TRIM 16 gene expression regulates the growth and metastasis of human esophageal cancer

Purpose: To investigate the effect of tripartite membrane protein  TRIM) 16 gene silencing on human esophageal cancer (KYSE-270) cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis.Methods: Short interfering RNA (siRNA) TRIM 16 silencing fragment was transfected into KYSE-270 cells. Transfection efficiency was determined using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cell proliferation, invasiveness and migration were measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, Transwell invasion assay, and scratch test, respectively. Protein expressions of bax and bcl-2 were assayed using Western blotting.Results: The gene expression of TRIM 16 was significantly upregulated in esophageal cancer cells, relative to normal human esophageal cells, but was downregulated after gene silencing. Moreover, the silencing of TRIM 16 gene led to significant reductions in KYSE-270 cell viability, migration and invasiveness, but significantly increased KYSE270 cell apoptosis (p < 0.05). The silencing of TRIM 16 gene also significantly upregulated bax protein expression, while downregulating the expression of bcl-2 protein (p < 0.05).Conclusion: These results suggest that TRIM 16 gene silencing inhibits KYSE-270 cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, and thus provide a basis for its development as a therapeutic approach for the management of esophageal cancer. Keywords: Apoptosis, Cell invasion, Esophageal cancer, Gene silencing, Metastasi

Rethinking Pseudo-LiDAR Representation

The recently proposed pseudo-LiDAR based 3D detectors greatly improve the benchmark of monocular/stereo 3D detection task. However, the underlying mechanism remains obscure to the research community. In this paper, we perform an in-depth investigation and observe that the efficacy of pseudo-LiDAR representation comes from the coordinate transformation, instead of data representation itself. Based on this observation, we design an image based CNN detector named Patch-Net, which is more generalized and can be instantiated as pseudo-LiDAR based 3D detectors. Moreover, the pseudo-LiDAR data in our PatchNet is organized as the image representation, which means existing 2D CNN designs can be easily utilized for extracting deep features from input data and boosting 3D detection performance. We conduct extensive experiments on the challenging KITTI dataset, where the proposed PatchNet outperforms all existing pseudo-LiDAR based counterparts. Code has been made available at: https://github.com/xinzhuma/patchnet.Comment: ECCV2020. Supplemental Material attache

Altered dynamic functional network connectivity in drug-naïve Parkinson’s disease patients with excessive daytime sleepiness

BackgroundExcessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a frequent nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which seriously affects the quality of life of PD patients and exacerbates other nonmotor symptoms. Previous studies have used static analyses of these resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data were measured under the assumption that the intrinsic fluctuations during MRI scans are stationary. However, dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) analysis captures time-varying connectivity over short time scales and may reveal complex functional tissues in the brain.PurposeTo identify dynamic functional connectivity characteristics in PD-EDS patients in order to explain the underlying neuropathological mechanisms.MethodsBased on rs-fMRI data from 16 PD patients with EDS and 41 PD patients without EDS, we applied the sliding window approach, k-means clustering and independent component analysis to estimate the inherent dynamic connectivity states associated with EDS in PD patients and investigated the differences between groups. Furthermore, to assess the correlations between the altered temporal properties and the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) scores.ResultsWe found four distinct functional connectivity states in PD patients. The patients in the PD-EDS group showed increased fractional time and mean dwell time in state IV, which was characterized by strong connectivity in the sensorimotor (SMN) and visual (VIS) networks, and reduced fractional time in state I, which was characterized by strong positive connectivity intranetwork of the default mode network (DMN) and VIS, while negative connectivity internetwork between the DMN and VIS. Moreover, the ESS scores were positively correlated with fraction time in state IV.ConclusionOur results indicated that the strong connectivity within and between the SMN and VIS was characteristic of EDS in PD patients, which may be a potential marker of pathophysiological features related to EDS in PD patients

Jejunal Metabolic Responses to Escherichia coli Infection in Piglets

This study aimed to investigate the jejunal metabolic variations in enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC)-infected piglets. Piglets were infected with 1 × 1010 CFUs (colony-forming units) of ETEC W25K and assigned into diarrheal, recovered, control, and resistant groups. Jejunal samples were harvested at day 6 and metabolic profiles were analyzed via gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/TOFMS). The results showed that 33 metabolites in the jejunum were identified in ETEC-induced diarrhea, including amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, and organic acids. Compared with the control, resistant, and recovered piglets, diarrheal piglets showed higher concentrations of 4-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine in the jejunum. Compared with the control and resistant piglets, six metabolites were markedly decreased in diarrheal piglets, including ornithine, asparagine, glutamine, citric acid, citrulline, and lysine. Collectively, this study provides insights into jejunal metabolic response to ETEC infection and ETEC induced diarrhea in piglets

Study on the Ablation of the Glacier Covered by Mineral Dust in Alpine Regions

Glaciers, known as solid reservoirs, are important water supply sources in northwest China. In this paper, mineral dust collected from a Chinese alpine mining area (Beizhan iron mine) and an ice cube (with a 225 cm2 section and a volume of 1000 mL) were employed via a delicate physical experiment to study the ablation of glaciers covered by mineral dust in alpine regions. After that, the ablation mechanism was revealed using the energy conservation theory. The main findings are as follows: (1) When the solar radiation intensity is 993 W/m2, the glacier ablation rate increases by 13.9% (from 282 to 321.2 mL/h) as the mineral dust coverage rate increases from 0% to 42.7%. (2) When the mineral dust coverage rate remains at 30%, the glacier ablation rate increases by 11.6% (from 291.8 to 325.78 mL/h) as the solar radiation intensity increases from 1007 to 1153 W/m2. (3) When the solar radiation intensity and mineral dust coverage rate remain unchanged, the ablation rate of the glacier covered by the mineral dust inversely increases with the dust particle size. The ablation rates of the particle size gradings C, B, and A (the dust particle sizes of gradings A, B, and C in 0.0375–0.075 mm, 0.075–0.125 mm, and 0.125–0.25 mm accounted for 5%:50%:45%, 30%:40%:30%, and 70%:30%:0%, respectively) were 293.4, 301.2, and 305.6 mL /h, respectively, and the corresponding ablation rates increased by 2.7% and 1.5%. (4) The smaller the average particle size of the mineral dust, the greater the contribution to the ablation rate; a 1 °C temperature increase to the glacier ablation rate is equivalent to 29.1%, 33.6%, and 40.6% increases in dust coverage for particle size classes C, B, and A. (5) The mineral dust covering the glacier surface could not only reduce the reflectivity of the glacier surface to solar radiation but could also continuously transfer the absorbed radiant energy and its own chemical energy to the glacier body, accelerating the glacier’s meltwater speed. The findings of this paper can provide the necessary theoretical basis for mineral dust control and glacier water conservation in alpine mining areas

Corrosion Resistance of Epoxy Coatings Modified by Bis-Silane Prepolymer on Aluminum Alloy

In this communication, a bis-silane prepolymer was used to modify epoxy resin, aiming to enhance the corrosion resistance of epoxy coatings on aluminum alloy substrates. The bis-silane prepolymer was prepared by tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and γ-glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTMS). The corrosion behavior of silane-epoxy coatings was studied. Compared with silane monomer-modified epoxy coatings, bis-silane-modified epoxy coatings have lower coating capacitance (Cc), higher charge transfer resistances (Rdl), and lower double layer capacitance (Cdl) during long-time immersion. It indicates that bis-silane-modified epoxy coating has stronger waterproof permeability and substrate corrosion protection ability. In addition, due to the leaching of the silane component and cross-linking reaction between different silanes during the immersion process, the bis-silane-modified epoxy coatings exhibit much stronger “self-healing” ability

Modeling and Control of the Vibration of Two Beams Coupled with Fluid and Active Links

