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Background In the traditional ethylbenzene dehydrogenation process, much superheated steam is needed to ensure the activity and stability of the catalyst, inevitably leading to high energy consumption. Methods A novel ethylbenzene dehydrogenation process based on a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactor was used for the ethylbenzene dehydrogenation reaction under a low steam-to-oil ratio. In this work, a series of Fe-Al-based catalysts were prepared by a sol-gel method and the effect of alumina content on the catalytic performance of Fe-Al-based catalyst for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation was investigated. Significant findings Among a series of Fe-Al-based catalysts, the FeAl40 catalyst (the Fe-Al-based catalyst with 40 wt. % alumina) had the highest dehydrogenation activity and suitable attrition resistance for the CFB reactor. Further investigation found that the adding alumina could inhabit the formation of KFe11O17, leading to poor stability. Interestingly, the high activity of the FeAl40 catalyst could be completely recovered through a reaction-regeneration operation. Compared with the conventional ethylbenzene dehydrogenation process, the CFB process benefits from high activity, low steam-to-oil ratio and no induction period. Consequently, the FeAl40 catalyst had high dehydrogenation activity (∼51 wt. % yield of styrene) and low preparation cost, showing an extraordinary potential for industrial application.

BackgroundStimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an innate immune sensor of cytoplasmic double-stranded DNA originating from microorganisms and host cells. The activation of cytosolic DNA-STING pathway in tumor microenvironments is usually linked to more robust adaptive immune responses to tumors, however the intracellular function of STING in regulatory T cells is largely unknown. In the present study, we aimed to explore the contribution of intracellular STING activation to regulatory T cell induction (iTreg) in cervical cancer (CC) microenvironments.MethodsBlood samples and tumor specimens were obtained from patients with CC. The intratumoral STING, CCL22, CD8 and forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) expression levels were measured by immunohistochemistry. T cell-specific STING conditional knockout mice (CD4-Cre/STINGflox/flox, TKO) were generated, and syngeneic TC-1 tumor model were investigated. The differentiation and molecular regulatory pathway of human and murine iTreg under different treatments were investigated by ex vivo assays, immunoblotting and quantitative PCR. Tumor-associated exosomes (T-EXO) were isolated from CC cell lines and exosomal contents were identified by ELISA and Western blot analysis. The impact of T-EXO on T cell differentiation was tested in in vitro cell culture.ResultsIncreased STING, CCL22 level, FOXP3+ cells but decreased CD8+ cells in tumor tissues predicted poor survival. Tumor-bearing CD4-Cre-STINGflox/flox (TKO) mice displayed slower tumor growth tendencies as well as fewer FOXP3+ cells but higher CD8+ cell proportion in tumor tissues than wild-type (WT) mice. Activating of STING signaling cooperated with T cell receptor, interleukin-2 receptor and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signals to promote CD4+CD25highFOXP3+ iTreg differentiation from both human and murine CD4+-naïve T cells from WT and IFNAR−/− mice but not TKO or IRF3−/− mice in vitro. Ectopic STING, TBK1 or IRF3 expression promoted iTreg differentiation from human CD4+-naïve T cells. T cell-intrinsic STING activation induced FOXP3 transcription through TBK1-IRF3-mediated SMAD3 and STAT5 phosphorylation independent of interferon-β. In CC, tumor-derived exosomes activated STING signaling in tumor-infiltrated T cells by exosomal TGF-β, cyclic GMP-AMP synthase and 2’-3’-cGAMP, leading to iTreg expansion.ConclusionsThese findings highlight a novel mechanism for iTreg expansion mediated by tumor-derived exosome-activated T cell-intrinsic STING signal, and provide a rationale for developing immunotherapeutic strategies targeting STING signal in CC.

In conventional ethylbenzene dehydrogenation process, abundant superheated steam is consumed to supply reaction heat and inhibit coke formation, thereby a high operation cost is resulted. In this work, Fe2O3 promoted TiO2-ZrO2 catalyst demonstrated outstanding dehydrogenation performance in the absence of steam. The catalyst composition and preparation method have both been studied and optimized. The high specific surface area, well dispersion of Fe2O3 species, and appropriate acid-base properties are all necessary for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation. Ascribed to the reduction of Fe2O3 species, an induction period to reach the highest styrene selectivity was observed. For the catalyst after pre-reduction, an outstanding initial dehydrogenation performance can be obtained and kept stable in eight reaction-regeneration cycles. Further, a conceptual fluidized-bed ethylbenzene dehydrogenation process composed of a reactor, a regenerator and a reduction section was proposed to realize continuous reaction-regeneration operation. This work not only provides a class of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation catalyst efficient in the absence of steam, but also presents the concept of fluidized bed process obviously reducing the operation cost and achieving self-heat balance.

