Nuclear superfluidity for antimagnetic rotation in 105^{105}Cd and 106^{106}Cd

The effect of nuclear superfluidity on antimagnetic rotation bands in $^{105}$Cd and $^{106}$Cd are investigated by the cranked shell model with the pairing correlations and the blocking effects treated by a particle-number conserving method. The experimental moments of inertia and the reduced $B(E2)$ transition values are excellently reproduced. The nuclear superfluidity is essential to reproduce the experimental moments of inertia. The two-shears-like mechanism for the antimagnetic rotation is investigated by examining the shears angle, i.e., the closing of the two proton hole angular momenta, and its sensitive dependence on the nuclear superfluidity is revealed.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Tumor Necrosis Factor- α

Neonatal sepsis (NS) is an important cause of mortality in newborns and life-threatening disorder in infants. The meta-analysis was performed to investigate the diagnosis value of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) test in NS. Our collectible studies were searched from PUBMED, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library between March 1994 and August 2013. Accordingly, 347 studies were collected totally, in which 15 articles and 23 trials were selected to study the NS in our meta-analysis. The TNF-α test showed moderate accuracy of the diagnosis of NS both in early-onset neonatal sepsis (sensitivity = 0.66, specificity = 0.76, Q* = 0.74) and in late-onset neonatal sepsis (sensitivity = 0.68, specificity = 0.89, Q* = 0.87). We also found the northern hemisphere group in the test has higher sensitivity (0.84) and specificity (0.83). A diagnostic OR analysis found that the study population may be the major reason for the heterogeneity. Accordingly, we suggest that TNF-α is also a valuable marker in the diagnosis of NS

Factors Influencing the Perception of Seller Credibility in Online Reputation System: an Eye-Movement Approach

The current online reputation systems for online sellers face great challenges from bad-faith behavior such as malicious negative reviews, click farming, mismatch between images and commodities, and forged commodities. To optimize the design of online reputation systems, explore the consumer utilization of credit clues, and describe the law of mutual trust, this paper puts forth three hypotheses about the influencing factors of consumer perception of online seller credibility and integrates various research methods such as an eye-movement experiment, questionnaire survey, econometric analysis, and empirical research. To evaluate the three hypotheses, the display modes of commodities on a current e-commerce platform were optimized, and eye-movement experiments were conducted on original and optimized webpages. Results show that the display of sales growth, the refinement and tagging of review content significantly impacted consumer perception of seller credibility. Further, designers of online reputation systems were advised to display sales trends, provide personalized sales queries, and tag a variety of reviews for consumers to easily ascertain credible sellers. This advice helped curb bad-faith behavior

Chlorido{2,2′-[propane-1,3-diylbis(nitrilo­methyl­idyne)]diphenolato-κ4 O,N,N′,O′}manganese(III)

In the title complex, [Mn(C17H16N2O2)Cl], the MnIII ion is coordinated by two O [Mn—O = 1.719 (2) and 1.813 (2) Å] and two N [Mn—N = 1.824 (2) and 1.931 (2) Å] atoms from the tetra­dentate Schiff base ligand and a chloride anion [Mn—Cl = 2.9634 (16) Å] in a square-pyramidal geometry. In the ligand, the two benzene rings form a dihedral angle of 68.06 (5)°

HutZ is required for biofilm formation and contributes to the pathogenicity of Edwardsiella piscicida

International audienceAbstractEdwardsiella piscicida is a severe fish pathogen. Haem utilization systems play an important role in bacterial adversity adaptation and pathogenicity. In this study, a speculative haem utilization protein, HutZEp, was characterized in E. piscicida. hutZEp is encoded with two other genes, hutW and hutX, in an operon that is similar to the haem utilization operon hutWXZ identified in V. cholerae. However, protein activity analysis showed that HutZEp is probably not related to hemin utilization. To explore the biological role of HutZEp, a markerless hutZEp in-frame mutant strain, TX01ΔhutZ, was constructed. Deletion of hutZEp did not significantly affect bacterial growth in normal medium, in iron-deficient conditions, or in the presence of haem but significantly retarded bacterial biofilm growth. The expression of known genes related to biofilm growth was not affected by hutZEp deletion, which indicated that HutZEp was probably a novel factor promoting biofilm formation in E. piscicida. Compared to the wild-type TX01, TX01ΔhutZ exhibited markedly compromised tolerance to acid stress and host serum stress. Pathogenicity analysis showed that inactivation of hutZEp significantly impaired the ability of E. piscicida to invade and reproduce in host cells and to infect host tissue. In contrast to TX01, TX01ΔhutZ was defective in blocking host macrophage activation. The expression of hutZEp was directly regulated by the ferric uptake regulator Fur. This study is the first functional characterization of HutZ in a fish pathogen, and these findings suggested that HutZEp is essential for E. piscicida biofilm formation and contributes to host infection

VCP/p97, Down-Regulated by microRNA-129-5p, Could Regulate the Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Valosin containing protein (VCP)/p97 plays various important roles in cells. Moreover, elevated expression of VCP in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is correlated with increased incidence of recurrence. But the role of VCP in HCC progression in vitro and in vivo is unclear. And there are few reports about the regulation mechanism on the expression of VCP in HCC. In this study, it was identified that the level of VCP was frequently increased in human HCC tissues. In addition, down-regulation of VCP with siRNAs could dramatically suppress the genesis and progression of tumor in vivo. It was found that miR-129-5p directly inhibited the expression of VCP in several HCC cell lines. Meanwhile, the level of VCP in HCC tissues was negatively associated with the level of miR-129-5p. Our further investigation showed that the enhanced expression of miR-129-5p also suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, it was revealed that miR-129-5p could inhibit the degradation of IκBα and increase the apoptosis and reduce the migration of HCC cells by suppressing the expression of VCP. Our results revealed that the expression of VCP was directly regulated by miR-129-5p and this regulation played an important role in the progression of HCC

Effects of five mycorrhizal fungi on biomass and leaf physiological activities of walnut

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can benefit many plants, but their effects on walnuts are not yet known. The present study aimed to analyze the effect of five AMF species, namely, Acaulospora scrobiculata, Diversispora spurca, Glomus etunicatum, G. mosseae and G. versiforme on biomass production, chlorophyll contents, sugar fraction contents, and mineral element contents of walnut (Juglans regia L.) seedlings. The five AMF species colonized roots of walnut, established mycorrhizas in roots and hyphae in soil, and released easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein into soil, whilst D. spurca exhibited the best effect. All the AMF inoculations, except A. scrobiculata, stimulated shoot and root biomass production. Mycorrhizal fungal inoculations collectively increased leaf chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll a+b concentrations, and thus promoted leaf sucrose accumulation, which provides an important mycorrhiza-carbon source to roots. AMF inoculations conferred a positive effect on leaf N, P, K, Mg, Fe, B, Zn and Cu contents, while they reduced leaf Mn contents. These results concluded that AMF were beneficial to the growth and physiological activities of walnut, which gives the support for the AMF application in walnut

Tanshinone IIA suppresses fibrosis induced by high glucose conditions in HK-2 cells via inhibition of extracellular matrix deposition, reduction of oxidative stress, and inhibition of epithelial to mesenchymal transition

Purpose: To investigate the anti-fibrotic effects of tanshinone IIA (TS) on renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2 cells) under high glucose conditions and their related molecular mechanism(s) of action.Methods: After treatment with TS (6 μg/mL) for 24 h, the morphology of HK-2 cells stimulated by high glucose was observed under the microscope. Additionally, potential mechanisms related to the antifibrosis effects of TS were evaluated using western blotting assay and quantitative real time PCR (qRTPCR), including transforming growth factor (TGF) β1, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), laminin (LN), fibronectin (FN), and E-cadherin (E-cad).Results: A high-glucose culture environment induced fibrosis of HK-2 cells, as indicated by changes in cell morphology. The anti-fibrotic effects of TS were mainly associated with a decrease in the expression levels of TGF-β1, α-SMA and LN, while the expression of E-cad increased. These resultsalso revealed that TS increased the expressions of HO-1.Conclusion: The findings suggest that TS suppresses fibrosis caused by high glucose in HK-2 cells by inhibiting extracellular matrix deposition and epithelial-mesenchymal transition and by reducing oxidative stress. Further investigations are needed to evaluate the clinical application of this compound in diabetic nephropathy. Keywords: Tanshinone IIA, Diabetic nephropathy, HK-2 cells, Fibrosi