Effects of tMa-Xin-Di-Tan decoction on ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma in mice

Purpose: To investigate the effect of the Ma-Xin-Di-Tan (MXDT) decoction on  ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma (AA) in mice.Methods: Asthma was induced in mice by ovalbumin (OVA) injection, and different doses of MXDT (150, 300, and 600 mg/kg/day) were administered orally for 28 days. Pathological changes in lung tissues were examined, while levels of cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6, IL-17, interferon (IFN)-γ, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4,  GATA-binding protein (GATA)-3, Ox40 ligand (OX40L), indoleamine  2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), forkhead box P3 (Foxp3), and T box expressed in T cells (T-bet) levels were determined in lung tissues by western blot analysis.Results: MXDT inhibited the inflammatory reaction of lung tissues in  OVA-challenged mice. After treatment with MXDT, levels of IL-4, IL-6, IL-17, and TGF-β were downregulated, whereas IFN-γ levels were upregulated. In addition,  MXDT decreased TLR-4, GATA-3, and OX40L levels in lung tissues but increased the expression of Foxp3, T-bet, and IDO.Conclusion: MXDT has antiallergic effects on OVA-induced AA in mice; the possible molecular mechanisms might involve the inhibition of inflammatory reactions and modulation of Th1/Th2 cytokine balance.Keywords: Ma-Xin-Di-Tan decoction, Allergic asthma, Inflammatory reactions, Th1/Th

Anti-asthmatic effect of Ping-Chuan Formula in asthmatic mice, and its molecular mechanism of action

Purpose: To investigate the anti-asthmatic effect of Ping-Chuan Formula (PCF) in a mouse model, and the associated molecular mechanisms.Methods: Asthma mice were induced using ovalbumin (OVA), and PCF (600 mg/kg) was administered to the mice for 4 weeks. Sections of lung tissues were examined microscopically. The expressions of interleukins (ILs), interferon (IFN)-γ, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β were assayed, while lung tissue expressions of Toll like receptor (TLR)-4, GATA binding protein (GATA)-3, Ox40 ligand (OX40L), indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), and forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) determined. The T box expressed in T cells (T-bet) was evaluated using western blotting. The expressions of MHC II and co-stimulators (CD 11c, CD 80 and CD 86) of dendritic cells (DCs) were determined by flow cytometry.Results: PCF decreased inflammation in lung, and also down-regulated IL-4, -6, -17 and TGF-β (p < 0.01), whereas IL-10 and IFN-γ expressions were up-regulated (p < 0.01). Moreover, PCF decreased the expressions of TLR-4, GATA-3 and OX40L in lung tissue, and promoted Foxp3, IDO and T-bet. Besides, PCF decreased the levels of MHC II and co-stimulators (CD 80 and CD 86) on the surface of DCs.Conclusion: PCF exerts anti-asthmatic effect in mice via inhibition of inflammation, and modulation of MHC II and co-stimulators on the surface of DCs. These findings suggest that PCF is a promising candidate drug for treating asthma in humans

Experimental and numerical study on a novel dual-resonance wave energy converter with a built-in power take-off system

A new concept of point-absorber wave energy converter (WEC) with a waterproof outer-floater and a built-in power take-off (BI-PTO) mechanism, named Dual-Resonance WEC (DR-WEC), is put forward and investigated by experiments and numerical simulations. The BI-PTO mechanism includes spring, sliding-mass and damping systems, where the spring system is the most complicated and should be designed specially. A 1:10 scale model is designed. The mechanical performance of the BI-PTO system is investigated by a bench test. The results have shown that the design is feasible, and the added inertia effect of the BI-PTO has a negative influence on the power output. The average mechanical efficiency of the BI-PTO is 65.8% with maximum up to 80.0%. The motion and power responses of the DR-WEC are studied by a wave tank experiment and a linear numerical model with corrected mechanical added mass and viscosity. The viscous added mass and damping correction coefficients are obtained by a free decay test. The good agreement between the experimental measurements and numerical simulations has indicated that the present numerical model with corrections is of enough accuracy and the effects of mooring system and other degree of freedoms on the heave motion and power responses can be ignored. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Molecular basis of ligand recognition and activation of human V2 vasopressin receptor.

Vasopressin type 2 receptor (V2R) belongs to the vasopressin (VP)/oxytocin (OT) receptor subfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which comprises at least four closely related receptor subtypes: V1aR, V1bR, V2R, and OTR. These receptors are activated by arginine vasopressin (AVP) and OT, two endogenous nine-amino acid neurohypophysial hormones, which are thought to mediate a biologically conserved role in social behavior and sexual reproduction. V2R is mainly expressed in the renal collecting duct principal cells and mediates the antidiuretic action of AVP by accelerating water reabsorption, thereby playing a vital role in controlling water homeostasis. Moreover, numerous gain-of-function and loss-of-function mutations of V2R have been identified and are closely associated with human diseases, including nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate diuresis (NSIAD) and X-linked congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI). Thus, V2R has attracted intense interest as a drug target. However, due to a lack of structural information, how AVP recognizes and activates V2R remains elusive, which hampers the V2R-targeted drug design. Here, we determined a 2.6 Å resolution cryo-EM structure of the full-length, G s -coupled human V2R bound to AVP (Fig. 1a; Supplementary information, Table S1). The G s protein was engineered based on mini-G s that was used in the crystal structure determination of the G s -coupled adenosine A 2A receptor (A 2A R) to stabilize the V2R–G s protein complex (Supplementary information, Data S1). The final structure of the AVP–V2R–G s complex contains all residues of AVP (residues 1–9), the Gα s Ras-like domain, Gβγ subunits, Nb35, scFv16, and the V2R residues from T31 to L339 8.57 (superscripts refer to Ballesteros–Weinstein numbering). The majority of amino acid side chains, including AVP, transmembrane domain (TMD), all flexible intracellular loops (ICLs) and extracellular loops (ECLs) except for ICL3 and G185–G188 in ECL2, were well resolved in the model, refined against the EM density map (Fig. 1a; Supplementary information, Figs. S1–3). The complex structure can provide detailed information on the binding interface between AVP and helix bundle of the receptor, as well as the receptor–G s interface

Ligand recognition and G-protein coupling selectivity of cholecystokinin A receptor.

Cholecystokinin A receptor (CCKAR) belongs to family A G-protein-coupled receptors and regulates nutrient homeostasis upon stimulation by cholecystokinin (CCK). It is an attractive drug target for gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases. One distinguishing feature of CCKAR is its ability to interact with a sulfated ligand and to couple with divergent G-protein subtypes, including Gs, Gi and Gq. However, the basis for G-protein coupling promiscuity and ligand recognition by CCKAR remains unknown. Here, we present three cryo-electron microscopy structures of sulfated CCK-8-activated CCKAR in complex with Gs, Gi and Gq heterotrimers, respectively. CCKAR presents a similar conformation in the three structures, whereas conformational differences in the 'wavy hook' of the Gα subunits and ICL3 of the receptor serve as determinants in G-protein coupling selectivity. Our findings provide a framework for understanding G-protein coupling promiscuity by CCKAR and uncover the mechanism of receptor recognition by sulfated CCK-8

Design of Integrated Communication System under UAV Network

It is becoming a key feature of UAV communication network to integrate sensing function into communication equipment to realize sensing communication integration.The existing perceptual communication fusion schemes focus on the design under a single waveform and single frequency band, and lack of discussion on the adaptation of scene and algorithm complexity.The current perception mode of UAV focuses on radar active detection and perception, and there is a problem of time delay in perception information sharing.For this reason, this paper first proposes a waveform library idea based on perceptual information drive to achieve the best cost performance ratio of the communication scheme adopted by UAVs in different flight scenarios.Based on the hybrid waveform concept, this paper proposes a design scheme of active passive fusion synchronous sensing, and matches with an adaptive sensing algorithm based on compressed sensing.Through simulation, it is proved that the overhead caused by sharing perceptual information among UAVs can be reduced, And improve the passive side sensing accuracy.Comment: the paper has too many problems,it need to be withdra

Electronic structures and transport properties of n-type-doped indium oxides

10.1021/jp5104164Journal of Physical Chemistry C11994789-479

Morphological, cytological and molecular analyses of a synthetic hexaploid derived from an interspecific hybrid between Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium anomalum

Gossypium anomalum represents an inestimable source of genes that could potentially be transferred into the gene pool of cultivated cotton. To resolve interspecific hybrid sterility problems, we previously treated triploid hybrids derived from a cross between Gossypium hirsutum and G. anomalum with 0.15% colchicine and obtained a putative fertile hexaploid. In this study, we performed morphological, molecular and cytological analyses to assess the hybridity and doubled status of putative interspecific hybrid plants. Most of the morphological characteristics of the putative hexaploid plants were intermediate between G. hirsutum and G. anomalum. Analysis of mitotic metaphase plates revealed 78 chromosomes, confirming the doubled hybrid status of the hexaploid. Genome-wide molecular analysis with different genome-derived SSR markers revealed a high level of polymorphism (96.6%) between G. hirsutum and G. anomalum. The marker transferability rate from other species to G. anomalum was as high as 98.0%. The high percentage of polymorphic markers with additive banding profiles in the hexaploid indicates the hybridity of the hexaploid on a genome-wide level. A-genome-derived markers were more powerful for distinguishing the genomic differences between G. hirsutum and G. anomalum than D-genome-derived markers. This study demonstrates the hybridity and chromosomally doubled status of the (G. anomalum × G. hirsutum)2 hexaploid using morphological, cytological and molecular marker methods. The informative SSR markers screened in the study will be useful marker resources for tracking the flow of G. anomalum genetic material among progenies that may be produced by future backcrosses to G. hirsutum

Fabrication of Highly Transparent and Conductive Indium–Tin Oxide Thin Films with a High Figure of Merit via Solution Processing

Deposition technology of transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin films is critical for high performance of optoelectronic devices. Solution-based fabrication methods can result in substantial cost reduction and enable broad applicability of the TCO thin films. Here we report a simple and highly effective solution process to fabricate indium–tin oxide (ITO) thin films with high uniformity, reproducibility, and scalability. The ITO films are highly transparent (90.2%) and conductive (ρ = 7.2 × 10^–4 Ω·cm) with the highest figure of merit (1.19 × 10^–2 Ω^–1) among all the solution-processed ITO films reported to date. The high transparency and figure of merit, low sheet resistance (30 Ω/sq), and roughness (1.14 nm) are comparable with the benchmark properties of dc sputtering and can meet the requirements for most practical applications