Studies on hemorrhagic pneumonia in Moschus sifanicus

A series of investigations were carried out including epidemiology, etiology and pathology on hemorrhagic pneumonia in Moschus sifanicus, which had prevailed in Xinglong Mountain National Nature Reserve District in Gansu province of China. The results indicated that the prevalence of thisdisease could be correlated with local humidity in Xinglong Mountain in Gansu province of China. The disease is caused by single infection of Pasteurella multocida or mix of P. multocida, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and is a contagious disease. The pathological changes were mainly manifested in the vessel wall of bronchia and bronchiole appeared congested, bleeding, edemic with infiltration of inflammatory cells, mucosa of bronchiole degenerates, with the presence of necrosis and exfoliation, pulmonary alveolus generated suppuration, disaggregation and necrosis. It was concluded that the diseases are mainly caused by local bacteria and affected M. sifanicus finally die of hemorrhagic or purulent, necrotic pneumonia

Genetic Variation of HvCBF Genes and Their Association with Salinity Tolerance in Tibetan Annual Wild Barley

The evaluation of both the genetic variation and the identification of salinity tolerant accessions of Tibetan annual wild barley (hereafter referred to as Tibetan barley) (Hordeum vulgare L. ssp. Spontaneum and H. vulgare L. ssp. agriocrithum) are essential for discovering and exploiting novel alleles involved in salinity tolerance. In this study, we examined tissue dry biomass and the Na+ and K+ contents of 188 Tibetan barley accessions in response to salt stress. We investigated the genetic variation of transcription factors HvCBF1, HvCBF3 and HvCBF4 within these accessions, conducting association analysis between these three genes and the respective genotypic salt tolerance. Salt stress significantly reduced shoot and root dry weight by 27.6% to 73.1% in the Tibetan barley lines. HvCBF1, HvCBF3 and HvCBF4 showed diverse sequence variation in amplicon as evident by the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 3, 8 and 13 haplotypes, respectively. Furthermore, the decay of Linkage disequilibrium (LD) of chromosome 5 was 8.9 cM (r2<0.1). Marker bpb-4891 and haplotype 13 (Ps 610) of the HvCBF4 gene were significantly (P<0.05) and highly significantly (P<0.001) associated with salt tolerance. However, HvCBF1 and HvCBF3 genes were not associated with salinity tolerance. The accessions from haplotype 13 of the HvCBF4 gene showed high salinity tolerance, maintaining significantly lower Na+/K+ ratios and higher dry weight. It is thus proposed that these Tibetan barley accessions could be of value for enhancing salinity tolerance in cultivated barley

Infinitesimal sulfur fusion yields quasi-metallic bulk silicon for stable and fast energy storage

A fast-charging battery that supplies maximum energy is a key element for vehicle electrification. High-capacity silicon anodes offer a viable alternative to carbonaceous materials, but they are vulnerable to fracture due to large volumetric changes during charge???discharge cycles. The low ionic and electronic transport across the silicon particles limits the charging rate of batteries. Here, as a three-in-one solution for the above issues, we show that small amounts of sulfur doping (&lt;1 at%) render quasi-metallic silicon microparticles by substitutional doping and increase lithium ion conductivity through the flexible and robust self-supporting channels as demonstrated by microscopy observation and theoretical calculations. Such unusual doping characters are enabled by the simultaneous bottom-up assembly of dopants and silicon at the seed level in molten salts medium. This sulfur-doped silicon anode shows highly stable battery cycling at a fast-charging rate with a high energy density beyond those of a commercial standard anode

20(S)-25-methoxyl-dammarane-3β, 12β, 20-triol, a novel natural product for prostate cancer therapy: activity in vitro and in vivo and mechanisms of action

We recently isolated 20(S)-25-methoxyl-dammarane-3β, 12β, 20-triol (25-OCH3-PPD), a natural product from Panax notoginseng, and demonstrated its cytotoxicity against a variety of cancer cells. Here we report the effects of this compound in vitro and in vivo on human prostate cancer cells, LNCaP (androgen-dependent) and PC3 (androgen-independent), in comparison with three structurally related ginsenosides, ginsenoside Rh2, ginsenoside Rg3, and 20(S)-protopanaxadiol. Of the four test compounds, 25-OCH3-PPD was most potent. It decreased survival, inhibited proliferation, induced apoptosis, and led to G1 cell cycle arrest in both cell lines. It also decreased the levels of proteins associated with cell proliferation (MDM2, E2F1, cyclin D1, and cdks 2 and 4) and increased or activated pro-apoptotic proteins (cleaved PARP, cleaved caspase-3, -8, and -9). In LNCaP cells, 25-OCH3-PPD inhibited the expression of the androgen receptor and prostate-specific antigen. Moreover, 25-OCH3-PPD inhibited the growth of prostate cancer xenograft tumours. Combining 25-OCH3-PPD with conventional chemotherapeutic agents or with radiation led to potent antitumour effects; tumour regression was almost complete following administration of 25-OCH3-PPD and either taxotere or gemcitabine. 25-OCH3-PPD also demonstrated low toxicity to noncancer cells and no observable toxicity in animals. In conclusion, our preclinical data indicate that 25-OCH3-PPD is a potential therapeutic agent against both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer

Prostate cancer cell malignancy via modulation of HIF-1 alpha pathway with isoflurane and propofol alone and in combination

BACKGROUND: Surgery is considered to be the first line treatment for solid tumours. Recently, retrospective studies reported that general anaesthesia was associated with worse long-term cancer-free survival when compared with regional anaesthesia. This has important clinical implications; however, the mechanisms underlying those observations remain unclear. We aim to investigate the effect of anaesthetics isoflurane and propofol on prostate cancer malignancy. METHODS: Prostate cancer (PC3) cell line was exposed to commonly used anaesthetic isoflurane and propofol. Malignant potential was assessed through evaluation of expression level of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and its downstream effectors, cell proliferation and migration as well as development of chemoresistance. RESULTS: We demonstrated that isoflurane, at a clinically relevant concentration induced upregulation of HIF-1α and its downstream effectors in PC3 cell line. Consequently, cancer cell characteristics associated with malignancy were enhanced, with an increase of proliferation and migration, as well as development of chemoresistance. Inhibition of HIF-1α neosynthesis through upper pathway blocking by a PI-3K-Akt inhibitor or HIF-1α siRNA abolished isoflurane-induced effects. In contrast, the intravenous anaesthetic propofol inhibited HIF-1α activation induced by hypoxia or CoCl(2). Propofol also prevented isoflurane-induced HIF-1α activation, and partially reduced cancer cell malignant activities. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that modulation of HIF-1α activity by anaesthetics may affect cancer recurrence following surgery. If our data were to be extrapolated to the clinical setting, isoflurane but not propofol should be avoided for use in cancer surgery. Further work involving in vivo models and clinical trials is urgently needed to determine the optimal anaesthetic regimen for cancer patients