Enumeration of a dual set of Stirling permutations by their alternating runs

In this paper, we count a dual set of Stirling permutations by the number of alternating runs. Properties of the generating functions, including recurrence relations, grammatical interpretations and convolution formulas are studied.Comment: 8 page

Effects of gastrointestinal motility on obesity

Background: Changes of gastrointestinal motility, which are important related to the food digestion and absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, may be one of the factors in obesity-formation. Aims The changes of gastrointestinal motility were explored in the rats from diet-induced obesity (DIO), diet-induced obese resistant (DR) or control (CON) by diet intervention. Methods: After fed with a high fat diet (HFD), 100 male Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into DIO, DR and CON groups. The rats from DIO and DR groups were fed with HFD, and CON with a basic diet (BD) for 6 weeks. Body weight, energy intake, gastric emptying, intestinal transit, motility of isolated small intestine segments and colon’s function were measured in this study. Expression of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) and enteric nervous system (ENS) - choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), vasoactive intestinal peptides (VIP), substance P (SP) and NADPH-d histochemistry of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were determined by immunohistochemistry. Results: Body weight and intake energy in the DIO group were higher than those in the DR group (p < 0.05). Gastric emptying of DIO group rats (78.33 ± 4.95%) was significantly faster than that of DR group (51.79 ± 10.72%) (p < 0.01). The peak value of motility in rat’s duodenum from the DR group was significantly higher than that in the DIO group (p < 0.05). In addition, the expression of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), substance P (SP), vasoactive intestinal peptides (VIP) and neuronal nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) in the intestine of rats were significantly increased in the DIO group when compared to the DR group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: A faster gastric emptying, a weaker contraction of duodenum movement, and a stronger contraction and relaxation of ileum movement were found in the rats from the DIO group. It indicated that there has effect of gastrointestinal motility on obesity induced by HFD

Density alteration in non-physiological cells

In the present study an important phenomenon of cells was discovered: the change of intracellular density in cell&#x27;s response to drug and environmental factors. For convenience, this phenomenon is named as &#x22;density alteration in non-physiological cells&#x22; ( DANCE). DANCE was determined by discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation (DSGC), in which cells were separated into several bands. The number and position of the bands in DSGC varied with the change of cell culture conditions, drugs, and physical process, indicating that cell&#x27;s response to these factors was associated with alteration of intracellular density. Our results showed that the bands of cells were molecularly different from each other, such as the expression of some mRNAs. For most cells tested, intracellular density usually decreased when the cells were in bad conditions, in presence of drugs, or undergoing pathological changes. However, unlike other tissue cells, brain cells showed increased intracellular density in 24 hrs after the animal death. In addition, DANCE was found to be related to drug resistance, with higher drug-resistance in cells of lower intracellular density. Further study found that DANCE also occurred in microorganisms including bacteria and fungus, suggesting that DANCE might be a sensitive and general response of cells to drugs and environmental change. The mechanisms for DANCE are not clear. Based on our study the following causes were hypothesized: change of metabolism mode, change of cell membrane function, and pathological change. DANCE could be important in medical and biological sciences. Study of DANCE might be helpful to the understanding of drug resistance, development of new drugs, separation of new subtypes from a cell population, forensic analysis, and importantly, discovery of new physiological or pathological properties of cells

Molecular identification of Trichinella spiralis nudix hydrolase and its induced protective immunity against trichinellosis in BALB/c mice

Background: Nudix hydrolases (Nd) is a widespread superfamily, which is found in all classes of organism, hydrolyse a wide range of organic pyrophosphates and has a ‘housecleaning’ function. The previous study showed that Trichinella spiralis Nd (TsNd) bound to intestinal epithelial cells (IECs), and the vaccination of mice with T7 phage-displayed TsNd polypeptides produced protective immunity. The aim of this study was to clone, express and identify the full-length TsNd and to investigate its immune protection against T. spiralis infection. Methods: The full-length cDNA sequence of TsNd gene encoding a 46 kDa protein from T. spiralis intestinal infective larvae (IIL) was cloned and identified. The antigenicity of rTsNd was analyzed by Western blot. Transcription and expression of TsNd at T. spiralis different stages were observed by RT-PCR and IFT. The levels of the specific total IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies to rTsNd were determined by ELISA. The immune protection of rTsNd against T. spiralis infection was investigated. Results: Sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed that TsNd had a nudix motif located at 226-244aa, which had high homology and the closest evolutionary status with T. pseudospiralis. The rTsNd was obtained after expression and purification. Western blot analysis showed that anti-rTsNd serum recognized the native TsNd protein in crude antigens of muscle larvae (ML), IIL, adult worms (AW) and newborn larvae (NBL), and ES antigens of ML. Transcription and expression of TsNd gene was observed in all developmental stages of T. spiralis (ML, IIL, AW and NBL), with high level expression in IIL. An immunolocalization analysis identified TsNd in the cuticle, stichocytes and reproductive organs of the parasite. Following immunization, anti-rTsNd IgG levels were increased, and the levels of IgG1 were more significantly higher than that of IgG2a. After a challenge infection with T. spiralis, mice immunized with the rTsNd displayed a 57.7% reduction in adult worms and a 56.9% reduction in muscle larval burden. Conclusions: TsNd induced a partial protective immunity in mice and could be considered as a novel candidate vaccine antigen against trichinellosis

2-(4-tert-Butyl­phen­yl)-5-{3,4-dibutoxy-5-[5-(4-tert-butyl­phen­yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-2-thienyl}-1,3,4-oxadiazole

In the title compound, C36H44N4O4S, the dihedral angles between the central thio­phene ring and the pendent oxadiazole rings are 12.7 (2) and 13.7 (2)°, and the dihedral angles between the oxadiazole rings and their adjacent benzene rings are 6.1 (2) and 17.5 (2)°. An intra­molecular C—H⋯O inter­action may help to establish the conformation