The formation of 1,3-butadiene is detrimental to the steady operation for the alkane dehydrogenation processes, therefore, feasible strategies to inhibit its formation were investigated over Sn-based catalysts. Clearly, most of 1,3-butadiene comes from n-butane dehydrogenation. The formation rate of 1,3-butadiene is closely related to the catalyst compositions, such as the nature of active component and the support. Meanwhile, introducing appropriate promoters can reduce the amount of 1,3-butadiene. For the reaction conditions, to obtain both high yield of n-butenes and low yield of 1,3-butadiene, reaction temperature and n-butane partial pressure should be chosen according to the actual situation. A relatively high weight hourly space velocity can inhibit 1,3-butadiene formation. Besides, the optimal hydrogen partial pressure can be found, and here the appropriate value should be between 10.1 and 20.3 kPa. Finally, according to the reaction behavior, it is hypothesized that 1,3-butadiene is probably formed through both direct dehydrogenation of n-butane and further dehydrogenation of n-butenes.

Smad4, a key mediator of the transforming growth factor-β signaling, is mutated or deleted in 20% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cancers and significantly affects cancer development. However, the effect of Smad4 loss on the immunogenicity and tumor immune microenvironment of PDAC is still unclear. Here, a surprising function of Smad4 in suppressing mouse PDAC tumor immunogenicity is identified. Although Smad4 deletion in tumor cells enhances proliferation in vitro, the in vivo growth of Smad4-deficient PDAC tumor is significantly inhibited on immunocompetent C57BL/6 (B6) mice, but not on immunodeficient mice or CD8

Objective Iron and steel industry workers are exposed to high levels of inhalable dust particles that contain various elements, including metals, and cause occupational lung diseases. We aim to assess the relationship between occupational dust exposure, systemic inflammation, and spirometric decline in a cohort of Chinese iron and steel workers. Methods We studied 7513 workers who participated in a Health Surveillance program at Wugang Institute for Occupational Health between 2008 and 2017. Time-weighted exposure intensity (TWEI) of dust was quantified based on self-reported dust exposure history, the experience of occupational hygienists, and historical data of dust exposure for workers with certain job titles. A linear mixed-effects model was used for association analyses. Results The average annual change of lung function was − 50.78 ml/year in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and − 34.36 ml/year in forced vital capacity (FVC) in males, and − 39.06 ml/year in FEV1 and − 26.66 ml/year in FVC in females. Higher TWEI prior to baseline was associated with lower longitudinal measurements of FEV1 and FVC but not with their decline rates. Higher WBC and its differential at baseline were associated with lower longitudinal measurements and a more rapid decline of FEV1 and FVC in a dose-dependent monotonically increasing manner. Moreover, the increase of WBC and its differential post-baseline was also associated with a more rapid decline of FEV1 and FVC. Conclusions Our findings support the important role of systemic inflammation in affecting the temporal change of lung function in iron and steel industry workers.

The addition of P to a Ni/SiO2 catalyst greatly changes the isobutane dehydrogenation performance. The Ni:P ratio is an important influencing factor for a Ni–P/SiO2 catalyst because of the formatio...

BackgroundDendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in antitumor immunity, but the therapeutic efficacy of DC-mediated cancer vaccine remains low, partly due to unsustainable DC function in tumor antigen presentation. Thus, identifying drugs that could enhance DC-based antitumor immunity and uncovering the underlying mechanism may provide new therapeutic options for cancer immunotherapy.MethodsIn vitro antigen presentation assay was used for DC-modulating drug screening. The function of DC and T cells was measured by flow cytometry, ELISA, or qPCR. B16, MC38, CT26 tumor models and C57BL/6, Balb/c, nude, and Batf3−/− mice were used to analyze the in vivo therapy efficacy and impact on tumor immune microenvironment by clotrimazole treatment.ResultsBy screening a group of small molecule inhibitors and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs, we identified that clotrimazole, an antifungal drug, could promote DC-mediated antigen presentation and enhance T cell response. Mechanistically, clotrimazole acted on hexokinase 2 to regulate lactate metabolic production and enhanced the lysosome pathway and Chop expression in DCs subsequently induced DC maturation and T cell activation. Importantly, in vivo clotrimazole administration induced intratumor immune infiltration and inhibited tumor growth depending on both DCs and CD8+ T cells and potentiated the antitumor efficacy of anti-PD1 antibody.ConclusionsOur findings showed that clotrimazole could trigger DC activation via the lactate-lysosome axis to promote antigen cross-presentation and could be used as a potential combination therapy approach to improving the therapeutic efficacy of anti-PD1 immunotherapy.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between CDH23 gene and the risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).Methods: This was a case-control study. Noise-exposed workers worked in a steel factory in North China was recruited and been divided into two groups: the case group (BHFTA ≥40 dB) and the control group (BHFTAResults: In this study, 776 subjects of period I and 1117 subjects of period I+II were recruited. The results showed that subjects who carried the AA genotype of rs3802711possessed significantly increased risk of NIHL than those carrying GG (OR: 2.71; 95% CI:1.15, 6.39) and GA+GG (OR: 2.54; 95% CI: 1.09, 6.00) in period I, respectively. For rs11592462, subjects carrying the GG genotype showed a significantly increased risk of NIHL compared with the subjects. Significant relationships were showed between rs10999947, rs3802711, rs10762480, rs3752751, rs3752752, rs3747867, and rs11592462 for NIHL overall and various CNE strata. There was no significant association between the rs1227049 - rs3752752 - rs10999947 - rs3752751 - rs10762480 - rs3802711 - rs11592462 - rs4747195 - rs4747194 - rs10466026 haplotypes and NIHL risk. Conclusions: The genetic variation in the CDH23 gene might play an important role in determining individual susceptibility to NIHL.

To investigate the relationship between single nucleotides polymorphism of catalase(CAT) gene and susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL) in occupational noise exposed population.A case-control study of 1∶1 was conducted to select 286 workers with binaural high frequency average hearing threshold ≥40 dB(HL), from 2006 to 2015 in a cohort study of occupational noise exposure workers in Henan Province. According to the type of work, the age difference was not more than 5 years and the length of exposure to noise was not more than 2 years. The polymorphism of 8 single nucleotides in CAT gene was detected by medium SNPscanTM, and the relationship between 8 single nucleotides polymorphism of CAT gene and NIHL susceptibility was analyzed by multivariate conditional logistic regression.Under the dominant model of rs208679 locus of CAT gene [(GA GG)/AA], the risk of NIHL in individuals carrying GA or GG genotype was 1. 431 times higher than that in individuals carrying AA genotype(95%CI 1. 020-2. 009), and P=0. 038.G, a mutant at rs208679 site of CAT gene, may be one of the risk factors for NIHL susceptibility.

Compared with i-butane dehydrogenation over Ni-Sn/SiO2 catalyst, the conversion is higher for n-butane dehydrogenation, the selectivity to butenes is obviously lower, and the catalyst deactivates more rapidly. In order to clarify the difference, adsorption modes of n-butane and 1-butene along with desorption activation energy of 1-butene were determined by in-situ FTIR and TPD. n-Butane is adsorbed on Ni-Sn surface with a H atom in methyl, and the formed intermediates are prone to the rupture of C C bonds, leading to the lower selectivity to butenes. In addition, secondary reactions of butenes also play an important role in decreased selectivity, but to a less extent due to the medium desorption activation of butenes (58 kJ mol−1 for 1-butene, for example). The generation of coke is the third reason for lower selectivity. The rapid deactivation of Ni-Sn/SiO2 catalyst mainly results from the formation of 1,3-butadiene, coke precursor, by further dehydrogenation of butenes.

