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Purpose Endometrial cancer(EC) is an estrogen-dependent tumor, the occurrence of which is closely related to an imbalance of estrogen homeostasis. Our previous studies explored the effects of resveratrol on estrogen metabolism.However, systematic research on the exact mechanism of action of resveratrol is still lacking.Based on network pharmacology, molecular docking and animal experiments, the effects and molecular mechanisms of resveratrol on endometrial cancer were investigated. Methods The target of resveratrol was obtained from HERB and ECTM databases, and the target of endometrial cancer was obtained by using Genecards database.Use of Veeny map to obtain the intersection target of resveratrol in the treatment of EC, and the protein interaction network of the intersection target was constructed by importing the STRING database,then construct the drug-disease-target interaction network based on Cytoscape 3.9.1 software.GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed for intersection targets using OmicShare cloud platform. Resveratrol and core target were analyzed by molecular docking. EC mice model induced by MNNG were randomly divided into Control group, Res group, MNNG group, and MNNG + Res group. MNNG + Res + MAPK/ERKi group.The protein expression levels of ERK and p-ERK in mouse uterus were detected by Western blot.The contents of E1, E2, E3, 16-epiE3, 17-epiE3, 2-MeOE1, 4-MeOE1, 2-MeOE2, 4-MeOE2, 3-MeOE1, 2-OHE1, 4-OHE1, 2-OHE2, 4-OHE2, 16α-OHE1 in serum and endometrial tissue of mice were detected by LC-MS/MS. Results A total of 174 intersection targets of resveratrol anti EC were obtained. Signaling pathways analyzed by KEGG enrichment included AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and MAPK signaling pathway.The top 10 core targets were MAPK3, JUN, TP53, CASP3, TNF, IL1B, AKT1, FOS, VEGFA and INS.Molecular docking showed that except TNF, other targets had good affinity with resveratrol, and the binding activity with MAPK3 was stable.Western blot results showed that resveratrol increased the phosphorylation level of ERK, and MAPK/ERKi decreased the activation of ERK.Using LC-MS/MS analysis,the contents of 2-MeOE1,2-MeOE2 and 4-MeOE1 in serum and uterine tissue were showed significantly decreasing trend in MNNG group, while the content of 4-OHE2 was increased (P༜0.05).The concentration levels of 4-MeOE1 in serum and 2-MeOE1 and 2-MeOE2 in endometrial tissue of mice were significantly increased after resveratrol treatment,the content of 4-OHE2 in serum and uterus of mice was significantly decreased (P༜0.05). Meanwhile, MAPK/ERKi intervention group showed that the effect of resveratrol on the reversal of estrogen homeostasis imbalance was obviously weakened. Conclusion Resveratrol has the characteristics of multiple targets and multiple approaches in the treatment of endometrial cancer. In this study, it was found that resveratrol regulates estrogen metabolism by activating MAPK pathway, which provides a new perspective for subsequent research on the treatment of endometrial cancer.

The loss of inner ear hair cells leads to irreversible acoustic injury in mammals, and regeneration of inner ear hair cells to restore hearing loss is challenging.

Objectives To identify the predictors of anatomical and functional outcomes following tympanoplasty. Study Design A retrospective cohort study. Methods Patients with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) who underwent a tympanoplasty at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019 were retrospectively included. Outcome measures included graft success and postoperative pure tone audiometry air‐bone gap (PTA‐ABG) at last follow‐up (≥6 months). PTA‐ABG and MERI were calculated. Descriptive, univariable, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the predictors of the graft and hearing outcomes. Results During the study, 385 patients (167 male, 218 female, median age 44 years) undergoing 413 procedures were studied. Out of this, 219 ears underwent tympanoplasty, 45 ears had tympanoplasty with canal wall up mastoidectomy, and 149 ears had tympanoplasty with canal wall down mastoidectomy. At the last follow‐up, the overall graft success rate was 91.3% (377/413) and the overall hearing success rate was 40% (165/413). Multivariable analysis results showed that the obstructed aditus ad antrum (OR 2.67, 95%CI 1.13‐6.30; P = .025) was an independent prognostic factor for graft failures. Moreover, the obstructed aditus ad antrum (OR 2.18, 95%CI 1.16‐4.08; P = .015) and MERI >3 (OR 6.53, 95%CI 3.55‐12.02; P 20 dB). Conclusions Aditus ad antrum patency was an independent predictor of both graft and hearing success among patients following tympanoplasty. MERI score greater than three was found to be a significant predictor of postoperative hearing and could serve as a useful tool for assisting clinicians in perioperative risk assessment. Level of Evidence 4.

