Effects of Mo on the Microstructure and Hydrogen Sorption Properties of Ti-Mo Getters

AbstractThe effects of Mo on the microstructure evolution, porosity and hydrogen sorption properties of Ti-Mo getters are investigated in this work. The results show that the addition of Mo prolongs the densification process of Ti-Mo getters and results in a significant amount of sintered pores. With the Mo content increasing, the porosity of getters firstly increases reaching the maximum value as it attains about 7.5wt.%, and then drops. At the room temperature, the hydrogen sorption property of getters increases progressively with the Mo content increasing, but the tendency is not very clear before its content lies below 2.5wt.%. When the Mo content achieves about 7.5wt.%, the hydrogen sorption property proves to be the best. The discussion is made about the above mentioned phenomena inclusive of hydrogen sorption properties of getters under different activation conditions (from 500–750 °C)

Metformin Restores Intermediate-Conductance Calcium- Activated K + Channel-and Small-Conductance Calcium- Activated K + Channel-Mediated Vasodilatation Impaired by Advanced Glycation End Products in Rat Mesenteric Artery s

ABSTRACT The present study was designed to investigate the effect of metformin on the impairment of intermediate-conductance and small-conductance Ca 21 -activated potassium channels (IK Ca and SK Ca )-mediated relaxation in diabetes and the underlying mechanism. The endothelial vasodilatation function of mesenteric arteries was assessed with the use of wire myography. Expression levels of IK Ca and SK Ca and phosphorylated Thr 172 of AMPactivated protein kinase (AMPK) were measured using Western blot technology. The channel activity was observed using a whole-cell patch voltage clamp. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured using dihydroethidium and 29,79-dichlorofluorescein diacetate. Metformin restored the impairment of IK Ca -and SK Camediated vasodilatation in mesenteric arteries from streptozotocininduced type 2 diabetic rats and that from normal rats incubated with advanced glycation end products (AGEs) for 3 hours. In cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), 1 mM metformin reversed AGE-induced increase of ROS and attenuated AGEand H 2 O 2 -induced downregulation of IK Ca and SK Ca after longterm incubation (.24 hours). Short-term treatment (3 hours) with 1 mM metformin reversed the decrease of IK Ca and SK Ca currents induced by AGE incubation for 3 hours without changing the channel expression or the AMPK activation in HUVECs. These results are the first to demonstrate that metformin restored IK Ca -and SK Ca -mediated vasodilatation impaired by AGEs in rat mesenteric artery, in which the upregulation of channel activity and protein expression is likely involved

Towards Al3+-Induced Manganese-Containing Superoxide Dismutase Inactivation and Conformational Changes: An Integrating Study with Docking Simulations

Superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) plays an important antioxidant defense role in skins exposed to oxygen. We studied the inhibitory effects of Al3+ on the activity and conformation of manganese-containing SOD (Mn-SOD). Mn-SOD was significantly inactivated by Al3+ in a dose-dependent manner. The kinetic studies showed that Al3+ inactivated Mn-SOD follows the first-order reaction. Al3+ increased the degree of secondary structure of Mn-SOD and also disrupted the tertiary structure of Mn-SOD, which directly resulted in enzyme inactivation. We further simulated the docking between Mn-SOD and Al3+ (binding energy for Dock 6.3: −14.07 kcal/mol) and suggested that ASP152 and GLU157 residues were predicted to interact with Al3+, which are not located in the Mn-contained active site. Our results provide insight into the inactivation of Mn-SOD during unfolding in the presence of Al3+ and allow us to describe a ligand binding via inhibition kinetics combined with the computational prediction

An appropriate ammonium: nitrate ratio promotes the growth of centipedegrass: insight from physiological and micromorphological analyses

