A simple feature of yielding behavior of highly dense suspensions of soft micro-hydrogel particles.

The highly dense suspensions of soft micro-hydrogels with a narrow size distribution (typically ϕeff > 0.9 where ϕeff is the apparent volume fraction of the particle), which form a regular lattice structure, exhibit a simple feature in the yielding behavior: the yield strain γc [ca. 2.5% and ca. 4.8% for poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide) (PNIPMA) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) hydrogel particles, respectively] is nearly insensitive to the cross-link concentration (cx), particle diameter (Dh), and particle concentration (c) in the limited c range examined here, and γc is almost constant in a wide range of equilibrium shear moduli over two orders of magnitude. In addition, no appreciable difference in γc is observed in the dense pastes with crystalline and glassy structures which are formed by mono- and bidisperse microgels, respectively. This is in contrast to a finite difference in γc for the crystal and glass formed by the hard sphere reported by Koumakis et al. [Soft Matter, 4, 2008 (2008)]. Furthermore, the highly dense suspensions of NIPA core-NIPMA shell microgels are similar in γc to those of NIPMA microgels. These results indicate that γc for the highly dense suspensions of soft micro-hydrogels depends primarily on the kind of constituent polymer near the particle surface. The yield strain γc is expected to be governed by short-range interactions such as adhesion and friction.

Almost sure stability criteria for linear Markovian switching systems.

We present some stability criteria mainly for continuous-time Markovian switching systems, which can provide us with an insight into the mechanism that drives the subsystems to interact with each other so as to achieve stability. On the one hand, directly computing the Lyapunov exponent through the state-transition matrix of the system under consideration allows us to capture the interaction of subsystems by using the method developed in discrete-time setting. On the other hand, we can make sense of how the subsystems are orchestrated by the statistical property of switching signal through a family of coupled Lyapunov inequalities, which naturally covers the stability in the mean-square sense as a special case. Three examples are included to illustrate the theoretical results.

[Determination of lead and isotope ratios in whole blood by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a method to determine lead and Isotope Ratios in whole blood by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). METHODS: The whole blood samples was removed protein by 5% nitric acid , Online join thallium (Tl) as internal standard substance, used lyophilized bovine blood lead and cadmium standard material (GBW09139h and GBW09140h) for quality control of blood lead concentrations. Lead isotope standard substances (GBW04426) is used to determine the correction factor, lead isotope ratios will lead isotope standard reference material NIST SRM981 by icp-ms with samples for testing. RESULTS: Optimize the detection method, detection of blood lead and lead isotope, and the method of linear range r >0.9999, GBW09139h and GBW09140h test results are within the scope of quality control. NIST SRM981 isotope determination precision RSD<1%, NIST SRM981 test results and the certificate of value close to. CONCLUSION: The method is simple and convenient data is reliable, can meet the total lead (pb) in blood and former isotope simultaneous determination.

Diverse interactions of five core type III effectors from Ralstonia solanacearum with plants.

Ralstonia solanacearum is a widespread plant bacterial pathogen that can launch a range of type III effectors (T3Es) to cause disease. In this study, we isolate a pathogenic R. solanacearum strain named P380 from tomato rhizosphere. Five out of 12 core T3Es of strain P380 are introduced into Pseudomonas syringae DC3000D36E separately to determine their functions in interacting with plants. DC3000D36E that harbors each effector suppresses FliC-triggered Pti5 and ACRE31 expression, ROS burst, and callose deposition. RipAE, RipU, and RipW elicit cell death as well as upregulate the MAPK cascades in Nicotiana benthamiana. The derivatives RipC1ΔDXDX(T/V) and RipWΔDKXXQ but not RipAEK310R fail to suppress ROS burst. Moreover, RipAEK310R and RipWΔDKXXQ retain the cell death elicitation ability. RipAE and RipW are associated with salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways, respectively. RipAE and RipAQ significantly promote the propagation of DC3000D36E in plants. The five core T3Es localize in diverse subcellular organelles of nucleus, plasma membrane, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi network. The suppressor of G2 allele of Skp1 is required for RipAE but not RipU-triggered cell death in N. benthamiana. These results indicate that the core T3Es in R. solanacearum play diverse roles in plant-pathogen interactions.

Long non-coding RNA PRR7-AS1 promotes osteosarcoma progression via binding RNF2 to transcriptionally suppress MTUS1.

