Heat shock factor 1 suppresses the HIV-induced inflammatory response by inhibiting nuclear factor-κB.

The persistent inflammation aggravated by a disordered immune response is considered to be the major cause of CD4+ T cell depletion in lymphoid tissue, which impels the progression of AIDS. Here, we report that heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) works as an innate repressor of HIV-induced inflammation. The activation of HSF1 was found to accompany inflammation during HIV infection. Further research uncovered that HSF1 activation inhibited HIV-induced inflammation. In addition, HSF1 overexpression suppressed the inflammatory response induced by HIV, while HSF1 deficiency exacerbated that inflammation. Mechanistically, HSF1 was found to compete with nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in the nucleus. Generally, our report highlights that HSF1 is an important host factor in regulating HIV-induced inflammation and may work as a potential target for curing AIDS.

[Research and application progress of near infrared spectroscopy analytical technology in China in the past five years].

In the past decade, near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) has expanded rapidly and been applied widely in many fields in China. The recent progress of the research and application of NIR analytical technology in China especially in the past five years has been reviewed. It includes hardware and software R&D, Chemometric algorithms and experimental methods research, and quantitative and qualitative applications in the typical fields such as food, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, forestry, and medical diagnosis. 209 references are cited, which are mainly published in national journals, professional magazines, and book chapters. The developing trend of near infrared spectroscopy and the strategies to further promote its innovation and development in China in the near future are put forward and discussed.

[Developing near infrared spectroscopy calibration model of molar ratio between methanol and isobutylene by support vector regression].

In petrochemical industries, the molar ratio between methanol and isobutylene is one of the most important control parameters in methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) production plant. However, traditional on-line gas chromatography method is difficult to use in practice because of its high maintenance and low speed. On-line near infrared spectroscopy is hopeful to become an excellent alternative method for determining the parameter due to its rapidness, convenience, and less maintenance. Because of the nonlinearity of the measured parameter and near infrared spectra, support vector regression, a novel powerful nonlinear calibration method, was used to build calibration model in the present paper. Compared with the results of partial least squares (PLS) and artificial neural network (ANN) method, the prediction accuracy of support vector regression model is high enough to meet the demand for process control of MTBE unit. This calibration method can be applied to real online analysis of the molar ratio between methanol and isobutylene by near infrared spectroscopy.

A metal-organic framework based PCR-free biosensor for the detection of gastric cancer associated microRNAs.

We report herein five sensing platforms for the detection of five gastric cancer associated microRNAs (miRNAs). The sensing platforms are hybrids formed from a water-stable metal organic framework (MOF) {[Cu(dcbb)2(H2O)2]·10H2O}n (1, H2dcbbBr=1-(3,5-dicarboxybenzyl)-4,4'-bipyridinium bromide), respectively with five carboxyfluorescein (FAM) labeled probe single-stranded DNA (probe ss-DNA, denoted as P-DNA). Within the hybrid, MOF 1 tightly interacts with the P-DNA through electrostatic and/or π-stacking interactions and results in fluorescence quenching of FAM via a photo-induced electron transfer (PET) process. In the presence of the complementary target miRNAs miR-185, miR-20a, miR-92b, miR-25 and miR-210, which are expressed abnormally in the plasma of gastric carcinoma patients, P-DNA is released from the surface of MOF 1 ascribed to the stronger base pair matching, leading to the FAM fluorescence recovery. Each P-DNA@1 system is effective and reliable for the detection of its complementary target miRNA with the detection limits from 91 to 559pM, and is not interfered by other four miRNA sequences.

[Effects of the accuracy of reference data on NIR prediction results].

Reference data are indispensable to build near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR)calibration models. In the present paper, the effects of the accuracy of reference data on NIR calibration models and its prediction results were studied through two routine applications based on partial least square regression methods. The results indicate that the best NIR calibration statistics and the most accurate prediction results were aligned with the most accurate reference data. However, based on statistical analysis of numerous calibration samples, it is possible for NIR calibration models to obtain more accurate prediction results than the laboratory reference data used in the calibration sets. It is better to make less search for high accurate reference data and instead to introduce more calibration samples to improve the ruggedness of the calibration models.

[A new calibration transfer method based on target factor analysis].

A new calibration transfer method based on target factor analysis is proposed.The performance of the new method compared with the piecewise direct standardization method. This method was applied to two data sets, of which one is a simulation data set, and the other is an NIR data set composed of benzene, toluene, xylene and isooctane. The results obtained with this new method are at least as well as those obtained by PDS with the biggest improvement occurring when the spectra have some non-linear responses.

[Near infrared spectra (NIR) analysis of octane number by wavelet denoising-derivative method].

Derivative can correct baseline effects and also increase the level of noise. Wavelet transform has been proven an efficient tool for de-noising. This paper is directed to the application of wavelet transfer and derivative in the NIR analysis of octane number (RON). The derivative parameters, as well as their effects on the noise level and analytic accuracy of RON, have been studied in detail. The results show that derivative can correct the baseline effects and increase the analytic accuracy. Noise from the derivative spectra has great detriment to the analysis of RON. De-noising of wavelet transform can increase the S/N and improve the analytical accuracy.

[Developing robust near infrared calibration models].

There are three approaches to developing robust near infrared calibration models, including spectral pretreatment such as differentiation, Piecewise Multiplicative Scatter Correction (PMSC), Finite Impulse Response (FIR), and Orthogonal Signal Correction (OSC), to remove external variations, selecting wavelengths which are insensitive to external variations, and constructing temperature-hybrid calibration models. In this paper, these three strategies were investigated based on reforming gasoline NIR spectra collected at different temperatures in order to develop robust RON and benzene calibration models against temperature. It has been found that with only spectral pretreatment even OSC method fails to obtain satisfactory results, which could not remove the effects caused by temperature fluctuation. Selecting wavelengths by genetic algorithms and constructing temperature-hybrid calibration models, in which spectra measured at different temperature are combined into one calibration set, are both good approaches to developing robust NIR calibration models against temperature. The latter seems better because it needs no special knowledge and extra software, but thenon-linear effects should be considered in practical applications.

[Determination of sulfur compounds in catalytic diesel oil by gas chromatography with atomic emission detector and its applications].

The method for separation and determination of sulfur compounds in catalytic diesel oil by gas chromatography with atomic emission detector (GC-AED) was established. More than 130 sulfur compounds (including alkyl thiophenes, benzothiophene, alkyl benzothiophenes, dibenzothiophene, alkyl dibenzothiophenes) in catalytic diesel oil were qualified based on the retention time of some pure sulfur compounds and the retention indexes of sulfur compounds. The effects of oven temperature, heating rate and sample amount on resolution and effective plate number were investigated. Retention indexes of different sulfur compounds under temperature programmed condition were calculated. The relative standard deviations of peak areas of main sulfur compounds in catalytic diesel oil were no more than 5.0%, detection limit for sulfur was 0.1 mg/L under chosen conditions. Because response factor was independent on the molecule structure of the sulfur-containing compound, the content of each sulfur compound was determined quantitatively using thiophene as sulfur standard sample. The linear range was 2 mg/L-1,000 mg/L sulfur, and the correlation coefficient was 0.997. The method is successfully applied for the determination of the contents of sulfur compounds in six different catalytic diesel oils (Fujian catalytic diesel oil, Yanshan catalytic diesel oil, Zhongdong diesel oil, Zhenhai catalytic diesel oil, Zhenhai Changsan oil and Zhenhai Changer oil). Distributions of sulfur compounds in different catalytic diesel oils were obtained by GC-AED.