Investigated are modeling and control approaches for vibration analysis of two identical beams which are coupled with fluid and active mechanical links. In the modeling of the coupled beam system, orthogonal functions are used to represent vibration of the beams and the fluid-structure interaction is considered. Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) are derived from the coupled governing equations and the superposition principle for linear vibration systems. In the control of vibration of the beams, impulse response functions corresponding to the FRFs and an adaptive control algorithm are employed to attenuate vibration transmission between the two beams. Natural frequencies, mode shapes as well as the pressure distribution in the fluid are computed. The results obtained by the proposed modeling method are in good consistency with those obtained by the finite element analysis. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the active mechanical link is able to reduce vibration transmission and change the deformation of beams as well as the distribution of fluid pressure

Preparation and Characterization of a Silane Sealed PEO Coating on Aluminum Alloy

A dense alumina ceramic coating was formed on UNS A97075 Al alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO). An efficient and environmentally friendly silane layer was prepared to seal the PEO coating. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results showed that the PEO coating was completely sealed by the silane layer. The electrochemical corrosion evolution of the silane sealed PEO composite coating was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Based on the EIS data, the corrosion evolution of the silane sealed composite coating could be divided to three stages during 576 h of immersion test, and the silane coating acted as a good physical barrier in the immersion test, effectively delayed the corrosion process and improved the corrosion resistance

Gut microbiota of old mice worsens neurological outcome after brain ischemia via increased valeric acid and IL-17 in the blood

Abstract Background Aging is a significant risk factor for ischemic stroke and worsens its outcome. However, the mechanisms for this worsened neurological outcome with aging are not clearly defined. Results Old C57BL/6J male mice (18 to 20 months old) had a poorer neurological outcome and more severe inflammation after transient focal brain ischemia than 8-week-old C57BL/6J male mice (young mice). Young mice with transplantation of old mouse gut microbiota had a worse neurological outcome, poorer survival curve, and more severe inflammation than young mice receiving young mouse gut microbiota transplantation. Old mice and young mice transplanted with old mouse gut microbiota had an increased level of blood valeric acid. Valeric acid worsened neurological outcome and heightened inflammatory response including blood interleukin-17 levels after brain ischemia. The increase of interleukin-17 caused by valeric acid was inhibited by a free fatty acid receptor 2 antagonist. Neutralizing interleukin-17 in the blood by its antibody improved neurological outcome and attenuated inflammatory response in mice with brain ischemia and receiving valeric acid. Old mice transplanted with young mouse feces had less body weight loss and better survival curve after brain ischemia than old mice transplanted with old mouse feces or old mice without fecal transplantation. Conclusions These results suggest that the gut microbiota-valeric acid-interleukin-17 pathway contributes to the aging-related changes in the outcome after focal brain ischemia and response to stimulus. Valeric acid may activate free fatty acid receptor 2 to increase interleukin-17

Whole-transcriptome survey of the putative ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family genes in the latex-producing laticifers of Hevea brasiliensis.

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins or transporters constitute a large protein family in plants and are involved in many different cellular functions and processes, including solute transportation, channel regulation and molecular switches, etc. Through transcriptome sequencing, a transcriptome-wide survey and expression analysis of the ABC protein genes were carried out using the laticiferous latex from Hevea brasiliensis (rubber tree). A total of 46 putative ABC family proteins were identified in the H. brasiliensis latex. These consisted of 12 'full-size', 21 'half-size' and 13 other putative ABC proteins, and all of them showed strong conservation with their Arabidopsis thaliana counterparts. This study indicated that all eight plant ABC protein paralog subfamilies were identified in the H. brasiliensis latex, of which ABCB, ABCG and ABCI were the most abundant. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assays demonstrated that gene expression of several latex ABC proteins was regulated by ethylene, jasmonic acid or bark tapping (a wound stress) stimulation, and that HbABCB15, HbABCB19, HbABCD1 and HbABCG21 responded most significantly of all to the abiotic stresses. The identification and expression analysis of the latex ABC family proteins could facilitate further investigation into their physiological involvement in latex metabolism and rubber biosynthesis by H. brasiliensis