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Objective To evaluate the influence of overexpression HGF on the healing of traumatic ulcer of oral mucosa of mice. Material and methods Mice were divided into two groups: wild type C57BL6(WT) and HGF high expression transgenic (HGF-Tg) mice. Traumatic ulcer of all mice were made by number 15 scalpel blade. Mice were sacrificed after 5 days and the inflammation score and expression of TNFα, IFNγ, c-Met, apoptosis (TUNEL) and 40 serum inflammation cytokines were estimated. Results HGF-Tg mice presented a lower inflammation score (p = 0.011), Serum TNFα expression in HGF-Tg ulcers is 1.3 times than WT ulcer and the difference is statistical significance ( t test, p = 0.003). Serum c-Met protein in HGF-Tg mice were significantly higher than WT mice ( t test, p = 0.004). No statistical difference was observed in the serum IFNγ between WT ulcer and HGF-Tg ulcer ( t test, p = 0.268). TNFα positive cytoplasm expression cells in connective tissue of HGF-Tg mice is significantly lower than that of WT group ( t test, p = 0.029). C-Met positive cytoplasm expression cells in both epithelium and connective tissue of HGF-Tg group is significantly higher than that of WT group ( t test, p = 0.040, p = 0.000). Samples in HGF-Tg group showed a lower number of positive cells of epithelium TUNEL staining compared with that in the WT group ( t test, p = 0.035). Conclusions HGF exhibited anti-inflammatory potential in oral traumatic ulcer through the reduction of epithelial apoptosis, connective tissue TNFα expression and induction of c-Met expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel and efficient sample pretreatment procedure using magnetic particles was exploited for the determination of multi-pesticide residues in aquatic products. The magnetic adsorbent was prepared using divinyl benzene and N-vinyl pyrrolidone as functional monomers modified on the Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2. The obtained magnetic adsorbent, octadecylsilane sorbents, and graphitized carbon black were employed as effective adsorbents to remove matrix interferences in aquatic products, and their dosages were optimized. Satisfactory levels of accuracy and precision were procured under optimum conditions. The method limits of quantification ranged from 0.1 to 2.0 μg/kg. The analytical accuracy of the developed method for the analysis of multi-pesticide residues in freshwater and seafood products was validated. It was found to be suitable for the analysis of multi-pesticide residues in different types of aquatic products. Additionally, the method was successfully applied for the analysis of pesticide residues in fish samples obtained from aquaculture plants located in Zhejiang Province, China. The detected concentrations of pesticides ranged from 0.14 to 0.95 μg/kg. In general, this method shows promising application prospects for the rapid determination of multi-pesticide residues in aquatic products. [Display omitted] • A facile multi-pesticide residues analytical method in aquatic products was developed. • It affords obvious improvements on operation convenience and cleanup efficiency. • The method validation demonstrated its high sensitivity (MLOQs: 0.1–2.0 μg/kg). • This method can be applied for pesticide residues analysis in real aquatic products. • The method gives a new approach for high-throughput sample pretreatment technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPT) can induce unique malformations in embryos of amphibian (Xenopus tropicalis). We further exposed X. tropicalis embryos to TPT during different stages. Severe malformations were observed in the embryos after exposure to 5–10μgSn/L TPT during S32–40 and S40–46. Comparatively, the embryos showed slight or moderate malformations after exposure during S10–25, S25–32 or S46–47. The most characteristic malformations were narrow or no fins, followed by enlarged proctodaeums and skin hypopigmentation. The developed fins were still affected after TPT exposure, but the inhibited fins could not recover even after the removal of TPT exposure. In TPT treatment groups, the proctodaeums of embryos externally expanded, and the pigment cells of embryos were poor, small and dot like. Our results suggested that TPT-induced teratogenicity was highly stage-specific. The sensitive window of fin defects indicated that TPT affected the formation rather than induction or expansion of fins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper a highly parallel method is developed for simulating the elastodynamics of a four-chamber human heart with patient-specific geometry. The heterogeneous hyperelastic model is discretized by a finite element method in space and a fully implicit adaptive method in time, and the resulting nonlinear algebraic systems are solved by a scalable domain decomposition algorithm. The deformations of the cardiac muscles are quite complex due to the realistic geometry, the heterogeneous hyperelasticity of the cardiac tissue, and the myocardial fibers with active stresses. Moreover, the deformations in different chambers and at different phases of the cardiac cycle are very different. To simulate all the muscle movements including the atrial diastole, the atrial systole, the isovolumic contraction, the ventricular ejection, the isovolumic relaxation, and the ventricular filling, the temporal-spatial mesh needs to be sufficiently fine, but not too fine so that the overall computing time