Entrepreneurial Intentions is the best indicator to effectively predict entrepreneurial behavior. In order to understand the research status and trends of entrepreneurship intentions, based on the bibliometric method, this paper uses citespace software to visually analyze 1,038 core collections published in the Web of science database platform from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2020. The results show that in the past 20 years, the research on entrepreneurial intentions has mainly focused on scholars from foreign universities. The distribution of research institutions is relatively concentrated, but the distribution of journals is relatively loose. Antecedent variables have become the focus of research. Future research should focus on outcome variables.

Background Cytomegalovirus (CMV) induced autophagy affects virus replication and survival of the infected cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of autophagy inhibition by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) on murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) replication and whether it is associated with caspase-3 dependent apoptosis. Methods The eyecup isolated from adult C57BL/6J mice (6-8 weeks old) and mouse embryo fibroblast cells (MEFs) were infected with MCMV K181 strain, followed by the treatment of 3-methyladenine (3-MA), chloroquine(CQ) or rapamycin to block or stimulate autophagy. Results In cultured MEFs, the ratio of LC3I/II was reduced at 24 hours post infection (h.p.i.), but was increased at 48h.p.i. In the eyecup culture, LC3I/II ratio was also decreased at 4 and 7days post infection (d.p.i.). In addition, caspase-3 cleavage was increased at 48h.p.i. in MEFs and also elevated in MCMV infected eyecups at 4, 7, 10 and 14d.p.i. 3-MA treatment significantly inhibited the virus replication in MEFs and eyecups. The expression of early antigen (EA) of MCMV was also decreased in MEFs and eyecups. Meanwhile, cleaved caspase-3 dependent cell death was promoted with the presence of 3-MA in MCMV infected MEFs and eyecups, while RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL pathway was inhibited by 3-MA in eyecups. Conclusions Inhibition of autophagy by 3-MA restricts virus replication and promotes caspase-3 dependent apoptosis in the eyecup and MEFs with MCMV infection. It can be explained that during the early period of MCMV infection, suppressed autophagy process directly reduced virus release, but later caspase-3 dependent apoptosis dominated and resulted in decreased virus replication. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The photon router plays an essential role in the optical quantum network. However, conventional routers generally couple photons chirally into waveguides to achieve complete transmission from the input port to the required port. Here, we use non-chiral photon-atom interactions for targeted routing. The system consists of two V-type three-level atoms and two parallel waveguides. In addition, the two atoms are driven by external coherent fields, respectively. With a real-space Hamiltonian, the probability of photon transmitted to four ports can be obtained. The study shows that a single photon input from the left port of the waveguide-a can be deterministically transferred to any of the four ports of the two waveguides by adjusting the detuning of the atom and the driving field on the atom, as well as the distance between the two atoms.

We aimed to explore changes in basic soil productivity (BSP) under different fertilization regimes in the Poyang Lake region, Jiangxi Province, China. Soil samples were collected from a long-term fertilization experiment (since 1981) that included treatments of no fertilization (CK), chemical fertilization (NPK), and combined chemical and organic fertilization (NPKM). Then, a three-year pot experiment (from 2012 to 2014) with double rice cropping was conducted with two different fertilization regimes (no fertilization, F为探讨鄱阳湖流域不同施肥措施的土壤基础地力变化规律,基于长期施肥定位试验(始于1981年),采集定位30年时的不施肥(CK)、施用氮磷钾肥(NPK)和氮磷钾肥与有机肥配施(NPKM)土壤,于2012mdash;2014年进行连续3年的施肥和不施肥试验,分析水稻产量和土壤基础地力贡献率的差异及关键影响因子.结果表明:不论施肥与否,3年的水稻产量均表现出NPKM处理显著高于NPK和CK处理,尤其是在不施肥条件下,NPKM处理的年产量分别比CK和NPK处理增加37.7%～143.9%和20.8%～66.7%.3年间,CK、NPK和NPKM处理的土壤基础地力贡献率分别为41.8%～53.1%、45.2%～62.6%和59.1%～88.1%,且NPKM处理的土壤基础地力贡献率均显著高于NPK和CK处理.进一步分析发现,土壤有机质和有机碳平衡量与土壤基础地力贡献率呈显著正相关.总之,在鄱阳湖流域的双季稻田,长期有机无机肥配施有利于该地区土壤基础地力的提升,且土壤有机质和有机碳平衡是土壤基础地力变化的关键因子.

