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Nesfatin-1, an anorexic neuropeptide discovered in 2006, is widely distributed in the central nervous system and peripheral tissues. It has been shown to be involved in the regulation of food intake and lipid metabolism, inhibiting fat accumulation, accelerating lipid decomposition, and in general, inhibiting the development of lipid-related diseases, such as obesity and metabolic syndrome. Potential mechanisms of Nesfatin-1 action in lipid metabolism and lipid-related diseases will be discussed as well as its role as a biomarker in cardiovascular disease. This review expected to provide a new strategy for the diagnosis and prevention of clinically related diseases., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) plays a central role in hydrolyzing triglyceride and its deficiency leads to atherosclerosis. Artesunate (ART), a derivative of artemisinin, has been demonstrated that ART reduces the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. However, it remains unclear whether ART-alleviated atherosclerotic lesion is involved in regulating lipid metabolism. ApoE -/- mice were fed a high-fat diet to form atherosclerotic plaques and then injected with artesunate or not. Oil Red O, HE and Masson staining were performed to assess atherosclerotic plaques. Both Western blot and qRT-PCR were applied to detect protein expression. The Luciferase reporter gene and Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were used to assess the interaction between proteins. Immunofluorescence assay was performed to show the localization of target proteins. In vitro, our data shown that ART increased LPL expression and inhibition of NRF2 blocked the binding of TCF7L2 to LPL promoter region in VSMCs. Downregulated Klf2 could decrease the nuclear enrichment of NRF2, TCF7L2 and LPL expression. In vivo, ART decreased atherosclerotic plaque formation and increased VSMC counts and LPL expression within atherosclerotic plaques. We observed the reduced tendency of serum lipids, and increased in serum LPL activity in mice. In support of vitro data, the markedly increased KLF2, TCF7L2 and LPL expression have been detected in aorta. Our study suggests that ART may be a novel therapeutic drug for inhibition of atherosclerotic plaque formation. The molecular mechanism may involve in upregulation of LPL expression via the KLF2/NRF2/TCF7L2 pathway in VSMCs., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Fargesin mainly functions in the improvement of lipid metabolism and the inhibition of inflammation, but the role of fargesin in atherogenesis and the molecular mechanisms have not been defined. We aimed to explore if and how fargesin affects atherosclerosis by regulating lipid metabolism and inflammatory response., Methods and Results: ApoE -/- mice were fed a high-fat diet to form atherosclerotic plaques and then administrated with fargesin or saline via gavage. Oil Red O, HE and Masson staining were performed to assess atherosclerostic plaques in apoE -/- mice. [ 3 H] labeled cholesterol was used to detect cholesterol efflux and reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) efficiency. Enzymatic methods were performed to analyze plasma lipid profile in apoE -/- mice. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze macrophage infiltration. THP-1-derived macrophages were incubated with fargesin or not. Both Western blot and qRT-PCR were applied to detect target gene expression. Oil Red O staining was applied to examine lipid accumulation in THP-1-derived macrophages. ELISA and qRT-PCR were used to examine the levels of inflammatory mediotors. We found that fargesin reduced atherosclerotic lesions by elevating efficiency of RCT and decreasing inflammatory response via upregulation of ABCA1 and ABCG1 expression in apoE -/- mice. Further, fargesin reduced lipid accumulation in THP-1-derived macrophages. Besides, fargesin increased phosphorylation of CEBPα in Ser21 and then upregulated LXRα, ABCA1 and ABCG1 expression in THP-1-derived macrophages. In addition, fargesin could reduce ox-LDL-induced inflammatory response by inactivation of the TLR4/NF-κB pathway., Conclusion: These results suggest that fargesin inhibits atherosclerosis by promoting RCT process and reducing inflammatory response via CEBPα S21 /LXRα and TLR4/NF-κB pathways, respectively., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declared they do not have anything to disclose regarding conflict of interest with respect to this manuscript., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

CXC chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) is a member of the CXC chemokine family and mainly acts on cell chemotaxis. CXCL12 also elicits a proatherogenic role, but the molecular mechanisms have not been fully defined yet. We aimed to reveal if and how CXCL12 promoted atherosclerosis via regulating lipid metabolism. In vitro, our data showed that CXCL12 could reduce ABCA1 expression, and it mediated cholesterol efflux from THP-1-derived macrophages to apoA-I. Data from the luciferase reporter gene and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that transcription factor 21 (TCF21) stimulated the transcription of ABCA1 via binding to its promoter region, which was repressed by CXCL12. We found that CXCL12 increased the levels of phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) and the phosphorylation of β-catenin at the Thr120 position. Inactivation of GSK3β or β-catenin increased the expression of TCF21 and ABCA1. Further, knockdown or inhibition of CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) blocked the effects of CXCL12 on TCF21 and ABCA1 expression and the phosphorylation of GSK3β and β-catenin. In vivo, the overexpression of CXCL12 in Apoe -/- mice via lentivirus enlarged the atherosclerotic lesion area and increased macrophage infiltration in atherosclerotic plaques. We further found that the overexpression of CXCL12 reduced the efficiency of reverse cholesterol transport and plasma HDL-C levels, decreased ABCA1 expression in the aorta and mouse peritoneal macrophages (MPMs), and suppressed cholesterol efflux from MPMs to apoA-I in Apoe -/- mice. Collectively, these findings suggest that CXCL12 interacts with CXCR4 and then activates the GSK-3β/β-catenin T120 /TCF21 signaling pathway to inhibit ABCA1-dependent cholesterol efflux from macrophages and aggravate atherosclerosis. Targeting CXCL12 may be a novel and promising strategy for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases., (Copyright © 2019 Gao et al.)

The homology of epidermal growth factor receptor pathway substrate 8 (EPS8), EPS8L3, is elevated significantly in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and cell lines compared with the normal liver tissues and cell lines. The MTT and colony formation assays demonstrated that overexpressing EPS8L3 enhances, while silencing reduces the proliferation of HCC cells. Further experiments illustrated that overexpressing EPS8L3 promotes the expression of p-AKT, Cyclin D1, but inhibits the transcriptional activity of FOXO1. Besides, colony formation assay demonstrated that AKT inhibitor suppresses the effect of EPS8L3 on proliferation in EPS8L3-overexpressing cells, whereas AKT restores the proliferation of EPS8L3-silenced cells, suggesting that EPS8L3 might promote proliferation by hyperactivating the AKT signaling pathway and subsequently inhibiting the FOXO1 transcriptional activity. Our results provide new view between EPS8L3 and progression of human HCC, suggesting that EPS8L3 may be a novel therapeutic target for HCC.

Objective: To investigate the remodeling of alveolar bone and the changes of roots after anterior retraction with maximum anchorage by analyzing CBCT data from adult cases., Methods: The sample comprised 48 incisors and 24 canines from 12 patients (18 to 40 years of age) with problems of maxillary protrusion or upper arch protrusion. CBCT scans were exposed before and after treatment, and lateral cephalometric images as well as multiple planar reconstruction images were reconstructed. Tracing superimpositions of sagittal sections and three-dimensional reconstructions were done for qualitative analysis. For all maxillary anterior teeth, changes of root length, alveolar bone height and labial-palatal thicknesses at different levels were evaluated. The average of measurements taken by the same tester in three times was processed by SPSS 17.0 statistical package., Results: In 6 of the 12 cases, alveolar thickness became thinner on labial side [apical area: (-0.64±1.18) mm] while thicker on palatal side [apical area: (0.93±2.0) mm] and the root length decreased[(-0.95±0.79) mm]. In the other 6 cases, the incisors' alveolar bone became thicker on labial side [apical area: (2.12±1.46) mm] while thinner on palatal side [apical area: (-2.88±0.58) mm]and the loss of root length was obvious[(-2.12±1.43) mm]. In all the 12 cases, the canines' alveolar bone became thinner on labial side especially on the apical level[(-0.27±1.86) mm] while greatly thicker on palatal side [apical area: (6.40±6.00) mm]and the root resorption was slight [(-1.12±1.19) mm]. For all the anterior teeth, the height of alveolar bone reduced around them after retraction., Conclusion: When the root apical moved more palatally, more root resorption would occur and the alveolar bone would get thicker on labial side but thinner on palatal side and thinner as a whole after anterior retraction with maximum anchorage.In the vertical direction, the height of the alveolar bone generally decreased on all sides and decreased the most on the palatal side.

