Microhoneycomb monoliths prepared by the unidirectional freeze-drying of cellulose nanofiber based sols: Method and extensions

© 2018 Journal of Visualized Experiments. Monolithic honeycomb structures have been attractive to multidisciplinary fields due to their high strength-to-weight ratio. Particularly, microhoneycomb monoliths (MHMs) with micrometer-scale channels are expected as efficient platforms for reactions and separations because of their large surface areas. Up to now, MHMs have been prepared by a unidirectional freeze-drying (UDF) method only from very limited precursors. Herein, we report a protocol from which a series of MHMs consisting of different components can be obtained. Recently, we found that cellulose nanofibers function as a distinct structure-directing agent towards the formation of MHMs through the UDF process. By mixing the cellulose nanofibers with water soluble substances which do not yield MHMs, a variety of composite MHMs can be prepared. This significantly enriches the chemical constitution of MHMs towards versatile applications

Use of stochastic simulation to evaluate the reduction in methane emissions and improvement in reproductive efficiency from routine hormonal interventions in dairy herds

This study predicts the magnitude and between herd variation in changes of methane emissions and production efficiency associated with interventions to improve reproductive efficiency in dairy cows. Data for 10,000 herds of 200 cows were simulated. Probability of conception was predicted daily from the start of the study (parturition) for each cow up to day 300 of lactation. Four scenarios of differing first insemination management were simulated for each herd using the same theoretical cows: A baseline scenario based on breeding from observed oestrus only, synchronisation of oestrus for pre-set first insemination using 2 methods, and a regime using prostaglandin treatments followed by first insemination to observed oestrus. Cows that did not conceive to first insemination were re-inseminated following detection of oestrus. For cows that conceived, gestation length was 280 days with cessation of milking 60 days before calving. Those cows not pregnant after 300 days of lactation were culled and replaced by a heifer. Daily milk yield was calculated for 730 days from the start of the study for each cow. Change in mean reproductive and economic outputs were summarised for each herd following the 3 interventions. For each scenario, methane emissions were determined by daily forage dry matter intake, forage quality, and cow replacement risk. Linear regression was used to summarise relationships. In some circumstances improvement in reproductive efficiency using the programmes investigated was associated with reduced cost and methane emissions compared to reliance on detection of oestrus. Efficiency of oestrus detection and the time to commencement of breeding after calving influenced variability in changes in cost and methane emissions. For an average UK herd this was a saving of at least £50 per cow and a 3.6% reduction in methane emissions per L of milk when timing of first insemination was pre-set

Controllable Synthesis of Magnesium Oxysulfate Nanowires with Different Morphologies

One-dimensional magnesium oxysulfate 5Mg(OH)2 · MgSO4 · 3H2O (abbreviated as 513MOS) with high aspect ratio has attracted much attention because of its distinctive properties from those of the conventional bulk materials. 513MOS nanowires with different morphologies were formed by varying the mixing ways of MgSO4 · 7H2O and NH4OH solutions at room temperature followed by hydrothermal treatment of the slurries at 150 °C for 12 h with or without EDTA. 513MOS nanowires with a length of 20–60 μm and a diameter of 60–300 nm were prepared in the case of double injection (adding MgSO4 · 7H2O and NH4OH solutions simultaneously into water), compared with the 513MOS with a length of 20–30 μm and a diameter of 0.3–1.7 μm in the case of the single injection (adding MgSO4 · 7H2O solution into NH4OH solution). The presence of minor amount of EDTA in the single injection method led to the formation of 513MOS nanowires with a length of 100–200 μm, a diameter of 80–200 nm, and an aspect ratio of up to 1000. The analysis of the experimental results indicated that the hydrothermal solutions with a lower supersaturation were favorable for the preferential growth of 513MOS nanowires along b axis

Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay

The decay channel $\psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p})$ is studied using a sample of $1.06\times 10^8$ $\psi^\prime$ events collected by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is observed in the $p\bar{p}$ invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit with an $S$-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of $M=1861^{+6}_{-13} {\rm (stat)}^{+7}_{-26} {\rm (syst)} {\rm MeV/}c^2$ and a narrow width that is $\Gamma<38 {\rm MeV/}c^2$ at the 90% confidence level. These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

High performance computing for haplotyping: Models and platforms

\u3cp\u3eThe reconstruction of the haplotype pair for each chromosome is a hot topic in Bioinformatics and Genome Analysis. In Haplotype Assembly (HA), all heterozygous Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) have to be assigned to exactly one of the two chromosomes. In this work, we outline the state-of-the-art on HA approaches and present an in-depth analysis of the computational performance of GenHap, a recent method based on Genetic Algorithms. GenHap was designed to tackle the computational complexity of the HA problem by means of a divide-et-impera strategy that effectively leverages multi-core architectures. In order to evaluate GenHap’s performance, we generated different instances of synthetic (yet realistic) data exploiting empirical error models of four different sequencing platforms (namely, Illumina NovaSeq, Roche/454, PacBio RS II and Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION). Our results show that the processing time generally decreases along with the read length, involving a lower number of sub-problems to be distributed on multiple cores.\u3c/p\u3

