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The catalytic oxidation of CO was comparatively investigated on the Pd slab and Pd38 cluster models by density functional theory (DFT) calculation, in order to reveal the mechanism of CO oxidation over Pd catalysts. The results show that the rate-determining step of CO oxidation on the Pd38 cluster is the dissociation of O2, with the energy barrier of 0.65 eV, whereas the oxidation of CO turns to be the rate-determining step on Pd slab, with the energy barrier of 0.87 eV. Obviously, the oxidation of CO on the Pd38 cluster is much easier than that on the Pd slab, suggesting that the activity of Pd catalysts is related to the dispersion of active Pd species; the Pd catalyst with higher Pd dispersion also exhibits higher activity in CO oxidation.

Background The application of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (n-3 PUFAs) supplementation for major depressive disorder (MDD) has been widely discussed in recent years, but its efficacy and application are still controversial. This network meta-analysis was conducted to compare the efficacy of different dosages of n-3 PUFAs on MDD patients in the early period of treatment. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) exploring the efficacy of n-3 PUFA supplementation for patients with MDD were retrieved from the databases of Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library. RCTs comparing the efficacy of n-3 PUFA for adult (≥18 years) MDD patients without comorbidity were eligible for our study. The score of depressive symptoms in early therapy period of the treatment (≤9 weeks) was extracted. Standardized mean deviations (SMDs) of all the sores from the eligible RCTs were synthesized in a pairwise meta-analysis in frequentist framework and a random-effects network meta-analysis in Bayesian framework for the overall and subgroups (high- and low-dose) efficacy of n-3 PUFAs. Results A total of 910 MDD patients in 10 trials with 3 adjuvant therapy strategies (high-dose n-3 PUFAs, low-dose n-3 PUFAs and placebo) were included. Results of pairwise meta-analysis showed that n-3 PUFAs were superior to placebo (SMD: 1.243 ± 0.596; 95% CI: 0.060 ~ 2.414). Results of the network meta-analysis showed that both the high (SMD: 0.908 ± 0.331; 95% CI: 0.262 ~ 1.581) and the low-dose (SMD: 0.601 ± 0.286; 95% CI: 0.034 ~ 1.18) n-3 PUFAs were superior to placebo, and the efficacy of high-dose n-3 PUFAs is superior to that of low-dose. Conclusions High-dose n-3 PUFAs supplementation might be more superior than low-dose in the early therapy period for MDD. More head-to-head clinical trials need to be carried out to provide more direct comparison and enhance the evidence of the efficacy of n-3PUFAs for MDD.

In order to research the sintering mechanism of Y2O3 on CaZrO3, CaZrO3 was synthesized by solid reaction using analytical ZrO2 and CaCO3 as raw materials and Y2O3 as additive. The liner change rate, the relative density, XRD and the microstructure of the CaZrO3 samples were determined, and the effect of Y2O3 on sintering of CaZrO3 was researched. The results show that the sintering property of CaZrO3 is enhanced by adding Y2O3. When the content of Y2O3 is lower than 2 % (mass-%), the lattice volume of CaZrO3 increases to 0.262 nm3, which is attributed to Zr4+ being replaced by Y3+ in the CaZrO3 crystal. However, the content of Y2O3 is up to 4 %, and the lattice volume decreases due to Ca2+ being replaced by Y3+. The liner change rate of the samples increases with increasing Y2O3 additive. When Y2O3 is 4 %, the liner change rate of CaZrO3 reaches maximum (26.9 %). The relative density of the samples increases from 63.99 to 84.45 % with increasing addition of Y2O3, and the average grain size of CaZrO3 increases from 1.64 to 2.65 μm when the additive increases from 0 to 4 %.

