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Nephrotoxicity is a major adverse reaction of cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Organic cation transporter 2 (OCT2) which is located on the basement membrane of human proximal renal tubules is responsible for the renal accumulation of cisplatin and its nephrotoxicity. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of PPIs to CP-induced nephrotoxicity. Three kinds of PPIs including lansoprazole, omeprazole and rabeprazole (Rab) were co-administrated with CP to mice. In addition, OCT2-overexpressed HEK293, HK-2 and A549 cells were co-incubated with CP and PPIs. The results showed that PPIs can attenuate CP-induced increase of CRE, BUN and histological damage of kidney. Among the three PPIs, Rab was found with a superior protective effect. It significantly reduced the accumulation of CP in OCT2-overexpressed HEK293 cells and in the renal cortex tissues of mice, but not in HK-2 cells. Moreover, Rab reduced the expression levels of cleaved-caspase-3, RIPK1, RIPK3, MLKL and p-MLKL and the apoptosis rate of renal tubular cells induced by CP in vivo, but not in HK-2 cells. However, Rab increased the viability of CP-treated cells in a concentration-dependent manner and attenuated CP-induced apoptosis and necroptosis in OCT2 over-expressed HEK293 cells. Finally, we demonstrated that Rab have no influence on the antitumor effect of CP. In conclusion, Rab attenuate CP-induced nephrotoxicity mainly through inhibiting OCT2-mediated CP uptake, without interfering with its anti-tumor property of inducing apoptosis and necroptosis.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the interaction between internal factors of corporate governance, especially the relationship between equity checks and balances and corporate social responsibility (CSR), and further analyze the mediating of green innovation performance and the moderating role of environmental uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2012 to 2020 constructed a regulated mediation effect model, empirically tests the impact of equity checks and balances on CSR and the mediation and mediator roles of green innovation performance and environmental uncertainty.Findings(1) Equity checks and balances among shareholders have a significant positive impact on CSR. (2) Equity checks and balances have a positive impact on green innovation performance, green innovation performance has a positive impact on CSR and green innovation performance plays a partial mediation effect between equity checks and balances and CSR. (3) Additionally, environmental uncertainty not only moderates the relationship between Green Innovation Performance and CSR but also moderates the direct effect between equity balance and CSR, which verifies the existence of a moderated mediation effect.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only considers listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets as the research sample and does not include unlisted and gem enterprises.Practical implicationsThe present research can offer some managerial implications about implementing equity checks and balances among shareholders, actively fulfilling CSR and developing new products.Social implicationsThis study complements previous studies on the role of green innovation in corporate governance by exploring the impact of green innovation on equity checks and balances and CSR. And this study explores the dynamic moderating of environmental uncertainty within enterprises and provides another explanation for the mixed results of equity checks and balances, green innovation performance and CSR.Originality/valueBy demonstrating the influence of the ownership structure of A-shares listed companies on CSR, this paper provides a new and comprehensive theoretical framework to examine the interaction between equity checks and balances, green innovation performance, environmental uncertainty and CSR. The results can be used as a reference for corporate governance, improving innovation performance and fulfilling CSR.

Recently, composting cultivation method is widely used in oyster mushroom production. In this study, we focused on the effects of composting processes on nutritional qualities and antioxidant activity of Pleurotus floridanus mushroom fruiting bodies. Three treatments of different composting time (2, 4, and 5 days) were performed with an atmospheric sterilization treatment as the control. The results showed that the pH value, total carbon content, and total nitrogen content of substrate were critical parameters which would significantly affect mushroom qualities and bioactivities. Fruiting bodies of the control demonstrated significantly higher crude protein content, total amino acid content, and essential amino acid content than that of composting treatments. Moreover, fruiting bodies of treatment D4 and D5 manifested significantly higher crude polysaccharide contents. Crude polysaccharide of treatment D4 represented the highest scavenging ability toward both radical 3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS·

In recent decades, renal disease research has witnessed remarkable advances. Experimental evidence in this field has highlighted the role of inflammation in kidney disease. Epigenetic dynamics and immunometabolic reprogramming underlie the alterations in cellular responses to intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli; these factors determine cell identity and cell fate decisions and represent current research hotspots. This review focuses on recent findings and emerging concepts in epigenetics and inflammatory regulation and their effect on renal diseases. This review aims to summarize the role and mechanisms of different epigenetic modifications in renal inflammation and injury and provide new avenues for future research on inflammation-related renal disease and drug development.

