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This review emphasizes the significance of combining regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) with woody crops, as they have higher water productivity (WP) and are tolerant to mild water deficits. After conducting the analysis, it was found that for most woody crops, reducing irrigation water by 20.0–30.0% has a negligible impact on yield, typically within a variation range of 10.0%, and it leads to an increase in WP of 10.0–30.0%. When irrigation water is reduced by 40.0–50.0%, the impact on yield varies significantly depending on the species, but the WP generally approaches its highest value; in general, it can increase by 25.0% or more and sometimes even exceed 50.0%. However, when irrigation water is further reduced, it significantly affects yield, and there is a limited increase or even decrease in WP. Moreover, adjusting irrigation amounts during noncritical water demand periods minimizes the impact on yield and fruit size, enhancing water-saving effectiveness. Water-saving techniques trigger various plant responses, improving resistance to water deficits, promoting reproductive growth, and protecting against drought-related damage. Despite potential yield reductions, ongoing research demonstrates positive outcomes in WP, crop yield, and fruit quality in various woody crops. Water-saving techniques offer economic benefits through cost savings and pest reduction, while finding the appropriate balance between water use, yield, and quality is vital for agricultural success and sustainable water resource management. Moreover, water-saving techniques optimize nutrient uptake and heavy metal absorption in woody crop agricultural systems, addressing heavy metal stress, soil salinization, and emissions. Combining multiple irrigation methods, such as partial root-zone drying (PRD), shows immense potential in water conservation and impact on fruits. Integrating PRD with innovative techniques, such as precision irrigation or sensor-based systems, promises remarkable water savings and optimized crop yields, revolutionizing agricultural practices and addressing water scarcity challenges for sustainable irrigation management. • Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) boosts water productivity, reduces yield impact. • RDI trigger plant responses, improving stress tolerance, and reproductive growth. • RDI balancing water use, fruit yield and quality, providing economic advantages. • RDI optimize nutrient uptake, limit heavy metal absorption, reduce N2O emissions. • Combining partial root-zone drying with other method is promising for water saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance The medicinal plant Morinda officinalis How. (MO) and its root have long been used in traditional medicines in China and northeast Asia as tonics for nourishing the kidney, strengthening the bone and enhancing immunofunction in the treatment of impotence, osteoporosis, depression and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and dermatitis. Aim of the review This review aims to sum up updated and comprehensive information about traditional usage, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of MO and provide insights into potential opportunities for future research and development of this plant. Methods A bibliographic investigation was performed by analyzing the information available on MO in the internationally accepted scientific databases including Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science, SciFinder, Google Scholar, Yahoo, Ph.D. and M.Sc. dissertations in Chinese. Information was also obtained from some local and foreign books on ethnobotany and ethnomedicines. Results The literature supported the ethnomedicinal uses of MO as recorded in China for various purposes. The ethnomedical uses of MO have been recorded in many regions of China. More than 100 chemical compounds have been isolated from this plant, and the major constituents have been found to be polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, anthraquinones and iridoid glycosides. Crude extracts and pure compounds of this plant are used as effective agents in the treatment of depression, osteoporosis, fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, and infertility due to their anti-depressant, anti-osteoporosis, pro-fertility, anti-radiation, anti-Alzheimer disease, anti-rheumatoid, anti-fatigue, anti-aging, cardiovascularprotective, anti-oxidation, immune-regulatory, and anti-inflammatory activities. Pharmacokinetic studies have demonstrated that the main components of MO including monotropein and deacetyl asperulosidic acid are distributed in various organs and tissues. The investigation on acute toxicity and genotoxicity indicated that MO is nontoxic. There have no reports on significant adverse effect at a normal dose in clinical application, but MO at dose of more than 1000 mg/kg may cause irritability, insomnia and unpleasant sensations in individual cases. Conclusion MO has emerged as a good source of traditional medicines. Some uses of this plant in traditional medicines have been validated by pharmacological investigations. However, the molecular mechanism, structure-activity relationship, and potential synergistic and antagonistic effects of its multi-components such as polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, anthraquinones and iridoid glycosides need to be further elucidated, and the structural feature of polysaccharides also need to be further clarified. Sophisticated analytical technologies should be developed to comprehensively evaluate the quality of MO based on HPLC-fingerprint and content determination of the active constituents, knowing that these investigations will help further utilize this plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective In human-machine (HM) hybrid control systems, human operator and machine cooperate to achieve the control objectives. To enhance the overall HM system performance, the discrete manual control task-load by the operator must be dynamically allocated in accordance with continuous-time fluctuation of psychophysiological functional status of the operator, so-called operator functional state (OFS). The behavior of the HM system is hybrid in nature due to the co-existence of discrete task-load (control) variable and continuous operator performance (system output) variable. Methods Petri net is an effective tool for modeling discrete event systems, but for hybrid system involving discrete dynamics, generally Petri net model has to be extended. Instead of using different tools to represent continuous and discrete components of a hybrid system, this paper proposed a method of fuzzy inference Petri nets (FIPN) to represent the HM hybrid system comprising a Mamdani-type fuzzy model of OFS and a logical switching controller in a unified framework, in which the task-load level is dynamically reallocated between the operator and machine based on the model-predicted OFS. Furthermore, this paper used a multi-model approach to predict the operator performance based on three electroencephalographic (EEG) input variables (features) via the Wang-Mendel (WM) fuzzy modeling method. The membership function parameters of fuzzy OFS model for each experimental participant were optimized using artificial bee colony (ABC) evolutionary algorithm. Three performance indices, RMSE, MRE , and EPR , were computed to evaluate the overall modeling accuracy. Results Experiment data from six participants are analyzed. The results show