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Background:: Osteoporosis is a systemic bone disease with low bone mass, destruction of bone microstructure, and increased bone fragility. Gender and metabolic status are well-known risk factors for osteoporosis. Irisin is a newly discovered myokine that is secreted by skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Serum Irisin was reported to be decreased in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and/or osteoporosis patients, and it is correlated with bone mineral density (BMD) of neck bone, but its role in postmenopausal T2DM with osteoporosis remains largely unknown. Methods:: Postmenopausal T2DM patients with or without osteoporosis were recruited, and 50 agematched healthy postmenopausal women were employed as healthy control. C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injected with 65 mg/kg Streptozotocin (STZ) daily for consecutive 5 days to induce diabetes, and 1 mg/kg recombinant Irisin protein was injected into diabetic mice through the tail vein once a week for 4 months. Results:: Compared to that of healthy control, serum Irisin levels and BMD in L1–L4 lumbar spine, femoral neck, total hip, and Wards were decreased in postmenopausal T2DM patients and further decreased in T2DM patients with osteoporosis. Moreover, serum Irisin levels were also correlated with BMD in the above body parts in T2DM patients. Furthermore, recombinant Irisin protein improved diabetic osteoporosis and inflammation in STZ-induced diabetic mice with osteoporosis. Conclusion:: Serum Irisin levels in postmenopausal T2DM patients with osteoporosis were significantly decreased, which may be related to the decreased BMD and the occurrence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal T2DM patients. The combined measurement of serum Irisin levels and BMD in patients with T2DM in the early stage has a certain effect on the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.

Impaired working memory (WM) is a core neuropsychological dysfunction of schizophrenia, however complex interactions among the information storage, information processing and attentional aspects of WM tasks make it difficult to uncover the psychophysiological mechanisms of this deficit. Thirty-six first-episode and drug-naïve schizophrenia and 29 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. Here, we modified a WM task to isolate components of WM storage and WM processing, while also varying the difficulty level (load) of the task to study regional differences in load-specific activation using mixed effects models, and its relationship to distributed gene expression. Comparing patients with HCs, we found both attentional deficits and WM deficits, with WM processing being more impaired than WM storage in patients. In patients, but not controls, a linear modulation of brain activation was observed mainly in the frontoparietal and dorsal attention networks. In controls, an inverted U-shaped response pattern was identified in the left anterior cingulate cortex. The vertex of this inverted U-shape was lower in patients than controls, and a left-shifting axis of symmetry was associated with better WM performance in patients. Both the above linear and U-shaped modulation effects were associated with the expressions of the genes enriched in the dopamine neurotransmitter system across all cortical brain regions. These findings indicate that a WM processing deficit is evident in schizophrenia from an early stage before antipsychotic treatment, and associated with a dopamine pathway related aberration in nonlinear response pattern at the cingulate cortex when processing WM load.

Renhui Huang,1,2,* Qi Shi,1,* Shutian Zhang,1,2 Hong Lin,1,2 Chengzhi Han,1,2 Xinyi Qian,1 Yijun Huang,1 Xiaorong Ren,1 Jiayuan Sun,3 Nana Feng,4 Chunmei Xia,1 Meng Shi5 1Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Clinical Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Respiratory Endoscopy, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Respiratory and Critical Medicine, Shanghai Eighth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Affiliated with Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Meng Shi, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Affiliated with Fudan University, 12 Wulumuqi Middle Road, Shanghai, 200040, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 15921527577, Email huashan_heart@sina.cn Chunmei Xia, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13917406439, Email cmxia@fudan.edu.cnPurpose: Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of lung ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is a cytosol dsDNA sensor, coupling with downstream stimulator of interferon genes (STING) located in the ER, which involves innate immune responses. The aim of our present study was to investigate the effects of cGAS on lung I/R injury via regulating ERS.Methods: We used Sprague-Dawley rats to make the lung I/R model by performing left hilum occlusion-reperfusion surgery. cGAS-specific inhibitor RU.521, STING agonist SR-717, and 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), the ERS inhibitor, were intraperitoneally administered in rats. Double immunofluorescent staining was applied to detect the colocalization of cGAS or BiP, an ERS protein, with alveolar epithelial type II cells (AECIIs) marker. We used transmission electron microscopy to examine the ultrastructure of ER and mitochondria. Apoptosis and oxidative stress in the lungs were assessed, respectively. The profiles of pulmonary edema and lung tissue injury were evaluated. And the pulmonary ventilation function was measured using a spirometer system.Results: In lung I/R rats, the cGAS-STING pathway was upregulated, which implied they were activated. After cGAS-STING pathway was inhibited or activated in lung I/R rats, the ERS was alleviated after cGAS was inhibited, while when STING was activated after lung I/R, ERS was aggravated in the AECIIs, these results suggested that cGAS-STING pathway might trigger ERS responses. Furthermore, activation of cGAS-STING pathway induced increased apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress via regulating ERS and therefore resulted in pulmonary edema and pathological injury in the lungs of I/R rats. Inhibition of cGAS-STING pathway attenuated ERS, therefore attenuated lung injury and promoted pulmonary ventilation function in I/R rats.Conclusion: Inhibition of the cGAS-STING pathway attenuates lung ischemia/reperfusion injury via alleviating endoplasmic reticulum stress in alveolar epithelial type II cells of rats.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: cGAS-STING, endoplasmic reticulum stress, alveolar epithelial type II cells, lung ischemia/reperfusion injury