Introduction: Osteosarcoma is a common bone malignant tumor in adolescents with high mortality and poor prognosis. At present, the progress of osteosarcoma and effective treatment strategies are not clear. This study provides a new potential target for the progression and treatment of osteosarcoma. Methods: The relationship between lncRNA PRR7-AS1 and osteosarcoma was analyzed using the osteosarcoma databases and clinical sample testing. Cell function assays and tumor lung metastasis were employed to study the effects of PRR7-AS1 on tumorigenesis in vivo and in vitro. Potential downstream RNF2 of PRR7-AS1 was identified and explored using RNA pulldown and RIP. The GTRD and KnockTF database were used to predict the downstream target gene, MTUS1, and ChIP-qPCR experiments were used to verify the working mechanismy. Rescue experiments were utilized to confirm the role of MTUS1 in the pathway. Results: Deep mining of osteosarcoma databases combined with clinical sample testing revealed a positive correlation between lncRNA PRR7-AS1 and osteosarcoma progression. Knockdown of PRR7-AS1 inhibited osteosarcoma cell proliferation and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, RNA pulldown and RIP revealed that PRR7-AS1 may bind RNF2 to play a cancer-promoting role. ChIP-qPCR experiments were utilized to validate the working mechanism of the downstream target gene MTUS1. RNF2 inhibited the transcription of MTUS1 through histone H2A lysine 119 monoubiquitin. Rescue experiments confirmed MTUS1 as a downstream direct target of PRR7-AS1 and RNF2. Discussion: We identified lncRNA PRR7-AS1 as an important oncogene in osteosarcoma progression, indicating that it may be a potential target for diagnosis and prognosis of osteosarcoma.

Pseudomonas syringae Type III Secretion Protein HrpP Manipulates Plant Immunity To Promote Infection.

The bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae deploys a type III secretion system (T3SS) to deliver effector proteins into plant cells to facilitate infection, for which many effectors have been characterized for their interactions. However, few T3SS Hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity) proteins from the T3SS secretion apparatus have been studied for their direct interactions with plants. Here, we show that the P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 T3SS protein HrpP induces host cell death, suppresses pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), and restores the effector translocation ability of the hrpP mutant. The hrpP-transgenic Arabidopsis lines exhibited decreased PTI responses to flg22 and elf18 and enhanced disease susceptibility to P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000. Transcriptome analysis reveals that HrpP sensing activates salicylic acid (SA) signaling while suppressing jasmonic acid (JA) signaling, which correlates with increased SA accumulation and decreased JA biosynthesis. Both yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays show that HrpP interacts with mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 2 (MKK2) on the plant membrane and in the nucleus. The HrpP truncation HrpP1-119, rather than HrpP1-101, retains the ability to interact with MKK2 and suppress PTI in plants. In contrast, HrpP1-101 continues to cause cell death and electrolyte leakage. MKK2 silencing compromises SA signaling but has no effect on cell death caused by HrpP. Overall, our work highlights that the P. syringae T3SS protein HrpP facilitates effector translocation and manipulates plant immunity to facilitate bacterial infection. IMPORTANCE The T3SS is required for the virulence of many Gram-negative bacterial pathogens of plants and animals. This study focuses on the sensing and function of the T3SS protein HrpP during plant interactions. Our findings show that HrpP and its N-terminal truncation HrpP1-119 can interact with MKK2, promote effector translocation, and manipulate plant immunity to facilitate bacterial infection, highlighting the P. syringae T3SS component involved in the fine-tuning of plant immunity.

[Evaluation of the capacity of personal protection on poison emergency items in Chinese disease control and prevention institutes].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the capacity of personal protection on poison emergency items in Chinese disease control and prevention institutes. METHODS: Evaluation analysis based on data obtained from investigating personal protection equipments and professional knowledge quizzing about personal protection in poisoning control of 57 different level centers for disease control and prevention selected from China by a multi-stage stratified sampling. RESULTS: All 80.70% of the institutes possessed the protection equipments, provincial, municipal, county level institutes were 100.00%, 95.24%, 66.67%, respectively, with significant statistical difference (H = 7.94, P < 0.05). The average level of the type of individual protective equipments in disease control and prevention institutes was (5.42 +/- 4.00) kinds, the average points in category of provincial, municipal, county level institutes were (11.33 +/- 3.67), (6.52 +/- 3.16), (3.47 +/- 3.10) kinds, being statistically significant (F = 17.30, P < 0.05); type difference counts of disease control and prevention institutes in economic development, secondary, less-developed regions were (6.41 +/- 4.03), (3.55 +/- 3.35), (6.45 +/- 4.07) kinds, with statistical significance (F = 3.70, P < 0.05). Protection equipments chiefly possessed were latex gloves, gauze masks and C-protective clothing. Protective clothing and respiratory protective equipments were insufficient evidently. The average points in testing personal protection basic knowledge were (71.39 +/- 12.52) points; there were no differences between different institutes with different economic regions, levels, technical posts and title degrees. CONCLUSION: Certain advances have been achieved in recent years in personal protection capacity of institutes for disease control and prevention, but far from the actual demands, and maybe no enough effective response on emergency occurred.

