Hemodialysis catheter-related infection caused by Pannonibacter phragmitetus: a rare case report in China

Pannonibacter phragmitetus (P. phragmitetus) is rarely related with human disease. We reported a case of catheter-related infection caused by P. phragmitetus in a 68-year-old woman on hemodialysis. The patient developed recurrent fever during hemodialysis and blood cultures were positive for P. phragmitetus. The patient’s body temperature returned to normal after intravenous cefoperazone/sulbactam treatment, and the hemodialysis catheter was locked with gentamicin and urokinase. The potential anti-infective treatment against P. phragmitetus was discussed

Dkk3/REIC Deficiency Impairs Spermiation, Sperm Fibrous Sheath Integrity and the Sperm Motility of Mice

The role of Dickkopf-3 (Dkk3)/REIC (The Reduced Expression in Immortalized Cells), a Wnt-signaling inhibitor, in male reproductive physiology remains unknown thus far. To explore the functional details of Dkk3/REIC in the male reproductive process, we studied the Dkk3/REIC knock-out (KO) mouse model. By examining testicular sections and investigating the sperm characteristics (count, vitality and motility) and ultrastructure, we compared the reproductive features between Dkk3/REIC-KO and wild-type (WT) male mice. To further explore the underlying molecular mechanism, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of testicular tissues. Our results showed that spermiation failure existed in seminiferous tubules of Dkk3/REIC-KO mice, and sperm from Dkk3/REIC-KO mice exhibited inferior motility (44.09 +/- 8.12% vs. 23.26 +/- 10.02%, p 0.05) nor the difference in the sperm vitality rate (72.83 +/- 1.55% vs. 72.50 +/- 0.71%, p > 0.05) were statistically significant. The RNA-seq and GO (Gene Oncology) enrichment results indicated that the differential genes were significantly enriched in the GO terms of cytoskeleton function, cAMP signaling and calcium ion binding. Collectively, our research demonstrates that Dkk3/REIC is involved in the process of spermiation, fibrous sheath integrity maintenance and sperm motility of mice

Effect of Eucommia ulmoides Leaf Extract on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits, Parameters of Oxidative Stress, and Lipid Metabolism in Broiler Chickens

Eucommia ulmoides bark has been traditionally used as a Chinese medicine to attenuate stress, but the leaf, which is rich in polyphenols and polysaccharides, has been rarely used. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Eucommia ulmoides leaf extracts (EULEs) on oxidative stress and meat quality of broilers. A total of 252 broilers were randomly divided into 3 treatments and fed with a control basal diet (CON), or a diet containing 250 mg/kg or 1,000 mg/kg of EULE for 51 days. Results showed that dietary supplementation of 250 mg/kg EULE increased significantly the average daily gain of broilers in the early stage (1–21 days), while 250 mg/kg or 1,000 mg/kg of EULE decreased the feed conversion ratio in the whole period (P < 0.05). Supplementation of 250 mg/kg EULE reduced the level of MDA in the liver (P < 0.05), while 1,000 mg/kg EULE decreased the serum level of MDA (P < 0.05), and the HDL level in serum was increased by 250 mg/kg or 1,000 mg/kg EULE (P < 0.05). Additionally, 250 mg/kg EULE decreased abdominal fat ratio and serum triglyceride (TC) level in broilers, while 250 or 1,000 mg/kg of EULE reduced drip loss in breast muscle (P < 0.05), and 1,000 mg/kg EULE reduced the cooking loss in thigh muscle (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 250 mg/kg of EULE could attenuate oxidative stress and improve the growth performance and meat quality in broilers

Régulation de la colite induite par DSS et de la carcinogenèse du côlon associée à l'inflammation par les cils primaires des cellules mésenchymateuses du côlon

Glycylation, a posttranslational modification of microtubules, is crucial in the maintenance of PC. Our group previously identified an unexpected role of the tubulin glycylase TTLL3 in the regulation of colon homeostasis and tumorigenesis. Specifically, a decreased number of primary cilia (PC) was observed in mice deficient for the glycylase TTLL3, which is the only glycyclase expressed in the colon. TTLL3-/- mice display no obvious abnormalities in the steady state. However, when exposed to chemically induced colon carcinogenesis, TTLL3-/- mice are more susceptible to tumor formation. Importantly, TTLL3 expression levels were significantly downregulated in human primary colorectal carcinomas and metastases as compared to healthy colon tissue, suggesting a link between TTLL3 regulation of PC and colorectal cancer development.The aim of my thesis project was to explore the relation of PC and colon carcinogenesis. In fact, I could demonstrate that the number of PC decreases during chemically induced colon carcinogenesis in mice. Notably, I discovered that PC in the colon are mostly expressed by fibroblasts. To better characterize the role of PC in murine colon, I studied the consequences of a loss of PC in intestinal fibroblasts. For this, I used two independent ciliary conditional knockout mice, kinesin-3A (Kif3A) and intraflagellar transport 88 (Ift88), both essential for cilia formation. Specific deletion in intestinal fibroblasts is obtained by crossing with colVI-cre transgenic mice. Though the colVI promoter is only active in a subset of colonic mesenchymal cells I found that the decreased number of PC in colonic mesenchymal cells promotes chemically induced colitis and carcinogenesis. RNAseq on isolated colonic mesenchymal cells of mutant mice suggests a triggering of Wnt and Notch signaling in ColVIcre-Kif3aflx/flx mice. We are presently validating these findings by qPCR and immunohistochemistryTaken together, I discovered that PC are expressed by at least a subset of colonic mesenchymal cells, which has not been described before. Decreased numbers of those PC renders mice more susceptible to colitis and colitis associated carcinogenesis.La glycylation, une modification post-traductionnelle des microtubules, est cruciale dans le maintien des cils primaires. Notre groupe a précédemment identifié un rôle inattendu de la tubuline glycylase TTLL3 dans la régulation de l'homéostasie du colon et de la tumorigénèse. Plus précisément, une diminution du nombre de cils primaires a été observée chez les souris déficientes pour la glycylase TTLL3, qui est la seule glycylase exprimée dans le côlon. Les souris TTLL3 - / - ne présentent pas d'anomalie évidente à l'état stationnaire. Cependant, lorsqu'elles sont exposées à une carcinogenèse du côlon chimiquement induite, les souris TTLL3 - / - sont plus sensibles à la formation de tumeurs. Il est important de noter que les niveaux d'expression de TTLL3 sont significativement réduits dans les carcinomes primaires et métastases colorectales chez l'homme comparativement au tissu de côlon sain, ce qui suggère un lien entre la régulation des cils primaires par TTLL3 et le développement du cancer colorectal.L'objectif de mon projet de thèse était d'explorer l’effet de la modulation des cils primaires sur la carcinogenèse du côlon. J’ai ainsi démontré que le nombre de cils primaires diminue lors de la carcinogenèse du côlon chimiquement induite chez la souris. Notamment, j'ai découvert que les cils primaires du côlon sont principalement exprimés par les cellules mésenchymateuses. Pour mieux caractériser le rôle des cils primaires dans le côlon murin, j'ai étudié les conséquences de leur perte dans les cellules mésenchymateuses intestinaux. Pour cela, j'ai utilisé deux modèles de souris KO conditionnelles, pour la kinesin-3A (Kif3A) et le transport intra-flagellaire 88 (Ift88), deux molécules essentielles pour la formation des cils. Leur délétion spécifique dans les cellules mésenchymateuses intestinaux est obtenue par croisement des souches de souris Kif3Afl/fl et Ift88fl/fl des souris transgéniques collagène VI-cre. Bien que le promoteur colllagène VI ne soit actif que dans un sous-ensemble de cellules mésenchymateuses coliques, j'ai constaté que la diminution du nombre de cils primaires dans ces derniers favorise la colite chimiquement induite et la carcinogenèse. L'analyse par séquençage ARN des cellules mésenchymateuses coliques isolés de souris mutantes suggère un déclenchement de la signalisation Wnt et Notch chez les souris ColVIcre-Kif3Afl/fl. Nous confirmons actuellement ces résultats par qPCR et immunohistochimie

A Review of CO

In 2008, the top CO2 emitters were China, United States, and European Union. The rapid growing economy and the heavy reliance on coal in China give rise to the continued growth of CO2 emission, deterioration of anthropogenic climate change, and urgent need of new technologies. Carbon Capture and sequestration is one of the effective ways to provide reduction of CO2 emission and mitigation of pollution. Coal-fired power plants are the focus of CO2 source supply due to their excessive emission and the energy structure in China. And over 80% of the large CO2 sources are located nearby storage reservoirs. In China, the CO2 storage potential capacity is of about 3.6 × 109 t for all onshore oilfields; 30.483 × 109 t for major gas fields between 900 m and 3500 m of depth; 143.505 × 109 t for saline aquifers; and 142.67 × 109 t for coal beds. On the other hand, planation, soil carbon sequestration, and CH4–CO2 reforming also contribute a lot to carbon sequestration. This paper illustrates some main situations about CO2 sequestration applications in China with the demonstration of several projects regarding different ways of storage. It is concluded that China possesses immense potential and promising future of CO2 sequestration

Mechanical behavior and optimization of constitutive prediction model for Epoxy/Al energetic composite materials considering temperature and strain rate effects

