Adenovirus-mediated stromal cell-derived factor-1 alpha gene transfer improves cardiac structure and function after experimental myocardial infarction through angiogenic and antifibrotic actions

Stromal cell-derived factor 1α (SDF-1) is not only a major chemotactic factor, but also an inducer of angiogenesis. The effects of SDF-1α on the left ventricular remodeling in a rat myocardial infarction (MI) model were analyzed. Myocardial infarction was induced by ligation of the left coronary artery in rats. 0.5 × 1010 pfu/ml AdV-SDF-1 or 0.5 × 1010 pfu/ml Adv-LacZ were immediately injected into the infarcted myocardium, 120 μl cell-free PBS were injected into the infarcted region or the myocardial wall in control, and sham group, respectively. We found that AdV-SDF-1 group had higher LVSP and ±dP/dtmax, lower LVEDP compared to control or Adv-LacZ group. The number of c-Kit+ stem cells, and gene expression of SDF-1, VEGF and bFGF were obviously increased, which was associated with reduced infarct size, thicker left ventricle wall, greater vascular density and cardiocytes density in infarcted hearts of AdV-SDF-1 group. Furthermore, the expression of collagen type I and type III mRNA, and collagen accumulation in the infarcted area was lower, which was associated with decreased TGF-β1, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 expression in AdV-SDF-1 group. Conclusion: SDF-1α could improve cardiac structure and function after Myocardial infarction through angiogenic and anti-fibrotic actions

Comprehensive investigation on misalignment tolerance of inductive power transfer systems

Inductive power transfer (IPT) technology is gaining popularity for wireless charging applications of future electric charging for its contactless power supply. The square and circular planar spiral coils are most widely used in wireless power charge due to its simple structure. This paper gives analyses of comparing these two geometry windings in detail. As for an inductive power transfer system, coupling structures, such as line spacing and magnetic core structure, are of paramount importance, because of their significant impact on power transfer efficiency and voltage stability. By analyzing the characteristics of magnetic field distribution of the coupler, influences of coil shape, size, line spacing and core structures on coupling coefficient and coupling coefficient retaining ratio (CCRR) are firstly investigated. Misalignment tolerance under different coupler structures is then conducted, comprehensive optimization schemes of misalignment tolerance improvement are proposed. Results show that for the coupling coefficient and coupling coefficient retaining ratio, the optimal line spacing and core structures are highly dependent on the coil shape, size and air gap. A 3-kW IPT system was also built and experimental validations on original and optimized structures are performed. And the better misalignment tolerance was achieved with the optimal line spacing, transmitting coil and ferrite core structure

Comparison and analysis on lunar rotation with lunar gravity field models

Understanding the structure of and dynamic processes in the deep interior of planets is crucial for understanding their origin and evolution. An effective way to constrain them is through observation of rotation and subsequent simulation. In this paper, a numerical model of the Moon's rotation and orbital motion is developed based on previous studies and implemented independently. The Moon is modeled as an anelastic body with a liquid core. The equations of the rotation were nonlinear and the Euler angles are cross coupled. We solve them numerically via the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg (RKF) and multi-steps Adams-Bashforth-Moulton (ABM) predictor-corrector numerical integration. We have found that adequate accuracy is maintained by taking twelve steps per day using eleventh differences in the integrating polynomial. The lunar orbital and rotational equations are strongly coupled, so we integrated the rotation and motion simultaneously. We refer to other planetary informations from the newest planetary and lunar ephemeris INPOP17a, which is reported had fitted the longest LLR (Lunar Laser Ranging) observation data. Using the model GL660B from GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) mission, we firstly compare our numerical results with the INPOP17a to prove the reasonability of our model. After that we apply the lunar gravity model CEGM02 determined from Chang'E-1 mission and SGM100h from SELENE mission to our model, the difference between results from CEGM02 and GL660B are less than arc-second, and arc-second for GL660B and SGM100h. Compared to SGM100h, the results show that the low degree and order coefficients (less than 6 from this paper) of lunar gravity field were improved in CEGM02 as expected. It is the first time to demonstrate that these models can be applied to lunar rotation model. These results manifest that a development of the gravity field measure will help us to know the rotation motion more precisely