Hemodialysis-associated amyloidosis (HAA) involves the fibrillization of β2-microglobulin (β2M) and occurs in crowded physiological environments. However, how macromolecular crowding affects amyloid formation of β2M remains elusive. Here we study the effects of macromolecular crowding on amyloid formation and fibril disassembly of wild-type human β2M and its pathogenic mutant ΔN6. At strongly acidic pH2.5, the presence of a strong crowding agent (Ficoll 70 or dextran 70) not only dramatically accelerates the fibrillization of both wild-type β2M and its ΔN6 variant by reducing the lag time to a large extent, indicating the acceleration of the nucleation phase, but also remarkably increases the amount of β2M fibrils. At weakly acidic pH6.2, such an enhancing effect of macromolecular crowding on fibril formation is only observed for pathogenic mutant ΔN6, but not for wild-type β2M which does not form amyloid fibrils in the absence and presence of a crowding agent. Thus, we propose that the monomers of β2M form the nuclei, which is enhanced by macromolecular crowding, followed by the step of fibril elongation. Furthermore, at physiological pH, macromolecular crowding remarkably inhibits β2M fibril disassembly by decreasing rate constants corresponding to fast and slow stages of fibril disaggregation. Our data demonstrate that macromolecular crowding favors the fibrillization of β2M by accelerating the nucleation step and inhibiting fibril disassembly. Our findings provide clear evidence for the pathology of HAA that macromolecular crowding should be taken into account.

Aluminum titanate has been synthesized by using industrial waste from ferroalloy plant, and titanium white as the main raw materials. The influence of MgO addition and calcining temperature on crystalline structure, micro-morphology and properties of synthesized Aluminum titanate are discussed. The synthesized product was characterized by XRD and SEM, and the crystallinity, cell parameters of crystalline phase are calculated by X' Pert plus software. The experimental result show the crystalline phase Through the research of effect of different concentration of MgO and different of calcining temperature on the crystalline structure of aluminum titanate prepared from industrial waste from ferroalloy plant, the optical concentration of MgO is 1%, and the optical calcining temperature is 1500°C.The grains of main crystalline phase aluminum titanate grow completely with typical orthorhombic feature, the average grain size of No.2 specimen in the micro structures is 10~20um.

Mg-Al spinel has been synthesized by using industrial waste from ferroalloy plant, decomposed magnesite and used MgO-C brick as the main raw materials. The influence of decomposed magnesite and used MgO-C brick addition on crystalline structure, micro-morphology and properties of synthesized Mg-Al spinel are discussed. The synthesized product was characterized by XRD and SEM, and the crystallinity of each crystalline phase is calculated by relevant analytical software such as X'Pert plus and so on. The experimental result show the crystalline phase periclase increase with the increasing of decomposed magnesite and used MgO-C brick powder. The crystallinity of crystalline phase is highest when the addition of decomposed magnesite is 40wt%. Activity magnesia generated by decomposed magnesite powder decomposition has helped to improve the crystallinity of Crystalline phase. The energy provided by oxidization of the residual carbon promotes Mg-Al spinel grain growth.

This paper mainly discuss the TiO2 on synthesizing the crystal structure of the cordierite, crystallinity, grain size, sintering properties. Use the software of X 'Pert plus to fit the XRD diagram, analyzing the properties of the crystallization, with the Scherrer formula to calculate the size of the cordierite in the specimen, discussing the TiO2 on synthesizing the crystal structure of the cordierite, the influence of microcosmic structure and sintering property can be carried out analysis with SEM. The results show that moderate introducing TiO2 in the process of the cordierite synthesis can easily make the crystal defects, but it can reduce the diffusion resistance of the particle, improve the particle diffusing speed and make the crystallinity of crystallization phase and grain size increase in sample. Due to the radius of the solute ion are greater than the radius of the solvents ion and to some degree the "inflation" function of the clearance of ions can also promotes the volume of the crystal cell. Introduction of excessive TiO2, the density of the sample and the sintering property is better, but the property of crystallization is declined.

