MMP14 regulates the lineage progression of hypertrophic chondrocytes

It is traditionally believed that chondrocytes and osteoblasts are two separate lineages with hypertrophic chondrocytes (HCs) being the terminal stage of chondrocyte differentiation, culminating in apoptosis. However, we have shown that HCs can contribute to the full osteoblast (Obs) lineage in vivo. MMP14 is a transmembrane matrix metalloproteinase responsible for matrix remodeling that is highly expressed at the chondro‐osseous junction which coincides with the transition from HCs to Obs. Knockout of Mmp14 in mice results in impaired endochondral ossification. To test whether loss of MMP14 has an impact on the HC to Obs transition, we have employed a genetic recombination approach to track and compare the fate of HCs in wild‐type and Mmp14 conditional and total null mutants. Both complete and conditional deletion of MMP14 activity results in increased number of HC‐descendent cells in the trabecular bone. Surprisingly, conditional knockout of Mmp14 in HC‐descendent cells results in increased trabecular bone formation. Our results suggest that MMP14 in general negatively regulates HC to Obs transition.postprin

Damage localization and quantification of composite stratified beam structures using residual force method

10.1088/1742-6596/842/1/012028Journal of Physics: Conference Series84211202

The Ediacaran ‘Miaohe Member’ of South China: new insights from palaeoredox proxies and stable isotope data

Throughout the Ediacaran Period, variable water-column redox conditions persisted along productive ocean margins due to a complex interplay between nutrient supply and oceanographic restriction. These changing conditions are considered to have influenced early faunal evolution, with marine anoxia potentially inhibiting the development of the ecological niches necessary for aerobic life forms. To understand this link between oxygenation and evolution, the combined geochemical and palaeontological study of marine sediments is preferable. Located in the Yangtze Gorges region of southern China, lagoonal black shales at Miaohe preserve alga and putative metazoans, including Eoandromeda, a candidate total-group ctenophore, thereby providing one example of where integrated study is possible. We present a multi-proxy investigation into water-column redox variability during deposition of these shales (c. 560–551 Ma). For this interval, reactive iron partitioning indicates persistent water-column anoxia, while trace metal enrichments and other geochemical data suggest temporal fluctuations between ferruginous, euxinic and rare suboxic conditions. Although trace metal and total organic carbon values imply extensive basin restriction, sustained trace metal enrichment and δ15Nsed data indicate periodic access to open-ocean inventories across a shallow-marine sill. Lastly, δ13Corg values of between −35‰ and −40‰ allow at least partial correlation of the shales at Miaohe with Member IV of the Doushantuo Formation. This study provides evidence for fluctuating redox conditions in the lagoonal area of the Yangtze platform during late Ediacaran time. If these low-oxygen environments were regionally characteristic, then the restriction of aerobic fauna to isolated environments can be inferred

catena-poly[di-μ(2)-chloro(1,10-phenanthroline)cadmium(II)]

The crystal structure of the 1/1 adduct of cadmium dichloride with 1,10-phenanthroline, [CdCl2(C12H8N2)](n), is based on an infinite chain of Cd2Cl2 parallelograms sharing their Cd corners. The chain propagates in a zigzag manner along the c axis of the monoclinic unit cell. The Cd atom and the phenanthroline molecule both lie on special positions of 2 symmetry

Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Treatments with Traditional Chinese Medicine

published_or_final_versio

Entanglement generation outside a Schwarzschild black hole and the Hawking effect

We examine the Hawking effect by studying the asymptotic entanglement of two mutually independent two-level atoms placed at a fixed radial distance outside a Schwarzschild black hole in the framework of open quantum systems. We treat the two-atom system as an open quantum system in a bath of fluctuating quantized massless scalar fields in vacuum and calculate the concurrence, a measurement of entanglement, of the equilibrium state of the system at large times, for the Unruh, Hartle-Hawking and Boulware vacua respectively. We find, for all three vacuum cases, that the atoms turn out to be entangled even if they are initially in a separable state as long as the system is not placed right at the even horizon. Remarkably, only in the Unruh vacuum, will the asymptotic entanglement be affected by the backscattering of the thermal radiation off the space-time curvature. The effect of the back scatterings on the asymptotic entanglement cancels in the Hartle-Hawking vacuum case.Comment: 15 pages, no figures, Revte

Bioprocessing for elimination antibiotics and hormones from swine wastewater

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Antibiotics and hormones in swine wastewater have become a critical concern worldwide due to the severe threats to human health and the eco-environment. Removal of most detectable antibiotics and hormones, such as sulfonamides (SAs), SMs, tetracyclines (TCs), macrolides, and estrogenic hormones from swine wastewater utilizing various biological processes were summarized and compared. In biological processes, biosorption and biodegradation are the two major removal mechanisms for antibiotics and hormones. The residuals in treated effluents and sludge of conventional activated sludge and anaerobic digestion processes can still pose risks to the surrounding environment, and the anaerobic processes’ removal efficiencies were inferior to those of aerobic processes. In contrast, membrane bioreactors (MBRs), constructed wetlands (CWs) and modified processes performed better because of their higher biodegradation of toxicants. Process modification on activated sludge, anaerobic digestion and conventional MBRs could also enhance the performance (e.g. removing up to 98% SMs, 88.9% TCs, and 99.6% hormones from wastewater). The hybrid process combining MBRs with biological or physical technology also led to better removal efficiency. As such, modified conventional biological processes, advanced biological technologies and MBR hybrid systems are considered as a promising technology for removing toxicants from swine wastewater

Anaerobic membrane bioreactors for antibiotic wastewater treatment: Performance and membrane fouling issues

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Antibiotic wastewater has become a major concern due to the toxicity and recalcitrance of antibiotics. Anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) are considered alternative technology for treating antibiotic wastewater because of their advantages over the conventional anaerobic processes and aerobic MBRs. However, membrane fouling remains the most challenging issue in the AnMBRs’ operation and this limits their application. This review critically discusses: (i) antibiotics removal and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in different types of AnMBRs and the impact of antibiotics on membrane fouling and (ii) the integrated AnMBRs systems for fouling control and removal of antibiotics. The presence of antibiotics in AnMBRs could aggravate membrane fouling by influencing fouling-related factors (i.e., sludge particle size, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), soluble microbial products (SMP), and fouling-related microbial communities). Conclusively, integrated AnMBR systems can be a practical technology for antibiotic wastewater treatment

Transition Structure Between Coaxial Cable and Dielectric Rod Waveguide in Microwave Frequency

The dielectric waveguide in THz and millimeter circuit is widely researched. However, it is rarely researched in a microwave frequency. In this article, a dielectric rod waveguide (DRW) is proposed with low transmission loss in microwave frequency. For the purpose of impedance matching, a transition section composed of the metal-coated dielectric cavity, and a dielectric horn is presented to match the impedance between the coaxial cable and the dielectric rod waveguide. Finally, the dielectric rod waveguide and the transition section have been fabricated for experimental verification. To obtain the propagation constant of the DRW, the thru-line (TL) calibration is used in measurement. The simulation and measurement results show an effective conversion between the coaxial cable and the dielectric rod waveguide