113 research outputs found

    Autophagy genes of ATG5-ATG12 complex in response to exogenous stimulations in Litopenaeus vannamei

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    Autophagy plays an important role in resisting pathogens infection and environmental stress. However, there are few studies on autophagy and its regulation in Litopenaeus vannamei. In this study, the autophagy-related genes of ATG5-ATG12 complex (ATG5, ATG7, ATG10 and ATG12) were cloned and investigated on the response to exogenous stimulations in L. vannamei. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of different species showed that four autophagy genes were conserved among different species. Tissue detection showed that the four autophagy genes were expressed in all tissues, and the expression level was the highest in the hepatopancreas in L. vannamei. Furthermore, the expression levels of the four autophagy genes were up-regulated significantly after stimulation with Vibrio harveyi and the virus analog poly(I:C) (p<0.05), and their peak values occurred at 24-48h. These results indicated that ATG5, ATG7, ATG10 and ATG12 may be involved in resisting pathogen infection in L.vannamei, which provided a basis for studying the molecular mechanism of autophagy in resistance to pathogen infection of L. vannamei

    Histological and Biomechanical Evaluation of the Preserved Degenerative Dermis in Rat Autologous Skin Transplant Models after a Deep Second Degree Burn

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    To describe the histological and biomechanical changes of the preserved degenerative dermis in rat  autologous skin transplant models after a deep second-degree burn. 50 SD rats were divided into 5 groups  randomly of 10 rats of each: 7-days group, 9-days group, 14-days group, 21-days group, and 60-days group.  Deep second-degree burn wounds were prepared on the back of rats sized 3.5cm×3.5cm. Super tangential  excision was performed on the burn wound to preserve the degenerative dermis. Then, autologous epidermis  was grafted on the wound. After that, the histological changes of the preserved degenerative dermis tissues  and the graft areas were observed by macroscopic, light microscope and electron microscope in the 7, 9, 14,  21, 60 days after the operation. Moreover, the tensile properties of healing deeply burned rat skin were also  tested for each group at the same time points mentioned above. Results: (1) According to the macroscopic  observation, 7 days after the operation, the grafted skin was fused with the area of burn wound; A few hairs  were growing out on the skin at the 14th day; the injured skin recovered to normality by the 60th day. (2)  Hyaline change occurred in the preserved degenerative dermis tissues based on the observation by light  microscope. At the 7th day after operation, the dermis papillae and reticular layer could be discerned; by  the 21st day, the thickness, structures and morphology of grafted skin were similar to the normal tissues. (3)  7 days after operation, ballooning changes were observed by the electron microscope in the mitochondria  and endoplasmic reticulum of damaged cells and the number of the ribosomes was obviously reduced. The  subcellular wound improved continuously and approached normality by the 21st day. (4) 9 days after the  operation, the tensible strength and maximal strain of the grafting rat skin approached 70% and 90% of  natural skin, respectively. (5) 60 days after the operation, the tensile performance of the healing rat skin  recovered to the natural level. Conclusion: The histological and biomechanical changes of the denatured dermis of a deep second  degree burn wound may gradually recover to normality after being covered by autologous skin.

    Ultraquantum magnetoresistance in Kramers Weyl semimetal candidate β\beta-Ag2Se

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    The topological semimetal β\beta-Ag2Se features a Kramers Weyl node at the origin in momentum space and a quadruplet of spinless Weyl nodes, which are annihilated by spin-orbit coupling. We show that single crystalline β\beta-Ag2Se manifests giant Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the longitudinal magnetoresistance which stem from a small electron pocket that can be driven beyond the quantum limit by a field less than 9 T. This small electron pocket is a remainder of the spin-orbit annihilatedWeyl nodes and thus encloses a Berry-phase structure. Moreover, we observed a negative longitudinal magnetoresistance when the magnetic field is beyond the quantum limit. Our experimental findings are complemented by thorough theoretical band structure analyses of this Kramers Weyl semimetal candidate, including first-principle calculations and an effective k*p model.Comment: A new version based on arXiv:1502.0232

    Not your usual neurodegenerative disease: a case report of neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease with unconventional imaging patterns

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    BackgroundNeuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID) is a rare neurodegenerative illness with characteristic brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) manifestations: diffuse symmetric white-matter hyperintensities in lateral cerebral ventricle areas in fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and high-intensity signals along the corticomedullary junction of the frontal–parietal–temporal lobes in diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). Here, we report a case of adult-onset NIID who was misdiagnosed with Susac syndrome (SS) due to unusual corpus callosum imaging findings.Case presentationA 39-year-old man presented with chronic headache, blurred vision, tinnitus, and numbness in the hands as initial symptoms, accompanied by cognitive slowing and decreased memory. Brain MRI revealed round hypointense lesions on T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) and hyperintense lesions on T2WI/FLAIR/DWI in the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum. An initial diagnosis of SS was made based on the presence of the SS-typical symptoms and SS-characteristic radiology changes. Furthermore, the patient’s symptoms improved upon completion of a combined pharmacotherapy plan. However, no significant changes were evident 18 months after the brain MRI scan. Eventually, the patient was then diagnosed with NIID based on a skin biopsy and detection of expanded GGC (guanine, guanine, cytosine) repeats in the NOTCH2NLC gene.ConclusionThe present NIID case in which there was simultaneous onset of altered nervous and visual system functioning and atypical imaging findings, the atypical imaging findings may reflect an initial change of NIID leukoencephalopathy

