Association of Childhood Adversity With Frailty and the Mediating Role of Unhealthy Lifestyle: A Lifespan Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Childhood adversity and lifestyle have been associated with frailty in later life, but not much is known about factors that may explain these associations. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the association of childhood adversity with frailty, and the mediating role of unhealthy lifestyle in the association. METHODS: This lifespan analysis included 152,914 adults aged 40-69 years old from the UK Biobank. We measured childhood adversity with five items: physical neglect, emotional neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse through online mental health survey. Frailty was measured by the frailty index; an unhealthy lifestyle score (range: 0-5) was calculated based on unhealthy body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet at the baseline survey. Multiple logistic regression and mediation analysis were performed. RESULTS: A total of 10,078 participants (6.6%) were defined as having frailty. Participants with any childhood adversity had higher odds of frailty. For example, in the fully adjusted model, with a one-point increase in cumulative score of childhood adversity, the odds of frailty increased by 38% (odds ratio: 1.38; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.36, 1.40). Unhealthy lifestyle partially mediated the associations of childhood adversity with frailty (mediation proportion: 4.4%-7.0%). The mediation proportions were largest for physical (8.2%) and sexual (8.1%) abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood adversity was positively associated with frailty, and unhealthy lifestyle partially mediated the association. This newly identified pathway highlights the potential of lifestyle intervention strategies among those who experienced childhood adversity (in particular, physical, and sexual abuse) to promote healthy aging.

Study on a Pig Vocalization Classification Method Based on Multi-Feature Fusion.

To improve the classification of pig vocalization using vocal signals and improve recognition accuracy, a pig vocalization classification method based on multi-feature fusion is proposed in this study. With the typical vocalization of pigs in large-scale breeding houses as the research object, short-time energy, frequency centroid, formant frequency and first-order difference, and Mel frequency cepstral coefficient and first-order difference were extracted as the fusion features. These fusion features were improved using principal component analysis. A pig vocalization classification model with a BP neural network optimized based on the genetic algorithm was constructed. The results showed that using the improved features to recognize pig grunting, squealing, and coughing, the average recognition accuracy was 93.2%; the recognition precisions were 87.9%, 98.1%, and 92.7%, respectively, with an average of 92.9%; and the recognition recalls were 92.0%, 99.1%, and 87.4%, respectively, with an average of 92.8%, which indicated that the proposed pig vocalization classification method had good recognition precision and recall, and could provide a reference for pig vocalization information feedback and automatic recognition.

Volatility Parametrization of Low-Volatile Components of Ambient Organic Aerosols Based on Molecular Formulas.

Evaluating the volatility of organic compounds based solely on their molecular formulas would avoid tough demands in deriving molecular structures. Here, we deployed an iodide-adduct Long Time-of-Flight Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry (LToF-CIMS) combined with a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols (FIGAERO) to investigate molecular formulas and thermograms of organic compounds on ambient particulate samples collected in the summer of 2021 in a suburban site of Shanghai and to estimate saturation vapor pressures of low- and semivolatile components of ambient organic aerosols. Then, a hierarchical cluster analysis and a subsequent classification of obtained clusters by similarity calculation were applied to the measured data set of molecular formulas and saturation vapor pressures of organic aerosols with at least a 2/3 appearance frequency, together with a similar data set collected at a rural site in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region during the winter of 2018 (Ren et al., 2018), to classify all compounds into multiple groups. For each group of compounds, parametrizations between volatility and elemental composition were derived, and then relationships between each group of parameters and the mean O:C were established to achieve a volatility-molecular formula parametrization with the O:C as a key input. Statistical comparison of estimated volatilities of low-volatile organic compounds shows a much better performance of our parametrization than previous molecular formula-based ones.

Optimization of the Extraction Process and Antioxidant Activity of Polysaccharide Extracted from Centipeda minima.