Epoxy/Al as a functional structural energetic composite material that can be used as an adhesive, energetic fragments and warhead shells due to its high energy density, low density, and high strength. It can release a large amount of chemical energy (about 21.36 kJ/g) through chemical reactions when subjected to high-speed impact and thermal stimulation. Whether used as a matrix or auxiliary component, it has enormous development potential. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the mechanical properties of Epoxy/Al energetic composite materials under different temperature environments and strain rates of loading. This article describes the preparation of Epoxy/Al specimens with a mass percentage of 70%–30% using vacuum curing after 24 h under 0.8 Bar and 50 °C. The mechanical properties of Epoxy/Al specimens under different loading conditions were characterized using a high and low temperature universal testing machine and a separate Hopkinson experimental system. The modulus prediction method of binary composite materials was improved by combining SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and microstructure, and an adaptive constitutive model was developed combined with the K Srinivas model and neural network model based on the Sherwood Frost empirical constitutive relationship. The results show that Epoxy/Al energetic composite material has a significant temperature effect. When the temperature exceeds 100 °C, Epoxy/Al energetic composite material will be a significant physical and chemical property transition (the specimen exhibits viscous fluid characteristics and gradually begins to slowly decompose). As the temperature decreases, the specimen gradually exhibits a certain degree of brittleness and strength is improved. Due to the deformation, displacement, and interfacial debonding of internal particles during the loading process, Epoxy/Al materials exhibit excellent impact energy absorption effects, with energy absorption reaching 15.30 MJ/m3 at room temperature, and unit mass cost much lower than popular CFRP (carbon fiber-reinforced polymer) materials (CFRP energy absorption cost is 0.268 J/g/£, while Epoxy/Al materials do not exceed 0.013 J/g/£). During the dynamic loading process, Epoxy/Al energetic composite materials exhibit a phenomenon of structural reconstruction and enhancement throughout the entire loading process. The maximum strength at room temperature can reach 240.70 MPa, which is superior to all existing energetic materials of the same type. By introducing interface effects and quantifying them in the Halpin Tsai model, the existing prediction method for the Young's modulus of binary particle added composite materials has been effectively improved, reducing the prediction error of the Young's modulus of Epoxy/Al energetic composite materials from 14.2% to 2.4%. The numerical simulation results indicate that the newly developed constitutive model has high accuracy and can better reflect the mechanical properties of Epoxy/Al materials. The development method of this constitutive model has a positive contribution to the development of composite materials

A live-imaging protocol for tracking intestinal stem cell divisions in the Drosophila melanogaster pupal midgut

Summary: Establishing a long-term ex vivo observation of the intestinal stem cell (ISC) is crucial to help understand the formation and homeostasis of the intestinal epithelium. Here, we present a protocol for tracking the division of Drosophila pupal ISCs during pupal midgut development. We describe steps for dissecting, mounting, and live imaging the pupal midgut. We then detail procedures for fluorescence quantification of each cell. This protocol can be applied to other fluorescently tagged proteins.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Wu et al.1 : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics

Multi-Scale Topology Optimization of Femoral Stem Structure Subject to Stress Shielding Reduce

Hip replacement femoral implants are made of substantial materials that all have stiffness considerably higher than that of bone, which can cause significant bone resorption secondary to stress shielding and lead to severe complications. The topology optimization design method based on the uniform distribution of material micro-structure density can form a continuous mechanical transmission route, which can better solve the problem of reducing the stress shielding effect. A multi-scale parallel topology optimization method is proposed in this paper and a topological structure of type B femoral stem is derived. Using the traditional topology optimization method (Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization, SIMP), a topological structure of type A femoral stem is also derived. The sensitivity of the two kinds of femoral stems to the change of load direction is compared with the variation amplitude of the structural flexibility of the femoral stem. Furthermore, the finite element method is used to analyze the stress of type A and type B femoral stem under multiple conditions. Simulation and experimental results show that the average stress of type A and type B femoral stem on the femur are 14.80 MPa, 23.55 MPa, 16.94 MPa and 10.89 MPa, 20.92 MPa, 16.50 MPa, respectively. For type B femoral stem, the average error of strain is −1682με and the average relative error is 20.3% at the test points on the medial side and the mean error of strain is 1281με and the mean relative error is 19.5% at the test points on the outside

Scalable production of thick graphene films for next generation thermal management applications

With the increasing demand on integration and better performance of portable electronics devices, the system operation temperatures are expected to continue to increase, leading eventually to degeneration in functional performance and reliability. Therefore, demand for thermal management materials that effectively spread heat and reduce heat density is urgent. The existing solution of pyrolytic graphite film (PGF) is unsatisfactory due to their low heat flux carrying capacity or low thermal conductivity, as well as poor mechanical performance. This work solves the problem by substituting ultra-thick (>75 mm) graphene film (GF) for PGF, offering more than three times higher heat flux carrying capacity. The conjugation of large crystallinity and firm structures endows GFs with excellent thermal conductive performance (up to 1204 +/- 35 W m(-1) K-1), great heat flux carrying capacity, and good foldability (5000 cycles folding). In addition to this, such a GF is produced based on an economically efficient and quasi industrial method incorporating continuous high-pressure homogenization processing (HPH), indicating an enormous potential as a new pathway to thermal management applications