    Ecological Effects of Oasis Shelterbelts in Ulan Buh Desert

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    In arid region, shelterbelt is the ecological barrier for oasis. Understanding its ecological effects can provide theoretical supports for its long-term management and sustainable development. Two standard meteorological stations were used to monitor climatic factors continuously for 7 years, and two 50 m dust monitoring towers were used to continuously monitor sandstorm for 10 times, which were located inside and outside oasis shelterbelts in the northeastern edge of Ulan Buh Desert. The microclimate differences were analyzed, as well as the ecological effects of oasis shelterbelts was clarified inside and outside oasis. In the present study, under the influence of a large-scale shelterbelts, air temperature, land ground temperature and evaporation respectively decreased 5.13% ~ 24.74%, 2.38% ~ 20.09% and 7.06% ~ 17.68%, whereas the relative humidity and precipitation respectively increased 6.93% ~ 25.53% and 4.30% ~ 50.15%. During the occurrence of sandstorms, the wind speed inside and outside shelterbelt showed an increasing trend with the increase in height. The relationship between wind speed and height was expressed as a power function. The wind direction was mainly W, WNW and NE, but the proportion of each direction was different inside and outside shelterbelt. When the sandstorm passed through oasis shelterbelts, the wind speed was significantly weakened, with an average reduction of 30.68%. The horizontal aeolian sediment flux decreased 414.44 g·m−2 and the aeolian deposition flux decreased 0.81 g·m−2. The results revealed that the microclimate was improved by oasis shelterbelts, especially in the growing season. Therefore, oasis shelterbelts help to maintain the sustainable development of oasis

    (Li0.84Fe0.16)OHFe0.98Se superconductor: Ion-exchange synthesis of large single crystal and highly two-dimensional electron properties

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    A large and high-quality single crystal (Li0.84Fe0.16)OHFe0.98Se, the optimal superconductor of newly reported (Li1-xFex)OHFe1-ySe system, has been successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal ion-exchange technique. The superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of 42 K is determined by magnetic susceptibility and electric resistivity measurements, and the zero-temperature upper critical magnetic fields are evaluated as 79 and 313 Tesla for the field along the c-axis and the ab-plane, respectively. The ratio of out-of-plane to in-plane electric resistivity,\r{ho}c/\r{ho}ab, is found to increases with decreasing temperature and to reach a high value of 2500 at 50 K, with an evident kink occurring at a characteristic temperature T*=120 K. The negative in-plane Hall coefficient indicates that electron carriers dominate in the charge transport, and the hole contribution is significantly reduced as the temperature is lowered to approach T*. From T* down to Tc, we observe the linear temperature dependences of the in-plane electric resistivity and the magnetic susceptibility for the FeSe layers. Our findings thus reveal that the normal state of (Li0.84Fe0.16)OHFe0.98Se becomes highly two-dimensional and anomalous prior to the superconducting transition, providing a new insight into the mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, supplementary information is not uploade

    Serum cytokine change profile associated with HBsAg loss during combination therapy with PEG-IFN-α in NAs-suppressed chronic hepatitis B patients

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    ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore the profile of cytokine changes during the combination therapy with pegylated interferon alpha (PEG-IFN-α) and its relationship with HBsAg loss in nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs)-suppressed chronic hepatitis B patients.MethodsSeventy-six patients with chronic hepatitis B with HBsAg less than 1,500 IU/ml and HBV DNA negative after receiving ≥ 1-year NAs therapy were enrolled. Eighteen patients continued to take NAs monotherapy (the NAs group), and 58 patients received combination therapy with NAs and PEG-IFN-α (the Add-on group). The levels of IFNG, IL1B, IL1RN, IL2, IL4, IL6, IL10, IL12A, IL17A, CCL2, CCL3, CCL5, CXCL8, CXCL10, TNF, and CSF2 in peripheral blood during treatment were detected.ResultsAt week 48, 0.00% (0/18) in the NAs group and 25.86% (15/58) in the Add-on group achieved HBsAg loss. During 48 weeks of combined treatment, there was a transitory increase in the levels of ALT, IL1RN, IL2, and CCL2. Compared to the NAs group, CXCL8 and CXCL10 in the Add-on group remain higher after rising, yet CCL3 showed a continuously increasing trend. Mild and early increases in IL1B, CCL3, IL17A, IL2, IL4, IL6, and CXCL8 were associated with HBsAg loss or decrease &gt;1 log, while sustained high levels of CCL5 and CXCL10 were associated with poor responses to Add-on therapy at week 48.ConclusionsThe serum cytokine change profile is closely related to the response to the combination therapy with PEG-IFN-α and NAs, and may help to reveal the mechanism of functional cure and discover new immunological predictors and new therapeutic targets

    Sound-driven single-electron transfer in a circuit of coupled quantum rails

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    Abstract: Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) strongly modulate the shallow electric potential in piezoelectric materials. In semiconductor heterostructures such as GaAs/AlGaAs, SAWs can thus be employed to transfer individual electrons between distant quantum dots. This transfer mechanism makes SAW technologies a promising candidate to convey quantum information through a circuit of quantum logic gates. Here we present two essential building blocks of such a SAW-driven quantum circuit. First, we implement a directional coupler allowing to partition a flying electron arbitrarily into two paths of transportation. Second, we demonstrate a triggered single-electron source enabling synchronisation of the SAW-driven sending process. Exceeding a single-shot transfer efficiency of 99%, we show that a SAW-driven integrated circuit is feasible with single electrons on a large scale. Our results pave the way to perform quantum logic operations with flying electron qubits
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