Distinct different expression of Th17 and Th9 cells in coxsackie virus B3-induced mice viral myocarditis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently, a new subset of CD4⁺T helper(Th) cell that predominantly secret cytokine interleukin-9(IL-9) is identified, termed Th9 cell. It has been reported to participate in tissue inflammation and autoimmune responses, and induce disease which differed from Th17 cells. Th17 cells have been shown to play a critical role in viral myocarditis (VMC), but whether Th9 cells are involved in the pathogenesis of VMC remains unclear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally (i.p) injected with coxsackie virus B3(CVB3) for establishing VMC models. Control mice were treated with phosphate-buffered saline i.p. On day 0,7,14,21,28,35,42 after injection, myocardial histopathological changes were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Splenic Th17 and Th9 cells subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry. And cardiac IL-17, IL-9 mRNA were measured by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and nested PCR, respectively. Results showed the levels of Th17 cells and IL-17 mRNA obviously increased in VMC mice on 7 day after infection, peaked on day 28, and highly persisted to at least day 42 (p < 0.05). While the frequencies of Th9 cells and IL-9 mRNA showed no significant difference between VMC and control group throughout the course of the experiment(p > 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It was differentiated Th17 but not Th9 cells significantly elevated in the development of CVB3-induced VMC. The microenvironment of VMC seemed to contribute to the differentiation and proliferation of Th17 rather than Th9 cells. Our preliminary data implied Th9 cells could not protect against VMC nor promote the disease.</p

4-Benzyl-3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole

In the title mol­ecule, C12H14N2, the dihedral angle between the pyrazole and phenyl ring mean planes is 78.65 (19)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds into chains along [010]

Modelling of Distributed Energy Components and Optimization of Energy Vector Dispatch within Smart Energy Systems

The smart energy system concept provides an integrated framework for the adoption of renewable energy resources and novel energy technologies, such as distributed battery energy storage systems and electric vehicles. In this effort, large-scale transition towards smart energy systems can significantly reduce the environmental emissions of energy production, while leveraging the compatible operation of numerous distributed grid components to improve upon the energy utility, reliability, and flexibility of existing power grids. Most importantly, transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources provides environmental benefits within both the building and transportation sectors, which must adapt to address both increasing pressure from international climate change-related policy-making, as well as to meet the increasing power demands of future generations. In the case of building operation, the transition towards future energy systems consequently result in the adoption of decentralized energy networks as well as various distributed energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies. As such, there is significant potential for existing systems to adopt more economic and efficient operating strategies, which may manifest in novel operational modes such as demand-response programs, islanded operation, and optimized energy vector dispatch within local systems. Furthermore, new planning and design considerations can provide economic, environmental, and energy efficiency benefits. While these potential benefits have been justified in existing literature, there is still a strong research need to quantify the impacts of optimal building operation within these criteria, under a smart energy system context. Meanwhile, the transportation sector may benefit from the smart energy network concept by leveraging electric mobility technologies and by transitioning vehicle charging demand onto the grid’s electricity network. In this transition, the emissions associated with fossil fuel consumption are displaced by grid-generated electricity, much of which may be derived from zero-emission resources in systems containing high renewable generation capacities. While small electric vehicle fleets have currently been successfully integrated into the grid, higher market penetration rates of electric vehicles demand significantly more charging infrastructure. In consideration of the consequences of various electric vehicle charging modes resulting from large-scale mobility electrification, there is a gap in the literature for the planning and design of charging infrastructure for facilitating interactions between electric vehicle fleets and future smart energy network systems. Within the work presented in this thesis, quantitative analysis has been presented for the potential for optimal building operation between complementary commercial and residential building types. From this, the economic and environmental benefits of applying the principles of smart energy systems within mixed residential and commercial hubs have been evaluated at reductions of 61.2% and 1.29%, respectively, under the context of an Ontario, Canada case study. Furthermore, reduced installation of local energy storage systems and consumption of grid-derived electricity were reduced by 6.7% and 13.8%, respectively, in comparison against base case scenarios in which buildings were operated independent of the proposed microgrid configuration. Meanwhile, the investigative work for the role of charging infrastructure in electric vehicle integration within smart energy systems provided insight into the power flow characteristics required to facilitate advanced electric vehicle charging modes. Most importantly, the work demonstrated limitations to the controlled/smart charging and the vehicle-to-grid charging modes imposed by charging port availability, electric vehicle plug-in durations, and maximum power flow characteristics. These results have highlighted the need for charging infrastructure to emulate the availability and fast response characteristics of stationary energy storage systems for successful vehicle-to-grid implementation, as well as the need for maximum power flow limitations for charging infrastructure to be well above the current level 2 standard for home- and workplace-charging

The role of climate in human mitochondrial DNA evolution: A reappraisal

AbstractPrevious studies have proposed that selection has been involved in the differentiation of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and climate was the main driving force. This viewpoint, however, gets no support from the subsequent studies and remains controversial thus far. To clarify this issue, a total of 237 complete mtDNA sequences belonging to autochthonous lineages from South Asia, Oceania, and East Asia were collected to seek for the imprint of selection. Based on nonsynonymous (N) and synonymous (S) substitutions analysis, our results confirmed that purifying selection was the predominant force during the evolution of human mtDNA. However, no significant and extensive difference was detected among these three regions, which did not support the climate adaptation hypothesis but preferred random genetic drift to be the main factor in shaping the current landscape of human mtDNA, at least those from Asian and Oceanian regions