that the proposed method (FIPN with adaptive task allocation) yields lower breakdown rate (from 14.8% to 3.27%) and higher human performance (from 90.30% to 91.99%). Conclusion The simulation results of the FIPN-based adaptive HM (AHM) system on six experimental participants demonstrate that the FIPN framework provides an effective way to model and regulate/optimize the OFS in HM hybrid systems composed of continuous-time OFS model and discrete-event switching controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photo-induced carbon dioxide conversion presents one of the basic reactions of natural photo-syntheses in green plants, which has inspired researchers to develop artificial materials and devices for efficient CO 2 photo-reduction into useful products and chemical fuels via light-driven photochemical reactions. This review article focuses on recent advances in visible-light-driven CO 2 photo-catalytic reduction studies based on Ru(II) and Ir(III) coordination complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We fabricated fully transparent hafnium indium zinc oxide (HfInZnO) thin film transistors (TFTs) with ZnO:Al(AZO)/Ag/ZnO:Al multilayer source/drain (S/D) electrodes. The effect of Ag interlayer thickness on the electrical and optical properties of AZO(60 nm)/Ag/AZO(60 nm) multilayer films was investigated. The AZO(60 nm)/Ag(10 nm)/AZO(60 nm) multilayer film shows a low sheet resistance of 10.5 Ω/square and a transmittance of 87%. Compared with HfInZnO-TFT with AZO electrode, the performance of the device with AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer electrode was significantly improved. The field effect mobility increased from 3.2 to 5.8 cm 2 /V s, and the threshold voltage reduced from 2.3 to 0.1 V. The improvement was attributed to the lower resistivity of AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer film. The result indicates that AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer electrode is a promising S/D electrode for fully transparent HfInZnO-TFTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon spheres (CSs) with an average diameter of around 500 ∼ 700 nm are prepared by a extended Stöber method. Urchin-like MnO 2 nanorods were deposited on the carbon spheres by hydrothermal method and the thickness of α-MnO 2 shell is about 700 ∼ 800 nm. Pd particles with a diameter of around 8 ∼ 15 nm are dispersed on the surface of vertically aligned α-MnO 2 rods which have a diameter of 40 ∼ 50 nm. Three-dimensional (3D) Pd-MnO 2 /CS shows better activity and stability than Pd/CS and MnO 2 /CS for anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water electrolysis, which shows that Pd-doped urchin-like CS-MnO 2 core-shell structure material would be a superiority catalyst for the OER. The onset potential shifts negatively and current density improves on the Pd-MnO 2 /CS for the OER, showing a synergistic effect between Pd and MnO 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jasminum lanceolarium Roxb is an important traditional Chinese medicine. Its stems and roots have been used for the treatment of rheumatism and fever while the leaves are used as an anti-inflammatory agent to relieve pain. In order to support its traditional Chinese medicinal uses, five animal models were designed and the anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of the 70% EtOH–H 2 O extracts of J. lanceolarium (EJL) were investigated. Meanwhile, biochemical parameters such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) in blood serum of rats exposed to acute (carrageenan) inflammation model were evaluated. At doses of 400 mg/kg, EJL exhibited higher anti-inflammation effect than that of indomethacin and better analgesic activity than that of aspirin ( P <0.001). Furthermore, eleven isolated compounds including six lignanoids ( 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and 11 ) and five iridoids ( 3 , 4 , 5 , 9 , and 10 ) were isolated from the active extracts and showed significant anti-inflammatory activities with the IC 50 values of 1.76–5.22 mg/mL, respectively, when testing their inhibitory effects on phospholipase A 2 in vitro . The results demonstrated that the possible anti-inflammatory mechanisms might be attributed to inhibit the hydrolysis of membrane phospholipids, production on both COX-2 and 5-LOX, and then finally inhibit the release of prostaglandins (PGs), which suggested that EJL had a non-selective inhibitory effect on the release or actions of these mediators, and might be a dual LOX–COX inhibitor for the treatment of inflammation from the natural resource. The studies on the animals and the inflammatory mediators, along with the bioactive compounds presumed that the existences of iridoids and lignanoids could be response for their bioactivities of the whole plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genomic engineering by the guide RNA (gRNA)-directed CRISPR/CAS9 is rapidly becoming a method of choice for various biological systems. However, pressing concerns remain regarding its off-target activities and wide variations in efficacies. While next generation sequencing (NGS) has been primarily used to evaluate the efficacies and off-target activities of gRNAs, it only detects the imperfectly repaired double strand DNA breaks (DSB) by the error-prone non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) mechanism and may not faithfully represent the DSB activities because the efficiency of NHEJ-mediated repair varies depending on the local chromatin environment. Here we describe a reporter system for unbiased detection and comparison of DSB activities that promises to improve the chance of success in genomic engineering and to facilitate large-scale screening of CAS9 activities and gRNA libraries. Additionally, we demonstrated that the tolerances to mismatches between a gRNA and the corresponding target DNA can occur at any position of the gRNA, and depend on both specific gRNA sequences and CAS9 constructs used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, a novel process was explored for cassava ethanol fermentation. In the process, a portion of thin stillage was mixed with the effluent from anaerobic digestion of residual thin stillage and was then reused as process water for the following ethanol fermentation. This process was evaluated at the lab and a pilot scale was performed for anaerobic digestion and ethanol fermentation performance. Ethanol production was enhanced in the recycling batch compared with the first batch (freshwater was used). Anaerobic digestion of the thin stillage also showed high efficiency and stability with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate above 97% and a methane yield of 300 mL/g COD removed at both the lab and pilot scale. In addition, the COD and conductivity of the thin stillage remained consistent after the 6th and 3rd batch, respectively. In conclusion, in this novel process, energy consumption was reduced, and wastewater was utilized for value-added products, thereby contributing to the sustainable development in the cassava ethanol industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigate the electrical performance and negative bias stability of thin film transistors (TFTs) using double active layer. Double active layer is consisting of low oxygen content HfInZnO film as bottom channel and high oxygen content HfInZnO film as back channel. The HfInZnO-TFT with double channel layer shows a high mobility of 6.8cm2/Vs, a low threshold voltage of −0.3V, and a threshold voltage shifts