Functional cooperation of of IL-1β and RGS4 in the brachial plexus avulsion mediated brain reorganization

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgrounds</p> <p>There is considerable evidence that central nervous system is continuously modulated by activity, behavior and skill acquisition. This study is to examine the reorganization in cortical and subcortical regions in response to brachial plexus avulsion.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Adult C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups: control, 1, 3 and 6 month of brachial plexus avulsion. IL-1β, IL-6 and RGS4 expression in cortex, brainstem and spinal cord were detected by BiostarM-140 s microarray and real-time PCR. RGS4 subcellular distribution and modulation were further analyzed by primary neuron culture and Western Blot.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After 1, 3 and 6 months of brachial plexus avulsion, 49 (0 up, 49 down), 29 (17 up, 12 down), 13 (9 up, 4 down) genes in cerebral cortex, 40 (8 up, 32 down), 11 (7 up, 4 down), 137 (63 up, 74 down) in brainstem, 27 (14 up, 13 down), 33 (18 up, 15 down), 60 (29 up, 31 down) in spinal cord were identified. Among the regulated gene, IL-1β and IL-6 were sustainable enhanced in brain stem, while PKACβ and RGS4 were up-regulated throughout cerebral cortex, brainstem and spinal cord in 3 and 6 month of nerve injury. Intriguingly, subcellular distribution of RGS4 in above three regions was dependent on the functional correlation of PKA and IL-1β.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Data herein indicated that brachial plexus avulsion could efficiently initiate and perpetuate the brain reorganization. Network involved IL-1β and RGS4 signaling might implicate in the re-establish and strengthening of the local circuits at the cortical and subcortical levels.</p

Mortality burdens in California due to air pollution attributable to local and nonlocal emissions.

Limited research has been conducted on the contributions of local and nonlocal emission sources to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) and their associated mortality. In this study, we estimated the total mortality resulting from long-term PM2.5 and O3 exposures in California in 2012 using multiple concentration response functions (CRFs) and attributed the estimated mortality to different emission groups. The point estimates of PM2.5-associated mortality in California ranged from 12,700 to 26,700, of which 53% were attributable to in-state anthropogenic emissions. Based on new epidemiological evidence, we estimated that O3 could be associated with up to 13,700 deaths from diseases of both the respiratory and cardiovascular systems in California. In addition, 75% of the ambient O3 in California was due to distant emissions outside the western United States, leading to 92% of the O3-associated mortality. Overall, distant emissions lead to greater mortality burdens of air pollution in California than local anthropogenic emissions

Identification of Black Rot Resistance in a Wild Brassica Species and Its Potential Transferability to Cauliflower

Black rot is a destructive disease that affects B. oleracea crops, causing significant losses to growers throughout the world. The purpose of this study was to screen out new sources resistant to Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris race 4 (Xcc4) in 26 cauliflower and six related wild species, and to assess the inheritance of resistance. The results indicate that most of the tested accessions were susceptible or had intermediate resistance, except the Boc4601 (a cauliflower stable inbred line) and PI435896, UNICT5168, and UNICT5169 (wild accessions). Among them, UNICT5169 (Brassica montana) and PI435896 (Brassica balearica) showed the strongest resistance to Xcc4, with significantly lower disease index (DI), area of the infected part (AIP) and proportion of the infected part to the total leaf area (PTL) values. UNICT 5169 was selected as an Xcc4-resistant parent because of its relatively good cross seed-setting rate with cauliflower cultivars. F1 hybrids were successfully produced between this wild resistant accession (UNICT 5169) and one susceptible cauliflower breeding line (Boc3202-4), indicating the potential transferability of this resistance to cauliflower. The results of the symptoms severity evaluation of the F2 population indicate that Xcc4 resistance in UNICT5169 is a quantitative trait, which guides future resistance gene location and black rot resistance breeding

Type-Dependent Responses of Ice Cloud Properties to Aerosols From Satellite Retrievals

Aerosol‐cloud interactions represent one of the largest uncertainties in external forcings on our climate system. Compared with liquid clouds, the observational evidence for the aerosol impact on ice clouds is much more limited and shows conflicting results, partly because the distinct features of different ice cloud and aerosol types were seldom considered. Using 9‐year satellite retrievals, we find that, for convection‐generated (anvil) ice clouds, cloud optical thickness, cloud thickness, and cloud fraction increase with small‐to‐moderate aerosol loadings (<0.3 aerosol optical depth) and decrease with further aerosol increase. For in situ formed ice clouds, however, these cloud properties increase monotonically and more sharply with aerosol loadings. An increase in loading of smoke aerosols generally reduces cloud optical thickness of convection‐generated ice clouds, while the reverse is true for dust and anthropogenic pollution aerosols. These relationships between different cloud/aerosol types provide valuable constraints on the modeling assessment of aerosol‐ice cloud radiative forcing

Temperature-Controlled Divergent Synthesis of Tetrasubstituted Alkenes and Pyrrolo[1,2-a]indole Derivatives via Iridium Catalysis

We have achieved an Ir(III)-catalyzed temperature-controlled divergent synthesis of tetrasubstituted alkenes and pyrrolo[1,2-a]indole derivatives through C−H alkenylation/DG migration and [3+2] annulation, respectively. This method has various advantageous features: a) excellent regio- and stereoselectivity and good functional group tolerance, b) broad substrate scope and moderate to excellent yields, c) mild redox-neutral reaction conditions and operational simplicity