Tissue Stresses in Stented Coronary Arteries with Different Geometries: Effect of the Relation Between Stent Length and Lesion Length

In-stent restenosis after stent deployment remains an obstruction in the long-term benefits of stenting. This study sought to investigate the influence of the relation between stent length and lesion length on the mechanics of the arterial wall with different geometries, including straight and tapered vessels. Results showed that when the length of the stent was longer than the lesion length, the maximum stress in plaque and vessel increased as the length of stent increased. When the length of the stent was shorter than the lesion length, the vessel stress induced by stent inflation was lower; both ends of the stenosis plaque could not be fully expanded. When the length of the stent was equal to the lesion length, the plaque and vessel stress induced by stent inflation was minimal, and stent foreshortening was minimal. Compared with the straight vessel, the stent implantation in the tapered vessel with the same stent length resulted in greater stress in vessel and plaque, an increased stent recoil, and a decreased stent foreshortening. When the length of the stent is equal to lesion length, it may be the reasonable choice for straight vessels and tapered vessels. Conclusions drawn from this article can help surgeons to choose appropriate stent lengths

Pituitary tissue-specific miR-7a-5p regulates FSH expression in rat anterior adenohypophyseal cells

The follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which is synthesized and secreted by the anterior pituitary gland, plays an important role in regulating reproductive processes. In this study, using the TargetScan program, we predicted that microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate FSH secretion. Dual-luciferase reporter assays were performed and identified miR-7a-5p. MiR-7a-5p has been reported to regulate diverse cellular functions. However, it is unclear whether miR-7a-5p binds to mRNAs and regulates reproductive functions. Therefore, we constructed a suspension of rat anterior pituitary cells and cultured them under adaptive conditions, transfected miR-7a-5p mimics or inhibitor into the cell suspension and detected expression of the FSHb gene. The results demonstrated that miR-7a-5p downregulated FSHb expression levels, while treatment with miR-7a-5p inhibitors upregulated FSHb expression levels relative to those of negative control groups, as shown by quantitative PCR analysis. The results were confirmed with a subsequent experiment showing that FSH secretion was reduced after treatment with mimics and increased in the inhibitor groups, as shown by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results indicated that miR-7a-5p downregulates FSHb expression levels, resulting in decreased FSH synthesis and secretion, which demonstrates the important role of miRNAs in the regulation of FSH and animal reproduction

Study on batching and picking optimization of marine outfitting pallets

Outfitting pallet picking involves the retrieval of items from their storage sites in shipbuilding enterprises. A major issue in manual pallet picking operations is the transformation of outfitting pallets into picking batches (pallet batching). Considering the influence to the subsequent distribution and production processes, a mathematical model for the batching and picking problem of outfitting pallets is formulated with the objective of minimizing the total tardiness of all pallets. According to the characteristics of outfitting pallet picking operations, an Improved Genetic Algorithm (IGA) is proposed. A reversal operator is specially introduced to increase the local search ability of the standard genetic algorithm and speed up the evolution. Benchmarked against the solutions produced by the Earliest Due Date (EDD) rule, the performance of IGA is studied under different picking operations with different workloads and tightness of due dates. A series of numerical experiments are carried out to verify the researches. The results clearly show that IGA is competitive since it improves the solutions by 68.5%, on average, relative to the EDD

Single-shot, full characterization of the spatial wavefunction of light fields via Stokes tomography

Since the diffraction behavior of a light field is fully determined by its spatial wavefunction, i.e., its spatial complex amplitude (SCA), full characterization of spatial wavefunction, plays a vital role in modern optics from both the fundamental and applied aspects. In this work, we present a novel complex-amplitude profiler based on spatial Stokes tomography with the capability to fully determine the SCA of a light field in a single shot with high precision and resolution. The SCA slice observed at any propagation plane provides complete information about the light field, thus allowing us to further retrieve the complete beam structure in 3 dimensions space, as well as the exact modal constitution in terms of spatial degrees of freedom. The principle demonstrated here provides an important advancement for the full characterization of light beams with a broad spectrum of potential applications in various areas of optics, especially for the growing field of structured light

Effects of Various Temperatures and pH Values on the Extraction Yield of Phenolics from Litchi Fruit Pericarp Tissue and the Antioxidant Activity of the Extracted Anthocyanins

Litchi fruit pericarp tissue is considered an important source of dietary phenolics. This study consisted of two experiments. The first was conducted to examine the effects of various extraction temperatures (30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 °C) and pH values (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) on the extraction yield of phenolics from litchi fruit pericarp. Extraction was most efficient at pH 4.0, while an extraction temperature of 60 °C was the best in terms of the combined extraction yield of phenolics and the stability of the extracted litchi anthocyanins. The second experiment was carried out to further evaluate the effects of various temperatures (25, 35, 45, 55 and 65 °C) and pH values (1, 3, 5 and 7) on the total antioxidant ability and scavenging activities of DPPH radicals, hydroxyl radical and superoxide anion of the extracted anthocyanins. The results indicated that use of 45–60 °C or pH 3–4 exhibited a relatively high antioxidant activity. The study will help improve extraction yield of phenolics from litchi fruit pericarp and promote better utilization of the extracted litchi anthocyanins as antioxidants

CLDN5 affects lncRNAs acting as ceRNA dynamics contributing to regulating blood-brain barrier permeability in tumor brain metastasis

The blood‑brain barrier (BBB) constitutes an efficient organization of tight junctions that limits the delivery of tumor to the brain. The principal tight junction protein in BBB is claudin‑5 (CLDN5), but its mechanism of action remains largely unknown. Long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are aberrantly expressed in many cancers, some lncRNAs play key roles in regulating BBB permeability and are involved in tumor brain metastasis. In particular, lncRNAs can function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). Herein, we investigated whether ceRNA dysregulation is associated with alterations of the level of CLDN5 in human brain vascular endothelial hCMEC/D3 cells. The Affymetrix Human Transcriptome Array 2.0 and Affymetrix GeneChip miRNA 4.0 Array were used to detect the expression levels of 2,578 miRNAs, 22,829 lncRNAs, and 44,699 mRNAs in pLL3.7‑CLDN5‑transfected and pLL3.7 control hCMEC/D3 cells. The distinctly expressed miRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs were subjected to construction of miRNA‑lncRNA‑mRNA interaction network. A total of 41 miRNAs, 954 lncRNAs, and 222 mRNAs were found to be differentially expressed between the CLDN5‑overexpressing and control group. 148 lncRNA acting as ceRNAs were identified based on the miRNA‑lncRNA‑mRNA interaction network. The function of differential mRNA in the network was determined by GO and pathway analysis. The potential roles of the 27 ceRNAs were revealed, the possible biology functions of these regulatory ceRNAs mainly included tight junction, focal adhesion, cell‑cell adhesion, cell growth and apoptosis. The identified sets of miRNAs, lncRNAs and mRNAs specific to CLDN5‑overexpressing hCMEC/D3 cells were verified by quantitative real‑time RT‑PCR experiment. Our study predicts the biological functions of a multitude of ceRNAs associated with the alteration of CLDN5 in brain vascular endothelial cells. Our data suggest that these dysregulated ceRNAs, in conjunction with the high CLDN5 levels, could serve as useful targets of prevention of brain metastasis formation. Further studies are warranted to determine the role of these ceRNAs in facilitating the function of CLDN5 in brain‑tumor barrier

Roadmap on semiconductor-cell biointerfaces.

This roadmap outlines the role semiconductor-based materials play in understanding the complex biophysical dynamics at multiple length scales, as well as the design and implementation of next-generation electronic, optoelectronic, and mechanical devices for biointerfaces. The roadmap emphasizes the advantages of semiconductor building blocks in interfacing, monitoring, and manipulating the activity of biological components, and discusses the possibility of using active semiconductor-cell interfaces for discovering new signaling processes in the biological world

The role of vimentin in regulating cell-invasive migration in dense cultures of breast carcinoma cells

Cell migration and mechanics are tightly regulated by the integrated activities of the various cytoskeletal networks. In cancer cells, cytoskeletal modulations have been implicated in the loss of tissue integrity, and acquisition of an invasive phenotype. In epithelial cancers, for example, increased expression of the cytoskeletal filament protein vimentin correlates with metastatic potential. Nonetheless, the exact mechanism whereby vimentin affects cell motility remains poorly understood. In this study, we measured the effects of vimentin expression on the mechano-elastic and migratory properties of the highly invasive breast carcinoma cell line MDA231. We demonstrate here that vimentin stiffens cells and enhances cell migration in dense cultures, but exerts little or no effect on the migration of sparsely plated cells. These results suggest that cell-cell interactions play a key role in regulating cell migration, and coordinating cell movement in dense cultures. Our findings pave the way towards understanding the relationship between cell migration and mechanics, in a biologically relevant context.Comment: 26+21 pages, 6+11 figures, supplementary movies available at http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5480149, submitted to Nano Letters journa

FSD-C10: A more promising novel ROCK inhibitor than Fasudil for treatment of CNS autoimmunity.

Rho-Rho kinase (Rho-ROCK) triggers an intracellular signalling cascade that regulates cell survival, death, adhesion, migration, neurite outgrowth and retraction and influences the generation and development of several neurological disorders. Although Fasudil, a ROCK inhibitor, effectively suppressed encephalomyelitis (EAE), certain side effects may limit its clinical use. A novel and efficient ROCK inhibitor, FSD-C10, has been explored. In the present study, we present chemical synthesis and structure of FSD-C10, as well as the relationship between compound concentration and ROCK inhibition. We compared the inhibitory efficiency of ROCKI and ROCK II, the cell cytotoxicity, neurite outgrowth and dendritic formation, neurotrophic factors and vasodilation between Fasudil and FSD-C10. The results demonstrated that FSD-C10, like Fasudil, induced neurite outgrowth of neurons and dendritic formation of BV-2 microglia and enhanced the production of neurotrophic factor brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3). However, the cell cytotoxicity and vasodilation of FSD-C10 were relatively small compared with Fasudil. Although Fasudil inhibited both ROCK I and ROCK II, FSD-C10 more selectively suppressed ROCK II, but not ROCK I, which may be related to vasodilation insensitivity and animal mortality. Thus, FSD-C10 may be a safer and more promising novel ROCK inhibitor than Fasudil for the treatment of several neurological disorders