3,3′Diindolylmethane Suppresses Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Modulation and Inhibits Neointima Formation after Carotid Injury

3,3'Diindolylmethane (DIM), a natural phytochemical, has shown inhibitory effects on the growth and migration of a variety of cancer cells; however, whether DIM has similar effects on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of DIM on the proliferation and migration of cultured VSMCs and neointima formation in a carotid injury model, as well as the related cell signaling mechanisms.DIM dose-dependently inhibited the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced proliferation of VSMCs without cell cytotoxicity. This inhibition was caused by a G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest demonstrated by fluorescence-activated cell-sorting analysis. We also showed that DIM-induced growth inhibition was associated with the inhibition of the expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 as well as an increase in p27(Kip1) levels in PDGF-stimulated VSMCs. Moreover, DIM was also found to modulate migration of VSMCs and smooth muscle-specific contractile marker expression. Mechanistically, DIM negatively modulated PDGF-BB-induced phosphorylation of PDGF-recptorβ (PDGF-Rβ) and the activities of downstream signaling molecules including Akt/glycogen synthase kinase(GSK)3β, extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 (ERK1/2), and signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3). Our in vivo studies using a mouse carotid arterial injury model revealed that treatment with 150 mg/kg DIM resulted in significant reduction of the neointima/media ratio and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive cells, without affecting apoptosis of vascular cells and reendothelialization. Infiltration of inflammatory cells was also inhibited by DIM administration.These results demonstrate that DIM can suppress the phenotypic modulation of VSMCs and neointima hyperplasia after vascular injury. These beneficial effects on VSMCs were at least partly mediated by the inhibition of PDGF-Rβ and the activities of downstream signaling pathways. The results suggest that DIM has the potential to be a candidate for the prevention of restenosis

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Direct Calibration Method for LA-HR-ICP-MS Apatite U-Pb Dating

BACKGROUND: Apatite is a common U-bearing accessory mineral with a U-Pb closure temperature of ~500℃, making U-Pb dating of apatite a potentially valuable thermochronometer. However, its low U concentration, high common lead concentration and lack of reference material has limited widespread application to LA-ICP-MS dating.OBJECTIVES: To develop a technique for U-Pb dating of apatite using laser ablation sector field inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-HR-ICP-MS).METHODS: The U-Pb isotope ratio in apatite samples was determined by LA-HR-ICP-MS, with apatite MAD2 as the external standard to correct U-Pb and Pb-Pb elemental fractionation directly without a common Pb correction.RESULTS: Long-term U-Pb analysis of Madagascar apatite sample (MAD2) showed homogeneous distribution of U, Pb and U-Pb isotope ratios, with average contents of U and Pb ~23.8×10-6 and ~13.5×10-6, respectively and weighted average 207Pb/206Pb and 206Pb/238U ratios of 0.0941±0.0006 and 0.0794±0.0004, respectively. Taking MAD2 apatite as a reference mineral, combined with 207Pb-correction method, the ages of apatite samples, McClure Mountain (521±5Ma), Tory-Hill-apt (1021±16Ma), a Durango (30.7±1.5Ma) and Fagnshan diorite apatite (~131Ma) can be determined accurately.CONCLUSIONS: The Madagascar apatite sample (MAD2) can be used to calibrate apatite U-Pb isotope ratio measured by LA-ICP-MS directly, without common-Pb correction, similar to the calibration strategy in zircon U-Pb dating. The method greatly reduces the difficulty of data processing during apatite U-Pb dating by LA-ICP-MS, which is conducive to the wide application of the method

Coupling of Soil Moisture and Air Temperature from Multiyear Data During 1980–2013 over China

Soil moisture is an important parameter in land surface processes, which can control the surface energy and water budgets and thus affect the air temperature. Studying the coupling between soil moisture and air temperature is of vital importance for forecasting climate change. This study evaluates this coupling over China from 1980–2013 by using an energy-based diagnostic method, which represents the momentum, heat, and water conservation equations in the atmosphere, while the contributions of soil moisture are treated as external forcing. The results showed that the soil moisture–temperature coupling is strongest in the transitional climate zones between wet and dry climates, which here includes Northeast China and part of the Tibetan Plateau from a viewpoint of annual average. Furthermore, the soil moisture–temperature coupling was found to be stronger in spring than in the other seasons over China, and over different typical climatic zones, it also varied greatly in different seasons. We conducted two case studies (the heatwaves of 2013 in Southeast China and 2009 in North China) to understand the impact of soil moisture–temperature coupling during heatwaves. The results indicated that over areas with soil moisture deficit and temperature anomalies, the coupling strength intensified. This suggests that soil moisture deficits could lead to enhanced heat anomalies, and thus, result in enhanced soil moisture coupling with temperature. This demonstrates the importance of soil moisture and the need to thoroughly study it and its role within the land–atmosphere interaction and the climate on the whole

In-situ Health Monitoring of IGBT Modules of an On-line Medium-voltage Inverter System Using Industrial Internet of Things