Reasonable nitrogen fertilizer application is an important strategy to maintain optimal growth of grasslands, thereby enabling them to better fulfil their ecological functions while reducing environmental pollution caused by high nitrogen fertilizer production and application. Optimizing the ammonium (NH4+):nitrate (NO3-) ratio is a common approach for growth promotion in crops and vegetables, but research on this topic in grass plants has not received sufficient attention. Centipedegrass, which is widely used in landscaping and ecological protection, was used as the experimental material. Different NH4+:NO3- ratios (0: 100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, 100:0) were used as the experimental treatments under hydroponic conditions. By monitoring the physiological and morphological changes under each treatment, the appropriate NH4+:NO3- ratio for growth and its underlying mechanism were determined. As the proportion of ammonium increased, the growth showed a “bell-shaped” response, with the maximum biomass and total carbon and nitrogen accumulation achieved with the NH4+:NO3- ratio of 50:50 treatment. Compared with the situation where nitrate was supplied alone, increasing the ammonium proportion increased the whole plant biomass by 93.2%, 139.7%, 59.0%, and 30.5%, the whole plant nitrogen accumulation by 44.9%, 94.6%, 32.8%, and 54.8%, and the whole plant carbon accumulation by 90.4%, 139.9%, 58.7%, and 26.6% in order. As a gateway for nitrogen input, the roots treated with an NH4+:NO3- ratio of 50:50 exhibited the highest ammonium and nitrate uptake rate, which may be related to the maximum total root length, root surface area, average root diameter, root volume, and largest root xylem vessel. As a gateway for carbon input, leaves treated with an NH4+:NO3- ratio of 50:50 exhibited the highest stomatal aperture, stomatal conductance, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and photosynthetic products. The NH4+:NO3- ratio of 50:50 treatment had the largest stem xylem vessel area. This structure and force caused by transpiration may synergistically facilitate root-to-shoot nutrient translocation. Notably, the change in stomatal opening occurred in the early stage (4 hours) of the NH4+:NO3- ratio treatments, indicating that stomates are structures that are involved in the response to changes in the root NH4+:NO3- ratio. In summary, we recommend 50:50 as the appropriate NH4+:NO3- ratio for the growth of centipedegrass, which not only improves the nitrogen use efficiency but also enhances the carbon sequestration capacity

A simulation study on the measurement of D0-D0bar mixing parameter y at BES-III

We established a method on measuring the \dzdzb mixing parameter $y$ for BESIII experiment at the BEPCII $e^+e^-$ collider. In this method, the doubly tagged $\psi(3770) \to D^0 \overline{D^0}$ events, with one $D$ decays to CP-eigenstates and the other $D$ decays semileptonically, are used to reconstruct the signals. Since this analysis requires good $e/\pi$ separation, a likelihood approach, which combines the $dE/dx$, time of flight and the electromagnetic shower detectors information, is used for particle identification. We estimate the sensitivity of the measurement of $y$ to be 0.007 based on a $20fb^{-1}$ fully simulated MC sample.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Molecular footprints of domestication and improvement in soybean revealed by whole genome re-sequencing

BACKGROUND: Artificial selection played an important role in the origin of modern Glycine max cultivars from the wild soybean Glycine soja. To elucidate the consequences of artificial selection accompanying the domestication and modern improvement of soybean, 25 new and 30 published whole-genome re-sequencing accessions, which represent wild, domesticated landrace, and Chinese elite soybean populations were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 5,102,244 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 707,969 insertion/deletions were identified. Among the SNPs detected, 25.5% were not described previously. We found that artificial selection during domestication led to more pronounced reduction in the genetic diversity of soybean than the switch from landraces to elite cultivars. Only a small proportion (2.99%) of the whole genomic regions appear to be affected by artificial selection for preferred agricultural traits. The selection regions were not distributed randomly or uniformly throughout the genome. Instead, clusters of selection hotspots in certain genomic regions were observed. Moreover, a set of candidate genes (4.38% of the total annotated genes) significantly affected by selection underlying soybean domestication and genetic improvement were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Given the uniqueness of the soybean germplasm sequenced, this study drew a clear picture of human-mediated evolution of the soybean genomes. The genomic resources and information provided by this study would also facilitate the discovery of genes/loci underlying agronomically important traits

An Updated Search of Steady TeV γ−\gamma-Ray Point Sources in Northern Hemisphere Using the Tibet Air Shower Array

Using the data taken from Tibet II High Density (HD) Array (1997 February-1999 September) and Tibet-III array (1999 November-2005 November), our previous northern sky survey for TeV $\gamma-$ray point sources has now been updated by a factor of 2.8 improved statistics. From $0.0^{\circ}$ to $60.0^{\circ}$ in declination (Dec) range, no new TeV $\gamma-$ray point sources with sufficiently high significance were identified while the well-known Crab Nebula and Mrk421 remain to be the brightest TeV $\gamma-$ray sources within the field of view of the Tibet air shower array. Based on the currently available data and at the 90% confidence level (C.L.), the flux upper limits for different power law index assumption are re-derived, which are approximately improved by 1.7 times as compared with our previous reported limits.Comment: This paper has been accepted by hepn

