2′-Fluoro-3′,5′-dimethoxy­acetanilide

Mol­ecules of the title compound, C10H12FNO3, are nearly planar considering all non-H atoms with a mean deviation of 0.0288 Å. Mol­ecules are linked through inter­molecular N—H⋯O and N—H⋯F hydrogen bonds

Activated IL-23/IL-17 pathway closely correlates with increased Foxp3 expression in livers of chronic hepatitis B patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Foxp3 protein plays a critical role in mediating the inflammatory response and can inhibit the proinflammatory IL-23/IL-17 pathway. However, the molecular interplay of Foxp3 and the IL-23/IL-17 pathway in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remains unclear. To this end, we analyzed the expression patterns of Foxp3- and IL-23/IL-17 pathway-related proinflammatory cytokines in 39 patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure, 71 patients with CHB and 32 healthy controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Foxp3 expression was found to be elevated in and mainly expressed by the CD4⁺T cell sub-population of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and liver tissues of patients with hepatitis B. The intrahepatic expression of Foxp3 strongly correlated with the copies of HBV DNA and the concentration of surface antigen, HBsAg. IL-23/IL-17 pathway-related proinflammatory cytokines were also found to be significantly increased in patients' liver tissues, as compared to healthy controls. Moreover, Foxp3 expression was strikingly correlated with the production of these cytokines in liver tissues of CHB patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The closely-correlated increase of Foxp3 and IL-23/IL-17 pathway activity in HBV-infected livers suggests that the proinflammatory IL-23/IL-17 pathway had not been effectively suppressed by the host immune machinery, such as Treg (Foxp3) cells. Constitutive activation of the IL-23/17 pathway, thus, may support the chronic hepatitis B state.</p

Evidence of Hadronic Emission from the brightest-of-all-time GRB 221009A

Acceleration of hadrons in relativistic shocks has been long expected and invoked to model GRB high-energy photon and neutrino emissions. However, so far there has been no direct observational evidence of hadronic emission from GRBs. The B.O.A.T. ("brightest of all time") gamma-ray burst (GRB) 221009A had extreme energies (with an isotropic energy exceeding $10^{55}$ erg) and was detected in broad-band including the very-high-energy (VHE, $>100\,\rm GeV$) band up to $>10$ TeV. Here we perform a comprehensive spectral analysis of the GRB from keV to TeV energy range and perform detailed spectral and light curve modelings considering both the traditional synchrotron self-Compton process and the electromagnetic (EM) cascade process initiated by hadronic interactions by accelerated cosmic rays in the external shock. We find that the leptonic scenario alone is not adequate to account for the observations, whereas the proposed scenario with the combination of hadronic and leptonic components can well reproduce the multi-wavelength spectra and the light curve. This result reveals the existence of the accelerated hadronic component in the early afterglow of this extreme burst. According to this scenario, the observed TeV light curve should contain imprints of the prompt MeV emission.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables. originally submitted version for Nature Astronom

GRB 120729A: External Shock Origin for Both the Prompt Gamma-Ray Emission and Afterglow

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 120729A was detected by Swift/BAT and Fermi/GBM, and then rapidly observed by Swift/XRT, Swift/UVOT, and ground-based telescopes. It had a single long and smooth \gamma-ray emission pulse, which extends continuously to the X-rays. We report Lick/KAIT observations of the source, and make temporal and spectral joint fits of the multiwavelength light curves of GRB 120729A. It exhibits achromatic light-curve behavior, consistent with the predictions of the external shock model. The light curves are decomposed into four typical phases: onset bump (Phase I), normal decay (Phase II), shallow decay (Phase III), and post-jet break (Phase IV). The spectral energy distribution (SED) evolves from prompt \gamma-ray emission to the afterglow with photon index from Γγ=1.36 to Γ≈1.75. There is no obvious evolution of the SED during the afterglow. ...(Please see article full tet for complete abstract.

Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Ulva prolifera

Responses of Ulva prolifera and Ulva linza to Cd2+ stress were studied. We found that the relative growth rate (RGR), Fv/Fm, and actual photochemical efficiency of PSII (Yield) of two Ulvaspecies were decreased under Cd2+ treatments, and these reductions were greater in U. prolifera than in U. linza. U. prolifera accumulated more cadmium than U. linza under Cd2+ stress. While U. linza showed positive osmotic adjustment ability (OAA) at a wider Cd2+ range than U. prolifera. U. linza had greater contents of N, P, Na+, K+, and amino acids than U. prolifera. A range of parameters (concentrations of cadmium, Ca2+, N, P, K+, Cl−, free amino acids (FAAs), proline, organic acids and soluble protein, Fv/Fm, Yield, OAA, and K+/Na+) could be used to evaluate cadmium resistance in Ulva by correlation analysis. In accordance with the order of the absolute values of correlation coefficient, contents of Cd2+ and K+, Yield, proline content, Fv/Fm, FAA content, and OAA value of Ulva were more highly related to their adaptation to Cd2+ than the other eight indices. Thus, U. linza has a better adaptation to Cd2+ than U. prolifera, which was due mainly to higher nutrient content and stronger OAA and photosynthesis in U. linza

