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Due to the inhomogeneity of the atmosphere, radio waves are subjected to refraction during the propagation process, which reduces its propagation speed and bends the propagation path. If the influence is not considered, a large error will be caused by using time difference of arrival (TDOA). The influence of atmospheric refraction on the TDOA localization under the known elevation constraint is analyzed, a subsection iterative method is proposed to correct the localization error caused by atmospheric refraction, the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for location estimation under atmospheric refraction is deduced. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through simulation results and analysis.

Microbial-assisted phytoremediation provides a green approach for remediation of metal contaminated soils. However, the impacts of mono and co-applications of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on soil biochemical properties and phytoavailability of toxic metals in contaminated mining soils have not yet been sufficiently examined. Consequently, here we studied the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum (P), Lactobacillus acidophilus (A), and Lactobacillus rhamnosus (R) applications alone and in combination on soil enzyme activities and bioavailability and uptake of Cd and Zn by mustard (Brassica juncea) in a smelter-contaminated soil under greenhouse conditions. Among the studied bacteria, P was the most tolerant to Cd-and-Zn contamination. As compared to control, R increased the fresh and dry weight of mustard plants by 53.5% and 63.2%, respectively. Co-application of P + A increased the chlorophyll content by 28.6%, as compared to control. Addition of LAB to soil increased the activity of soil urease, alkaline phosphatase and β-D glucosidase increased by 1.86-fold (P + R), 1.80-fold (R) and 55.16% (P + R), respectively. Application of P + A + R enhanced catalase activity (19.3%) and superoxide dismutase activity (51.2%), while addition of A alone increased peroxidase activity (POD: 15.7%). Addition of P alone and together with A (P + A) enhanced Cd and Zn phytoextraction by mustard shoots up to 51.5% and 52.5%, respectively. We conclude that the single and/or co-application of LAB decreased soil pH, promoted plant growth, antioxidant and enzyme activities, and enhanced the phytoavailability of Cd and Zn in the studied contaminated soil. These findings might be an aid for enhancing the phytoremediation of Cd and Zn using LAB and mustard as a bioenergy crop, which may offer new ideas for field treatment of toxic metals contaminated soils.

In major depressive disorder (MDD), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is widely related to depression impairment and antidepressant treatment response. The multiplicity of ACC subdivisions calls for a fine‐grained investigation of their functional impairment and recovery profiles. We recorded resting state fMRI signals from 59 MDD patients twice before and after 12‐week antidepressant treatment, as well as 59 healthy controls (HCs). With functional connectivity (FC) between each ACC voxel and four regions of interests (bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC] and amygdalae), subdivisions with variable impairment were identified based on groups' dissimilarity values between MDD patients before treatment and HC. The ACC was subdivided into three impairment subdivisions named as MedialACC, DistalACC, and LateralACC according to their dominant locations. Furthermore, the impairment pattern and the recovery pattern were measured based on group statistical analyses. DistalACC impaired more on its FC with left DLPFC, whereas LateralACC showed more serious impairment on its FC with bilateral amygdalae. After treatment, FCs between DistalACC and left DLPFC, and between LateralACC and right amygdala were normalized while impaired FC between LateralACC and left amygdala kept dysfunctional. Subsequently, FC between DistalACC and left DLPFC might contribute to clinical outcome prediction. Our approach could provide an insight into how the ACC was impaired in depression and partly restored after antidepressant treatment, from the perspective of the interaction between ACC subregions and critical frontal and subcortical regions., This article identified the subregions of the anterior cingulate cortex with variable impairment in major depressive disorder patients and investigated the restoration pattern of subregions after antidepressant treatment.