Recently, bi-functional molecules that can redirect immune effectors to tumour cells have emerged as potentially robust mediators of tumour regression in clinical trials. Two modalities in particular, bi-specific antibodies for T-cell redirection and activation (BiTe) and immune-mobilizing monoclonal T-cell receptors against cancer (ImmTAC), are being evaluated in efficacy studies as 'off-the-shelf' reagents. Optimal therapy will require an understanding and means to address regulatory mechanisms of limiting efficacy. In light of this, we evaluated the impact of induced regulatory T (iTreg) cells on the efficacy of tumour cell killing redirected by ImmTAC and demonstrated down-regulation of T-cell proliferation and expression of CD25, CD107a, Granzyme B and Perforin by ImmTAC-redirected T cells. Significant recovery of ImmTAC potency, however, could be achieved when combined with an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 monoclonal antibody. Furthermore, we found that among lung cancer patients failing to respond to ImmTAC therapy, there was a significantly higher fraction of Treg cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of lung cancer patients than in healthy donors. These results provide in vitro evidence for an iTreg cell-mediated immunosuppression of ImmTAC-redirected T-cell responses. Whilst immune checkpoint blockade can reverse the Treg cell suppression, it forms a rational basis for a combination of the blockade with ImmTAC in clinical trials.

// Zhaoduan Liang 1 , Ye Tian 1 , Wenxuan Cai 1 , Zhiming Weng 3 , Yanyan Li 1 , Huanling Zhang 1,2 , Yifeng Bao 1 and Yi Li 1,3 1 State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China 2 School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China 3 XiangXue Life Sciences Research Center, XiangXue Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Guangzhou, China Correspondence to: Yi Li, email: // Keywords : high affinity, programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1), soluble PD-L1, T cell, Immunology and Microbiology Section, Immune response, Immunity Received : August 15, 2017 Accepted : September 03, 2017 Published : October 10, 2017 Abstract The activated T cells can be suppressed by programed death-1 (PD-1) axis through low affinity interaction between PD-1 and PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in solution or on antigen presenting cells. In clinic, the concentration of soluble PD-L1 in peripheral blood negatively correlates with cancer prognosis. However, there is little information about the relation between the affinity of PD-1/PD-L1 interaction and the suppressive capacity of PD-1 axis. In this study, we analyzed inhibitory roles of high affinity soluble human PD-L1 (hPD-L1) variants, which were generated with directed molecular evolution. Resultant two clones L3C7-hPD-L1 and L3B3-hPD-L1 showed over 20 folds greater affinity than that of native hPD-L1. We found that L3B3-hPD-L1 and L3C7-hPD-L1 could compete with an anti-PD-1 antibody (EH12.1) for binding to hPD-1. More importantly, although native soluble hPD-L1 can induce suppressive effects on activated T cells, we found L3B3-hPD-L1 and L3C7-hPD-L1 attenuated the strength of PD-1 axis for suppressing the proliferation and interferon γ (IFN-γ) secretion of PBMC. In conclusion, our data provide direct evidence in which immune checkpoint receptor-ligand interactive strength can alter the the suppressive function, in particular, the suppressive capacity of PD-1 axis could be decreased with enhanced affinity of soluble PD-L1 and PD-1 interaction. Our study might provide a new direction for manipulating immune checkpoints.

Sn-containing hexagonal mesoporous silica (Sn-HMS) has been synthesized and evaluated for catalytic dehydrogenation of propane. XRD, HRTEM and XPS characterizations jointly evidence that, the Sn species are probably embedded into the lattice of HMS bulk at a relatively low Sn loading amount. Compared with Sn/SiO2 samples prepared by conventional impregnation method, Sn-HMS catalyst exhibits inspiringly higher propane conversion (∼40%) and better dehydrogenation stability up to 170 h, even after three oxidative regenerations. The improved stability of Sn-HMS catalyst is probably resulted from the inhibition of Sn reduction to low-melting-point metallic Sn species due to a strong Sn O Si bond, as well as the stabilization of the Sn species induced by the mesoporous structure of HMS substrate. Further, the reaction route of propane dehydrogenation over Sn-HMS catalyst has been proposed.

Ni/SiO2 catalysts with large surface area Ni particles exhibit high hydrogenolysis activity, leading to the formation of large amounts of methane and coke. To destroy the active sites for hydrogenolysis, namely the aggregated Ni ensembles, Sn species were introduced into the Ni/SiO2 catalyst. As expected, isobutene selectivity was significantly increased to 90.2 %. The promoting role of Sn on the dehydrogenation performance could be interpreted as both a geometric and electronic effect. On one hand, Sn addition efficiently dispersed aggregated Ni particles and reduced Ni particle size from 77 to 16 nm, weakening the ability of Ni for C−C bond rupture. On the other hand, additional electrons provided by Sn led to a high electronic density of Ni, facilitating the desorption of isobutene from the catalyst and suppressing secondary reactions. Consequently, coke formation was effectively inhibited over the NiSn/SiO2 catalyst, further guaranteeing a good stability and prolonged cycle time.