BACKGROUND The striatum has been reported to be implicated in various neurological diseases, including lifelong premature ejaculation (LPE). Altered striatum-related functional connectivity was investigated in LPE patients in previous studies; however, structural abnormalities in the striatum have been less studied in LPE. PURPOSE To identify the gray matter volume (GMV) and structural covariance patterns of the striatum between LPE patients and healthy controls (HCs). STUDY TYPE Prospective. SUBJECTS Forty-three LPE patients and 31 male HCs. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner; T1-weighted imaging using a spoiled gradient recalled echo sequence. ASSESSMENT Preprocessing of structural MRI data and the striatum-seeded GMV computation were conducted using SPM12. STATISTICAL TESTS Two sample t-test was used to compare differences in GMV of the striatum between patients and HCs. Regions showing altered between-group GMV were considered as seeds for structural covariance analysis in two groups. Additionally, correlations between GMV findings and clinical features were assessed with age and total intracranial volume (TIV) as covariates and with age, TIV, anxiety, and depression scores as covariates in the patient group, P

BACKGROUND: Lifelong premature ejaculation (PE) is one common male sexual dysfunction and is implicated in widespread structural and functional abnormalities of bilateral hemispheres. However, whether the inter-hemisphere functional connectivity (FC) of lifelong PE patients was altered still remain unclear. METHODS: Thirty-four lifelong PE patients and 30 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study and all underwent T1-weighted and resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) scan. The voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) measure and independent sample t-test were applied to examine the alterations of VMHC values in the patients relative to HCs with the significant threshold at P

To investigate abnormal intrinsic connectivity of striatum in lifelong premature ejaculation (PE) patients compared with healthy controls (HCs).Forty-seven lifelong PE patients and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in the present study and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The functional connectivity (FC) analysis and 2-sample t tests were applied to investigate the alterations of striatum-related connectivity in patients compared with HCs (significant threshold at P.05, false discovery rate corrected), and during which Fisher's r-to-z transformation was adopted and the resulting z values were used as the statistical FC values. Correlation analysis was performed to test possible relationships between the imaging findings and clinical characteristics in the patient group (P.05, Bonferroni correction).The results showed that compared with HCs, lifelong PE patients had significantly decreased FC between the right caudate and insula, superior temporal pole (STP) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) as well as decreased FC between the bilateral putamen and insula, STP and middle cingulate cortex (MCC). Meanwhile, patients had significantly increased FC between the left caudate and OFC, and increased FC between the right putamen and fusiform. The mean FC value from the caudate-OFC, caudate-insula, and caudate-STP connectivity negatively correlated with the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool score, separately.The current study showed the functional abnormality of lifelong PE in multiple brain regions implicated in sensation, motivation, and ejaculation-related inhibitory control, which may improve our understanding of the abnormal striatum-related neural mechanisms in lifelong PE patients.

