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The human stress hormones catecholamines play a critical role in communication between human microbiota and their hosts and influence the outcomes of bacterial infections. However, it is unclear how M. tuberculosis senses and responds to certain types of human stress hormones. In this study, we screened several human catecholamine stress hormones (epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine) for their effects on Mycobacterium growth. Our results showed that epinephrine significantly stimulated the growth of M. tuberculosis in the serum-based medium as well as macrophages. In silico analysis and molecular docking suggested that the extra-cytoplasmic domain of the MprB might be the putative adrenergic sensor. Furthermore, we showed that epinephrine significantly enhances M. tuberculosis biofilm formation, which has distinct texture composition, antibiotic resistance, and stress tolerance. Together, our data revealed the effect and mechanism of epinephrine on the growth and biofilm formation of M. tuberculosis, which contributes to the understanding of the environmental perception and antibiotic resistance of M. tuberculosis and provides important clues for the understanding of bacterial pathogenesis and the development of novel antibacterial therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) combined with radial basis function (RBF) method were adopted to obtain the response surface of the Muszynska nonlinear seal force model coefficient with two variables: eccentricity and rotation speed. During the implementation of the simulation, three coefficients of the seal force model were calculated in each sub-step according to the current state of the rotor-bearing seal system; following which the rotor dynamics analysis with varying parameters was realized. As with the traditional constant coefficient method, the first-order critical speed of the system was obtained, and the bifurcation point and oil film whirl of the system response were identified. The difference is that the coefficients of the traditional method ordinarily do not change with the state of the system. Comparing the results of the varying parameter method with those of the traditional method, it can be seen that the speeds of the system corresponding to the bifurcation and oil film whirl are different. The varying parameter rotor dynamics simulation method proposed in this paper provides a new way of analyzing the nonlinear characteristics of rotor-bearing-seal systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recovery of lower-urinary-tract activity is a top priority for patients with spinal-cord injury. Historically, locomotor training improved micturition function in both patients with spinal cord injury and animal models. We explore whether training augments such as the supraspinal control of the external urethral sphincter results in enhanced coordination in detrusor-sphincter activity. We implemented a clinically relevant contusive spinal-cord injury at the 12th thoracic level in rats and administered forced wheel running exercise for 11 weeks. Awake rats then underwent bladder cystometrogram and sphincter electromyography recordings to examine the micturition reflex. Subsequently, pseudorabies-virus-encoding red fluorescent protein was injected into the sphincter to trans-synaptically trace the supraspinal innervation of Onuf's motoneurons. Training in the injury group reduced the occurrence of bladder nonvoiding contractions, decreased the voiding threshold and peak intravesical pressure, and shortened the latency of sphincter bursting during voiding, leading to enhanced voiding efficiency. Histological analysis demonstrated that the training increased the extent of spared spinal-cord tissue around the epicenter of lesions. Compared to the group of injury without exercise, training elicited denser 5-hydroxytryptamine-positive axon terminals in the vicinity of Onuf's motoneurons in the cord; more pseudorabies virus-labeled or c-fos expressing neurons were detected in the brainstem, suggesting the enhanced supraspinal control of sphincter activity. Thus, locomotor training promotes tissue sparing and axon innervation of spinal motoneurons to improve voiding function following contusive spinal-cord injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By means of the ultrasonic surface impact (amplitude of 30 μm, strike number of 48,000 times/mm2), nanograins have been achieved in the surfaces of both Ti6Al4V(TC4) and Ti3Zr2Sn3Mo25Nb(TLM) titanium alloys, mainly because of the dislocation motion. Many mechanical properties are improved, such as hardness, residual stress, and roughness. The rotating–bending fatigue limits of TC4 and TLM subjected to ultrasonic impact are improved by 13.1% and 23.7%, separately. Because of the bending fatigue behavior, which is sensitive to the surface condition, cracks usually initiate from the surface defects under high stress amplitude. By means of an ultrasonic impact tip with the size of 8 mm, most of the inner cracks present at the zone with a depth range of 100~250 μm in the high life region. The inner crack core to TC4 usually appears as a deformed long and narrow α-phase, while the cracks in TLM specimens prefer to initiate at the triple grain boundary junctions. This zone crosses the grain refined layer and the deformed coarse grain layer. With the gradient change of elastic parameters, the model shows an increase of normal stress at this zone. Combined with the loss of plasticity and toughness, it is easy to understand these fatigue behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of nano grain surface layer generated by ultrasonic impact on the fatigue behaviors of a titanium alloy Ti3Zr2Sn3Mo25Nb (TLM) was investigated. Three vibration strike-numbers of 24,000 times, 36,000 times and 48,000 times per unit are chosen to treat the surface of TLM specimens. Nanocrystals with an average size of 30 nm are generated. The dislocation motion plays an important role in the transformation of nanograins. Ultrasonic surface impact improves the mechanical properties of TLM, such as hardness, surface residual stress, tensile strength and fatigue strength. More vibration strike numbers will cause a higher enhancement. With a vibration strike number of 48,000 times per square millimeter the rotating-bending fatigue strength of TLM at 107 cycles is improved by 23.7%. All the fatigue cracks initiate from the surface of untreated specimens, while inner cracks appear after the fatigue life of 106 cycles with the ultrasonic surface impact. The crystal slip in the crack initiation zone is the main way of growth for microcracks. Crack cores are usually formed at the junction of crystals. The stress intensity factor of TLM titanium alloy is approximately 7.0 MPa·m1/2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) and pathogen- associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) induces type I interferon (IFN) responses. IFNs stimulates hundreds of genes to exert its biological effects. OASs are the members of IFN-stimulate genes (ISGs). Among them, OAS1 activates RNase L to cleave RNA viruses genome, OAS2 activates downstream immune signaling pathways of IFNs, OAS3 induces RNase L to cut the genome of RNA virus and activate IFN I response to enhance the immune effect, and OASL inhibits the survival of RNA viruses by activating RIG-I signaling pathway but promotes the reproduction of DNA viruses by inhibiting the cGAS signaling pathway. However, the role of OASs in mycobacterial infection remains incomprehensible. In this review, we summarized the latest literature regarding the roles of OASs in mycobacterial infection.

By means of the ultrasonic surface impact (amplitude of 30 μm, strike number of 48,000 times/mm 2 ), nanograins have been achieved in the surfaces of both Ti6Al4V(TC4) and Ti3Zr2Sn3Mo25Nb(TLM) titanium alloys, mainly because of the dislocation motion. Many mechanical properties are improved, such as hardness, residual stress, and roughness. The rotating-bending fatigue limits of TC4 and TLM subjected to ultrasonic impact are improved by 13.1% and 23.7%, separately. Because of the bending fatigue behavior, which is sensitive to the surface condition, cracks usually initiate from the surface defects under high stress amplitude. By means of an ultrasonic impact tip with the size of 8 mm, most of the inner cracks present at the zone with a depth range of 100~250 μm in the high life region. The inner crack core to TC4 usually appears as a deformed long and narrow α-phase, while the cracks in TLM specimens prefer to initiate at the triple grain boundary junctions. This zone crosses the grain refined layer and the deformed coarse grain layer. With the gradient change of elastic parameters, the model shows an increase of normal stress at this zone. Combined with the loss of plasticity and toughness, it is easy to understand these fatigue behaviors.