The purpose of this study is to optimize the extraction process and study antioxidant activity of Polysaccharide extracted from Centipeda minima. The Box-Behnken design-response surface methodology was adopted to optimize the extraction process of polysaccharides from Centipeda minima. We purified the crude polysaccharides from Centipeda minima, as well as determined the purity, monosaccharide composition, and molecular weight of the purified fraction. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to analyze the structural features of the polysaccharides. Further, we investigated the antioxidant activities of different fractions of polysaccharides. Consequently, the results showed that the optimum extraction conditions for polysaccharides were: a liquid-solid ratio of 26 mL/g, extraction temperature of 85.5 °C, and extraction time of 2.4 h. Moreover, the yield of polysaccharides measured under these conditions was close to the predicted value. After purification, we obtained four components of Centipeda minima polysaccharides (CMP). The purity, monosaccharide composition, molecular weight, and structural characteristics of CMP were different, but with similar infrared absorption spectra. CMP exhibited a typical infrared absorption characteristic of a polysaccharide. Besides, CMP displayed good antioxidant activity, with potential to scavenge DPPH radical, hydroxyl radical, and superoxide radical. Therefore, this study provides a reference for future research on the structure and biological activity of CMP, and lays a theoretical foundation for food processing and medicinal development of CMP.

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus and Its nsp14 Suppress ER Stress Induced GRP78.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), a member of the α-coronavirus genus, can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration in piglets. Neonatal piglets infected with PEDV have a mortality rate as high as 100%. PEDV has caused substantial economic losses to the pork industry. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which can alleviate the accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in ER, involves in coronavirus infection. Previous studies have indicated that ER stress could inhibit the replication of human coronaviruses, and some human coronaviruses in turn could suppress ER stress-related factors. In this study, we demonstrated that PEDV could interact with ER stress. We determined that ER stress could potently inhibit the replication of GⅠ, GⅡ-a, and GⅡ-b PEDV strains. Moreover, we found that these PEDV strains can dampen the expression of the 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), an ER stress marker, while GRP78 overexpression showed antiviral activity against PEDV. Among different PEDV proteins, PEDV non-structural protein 14 (nsp14) was revealed to play an essential role in the inhibition of GRP78 by PEDV, and its guanine-N7-methyltransferase domain is necessary for this role. Further studies show that both PEDV and its nsp14 negatively regulated host translation, which could account for their inhibitory effects against GRP78. In addition, we found that PEDV nsp14 could inhibit the activity of GRP78 promotor, helping suppress GRP78 transcription. Our results reveal that PEDV possesses the potential to antagonize ER stress, and suggest that ER stress and PEDV nsp14 could be the targets for developing anti-PEDV drugs.

Chemical Composition, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Essential Oil from Centipeda minima.

This study elucidated the chemical composition of essential oil from Centipeda minima (EOCM) and its antibacterial and antioxidant activities with two chemical monomers thymol and carvacrol. The main chemical composition of EOCM, analyzed by GC-MS, were trans-chrysanthenyl acetate, thymol, aromadendrene and ß-caryophyllene. In the screening of antibacterial activity against S. aureus, two monomers with antibacterial activity were obtained: thymol and carvacrol. The MIC of EOCM, thymol and carvacrol were 0.625 mg/mL, 0.156 mg/mL and 0.156 mg/mL, respectively. The experimental results were shown that three drugs could inhibit the growth of S. aureus and inhibit the formation of biofilm by changing the permeability of cell membrane and interfering with the metabolic activities in bacteria. The scavenging effects of the three drugs on DPPH radical and hydroxyl radical showed that the antioxidant effect of the three drugs was EOCM > carvacrol > thymol.

[Potentiating effect and mechanism of extract of Jingfang Granules on activation of macrophages].

This study aimed to explore the potentiating effect and mechanism of the extract of Jingfang Granules(JFG) on the activation of macrophages. The RAW264.7 cells were treated with JFG extract and then stimulated by multiple agents. Subsequently, mRNA was extracted, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was used to measure the mRNA transcription of multiple cytokines in RAW264.7 cells. The levels of cytokines in the cell supernatant were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). In addition, the intracellular proteins were extracted and the activation of signaling pathways was determined by Western blot. The results showed that JFG extract alone could not promote or slightly promote the mRNA transcription of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß, MIP-1α, MCP-1, CCL5, IP-10, and IFN-ß, and significantly enhance the mRNA transcription of these cytokines in RAW264.7 cells induced by R848 and CpG in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, JFG extract also potentiated the secretion of TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1, and IFN-ß by RAW264.7 cells stimulated with R848 and CpG. As revealed by mechanism analysis, JFG extract enhanced the phosphorylation of p38, ERK1/2, IRF3, STAT1, and STAT3 in RAW264.7 cells induced by CpG. The findings of this study indicate that JFG extract can selectively potentiate the activation of macrophages induced by R848 and CpG, which may be attributed to the promotion of the activation of MAPKs, IRF3, and STAT1/3 signaling pathways.

Atmospheric gaseous organic acids in winter in a rural site of the North China Plain.

Organic acids are important contributors to the acidity of atmospheric precipitation, but their existence in the Chinese atmosphere is largely unclear. In this study, twelve atmospheric gaseous organic acids, including C1-C9 alkanoic acids, methacrylic acid, pyruvic acid, and benzoic acid, were observed in the suburb of Wangdu, Hebei Province, a typical rural site in the northern China plain from 16th December, 2018 to 22nd January, 2019, using a Vocus® Proton-Transfer-Reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Vocus PTR-ToF). The quantification of C2-C4 alkanoic acids by the Vocus PTR-ToF was calibrated according to the titration of a NaOH solution by C2-C4 alkanoic acids from home-made permeation sources, and the other organic acids except for formic acid were quantified based on the kcap-sensitivity linearity in the Vocus PTR-ToF, whereas formic acid was not quantified because our instrument setting led to a significant underestimation in its concentration. The average total concentration of eleven gaseous organic acids was 6.96 ± 5.20 ppbv (parts per billion by volume). The average concentration of acetic acid was the highest (3.86 ± 3.00 ppbv), followed by propanoic acid, butyric acid, and methacrylic acid. Domestic straw burning was likely the dominant source of the observed gaseous organic acids according to the good correlations between acetonitrile and organic acids and between particulate K+ and organic acids, and traffic emissions could also have contributed. During episodes with continuously high concentrations of organic acids, short-distance transport dominated in Wangdu according to the backward trajectory analysis. Baoding, Shijiazhuang, and Hengshui areas were the main source areas based on potential source contribution function and concentration weighing track analysis.

Is reducing new particle formation a plausible solution to mitigate particulate air pollution in Beijing and other Chinese megacities?

Atmospheric gas-to-particle conversion is a crucial or even dominant contributor to haze formation in Chinese megacities in terms of aerosol number, surface area and mass. Based on our comprehensive observations in Beijing during 15 January 2018-31 March 2019, we are able to show that 80-90% of the aerosol mass (PM2.5) was formed via atmospheric reactions during the haze days and over 65% of the number concentration of haze particles resulted from new particle formation (NPF). Furthermore, the haze formation was faster when the subsequent growth of newly formed particles was enhanced. Our findings suggest that in practice almost all present-day haze episodes originate from NPF, mainly since the direct emission of primary particles in Beijing has considerably decreased during recent years. We also show that reducing the subsequent growth rate of freshly formed particles by a factor of 3-5 would delay the buildup of haze episodes by 1-3 days. Actually, this delay would decrease the length of each haze episode, so that the number of annual haze days could be approximately halved. Such improvement in air quality can be achieved with targeted reduction of gas-phase precursors for NPF, mainly dimethyl amine and ammonia, and further reductions of SO2 emissions. Furthermore, reduction of anthropogenic organic and inorganic precursor emissions would slow down the growth rate of newly-formed particles and consequently reduce the haze formation.

Purification, Structural Characterization, and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of a Novel Polysaccharide Isolated from Orostachys fimbriata.

The present study elucidated the structural characteristics and anti-inflammatory activity of a novel polysaccharide isolated from Orostachys fimbriata, which is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant. O. fimbriata polysaccharide (OFP) was extracted and subsequently purified by chromatography using a DEAE cellulose-52 and Sephadex G-75 column. The molecular weight was determined as 6.2 kDa. HPGPC and monosaccharide composition analysis revealed a homogeneous polysaccharide containing only Glc. Chromatography and spectral analysis showed that the possible chemical structure consisted of →4)-α-Glcp-(1→ and a small quantity of →4,6)-ß-Glcp-(1→ in the main chain and →6)-ß-Glcp-(1→, α-Glcp-(1→, and ß-Glcp-(1→ in the side chain. Morphological analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) indicated that OFP had a multi-branched structure, and the sugar chain molecules of polysaccharide appeared aggregated. OFP was found to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity by reducing the secretion of inflammatory factors in RAW264.7 cells and by decreasing the extent of xylene-induced ear swelling in mice.

