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Quercetin, a natural flavonol existing in many food resources, has been reported to be an effective antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agent for restricting the inflammation in periodontitis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of quercetin on Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) stimulated human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs). HGFs were pretreated with quercetin prior to LPS stimulation. Cell viability was evaluated by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The levels of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), along with chemokine interleukin-8 (IL-8), were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, IκBα, p65 subunit of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), liver X receptor α (LXRα), and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) were measured by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The protein levels of IκBα, p-IκBα, p65, p-p65, PPAR-γ, LXRα, and TLR4 were characterized by Western blotting. Our results demonstrated that quercetin inhibited the LPS-induced production of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner. It also suppressed LPS-induced NF-κB activation mediated by TLR4. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory effects of quercetin were reversed by the PPAR-γ antagonist of GW9662. In conclusion, these results suggested that quercetin attenuated the production of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α in P. gingivalis LPS-treated HGFs by activating PPAR-γ which subsequently suppressed the activation of NF-κB.

A triple-channel bandpass filter with switchable and tunable functions is proposed, which is based on a triple-mode cross resonator. The varactors and switching diodes are loaded at the end of the resonator. Because of the use of switches, resonators have four working states: conventional single-mode, two dual-modes, and one triple-mode. The varactor makes the channel independently adjustable. Finally, a triple-channel bandpass filter with switchable and tunable functions is designed by using two identical triple-mode resonator coupling structures. To solve the problem of whether each channel in the multi-channel filter is independently adjustable, this paper gives a simple and rigorous judgment method, namely rank criterion, which is a necessary and sufficient condition for each channel to be independently adjustable. The method of designing an element variable coupling matrix (EVCM) is adopted, which can not only obtain the desired frequency response through adjustable elements but also help to select resonators and coupling modes in the actual circuit design. The final circuit size of the designed filter is 0.29λg × 0.26λg. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulation results.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the risk factors for gastric cancer- (GC-) associated thrombotic diseases in a Han Chinese population. A total of 333 patients diagnosed with GC, 68 with thrombotic diseases included in the case group and the remaining 265 in the control group, were enrolled. The relevant data for the participants, including general information (gender, age, smoking, and drinking), comorbidities (diabetes, hypertension, and anemia), tumor-related data (tumor site, histology, degree of differentiation, and clinical stage), and treatment-related data (surgery, chemotherapy, hormones, transfusion, and peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC)), were collected. Statistically significant factors derived from univariate analyses were then subjected to multivariate logistic regression analyses. The results demonstrate a statistically significant difference in age, diabetes, hypertension, histology, surgery, chemotherapy, and PICC ( P < 0.05 ), compared with control. Age, diabetes, surgery, and PICC serve as independent risk factors for GC-associated thrombotic diseases ( P < 0.05 ). The present work demonstrates that GC-associated thrombotic diseases are significantly associated with age, diabetes, surgery, and PICC, suggesting a potential target for early detection and preventive strategy for GC patients with thrombophilia.

Blockade of hypoxia-caused nonmyocytes apoptosis helps improve survival and mitigate ventricular remodeling and dysfunction during the chronic stage of myocardial infarction. But tools affecting nonmyocyte apoptosis are very rare. Sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC), a naturally occurring bioactive sphingolipid in plasma, was proved to protect cardiomyocyte against apoptosis in an ischemic model in our previous study. Here, we showed that SPC also inhibited hypoxia-induced apoptosis in myofibroblasts, an important type of nonmyocytes in the heart. Calmodulin (CaM) is an identified receptor of SPC. We clarified that SPC inhibited myofibroblast apoptosis through CaM as evidenced by decreased cleaved caspase 3, PARP1 and condensed nucleus. Furthermore, the employment of inhibitor and agonist of p38 and STAT3 suggests that SPC inhibits myofibroblast apoptosis by regulating the phosphorylation of p38 and STAT3, and they act as downstream of CaM. The present work may provide new evidence on the regulation of myofibroblasts apoptosis by SPC and a novel target for heart remodeling after hypoxia.