In the present study, we constructed a viable therapeutic vaccine of recombinant M. smegmatis mediated IL-12/GLS (granulysin) gene transfer into murine macrophages to exert the immunotherapy effects on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. We tested this recombinant therapeutic vaccine in an in vivo study to determine its capability of stimulating host specific immune responses against M. tuberculosis. BALB/c mice intranasally immunized with the therapeutic vaccine developed an efficient Th1 protective immune response against M. tuberculosis which was equal to that of the BCG strain. Inoculation intranasally with this viable vaccine induced high level of serum IFN-gamma, IL-12 and IgG2a. The viable vaccine was capable of inducing purified protein derivative (PPD) antigen-specific splenocytes proliferation and IFN-gamma production from T cells in spleens of the immunized mice. In addition, intranasally inoculation with the viable vaccine can induce PPD antigen-specific sIgA production in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of the immunized mice. No change of IL-4 level was found in all groups. The therapeutic mechanism of this viable vaccine against M. tuberculosis infection observed here appeared to be a result of the specific Th1 immune response activated by mycobacterium antigen from M. smegmatis and the expression of sIL-12/GLS in alveolar macrophages via the M. smegmatis-mediated gene transfer method. This research demonstrates that the therapeutic gene can be introduced into a host by viable mycobacteria works to induce the host specific immune response against M. tuberculosis infection in vivo. Since this therapeutic vaccine can strongly induce specific Th1 responses against M. tuberculosis in BALB/c mice and has no obviously harmfulness to the host simultaneously, the recombinant vaccine might be a potential candidate therapeutic vaccine against tuberculosis.

We propose the difference discrete variational principle in discrete mechanics and symplectic algorithm with variable step-length of time in finite duration based upon a noncommutative differential calculus established in this paper. This approach keeps both symplicticity and energy conservation discretely. We show that there exists the discrete version of the Euler-Lagrange cohomology in these discrete systems. We also discuss the solution existence in finite time-length and its site density in continuous limit, and apply our approach to the pendulum with periodic perturbation. The numerical results are satisfactory., 18 pages, 3 figures

A quantum dynamical $\check{R}$-matrix with spectral parameter is constructed by fusion procedure. This spin-1 $\check{R}$-matrix is connected with Lie algebra $so(3)$ and does not satisfy the condition of translation invariance.

To observe the expression of the co-expression plasmid of tissue-plasminogen activator (tPA) and vascular endothelia growth factor165 (VEGF165) in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and to study the effect of expressing products on the proliferation of VEC and VSMC and fibrinolysis activity.The co-expression plasmid of tPA and VEGF165 (pBudCE4.1/tPA-VEGF165) was transfected into VSMC with the lipofection. The expression of tPA and VEGF165 at mRNA level was detected by RT-PCR and the protein level expression was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The fibrinolysis activity of culture medium of VSMC transfected tPA and VEGF165 genes was detected by fibrin plate technique. The VEC and VSMC were cultured with culture medium of VSMC transfected tPA and VEGF165 genes. And the proliferation of VEC and VSMC was evaluated with monoterazolium (MTT) and flow cytometry (FCM).The expression of tPA and VEGF165 at mRNA and protein levels in the transfected VSMC was demonstrated by RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. The VSMC culture medium of transfected genes possessed evidently fibrinolysis activity. The expression products of tPA and VEGF165 in the VSMC had an evident effect on the VEC proliferation. But it had not an effect on the VSMC proliferation.The eukaryotic co-expression plasmid of tPA and VEGF165 can be expressed in transfected VSMCs. The expression products have an obvious biological activity. The present study lay the foundation for future making use of tPA and VEGF165 to prevent and treat vascular stenosis in transplanted heart.

To observe the effects of local co-transfection vascular endothelial growth factor165 (VEGF165) and tissue-type plasminogen activator genes on inhibiting intimal hyperplasia and restenosis in rabbits artery after operation injury and possible mechanisms.Micrology operation injury was used to establish the model of intimal injury of right external iliac artery in rabbits. To select 120 male New Zealand rabbits and were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 40, in each group): Group A (physiological brine control group), Group B (pBudCE4.1 group), Group C (pBudCE4.1/VEGF165-tPA group). The vas-wall of micrology operation injury were infused respectively physiological brine, pBudCE4.1 and pBudCE4.1/VEGF165-tPA transfection solution by micro-injector. Each group were divided into 5 subgroups (n = 8, in each subgroup) randomly according to the sacrifice times (2 d, 1 week, 2 week, 4 week and 8 week after operation). The injured vascular specimen were harvested for pathology test, electric microscopy study, reverse transcription-PCR examining and immunochemistry detecting.The intimal area and narrow ratio of vases in Group C at every time point after operation were significantly lessened than that in Group A and Group B (P0.01). The narrow ratio of vases in Group C at 8 week after operation were decreased respectively by 57.9% and 59.0% than that in Group A and B. The expression of VEGF165 mRNA in Group C were increased significantly than that in Group A and B at every time point after operation (P0.01), the expression reached the peak at 1 week and continued to 4 week after operation. Immunohistochemical identified that tPA positive cell in Group C were significantly increased than that in Group A and B (P0.01) at every time point after operation.Local co-transfection VEGF165 and tPA genes could restrain intimal hyperplasia and restenosis of vas, which lay a foundation for future multi-gene therapy of vascular intimal hyperplasia.

