Investigation of in-situ electrode formation with respect to potential applications in intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells

The novel SEA (Single Element Arrangement) concept for SOFC consists of a single material to complete the whole galvanic cell. Essential of the SEA concept is the in-situ electrode formation. Such kind of material becomes mixed ionic and electronic conducting in the surface region, while still being predominantly ionically conducting inside under the working conditions. Electronic short circuit will be blocked by the region where ionic conduction is dominant, allowing the generation of electromotive force. In this work, several materials that were considered to be possible candidates for SEA applications were investigated, with the focus on modification of the electronic conductivity by appropriate doping in the well-known electrolyte materials, including samarium doped ceria (SDC), yttria doped barium cerate and LSGM

Global Proteomic Analysis of the Resuscitation State of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Compared With the Normal and Viable but Non-culturable State

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a common pathogen which has become a major concern of seafood products. The bacteria in the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state are unable to form colonies on growth media, but under appropriate conditions they can regain culturability. In this study, V. parahaemolyticus was induced into VBNC state at low temperature and oligotrophic condition, and was resuscitated to culturable state. The aim of this study is to explore the comparative proteomic profiles of the resuscitation state compared with the VBNC state and the exponential phase of V. parahaemolyticus using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) technique. The differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were subjected to GO functional annotations and KEGG pathway analysis. The results indicated that a total of 429 proteins were identified as the significant DEPs in the resuscitation cells compared with the VBNC cells, including 330 up-regulated and 99 down-regulated DEPs. Meanwhile, the resuscitation cells displayed 25 up-regulated and 36 down-regulated DEPs (total of 61 DEPs) in comparison with the exponential phase cells. The remarkable DEPs including ribosomal proteins, ABC transporters, outer membrane proteins and flagellar proteins. GO annotation showed that the 429 DEPs were classified into 37 GO terms, of which 17 biological process (BP) terms, 9 cellular component (CC) terms and 11 molecular function (MF) terms. The up-regulated proteins presented in all GO terms except two terms of developmental process and reproduction. The 61 DEPs were assigned to 23 GO terms, the up- and down-regulated DEPs were both mainly involved in cellular process, establishment of localization, metabolic process and so on. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the 429 DEPs were assigned to 35 KEGG pathways, and the pathways of ribosome, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism were significantly enriched. Moreover, the 61 DEPs located in 26 KEGG pathways, including the significantly enriched KEGG pathways of ABC transporters and two-component system. This study would contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the resuscitation of the VBNC state of V. parahaemolyticus

Over-expression of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4 gamma 1 correlates with tumor progression and poor prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of the present study was to analyze the expression of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4 gamma 1 (<it>EIF4G1</it>) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its correlation with clinicopathologic features, including patients' survival time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using real-time PCR, we detected the expression of <it>EIF4G1 </it>in normal nasopharyngeal tissues, immortalized nasopharyngeal epithelial cell lines NP69, NPC tissues and cell lines. <it>EIF4G1 </it>protein expression in NPC tissues was examined using immunohistochemistry. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method. The effect of <it>EIF4G1 </it>on cell invasion and tumorigenesis were investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The expression levels of <it>EIF4G1 </it>mRNA were significantly greater in NPC tissues and cell lines than those in the normal nasopharyngeal tissues and NP69 cells (<it>P </it>< 0.001). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the expression of <it>EIF4G1 </it>protein was higher in NPC tissues than that in the nasopharyngeal tissues (<it>P </it>< 0.001). In addition, the levels of <it>EIF4G1 </it>protein in tumors were positively correlated with tumor T classification (<it>P </it>= 0.039), lymph node involvement (N classification, <it>P </it>= 0.008), and the clinical stages (<it>P </it>= 0.003) of NPC patients. Patients with higher <it>EIF4G</it>1 expression had shorter overall survival time (<it>P </it>= 0.019). Multivariate analysis showed that <it>EIF4G1 </it>expression was an independent prognostic indicator for the overall survival of NPC patients. Using shRNA to knock down the expression of <it>EIF4G1 </it>not only markedly inhibited cell cycle progression, proliferation, migration, invasion, and colony formation, but also dramatically suppressed <it>in vivo </it>xenograft tumor growth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data suggest that <it>EIF4G1 </it>can serve as a biomarker for the prognosis of NPC patients.</p

Comparative analysis of aroma components and quality of Geotrichum candidum after space mutation breeding

AimThe aroma-producing strain of Geotrichum candidum GDMCC60675 was taken as the research object, the composition of aroma-producing substances of G. candidum was studied, and the target strains of G. candidum suitable for food additives were screened out by mutagenesis.MethodsMutants were obtained by space breeding. The colony morphology and cell morphology of the mutant strain were identified, the phylogenetic tree of the two strains was constructed, and the whole-genome sequences of the wild strain and the mutant strain were compared. The aroma components and key odor compounds of the two strains were analyzed and compared by HS-SPME-GC-MS and E-nose detection, and the data were processed by using the relative odor activity value (ROAV) analysis method.ResultsA mutant strain of G. candidum was found with different characteristics of aroma production compared with wild-type G. candidum. It was found that its colony morphology and cell morphology were similar. However, it was found that the aroma-producing substances produced by the two strains were different, and the key difference compound was phenyl ethyl alcohol, which also proved that the two strains were different, and the main aroma note was different