Genetic Structure in the Seabuckthorn Carpenter Moth (Holcocerus hippophaecolus) in China: The Role of Outbreak Events, Geographical and Host Factors

Understanding factors responsible for structuring genetic diversity is of fundamental importance in evolutionary biology. The seabuckthorn carpenter moth (Holcocerus hippophaecolus Hua) is a native species throughout the north of China and is considered the main threat to seabuckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides L. We assessed the influence of outbreaks, environmental factors and host species in shaping the genetic variation and structure of H. hippophaecolus by using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers. We rejected the hypothesis that outbreak-associated genetic divergence exist, as evidenced by genetic clusters containing a combination of populations from historical outbreak areas, as well as non-outbreak areas. Although a small number of markers (4 of 933 loci) were identified as candidates under selection in response to population densities. H. hippophaecolus also did not follow an isolation-by-distance pattern. We rejected the hypothesis that outbreak and drought events were driving the genetic structure of H. hippophaecolus. Rather, the genetic structure appears to be influenced by various confounding bio-geographical factors. There were detectable genetic differences between H. hippophaecolus occupying different host trees from within the same geographic location. Host-associated genetic divergence should be confirmed by further investigation

Genome-Wide Screening for Genetic Alterations in Esophageal Cancer by aCGH Identifies 11q13 Amplification Oncogenes Associated with Nodal Metastasis

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is highly prevalent in China and other Asian countries, as a major cause of cancer-related mortality. ESCC displays complex chromosomal abnormalities, including multiple structural and numerical aberrations. Chromosomal abnormalities, such as recurrent amplifications and homozygous deletions, directly contribute to tumorigenesis through altering the expression of key oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.To understand the role of genetic alterations in ESCC pathogenesis and identify critical amplification/deletion targets, we performed genome-wide 1-Mb array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) analysis for 10 commonly used ESCC cell lines. Recurrent chromosomal gains were frequently detected on 3q26-27, 5p15-14, 8p12, 8p22-24, 11q13, 13q21-31, 18p11 and 20q11-13, with frequent losses also found on 8p23-22, 11q22, 14q32 and 18q11-23. Gain of 11q13.3-13.4 was the most frequent alteration in ESCC. Within this region, CCND1 oncogene was identified with high level of amplification and overexpression in ESCC, while FGF19 and SHANK2 was also remarkably over-expressed. Moreover, a high concordance (91.5%) of gene amplification and protein overexpression of CCND1 was observed in primary ESCC tumors. CCND1 amplification/overexpression was also significantly correlated with the lymph node metastasis of ESCC.These findings suggest that genomic gain of 11q13 is the major mechanism contributing to the amplification. Novel oncogenes identified within the 11q13 amplicon including FGF19 and SHANK2 may play important roles in ESCC tumorigenesis

RIG-I Is Required for the Inhibition of Measles Virus by Retinoids

Vitamin A can significantly decrease measles-associated morbidity and mortality. Vitamin A can inhibit the replication of measles virus (MeV) in vitro through an RARα- and type I interferon (IFN)-dependent mechanism. Retinoid-induced gene I (RIG-I) expression is induced by retinoids, activated by MeV RNA and is important for IFN signaling. We hypothesized that RIG-I is central to retinoid-mediated inhibition of MeV in vitro. We demonstrate that RIG-I expression is increased in cells treated with retinoids and infected with MeV. The central role of RIG-I in the retinoid-anti-MeV effect was demonstrated in the Huh-7/7.5 model; the latter cells having non-functional RIG-I. RAR-dependent retinoid signaling was required for the induction of RIG-I by retinoids and MeV. Retinoid signaling was also found to act in combination with IFN to induce high levels of RIG-I expression. RIG-I promoter activation required both retinoids and MeV, as indicated by markers of active chromatin. IRF-1 is known to be regulated by retinoids and MeV, but we found recruitment of IRF-1 to the RIG-I promoter by retinoids alone. Using luciferase expression constructs, we further demonstrated that the IRF-1 response element of RIG-I was required for RIG-I activation by retinoids or IFN. These results reveal that retinoid treatment and MeV infection induces significant RIG-I. RIG-I is required for the retinoid-MeV antiviral response. The induction is dependent on IFN, retinoids and IRF-1

Control of mechanical pain hypersensitivity in mice through ligand-targeted photoablation of TrkB-positive sensory neurons

Mechanical allodynia is a major symptom of neuropathic pain whereby innocuous touch evokes severe pain. Here we identify a population of peripheral sensory neurons expressing TrkB that are both necessary and sufficient for producing pain from light touch after nerve injury in mice. Mice in which TrkB-Cre-expressing neurons are ablated are less sensitive to the lightest touch under basal conditions, and fail to develop mechanical allodynia in a model of neuropathic pain. Moreover, selective optogenetic activation of these neurons after nerve injury evokes marked nociceptive behavior. Using a phototherapeutic approach based upon BDNF, the ligand for TrkB, we perform molecule-guided laser ablation of these neurons and achieve long-term retraction of TrkB-positive neurons from the skin and pronounced reversal of mechanical allodynia across multiple types of neuropathic pain. Thus we identify the peripheral neurons which transmit pain from light touch and uncover a novel pharmacological strategy for its treatment