Objectives The hospital environment has been implicated in the enrichment and exchange of pathogens and antibiotic resistance, but its potential in shaping the symbiotic microbial community of hospital staff is unclear. This study was designed to evaluate the alteration of the gut microbiome in medical workers compared to non-medical controls. Methods A prospective cross-sectional cohort study was conducted in the intensive care unit (ICU) and other departments of a centre in north-eastern China. Faecal samples of 175 healthy medical workers—short-term (1–3 months) workers (n = 80) and long-term (>1 year) workers (n = 95)—and 80 healthy non-medical controls were analysed using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. The hospital environmental samples (n = 9) were also analysed. Results The gut microbiomes of medical workers exhibited marked deviations in diversity and alteration in microbial composition and function. Short-term workers showed significantly higher abundances of taxa such as Lactobacillus, Butyrivibrio, Clostridiaceae, Clostridium, Ruminococcus, Dialister, Bifidobacterium, Odoribacter, and Desulfovibrio and lower abundances of Bacteroides and Blautia than the controls. Long-term workers showed higher abundances of taxa such as Dialister, Veillonella, Clostridiaceae, Clostridium, Bilophila, Desulfovibrio, Pseudomonas, and Akkermansia and lower abundances of Bacteroides and Coprococcus than the controls. The medical workers' department (ICU versus non-ICU) and position (resident doctor versus nursing staff) also impacted their gut microbiome. Compared with the non-ICU workers, workers in the ICU showed a significant increase in the abundances of Dialister, Enterobacteriaceae, Phascolarctobacterium, Pseudomonas, Veillonella, and Streptococcus and a marked depletion of Faecalibacterium, Blautia, and Coprococcus. In contrast with the nursing staff, the resident doctors showed a significant increase in Erysipelotrichaceae and Clostridium and a decrease in Bacteroides, Blautia, and Ruminococcus in the gut microbiome. Moreover, we found that the microbiota of hospital environments potentially correlated with the workers' gut microbiota. Conclusions Our findings demonstrated structural changes in the gut microbial community of medical workers.

Based on SEM, FT-IR and XRD characterization, the catalyst Pd-Fe-Co-Ce/FSC (ratio 1:1:1:3) was calcined at a temperature of 550°C and a calcination time of 3 h. The catalyst is applied to the catalytic wet oxidation treatment of difficult-to-biodegradable organic waste-water. By the characterization of the catalyst before and after the reuse, it is verified that the SEM morphologis of the catalyst changed little, and the groups contained in the catalyst characterized by FT-IR hardly changed, and the XRD characteristic peaks did not change. From the SEM photos of the catalyst before and after use, the morphology of the catalyst does not change much, and the agglomerated support on the catalyst surface is slightly reduced; the absorption peaks of the FI-IR spectrum of the catalyst before and after use are not significantly different, indicating that the functional groups contained in the catalyst have not changed significantly; After using the catalyst, compared with before use, the characteristic peak shape of each characteristic diffraction did not change significantly. The results show that the catalyst Pd-Fe-Co-Ce/FSC (ratio 1:1:1:3) revealed a stable catalyst performance in the process of CWAO for the treatment of difficult-to-biodegradable organic waste-water.

Operational modal parameter identification is a tough problem in aerospace engineering due to the complex mechanics environment, various noises, and limited computational resources. In this paper, a novel, recursive, robust, and high-efficiency modal parameter identification approach is proposed for this issue. The kernelized time-dependent autoregressive moving average (TARMA) model is adopted to model the nonstationary responses, a recursive estimator is established based on the maximum correntropy criterion, and sliding-window technique is applied to fix the computational complexity, which ensures the approach its estimation accuracy, robustness, and high efficiency. Finally, steps of the identification procedure and model selection are presented. An experimental scheme is proposed for validation, and the proposed approach is comparatively assessed against the classical recursive pseudo-linear regression TARMA method via Monte Carole tests of a time-varying experimental system. The results of the comparative study demonstrate that the proposed method achieves similar estimation accuracy and higher computation efficiency under the Gaussian environment. Moreover, a superior estimation accuracy and enhanced robustness are rendered under additive non-Gaussian impulsive noise.

Compared with SBR latex, waterborne epoxy resin has obvious advantages. The cured epoxy resin emulsified asphalt material has stronger mechanical properties, but it is less used in asphalt modification applications. Aiming at this problem, this paper uses waterborne epoxy resin as the modified material of emulsified asphalt, and carries out performance characterization and road performance evaluation of waterborne epoxy resin modified emulsified asphalt and its mixture under different dosages. Fluorescence microscopic analysis of waterborne epoxy asphalt with a content of 8wt%, 15wt%, 30wt%, and 50wt%, respectively, shows that the resin content should not exceed 30wt% to ensure the performance of asphalt. The bonding properties of SBR modified emulsified asphalt and waterborne epoxy resin modified emulsified asphalt with different dosages at 20 °C and 60 °C were analyzed. The results show that the tensile strength and oblique shear of waterborne epoxy modified emulsified asphalt. The strength is higher than SBR modified emulsified asphalt, and its high temperature resistance is better than SBR modified emulsified asphalt material. The road performance analysis was carried out on the mixture prepared by the aqueous epoxy modified emulsified asphalt with the content of 0wt%, 8wt%, 15wt% and 30wt% respectively. The results show that with the increase of waterborne epoxy content, the Marshall stability, splitting strength and high temperature rutting resistance of the mixture increase more obviously. The freeze-thaw splitting strength of the waterborne epoxy resin mixture is 13% higher than that of the pure emulsified asphalt mixture, and the splitting strength is also significantly improved. Due to the high stiffness of the waterborne epoxy resin after curing, the maximum bending strain of the mixture is reduced, and the recommended dosage is not more than 30% by weight. On the whole, the introduction of waterborne epoxy resin could greatly improve the strength and road performance of the asphalt, and could be used as a proper road repair material.

Background Anti-D antibody is not the common cause of Rh-isoimmunization in Chinese neonatal jaundice. Recent change in national population policy has followed by an increase in Rh-isoimmunization related hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN). Unfortunately, regional status of Rh-HDN is unavailable. We hypothesize that Rh-HDN in our region is most commonly due to anti-E antibody. Aim To investigate the prevalence of hemolytic disease of the newborn due to Rh-isoimmunization in Hefei City. Methods Retrospective review of data obtained from Children's Hospital of Anhui and Hefei Blood Center between January 2017 and June 2019. Status of minor blood group antibody was studied in the corresponding mothers. Results Totally 4138 newborns with HDN admitted during the study period and 116 (2.8%) received blood exchange transfusion (BET). Eighteen newborns (0.43%) with proven Rh-incompatible HDN were identified. All were not the first-born baby. Thirteen mothers were RhD (+) (72%) and five were RhD (-). The distribution of Rh-related antibodies in mothers was ten anti-E (55%), five anti-D (27%), and for one anti-C, anti-c, and anti-E/c (6%) each. Thirteen (72.2%) were qualified for BET, relative risk for BET was 28.9 as compared to other types of HDN, but only 10 received due to parenteral refusal. All (100%) RhD related HDN received BET which is not significantly different from RhE related HDN (81.8%). Conclusion As expected, all Rh-incompatible HDN newborns were not the first-born. Contrary to the Caucasian population, anti-D induced HDN is not the most common etiology. In our region, anti-E (11/18, 61%) is the most common cause of Rh-HDN.

Yongli Zhang,1,2 Mengyao Xie,1,2 Ruoyan Xue,1,2 Qi Tang,1,2 Xiaohui Zhu,1,2 Jian Wang,1,2 Hua Yang,1,2 Chao Ma3– 5 1Department of Otolaryngology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100730, People’s Republic of China; 2Translational Medicine Center, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100730, People’s Republic of China; 3Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100005, People’s Republic of China; 4Joint Laboratory of Anesthesia and Pain, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, People’s Republic of China; 5Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, 102206, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jian Wang; Hua YangDepartment of Otolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, No. 1 Shuaifuyuan Wangfujing Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13673164261; +86 13701127757Fax +86-10-69156311Email wangjianent@163.com; dr_yanghua2021@163.comPurpose: Rapid and accurate diagnosis of the pathological characteristics of head and neck cancer and tumor resection margins is important. The DiveScope cell morphology analyzer (DiveScope) is a new endomicroscope that can rapidly image living tissues and cells. In this study, we preliminarily examined the accuracy of the DiveScope for determining the malignancy of head and neck cancers and the positivity/negativity of tumor resection margins and determined the consistency between diagnostic results with the DiveScope and those of frozen section pathology to provide a foundation for further clinical trials in pathological diagnosis of head and neck cancers and tumor resection margins.Methods: Head and neck cancer samples and resection margin samples were rapidly stained ex vivo before observation under the DiveScope cell morphology analyzer. Experienced pathologists distinguished the benignity and malignancy of the tumors based on images obtained by the DiveScope in a double-blind manner to validate the diagnostic performance of the analyzer.Results: We found that the cell morphology, cell nucleus morphology, karyoplasmic ratio, and even the nucleolus could be clearly distinguished. The positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) of benign and malignant head and neck cancer according to DiveScope results were 10.55 and 0.04, respectively. The PLR and NLR of the head and neck cancer resection margins according to the DiveScope were 19.01 and 0, respectively.Conclusion: The DiveScope showed high accuracy in determining the benignity and malignancy of head and neck cancer and the positivity/negativity of resection margins, and its results were highly consistent with those of intraoperative frozen section pathology tests.Keywords: the DiveScope cell morphology analyzer, head and neck cancer, resection margins, pathological diagnosis

Carissa spinarum Linn. has been utilized both in the food industry and as a traditional medicine for various ailments, while the responsible chemical components and action mechanisms of its antioxidative and hepatoprotective activities remain unclear. In this work, at least 17 quinic acid derivatives as potential ligands for the superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme from Carissa&nbsp, spinarum L. were screened out using the bio-affinity ultrafiltration with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (UF–LC/MS), and 12 of them (1–12), including, three new ones (1–3), were further isolated by phytochemical methods and identified by high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS) and extensive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analysis. All of these isolated compounds were evaluated for their antioxidant activities by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. As a result, compounds 4 and 6–11 displayed similar or better antioxidant activities compared to vitamin C, which is in good agreement with the bio-affinity ultrafiltration with SOD enzyme. Then, these compounds, 4 and 6–11, with better antioxidant activity were further explored to protect the L02 cells from H2O2-induced oxidative injury by reducing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) production and activating the SOD enzyme. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to use an efficient ultrafiltration approach with SOD for the rapid screening and identification of the SOD ligands directly from a complex crude extract of Carissa spinarum, and to reveal its corresponding active compounds with good antioxidative and hepatoprotective activities.

