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Background: Several studies have been performed to assess the relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, inconsistent results have been obtained. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to address this knowledge gap. Methods: We searched PubMed, Cochrane library, and EMBASE database for studies that evaluated the relationship between blood homocysteine (HCY) level and T2DM from inception to Jun 2019. The quality of all included studies was assessed by the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ). RevMan5.3 and Stata12.0 were used for data analyses. Results: Twenty-five studies (including 1881 cases and 2868 controls) on blood HCY level in T2DM were pooled in our meta-analysis. The blood HCY level in the T2DM patients was significantly higher than in the healthy individuals (SMD = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.43–0.84, and p < 0.001, I2 = 89%, p < 0.001), ignores the effects of age, sex, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease conditions, and other comorbidity. Additionally, in T2DM patients with nephropathy or retinopathy, blood HCY level was also significantly higher than in those with only T2DM (SMD = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.76–1.58, p < 0.001; I2 = 90%, p < 0.001 and SMD = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.39–1.44, p <0.001; I2 = 82%, p <0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Our meta-analysis revealed the HCY level in the blood of T2DM patients was significantly higher than those of the health subjects, especially in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) exert strong immunomodulatory effects and can repair organs. However, their roles in radiation injury remain unclear. We show that in tree shrews with acute radiation injury, injected UC-MSCs significantly improved survival rates, reduced lung inflammation and apoptosis, prevented pulmonary fibrotic processes, recovered hematopoiesis, and increased blood counts. A protein microarray analysis showed that serum levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-13 and the growth factors BMP-5, BMP-7, HGF, insulin, NT-4, VEGFR3, and SCF were significantly higher, while those of the inflammatory cytokines IL-2, TIMP-2, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1ra, and IL-8 and the fibrosis-related factors PDGF-BB, PDGF-AA, TGF-β1, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-4 were significantly lower in UC-MSC-injected animals. A transcriptome analysis of PBMCs showed that the mRNA expression of C1q was upregulated, while that of HLA-DP was downregulated after UC-MSC injection. These results confirm the immunohistochemistry results. eGFP-labeled UC-MSCs were traced in vivo and found in the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, thymus, small intestine and bone marrow. Our findings suggest that UC-MSC transplantation may be a novel therapeutic approach for treating acute radiation injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We previously found that chicken egg white extract could promote cell survival and proliferation. In the present study, we further separated this extract into its components to identify those primarily responsible for promoting cell proliferation. Components of differing molecular weight were separated from chicken egg white extract by ultrafiltration and 293T cell cultures were supplemented with various concentrations. The effects on cell proliferation were subsequently determined by a CellTiter 96 Aqueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay kit (Promega). We demonstrate that components from chicken egg white smaller than 3 kDa in size are able to function as active ingredients promoting cellular proliferation. This discovery may identify a new and convenient additive for cell culture media to promote cell growth and proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Induced multipotent stem (iMS) cells are originated from somatic cells and become multipotent by genetic and/or epigenetic modifications. Previous studies have shown that the fish oocytes extracts (FOE) can induce skin fibroblast cells into iMS cells. In this study, we aim to determine whether FOE can similarly induce mouse peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) into the iMS state and if so, whether they can survive longer when they are transplanted into the irradiation female mice. PBMCs of GFP-transgenic male mice were cultured and transiently reprogrammed by FOE. They were deemed reaching the iMS state after detection of expression of stem cell markers. The iMS-like PBMCs were transplanted into female C57BL mice by tail vein injection. The spleen wet weights as well as numbers of colonies of the recipient mice were examined. The results showed the spleen wet weights and numbers of spleen colonies of FOE-induced group were all significantly higher than those of the non-induced group and negative control group. On day 90 after transplantation, FISH analysis detected the presence of Y chromosome in the induced group, but not of the other groups. The current findings demonstrate that FOE-induced PBMCs are able to survive longer in irradiated female mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anti-penetration performance of two-layer explosively welded steel/aluminum plates 5 mm thick impacted by a spherical steel projectile 6 mm in diameter with a velocity of 260-900 m/s is studied in this paper. The effects of the thickness distribution and the incident angle on the anti-penetration performance and damage mechanism are analyzed. At incidence angles of 0-60°, the minimum projectile velocity is needed for penetration at the steel/aluminum thickness ratio equal to 2/3. The good coherence of numerical and experimental results indicates that the finite-element method coupled with the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method can predict the anti-penetration performance of two-layer explosively welded plates well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of egg extracts with the ability to maintain and enhance the survival and differentiation of cells would be widely useful in cellular biology research. In this study, we compared the different abilities of spleen cells to survive and differentiate in vivo after permeabilization by five different types of egg extracts. Five types of egg extracts were prepared. The spleen cells from male GFP-transgenic mice were permeabilized by the extracts for 30 min, cultured for 12 days, and then transfused into irradiated female mice. At varying days after transplantation, the percentage of GFP-expressing surviving spleen cells was detected in the peripheral blood by flow cytometry. At 120 days after transplantation, bone marrow cells from the female mice were analyzed for the presence of cells containing the Y chromosome. Surviving GFP-positive spleen cells that had been permeabilized with either chicken-egg-white or whole-egg extracts could be detected in the female mice after transplantation. A lower percentage of GFP-positive cells was also detected after permeabilization by the other extracts tested, and no GFP-positive cells were found in the female mouse transfused with spleen cells permeabilized with Hank's Buffered Salt Solution (HBSS) as a control. At 120 days after transplantation, the percentage of cells containing a Y chromosome in the bone marrow positively correlated with the percentage of GFP-positive cells in the peripheral blood. After permeabilization by chicken-egg-white or whole-egg extracts, spleen cells demonstrated significantly enhanced survival and differentiation functions compared with the spleen cells treated with the other egg extracts tested. These results show that chicken-egg-white and whole-egg extracts have roles in maintaining and enhancing the survival and differentiation of spleen cells. Therefore, these two types of extracts may be of future use in maintaining the function of stem cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocrystalline (NC) copper is fabricated by the method of severe plastic deformation of coarse-grained copper under explosive dynamic loading at high strain rates. The dynamic mechanical properties of NC copper are studied by the split Hopkinson pressure bar method. The results show that it is feasible to fabricate nanocrystalline copper by explosive dynamic plastic deformation of coarse-grained copper and the grain size of NC copper can be smaller than 100 nm. Twinning and formation of dislocations are the main mechanisms of grain refining. The dynamic yield strength of NC copper increases with decreasing average grain size and increasing strain rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanisms of energy deposition at the interface of particles in explosive compaction of metal powders are analyzed. A one-dimensional model of a spherically symmetric pore is proposed to reflect the collapse. The effect of heat conduction is taken into account in axisymmetric flow equations, and the temperature distribution during the sphere collapse is solved by the finite-difference method under the assumption that the material is rigid-plastic or thermoviscoplastic. The results show that the effect of heat conduction becomes more remarkable if the scale of the holes is small. During the collapse, the inner surface is converted from the elastoplastic to the fluid state, and its temperature becomes much higher than that of the remaining part of the sphere, which favors retaining of the amorphous structure in explosive consolidation of amorphous powders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]