Loop-mediated isothermal amplification for detection of porcine circovirus type 2

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the primary causative agent of the emerging swine disease known as postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Nowadays, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is still the most widespread technique in pathogen detection. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a novel nucleic acid amplification method developed in 2000, will possibly replace PCR in the field of detection. To establish a LAMP method for rapid detection of PCV2, two pairs of primers were designed specially from the open reading frame 2 (ORF2) sequences of PCV2. A LAMP method for rapid detection of PCV2 was established. To compare with PCR, sensitivity and specificity of LAMP were evaluated using the optimized reaction system. The LAMP products could be determined by agarose gel electrophoresis or adding SYBR Green I dye.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The amplification of LAMP could be obtained at 63°C for 60 min. The detection limit was nearly 1 copy of DNA plasmid, more sensitive than PCR. There was no cross-reaction with porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1), porcine pseudorabies virus (PRV) and porcine parvovirus (PPV) under the same conditions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>LAMP is an useful rapid detection method with high sensitivity and specificity for PCV2.</p

Progress of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in targeted diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer has a very poor prognosis. Early diagnosis and treatment are especially critical for improving its prognosis. Nanotechnology has been widely used in the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer. Relying on the unique physicochemical properties of nanoparticles and their rich surface modifications, effective enrichment of tumor sites can be achieved. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONPs) is one of the commonly used nanomaterials in the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer, and has good biocompatibility. Through special surface modification, it can be used in targeted diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer. MIONPs can be used as a contrast agent for MRI, and by modifying the surface, they also can be used in targeted imaging of pancreatic cancer. And they can also be modified as a drug delivery system to achieve targeted delivery of drugs and improve therapeutic effects. However, the application of MIONPs in pancreatic cancer diagnosis and treatment still faces some challenges, such as nanotoxicity and cost issues. With the development of technology, MIONPs are expected to play an important role in the personalized diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer

High speed self-testing quantum random number generation without detection loophole

Quantum mechanics provides means of generating genuine randomness that is impossible with deterministic classical processes. Remarkably, the unpredictability of randomness can be certified in a self-testing manner that is independent of implementation devices. Here, we present an experimental demonstration of self-testing quantum random number generation based on an detection-loophole free Bell test with entangled photons. In the randomness analysis, without the assumption of independent identical distribution, we consider the worst case scenario that the adversary launches the most powerful attacks against quantum adversary. After considering statistical fluctuations and applying an 80 Gb $\times$ 45.6 Mb Toeplitz matrix hashing, we achieve a final random bit rate of 114 bits/s, with a failure probability less than $10^{-5}$. Such self-testing random number generators mark a critical step towards realistic applications in cryptography and fundamental physics tests.Comment: 34 pages, 10 figure

Disruption of estrogen receptor DNA-binding domain and related intramolecular communication restores tamoxifen sensitivity in resistant breast cancer

SummaryA serious obstacle to successful treatment of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive human breast cancer is cell resistance to tamoxifen (TAM) therapy. Here we show that the electrophile disulfide benzamide (DIBA), an ER zinc finger inhibitor, blocks ligand-dependent and -independent cell growth of TAM-resistant breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. Such inhibition depends on targeting disruption of the ER DNA-binding domain and its communication with neighboring functional domains, facilitating ERα dissociation from its coactivator AIB1 and concomitant association with its corepressor NCoR bound to chromatin. DIBA does not affect phosphorylation of HER2, MAPK, AKT, and AIB1, suggesting that DIBA-modified ERα may induce a switch from agonistic to antagonistic effects of TAM on resistant breast cancer cells