Rbm24 Regulates Alternative Splicing Switch in Embryonic Stem Cell Cardiac Lineage Differentiation

此项研究打破了此前一贯认为干细胞分化是从通过启动转录因子开始的常规方式，首次证明了RNA结合蛋白Rbm24具有调控和促进干细胞向心肌分化的能力，开拓了干细胞分化调控的视野，并且以此方式可以高效获得心肌细胞，为干细胞再生医学转化提供应用前景。 文章第一作者是课题组的博士后张涛和博士生林瑜。The transition of embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency to differentiation is accompanied by an expansion of mRNA and proteomic diversity. Post-transcriptional regulation of ESCs is critically governed by cell type-specific splicing. However, little is known about the splicing factors and the molecular mechanisms directing ESC early lineage differentiation. Our study identifies RNA binding motif protein 24 (Rbm24) as a key splicing regulator that plays an essential role in controlling post-transcriptional networks during ESC transition into cardiac differentiation. Using an inducible mouse ESC line in which gene expression could be temporally regulated, we demon- strated that forced expression of Rbm24 in ESCs dramatically induced a switch to cardiac specification. Genome-wide RNA sequencing analysis identified more than 200 Rbm24-regulated alternative splicing events (AS) which occurred in genes essential for the ESC pluripotency or differentiation. Remarkably, AS genes regulated by Rbm24 composed of transcriptional factors,cytoskeleton proteins, and ATPase gene family members which are critical components required for cardiac development and functionality. Furthermore, we show that Rbm24 regulates ESC differentiation by promoting alternative splicing of pluripotency genes. Among the Rbm24-regulated events, Tpm1, an actin filament family gene, was identified to possess ESC/tissue specific isoforms. We demonstrated that these isoforms were functionally distinct and that their exon AS switch was essential for ESC differentiation. Our results suggest that ESC's switching into the differentiation state can be initiated by a tissue-specific splicing regulator, Rbm24. This finding offers a global view on how an RNA binding protein influences ESC lineage differentiation by a splicing-mediated regulatory mechanism.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant no. 81270199), the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (Grant no. 2014CB965101), Xiamen Joint Research Fund for Major Diseases (3502Z20159014), Research Fund of Xiamen Oceanic Administration (14PYY051SF04), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2015A030310008), the Key Science Foundation of Fujian Province (2013D020), and the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (2012D038)

Notolutesins A–J, Dolabrane-Type Diterpenoids from the Chinese Liverwort Notoscyphus lutescens

Ten new dolabrane-type diterpenoids, notolutesins A–J (1–10), were isolated from the Chinese liverwort Notoscyphus lutescens, along with four known compounds. The structures of the new compounds were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data, and that of 1 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The absolute configuration of 1 was determined by comparing its experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra. All of the isolates were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against a small panel of human cancer cell lines, and compound 1 exhibited an IC50 value of 6.2 μM against the PC3 human prostate cancer cell line

Study of D+→K−π+e+νeD^{+} \to K^{-} \pi^+ e^+ \nu_e

We present an analysis of the decay $D^{+} \to K^{-} \pi^+ e^+ \nu_e$ based on data collected by the BESIII experiment at the $\psi(3770)$ resonance. Using a nearly background-free sample of 18262 events, we measure the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(D^{+} \to K^{-} \pi^+ e^+ \nu_e) = (3.71 \pm 0.03 \pm 0.08)\%$. For $0.8<m_{K\pi}<1.0$ GeV/$c^{2}$ the partial branching fraction is $\mathcal{B}(D^{+} \to K^{-} \pi^+ e^+ \nu_e)_{[0.8,1]} = (3.33 \pm 0.03 \pm 0.07)\%$. A partial wave analysis shows that the dominant $\bar K^{*}(892)^{0}$ component is accompanied by an \emph{S}-wave contribution accounting for $(6.05\pm0.22\pm0.18)\%$ of the total rate and that other components are negligible. The parameters of the $\bar K^{*}(892)^{0}$ resonance and of the form factors based on the spectroscopic pole dominance predictions are also measured. We also present a measurement of the $\bar K^{*}(892)^{0}$ helicity basis form factors in a model-independent way.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure