Irreducibility and Asymptotics of Stochastic Burgers Equation Driven by α-stable Processes

The irreducibility, moderate deviation principle and $\psi$-uniformly exponential ergodicity with $\psi(x):=1+\|x\|_0$ are proved for stochastic Burgers equation driven by the $\aa$-stable processes for $\aa\in (1,2),$ where the first two are new for the present model, and the last strengthens the exponential ergodicity under total variational norm derived in \cite{Do-Xu-Zh-14}

Facile Fabrication of Uniform Polyaniline Nanotubes with Tubular Aluminosilicates as Templates

The uniform polyaniline (PANI) nanotubes, with inner diameter, outer diameter, and tubular thickness of 40, 60, and 10 nm, respectively, were prepared successfully by using natural tubular aluminosilicates as templates. The halloysite nanotubes were coated with PANI via the in situ chemical oxidation polymerization. Then the templates were etched with HCl/HF solution. The PANI nanotubes were characterized using FTIR, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The conductivity of the PANI nanotubes was found to be 1.752 × 10−5(Ω·cm)−1

Luminescent Organic–Inorganic Hybrids of Functionalized Mesoporous Silica SBA-15 by Thio-Salicylidene Schiff Base

Novel organic–inorganic mesoporous luminescent hybrid material N, N′-bis(salicylidene)-thiocarbohydrazide (BSTC-SBA-15) has been obtained by co-condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate and the organosilane in the presence of Pluronic P123 surfactant as a template. N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-thiocarbohydrazide (BSTC) grafted to the coupling agent 3-(triethoxysilyl)-propyl isocyanate (TESPIC) was used as the precursor for the preparation of mesoporous materials. In addition, for comparison, SBA-15 doped with organic ligand BSTC was also synthesized, denoted as BSTC/SBA-15. This organic–inorganic hybrid material was well-characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and photoluminescence spectra, which reveals that they all have high surface area, uniformity in the mesostructure. The resulting materials (BSTC-SBA-15 and BSTC/SBA-15) exhibit regular uniform microstructures, and no phase separation happened for the organic and the inorganic compounds was covalently linked through Si–O bonds via a self-assemble process. Furthermore, the two materials have different luminescence range: BSTC/SBA-15 presents the strong dominant green luminescence, while BSTC-functionalized material BSTC-SBA-15 shows the dominant blue emission

A Garlic Derivative, S-allylcysteine (SAC), Suppresses Proliferation and Metastasis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is highly malignant and metastatic. Currently, there is no effective chemotherapy for patients with advanced HCC leading to an urgent need to seek for novel therapeutic options. We aimed to investigate the effect of a garlic derivative, S-allylcysteine (SAC), on the proliferation and metastasis of HCC. Methodology/Principal Findings: A series of in vitro experiments including MTT, colony-forming, wound-healing, invasion, apoptosis and cell cycle assays were performed to examine the anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic effects of SAC on a metastatic HCC cell line MHCC97L. The therapeutic values of SAC single and combined with cisplatin treatments were examined in an in vivo orthotopic xenograft liver tumor model. The result showed that the proliferation rate and colony-forming abilities of MHCC97L cells were suppressed by SAC together with significant suppression of the expressions of proliferation markers, Ki-67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Moreover, SAC hindered the migration and invasion of MHCC97L cells corresponding with up-regulation of E-cadherin and down-regulation of VEGF. Furthermore, SAC significantly induced apoptosis and necrosis of MHCC97L cells through suppressing Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 as well as activating caspase-3 and caspase-9. In addition, SAC could significantly induce the S phase arrest of MHCC97L cells together with down-regulation of cdc25c, cdc2 and cyclin B1. In vivo xenograft liver tumor model demonstrated that SAC single or combined with cisplatin treatment inhibited the progression and metastasis of HCC tumor. Conclusions/Significance: Our data demonstrate the anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic effects of SAC on HCC cells and suggest that SAC may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of HCC patients. © 2012 Ng et al.published_or_final_versio

Genetic Structure of the Tree Peony (Paeonia rockii) and the Qinling Mountains as a Geographic Barrier Driving the Fragmentation of a Large Population

