Titanium Dioxide and N-Doped Carbon Hybrid Nanofiber Modulated Ru Nanoclusters for High-Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalyst.

The designing and fabricating highly active hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts that can superior to Pt/C is extremely desirable but challenging. Herein, the fabrication of Ru/TiO2/N-doped carbon (Ru/TiO2/NC) nanofiber is reported as a novel and highly active HER electrocatalyst through electrospinning and subsequent pyrolysis treatment, in which Ru nanoclusters are dispersed into TiO2/NC hybrid nanofiber. As a novel support, experimental and theoretical calculation results reveal that TiO2/NC can more effectively accelerate water dissociation as well as optimize the adsorption strength of *H than TiO2 and NC, thus leading to a significantly enhanced HER activity, which merely requires an overpotential of 18 mV to reach 10 mA cm-2, outperforming Pt/C in an alkaline solution. The electrolytic cell composed of Ru/TiO2/NC nanofiber and NiFe LDH/NF can generate 500 and 1000 mA cm-2 at voltages of 1.631 and 1.753 V, respectively. Furthermore, the electrolytic cell also exhibits remarkable durability for at least 100 h at 200 mA cm-2 with negligible degradation in activity. The present work affords a deep insight into the influence of support on the activity of electrocatalyst and the strategy proposed in this research can also be extended to fabricate various other types of electrocatalysts for diverse electrocatalytic applications.

Wide field-of-view laser-based white light transmitter for visible light communications.

The advancement demands of high-speed wireless data link ask for higher requirements on visible light communication (VLC), where wide coverage stands as a critical criterion. Here, we present the design and implementation of a transmitter structure capable of emitting a high-power wide-coverage white light laser. This laser source exhibits excellent stability, with an irradiation range extending to a half-angle of 20°. Its high brightness satisfies the needs of indoor illumination while maintaining excellent communication performance. Utilizing bit-loading discrete multi-tone modulation, a peak data transmission rate of 3.24 Gbps has been achieved, spanning 1 to 5 m. Remarkably, the data rates exceed 2.5 Gbps within a 40° range at a distance of 5 m, enabling a long-distance, wide coverage, high-speed VLC link for future mobile network applications.

Laser-Based Mobile Visible Light Communication System.

Mobile visible light communication (VLC) is key for integrating lighting and communication applications in the 6G era, yet there exists a notable gap in experimental research on mobile VLC. In this study, we introduce a mobile VLC system and investigate the impact of mobility speed on communication performance. Leveraging a laser-based light transmitter with a wide coverage, we enable a light fidelity (LiFi) system with a mobile receiving end. The system is capable of supporting distances from 1 m to 4 m without a lens and could maintain a transmission rate of 500 Mbps. The transmission is stable at distances of 1 m and 2 m, but an increase in distance and speed introduces interference to the system, leading to a rise in the Bit Error Rate (BER). The mobile VLC experimental system provides a viable solution to the issue of mobile access in the integration of lighting and communication applications, establishing a solid practical foundation for future research.

Severity-stratification of interstitial lung disease by deep learning enabled assessment and quantification of lesion indicators from HRCT images.

BACKGROUND: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) represents a group of chronic heterogeneous diseases, and current clinical practice in assessment of ILD severity and progression mainly rely on the radiologist-based visual screening, which greatly restricts the accuracy of disease assessment due to the high inter- and intra-subjective observer variability. OBJECTIVE: To solve these problems, in this work, we propose a deep learning driven framework that can assess and quantify lesion indicators and outcome the prediction of severity of ILD. METHODS: In detail, we first present a convolutional neural network that can segment and quantify five types of lesions including HC, RO, GGO, CONS, and EMPH from HRCT of ILD patients, and then we conduct quantitative analysis to select the features related to ILD based on the segmented lesions and clinical data. Finally, a multivariate prediction model based on nomogram to predict the severity of ILD is established by combining multiple typical lesions. RESULTS: Experimental results showed that three lesions of HC, RO, and GGO could accurately predict ILD staging independently or combined with other HRCT features. Based on the HRCT, the used multivariate model can achieve the highest AUC value of 0.755 for HC, and the lowest AUC value of 0.701 for RO in stage I, and obtain the highest AUC value of 0.803 for HC, and the lowest AUC value of 0.733 for RO in stage II. Additionally, our ILD scoring model could achieve an average accuracy of 0.812 (0.736 - 0.888) in predicting the severity of ILD via cross-validation. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our proposed method provides effective segmentation of ILD lesions by a comprehensive deep-learning approach and confirms its potential effectiveness in improving diagnostic accuracy for clinicians.

Embryonic stem cell extracellular vesicles reverse the senescence of retinal pigment epithelial cells by the p38MAPK pathway.

Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cellular senescence is regarded as an initiator for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We previously demonstrated that by the coculture way, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can reverse the senescence of RPE cells, but xenograft cells can cause a plethora of adverse effects. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from ESCs can act as messengers to mediate nearby cell activities and have the same potential as ESCs to reverse RPE senescence. Furthermore, ESC-EVs have achieved preliminary efficacy while treating many age-related diseases. The present study aimed to test the effect of ESC-EVs on the replicative senescence model of RPE cells as well as its mechanism. The results showed that ESC-EVs enhanced the proliferative ability and cell cycle transition of senescent RPE cells, whereas reduced the senescence-associated galactosidase (SA-ß-gal) staining rate, as well as the levels of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Moreover, classical markers of cellular senescence p21WAF1/CIP1 (p21) and p16INK4a (p16) were downregulated. The bioinformatic analysis and further study showed that the inhibition of the p38MAPK pathway by ESC-EVs played a pivotal role in RPE cellular senescence-reversing effect, which was ameliorated or even abolished when dehydrocorydaline were administrated simultaneously, demonstrating that ESC-EVs can effectively reverse RPE cellular senesence by inhibiting the p38MAPK pathway, thus highlights the potential of ESC-derived EVs as biomaterials for preventative and protective therapy in AMD.

Tear film cytokines as prognostic indicators for predicting early recurrent pterygium.

Cytokine profiles in tears have become a noninvasive biomarker for various ocular surface diseases. Therefore, the preoperative profile of cytokines in tear samples of 89 primary pterygium patients were obtained from Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center during 2015-2017. Compared to the tear cytokines in primary groups, the concentrations of IL-8, MMP-1, MMP-9, bFGF and VEGF were generally higher in recurrent pterygium group. The five cytokines were used to build diagnostic models by multiple machine learning algorithms, which can accurately distinguish non-recurrent and recurrent samples of primary pterygium patients. Besides, these cytokines were significantly associated with Recurrent-free survival (RFS) time in pterygium patients and further applied to develop a prognostic model which can estimate the prognosis of pterygium after resection. Afterward, a novel nomogram combined risk score of cytokines related biomarker and clinical characteristics was constructed, which manifested ideal accuracies to predict the 1 and 2 years' probability of pterygium recurrent events. Thus, our finding provides a more simple and accurate prediction for early pterygium recurrence after resection. It also affords a useful tool for ophthalmologists to choose the optimal treatment strategies for pterygium patients.

Therapeutic effects and perspective of stem cell extracellular vesicles in aging and cancer.

Senescent cells can secrete a plethora of cytokines which induce senescent phenotype of neighboring cells and was called senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Previously, it was believed that cancer was caused by the infinite division and uncontrolled proliferation of cells. Based on this, anticancer treatments were all aimed at killing cancer cells. Cancer is now considered an age-related disease. Cancer cells are not exogenous, but one of the worst results of injuries which initially induce cell senescence. Therefore, reversing cell senescence can fundamentally prevent and treat cancer. Though current anticancer treatments induce the cancer cells apoptosis, they induce senescence of normal cells at the same time, thus promoting the occurrence and development of cancer and forming a vicious circle. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized vesicles which partially mirror their parent cells. In the tumor microenvironment, EVs of senescent cells can change the expression profile of cancer cells, contributing to their resistance to chemotherapy. There is growing evidence indicates that stem cell EVs exert effective antiaging and anticancer actions by transferring functional microRNAs and proteins. This review will summarize the therapeutic role of stem cell EVs in reversing aging and cancer, which suggests the broad clinical application perspective.

Bacterial agents and changes in drug susceptibilities in cases of chronic dacryocystitis, Southern China.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the susceptibility and the changes of bacterial agents of chronic dacryocystitis and determine the risk factors for bacterial prevalence and drug sensitivity to provide a reference for clinical selection of antibiotics. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted using 112 patients with chronic dacryocystitis and 112 patients with non-infectious ophthalmopathy between August 2017 and April 2018. Lacrimal and conjunctival sac secretions were cultured for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Forty-five patients with chronic dacryocystitis between November 2014 and November 2015 were also included. RESULTS: Positive bacterial cultures were obtained from 61.9% and 50.9% of chronic dacryocystitis and non-infectious ophthalmopathy patients, but the detection rates for pathogenic bacteria were 18.3% and 2.7%, respectively (P > 0.001). Gram-negative and anaerobic bacteria were significantly more prevalent in the patient group compared with the control group (P = 0.001 and 0.005, respectively). Bacteria were detected at a significantly higher rate in patients with irritant symptoms (itch or foreign-body sensation) than in those without (OR = 9.333, P = 0.002), particularly Staphylococcus (OR = 9.783, P = 0.002). 11.6% (10/86) and 55.8% (48/86) showed resistance to levofloxacin and tobramycin, respectively. Compared with three years ago, the detection rate for Gram-positive cocci decreased from 51.1% to 27.8% (χ2 = 8.054, P = 0.005) CONCLUSIONS: Gram-positive cocci, Gram-negative bacilli, and anaerobic bacteria were the predominant pathogens. The prevalence of Gram-positive bacteria in cases of chronic dacryocystitis is decreasing.

Development and validation of autophagy-related-gene biomarker and nomogram for predicting the survival of cutaneous melanoma.

Autophagy plays a critical role in cutaneous melanoma, but the prognostic research of differentially expressed autophagy-related genes (DEARGs) in melanoma is lacking. Therefore, autophagy-related gene expression data of 630 melanoma patients were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas database. The DEARGs were identified by "limma" package in R software. Best survival analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method were performed to identify a robust 7-DEARG signature as well as construct nomogram associated with the clinical characteristics and validation in internal and external sets. This 7-DEARG signature could be regarded as an independent prognostic signature in clinical setting, and nomogram may supply a more simple and accurate prediction for the prognosis of melanoma. Moreover, 5 cancer hallmarks and 18 potential compounds are commonly enriched in high-risk expression phenotype. Thus, our finding provides new clinical evidences for the accurate diagnosis and identifies a potential prognostic autophagy-related marker for the treatment of melanoma.

A core-skirt designed artificial cornea with orthogonal microfiber grid scaffold.

Artificial cornea is an effective treatment option for cases of severe corneal loss. In this study, we prepared a core-skirt designed artificial cornea with orthogonal microfiber grid scaffold. We fabricated PCL orthogonal microfiber grid scaffolds by a direct writing technique, and then combined them with compressed collagen (CC) to obtain a sandwich-like CC/P (where P is used to represent the PCL microfiber grid scaffold). PHEMA hydrogel and the CC/P served as the core and the skirt, respectively, with the P also serving as an intermediate between the two. The physical properties of the artificial cornea, including the morphology, the mechanical properties and the light transmittance, were evaluated. SEM images showed an effective connection and a lack of phase separation at the interface between the core and the skirt, and the skirt formed a highly porous scaffold that promoted tissue biointegration. In addition, we used the skirt structure to construct a corneal tissue model containing two cells types: corneal stromal stem cells (CSSCs) and mouse hippocampal neurons. The results showed that the cells could grow and differentiate well, and the orthogonal microfiber grid scaffold fibers were good guides for the structural growth of CSSCs and neuronal axons.

The Key Role of VEGF in the Cross Talk between Pterygium and Dry Eye and Its Clinical Significance.

PURPOSE: To examine whether dry eye severity is a risk factor for pterygium activity and whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is crucial in the cross talk between pterygium and dry eye. METHODS: A total of 103 patients with primary pterygium (Pteg) were included in the study group; they were divided into 2 groups according to the complication of dry eye (DE) (Pteg + DE group, Pteg - DE group). Further, 60 patients with just dry eye (DE group) and 60 normal individuals (normal) were included as 2 control groups. DE severity and pterygium activity were measured, and unstimulated tear samples and pterygium tissues were collected for cytokine detection. RESULTS: (1) Tear detection: VEGF expression increased in the Pteg + DE group compared to the Pteg - DE, DE, and normal control groups; VEGF was especially increased in the active Pteg + DE group. VEGF concentration was positively correlated with pterygium activity. (2) Tissue detection: the mRNA expression of VEGF was upregulated in the active pterygium group. CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation played an important role in the development of dry eye and pterygium. VEGF was the core molecule in the cross talk, which might explain the high incidence of the coexistence of these 2 diseases.

Chemical Constituents of Plants from the Genus Phlegmariurus.

Phlegmariurus is a genus of ca. 200 species in the family Huperziaceae. Up to now, six species of the Phlegmariurus genus have been chemically investigated, and 89 compounds, including Lycopodium alkaloids possessing diverse structures and serratane-type triterpenes, have been isolated. These compounds show potent bioactivities, such as acetylcholinesterase inhibitory and cytotoxic activities.

Roles of limbal microvascular net and limbal stroma in regulating maintenance of limbal epithelial stem cells.

Knowledge of the microenvironment (niche) of stem cells is helpful for stem-cell-based regenerative medicine. In the eye, limbal epithelial stem cells (corneal epithelial stem cells) provide the self-renewal capacity of the corneal epithelium and are essential for maintaining corneal transparency and vision. Limbal epithelial stem cell deficiency results in significant visual deterioration. Successful treatment of this type of blinding disease requires studies of the limbal epithelial stem cells and their microenvironment. We investigate the function of the limbal microvascular net and the limbal stroma in the maintenace of the limbal epithelial stem cell niche in vivo and examine the regulation of limbal epithelial stem cell survival, proliferation and differentiation in vivo. We assess the temporal and spatial changes in the expression patterns of the following markers during a six-month follow-up of various rabbit limbal autograft transplantation models: vascular endothelial cell marker CD31, corneal epithelium differentiation marker K3, limbal epithelial stem-cell-associated markers P63 and ABCG2 and proliferating cell nuclear marker Ki67. Our results suggest that limbal epithelial stem cells cannot maintain their stemness or proliferation without the support of the limbal microvascular net microenvironment. Thus, both the limbal microvascular net and the limbal stroma play important roles as components of the limbal epithelial stem cell niche maintaining limbal epithelial stem cell survival and proliferation and the avoidance of differentiation. The limbal stroma constitutes the structural basis of the limbal epithelial stem cell niche and the limbal microvascular net is a requirement for this niche. These new insights should aid the eventual construction of tissue-engineered cornea for corneal blind patients in the future.

Effects of different ground segmentation methods on the accuracy of UAV-based canopy volume measurements.

The nonuniform distribution of fruit tree canopies in space poses a challenge for precision management. In recent years, with the development of Structure from Motion (SFM) technology, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing has been widely used to measure canopy features in orchards to balance efficiency and accuracy. A pipeline of canopy volume measurement based on UAV remote sensing was developed, in which RGB and digital surface model (DSM) orthophotos were constructed from captured RGB images, and then the canopy was segmented using U-Net, OTSU, and RANSAC methods, and the volume was calculated. The accuracy of the segmentation and the canopy volume measurement were compared. The results show that the U-Net trained with RGB and DSM achieves the best accuracy in the segmentation task, with mean intersection of concatenation (MIoU) of 84.75% and mean pixel accuracy (MPA) of 92.58%. However, in the canopy volume estimation task, the U-Net trained with DSM only achieved the best accuracy with Root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.410 m3, relative root mean square error (rRMSE) of 6.40%, and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 4.74%. The deep learning-based segmentation method achieved higher accuracy in both the segmentation task and the canopy volume measurement task. For canopy volumes up to 7.50 m3, OTSU and RANSAC achieve an RMSE of 0.521 m3 and 0.580 m3, respectively. Therefore, in the case of manually labeled datasets, the use of U-Net to segment the canopy region can achieve higher accuracy of canopy volume measurement. If it is difficult to cover the cost of data labeling, ground segmentation using partitioned OTSU can yield more accurate canopy volumes than RANSAC.

Comparative study of the effects of recombinant human epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor on corneal epithelial wound healing and neovascularization in vivo and in vitro.

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on corneal wound healing and neovascularization (CNV). METHODS: The positive effects of 10 ng/ml rhEGF and bFGF on the proliferation of corneal epithelial cells (SD-HCEC1s), rabbit keratocyte cells (RKCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as well as the effects on the migration capacity on HUVECs were observed. An animal central corneal wound and CNV model was established in rabbits. One eye of each group was chosen randomly for topical administration of rhEGF, bFGF or normal saline, and variability in the area of corneal epithelial wound healing and CNV was observed. RESULTS: The optimal concentration of rhEGF and bFGF for the proliferation of corneal epithelial cells was 10 ng/ml. The promotive effect of 10 ng/ml rhEGF on the proliferation of RKCs and HUVECs was less than that of 10 ng/ml bFGF. In the animal experiment, the healing rate of the corneal epithelium in the rhEGF group was better than in the other groups on day 1. On day 3, the healing rates of the 3 groups were nearly equal. The CNV area in the rhEGF group was less than that of the bFGF group. CONCLUSIONS: rhEGF and bFGF both had promotive effects on corneal epithelial wound healing, but rhEGF had a weaker promotive effect on CNV than bFGF. With long-term application of growth factor drugs, rhEGF is suggested for lessening the growth of CNV.

Trigeminal nerve-derived substance P regulates limbal stem cells by the PI3K-AKT pathway.

Trigeminal nerve-derived substance P (SP), a widespread neuropeptide, is known to maintain the corneal epithelial homeostasis and promote the closure of wound healing. Using comprehensive in vivo and in vitro assays and RNA-sequencing analysis, we aimed to unveil the positive effects of SP on the biological characteristics of limbal stem cells (LSCs) and the underlying mechanism. SP enhanced the proliferation and stemness of LSCs in vitro. Correspondingly, it rescued corneal defects, corneal sensitivity, and the expression of LSC-positive markers in a neurotrophic keratopathy (NK) mouse model in vivo. Topical injection of a neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) antagonist caused similar pathological changes as in corneal denervated mice and attenuated LSC-positive markers levels. Mechanistically, we revealed that SP regulated LSCs functions by modulating the PI3K-AKT pathway. Our findings showed that the trigeminal nerve regulates LSCs by releasing SP, which may provide new insights into the regulation of LSCs' fate and stem cell therapy.

Long-term cultivation of human corneal endothelial cells by telomerase expression.

The objective of this study was to explore the potential role of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in extending the proliferative lifespan of human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs) under long-term cultivation. A primary culture was initiated with a pure population of HCECs in DMEM/F12 media containing 10% fetal bovine serum and other various supplements. TERT gene was successfully transfected into normal HCECs. A stable HCECs cell line (TERT-HCECs) that expressed TERT was established. The cells could be subcultured for 36 passages. Within this line of cells, TERT not only extended proliferative lifespan and inhibited apoptosis but also enhanced the cell line remaining the normal characteristics similar to HCECs. There were no significantly differences in the expression of the pump function related proteins voltage dependent anion channel 3 (VDAC3), sodium bicarbonate cotransporter member 4 (SLC4A4), chloride channel protein 3 (CLCN3), Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase α1, and ZO-1 in the cell line TERT-HCECs and primary HCECs. TERT-HCECs formed a monolayer cell sheet, maintained similar cell junction formation and pump function with primary HCECs. Karyotype analysis exhibited normal chromosomal numbers. The soft agar colony assay and tumor formation in nude mice assay showed no malignant alterations in TERT-HCECs. Our findings indicated that we had established a cell line with its similar phenotype and properties to primary HCECs. Further study of the TERT-HCECs may be valuable in studying the function of the cells in vivo.

[Study on the treatment of dry eye with Loteprednol Etabonate].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy and safety of 0.5% Loteprednol Etabonate ophthalmic suspension in the treatment of moderate dry eye. METHODS: Totally 34 dry eye patients (68 eyes) in grade 2 or grade 3 (DEWS standard) enrolled in our hospital from March 2009 to September 2010 were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (Loteprednol Etabonate Group) and the control group (Cyclosporine A, CsA group). 0.5% Loteprednol Etabonate ophthalmic suspension or 1% CsA eye drops was applied 2 times a day respectively together with 0.2% Liposic eye drops (4 - 6 times/day). Questionnaire was used in these patients before the treatment and repeated every 2 weeks during the treatment till 8 weeks. Slit lamp microscope examination, fluorescent staining, tear break-up time (BUT), Schirmer I test (SIt) and intraocular pressure measurement were carried out at the same time point. The conjunctival impression cytology (IC) was performed before the treatment and 8 weeks after the treatment. The mean of the results were compared by t-tests and χ(2) test. RESULTS: After 2 weeks of the treatment, the mean score of the questionnaire was significantly lower than that before the treatment in each group (t = 5.36, 3.63, P < 0.01). After 4 weeks of the treatment, the inflammation of the ocular surface was relieved obviously in both group and the mean score of the corneal fluorescein staining (FL) was lower than that before the treatment in each group. The average density of the goblet cells before the treatment was (181.2 ± 16.1)/mm(2) and (179.4 ± 17.5)/mm(2) in each group respectively. After 8 weeks of the treatment, this increased to (348.6 ± 22.5)/mm(2) and (360.4 ± 27.8)/mm(2) significantly (t = 16.9, 16.3, P < 0.05). BUT was significantly prolonged in each group after the treatment (P < 0.01). There was no significant change in ST I or NCT in each group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Topical 0.5% Loteprednol Etabonate ophthalmic suspension is safe and effective for the treatment of moderate dry eye.

Development of multifunctional unmanned aerial vehicles versus ground seeding and outplanting: What is more effective for improving the growth and quality of rice culture?

The agronomic processes are complex in rice production. The mechanization efficiency is low in seeding, fertilization, and pesticide application, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Currently, many kinds of research focus on the single operation of UAVs on rice, but there is a paucity of comprehensive applications for the whole process of seeding, fertilization, and pesticide application. Based on the previous research synthetically, a multifunctional unmanned aerial vehicle (mUAV) was designed for rice planting management based on the intelligent operation platform, which realized three functions of seeding, fertilizer spreading, and pesticide application on the same flight platform. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were used for machine design. Field trials were used to measure operating parameters. Finally, a comparative experimental analysis of the whole process was conducted by comparing the cultivation patterns of mUAV seeding (T1) with mechanical rice direct seeder (T2), and mechanical rice transplanter (T3). The comprehensive benefit of different rice management processes was evaluated. The results showed that the downwash wind field of the mUAV fluctuated widely from 0 to 1.5 m, with the spreading height of 2.5 m, and the pesticide application height of 3 m, which meet the operational requirements. There was no significant difference in yield between T1, T2, and T3 test areas, while the differences in operational efficiency and input labor costs were large. In the sowing stage, T1 had obvious advantages since the working efficiency was 2.2 times higher than T2, and the labor cost was reduced by 68.5%. The advantages were more obvious compared to T3, the working efficiency was 4 times higher than in T3, and the labor cost was reduced by 82.5%. During the pesticide application, T1 still had an advantage, but it was not a significant increase in advantage relative to the seeding stage, in which operating efficiency increased by 1.3 times and labor costs were reduced by 25%. However, the fertilization of T1 was not advantageous due to load and other limitations. Compared to T2 and T3, operational efficiency was reduced by 80% and labor costs increased by 14.3%. It is hoped that this research will provide new equipment for rice cultivation patterns in different environments, while improving rice mechanization, reducing labor inputs, and lowering costs.

Ligation of TLR2 and TLR4 on murine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells triggers differential effects on their immunosuppressive activity.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have potent regulatory effects on immune and inflammatory responses. Recently the findings of functional TLR expression on MSC implicates these receptors in the function established for MSCs. Here we specially investigated the effects of TLR2, 4 ligation in mice MSC on migration, modulation of allogeneic mixed lymphocytes reaction (allo-MLR) and inducing Treg cells. We demonstrated that ligation of TLR2, but not TLR4, could significantly inhibit migration of MSC, impair MSC-mediated immunosuppression on allo-MLR, and reduce MSC-mediated expansion of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. Compared with TLR4 activated MSCs and non-TLR activated MSC, TLR2 activation induced a relatively lower level of CXCL-10 mRNA and protein expressions which has been elucidated to act in concert with other soluble factor in MSC-mediated immunomodulation. These data indicate that TLR2 and TLR4 ligation had different effects on immunomodulatory capability of murine BMSCs, which should be considered in their use for treating inflammatory diseases.