Cathode ray tube addressed liquid crystal light valve projection display

Integrating an epitaxially grown monocrystalline garnet cathode ray tube\u27s (CRT\u27s) high resolution and a liquid crystal light valve\u27s (LCLV\u27s) large screen and high brightness, we develop a CRT optically addressed LCLV projection display system. The CRT\u27s phosphor screen is green chrome yttrium aluminum garnet (Cr:YAG) fabricated by liquid phase epitaxy. The LCLV\u27s fabrication and the optical system\u27s design are given. The projection display system shows good performances

JMJ704 positively regulates rice defense response against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae infection via reducing H3K4me2/3 associated with negative disease resistance regulators

A schematic representation showing the genomic regions of the three genes for ChIP-PCR assay. White box indicates untranslated region, black box indicates coding sequence, line through the box indicates intron region of the genes, lines and numbers above the gene indicate the regions and positions used for ChIP-PCR assay. (TIF 2795 kb

Intra-Annual Radial Growth of Pinus kesiya var. langbianensis Is Mainly Controlled by Moisture Availability in the Ailao Mountains, Southwestern China

Intra-annual monitoring of tree growth dynamics is increasingly applied to disentangle growth-change relationships with local climate conditions. However, such studies are still very limited in subtropical regions which show a wide variety of climate regimes. We monitored stem radius variations (SRV) of Pinus kesiya var. langbianensis (Szemao pine) over five years (2012–2015 and 2017) in the subtropical monsoon mountain climate of the Ailao Mountains, Yunnan Province, southwest China. On average, the stem radial growth of Szemao pine started in early March and ended in early October, and the highest growth rates occurred during May to June. Stem radius increments were synchronous with precipitation events, while tree water deficit corresponded to the drought periods. Correlation analysis and linear mixed-effects models revealed that precipitation and relative humidity are the most important limiting factors of stem radial increments, whereas air temperature and vapor pressure deficit significantly affected tree water balance and may play an important role in determining the growing season length and seasonality (i.e., duration, start, and cessation). This study reveals that moisture availability plays a major role for tree growth of P. kesiya var langbianensis in the Ailao Mountains, southwest China

Deletion of sphingosine kinase 2 attenuates cigarette smoke-mediated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-like symptoms by reducing lung inflammation

Cigarette smoke (CS) is the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is characterized by chronic bronchial inflammation and emphysema. Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that dysfunctional cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is critically involved in the pathogenesis of CS-mediated COPD. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we report that supressed CFTR expression is strongly associated with abnormal phospholipid metabolism and increased pulmonary inflammation. In a CS-exposed mouse model with COPD-like symptoms, we found that pulmonary expression of sphingosine kinase 2 (SphK2) and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) secretion were significantly upregulated. Therefore, we constructed a SphK2 gene knockout (SphK2-/-) mouse. After CS exposure for six months, histological lung section staining showed disorganized alveolar structure, increased pulmonary fibrosis, and emphysema-like symptoms in wild-type (WT) mice, which were less pronounced in SphK2-/- mice. Further, SphK2 deficiency also decreased CS-induced pulmonary inflammation, which was reflected by a remarkable reduction in pulmonary infiltration of CD45+CD11b+ neutrophils subpopulation and low levels of IL-6 and IL-33 in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid. However, treatment with S1P receptor agonist suppressed CFTR expression and increased Nf-κB-p65 expression and its nuclear translocation in CS-exposed SphK2-/-mice, which also aggravated small airways fibrosis and pulmonary inflammation. In contrast, inhibition of S1P signaling with the S1P receptor analogue FTY720 rescued CFTR expression, suppressed Nf-κB-p65 expression and nuclear translocation, and alleviated pulmonary fibrosis and inflammation after CS exposure. Our results demonstrate that SphK2-mediated S1P production plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of CS-induced COPD-like disease by impairing CFTR activity and promoting pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis

mHealth Series: Text messaging data collection of infant and young child feeding practice in rural China – a feasibility study

