148 research outputs found

    Table_1_Vitamin D effects on Chlamydia trachomatis infection: a case-control and experimental study.docx

    No full text
    IntroductionVitamin D deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. Chronic vitamin D deficiency causes immune system dysfunction, which increases susceptibility to pathogens such as bacteria, especially intracellular parasites, and viruses. Chlamydia trachomatis (C. t) is an obligate intracellular parasitic bacterium that causes a variety of sequelae. We speculated that vitamin D might be associated with C. t infection. This study aimed to address this gap in knowledge by investigating the relationship between vitamin D and C. t infection using both in vitro and in vivo models.Methods and resultsThe addition of calcitriol to McCoy cell culture in vitro delayed and reduced the quantity and volume of inclusions compared to the control group. Macrophages of peritoneally lavaged mice co-cultured with McCoy decreased the infection rate and delayed the appearance of inclusions. In mice models of vitamin D deficiency, mice in the VD-group exhibited more severe genital tract inflammation and a longer duration of infection after inoculation with C. t in the genital tract. Supplementing these mice with vitamin D3 during treatment enhanced the therapeutic effect of antibiotics. We also conducted a case-control study involving 174 C. t-positive patients (95 males and 79 females) and 380 healthy volunteers (211 males and 169 females) aged 20–49 from January 2016 to March 15, 2017. Serum 25-(OH)D concentration was measured by assessing morning fasting blood samples of healthy volunteers and C. t-positive patients 1 day before antibiotic treatment and the next day after one course of treatment. The patients were followed up for 1 month and evaluated for recovery. The results showed that vitamin D deficiency was a risk factor for C. t infection and treatment failure.ConclusionIn summary, findings from experimental and clinical studies indicate a close association between vitamin D levels and C. t infection and treatment outcomes. Given the affordability and safety of vitamin D, both healthy individuals and patients should focus on vitamin D intake. Vitamin D supplementation could enhance treatment success and should be used as an adjunctive therapy alongside antibiotic therapy for C. t infections, pending confirmation in larger, prospective, randomized controlled trials.</p

    Image_1_Vitamin D effects on Chlamydia trachomatis infection: a case-control and experimental study.pdf

    No full text
    IntroductionVitamin D deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. Chronic vitamin D deficiency causes immune system dysfunction, which increases susceptibility to pathogens such as bacteria, especially intracellular parasites, and viruses. Chlamydia trachomatis (C. t) is an obligate intracellular parasitic bacterium that causes a variety of sequelae. We speculated that vitamin D might be associated with C. t infection. This study aimed to address this gap in knowledge by investigating the relationship between vitamin D and C. t infection using both in vitro and in vivo models.Methods and resultsThe addition of calcitriol to McCoy cell culture in vitro delayed and reduced the quantity and volume of inclusions compared to the control group. Macrophages of peritoneally lavaged mice co-cultured with McCoy decreased the infection rate and delayed the appearance of inclusions. In mice models of vitamin D deficiency, mice in the VD-group exhibited more severe genital tract inflammation and a longer duration of infection after inoculation with C. t in the genital tract. Supplementing these mice with vitamin D3 during treatment enhanced the therapeutic effect of antibiotics. We also conducted a case-control study involving 174 C. t-positive patients (95 males and 79 females) and 380 healthy volunteers (211 males and 169 females) aged 20–49 from January 2016 to March 15, 2017. Serum 25-(OH)D concentration was measured by assessing morning fasting blood samples of healthy volunteers and C. t-positive patients 1 day before antibiotic treatment and the next day after one course of treatment. The patients were followed up for 1 month and evaluated for recovery. The results showed that vitamin D deficiency was a risk factor for C. t infection and treatment failure.ConclusionIn summary, findings from experimental and clinical studies indicate a close association between vitamin D levels and C. t infection and treatment outcomes. Given the affordability and safety of vitamin D, both healthy individuals and patients should focus on vitamin D intake. Vitamin D supplementation could enhance treatment success and should be used as an adjunctive therapy alongside antibiotic therapy for C. t infections, pending confirmation in larger, prospective, randomized controlled trials.</p

    Highly Acidic Conditions Drastically Alter the Chemical Composition and Absorption Coefficient of α‑Pinene Secondary Organic Aerosol

    No full text
    Secondary organic aerosols (SOA), formed through the gas-phase oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), can reside in the atmosphere for many days. The formation of SOA takes place rapidly within hours after VOC emissions, but SOA can undergo much slower physical and chemical processes throughout their lifetime in the atmosphere. The acidity of atmospheric aerosols spans a wide range, with the most acidic particles having negative pH values, which can promote acid-catalyzed reactions. The goal of this work is to elucidate poorly understood mechanisms and rates of acid-catalyzed aging of mixtures of representative SOA compounds. SOA were generated by the ozonolysis of α-pinene in a continuous flow reactor and then collected using a foil substrate. SOA samples were extracted and aged by exposure to varying concentrations of aqueous H2SO4 for 1–2 days. Chemical analysis of fresh and aged samples was conducted using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array spectrophotomety and high-resolution mass spectrometry. In addition, UV–vis spectrophotometry and fluorescence spectrophotometry were used to examine the changes in optical properties before and after aging. We observed that SOA that aged in moderately acidic conditions (pH from 0 to 4) experienced small changes in composition, while SOA that aged in a highly acidic environment (pH from −1 to 0) experienced more dramatic changes in composition, including the formation of compounds containing sulfur. Additionally, at highly acidic conditions, light-absorbing and fluorescent compounds appeared, but their identities could not be ascertained due to their small relative abundance. This study shows that acidity is a major driver of SOA aging, resulting in a large change in the chemical composition and optical properties of aerosols in regions where high concentrations of H2SO4 persist, such as upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

