Hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects of iridoid glycosides extracted from: Corni fructus: Possible involvement of the PI3K-Akt/PKB signaling pathway

Iridoid glycosides (CIG) are the major component of Corni fructus. In this work, we researched the antioxidative, hypoglycemic and lowering blood lipids effects of CIG on diabetic mice induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ). Furthermore, to investigate the molecular mechanism of action, the phosphorylation and protein expression of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and its downstream proteins, such as insulin receptor (INSR), protein kinase B (Akt/PKB) and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) have been detected. The results showed that CIG significantly improved oral glucose tolerance in diabetic mice. Biochemical indices also revealed that CIG had a positive effect on lipid metabolism and oxidative stress. In addition, CIG can significantly enhance the expression level of the PI3K-Akt/PKB pathway related proteins in skeletal muscle, which is the key pathway of insulin metabolism. These findings show that CIG can improve the hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia of HFD-STZ-induced diabetic mice through the PI3K-Akt/PKB signaling pathway, and CIG might be a potential medicine or functional food for type 2 diabetes mellitus remedies. © 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Multi-element fingerprinting of waters to evaluate connectivity among depressional wetlands

Establishing the connectivity among depressional wetlands is important for their proper management, conservation and restoration. In this study, the concentrations of 38 elements in surface water and porewater of depressional wetlands were investigated to determine chemical and hydrological connectivity of three hydrological types: recharge, flow-through, and discharge, in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. Most element concentrations of porewater varied significantly by wetland hydrologic type (p \u3c 0.05), and increased along a recharge to discharge hydrologic gradient. Significant spatial variation of element concentrations in surface water was observed in discharge wetlands. Generally, higher element concentrations occurred in natural wetlands compared to wetlands with known disturbances (previous drainage and grazing). Electrical conductivity explained 42.3% and 30.5% of the variation of all element concentrations in porewater and surface water. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis showed that the similarity decreased from recharge to flowthrough to discharge wetland in each sampling site. Cluster analysis confirmed that element compositions in porewater of interconnected wetlands were more similar to each other than to those of wetlands located farther away. Porewater and surface water in a restored wetland showed similar multi-element characteristics to natural wetlands. In contrast, depressional wetlands connected by seeps along a deactivated drain-tile path and a grazed wetland showed distinctly different multi-element characteristics compared to other wetlands sampled. Our findings confirm that the multi-element fingerprinting method can be useful for assessing hydro-chemical connectivity across the landscape, and indicate that element concentrations are not only affected by land use, but also by hydrological characteristics

Cooperative Beamforming Design for Multiple RIS-Assisted Communication Systems

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) provides a promising way to build programmable wireless transmission environments. Owing to the massive number of controllable reflecting elements on the surface, RIS is capable of providing considerable passive beamforming gains. At present, most related works mainly consider the modeling, design, performance analysis and optimization of single-RIS-assisted systems. Although there are a few of works that investigate multiple RISs individually serving their associated users, the cooperation among multiple RISs is not well considered as yet. To fill the gap, this paper studies a cooperative beamforming design for multi-RIS-assisted communication systems, where multiple RISs are deployed to assist the downlink communications from a base station to its users. To do so, we first model the general channel from the base station to the users for arbitrary number of reflection links. Then, we formulate an optimization problem to maximize the sum rate of all users. Analysis shows that the formulated problem is difficult to solve due to its non-convexity and the interactions among the decision variables. To solve it effectively, we first decouple the problem into three disjoint subproblems. Then, by introducing appropriate auxiliary variables, we derive the closed-form expressions for the decision variables and propose a low-complexity cooperative beamforming algorithm. Simulation results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm through comparison with various baseline methods. Furthermore, these results also unveil that, for the sum rate maximization, distributing the reflecting elements among multiple RISs is superior to deploying them at one single RIS

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification for detection of porcine circovirus type 2

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the primary causative agent of the emerging swine disease known as postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Nowadays, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is still the most widespread technique in pathogen detection. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a novel nucleic acid amplification method developed in 2000, will possibly replace PCR in the field of detection. To establish a LAMP method for rapid detection of PCV2, two pairs of primers were designed specially from the open reading frame 2 (ORF2) sequences of PCV2. A LAMP method for rapid detection of PCV2 was established. To compare with PCR, sensitivity and specificity of LAMP were evaluated using the optimized reaction system. The LAMP products could be determined by agarose gel electrophoresis or adding SYBR Green I dye.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The amplification of LAMP could be obtained at 63°C for 60 min. The detection limit was nearly 1 copy of DNA plasmid, more sensitive than PCR. There was no cross-reaction with porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1), porcine pseudorabies virus (PRV) and porcine parvovirus (PPV) under the same conditions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>LAMP is an useful rapid detection method with high sensitivity and specificity for PCV2.</p

Hemoglobin levels and anemia evaluation during pregnancy in the highlands of Tibet: a hospital-based study.

BACKGROUND: Anemia is regarded as a major risk factor for unfavorable pregnancy outcomes, but there have been no previous studies describing the pattern of hemoglobin concentration during pregnancy in Tibet and the relationship between altitude and Hb concentration in the pregnant women living in Tibet still has not been clearly established. The main objectives of this study were to study the hemoglobin levels and prevalence of anemia among pregnant women living in the highlands of Tibet and to evaluate potential associations of hemoglobin and anemia with women's characteristics. METHODS: The hospital-based study was conducted in 380 pregnant women. Their blood samples were tested and related sociodemographic information was collected. Multiple linear regression model and multiple logistic regression model were used to assess the association of pregnant women's characteristics with hemoglobin level and the occurrence of anemia. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dirren et al. and Dallman et al. methods were used to adjust the hemoglobin measurements based on altitude for estimating the prevalence of anemia. RESULTS: The mean hemoglobin concentration was 127.6 g/L (range: 55.0-190.0 g/L). Prevalence rate of anemia in this study was 70.0%, 77.9% and 41.3%, respectively for three altitude-correction methods for hemoglobin (CDC method, Dirren et al. method, and Dallman et al. method). Gestational age, ethnicity, residence and income were significantly associated with the hemoglobin concentration and prevalence of anemia in the study population. Specially, the hemoglobin concentration of pregnant women decreased with increase in gestational age. CONCLUSION: The hemoglobin level was low and prevalence rate of anemia was high among pregnant women in Lhasa, Tibet. Gestational age, ethnicity, residence and income were found to be significantly associated with the hemoglobin level and the occurrence of anemia in the study population