A short-term composting process to prepare substrate is an effective way to cultivate oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.), which can increase the yield of mushrooms and lower the rate of contamination in non-industrialized cultivation. Moreover, it is different from the traditional composting processes for fertilizers and lacks systematic study, such as microbial succession and compost quality. In this study, a series of different tests of composting duration (0, 2, 4 and 5 d) were performed. A composting duration of 4-5 d over 58 °C was suitable for mushroom cultivation based on the biological efficiency (BE) range of 69.76-73.41 % and the contamination rate of 0 %. The content of total carbon (TC) continuously decreased during composting, while the content of total nitrogen (TN) reacted in an opposite matter. The final TN and C/N ratios were 1.89 % and 28/1, respectively, which fell well within the optimal range of nutritional requirements for oyster mushroom cultivation. The composting bacteria were more diverse than the fungal species. Caldibacillus, Thermobispora, Thermopolyspora, Thermobacillus and Ureibacillus were the predominant bacterial genera during the thermophilic stage. Co-occurrence patterns of microbial communities and physicochemical properties were performed using a network analysis, which indicated that bacteria can play more efficient roles than fungi in the degradation of organic matter. The structural equation model showed that composting duration significantly affected bacterial diversity, lignocellulose degradation rates, and BE. The correlations between bioinformatics parameters with composting characters and agronomic traits were determined by the Mantel test and showed that the induction of bacterial diversity over time rapidly activated carbon metabolism during short-term composting. This study provides a new idea of agro-waste composting for mushroom cultivation.

Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been frequently reported to be involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and progression. However, the role of circRNAs in hepatic fibrosis (HF) is still unclear. Our previous high-throughput screen revealed changes in many circRNAs in mice with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced HF. For instance, the expression of circPSD3, a circRNA derived from the Pleckstrin and Sec7 domain-containing 3 (PSD3) gene, was considerably downregulated in primary hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and liver tissues of mice with CCl4-induced HF compared to those in the vehicle group. In vivo overexpression of circPSD3 using AAV8-circPSD3 arrested the deterioration of CCl4-induced HF as indicated by reduced serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) content, liver hydroxyproline level, collagen deposition, and pro-fibrogenic gene and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. Moreover, in vitro loss-of-function and gain-of-function analyses suggested that circPSD3 inhibited the activation and proliferation of HSCs. Mechanistically, circPSD3 served as a sponge for miR-92b-3p, subsequently promoting the expression of Smad7. In conclusion, our present findings reveal a novel mechanism by which circPSD3 alleviates hepatic fibrogenesis by targeting the miR-92b-3p/Smad7 axis, and they also indicate that circPSD3 may serve as a potential biomarker for HF., Graphical Abstract, Jun Li and colleagues found that circPSD3 regulates the activation and proliferation of HSCs in hepatic fibrosis through modulating the miR-92b-3p/Smad7 axis. This study suggests the therapeutic potential of circPSD3 in hepatic fibrosis and provides a novel idea for treating hepatic fibrosis.

Renal fibrosis, a common feature of chronic kidney disease, causes the progressive loss of renal function, in which TGF-β

In order to prepare the absorbable medical textile material with different degradation rates, two biopolymers of poly L-lactic acid (PLLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) with different degradation rates, were mixed in different proportions, and made into PLLA/PCL masterbatch. The experiment of degradation in vitro was conducted to reveal the degradation behaviour of PLLA/PCL masterbatch, and the characteristics of masterbatch in degradation, such as surface morphol- ogy, chemical structure, crystallization, mass loss and strength, were analyzed. The results indicated that the surface of PLLA/PCL masterbatch was etched in degradation, and the larger proportion of PCL, the less etching and slower degra- dation. The ester bonds were hydrolyzed firstly, and the crystallization region in PLLA/PCL masterbatch was destroyed gradually to form a non-crystalline region in degradation. The degradation rate of PLLA in composite masterbatch was faster than that of PCL. With increasing of PCL involved in masterbatch, the mass loss rate of masterbatch in degrada- tion decreased. In addition, the more PCL involved in composite masterbatch, the lower breaking strength.

The novel biomarker, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7), is used clinically to predict different types of acute kidney injury (AKI) and has drawn significant attention as a urinary biomarker. However, as a secreted protein in the circulation of patients with AKI, it is unclear whether IGFBP7 acts as a key regulator in AKI progression, and if mechanisms underlying its upregulation still need to be determined. Here we found that IGFBP7 is highly expressed in the blood and urine of patients and mice with AKI, possibly via a c-Jun-dependent mechanism, and is positively correlated with kidney dysfunction. Global knockout of IGFBP7 ameliorated kidney dysfunction, inflammatory responses, and programmed cell death in murine models of cisplatin-, kidney ischemia/reperfusion-, and lipopolysaccharide-induced AKI. IGFBP7 mainly originated from kidney tubular epithelial cells. Conditional knockout of IGFBP7 from the kidney protected against AKI. By contrast, rescue of IGFBP7 expression in IGFBP7-knockout mice restored kidney damage and inflammation. IGFBP7 function was determined in vitro using recombinant IGFBP7 protein, IGFBP7 knockdown, or overexpression. Additionally, IGFBP7 was found to bind to poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase 1 (PARP1) and inhibit its degradation by antagonizing the E3 ubiquitin ligase ring finger protein 4 (RNF4). Thus, IGFBP7 in circulation acts as a biomarker and key mediator of AKI by inhibiting RNF4/PARP1-mediated tubular injury and inflammation. Hence, over-activation of the IGFBP7/PARP1 axis represents a promising target for AKI treatment.

