Cytokine and microRNA levels during different periods of paradoxical sleep deprivation and sleep recovery in rats

Background Sleep has a fundamental role in the regulation of homeostasis. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different periods of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and recovery on serum levels of cytokines and miRNAs related to inflammatory responses. Methods Male Wistar rats were submitted to a PSD of 24, 96, or 192 h, or of 192 h followed by 20 days of recovery (192 h PSD+R). The concentrations of corticosterone, cytokines (IL-6, TNF, IL-10, Adiponectin) and miRNAs (miR-146a, miR-155, miR-223, miR-16, miR-126, miR-21) in serum were evaluated. Results At PSD 24 h a significant increase of IL-6 and decrease of IL-10 were observed. At PSD 96h adiponectin increased. At 192 h of PSD IL-6 increased significantly again, accompanied by a threefold increase of IL-10 and an increase of serum corticosterone. After 20 days of recovery (192 h PSD+R) corticosterone, IL-6 and TNF levels increased significantly, while IL-10 decreased also significantly. Regarding the miRNAs at 24 h of PSD serum miR-146a, miR-155, miR-223, and miR-16 levels all increased. At 96 h of PSD miR-223 decreased. At 192 h of PSD decreases in miR-16 and miR-126 were observed. After recovery serum miR-21 increased and miR-16 decreased. Conclusion PSD induces a dynamic response likely reflecting the induced cellular stress and manifested as variating hormonal and inflammatory responses. Sleep deprivation disturbed corticosterone, cytokine and miRNA levels in serum related to the duration of sleep deprivation, as short-term PSD produced effects similar to those of an acute inflammatory response and long-term PSD induced long-lasting disturbances of biological mediators

Genome-wide analysis of circular RNAs in goat skin fibroblast cells in response to Orf virus infection

Orf, caused by Orf virus (ORFV), is a globally distributed zoonotic disease responsible for serious economic losses in the agricultural sector. However, the mechanism underlying ORFV infection remains largely unknown. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel type of endogenous non-coding RNAs, play important roles in various pathological processes but their involvement in ORFV infection and host response is unclear. In the current study, whole transcriptome sequencing and small RNA sequencing were performed in ORFV-infected goat skin fibroblast cells and uninfected cells. A total of 151 circRNAs, 341 messenger RNAs (mRNAs), and 56 microRNAs (miRNAs) were differently expressed following ORFV infection. Four circRNAs: circRNA1001, circRNA1684, circRNA3127 and circRNA7880 were validated by qRT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. Gene ontology (GO) analysis indicated that host genes of differently expressed circRNAs were significantly enriched in regulation of inflammatory response, epithelial structure maintenance, positive regulation of cell migration, positive regulation of ubiquitin-protein transferase activity, regulation of ion transmembrane transport, etc. The constructed circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network suggested that circRNAs may function as miRNA sponges indirectly regulating gene expression following ORFV infection. Our study presented the first comprehensive profiles of circRNAs in response to ORFV infection, thus providing new clues for the mechanisms of interactions between ORFV and the host

Analysis of international competitive situation of key core technology in strategic emerging industries: New generation of information technology industry as an example.

In the context of the current technological revolution and unprecedented major changes, countries are facing the situation of accelerating the development of key core technologies, which is caused by the transformation from the dispute over trade to the dispute over ecology and scientific and technological strength. Competitive situation analysis is an important link of key core technology innovation. The construction of a universal model of international competitive situation analysis of key core technology can provide scientific support for decision makers of science and technology innovation to solve technical difficulties. This study takes the new generation of information technology industry as an example, identifies key core technologies of the industry and evaluates the competitive situation of the major world countries. Studies indicate that in the field of new generation information technology, the US and Japan is in the leading position globally. In addition, China has active innovation activities in all fields, but overall there remains a considerable gap with the world-leading level, and its R&D quality needs to be further improved

Effects of six commercially available koji (Chinese Xiaoqu) on the production of ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, and higher alcohols in Chinese Baijiu (distilled spirit) brewing