[Phytochemical and pharmacological progress on genus Syringa].

The genus Syringa, belonging to the family Oleaceae, are distributed naturally in the European and Asian regions.This genus is composed of more than 20 species worldwide, among which about 16 species including 10 endemic ones are discovered in China.The Syringa sp.are extensively used as herbal medicine and ornamental aspects, such as the roots and stems of S. pinnatifolia, which is one of the typical Mongolian folk medicines in China for the treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary symptoms. As a continuous research following the previous summary in 2015, the present reriew describes the phytochemical and pharmacological progress of the genus, which hopes to provide a valuable reference to its research, development and clinic application.

Characteristics and source apportionment of atmospheric volatile organic compounds in Beijing, China.

This paper focused on VOCs and their source apportionment in urban Beijing. Our monitoring measured 52 VOCs in July 2014 and January 2015. The concentration of VOCs was in the range of 14.5~95.2 ppb in July and 2.1~93.1 ppb in January, with the top five compounds of toluene (10.7%), ethane (6.9%), ethylene (6.3%), n-butane (5.7%), and propane (5.6%) in July and ethylene (14.7%), n-butane (14.2%), ethane (9.6%), propylene (8.0%), toluene (7.9%), and benzene (6.9%) in January. The ratio of VOCs to CO reached 0.059 in July and 0.022 in January on average. These differences implied a potential seasonal difference in the VOC source contribution. Then, we conducted a source apportionment study based on 21 major VOCs and CO by using probabilistic matrix factorization (PMF) receptor model. According to the similarity between the PMF analysis profiles and the known source profiles, combustion sources, petrochemical industry sources, solvent utilization sources, and gasoline evaporation sources were identified. The correlation coefficient (R) between the PMF analysis profile and the source profile reached 0.68~0.87 in July and 0.53~0.92 in January. The better apportionment performance in July was mainly due to the use of intensive VOC observations at a 3-h resolution. When we conducted another PMF source apportionment for July based on 12-h resolved concentration input, the R values decreased to 0.47~0.73. Thus, the PMF model depends heavily on the sample number of concentration inputs, and intensive observation is more propitious. Our PMF apportionment results showed that combustion sources, petrochemical industry, solvent utilization, gasoline evaporation, and other sources contributed ambient VOCs in Beijing urban areas of 13.7 ppb, 5.1 ppb, 7.7 ppb, 12.8 ppb, and 3.3 ppb in July and 13.2 ppb, 2.0 ppb, 5.7 ppb, 6.6 ppb, and 1.0 ppb in January, respectively, on a monthly average. These apportionment results match well with the 2013 VOC emission inventory calculated by this study, but also presented significant seasonal differences in the petrochemical industry and gasoline evaporation, in which VOC emissions strongly respond to environmental temperature.

Speciated VOCs emission estimate for a typical petrochemical manufacturing plant in China using inverse-dispersion calculation method.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play a key role in air pollution of China. Among various sources, petrochemical industry is one of the important contributors, but its VOC emission estimate still exists a big uncertainty. Therefore, this study developed an inverse-dispersion calculation method (IDM), and applied it in a typical petrochemical plant that manufactures ethylene (170 kt/year), polyethylene (100 kt/year), and polypropylene (61 kt/year), and determined the VOC emission amount for this complex industrial area source. Firstly, this study monitored VOC concentrations around this plant in April of 2017, and found that the VOCs at downwind receptors was obviously higher than the level at background, higher by 20.7 ppb on average. This VOC increment was mainly contributed by ethylene (30.4%), propylene (17.8%), pentanes (16.4%), and butanes (13.4%), which is consistent with the knowledge of VOC components emitted from the manufacturing of ethylene, polyethylene, and polypropylene. Then, by using the inverse-dispersion calculation method (IDM), we determined the relationship coefficient γ between source emission rate and ambient concentration for each receptor of each test based on an assumed source emission rate, combined γ with the actual VOC concentrations measured in monitoring tests, and estimated the average VOCs emission of 666.0 tons/year for this plant, including 18.1 tons for ethane, 21.1 tons for propane, 61.6 tons for isobutane, 44.3 tons for n-butane, 79.3 tons for isopentane, 56.8 tons for n-pentane, 115.4 tons for ethylene, 102.5 tons for propylene, 92.7 tons for benzene, and 74.1 tons for toluene. Our IDM estimate was in the same order with the traditional emission factor method estimate (916.4 tons VOCs per year for this plant), and we believed the IDM can be applied to effectively estimate the VOCs emissions for those complicated industrial sources.