is manageable, we introduce a baseline mesh in space and a two-level time stepping strategy including a uniform baseline time step size to obtain the desired time accuracy and an adaptive time stepping method within a baseline time step to guarantee the convergence of the nonlinear solver. Through numerical experiments, we investigate the performance of the proposed method with respect to the material coefficients, the fiber orientations, as well as the mesh sizes and the time step sizes. For an unstructured tetrahedral mesh with more than 200 million degree of freedoms, the method scales well for up to 16,384 processor cores for all steps of an entire cardiac cycle. • Introduce a highly parallel method for simulating elastodynamics of a human heart. • A 4-chamber patient-specific heart is modeled by heterogeneous material with fibers. • A fully unstructured finite element method is used for the complex geometry. • A nonlinear domain decomposition algorithm is developed for the algebraic systems. • A 2-level adaptive time integration scheme is introduced for accuracy and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been frequently found in surface waters worldwide, and its estrogenic effects in humans are well documented. Nevertheless, less is known about other bisphenol analogues (BPs), such as bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF) which are alternative to BPA. There have been few environmental investigations on BPs in developing countries, especially India. In the present study, eight BPs were analyzed, among which BPA, BPS, and BPF were found prevalent in surface water and wastewater from drains collected from 12 states and Delhi-National Capital Territory in India. The detection frequencies of BPA, BPS, and BPF were 67.6%, 41.9%, and 29.7%, respectively in all samples (n = 74). BPA was the predominant species among the three analogues. The highest BPA concentration was observed in the Yamuna River (14,800 ng/L), followed by the Cooum River (1,420 ng/L). The highest concentrations of BPS and BPF were 438 ng/L and 333 ng/L, respectively, both found in wastewater samples. The occurrence of BPS and BPF in nationwide surface water and wastewater samples from India for the first time suggests that new BPs as BPA replacements are being used and released in India. Ecological risk assessment of BPA, BPS and BPF exposure was performed using hazard quotient (HQ) for three aquatic taxonomic groups: algae, crustaceans, and fish, with the last group exhibiting the highest HQs (0.89–148) for BPA exposure. The human exposure risk of BPA through drinking river water was observed negligible in the present study. Our findings indicate the urgent need for, (1) regulations on the use and release of BPs in India, (2) effective processes to remove BPs in wastewater treatment plants, (3) more investigations on the distribution and toxicity of BPs in India, in particular BPA, BPS and BPF, as these analogues were detected at substantial concentration in Indian waters. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) is a longevity gene that has protective effects in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The endothelin type A (ET A ) receptor is involved in pathogenesis of CVDs. The extracellular signal related kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) signaling pathway is involved in regulation of the ET A receptor induced by some CVD risk factors in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is an independent risk factor for CVDs. The present study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that homocysteine up-regulates ET A receptor through the Sirt1/ERK1/2 signaling pathway. In vitro experiments were performed in the rat superior mesenteric artery. The rat superior mesenteric artery was cultured with or without homocysteine (Hcy) in the presence and absence of Resveratrol (Res, a Sirt1 agonist), SRT1720 (a specific Sirt1 agonist) or U0126 (an ERK1/2 signaling pathway inhibitor) in serum-free medium for 24 h. In vivo, the rats received subcutaneous injections of Hcy in the presence of or absence of Res or U0126 for 3 weeks. The contractile response to ET-1 was studied using a sensitive myograph. In addition, the level of protein expression was determined using western blotting. Hcy significantly increased the expression of ET A receptor and also increased the ET A receptor-mediated contractile response induced by ET-1 in vitro. These effects were inhibited by Res, SRT1720 and U0126 treatment. In addition, Hcy down-regulated the level of Sirt1, and up-regulated the level of phosphorylated ERK1/2, which was reversed upon Res or SRT1720 treatment. In vivo results showed that HHcy results in the up-regulation of ET A receptor expression, and elevated blood pressure in rats. However, Res and U0126 could block these effects, respectively. In conclusion, these results suggest that Hcy regulates ET A receptor expression via the Sirt1/ERK1/2 signaling pathway in VSMCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The T-type calcium channels Ca v 3.2, one of the low voltage-activated (LVA) calcium channels, have been found to play important roles in the neuronal excitability. Recently, we and others have demonstrated that accumulation of Ca v 3.2 channels in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and sensory nerves contributes to neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve injury. In the present study, we aimed to further