Taxus species have attracted much attention for their potency in cancer treatment. However, investigating the bioactivities of Taxus species is a complex task, due to their diversity, slow growth, and endangered state. The most important Taxus species in China are Taxus chinensis (T. chinensis), Taxus cuspidata (T. cuspidata), and Taxus × media (T. media), which mainly grow in the northeastern region. This article probes deep into the differences among the leaves of T. chinensis, T. cuspidata, and T. media, with the aid of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Through GC-MS, 162 compounds were detected in the samples and found to contain 35 bioactive metabolites. On this basis, 20 metabolites with significant bioactivities (antibiotic, antioxidant, anticancer, and antiaging effects) were identified via unsupervised learning of principal component analysis and supervised learning of partial least squares-discriminant analysis. The results show that T. media has the most prominent antibiotic, antioxidant, and anticancer effects, while T. cuspidata has the most diverse and abundant metabolites that slow down aging.

Family study is an effective way to identify disease-causing mutations (DCMs) and characterize the clinical phenotype of genetic diseases. In this study we recruited a Chinese primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) family spanning six generations and consisting 112 individuals, in which 63 were participated in. Targeted exome sequencing on the proband identified a heterozygous mutation (c.752T>C, p.Val251Ala) in MYOC gene. Sanger sequencing performed on all participants found that fourteen family members carried this mutation. Ten (71.4%) of them were diagnosed with POAG, two (14.3%) with ocular hypertension (OHT) and two (14.3%) without manifestations of glaucoma. According to the results of ophthalmic examinations of the family members and their medical history, we found that the Val251Ala mutation was associated with clinical phenotype including intermediate penetrance, high intraocular pressure (IOP), severe visual defects and requirement of surgery.

Introduction: Post-trabeculectomy scarring due to excessive proliferation of human Tenon’s fibroblasts (HTFs) often led to operation failure. Developing a new anti-fibrosis drug with high efficacy to inhibit HTF cell growth will greatly improve the effectiveness of trabeculectomy. Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of berbamine (BBM) treatment on the cell growth and survival of HTFs. Methods: Cultured human fetal Tenon’s fibroblasts (HFTFs) were treated with or without different concentrations of BBM. Cell morphology was observed with a phase contrast microscope. A CCK-8 method and Ki67 immunofluorescence were used to determine cell viability and cell proliferation. A scratch test was used to study cell migration. Flow cytometry and TUNEL staining were performed to detect cell apoptosis. The expression of BAX/BCL-2, ERK, and AKT/mTOR pathway components was determined by Western blotting. Results: BBM treatment disrupted HFTF normal morphology and inhibited its cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. Ki67 immunofluorescence and scratch assay showed BBM suppressed HFTF cell proliferation and migration. Importantly, BBM dose-dependently increased the BAX/BCL-2 ratio and induced apoptosis in HFTF cells. Western blotting showed BBM significantly inhibited the ERK and AKT/mTOR pathway, and PTEN inhibition ameliorated the inhibitory effect of BBM on cell viability and survival in HFTFs. Conclusions: BBM potently inhibits the cell growth and survival of HTFs through AKT/mTOR and has the potential to serve as an anti-fibrosis drug after trabeculectomy.

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays an essential role in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) and its treatment. However, it's still unclear whether the effects of disease and antidepressant treatment on ACC perform diversely in neural mechanisms.Fifty-nine MDD patients completed resting-state fMRI scanning twice at baseline and after 12-week selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment, respectively in acute state and remission state. Fifty-nine demographically matched healthy controls were enrolled. Using fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) in ACC as features, we performed multi-voxel pattern analysis over pretreatment MDD patients vs health control (HC), and over pretreatment MDD patients vs posttreatment MDD patients.Discriminative regions in ACC for MDD impairment and changes after antidepressants were obtained. The intersection set and difference set were calculated to form ACC subregions of recovered, unrecovered and compensative, respectively. The recovered ACC subregion mainly distributed in rostral ACC (80 %) and the other two subregions had nearly equal distribution over dorsal ACC and rostral ACC. Furthermore, only the compensative subregion had significant changed functional connectivity with cingulo-opercular control network (CON) after antidepressant treatment.The number of subjects was relatively small. The results need to be validated with larger sample sizes and multisite data.This finding suggested that the local function of ACC was partly recovered on regulating emotion after antidepressant by detecting the common subregional targets of depression impairment and antidepressive effect. Besides, changed fALFF in the compensative ACC subregion and its connectivity with CON may partly compensate for the cognition deficits.