An elastic model of Phobos’ libration

Context. Study the rotation of a celestial body is an efficient way to infer its interior structure, and then may give information of its origin and evolution. In this study, based on the latest shape model of Phobos from Mars Express (MEX) mission, the polyhedron approximation approach was used to simulate the gravity field of Phobos. Then, the gravity information was combined with the newest geophysical parameters such as GM and k2 to construct the numerical model of Phobos’ rotation. And with an appropriate angles transformation, we got the librational series respect to Martian mean equator of date. Aims. The purpose of this paper is to develop a numerical model of Phobos’ rotational motion that includes the elastic properties of Phobos. The frequencies analysis of the librational angles calculated from the numerical integration results emphasize the relationship between geophysical properties and dynamics of Phobos. This work will also be useful for a future space mission dedicated to Phobos. Methods. Based on the latest shape model of Phobos from MEX mission, we firstly modeled the gravity field of Phobos, then the gravity coefficients were combined with some of the newest geophysical parameters to simulate the rotational motion of Phobos. To investigate how the elastic properties of Phobos affect its librational motion, we adopted various k2 into our numerical integration. Then the analysis was performed by iterating a frequency analysis and linear least-squares fit of Phobos’ physical librations. From this analysis, we identified the influence of k2 on the largest librational amplitude and its phase. Results. We showed the first ten periods of the librational angles and found that they agree well with the previous numerical results which Phobos was treated as a perfectly rigid body. We also found that the maximum amplitudes of the three parameters of libration are also close to the results from a rigid model, which is mainly due to the inclination of Phobos and moments of inertia. The other amplitudes are slightly different, since the physics contained in our model is different to that of a previous study, specifically, the different low-degree gravity coefficients and ephemeris. The libration in longitude τ has the same quadratic term with previous numerical study, which is consistent with the secular acceleration of Phobos falling onto Mars. We investigated the influence of the tidal Love number k2 on Phobos’ rotation and found a detectable amplitude changes (0.0005°) expected in the future space mission on τ, which provided a potential possibility to constrain the k2 of Phobos by observing its rotation. We also studied the influence of Phobos’ orbit accuracy on its libration and suggested a simultaneous integration of orbit and rotation in future work

Space Debris Laser Ranging with range-gate-free Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector

Space Debris Laser Ranging (DLR) is a technique to measure range to defunct satellites, rocket bodies or other space targets in orbits around Earth. The analysis shows that one of the reasons for the low success probability of DLR is the inaccurate orbital prediction of targets. Then it is proposed to use the Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector (SNSPD) running in automatic-recoverable range-gate-free mode, in which case, the effect of the accuracy of the target’s orbital prediction on the success probability of DLR is greatly reduced. In this way, 249 space debris were successfully detected and 532 passes of data were obtained. The smallest target detected was the space-debris (902) with an orbital altitude of about 1000 km and a Radar Cross Section (RCS) of 0.0446 m2. The farthest target detected was the space-debris (12,445) with a large elliptical orbit and an RCS of 18.2505 m2, of which the range of the normal point (NPT) of the measured arc-segment on January 27, 2019 was 6260.805 km

Suppression of CCT3 Inhibits Tumor Progression by Impairing ATP Production and Cytoplasmic Translation in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Heat shock proteins are highly expressed in various cancers and exert critical functions in tumor progression. However, their expression patterns and functions in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remain largely unknown. We identified that chaperonin-containing T-complex protein-1 subunit 3 (CCT3) was highly expressed in LUAD cells and was positively correlated with LUAD malignancy in the clinical samples. Animal studies showed that silencing CCT3 dramatically inhibited tumor growth and metastasis of LUAD. Proliferation and migration were markedly suppressed in CCT3-deficient LUAD cells. Moreover, the knockdown of CCT3 promoted apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Mechanistically, the function of glycolysis was significantly inhibited and the total intracellular ATP levels were reduced by at least 25% in CCT3-deficient cells. In addition, the knockdown of CCT3 decreased the protein translation and led to a significant reduction in eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 (EIF3G) protein, which was identified as a protein that interacts with CCT3. Impaired protein synthesis and cell growth in EIF3G-deficient cells were consistent with those caused by CCT3 knockdown in LUAD cells. Taken together, our study demonstrated in multiple ways that CCT3 is a critical factor for supporting growth and metastasis of LUAD, and for the first time, its roles in maintaining intracellular ATP levels and cytoplasmic translation are reported. Our novel findings provide a potential therapeutic target for lung adenocarcinoma

Melt evolution of crustal anatexis recorded by the Early Paleozoic Baiyunshan migmatite-granite suite in South China

The Early Paleozoic orogeny in the South China Block was accompanied by crustal anatexis, as indicated by the voluminous granites and migmatites. Here we report on the migmatite-granite suite within the Neoproterozoic biotite gneiss of the Baiyunshan Domain, which has directly recorded the process of anatectic melt formation, segregation and extraction. The crystallization of leucosome in migmatite was dated at ca. 438 Ma by U-Pb analysis of zircon, and the granitic vein that intruded the migmatite was dated at ca. 433 Ma. Petrological and geochemical data suggest that anatexis resulted from fluid-present melting of the biotite gneiss at low temperature and pressure conditions (similar to 650-700 degrees C and similar to 4-6 kbar). The leucosome mainly consists of plagioclase + K-feldspar + quartz and has positive Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* = 1.70-2.89), which is attributed to feldspar accumulation. This means that some melt has been extracted from the migmatite, and the granitic veins are likely to represent these extracted melts since they have similar trace element compositions and zircon Lu-Hf isotopes to the leucosomes. The degree of partial melting and chemical differentiation to generate the migmatite and the granitic veins are revealed by mass balance calculations. Calculations suggest that the primary melt could be a result of similar to 40 wt% melting of the Baiyunshan biotite gneiss, and fractionated melt (similar to 24-26 wt%) was extracted from the deeper sections to form the intrusive veins. Combined with regional dating results, it is suggested that the crustal anatexis in the Wuyi-Yunkai orogen started no later than 465 Ma with a duration of >55 Myr. Generation of the granitoids and migmatites are a result of water-fluxed melting and linked to extra heat from mantle magmas provided to the middle-lower crust. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved