One-step synthesis of nanohybrid carbon dots and TiO2 composites with enhanced ultraviolet light active photocatalysis

Nano-hybrid composites of carbon dots (CDs) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) were fabricated by a designed one-step solvothermal method.

Perspective on CO oxidation over Pd-based catalysts

CO oxidation is one of the most extensively investigated reactions in the field of heterogeneous catalysis because of its importance in both environmental protection and fundamental studies.

Differential expression of immune-related cytokine genes in response to J group avian leukosis virus infection in vivo

Infection with J group avian leukosis virus (ALV-J) can result in immunosuppression and subsequently increased susceptibility to secondary infection. The innate immune system is the first line defense system in prevention of further bacterial and viral infections. Cytokines play key roles in the innate immune system. In this study, we used RT-qPCR technology to test the cytokine mRNA expression levels in various immune tissues, including the spleen, bursa of fabricius and cecal tonsil, in the days following ALV-J infection. The results indicated that in the infected group, the expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-18, interferon-α (IFN-α) and IFN-γ significantly increased in the spleen and reached peak levels that were thousandfolds higher than baselines at 9-12 days post-infection (d.p.i.). The levels in the bursa of fabricius slightly increased, and the levels in the cecal tonsil were not significantly altered. Moreover, the pattern of the expression of these three cytokines in the spleens of the infected group was similar to the pattern of viremia of this group. These results suggest that the spleen plays an important role in the interaction between ALV-J infection and the innate immune system. This study contributes to the understanding of innate immune responses to ALV-J infection and also elucidates the mechanisms of the pathogenicity of ALV-J in chickens.

Multiband signal reconstruction for random equivalent sampling

The random equivalent sampling (RES) is a sampling approach that can be applied to capture high speed repetitive signals with a sampling rate that is much lower than the Nyquist rate. However, the uneven random distribution of the time interval between the excitation pulse and the signal degrades the signal reconstruction performance. For sparse multiband signal sampling, the compressed sensing (CS) based signal reconstruction algorithm can tease out the band supports with overwhelming probability and reduce the impact of uneven random distribution in RES. In this paper, the mathematical model of RES behavior is constructed in the frequency domain. Based on the constructed mathematical model, the band supports of signal can be determined. Experimental results demonstrate that, for a signal with unknown sparse multiband, the proposed CS-based signal reconstruction algorithm is feasible, and the CS reconstruction algorithm outperforms the traditional RES signal reconstruction method.

An avian leukosis virus subgroup J isolate with a Rous sarcoma virus-like 5'-LTR shows enhanced replication capability

Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) was first isolated from meat-producing chickens that had developed myeloid leukosis. However, ALV-J infections associated with hemangiomas have occurred in egg-producing (layer) flocks in China. In this study, we identified an ALV-J layer isolate (HLJ13SH01) as a recombinant of ALV-J and a Rous sarcoma virus Schmidt-Ruppin B strain (RSV-SRB), which contained the RSV-SRB 5'-LTR and the other genes of ALV-J. Replication kinetic testing indicated that the HLJ13SH01 strain replicated faster than other ALV-J layer isolates in vitro. Sequence analysis indicated that the main difference between the two isolates was the 5'-LTR sequences, particularly the U3 sequences. A 19 nt insertion was uniquely found in the U3 region of the HLJ13SH01 strain. The results of a Dual-Glo luciferase assay revealed that the 19 nt insertion in the HLJ13SH01 strain increased the enhancer activity of the U3 region. Moreover, an additional CCAAT/enhancer element was found in the 19 nt insertion and the luciferase assay indicated that this element played a key role in increasing the enhancer activity of the 5'-U3 region. To confirm the potentiation effect of the 19 nt insertion and the CCAAT/enhancer element on virus replication, three infectious clones with 5'-U3 region variations were constructed and rescued. Replication kinetic testing of the rescued viruses demonstrated that the CCAAT/enhancer element in the 19 nt insertion enhanced the replication capacity of the ALV-J recombinant in vitro.