Inflammation is required for the proliferation of Müller glia (MG) into multipotent progenitors (MGPCs) in the injured fish and avian retinas. However, its function in retina regeneration has not been fully understood. Here we investigated the role of inflammation in three different retinal regeneration paradigms in zebrafish (stab-injury, NMDA-injury and insulin treatment). We first show that different types of immune cells and levels of inflammatory cytokines were found in the retinas of these paradigms. Though zymosan injection alone was insufficient to induce MG proliferation in the uninjured retina, immune suppression significantly inhibited MGPC formation in all three paradigms. Enhancing inflammation promoted MGPC formation after stab-injury, while exhibiting a context-dependent role in the NMDA or insulin models. Furthermore, proper levels of inflammation promoted MG reprogramming and cell cycle re-entry after stab- or NMDA-injury, but excessive inflammation also suppressed MG proliferation in the latter model. Finally, while inflammation promoted retinal neuron regeneration after stab-injury, immune suppression surprisingly achieved the best regeneration in the NMDA model. Our study reveals the complex and context-dependent role of inflammation during retinal repair in fish, and suggests accurate inflammation management may be crucial for successful retina regeneration in mammals.

Upon retina injury, Müller glia in the zebrafish retina respond by generating multipotent progenitors to repair the retina. However, the complete mechanisms underlying retina regeneration remain elusive. Here we report inflammation-induced mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling in the Müller glia is essential for retina regeneration in adult zebrafish. We show after a stab injury, mTOR is rapidly activated in Müller glia and later Müller glia-derived progenitor cells (MGPCs). Importantly, mTOR is required for Müller glia dedifferentiation, as well as the proliferation of Müller glia and MGPCs. Interestingly, transient mTOR inhibition by rapamycin only reversibly suppresses MGPC proliferation, while its longer suppression by knocking down Raptor significantly inhibits the regeneration of retinal neurons. We further show mTOR promotes retina regeneration by regulating the mRNA expression of key reprogramming factors ascl1a and lin-28a, cell cycle-related genes and critical cytokines. Surprisingly, we identify microglia/macrophage-mediated inflammation as an important upstream regulator of mTOR in the Müller glia and it promotes retina regeneration through mTOR. Our study not only demonstrates the important functions of mTOR but also reveals an interesting link between inflammation and the mTOR signaling during retina regeneration.

BackgroundThe pathological mechanisms of Major depressive disorders (MDD) is associated with over-expressing of negative emotions, and the overall temporal-spatial patterns underlying over-representation in depression still remained to be revealed to date. We hypothesized that the aberrant spatio-temporal attributes of the process of sad expressions relate to MDD and help to detect depression severity.MethodsWe enrolled a total of 96 subjects including 47 MDDs and 49 healthy controls (HCs), and recorded their Magnetoencephalography data under a sad expressions recognition task. A hidden Markov model (HMM) was applied to separate the whole neural activity into several brain states, then to characterize the dynamics. To find the disrupted spatial-temporal features, power estimations and fractional occupancy of each state were contrasted between MDDs and HCs.ResultsThree states were found over the period of emotional stimuli processing procedure. The visual state was mainly distributed in early stage (0 - 270ms) and the limbic state in middle and later stage (270ms - 600ms) of the task, while the fronto-parietal state remained a steady proportion across the whole period. MDDs activated statistically more in limbic system during limbic state (p = 0.0045) and less in frontoparietal control network during fronto-parietal state (p = 5.38*10−5) relative to HCs. Hamilton-Depression-Rating Scale scores was significantly correlated with the predicted severity value using the state descriptors (p = 0.0062, r = 0.3933).DiscussionAs human brain exhibited varied activation patterns under the negative stimuli, MDDs expressed disrupted temporal-spatial activated patterns across varied stages involving the primary visual perception and emotional contents processing compared to HCs, indicting disordered regulation of brain functions. Furthermore, descriptors built by HMM could be potential biomarkers for identifying the severity of depression disorders.

