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Abstract Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder whose pathogenesis is unclear. Here, several lines of evidence were provided to demonstrate that mTORC1 signaling is hyperactivated in the skin, especially in the epidermis, of both rosacea patients and a mouse model of rosacea‐like skin inflammation. Both mTORC1 deletion in epithelium and inhibition by its specific inhibitors can block the development of rosacea‐like skin inflammation in LL37‐induced rosacea‐like mouse model. Conversely, hyperactivation of mTORC1 signaling aggravated rosacea‐like features. Mechanistically, mTORC1 regulates cathelicidin through a positive feedback loop, in which cathelicidin LL37 activates mTORC1 signaling by binding to Toll‐like receptor 2 (TLR2) and thus in turn increases the expression of cathelicidin itself in keratinocytes. Moreover, excess cathelicidin LL37 induces both NF‐κB activation and disease‐characteristic cytokine and chemokine production possibly via mTORC1 signaling. Topical application of rapamycin improved clinical symptoms in rosacea patients, suggesting mTORC1 inhibition can serve as a novel therapeutic avenue for rosacea.

Improving the generative and representational capabilities of auto-encoders is a hot research topic. However, it is a challenge to jointly and simultaneously optimize the bidirectional mapping between the encoder and the decoder/generator while ensuing convergence. Most existing auto-encoders cannot automatically trade off bidirectional mapping. In this work, we propose Bi-GAE, an unsupervised bidirectional generative auto-encoder based on bidirectional generative adversarial network (BiGAN). First, we introduce two terms that enhance information expansion in decoding to follow human visual models and to improve semantic-relevant feature representation capability in encoding. Furthermore, we embed a generative adversarial network (GAN) to improve representation while ensuring convergence. The experimental results show that Bi-GAE achieves competitive results in both generation and representation with stable convergence. Compared with its counterparts, the representational power of Bi-GAE improves the classification accuracy of high-resolution images by about 8.09%. In addition, Bi-GAE increases structural similarity index measure (SSIM) by 0.045, and decreases Fréchet inception distance (FID) by 2.48 in the reconstruction of 512 × 512 images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with an inverse problem for recovering the piecewise constant viscoelasticity of a living body from MRE (Magnetic Resonance Elastography) data. Based on a scalar partial differential equation whose solution can approximately simulate MRE data, our inverse coefficient problem is considered as a statistical inverse problem of reconstructing the posterior distribution of unknown viscoelastic modulus. For sampling this distribution, one usually can use the Metropolis-Hastings Markov chain Monte Carlo (MH-MCMC) algorithm. However, without an appropriate "proposal" distribution given artificially, the MH-MCMC algorithm is hard to draw samples efficiently. To avoid this, a so-called slice sampling algorithm is introduced in this paper and applied for solving our problem. The performance of these statistical inversion algorithms is numerically tested basing on simulated data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new arylbenzofuran derivative, menthanolic acid A, was isolated from the aerial parts of Mentha canadensis L. The structure was elucidated on the basis of 1D/2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS spectroscopic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (GDGTs) serve as important tools for the quantitative reconstruction of paleoclimate and paleoecology in both continental and marine environments. Previous studies of GDGTs in the terrestrial environments focused primarily on the soils from the relatively warm-humid or cold-dry regions. However, it is still unclear how GDGTs respond to environmental variables in the cold-humid regions. Here, we collected soils along an altitudinal transect of Mountain (Mt.) Changbai, which has a typical cold-humid climate, to investigate the distribution of GDGTs and the response of GDGT-based proxies to changes in climate along the transect. The shift in the distribution of archaeal isoprenoidal GDGTs (isoGDGTs) revealed that the archaeal community varied significantly along the transect, which can affect the relationship between TEX86 and mean annual air temperature (MAT). In addition, the increased temperature seasonality at higher altitudes exerted a significant impact on TEX86. We proposed a global calibration of TEX86 for the growing season temperature reconstruction in the soil environments: T=85.19×TEX86−46.30 (R2=0.84, p<0.001). The methylation indices for 5-methyl branched GDGTs (brGDGTs) including MBT′5me and MBT5/6, showed correlation with soil water content but no relationship with MAT, indicating that MBT′5meand MBT5/6 from cold-humid environments may be not suitable for temperature and altitude reconstruction. In contrast, the recently developed pH proxies, including MBT′6me (the methylation index for 6-methyl brGDGTs), CBT (Cyclisation index of Branched Tetraethers), IRIIa’ (Isomer ratio of IIa′) and IRIIIa′ (Isomer ratio of IIIa′) exhibited significant correlations with soil pH, suggesting these proxies can still be used for soil pH reconstruction in the coldhumid regions. The combination of MBT′5me and MBT′6me was strongly related to different types of climate (cold-dry, warmhumid, cold-humid, and warm-dry). For example, MBT′5me<0.65 and MBT′6me>0.55 are diagnostic for the cold-humid climate. Thus, the combination of MBT′5me and MBT′6me has the potential as a tool for the identification of different types of paleoclimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) transduce pleiotropic intracellular signals in a broad range of physiological responses and disease states. Activated GPCRs can undergo agonistinduced phosphorylation by G protein receptor kinases (GRKs) and second messengerdependent protein kinases such as protein kinase A (PKA). Here, we characterize spatially segregated subpopulations of β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) undergoing selective phosphorylation by GRKs or PKA in a single cell. GRKs primarily label monomeric β2ARs that undergo endocytosis, whereas PKA modifies dimeric β2ARs that remain at the cell surface. In hippocampal neurons, PKA-phosphorylated β2ARs are enriched in dendrites, whereas GRKphosphorylated β2ARs accumulate in soma, being excluded from dendrites in a neuron maturation-dependent manner. Moreover, we show that PKA-phosphorylated β2ARs are necessary to augment the activity of L-type calcium channel. Collectively, these findings provide evidence that functionally distinct subpopulations of this prototypical GPCR exist in a single cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new compound, quercetin-8-(2″-pyrrolidinone-5″-yl)-3′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, with 11 known flavonoids, was isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Abelmoschus manihot. The structure was elucidated by spectral analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor-associated macrophages are increasingly viewed as a target of great relevance in the tumor microenvironment, because of their important role in cancer progression and metastasis. However, the endogenous regulatory mechanisms underlying tumor-associated macrophage differentiation remain largely unknown. Here, we report that caspase-1 promotes tumor-associated macrophage differentiation by cleaving peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) at Asp64, thus generating a 41 kDa fragment. This truncated PPARγ translocates to mitochondria, where it directly interacts with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD). This binding event attenuates MCAD activity and inhibits fatty acid oxidation, thereby leading to the accumulation of lipid droplets and promoting tumor-associated macrophage differentiation. Furthermore, the administration of caspase-1 inhibitors or the infusion of bone marrow-derived macrophages genetically engineered to overexpress murine MCAD markedly suppresses tumor growth. Therefore, targeting the caspase-1/PPARγ/MCAD pathway might be a promising therapeutic approach to prevent tumor progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of crystallization temperature ( T ) on the number of spiral growths on poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) single crystals, obtained by self-seeding method, was systematically studied. The studies show that the statistical average number of spiral growths formed on the PBS single crystals decays exponentially with respect to the Tc. Inspired by BCF (Bruton, Cabrera and Frank) theory and L-H (Lauritzen and Hoffman) theory, a thermodynamic model has been proposed, in which the origin of spiral growth was treated as a nucleation process. The model suggests that the nucleation rate of spiral growth depends on the inverse square of super-cooling degree, which predicted the density of spiral growth formed on lamellae, and was consistent with the experiments very well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

YEuVO: xBi ( x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.10 mol) six photoluminescence films were deposited on glass substrates by sol-gel spin-coating method. Their morphology and optical property were investigated. The micrographs for the six samples have no change with Bi doping. The emission spectra result shows that a dominant red emission peak at 620 nm, which is due to the Eu electric dipole transition of D → F, is observed under excitation wavelengths 254 nm. Furthermore, with the content of Bi increasing from 0 to 0.08 mol, the emission intensity of samples strengthens and reaches a maximum at x = 0.08 mol, then decreases with the doping content to 0.10 mol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon-doped TiO (Si-TiO) and pure TiO films were deposited on titanium substrates by cathodic arc deposition technique. The surface characteristics of the films, such as surface topography, elemental composition and wettability, were studied. About 4.6 % Si was incorporated into the Si-TiO films with a water contact angle of about 83°. The adhesive behaviors of osteoblast-like MG63 cells on both films were investigated through cell counting assay, immunocytochemistry, real-time PCR and western blotting analysis. Cells cultured on the Si-TiO films had a greater cellular viability, stronger cytoskeleton and focal adhesion, and more cellular spreading than those on the pure TiO films. Moreover, the expression levels of integrin β1 and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) genes, FAK and the phosphorylation of FAK proteins were up-regulated in cells cultured on the Si-TiO films. These results indicated that the Si-TiO films possess significantly enhanced cytocompatibility and provide potential solutions for the surface modification of implants in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Internet becomes increasingly important to all aspects of society, the consequences of disruption become increasingly severe. Thus it is critical to increase the resilience and survivability of future networks. We define resilience as the ability of the network to provide desired service even when challenged by attacks, large-scale disasters, and other failures. This paper describes a comprehensive methodology to evaluate network resilience using a combination of topology generation, analytical, simulation, and experimental emulation techniques with the goal of improving the resilience and survivability of the Future Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