Lifelong premature ejaculation (PE) is one of the most prevalent male sexual dysfunctions. It is still not well known about the possible neural mechanisms of lifelong PE. This study tried to investigate the abnormal characteristics of brain functional networks of lifelong PE and to assess relationships of PE-related functional abnormalities with clinical symptoms. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data and clinical symptoms were collected from 45 lifelong PE patients and 37 healthy controls (HCs) since 2016, including disease and sexual life history, intravaginal ejaculatory latency time measured by stopwatch and other scales. The degree centrality (DC) approach were applied to distinguish altered brain functions between the two groups (p

Background. Pulmonary ischemia reperfusion- (I/R-) induced dysfunction is a significant clinical problem after lung transplantation. In this study, we aim to explore the molecular mechanism of lung I/R injury (LIRI). Methods. Bioinformatic analysis of gene involved in oxidative stress. A HUVEC oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) model and I/R mouse model were first established via I/R. The cellular proliferation, migration, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and parameters of lung injury were assessed via CCK-8, EdU staining, Transwell, cellular ROS kit, and H&E staining. We also confirmed related gene expressions and protein levels and the interaction between the tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) promotor and ZNF354C. Results. Bioinformatic analysis results showed TFPI contributed to oxidative stress. OGD/R caused a reduction in cell viability and migration, hypermethylation of TFPI, increased ROS, and downregulation of ZNF354C, TFPI, and DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) in HUVECs. Besides, ZNF354C could directly bind to the TFPI promoter, enhance proliferation and migration, and inhibit ROS in OGD/R-induced HUVECs by upregulating TFPI. More importantly, we discovered that 5-Aza could reduce TFPI methylation, upregulate TFPI, and enhance the binding of ZNF354C to the TFPI promoter in LIRI. Furthermore, DNMT1 silencing could induce proliferation and migration and prevent ROS in OGD/R-induced HUVECs by upregulating ZNF354C. Additionally, we verified that ZNF354C could alleviate LIRI by preventing DNA methylation in vivo. Conclusions. ZNF354C overexpression induced proliferation and migration, as well as suppressed ROS in OGD/R-induced HUVECs, and alleviated LIRI in mice by inhibiting TFPI promoter methylation to upregulate TFPI. Therefore, ZNF354C and TFPI methylation might be promising molecular markers for LIRI therapy.

Whether pinocembrin (PCN) could be used to alleviate hip fracture-induced pain is investigated in this research. Aged rats with hip fractures were treated with vehicle or 80 mg/kg/day PCN from

As a three-dimensional geological body, a fault zone has a complex internal structure. Disputes remain over flow pathways of fluids within fault zones. Well and seismic data cannot be used to effectively identify the internal structures of a fault zone. Furthermore, continuous core sampling in fault zones is commonly limited. Fewer studies of flow pathways along reverse faults are done in a sedimentary basin. Through extensive outcrop observations, sampling, and measurements in the northwestern Sichuan Basin of China, this study enhances our understanding of fluid evolution and the main pathway of vertical fluid flow along a reverse fault. In the studied carbonates, deep hot brine initially entered the fault zone and migrated upward along the fault core, then moved to shallow strata, mixed with meteoric water, and cooled in the fault zone. In the studied sandstone and shale, a paleo-oil pool formed in the fault damage zone. After that, forced by uplift and reactivation, oil migrated into the fault core along fractures and was cooled, washed, biodegraded, and oxidized by meteoric water. In the sandstone–sandstone juxtaposition faults, the oil shows are distinctly different between hanging wall and footwall. Fault rocks (sand and shale gouges) that developed along the principal slip surface seem to have prevented fluid flow across the fault. This evidence suggests that fault core and inner damaged zone are the main pathways of vertical fluid flow along the investigated reverse fault zone.

In this paper, the bilevel programming model of the public transport network considering factors such as the per capita occupancy area and travel cost of different groups was established, to alleviate the urban transportation equity and optimize the urban public transport network under fairness constraints. The upper layer minimized the travel cost deprivation coefficient and the road area Gini coefficient as the objective function, to solve the optimization scheme of public transport network considering fairness constraints; the lower layer was a stochastic equilibrium traffic assignment model of multimode and multiuser, used to describe the complex selection behavior of different groups for different traffic modes in the bus optimization scheme given by the upper layer. The model in addition utilised the noninferior sorting genetic algorithm II to validate the model via a simple network. The results showed that (1) the travel cost deprivation coefficient of the three groups declined from 33.42 to 26.51, with a decrease of 20.68%; the Gini coefficient of the road area declined from 0.248 to 0.030, with a decrease of 87.76%; it could be seen that the transportation equity feeling of low-income groups and objective resource allocation improved significantly; (2) before the optimization of public transport network, the sharing rate of cars, buses, and bicycles was 42%, 47%, and 11%, respectively; after the optimization, the sharing rate of each mode was 7%, 82%, and 11%, respectively. Some of the high and middle income users who owned the car were transferred to the public transportation. It could be seen that the overall travel time of the optimized public transport network reduced, enhancing the attraction of the public transport network to various travel groups. The model improves the fairness of the urban public transport system effectively while ensuring the travel demand of the residents. It provides theoretical basis and model foundation for the optimization of public transit network, and it is a new attempt to improve the fairness of the traffic planning scheme.