    The Use of Chiral BINAM NHC-Rh(III) Complexes in Enantioselective Hydrosilylation of 3-Oxo-3-arylpropionic Acid Methyl or Ethyl Esters

    No full text
    Axially chiral BINAM N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-Rh(III) complexes were applied in the enantioselective hydrosilylation of 3-oxo-3-arylpropionic acid methyl or ethyl esters. The reduction products 3-hydroxy-3-arylpropionic acid methyl or ethyl esters could be obtained in good yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities under mild conditions

    Additional file 1: of The effect of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway on collagen-induced arthritis involves the modulation of dendritic cell differentiation

    No full text
    Bone marrow–derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) were stained with antibodies against F4/80, CD11c, CD80 and major histocompatibility complex II (MHC II) and analyzed by flow cytometry. Frequency of CD11c+ F4/80− cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. The number in the upper right represents the percentage of CD11c+ F4/80+ cells, which is less than 5%. (DOCX 50 kb

    The Use of Chiral BINAM NHC-Rh(III) Complexes in Enantioselective Hydrosilylation of 3-Oxo-3-arylpropionic Acid Methyl or Ethyl Esters

    No full text
    Axially chiral BINAM N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-Rh(III) complexes were applied in the enantioselective hydrosilylation of 3-oxo-3-arylpropionic acid methyl or ethyl esters. The reduction products 3-hydroxy-3-arylpropionic acid methyl or ethyl esters could be obtained in good yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities under mild conditions

    Influence of the Hypercapnic Tumor Microenvironment on the Viability of Hela Cells Screened by a CO<sub>2</sub>‑Gradient-Generating Device

    No full text
    Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels outside of the physiological range are frequently encountered in the tumor microenvironment and laparoscopic pneumoperitoneum during clinical cancer therapy. Controversies exist regarding the biological effects of hypercapnia on tumor proliferation and metastasis concerning time frame, CO2 concentration, and cell type. Traditional control of gaseous microenvironments for cell growth is conducted using culture chambers that allow for a single gas concentration at a time. In the present paper, Hela cells were studied for their response to varying levels of CO2 in an aerogel-based gas gradient-generating apparatus capable of delivering a stable and quantitative linear CO2 profile in spatial and temporal domains. Cells cultured in the standard 96-well plate sandwiched in between the device were interfaced with the gas gradient generator, and the cells in each row were exposed to a known level of CO2 accordingly. Both the ratiometric pH indicator and theoretical modeling have confirmed the efficient mass transport of CO2 through the air-permeable aerogel monolith in a short period of time. Tumor cell behaviors in various hypercapnic microenvironments with gradient CO2 concentrations ranging from 12 to 89% were determined in terms of viability, morphology, and mitochondrial metabolism under acute exposure for 3 h and over a longer cultivation period for up to 72 h. A significant reduction in cell viability was noticed with increasing CO2 concentration and incubation time, which was closely associated with intracellular acidification and elevated cellular level of reactive oxygen species. Our modular device demonstrated full adaptability to the standard culture systems and high-throughput instruments, which provide the potential for simultaneously screening the responses of cells under tunable gaseous microenvironments

    GCN Data_AMF.zip

    No full text
    A multi-layered financial network (MRFN) dataset, where each layer represents a thematic interaction between the firms. The MRFN datasets can act as benchmark network datasets that could be used to extend the research on graph learning in predicting the financial risks of the firms.</p

    Table_4_Deciphering the Molecular Signatures Associated With Resistance to Botrytis cinerea in Strawberry Flower by Comparative and Dynamic Transcriptome Analysis.xlsx

    No full text
    Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea, which is considered to be the second most destructive necrotrophic fungus, leads to major economic losses in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) production. B. cinerea preferentially infects strawberry flowers and fruits, leading to flower blight and fruit rot. Compared with those of the fruit, the mechanisms of flower defense against B. cinerea remain largely unexplored. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to unveil the resistance mechanisms of strawberry flower through dynamic and comparative transcriptome analysis with resistant and susceptible strawberry cultivars. Our experimental data suggest that resistance to B. cinerea in the strawberry flower is probably regulated at the transcriptome level during the early stages of infection and strawberry flower has highly complex and dynamic regulatory networks controlling a multi-layered defense response to B. cinerea. First of all, the higher expression of disease-resistance genes but lower expression of cell wall degrading enzymes and peroxidases leads to higher resistance to B. cinerea in the resistant cultivar. Interestingly, CPKs, RBOHDs, CNGCs, and CMLs comprised a calcium signaling pathway especially play a crucial role in enhancing resistance by increasing their expression. Besides, six types of phytohormones forming a complex regulatory network mediated flower resistance, especially JA and auxin. Finally, the genes involved in the phenylpropanoid and amino acids biosynthesis pathways were gene sets specially expressed or different expression genes, both of them contribute to the flower resistance to B. cinerea. These data provide the foundation for a better understanding of strawberry gray mold, along with detailed genetic information and resistant materials to enable genetic improvement of strawberry plant resistance to gray mold.</p

    Additional file 2: of Multiple convergent events created a nominal widespread species: Triplophysa stoliczkae (Steindachner, 1866) (Cobitoidea: Nemacheilidae)

    No full text
    Table S1. Primers used in this study and PCR conditions. Table S2. GenBank accession numbers for the specimens included in this study. Sample ID corresponds to Fig. 1. Table S3. The optimal partitioning scheme and substitution models for each locus. (DOCX 45 kb) (DOCX 44 kb
    corecore