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Whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators, as an integral component of integrated photonics, have attracted considerable attention due to their high Q factor, small footprint, and small mode volume, making them widely applied as microlasers. In this work, Nd:GGG crystal was prepared into a Nd:GGG film with thickness of 1.8 μm through ion implantation-enhanced etching (IIEE) technique, and subsequently, the Nd:GGG film was partened by focused ion beam (FIB) technology to generate a microdisk with diameter of 20 μm. For high-power microcavity lasers, heat generation during laser operation was inevitable. We placed the microdisk on a silica holder and a silica wafer, respectively. The microdisk placed on the silica holder and silica wafer exhibited laser thresholds of 32 μW and 17 μW, respectively. Moreover, due to different heat dissipation conditions, the microdisk placed on the silica holder exhibited a mode shift of 0.13 nm/mW, while the microdisk placed on the silica wafer showed a more stable laser output state with a mode shift of 0.02626 nm/mW.

This paper first explores the composition of visual elements in modern digital media artworks, extracts the graphical element features of visual elements by improved SIFT algorithm, and classifies and recognizes the graphical elements using by SVM algorithm. Secondly, the extracted and categorized graphical elements are represented by Laplace feature vector correlation spectra in combination with spectral graph theory to study the mutual relationships between the graphical elements. Finally, some graphic elements in modern digital media artworks are used as examples to explore the performance and interrelationship of graphic feature extraction, recognition, and classification. The results show that the vector eigenvalues of spectral graph theory are categorized into [0], (0,100], (100,200], [200, ∞), and the corresponding interrelationships are one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, many-to-many, respectively.

The integration of production and township, landscape enhancement, industrial reconstruction and other aspects of rural characteristic towns play an important role in promoting social harmony. This paper proposes an optimization design method for the landscape spatial environment of a characteristic town based on an interactive genetic algorithm. Construct the visual feature spatially distributed detection and fuzzy pixel region feature fusional reconstruction model of characteristic town landscape spatial environment design image, adopt the similarity information fusion model to carry out the characteristic town art landscape information fusion perception and chunked region template matching in the process of visual reconstruction of the characteristic town landscape spatial environment design image, and realize the characteristic town art landscape design. Finally, based on the ecological concept, it clarifies the development goal and designs the landscape planning path of rural-characteristic towns. According to the landscape design evaluation analysis of rural characteristic towns, the public perception of the natural landscape at macro (91.98%) and macro (97.43%) scales is significantly higher than that of humanistic landscape, which is dominated by expansive water body landscape and close-up flower and aquatic plant landscape. The standard was only met by the prevalence of river greening in 11 natural environment landscape evaluations. The standard was only met by 3 out of the 19 human environment landscapes evaluated.

Objective To determine the effect of low-dose 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) on the polarity switch of M1 macrophages and explore its mechanism primarily. Methods RAW264.7 cells were cultured with 100 ng/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 24 h to induce M1 macrophages.The control group was cultured in the medium without LPS for 24 h.CCK-8 assay was used to detect the toxic effect of low-dose ALA-PDT therapy with different light doses on M1 macrophages, and the expression of M1 type marker, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was measured with Western blotting.Then M1 macrophages were divided into M1 group, ALA group, red light group and ALA-PDT group (ALA treatment followed by red light irradiation).The mRNA expression levels of inducible M1 type markers iNOS and interleukin 6(IL-6), and M2 type markers interleukin 10(IL-10) and arginase 1(Arg-1) were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, and the secretions of IL-6 and IL-10 were detected by ELISA.Western blotting was applied to detect the protein levels of iNOS, interleukin 1β(IL-1β), Arg-1, and autophagy-related proteins, ubiquitin-binding protein P62 and tubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3(LC3). Results Compared with the control group, the mRNA levels of iNOS and IL-6 were higher (P < 0.05), the protein levels of iNOS and IL-1β were higher (P < 0.05), and that of Arg-1 was lower (P < 0.05), and the secretion level of IL-6 was higher in the M1 group (P < 0.05).With the increase of light intensity, the toxic effect of ALA-PDT therapy on M1 macrophages was gradually increased (P < 0.05), and when the intensity higher than 2 J/cm2, the expression of iNOS was inhibited.The mRNA levels of Arg-1 and IL-10 were increased, while that of iNOS was decreased (P < 0.05), the protein expression of Arg-1 was elevated while those of iNOS and IL-1β were decreased (P < 0.05), the secretion level of IL-10 was increased (P < 0.05) but that of IL-6 decreased (P < 0.05), and the protein level of P62 was decreased (P < 0.05) and the ratio of LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ was increased (P < 0.05) in the ALA-PDT group when compared with the M1 group, ALA group and red light group. Conclusion Low-dose ALA-PDT therapy can promote the conversion of M1-type macrophages to M2-type macrophages, and its mechanism may be related to autophagy.

BackgroundGastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Due to the lack of specific markers, the early diagnosis of gastric cancer is very low, and most patients with gastric cancer are diagnosed at advanced stages. The aim of this study was to identify key biomarkers of GC and to elucidate GC-associated immune cell infiltration and related pathways.MethodsGene microarray data associated with GC were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Gene and Genome Encyclopedia, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and Protein−Protein Interaction (PPI) networks. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm were used to identify pivotal genes for GC and to assess the diagnostic accuracy of GC hub markers using the subjects’ working characteristic curves. In addition, the infiltration levels of 28 immune cells in GC and their interrelationship with hub markers were analyzed using ssGSEA. And further validated by RT-qPCR.ResultsA total of 133 DEGs were identified. The biological functions and signaling pathways closely associated with GC were inflammatory and immune processes. Nine expression modules were obtained by WGCNA, with the pink module having the highest correlation with GC; 13 crossover genes were obtained by combining DEGs. Subsequently, the LASSO algorithm and validation set verification analysis were used to finally identify three hub genes as potential biomarkers of GC. In the immune cell infiltration analysis, infiltration of activated CD4 T cell, macrophages, regulatory T cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells was more significant in GC. The validation part demonstrated that three hub genes were expressed at lower levels in the gastric cancer cells.ConclusionThe use of WGCNA combined with the LASSO algorithm to identify hub biomarkers closely related to GC can help to elucidate the molecular mechanism of GC development and is important for finding new immunotherapeutic targets and disease prevention.

This study was conducted to determine the subclinical symptom of broilers exposure to mycotxoins from corn naturally contaminated, and the preventive effect with peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-α (PPARα) agonist (Wy-14643) supplementation. A total of 360 one-day -old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly distributed into 4 treatments with 9 replicates of 10 birds. Dietary treatments included: treatment 1, normal corn diets group, treatment 2, normal corn + Wy-14643 diets group, treatment 3, mycotoxin-contaminated corn diets group, treatment 4, mycotoxin-contaminated corn + Wy-14643 diets group. The supplementation of Wy-14643 was added at the expense of 1 and 2 mg/kg in starter and grower diets, respectively. Birds fed mycotoxin diets had lower (P < 0.05) final body weight (BW), Body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and had higher (P < 0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR). Feeding mycotoxin diets reduced (P < 0.05) the levels of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), catalase (CAT), total antioxidative capacity (T-AOC) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), but higher malondialdehyde (MDA), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and fatty acid synthetase (FAS). The supplementation of Wy-14643 increased (P < 0.05) the level of serum T-AOC, but reduced (P < 0.05) TG and LDL-C. Interactive effect was not observed (P > 0.05) in growth performance and blood profiles. The relative expression of PPARα mRNA and 3-Hydroxy-3-MethylGlutaryl-CO enzyme A (HMGCoA) mRNA was higher (P < 0.05) in treatment 3 and treatment 4 than treatment 1 and treatment 2, and there was significant difference (P

Abstract Background Recent data indicated that macrophages may mutually interact with cancer cells to promote tumor progression and chemoresistance, but the interaction in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is obscure. Methods 10x Genomics single-cell sequencing technology was used to identified the role of macrophages in CCA. Then, we measured the expression and prognostic role of macrophage markers and aPKCɩ in 70 human CCA tissues. Moreover, we constructed monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) generated from peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) and polarized them into M1/M2 macrophages. A co-culture assay of the human CCA cell lines (TFK-1, EGI-1) and differentiated PBMCs-macrophages was established, and functional studies in vitro and in vivo was performed to explore the interaction between cancer cells and M2 macrophages. Furthermore, we established the cationic liposome-mediated co-delivery of gemcitabine and aPKCɩ-siRNA and detect the antitumor effects in CCA. Results M2 macrophage showed tumor-promoting properties in CCA. High levels of aPKCɩ expression and M2 macrophage infiltration were associated with metastasis and poor prognosis in CCA patients. Moreover, CCA patients with low M2 macrophages infiltration or low aPKCɩ expression benefited from postoperative gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. Further studies showed that M2 macrophages-derived TGFβ1 induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and gemcitabine resistance in CCA cells through aPKCɩ-mediated NF-κB signaling pathway. Reciprocally, CCL5 was secreted more by CCA cells undergoing aPKCɩ-induced EMT and consequently modulated macrophage recruitment and polarization. Furthermore, the cationic liposome-mediated co-delivery of GEM and aPKCɩ-siRNA significantly inhibited macrophages infiltration and CCA progression. Conclusion our study demonstrates the role of Macrophages-aPKCɩ-CCL5 Feedback Loop in CCA, and proposes a novel therapeutic strategy of aPKCɩ-siRNA and GEM co-delivered by liposomes for CCA.

Platycodonis Radix (PR), a widely consumed herbal food, and its bioactive constituents, platycodins, have therapeutic potential for lung inflammation. Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1), which is essential for the control of inflammation, may be involved in the development of inflammation in the lungs. The aim of this study was to determine the TRPA1-targeted effects of PR against pulmonary inflammation and to investigate the affinity of PR constituents for TRPA1 and their potential mechanisms of action. Using a C57BL/6J mouse lipopolysaccharides (LPS) intratracheal instillation pneumonia model and advanced analytical techniques (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS, molecular docking, immuno-fluorescence), five platycodins were isolated from PR, and the interaction between these platycodins and hTRPA1 was verified. Additionally, we analyzed the impact of platycodins on LPS-induced TRPA1 expression and calcium influx in BEAS-2B cells. The results indicated that PR treatment significantly reduced the severity of LPS-triggered inflammation in the mouse model. Interestingly, there was a mild increase in the expression of TRPA1 caused by PR in healthy mice. Among five isolated platycodins identified in the PR extract, Platycodin D3 (PD3) showed the highest affinity for hTRPA1. The interaction between platycodins and TRPA1 was verified through molecular docking methods, highlighting the significance of the S5–S6 pore-forming loop in TRPA1 and the unique structural attributes of platycodins. Furthermore, PD3 significantly reduced LPS-induced TRPA1 expression and calcium ion influx in BEAS-2B cells, substantiating its own role as an effective TRPA1 modulator. In conclusion, PR and platycodins, especially PD3, show promise as potential lung inflammation therapeutics. Further research should explore the precise mechanisms by which platycodins modulate TRPA1 and their broader therapeutic potential.

Drug transportation is impeded by various barriers in the hypoxic solid tumor, resulting in compromised anticancer efficacy. Herein, a solid lipid monostearin (MS)-coated CaO2/MnO2 nanocarrier was designed to optimize doxorubicin (DOX) transportation comprehensively for chemotherapy enhancement. The MS shell of nanoparticles could be destroyed selectively by highly-expressed lipase within cancer cells, exposing water-sensitive cores to release DOX and produce O2. After the cancer cell death, the core-exposed nanoparticles could be further liberated and continue to react with water in the tumor extracellular matrix (ECM) and thoroughly release O2 and DOX, which exhibited cytotoxicity to neighboring cells. Small DOX molecules could readily diffuse through ECM, in which the collagen deposition was decreased by O2-mediated hypoxia-inducible factor-1 inhibition, leading to synergistically improved drug penetration. Concurrently, DOX-efflux-associated P-glycoprotein was also inhibited by O2, prolonging drug retention in cancer cells. Overall, the DOX transporting processes from nanoparticles to deep tumor cells including drug release, penetration, and retention were optimized comprehensively, which significantly boosted antitumor benefits.

Groundwater seepage forces probably act on lining when a deep tunnel in unfavorable geology is excavated under a high groundwater table. Serious water inrush consequently flows into tunnel and threaten the construction and operation safety of tunnel. To obtain analytical solution for deep pressure tunnels using composite stratum under a high groundwater table, the mathematical model is established based on the basic theory of hydraulics and seepage theory. The groundwater pressure is determined in different stratum by the theoretical derivation. The water pressure distribution under different water sealing efficiency and inflow of water have the same trend although the size effect of the model and the complexity of seepage will affect the results of numerical analysis. The analytical solution for deep pressure tunnel is verified by the numerical analysis. The analytical solution can be used for approximate groundwater pressure of lining in composite stratum under a high groundwater table.