Given the high cost and environmental problems of Pt and Cr2O3-based catalysts in current dehydrogenation technologies, the cost-effective and environment-friendly Sn/SiO2 catalyst, exhibiting comparable dehydrogenation performance to PtSn-based catalyst, provides an outstanding alternative for catalytic dehydrogenation of propane. Sn is demonstrated to play a leading role in dehydrogenation as a highly active component, profoundly updating people’s conventional understanding that Sn was only a promoter. Further, to address the deactivation problem of Sn/SiO2 catalyst due to coke deposition and mobility of Sn species during a long-term run, Pd has been introduced into the catalyst and its effect has been validated.

Tumor cells can escape immune surveillance through the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) axis suppressing T cells. However, we recently demonstrated that high-affinity variants of soluble human programmed death-ligand 1 (shPD-L1) could diminish the suppression. We propose that in comparison to the wild-type shPD-L1, the further affinity enhancement will confer the molecule with opposite characteristics that augment T-cell activation and immunotherapeutic drug potential. In this study, a new shPD-L1 variant, L3C7c, has been generated to demonstrate ∼167 fold greater affinity than wild-type hPD-L1. The L3C7c-Fc fusion protein demonstrated completely opposite effects of conventional PD-1 axis by promoting redirected T-cell proliferation, activation and cytotoxicity in vitro, as being slightly better than that of anti-PD1-Ab (Pembrolizumab). Moreover, L3C7c-Fc was more effective than Pembrolizumab in enhancing redirected T cells' ability to suppress Mel624 melanoma growth in vivo. As a downsized L3C7c-Fc variant, L3C7v-Fc improved the anti-tumor efficacy in vivo when combined with dendritic cell vaccines. In conclusion, our studies demonstrate that high-affinity hPD-L1 variants could be developed as the next generation reagents for tumor immunotherapy based on the blockade of the PD-1 axis.

To investigate the relationship between metabolic glutamate receptor 7 gene( GRM7) polymorphisms and the susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss( NIHL) in Chinese Han occupational population.Using a nested case-control study with a 1 ∶ 1 matching, a total of 277 cases of contacting noise workers were selected from a cohort in a steel factory. According to the matching criteria: the same sex, the same type of work, the age difference ≤ 5 years, contact noise length ≤ 2 years, 277 controls were selected. The 8 single nucleotide polymorphisms( SNPs) of the GRM7 gene, rs3749380, rs11928865, rs9877154, rs3828472, rs9819783, rs11920109, rs1485175 and rs9826579, were detected by SNPscanTMmethod. The 4 gene models, the additive model, dominant model, recessive model, codominant model, were constructed to explore the biological association with NIHL susceptibility. The possible diplotype of each subject was constructed using Phase 2. 0. 2 to analyze its relationship with NIHL. According to the layered cumulative noise exposure( CNE), the interactions between the influencing factor were analyzed. The relationship between the GRM7 gene and NIHL was analyzed by single factor and multivariate factors conditional logistic regression analysis.The comparison of general demographic characteristics between the hearing loss group and control group showed that smoking could increase the risk of developing NIHL by 2. 051 times( 95 % CI 1. 456-2. 891, P0. 001). No statistically significant difference was found in the analysis of GRM7 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to NIHL.Smoking may increase the risk of NIHL. The relationship between GRM7 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to NIHL has not been found in this study.

