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For two analytic self-maps φ and ψ defined on the unit disk ⅅ, we characterize completely the boundedness and compactness of the difference Cφ − Cψ of the composition operators Cφ and Cψ from Bloch space B into Besov space $$B_\nu ^\infty $$ . Moreover, we also give a complete characterization of the compactness of the difference Cφ − Cψ on BMOA space.

Orographic and climatic oscillations have played crucial roles in shaping the nucleotide diversity and evolutionary history of many species across the Northern Hemisphere. In this study, based on 10 nuclear loci and a chloroplast DNA marker, we analyzed the nucleotide polymorphisms and demographic history of the endangered conifer species Pinus bungeana in Northwest China and investigated the phylogenetic relationships between P. bungeana and two related species, that is, Pinus gerardiana and Pinus squamata. We found that P. bungeana exhibited an extremely low level of nucleotide diversity (πₛᵢₗ = 0.00159). Demographic simulations based on DIYABC analysis showed that P. bungeana underwent demographic expansion and contraction during the Miocene. According to ecological niche modeling, we found that this species survived in situ during the glacial period and was not restricted to southern refugia. We speculate that P. bungeana may have experienced widespread population shrinkage from the Last Interglacial to the Last Glacial Maximum due to geological or climatic events. Isolation‐with‐migration analysis revealed that the divergence (~2.4–4.2 Ma) among P. bungeana and its related species was significantly associated with the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau uplift events in the mid‐to‐late Tertiary period. Species tree analyses suggested that these three related Pinus species formed a monophyletic clade with high bootstrap support. These results suggest that the Miocene–Pliocene and Pleistocene geological and climatic fluctuations might have profoundly affected the nucleotide diversity and demography of this psychrotolerant conifer species in western China.

Common insulation gas cannot normally work in refrigeration temperature range (153−243 K), especially in extremely cold regions. To solve this problem, this essay uses cubic equation combined with two-parameter model in theorem of corresponding states to estimate dew-point of hybrid gas. The influence of temperature on mixing ratio is studied by using van der Waals equation. The result shows that the mixing ratio is stable during temperature-fall period. Insulation property of CF4 and CF4/N2 in refrigeration temperature range is studied through self-designed low-temperature test system. The result shows when the density of hybrid gas is invariable, temperature changing has less influence on breakdown voltage, and when the mixing ratio is 20%, CF4/N2 is the greatest potential hybrid gas.

Eurycea cirrigera: (Plethodontidae) is an endangered and endemic species in the United States. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of E. cirrigera was determined by using next generation sequencing. A good knowledge of genomics could facilitate to the establishments of effective management and conservation strategies for this species. In the present study, the complete mitogenome sequence of E. cirrigera was determined from whole genome Illumina sequencing data. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of E. cirrigera was 17,348 bp in size, and contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and one non-coding control (D-loop) region. The base compositions of the mtDNA comprised A (32.9%), C (22.8%), G (13.7%) and T (30.6%), with a total of A + T content of 63.5%. The phylogenetic analyses suggested that E. cirrigera and E. bislineata were monophyletic with high bootstrap value.

More and more nanomaterials enter the environment along with their production, application and deposal. They may alter the biological effect of pollutants already existing in the real environment by different interactions. Therefore efforts should also be paid to investigate the combined toxicity of nanomaterials and pollutants. Herein, we studied the combined toxicity of oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (O-MWCNTs) and zinc ions on cells. It is found that cytotoxicity of the combined O-MWCNTs and zinc ions elevates significantly, compared with O-MWCNTs or zinc ions alone. This result comes from the assays of cell morphology, cell viability and proliferation, cell membrane integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential and cell apoptosis. Mechanism studies indicate that O-MWCNTs absorb zinc ions and form slight aggregation. These enhance remarkably the cellular uptake of O-MWCNTs, and thus induce the death of cells by bringing in more zinc ions into cells. Our study indicates that the existence of nanomaterials could change the bioconsequence of other pollutants and emphasizes the importance of the combined toxicity research in the presence of nanomaterials.