Taxus species have attracted much attention for their potency in cancer treatment. However, investigating the bioactivities of Taxus species is a complex task, due to their diversity, slow growth, and endangered state. The most important Taxus species in China are Taxus chinensis (T. chinensis), Taxus cuspidata (T. cuspidata), and Taxus × media (T. media), which mainly grow in the northeastern region. This article probes deep into the differences among the leaves of T. chinensis, T. cuspidata, and T. media, with the aid of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Through GC-MS, 162 compounds were detected in the samples and found to contain 35 bioactive metabolites. On this basis, 20 metabolites with significant bioactivities (antibiotic, antioxidant, anticancer, and antiaging effects) were identified via unsupervised learning of principal component analysis and supervised learning of partial least squares-discriminant analysis. The results show that T. media has the most prominent antibiotic, antioxidant, and anticancer effects, while T. cuspidata has the most diverse and abundant metabolites that slow down aging.

Based on the working characteristics of ropeway lifting system, this paper puts forward the application strategy of ARM-based DC motor control technology in this field. This paper introduces the hardware structure of DC speed control system, analyzes the control strategy of DC motor in ropeway lifting system based on the hardware, and realizes the ropeway lifting system based on DC motor control.

Age-related cataract (ARC) is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Oxidative DNA damage is a biochemical feature of ARC pathogenesis. The present study investigated the role of long non-coding RNAs in the DNA repair of oxidative damage, partially the regulation of the DNA repair gene, 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1), in lens affected by ARC. The ogg1 mutant zebrafish model was constructed to verify the role of ogg1 in the lens. A high-throughput lncRNA profiling was performed on human lens epithelial cells (LECs) following oxidative stress. The lncRNAs with the OGG1 target gene were analyzed for possible differentiated expression levels. The lens capsule samples of patients with ARC were collected to further verify the screening results. lncRNA was then overexpressed and knocked down in LECs to observe cell proliferation and apoptosis. The association between lncRNA, miRNA and the OGG1 mRNA 3′UTR were analyzed. The ogg1 mutant zebrafish developed more severe lens lesions following oxidative challenge. lncRNA NONHSAT143692.2 was distinctly expressed in various disease models. The knockdown of NONHSAT143692.2 downregulated the expression of OGG1 mRNA (P

Obesity is often accompanied by dyslipidemia, high blood glucose, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and myocardial dysfunction. Selenate is a vital antioxidant in the cardiovascular system. The beneficial effects of selenate on obesity-associated cardiac dysfunction and potential molecular mechanism were identified in both H9C2 cells and C57BL/6J mice hearts. The cardiac histological preformation in C57BL/6J mice were evaluated by cross-sectional area (CSA) of cardiomyocytes and percent area of fibrosis in the left ventricles. The cardiac autophagy flux in H9C2 cells and C57BL/6J mice hearts was analyzed by Western blots and the number of autophagosomes and autolysosome in H9C2 cells. In the present study, we found that lipid overload caused increases in serum lipid, CSA, and percent area of fibrosis. We further found that lipid-induced accumulation of autophagosomes was due to depressed autophagy degradation, which was not restored in the pretreatment with 3-methyladenine and chloroquine, whereas, it was improved by rapamycin. Moreover, we demonstrated that increased levels of serum lipid, CSA, percent area of fibrosis and mRNA expression related to cardiomyocytes hypertrophy and fibrosis were significantly reduced after selenate treatments of mice. We also found selenate treatment significantly down-regulated activity of the Akt pathway, which was activated in response to lipid-overload. Furthermore, selenate dramatically improved cardiac autophagic degradation which was suppressed after exposure to lipid-overload in both H9C2 cells and C57BL/6J mice hearts. Taken together, selenate offers therapeutic intervention in lipid-related metabolic disorders, and protection against cardiac remodeling, likely through regulation of the activity of autophagic degradation and Akt pathway.