The inhibitory checkpoint molecule programmed death (PD)-1 plays a vital role in maintaining immune homeostasis upon binding to its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2. Several recent studies have demonstrated that soluble PD-1 (sPD-1) can block the interaction between membrane PD-1 and PD-L1 to enhance the antitumor capability of T cells. However, the affinity of natural sPD-1 binding to PD-L1 is too low to permit therapeutic applications. Here, a PD-1 variant with approximately 3000-fold and 70-fold affinity increase to bind PD-L1 and PD-L2, respectively, was generated through directed molecular evolution and phage display technology. Structural analysis showed that mutations at amino acid positions 124 and 132 of PD-1 played major roles in enhancing the affinity of PD-1 binding to its ligands. The high-affinity PD-1 mutant could compete with the binding of antibodies specific to PD-L1 or PD-L2 on cancer cells or dendritic cells, and it could enhance the proliferation and IFN-γ release of activated lymphocytes. These features potentially qualify the high-affinity PD-1 variant as a unique candidate for the development of a new class of PD-1 immune-checkpoint blockade therapeutics.

The supplementary material was designed for this study. The data in the questionnaire titled â the Questionnaire of Occupational Healthâ and they contained the basic demographic information of the workers, the information of smoking and drinking, occupational history, the history of past disease and drug use, family history of deafness, work-related injuries and other information related to the occupational health. (DOCX 45Â kb)

Background Exogenous RNAs can specifically up-regulate or down-regulate gene expression after they enter into cells. Alu RNAs are the main constituent of human transcriptome and participate in gene expression regulation. AluY elements belong to a subfamily of Alus and are the youngest Alus. In this paper, we established the technology method of preparing genetically engineered humanized AluY RNAs (AluY RNAs) from Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains. This technology method also can be used to prepare other genetically engineered humanized RNAs that can be used for cytology experiments. Results Different copies of human AluY elements were inserted into pET-28α plasmid (pET) to construct pET-AluY plasmids that were transformed into BMBL21-DE3 (DE3) E. coli. Isopropylthio-β-d-galactoside (IPTG) induction inhibited transformed bacterial growth after DE3 E. coli were transformed by pET-AluY × 8 plasmid (8 copies of AluYs were inserted into pET); northern blotting was used to detect the amount of AluY RNAs after 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 h inducing with IPTG. The results showed that the amount of AluY RNAs was the highest at 4 h; 1, 2, 4, 8 or 14 copies of AluY elements were inserted into the pET to construct pET-AluY plasmids that were transformed into DE3 bacteria, the northern blotting results showed that AluY RNAs production amount increased with the increase of AluY copy number; pET-AluY × 8 DE3 bacteria did not produce AluY RNAs without IPTG induction, AluY RNA production kept similar when inducing by 0.1–0.4 mg/ml IPTG induction, however, AluY RNA production slightly decreased if deviating from the above concentration range; pET-AluY × 8 DE3 bacteria were cultured at 34, 37 or 40 °C and the results showed that AluY RNA production was the highest under 37 °C cultivation; pET-AluY × 8 plasmid was transformed into three kinds of BL21 bacteria, including DE3, BMBL21-DE3-pLysS (pLysS) and Trans BL 21 (TransBL), the results showed that AluY RNA production was the highest when using DE3 bacteria. Conclusions The optimal conditions of producing AluY RNAs were: a kind of host bacteria of DE3, an engineering bacteria concentration of OD600 1.0, an IPTG concentration of 0.2 mg/ml, a culturing temperature of 37 °C and a culturing time of 4 h. Pure AluY RNAs occupied 15.8% of extractive total RNAs and the mean yield of pure AluY RNAs in 100 ml bacteria solution was 0.46 mg.

Background Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a complex, irreversible disease caused by the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, a great many studies have been done to explore the NIHL susceptibility genes among humans. So far, high powerful detections have been founded that genes of potassium ion channel genes (KCNQ4 and KCNE1), catalase (CAT), protocadherin 15 (PCDH15), myosin 14 (MYH14) and heart shock protein (HSP70) which have been identified in more than one population may be associated with the susceptibility to NIHL. As for metabolic glutamate receptor7 gene (GRM7), a lot of researches mainly focus on age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and the results have shown that the polymorphisms of GRM7 are linked to the development of ARHL. However, little is known about the association of GRM7 and the susceptibility to NIHL. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the effect of GRM7 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to NIHL. Methods A nested case-control study based on the cohort in a Chinese steel factory was implemented in 292 cases and 584 controls matched with the same sex, the age difference ≤ 5 years old, the same type of work, duration of occupational noise exposure ≤2 years. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of GRM7 were gained through selecting and genotyping SNPs. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to assess the main effect of GRM7 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to NIHL and the gene-by-environment interaction. Furthermore, the gene-by-gene interactions were analyzed by generalized multiple dimensionality reduction (GMDR). Results This research discovered for the first time that the mutant allele C in rs1485175 of the GMR7 may decrease individuals’ susceptibility to NIHL. The interaction between rs1485175 and cumulative noise exposure (CNE) at high level was found after the stratification according to CNE (p/pbon = 0.014/0.007, OR = 0.550, 95% CI: 0.340–0.891). Permutation test of GMDR suggested that rs1920109, rs1485175 and rs9826579 in GRM7 might interact with each other in the process of developing NIHL (p = 0.037). Conclusions The results suggest that the mutant allele C of rs1485175 in GRM7 may reduce the susceptibility to NIHL in Chinese Han population. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12881-017-0515-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the second-most frequent form of sensorineural hearing loss. When exposed to the same noise, some workers develop NIHL while others do not, suggesting that NIHL may be associated with genetic factors. To explore the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) genes (HSPA1A, HSPA1B and HSPA1L) and susceptibility to NIHL in Han Chinese workers exposed to noise, a case-control association study was carried out with 286 hearing loss cases and 286 matched with gender, age, type of work, and exposure time, drawn from a population of 3790 noise-exposed workers. Four SNPs were selected and genotyped. Subsequently, the effects of the alleles and genotypes of the three HSP70 genes (HSPA1A, HSPA1B and HSPA1L) on NIHL were analyzed by using a conditional logistic regression. A generalized multiple dimensionality reduction (GMDR) was applied to further detect an interaction between the four SNPs. Compared with the combined genotypes CC/TC, carriers of the TT genotype of rs2763979 appeared to show greater susceptibility to NIHL (P = 0.042, adjusted OR = 1.731, 95% CI 1.021-2.935). A significant interaction between rs2763979 and CNE was found (P = 0.029), and a significant association was found between TT of s2763979 and NIHL (P = 0.024, adjusted OR = 5.694, 95%CI 1.256-25.817) in the 96 dB (A)≤CNE

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants often suffer from heat stress combined with high irradiance during the grain filling stage. Glycine betaine (GB) is a compatible solute that accumulates rapidly to enhance stress tolerance in wheat under abiotic stress. In this study, the effect of foliar application of GB on photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry in wheat leaves under the heat and high light stresses were investigated. The results showed that GB-supplemented wheat plants maintained higher chlorophyll content, photochemical activity of PSII and net photosynthetic rate (P n) than stressed only plants. Moreover, GB-treated plants could retard the decrease of psbA gene transcription and accelerate the endogenous accumulation of GB in leaves. The results suggested that the increasing stress tolerance by GB accumulation was associated with an improvement in D1 protein synthesis, which accelerated the repair of PSII following stress-enhanced photoinhibition. Moreover, the accumulation of abscisic acid under the heat and high light stresses was retarded by foliar application of GB, and the decrease of stomatal conductance was inhibited as well. The results suggested that GB accumulation in vivo was involved in the regulation of stomatal conductance. Further work is required to elucidate the mechanism of GB-induced stomatal movement and PSII photoprotection.

In this study, we investigated the effects of foliar applied salicylic acid (SA) on protecting wheat (Triticum aestivum) from heat and high light stress during the grain filling stage. Specifically, the Photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry of wheat flag leaves under the treatment of SA was studied as indicators for stress response. Our results indicated that under stress, SA-supplemented wheat plants maintained higher chlorophyll content, photochemical activity of PSII, and net photosynthetic rate in comparison to non-SA treated plants, and, in addition, the SA-supplemented plants recovered more rapidly from photoinhibition when the stress was removed. SA-treated plants inhibited the decrease of the psbA gene transcription that is caused by stress and then recovered to the original control level after the stress was removed. In addition, foliar supplementation of SA could maintain or elevate the activities of antioxidative enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, and catalase, which are known to provide protection against oxidative stress for wheat crops. Taken together, our results suggest that foliar application of SA can protect the PSII complex from photo-damage through enhanced transcription of the psbA gene (encoding D1 protein), as well as through mitigating photo-oxidation enabled by a high level of anti-oxidative enzyme activities, which allows for faster functional recovery of PSII from heat and high light stress.