To study the effects and mechanisms of DNA vaccines encoding Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens on murine Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.C57BL/J6 mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis were treated with normal saline (NS), pCDNA3.1, psIL-12, pcD85B, pcDMPT64, pcD85B + pcDMPT64, and pcD85B + psIL-12 respectively. The numbers of viable bacteria in the lung and the spleen were counted. The levels of IFN-gamma, IL-4 and TNF-alpha of spleen lymphocytes stimulated with PPD were detected with ELISA. Lungs and spleens were prepared for pathological analysis.The pcD85B group (6.99 +/- 0.40 in lung, 5.17 +/- 0.33 in spleen), the psIL-12 group (7.41 +/- 0.50 in lung, 5.31 +/- 0.21 in spleen)and the pcD85B + psIL-12 group (7.64 +/- 0.28 in lung, 5.49 +/- 0.31 in spleen) showed significantly reduced number of colony forming units (lg(-1) CFU/g, x +/- s) in lungs and spleens compared with the control mice (5.76 +/- 0.16 in saline, 5.88 +/- 0.21 in pCDNA3.1), but the difference between the pcD85B group and the pcD85B + psIL-12 group was not significant. pcD85B vaccination induced high levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. No change of IL-4 was found in all groups. The pathological changes in lungs of the pcD85B group were localized, while those in the control group were extensive. There was no significant changes in the spleen of all groups.Ag85B DNA vaccination had immunotherapeutic effects, which were associated with a switch to Th1 response and enhanced production of cytokines TNF-alpha and INF-gamma. psIL-12 alone showed therapeutic effect, but it didn't enhance the therapeutic effect of single Ag85B DNA vaccination.

To construct the eukaryotic co-expression plasmid of tissue-plasminogen activator (tPA) genes and vascular endothelia growth factor165 (VEGF165) and observe its expression in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).The tPA and VEGF165 genes were cloned from hominal heart tissue with RT-PCR, and then the tPA and VEGF165 genes were cloned into eukaryotic expression plasmid pBudCE4.1 to construct the eukaryotic co-expression plasmid pBudCE4.1/tPA-VEGF165. The pBudCE4.1/tPA-VEGF165 was transfected into VSMCs via lipofection mediation. The expression levels of tPA and VEGF165 mRNAs in the transformed VSMCs were detected by RT-PCR and the expression levels of tPA and VEGF165 proteins were detected by ELISA.The size of RT-PCR product of tPA and VEGF165 genes was 1.9 kb and 576 bp respectively. Restrictive enzyme digestion analysis showed that recombinant co-expression plasmid pBudCE4.1/tPA-VEGF165 had been constructed successfully. The expression of tPA and VEGF165 at mRNA and protein levels in the transformed VSMCs and cells culture supernatant were detected respectively by RT-PCR and ELISA.The recombinant eukaryotic co-expression plasmid pBudCE4.1/tPA-VEGF165 has been successfully constructed. The tPA and VEGF165 are expressed in transformed VSMCs.

To construct an eukaryotic coexpression plasmid containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) Ag85B and IL-12 genes.MTB Ag85B gene and IL-12 gene were cloned into pBudCE4.1 which has multiple promoters to construct recombinant plasmid pBud85B-IL12. The recombinant plasmid was transfected into COS-7 cells and the expression of target genes was assessed by RT-PCR and ELISA.The expressions of Ag85B and IL-12 could be detected in COS-7 cells.The recombinant plasmid pBud85B-IL12 was constructed and expressed successfully, which lays the foundation for further development of DNA vaccine against tuberculosis.

