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Most children with a neurogenic bladder (NB) have bladder fibrosis, which causes irreversible bladder dysfunction and damage to the upper urinary tract. However, the mechanism of bladder fibrosis remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the underlying causes of bladder fibrosis. Here, the lumbar 6 (L6) and sacral 1 (S1) spinal nerves of Sprague Dawley rats were severed bilaterally to establish NB models. Using RNA-seq, we discovered that the NF-κB signaling pathway and inflammation were upregulated in spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced bladder fibrosis. Subsequent Western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, immunohistochemical staining, and immunofluorescence staining verified the RNA-seq findings. To further clarify whether the NF-κB signaling pathway and pyroptosis were involved in bladder fibrosis, a TGF-β1-treated urinary epithelial cell line (SV-HUC-1 cells) was used as an in vitro model. Based on the results of RNA-seq, we consistently found that the NF-κB signaling pathway and pyroptosis might play important roles in TGF-β1-treated cells. Further experiments also confirmed the RNA-seq findings in vitro. Moreover, using the NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950 rescued TGF-β1-induced fibrosis, and the NF-κB signaling pathway inhibitor BAY 11-7082 effectively rescued TGF-β1-induced pyroptosis and the deposition of extracellular matrix by SV-HUC-1 cells. In summary, our research demonstrated for the first time that the NF-κB signaling pathway inhibition rescued bladder epithelial cells pyroptosis and fibrosis in neurogenic bladders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difenoconazole (DFZ) is a broad-spectrum triazole fungicide that is widely utilized in agriculture. Although DFZ has been demonstrated to induce reproductive toxicity in aquatic species, its toxic effects on the mammalian reproductive system have yet to be fully elucidated. In vivo, male mice were administered 0, 20 or 40 mg/kg/d of DFZ via oral gavage for 35 days. Consequently, DFZ significantly decreased testicular organ coefficient, sperm count and testosterone levels, augmented sperm malformation rates, and elicited histopathological alterations in testes. TUNEL assay showed increased apoptosis in testis. Western blotting results suggested abnormally high expression of the sperm meiosis-associated proteins STRA8 and SCP3. The concentrations of retinoic acid (RA), retinaldehyde (RE), and retinol (ROL) were increased in the testicular tissues of DFZ-treated groups. The mRNA expression level of genes implicated in RA synthesis significantly increased while genes involved in RA catabolism significantly decreased. In vitro, DFZ reduced cell viability and increased RA, RE, and ROL levels in GC-2 cells. Transcriptome analysis revealed a significant enrichment of numerous terms associated with the RA pathway and apoptosis. The qPCR experiment verified the transcriptome results. In conclusion, our results indicate that DFZ exposure can disrupt RA signaling pathway homeostasis, and induce testicular injury in mice testes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neurogenic bladder (NB) patients exhibit varying degrees of bladder fibrosis, and the thickening and hardening of the bladder wall induced by fibrosis will further affect bladder function and cause renal failure. Our study aimed to investigate the mechanism of bladder fibrosis caused by a spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: NB rat models were created by cutting the bilateral lumbar 6 (L6) and sacral 1 (S1) spinal nerves. RNA-seq, Western blotting, immunofluorescence, cell viability and ELISA were performed to assess the inflammation and fibrosis levels. Results: The rats showed bladder dysfunction, upper urinary tract damage and bladder fibrosis after SCI. RNA-seq results indicated that hypoxia, EMT and pyroptosis might be involved in bladder fibrosis induced by SCI. Subsequent Western blot, ELISA and cell viability assays and immunofluorescence of bladder tissue confirmed the RNA-seq findings. Hypoxic exposure increased the expression of HIF-1α and induced EMT and pyroptosis in bladder epithelial cells. Furthermore, HIF-1α knockdown rescued hypoxia-induced pyroptosis, EMT and fibrosis. Conclusion: EMT and pyroptosis were involved in the development of SCI-induced bladder fibrosis via the HIF-1α pathway. Inhibition of the HIF-1α pathway may serve as a potential target to alleviate bladder fibrosis caused by SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modified two-axis surface encoder is proposed to separately measure both the in-plane displacement and the Z-directional out-of-plane displacement with minor crosstalk errors. The surface encoder is composed of a scale grating and a small-sized sensor head. In the modified surface encoder, the measurement laser beam from the sensor head is designed to be projected onto the scale grating at a right angle. For measurement of the X- and Y-directional in-plane scale displacement, the positive and negative first-order diffracted beams from the scale grating are superimposed on each other in the sensor head, producing interference signals. On the other hand, the Z-directional out-of-plane scale displacement is measured based on the principle of a Michelson-type interferometer. To avoid the influence of reflection from the middle area of the transparent grating, which causes periodic crosstalk errors in the previous research, a specially fabricated transparent grating with a hole in the middle is employed in the newly designed optical system. A prototype sensor head is constructed, and basic performances of the modified surface encoder are tested by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a lidar system, replacing moving components with solid-state devices is highly anticipated to make a reliable and compact lidar system, provided that a substantially large beam area with a large angular extent as well as high angular resolution is assured for the lidar transmitter and receiver. A new quasi-solid-state lidar optical architecture employs a transmitter with a two-dimensional MEMS mirror for fine beam steering at a fraction of the degree of the angular resolution and is combined with a digital micromirror device for wide FOV scanning over 37 degree while sustaining a large aperture area of 140 mm squared. In the receiver, a second digital micromirror device is synchronized to the transmitter DMD, which enables a large FOV receiver. An angular resolution of 0.57 ° (H)   by 0.23 °   (V) was achieved with 0.588 fps for scanning 1344 points within the field of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new optical configuration for a two-axis surface encoder that can measure the in-plane (X-axis) and out-of-plane (Z-axis) displacements of a positioning stage. The two-axis surface encoder is composed of a scale grating and a sensor head. A transparent grating is employed in the sensor head for measurement of the Z-directional displacement of the scale grating based on the Fizeau-type measurement method; a reference beam reflected from the transparent grating and the zeroth-order diffracted beam from the scale grating are superimposed to generate an interference signal. A pair of prisms and a beam splitter are also employed in the sensor head, so that the positive and negative first-order diffracted beams can be superimposed over a long working distance to generate an interference signal for measurement of the X-directional displacement of the scale grating. Focusing on the new, extended Z-directional measurement mechanism, proof-of-principle experiments were carried out to verify the feasibility of the proposed optical configuration for the surface encoder that can measure the uni-directional displacements of a scale grating along the X- and Z-axis. Experimental results from the developed optical configuration demonstrated the achievement of a Z-directional measuring range of ±1.5 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]