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This paper is to design an objective evaluation algorithm that automatically evaluates image quality and is consistent with the human visual system.In view of the fact that most traditional full reference image quality assessment methods only analyze images in the spatial domain,and have shortcomings in pooling strategies,this paper proposes a random forest based spatial-frequency domain joint feature full reference color image quality evaluation method.Firstly,this method extracts the chroma and gradient features in the spatial domain,which are used to characterize the color information and spatial structure information of images.The texture detail information of the response of the log-Gabor filter bank and spatial frequency features are extracted in the frequency domain,which are used to be joint features.Then,random forest is implemented for learning the mapping relationship between the feature vector and the subjective opinion score to predict the objective quality score.Experiments conducted on three standard databases,i.e.TID2013,TID2008,and CSIQ show that the comprehensive evaluation performance by our method is better than the state-of-the-art full reference assessment algorithms,especially on TID2013 database,the Pearson linear correlation coefficient value can reach 0.9397.

Background: Alcohol abuse is a serious health problem worldwide that causes a variety of physical and mental disorders. Research has shown that the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in alcohol addiction. The BDNF precursor (proBDNF) exhibits different actions than BDNF through separate receptors and pathways in the central nervous system. However, the effects of proBDNF and BDNF in alcohol addiction are not fully known.Objectives: The objective was to identify the expression patterns and effects of proBDNF and BDNF after chronic alcohol exposure.Methods: A total of 40 male adult mice were studied. A mouse psychomotor sensitization (PS) model was established to explore the effects of BDNF and proBDNF treatment following chronic alcohol exposure. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) was performed to measure mRNA levels for BDNF, TrkB, P75NTR, and sortilin in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and dorsal striatum of Kunming mice after chronic alcohol exposure.Results: In Kunming mice, chronic alcohol exposure up-regulated BDNF and TrkB mRNA levels in the prefrontal cortex, but decreased sortilin and P75 mRNA levels in the dorsal striatum. No changes in mRNA levels were found in other measured brain regions in the alcohol and control groups.Conclusion: Chronic alcohol exposure induced the region-specific expression of BDNF and proBDNF and their respective receptors in the brain. These results suggest that BDNF and proBDNF signaling pathways may play major roles in alcohol preference and addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The repair of nerves remains a major challenge in neuron-regeneration. In this study, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PLGA/MWCNTs) nanofibrous scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning method. The surface morphology, physical, and mechanical properties were characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy, and tensile tests, respectively. SEM analysis, Live/Dead staining, immunostaining assays were performed to evaluate neural cells growth. Blending PLGA with MWCNTs resulted in increase diameter and porosity of the scaffolds, and exhibited better mechanical properties. The results demonstrated that the scaffolds with higher MWCNTs concentration provided better survival for neural cells after 8 days of culture, especially for astrocytes growth. This could be useful in treating the disease like multiple sclerosis that causing central nervous system demyelination and axonal injury. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 934-943, 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays important roles in neural stem cell (NSC) growth. In this study, we investigated whether BDNF exerts its neurotrophic effects through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in human embryonic spinal cord NSCs (hESC-NSCs)in vitro. We found an increase in hESC-NSC growth by BDNF overexpression. Furthermore, expression of Wnt1, Frizzled1 and Dsh was upregulated, whereas GSK-3β expression was downregulated. In contrast, hESC-NSC growth was decreased by BDNF RNA interference. BDNF, Wnt1 and β-catenin components were all downregulated, whereas GSK-3β was upregulated. Next, we treated hESC-NSCs with 6-bromoindirubin-3′-oxime (BIO), a small molecule inhibitor of GSK-3β. BIO reduced the effects of BDNF upregulation/downregulation on the cell number, soma size and differentiation, and suppressed the effect of BDNF modulation on the Wnt signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that BDNF promotes hESC-NSC growthin vitrothrough crosstalk with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, and that this interaction may be mediated by GSK-3β. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective The aim of this study was to explore the effect of aescine on the growth in cultured rat cerebral cortical neurons and the relationship with BDNF and TrkB. Methods The cerebral cortex cells from newborn SD rats were primarily cultured in 24 or 96 well plate. Cells were randomly divided into normal, control and aescine groups. Aescine group was cultured with 20 mg/mL aescine (diluted with physiological saline) , control group was cultured with the same volume of normal saline, and normal group do not have any treatment. The sub groups and images were captured at 24 h and 48 h. The expression of BDNF and TrkB mRNA were detected by using RT-PCR, and the neuronal growth vigor was detected by MTT. Results There was no difference in normal and control groups at each time point in cells numbers, body area, neurite length and viability (P> 0.05) , but all indicators have increased in the normal and control groups with the time prolonged. The indicators in aescine group were significantly higher than those in normal and control groups (P < 0.05) . RT-PCR showed that there was no significant difference in expression of BDNF and TrkB mRNA in normal and control groups at each time point (P > 0.05), but the expression in aescine group was significantly higher than that in normal and control groups at each time point (P < 0.05). Conclusion Aescine can promote neuron growth and may be relationship with the expression of BDNF and its receptor TrkB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote ischemic postconditioning (RIPostC) is a protective procedure for brain damage caused by ischemia/reperfusion (IR), yet the mechanism of this treatment remains to be elucidated. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are endogenous non-coding RNAs that have recently been recognized to play vital roles in ischemic brain injury. The aim of this study was to explore the role of circRNAs in the protective mechanism of RIPostC and to analyze the circRNA–microRNA (miRNA) regulation network in RIPostC. Nine rats were assigned randomly into three groups (three rats per group): sham, IR, and RIPostC. Their brain tissues were extracted for next-generation RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis was performed for two comparisons: sham vs. IR and IR vs. RIPostC. The expression patterns of selected circRNAs and miRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). We detected 82 upregulated and 51 downregulated circRNAs and 137 upregulated and 127 downregulated miRNAs in the IR group compared with the sham group, and 41 upregulated and 100 downregulated circRNAs and 45 upregulated and 64 downregulated miRNAs in the RIPostC group compared with the IR group. The proposed competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network, which included 24 circRNAs, 20 miRNAs, and 145 mRNAs, indicated that the dysregulated circRNAs played important roles in brain IR injury. On the basis of the expression patterns of selected circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs obtained by qPCR, we proposed a circRNA_0002286–miR-124–3p–VLCAD pathway. In PC12 cell, the expression level of miR-124–3p was significantly upregulated when the expression of circRNA_0002286 was repressed and the expression level of VLCAD (very-long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase) was significantly downregulated, which suggested that circRNA_0002286 may act as a miRNA sponge for miR-124–3p to regulate the expression of VLCAD. We found that upregulation of circRNA_0002286 attenuated IR injury and was associated with downregulation of miR-124–3p and upregulation of VLCAD. This is the first time that circRNAs have been shown to be closely related to brain IR injury and RIPostC and suggests that targeting the circRNA_0002286–miR-124–3p–VLCAD pathway might attenuate brain IR injury. • RIPostC is a protective procedure for brain damage caused by ischemia/reperfusion. • The circRNA0002286 act as a miRNA sponge for miR-124–3p attenuated IR injury. • 3. The circRNA_0002286–miR-124–3p–VLCAD pathway might attenuate brain IR injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During acute reperfusion, the expression profiles of long noncoding RNAs in adult rats with focal cerebral ischemia undergo broad changes. However, whether long noncoding RNAs are involved in neuroprotective effects following focal ischemic stroke in rats remains unclear. In this study, RNA isolation and library preparation was performed for long noncoding RNA sequencing, followed by determining the coding potential of identified long noncoding RNAs and target gene prediction. Differential expression analysis, long noncoding RNA functional enrichment analysis, and co-expression network analysis were performed comparing ischemic rats with and without ischemic postconditioning rats. Rats were subjected to ischemic postconditioning via the brief and repeated occlusion of the middle cerebral artery or femoral artery. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression levels of differentially expressed long noncoding RNAs after ischemic postconditioning in a rat model of ischemic stroke. The results showed that ischemic postconditioning greatly affected the expression profile of long noncoding RNAs and mRNAs in the brains of rats that underwent ischemic stroke. The predicted target genes of some of the identified long noncoding RNAs (cis targets) were related to the cellular response to ischemia and stress, cytokine signal transduction, inflammation, and apoptosis signal transduction pathways. In addition, 15 significantly differentially expressed long noncoding RNAs were identified in the brains of rats subjected to ischemic postconditioning. Nine candidate long noncoding RNAs that may be related to ischemic postconditioning were identified by a long noncoding RNA expression profile and long noncoding RNA-mRNA co-expression network analysis. Expression levels were verified by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. These results suggested that the identified long noncoding RNAs may be involved in the neuroprotective effects associated with ischemic postconditioning following ischemic stroke. The experimental animal procedures were approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Kunming Medical University (approval No. KMMU2018018) in January 2018., Competing Interests: None

A self-developed direct condensation sampling system and monitoring method for total particulate matter (TPM) in ultra-low-emission and high-humidity exhaust gas were applied to the emission monitoring of particulate matter in flue gas from three typical combustion sources with ultra-low emissions in Beijing. The emission levels and composition characteristics of particulate matter and water-soluble ions in the exhaust gas of typical combustion sources with ultra-low emissions were analyzed and evaluated. The interaction and influencing factors of filterable particulate matter (FPM) and condensable particulate matter (CPM) and their water-soluble ions were explored. The results showed that the emission concentration of FPM in the exhaust gas of the coal-fired boiler with ultra-low emissions was between 1.04 mg·m -3 and 1.11 mg·m -3 in standard smoke oxygen content, and that of TPM was between 3.82 mg·m -3 and 8.69 mg·m -3 , which all met the national ultra-low emission limit (10 mg·m -3 ). However, the TPM emission concentration of the coal-fired power plant exceeded the emission limit of Beijing (5 mg·m -3 ). The emission concentrations of CPM and its total water-soluble ions from the coal-fired heating boiler were 3.05 mg·m -3 and 1.30 mg·m -3 , respectively, which were significantly lower than those of the coal-fired power plant, and were related to the higher load and flue gas temperature of the coal-fired power plant. Furthermore, the emission concentrations of CPM and its total water-soluble ions from the coal-fired power plant boiler were 2.2 to 2.4 times and 1.7 to 2.2 times greater than those of the coal-fired heating boiler, respectively. The emission concentrations of TPM and its total water-soluble ions from the gas power plant were 1.99 mg·m -3 and 1.44 mg·m -3 , respectively, which were significantly lower than those from the coal-fired boiler. CPM was the main form of particulate matter in the exhaust gas of the combustion source. The contribution of CPM to TPM in the ultra-low-emission boiler flue gas increased significantly, and increased with the increase in the flue gas temperature, ranging from 72.6% to 88.1% for the coal-fired boiler and 93.1% for the gas power plant. Total water-soluble ions made up 66.1% to 94.2% of the CPM. The flue gas temperature had a significant impact on the existing forms, removal efficiencies, and emission concentrations of particulate matter and water-soluble ions. SO 4 2- was the main characteristic water-soluble ion of particulate matter in the coal-fired boiler, and its emission concentration ranged from 0.98 mg·m -3 to 1.18 mg·m -3 , accounting for 27.7% to 49.6% of the total water-soluble ion emissions, which originated from flue gas desulfurization. F - was another characteristic water-soluble ion of particulate matter in the coal-fired power plant, and its emission concentration ranged from 1.91 mg·m -3 to 2.32 mg·m -3 , accounting for 54.4% to 56.1% of the total water-soluble ion emissions, which might have been related to the high F content of fuel coal. NH 4 + was the main characteristic water-soluble ion of particulate matter in the gas power plant, and its emission concentration was 0.92 mg·m -3 , accounting for 64.2% of the total water-soluble ion emissions, which originated from the escape of NH 3 in the process of selective catalytic reduction. The emission concentration of NH 4 + was significantly higher than that of the coal-fired boiler; this might have been related to the synergistic removal effect of the gas-fired power plant, which lacked other purification facilities.

Based on the concentrations of 21 inorganic elements in particulate matter with diameters less than 10 μm (PM 10 ) in 2004, and PM 2.5 in 2004 and 2013 of representative road dust in Beijing, the pollution characteristics and potential ecological risks of heavy metals in this dust were analyzed and discussed. The results showed that the six main elements in road dust in Beijing were Si, Ca, Al, Fe, Mg, and K, and the proportions of the total content of the six elements in PM 10 in 2004, PM 2.5 in 2004, and PM 2.5 in 2013 accounted for 96.51%, 96.42%, and 96.53% of the total content of all elements tested, respectively. The elemental enrichment level and the pollution degree and the potential ecological risk of heavy metal in road dust in Beijing in 2004 were PM 2.5 >PM 10 . Se, a characteristic element of coal dust, was highly enriched in PM 2.5 in 2004, and Cd was high in PM 10 and PM 2.5 in 2004 with enrichment factors of 1024.03, 68.15, and 871.55, respectively. Co, Zn, Ca, and Cu were significantly enriched in PM 10 and PM 2.5 in 2004 with enrichment factors of 12.93, 12.33, 8.30, and 8.07 in PM 10 and 17.41, 21.80, 12.83, and 19.73 in PM 2.5 , respectively; Na and Si were not enriched in the road dust. The pollution load index (PLI) of heavy metals was 3.95 in PM 10 and 7.71 in PM 2.5 in 2004. Owing to the implementation of dust, motor vehicles, and combustion source control measures in Beijing and the relocation of the Shougang corporation, the elemental enrichment level, pollution degree, and potential ecological risk of heavy metals in road dust PM 2.5 in 2013 were significantly lower than those in 2004. The enrichment factors of Cd and Se in PM 2.5 in 2013 decreased to 98.47 and 0.95, respectively; those of Cu, Ca, and Zn decreased to 11.90, 8.84, and 8.20, respectively; and PLI decreased to 2.56. The results showed that the total potential ecological risk of heavy metals in road dust in Beijing was extremely strong. Heavy metal Cd was the most significant pollution factor and the main potential ecological risk source; its potential ecological risk index (RI) contribution to the total RI of heavy metals was more than 85%. In 2004, the pollution degree of heavy metals in road dust of main roads was significantly higher than that for other road types. The pollution degree of heavy metals in PM 10 was main road > expressway entrance to Beijing > secondary main road > ring road; that for PM 2.5 was main road > ring road > expressway entrance to Beijing > secondary main road. For PM 2.5 in 2013, however, the order was expressway entrance to Beijing > main road > ring road > secondary main road. The pollution degree of heavy metals in road dust of secondary main roads was significantly lower than that for other road types. In 2013, for road dust PM 2.5 in Beijing, the correlation of heavy metals Ti, Zn, V, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Ni was significant owing mainly to traffic-related emissions.

Satellite glial cells surround neurons within dorsal root ganglia. Previous studies have focused on single-cell suspensions of cultured neurons derived from rat dorsal root ganglia. At present, the primary culture method for satellite glial cells derived from rat dorsal root ganglia requires no digestion skill. Hence, the aim of the present study was to establish a novel primary culture method for satellite glial cells derived from dorsal root ganglia. Neonatal rat spine was collected and an incision made to expose the transverse protrusion and remove dorsal root ganglia. Dorsal root ganglia were freed from nerve fibers, connective tissue, and capsule membranes, then rinsed and transferred to 6-well plates, and cultured in a humidified 5% CO 2 incubator at 37°C. After 3 days in culture, some cells had migrated from dorsal root ganglia. After subculture, cells were identified by immunofluorescence labeling for three satellite glial cell-specific markers: glutamine synthetase, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and S100β. Cultured cells expressed glutamine synthetase, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and S100β, suggesting they are satellite glial cells with a purity of > 95%. Thus, we have successfully established a novel primary culture method for obtaining high-purity satellite glial cells from rat dorsal root ganglia without digestion., Competing Interests: None

Development of the human fetal spinal cord is a very complicated process involving numerous signaling pathways including Wnt signaling pathways. These pathways are critical for the development and function of the mammalian nervous system. β-Catenin is a key molecule in the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. However, the distributions of β-catenin during development of the human fetal spinal cord have not been well characterized. Therefore, in this study, we performed immunohistochemical analysis of the β-catenin distribution in the developing human spinal cord from 35 fetuses at three weeks to eight months of gestation. As early as E3W and E4W, β-catenin was mainly expressed in the internal limiting membrane of the neural tube and neuroepithelium (E: Embryos; W: Weeks). During developmental stages, β-catenin was widely expressed in various structures and cells including the neuroepithelium, internal limiting membrane, mantle layer, marginal layer, basal plate, alar plate, ependyma, gray matter, white matter, neurons with multiple processes, glial cells, and nerve fibers. This study clarifies the morphological developmental characteristics of the human fetal spinal cord as well as the distribution and expression pattern of β-catenin in chronological and spatial aspects. Our results suggest that the Wnt÷β-catenin signaling pathway might play a crucial role in various stages of the formation and differentiation of the human fetal spinal cord.

