Protective effect of theaflavins on neuron against 6-hydroxydopamine-induced apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells

Theaflavins, the oxidation products of tea polyphenols are important biologically active components of black tea. 6-hydroxydopamine is a pro-parkinsonian neurotoxin. Theaflavins could inhibit the auto-oxidation of 6-hydroxydopamine in a dose-dependent manner from 0.5 µg/ml to 25 µg/ml. Here we investigated the protective effect of theaflavins on 6-hydroxydopamine induced SH-SY5Y cells against apoptosis (within this concentration range). It was found that pretreating SH-SY5Y cells with 0.5 µg/ml of theaflavins prevented 6-hydroxydopamine-induced loss of cell viability, condensed nuclear morphology, attenuated 6-hydroxydopamine-induced apoptosis, decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential and the increase of intracellular nitric oxide levels. Our results indicated that theaflavins had protective effect against 6-hydroxydopamine induced apoptosis at low concentrations, possibly through inhibition of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide production

Diurnal pattern of nitrous oxide emissions from a sewage-enriched river : references to IPCC indirect emission factor

Poster Sessio

Surface Adjustment Strategy for a Large Radio Telescope with Adjustable Dual Reflectors

With the development of large-aperture and high-frequency radio telescopes, a surface adjustment procedure for the compensation of surface deformations has become of great importance. In this study, an innovative surface adjustment strategy is proposed to achieve an automated adjustment for the large radio telescope with adjustable dual reflectors. In the proposed strategy, a high-precision and long-distance measurement instrument is adopted and installed on the back of the sub-reflector to measure the distances and elevation angles of the target points on the main reflector. Here, two surface adjustment purposes are discussed. The first purpose is to ensure that the main reflector and sub-reflector are always positioned at their ideal locations during operation. The second purpose is to adjust the main reflector to the location of the best fitting reflector, and the sub-reflector to the focus of the best fitting reflector. Next, the calculation procedures for the adjustments of the main reflector and the sub-reflector are discussed in detail, and corresponding simulations are carried out to verify the proposed method. The results show that the proposed strategy is effective. This study can provide helpful guidance for the design of automated surface adjustments for large telescopes

Mapping the Milky Way with LAMOST II: the stellar halo

The radial number density and flattening of the Milky Way's stellar halo is measured with $\mathrm{5351}$ metal-poor ([Fe/H]$<-1$) K giants from LAMOST DR3, using a nonparametric method which is model independent and largely avoids the influence of halo substucture. The number density profile is well described by a single power law with index $5.03^{+0.64}_{-0.64}$, and flattening that varies with radius. The stellar halo traced by LAMOST K giants is more flattened at smaller radii, and becomes nearly spherical at larger radii. The flattening, $q$, is about 0.64, 0.8, 0.96 at $r=15$, 20 and 30 kpc (where $r=\sqrt{R^2+\left[Z/q\left(r\right)\right]^2}$), respectively. Moreover, the leading arm of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy tidal stream in the north, and the trailing arm in the south, are significant in the residual map of density distribution. In addition, an unknown overdensity is identified in the residual map at (R,Z)=(30,15) kpc.Comment: 16 pages, 24 figures, accepted by MNRA

Preliminary study of regulation technology of wind field distribution on QTT site based on test of equivalent wind field

The effect of wind gust on the large reflector antenna is one of the main factors that can affect the antenna performance and therefore, this effect must be minimized to meet the strict performance requirement in the world largest steerable telescope, which is QiTai Telescope (QTT). In this paper, the characteristics of the topography as well as the wind distribution around QTT site have been analyzed and consequently, a technology for improving the wind distribution in an active way has been proposed. Additionally, an equivalent wind distribution test rig for the proposed technology has been built in the lab and the corresponding experiment has been carried out. The experimental data indicated that the proposed technology was a promising tool for regulating the wind distribution for the large reflector antenna and it was found that the proposed technology can significantly reduce the wind speed as well as the wind impact range after the wind regulation has been given in the test. The results in this paper has provided a solid foundation for the regulation of the wind distribution of the QTT site

Protective CD8+ T-cell responses to cytomegalovirus driven by rAAV/GFP/IE1 loading of dendritic cells