Four new prenylxanthones (1–4) together with five known compounds (5–9) were isolated from the solid-substrate fermentation culture of Emericella sp. XL029 associated with the leaves of Panax notoginseng. Their structures and relative configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis and comparison of NMR data to those of known compounds. The anti-agricultural pathogenic fungal and antibacterial activities of all isolated compounds were evaluated against eight agricultural pathogenic fungi and nine human pathogenic bacteria. The anti-agricultural pathogenic fungal assay indicated that compounds 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9 displayed significant activity against Drechslera maydis with MIC value of 25 μg mL−1. Moreover, compound 1 also exhibited significant activity against other three fungi including Rhizoctonia cerealis, Fusarium oxysporum and Physalospora piricola, and compounds 4 and 9 against Rhizoctonia cerealis with MIC value of 25 μg mL−1. Compound 5 only demonstrated significant activity against Physalospora piricola with MIC value of 25 μg mL−1. Further antibacterial activity tests revealed that compounds 1–9 showed significant antibacterial activity against all tested Gram-positive (except for drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria with MIC values ranging from 12.5 to 50 μg mL−1. While only compounds 1, 4 and 9 displayed moderate activity against drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus with MIC value of 50 μg mL−1.

Absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasome is a crucial link bridging the innate host defense and the subsequent adaptive immunity when activated by exogenous double stranded DNA (dsDNA). Through establishing models of disseminated murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, we evaluated dynamic expression of AIM2 inflammasome components and its relationship with pathological damage and viral replication, trying to figure out whether AIM2 inflammasome is related to the chronic mechanism of MCMV. BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were sacrificed on day 0, 1, 3, 7, 14 and 28 post infection. Expression levels of AIM2, pro-caspase-1, caspase-1 p20, pro-IL1β and mature IL1β in primary peritoneal macrophages (PMs) and spleens were detected by Western blotting. Contents of IL18 in the serum were detected by ELISA. Pathological examinations of livers were performed, and mRNA levels of MCMV glycoprotein B (gB) in salivary glands also assessed. Results showed that expression levels of AIM2 in PMs and spleens of C57BL/6 mice increased on day 3, even continued to day 28; caspase-1 p20 and mature IL1β increased on day 7, 14 and 28; the persistently high expression of IL18 in the serum started on day 1, showing a double peak curve. As for BALB/c mice, expression of AIM2 in PMs increased on day 1 and day 7, while contents of AIM2 in spleens increased on day 1 and day 3; caspase-1 p20 and mature IL1β merely increased 7 days fter infection. Thereafter, expression levels of AIM2, caspase-1 p20, mature IL1β and IL18 were limited; the duration of AIM2 inflammasome activation in BALB/c mice was much shorter than that in C57BL/6 mice. The severer pathological damage and more viral replications in BALB/c mice further proved the deficient antiviral immunity to MCMV. In conclusion, the activation of AIM2 inflammasome in BALB/c mice was short-lived, which is quite possibly related to the chronicity of MCMV infection.

With the transition of female entrepreneurship from opportunistic business to achievable business, the factors and the results of female entrepreneurship networking are changing, and so, the rules of evolution of female entrepreneurship networking should be studied. How to build the frame of the theory on female entrepreneurship networking? On the bases of literature review, this paper studies four sub-subjects of female entrepreneurship networking according to local context in the country.

Increasing evidence has revealed that maternal cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection may be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring. Potential relevance between the placental inflammation and CMV-related autism has been reported by clinical observation. Meanwhile, abnormal expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 in placenta of patients with chorioamnionitis was observed in multiple studies. IL-6 and IL-10 are two important maternal inflammatory mediators involved in neurodevelopmental disorders. To investigate whether murine CMV (MCMV) infection causes alterations in placental IL-6/10 and TLR2/4 levels, we analyzed the dynamic changes in gene expression of TLR2/4 and IL-6/10 in placentas following acute MCMV infection. Mouse model of acute MCMV infection during pregnancy was created, and pre-pregnant MCMV infected, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated and uninfected mice were used as controls. At E13.5, E14.5 and E18.5, placentas and fetal brains were harvested and mRNA expression levels of placental TLR2/4 and IL-6/10 were analyzed. The results showed that after acute MCMV infection, the expression levels of placental TLR2/4 and IL-6 were elevated at E13.5, accompanied by obvious placental inflammation and reduction of placenta and fetal brain weights. However, LPS 50 μg/kg could decrease the EL-6 expression at E13.5 and E14.5. This suggests that acute MCMV infection during pregnancy could up-regulate the gene expression of TLR2/4 in placental trophoblasts and activate them to produce more proinflammatory cytokine IL-6. High dose of LPS stimulation (50 μg/kg) during pregnancy can lead to down-regulation of IL-6 levels in the late stage. Imbalance of IL-6 expression in placenta might be associated with the neurodevelopmental disorders in progeny.