Requirements of the Internet of things for the network includes the ability to monitor the equipment and devices. Nowadays, the reliability of a power electronics converter has raised concerns of both academia and industry. In particular, power semiconductor devices are continuously exposed to excessive stress while being designed with high power handling capability and are considered as the most fragile component in power converters suffering from a high failure rate. Aiming to find an effective monitoring method which is also helpful for the Internet of Things and improve the reliability of a three-level neutral-point-clamped power inverter, an in-situ health monitoring method is proposed by harnessing the inverter operational characteristics and degradation sensitive electrical parameters to address the IGBT wire bonding faults. The zero voltage state provides an inherent redundant feature that allows for a power switch to be diagnosed during its normal operation in a neutral-point-clamped power inverter. The proposed prognostic approach obtains both the wire bonding failure features and junction temperature from the terminals of an IGBT module, which is regarded as non-invasive on-line health monitoring. The system performance can be affected by the designated testing point and testing window, which is discussed and experimentally validated. The proposed technique allows unhealthy wire bonding in IGBT modules online monitoring during the operational period of the inverter. And the proposed in-situ health monitoring of IGBT modules can be used for the industrial Internet of things

Sulfur Migration Enhanced Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer for Efficient CO₂ Desorption with Core-Shelled C@Mn₃O₄

Transforming hazardous species into active sites by ingenious material design was a promising and positive strategy to improve catalytic reactions in industrial applications. To synergistically address the issue of sluggish CO2 desorption kinetics and SO2-poisoning solvent of amine scrubbing, we propose a novel method for preparing a high-performance core–shell C@Mn3O4 catalyst for heterogeneous sulfur migration and in situ reconstruction to active –SO3H groups, and thus inducing an enhanced proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) effect for CO2 desorption. As anticipated, the rate of CO2 desorption increases significantly, by 255%, when SO2 is introduced. On a bench scale, dynamic CO2 capture experiments reveal that the catalytic regeneration heat duty of SO2-poisoned solvent experiences a 32% reduction compared to the blank case, while the durability of the catalyst is confirmed. Thus, the enhanced PCET of C@Mn3O4, facilitated by sulfur migration and simultaneous transformation, effectively improves the SO2 resistance and regeneration efficiency of amine solvents, providing a novel route for pursuing cost-effective CO2 capture with an amine solvent

HFR1, a bHLH Transcriptional Regulator from Arabidopsis thaliana, Improves Grain Yield, Shade and Osmotic Stress Tolerances in Common Wheat

Common wheat, Triticum aestivum, is the most widely grown staple crop worldwide. To catch up with the increasing global population and cope with the changing climate, it is valuable to breed wheat cultivars that are tolerant to abiotic or shade stresses for density farming. Arabidopsis LONG HYPOCOTYL IN FAR-RED 1 (AtHFR1), a photomorphogenesis-promoting factor, is involved in multiple light-related signaling pathways and inhibits seedling etiolation and shade avoidance. We report that overexpression of AtHFR1 in wheat inhibits etiolation phenotypes under various light and shade conditions, leading to shortened plant height and increased spike number relative to non-transgenic plants in the field. Ectopic expression of AtHFR1 in wheat increases the transcript levels of TaCAB and TaCHS as observed previously in Arabidopsis, indicating that the AtHFR1 transgene can activate the light signal transduction pathway in wheat. AtHFR1 transgenic seedlings significantly exhibit tolerance to osmotic stress during seed germination compared to non-transgenic wheat. The AtHFR1 transgene represses transcription of TaFT1, TaCO1, and TaCO2, delaying development of the shoot apex and heading in wheat. Furthermore, the AtHFR1 transgene in wheat inhibits transcript levels of PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 3-LIKEs (TaPIL13, TaPIL15-1B, and TaPIL15-1D), downregulating the target gene STAYGREEN (TaSGR), and thus delaying dark-induced leaf senescence. In the field, grain yields of three AtHFR1 transgenic lines were 18.2–48.1% higher than those of non-transgenic wheat. In summary, genetic modification of light signaling pathways using a photomorphogenesis-promoting factor has positive effects on grain yield due to changes in plant architecture and resource allocation and enhances tolerances to osmotic stress and shade avoidance response

An investigation into the potential association between nutrition and Alzheimer’s disease

BackgroundMalnutrition is the most common nutritional issue in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, but there is still a lack of a comprehensive evaluation of the nutritional status in AD patients. This study aimed to determine the potential association of various nutritional indices with AD at different stages.MethodsSubjects, including individuals with normal cognition (NC) and patients diagnosed with AD, were consecutively enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Demographics, body composition, dietary patterns, nutritional assessment scales and nutrition-related laboratory variables were collected. Binary logistics regression analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to indicate the association between nutrition-related variables and AD at different stages.ResultsTotals of 266 subjects, including 73 subjects with NC, 72 subjects with mild cognitive impairment due to AD (AD-MCI) and 121 subjects with dementia due to AD (AD-D) were included. There was no significant difference in dietary patterns, including Mediterranean diet and Mediterranean-DASH diet intervention for neurodegenerative delay (MIND) diet between the three groups. Lower BMI value, smaller hip and calf circumferences, lower Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) scores, and lower levels of total protein, albumin, globulin, and apolipoprotein A1 were associated with AD (all p < 0.05). Total protein and albumin levels had the greatest ability to distinguish AD from non-AD (AUC 0.80, 95% CI 0.74–0.84, p < 0.001), increased by combining calf circumference, MNA score and albumin level (AUC 0.83, 95% CI 0.77–0.88, p < 0.001). Albumin level had the greatest ability to distinguish NC from AD-MCI (AUC 0.75, 95% CI 0.67–0.82, p < 0.001), and MNA score greatest ability to distinguish AD-MCI from AD-D (AUC 0.72, 95% CI 0.65–0.78, p < 0.001).ConclusionNutritional status of AD patients is significantly compromised compared with normal controls, and tends to be worsened with AD progresses. Early identification and intervention of individuals with nutritional risk or malnutrition may be significantly beneficial for reducing the risk, development, and progression of AD