To reveal the effects of PrPC on cells' biological processes and on gene expression. We established stable DF-1 (PrPC -knockdown (KD)) cells, and combined with DF-1 (wt) and DF-1 (PrPC -overexpression (OE)) cells that we previously established we studied the effects of chicken PrPC (PrPC ) on DF-1 cells' processes. Then by using high throughput sequencing technology (HTS) and bioinformatics, we analyzed the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between these cells. The results show that compared with DF-1 (wt) and DF-1 (PrPC -scramble), DF-1 (PrPC -KD) are significantly decreased in adhesion, proliferation, formation rate of colony and cells number of colony, scratch wound healing rate, cells number of invasion and migration, S phase cell populations, but the apoptosis rate and G1 phase cell populations are significantly increased. Conversely, all of these features in DF-1 (PrPC -OE) are opposite. In addition, compared with DF-1 (wt), we found that there are totally 1055 DE genes between DF-1 (PrPC -KD) and DF-1 (PrPC -OE) cells. After Go and pathway enrichment analysis, we know that these DEGs are significantly enriched in cell, cell part, cellular process, and metabolic pathway. In short, we found that PrPC can promote DF-1 cells' processes except apoptosis. Furthermore, PrPC involves in the focal adhesion, cancer, ribosome, metabolic pathways, and so forth, and the overexpression of PrPC can promote the pathway of amoebiasis, but its down-regulation can promote the pathway of serotonergic synapse. However, the details are keeping unknown and that would be our next research.

Red-fleshed apples are preferred because of their high content of phenolics and antioxidants. In this study, the phenolic characteristics, antioxidant properties, and antihuman cancer cell properties of the four hybrids of Malus sieversii f. niedzwetzkyana (Ledeb.) M. Roem were analyzed. In addition, the antioxidant and anti-proliferation properties of these apples were measured. Compared to "Fuji" apples, the red-fleshed apples were rich in phenolic and flavonoid chemicals, ranging from 1.5- to 2.6-fold and 1.4- to 2.4-fold, respectively. In all antioxidant methods (DPPH radical-scavenging capacity, ABTS radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and cell antioxidant capacity), "A38" obtained the highest antioxidant value, whereas "Fuji" got the lowest antioxidant value. The IC50 values ranged from 33.44 ("A38") to 73.36 mg/mL ("Fuji") for MCF-7 and 20.94 ("A38") to 39.39 mg/mL ("Fuji") for MAD-MB-231. The red-fleshed "A38" and "Meihong" exhibited higher antioxidant and antiproliferative activities in vitro because of the higher levels of phenolics, and the higher potential for development and utilization value. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and antiproliferative activity in vitro of four red-fleshed apple cultivars and one white-fleshed apple cultivar were compared in this study. This information should assist to give a reasonable evaluation for scientists to breed new cultivars with high phenolics and to exploit the natural polyphenol.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants, and the widespread use of PCBs has had adverse effects on human and animal health. This study experiment explored the effects of 2,3′,4,4′,5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB118) on the mammalian reproductive system. PCB118 was administered to pregnant mice from 7.5 to 12.5 days of gestation; F1 mice were obtained and the reproductive system of F1 male mice was examined. PCB118 damaged the reproductive system in male F1 mice, as evidenced by negative effects on the testicular organ coefficient (testes weight/bodyweight), a decrease in the diameter of seminiferous tubules and a significant reduction in the anogenital distance in 35-day-old F1 mice. In addition, methylation levels of genomic DNA were reduced, with reductions in the expression of the DNA methyltransferases DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B, as well as that of the epigenetic regulatory factor ubiquitin like with PHD and ring finger domains 1 (Uhrf1). Together, the results of this study provide compelling evidence that exposure of pregnant mice to PCB118 during primordial germ cell migration in the fetus affects the reproductive system of the offspring and decreases global methylation levels in the testis.