Although renal fibrosis is a common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD), effective options for its treatment are currently limited. In this study, we evaluated the renal protective effect and possible mechanism of eleutheroside B. In order to solve the allergic reactions, side effects, and low oral bioavailability of eleutheroside B, we successfully prepared PLGA (poly [lactic-co-glycolic acid])-eleutheroside B nanoparticles (NPs) with the diameter of about 128 nm. In vitro and in vivo results showed that eleutheroside B could inhibit expression levels of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and collagen I. Molecular docking results showed that eleutheroside B bound to Smad3 and significantly decreased the expression of phospho-Smad3 (p-Smad3). Silencing Smad3 reversed the fibrotic protective effect of eleutheroside B in HK2 cells. Furthermore, small animal imaging showed that NPs can selectively accumulate in the UUO kidneys of mice, and retention time reached as long as 7 days. In conclusion, our results suggested that eleutheroside B is a potential drug to protect renal fibrosis and PLGA-eleutheroside B NPs could facilitate specific targeted therapy for renal fibrosis.

Stratifin (SFN) is a member of the 14-3-3 family of highly conserved soluble acidic proteins, which regulates a variety of cellular activities such as cell cycle, cell growth and development, cell survival and death, and gene transcription. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is prevalent disorder characterized by inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and programmed cell death in renal tubular epithelial cells, but there is still a lack of effective therapeutic target for AKI. In this study, we investigated the role of SFN in AKI and the underlying mechanisms. We established ischemic and nephrotoxic AKI mouse models caused by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) and cisplatin, respectively. We conducted proteomic and immunohistochemical analyses and found that SFN expression levels were significantly increased in AKI patients, cisplatin- or I/R-induced AKI mice. In cisplatin- or hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-treated human proximal tubule epithelial cells (HK2), we showed that knockdown of SFN significantly reduced the expression of kidney injury marker Kim-1, attenuated programmed cell death and inflammatory response. Knockdown of SFN also significantly alleviated the decline of renal function and histological damage in cisplatin-caused AKI mice in vivo. We further revealed that SFN bound to RIPK3, a key signaling modulator in necroptosis, to induce necroptosis and the subsequent inflammation in cisplatin- or H/R-treated HK2 cells. Overexpression of SFN increased Kim-1 protein levels in cisplatin-treated MTEC cells, which was suppressed by RIPK3 knockout. Taken together, our results demonstrate that SFN that enhances cisplatin- or I/R-caused programmed cell death and inflammation via interacting with RIPK3 may serve as a promising therapeutic target for AKI treatment.

Short-term composting of raw materials for preparing oyster mushroom cultivation media is widely used in China, and its microbial mechanism needs to be further studied. 11-days' peach sawdust-based composting was performed to evaluate material conversion and microbial succession using physicochemical analysis and 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing. Composting bacteria demonstrated much higher abundance than fungi. Firmicutes, Actinobacteriota, and Proteobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla, while most of fungal species belonged to Ascomycota. Moisture was the key factor at the beginning, while total nitrogen, temperature, and lignin became main influencing factors for composting maturity. Actinobacteriota, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria of bacterial phyla, Eurotiomycetes and Sordariomycetes of fungal classes involved in lignocellulosic degradation. Bacterial function prediction analysis showed that carbohydrate metabolism and amino acid metabolism were the main metabolic pathways. These results confer a better understanding of material and microbial succession during short-term composting and also provide valuable utilization in mushroom industry.

A large number of electronic devices could generate a lot of electromagnetic waves, which could interfere with other equipment and harm the human body. Therefore, an electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI) material is urgently needed to protect the human body and the electronic equipment. In this paper, the multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and the nano-Fe3O4 were added into the polylactic acid (PLA) matrix to form the composite film with electromagnetic interference shielding performance. And the structure and properties of MWCNTs/Fe3O4/PLA composite films, such as the morphology, chemical structure, crystallization, mechanical property, conductive property, magnetic property and electromagnetic interference shielding property, were researched. The result shows that too much Fe3O4 could lead to agglomeration, and the coupling agent KH570 had grafted and modified the surface of MWCNTs. The MWCNTs and nano-Fe3O4 could increase the crystallinity of PLA matrix. With the increase of MWCNTs, the maximum tensile stress of composite films gradually increased, and the maximum tensile strain decreased, and the resistance value showed a significant downward trend. The Fe3O4 could improve the magnetic properties of composite film. The MWCNTs and Fe3O4 could improve the electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency (EMI SE). The MWCNTs played a more significant role than the Fe3O4 in the process of EMI, and the EMI SE of the composite film with 3:1 ratios of MWCNTs/Fe3O4 could rise to 22 dB.

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common carcinoma among men worldwide which results in 26% of leading causes of cancer-related death. However, the ideal and effective molecular marker remains elusive. CircRNA, initially observed in plant-infected viruses and Sendai virus in 1979, is generated from pre-mRNA back-splicing and comes in to play by adequate expression. The differential expression in prostate tissues compared with the control reveals the promising capacity in modulating processes including carcinogenesis and metastasis. However, the biological mechanisms of regulatory network in PC needs to systemically concluded. In this review, we enlightened the comprehensive studies on the definite mechanisms of circRNAs affecting tumor progression and metastasis. What's more, we validated the potential clinical application of circRNAs serving as diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. The discussion and analysis in circRNAs will broaden our knowledge of the pathogenesis of PC and further optimize the current therapies against different condition.

Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the major cell type involved in the deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) during the development of hepatic fibrosis. In this study, we revealed that left-right determination factor 2 (LEFTY2), one of the proteins belonging to the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) protein superfamily, was remarkedly decreased in human hepatic fibrosis tissues and in a carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis mouse model. In addition, TGF-β1 treatment markedly reduced the level of LEFTY2 in HSCs. Importantly, overexpression of LEFTY2 suppressed the activation and proliferation of HSCs. LEFTY2 inhibited the expression of TGF-β1-induced fibrosis-associated genes (α-SMA and COL1a1) in human (LX-2) and rat (HSC-T6) HSC cell lines in vitro. Mechanistically, we demonstrated, for the first time, the role of LEFTY2 in inhibiting TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling, suggesting that there is a mutual antagonism between LEFTY2 and TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling during liver fibrosis. Similarly, we observed that LEFTY2 has a negative effect on its downstream genes, including c-MYC, CDK4, and cyclin D1, in liver fibrosis. Collectively, our data strongly indicated that LEFTY2 plays an important role in controlling the proliferation and activation of HSCs in the progression of liver fibrosis and this could be a potential therapeutic target for its treatment.

The associations of air pollution with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have not yet been fully studied. We enrolled 8,497 Taipei City residents older than 65 years and calculated the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using the Taiwanese Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. Proteinuria was assessed via dipstick on voided urine. CKD prevalence and risk of progression were defined according to the KDIGO 2012 guidelines. Land-use regression models were used to estimate the participants’ one-year exposures to PM of different sizes and traffic-related exhaust, PM2.5 absorbance, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and NOx. Generalized linear regressions and logistic regressions were used to examine the associations of one-year air pollution exposures with eGFR, proteinuria, CKD prevalence and risk of progression. The results showed that the interquartile range (IQR) increments of PM2.5 absorbance (0.4 × 10−5/m) and NO2 (7.0 μg/m3) were associated with a 1.07% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.54–1.57] and 0.84% (95% CI: 0.37–1.32) lower eGFR, respectively; such relationships were magnified in subjects who had an eGFR >60 ml/min/1.73 m2 or who were non-diabetic. Similar associations were also observed for PM10 and PM2.5-10. Two-pollutant models showed that PM10 and PM2.5 absorbance were associated with a lower eGFR. The odd ratios (ORs) of CKD prevalence and risk of progression also increased with exposures to PM2.5 absorbance and NO2. In summary, one-year exposures to traffic-related air pollution were associated with lower eGFR, higher CKD prevalence, and increased risk of CKD progression among the elderly population. Air pollution-related impaired renal function was stronger in non-CKD and non-diabetic subjects.

Studies evaluating possible associations between long-term exposure to air pollution and inflammatory and thrombotic markers are limited.From 2009 to 2011, we monitored hematologic parameters and thrombotic markers in 402 volunteers 35-65 years of age who were recruited as the non-coronary heart disease (CHD) controls in a study of work-related factors and CHD in Taipei. We applied land-use regression models developed by the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects to estimate the mean annual exposure of each participant to five air pollutants at their residence in Taipei, namely particulate matter (PM) of diameter10 μm (PM10) and 2.5 μm (PM2.5), the absorbance of PM2.5 (PM2.5 abs), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and nitrogen oxide (NOx).The mean annual exposures were 47.82 ± 4.78 µg/m for PM10, 29.08 ± 5.10 µg/m for PM2.5, and 2.04 ± 0.37 (10 m) for PM2.5 abs. Multivariate linear regression analyses showed that the mean percentage (95% confidence interval) of blood monocyte counts increased by 9.08% (1.61%, 16.54%) per 10 µg/m increase in PM10, by 16.28% (6.66%, 25.89%) per 1.0 × 10 m increase in PM2.5 abs, by 8.28% (2.08%, 14.48%) per 20 µg/m increase in NO2, and by 2.84% (1.22%, 4.46%) per 10 µg/m increase in NOx. In addition, each 5 μg/m increase in PM2.5 was associated with 1.97% (0.02%, 3.92%) increases in fibrinogen.Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution is positively associated with subclinical inflammatory and thrombotic markers in middle-aged workers in Taipei.