A new improved therapeutic strategy for tuberculosis is urgently needed. In our previous work DNA vaccines encoding secreted proteins Ag85B and MPT64 have been reported to protect mice from following H37Rv challenge by prompting the Th1 response and we consider whether these vaccines have the therapeutic effect through the same mechanism. In the present study these two DNA vaccines were tested in a mouse tuberculosis model to confirm their immunotherapeutic effect. C57BL/6 mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis were treated with pCDNA3.1, pcD85B, pcDMPT64, pcD85B plus pcDMPT64, respectively. The numbers of viable bacteria in lung and spleen were counted as log(10)CFU/g. The level of IFN-gamma, IL-4 and TNF-alpha released by spleen lymphocytes stimulated with PPD was detected with ELISA. Lungs and spleens were harvested for pathological analysis. The pcD85B group reduced the pulmonary and splenic bacterial loads of 1.2 and 0.7 logs, respectively compared with that of control mice, but the difference between pcDMPT64 group and control mice was not significant. Vaccination with pcD85B induced high level of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. No change of IL-4 level was found in all groups. The pathological change in lung in pcD85B group was slight, alveolar wall structure is clear and the lesions are constrained, while that in control group was extensive, alveoli and interalveolar septae are effaced. And there was no special change in spleen in all groups. In conclusion, Ag85B DNA vaccination has immunotherapeutic effects, and the effects may be associated with a switch to Th1 response and prompting production of cytokine TNF-alpha and INF-gamma synchronously. Therefore, MPT64 DNA vaccination has no immunotherapeutic effect on mice tuberculosis. Rather, the effects may be associated with its disability in switching improper immune status and with recalling a strong and early specific memory immune response against tuberculosis.

To study the immunogenicity of a DNA vaccine encoding fusion protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ag85B and MPT64.C57BL/6 mice were intramuscularly injected respectively with PBS(A group), plasmid vector (B group), pcDNA/Ag85B(C group), pcDNA/MPT64(D group), and pcDNA/Ag85B MPT64 (E group) for three times with 2 week intervals. The mice were sacrificed 4 weeks after the final immunization. The total specific antibody levels were detected by ELISA and simultaneously spleen lymphocyte proliferation response to PPD and IFN-gamma level in culture supernatant of the PPD stimulated spleen lymphocytes was measured by MTT colorimetry and ELISA, respectively.The Ag85B, MPT64 and fusion gene Ag85B MPT64 DNA vaccines could induce anti-PPD antibody production as well as antigen specific lymphocyte proliferation and high levels of IFN-gamma in immunized mice.The Ag85B MPT64 fusion gene can induce specific cellular immunity and humoral immunity in immunized mice.

To construct prokaryotic expression vector carrying lhp gene and express it in E.coli.The MTB lhp gene was amplified by PCR and then cloned into plasmid pQE30. After sequencing, the gene was cloned into plasmid pET32a(+) to construct recombinant prokaryotic expression vectors pQE30-CFP10 and pET32a(+)-CFP10.After transformation of the E.coli and induction with 1 mmol/L of IPTG, no additional protein was expressed in pQE30-CFP10 system, but recombinant target protein with M(r) 20 000 or so was expressed in pET32a(+)-CFP10 system, and the expressed protein was maximum when induced with IPTG for 4 h. The expressed protein existed in cytoplasm in soluble form and amounted to 38% of total protein of E.coli. Western blot analysis showed that the protein had good antigenicity. The purity of the protein purified through the Ni-NTA resin reached 93%.The prokaryotic expression vector pET32a(+)-CFP10 was constructed successfully and the rCFP10 protein was obtained, which laid the foundation for application of the rCFP10.