Escherichia coli and Shigella spp. are two major bacterial contaminants in raw milk. Effective screening of the two microbes before starting the production process is a critical step for the quality and safety guarantee of the resulting dairy products. This study reported a rapid and simple realtime PCR assay using a ubiquitous primer and probe set targeting the tuf gene for the detection of E. coli and Shigella spp. An internal amplification control (IAC) was also comprised to indicate false-negative results. The duplex realtime PCR assay showed a high efficiency above 96 % and a detection limit

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is an important occupational disease worldwide resulting from interactions between genetic and environmental factors. The purpose of this study was to examine whether genetic variations in POU4F3 and GRHL2 may influence susceptibility to NIHL in the Chinese population. A matched case-control study was carried out among 293 hearing loss individuals and 293 normal hearing workers drawn from a population of 3790 noise-exposed workers. Ten single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in POU4F3 and GRHL2 were selected and genotyped. Logistic regression was performed to analyze the main effects of SNPs and the interactions between noise exposure and SNPs. Moreover, the interactions between predictor haplotypes and noise exposure were also analyzed. Analysis revealed that the CC genotype of rs1981361 in the GRHL2 gene was associated with a higher risk of NIHL (adjusted OR = 1.59; 95% CI: 1.08–2.32, p = 0.018). Additionally, the GG genotype of rs3735715 in the GRHL2 gene was also a risk genotype (adjusted OR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.01–2.19, p = 0.046). Significant interactions were found between rs3735715, rs1981361 (GRHL2), rs1368402 as well as rs891969 (POU4F3) and noise exposure in the high-level exposure groups. Furthermore, the protective haplotype CA in the POU4F3 gene and the risk haplotype GCCG in the GRHL2 gene were identified combined with noise exposure. These results indicated that GRHL2 might be an NIHL susceptibility gene, but the effect of POU4F3 on NIHL could only be detected when taking noise exposure into account, and their effects were enhanced by higher levels of noise exposure. However, the differences were not significant after the Bonferroni correction was applied. These results should be seen as suggestive.

Expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and its homologues has been shown to accelerate the onset of flowering in a number of plant species, including poplar (Populus spp.). The application of FT should be of particular use in forest trees, as it could greatly accelerate and enable new kinds of breeding and research. Recent evidence showing the extent to which FT is effective in promoting flowering in trees is discussed, and its effectiveness in poplar is reported. Results using one FT gene from Arabidopsis and two from poplar, all driven by a heat-inducible promoter, transformed into two poplar genotypes are also described. Substantial variation in flowering response was observed depending on the FT gene and genetic background. Heat-induced plants shorter than 30 cm failed to flower as well as taller plants. Plants exposed to daily heat treatments lasting 3 weeks tended to produce fewer abnormal flowers than those in heat treatments of shorter durations; increasing the inductive temperature from 37 degrees C to 40 degrees C produced similar benefits. Using optimal induction conditions, approximately 90% of transgenic plants could be induced to flower. When induced FT rootstocks were grafted with scions that lacked FT, flowering was only observed in rootstocks. The results suggest that a considerable amount of species- or genotype-specific adaptation will be required to develop FT into a reliable means for shortening the generation cycle for breeding in poplar.

This paper deals with the approximation properties of a kind of rational spline with linear denominator when the function being interpolated is C3 in an interpolating interval. Error estimate expressions of interpolating functions are derived, convergence is established, the optimal error coefficient, ci, is proved to be symmetric about the parameters of the rational interpolation and it is bounded. Finally, the precise jump measurements of the second derivatives of the interpolating function at the knots are given.

The effect of calcium ion on peony aging was studied. Different four calcium ion concentrations (0mmol/L,100mmol/L,250mmol/L, 500mmol/L) was setted. Leaf of the peony Roufurong on same growth pe riod was cultured in vitro, Chlorophyll concentration was measured per four days. The results revealed that calcium ion concentrations at 100mmol/L gave the slowest aging speed among four samples, and when calcium ion concentrations was 500mmol/L, peony was aging fastest.

In this paper a new rational interpolation with a bi-quadratic denominator is developed to create a space surface using only values of the function being interpolated. The interpolation function has a simple and explicit rational mathematical representation. When the knots are equally spaced, the interpolating function can be expressed in matrix form, and this form has a symmetric property. The concept of integral weights coefficients of the interpolation is given, which describes the “weight” of the interpolation points in the local interpolating region.