Objective: To investigate the remodeling of alveolar bone and the changes of roots after anterior retraction with maximum anchorage by analyzing CBCT data from adult cases., Methods: The sample comprised 48 incisors and 24 canines from 12 patients (18 to 40 years of age) with problems of maxillary protrusion or upper arch protrusion. CBCT scans were exposed before and after treatment, and lateral cephalometric images as well as multiple planar reconstruction images were reconstructed. Tracing superimpositions of sagittal sections and three-dimensional reconstructions were done for qualitative analysis. For all maxillary anterior teeth, changes of root length, alveolar bone height and labial-palatal thicknesses at different levels were evaluated. The average of measurements taken by the same tester in three times was processed by SPSS 17.0 statistical package., Results: In 6 of the 12 cases, alveolar thickness became thinner on labial side [apical area: (-0.64±1.18) mm] while thicker on palatal side [apical area: (0.93±2.0) mm] and the root length decreased[(-0.95±0.79) mm]. In the other 6 cases, the incisors' alveolar bone became thicker on labial side [apical area: (2.12±1.46) mm] while thinner on palatal side [apical area: (-2.88±0.58) mm]and the loss of root length was obvious[(-2.12±1.43) mm]. In all the 12 cases, the canines' alveolar bone became thinner on labial side especially on the apical level[(-0.27±1.86) mm] while greatly thicker on palatal side [apical area: (6.40±6.00) mm]and the root resorption was slight [(-1.12±1.19) mm]. For all the anterior teeth, the height of alveolar bone reduced around them after retraction., Conclusion: When the root apical moved more palatally, more root resorption would occur and the alveolar bone would get thicker on labial side but thinner on palatal side and thinner as a whole after anterior retraction with maximum anchorage.In the vertical direction, the height of the alveolar bone generally decreased on all sides and decreased the most on the palatal side.

Artificial microRNA (amiRNA) has become the preferred viral defence that can be induced in plants. In this study, nine amiRNA target sites were selected that were based on the sequence characteristics of natural miRNAs in the cylindrical inclusion protein (CI), nuclear inclusion a protein (NIa), nuclear inclusion b protein (NIb), and coat protein (CP) genes of Potato virus Y (PVY(N)). These amiRNAs that exhibited high similarities to the sequences of PVY(N) and TEV-SD1 were considered. To study the effectiveness of gene silencing in amiRNA-mediated viral resistance, we constructed nine amiRNA plant expression vectors by replacing the functional sequences of miRNA319a precursors with our selected amiRNA sequences. These constructs were subsequently introduced to tobacco plants. A Northern blot assay verified that the nine amiRNA plant expression vectors could successfully express amiRNAs in plants. The analysis of viral resistance demonstrated that these transgenic tobacco plants could effectively inhibit PVY(N) and TEV-SD1 viral infections. The amiRNA that targeted the NIb and CP genes displayed a higher silencing efficiency than did the amiRNAs targeted CI and NIa genes. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that silencing was induced by the original amiRNAs and could be bilaterally extended by the siRNA pathway. That is, the amiRNA and the secondary siRNA mediated the degradation of viral RNA together. Genetic analysis demonstrated that the trait for viral resistance in transgenic plants can be consistently inherited via a single copy of the transgenic sequence. Considering the correlation between the sequence characteristics and the activity of amiRNA, we concluded that a few mismatched bases between the amiRNA and the target sequence could be allowed, particularly the mismatched bases in the 3' end of the amiRNA., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cheyne-Stokes respiration with central sleep apnea (CSR-CSA) is very common in patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF). A current concept of the key pathophysiological mechanism leading to CSR-CSA is a fluctuation of PaCO2 below and above the apneic threshold. A number of therapeutic approaches for CSR-CSA have been proposed-all with varying success, some of which include various modes of positive airway pressure among other strategies. However, CO2 oscillations seen in CSR-CSA have yet to be looked at as a specific therapeutic target by current treatments., Discussion: Previous studies have shown that delivery of constant CO2 is efficacious in eliminating CSR-CSA by raising PaCO2, but there are serious concerns about the potential side effects, such as unwanted elevations in ventilation, work of breathing, and sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), and consequently CO2 inhalation therapy has not been recommended as a routine option for therapy. However, recent new studies into CO2 inhalation therapy have been made that may reshape its role as therapeutic. In this review, we will focus on the recent developments of administration of dynamic CO2 in the management of CSR-CSA in CHF patients.