A chemiresistive humidity sensor based on chitosan (CS)/zinc oxide/single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) composite was developed. The sensor film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The humidity sensing properties were investigated in a wide range of relative humidity (RH) (11%–97%) at room temperature. The SWCNT response to humidity was significantly improved with the aid of conjugate material in the composite, especially the CS. The composite also exhibited good reproducibility. The RH-dependent relationship revealed that the sensing response corresponded to the water sorption characteristic of CS. The sensing mechanism was attributed to the swelling effect of CS surrounding the nanotubes through which the hopping conduction path between nanotubes changed.

To better understand the transportation situation in rapid urbanization areas and to improve social equity, this study constructed an approach to assess the spatial differentiation of public transportation resources based on deprivation theory and an accessibility analysis. Chenggong New District in Kunming, a typical rapid urbanization area in China, was analyzed as a case study. We introduced 6 indexes to establish a public transportation spatial deprivation evaluation system and applied SPSS to screen out two main factors that reflected the spatial deprivation associated with public transportation resources and services. Then, we adopted the accessibility model and spatial cluster model to embody residents’ opportunities to obtain access to public transportation and to judge whether public transportation resource allocation is appropriate. In addition, we used ArcGIS technology to better understand the spatial deprivation characteristics of public transportation. We found that the pattern of public transportation spatial deprivation in Chenggong could be summarized as “multicore and local radiation”: the spatial accessibility characteristics of public transportation take the form of a circular layer along with the metro lines and decline progressively toward the peripheral areas, where public transportation resource allocation is lacking. These findings show that the public transportation situation in rapid urbanization areas is consistent with the local land-use context and the suitability of established methods for extracting spatial public transportation characteristics.

The occurrence, ecological risk, and source of heavy metals in the Liaohe River Protected Area from the watershed of the Bohai Sea were investigated. The maximum concentrations of Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd, Cr, Pb, and As in water were 8.50, 25.22, 3.80, 0.14, 1.76, 8.52, and 3.19 μg/L, respectively. The maximum concentrations of Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd, Cr, Pb, and As in sediment were 27.0, 109, 33.2, 0.56, 318, 43.7, and 29.3 mg/kg, respectively. The percentages of soil samples with observed concentrations above background values were 31.25%, 31.25%, 25%, 28.13%, 56.25%, 34.38%, and 37.5% for Cu, Cr, Zn, Ni, Cd, Pb, and As, respectively. Igeo suggested that sediments were polluted with Cd, Pb, As, Cr, and Zn, whereas soils were contaminated with all seven metals. Potential ecological risk index values exhibited that sites L25 and L12 were classified as moderately polluted in sediment and soil, respectively.

This paper took the social exchange and social cognitive perspectives to examine the effects between job values and organizational socialization and how to play a mediation in career exploration and moderating effect in demographic characteristics. The research collected 700 valid samples of the youth of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for statistical analysis and then subjected them to job value scale, career exploration, and organizational socialization scale. With structural equation model and correlation analysis, it verified that the proposed scale had demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity, a theoretical model of a good overall fit. In the final part, this paper used hierarchical regression analysis and path analysis. The results indicated that career exploration plays a mediation role between job value and organizational socialization, demographic characteristics are moderating effect between job value and career exploration, and demographic characteristics make a moderating effect between career exploration and organizational socialization, but demographic characteristics are not moderated on work value and organizational socialization.

