Introductory Chapter: Land Use Change Ecosystem Services and Tropical Forests

Meteorology & climatolog

Increased ATP generation in the host cell is required for efficient vaccinia virus production

To search for cellular genes up-regulated by vaccinia virus (VV) infection, differential display-reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (ddRT-PCR) assays were used to examine the expression of mRNAs from mock-infected and VV-infected HeLa cells. Two mitochondrial genes for proteins that are part of the electron transport chain that generates ATP, ND4 and CO II, were up-regulated after VV infection. Up-regulation of ND4 level by VV infection was confirmed by Western blotting analysis. Up-regulation of ND4 was reduced by the MAPK inhibitor, apigenin, which has been demonstrated elsewhere to inhibit VV replication. The induction of ND4 expression occurred after viral DNA replication since ara C, an inhibitor of poxviral DNA replication, could block this induction. ATP production was increased in the host cells after VV infection. Moreover, 4.5 μM oligomycin, an inhibitor of ATP production, reduced the ATP level 13 hr after virus infection to that of mock-infected cells and inhibited viral protein expression and virus production, suggesting that increased ATP production is required for efficient VV production. Our results further suggest that induction of ND4 expression is through a Bcl-2 independent pathway

THE COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT ELASTIC TENSION OF KINESIO TAPING ON GASTROCNEMIUS MUSCLE ACTIVATION

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of different elastic tension of Kinesio taping on gastrocnemius muscle activation. Thirty-seven healthy athletes was recruited and randomly divided into three groups: Elastic tension 0% (N = 13), 10% (N = 12), and 20% (N = 12). All athletes were applied Kinesio taping on gastrocnemius muscle in 3 different elastic tape tensions. The wireless electromyography was used to assess the gastrocnemius muscle activation before and after applied Kinesio taping while jogging on treadmill. The results showed that a significant interaction between different elastic tape tension and pre-post taping applied (

San-Huang-Xie-Xin-Tang Protects against Activated Microglia- and 6-OHDA-Induced Toxicity in Neuronal SH-SY5Y Cells

San-Huang-Xie-Xin-Tang (SHXT), composed of Coptidis rhizoma, Scutellariae radix and Rhei rhizoma, is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine used to treat gastritis, gastric bleeding and peptic ulcers. This study investigated the neuroprotective effects of SHXT on microglia-mediated neurotoxicity using co-cultured lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated microglia-like BV-2 cells with neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. Effects of SHXT on 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced neurotoxicity were also examined in SH-SY5Y cells. Results indicated SHXT inhibited LPS-induced inflammation of BV-2 cells by downregulation of iNOS, NO, COX-2, PGE2, gp91phox, iROS, TNF-α, IL-1β, inhibition of IκBα degradation and upregulation of HO-1. In addition, SHXT increased cell viability and down regulated nNOS, COX-2 and gp91phox of SH-SY5Y cells co-cultured with LPS activated BV-2 cells. SHXT treatment increased cell viability and mitochondria membrane potential (MMP), decreased expression of nNOS, COX-2, gp91phox and iROS, and inhibited IκBα degradation in 6-OHDA-treated SH-SY5Y cells. SHXT also attenuated LPS activated BV-2 cells- and 6-OHDA-induced cell death in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells with db-cAMP. Furthermore, SHXT-inhibited nuclear translocation of p65 subunit of NF-κB in LPS treated BV-2 cells and 6-OHDA treated SH-SY5Y cells. In conclusion, SHXT showed protection from activated microglia- and 6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity by attenuating inflammation and oxidative stress

Genomic Signatures of Human versus Avian Influenza A Viruses

Fifty-two species-associated amino acid residues were found between human and avian influenza viruses

The 3D-tomography of the nano-clusters formed by Fe-coating and annealing of diamond films for enhancing their surface electron field emitters

[[abstract]]The Fe-coating and H2-annealed processes markedly increased the conductivity and enhanced the surface electron field emission (s-EFE) properties for the diamondfilms. The enhancement on the s-EFE properties for the diamondfilms is presumably owing to the formation of nano-graphite clusters on the surface of the films via the Fe-to-diamond interaction. However, the extent of enhancement varied with the granular structure of the diamondfilms. For the microcrystalline (MCD)films, the s-EFE process can be turned on at (E0)MCD = 1.9 V/μm, achieving a large s-EFE current density of (Je)MCD = 315 μA/cm2 at an applied field of 8.8 V/μm. These s-EFE properties are markedly better than those for Fe-coated/annealed ultrananocrystalline diamond(UNCD)films with (E0)UNCD = 2.0 V/μm and (Je)UNCD = 120 μA/cm2. The transmission electron microscopy showed that the nano-graphite clusters formed an interconnected network for MCDfilms that facilitated the electron transport more markedly, as compared with the isolated nano-graphitic clusters formed at the surface of the UNCDfilms. Therefore, the Fe-coating/annealing processes improved the s-EFE properties for the MCDfilms more markedly than that for the UNCDfilms. The understanding on the distribution of the nano-clusters is of critical importance in elucidating the authentic factor that influences the s-EFE properties of the diamondfilms. Such an understanding is possible only through the 3D-tomographic investigations.[[journaltype]]國外[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]電子版[[countrycodes]]US

Microstructure of non-polar GaN on LiGaO2 grown by plasma-assisted MBE

We have investigated the structure of non-polar GaN, both on the M - and A-plane, grown on LiGaO2 by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The epitaxial relationship and the microstructure of the GaN films are investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The already reported epi-taxial relationship and for M -plane GaN is confirmed. The main defects are threading dislocations and stacking faults in both samples. For the M -plane sample, the density of threading dislocations is around 1 × 1011 cm-2 and the stacking fault density amounts to approximately 2 × 105 cm-1. In the A-plane sample, a threading dislocation density in the same order was found, while the stacking fault density is much lower than in the M -plane sample