Platinum-based chemotherapy is used for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, it has side effects and minimum efficacy against lung cancer metastasis. In this study, platinum–curcumin complexes were loaded into pH and redox dual-responsive nanoparticles (denoted as Pt–CUR@PSPPN) to facilitate intracellular release and synergistic anti-cancer effects. Pt–CUR@PSPPN was prepared by a nano-precipitation method and had a diameter of ∼100 nm. The nanoparticles showed increased anti-cancer effects both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, Pt–CUR@PSPPN blocked PI3K/AKT signal transduction pathway and inhibited MMP2 and VEGFR2, resulting in enhanced anti-metastatic activity. Furthermore, reduced side effects were also observed. In conclusion, Pt–CUR@PSPPN provided a novel and attractive therapeutic strategy for NSCLC.

Click-through rate prediction (CTR) is an essential task in recommender system. The existing methods of CTR prediction are generally divided into two classes. The first class is focused on modeling feature interactions, the second class is focused on solving time-series problems. However, the existing models of the second class are not able to handle time-series problems with user feedback information, so we propose PMN to solve this kind of problem. To be able to take full advantage of historical user behavior along with the user feedback, PMN uses the attention mechanism to get the user historical behavior representation and the user preference representation from the original input. Specially, user preference representation is derived from the user feedback information and it explicitly shows the user's attitude towards the candidate, which greatly improve the model performance. Finally, we introduced user preference baselines to solve the problem of inconsistent scoring standards for different users. In this paper, we focus on the CTR prediction modeling in the scenario of video recommendation in Video On Demand (VOD) service. Experimental results on multiple data sets have shown that our PMN model is effective.

Base station (BS) plays a critical role in the wireless network. There has been some research on exploring the spatio-temporal information of BS in different fields. However, these works lack re-usability, which require the new researcher to re-do the work of representing the spatio-temporal information. To solve this problem, we propose a neural network model based on autoencoder and representation learning called BSENet to learn embedding of BS based on raw data. The embedding contains spatio-temporal information of BS. In this way, other fields that are related to BS can make use of spatio-temporal information with BSENet embeddings. Besides the spatial information, BSENet can maintain the independence of BS. Moreover, we use bi-directional LSTM to get temporal information and propose a time dropout method to improve the generalization ability. We propose a soft threshold to consider all spatial relations. In addition, we introduce weight to enhance compatibility. We treat the missing states as the inputs to deal with the missing values. The results of clustering show that BSENet embedding is better than other embeddings. In experiments of mobile traffic prediction, BSENet embedding helps a temporal model to improve the Mean Squared Error (MSE) from 0.01463 to 0.01334, which is similar to 0.01302 of a spatio-temporal model. At the same time, the training time increases a little but is still $5.0 times$ faster than spatio-temporal model.

A delivery system based on l-carnitine (LC) conjugated chitosan (CS)-stearic acid polymeric micelles has been developed for improving the oral bioavailability of paclitaxel (PTX) through targeting intestinal organic cation/carnitine transporter 2 (OCTN2). Stearic acid grafted chitosan (CS-SA), as micelle skeleton material, was synthesized by 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC)-mediated coupling reaction. The PTX-loaded micelles were prepared by solvent evaporation-hydration method, and the ligand LC was conjugated onto the micelle surface by anchoring its derivative stearoyl group to the lipophilic core of micelle. The modified polymeric micelles showed regular spherical shapes with small particle size of 157.1 ± 5.2 nm and high drug loading capacity of 15.96 ± 0.20 wt%, and the micelle stability in water was supported by low critical micelle concentration of 14.31 ± 0.21 μg/ml. The drug-loaded micelles presented a slow and incomplete in vitro release, and the pharmacokinetic studies indicated the micelle carriers increased the relative bioavailability of PTX to 165.8% against the commercial formulation. The enhancement effect on intestinal absorption was also confirmed by the intracellular uptake of Caco-2 cells. The proposed micelle carrier system manifested a prospective tool for oral drug delivery.