This study examined for the first time the effect on malolactic fermentation of an autochthonous Oenococcus oeni PG-16, which was isolated following alcohol fermentation of red-fleshed apple cider. The chemical composition and volatile characteristics of red-fleshed apple ciders produced via simultaneous and sequential inoculation of yeast with either PG-16 or a commercial O. oeni 1 strain were examined. The fermentations were monitored by measuring cell viability and organic acid metabolism. Irrespective of the inoculation mode, malic acid and citric acid were rapidly degraded in the presence of PG-16 during alcoholic fermentation in comparison with the control. These changes were accompanied by increases in lactic acid, acetic acid, ethyl lactate, acetate esters, pH, fatty acids and terpenes, although higher alcohols were unchanged. Cider obtained after inoculation with PG-16 had a sensory evaluation profile dominated by fruits and floral notes linked to esters, and to butter and creamy notes associated with ethyl lactate and 2,3-butanediol that enhanced the global aromatic intensity. Our findings suggest that simultaneous inoculation using the Excellence XR yeast strain and the O. oeni PG-16 lactic acid bacterial strain is an effective method for preparing red-fleshed apple cider.

Several previous studies have demonstrated the excellent antioxidant activity of fucoxanthin against oxidative stress which is closely related to the pathogenesis of liver diseases. The present work was to investigate whether fucoxanthin could protect human hepatic L02 cells against hydrogen peroxide- (H2O2-) induced oxidative damage. Its effects on H2O2-induced cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage, intracellular reduced glutathione, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents, along with mRNA and protein relative levels of the cytoprotective genes including Nrf2, HO-1, and NQO1, were investigated. The results showed that fucoxanthin could upregulate the mRNA and protein levels of the cytoprotective genes and promote the nuclear translocation of Nrf2, which could be inhibited by the PI3K inhibitor of LY294002. Pretreatment of fucoxanthin resulted in decreased LDH leakage and intracellular ROS content but enhanced intracellular reduced glutathione. Interestingly, pretreatment using fucoxanthin protected against the oxidative damage in a nonconcentration-dependent manner, with fucoxanthin of 5 μM demonstrating the optimal effects. The results suggest that fucoxanthin exerts cytoprotective effects against H2O2-induced oxidative damage in L02 cells, which may be through the PI3K-dependent activation of Nrf2 signaling.

Chronic periodontitis (CP) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases and cytokines play a pivotal role in the regulation of immune response. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) are anti-inflammatory cytokines and several polymorphisms of them have been proved involved in periodontal disease. This study aimed to evaluate whether three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs2070874 and rs2243248 fromIL4and rs1800925 fromIL13, are associated with CP in a Han Chinese population consisting of 440 moderate or severe CP patients and 324 healthy controls. Genomic DNA extracted from buccal epithelial cells of the included participants were genotyped using a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry method. No significant association between rs2070874 or rs1800925 and CP was found, while the frequencies of rs2243248 and two haplotypes C-G-T and C-T-T showed significant differences between the two groups. The results suggest that the polymorphism rs2243248 and haplotypes C-G-T and C-T-T may be associated with CP susceptibility in the present Han Chinese population.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as typical environmental estrogen disruptors, are a structurally-related group of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons that are composed of 209 isomers and present as a mixture in the environment. PCBs congener with different numbers and positions of chlorine atoms substituted on the biphenyl moiety. Aroclor-1254 is a mixture of more than 60 PCB congeners. Previous studies have provided the evidence that PCBs have severe negative effects on reproductive functions, but the effects of PCBs on spindle assembly during mouse oocyte maturation in vitro have not been reported. In the present study, female ICR mouse immature oocytes were cultured in M2 medium with 1 and 10 μg mL-1 Aroclor-1254 separately in vitro. The percentage of germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and the first polar body extrusion were recorded. The results showed no significant difference in the percentage of GVBD or the first polar body extrusion between control oocytes and Aroclor-1254-treated oocytes. Further studies showed that the normal localization of γ-tubulin and Aurora-A kinase was interfered and α-tubulin assembling into spindle was affected when mouse oocytes were exposed to Aroclor-1254. The length of spindle from 10 μg mL-1 Aroclor-1254-treated oocytes was longer than that from control oocytes, and the spindle area in the Aroclor-1254-treated groups were decreased. Furthermore, the percentage of DNA damage in cumulus cells revealed an increase after exposed to Aroclor-1254. These results will provide the important reference for the prevention of reproductive disorders caused by PCBs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 31: 1652-1662, 2016.