Multispectral imaging (MSI) based on imaging and spectroscopy, as relatively novel to the field of histopathology, has been used in biomedical multidisciplinary researches. We analyzed and compared the utility of multispectral (MS) versus conventional red–green–blue (RGB) images for immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining to explore the advantages of MSI in clinical-pathological diagnosis. The MS images acquired of IHC-stained membranous marker human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), cytoplasmic marker cytokeratin5/6 (CK5/6), and nuclear marker estrogen receptor (ER) have higher resolution, stronger contrast, and more accurate segmentation than the RGB images. The total signal optical density (OD) values for each biomarker were higher in MS images than in RGB images (all P 0.05). However, by quantifying MS images, the total signal OD values of HER2 positive expression were correlated with lymph node status and histological grades (P = 0.02 and 0.04). Additionally, the consistency test results indicated the inter-observer agreement was more robust in MS images for HER2 (inter-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.95, r s = 0.94), CK5/6 (ICC = 0.90, r s = 0.88), and ER (ICC = 0.94, r s = 0.94) (all P

Background Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection occurs frequently and is widespread globally. Numerous studies have shown that various types of immune cells play roles in mediating the response to CMV infection. CD11c, a commonly used dendritic cell (DC) marker, is expressed by other immune cells as well, such as T cells. This study analyzed the immune cells that express CD11c and monitored the expression level of their specific cell surface markers in the lung following a disseminated murine (M)CMV infection. Methods Mouse models of disseminated MCMV infection were used; uninfected and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice were used as controls. At 1, 3 and 7 days following infection, single cell suspensions prepared from freshly digested lung tissue were stained for CD11c, CD86 and MHC II. Stained cells were analyzed using flow cytometry. Peripheral blood and single cell suspensions from spleen were sorted as well. Then these cells were subjected to analyze the CD11c expression pattern on natural killer (NK) cells and T cells. Results This assay showed that after MCMV infection, the expression of CD86 on pulmonary CD11chiMHC-IIhi cells (encompassing conventional DCs) was higher at 3 days post-infection than at 1 or 7 days post-infection, accompanied by a downregulation of MHC II. In addition, expression of CD11c was greatly increased in the MCMV infection group at 7 days post infection. This study also detected a large population of cells displaying an intermediate level of expression of CD11c (CD11cint); these cells were in the MCMV groups exclusively, and were subsequently identified as CD8+ T cells. In lung, spleen and blood, different proportions of CD11cint cells among the NK cell and T cell populations were observed between the BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice with or without MCMV infection. The expression level of NKp46 in NK cells dropped to a lower level after MCMV infection. Conclusions The findings collectively indicate that CD11cintCD8+ T cells might play a key role in anti-MCMV adaptive immune response in lungs, as well as in spleen and blood. B220+CD11cint NK cells might be a more effective type of NK cell, participating in anti-MCMV infection. The downregulation of NKp46, in particular, might be linked with the immune evasion of MCMV. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12985-017-0801-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Three indole derivatives, a novel benzoxazine-indole hybrid (1) and two known indole trimers (2, 3), were isolated from the metagenomic library of the marine sponge Discodermia calyx based on functional screening. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis and comparison of their NMR data to that of known compounds. The antibacterial assay indicated that only compound 2 displayed significant antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus, with approximately 20 mm diameter growth inhibition at 10 µg/paper. HPLC analyses revealed that compound 2 is a newly induced metabolite, and the concentration of 3 was obviously enhanced in contrast to negative control, while 1 was not detected, allowing us to predict that the formation of 2 might be induced by exogenous genes derived from the sponge metagenome, whereas compound 1 could be formed through a non-enzymatic process during the isolation procedure.

With the advance of digital pathology, image analysis has begun to show its advantages in information analysis of hematoxylin and eosin histopathology images. Generally, histological features in hematoxylin and eosin images are measured to evaluate tumor grade and prognosis for breast cancer. This review summarized recent works in image analysis of hematoxylin and eosin histopathology images for breast cancer prognosis. First, prognostic factors for breast cancer based on hematoxylin and eosin histopathology images were summarized. Then, usual procedures of image analysis for breast cancer prognosis were systematically reviewed, including image acquisition, image preprocessing, image detection and segmentation, and feature extraction. Finally, the prognostic value of image features and image feature–based prognostic models was evaluated. Moreover, we discussed the issues of current analysis, and some directions for future research.