of 0.65V under −20V gate bias for 7200s. The results suggest that HfInZnO with low oxygen content as the bottom channel could provide high carrier concentration and good HfInZnO/Al2O3 interface to improve field-effect mobility and negative bias stress stability. HfInZnO with high oxygen content as back channel can control the conductivity to reduce the off current of TFT. Thus, a double-active-layer structure is an effective way to improve the electrical performance of HfInZnO-TFT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this study, we examined the alterations in canopy size and reproduction of Caragana stenophylla along the climatic drought gradient on the Inner Mongolia Plateau, China. We found that the canopy area and height of C. stenophylla increased gradually with increase of drought stress from the semi-arid zone to the strongly arid zone. The proportions of sexual reproduction decreased and the asexual reproduction increased with increase of the climatic drought stress. The majority of C. stenophylla offspring grew (separately) outside shrubs in the semi-arid (63.9%) and the arid zones (45.8%). But in the strongly arid zone, C. stenophylla offspring only grew inside shrubs. With the increase of climatic drought stress the ramet radius increased, while the spacer length decreased. In both the semi-arid and arid zones, the spacer length was more than 2 times of the ramet radius. Thus, some spaces were kept between the crowns of ramets. On the other hand, the spacer length was less than 2 times of the ramet radius in the strongly arid zone, so that the crowns were closely intertwined. Our results demonstrate that with the increase of climatic drought stress and associated desertification, the reproduction of C. stenophylla changes from more sexual reproduction to more clonal propagation; offspring establishment strategy changes from having more outside-shrub offspring to having only inside-shrub offspring; the clonal architecture changes from guerrilla type to phalanx type. Alterations in the reproduction of C. stenophylla along the climatic drought gradient result due to an increase of its canopy size from the northeast to the southwest on the Inner Mongolia Plateau. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, the activity and stability of glycerol oxidation on Au electrode have been investigated by cyclic voltametry, chronoamperometry and chronopotentiometry methods in alkaline medium. The glycerol shows a remarkable activity and better performance than methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol and ethylene glycol on the Au electrode in alkaline medium. The activity and stability of glycerol oxidation on the Au electrode are higher than that of glycerol oxidation on Pd electrode. The stability of glycerol oxidation on the Au electrode is higher than that of methanol and glycerol oxidation on Pt electrode. The results show that glycerol is an excellent fuel applied in direct alcohol fuel cells with Au as anode catalyst. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present study was designed to investigate the effects of recurrent periods of apnea/hypoxia on the morphology of neurons in sites that control NREM and REM sleep. In addition, we determined whether the administration of a GABA agonist, eszopiclone, was capable of preventing the degenerative, i.e., apoptotic, sequelae of hypoxia in these sleep-promoting neurons. Adult guinea pigs were divided into control (normoxic) and hypoxic groups; a separate group of hypoxic animals was administered eszopiclone. Recurrent periods of hypoxia and normoxia lasted for a duration of 3h. Subsequently, the brains were sectioned, and areas in the CNS that control NREM sleep as well as REM sleep were examined after staining with an antibody raised against single-stranded DNA, which labels apoptotic neurons. In the group of control (normoxic) animals, apoptotic neurons were not observed in CNS regions that control NREM or REM sleep. In hypoxic animals, a large number of apoptotic neurons were found in the preceding regions. In the hypoxic animals that were administered eszopiclone, there were almost no apoptotic neurons in the brain regions that control NREM or REM sleep. These results demonstrate that recurrent periods of apnea induce extensive apoptosis in CNS nuclei that control NREM and REM sleep and that eszopiclone is capable of preventing neuronal degeneration in these sites. We suggest that the degeneration of neurons in sites that control the states of sleep is responsible for those sleep disturbances that arise as a consequence of hypoxia in individuals with sleep-related breathing disorders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The soft deposition of Cu13 and Co13 clusters and their subsequent diffusion behaviors on the Cu(001) surface have been studied via molecular dynamics simulations with many-body potential based on the tight-binding model. Terrace-step-kink structures are used for the description of the substrate geometries. The results show that the final morphologies and the binding energies of the deposited clusters depend sensitively on the substrate surface geometries. The diffusion behaviors of the clusters on the substrate are investigated via annealing the cluster–substrate systems at 300K, 500K and 800K. It is shown that the significantly different diffusion behaviors of Cu13 and Co13 clusters are associated with different interactions between Cu–Cu, Co–Co, and Cu–Co atoms. Our results also reveal that the Cu13 and Co13 clusters collapse on the terrace at 800K via the solid-on-solid settling mechanism. A new collapse mechanism is also discovered during the collapse process of Co13 cluster, which suspends the transformation from a three-dimensional adsorbed cluster to a two-dimensional one. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we prove that every bijective map preserving Lie products from a factor von Neumann algebra into another factor von Neumann algebra is of the form , where is an additive isomorphism or the negative of an additive anti-isomorphism and is a map with for all . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we report an adaptive regularization network (ARN) approach to realizing fast blind separation of cerebral evoked potentials (EPs) from background electroencephalogram (EEG) activity with no need to make any explicit assumption on the statistical (or deterministic) signal model. The ARNs are proposed to construct nonlinear EEG and EP signal models. A novel adaptive regularization training (ART) algorithm is proposed to improve the generalization performance of the ARN. Two adaptive neural modeling methods based on the ARN are developed and their implementation and performance analysis are also presented. The computer experiments using simulated and measured visual evoked potential (VEP) data have shown that the proposed ARN modeling paradigm yields computationally efficient and more accurate VEP signal estimation owing to its intrinsic model-free and nonlinear processing characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this note, it is shown that every Jordan derivation of triangular algebras is a derivation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Let be a nest on a complex separable Hilbert space H, and be the associated nest algebra. In this paper, we prove that every biderivation of is an inner biderivation if and only if dim0+ ≠1 or , and that every generalized biderivation of is an inner generalized biderivation if dim0+ ≠1 and . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Douchi, a soybean product originating in China, produces angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors with the potential to lower blood pressure. The ACE inhibitory activities of douchi qu pure-cultured by Aspergillus Egyptiacus for 48h, and 72h were compared with douchi secondary-fermented for 15d. The results showed that ACE inhibitory activities were improved following the fermentation. ACE inhibitory activities of 48h-primary-fermented douchi qu did not change dramatically after preincubation with ACE, but increased greatly after preincubation with gastrointestinal proteases. The results suggest they were pro-drug-type or a mixture of pro-drug-type and inhibitor-type inhibitors. The ACE inhibitors in 48h-fermented douchi qu were fractionated into four major peaks by gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-25. Peak 2, which had the highest activity, had only one peptide, composed of phenylalanine, isoleucine and glycine with a ratio of 1:2:5. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, it is proved that every weakly continuous local 2-cocycle of a nest subalgebra of a factor von Neumann algebra with coefficients in the factor von Neumann algebra is a 2-cocycle. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Let be a nest on a complex separable Hilbert space , and be the associated nest algebra. In this paper, we prove that every Lie triple derivation from into itself is of the form X → XT − TX + h(X)I, where and h is a linear mapping from into such that h([[A, B], C])=0 for all . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The efficacy of the suicide gene therapy by using the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir (HSVtk/GCV) system for the treatment of cancer is limited because of the insufficient gene transfer and the low killing activity. To enhance the anti-tumor activity, we probed into whether recombinant retroviral expression vector PLXSN expressing both HSVtk and TNF-alpha genes could potentiate the destruction of SGC7901. The pL(tk-TNF-alpha)SN harboring HSVtk and TNF-alpha genes in sequence was constructed with a bicistronic unit including the internal ribosomal entry site, the recombinant retroviruses were transferred into SGC7901 cells by lipofectamine, and pEGFP and Western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of fusion genes in transfected SGC7901 cells, and then apoptosis of the transfected cells were detected by using the TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling, flow cytometric analysis and transmission electron microscopy. In vitro study, the transfected gastric cancer cells were maintained in the GCV-contained medium, to assay the cell killing effect and bystander effect. In vivo experiments, retroviral serum plasmids were transfected into tumor-bearing nude mice, to observe the changes of tumor volumes and survival of the mice. In vitro there was no significant difference of cell survival rate between the three groups. However, in vivo results showed that tk/GCV, tk-TNF-alpha/GCV and TNF-alpha could inhibit the tumor growth, and the obvious anti-tumor effect was shown in tk-TNF-alpha/GCV group, and TNF-alpha obviously enhanced the anti-tumor effect in vivo. The pathologic examination showed necrosis of the cancer in the treated groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The efficacy of the suicide gene therapy by using the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir (HSVtk/GCV) system for the treatment of cancer is limited because of the insufficient gene transfer and the low killing activity. To enhance the anti-tumor activity, we probed into whether recombinant retroviral expression vector PLXSN expressing both HSVtk and TNF-α genes could potentiate the destruction of SGC7901. The pL(tk-TNF-α)SN harboring HSVtk and TNF-α genes in sequence was constructed with a bicistronic unit including the internal ribosomal entry site, the recombinant retroviruses were transferred into SGC7901 cells by lipofectamine, and pEGFP and Western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of fusion genes in transfected SGC7901 cells, and then apoptosis of the transfected cells were detected by using the TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling, flow cytometric analysis and transmission electron microscopy. In vitro study, the transfected gastric cancer cells were maintained in the GCV-contained medium, to assay the cell killing effect and bystander effect. In vivo experiments, retroviral serum plasmids were transfected into tumor-bearing nude mice, to observe the changes of tumor volumes and survival of the mice. In vitro there was no significant difference of cell survival rate between the three groups. However, in vivo results showed that tk/GCV, tk-TNF-α/GCV and TNF-α could inhibit the tumor growth, and the obvious anti-tumor effect was shown in tk-TNF-α/GCV group, and TNF-α obviously enhanced the anti-tumor effect in vivo. The pathologic examination showed necrosis of the cancer in the treated groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, it is shown that every norm continuous linear local derivation from an arbitrary CSL algebra whose lattice is generated by finitely many independent nests into any ultraweakly closed subalgebra which contains the algebra is an inner derivation, and that every norm continuous linear local derivation from an arbitrary CSL algebra whose lattice is completely distributive into any ultraweakly closed subalgebra which contains the algebra is a derivation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, it is proved that every surjective linear map preserving identity and zero products in both directions between two nest subalgebras with non-trivial nests of any factor von Neumann algebra is an isomorphism; and that every surjective weakly continuous linear map preserving identity and zero Jordan products in both directions between two nest subalgebras with non-trivial nests of any factor von Neumann algebra is either an isomorphism or an anti-isomorphism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hypocretin-1 (hcrt-1) and hypocretin-2 (hcrt-2) have been implicated in a wide variety of functions including sleep and wakefulness as well as related behaviors. Many of these functions of the hypocretins involve the activation of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain (BF). These neurons have been shown to exhibit age-related changes in a variety of species. In the present experiment, in adult and aged guinea pigs, we compared hypocretin immunoreactivity in regions of the BF that include the medial septal nucleus (MS), the vertical and horizontal limbs of the diagonal band of Broca (VDB and HDB) and the magocellular preoptic nucleus (MCPO). In adult guinea pigs (3–5 months of age), all of the preceding BF regions contained dense hypocretin fibers with varicosities. On the contrary, in old guinea pigs (27–28 months), although the MS exhibited a similar intensity of hypocretin immunoreactivity compared with the adult guinea pig, there was a significant decrease in the intensity of immunoreactivity of hypocretinergic fibers in the VDB, HDB and MCPO. These data indicate that the hypocretinergic innervation of specific nuclei of the BF is compromised during the aging process. We suggest that the reduction in hypocretinergic innervation of the BF nuclei may contribute to the age-related changes in the states of sleep and wakefulness as well as deficits in related systems that occur in old age. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In aged cats, light microscopic studies revealed significant decrease in the soma size of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-positive neurons in the laterodorsal and pedunculo-pontine tegmental nuclei (LDT and PPT), compared with adult control animals. In addition, a significant reduction of the total dendritic length and total dendritic segment number of ChAT-positive neurons was detected in both the LDT and PPT of aged cats. However, in contrast to the changes of soma and dendrites, no significant changes in the number of ChAT-positive neurons in aged were found comparing to that in the control cats in both the LDT and PPT; nor were there differences in the staining intensity of the somata of neurons in the adult and aged cats. Electron microscopic analysis highlighted degenerative changes in cholinergic neurons in the LDT and PPT of aged cats which included somata with intracytoplasmic vacuoles, darkened mitochondria, depletion of dendritic microtubules and severe demyelination of axons. These data indicate that profound atrophic changes occur in cholinergic systems of the LDT and PPT as a consequence of the aging process. These alterations likely reflect the cellular bases for the age-related changes in REM sleep that occur in old animals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, it is proved that every surjective weakly continuous linear local automorphism of nest subalgebras with non-trivial nests of factor von Neumann algebras is an automorphism; and that every surjective linear 2-local automorphism of nest algebras with non-trivial nests of factor von Neumann algebras is an automorphism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In a previous study, we noted the presence of enlarged “spot-like” structures that are immunoreactive to hypocretin in specific regions of brainstem of aged cats; similar structures were not seen in the same regions of adult cats. In the present study, electron microscopy was combined with hypocretin immunohistochemistry to examine the ultrastructure of these enlarged “spot-like” structures, which were found to consist of enlarged axonal terminals. The terminals were comprised of a large pale core with a dark peripheral rim. Many granules were present within the core; most of these granular structures were not immunostained. On the other hand, the rim contained a high density of hypocretin immunoreactivity; in this peripheral region, large dense-core vesicles and small synaptic vesicles without dense cores were observed. In addition, mitochondria in the peripheral rim region exhibited high electron density, which is indicative of the presence of age-related degenerative changes. Synaptic contacts were observed between the enlarged terminals and adjacent dendrites. Most of these synapses were asymmetric (Gray type I), although a few of them were symmetric (Gray type II). These data suggest that hypocretin transmission is altered during aging, which would be expected to result in age-related changes in the functioning of the hypocretinergic system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, it is proved that every norm continuous linear local derivation of a nest subalgebra of a factor von Neumann algebra is a derivation, and that every linear 2-local derivation of a nest subalgebra of a factor von Neumann algebra is a derivation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The distribution of hypocretin-1 (hcrt-1) and hypocretin-2 (hcrt-2) immunoreactivities in the cat brainstem was examined using immunohistochemical techniques. Hcrt-1- and hcrt-2-positive fibers with varicosities were detected in almost all brainstem regions. However, no hcrt-1- or hcrt-2-immunoreactive neuronal somata were observed in the cat brainstem. Both hcrt-1- and hcrt-2-labeled fibers exhibited different densities in distinct regions of the brainstem. In most brainstem regions, the intensity of hcrt-1 immunoreactivity was higher than that of hcrt-2 immunoreactivity. The highest densities of hcrt-1- and hcrt-2-positive fibers were found in the nucleus raphe dorsalis (RD), the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT) and the locus coeruleus (LC), suggesting an important role for these peptides in functions related to sleep–wake behavior. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Caspases are a group of cysteine dependent aspartate-specific proteases. Originally found as the homolog of Ced-3 in C. elegans, 14 caspases have now been identified in mammals to date. Caspases play important roles in both the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways and interact with the non-caspase apoptotic pathways. A number of recent published observations have suggested a strong association between apoptosis, age-related diseases and aging. Findings from our group and others reveal a strong correlation between alterations in caspase activity and aging. In this view point, we summarize current knowledge of the connection between caspases and aging observed in a variety of model systems from cultured cells in vitro to the in vivo models of rodents and humans. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hypocretin-1 (hcrt-1) and hypocretin-2 (hcrt-2) are two recently discovered hypothalamic neuropeptides. In the present study, using double immunofluorescent techniques, the co-localization of hcrt-1 and hcrt-2 was examined in neuronal soma and fibers/terminals located, respectively, in the cat hypothalamus and brainstem. In the hypothalamus, all hcrt-1 positive neuronal soma also displayed hcrt-2 immunoreactivity. In the brainstem, both hcrt-1 and hcrt-2 antibodies labeled the same fibers/terminals, indicating that hcrt-1 and hcrt-2 co-localize not only in the neuronal soma (hypothalamus) but also in their fibers/terminals (brainstem). If both peptides are released following neuronal activity, then the distinct effects of these peptides in the brain are likely to depend on the types of postsynaptic receptors that are activated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Terminals of hypothalamic hypocretin-containing neurons are observed within brainstem nuclei involved in the control of sleep and wakefulness. Because aged humans, cats and other species exhibit changes in sleep and wakefulness in old age, we were interested in examining age-related changes in hypocretin/orexin projections to the following brainstem regions which are associated with the regulation of sleep and wakefulness: the dorsal raphe nucleus, the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, the pedunculo-pontine tegmental nucleus and the locus coeruleus. Based upon the results of immunohistochemical determinations, in all the regions examined, round or oval ‘spot-like’ structures were observed in aged cats. Many of these ‘spot-like’ structures resembled enlarged varicosities of a nature that would be expected to disrupt hypocretin neurotransmission. In addition, a site-specific decrease in immunostaining was observed in the locus coeruleus in old cats compared with adult controls; this result likely reflects a decrease in the number of labeled fibers, which indicates that there occurs a degeneration of hypocretinergic function in conjunction with old age. The proceeding changes may account for some of sleep–wake disturbance which are observed in aged animals as well as elderly humans. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A central challenge of sensor technology is that the sensitivity of analytical detection is required to reach a single analyte entity level, whether it is a molecule, a cell or a nanoparticle. The emergence of nano-impact electrochemistry (NIE) allows in situ detection of single analyte entity one at a time with simplicity, fast response and high throughput. NIE method was originally designed to characterize physical and chemical properties of the corresponding single nanoparticles, and has been later extended into the field of bio-analysis, enabling better understanding of biological heterogeneity and providing new route for developing new diagnostic devices for quantifying biological analytes. A wide range of biological species including DNA, RNA, enzymes, bacteria, vesicles and cells has been already studied using NIE method so far. In this review, we first summarize the basic principles of NIE for bio-analyte detection and then elaborate NIE based bio-analysis categorized by analyte types. Finally, we give an outlook on the future prospects of this field. • Principles of nano-impact electrochemistry based bio-detection are summarized. • Nano-impact electrochemistry based detection of single bioentities is comprehensively reviewed. • New perspectives on nano-impact electrochemistry towards bio-analytes analysis are presented. • Nano-impact electrochemistry is a powerful analytical tool for the detection of a wide range of single bioentities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Co-CP was designed from amino-functionalized ligand to have visible light absorption ability. • Co-CP possesses appropriate bandgap, rapid charge transfer and efficient suppression ability of electron-hole recombination. • Co-CP shows a high visible-light driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 1778 μmol g−1 h−1. The development of efficient and economical catalysts for photocatalytic water splitting and hydrogen production is one of the promising methods to alleviate the current energy crisis. In this work, we synthesized a novel Co-O cluster based coordination polymer, [Co 2 (HL) 2 ·(DMF) 2 ·H 2 O]·solvents (Co-CP) by a facile solvothermal method from amino-functionalized ligand and non-precious cobalt salt. The Co-CP possesses a bandgap of 2.65 eV, whose conduction and valence band are -0.8 and 1.85 eV, respectively. Efficiently, the visible-light driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of Co-CP reaches 1778 μmol g−1 h−1, due to the rapid charge transfer and efficient suppression of electron-hole recombination as determined by photocurrent response and photoluminescence measurement. Possible photocatalytic mechanisms are proposed, for which the Co-O clusters are predicted to be the active sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron overload in the brain and iron-induced oxidative damage have been considered to play key roles in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Hepcidin is a peptide that regulates systemic iron metabolism by interacting with iron exporter ferroportin 1 (FPN1). Studies have indicated that the astrocyte hepcidin could regulate brain iron intake at the blood-brain barrier and injection of hepcidin into brain attenuated iron deposition in the brain. However, whether overexpression of hepcidin in astrocytes of APP/PS1 transgenic mice can alleviate AD symptoms by reducing iron deposition has not been evaluated. In this study, we overexpressed hepcidin in astrocytes of APP/PS1 mice and investigated its effects on β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregation, neuronal loss, iron deposition and iron-induced oxidative damages. Our results showed that the elevated expression of astrocyte hepcidin in APP/PS1 mice significantly improved their cognitive decline, and partially alleviated the formation of Aβ plaques in cortex and hippocampus. Further investigations revealed that overexpression of hepcidin in astrocytes significantly reduced iron levels in cortex and hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice, especially iron content in neurons, which led to the reduction of iron accumulation-induced oxidative stress and neuroinflammation, and finally decreased neuronal cell death in the cortex and hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice. This study demonstrated that overexpression of hepcidin in astrocytes of APP/PS1 mice could partially alleviate AD symptoms and delay the pathological process of AD. Image 1 • Overexpression of hepcidin in astrocytes of APP/PS1 mice improved cognitive function. • Astrocyte hepcidin overexpression alleviated Aβ aggregation and inflammation. • Astrocyte hepcidin overexpression attenuated brain iron deposition. • The reduction of neuronal iron overload prevented iron dependent neuronal death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a fatal disease with increasing morbidity and poor prognosis due to poor response to conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Neurotensin (NTS) has long been recognized as an important factor in the central nervous system and as an endocrine agent in the peripheral circulation via NTS receptor (NTSR) mediated actions. In recent years, NTS has been implicated in the carcinogenesis of numerous cancers; however, its role in cholangiocarcinoma remains obscure. Here, we observed the expression of NTS in cholangiocarcinoma vs. non-cancerous tissues and found that up-regulation of NTS facilitated cholangiocarcinoma cell metastasis and down-regulation of NTS inhibited their migration ability. Mechanistically, NTS drove cholangiocarcinoma cell metastasis via the EGFR/AKT pathway. Both the PI3-K inhibitor LY294002 or EGFR inhibitor Erlotinib stopped the discrepant metastatic capacity between NTS-depleted cholangiocarcinoma cells and control cells, further confirming that EGFR/AKT was required in NTS-promoted cholangiocarcinoma cell metastasis. More importantly, overexpression of NTS predicted poor prognosis of CCA patients. In summary, NTS could promote cholangiocarcinoma cells metastasis by amplifying EGFR/AKT signaling and may therefore be useful to predict patient prognosis. Highlights • We for first time found that NTS was upregulated in CCA patients' tissues. • We for first time found that NTS promotes CCA cells metastasis. • We found that EGFR/AKT was the downstream of NTS in CCA cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Assembling strategies and applications of chiral MOCs were reviewed in a unique perspective. • Three types of spatial-direction strategies for chiral MOCs were addressed. • Special chiral behaviors and applications for stereogenic MOCs were presented. Abstract During the past few decades, great efforts have been devoted to the design and self-assembly of discrete metal–organic cages/containers (MOCs) with increasing complexity and functionality. Among which, the incorporation of chirality into the construction of MOCs endows these supramolecular containers with unique potentials in stereochemical, nonlinear optical, biomedical and enzyme mimical fields. In this review, we give a brief survey of recent works focusing on the assembly and applications of chiral metal–organic convex polyhedra with well-defined three-dimensional (3D) outer shapes and inner cavities, including a few examples of chiral MOCs in other configurations. In general, the stereochemical origin of a chiral MOC can be generated through geometrical symmetry control pathways by removing the inherent inversion and/or mirror symmetries, in which the vertice-, edge-, and face-directed assembling approaches represent the most successful strategies to introduce stereogenic centers into and achieve absolute chiral environments