Background: Studies on the effect of air pollutions on kidney diseases are still limited. Objective: We aimed to investigate the associations between particulate matter (PM) exposures and renal function among adults. Methods: We recruited 21,656 adults as participants from 2007 to 2009. The Taiwanese Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation was used to derive the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Subjects with an eGFR lower than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 were defined as having chronic kidney disease (CKD). Land use regression (LUR) models were used to estimate individual exposures to PM with an aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm (PM10), coarse particles (PMCoarse), fine particles (PM2.5), and PM2.5Absorbance. Generalized linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate the associations between PM exposure and renal function. Results: An IQR increase in PM10 (5.83 μg/m3) was negatively associated with eGFR by –0.69 (95% CI: –0.89, –0.48) mL/min/1.73 m2 and positively associated with the prevalence of CKD with adjusted OR = 1.15 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.23). An IQR increase in PMCoarse (6.59 μg/m3) was significantly associated with lower eGFR by –1.07 (95% CI: –1.32, –0.81) mL/min/1.73 m2 and CKD with OR = 1.26 (95% CI: 1.15, 1.38). In contrast, neither outcome was significantly associated with PM2.5 or PM2.5Absorbance. Stratified analyses indicated that associations of CKD with both PM10 and PMCoarse were limited to participants < 65 years of age, and were stronger (for PM10) or limited to (PMCoarse) women. Associations also appeared to be stronger in those without (vs. with) hypertension, and in normal versus overweight participants. Conclusions: Exposure during the previous year to PM10 and PMCoarse, but not PM2.5 or PM2.5Absorbance, was associated with reduced renal function among Taiwanese adults. Citation: Yang YR, Chen YM, Chen SY, Chan CC. 2017. Associations between long-term particulate matter exposure and adult renal function in the Taipei metropolis. Environ Health Perspect 125:602–607; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP302

The purpose of this study is to explore the association between proximity to open space and adult renal function. This was a cross-sectional study. Adult residents of Taipei metropolis were recruited in the analysis. The proximity of each subject to open space was measured using the Geographic Information System. Residents were divided into two groups: with and without chronic kidney disease (CKD). We made univariable comparisons between the two groups. The logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio of CKD. Forest plot was used to examine the effect of interaction between distance to open space and subgroup variable on CKD. A total number of 21,656 subjects with mean age 53.6 years were enrolled in the study. Of the subjects, 2226 (10.28%) had CKD. The mean and standard deviation of distance to open space were 117.23 m and 80.19 m, respectively. Every 100 m distance to open space was associated with an odds ratio of 1.071 for CKD. Subgroup analysis revealed that residents of female, without hypertension, or without impaired fasting glucose (IFG) living more than 200 m from open spaces have greater odds of CKD than those living less than 200 m. Conclusions: Proximity to open space was associated with a lower prevalence of CKD among adults in Taiwan. Such association was enhanced among females and healthy adults without hypertension or impaired fasting glucose (IFG).

Deep learning is a hot topic in the field of machine learning, which provides a new method for the nondestructive testing of bolt anchorage. Aiming at the importance of identifying the type of bolt defects, this paper proposes a DS-DBN-SVM(Differential Search-Deep belief network-Support vector machine) model for identifying the type of bolt anchorage defects. The DS algorithm is used to optimize the weights and thresholds of the DBN network. The original acceleration signal of the anchor is used as the input of the DS-DBN model to extract the high-level features of the signal. Finally, the SVM classffier is used for defect identification. To assess the effectiveness of the method, and compare it with the traditional classification methods. The results show that the defect recognition effect of this method is better than the traditional defect recognition method, and the recognition rate reaches 95.45%.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the mechanism by which adenosine receptors (ARs)-mediated the cAMP/PKA/CREB signal pathway regulates the activation of acetaldehyde-induced hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Primary HSCs were isolated from SD rats, cultured in vitro, and activated with different concentrations of acetaldehyde at different time points. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to quantify both protein and mRNA levels of the four AR (A1R, A2AR, A2BR, and A3R) in rat HSCs. Selective inhibitors of PDEs and the Gi/o protein pathway, general AR agonists, and AR subtype specific agents were used to study the AR signaling. The level of cAMP was measured by radio-immunoassay, and the expression of α-SMA, collagen type I and III, PKA and p-CREB were also detected by Western blotting. Acetaldehyde could significantly promote HSC proliferation, with a maximum stimulatory effect observed at 48 h after exposure to 200 μM acetaldehyde. All four AR subtypes could be present in rat HSCs, and the mRNA and protein expression levels for A2AR and A1R in much greater abundance than those for A2BR and A3R. The expression of A2AR and A1R was significantly increased in acetaldehyde-induced HSCs as compared with that of control group, whereas the expression of A2BR and A3R remained unaffected by the addition of acetaldehyde. Curiously, there is coupling of A2AR to the Gs-AC signaling, as well as coupling of A1R to the Gi/o-AC signaling pathway in acetaldehyde-induced HSCs. Both the A2AR and A1R antagonists could suppress the activation of HSC, although they have opposing effects on cAMP signal transduction. These results suggested that a combination of cAMP/PKA/CREB signals via A2AR and A1R likely mediate the activation of acetaldehyde-induced HSCs, and A1R coupled to the Gi/o-AC signaling pathway may be masked by the more predominant A2AR that coupled to the Gs-AC signaling pathway.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a potent stimulator of inflammatory responses in alveolar macrophages (AMs), activates several intracellular signaling pathways, including mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK). In the present study, we investigated the MAPK pathway in AMs of chronic bronchitis (CB) rats. CB was induced by endotracheal instillation of LPS followed by Bacillus Calmette Guerin injection through the caudal vein 1 week later. Specific inhibitors were used and protein phosphorylations were detected by Western blot. We found that Genistein (PTK inhibitor) could inhibit protein kinase C (PKC), phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt or PKB) MAPK signaling pathway with different degrees, LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor) could not only inhibit phospho-PI3K/Akt expression, but also inhibit p38 and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinases (JNK) phosphorylation. Calphostin C (PKC inhibitor) could inhibit phospho-PKC expression and exerted significant effects on extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) phosphorylation, however, it had no impact on p38 and JNK phosphorylation. These results demonstrated that the LPS mediated signaling pathway of MAPK in AMs of CB rats could be described as follows: PTK-PI3K-Akt-JNK/p38 or PTK-PI3K-PKC-ERK, and PI3K may have a negative regulation on the activation of downstream proteins.