Hepatoma-Derived Growth Factor and DDX5 Promote Carcinogenesis and Progression of Endometrial Cancer by Activating β-Catenin

Background: Our previous work determined the correlation between high nuclear expression of hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) and clinicopathological data of endometrial cancer (EC); however, the modulatory mechanisms and biological role of HDGF in EC have not been reported.Methods: Lentiviral particles carrying human HDGF short hairpin RNA (shHDGF-1, -2, and -3) vector and plasmids for HDGF, DDX5, and β-catenin expression were, respectively introduced into EC cells to evaluate the effects and molecular mechanisms underlying EC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis. Quantitative real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting were used to determine HDGF and DDX5 expression. Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), mass spectrometry, and an immunofluorescence co-localization study were conducted to explore the relationship between HDGF, DDX5, and β-catenin. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze the clinical associations between HDGF and DDX5 in EC.Results: Knocking down HDGF expression significantly decreased EC cellular proliferation, migration, invasion in vitro, as well as tumorigenesis and metastasis in vivo. Conversely, HDGF overexpression reversed these effects. Stable knockdown-based HDGF suppression activated the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, along with downstream β-catenin-mediated cell cycle and epithelial-mesenchymal transition signaling. Furthermore, co-IP combined with mass spectrometry and an immunofluorescence co-localization study indicated that HDGF interacts with DDX5, whereas β-catenin was associated with DDX5 but not HDGF. Overexpression of DDX5 reversed the suppression of shHDGF. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that high expression of DDX5 constituted an unfavorable factor with respect to the clinicopathological characteristics of EC tissues and that HDGF and DDX5 high expression (HDGF+/DDX5+) led to a worse prognosis for patients with EC (P &lt; 0.001). In addition, we found that the expression of HDGF and DDX5 was positively correlated in EC tissues (r = 0.475, P &lt; 0.001).Conclusion: Our results provide novel evidence that HDGF interacts with DDX5 and promotes the progression of EC through the induction of β-catenin

Transcriptional patterns, biomarkers and pathways characterizing nasopharyngeal carcinoma of Southern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a complicated process involving genetic predisposition, Epstein-Bar Virus infection, and genetic alterations. Although some oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes have been previously reported in NPC, a complete understanding of the pathogenesis of NPC in the context of global gene expression, transcriptional pathways and biomarker assessment remains to be elucidated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Total RNA from 32 pathologically-confirmed cases of poorly-differentiated NPC was divided into pools inclusive of four consecutive specimens and each pool (T1 to T8) was co-hybridized with pooled RNA from 24 normal non-cancerous nasopharyngeal tissues (NP) to a human 8K cDNA array platform. The reliability of microarray data was validated for selected genes by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Stringent statistical filtering parameters identified 435 genes to be up-regulated and 257 genes to be down-regulated in NPC compared to NP. Seven up-regulated genes including CYC1, MIF, LAMB3, TUBB2, UBE2C and TRAP1 had been previously proposed as candidate common cancer biomarkers based on a previous extensive comparison among various cancers and normal tissues which did not, however, include NPC or NP. In addition, nine known oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, MIF, BIRC5, PTTG1, ATM, FOXO1A, TGFBR2, PRKAR1A, KLF5 and PDCD4 were identified through the microarray literature-based annotation search engine MILANO, suggesting these genes may be specifically involved in the promotion of the malignant conversion of nasopharyngeal epithelium. Finally, we found that these differentially expressed genes were involved in apoptosis, MAPK, VEGF and B cell receptor signaling pathways and other functions associated with cell growth, signal transduction and immune system activation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study identified potential candidate biomarkers, oncogenes/tumor suppressor genes involved in several pathways relevant to the oncogenesis of NPC. This information may facilitate the determination of diagnostic and therapeutic targets for NPC as well as provide insights about the molecular pathogenesis of NPC.</p

Retromer Is Essential for Autophagy-Dependent Plant Infection by the Rice Blast Fungus

We thank Dr. Yizhen Deng at the Temasek Life sciences Laboratory (TLL) for providing the RFP-MoAtg8 plasmid. We would like to thank Drs. Zhenbiao Yang (University of California, Riverside) and Xianying Dou (Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University) for helpful discussions.Author Summary The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae utilizes key infection structures, called appressoria, elaborated at the tips of the conidial germ tubes to gain entry into the host tissue. Development of the appressorium is accompanied with autophagy in the conidium leading to programmed cell death. This work highlights the significance of the Vps35/retromer membrane-trafficking machinery in the regulation of autophagy during appressorium-mediated host penetration, and thus sheds light on a novel molecular mechanism underlying autophagy-based membrane trafficking events during pathogen-host interaction in rice blast disease. Our findings provide the first genetic evidence that the retromer controls the initiation of autophagy in filamentous fungi.Yeshttp://www.plosgenetics.org/static/editorial#pee

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake