Trifolirhizin relieves renal injury in a diabetic nephropathy model by inducing autophagy and inhibiting oxidative stress through the regulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of trifolirhizin on diabetic nephropathy (DN), and the mechanism of action. Methods: Male db/db mice (8 weeks, n = 24) and age-matched control mice (n = 6) were obtained. The mice were further divided into four groups and administered increasing doses of trifolirhizin (0, 12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg). Histological analysis of renal tissues were performed by H & E staining. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Immunoblot and TUNEL assay were performed to investigate the effect of trifolirhizin on autophagy and apoptosis, while ELISA and dihydroethidium (DHE) staining were conducted to evaluate reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. The effect of trifolirhizin on PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway was determined using Immunoblot assays. Results: Trifolirhizin alleviated renal injury in diabetic mice, and also activate autophagy and inhibited apoptosis in the renal tissues in diabetic mice (p < 0.001). In addition, trifolirhizin inhibited the oxidative stress response in the renal tissue in diabetic mice (p < 0.001). Trifolirhizin further inhibited PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and therefore relieved renal injury in the diabetic nephropathy model (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Trifolirhizin alleviates renal injury in diabetic mice, activates autophagy, and inhibits apoptosis in renal tissue of diabetic mice. Therefore, trifolirhizin is a promising a promising drug for the treatment of DN

Topological Insulators-Based Magnetic Heterostructure

The combination of magnetism and topology in magnetic topological insulators (MTIs) has led to unprecedented advancements of time reversal symmetry-breaking topological quantum physics in the past decade. Compared with the uniform films, the MTI heterostructures provide a better framework to manipulate the spin-orbit coupling and spin properties. In this review, we summarize the fundamental mechanisms related to the physical orders host in (Bi,Sb)2(Te,Se)3-based hybrid systems. Besides, we provide an assessment on the general strategies to enhance the magnetic coupling and spin-orbit torque strength through different structural engineering approaches and effective interfacial interactions. Finally, we offer an outlook of MTI heterostructures-based spintronics applications, particularly in view of their feasibility to achieve room-temperature operation.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figure

Structured Memetic Automation for Online Human-like Social Behavior Learning

Meme automaton is an adaptive entity that autonomously acquires an increasing level of capability and intelligence through embedded memes evolving independently or via social interactions. This paper begins a study on memetic multiagent system (MeMAS) toward human-like social agents with memetic automaton. We introduce a potentially rich meme-inspired design and operational model, with Darwin's theory of natural selection and Dawkins' notion of a meme as the principal driving forces behind interactions among agents, whereby memes form the fundamental building blocks of the agents' mind universe. To improve the efficiency and scalability of MeMAS, we propose memetic agents with structured memes in this paper. Particularly, we focus on meme selection design where the commonly used elitist strategy is further improved by assimilating the notion of like-attracts-like in the human learning. We conduct experimental study on multiple problem domains and show the performance of the proposed MeMAS on human-like social behavior

Effects of transglutaminase pre-crosslinking on salt-induced gelation of soy protein isolate emulsion

peer-reviewedThe salt-induced gelation behavior of soy protein isolate (SPI) emulsions was markedly influenced by microbial transglutaminase (TGase) pre-crosslinking. Rheological data showed that when SPI emulsions were incubated with TGase at low concentrations (1 and 3 U/g protein) at 50 °C for 30 min prior to gelation, no change in storage modulus (G′), but enhanced resistance to deformation of the gels was observed. Extensive crosslinking by TGase (5 U/g protein) resulted in severe decreases in gel firmness and fracture properties (yielding stress and strain), likely due to the impairment of hydrophobic bonds and the formation of coarse networks. The water-holding capacity of the gels was significantly enhanced by increased concentrations of TGase. Interactive force analysis indicated that non-covalent interactions and disulfide bonds are the primary forces involved in CaSO4-induced SPI emulsion gel, but TGase treatment may limit hydrophobic interactions within the gel network. These results are of great potential value for the application of TGase in the food industry

Influence Maximization with Novelty Decay in Social Networks

Influence maximization problem is to find a set of seed nodes in a social network such that their influence spread is maximized under certain propagation models. A few algorithms have been proposed for solving this problem. However, they have not considered the impact of novelty decay on influence propagation, i.e., repeated exposures will have diminishing influence on users. In this paper, we consider the problem of influence maximization with novelty decay (IMND). We investigate the effect of novelty decay on influence propagation on real-life datasets and formulate the IMND problem. We further analyze the problem properties and propose an influence estimation technique. We demonstrate the performance of our algorithms on four social networks

Coordinated Control of a Wind-Methanol-Fuel Cell System with Hydrogen Storage

This paper presents a wind-methanol-fuel cell system with hydrogen storage. It can manage various energy flow to provide stable wind power supply, produce constant methanol, and reduce CO2 emissions. Firstly, this study establishes the theoretical basis and formulation algorithms. And then, computational experiments are developed with MATLAB/Simulink (R2016a, MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA). Real data are used to fit the developed models in the study. From the test results, the developed system can generate maximum electricity whilst maintaining a stable production of methanol with the aid of a hybrid energy storage system (HESS). A sophisticated control scheme is also developed to coordinate these actions to achieve satisfactory system performance

Hybrid Decay: A Transgenerational Epigenetic Decline in Vigor and Viability Triggered in Backcross Populations of Teosinte with Maize.

In the course of generating populations of maize with teosinte chromosomal introgressions, an unusual sickly plant phenotype was noted in individuals from crosses with two teosinte accessions collected near Valle de Bravo, Mexico. The plants of these Bravo teosinte accessions appear phenotypically normal themselves and the F1 plants appear similar to typical maize × teosinte F1s. However, upon backcrossing to maize, the BC1 and subsequent generations display a number of detrimental characteristics including shorter stature, reduced seed set, and abnormal floral structures. This phenomenon is observed in all BC individuals and there is no chromosomal segment linked to the sickly plant phenotype in advanced backcross generations. Once the sickly phenotype appears in a lineage, normal plants are never again recovered by continued backcrossing to the normal maize parent. Whole-genome shotgun sequencing reveals a small number of genomic sequences, some with homology to transposable elements, that have increased in copy number in the backcross populations. Transcriptome analysis of seedlings, which do not have striking phenotypic abnormalities, identified segments of 18 maize genes that exhibit increased expression in sickly plants. A de novo assembly of transcripts present in plants exhibiting the sickly phenotype identified a set of 59 upregulated novel transcripts. These transcripts include some examples with sequence similarity to transposable elements and other sequences present in the recurrent maize parent (W22) genome as well as novel sequences not present in the W22 genome. Genome-wide profiles of gene expression, DNA methylation, and small RNAs are similar between sickly plants and normal controls, although a few upregulated transcripts and transposable elements are associated with altered small RNA or methylation profiles. This study documents hybrid incompatibility and genome instability triggered by the backcrossing of Bravo teosinte with maize. We name this phenomenon "hybrid decay" and present ideas on the mechanism that may underlie it

MiR-9 promotes microglial activation by targeting MCPIP1

Microglia participate in innate inflammatory responses within the central nervous system. The highly conserved microRNA-9 (miR-9) plays critical roles in neurogenesis as well as axonal extension. Its role in microglial inflammatory responses, however, remains poorly understood. Here we identify a unique role of miR-9 in mediating the microglial inflammatory response via distinct signalling pathways. MiR-9-mediated regulation of cellular activation involved downregulated expression of the target protein, monocyte chemotactic protein-induced protein 1 (MCPIP1) that is crucial for controlling inflammation. Results indicate that miR-9-mediated cellular activation involved signalling via the NF-kappa B pathway, but not the beta-catenin pathway