Metal-regulatory transcription factor-1 (MTF-1) is of importance in maintaining metal homeostasis. Copper exposure considerably stimulates the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells with enhanced MTF-1 expression. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been completely elucidated. In this study, we utilized different approaches to investigate the potential role of MTF-1 involved in HCC progression. The expression levels of MTF-1 and miR-148a-3p were determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. The interaction of MTF-1 with apurinic apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox effector factor 1 (APE/Ref-1) or miR-148a-3p was determined using immunoprecipitation or dual-luciferase reporter assay, respectively. Cell viability and metastatic ability were evaluated using colony formation, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), wound scratch, and Transwell assays, and apoptotic cells were detected by flow cytometry. The biological functions of MTF-1 and miR-148a-3p were also determined using a xenograft mouse model. MTF-1 expression was upregulated in HCC cells and was associated with poor survival and recurrence. MTF-1 overexpression enhanced the proliferation and metastatic potential of HCC cells. Further mechanistic analyses demonstrated that MTF-1 bound to APE/Ref-1 and that MTF-1 is a direct target of miR-148-3p, which inversely regulated MTF-1 transcription activity. MiR-148a-3p overexpression effectively inhibited HCC cell proliferation and metastasis stimulated by MTF-1, with increased apoptosis. There was a decrease in miR-148a-3p expression in exosomes isolated from the plasma of patients with HCC and HCC cell culture supernatants. Co-incubation of HCC cells with exosomes from hepatocyte-conditioned media inhibited cell migration and caused apoptosis. The in vivo study revealed slow growth of MTF-1-knockdown and miR-148a-3p-overexpressing Hep3B-derived xenografts, with reduced tumor volume and weight compared with the control group. Collectively, these findings implicate MTF-1 as a modulator of HCC tumorigenesis and progression. Selective targeting towards exosomal miR-148a-3p, which might contribute to the negative regulation of MTF-1 at least partially in HCC, demonstrates therapeutic benefits for patients with HCC.

Typical insulated precast concrete sandwich panel (PCSP) systems are composed of two concrete wythes separated by a layer of insulation. The structural behavior of insulated PCSP systems heavily depends on elements between two wythes known as connectors, which ensure they work as a whole. Double shear tests were carried out on 58 insulated PCSP specimens reinforced with basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) connectors; failure modes, load displacement curves and bearing capacity of BFRP connectors were obtained. Effects of diameter, insulation thickness, installation angle, layout spacing and combined action on shear capacity were analyzed. The results show that the span ratio of the connector was suggested to be less than 15, and the angle of the connector should be set to 60° or 75° for suitable stiffness and bearing capacity with an abundant safety margin. The shear capacity decreases slightly with the increase in the connectors’ spacing while the overall impact is small. The shear force of connectors in a plane or spatial combination can be calculated according to that of one single connector. Moreover, the shear capacity model of BFRP connectors proposed in this paper provides a favorable design option for insulated PCSP systems using BFRP connectors.

Overexpression of Bmi1 gene is an important feature of cancer stem cell in various human tumors. Therefore, Bmi1 gene can be a potential target for small interfering RNA (siRNA) mediated cancer therapy. Ursolic acid (UA) as a natural product plays a pivotal role in anti-tumor field, although its performance is limited by low bioavailability and poor hydrophilicity. A folate receptor-targeted cationic liposome system was designed for the purpose of investigating the relationship between Bmil siRNA and UA. The folate receptor-targeted cationic liposomes co-delivering UA and Bmi1 siRNA (FA-UA/siRNA-L) were fabricated by electrostatic interaction between folate UA liposome (FA-UA-L) and Bmi1 siRNA. Tumor growth is inhibited by FA-UA/siRNA-L in vitro and in vivo and this inhibition is contributed by a synergistic anti-tumor effect of UA and Bmi1 siRNA. The western blot measurement of apoptosis-protein and cancer stem cell (CSC) marked-protein demonstrated that UA led to activation-induced tumor cell death and Bmi1 siRNA resulted in inhibition of cancer stem cells. Overall, these results indicate that Bmi1 as a regulating gene for cancer stem cell is an effective target for cancer treatment using siRNA and co-delivery of UA and Bmi1 siRNA using folate-targeted liposomes is a promising strategy for improved anti-tumor effect.

The aim of this study was to investigate the oxidative and proliferative effects of grape seed extract (GSE). Piglet intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC1) were selected as an unstressed cell model, or they were exposed to 400 μM H2O2 to establish a H2O2-stimulated cell model. The glutathione (GSH) and total antioxidant capacity in response to GSE addition were tested in the unstressed and H2O2-stimulated cell models. The relative mRNA levels of antioxidant or antioxidant enzymes and apoptosis-related genes were measured by Real-Time RT-PCR. In the unstressed status, the cell survival ratio and GSH increased with the addition of GSE at 1 and 10 μg/mL but diminished at 60 μg GSE/mL. The addition of 1 μg/mL GSE upregulated the mRNA expression levels of B-Cell Lymphoma protein-2 (Bcl-2), cysteine aspartases-3 (Caspase-3), cysteine aspartases-8 (Caspase-8) and glutathione peroxidase-1(GPx-1), while it downregulated that of Bcl2-associated X protein (Bax), copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, glutathione S-transferase (GST), thioredoxin, thioltransferase and thioredoxin reductase. As GSE reached 60 μg/mL, the tumor protein p53 (p53) and caspase-8 gene expressions were upregulated. In stressed status, 1 and 10 μg GSE/mL promoted the increase of GSH. H2O2- induced increases in Bax, p53, and Caspase-3 mRNA expressions were attenuated by the subsequent addition of 1 μg GSE/mL and promoted the gene expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, GPx-1 and thioltransferase (Ttas). Treatment with 60 μg GSE/ml resulted in a significant reduction in Bax, p53, manganese superoxide dismutase and GST mRNA expressions. These results indicate that GSE exhibits antioxidative and proliferative functions on unstressed IPEC1 cells at low and medium levels and oxidative and antiproliferative functions at high levels.

