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The identification of accelerant about gasoline and other ignited liquids in arson has always been a difficult problem in the field of physical evidence identification. How to avoid “false positive” and “false negative” results is a key issue. To study the interference of diene rubber on gasoline identification from two aspects of “false positives” and “false negatives”, and to explore its degree when gasoline was mixed with diene rubber in different proportions, the combustion residues obtained from cis-polybutadiene rubber, isobutylene isoprene rubber and styrene butadiene rubber after loading different amounts of gasoline were compared using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that alkanes, alkenes/cycloalkanes, aromatic-alkylbenzenes, homologs of indenes and indanes, alkylnaphthalenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in the combustion residues of the three kinds of diene rubber samples before and after gasoline loading, which was consistent with gasoline in terms of the characteristic components categories and had strong interference with gasoline identification. After loading 0.05 mL and 0.1 mL gasoline respectively into 5 g rubber sample, there was no significant changes in the characteristic components of cycloalkanes/alkenes, alkylnaphthalenes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the rubber combustion residues. The number and relative peak area ratio of characteristic peaks corresponding to aromatic-alkylbenzenes, homologs of indenes and indanes changed to different degrees, while the changes of alkylbenzenes were more representative. Loading gasoline or not had little effect on the ratio of the characteristic peaks of C2 benzene components in the combustion residues of cis-polybutadiene rubber. The ratio among three characteristic peaks of C2 benzene components in the combustion residues of isobutylene isoprene rubber and styrene butadiene rubber samples changed significantly when the gasoline loading amount reached 0.1 mL. This study can provide important references for the gasoline identification when there is a presence of diene rubber matrix in practical work.

Process-based vegetation models attempt to represent the wide range of trait variation in biomes by grouping ecologically similar species into plant functional types (PFTs). This approach has been successful in representing many aspects of plant physiology and biophysics but struggles to capture biogeographic history and ecological dynamics that determine biome boundaries and plant distributions. Grass-dominated ecosystems are broadly distributed across all vegetated continents and harbour large functional diversity, yet most Land Surface Models (LSMs) summarise grasses into two generic PFTs based primarily on differences between temperate C3 grasses and (sub)tropical C4 grasses. Incorporation of species-level trait variation is an active area of research to enhance the ecological realism of PFTs, which form the basis for vegetation processes and dynamics in LSMs. Using reported measurements, we developed grass functional trait values (physiological, structural, biochemical, anatomical, phenological, and disturbance-related) of dominant lineages to improve LSM representations. Our method is fundamentally different from previous efforts, as it uses phylogenetic relatedness to create lineage-based functional types (LFTs), situated between species-level trait data and PFT-level abstractions, thus providing a realistic representation of functional diversity and opening the door to the development of new vegetation models.

The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is closely related to hepatic fibrosis and plays a key role in its occurrence and development. In the damaged liver, inhibition of the activation, proliferation, and clearance of HSCs is an important therapeutic strategy. However, the mechanism underlying the activation of HSCs is not completely clear. Acid-sensitive ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) is a cation channel activated by extracellular acid, which is responsible for the transport of Ca2+ and Na+ and participates in the activation of HSCs and the occurrence and development of many inflammatory diseases, suggesting that ASIC1a plays an important role in liver fibrosis. A previous study by the project team found that when the membrane channel protein ASIC1a was opened, intracellular Ca2+ levels increased, the expression of CaM/CaMKII in HSCs was high, and HSC was activated and proliferated. Therefore, we established an SD rat model of hepatic fibrosis and induced HSC-T6 activation by stimulating ASIC1a with acid in vitro. In vivo, CCl4 was used to induce liver fibrosis in rats, and different doses of KN93 (0.5, 1, and 2 mg/kg/d) and colchicine (0.1 mg/kg/d) were administered. Eight weeks later, the activities of ALT and AST in serum were measured and hematoxylin-eosin and Masson staining in liver tissue, and immunohistochemistry analysis were performed in SD rats. The expressions of ASIC1a, α-SMA, Collagen-1, CaM, and CaMKII were detected. In vitro, we activated HSC-T6 cells by stimulating ASIC1a with acid. The results showed that inhibition of ASIC1a could improve acid-induced HSCs activation. In addition, CaM/CaMKII was expressed in HSC of rats with hepatic fibrosis regulated by ASIC1a. After blocking or silencing the expression of CaMKII, the fibrosis marker protein can be down-regulated. KN93 also reduced inflammation and improved the activation, proliferation and fibrosis of HSC. In summary, we concluded that CaM/CaMKII participates in ASIC1a regulation of the proliferation and activation of HSC and promotes the occurrence of liver fibrosis.

Abstract Background Skeletal development and maintenance are complex processes known to be coordinated by multiple genetic and epigenetic signaling pathways. However, the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of crucial epigenetic regulatory molecules, has been under explored in skeletal biology. Results Here we report a young patient with short stature, hypothalamic dysfunction and mild macrocephaly, who carries a maternally inherited 690 kb deletion at Chr.1q24.2 encompassing a noncoding RNA gene, DNM3OS, embedded on the opposite strand in an intron of the DYNAMIN 3 (DNM3) gene. We show that lncRNA DNM3OS sustains the proliferation of chondrocytes independent of two co-cistronic microRNAs miR-199a and miR-214. We further show that nerve growth factor (NGF), a known factor of chondrocyte growth, is a key target of DNM3OS-mediated control of chondrocyte proliferation. Conclusions This work demonstrates that DNM3OS is essential for preventing premature differentiation of chondrocytes required for bone growth through endochondral ossification.

Water stress associated with drought-like conditions is a major factor limiting plant growth and impacts productivity of natural plant communities and agricultural crops. Molecular responses of plants to water stress have been studied most extensively in model species and crops, few of which have evolved natural drought tolerance. In the current study, we examined physiological and transcriptomic responses at multiple timepoints during increasing water stress and following initial recovery from stress in a drought-tolerant C3 species, Festuca ovina. Results demonstrated non-linear transcriptomic changes during increasing stress, but largely linear declines in physiological measurements during this same period. Transcription factors represented approximately 12.7% of all differentially expressed genes. In total, 117 F. ovina homologs of previously identified and molecularly characterized drought-responsive plant genes were identified. This information will be valuable for further investigations of the molecular mechanisms involved in drought tolerance in [C.sub.3] plants. Key words: Festuca ovina, RNA-seq, water stress, transcription factor, drought tolerant. Le stress hydrique associe a des conditions de secheresse est un facteur important limitant la croissance des plantes et affectant la productivite au sein de communautes vegetales naturelles et chez les especes cultivees. Les reponses moleculaires des plantes au stress hydrique ont ete etudiees le plus chez des especes modeles et des especes cultivees, dont certaines ont acquis une tolerance naturelle a la secheresse. Dans le present travail, les auteurs examinent les reponses physiologiques et transcriptomiques a differents stades temporels suite a l'imposition d'un stress hydrique croissant et apres retablissement post-stress chez une espece C3 tolerante a la secheresse, Festuca ovina. Les resultats ont montre une evolution non-lineaire des reponses transcriptomiques en reponse a l'accroissement du stress, alors que les declins physiologiques etaient largement lineaires au cours des memes periodes. Les facteurs de transcription constituaient environ 12,7 % des genes montrant une expression differentielle. Chez F. ovina, les auteurs ont identifie 117 homologues de genes precedemment connus au plan moleculaire pour reagir a la secheresse. Cette information sera utile pour des futurs travaux des mecanismes moleculaires impliques dans la tolerance a la secheresse chez les plantes [C.sub.3]. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : Festuca ovina, RNA-seq, stress hydrique, facteur de transcription, tolerance a la secheresse., Introduction Drought is a major environmental stress for plants and negatively affects growth and reproduction. Drought events cause yield loss in crop systems (Brevedan and Egli 2003; van Asten et [...]

To explore the sesquiterpenoids in Curcuma longa L. and their activity related to anti-atherosclerosis. The chemical compounds of the rhizomes of C. longa were separated and purified by multiple chromatography techniques. Their structures were established by a variety of spectroscopic experiments. The absolute configurations were determined by comparing experimental and calculated NMR chemical shifts and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Their anti-inflammatory effects and inhibitory activity against macrophage-derived foam cell formation were evaluated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)-injured RAW264.7 macrophages, respectively. This study resulted in the isolation of 10 bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoids (1–10) from C. longa, including two pairs of new epimers (curbisabolanones A–D, 1–4). Compound 4 significantly inhibited LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, compound 4 showed inhibitory activity against macrophage-derived foam cell formation, which was represented by markedly reducing ox-LDL-induced intracellular lipid accumulation as well as total cholesterol (TC), free cholesterol (FC), and cholesterol ester (CE) contents in RAW264.7 cells. These findings suggest that bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoids, one of the main types of components in C. longa, have the potential to alleviate the atherosclerosis process by preventing inflammation and inhibiting macrophage foaming.

In this paper, we construct a large class of simple restricted modules over the deformed 𝔟𝔪𝔰3 algebra ℬ, which contain the highest weight modules and Whittaker modules. Moreover, we obtain several equivalent statements for simple restricted modules over ℬ.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an endocrine-metabolic disorder that has limited approaches to treat effectively. Morus alba L., also known as mulberry, is a well-known medicinal plant, and its branch bark has shown hypoglycemic activity. It is rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients. In this study, we used metabolomics combined with network pharmacology to investigate the molecular mechanism and potential key targets of mulberry branch bark powder (MBBP) for treating DM. Serum metabolomics was performed to analyze the differences in metabolites and enrich metabolic pathways. Network pharmacology, based on systems biology tools, was applied to generate the pathway-target-compound network. Integrated analyses were then used to screen for key targets. To verify the obtained key targets, we used a molecular docking method and experimental validation. Our findings revealed that thirty-five endogenous metabolites contributed to the therapeutic impact of MBBP against DM. The analysis of 10 hub genes in the compound-target network partially supported the enrichment of metabolic pathways. Further analysis focused on two compounds (eugenol and mulberrofuran A) and three key targets (NOS2, MAOA, and CYP1A1). This study explores the active compounds of MBBP against DM and provides a novel perspective for improving DM treatment based on key targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. Background:. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) offers a new approach for adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). The study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tACS treating MDD. Methods:. This is an 8-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Ninety-two drug-naive patients with MDD aged 18 to 65 years will receive 20 daily 40-min, 77.5-Hz, 15-mA sessions of active or sham tACS targeting the forehead and both mastoid areas on weekdays for 4 consecutive weeks (week 4), following a 4-week observation period (week 8). The primary outcome is the remission rate defined as the 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS-17) score ≤7 at week 8. Secondary outcomes are the rates of response at weeks 4 and 8 and rate of remission at week 4 based on HDRS-17, the proportion of participants having improvement in the clinical global impression-improvement, the change in HDRS-17 score (range, 0–52, with higher scores indicating more depression) over the study, and variations of brain imaging and neurocognition from baseline to week 4. Safety will be assessed by vital signs at weeks 4 and 8, and adverse events will be collected during the entire study. Discussion:. The tACS applied in this trial may have treatment effects on MDD with minimal side effects. Trial registration:. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800016479; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=22048.