[Experimental study on therapeutic efficacy of tetrandrine on lung injury induced by acute of paraquat poisoning].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the antagonistic efficacy of tetrandrine (TET) on lung injury induced by acute paraquat poisoning. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (control group, non-treatment group and treatment group). The tetrandrine of 30 mg/kg was given by gastric lavage six hours after 32 rats were intraperitoneally injected with paraquat 15 mg/kg (treatment group). Then the same dose of tetrandrine was given once a day. Normal saline of the same volume was given by gastric lavage in another 32 rats intraperitoneally injected with paraquat 15 mg/kg (non-treatment group). Seven rats were intraperitoneally injected by normal saline as the control group. Levels of maleic dialdehyde (MDA), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in plasma and the lung homogenate of three groups were determined at 3 d, 7 d, 14 d and 21 d after exposure to paraquat. Histological changes of the lungs were observed. RESULTS: The levels of MDA at 3 d both in plasma [(3.65 +/- 0.44) nmol/ml] and the lung homogenate [(9.54 +/- 0.92) nmol/mg pro] of the non-treatment group significantly increased compared with the control group (P < 0.01), the activities of GSH-Px and SOD in plasma at 3 d were significantly less than the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), the activities of GSH-Px (3 d, 7 d) and SOD (7 d, 14 d) in the lung homogenate were significantly less than the control group (P < 0.05). There were no significant difference in the levels of MDA both in plasma and the lung homogenate between the treatment group and the non-treatment group (P > 0.05). The SOD activities of treatment group on the third day was significantly increased compared with the non-treatment group (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Although the activities of GSH-Px in plasma and the lung homogenate of the treatment group on the third day were increased, there was no significantly difference compared with the non-treatment group (P > 0.05). The integral score of pulmonary fibrosis in the treatment group were significantly lower than in the non-treatment group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: TET has antagonistic effect against acute toxicity of paraquat through significant reduction of pulmonary fibrosis.

Effects of a psychological intervention programme on mental stress, coping style and immune function in percutaneous coronary intervention patients.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the effects of a psychological intervention programme on the mental stress, coping style and cortisol and IL-2 levels of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: A total of sixty cardiovascular patients scheduled for PCI with clear anxiety and depression screened by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were randomly divided into an experimental (n = 30) and control (n = 30) group. The participants in the experimental group received cognitive therapy, relaxation therapy and emotional support. Self-reported questionnaires, including the Self-Report Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) and the Medical Coping Mode Questionnaire (MCMQ), and levels of IL-2 and cortisol were collected at baseline and the day before discharge. RESULTS: Compared with the controls, patients in the intervention group had a better mental state and coping style (confrontation), higher levels of IL-2 and lower levels of cortisol (all P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The psychological intervention programme effectively improved mental state, reduced negative coping styles, increased levels of IL-2, and decreased cortisol levels in patients undergoing PCI. This programme may be an effective preoperative nursing intervention for PCI patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trail Registry ChiCTR-IOR-16007864.

[Observation on clinical therapeutic effects of electroacupuncture combined with moving cupping on somatoform disorders].

OBJECTIVE: To observe therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture combined with moving cupping therapy on somatoform disorders. METHODS: Twenty-five cases of somatoform disorders meeting CCMD-3 criteria were treated with electroacupuncture and moving cupping for 4 therapeutic courses (20 sessions), and the improvement of symptoms and therapeutic effect were observed after treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, of the 25 cases, 13 were markedly effective, 9 improved and 3 ineffective, the total effective rate being 88.0%; the score of SCL-90 factor decreased significantly (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Electroacupuncture combined with moving cupping therapy can early control target symptoms and improve bad emotion for the patient of somatoform disorders.