Enrichment of cardiac differentiation by a large starting number of embryonic stem cells in embryoid bodies is mediated by the Wnt11-JNK pathway.

Embryoid bodies (EBs) with large starting numbers of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have a greater degree of cardiac differentiation than from low numbers of EBs. However, the biological roles of signaling molecules in these effects are not well understood. Here, we show that groups of EBs with different starting numbers of ESCs had differential gene expression patterns for Wnt5a and Wnt11. Wnt11 significantly increased the percentage of beating EBs by up-regulating the expression of the cardiac-specific genes. Wnt5a did not show these effects. Moreover, Wnt11 significantly increased the level of phosphorylated Jun N-terminal kinase. The inhibition of the JNK pathway by SP600125 blocked the effects of Wnt11. Thus, enrichment of cardiac differentiation in groups of EBs with a larger starting number of ESCs is mediated by the Wnt11-JNK pathway.

Transition to healthier lifestyle associated with reduced risk of incident dementia and decreased hippocampal atrophy.

BACKGROUND: Research has estimated the associations of lifestyle at one-time point with the risk of dementia and hippocampal volume, but the impact of lifestyle transition on dementia and hippocampal volume remains unclear. This study aims to examine the associations of lifestyle transition with the risk of dementia and hippocampal volume. METHODS: Based on data from the UK Biobank, a weighted lifestyle score was constructed by incorporating six lifestyle factors. Within each baseline lifestyle group (i.e., healthy, intermediate, and unhealthy), lifestyle transition was classified into decline, maintenance, and improvement. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate the association of lifestyle transition and incident dementia (N = 16,305). A multiple linear regression model was used to estimate the association between lifestyle transition and hippocampal volume (N = 5849). RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 8.6 years, 120 (0.7 %) dementia events were documented. Among participants with healthy baseline lifestyles, the improvement group had a lower risk of incident dementia (HR: 0.18, 95 % CI: 0.04-0.81) and a larger hippocampal volume (ß = 111.69, P = 0.026) than the decline group. Similar results were observed among participants with intermediate baseline lifestyles regarding dementia risk but not hippocampal volume. No benefits were observed in the improvement group among those with unhealthy baseline lifestyles. LIMITATIONS: A lower incidence of dementia than other cohort study and this may have resulted in an underestimation of the risk of dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Earlier transitions to healthier lifestyle were associated with reduced risk of incident dementia and decreased hippocampal atrophy.

Sex-Specific Association Between Childhood Adversity and Accelerated Biological Aging.

Is childhood adversity associated with biological aging, and if so, does sex modify the association, and do lifestyle and mental health mediate the association? A lifespan analysis is conducted using data on 142 872 participants from the UK Biobank to address these questions. Childhood adversity is assessed through the online mental health questionnaire (2016), including physical neglect, physical abuse, emotional neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and a cumulative score. Biological aging is indicated by telomere length (TL) measured from leukocyte DNA using qPCR, and the shorter TL indicates accelerated biological aging; a lifestyle score is constructed using body mass index, physical activity, drinking, smoking, and diet; mental disorder is assessed using depression, anxiety, and insomnia at the baseline survey. The results reveal a sex-specific association such that childhood adversity is associated with shorter TL in women after adjusting for covariates including polygenic risk score for TL, but not in men. Unhealthy lifestyle and mental disorder partially mediate the association in women. The proportions of indirect effects are largest for sexual and physical abuse. These findings highlight the importance of behavioral and psychological interventions in promoting healthy aging among women who experienced childhood adversity, particularly sexual and physical abuse.