Face–to–face interviews by trained field workers are commonly used in household surveys. However, this data collection method is labor–intensive, time–consuming, expensive, prone to interviewer and recall bias and not easily scalable to increase sample representativeness. The study explored the feasibility of using text messaging to collect information on infant and young child feeding practice in rural China

Antioxidant Activity of Euphorbia helioscopia Ethanol Extract and Its Effect on Oleic Acid Induced Fat Accumulation in HepG2 Cells

In order to investigate the antioxidant effect of the extract of Euphorbia helioscopia in vitro and its effect on lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells induced by oleic acid. In this study, 25%, 50%, 75% methanol and ethanol were used to extract the powder by immersion method. The antioxidant activities of the different extracts were assessed, and the levels of total phenols and total flavonoids were measured. To establish a model of lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells, the cells were treated with 50% ethanol extract (at concentrations of 20, 40, and 60 µg/mL) for 24 h to observe the formation of lipid droplets. The triglyceride (TG) content, total glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in the cells were determined. The findings demonstrated that all extracts exhibited concentration-dependent antioxidant activity. Among them, the 50% ethanol extract exhibited the most potent antioxidant effect in a certain concentration range (P<0.05), with higher levels of total phenols (8.813%±1.344%) and total flavonoids (17.938%±0.819%) . Compared with the model group, the 50% ethanol extract displayed a concentration-dependent ability to decrease lipid droplets and TG values in HepG2 cells, while increasing the levels of GSH, T-AOC, and SOD activity. Therefore, the 50% ethanol extract showed potential in inhibiting oleic acid-induced fat accumulation in HepG2 cells and enhancing the endogenous antioxidant capacity of the cells

Plant Defense Responses Induced by Two Herbivores and Consequences for Whitefly Bemisia tabaci

Diverse herbivores are known to induce various plant defenses. The plant defenses may detrimentally affect the performance and preference to subsequent herbivores on the same plant, such as affecting another insect’s feeding, settling, growth or oviposition. Here, we report two herbivores (mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis and carmine spider mite Tetranychus cinnabarinus) which were used to pre-infest the cucumber to explore the impact on the plants and the later-colonizing species, whitefly Bemisia tabaci. The results showed that the whiteflies tended to select the treatments pre-infested by the mites, rather than the uninfected treatments. However, the result of treatments pre-infested by the mealybugs was opposite. Total number of eggs laid of whiteflies was related to their feeding preference. The results also showed that T. cinnabarinus were more likely to activate plant jasmonic acid (JA) regulated genes, while mealybugs were more likely to activate key genes regulated by salicylic acid (SA). The different plant defense activities on cucumbers may be one of the essential factors that affects the preference of B. tabaci. Moreover, the digestive enzymes and protective enzymes of the whitefly might play a substantial regulatory role in its settling and oviposition ability

Association Analysis of MET

To investigate the association of MET SNPs with gender disparity in thyroid tumors, as well as the metastasis and prognosis of patients, 858 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), 556 patients with nodular goiter, and 896 population-based normal controls were recruited. The genotyping of MET SNPs was carried out using the Sequenom MassARRAY system. The distribution of MET SNPs (rs1621 and rs6566) was different among groups. Gender stratification analysis revealed a significant association between the rs1621 genotype and PTC in female patients (P=0.037), but not in male patients (P>0.05). For female patients, the rs1621 AG genotype was significantly higher in patients with PTC than in normal controls (P=0.01) and revealed an increasing risk of PTC (OR: 1.465, 95% CI: 1.118–1.92). However, association analysis of the rs1621 genotype with metastasis and prognosis revealed no significant correlation in both male and female patients. The findings of our study showed that polymorphism of SNP locus rs1621 in MET gene may be associated with gender disparity in PTC. Higher AG genotypes in rs1621 were correlated with PTC in female patients, but not in male patients