In the era of Web2.0, people in the social network make up a complex relationship called group by communicating with others, such as forward or comment. Such networks are typically abundant with valuable information which can be mined. We use data mining technology to analyze the network group structure based on different topics, divide the network group into multiple sub-communities, analyze sentimenttendency of different communities, views and frequentpatterns, and present the overall characteristics of whole group visually to the users to help them make decisions.

Using the pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD) model, this study seeks to extend existing knowledge about consumers' activities in online retail environments by focusing on the largely ignored role of perceived dominance. In online environments, perceived dominance might influence purchasing intentions both directly and indirectly through pleasure. Furthermore, consumers' perceptions of Web site atmospherics (informativeness, navigational cues, perceived organization, and entertainment) likely affect two dimensions of emotion (perceived dominance and arousal). This study also investigates the moderating effects of situational involvement on the relationships among the PAD dimensions for online consumers. The results affirm that perceived dominance has direct effects on purchasing intentions, as well as indirect impacts through pleasure. The impact of perceived dominance on pleasure also is moderated by situational involvement. Whereas high task-relevant cues exert significant effects on perceived dominance, low task-relevant cues influence arousal. Therefore, this research shows that perceived dominance relates to online customers' purchasing intentions, which represents an extension of existing knowledge about the PAD model applied online; it also provides notable managerial implications for e-marketers.

In this paper, we report on the novel design, fabrication and performance tests for a polymer-based flexible flat heat pipe (FHP) with a bending angle in the range of 15–90°. Each heat pipe is 4 mm thick, 20 mm wide and 80 mm long, with two layers of No. 250 copper mesh as the wicking material. A copper/silicone rubber hybrid structure is designed and fabricated to achieve the flexibility of the heat pipe. Thermal characteristics are measured and studied for de-ionized water under different working conditions. Experimental results reveal that a bending angle of 15° on the vertical plane has a better thermal performance than those of heat pipes with/without bending. In addition, a higher power of 12.67 W can be transferred/delivered.

The antioxidant substance in black onion was identified. The assays that used 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2`-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazo line-6-sulphonic acid) () radicals showed that the ethyl acetate fraction of black onion methanol extract had a higher level of radical-scavenging activity than the other fractions. Two antioxidative compounds were purified and isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction via column chromatographies of silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 using the guided DPPH radical-scavenging assay. The isolated compounds were identified as 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (1) and quercetin (2) based on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. The isolated compounds showed a high level of DPPH and ABTS+ radical-scavenging activity. Compound 2 had a higher level of radical-scavenging activity than 1.

The antioxidant activities of the ethanol, methanol, and water extracts of black onion were investigated. The highest extraction yield (28.56%) and total polyphenol content (13.5 mg/g) were found in the water extract. The water extract also showed the highest protective effect on the RAW 264.7 cell anti-inflammatory activity, and the water and ethanol extracts showed the highest reducing power. The water extract showed higher DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities (65.98 and 89.69%, respectively) than the other solvent extracts (ethanol, 47.77%; methanol, 66.12%). Hence, black onion can be used as a potent natural antioxidative source.

The main objective of this study was to manufacture black onions using different methods, and to analyze the color and physiological and antioxidant activities of their water extracts. Black onions were produced via high-temperature aging (70, 80, and ). At , onions with different weights (large, 90-L; medium, 90-M; and small, 90-S) and small onions with different appearances (whole, 90-S-W; cut, 90-S-C; and peeled, 90-S-P) were also produced. The colorimetry measurements showed that the extract from the 90-S-C black onion had the highest value among all the extracts from all the black onion groups. The extract from the 90-S-C black onion had a 3.3 times higher total phenol content than that from the black onion extract (11.62 and 3.51 mg/g, respectively). The DPPH radical scavenging activities of the extracts from 90-S-W, 90-S-C, and 90-S-P were higher than those of the other black onion extracts, and the 90-S-C black onion extract had the highest level of 48.3% (at the concentration of 10 mg/ml). The 90-S-C black onion extract also had the highest level of antioxidant activities (ABTS radical scavenging activity, 0.84 mg AA eq/100 g, and nitrite scavenging ability, 49.8%). These results clearly demonstrated that 90-S-C was the best among the conditions used and that the water extract of the 90-S-C black onions had a significantly higher level of antioxidant activities than the extracts from the other black onions.