Pinus bungeana Zucc. ex Endl. (Pinaceae), is an endangered conifer tree species and is endemic to western central China. In this study, we detected the nucleotide polymorphism and phylogeographic history of P. bungeana based on three nuclear genes. We collected 16 natural populations and covered the entire distributional ranges of P. bungeana. We found that this endangered species have extremely low level of nucleotide diversity (πt = 0.00098, πsil = 0.00229) compared with that of other conifers. Meanwhile, hierarchical AMOVA revealed that genetic variations of two nuclear loci (010054_01 and 0_12329_02) mainly occurred among populations (54% and 55%), and another locus (0_14221_01) existed within populations (64%). This finding may be caused by random fixation of nuclear genes. Neutrality tests and mismatch analysis suggested that P. bungeana may have experienced the recent range expansion. In addition, high genetic diversity and unique haplotypes were identified in the west areas of Qinling-Daba and Lvliang Mountains, and these areas may be the glacial refuges of P. bungeana. After the glaciation, the species expanded or migrated outward from these refuges, and the founder effect or bottleneck effect in this process may have resulted in the low level of nucleotide polymorphism of P. bungeana.

BACKGROUND Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly complicated bone cancer involving imbalance of signaling transduction networks in cells. Development of new anti-osteosarcoma drugs is very challenging, mainly due to lack of known key targets. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, we attempted to reveal more promising targets for drug design by "Target-Pathway" network analysis, providing the new therapeutic strategy of osteosarcoma. The potential targets used for the treatment of OS were selected from 4 different sources: DrugBank, TCRD database, dbDEMC database, and recent scientific literature papers. Cytoscape was used for the establishment of the "Target-Pathway" network. RESULTS The obtained results suggest that tankyrase 2 (TNKS2) might be a very good potential protein target for the treatment of osteosarcoma. An in vitro MTT assay proved that it is an available option against OS by targeting the TNKS2 protein. Subsequently, cell cycle and apoptosis assay by flow cytometry showed the TNKS2 inhibitor can obviously induce cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and mitotic cell death. CONCLUSIONS Tankyrase 2 (TNKS2), a member of the multifunctional poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs), could be a very useful protein target for the treatment of osteosarcoma.

To investigate the mechanisms of anti-atherosclerotic action of ezetimibe in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in vitro.VSMCs of SD rats were cultured in the presence of Chol:MβCD (10 μg/mL) for 72 h, and intracellular lipid droplets and cholesterol levels were evaluated using Oil Red O staining, HPLC and Enzymatic Fluorescence Assay, respectively. The expression of caveolin-1, sterol response element-binding protein-1 (SREBP-1) and ERK1/2 were analyzed using Western blot assays. Translocation of SREBP-1 and ERK1/2 was detected with immunofluorescence.Treatment with Chol:MβCD dramatically increased the cellular levels of total cholesterol (TC), cholesterol ester (CE) and free cholesterol (FC) in VSMCs, which led to the formation of foam cells. Furthermore, Chol:MβCD treatment significantly decreased the expression of caveolin-1, and stimulated the expression and nuclear translocation of SREBP-1 in VSMCs. Co-treatment with ezetimibe (3 μmol/L) significantly decreased the cellular levels of TC, CE and FC, which was accompanied by elevation of caveolin-1 expression, and by a reduction of SREBP-1 expression and nuclear translocation. Co-treatment with ezetimibe dose-dependently decreased the expression of phosphor-ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2) in VSMCs. The ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 (50 μmol/L) altered the cholesterol level and the expression of p-ERK1/2, SREBP-1 and caveolin-1 in the same manner as ezetimibe did.Ezetimibe suppresses cholesterol accumulation in rat VSMCs in vitro by regulating SREBP-1 and caveolin-1 expression, possibly via the MAPK signaling pathway.

Glycoprotein 96(gp96) is highly expressed in cancer tissues. Recent studies indicate the possible roles of gp96 in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinomas but detailed information is still ambiguous. The aim of the study is to investigate the correlation between clinicopathology and immunolocalization of gp96 in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that gp96 expression in hepatocellular carcinomas with metastasis was significantly higher than those with non-metastasis. Gp96 expression was significantly associated with the presence of tumor infiltration, lymph node and remote metastasis.

Heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) is highly expressed in cancer tissues. Recent studies indicate the possible roles of HSP72 in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinomas but detailed information is still ambiguous. The aim of the study is to investigate the correlation between clinicopathology and immunolocalization of HSP72 in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that HSP72 expression in hepatocellular carcinomas with metastasis was significantly higher than those with non-metastasis. HSP72 expression was significantly associated with the presence of tumor infiltration, lymph node and remote metastasis.

Inflammation plays a crucial role in atherosclerosis. Monocytes/macrophages are involved in the inflammatory process during atherogenesis. Here, we performed daily gavage of ezetimibe in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice fed with a high-fat diet and found that ezetimibe administration decreased the level of C-reactive protein significantly. To investigate the potential molecular mechanism, we employed microarray analysis on the cultured macrophages treated with Chol:MßCD in the presence or absence of ezetimibe. We found that ezetimibe dramatically down-regulated the expression of the tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) gene. Consistent with the microarray results, TNF-a protein levels were inhibited by ezetimibe. Moreover, ezetimibe suppressed the promoter activity of TNF-a but not TNF-a lacking the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) binding domain in THP-1 cells treated with phorbol myristate acetate and Chol:MßCD. Furthermore, treatment of THP-1 macrophages with ezetimibe resulted in the degradation of IκB and subsequently inhibited nuclear translocation of NF-κB and its transcriptional activity. Inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway using PD98059 attenuated the reduction effect of ezetimibe on the expression of NF-κB. Collectively, our results demonstrated that the anti-inflammatory properties of ezetimibe in THP-1 macrophages are, at least in part, through suppression of NF-κB activation via the MAPK pathway. These data provide direct evidence for the potential application of ezetimibe in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) contributes to the development of atherosclerosis. Ezetimibe is a new lipid lowering agent that inhibits cholesterol absorption. In the present study we attempted to investigate whether ezetimibe has any effect on VSMC proliferation and the potential mechanisms involved. Our data showed ezetimibe abrogated the proliferation and migration of primary rat VSMCs induced by Chol:MβCD. Mechanically, we found that ezetimibe was capable of abolishing cyclin D1, CDK2, phospho-Rb (p-Rb), and E2F protein expressions that were upregulated by Chol:MβCD treatment. In addition, Ezetimibe was able to reverse cell cycle progression induced by Chol:MβCD, which was further supported by its down-regulation of cyclin D1 promoter activity in the presence of Chol:MβCD. Furthermore, ezetimibe abrogated the increment of phospho-ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2) and nuclear accumulation of ERK1/2 in VSMCs induced by Chol:MβCD. Inhibition of the MAPK pathway by using ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 attenuated the reduction effect of ezetimibe on the expressions of phosphor-MEK1 (p-MEK1), p-ERK1/2, and cyclin D1. Taken together our data suggest that ezetimibe inhibits Chol:MβCD-induced VSMCs proliferation and leads to cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase by suppressing cyclin D1 expression via the MAPK signaling pathway. These novel findings support the potential pleiotropic effect of ezetimibe in cardiovascular disease. Keywords:: ezetimibe, cell proliferation, cell cycle, MAPK pathway, cyclin D1

