Prediction Technique and Measuring Device for Coupled Disturbance Forces from Large Equipment in the Spacecraft.

To guarantee the accuracy of sophisticated equipment in spacecraft, it is essential to evaluate the dynamic forces of vibration sources. In contrast to conventional rigid-based measuring approaches, a method for predicting the interference of dynamic forces from large sources on spacecraft considering vibration coupling is proposed. In addition, a flexible-based dynamic force measuring platform capable of withstanding large masses and mounting large-volume vibration sources is designed. After that, the experiments for calibrating the platform and acquiring unknown terms in the derived theoretical models are detailed. The principle prototype is then manufactured for feasibility verification. It is demonstrated that despite the low fundamental frequency of the measuring platform of 242.8 Hz, the measurement error of the flexible measuring platform is less than 8% when the coupling is taken into account, which is 29% lower than that without coupling. Additionally, the prediction error of disturbance forces is within 17%. As a result, the accuracy of the proposed dynamic force measurement and prediction of large vibration sources considering coupling is substantially improved, providing a good reference for aerospace applications.

CPEB2 inhibit cell proliferation through upregulating p21 mRNA stability in glioma.

Glioma is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults and remains an incurable disease at present. Thus, there is an urgent need for progress in finding novel molecular mechanisms that control the progression of glioma which could be used as therapeutic targets for glioma patients. The RNA binding protein cytoplasmic polyadenylate element-binding protein 2 (CPEB2) is involved in the pathogenesis of several tumors. However, the role of CPEB2 in glioma progression is unknown. In this study, the functional characterization of the role and molecular mechanism of CPEB2 in glioma were examined using a series of biological and cellular approaches in vitro and in vivo. Our work shows CPEB2 is significantly downregulated in various glioma patient cohorts. Functional characterization of CPEB2 by overexpression and knockdown revealed that it inhibits glioma cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis. CPEB2 exerts an anti-tumor effect by increasing p21 mRNA stability and inducing G1 cell cycle arrest in glioma. Overall, this work stands as the first report of CPEB2 downregulation and involvement in glioma pathogenesis, and identifies CPEB2 as an important tumor suppressor gene through targeting p21 in glioma, which revealed that CPEB2 may become a promising predictive biomarker for prognosis in glioma patients.

Assessing the Expression of Long INterspersed Elements (LINEs) via Long-Read Sequencing in Diverse Human Tissues and Cell Lines.

Transposable elements, such as Long INterspersed Elements (LINEs), are DNA sequences that can replicate within genomes. LINEs replicate using an RNA intermediate followed by reverse transcription and are typically a few kilobases in length. LINE activity creates genomic structural variants in human populations and leads to somatic alterations in cancer genomes. Long-read RNA sequencing technologies, including Oxford Nanopore and PacBio, can directly sequence relatively long transcripts, thus providing the opportunity to examine full-length LINE transcripts. This study focuses on the development of a new bioinformatics pipeline for the identification and quantification of active, full-length LINE transcripts in diverse human tissues and cell lines. In our pipeline, we utilized RepeatMasker to identify LINE-1 (L1) transcripts from long-read transcriptome data and incorporated several criteria, such as transcript start position, divergence, and length, to remove likely false positives. Comparisons between cancerous and normal cell lines, as well as human tissue samples, revealed elevated expression levels of young LINEs in cancer, particularly at intact L1 loci. By employing bioinformatics methodologies on long-read transcriptome data, this study demonstrates the landscape of L1 expression in tissues and cell lines.

Scalable, flexible carbon fiber electrode thread arrays for three-dimensional probing of neurochemical activity in deep brain structures of rodents.

We developed a flexible "electrode-thread" array for recording dopamine neurochemicals from a lateral distribution of subcortical targets (up to 16) transverse to the axis of insertion. Ultrathin (∼10 µm diameter) carbon fiber (CF) electrode-threads (CFETs) are clustered into a tight bundle to introduce them into the brain from a single-entry point. The individual CFETs splay laterally in deep brain tissue during insertion due to their innate flexibility. This spatial redistribution allows navigation of the CFETs towards deep brain targets spreading horizontally from the axis of insertion. Commercial "linear" arrays provide single-entry insertion but only allow measurements along the axis of insertion. Horizontally configured arrays inflict separate penetrations for each individual channel. We tested functional performance of our CFET arrays in vivo for recording dopamine and for providing lateral spread to multiple distributed sites in the rat striatum. Spatial spread was further characterized in agar brain phantoms as a function of insertion depth. We also developed protocols to slice the embedded CFETs within fixed brain tissue using standard histology. This method allowed extraction of the precise spatial coordinates of the implanted CFETs and their recording sites as integrated with immunohistochemical staining for surrounding anatomical, cytological, and protein expression labels. Our CFET array has the potential to unlock a wide range of applications, from uncovering the role of neuromodulators in synaptic plasticity, to addressing critical safety barriers in clinical translation towards diagnostic and adaptive treatment in Parkinson's disease and major mood disorders.

Role of plectin and its interacting molecules in cancer.

Plectin, as the cytolinker and scaffolding protein, are widely expressed and abundant in many tissues, and has involved in various cellular activities contributing to tumorigenesis, such as cell adhesion, migration, and signal transduction. Due to the specific expression and differential localization of plectin in cancer, most researchers focus on the role of plectin in cancer, and it has emerged as a potent driver of malignant hallmarks in many human cancers, which provides the possibility for plectin to be widely used as a biomarker and therapeutic target in the early diagnosis and targeted drug delivery of the disease. However, there is still a lack of systematic review on the interaction molecules and mechanism of plectin. Herein, we summarized the structure, expression and function of plectin, and mainly focused on recent studies on the functional and physical interactions between plectin and its interacting molecules, shedding light on the potential of targeting plectin for cancer therapy.

Scalable, flexible carbon fiber electrode thread arrays for three-dimensional spatial profiling of neurochemical activity in deep brain structures of rodents.

We developed a flexible "electrode-thread" array for recording dopamine neurochemical activity from a lateral distribution of subcortical targets (up to 16) transverse to the axis of insertion. Ultrathin (∼ 10 µm diameter) carbon fiber (CF) electrode-threads (CFETs) are clustered into a tight bundle to introduce them into the brain from a single entry point. The individual CFETs splay laterally in deep brain tissue during insertion due to their innate flexibility. This spatial redistribution allows navigation of the CFETs towards deep brain targets spreading horizontally from the axis of insertion. Commercial "linear" arrays provide single entry insertion but only allow measurements along the axis of insertion. Horizontally configured neurochemical recording arrays inflict separate penetrations for each individual channel (i.e., electrode). We tested functional performance of our CFET arrays in vivo for recording dopamine neurochemical dynamics and for providing lateral spread to multiple distributed sites in the striatum of rats. Spatial spread was further characterized using agar brain phantoms to measure electrode deflection as a function of insertion depth. We also developed protocols to slice the embedded CFETs within fixed brain tissue using standard histology techniques. This method allowed extraction of the precise spatial coordinates of the implanted CFETs and their recording sites as integrated with immunohistochemical staining for surrounding anatomical, cytological, and protein expression labels. Neurochemical recording operations tested here can be integrated with already widely established capabilities of CF-based electrodes to record single neuron activity and local field potentials, to enable multi-modal recording functions. Our CFET array has the potential to unlock a wide range of applications, from uncovering the role of neuromodulators in synaptic plasticity, to addressing critical safety barriers in clinical translation towards diagnostic and adaptive treatment in Parkinson's disease and major mood disorders.

[Study on molecular phylogeny of Schistosoma sinensium based on mitochondrial genes].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the phylogenetic position of Schistosoma sinensium in the genus Schistosoma using mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase 1 (CO1) and NADH dehydrogenase 1(ND1) as molecular markers. METHODS: The genomic DNA of adult worms were extracted by the GNT-K method. The target regions were amplified by PCR using specific primers. The PCR products were purified before ligation into the plasmid Zero-Blunt. Recombinant plasmids were amplified in E. coli, extracted and purified using routine methods and then sequenced using M13 primers (F/R) on a Licor long-read auto-sequencer. Sequences of related schistosomes were retrieved from GenBank and aligned with our data in the sequence editor ESEE. Gene trees were constructed in PHYLIP and MEGA using both maximum parsimony and neighbor-joining methods. For parsimony analysis, all characters were treated as unordered and with equal weights. At least 3,000 cycles of bootstrapping were carried out. For analysis in MEGA, all gap columns were deleted. The third position of codon was included. RESULTS: The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of CO1 and ND1 of S. sinensium were obtained. CONCLUSION: The phylogenetic trees from these molecular data suggested that S. sinensium belongs to the Asian schistosome group, and the results coincided with the previous rDNA (ITS2 & LSU) analysis results.

[Study on genomic diversity among different isolates of Schistosoma japonicum in China].

OBJECTIVE: To study genomic diversity among the isolates of Schistosoma japonicum in China. METHODS: Schistosome adults were collected from different endemic areas. Mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 1 (ND1) and cytochrome C oxidase 1 (CO1) gene fragments of the worms were amplified by PCR, cloned into plasmid, and finally sequenced. Program MEGA was used for sequence analysis. RESULTS: The ND1 and CO1 genes amplified from different geographic strains were 476 bp and 1,033 bp, respectively. There are two distinct haplotypes, type I and II, for both ND1 and CO1 nucleotide sequences. The differences between the two types were 4.0% and 3.4%. They are considered to be two different genetypes by the phylogenetic analysis. In individual mitochondrial gene, type I of ND1 was fixedly accompanied with type I of CO1 gene, and type II of ND1 with type II of CO1. CONCLUSION: There are two different genetypes of ND1 and CO1 genes of S. japonicum in China.

[Sequence analysis of rDNA-LSU gene of Orientobilharzia turkestanicum from mainland of China].

OBJECTIVE: To classify the taxonomic status of O. cheni in relation to O. turkestanicum var. tuberculata from the mainland of China by comparing their nucleotide sequences of nuclear ribosomal partial large subunit gene (LSU). METHODS: The genomic DNA of adult worms were extracted by the GNT-K method. The target gene was amplified by PCR using specific primers. The PCR products were purified before ligation into the plasmid PCR-blunt (Invitrogen). Recombinant plasmids were amplified in E. coli, extracted and purified using routine methods and then sequenced using M13 primers (F/R) on a Licor long-read auto-sequencer. Sequences of O. turkestanicum was retrieved from GenBank and aligned with our data in BioEdit. RESULTS: The nucleotide sequences of LSU between O. turkestanicum var. tuberculata and O. cheni was 100% identical, and 99.99% identical between O. turkestanicum var. tuberculata and O. turkestanicum. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated high similarity in LSU nucleotide sequences, and the results do not support O. cheni as an independent species. O. cheni may be a synonym of O. turkestanicum var. tuberculata, and O. turkestanicum var. tuberculata is probably also a synonym of O. turkestanicum.