Dept. of Food Engineering and Solar Salt and Halophyte R&D Center (SSHC), Mokpo National University, Jeonnam 534-729, KoreaAbstractThe purpose of this study was carried out to examine the effects of onion kimchi extract supplementation on blood glucose level and serum lipid components in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats for 4 weeks. STZ was administered as a single dose (50 mg/kg BW) to induce diabetes, and the diabetic rats were divided into eight groups (normal, diabetic control, and six treatment groups). The dose of onion kimchi extract 100 (OK-100), 200 (OK-200), and 400 (OK-400) mg/kg/day or quercetin as a main compound of onion 5 (Q-5), 10 (Q-10), and 20 (Q-20) mg/kg/day were orally administered daily to STZ-induced diabetic rats for 4 weeks after STZ injection. The diabetic control rats (465.6 mg/dL) showed significantly higher blood glucose level than the normal rats (76.3 mg/dL) after 4 weeks, but was significantly reduced with onion kimchi extract and quercetin supplementation (p

Structural integrity of the corticospinal tract (CST) after stroke is closely linked to the degree of motor impairment. However, current methods for measurement of fractional atrophy (FA) of CST based on region of interest (ROI) are time-consuming and open to bias. Here, we used tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) together with a CST template with healthy volunteers to quantify structural integrity of CST automatically. Two groups of patients after ischemic stroke were enrolled, group 1 (10 patients, 7 men, and Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) scores⩽50) and group 2 (12 patients, 12 men, and FMA scores = 100). CST of FAipsi, FAcontra, and FAratiowas compared between the two groups. Relative to group 2, FA was decreased in group 1 in the ipsilesional CST (P<0.01), as well as the FAratio(P<0.01). There was no significant difference between the two subgroups in the contralesional CST (P=0.23). Compared with contralesional CST, FA of ipsilesional CST decreased in group 1 (P<0.01). These results suggest that the automated method used in our study could detect a surrogate biomarker to quantify the CST after stroke, which would facilitate implementation of clinical practice.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the prophylactic effect and some mechanisms of action of triterpene acids of loquat (TAL) on bleomycin A5-induced pulmonary fibrosis rats. Methods A model of pulmonary fibrosis was induced by injecting rats with a single dose of bleomycin A5 (5 mg/kg) into the trachea. From the second day, rats in the preventive groups were treated with TAL (50, 150 or 450 mg/kg) or dexamethasone (1.2 mg/kg). On the 28th day after medication, the rats were killed and haematoxylin-eosin or masson staining was used to evaluate the degree of pulmonary fibrosis. Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) levels in alveolar macrophage culture supernatant were detected by ELISA. The mRNA expression of TNF-α and TGF-β1 in alveolar macrophage was observed by RT-PCR. Key findings Lung histopathological examination showed TAL could ameliorate the structure of the lung and alleviate fibrogenesis. At the same time, TAL (150 or 450 mg/kg dose group) could reduce the expression of TNF-α and TGF-β1 in alveolar macrophage of rats with pulmonary fibrosis at either the protein or mRNA level. Conclusions TAL had a positive prophylactic effect on lung fibrosis, which might have been related to its reduction on TNF-α or TGF-β1 expression in the alveolar macrophage of pulmonary fibrosis rats.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) activates several signaling pathways in macrophages including mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK). Previous studies have investigated effect of LPS on MAPK activation in macrophage of normal rats. In the current study, we investigated the effect of LPS exposure on activation of MAPK in alveolar macrophage (AM) of chronic bronchitis (CB) rats and researched the corresponding cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), prostaglandins-2 (PGE(2)) and transforming growth factor- β (TGF-β) production and their MAPK signal pathways.CB model was established by injection of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and LPS in rats. Special inhibitors of p38, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun-N-terminal kinases (JNK) MAPK signal pathways were used to determine the effect of MAPK activation on COX-2, PGE(2), TGF-β production in AM of CB rats via RT-PCR, western blotting, radioimmunoassay and ELISA.Synthesis of PGE(2) from AM of CB rats was increased and suppressed by either PD98059 or SB203580. SB203580 and PD98059, (inhibitors of ERK and p38 MAPK), could significantly inhibit COX-2 mRNA and protein expression. Moreover, ERK and p38 MAPK had synergistic effect on COX-2 expression. Inhibitor of ERK MAPK signal transduction could inhibit TGF-β expression in AM.These results demonstrated COX-2, PGE(2) and TGF-β productions in AM of CB rats were significantly increased, which might be regulated by the different MAPK signaling pathway.

With the increasing development of organic light emitting devices (OLED), interest in the mechanisms of charge carrier photogeneration, separation, transport and recombination continues to grow. Electromodulation of photoluminescence has been used as an efficient probe to investigate the evolution of primary excitation in all electric field. This method can provide useful information on carrier photogeneration, the formation and dissociation of excitons, energy transfer, and exciton recombination in the presence of electric field. The operation of OLED brings electrons and holes from opposite electrodes and generates singlet and triplet excitons. However, triplet excitons are wasted because a radiative transition from triplets is spin-forbidden. Spin statistics predicts that singlet-to-triplet ratio is 1 : 3 in organic semiconductors. One way to harvest light from triplet excitons is to use phosphorescent materials. These materials incorporate a heavy metal atom to mix singlet and triplet states by the strong spin-orbit coupling. As a result, a spin forbidden transition may occur allowing an enhanced triplet emission. Among phosphorescent materials, Ir(ppy)3 has attracted much attention because of its short triplet lifetime to minimize the triplet-triplet annihilation. High quantum efficiencies have been obtained by doping organic molecules and in polymers with Ir(ppy)3. In the present paper, the photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra of Ir(ppy)3 doped PVK film are measured at room temperature. The device structure is ITO/PEDOT : PSS/PVK Ir(ppy)3/BCP/Alq3/Al. The results show that the luminescence capabilities of devices are different when the concentration of Ir(ppy)3 is different. When the concentration of Ir(ppy)3 is suitable, the luminescence of PVK is lower but that of Ir(ppy)3 is stronger relatively, indicating that the energy transfer from the host materials to the guest materials is sufficient. It is concluded that the device with 5% of Ir(ppy)3 has the best luminescence properties according to its light power-current-voltage curve, meaning that the best concentration of Ir(ppy)3 in such kind of device is 5%.

The effects of PBD on the luminescence properties of PVK : Ir(ppy)3 codoped with PBD with lower concentration were investigated. Two kinds of devices with the structures of ITO/PVK : Ir(ppy)3/PBD/Al and ITO/PVK : Ir(ppy)3 : PBD/ Al were fabricated. PVK emission appears in the electroluminescence (EL) spectra of ITO/PVK : Ir(ppy)3/PBD/Al. The reason is that the Forster energy transfer is not efficient enough in the emission layer, and then the emission layer was doped with PBD. A set of devices were fabricated with the configuration of ITO/PVK : Ir(ppy)3 : PBD/BCP/Al. The doping weight ratio of PVK : Ir(ppy)3 was fixed as 100 : 1, and the weight ratio of PBD changed from 100 : 0 (PVK : PBD) to 100 : 20. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra and electroluminescence (EL) spectra of these devices were measured. Through the analysis of their luminescence, it was found that the brightness of these devices codoped with PBD is improved. The brightness of these devices increases with increasing PBD doping ratio as the ratio does not exceed 100:10 (PVK : PBD). The PBD codoping enhances the injection and transportation of electron, resulting in the enhanced carrier recombination probability. If the doping ratio of PBD exceeds 100 : 10 (PVK : PBD), the brightness of the device decreases. There are two reasons. One is that the superfluous PBD causes the carriers to be imbalanced and induces a larger leakage current. The other is that the superfluous PBD may block the hoping of holes or electrons between the PVK chains. The brightness is the strongest when the weight ratio of PVK to PBD is 100 : 10.

Experiments show that CAIM discretization algorithm is superior to all the other top-down discretization algorithms. However, CAIM algorithm does not take the data distribution into account. The discretization formula used in CAIM also gives a high factor to the numbers of generated intervals. The two disadvantages make CAIM may generate irrational discrete results in some cases and further leads to the decrease of predictive accuracy of a classifier. In this paper we propose the class-attribute contingency coefficient discretization algorithm. The experimental results showed that compared with CAIM, our method can generate a better discretization scheme to bring on the improvement of accuracy of classification. With regard to the number of generated rules and execution time of a classifier, CACC and CAIM achieve comparable results.

Motor impairment after stroke is related to the integrity of the corticospinal tract (CST). However, considerable variability in motor impairment remains unexplained. To increase the accuracy in evaluating long-term motor function after ischemic stroke, we tested the hypothesis that combining diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and gray matter (GM) volumetry can better characterize long-term motor deficit than either method alone in patients with chronic stroke. We recruited 31 patients whose Medical Research Council strength grade was ≤ 3/5 in the extensor muscles of the affected upper extremity in the acute phase. We used the Upper Extremity Fugl-Meyer (UE-FM) assessment to evaluate motor impairment, and as the primary outcome variable. We computed the fractional anisotropy ratio of the entire CST (CSTratio) and the volume of interest ratio (VOIratio), between ipsilesional and contralesional hemispheres, to explain long-term motor impairment. The results showed that CSTratio, VOIratio of motor-related brain regions, and VOIratio in the temporal lobe were correlated with UE-FM. A multiple regression model including CSTratio and VOIratio of the caudate nucleus explained 40.7% of the variability in UE-FM. The adjusted R2 of the regression model with CSTratio as an independent variable was 29.4%, and that of using VOIratio of the caudate nucleus as an independent variable was 23.1%. These results suggest that combining DTI and GM volumetry may achieve better explanation of long-term motor deficit in stroke patients, than using either measure individually. This finding may provide guidance in determining optimal neurorehabilitative interventions.