Synthesis of AuPd alloyed nanoparticles via room-temperature electron reduction with argon glow discharge as electron source

Argon glow discharge has been employed as a cheap, environmentally friendly, and convenient electron source for simultaneous reduction of HAuCl4 and PdCl2 on the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) substrate. The thermal imaging confirms that the synthesis is operated at room temperature. The reduction is conducted with a short time (30 min) under the pressure of approximately 100 Pa. This room-temperature electron reduction operates in a dry way and requires neither hydrogen nor extra heating nor chemical reducing agent. The analyses using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirm all the metallic ions have been reduced. The characterization with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) shows that AuPd alloyed nanoparticles are formed. There also exist some highly dispersed Au and Pd monometallic particles that cannot be detected by XRD and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) because of their small particle sizes. The observed AuPd alloyed nanoparticles are spherical with an average size of 14 nm. No core-shell structure can be observed. The room-temperature electron reduction can be operated in a larger scale. It is an easy way for the synthesis of AuPd alloyed nanoparticles.

Effect of the IkBα mutant gene delivery to mesenchymal stem cells on rat chronic pancreatitis

This study aimed to investigate the effect of inhibitors of the NF-kΒ alpha mutant gene (IkBaM) delivery to mensenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on rat chronic pancreatitis (CP). A total of 120 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of 20: Group A was injected with sterile saline solution, Group B was injected with allogenic MSCs, Group C1 was injected with allogenic IkBαM-MSCs cultured in vitro 4 h before CP modeling, Group C2 was injected with allogenic IkBαM-MSCs cultured in vitro during CP modeling, Group C3 was cultured with allogenic IkBαM-MSCs cultured in vitro 4 h after CP modeling, and Group D was injected with rAAV2-MSCs. Cytokine levels of ICAM-1, CTGF, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, IL-10, FN, MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, and MMP-9 were examined. The results indicated that allogenic IκBαM-MSCs could reduce pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and increase anti-inflammatory cytokine levels in CP. The allogenic IkBαM-MSCs reduced the activation and promoted the apoptosis of pancreatic stellate cells in the rat model of CP. IkBαM-MSCs influenced the proliferation and apoptosis of pancreatic stellate cells by regulating the activation of the PPAR, MAPK, mTOR, TGF-β, NOD-like receptor, Notch, WNT, TGF-β1-SMAD-2/3, and P53 signal transduction pathways.

Silver nanoparticle aggregates by room temperature electron reduction: preparation and characterization

Silver nanoparticle aggregates were fabricated on AAO substrate via room temperature electron reduction. Their color depends on the size of the aggregate, rather than on the size of single AgNPs.

Catalytic fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

We summarize the development of catalysts and provide the current understanding of the chemistry for catalytic fast pyrolysis of lignocelluloses biomass.

Improving yield and quality traits of durum wheat by introgressing chromosome segments from hexaploid wheat

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum durum; 2n = 4x = 28; genome AABB) has long been an important food resource for human diets. The projected increase of the world's population to 9.1 billion by 2050 has highlighted the importance and urgency for improving the yield and quality performance of durum wheat. A backcrossed population, which was derived from the durum wheat variety 'Bellaroi' (recurrent parent) and the hexaploid genotype 'CSCR6' (donor parent), was used to investigate the feasibility of improving yield- and quality-related traits of durum wheat by introgressing chromosome fragments from hexaploid wheat. The population means for grain protein content, gluten content, spike length, and spikelet number were improved compared with those of the recurrent parent 'Bellaroi'. A small proportion of the backcross population lines showed significant improvements in spike length and spikelet number compared with the recurrent parent 'Bellaroi'. Some loci with significant effects for plant height, spike length, spikelet number, and thousand-grain weight were identified. Several of these loci affected more than one trait. These results showed that the introgression of chromosome fragments from 'CSCR6' into the durum genetic background could be an effective method for improving yield and quality traits of durum wheat. In addition, the loci showing significant effects on desired traits in this study could be fine mapped using an F2 population obtained by backcrossing the lines that carry the positive allele(s) with the recurrent parent.

Major QTL for Fusarium crown rot resistance in a barley landrace

Fusarium crown rot (FCR) is a serious cereal disease in semi-arid regions worldwide. In assisting the effort of breeding cultivars with enhanced resistance, we identified several barley genotypes with high levels of FCR resistance. One of these genotypes, AWCS079 which is a barley landrace originating from Japan, was investigated by developing and assessing three populations of recombinant inbred lines. Two QTL, one located on the long arm of chromosome 1H (designated as Qcrs.cpi-1H) and the other on 3HL (designated as Qcrs.cpi-3H), were found to be responsible for the FCR resistance of this genotype. Qcrs.cpi-1H is novel as no other FCR loci have been reported on this chromosome arm. Qcrs.cpi-3H co-located with a reduced height (Rht) locus and the effectiveness of the former was significantly affected by the latter. The total phenotypic variance explained by these two QTL was over 60 %. Significant effects were detected for each of the QTL in each of the three populations assessed. The existence of these loci with major effects should not only facilitate breeding and exploitation of FCR-resistant barley cultivars but also their further characterization based on fine mapping and map-based gene cloning.

