Neural differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells by indirect co-culture with Schwann cells

To investigate whether adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) could be subject to neural differentiation induced only by Schwann cell (SC) factors, we co-cultured ADSCs and SCs in transwell culture dishes. Immunoassaying, Western blot analysis, and RT-PCR were performed (1, 3, 7, 14 d) and the co-cultured ADSCs showed gene and protein expression of S-100, Nestin, and GFAP. Further, qRT-PCR disclosed relative quantitative differences in the above three gene expressions. We think ADSCs can undergo induced neural differentiation by being co-cultured with SCs, and such differentia­tions begin 1 day after co-culture, become apparent after 7 days, and thereafter remain stable till the 14th day

Air temperature equation derived from sonic temperature and water vapor mixing ratio for air flow sampled through closed-path eddy-covariance flux systems

Air temperar (T) plays a fundamental role in many aspects of the flux exchanges between the atmosphere and ecosystems. Additionally, it is critical to know where (in relation to other essential measurements) and at what frequency T must be measured to accurately describe such exchanges. In closed-path eddy-covariance (CPEC) flux systems, T can be computed from the sonic temperature (Ts) and water vapor mixing ratio that are measured by the fast-response senosrs of three-dimensional sonic anemometer and infrared gas analyzer, respectively. T then is computed by use of either T = Ts( 1+0.51 q), where q is specific humidity, or T = Ts( 1 + 0.32e∕ P) − 1 , where e is water vapor pressure and P is atmospheric pressure. Converting q and e/P into the same water vapor mixing ratio analytically reveals the difference between these two equations. This difference in a CPEC system could reach ±0.18 K, bringing an uncertainty into the accuracy of T from both equations and raises the question of which equation is better. To clarify the uncertainty and to answer this question, the derivation of T equations in terms of Ts and H2O-related variables is thoroughly studied. The two equations above were developed with approximations. Therefore, neither of their accuracies were evaluated, nor was the question answered. Based on the first principles, this study derives the T equation in terms of Ts and water vapor molar mixing ratio (c H2O) without any assumption and approximation. Thus, this equation itself does not have any error and the accuracy in T from this equation (equation-computed T) depends solely on the measurement accuracies of Ts and c H2O . Based on current specifications for Ts and c H2O in the CPEC300 series and given their maximized measurement uncertainties, the accuracy in equation-computed T is specified within ±1.01 K. This accuracy uncertainty is propagated mainly (±1.00K) from the uncertainty in Ts measurements and little (±0.03K) from the uncertainty in c H2O measurements. Apparently, the improvement on measurement technologies particularly for Ts would be a key to narrow this accuracy range. Under normal sensor and weather conditions, the specified accuracy is overestimated and actual accuracy is better. Equation-computed T has frequency response equivalent to high-frequency Ts and is insensitive to solar contamination during measurements. As synchronized at a temporal scale of measurement frequency and matched at a spatial scale of measurement volume with all aerodynamic and thermodynamic variables, this T has its advanced merits in boundary-layer meteorology and applied meteorology

First attempt of directionality reconstruction for atmospheric neutrinos in a large homogeneous liquid scintillator detector

The directionality information of incoming neutrinos is essential to atmospheric neutrino oscillation analysis since it is directly related to the oscillation baseline length. Large homogeneous liquid scintillator detectors, while offering excellent energy resolution, are traditionally very limited in their capabilities of measuring event directionality. In this paper, we present a novel directionality reconstruction method for atmospheric neutrino events in large homogeneous liquid scintillator detectors based on waveform analysis and machine learning techniques. We demonstrate for the first time that such detectors can achieve good direction resolution and potentially play an important role in future atmospheric neutrino oscillation measurements.Comment: Prepared for submission to PR

Transcriptome Phase Distribution Analysis Reveals Diurnal Regulated Biological Processes and Key Pathways in Rice Flag Leaves and Seedling Leaves

Plant diurnal oscillation is a 24-hour period based variation. The correlation between diurnal genes and biological pathways was widely revealed by microarray analysis in different species. Rice (Oryza sativa) is the major food staple for about half of the world's population. The rice flag leaf is essential in providing photosynthates to the grain filling. However, there is still no comprehensive view about the diurnal transcriptome for rice leaves. In this study, we applied rice microarray to monitor the rhythmically expressed genes in rice seedling and flag leaves. We developed a new computational analysis approach and identified 6,266 (10.96%) diurnal probe sets in seedling leaves, 13,773 (24.08%) diurnal probe sets in flag leaves. About 65% of overall transcription factors were identified as flag leaf preferred. In seedling leaves, the peak of phase distribution was from 2:00am to 4:00am, whereas in flag leaves, the peak was from 8:00pm to 2:00am. The diurnal phase distribution analysis of gene ontology (GO) and cis-element enrichment indicated that, some important processes were waken by the light, such as photosynthesis and abiotic stimulus, while some genes related to the nuclear and ribosome involved processes were active mostly during the switch time of light to dark. The starch and sucrose metabolism pathway genes also showed diurnal phase. We conducted comparison analysis between Arabidopsis and rice leaf transcriptome throughout the diurnal cycle. In summary, our analysis approach is feasible for relatively unbiased identification of diurnal transcripts, efficiently detecting some special periodic patterns with non-sinusoidal periodic patterns. Compared to the rice flag leaves, the gene transcription levels of seedling leaves were relatively limited to the diurnal rhythm. Our comprehensive microarray analysis of seedling and flag leaves of rice provided an overview of the rice diurnal transcriptome and indicated some diurnal regulated biological processes and key functional pathways in rice

Single Endemic Genotype of Measles Virus Continuously Circulating in China for at Least 16 Years

The incidence of measles in China from 1991 to 2008 was reviewed, and the nucleotide sequences from 1507 measles viruses (MeV) isolated during 1993 to 2008 were phylogenetically analyzed. The results showed that measles epidemics peaked approximately every 3 to 5 years with the range of measles cases detected between 56,850 and 140,048 per year. The Chinese MeV strains represented three genotypes; 1501 H1, 1 H2 and 5 A. Genotype H1 was the predominant genotype throughout China continuously circulating for at least 16 years. Genotype H1 sequences could be divided into two distinct clusters, H1a and H1b. A 4.2% average nucleotide divergence was found between the H1a and H1b clusters, and the nucleotide sequence and predicted amino acid homologies of H1a viruses were 92.3%–100% and 84.7%–100%, H1b were 97.1%–100% and 95.3%–100%, respectively. Viruses from both clusters were distributed throughout China with no apparent geographic restriction and multiple co-circulating lineages were present in many provinces. Cluster H1a and H1b viruses were co-circulating during 1993 to 2005, while no H1b viruses were detected after 2005 and the transmission of that cluster has presumably been interrupted. Analysis of the nucleotide and predicted amino acid changes in the N proteins of H1a and H1b viruses showed no evidence of selective pressure. This study investigated the genotype and cluster distribution of MeV in China over a 16-year period to establish a genetic baseline before MeV elimination in Western Pacific Region (WPR). Continuous and extensive MeV surveillance and the ability to quickly identify imported cases of measles will become more critical as measles elimination goals are achieved in China in the near future. This is the first report that a single endemic genotype of measles virus has been found to be continuously circulating in one country for at least 16 years

Serum Levels of FGF-21 Are Increased in Coronary Heart Disease Patients and Are Independently Associated with Adverse Lipid Profile

BACKGROUND: Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) is a metabolic regulator with multiple beneficial effects on glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism in animal models. The relationship between plasma levels of FGF-21 and coronary heart disease (CHD) in unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study aimed to investigate the correlation of serum FGF-21 levels and lipid metabolism in the patients with coronary heart disease. We performed a logistic regression analysis of the relation between serum levels of FGF-21 and CHD patients with and without diabetes and hypertension. This study was conducted in the Departments of Endocrinology and Cardiovascular Diseases at two University Hospitals. Participants consisted of one hundred and thirty-five patients who have been diagnosed to have CHD and sixty-one control subjects. Serum FGF-21 level and levels of fasting blood glucose; triglyceride; apolipoprotein B100; HOMA-IR; insulin; total cholesterol; HDL-cholesterol; LDL-cholesterol; and C-reactive protein were measured. We found that median serum FGF-21 levels were significantly higher in CHD than that of control subjects (P<0.0001). Serum FGF-21 levels in CHD patients with diabetes, hypertension, or both were higher than that of patients without these comorbidities. Serum FGF-21 levels correlated positively with triglycerides, fasting blood glucose, apolipoprotein B100, insulin and HOMA-IR but negatively with HDL-C and apolipoprotein A1 after adjusting for BMI, diabetes and hypertension. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that FGF-21 showed an independent association with triglyceride and apolipoprotein A1. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: High levels of FGF-21 are associated with adverse lipid profiles in CHD patients. The paradoxical increase of serum FGF-21 in CHD patients may indicate a compensatory response or resistance to FGF-21

Real-time Monitoring for the Next Core-Collapse Supernova in JUNO

Core-collapse supernova (CCSN) is one of the most energetic astrophysical events in the Universe. The early and prompt detection of neutrinos before (pre-SN) and during the SN burst is a unique opportunity to realize the multi-messenger observation of the CCSN events. In this work, we describe the monitoring concept and present the sensitivity of the system to the pre-SN and SN neutrinos at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), which is a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector under construction in South China. The real-time monitoring system is designed with both the prompt monitors on the electronic board and online monitors at the data acquisition stage, in order to ensure both the alert speed and alert coverage of progenitor stars. By assuming a false alert rate of 1 per year, this monitoring system can be sensitive to the pre-SN neutrinos up to the distance of about 1.6 (0.9) kpc and SN neutrinos up to about 370 (360) kpc for a progenitor mass of 30$M_{\odot}$ for the case of normal (inverted) mass ordering. The pointing ability of the CCSN is evaluated by using the accumulated event anisotropy of the inverse beta decay interactions from pre-SN or SN neutrinos, which, along with the early alert, can play important roles for the followup multi-messenger observations of the next Galactic or nearby extragalactic CCSN.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure

Advances and Challenges in Heavy-Metal-Free InP Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes

Light-emitting diodes based on colloidal quantum dots (QLEDs) show a good prospect in commercial application due to their narrow spectral linewidths, wide color range, excellent luminance efficiency, and long operating lifetime. However, the toxicity of heavy-metal elements, such as Cd-based QLEDs or Pb-based perovskite QLEDs, with excellent performance, will inevitably pose a serious threat to people’s health and the environment. Among heavy-metal-free materials, InP quantum dots (QDs) have been paid special attention, because of their wide emission, which can, in principle, be tuned throughout the whole visible and near-infrared range by changing their size, and InP QDs are generally regarded as one of the most promising materials for heavy-metal-free QLEDs for the next generation displays and solid-state lighting. In this review, the great progress of QLEDs, based on the fundamental structure and photophysical properties of InP QDs, is illustrated systematically. In addition, the remarkable achievements of QLEDs, based on their modification of materials, such as ligands exchange of InP QDs, and the optimization of the charge transport layer, are summarized. Finally, an outlook is shown about the challenge faced by QLED, as well as possible pathway to enhancing the device performance. This review provides an overview of the recent developments of InP QLED applications and outlines the challenges for achieving the high-performance devices