Lifelong premature ejaculation (PE) is one of the most prevalent male sexual dysfunctions. It is still not well known about the possible neural mechanisms of lifelong PE. This study tried to investigate the abnormal characteristics of brain functional networks of lifelong PE and to assess relationships of PE-related functional abnormalities with clinical symptoms. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data and clinical symptoms were collected from 45 lifelong PE patients and 37 healthy controls (HCs) since 2016, including disease and sexual life history, intravaginal ejaculatory latency time measured by stopwatch and other scales. The degree centrality (DC) approach were applied to distinguish altered brain functions between the two groups (p 0.05, false discovery rate corrected). Correlation analysis was then performed to examine relationships between the imaging findings and clinical symptoms (p 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). Results showed that compared with HCs, lifelong PE patients had increased DC value in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), precuneus and primary somatosensory cortex (SI) as well as decreased DC value in the insula and orbitofrontal cortex. After controlling for anxiety and depression levels, the significant difference in the mPFC was not found. The DC value in the SI positively correlated with premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT) score in the patients. The present findings indicate that lifelong PE patients have altered DC in brain regions involved in sensation, motivation and inhibitory control processing. Our study may improve our understanding and provide a new sight into the further research of lifelong PE.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to further clarify the effects of valsartan on restenosis in patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans of the lower extremities. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans of the lower extremities undergoing continuous stent implantation in the superficial femoral artery were enrolled and randomly divided into an ARB group and a control group. Patients in the ARB group received valsartan orally in a single-blind manner and were followed up for 6 months. An evaluation was performed based on the criteria for clinical efficacies designed by the Committee of Vascular Disease, Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine. The total clinical effective rate was calculated, and ankle brachial index (ABI) of the patients was assessed. The concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The in-stent restenosis of patients was examined by angiography. RESULTS One patient in the control group died due to acute cerebral hemorrhage 4 months after enrollment, and 1 patient was lost to follow-up due to acute myocardial infarction during follow-up 5 months after enrollment. Age, sex, Fontaine stage, and underlying diseases were comparable between the 2 groups. Hs-CRP (3.93±1.43) and IL-6 (11.26±2.29) levels were significant different in the ARB group compared with the control group. The postoperative follow-up showed that ABI was 0.98±0.20 in the ARB group and 0.62±0.48 in the control group. CONCLUSIONS Valsartan inhibited the increase in hs-CRP and IL-6 levels, improved clinical efficacies, increased ABI, and decreased the restenosis rate after the interventional therapy in patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans of the lower extremities.

BACKGROUND As one of the most prevalent sexual dysfunctions in men, lifelong premature ejaculation (PE) often leads to patient distress. The hypothalamus is implicated in the ejaculatory control of healthy males. However, we do not know whether the hypothalamus-related intrinsic connectivity is altered in lifelong PE patients. PURPOSE To investigate abnormal intrinsic connectivity of the hypothalamus in lifelong PE patients compared with healthy controls (HCs). STUDY TYPE Prospective pilot study using cross-sectional data of patients and HCs. SUBJECTS Forty-seven lifelong PE patients and 30 HCs were included in this study. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE 3.0T MRI scanner for T1 -weighted imaging using spoiled gradient recalled echo sequence and functional imaging using a single-shot gradient recalled echo sequence. ASSESSMENT Preprocessing of MRI data and hypothalamus-seeded functional connectivity (FC) computation were performed using DPABI4.1. STATISTICAL TESTS The two-sample t-test within SPM12 was adopted to examine possible alterations of intrinsic connectivity of hypothalamus in lifelong PE patients compared with HCs including anxiety and depression scores as covariates (false discovery rate-corrected, P

Production&ndash, living&ndash, ecological land (PLEL) is one of the research focuses of land planning and regional sustainable development in China. This paper builds a three-level classification system of PLEL based on the identification of the main land use functions (LUFs). Taking 215 typical towns in the hilly area of Sichuan Province, Southwest China as samples, the quantitative, spatial, and functional characteristics and impact factors of PLEL were studied. The results showed that (1) production land holds a dominant role in the hilly area of Sichuan Province, and production land (PL), living land (LL) and ecological land (EL) account for 66.06%, 7.60%, and 26.34% of the area, respectively. The area of agricultural production land is the largest, forestland and rural living land rank second and third. (2) The spatial patterns of PLEL in different regions of hilly area have differences. The proportion of PL gradually decreases from north to south, while the proportion of EL gradually increases from north to south, and the difference in LL is not obvious. The EL is mainly distributed in the upper and middle parts of hills, and the PL and LL are mainly distributed in the foot slopes and valleys. (3) The main functions of PLEL in the hilly area of Sichuan are production and ecology. The production function is mainly for agricultural and forestry products, and the living function is mainly for cultural leisure and residential functions. There are little differences among the ecological sub-functions. (4) There is a strong correlation between PLEL and natural&ndash, social&ndash, economic factors in the hilly area of Sichuan. Natural conditions such as latitude, relative height, and surface roughness have significant impacts on PL and EL. Social and economic factors such as population density, location and total industrial output value have a significant impact on LL. The results of this study provide valuable implications for the spatial planning and sustainable development in the Sichuan Basin and upstream of the Yangtze River.

The signal gaming model based on incomplete information is used to analyze the decisions of commercial banks and medium-sized and small enterprises (SMEs) in supply chain finance business. It is found that the returns of banks are closely relied on the probability of good SMEs join which is proportional to θ (the probability of “good” SMEs in the market) and p (the probability of “good” SMEs chosen to join the supply chain finance) in supply chain finance business, and the default cost is an important constrain for determining the strategies adopted by the SMEs and the banks. To achieve higher returns, SMEs and banks should make effects to create a better supply chain finance business environment to achieve the separation equilibrium.

In recent years, adulteration of meat and meat products has become a major food safety issue. PCR and real-time PCR technologies are mainstream methods used to identify animal-derived components. However, these technologies rely highly on costly equipment and professional technicians; they are therefore difficult to use in resource-limited settings. In this study, a novel, highly sensitive molecular assay, Pig-PCR-Strip (Pig specific polymerase chain reaction-Lateral flow strip), was developed for rapid detection of pig and swine-derived components. The assay is based on PCR amplification, hybridization of the PCR product to the probe, followed by detection using a strip format. Using this format, the PCR product can be detected by the naked eye within 3 min, and provides a basis for the migration of species-specific detection to a point-of-care (POC) microfluidic format. The Pig-PCR-Strip can detect pork components at a concentration of 0.01% in adulterated meat, and the limit of detection is up to 10 fg of target DNA. The assay was specific to pork and did not cross-react with other non-target species. It also can be used for commercial samples and complex food samples. It is a promising new tool for detection of pig-derived meat and can be rapidly modified for identifying other species. It could be widely used for solving problems related to meat quality assurance, species authentication, and traceability.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a menstrual cycle-related disorder. Although the precise pathophysiology is not fully understood, it is increasingly believed that the central nervous system plays a vital role in the development of PMS. The aim of this study is to elucidate specific functional connectivity between the thalamus and cerebral cortex. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were obtained from 20 PMS patients and 21 healthy controls (HCs). Seed-based functional connectivity between the thalamus and six cortical regions of interest, including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), posterior parietal cortex, somatosensory cortex, motor cortex/supplementary motor area, temporal and occipital lobe, was adopted to identify specific thalamocortical connectivity in the two groups. Correlation analysis was then used to examine relationships between the neuroimaging findings and clinical symptoms. Activity in distinct cortical regions correlated with specific sub-regions of the thalamus in the two groups. Comparison between groups exhibited decreased prefrontal-thalamic connectivity and increased posterior parietal-thalamic connectivity in the PMS patients. Within the PMS group, the daily record of severity of problems (DRSP) score negatively correlated with the prefrontal-thalamic connectivity. Our findings may provide preliminary evidence for abnormal thalamocortical connectivity in PMS patients and may contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of PMS.

In this study, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) were identified, confirmed and genotyped in the mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) using T m-shift assay. High quality sequences (13, 311 bp long) were obtained by re-sequencing that contained 91 SNPs, with a density of one SNP every 146 bp. Of all 91 SNPs, 40 were successfully genotyped and characterized using 30 wild specimens by T m-shift assay. The minor allele frequency per locus ranged from 0.017 to 0.500. The observed and expected heterozygosity, and polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.000 to 0.600, from 0.033 to 0.509, and from 0.033 to 0.375, respectively, with an average of 0.142, 0.239 and 0.198 per locus. Seventeen SNPs were significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. No significant linkage disequilibrium between pairs of loci was detected after sequential Bonferroni correction (P > 0.00125). Seventeen SNPs were related with known function genes. This study provided new molecular markers for investigation of population genetic diversity, construction of genetic linkage maps and molecular marker-assisted selection in this important crustacean species.

Blocking PcrV, an essential component of the Type III secretion system (TTSS), has demonstrated efficacy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. However, most of the results came from laboratory strains. Whether it is applicable to clinically isolated multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains is unknown. In this study we investigated the expression level of TTSS in clinically isolated MDR P. aeruginosa strains and the effects of anti-PcrV antibody on MDR isolate induced acute lung injury (ALI). The expression level of TTSS was quantified in 53 isolates including 25 MDR strains and 28 susceptible strains. We investigated the effect of anti-PcrV antibody through a murine model induced by instillation of a MDR strain into the left lung through trachea. Our results showed that the expression level of TTSS in MDR strains is comparable to susceptible strains. Anti-PcrV ensured the survival of challenged mice, reduced the bacteria numbers and attenuated lung inflammation and injury. This study proved that anti-PcrV may be a potentially effective strategy against MDR P. aeruginosa induced ALI.

Inthisstudy,microsatellitemarkerswereemployedtoidentifytheparentagerelationshipin Scylla paramamosain. The exclusion probability of loci was found to be related with the level of their heterozygosity. When no parent information or only one parent information was available, the exclusionprobability ranged from 22.0% to56.6% and from 41.2% to73.1%, with the combined exclusion probability for ten loci being 97.0% and 99.8%, respectively. The cumulative assignment success rate was 100% when no parent information was available using seven most informative microsatellite markers. Moreover, the power of the seven microsatellite markers for parentage assignment was tested by a double-blind test, which indicated that 95% of the progeny can be correctly assigned to their parents. This study provided a microsatellite-based approach for parentageassignment inS. paramamosainthat will be useful for investigation of genetic background and molecular marker-assisted selective breeding in this important crab species.

The complete mitochondrial genome is of great importance for better understanding the genome-level characteristics and phylogenetic relationships among related species. In the present study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome DNA sequence of the mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) by 454 deep sequencing and Sanger sequencing approaches. The complete genome DNA was 15,824 bp in length and contained a typical set of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and a putative control region (CR). Of 37 genes, twenty-three were encoded by the heavy strand (H-strand), while the other ones were encoded by light strand (L-strand). The gene order in the mitochondrial genome was largely identical to those obtained in most arthropods, although the relative position of gene tRNAHis differed from other arthropods. Among 13 protein-coding genes, three (ATPase subunit 6 (ATP6), NADH dehydrogenase subunits 1 (ND1) and ND3) started with a rare start codon ATT, whereas, one gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) ended with the incomplete stop codon TA. All 22 tRNAs could fold into a typical clover-leaf secondary structure, with the gene sizes ranging from 63 to 73 bp. The phylogenetic analysis based on 12 concatenated protein-coding genes showed that the molecular genetic relationship of 19 species of 11 genera was identical to the traditional taxonomy.

In this study, we analyzed the correlation of 20 growth-related traits and their effects on body weight of Scylla paramamosain. The correlation coefficients in all trait pairs were significantly high, ranging from 0.551 to 0.999. Among 19 X-Y pairs, the correlation coefficient between traits X1 and Y was the highest, whereas that between X13 and Y was the lowest. Path analysis indicated that only two traits (X1 and X14) can significantly affect body weight (Y) directly, with the path coefficients being 0.800 and 0.198, respectively. The determination coefficients (di) of traits X1 and X14 to body weight were 0.640 and 0.039, respectively, and the total di was 0.965, indicating that both traits were the key factors affecting body weight. Moreover, traits X1 and X14 were confirmed to be significantly related to body weight. Finally, a best-fit linear regression equation was constructed as Y = 4.192X1 + 2.242X14 - 169.737.

New economy era mainly refers to knowledge economy era. Under the background of knowledge economy era, the public gradually realize the importance of knowledge economy management and hope to cope with increasingly fierce market competition ands promote better development of economy and society through high-level knowledge economy management. Based on concisely analyzing era features of knowledge economy and knowledge economy management under the background of new economy era, this paper explores development trend of knowledge economy management in detail, in the hope of facilitating sustainable and healthy development of China's knowledge economy management and making corresponding contributions to socialist modernization construction.

The mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) is of economic importance for the fisheries and aquaculture industry in China. In this study, we constructed the first genetic linkage map for this species using microsatellite and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. The map consisted of 65 linkage groups, including 34 triplets and 9 doublets. A total of 212 molecular markers were mapped, including 60 microsatellites and 152 AFLP markers. The linkage groups ranged from 7 to 102.5 cM and covered 2746.4 cM in length. The mean length was 42.3 cM per linkage group, and the mean spacing was 18.68 cM. The genome size was estimated to be 5539.62 cM, with 50% coverage by the present map. Moreover, we reported 5 transcriptome-derived polymorphic microsatellite markers and characterized their polymorphism in a first-generation family. This study will facilitate studies on high-density maps and molecular marker-assisted selection in S. paramamosain and related crustacean species.

In this study, we isolated 12 novel polymorphic microsatellite markers in Pennahia argentatus by using the 5′ anchored PCR technique. The characteristics of these loci were estimated by using a sample of 30 individuals. A total of 69 alleles were detected with an average of 5.75 alleles per locus. The PIC value for the 12 microsatellite loci ranged from 0.1202 to 0.8466. The observed and expected heterozygosity per locus ranged from 0.1379 to 0.9333 and from 0.1307 to 0.8784, with an average of 0.5997 and 0.6083, respectively. One loci significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction (P

To determine protective effects of concurrent administration of Keratinocyte growth factor-2 (KGF-2) with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) inoculation on the induced pneumonia. KGF-2 (5 mg/kg) was concurrently administered into the left lobe of 55 mice with P. aeruginosa PAO1 (5 × 10(6) CFU, half-lethal dose); 55 mice in the control group were concurrently administered PBS with the PAO1. We detected and analyzed: body temperature; amount of P. aeruginosa in homogenates; count of total number of nucleated cells and of mononuclear macrophages; protein concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF); lung wet-to-dry weight ratio; cytokines in BALF and blood; and lung morphology. To study survival rate, concurrent administration of KGF-2 (experimental group) versus PBS (control) with a lethal dose of PAO1 (1 × 10(7) CFU was performed, and survivorship was documented for 7 days post-inoculation. The bacterial CFU in lung homogenates was significantly decreased in the KGF-2 group compared to the control group. There were significantly more mononuclear macrophages in the BALF from the KGF-2 group than from the control group (p < 0.05). KGF-2 increased the surfactant protein and GM-CSF mRNA in lung at 6 h and 72 h after inoculation. Significant reduction of lung injury scores, protein concentrations, lung wet-to-dry weight ratio, and IL-6 and TNF-α levels was noted in the KGF-2 treated rats at 72 h after inoculation (p < 0.05). The 7-day survival rate of the KGF-2 group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). Concurrent administration of KGF-2 facilitates the clearance of P. aeruginosa from the lungs, attenuates P. aeruginosa-induced lung injury, and extends the 7-day survival rate in mice model with P. aeruginosa pneumonia.

Background Denatonium, a widely used bitter agonist, activates bitter taste receptors on many cell types and plays important roles in chemical release, ciliary beating and smooth muscle relaxation through intracellular Ca2+-dependent pathways. However, the effects of denatonium on the proliferation of airway epithelial cells and on the integrity of cellular components such as mitochondria have not been studied. In this study, we hypothesize that denatonium might induce airway epithelial cell injury by damaging mitochondria. Methods Bright-field microscopy, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and flow cytometry analysis were used to examine cellular morphology, proliferation and cell cycle, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to examine mitochondrial integrity. JC-1 dye and western blotting techniques were used to measure mitochondrial membrane potential and protein expression, respectively. Results For airway epithelial cells, we observed that denatonium significantly effects cellular morphology, decreases cell proliferation and reduces the number of cells in S phase in a dose-dependent manner. TEM analysis demonstrated that denatonium causes large amplitude swelling of mitochondria, which was confirmed by the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, the down-regulation of Bcl-2 protein and the subsequent enhancement of the mitochondrial release of cytochrome c and Smac/DIABLO after denatonium treatment. Conclusions In this study, we demonstrated for the first time that denatonium damages mitochondria and thus induces apoptosis in airway epithelial cells. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12931-015-0183-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.