Silica nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used in food products as an additive; however, their toxicity and safety to the human body and the environment still remain unclear. As a food additive, silica NPs firstly enter the human gastrointestinal tract along with food, thus their gastrointestinal toxicity deserves thorough study. Herein, we evaluated the toxicity of food additive silica NPs to cells originating from the gastrointestinal tract. Four silica NP samples were introduced to human gastric epithelial cell GES-1 and colorectal adenocarcinoma cell Caco-2 to investigate the effect of silica sample, exposure dose and exposure period on the morphology, viability and membrane integrity of cells. The cell uptake, cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, cell cycle and apoptosis were determined to reveal the toxicity mechanism. The results indicate that all four silica NPs are safe for both GES-1 and Caco-2 cells after 24-h exposure at a concentration lower than 100 µg ml–1. At a higher concentration and longer exposure period, silica NPs do not induce the apoptosis/necrosis of cells, but arrest cell cycle and inhibit the cell growth. Notably, silica NPs do not pass through the Caco-2 cell monolayer after 4-h contact, indicating the low potential of silica NPs to cross the gastrointestinal tract in vivo. Our findings indicate that silica NPs could be used as a safe food additive, but more investigations, such as long-term in vivo exposure, are necessary in future studies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A nanohybrid based on nanoscale graphene oxide (NGO) and dextran has been designed and employed for effectively killing drug-resistant MCF-7/ADR cells. This graphene-based nanohybrid was readily prepared through π-π interaction of NGO and hematin-terminated dextran (HDex), being denoted as NGO-HDex. It revealed an improved stability in physiological conditions as compared to native NGO. Besides, NGO-HDex could efficiently load doxorubicin (DOX), an anticancer drug, with drug loading capacity of 3.4 mg/mg NGO and liberate the drug with a pH-dependent profile. Cell viability assay indicated that the NGO-HDex displayed lower cytotoxicity against MCF-7/ADR cells as compared to native NGO. DOX-loaded NGO-HDex, however, revealed more efficient killing effect in the cells than free DOX because the nanohybrid caused a higher amount of DOX accumulated in the cells. The results of this study highlight that the NGO-HDex has high potential for killing drug-resistant cancer cells.

The Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technique is an effective method for suppressing multi-paths interference of underwater acoustic (UWA) channels. In this paper, a new communication system based on OFDM is presented, aiming at reliable 70km shallow water communications. The convolutional coding and frequency-domain equalization are also applied for the improvement of the OFDM system performance. The simulation results show that this proposed system can transmit data stream with low bit error rate (BER) in 70km UWA distance.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant gastroenterological cancers over the world. α-fetoprotein (AFP) is an oncofetal protein produced during HCC development that could generate weaker and less reproducible antitumor protection, and it may serve as a target for immunotherapy. Therefore, it is imperative to enhance its immunogenicity and develop therapeutic vaccines to eliminate AFP-expressing tumors. In this study, by way of glutaraldehyde cross-linking, we constructed a potential therapeutic protein vaccine, glycoprotein 96 (gp96)/AFP. Our results demonstrated that AFP and gp96 synergistically exhibited significant increase in AFP-specific CD8⁺ T-cell responses and impressive cytotoxic antitumor effect against AFP-expressing tumors. Priming mice with the reconstructed vaccine, we elicited robust strong protective immunity. Our study suggests that tumor vaccine by cross-linking tumor antigen and gp96 is a promising approach to cancer therapy.

Advanced treatment of drinking water was performed by ultrafiltration process (UF) in this study. Experimental results showed that UF is a perfect physical sieving barrier to remove turbidity, algae and bacteria from water, which is far superior to conventional water treatment processes. But the ultrafiltration membrane is not very effective for the removal of dissolved organic matter because of the large molecular weight cut-off. And the backwashing per 30min can totally renew the ultrafiltration membrane.

Channel estimation has been becoming the key technique for adaptive underwater acoustic communication systems in tracking fast-fading channels. In this paper, by exploiting the sparse features of underwater acoustic channels for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, we focus on investigating an adaptive channel estimator based on least squared (LS) and recursive least-squares (RLS). The complexity of the proposed method is low in that only a small number of nonzero-value channel paths are refined by RLS algorithm. Different channel estimation methods are compared for proving the performance of the proposed method. Simulation results show that our proposed method has a better performance, and it is able to track underwater acoustic channels well and provide reliable channel estimates to the communication system.

In high-rate data orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) communication systems, many encountered channels trend to have the structure of sparse multipath. The systems over multipath channels usually require that the channel response be known at the receiver and thus channel estimation is required. In this paper, a novel scheme based on the typical least square (LS) and sparse reconstruction by separable approximation (SpaRSA) for the sparse channel estimation is presented to improve the poor performance of the LS and l2-norm channel estimations. This proposed scheme can reach the global optimal solution and leads to superior channel estimation performance by applying LS estimates and introducing the noise effect into the regularization parameter in the SpaRSA algorithm. And the simulation results show the validity of the proposed approach.