fungal strain, marked as ECU0913, producing high activities of both cellulase and xylanase was newly isolated from soil sample collected near decaying straw and identified as Penicillium sp. based on internal transcribed spacer sequence homology. The cultivation of this fungus produced both cellulase (2.40 FPU/ml) and xylanase (241 IU/ml) on a stepwisely optimized medium at 30 °C for 144 h. The cellulase and xylanase from Penicillium sp. ECU0913 was stable at an ambient temperature with half-lives of 28 and 12 days, respectively. Addition of 3 M sorbitol greatly improved the thermostability of the two enzymes, with half-lives increased by 2.3 and 188-folds, respectively. Catalytic performance of the Penicillium cellulase and xylanase was evaluated by the hydrolysis of corn stover pretreated by steam explosion. With an enzyme dosage of 50 FPU/g dry substrate, the conversions of cellulose and hemicellulose reached 77.2% and 47.5%, respectively, without adding any accessory enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAim:To investigate the efficacy of glycyrrhizin (GL) combined with salbutamol (SA) as an anti-asthma therapy.Methods:Rat lung beta2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) mRNA level was measured by real-time RT PCR. Intracellular cAMP accumulation was evaluated with a reporter gene assay. An in vitro acetylcholine-induced guinea pig tracheal strip contraction model was used to test the relaxing effects of GL and SA. The anti-inflammatory effects of GL and SA were tested using tumor necrosis factor-α-induced NF-κB transcriptional activation reporter assay, I-κB Western blotting and interleukin-8 ELISA. An in vivo guinea pig asthma model was used to prove further the synergistic effect of GL and SA.Results:GL (0.3 μmol/L) increased mRNA levels of β2-AR in vivo and the accumulation of cAMP in vitro. The combination of GL and SA also resulted in significant complementary anti-inflammatory effects via inhibition of NF-κB activation, degradation of I-κB and production of interleukin-8. A significant synergistic effect of the combination was detected both in vitro and in vivo in a guinea pig mode.Conclusion:The results demonstrate that GL and SA have synergistic anti-asthmatic effects and offer the possibility of a therapeutic application of GL in combination with β2-AR agonists in the treatment of asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study related to chemical constituents of the spines of gleditsia sinensis. It discusses origination of the species along with an analysis of its isolation from current state. It further mentions medicinal properties of the species and how it is used as medical treatment in various places. It also presents chemical bonding of the process.

AbstractAim:To investigate the anti-asthmatic mechanisms of the traditional Chinese medicine Pericarpium citri reticulatae (PCR).Methods:The alkaloid section (AS) of PCR was extracted using an ion exchange resin, separated, and purified into different fractions by semi-preparative HPLC. These fractions were screened for beta2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) agonistic activity using rat β2AR-transfected CHO-CRE-EGFP cells. AS and its isolated components were characterized by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight MS (UPLC/Q-Tof MS) and were evaluated for their spasmolytic and antitussive activities both in vitro and in vivo in a guinea pig model.Results:We demonstrated that the AS component responsible for activating β2AR signaling was synephrine. Both AS and synephrine showed significant spasmolytic effects on acetylcholine chloride (ACh)-induced contractions in isolated guinea pig trachea, and they protected against histamine-induced experimental asthma by prolonging the latent period. We further identified stachydrine as the antitussive component that could significantly reduce citric acid–induced coughing. The combination of these two bioactive compounds had a more potent spasmolytic activity in comparison with the single use of synephrine or stachydrine.Conclusion:We conclude that synephrine and stachydrine are the key components of AS that mediate asthma relief due to their synergism when used in combination.Acta Pharmacologica Sinica (2009) 30: 567–575; doi: 10.1038/aps.2009.36; published online 13th April 2009 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification and validation of putative surrogate endpoints in oncology is a great challenge to medical investigators, statisticians, and regulators. A putative surrogate endpoint must be validated at both individual-level and trial-level before it can be used to replace the clinical endpoint in a future clinical trial. Recently, meta-analytic methods for evaluating potential surrogates have become widely accepted in cancer clinical trials. In this review, after addressing multiple complications and general issues surrounding surrogate endpoints, we review various proposed and adopted meta-analytic methodologies pertaining to the application of these methods to oncology clinical trials with different tumor types. In oncology, several applications have successfully identified useful surrogates. For example, disease-free survival and progression-free survival have been validated through meta-analyses as acceptable surrogates for overall survival in adjuvant colon cancer and advanced colorectal cancer, respectively. We also discuss several limitations of surrogate endpoints, including the critical issues that the extrapolation of the validity of a surrogate is always context-dependent and that such extrapolation should be exercised with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To screen beta2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) agonists from Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata (RALP) as potential drug leads for asthma using a sensitive cell-based agonist assay. Methods: The β2-AR gene was stably expressed