Recent observations have indicated that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can reduce the number of antral follicles and increase follicular atresia. However, the effect of PCBs on follicles at each developmental stage and its underlying mechanism remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of PCB commercial mixtures (Aroclor 1254) on follicles at four developmental stages and apoptosis of mouse granulosa cells in vivo. Aroclor 1254 was administered to ICR female mice by intraperitoneal injection at the dose of 4, 20 and 100 mg kg−1 b.w. once every 3 days for five times. The number of follicles, the percentage of apoptosis and the ultrastructure of granulosa cells were determined. The results showed that Aroclor 1254 reduced the number of primordial and antral follicles in a dose-dependent manner and increased the apoptosis of granulosa cells in the mice treated with 20 mg kg−1 and 100 mg kg−1 Aroclor 1254. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that mitochondrial dysfunction occurred in the granulosa cells of mice treated with 100 mg kg−1 Aroclor 1254. Finally, treatment of mice with Aroclor 1254 significantly reduced the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA and increased the ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 mRNA in granulosa cells. Based on these results, we concluded that exposure to Aroclor 1254 impaired the development of follicle (primordial follicle excluded), possibly via the induction of apoptosis mainly in granulosa cells. These findings suggest that PCB pollutants may cause premature ovarian failure and infertility of humans.

To reveal the effects of PrP

In view of the difficulty of designing a high-order linear phase filter with prototype parameters directly, this paper proposes a new approach to rapidly construct a high order linear phase filter through cascading two same low-order linear phase filters. A twelve-order HTSC cascaded linear phase filter is fabricated on YBCO/LaAlO3/YBCO substrate with the dimension of 44.1mm ×31.4mm. The measured result shows that the filter has a 56 MHz passband at a center frequency of 1993 MHz. The minimum insertion loss in the passband is 0.59 dB. The group delay variation in passband is less than 5 ns over 78.5% of the filter bandwidth which is in good agree with the simulation result.

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is involved in the immune response and bone metabolism, both of which are implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic periodontitis (CP). In this study, we investigated the association between the VDR single nucleotide polymorphism rs2228570 and CP susceptibility in a Han Chinese population consisting of 440 moderate or severe CP patients and 324 controls. Genomic DNA was extracted from buccal epithelial cells and genotyped using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight-mass spectrometry. No significant difference in allelic or genotypic frequencies distributions for rs2228570 was found between CP patients and controls. In conclusion, we found no statistically significant association between rs2228570 and CP in our population.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as typical environmental estrogen disruptors, are a structurally-related group of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons that are composed of 209 isomers and present as a mixture in the environment. PCBs congener with different numbers and positions of chlorine atoms substituted on the biphenyl moiety. Aroclor-1254 is a mixture of more than 60 PCB congeners. Previous studies have provided the evidence that PCBs have severe negative effects on reproductive functions, but the effects of PCBs on spindle assembly during mouse oocyte maturation in vitro have not been reported. In the present study, female ICR mouse immature oocytes were cultured in M2 medium with 1 and 10 μg mL

Cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) is ubiquitously expressed in the cytomembrane of a considerable number of eukaryotic cells. Although several studies have investigated the functions of PrP(C) in cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, and tumorigenesis of mammals, the correlated functions of chicken PrP(C) (chPrP(C)) remain unknown. In this study, stable chPrP(C)-downregulated Marek's disease (MD) virus-transformed avian T cells (MSB1-SiRNA-3) were established by introducing short interfering RNA (SiRNA) targeting chicken prion protein genes. We found that downregulation of chPrP(C) inhibits proliferation, invasion, and migration, and induces G1 cell cycle phase arrest and apoptosis of MSB1-SiRNA-3 cells compared with Marek's disease virus-transformed avian T cells (MSB1) and negative control cells. To the best of our knowledge, the present study provides the first evidence supporting the positive correlation between the expression level of chPrP(C) and the proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of MSB1 cells, but appears to protect MSB1 cells from apoptosis, which suggests it functions in the formation and development of MD tumors. This evidence may contribute to future research into the specific molecular mechanisms of chPrP(C) in the formation and development of MD tumors.