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) has recently been classified as a member of the gasotransmitter family. Its physiological and pathophysiological effects are rapidly expanding with numerous studies highlighting the protective effects of H2S on ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in various organ systems, e.g. heart, liver, CNS and lungs. The mechanisms behind its protective effects reside in its vasodilatory, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant characteristics. These specific mechanistic profiles appear to be different across different tissues and models of IRI. We recently showed that supplementation of preservation solutions with H2S during periods of prolonged cold renal storage and subsequent renal transplantation leads to a massive and significant survival, functional and tissue protective advantage compared with storage in standard preservation solution alone. However, there have only been a few studies that have evaluated the effects of H2S against warm renal IRI; although these studies have focused primarily upon shorter periods of warm renal pedicle clamping, they have shown a clear survival benefit to H2S supplementation. The present study adds to the existing literature by evaluating the effects of H2S in a model of warm IRI with clinically relevant, prolonged warm ischaemia-reperfusion times (1 h ischaemia, 2 h reperfusion). We show an unprecedented view into real-time renal and hepatic perfusion with intravital microscopy throughout the reperfusion period. We show, for the first time, that supplemental H2S has multiple protective functions against the warm IRI-induced tissue damage, which may be clinically applicable to both donation after cardiac death models of renal transplantation, as well as to uro-oncological practices requiring surgical clamping of the renal pedicle, e.g. during a partial nephrectomy. OBJECTIVE • To determine the protective role of supplemental hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in prolonged warm renal ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) using real-time intravital microscopy (IVM). MATERIALS AND METHODS • Uninephrectomised Lewis rats underwent 1 h of warm ischaemia and 2 h of reperfusion during intraperitoneal treatment with phosphate buffer saline (IRI, n= 10) or 150 µmol/L NaHS (IRI+H2S, n= 12) and were compared with sham-operated rats (n= 9). • Blood was collected for measurement of serum creatinine (Cr), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). • IVM was performed to assess renal and hepatic microcirculation. • Kidneys were sectioned for histology and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction for markers of inflammation. RESULTS • The mean (sd) Cr concentration raised to 72.8 (2.5) µmol/L after IRI from 11.0 (0.7) µmol/L (sham) but was partially inhibited with H2S to 62.8 (0.9) µmol/L (P < 0.05). • H2S supplementation during IRI increased renal capillary perfusion on IVM, and improved acute tubular necrosis and apoptotic scores on histology (P < 0.05). • Supplemental H2S decreased expression of the pro-inflammatory markers toll-like receptor 4, tumour necrosis factor α, interleukin 8, C-C chemokine receptor type 5, interferon γ and interleukin 2 (P < 0.05). • Distant organ (liver) dysfunction after renal IRI was limited with H2S supplementation: blunting of the ALT and AST surge, decreased hepatic sinusoidal vasodilation, and decreased leukocyte infiltration in post-sinusoidal venules (P < 0.05). • H2S supplementation directly inhibited interleukin 8-induced neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS • These findings are the first to show the real-time protective role of supplemental H2S in prolonged periods of warm renal IRI, perhaps acting by decreasing leukocyte migration and limiting inflammatory responses. • The protective effects of H2S suggest potential clinical applications in both donors after cardiac death models of renal transplantation and oncological practices requiring vascular clamping.

One solid coordination compound of Gadolinium chloride with N-acetyl-DL-alanine (C5H9NO3, Ac-Ala) and imidazole(C3H4N2,Im) has been prepared in absolute alcohol. The general formula Gd(C5H8NO3)2(C3H5N2)2Cl3•3H2O of these compounds was identified using the methods such as chemical and elemental analysis, FTIR spectra and UV spectra. The process of thermal decomposition was studied by TG-DTG. Room temperature fluorescence and phosphorescence measurement showed that the compound has good fluorescence and phosphorescence properties.

Using polyaluminium chloride (PAC) and chitosan as the main coagulant and coagulant-aid respectively, the high algae-laden water was treated by coagulation/flocculation/dissolved air flotation (C/F/DAF). When the doses of PAC and chitosan were both moderate (7.0~8.4 mg Al2O3/L of PAC and 0.6~1.0 mg/L of chitosan), the removal rates of turbidity, algae cells and TOC were all increased apparently compared with adding PAC alone. Especially, the residual aluminum concentration reduced significantly in treated water with the aid of chitosan. The structrue and strength of flocs formed by coagulation aid of chitosan were improved obviously, which proved that addition of chitosan could enhance the flocculation performance of PAC. So, in C/F/DAF process for removing algae, using chitosan as coagulant-aid can improve the flotation performance and reduce residual aluminum concentration in treated water.