Objective: To compare the mesiodistal root angulation of panoramic images generated from traditional panoramic tomography or cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)., Methods: CBCT scans and panoramic radiographs of 20 patients were collected. The Invivo- Dental 5.0 was separately applied for maxillary or mandibular panoramic image generation. The generation method was assorted by two head positions, the Frankfort plane horizontal position (P1) and the occlusal plane horizontal position (P2), and three central plane settings (root apical plane, tooth centre plane and crown marginal plane). The amount of mesiodistal root angulation on panoramic images generated from CBCT (GPIs) deviated from that on the traditional panoramic images was calculated by paired sample test. The variation trends were explored with different head rotation and incisors' buccolingual root inclination., Results: By selecting the tooth centre plane, the GPIs were suggested to be generated by the Frankfort plane horizontal position for maxilla; while the occlusal plane horizontal position was advised for mandibular GPIs' generation. Moreover, the mesiodistal root angulations were demonstrated to regularly change along with variations of head rotation and the incisors' buccolingual root inclination., Conclusion: Panoramic images can be generated from CBCT by the standard operating procedures with proper head position and central plane setting. But cautions should be taken during the generation, bearing the variability of mesiodistal root angulation in mind.

Optical image encryption based on interference has attracted a lot of attention recently. The technique employs two pure phase masks derived from the complex field of the image in the Fresnel diffraction domain. The image decryption procedure can be carried out by inverse Fresnel transformation of the summation of two pure phase masks. However, the silhouette of the original image, which is recovered by either of the two phase-only masks, impedes the application of this technique. In this paper, a very simple method for binary image encryption based on interference of two phase-only masks is proposed without any silhouette problem. The binary image in combination with a random phase mask is separated into two phase-only masks directly, and the decryption by summation of the two masks can be performed digitally or optically. In this paper, the encryption and decryption processes are analyzed, after which both the optical simulation and the experimental results based on single-beam holography are given to demonstrate the feasibility of the encryption method. As information nowadays is mainly digitized into binary codes, the proposed encryption method may find applications in the information processing field.

We propose a novel configuration for angular multiplexing holographic encoding in which the signal beam and the reference beam are combined into a single beam. By using a spatial light modulator based on twisted nematic liquid crystals, the signal and the reference beams are modulated in amplitude mode and phase mode, respectively. The multiplexed interference patterns with the reference beams of different incident angles are recorded near the Fourier transform plane, and then the signals are selectively reconstructed by the corresponding reference beam. Both the simulation and the experiment of single-beam angular multiplexed holography are performed with consistent results. Compared with the traditional angular multiplexing holographic recording system, the single-beam configuration is more compact, easier to adjust, and less sensitive to the vibration of the environment. Therefore, it will be more attractive for potential applications in many fields, such as high-density signal recording and data encryption., (© 2011 Optical Society of America)

We describe a simple technique for coaxial holographic image recording and reconstruction, employing a spatial light modulator (SLM) modified in pure phase mode. In the image encoding system, both the reference beam in the outside part and the signal beam in the inside part are displayed by an SLM based on the twisted nematic LCD. For a binary image, the part with amplitude of "1" is modulated with random phase, while the part with amplitude of "0" is modulated with constant phase. After blocking the dc component of the spatial frequencies, a Fourier transform (FT) hologram is recorded with a uniform intensity distribution. The amplitude image is reconstructed by illuminating the reference beam onto the hologram, which is much simpler than existing phase modulated FT holography techniques. The technique of coaxial holographic image encoding and recovering with pure phase modulation is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally in this paper. As the holograms are recorded without the high-intensity dc component, the storage density with volume medium may be increased with the increase of dynamic range. Such a simple modulation method will have potential applications in areas such as holographic encryption and high-density disk storage systems., (© 2011 Optical Society of America)

In this paper, we propose a compact seven-port beam splitter which is constructed using only a single-layer high-density grating with a dual duty cycle structure. The properties of this grating are investigated by a simplified modal method. The diffraction efficiency can be achieved around 10% more than conventional Dammann gratings while the uniformity can still be maintained at less than 1%. The effect of deviations from the design parameters on the performance of the grating is also presented.

We propose a novel method for signal storage and encryption, called single-beam multiplexing encoding. The single beam is composed of an inside signal beam and an outside reference beam. The signal beam is amplitude modulated, and the reference beam is phase modulated. The dual modulation is implemented by a spatial light modulator (SLM). Multiplexing holography with different reference beams from different directions, called directional multiplexing, is analyzed in detail. With an SLM based on a twisted nematic liquid crystal display, we demonstrate a single-beam directional multiplexing method using a holographic encoding technique, and the retrieved signals are presented. This encoding system is more stable, miniaturized, and flexible. It should be of great interest for applications in signal encryption as well as for high-capacity data storage., (© 2010 Optical Society of America)

Posttranscriptional gene silencing, also known as RNA interference, involves degradation of homologous mRNA sequences in organisms. In plants, posttranscriptional gene silencing is part of a defense mechanism against virus infection, and double-stranded RNA is the pivotal factor that induces gene silencing. In this paper, we got seven hairpin RNAs (hpRNAs) constructs against different hot-spot sequences of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) or Potato virus Y (PVY) genome. After expression in Escherichia coli HT115, we extracted the seven hpRNAs for the test in tobacco against TMV or PVY infection. The data suggest that different hpRNAs against different hot-spot sequences of TMV or PVY genome had different ability to protect tobacco plants from viral infection. The resistance to TMV conferred by the hpRNA against the TMV movement protein was stronger than other TMV hpRNAs; the resistance to PVY conferred by the hpRNA against the PVY nuclear inclusion b was better than that induced by any other PVY hpRNAs. Northern blotting of siRNA showed that the resistance was indeed an RNA-mediated virus resistance.

We describe a novel method of noncontact mode area measurement at long distance of 11.25 m by borrowing the concept of a circular Dammann grating (CDG). The area of objects can be determined accurately by measuring the circular spectrum diameter of the CDG. This noncontact mode measurement requires neither a large amount of image data nor any pattern recognition approach. The spectrum diameter is derived from simple lens formulas. From the fractional Fourier transform, we find that there exists a linear relationship between the spectrum diameter and the distance traveled by the CDG. Compared with the conventional methods, this technique has the advantages of a simple design with good accuracy of better than 3%, low cost, noncontact mode, and a more compact design. Finally, we present several experimental results demonstrating the effectiveness of this system.

We describe a novel method of angle measurement by borrowing the concept of the circular Dammann grating (CDG). A three-order CDG is employed in this experiment. The displacement of the tilted angle can be determined accurately by measuring the projection from the distorted CDG image. This method is controlled only by the initial radius of the image and the converging ratio of the lens. Compared with conventional techniques, this technique has the advantages of a simple design with superior resolution to within 1 degree, low cost, and compactness. A theoretical analysis together with experimental results is presented.

A new concept based on the theory of Dammann gratings is proposed for the generation of circular optical beams. This grating shows that it can achieve equal intensity and equal spacing with acceptable efficiency that is controlled by set of transition points. A numerical solution is also presented together with the fabrication of 4-order circular Dammann grating by e-beam lithography. Experimental results agree well with the scalar diffraction theory. This grating has the potential to be further developed into practical applications.

RNA-mediated virus resistance is an effective way to obtain virus resistant plants and is regarded as a potential strategy with application value in plant resistant virus breeding because of its advantage of high biosafety and long duration. Whether the resistance can inherit stably is a critical factor affecting its application in agriculture. In this paper, several T0 progeny transgenic plants with different resistant levels and with different transgene copy numbers were selected for further study. The results showed that the inheritance of the transgene in T0 susceptible transgenic plants containing 1 -2 transgene copies followed Mendelian segregation pattern of single gene inheritance in their progenies. Resistant transgenic plants, which contained 4 -6 transgene copies, followed 15:1 and 63:1 segregation patterns in the T1 progeny. Transgene recombination and re-organization in the plant genome was observed, which resulted in unstable inheritance of the transgene in the progenies. Homozygous resistant transgenic plants were obtained after 3 to 4 generations in the progeny. Analysis of the transgene integration pattern indicated that most of the highly resistant plants contained inverted repeat (IR) sequences of the transgene.

Post-transcriptional gene silencing(PTGS) is a defense mechanism of plants against foreign nucleic acids, such as virus infection. The mechanism results in sequence-specific degradation of nucleic acids, including endogenous mRNA, transgene mRNA and virus RNA. PTGS was first discovered in transgenic plants, and since then, similar mechanism has been found in fungi and animals. It appears that PTGS is initiated by aberrant RNA and double-stranded RNA in the cell. An enzyme similar to RNA-dependent RNA polymerase has been identified in various plants, which plays a key role in the PTGS process. It is hypothesized that PTGS might be the natural mechanism of plants against virus infection. To support this hypothesis, scientists from several laboratories have discovered PTGS suppressors encoded by virus genomes, and the suppressors identified so far are all viral pathogenicity determinants, such as viral movement protein.