by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells also stably expressing a cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) response element-linked enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter gene. The cells were used to screen agonists from high-performance liquid chromatographic fractions of an extract of RALP. The fraction with the highest activity was selected for further compound isolation and the study of the structure-activity relationship. Its active compound was further identified by chromatography and mass spectrometry. Results: Bioactivity-directed fraction-ation of the crude extract of RALP led to the isolation and characterization of the effective compound, namely hignamine. It could dose-dependently relax the isolated guinea pig trachea strip precontraction with acetylcholine with EC50 value of (2.60±0.36) × 10−5 mol/L. Further in vivo studies also displayed that hignamine could protect experimental asthma model induced by histamine in guinea pigs to prolong the latent periods of asthma. Conclusion: Hignamine, as a β2-AR agonist existing in the extract of RALP, is the key compound contributing to the successful relief of the bronchoconstriction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A brief introduction on the advance in the fabrication technology of ZnO materials was given. Related research on the multi-photon excitation processes in several kinds of ZnO materials under intense pump conditions by fs pulses were reviewed. Stimulated emission properties in ZnO microtubes and nanowires have also been dealt with. Possible nonlinear effects that emerged under the extremely intense field were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Co-crystallization of melamine(MA) and sulfate results in crystalline product [(C3H7N6)2(SO42−)] � 2H2O. The novel supramolecular complex has been characterized by elemental analysis, thermal analysis (TGA and DSC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and single crystal X-ray diffraction. X-ray crystallographic studies of the complex reveal that the title complex has a 3-D microporous structure which is linked by intense intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions (N–H������O, N–H������N, O–H������O) and aromatic π-π interaction, which stabilize the whole crystal framework. The TGA curve shows that the complex is stable up to 500 �C, above which its structure begins to collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of Xin'anning Nasal Drop (XAND,cannot be represented by a convertion) in treating coronary heart disease with unstable angina pectoris (CHD-UAP). Methods: Sixty patients with CHD-UAP were assigned, according to the randomizing number table, to two groups, the control group treated with conventional Western medicine, and the treated group treated with conventional Western medicine plus XAND. The clinical efficacy and the changes of S-T segment in resting EKG and total ischemia burden (TIB) in 24-h dynamic EKG were observed. Results: The clinical efficacy, including the effect of angina alleviation, its initiation, and the effect of TOM syndrome score reduction, were significantly superior in the treated group to those in the control group (P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). The degree and extent of myocardial ischemia were significantly improved in both groups (P<0. 01), but the improvement in the treated group was better than that in the control group (P<0. 05) Moreover, it was worth mentioning that the immediate effect in the treated group was better than that in the control group, and the reduction of TIB, the improvement in heart rate and myocardial oxygen consumption (immediately after the first administration or by the end of the therapeutic course) , and systolic blood pressure after treatment in the former were all superior to those in the latter, showing significant difference (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: XAND has a quick effect in alleviating angina in patients with CHD-UAP, and it is worthy of further studies and spreading in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce the photo-induced ultrafast dynamics taking place in the peripheral light harvesting antenna LH2 from purple bacteria Rhodobacter sphaeroides by using absorption, fluorescence emission and ultrafast spectroscopic techniques. Three kinds of LH2 samples, pH treated LH2 (complete removal of B800 pigments), carotenoid mutated LH2 (GM 309) and electrochemical oxidation treated LH2 were used in comparison with native LH2 to investigate the mechanism of photo-induced ultrafast energy transfer within the LH2 complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical investigation on the aerial parts of Lycopus lucidus var. hirtus has afforded a novel abietane-type diterpenoid glycoside, lucihirtin A ( 1), and seven known compounds, ursolic acid 28-O- β-D-glucopyranoside ( 2), 2 α,3 β,19 α-trihydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid 28-O- β-D-glucopyranoside ( 3), 2 α,3 α,19 α-trihydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid ( 4), oleanolic acid ( 5), ursolic acid ( 6), palmitic acid ( 7), and 1-glycerin hexadecylate ( 8). Their structures and configurations were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including 2D NMR techniques. Compounds 2, 3, 4, and 8 were isolated from this plant for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Chemical Constituents of the Flower Buds of Panax ginseng" by Xiao-Ling Pan, Zhen-Lin Li, Shi-Hui Qian, and She-Ban Pu is presented.

The article discusses a study which aims to identify the flavonoid compounds found in the aerial parts of Mentha haplocalyx. The study were refluxed with 40% ethanol and diluted with hydrogen oxide. The study uses the mass and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to identify the compounds. Result shows that isoleucanthogenin, apigenin, and tilianin are some of the compounds in the species.