Raw water of Yellow River was treated by ultrafiltration process (UF) combined with powdered activated carbon (PAC) in this study. Experimental results showed that UF is a perfect physical sieving barrier to remove turbidity and algae from water, which is far superior to conventional filter bed. UF is inefficient to dissolved organic matter removal because of its large molecular weight cut-off. Combination of PAC with ultrafiltration membrane can effectively increase the removal rate of CODMn, TOC and UV254.

This paper presents experimental results of the catalytic ozonation of Songhua River water in the presence of nano-TiO2 supported on Zeolite. The removal efficiency of TOC and UV254, the variation of AOC and molecular weight distribution of organics was studied. Results showed that TOC and UV254 removal efficiency by ozone was improved in the presence of TiO2/Zeolite, and increased by 20% and 25%, respectively. The part of organic compounds less than 1000 Da increased in ozonation, but decreased in catalytic ozonation. The AOC of water increased in catalytic ozonation, and the increase of AOC was particularly obvious when ozone dose increased from 28.8 mg·L−1 to 46.6 mg·L−1. The degradation and transformation of organic compounds was analyzed by means of GC-MS. The total number of organic compounds was reduced from 50 in the untreated water to 36 and 20, respectively, in ozonation and catalytic ozonation. The removal efficiency of the total organic compounds peak area in ozonation and catalytic ozonation ...

Drilling force and temperature of tibia at the high speed drilling for improving the design of surgical drills are very important. In this paper we describe experiments using pig tibia bones, measuring the drilling force and temperature of a new design of drill bit and compare the results against a twist drill. The result shows that the drilling force and temperature are affected by the feed rate and drilling speed, which vary with the drilling depth into the bone. The new surgical drill with three top cutting edges can achieve lower temperature below 47oC and lower drilling force than with the stainless steel twist drill and carbide twist drill.

In this paper, a new method for obtaining the array manifold in sensor array beampattern design and optimization is proposed. The basic idea behind the proposed method is replacing the theoretical obtained or experimentally measured array manifold by the calculated one, which is obtained by calculating the sound field at each element positions in the array. The acoustical boundary element method is used to calculate the sound field and the array manifold is obtained by accumulating the values at all sensor in all interested directions. By doing so, the effects of the array supporting structure or baffle can be included so as to yield a result which is more approaching the practical situation, and at the same time, avoids the tedious work of practical measurements. A conformal array with 27 sensors was designed and built and analyzed by the proposed method. The calculated sensor directivity by the proposed method has a similar tendency with that measured in an anechoic water-tank, and the design requirements of beampatterns which use the optimized weighting coefficient obtained from the array manifold calculated by the proposed method are well met in practical system. The simulation results have verified the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method.

Heterogeneous catalytic ozonation was investigated for the degradation of nitrobenzene in the presence of TiO2 supported on Silica-gel as a solid catalyst. The conditions in preparing the catalyst are experimentally optimized. The catalytic activity of the supported TiO2 is strongly influenced by the calcination temperature. The TiO2/Silica-gel calcined at 500 °C showed the highest activity for the degradation of nitrobenzene. An approximate increase of 21% in removal efficiency was achieved for catalytic ozonation compared with the case of ozonation alone. Nitrobenzene degradation was significantly influenced by the presence of carbonate and t-butanol, which confirmed that TiO2/Silica-gel catalyzed ozonation followed a radical-type mechanism. Kinetic study demonstrated that catalytic ozonation is pseudo–first-order with no respect to the initial nitrobenzene concentration. The effect of catalyst dosage and pH on the oxidation efficiency of nitrobenzene was also investigated. Catalyst dosage exerted a pos...