Molecular signatures of maturing dendritic cells: implications for testing the quality of dendritic cell therapies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dendritic cells (DCs) are often produced by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) stimulation of monocytes. To improve the effectiveness of DC adoptive immune cancer therapy, many different agents have been used to mature DCs. We analyzed the kinetics of DC maturation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) induction in order to characterize the usefulness of mature DCs (mDCs) for immune therapy and to identify biomarkers for assessing the quality of mDCs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected from 6 healthy subjects by apheresis, monocytes were isolated by elutriation, and immature DCs (iDCs) were produced by 3 days of culture with GM-CSF and IL-4. The iDCs were sampled after 4, 8 and 24 hours in culture with LPS and IFN-γ and were then assessed by flow cytometry, ELISA, and global gene and microRNA (miRNA) expression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After 24 hours of LPS and IFN-γ stimulation, DC surface expression of CD80, CD83, CD86, and HLA Class II antigens were up-regulated. Th1 attractant genes such as CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11 and CCL5 were up-regulated during maturation but not Treg attractants such as CCL22 and CXCL12. The expression of classical mDC biomarker genes CD83, CCR7, CCL5, CCL8, SOD2, MT2A, OASL, GBP1 and HES4 were up-regulated throughout maturation while MTIB, MTIE, MTIG, MTIH, GADD45A and LAMP3 were only up-regulated late in maturation. The expression of miR-155 was up-regulated 8-fold in mDCs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>DCs, matured with LPS and IFN-γ, were characterized by increased levels of Th1 attractants as opposed to Treg attractants and may be particularly effective for adoptive immune cancer therapy.</p

Sequence-based prediction of physicochemical interactions at protein functional sites using a function-and-interaction-annotated domain profile database

Abstract Background Identifying protein functional sites (PFSs) and, particularly, the physicochemical interactions at these sites is critical to understanding protein functions and the biochemical reactions involved. Several knowledge-based methods have been developed for the prediction of PFSs; however, accurate methods for predicting the physicochemical interactions associated with PFSs are still lacking. Results In this paper, we present a sequence-based method for the prediction of physicochemical interactions at PFSs. The method is based on a functional site and physicochemical interaction-annotated domain profile database, called fiDPD, which was built using protein domains found in the Protein Data Bank. This method was applied to 13 target proteins from the very recent Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction (CASP10/11), and our calculations gave a Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) value of 0.66 for PFS prediction and an 80% recall in the prediction of the associated physicochemical interactions. Conclusions Our results show that, in addition to the PFSs, the physical interactions at these sites are also conserved in the evolution of proteins. This work provides a valuable sequence-based tool for rational drug design and side-effect assessment. The method is freely available and can be accessed at http://202.119.249.49

Numerical investigations on different configurations of a four-channel meso-scale planar combustor fueled by hydrogen/air mixture

Multiple single-channel meso-scale combustors assembling into a multi-channel meso-scale planar combustor is a good solution for elevating the output power of the micro-thermophotovoltaic system. Consequently, how to assembly a multi-channel meso-scale planar combustor for achieving higher output power comes to be an interesting issue. In this work, four representative four-channel meso-scale planar combustors, namely, combustor A, combustor B, combustor C and combustor D are designed. Extensive numerical investigations are conducted to compare the wall temperature of the four combustors under various hydrogen mass flow rates, hydrogen/air equivalence ratios and solid materials. Two variables, namely, mean wall temperature and nonuniformity coefficient of wall temperature are defined for comparing the wall temperature of the four meso-scale combustors. It is found that the purely counterflow four-channel meso-scale planar combustor D has more uniform and higher wall temperature compared with other combustors. Furthermore, the detailed heat transfer mechanisms of four different four-channel meso-scale planar combustors are analyzed and presented. In addition, some critical values are proposed for keeping high and uniform wall temperature on the purely counterflow four-channel meso-scale planar combustor. This work offers us great reference value for the design of multi-channel meso-scale planar combustor

A New Analytical Model for Calculating Transient Temperature Response of Vertical Ground Heat Exchangers with a Single U-Shaped Tube

The transient temperature response is of great importance for evaluating the thermal capacity of ground heat exchangers (GHE). Based on the composition line source theory and superposition principle, we have developed a novel analytical model in Laplace space for calculating the temperature transient response. In comparison to the existing models, this proposed model can account for the fluid thermal storage effect and heat rate difference between the two legs of the single U-tube. With the aid of this proposed model, we conduct a thorough sensitivity analysis to investigate the effects of different influencing factors on the thermal transient response. The calculated results show that fluid thermal storage and the rate difference can significantly influence the thermal response during the early studied period. Therefore, the effect of fluid thermal storage should not be neglected when the early-time thermal response is investigated. The thermal interference between the two legs will reduce the heat capacity of GHEs. A large distance between these two legs can be favorable for practical use