Background: Recent studies demonstrate that recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV)-based antigen loading of dendritic cells (DCs) generates in vitro, significant and rapid cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses against viral antigens. Methods: We used the rAAV system to induce specific CTLs against CVM antigens for the development of cytomegalovirus HCMV) gene therapy. As an extension of the versatility of the rAAV system, we incorporated immediate-early 1 (IE1), expressed in HCMV. Our rAAV vector induced a strong stimulation of CTLs directed against the HCMV antigen IE1. We then investigated the efficiency of the CTLs in killing IE1 targeted cells. Results: A significant MHC Class I-restricted, anti-IE1-specificCTL killing was demonstrated against IE1 positive peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) after one, in vitro, stimulation. Conclusion: In summary, single PBMC stimulation with rAAV/IE1 pulsed DCs induces strong antigen specific-CTL generation. CTLs were capable to lyse low doses of peptides pulsed into target cells. These data suggest that AAV-based antigen loading of DCs is highly effective for generating human CTL responses against HCMV antigens

The diagnostic analysis of the fault coupling effects in planet bearing

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the fault coupling effects in the planet bearing as well as the corresponding vibration signatures in the resultant vibration spectrum. In a planetary gear application, the planet bearing can not only spin around the planet gear axis, but also revolve about the sun gear axis and this rotating mechanism poses a big challenge for the diagnostic analysis of the planet bearing vibration spectrum. In addition, the frequency component interaction and overlap phenomenon in the vibration spectrum caused by the fault coupling effect can even worsen the diagnosis results. To further the understanding of the fault coupling effects in a planet bearing, a 34° of freedom planetary gear model with detailed planet bearing model was established to obtain the dynamic response in the presence of various bearing fault scenarios. The method of modelling the bearing distributed faults and localized faults has been introduced in this paper, which can be further incorporated into the planetary gear model to obtain the faulted vibration signal. The “benchmark” method has been adopted to enhance the planet bearing fault impulses in the vibration signals and in total, the amplitude demodulation results from 20 planet bearing fault scenarios have been investigated and analyzed. The coherence estimation over the vibration frequency domain has been proposed as a tool to quantify the fault impact contribution from different fault modes and the results suggested that the outer raceway fault contributes most to the resultant planet bearing vibration spectrum in all the investigated fault scenarios

Emerging roles and potential application of PIWI-interacting RNA in urological tumors

The piRNA (PIWI-interacting RNA) is P-Element induced wimpy testis (PIWI)-interacting RNA which is a small molecule, non-coding RNA with a length of 24-32nt. It was originally found in germ cells and is considered a regulator of germ cell function. It can interact with PIWI protein, a member of the Argonaute family, and play a role in the regulation of gene transcription and epigenetic silencing of transposable factors in the nucleus. More and more studies have shown that piRNAs are abnormally expressed in a variety of cancer tissues and patient fluids, and may become diagnostic tools, therapeutic targets, staging markers, and prognostic evaluation tools for cancer. This article reviews the recent research on piRNA and summarizes the structural characteristics, production mechanism, applications, and its role in urological tumors, to provide a reference value for piRNA to regulate urological tumors

ACT001 improved cardiovascular function in septic mice by inhibiting the production of proinflammatory cytokines and the expression of JAK-STAT signaling pathway

Sepsis is a life-threatening multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) caused by a microbial infection that leads to high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy (SIC) and coagulopathy promote the progression of adverse outcomes in sepsis. Here, we reported that ACT001, a modified compound of parthenolide, improved the survival of sepsis mice. In this work, we used cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model to induce SIC. Transthoracic echocardiography and HE staining assays were adopted to evaluate the influence of ACT001 on sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction. Our results showed that ACT001 significantly improved heart function and reduced SIC. Coagulation accelerates organ damage in sepsis. We found that ACT001 decreased blood clotting in the FeCl3-induced carotid artery thrombosis experiment. ACT001 also reduced the production of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). RNA-sequencing of heart tissues revealed that ACT001 significantly downregulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. These results were confirmed with real-time PCR and ELISA. In summary, we found ACT001 rescued mice from septic shock by protecting the cardiovascular system. This was partially mediated by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokine production and down-regulating the JAK-STAT signaling