Due to the heterogeneity of the atmosphere, radio waves are subjected to refraction during the propagation process, which reduces its propagation speed and bends the propagation path. If this refraction effect is not taken into account when the source is localized through conventional dual-station time difference of arrival (TDOA) and frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) -based methods, a large localization error will occur. In this paper, a correction model of atmospheric refraction error for air-to-ground TDOA and FDOA location is established. The influence of atmospheric refraction on TDOA and FDOA localization error of air-to-ground dual-station under the known elevation constraints is analyzed. An iteration correction algorithm for TDOA and FDOA localization error under atmospheric refraction is proposed. The effectiveness of the correction algorithm is verified through simulation results and analyses.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an ideal model organism for exploring the ability and mechanism of tissue regeneration in the vertebrate. However, the specific cellular and molecular mechanism of caudal fin regeneration in zebrafish remains largely unclear. Therefore, we first confirmed the crucial period of fin regeneration in adult zebrafish by morphological and histological analysis. Then we performed RNA-Seq analysis of the caudal fin regeneration at three key stages, which provided some clues for exploring the mechanism of caudal fin regeneration. Moreover, we also determined the expressions of inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TGF-β, and the immune-related pathway JAK2α and STAT1b in the caudal fin of zebrafish following fin amputation by quantitative real time PCR (qPCR). Particularly, Hsp90α expression at mRNA and protein level determined by qPCR and Western blotting, respectively, and whole-mount in situ hybridization of Hsp90α were also performed in this study. The results showed that inflammatory cytokines were mainly expressed in the early period of caudal fin regeneration (1-3 days post amputation, dpa), indicating that fish immune system was involved in the fin regeneration. Furthermore, the high expression of Hsp90α in the vicinity of blastema and blood vessels of the regenerating fin suggests that Hsp90α may play a role in the initiation and promotion of caudal fin regeneration. Overall, our results provide a framework for further understanding the cellular and molecular mechanism in caudal fin regeneration.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the antiviral drug ganciclovir (GCV) on Muller glia dedifferentiation and proliferation and the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms in adult zebrafish. Methods A Tg(1016tuba1a:GFP) transgenic line was generated to identify injury-induced dedifferentiation of Muller glia. Mechanical retinal damage was induced by a needle-poke injury on the back of the eyes in adult zebrafish. Phosphate-buffered saline or GCV was injected into the vitreous of the eye at the time of injury or through the cornea. The GCV clearance rate from the eye was determined by a reversed-phase HPLC method. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunofluorescence were used to determine the effect of GCV on retinal regeneration. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL staining. Microglia were labeled by vitreous injection of isolectin IB4 conjugates. Quantitative (q)PCR and Western blot analysis were used to determine gene expression in the retina. Results Ganciclovir treatment significantly reduced the number of BrdU+ Muller glia-derived progenitor cells (MGPCs) at 4 days post injury. Further analysis showed that GCV had no impact on Muller glia dedifferentiation and the initial formation of MGPCs. Our data indicate that GCV irreversibly inhibited MGPC proliferation likely through a p53-p21(cip1)-dependent pathway. Interestingly, unlike control cells, GCV-treated Muller glia cells were "locked" in a prolonged dedifferentiated state. Conclusions Our study uncovered a novel inhibitory effect of GCV on MGPC proliferation and suggests its potential use as a tool to uncover molecular mechanisms underlying retinal regeneration in zebrafish.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are RNA molecules with a transcript length of >200 nt which do not encode proteins, however, they have important functions in the form of RNA at transcriptional level, post-transcriptional level, and epigenetics. MALAT-1 is the first discovered lncRNA in non-small cell lung cancer and its orthologs have been found in zebrafish in the recent years. The present study aimed to determine the expression and possible function of MALAT-1 in the embryonic development of zebrafish. The results of qPCR or in situ hybridization showed that MALAT-1 was dynamically expressed in zebrafish embryonic development and it was widely expressed in brain, eye, heart, and muscle of adult fish. By morpholino knockdown of MALAT-1, zebrafish embryos were found to have smaller body curvature, smaller eyes, enlarged pericardium, and reduced pigmentation. In particular, after morpholino knockdown of MALAT-1, the morphologically defective otic capsule was found to be smaller than the control fish. These results suggest that MALAT-1 may play a key role in the embryonic nervous system development of zebrafish. In addition, we also determined the expressions of seven development-related genes (Scyl1, egr1, oc90, vsx1, nkx2.5, vmhc, and gata4) after MALAT-1 knockdown and found that four genes egr1, nkx2.5, gata4, and vmhc were up-regulated, suggesting a potential regulatory role of MALAT-1 on these development-related genes.