The immunomodulatory functions and molecular mechanism of a new bursal heptapeptide (BP7) in immune responses and immature B cells

International audienceAbstractThe bursa of Fabricius (BF) is the acknowledged central humoural immune organ unique to birds and plays a vital role in B lymphocyte development. In addition, the unique molecular immune features of bursal-derived biological peptides involved in B cell development are rarely reported. In this paper, a novel bursal heptapeptide (BP7) with the sequence GGCDGAA was isolated from the BF and was shown to enhance the monoclonal antibody production of a hybridoma. A mouse immunization experiment showed that mice immunized with an AIV antigen and BP7 produced strong antibody responses and cell-mediated immune responses. Additionally, BP7 stimulated increased mRNA levels of sIgM in immature mouse WEHI-231 B cells. Gene microarray results confirmed that BP7 regulated 2465 differentially expressed genes in BP7-treated WEHI-231 cells and induced 13 signalling pathways and various immune-related functional processes. Furthermore, we found that BP7 stimulated WEHI-231 cell autophagy and AMPK-ULK1 phosphorylation and regulated Bcl-2 protein expression. Finally, chicken immunization showed that BP7 enhanced the potential antibody and cytokine responses to the AIV antigen. These results suggested that BP7 might be an active biological factor that functions as a potential immunopotentiator, which provided some novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of the effects of bursal peptides on immune functions and B cell differentiation

Effects of Telbivudine Treatment on the Circulating CD4+ T-Cell Subpopulations in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

CD4+ T cells serve as master regulators of the adaptive immune response to HBV. However, CD4+ T-cell subsets are heterogeneous, and it remains unknown how the antiviral agents affect the different CD4+ T cell subtypes. To this end, the expressions of signature transcription factors and cytokines of CD4+ T-cell subtypes were examined in hepatitis B patients before and after treatment with telbivudine. Results showed that, upon the rapid HBV copy decrease induced by telbivudine treatment, the frequencies and related cytokines of Th17 and Treg cells were dramatically decreased, while those for Th2 cells were dramatically increased. No obvious changes were observed in Th1 cell frequencies; although, IFN-γ expression was upregulated in response to telbivudine treatment, suggesting another cell source of IFN-γ in CHB patients. Statistical analyses indicated that Th17 and Tr1 (a Treg subtype) cells were the most sensitive subpopulations of the peripheral blood CD4+ T cells to telbivudine treatment over 52 weeks. Thus, Th17 and Tr1 cells may represent a suitable and effective predictor of responsiveness during telbivudine therapy. These findings not only improve our understanding of hepatitis pathogenesis but also can aid in future development of appropriate therapeutic strategies to control viral hepatitis

Improving the efficiency of small-scale wastewater treatment by pneumatic agitation

Small-scale anaerobic and aerobic systems for wastewater treatment suffer relatively low efficiencies due primarily to a lack of mechanical agitation/mixing. Here, a pneumatic agitation system was designed by installing a U-tube between the anaerobic and anoxic units, pumping air to the closed headspace of the anaerobic unit and releasing the pressurized air through the U-tube to create turbulence of the fluid. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation and fluid tracer trial were used to describe the fluid status in a lab-scale system (13 L). The results demonstrated that a continuous 5-cycle pneumatic agitation achieved a complete mixing of the static fluid. The retention time factor () and short-circuiting flow coefficient (/HRT) were increased from 0.93 to 1.14 and 0.02 to 0.27, respectively, indicating that pneumatic agitation significantly reduced dead zone and short-circuiting flow. A prototype at a treatment capacity of 300 L/d was installed in the North-East suburb of Beijing (40.15° N, 116.95° E) to treat rural household wastewater consisting of 630–1200 mg/L chemical oxygen demand and 20–45 mg/L total nitrogen. The field test was monitored in a period of 75 days from September to November 2018. The average removal rate for COD and TN was 96% and 92%, respectively by 10 times/h pneumatic agitation as compared to 49% and 45% without pneumatic agitation. The pneumatic agitation provides a low cost, easy operation and maintenance and efficient means for small-scale domestic wastewater treatment