Trajectories of Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference in Relation to the Risk of Cardiac Arrhythmia: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the current study was to explore the trajectories, variabilities, and cumulative exposures of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) with cardiac arrhythmia (CA) risks. METHODS: In total, 35,739 adults from the Kailuan study were included. BMI and WC were measured repeatedly during the 2006-2010 waves. CA was identified via electrocardiogram diagnosis. BMI and WC trajectories were fitted using a group-based trajectory model. The associations were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: We identified four stable trajectories for BMI and WC, respectively. Neither the BMI trajectories nor the baseline BMI values were associated with the risk of CA. Compared to the low-stable WC group, participants in the high-stable WC group had a higher risk of CA (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 1.86). Interestingly, the cumulative exposures of BMI and WC instead of their variabilities were associated with the risk of CA. In the stratified analyses, the positive associations of the high-stable WC group with the risk of CA were found in females only (HR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.02, 3.83). CONCLUSIONS: A high-stable WC trajectory is associated with a higher risk of CA among Chinese female adults, underscoring the potential of WC rather than BMI to identify adults who are at risk.

Accelerated aging mediates the associations of unhealthy lifestyles with cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality.

BACKGROUND: With two well-validated aging measures capturing mortality and morbidity risk, this study examined whether and to what extent aging mediates the associations of unhealthy lifestyles with adverse health outcomes. METHODS: Data were from 405,944 adults (40-69 years) from UK Biobank (UKB) and 9972 adults (20-84 years) from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). An unhealthy lifestyles score (range: 0-5) was constructed based on five factors (smoking, drinking, physical inactivity, unhealthy body mass index, and unhealthy diet). Two aging measures, Phenotypic Age Acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel) and Biological Age Acceleration (BioAgeAccel) were calculated using nine and seven blood biomarkers, respectively, with a higher value indicating the acceleration of aging. The outcomes included incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), incident cancer, and all-cause mortality in UKB; CVD mortality, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality in NHANES. A general linear regression model, Cox proportional hazards model, and formal mediation analysis were performed. RESULTS: The unhealthy lifestyles score was positively associated with PhenoAgeAccel (UKB: ß = 0.741; NHANES: ß = 0.874, all p < 0.001). We further confirmed the respective associations of PhenoAgeAccel and unhealthy lifestyles with the outcomes in UKB and NHANES. The mediation proportion of PhenoAgeAccel in associations of unhealthy lifestyles with incident CVD, incident cancer, and all-cause mortality were 20.0%, 17.8%, and 26.6% (all p < 0.001) in UKB, respectively. Similar results were found in NHANES. The findings were robust when using another aging measure-BioAgeAccel. CONCLUSIONS: Accelerated aging partially mediated the associations of lifestyles with CVD, cancer, and mortality in UK and US populations. The findings reveal a novel pathway and the potential of geroprotective programs in mitigating health inequality in late life beyond lifestyle interventions.

Time-dependent regulation of neuregulin-1ß/ErbB/ERK pathways in cardiac differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells.

Neuregulin-1ß (NRG-1ß)/ErbB signaling plays crucial roles in the cardiac differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), but its roles and the underlying mechanisms in cardiac differentiation are incompletely understood. This study showed that NRG-1ß significantly increased the percentage of beating embryoid bodies (EBs) and up-regulated the gene expressions of Nkx2.5, GATA4, α-actin, MLC-2v, and ANF in a time-dependent manner, with no effect on the gene expressions of HCN4 and Tbx3. Inhibition of ErbB receptors with AG1478 significantly decreased the percentage of beating EBs; down-regulated the gene expressions of Nkx2.5, GATA4, MLC-2v, ANF, and α-actin; and concomitantly up-regulated the gene expressions of HCN4 and Tbx3 in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, the up-regulation of transcripts for Nkx2.5 and GATA4 by NRG-1ß was blocked by the extracellular signal-related kinases (ERK) 1/2 inhibitor, U0126. However, U0126 could not inhibit the transcript up-regulations of MLC-2v and ANF by NRG-1ß. The protein quantitation results were consistent with those of gene quantitation. Our results suggest that NRG-1ß/ErbB signaling plays critical roles in the cardiac differentiation of mouse ESCs and in the subtype specification of cardiomyocytes in a time-dependent manner. The ERK1/2 pathway may be involved in the early cardiogenesis, but not in the subtype specification of cardiomyocytes.

Revision of the genus Hemitrachys Gorham, with discovery of a second species (Coleoptera: Cleridae: Clerinae).

The genus Hemitrachys Gorham, 1876 is revised and a new species Hemitrachys tubericollis n. sp. from China is described as the second species of this genus. Thirty-eight illustrations of habitus, genital and external characters are provided.