Mst1 overexpression inhibited the growth of human non-small cell lung cancer in vitro and in vivo

Mammalian STE20-like kinase 1 (Mst1) ubiquitously encodes serine threonine kinase, which is a 59-kDa class II GC kinase that shares 76% identity in amino-acid sequence with MST2, and is the closest mammalian homolog of Drosophila Hippo protein kinase, a major inhibitor of cell proliferation in Drosophila. Recent studies have shown that Mst1 and Mst2 perform tumor-suppressor function in a redundant manner and were originally identified as pro-apoptotic cytoplasmic kinases important for controlling cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis and organ size. We used recombinant eukaryotic expression vector containing human wild-type Mst1 gene to transfect human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 cells in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that Mst1 overexpression inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis of A549 cells, promoted Yes-associated protein (YAP) (Ser127) phosphorylation and downregulated the transcriptional level of Cystein-rich protein connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), amphiregulin (AREG) and Survivin. In human NSCLC-cell-A549-xenograft models, Mst1 gene or cisplatin alone suppressed the growth of tumors and increased the cytoplasm-positive expression levels of YAP and Phospho-YAP (Ser127) proteins; however, their combination had the strongest anticancer effects. Overall, Mst1 has an important role in inhibiting the growth of NSCLC in vitro and in vivo; its antiproliferative effect is associated with induction of apoptosis through promotion of the cytoplasmic localization and phosphorylation of YAP protein at Ser127 site, indicating that Mst1 may be developed as a promising therapeutic target for NSCLC.

Transcriptome analysis of venom glands from a single fishing spider Dolomedes mizhoanus

The spider venom is a large pharmacological repertoire composed of different types of bioactive peptide toxins. Despite the importance of spider toxins in capturing terrestrial prey and defending themselves against predators, we know little about the venom components from the spider acting on the fish. Here we constructed a cDNA library of a pair of venomous glands from a single fish-hunting spider Dolomedes mizhoanus. A total of 356 high-quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were obtained from the venom gland cDNA library and analyzed. These transcripts were further classified into 45 clusters (19 contigs and 26 singletons), most of which encoded cystine knot toxins (CKTs) and non-CKTs. The ESTs coding for 53 novel CKT precursors were abundant transcripts in the venom glands of the spider D. mizhoanus, accounting for 76% of the total ESTs, the precursors of which were grouped into six families based on the sequence identity and the phylogenetic analysis. In addition, the non-CKTs deduced from 21% of the total ESTs were annotated by Gene Ontology terms and eukaryotic orthologous groups. Fifty-five CKT precursors deduced from 273 ESTs are the largest dataset for a single spider specimen to date. The results may contribute to discovering novel potential drug leads from spider venoms and a better understanding of the evolutionary relationship of the spider toxin.

A new approach to kinetics study of the anhydrite crystallization at 373 K using a diamond anvil cell with Raman spectroscopy

A new approach to the kinetics study of anhydrite (CaSO4) crystallization has been performed in situ using a hydrothermal diamond anvil cell with Raman spectroscopy in the pressure range 896-1322 MPa and a constant temperature of 373 K. Transformed volume fraction X(t) was determined from Raman peak intensity of the sulfate ion in aqueous solution. The transformation-time plots display a sigmoidal shape with time, which indicates that the reaction rate is different at each stage of anhydrite crystallization. At 373 K, the rate constant k increases from 1.14 × 10(-4) s(-1) to 1.86 × 10(-3) s(-1), demonstrating a positive effect of pressure on the overall rate at isothermal condition. We first achieved the molar volume change (ΔVm) equal to -1.82 × 10(-5) m(3)∕mol in the course of anhydrite crystallization through Avrami kinetic theory, showing a process of reduction in volume at high pressure and high temperature. According to the exponent n derived from our experiments, a grain-boundary nucleation and diffusion-controlled growth kinetically dominates the crystallization of anhydrite.