Objective: To explore the expression and change of neurokinin A (NKA) in rat duodenum during development., Methods: PAP immunocytochemistry method and image analysis were used to detect systematically the expression of NKA in rat duodenum from day 13 of embryo to adult stage., Results: In rat duodenum, the NKA-IR was first found in the myenteric plexus at day 14 of embryo, and then was found in the longitudinal muscle layer, circular muscle layer, intestinal villus, mucosa plexus, intestinal gland, muscularis mucosae, submucosa, submucosal plexus and deep muscular plexus. At day 30 after birth, the distribution feature of adult rat was seen. The results of quantitative analysis were in accord with the developmental change of NKA-IR in duodenum. The NKA-IR positive cells showed the typical feature of morphology and distribution of gastrointestinal endocrine cells., Conclusion: The ontogeny and development of NKA in rat duodenum mainly appear at 1 week before birth and at 4 weeks after birth, whereas the density of positive fiber in villus is not the same as adulthood until 60 days after birth. There are two key periods during the development of NKA in rat duodenum. The first crucial stage is from 1 week before birth to 1 week after birth. The second important stage is in the end of the 4th week after birth. The NKA-IR cells may be the endocrine cells that produce NKA in rat digestive tract. NKA may play an important role in the development of rat duodenum, and may be closely related to the functional establishment of duodenum.

Background & Objective: Previous studies show that cancer and embryo expression protein 65 (CEP65) only expresses in various cancer cells and embryo cells. This study was to detect intracellular distribution of CEP65, and make the foundation for further CEP65 function study., Methods: Two kinds of eukaryotic expression plasmids, which can separately express full-length CEP65-GST and fluorescent fusion protein CEP65-Red, were constructed, and transfected into COS7 cells by DEAE-Dextran method. Plasmosin and nucleoprotein of COS7 cells were separated. Intracellular distribution of CEP65 was detected by Western blot, and observed under fluorescent microscope., Results: Western blot confirmed that CEP65 distributed in cytoplasm and nuclei. Fluorescent protein localization showed diffuse distribution of fluorescence in the cells transfected with pcDNA3-Red, and collective fluorescent articles in cytoplasm and nuclei of the cells transfected with pcDNA3-Red-Cep65., Conclusions: CEP65 can express efficiently in COS7 cells, and locates in cytoplasm and nuclei. It may be a kind of nucleus-associated protein.

Objective: To explore the expression and change of neurokinin A (NKA) in rat esophagus during development., Methods: PAP immunocytochemistry method and image analysis were used to detect systematically the expression of NKA in rat esophagus from the 13th day of embryo to adult stage., Results: In rat esophagus, the positive varicosities and fibres could be observed in the circular muscle layer and the muscularis mucosae layer at the 21st day before birth. With the development of rat digestive tract, the neurokinin A-immunoreactivity (NKA-IR) positive nerves could be observed gradually in the epithelium, submucosa, longitudinal muscle layer, myenteric plexus and submucosal plexus, while mature nerve fibres could be seen at one month after birth. The results of quantitative analysis are in accord with the developmental change of NKA-IR in esophagus., Conclusion: The ontogeny and development of NKA in rat esophagus proceeds from the last day before birth to 4 weeks after birth. NKA may play an important role in the development of rat esophagus.

An unbiased stereological method (the 'vertical section') has been available since the 1980s for the area estimation of an arbitrary surface. Using this methodology, the ratio of the inner (folded) cerebral cortical surface area, to that of the outer surface, was estimated to be about 2 in Man. We have used the same morphometric techniques to study the cerebrum of seven monkeys, six pigs and six cats. The results demonstrated that the ratios were similar in monkeys (1.22 +/- 0.21, SD) and pigs (1.00 +/- 0.22), and that both were significantly larger than the ratio in cats (0.71 +/- 0.18).