To prepare the recombinant CFP10-ESAT-6 fusion protein, and to study its immunological characteristics, and its potential for serodiagnosis of tuberculosis.The lhp-ESAT-6 fusion gene was amplified by Gene SOEing, and then cloned into pQE30 plasmid. The recombinant CFP10-ESAT-6 fusion protein was expressed and purified. Its antigenicity was confirmed by Western blot. Animal models infected with M. tuberculosis H(37)Rv strain and M. bovis BCG respectively were made to evaluate the potential value of the fusion protein in the serodiagnosis of tuberculosis.The sequence of recombinant plasmid pQE30-CFP10-ESAT-6 was identical to the predicted sequence. The recombinant protein (rCFP10-ESAT-6), about 26 000, existed in the cytoplasm of DH5alpha in soluble form and represented 40% of the total bacterial protein. The purity and concentration of the final product was 98% and 1.2 g/L, respectively. Western blot showed that the rCFP10-ESAT-6 had good immunoreactivity with sera from patients with active tuberculosis and rabbits immunized with CFP10 and ESAT-6 respectively. The positive cutoff value was A(490) plus 2 standard deviation from negative guinea pig sera detected by ELISA. Serological reactivity to rCFP10-ESAT-6 was observed in 11 of the serum samples from guinea pigs with tuberculosis and 1 of sera from guinea pigs infected with BCG, while the serological reactivity to PPD was observed in 11 of sera from guinea pigs with tuberculosis and in 11 of sera from guinea pigs infected with BCG.The rCFP10-ESAT-6 fusion protein was highly expressed in soluble form in E. coli. It had antigenicity of both CFP10 and ESAT-6, and could be used to differentiate infection with M. tuberculosis H(37)Rv strain from immunization with M. bovis BCG. The study provided experimental data for potential application of rCFP10-ESAT-6 in the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

To evaluate the protective efficacy of the fusion DNA vaccine (AM) encoding tubercle Ag85B and MPT64 in mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.C57BL/6 mice were intramuscularly immunized with the DNA vaccines. The mice were challenged with 10(6) CFU H37Rv via lateral tail vein 35 days later after the third immunization for DNA vaccine groups and 100 days later for BCG vaccinated group. The mice in vaccinated groups and control groups were sacrificed 42 days later following challenge. The lungs and spleens were removed respectively, and the number of CFU in organs and histopathologic changes was determined. The antibody level, IFN-gamma, IL-4 and the survival time in all of the mice were evaluated.Antibody titer of pcDNA/Ag85B + pcDNA/MPT64 group and pcDNA/AM group was higher than that of other groups (P0.05). The level of IFN-gamma produced by spleen lymphocytes and spleen lymphocyte proliferation from BCG group, pcDNA/Ag85B, pcDNA/Ag85B + pcDNA/MPT64 group and pcDNA/AM group was higher than that of other groups (P0.05). No IL-4 was found in all groups. The number of bacterial colonies in the lungs and spleens was significantly decreased at 6th week postchallenge in all the vaccinated groups (P0.05), especially in BCG group (P0.01). The pulmonary histopathological changes were observed 6 weeks later following challenge with M. tuberculosis H37Rv. In PBS and pcDNA3.1 groups, the lesion was characterized by seroplastic inflammatory infiltration and lung tissue necrosis, in BCG group by granulomas and numerous macrophages, lymphocytes and a few epithelioid cells. The lesion in pcDNA/Ag85B groups was characterized by seroplastic inflammatory infiltration and a few macrophages, in pcDNA/Ag85B + pcDNA/MPT64 group and pcDNA/AM group, by granulomas, numerous macrophages and lymphocytes. The lesion in spleen was different from the lung and characterized by proliferative lymphocytes and inflammatory infiltration. The results in spleen were similar to those in lung. The survival time of BCG vaccinated mice after challenge with M. tuberculosis H37Rv was longer than that of other groups. The survival time of AM group was longer than that of other DNA vaccine groups.The pcDNA/AM can improve the protective efficacy in immunized mice against M. tuberculosis.

We study two-dimensional classically integrable field theory with independent boundary condition on each end, and obtain three possible generating functions for integrals of motion when this model is an ultralocal one. Classically integrable boundary condition can be found in solving boundary $K_{\pm}$ equations. In quantum case, we also find that unitarity condition of quantum $R$- matrix is sufficient to construct commutative quantities with boundary, and its reflection equations are obtained., Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, no figure