Tree peonies are great ornamental plants associated with a rich ethnobotanical history in Chinese culture and have recently been used as an evolutionary model. The Qinling Mountains represent a significant geographic barrier in Asia, dividing mainland China into northern (temperate) and southern (semi-tropical) regions; however, their flora has not been well analyzed. In this study, the genetic differentiation and genetic structure of Paeonia rockii and the role of the Qinling Mountains as a barrier that has driven intraspecific fragmentation were evaluated using 14 microsatellite markers.Twenty wild populations were sampled from the distributional range of P. rockii. Significant population differentiation was suggested (F(ST) value of 0.302). Moderate genetic diversity at the population level (H(S) of 0.516) and high population diversity at the species level (H(T) of 0.749) were detected. Significant excess homozygosity (F(IS) of 0.076) and recent population bottlenecks were detected in three populations. Bayesian clusters, population genetic trees and principal coordinate analysis all classified the P. rockii populations into three genetic groups and one admixed Wenxian population. An isolation-by-distance model for P. rockii was suggested by Mantel tests (r = 0.6074, P<0.001) and supported by AMOVA (P<0.001), revealing a significant molecular variance among the groups (11.32%) and their populations (21.22%). These data support the five geographic boundaries surrounding the Qinling Mountains and adjacent areas that were detected with Monmonier's maximum-difference algorithm.Our data suggest that the current genetic structure of P. rockii has resulted from the fragmentation of a formerly continuously distributed large population following the restriction of gene flow between populations of this species by the Qinling Mountains. This study provides a fundamental genetic profile for the conservation and responsible exploitation of the extant germplasm of this species and for improving the genetic basis for breeding its cultivars

Inhibitory Activity of Bevacizumab to Differentiation of Retinoblastoma Cells

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major regulator in retinal and choroidal angiogenesis, which are common causes of blindness in all age groups. Recently anti-VEGF treatment using anti-VEGF antibody has revolutionarily improved the visual outcome in patients with vaso-proliferative retinopathies. Herein, we demonstrated that bevacizumab as an anti-VEGF antibody could inhibit differentiation of retinoblastoma cells without affection to cellular viability, which would be mediated via blockade of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 activation. The retinoblastoma cells expressed VEGFR-2 as well as TrkA which is a neurotrophin receptor associated with differentiation of retinoblastoma cells. TrkA in retinoblastoma cells was activated with VEGF treatment. Interestingly even in the concentration of no cellular death, bevascizumab significantly attenuated the neurite formation of differentiated retinoblastoma cells, which was accompanied by inhibition of neurofilament and shank2 expression. Furthermore, bevacizumab inhibited differentiation of retinoblastoma cells by blockade of ERK 1/2 activation. Therefore, based on that the differentiated retinoblastoma cells are mostly photoreceptors, our results suggest that anti-VEGF therapies would affect to the maintenance or function of photoreceptors in mature retina

Genetic Diversity and Linkage Disequilibrium in Chinese Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Revealed by SSR Markers

Two hundred and fifty bread wheat lines, mainly Chinese mini core accessions, were assayed for polymorphism and linkage disequilibrium (LD) based on 512 whole-genome microsatellite loci representing a mean marker density of 5.1 cM. A total of 6,724 alleles ranging from 1 to 49 per locus were identified in all collections. The mean PIC value was 0.650, ranging from 0 to 0.965. Population structure and principal coordinate analysis revealed that landraces and modern varieties were two relatively independent genetic sub-groups. Landraces had a higher allelic diversity than modern varieties with respect to both genomes and chromosomes in terms of total number of alleles and allelic richness. 3,833 (57.0%) and 2,788 (41.5%) rare alleles with frequencies of <5% were found in the landrace and modern variety gene pools, respectively, indicating greater numbers of rare variants, or likely new alleles, in landraces. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that A genome had the largest genetic differentiation and D genome the lowest. In contrast to genetic diversity, modern varieties displayed a wider average LD decay across the whole genome for locus pairs with r2>0.05 (P<0.001) than the landraces. Mean LD decay distance for the landraces at the whole genome level was <5 cM, while a higher LD decay distance of 5–10 cM in modern varieties. LD decay distances were also somewhat different for each of the 21 chromosomes, being higher for most of the chromosomes in modern varieties (<5∼25 cM) compared to landraces (<5∼15 cM), presumably indicating the influences of domestication and breeding. This study facilitates predicting the marker density required to effectively associate genotypes with traits in Chinese wheat genetic resources

Deficiency of Leishmania phosphoglycans influences the magnitude but does not affect the quality of secondary (memory) anti-Leishmania immunity

Despite inducing very low IFN-γ response and highly attenuated in vivo, infection of mice with phosphoglycan (PG) deficient Leishmania major (lpg2-) induces protection against virulent L. major challenge. Here, we show that mice infected with lpg2- L. major generate Leishmania-specific memory T cells. However, in vitro and in vivo proliferation, IL-10 and IFN-γ production by lpg2- induced memory cells were impaired in comparison to those induced by wild type (WT) parasites. Interestingly, TNF recall response was comparable to WT infected mice. Despite the impaired proliferation and IFN-γ response, lpg2- infected mice were protected against virulent L. major challenge and their T cells mediated efficient infection-induced immunity. In vivo depletion and neutralization studies with mAbs demonstrated that lpg2- L. major-induced resistance was strongly dependent on IFN-γ, but independent of TNF and CD8(+) T cells. Collectively, these data show that the effectiveness of secondary anti-Leishmania immunity depends on the quality (and not the magnitude) of IFN-γ response. These observations provide further support for consideration of lpg2- L. major as a live-attenuated candidate for leishmanization in humans since it protects strongly against virulent challenge, without inducing pathology in infected animals