in MOCs. Stereochemical memory, transfer and communication can be realized among different components of chiral MOCs in a supramolecular sense, resulting in cooperative and synergetic effects of chiral complex systems, which can be further explored for enantio-recognition, separation and asymmetric catalysis applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel BaZnSnO semiconductor is fabricated using solution process and the influence of Ba addition on the structure, the chemical state of oxygen and electrical performance of BaZnSnO thin films are investigated. A high performance BaZnSnO-based thin film transistor with 15 mol% Ba is obtained, showing a saturation mobility of 1.94 cm 2 /V s, a threshold voltage of 3.6 V, an on/off current ratio of 6.2 × 10 6 , a subthreshold swing of 0.94 V/decade, and a good bias stability. Transistors with solution processed BaZnSnO films are promising candidates for the development of future large-area, low-cost and high-performance electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The study aims to compare the efficacy in prevention of anastomotic complications using layer-to-layer mucosal valve technique versus circular stapled technique for esophagogastric intrathoracic anastomosis after resection for esophageal and gastric cardiac carcinoma. Methods: From January 2005 to December 2010, 136 patients received layer-to-layer mucosal valve technique (LM group), 219 received circular stapled anastomosis (CS group) after curative intent resection for esophageal and gastric cardiac carcinoma. The technique details were reported and the clinical results were analyzed. Results: The two groups were comparable on clinical baseline characteristics. The average duration of operation was longer with LM technique by 16 min, but without statistical significance ( P = 0.073). There was no anastomotic leakage in the LM group, while in the CS group, leakage occurred in seven patients (3.2 %, P = 0.047). Both the incidence and grade of postoperative dysphagia were significantly lower in the LM group ( P < 0.05). Significantly fewer patients experienced stricture after LM technique (3.8 %) compared with CS anastomosis (18.2 %, P < 0.001). CS anastomosis was associated with a significantly higher incidence of persistent stricture requiring more dilatation ( P < 0.001). Symptoms of reflux were better controlled by LM technique; 82.7 % of patients were asymptomatic with respect to reflux compared to 58.9 % in the CS group, P < 0.001. And there was a significant reduction in the incidence of esophagitis in remnant esophagus in the LM group ( P = 0.001). Conclusions: The layered mucosal valve anastomosis could significantly diminish the incidence of anastomotic complications and could be used as an alternative for esophagogastric anastomosis after resection of esophageal and gastric cardiac carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In many real-world applications, workspace of robots often involves various danger sources that robots must evade, such as fire in rescue mission, landmines and enemies in war field. Since it is either impossible or too expensive to get their precise positions, decision-makers know only their action ranges in most cases. This paper proposes a multi-objective path planning algorithm based on particle swarm optimization for robot navigation in such an environment. First, a membership function is defined to evaluate the risk degree of path. Considering two performance merits: the risk degree and the distance of path, the path planning problem with uncertain danger sources is described as a constrained bi-objective optimization problem with uncertain coefficients. Then, a constrained multi-objective particle swarm optimization is developed to tackle this problem. Several new operations/improvements such as the particle update method based on random sampling and uniform mutation, the infeasible archive, the constrained domination relationship based on collision times with obstacles, are incorporated into the proposed algorithm to improve its effectiveness. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the capability of our method to generate high-quality Pareto optimal paths. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using a molecular static approach with a many-body force field, we have simulated the elastic responses of a nickel monocrystal subjected to uniaxial tensile and compressive loadings in the [001], [011] and [111] directions. The main focus of this work is the nonlinear effects on the elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio. The study shows that the elastic behavior exhibits strongest nonlinear effects for [011] loading, and, for [001] and [111] loadings, the lateral deformation is isotropic. Further, the dependence of the Young’s moduli and Poisson’s ratios on strain are discussed in detail. A comparison of the results with those of ab initio calculations is also presented, which shows a fair consistency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) exhibit hippocampal damage and cognitive deficits. To determine the effect of apnea on the synaptic transmission in the hippocampus, we performed electrophysiological studies in an in vivo guinea pig model of OSA. Specifically, we determined the cornu ammonis region 1 (CA1) field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) response to cornu ammonis region 3 (CA3) stimulation and examined the presynaptic mechanisms underlying the changes in the fEPSP. Single episodes of apnea resulted in a maximal potentiation of the fEPSPs at 1 to 3 min after the termination of each episode of apnea. The mean amplitude and slope of the post-apneic fEPSP was significantly larger compared with the pre-apneic control. These changes were accompanied by a significant decrease in the paired-pulse facilitation ratio during the post-apneic period compared with the pre-apneic control. The N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor antagonist MK-801, when applied locally to the CA1 recording site by pressure ejection, blocked the apnea-induced potentiation of the fEPSP. In the experimental animals that were subjected to extended periods of recurrent apnea, CA1 neurons exhibited positive immunoreactivity for fragmented DNA strands, which indicates apoptotic cell death. The present results demonstrate that apnea-induced potentiation of the hippocampal CA1 fEPSP is mediated by an NMDA receptor mechanism. We therefore conclude that recurrent apnea produces abnormally high levels of glutamate that results in the apoptosis of CA1 neurons. We hypothesize that this damage is reflected by the cognitive deficits that are commonly observed in patients with breathing disorders such as OSA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A new conductive polyaniline derivative containing disulfide bonds, poly[bis(2-aminophenyloxy)disulfide] (PAPOD), has been proposed as a high energy-storage material. PAPOD has been synthesized using a moderate oxidant ferric chloride and characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), FT-IR, FT-Raman, and UV–vis spectroscopy. The cyclic voltammograms of this polymer show that the intramolecular self-catalysis occurs between the conductive main-chain polyaniline (doping/undoping processes of the π-conjugated system) and side-chain disulfide bonds (scission/reformation processes of the S–S bonds) in PAPOD. Because the redox reaction of conductive main-chain polyaniline occurs in the same potential range as that of the side-chain disulfide bonds of this polymer, the Li/PAPOD test cell displays a charge capacity of 230mAhg−1-cathode and an energy density of 460mWhg−1-cathode, which is about 2–3 times higher than those of inorganic intercalation compounds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this note, for a C&ast;-algebra A, we define a matrix-trace on the C&ast;-algebra Mn(A) to be a positive linear mapping τ:Mn(A)→A such that τ(u&ast;au)=τ(a) (∀a∈Mn(A), ∀u∈U(Mn(A))) and τ(a2)&les;(τ(a))2 (∀a&ges;0). We give some basic properties of a matrix-trace and prove that if A is a unital Abelian C&ast;-algebra, then a map τ is an A-module matrix-trace on Mn(A) if and only if there exists an element λ of A with 0&les;λ&les;λ2 such that τ(a)=λ·tr(a) (∀a=[aij]∈Mn(A)), where tr(a)=∑i=1naii. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Aluminium (Al) toxicity is a major limiting factor for plant productivity in acidic soils. Calcium (Ca) is an essential element and participates in various physiological responses to environmental stress. Here, the aim of this work was to study the role of exogenous Ca in alleviating Al toxicity in Arabidopsis thaliana. For that we used the methods of physiology and proteomics. Results showed that Ca alleviated Al-induced growth inhibition and decreased Al accumulation. Proteomic analyses showed that 75 differentially expressed protein spots, including those related to organic acid metabolism, cell wall components, cellular transport, signal transduction and antioxidant activity, transcription and protein metabolism were identified during the response of Arabidopsis to Ca alleviated Al toxicity. Ca regulated tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle-related protein abundances and affected organic acid concentrations and related enzyme activities under Al stress. Vacuolar and mitochondrion adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase, and cell wall component-related proteins played important roles in Ca-alleviated Al toxicity. Ethylene-insensitive 3 (EIN3) participated in Ca-alleviated Al toxicity. Glutathione S-transferase (GST6) and glutathione S-transferase tau 19 (ATGSTU19) were associated with antioxidant activities induced by Ca under Al stress. Our results may contribute to an understanding of the functional mechanism by which Ca alleviates Al stress in plants. Significant Our results elucidated how Ca alleviate the effects of Al toxicity on the inhibition of plant growth and Al accumulation in plants using the proteomics and physiological methods, which may contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of Ca alleviation Al stress in plants. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Ca alleviated Al-induced plant growth inhibition and decreased Al accumulation. • Proteomic analyses identified 75 differentially expressed protein spots. • Tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle-related proteins were involved in Ca-alleviated Al toxicity. • Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase and cell wall component-related proteins participated in Ca-alleviated Al toxicity. • Glutathione S-transferase (GST6) and glutathione S-transferase tau 19 (ATGSTU19) may participate in Ca-alleviated Al toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the work, novel indium yttrium oxide (InYO) thin films are prepared by an environmentally friendly aqueous solution process. Y element is added to suppress the generation of oxygen vacancies. The effect of Y doping on the performance and stability of nontoxic water-induced InYO thin film transistors (TFTs) is firstly examined. With the increase of Y doping contents, off-state current is decreased and mobility decreases from 15.8 to 11.7 cm2 V−1 s−1. Furthermore, the stability under positive bias stress is also obviously improved. The device with 2 mol% Y element shows an optimized electrical performance and good stability, including mobility of 12.8 cm2/V s, threshold voltage of 1.4 V, subthreshold swing of 0.33 V/decade and threshold voltage shift of 2.31 V under positive voltage stress of 5 V for 10,000 s. The performance improvement is attributed to the decrease of oxygen vacancies and the decline of interface trap density by Y addition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estrogen deficiency and inflammation are known to play important roles in bone metabolism and occurrence of osteoporosis. Monotropein as an iridoid glycoside is reported to decrease estrogen deficiency-induced bone loss and inhibit inflammatory response in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages. However, the effect of monotropein on bone loss in chronic inflammatory conditions remains unclear. It was found in the present study that monotropein significantly inhibited bone mass reduction and improved bone micro-architectures by enhancing bone formation and blocking increased secretion of inflammatory cytokines in osteoporotic mice induced by combined ovariectomy and LPS. Our in vitro experiment further demonstrated that monotropein was able to increase the proliferation and activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bone matrix mineralization and the expression of bone matrix protein osteopontin (OPN) in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells injured by LPS. In addition, monotropein significantly decreased the production of IL-6 and IL-1β, inhibited the nuclear translocation of p65 and NF-κB P50, and down-regulated the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and IKK, indicating that monotropein could attenuate inflammatory impairment to MC3T3-E1 cells by suppressing the activation of NF-κB pathway. All these results suggest that monotropein may prove to be a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory bone loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The antihypertensive mechanism (s) of the epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major effective component in green tea, might associate with microRNAs (miRNAs). Here, we aimed to investigate which microRNA in aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were modulated by administration of EGCG and its mechanism. Main methods The pharmacokinetic behaviors of EGCG and epigallocatechin (EGC) in Sprague-Dawley rats were analyzed by HPLC and DRUG AND STATISTICS software. Blood pressure of SHRs was monitored by the tail-cuff method, the miRNomes of aorta from SHRs was analyzed with deep sequencing, and expression of hypertension-associated miRNAs with significant change and their host genes and target genes were validated by real-time PCR and Western blot. Key findings The plasma deposition of EGCG and EGC best fitted a mono-compartmental model with maximum plasma concentration post-dose (C max , 6.65 vs 4.45 μg/ml) and the corresponding time (T max , 15 vs 10 min). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) of SHRs decreased to the lowest point by 34.04 mmHg and recovered by 23.39 mmHg after 15 and 30 min of administration at dose of 300 mg/kg BW EGCG, respectively, and it decreased again at 60 min and recovered at time 2 h. Total 35 upregulated and 18 downregulated miRNAs were identified compared to the control group ( p  < .01) after EGCG administration. Expression of hypertension-associated miRNA-126a-3p and miRNA-150-5p were further validated. In turn, their host gene and target genes were up-regulated and down-regulated, respectively. Significance Our results indicated that miRNA-150-5p might be involved in the antihypertensive effect of EGCG through SP1/AT1R pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]