Carissa spinarum has been traditionally used for the treatment of various diseases due to its different pharmacological activities. However, the active compounds responsible for its potentially specific activities have rarely been explored. To this end, the ethyl acetate (EA) fraction was screened out and selected for further phytochemical isolation because of its promising activities in preliminary 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and COX-2 inhibition assays. As a result, 10 compounds (1−10), including a new one (5), were isolated, with eight of these being identified as phenolic compounds, as expected. Compound 9 possessed an IC50 value of 16.5 ± 1.2 µM, which was lower than that of positive control (vitamin C, 25.5 ± 0.3 µM) in the DPPH assay, and compounds 2, 6, 7 and 9 showed better total antioxidant capacity than vitamin C in the FRAP assay. Meanwhile, compounds 1−6 and 9 also had IC50 values of less than 1.0 µM, which was even better than the positive control indomethacin in the COX-2 inhibition assay. In this context, compounds 2 and 9 were further evaluated to exhibit clear hepatoprotective activities by improving the L02 cell viability and reducing ROS production using a H2O2-induced L02 cell injury model. This study provides initial evidence revealing the most potent phenolic compounds from the root bark of C. spinarum responsible for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activities.

To improve understanding of the combustion properties of agglomerate-reduced propellants under solid rocket motor conditions and to compare their combustion properties between combustor conditions ...

Warburgia ugandensis, also known as “green heart,” is widely used for the treatment of various diseases as a traditional ethnomedicinal plant in local communities in Africa. In this work, 9 and 12 potential superoxide dismutase (SOD) and xanthine oxidase (XOD) ligands from W. ugandensis were quickly screened out by combining SOD and XOD affinity ultrafiltration with LC-MS, respectively. In this way, four new lignanamides (compounds 11-14) and one new macrocyclic glycoside (compound 5), along with three known compounds (compounds 1, 3, and 7), were isolated and identified firstly in this species. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, including NMR and UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS. Among these compounds, compound 14 showed the highest 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2’-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activities, and total ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) with IC50 values of 6.405 ± 0.362 µM, 5.381 ± 0.092 µM, and 17.488 ± 1.625 mmol TE/g, respectively. Moreover, compound 14 displayed the highest inhibitory activity on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) with IC50 value of 0.123 ± 0.004 µM, and the ranking order of other compounds’ IC50 values was 13 &gt, 11 &gt, 7 &gt, 1 &gt, 12. The present study suggested that lignanamides might represent interesting new characteristic functional components of W. ugandensis to exert remarkable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Moreover, compound 14, a new arylnaphthalene lignanamide, would be a highly potential natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent from W. ugandensis.

Coal spontaneous combustion (CSC) has a devastating effect on the environment and human health. CSC primarily involves oxygen-lean oxidation and combustion states. In this study, to investigate the evolution of the coal microstructure during CSC in an oxygen-lean atmosphere, coal for oxygen-lean combustion was obtained and combusted at characteristic temperatures by using an independently developed electric tube furnace. Through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, the relative contents of the active functional group of the initial-state oxidation coal were explored, and the main active functional groups, namely aromatic hydrocarbon, the oxygen functional group, aliphatic hydrocarbon, and the hydroxyl group, with the characteristic temperature, were determined. The sensitivities of different active functional groups to oxygen concentrations were analysed. In practice, a 10 vol% oxygen concentration was the key factor, inhibiting and promoting various active functional groups and exhibiting distinct dominance at various stages. Finally, the oxygen concentrations affected the gas concentration release characteristics, thereby determining the correlation degree of the key group and the oxygen concentration, as well as verifying the oxygen concentration sensitivity of the microstructure. The groups highly correlated with CSC characteristic parameters were mainly –CH2 and –CH3. The research results suggested remarkable explanatory potential to further elucidate the evolution of microstructures in oxygen-lean CSC.