Based on CityEngine as software platform, this paper put forward 3D graphic expression of environment noise, and establishes the environmental noise monitoring model of 3D space by CSG and B-Rep hybrid algorithm. Then, according to the noise data and the legend of the color grade, we render the surface area of ​​the 3D monitoring geometric model with the expression of grid method. Finally, the simulation shows that this method can be applied to 3D graphical expression of environmental noise.

The immunization algorithm is from the theory of complex network. The algorithm is simple, highly feasible based on scale-free network model. This paper uses random immunization algorithm to solve optical network energy issues. This paper selects the service to be the operator and to save energy through node immunization. The simulation results show the algorithm can be implemented. This paper provides another possibility to energy saving on optical network.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is one of the main carbon reservoirs in the terrestrial ecosystem. It is important to study SOC dynamics and effects of organic carbon amendments in paddy fields because of their vest expansion in south China. A study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between the SOC content and organic carbon input under various organic amendments at a long-term fertilization experiment that was established on a red soil under a double rice cropping system in 1981. The treatments included non-fertilization (CK), nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilization in early rice only (NPK), green manure (Astragalus sinicus L.) in early rice only (OM1), high rate of green manure in early rice only (OM2), combined green manure in early rice and farmyard manure in late rice (OM3), combined green manure in early rice, farmyard manure in late rice and rice straw mulching in winter (OM4), combined green manure in early rice and rice straw mulching in winter (OM5). Our data showed that the SOC content was the highest under OM3 and OM4, followed by OM1, OM2 and OM5, then NPK fertilization, and the lowest under non-fertilization. However, our analyses in SOC stock indicated a significant difference between OM3 (33.9 t ha−1) and OM4 (31.8 t ha−1), but no difference between NPK fertilization (27 t ha−1) and non-fertilization (28.1 t ha−1). There was a significant linear increase in SOC over time for all treatments, and the slop of linear equation was greater in organic manure treatments (0.276–0.344 g kg−1 yr−1) than in chemical fertilizer (0.216 g kg−1 yr−1) and no fertilizer (0.127 g kg−1 yr−1).

The paper uses digital image processing technology, technology of face pattern recognition and traditional database retrieval technology, integrate image retrieval technology based on version and content, and avoid the complexity of matching image process. The experiments with 200 human samples, correctly retrieved for 155 people, exactly matched to 125. The recognition rate of the system is 75.55%, the average time of search is less than 0.1s. Experiments indicate this method has strong robustness. The semantic face image retrieval system using this method has the characteristics of fast, efficient, practical.

The genetic algorithm is from the law of the biological genetic evolution. The algorithm is simple, highly feasible. This paper uses a genetic algorithm for optical network energy issues. Select the business volume to be the operator and to save energy through node sleeping. The simulation confirms the algorithm can be implemented. This paper provides another possibility on optical networks energy conservation.

Aim: This study aimed to explore the potential role of IL-17 in the pathological damage to the salivary gland during CMV infection. Materials & methods: For all studies, 4-week-old female BALB/c mice were used. Mouse embryo fibroblast cells were isolated from embryos of pregnant mice. The Smith murine CMV (MCMV) strain was propagated and obtained from homogenates of the salivary glands. BALB/c mice were randomly divided into two groups. Mice in one group were infected with Smith MCMV to establish disseminated infection; mice in the other group were controls. Four mice of each group were randomly chosen to be harvested on days 3, 7, 14 and 28. Viral titers in salivary gland tissues were determined using a standard plaque assay; IL-17+ T cells in the spleen were analyzed by flow cytometry; the expressions of IL-17 and IL-17 receptor (IL-17R) mRNA was measured by reverse transcription PCR; and the pathology of the salivary glands in infected mice were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Results: The viral titers in salivary gland tissues, which were much higher than those of other organs, elevated on day 7 and peaked on day 14, then gradually declined on day 28. The percentages of CD4+IL-17+ T cells were increased in MCMV-infected mice compared with controls, with the main increase of CD4+IL-17+ T cells being Th17 cells (p < 0.05). In salivary gland tissues, the expression of IL-17 and IL-17R mRNA increased significantly and achieved the highest level on day 14, which was significantly higher than that of the controls (p < 0.05). Compared with controls, serious inflammatory cellular infiltrates in the salivary glands were present on day 7 after MCMV infection, and on day 14, many of the cellular infiltrate became larger and coalesced with neighboring foci. We found that IL-17 and IL-17R were enriched in the salivary glands when the tissues were mainly injured. Conclusion: The results illustrated that the inflammatory factors, IL-17 and IL-17R, possibly contributed to the process of viral infection and played a part in inducing pathological damage of the salivary gland.