Uptake of Retrograde Tracers by Intact Optic Nerve Axons: A New Way to Label Retinal Ganglion Cells

Retrograde labelling of retinal ganglion cells with optic nerve transection often leads to degeneration of ganglion cells in prolonged experiments. Here we report that an intact optic nerve could uptake retrograde tracers applied onto the surface of the nerve, leading to high efficiency labelling of ganglion cells in the retina with long-term survival of cells. This method labelled a similar number of ganglion cells (2289 +/- 174 at 2 days) as the retrograde labeling technique from the superior colliculus (2250 +/- 94) or optic nerve stump (2279 +/- 114) after transection. This finding provides an alternative way to label retinal ganglion cells without damaging the optic tract. This will facilitate anatomical studies in identifying the morphology and connectivity of retinal ganglion cells, allowing secondary or triple labelling manipulations for long-term investigations.published_or_final_versio

Framework design of a general-purpose power market simulator based on multi-agent technology

Power system deregulation has become a worldwide trend which introduces competition in power system in order to realize efficient electricity production and investment. In this regard, power market simulator will be a useful tool to study bidding strategies, market operation and market power and to train market operators. In this paper, the framework design of a novel power market simulator based on the state-of-the-art multi-agent technology is suggested and described in detail, which is the first phase in developing a general-purpose power market simulator.published_or_final_versio

Image processing methods to elucidate spatial characteristics of retinal microglia after optic nerve transection

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Local proliferation is the main source of rod microglia after optic nerve transection

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Systemic delivery of microRNA-101 potently inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma in vivo by repressing multiple targets

Targeted therapy based on adjustment of microRNA (miRNA)s activity takes great promise due to the ability of these small RNAs to modulate cellular behavior. However, the efficacy of miR-101 replacement therapy to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. In the current study, we first observed that plasma levels of miR-101 were significantly lower in distant metastatic HCC patients than in HCCs without distant metastasis, and down-regulation of plasma miR-101 predicted a worse disease-free survival (DFS, P<0.05). In an animal model of HCC, we demonstrated that systemic delivery of lentivirus-mediated miR-101 abrogated HCC growth in the liver, intrahepatic metastasis and distant metastasis to the lung and to the mediastinum, resulting in a dramatic suppression of HCC development and metastasis in mice without toxicity and extending life expectancy. Furthermore, enforced overexpression of miR-101 in HCC cells not only decreased EZH2, COX2 and STMN1, but also directly down-regulated a novel target ROCK2, inhibited Rho/Rac GTPase activation, and blocked HCC cells epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and angiogenesis, inducing a strong abrogation of HCC tumorigenesis and aggressiveness both in vitro and in vivo. These results provide proof-of-concept support for systemic delivery of lentivirus-mediated miR-101 as a powerful anti-HCC therapeutic modality by repressing multiple molecular targets. © 2015 Zheng et al.published_or_final_versio

Combined acoustic radiation force impulse, aminotransferase to platelet ratio index and Forns index assessment for hepatic fibrosis grading in hepatitis B

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Fabrication of Porous TiO2 Hollow Spheres and Their Application in Gas Sensing

In this work, porous TiO2 hollow spheres with an average diameter of 100 nm and shell thickness of 20 nm were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method with NH4HCO3 as the structure-directing agent, and the formation mechanism for this porous hollow structure was proved to be the Ostwald ripening process by tracking the morphology of the products at different reaction stages. The product was characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD and BET analyses, and the results show that the as-synthesized products are anatase phase with a high surface area up to 132.5 m2/g. Gas-sensing investigation reveals that the product possesses sensitive response to methanal gas at 200°C due to its high surface area

Observation of CR Anisotropy with ARGO-YBJ

The measurement of the anisotropies of cosmic ray arrival direction provides important informations on the propagation mechanisms and on the identification of their sources. In this paper we report the observation of anisotropy regions at different angular scales. In particular, the observation of a possible anisotropy on scales between $\sim$ 10 $^{\circ}$ and $\sim$ 30 $^{\circ}$ suggests the presence of unknown features of the magnetic fields the charged cosmic rays propagate through, as well as potential contributions of nearby sources to the total flux of cosmic rays. Evidence of new weaker few-degree excesses throughout the sky region $195^{\circ}\leq$ R.A. $\leq 315^{\circ}$ is reported for the first time.Comment: Talk given at 12th TAUP Conference 2011, 5-9 September 2011, Munich, German