61 research outputs found
Purification, composition analysis and antioxidant activity of different polysaccharides from the fruiting bodies of Pholiota adiposa
Three water-soluble polysaccharide fractions (PAP1-1, PAP1-2 and PAP2-1) were isolated and purified from the fruiting bodies of Pholiota adiposa by diethylaminoethanol (DEAE) Sepharose fast flow column and superdexTM 200 column chromatography on an AKTA Purifier system. Results of high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) indicated that the average molecular weights of PAP1-1, PAP1-2 and PAP2-1 were 2.3 x 106 Da, 8.8 x 103 Da and 2.1 x 106 Da, respectively. Monosaccharide compositions analysis revealed that PAP1-1 and PAP2-1 were both mainly composed of glucose, and PAP1-2 was composed of rhamnose and glucose with a mole ratio of 1:3.61. The evaluation of antioxidant activity suggested that PAP1-1 with β-configuration glycosidic bond exhibited stronger scavenging activity of superoxide radical and hydroxyl radical than PAP1-2 and PAP2-1 contained both α- and β-configuration glycosidic bond, and should be explored as a novel potential antioxidant. Available data obtained with in vitro models suggested that antioxidant activity of polysaccharide may be related to the configuration of glycosidic bond.Key words: Pholiota adipose, polysaccharide, purification, antioxidant activity
Aflatoxin B1 Promotes Influenza Replication and Increases Virus Related Lung Damage via Activation of TLR4 Signaling
Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), which alters immune responses to mammals, is one of the most common mycotoxins in feeds and food. Swine influenza virus (SIV) is a major pathogen of both animals and humans. However, there have been few studies about the relationship between AFB1 exposure and SIV replication. Here, for the first time, we investigated the involvement of AFB1 in SIV replication in vitro and in vivo and explored the underlying mechanism using multiple cell lines and mouse models. In vitro studies demonstrated that low concentrations of AFB1 (0.01–0.25 μg/ml) markedly promoted SIV replication as revealed by increased viral titers and matrix protein (M) mRNA and nucleoprotein (NP) levels in MDCK cells, A549 cells and PAMs. In vivo studies showed that 10–40 μg/kg of AFB1 exacerbated SIV infection in mice as illustrated by significantly higher lung virus titers, viral M mRNA levels, NP levels, lung indexes and more severe lung damage. Further study showed that AFB1 upregulated TLR4, but not other TLRs, in SIV-infected PAMs. Moreover, AFB1 activated TLR4 signaling as demonstrated by the increases of phosphorylated NFκB p65 and TNF-α release in PAMs and mice. In contrast, TLR4 knockdown or the use of BAY 11-7082, a specific inhibitor of NFκB, blocked the AFB1-promoted SIV replication and inflammatory responses in PAMs. Furthermore, a TLR4-specific antagonist, TAK242, and TLR4 knockout both attenuated the AFB1-promoted SIV replication, inflammation and lung damage in mice. We therefore conclude that AFB1 exposure aggravates SIV replication, inflammation and lung damage by activating TLR4-NFκB signaling
Monocrystalline Si/-GaO p-n heterojunction diodes fabricated via grafting
The -GaO has exceptional electronic properties with vast
potential in power and RF electronics. Despite the excellent demonstrations of
high-performance unipolar devices, the lack of p-type doping in
-GaO has hindered the development of GaO-based bipolar
devices. The approach of p-n diodes formed by polycrystalline p-type oxides
with n-type -GaO can face severe challenges in further advancing
the -GaO bipolar devices due to their unfavorable band alignment
and the poor p-type oxide crystal quality. In this work, we applied the
semiconductor grafting approach to fabricate monocrystalline
Si/-GaO p-n diodes for the first time. With enhanced
concentration of oxygen atoms at the interface of Si/-GaO,
double side surface passivation was achieved for both Si and
-GaO with an interface Dit value of 1-3 x 1012 /cm2 eV. A
Si/-GaO p-n diode array with high fabrication yield was
demonstrated along with a diode rectification of 1.3 x 107 at +/- 2 V, a diode
ideality factor of 1.13 and avalanche reverse breakdown characteristics. The
diodes C-V shows frequency dispersion-free characteristics from 10 kHz to 2
MHz. Our work has set the foundation toward future development of
-GaO-based transistors.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures. The preliminary data were presented as a poster
in the 5th US Gallium Oxide Workshop, Washington, DC. August 07-10, 202
The workload change and depression among emergency medical staff after the open policy during COVID-19: a cross-sectional survey in Shandong, China
IntroductionIn the middle of December 2022, the Chinese government adjusted the lockdown policy on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a large number of infected patients flooded into the emergency department. The emergency medical staff encountered significant working and mental stress while fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to investigate the workload change, and the prevalence and associated factors for depression symptoms among emergency medical staff after the policy adjustment.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional online survey of emergency medical staff who fought against COVID-19 in Shandong Province during January 16 to 31, 2023. The respondents’ sociodemographic and work information were collected, and they were asked to complete the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) then. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied to identify the potential associated factors for major depression.ResultsNine hundred and sixteen emergency medical personnel from 108 hospitals responded to this survey. The respondents’ weekly working hours (53.65 ± 17.36 vs 49.68 ± 14.84) and monthly night shifts (7.25 ± 3.85 vs 6.80 ± 3.77) increased after the open policy. About 54.3% of the respondents scored more than 10 points on the PHQ-9 standardized test, which is associated with depressive symptoms. In univariate analysis, being doctors, living with family members aged ≤16 or ≥ 65 years old, COVID-19 infection and increased weekly working hours after the open policy were significantly associated with a PHQ-9 score ≥ 10 points. In the multivariate analysis, only increased weekly working hours showed significant association with scoring ≥10 points.ConclusionEmergency medical staff’ workload had increased after the open policy announcement, which was strongly associated with a higher PHQ-9 scores, indicating a very high risk for major depression. Emergency medical staff working as doctors or with an intermediate title from grade-A tertiary hospitals had higher PHQ-9 scores, while COVID-19 infection and weekly working hours of 60 or more after the open policy were associated with higher PHQ-9 scores for those from grade-B tertiary hospitals. Hospital administrators should reinforce the importance of targeted emergency medical staff support during future outbreaks
Knockdown BMI1 expression inhibits proliferation and invasion in human bladder cancer T24 cells
ROAchain: Securing Route Origin Authorization with Blockchain for Inter-Domain Routing
The inter-domain routing with BGP is highly vulnerable to malicious attacks, due to the lack of a secure means of verifying authenticity and legitimacy of inter-domain routes. Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) is a new security infrastructure to prevent the most devastating prefix hijacks in BGP by maintaining a Route Origin Authorization (ROA) repository. However, RPKI is a centralized hierarchical architecture that may empower the centralized authorities to unilaterally revoke or compromise any IP prefixes under their control. To eliminate the risks of RPKI, we present ROAchain, a novel BGP security infrastructure based on blockchain. Different from RPKI, ROAchain is a decentralized architecture, in which each AS maintains a globally consistent and tamper-proof ROA repository, authenticating the legitimacy of route origin and preventing BGP prefix hijacks. To ensure the strong consistency, scalability, and security of ROAchain, a novel consensus algorithm is proposed, in which the credence value, collective signing, sharding, and a penalty mechanism are introduced. Moreover, a compatibility design is proposed without changing the current BGP protocol. Finally, ROAchain is implemented in Golang and validated on the Google Cloud
A rare case of isolated castrate resistant bilateral testicular metastases in advanced prostate cancer
Testicular metastasis is rare with the prostate being the most common site of primary cancer. We report a case of a 72-year-old man with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and known metastases to bone and lymph nodes, who developed bilateral painful swollen testes 3 years after the initial diagnosis of prostate cancer. He had first presented with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) with suspicious findings on digital rectal examination of the prostate, and an elevated serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level of 129Â ng/mL. Transrectal prostate biopsy revealed Gleason 4Â +Â 5 adenocarcinoma. Radiological staging showed locally advanced prostate cancer with extensive metastases to bone and pelvic and retroperitoneal lymph nodes. He was given hormonal therapy for over 2 years until progression to CRPC. Six months later he developed painful bilateral testicular swellings, and serum markers for testicular germ cell cancer were normal. Bilateral orchiectomy was performed, showing metastatic prostate cancer (Gleason 4Â +Â 5) on histology. One month postoperatively his PSA level dropped to 0.1Â ng/mL from a presurgery level of 6.24Â ng/mL. Keywords: Castration-resistant prostate cancer, Metastases, Testicular tumor, Orchiectom
Aflatoxin B1 Promotes Influenza Replication and Increases Virus Related Lung Damage via Activation of TLR4 Signaling
The political dialectics of transediting: the case of <i>Reference News</i>
The aim of this article is two-fold. On the one hand, it will discuss the evolution of China’s Reference News within the historical dialectics of Chinese politics. Reference News is a unique newspaper in the world’s news media industry, dedicated solely to transediting international news reports for Chinese readers. A Chinese-style political dialectics is found in the newspaper’s original mandate to truthfully inform the Chinese communist leadership through faithful translation. That dialectics changes, however, with the changes in the status and role of Reference News, shaped and defined by national conditions and international relations, posing challenges to the newspaper that has to strike a balance between dutifully importing Western1 perspectives and narratives and having to be politically correct and constructive. On the other hand, it aims to examine a number of cases to analyse the ways in which the newspaper employs various transediting strategies that highlight the features of the newspaper within that changing dialectics of China’s politics and Reference News as an example of antithesis.</p
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