An iterative algorithm is provided with a superlinear convergence, without a calculation of the derivative. By means of the three-point quadratic interpolation in optimization technology, the solution to nonlinear equation can be turned into that of the extreme evaluation of function g(x)=[f(x)]^2.

This paper concerns with the problem of solving non-linear equation. It is shown that solving non-linear equation is equivalent to the evaluation extremum of funtion. In terms of unconstrained optimization using steepest descent method, we propose an algorithm for solving non-linear equation. It is shown that the proposed algorithm has the same convergence rate as the secant method. Several numerical experiments are also provided to demonstrate the effect of the proposed algorithm.

To investigate the correlation between 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 7 genes and periodontitis of susceptibility in Shanghai Chinese patients.Genotypes of randomly grouped 50 health control subjects and 48 patients with chronic periodontitis were genotyped by MALDI-TOF MS detection system. A questionnaire, medical history, family history, signs, laboratory tests, treatment, follow-up information were collected. Statistical analysis of Chi-square test was performed using SPSS13.0 software package.In the screening of the 12 target SNPs,the GG genotype of rs2891168 correlated significantly with periodontitis, OR=3.071(95%CI:1.018-9.260,P=0.046).The GG genotype of rs2891168 may correlate significantly with periodontitis of Shanghai Chinese patients and further studies are needed to verify this finding. Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai Municipality (Grant No.10ZR1425900) and Research Fund of Bureau of Health of Shanghai Municipality (Grant No.2009202).

To investigate the dynamic changes of alpha-tubulin, beta-tubulin and beta-actin in sciatic nerve of hen with organophosphorus ester-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN).OPIDN was induced in 10-month-old Roman hens by daily subcutaneous administration of 30 mg/kg methamidophos for 15 days. Hens were sacrificed 2, 10, and 23 days respectively after manifesting neuropathy. The sciatic nerves were dissected, homogenized and used for the determination of the alpha-tubulin, beta-tubulin and beta-actin levels by western blotting.The levels of alpha-tubulin in supernatant of sciatic nerves were decreased by 6%, 15% and 25% respectively on day 2, 10 and 23 respectively, while those in pellet remained almost unchanged. beta-tubulin were decreased by 27%, 6%, 19% in pellet and 1%, 21%, 22% in supernatant of sciatic nerves on 2, 10 and 23 days. Beta-actin level in pellet of sciatic nerve increased by 24%, 48% and 17% on day 2, 10 and 23, and little changes were observed in supernatant.Methamidophos may induced changes of alpha-tubulin, beta-tubulin and beta-actin levels in sciatic nerve of hen, which may be one of the mechanism of the contribution to the occurrence and development of OPIDN.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are stable, lipophilic compounds that accumulate in the environment and in the food chain. Though some studies provided evidence that PCBs had adverse effects on reproductive function, most of these results were from in vitro models. Therefore we investigated the effect of Aroclor 1254 (a commercial PCBs mixture) treatments on in vivo maturation and developmental potential of mouse oocytes. In the present study, female ICR mice were treated with different doses (12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg) of Aroclor 1254 (a commercial PCB mixture) once every 72 hours by intraperitoneal injection for 9 days. After three treatments of Aroclor 1254, the mice were superovulated to collect oocytes one day after the last exposure. The effects of Aroclor 1254 on oocyte maturation, fertilization, and preimplantation embryonic development were investigated. Immunofluorescence-stained oocytes were observed under a confocal microscope to assess the effects of Aroclor 1254 on spindle morphology. Parthenogenic activation and the incidence of cumulus apoptosis in cumulus-oocyte complexes were observed as well. Oocytes exposed to different doses of Aroclor 1254 in vivo were associated with a significant decrease in outgrowth potential, abnormal spindle configurations, and the inhibition of parthenogenetic activation of ovulated oocytes. Furthermore, the incidence of apoptosis in cumulus cells was increased after exposed to Aroclor 1254. These results may provide reference for the treatment of reproductive diseases such as infertility or miscarriage caused by environmental contaminants.