SummaryPGC-1α plays a central role in hepatic gluconeogenesis and has been implicated in the onset of type 2 diabetes. Acetylation is an important posttranslational modification for regulating the transcriptional activity of PGC-1α. Here, we show that PCAF is a pivotal acetyltransferase for acetylating PGC-1α in both fasted and diabetic states. PCAF acetylates two lysine residues K328 and K450 in PGC-1α, which subsequently triggers its proteasomal degradation and suppresses its transcriptional activity. Adenoviral-mediated expression of PCAF in the obese mouse liver greatly represses gluconeogenic enzyme activation and glucose production and improves glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. Moreover, liver-specific knockdown of PCAF stimulates PGC-1α activity, resulting in an increase in blood glucose and hepatic glucose output. Our results suggest that PCAF might be a potential pharmacological target for developing agents against metabolic disorders associated with hyperglycemia, such as obesity and diabetes.

This paper gives an overview of software-defined optical networks (SDONs). It explains the general concepts on software-defined networks (SDNs), their relationship with network function virtualization, and also about OpenFlow, which is a pioneer protocol for SDNs. It then explains the benefits and challenges of extending SDNs to multilayer optical networks, including flexible grid and elastic optical networks, and how it compares to generalized multi-protocol label switching for implementing a unified control plane. An overview on the industry and research efforts on SDON standardization and implementation is given next, to bring the reader up to speed with the current state of the art in this field. Finally, the paper outlines the benefits achieved by SDONs for network operators, and also some of the important and relevant research problems that need to be addressed.

Network virtualization can eradicate the ossification of the Internet and stimulate innovation of new network architectures and applications. Optical networks are ideal substrates for provisioning high-bandwidth virtual-network services. In this study, we investigate the problem of network virtualization over both WDM and flexible-grid optical networks by formulating the problems as mixed integer linear programs (MILP). Two heuristics, namely MaxMapping and MinMapping , are developed for each kind of network to solve the problem quickly but suboptimally. Numerical examples show that MinMapping consumes fewer spectrum resources than MaxMapping and performs very close to the optimal results derived by the MILP in both kinds of optical networks, by exploring the opportunities of traffic grooming. Also, it is verified that flexible-grid optical networks can be more spectrum efficient than WDM networks as the substrate for network virtualization.

Spectrum elastic optical networks support flexible central frequency and spectrum assignment for lightpaths. When provisioning a new connection in an elastic optical network that allows traffic grooming, the control plane has to solve two problems: the electrical-layer routing and optical-layer routing and spectrum assignment (RSA). The electrical-layer routing determines how to route the new connection through a combination of new and existing lightpaths, while the optical-layer RSA decides how to establish new lightpaths under the spectrum-continuity constraint. The flexibility (e.g., bandwidth variability of lightpaths) provided by elastic optical networks makes it suitable for accommodating dynamic traffic. It is important and challenging to exploit the full potential of the flexibility when dealing with the above two problems. In this study, we propose a multi-layer auxiliary graph to jointly solve the electrical-layer routing and optical-layer RSA. Various traffic-grooming policies (objectives) can be achieved by properly adjusting the edge weights in the auxiliary graph. Also, we propose a spectrum reservation scheme that can efficiently utilize the bandwidth variability of lightpaths by reserving bandwidth for non-fully utilized lightpaths and grooming future connections onto them. We show that there is a tradeoff among different traffic-grooming policies, and the spectrum reservation scheme can be easily incorporated into various traffic-grooming policies and lead to a significant reduction in operational expenditure (OPEX) and better spectrum efficiency.