Abstract Background Coccidiosis is a prevalent problem in chicken production. Dietary addition of coccidiostats and vaccination are two approaches used to suppress coccidia in the practical production. Methionine (Met) is usually the first limiting amino acid that plays important roles in protein metabolism and immune functions in chickens. The present study is aimed to investigate whether increasing dietary Met levels will improve the anticoccidial effects in broilers medicated or vaccinated against coccidia under Eimeria (E.) tenella-challenged condition. Two thousand male Partridge Shank broiler chicks were obtained from a hatchery. After hatch, birds were weighed, color-marked and allocated equally into two anticoccidial treatments, namely medicated and vaccinated groups. Chicks were either fed, from 1 d of age, diets containing coccidiostat (narasin) or diets without the coccidiostat but were inoculated with an anticoccidial vaccine at 3 d of age. At 22 d of age, 1080 chicks among them were randomly allocated evenly into 6 groups under a 2 × 3 treatment with 2 anticoccidial programs and 3 dietary methionine (Met) levels. Chicks medicated or vaccinated against coccidia were fed diets containing 0.45%, 0.56% or 0.68% of Met from 22 to 42 d of age. All chicks were orally introduced with an amount of 5 × 104 sporulated oocysts of E. tenella at 24 d of age. The growth performance, serum anti-oxidative indexes, intestinal morphology, cecal lesion scores, fecal oocyst counts and immune parameters were measured. Results The results showed increasing dietary Met level from 0.45% to 0.56% and 0.68% improved weight gain and feed conversion of broilers medicated against coccidia. In contrast, higher dietary levels of Met did not improve growth performance of the vaccinated chickens. Higher Met levels helped the medicated chickens resist E. tenella infection, as indicated by improved intestinal morphology and immune functions as well as decreased cecal lesion and fecal oocyst counts. Conclusions Anticoccidial vaccination is a better strategy for controlling coccidiosis than feeding narasin, due to not only greater growth performance, but also the lower Met supplementation. Furthermore, higher dietary Met levels improved growth performance of chickens medicated rather than vaccinated against coccidia under E. tenella-challenged condition.

Bmi1 is a member of the polycomb group family of proteins, and it drives the carcinogenesis of various cancers and governs the self-renewal of multiple types of stem cells. Our previous studies have revealed that Bmi1 acts as an oncogene in hepatic carcinogenesis in an INK4a/ARF locus independent manner. However, whether Bmi1 can be used as a potential target for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment has not been fully confirmed yet. Here, we show that perturbation of Bmi1 expression by using short hairpin RNA can inhibit the tumorigenicity and tumor growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells both in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, Bmi1 knockdown can block the tumor growth, both in the initiating stages and the fast growing stages. Cellular biology analysis revealed that Bmi1 knockdown induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Our findings verify Bmi1 as a qualified treatment target for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and support Bmi1 targeting treatment with chemotherapeutic agents.

In 802.11 wireless network, a large number of multimedia applications are emerging. Accurate end-to-end bandwidth estimation techniques can help these applications adjust their behavior accordingly, such as stream’s bitrate adaptation, to improve quality of service. However, most current bandwidth estimation techniques are designed for wired networks that have high intrusiveness and consume long convergence time, which cannot be applied in resource-limited wireless network. In this article, we present a novel bandwidth estimation tool for IEEE 802.11 wireless network, which only needs to be deployed in one end of the end-to-end path and estimate available bandwidth based on round-trip-time measurements with low intrusiveness and short convergence time. We compare our tool with another state-of-the-art tool on an IEEE 802.11 wireless testbed, and the experimental results show that our tool has higher accuracy.