Nano-TiO 2 particles prepared by the sol–gel method were used as catalyst for the degradation of nitrobenzene by ozone. Catalyst samples were characterized by measuring the specific area ( S BET ), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Removal efficiency of nitrobenzene (NB) was significantly promoted in the presence of catalyst compared with ozone alone. TiO 2 calcined at 500 °C showed the best activity. Different experimental conditions like catalyst dose, ozone dosage, initial nitrobenzene and pH have been examined. The mechanism of catalytic ozonation was also discussed. Both ozonation and catalytic ozonation were significantly influenced by carbonate and tert -butyl alcohol, which confirmed that TiO 2 -catalyzed ozonation follows a radical-type mechanism. And hydroxyl radicals were truly identified by spin-trapping/EPR technique.

The complete nucleotide sequence of Bunge's pine Pinus bungeana Zucc. ex Endl. chloroplast genome (cp DNA) was determined in this study. The cpDNA was 117 861 bp in length, containing a pair of 475 bp inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb), which were separated by large and small single copy regions (LSC and SSC) of 65 373 and 51 538 bp, respectively. The cpDNA contained 111 genes, including 71 protein-coding genes (71 PCG species), 4 ribosomal RNA genes (4 rRNA species) and 36 tRNA genes (32 tRNA species). In these genes, 13 harbored a single intron and 1 (ycf3) contained a couple of introns. The overall AT content of Bunge's pine cpDNA is 61.2%, while the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC and IR regions are 61.9%, 60.2% and 62.5%, respectively. A phylogenetic reconstruction based on the maximum parsimony analysis suggested that all the sampled Pinus species clustered a monophyletic clade and have a high bootstrap support, and the cpDNA of P. bungeana is closely related to that of congeneric P. gerardiana.

Ezetimibe, a selective inhibitor of intestinal cholesterol absorption, effectively reduces plasma cholesterol, but its effect on atherosclerosis is unclear. Foam cell formation has been implicated as a key mediator during the development of atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ezetimibe on foam cell formation and explore the underlying mechanism. The results presented here show that ezetimibe reduces atherosclerotic lesions in apolipoprotein E deficient (apoE-/-) mice by lowering cholesterol levels. Treatment of macrophages with Chol:MβCD resulted in foam cell formation, which was concentration-dependently inhibited by the presence of ezetimibe. Mechanically, ezetimibe treatment downregulated the expression of CD36 and scavenger receptor class B1 (SR-B1), but upregulated the expression of apoE and caveolin-1 in macrophage-derived foam cells, which kept consistent with our microarray results. Moreover, treatment with ezetimibe abrogated the increase of phospho-extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 and their nuclear accumulation in foam cells. Inhibition of the MAPK pathway by the MEK inhibitor PD98059 attenuated the inhibitory effect of ezetimibe on the expression of p-ERK1/2 and caveolin-1. Taken together, these results showed that ezetimibe suppressed foam cell formation via the caveolin-1/MAPK signalling pathway, suggesting that inhibition of foam cell formation might be a novel mechanism underlying the anti-atherosclerotic effect of ezetimibe.

The problem of beamforming and related beamspace high resolution direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation is studied in this paper. All beamspace processing methods are based on the beam outputs and the beampattern design plays an important role in providing high quality beam output data for further processing. Three typical situations which are frequently encountered in practical sonar system working environment and the most widely studied MUSIC algorithm are considered herein. First, when isotropic noise is the dominant noise at sensors, conventional beamforming techniques provide the optimum performance in the sense that DOA estimate is the ML estimate. Good DOA estimates are obtainable by applying MUSIC to the beam outputs directly. Then, uncorrelated interferes with much higher strength than the wanted signals are assumed to be present in the sidelobe region, and low sidelobe Dolph-Chebyshev and adaptive MVDR beampatterns are designed to guarantee the performance of MUSIC. And finally, the robustness of conventional techniques is combined with the adaptivity of MVDR beamforming to deal with the situation when the interfere in the sidelobe region is strongly correlated with one of the wanted sources. Performance in all three situations is studied with numerical examples.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is an oncofetal protein during Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development which could generate weaker and less reproducible antitumor protection, and may serve as a target for immunotherapy. Therefore, it is imperative to enhance its immunogenicity and develop therapeutic vaccines to eliminate AFP-expressing tumors. In this study, by way of peptide synthesis method, we constructed a potential therapeutic peptide vaccine, heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) and AFP peptide containing the specific antigen epitope. Our results demonstrated that AFP peptide and HSP72 synergistically exhibited significant increases in AFP-specific dendritic cells, CD8 + T cells, natural killing cells responses and impressive antitumor effects against AFP-expressing tumors. Our study suggests that a tumor peptide vaccine by cross-linking AFP peptide and HSP72 peptide is a promising approach for HCC therapy.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of tuina plus medications on infantile diarrhea induced by rotavirus infection.