The SoxC transcription factors (Sox4, Sox11, and Sox12) play important roles in the development of the vertebrate eye and retina. However, their expression and function during retinal and optic nerve regeneration remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the expression and possible functions of the SoxC genes after retinal and optic nerve injury in adult zebrafish. We found that among the five SoxC members, Sox11b was strongly induced in BrdU-positive cells in the inner nuclear layer (INL) after retinal injury, and morpholino-mediated Sox11b-knockdown significantly reduced the number of proliferating cells in the INL at 4 days post-injury. After optic nerve lesion, both Sox11a and Sox11b were strongly expressed in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), and knockdown of both Sox11a and Sox11b inhibited RGC axon regrowth in retinal explants. Our study thus uncovered a novel expression pattern of SoxC family genes after retinal and optic nerve injury, and suggests that they have important functions during retinal and optic nerve regeneration.

The information of phase diagram for the Sm-Zr system is deficient. A diffusion couple and two alloys in Sm-rich side of Sm-Zr system were prepared. The phase equilibrium in the alloys at 800 and 900 °C were determined by scanning electron microscopy, equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray diffraction(XRD). The results show that a peritectic reaction exists in the Sm-rich end. The solubility of Sm in (Zr) was detected to be about 2.4 at.% at 800°C and 2.7 at.% at 900 °C. The solubility of Zr in (Sm) is negligible. No binary compound is detected in the XRD patterns in all samples.

Schwann cells (SCs) are the principal glial cells of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). As a result of tissue heterogeneity and difficulties in the isolation and culture of primary SCs, a considerable understanding of SC biology is obtained from SC lines. However, the differences between the primary SCs and SC lines remain uncertain. In the present study, quantitative proteomic analysis based on isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) labeling was conducted to obtain an unbiased view of the proteomic profiles of primary rat SCs and RSC96, a spontaneously immortalized rat SC line. Out of 1757 identified proteins (FDR < 1%), 1702 were quantified, while 61 and 78 were found to be, respectively, up- or down-regulated (90% confidence interval) in RSC96. Bioinformatics analysis indicated the unique features of spontaneous immortalization, illustrated the dedifferentiated state of RSC96, and highlighted a panel of novel proteins associated with cell adhesion and migration including CADM4, FERMT2, and MCAM. Selected proteomic data and the requirement of these novel proteins in SC adhesion and migration were properly validated. Taken together, our data collectively revealed proteome differences between primary SCs and RSC96, validated several differentially expressed proteins with potential biological significance, and generated a database that may serve as a useful resource for studies of SC biology and pathology.

In this paper, we investigate both static and dynamic traffic grooming problems in a wavelength routing network, so as to minimize the total energy consumption of the core network, with the additional consideration of the holding times of the lightpaths and connection requests. In the static case, all connection requests with their setup and tear-down times are known in advance. We formulate an integer linear programming to minimize the energy consumption. In the dynamic case, we adopt a layered graph model called grooming graph and propose a new traffic grooming heuristics called time-aware traffic grooming, which takes the holding time of a new arrival connection request and the remaining holding time of existing lightpaths into consideration. We compare different traffic grooming policies, in terms of the energy efficiency, under various traffic loads. The results provide implications to select the most energy-efficient traffic grooming policies under various scenarios.

A number of spectroscopic techniques make use of ultra violet (UV) absorbance and luminescence measurements to characterize materials, for use in medical/pharmaceutical applications, for forensic and sensor applications, and for remote detection or monitoring, especially for hazardous environments. Furthermore, many high-power applications in medicine and industry are looking forward to using UV wavelengths. The UV fiber’s mechanical reliability has become one of the most crucial performances with longer length fiber being used. This paper reviews the researched evolvement of the normal single mode fiber’s mechanical reliability. Based on the standard measure method of the normal fiber, the mechanical reliability of the UV fiber has been researched. The measurement results show the difference of mechanical reliability between the different doping composition UV fibers.