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Background: Acute liver injury is liver cell injury that occurs rapidly in a short period of time. Caffeine has been shown to maintain hepatoprotective effect with an unclear mechanism. Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) has significant effects in acute liver injury. Induction of GRP78 is a hallmark of ERS. Whether or not caffeine's function is related to GRP78 remains to be explored. Methods: Acute liver injury model was established by LPS-treated L02 cells and in vivo administration of LPS/D-Gal in mice. Caffeine was pre-treated in L02 cells or mice. Gene levels was determined by real-time PCR and western blot. Cell viability was tested by CCK-8 assay and cell apoptosis was tested by flow cytometry. The interaction of GRP78 and NEDD4L was determined by Pull-down and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay. The ubiquitination by NEDD4L on GRP78 was validated by in vitro ubiquitination assay. Results: Caffeine protected liver cells against acute injury induced cell apoptosis and ERS both in vitro and in vivo. Suppression of GRP78 could block the LPS-induced cell apoptosis and ERS. NEDD4L was found to interact with GRP78 and ubiquitinate its lysine of 324 site directly. Caffeine treatment induced the expression of NEDD4L, resulting in the ubiquitination and inhibition of GRP78. Conclusion: Caffeine mitigated the acute liver injury by stimulating NEDD4L expression, which inhibited GRP78 expression via ubiquitination at its K324 site. Low dose of caffeine could be a promising therapeutic treatment for acute liver injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-voltage spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material suffers from degradation of electrochemical cycling performance, particularly at elevated temperatures, hindering its successful commercialization. Here, we report that coating this cathode material with MoO3 oxides shows significantly improved electrochemical cycling performance at both room and elevated temperatures. The coated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 half-cell has a capacity retention of only 76%, while it is 90%, 92%, and 93% for 1 wt%, 2 wt%, and 3 wt% MoO3-coated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4, respectively, after 100 cycles at 55 °C. The improved electrochemical cycling performance is attributed to the stabilized structure of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 by migration of Mo6+ into the former, particularly in the surface region during the MoO3 coating process, accompanied by a reduction in surface Ni content and an initial NiO impurity. Furthermore, the electrolyte decomposition and Ni and Mn metal dissolution are reduced by surface MoO3 coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of high-energy weapons could increase the velocity of projectiles to well over 1000 m/s. The nature of the injuries caused by the ballistic impact of projectiles at velocities much faster than 1000 m/s is unclear. This study characterizes the mechanical and biochemical alterations caused by high-speed ballistic impact generated by spherical steel ball to the hind limbs of the pig. That the local and distal injuries caused by hypervelocity ballistic impact to the living body are also identified. It is showed that the severity of the injury was positively correlated with the velocity of the projectile. And 4000 m/s seems to be the critical velocity for the 5.6 mm spherical steel ball, which would cause severe damage to either local or distal organs, as below that speed the projectile penetrated the body while above that speed it caused severe damage to the body. In addition, vaporization prevented the projectile from penetrating the body and the consequent pressure wave seems to be the causal factor for the distant damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-five single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed and characterized from the expressed sequence tags of the pearl oyster Pinctada martensii in this study. The SNP genotyping of the wild population and an artificially bred population was analyzed using unlabeled probe high resolution melting. All the loci contained two alleles, and the minor allele frequency ranged from 0.117 to 0.494. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.234 to 0.767 and from 0.207 to 0.726 respectively. Three loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and significant linkage dis-equilibrate was detected in two pairs of markers. Two loci deviated significantly from the Mendelian ratios ( P < 0.05), suggesting that these two sites may be subject to selection pressure. Markers developed in this study can be used for population evaluation, parentage analysis and genetic improvement in P. martensii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of 4′- l-amino acid carbamate derivatives of scutellarin methyl ester were synthesized. Physiochemical properties evaluation results showed that designed target compounds have higher chemical and enzymatic stability, and aqueous solubility. The permeability ( P) of 4c, 4f, and 4g in Caco-2 cell was 8, 7, and 13 times higher than that of scutellarin, respectively, especially 4g had highest P value (1.85 ± 0.29 × 10 cm/s) and lowest ER ( P/ P) value 0.56. In vitro anti-oxidative evaluation results revealed that 4g can protect against HO-induced PC12 cells oxidative damage by attenuating the MMP loss and decreasing HO-induced ROS production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of target mRNAs. Altered expression of specific miRNAs in several tumor types has been reported. However, the expression levels of miR-126 in colorectal cancers are unclear. In this study, we compared the expression of miR-126 between colorectal cancer tissues and non-tumor tissues. The expression levels of miR-126 in colorectal cancer tissues were significantly lower than those in non-tumor tissues, and miR-126 overexpression inhibited the growth of colorectal cancer cells. This new information may help to clarify the molecular mechanisms involved in colorectal carcinogenesis and to indicate that miR-126 may be a novel suppressive microRNA and help to differentiate between malignant and normal colorectal tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Human beings have had a tremendous impact on natural ecosystems and are now the principal power to change the biosphere. It is logical that we should pay close attention to the interaction between human systems and environmental systems. Taking Minqin basin, Gansu Province, as a case, this paper focuses on the evolution of regional physical environments and the cultural systems by which people maintain their relationships with those environments. This paper presents the conceptual framework for the man-land system. Expecting to accelerate the regional sustainable development, it also analyses the evolutionary mechanism of regional man-land system. On the basis of reviewing and analyzing the evolution of man-land system in Minqin basin, the paper also brings forward an adjusting mode for the studied area, which consists of three aspects: to build up a concept that economic growth must harmonize with environmental quality’s and land productivity’s improvement; to make a whole planning and management in the drainage area; and to push forward the technique of water-saving irrigation and establish water-saving agricultural system. It’s meaningful for resource exploitation and sustainable development of Chinese northwestern arid area, which is represented by Minqin basin, by understanding what great changes the basin has experienced and is experiencing at the global background, and studying its time order and territorial structure, the system’s character and law of evolution, trend and the regulating ways to improve man-land relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]