investigate the regulation of Ca v 3.2 channels by interleukin-6 (IL-6) in DRG neurons in neuropathic pain rats after spinal nerve ligation (SNL). The results showed that Ca v 3.2 channel protein expression in L5 DRG neurons was upregulated and blockade of this channel decreased the hyperexcitability of DRG neurons and mechanical allodynia in SNL neuropathic pain rats. Furthermore, inhibition of IL-6 trans-signaling reduced the upregulation of Ca v 3.2 T-type channel induced by FIL-6 (a fusion protein of IL-6 and sIL-6R) in primary cultured DRG neuron s in vitro. In vivo , inhibition of IL-6 trans-signaling reversed the upregulation of Ca v 3.2, reduced the hyperexcitability of L5 DRG neurons and alleviated mechanical allodynia in SNL rats. Our results suggest that IL-6 upregulates Ca v 3.2 T-type channels expression and function through the IL-6/sIL-6R trans-signaling pathway in DRG neurons, thus contributes to the development of neuropathic pain in SNL rats. • IL-6 upregulates Ca v 3.2 T-type channels expression and function in DRG neurons. • IL-6 upregulates Ca v 3.2 T-type channels through the IL-6/sIL-6R trans-signaling pathway. • IL-6 upregulates Ca v 3.2 T-type channels contributes to the development of neuropathic pain in SNL rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are ideal candidates for cell-based therapies aimed at repairing spinal cord injury (SCI). Accurate targeting of OECs to the lesion site is critical to reconstructing the impaired nervous system. However, the key factors guiding the homing of transplanted OECs to the damaged area after SCI are still unclear. Here, we demonstrate that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) can significantly facilitate the homing of OECs after SCI in rats. First, we found that OECs exhibited a robust chemotaxis response to LPA in vitro, with LPAR1 being predominant receptor expressed on OECs. We further found that β-catenin signaling plays an important role in LPA-induced OEC migration. Moreover, silencing LPAR1 not only abolished the migration of OECs but also prevented ERK1/2 phosphorylation and β-catenin activation, suggesting that LPAR1 ligation serves to activate the ERK1/2 and β-catenin pathways in LPA-induced OEC chemotactic migration. Finally, cell transplantation experiments confirmed that endogenous LPA, which was observed to be produced at the lesion site after SCI in rat, is a key chemokine that facilitates OEC migration to the injury center. Collectively, our data provide a further description of the homing effects of LPA and a mechanism by which transplanted OECs migrate to the injured area after SCI in rats. • Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) induces the migration of OEC via LPAR1. • The β-catenin pathway is involved in LPA-induced OEC migration. • LPAR1 ligation can activate the ERK1/2 and β-catenin pathways in OEC. • LPA acts as a key chemokine facilitating OEC homing to the lesion site after SCI in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review, the global contribution of tradition Chinese medicine will be debriefed. The underlying obstacles and limitations for TCM development and modernization will be summarized and analyzed accordingly. Statistics data and corresponding reasons will be presented to illustrate the very laborious progression of TCM globalization. Several innovative strategies and advanced technologies will be advised in the review in the hope of fully facilitating and accelerating TCM's expansion into the global markets. TCM-derived drugs have contributed significantly to the healthcare system of China, and have the potential to serve the global patients. However, the lack of in-depth and precise understanding and evaluation of disease pathogenesis makes it very difficult to accurately elucidate the mechanism of action of Chinese medicine at the molecular cellular level. Despite the known challenges and uncertainties, the progress of globalization of TCM is on the right track. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A composite of Ag 3 PO 4 @g-C 3 N 4 with the Z-scheme structure was synthesized, and used as the photoanode in a photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC). With the help of the Z-scheme design, both the degradation of tetracycline and the output of maximum power density (P max) were greatly enhanced in this PFC system. The degradation rate of tetracycline in the Ag 3 PO 4 @g-C 3 N 4 PFC was 2.53 times and 3.65 times that in the PFC systems with the Ag 3 PO 4 photoanode and the g-C 3 N 4 photoanode, respectively. The P max of the Ag 3 PO 4 @g-C 3 N 4 PFC was 6.06 μW cm−2, which was 1.46 times and 90.4 times that of the Ag 3 PO 4 PFC (4.16 μW cm−2) and the g-C 3 N 4 PFC (0.067 μW cm−2), respectively. The possible mechanism was proposed. The Z-scheme photoanode could not only contribute to the separation of photogenerated carriers to achieve a high photocatalytic activity, but also reserve a good redox capacity. Additionally, aeration played an important role on the PFC performance. It was demonstrated that N 2 purging facilitated the electricity generation, while O 2 purging promoted the pollutant degradation. Image 1 • Novel application of Z-scheme photocatalysts for photocatalytic fuel cells (Z-PFC). • Greatly enhanced P max and TC degradation were simultaneously realized in the Z-PFC. • N 2 purging facilitates electricity generation. • O 2 purging promotes pollutant degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]