Inflammation plays a crucial role in atherosclerosis. Monocytes/macrophages are involved in the inflammatory process during atherogenesis. Here, we performed daily gavage of ezetimibe in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice fed with a high-fat diet and found that ezetimibe administration decreased the level of C-reactive protein significantly. To investigate the potential molecular mechanism, we employed microarray analysis on the cultured macrophages treated with Chol:MβCD in the presence or absence of ezetimibe. We found that ezetimibe dramatically down-regulated the expression of the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) gene. Consistent with the microarray results, TNF-α protein levels were inhibited by ezetimibe. Moreover, ezetimibe suppressed the promoter activity of TNF-α but not TNF-α lacking the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) binding domain in THP-1 cells treated with phorbol myristate acetate and Chol:MβCD. Furthermore, treatment of THP-1 macrophages with ezetimibe resulted in the degradation of IκB and subsequently inhibited nuclear translocation of NF-κB and its transcriptional activity. Inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway using PD98059 attenuated the reduction effect of ezetimibe on the expression of NF-κB. Collectively, our results demonstrated that the anti-inflammatory properties of ezetimibe in THP-1 macrophages are, at least in part, through suppression of NF-κB activation via the MAPK pathway. These data provide direct evidence for the potential application of ezetimibe in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Silica nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used in food products as an additive; however, their toxicity and safety to the human body and the environment still remain unclear. As a food additive, silica NPs firstly enter the human gastrointestinal tract along with food, thus their gastrointestinal toxicity deserves thorough study. Herein, we evaluated the toxicity of food additive silica NPs to cells originating from the gastrointestinal tract. Four silica NP samples were introduced to human gastric epithelial cell GES-1 and colorectal adenocarcinoma cell Caco-2 to investigate the effect of silica sample, exposure dose and exposure period on the morphology, viability and membrane integrity of cells. The cell uptake, cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, cell cycle and apoptosis were determined to reveal the toxicity mechanism. The results indicate that all four silica NPs are safe for both GES-1 and Caco-2 cells after 24-h exposure at a concentration lower than 100 µg ml(-1) . At a higher concentration and longer exposure period, silica NPs do not induce the apoptosis/necrosis of cells, but arrest cell cycle and inhibit the cell growth. Notably, silica NPs do not pass through the Caco-2 cell monolayer after 4-h contact, indicating the low potential of silica NPs to cross the gastrointestinal tract in vivo. Our findings indicate that silica NPs could be used as a safe food additive, but more investigations, such as long-term in vivo exposure, are necessary in future studies.

Heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) and glycoprotein 96 (gp96) are highly expressed in cancer tissues. Recent studies indicate the possible roles of HSP72 and gp96 in the development and progression of gastrointestinal carcinomas but detailed mechanisms are still ambiguous. Human esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, colon cancer and liver cancer are common gastrointestinal malignant carcinomas in the world. The studies indicated that there existed a significant correlation between the expression of HSP72, gp96 and the development and progression of digestive carcinomas. HSP72 and gp96 expression were significantly associated with the presence of tumor infiltration, lymph node and remote metastasis. Interestingly, studies have found that HSP72 chaperoned alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), HBx in hepatocellular carcinoma, and CD44 in colonic carcinomas. The further researches demonstrated that HSP72-AFP or gp96-AFP recombined vaccine could elicit specific anti-tumor immunity. The high-level expression of HSP72 and gp96 may be not only used as diagnostic or prognostic markers for gastrointestinal carcinomas but also as better immunotherapeutic vaccines in the cancers.