Commercial koji has been increasingly used in Chinese Baijiu brewing; however, there are only few studies comparing different koji and their relationship with key components of Chinese Baijiu such as ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, and higher alcohols. Here, we studied six commercially available koji and showed that the microbial communities in the individual koji varied in composition, with Rhizopus, Aspergillus, and Bacillus primarily associated with starch hydrolysis and Saccharomyces mainly associated with alcohol production. In the brewing processes using the six koji, Saccharomyces was undoubtedly the most abundant fungus and Weissella, Bacillus, and Acinetobacter were the predominant bacterial groups. The levels of ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, and higher alcohols in all brewing processes using the koji exhibited rapid increase in the early stages of fermentation, which stabilized in the later stages, followed by substantial increase after distillation. The results of metagenomic and redundancy analyses of samples taken during the brewing processes indicated that Saccharomyces from the koji was closely related to the production of ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, and higher alcohols. This study provides a basis for the quality improvement and application of commercial koji

Correlation Analysis between Mechanical Properties and Fractions Composition of Oil-Rejuvenated Asphalt

To clarify the intrinsic relationship between the mechanical properties of asphalt and its fraction composition, the SARA fraction composition and six macroscopic mechanical properties (critical cracking temperature (TCR), fatigue life (Nf), non-recoverable creep (Jnr3.2), penetration, ductility, and softening point) were investigated for 16 asphalt samples. Fraction contents of asphaltene and aromatic are strongly correlated with TCR and ductility (R2 > 0.92) that characterize the ability of asphalt to adapt to deformation at low and medium temperatures. Heavy fraction (asphaltene and resins) content is also strongly correlated with (R2 > 0.90) penetration and Jnr3.2 that characterize the resistance of the asphalt to overall deformation at medium and high temperatures. To express the changes in the four fractions simultaneously with one indicator, a statistic, average deviation of the fractions between the given asphalt and its original (marked σ), is introduced in this study to characterize the degree of asphalt aging based on the fraction changes. It normalizes the four simultaneous change indicators (percentage of SARA fractions) during asphalt aging into one indicator. This new indicator has a strong correlation with several mechanical performance indicators of asphalt, where it is strongly correlated with TCR (R2 > 0.90), ductility, and penetration, which are also well correlated with Jnr3.2 (R2 > 0.85), Nf (R2 > 0.75), and softening point (R2 > 0.75)

Preparation and Characterization of a Chloroperoxidase-like Catalytic Antibody

Abstract: The small molecule, meso-tetra(α,α,α,α-o-phenylacetamidophenyl)porphyrin (Mr1147.0) was used as complete antigen to elicit MAb through the immunization and cell fusion techniques.The MAb 1F2 obtained was demonstrated to be very pure by MALDI/TOFMS.The subtype of MAb 1F2 is IgG2a, which has a relative molecular weight of 156,678.8 Da.No significant change in the intensity of absorption peaks in UV and CD spectra was observed over a pH range between 6 and 12.The high stability of the abzyme and the tight binding between Fe porphyrin and antibody were also demonstrated.Vmax, Km, κcat, κcat/Km for abzyme are 5.18 × 10-8 Ms-1, 1.50 × 10-8 M, 0.518 s-1, 3.45 × 10 7 M-1 s-1, respectively.The data obtained indicate that catalytic antibody has high catalytic activity.The chloroperoxidase activity of MAb 1F2-Fe porphyrin complex is stable from 10 °C to 60 °C.Int.J.Mol.Sci.2007, 8 44

Seismic Response Analysis of Secondary Lining Polymer Grouting Debonding Repair for Tunnel Construction Based on Parameter Inversion

The void phenomenon behind the tunnel lining has become the main cause of tunnel disease, easily triggering tunnel lining structure damage, shedding, water seepage, and other diseases that seriously threaten the normal operation of the tunnel. The void area behind the lining seriously reduces the seismic capacity of the tunnel. In this paper, the mechanical parameters of the surrounding rock are calculated by optimizing the inversion of the improved system identification sensitivity analysis method, and the numerical model of the tunnel’s dynamic response is optimized using the improved inversion results to study the repair effect and seismic capacity of the Longmenshan tunnel using polymer grouting to repair the void area behind the lining under the action of a seismic load. The results show that the displacement and stress at the top of the tunnel secondary lining void area are significantly reduced and close to normal after the repair of polymer grouting; however, the stress and displacement at the top of the secondary lining are significantly different under the action of seismic waves at the same peak at different site conditions, which indicates that the dynamic response of this tunnel model has obvious sensitivity to the seismic wave spectrum