Effects of N, N-Dimethylformamide on Infertility and Palatability of Quinestrol

【Objective】The study was carried out to clear and definite that the addition of efficient and safe auxiliary N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) can improve the sterility of quinestrol baits, and improving the palatability of quinestrol baits to mice.【Method】The mice were divided into three groups C, T1 and T2 fed with blank bait, quinestrol bait and DMF-quinestrol bait, respectively, and the bait consumption was calculated. The male and female mice of three treatment groups were caged for 7 days, and the pregnancy and delivery of the female mice were recorded. The high-performance liquid chromatography used to detection the content of quinestrol in brown rice in the different formulations of baits.【Result】Both the T1 and T2 groups had significant effects on the body weight of male and female mice. The wet weights of the kidney organs in the T1 and T2 groups were 16.4% and 19.7% lower than the C group, respectively. Quinestrol had significant inhibitory effect on the reproduction of female mice, with the reproductive rate of female mice in T1 and T2 groups decreased to 37.5% and 25.0% of group C, and the number of litters was only 35.0% and 11.1% of group C, respectively. DMF did not significantly improve the palatability of quinestrol drug bait, but the results of high-performance liquid chromatography showed that the content of quinestrol in brown rice in the T2 group was 1.5 times higher than that in the T1 group. DMF increased the permeability of quinestrol in brown rice, thereby increasing the drug intake of mice.【Conclusion】This study shows that DMF can effectively dissolve quinestrol and enhance its permeability in brown rice, improving the contraceptive effect of quinestrol drug bait, and has the potential to be developed into a promising contraceptive formulation

Nutrient enrichment decreases dissolved organic carbon sequestration potential of tropical seagrass meadows by mediating bacterial activity

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool in seawater plays an important role in long-term carbon sequestration in seagrass meadows. Microbial activities (microbial communities and their extracellular enzymes) are the key determining factors of DOC decomposition and sequestration potential, and are affected by nutrient enrichment. However, there is little information on the response of microbial communities and carbon-degrading extracellular enzymes to nutrient loading within seagrass meadows, limiting our understanding of the driving mechanism of DOC decomposition under nutrient enrichment. Here, microbial communities (including bacteria and fungi) and representative extracellular enzyme activity (EEA) in three seagrass meadows with different nutrients levels were investigated across four seasons. Water temperature was the driving factor influencing the seasonal dynamics of EEAs. In addition, the hydrolysis rates of chitinase, β-glucosidase, and α-glucosidase were significantly higher at a high nutrient loading seagrass meadow than at a low nutrient loading meadow. Furthermore, higher relative abundance of bacterial groups, such as Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cellvibrionale, and Verrucomicrobia were in according with enhanced EEAs, suggesting that these K-strategists were likely involved in enzyme production and the subsequent remineralization of organic matter in seagrass meadows. In contrast with the bacterial community, fungal communities were not sensitive to nutrient concentrations, and there was no strong association between the given fungal groups and EEA. This may be attributed to the low taxonomic resolution of marine planktonic fungi or the minor role of fungi in EEA production. Overall, these results suggested that nutrient loading enhanced EEA levels, modified bacterial rather than fungal communities, and consequently accelerated DOC remineralization, thereby reducing DOC contribution potential of seagrass ecosystems to long term carbon sequestration

Laminate Design of Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Resin Matrix Composites for Optimized Mechanical Properties and Electrical Conductivity

Carbon fiber composites as pantograph slide materials are in the development stage, in which copper is the conductive phase, and the addition form and size need to be designed. Herein, the effects of the copper morphology, the size of the copper mesh on the performance, and the influence of the contact mode between the sliding plate and bracket on the temperature rise were compared and analyzed. The resistivity is 11.2 μΩ·m with the addition of 20 wt% copper mesh, a relative reduction of 91.77%. Importantly, the impact strength is increased by 14.19%, and the wear is reduced by 13.21%; hence, the copper mesh laid in layers is the ideal structure. Further study of the distribution and quality of the copper mesh shows that the resistivity is related only to the quality of the copper mesh; in addition, the number of layers of the copper mesh cannot exceed 16, and it is determined that the best type of copper mesh is 5#. Notably, the performance can be improved by appropriately reducing the thickness of the copper mesh and increasing the aperture while the sliding plate and the bracket are connected by copper mesh with conductive adhesive, which has the slowest heating rate of 2.27 °C/min and the smallest resistance. Therefore, the influence of copper content and distribution on the electrical conductivity are systematically investigated, and the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity are optimized through the design of the laminate structure of the compound material

Nano-Modified Meta-Aramid Insulation Paper with Advanced Thermal, Mechanical, and Electrical Properties

Molecular dynamics simulations were used to analyze the internal mechanism for the observed improvement in performance of nano-modified meta-aramid insulation paper from a microscopic point of view. The results showed that the k-polyphenylsilsesquioxane(PPSQ) modified meta-aramid insulation paper was superior to b-PPSQ modified meta-aramid insulation paper in terms of its thermal stability and mechanical and electrical properties. The analysis of microscopic parameters showed that the stiffness of k-PPSQ was less than that of b-PPSQ, and the hydroxyl groups on the open-loop system were more likely to enter the dispersed system, resulting in higher bonding strength, meta-aramid fiber chains between k-PPSQ molecules, and the formation of hydrogen bonds. Additionally, the nano-enhancement effects of k-PPSQ and b-PPSQ resulted in various improvements, including a reduction in pores between molecules in the blend model, an increase in the contact area, the formation of interfacial polarization, and a reduction in defects at the interface

AEG-1 Contributes to Metastasis in Hypoxia-Related Ovarian Cancer by Modulating the HIF-1alpha/NF-kappaB/VEGF Pathway

Objective. Ovarian carcinoma represents one of the deadliest malignancies among female cancer patients. Astrocyte-elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) participates in the ontogenesis of multiple human malignant diseases. Here we evaluated AEG-1, hypoxia-inducible factor- (HIF-) 1α, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) amounts in hypoxia induced ovarian carcinoma cells. This study aimed to explore the mechanism by which AEG-1 regulates metastasis in hypoxia induced ovarian carcinoma. Patients and Methods. AEG-1, HIF-1α, and VEGF protein amounts were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 40 and 170 normal ovary and ovarian cancer tissue specimens, respectively. In addition, AEG-1, HIF-1α, NF-κB, and VEGF mRNA and protein levels were determined by reverse quantified RT-PCR and WB, respectively, at different time periods (0–24 h) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) SKOV3 cells treated in a hypoxia incubator. Furthermore, NF-κB and VEGF gene and protein expression levels in AEG-1 knockdown EOC cells were quantitated by RT-PCR and WB, respectively. Results. AEG-1, HIF-1α, and VEGF amounts were significantly elevated in EOC tissue samples compared with normal ovary specimens (p<0.001). Positive expression of HIF-1α and AEG-1 was associated with higher metastatic rate (p<0.01), lower FIGO stage (p<0.001), and degree of differentiation (p<0.001). Meanwhile, EOC SKOV3 cells grew upon exposure to hypoxia for 8 h (p<0.001); at this time point, AEG-1, HIF-1α, NF-κB, and VEGF amounts peaked (p<0.001), at both the gene and the protein levels. After AEG-1 knockdown, HIF-1α, NF-κB, and VEGF amounts were significantly decreased in EOC SKOV3 cells, also under hypoxic conditions (p<0.01). Conclusions. As an independent prognostic factor, AEG-1 was found to be significantly associated with hypoxia in ovarian cancer by regulating the HIF-1alpha/NF-kappaB/VEGF pathway. Therefore, AEG-1 may be useful in determining disease stage and prognosis in ovarian cancer

Plasma Gelsolin Promotes Proliferation of Mesangial Cell in IgA Nephropathy

Background/Aims: Plasma gelsolin (pGSN) is an actin-binding protein that plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. However, whether pGSN is involved in other immunological diseases remains unknown. This study focused on the relationship between pGSN and immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy (IgAN). Methods: Two hundred patients with IgAN, 200 patients each with several other types of nephropathy and healthy controls (HCs) who underwent kidney biopsies between 2000 and 2014 were enrolled in the study. The Oxford classification system was used to predict the risk of disease progression. Serum and renal tissue were used to detect pGSN, and the correlations between pGSN and IgA, galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1), transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1), fibronectin (FN) content, clinical symptoms, and kidney function were analyzed. Results: We found that the pGSN levels were significantly decreased in sera from IgAN patients compared to sera from patients with other forms of glomerular nephritis and HCs. Furthermore, the serum pGSN levels were negatively correlated with the serum IgA1, FN, and TGF-β1 levels, and positively correlated with the estimated glomerular filtration rate. Conversely, the glomerular pGSN content was significantly elevated in the IgAN patients and was positively correlated with TGF-β1 and FN levels. In renal tissue, the pGSN levels were significantly higher in IgAN patients with M1 and S1 compared to patients with M0 and S0 (p in vitro. pGSN also promoted integrin α2β1 expression in HMCs and enhanced the integrin α2β1-pGSN interaction. Conclusion: Our study suggested that pGSN may play an important role in the development of IgAN by promoting the proliferation of mesangial cells and that serum and glomerular pGSN levels may be new markers for predicting IgAN progression and prognosis