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common pathogenic bacteria that cause infectious diseases, Klebsiella pneumoniae invasive liver abscess syndrome is a rare disease, which often caused by hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae(hvKP), the hvKP patients with sepsis may have life-threatening multiple organ dysfunction and visual sequelae.Case presentation: We report a case of Klebsiella pneumoniae invasive liver abscess syndrome caused by hvKP, the patient was treated with long-term antibiotic treatment, along with controlling blood sugar with Insulin, and the patient was eventually discharged from the hospital. Case analysis and literature review were performed to improve the understanding of invasive liver abscess caused by hvKP.Conclusions Patients with hvKP invasive liver abscess are in relatively severe conditions and often have poor visual prognosis. Appropriate antimicrobial drugs should be administered to prevent complications and improve prognosis.

Many species belonging to the genus Echinops are widely used in traditional medicine to treat infectious diseases and cancers. The present study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial and antiproliferative properties of Echinops lanceolatus Mattf. (Asteraceae). The activity of the methanolic extract and subsequent partition fractions was investigated against drug-resistant bacteria (Gram-negative and Gram-positive) and human tumor cell lines using broth microdilution and sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay, respectively. Our findings revealed weak to moderate antibacterial activities of tested extracts, with the recorded minimal inhibitory concentrations ranging from 256 to 1024 &micro, g/mL. The ethyl acetate fraction (EL-EA) was found to be the most effective. Likewise, that fraction displayed strong antiproliferative potential with recorded IC50 of 8.27 &micro, g/mL and 28.27 &micro, g/mL on A549 and HeLa cells, respectively. An analysis based on the ultra-performance liquid chromatography&ndash, electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC&ndash, ESI&ndash, MS/MS) of the EL-EA fraction allowed the identification of 32 compounds, of which quinic acid and derivatives, cinnamic acid derivatives, dihydrokaempferol, naringenin-7-O-glucoside, apigenin-7-O-D-glucoside, naringin, apigenin, rhoifolin, coniferyl aldehyde, and secoisolariciresinol are well-known compounds of biological importance. This study is first to report on the biological activity and phytochemical profile of E. lanceolatus. We provide a baseline to consider E. lanceolatus as a valuable source of anti-infective and antiproliferative agents.

Two pairs of new sesquineolignan enantiomers (1a/1b and 1c/1d), two pair of new 4′,7-epoxy-8,3′-neolignan enantiomers (2a/2b and 3a/3b), and a pair of new 3′,7-epoxy-8,4′-oxyneolignan enantiomers (4a/4b), along with two pairs of known 4′,7-epoxy-8,3′-neolignan enantiomers (5a/5b and 6a/6b), were obtained from the stems and leaves of Triadica sebifera. The structures of the enantiomers were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses, and their absolute configurations were assigned by the experimental ECD spectra. Among them, compounds 5b, 6a and 6b showed inhibitory activities against NO production in activated microglial BV-2 cells, with IC50 values of 14.3, 23.2 and 33.3 μM, respectively.

Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J. F. Gmel. is a multipurpose dioecious tree that has been used to treat various ailments, for example, the flowers of H. abyssinica have been widely used as a tea to treat intestinal parasites by local residents and the roots of H. abyssinica could also be used for anticancer purposes. Antioxidant activity could be one of the most important pathways to suppress cancer and there is hardly any information available on the specific chemical components corresponding to the bioactivities of H. abyssinica to date. The present study intended to screen and evaluate the antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties of five different fractions from H. abyssinica along with their corresponding total flavonoid and phenolic contents and then further identify those compounds with the most potent antioxidant and anti-proliferative activities using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The total flavonoid and phenolic content assays showed that the ethyl acetate (EA) fraction of H. abyssinica had higher flavonoid and phenolic levels than the other four fractions. Furthermore, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) superoxide radical scavenging abilities, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) assay with 2,2&rsquo, azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were measured to evaluate the antioxidant activities of the five fractions and some pure compounds isolated from the EA fraction, which displayed higher antioxidant properties than that of the other fractions. Caffeic acid from the EA fraction showed even stronger DPPH scavenging ability (IC50 7.858 &plusmn, 0.31 &micro, g/mL) than that of Vc (IC50 8.27 &plusmn, 0.11 &micro, g/mL) as the positive control. The anti-proliferative properties of four fractions and the ethanol extract were evaluated by the 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay and the EA fraction exhibited higher anti-proliferative activities against three cancer cell lines than that of the other fractions. Additionally, the compounds with good antioxidant activity from the EA fraction of H. abyssinica were screened and identified using LC-MS and NMR and were also found to possess good anti-proliferative activity. In the MTT assay, the quercetin showed the strongest dose-dependent anti-proliferative activities to colon cancer cells (HT-29) and liver cancer cells (HepG2) among all of the compounds isolated. This study provided valuable information on the synergistic antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties of H. abyssinica.

The molecular repertoire of porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) is greatly affected by the microenvironment they are exposed to, and specifically by inflammatory cytokines, such as interferon gamma (IFN-γ) released by activated lymphocytes, and microbial products, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In our previous study, we found that IFN-γ- and LPS-activated PAMs (M1) could inhibit porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) replication. In this study, comprehensive analysis of the expression profiles of the genes associated with the polarization of M0-type PAMs (resting) toward M1 phenotypes (activated by IFN-γ and LPS) led to the following main results: 1) 1551 and 1823 genes were upregulated or downregulated in M1-type PAMs, respectively, compared with M0-type PAMs; 2) Among these, genes encoding ASS1 and CRTAM were the most upregulated and downregulated, respectively; 3) Genes involved in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and the JAK/STAT signaling pathway were significantly upregulated, suggesting their critical role in cellular activation; and 4) Genes involved in antigen proteolysis and presentation (immunoproteasome subunits), and inhibition of virus replication (host restriction factors) were significantly upregulated, emphasizing the critical role of these cytokines in immunity. Thus, our results provide important information for future studies on the role of PAM polarization in modulation of infection.

To clarify the differences in light energy utilization and distribution characteristics of flag leaf为明确不同穗型小麦冠层光能利用和

Both the lung and the thymus are vital target organ for pathogens including viruses. The immunoproteasome (i-proteasome) enhances antigen presentation for MHC class I molecules to activate CD8+T lymphocyte. These facilitate antiviral adaptive immune response. Our previous study found that, expression of i-proteasome subunits in porcine lung was altered during normal and inflammatory conditions. To date, the expression of i-proteasome subunits in porcine thymus to viruses has not been investigated. In the present study, LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1 were cloned, identified and their sequences encoded predicted proteins of 216, 275, and 278 amino acids, respectively. Expression of LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1, in the cytoplasm and nucleus, was markedly altered in the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV)-infected lung and thymus. And dendritic cells and epithelial cells readily expressed the i-proteasome subunit LMP2 in the thymus of PRRSV-infected pigs compared to that in mock-infected pigs. Additionally, the in vitro stimulation of a PAM cell line with PolyI:C for 12 and 24 h resulted in increased LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1 expression. These results suggest a central role for these complexes in the activation of an antiviral immune response in pigs. A better understanding of the role of the i-proteasome in different cell types, tissues, and hosts could improve vaccine design and facilitate the development of effective treatment strategies for viral infections.

The immunoproteasomes are specific proteasomes that clear oxidant-damaged proteins under inflammatory conditions in various diseases. Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infects the central nervous system and causeencephalitis. However, the relationship between the immunoproteasomes and brain inflammation during T. gondii infection is not well characterized. In this study, we established an in vivo mouse model of T. gondii PLK strain infection via intraperitoneal injection and evaluated the expression of immunoproteasome subunits in the brains of infected mice. The results demonstrated that first, pathological changes in the brains of infected mice increase in severity over time. Second, following T. gondii infection, activated microglia and astrocytes undergo a series of functional alterations and morphological transformations, including proliferation and migration. Third, T. gondii infection induces expression of inflammatory cytokines, including IFN-γ, IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6. Fourth, the immunoproteasome subunits low-molecular-weight polypeptide 2 (LMP2), LMP7, and LMP10 mRNA and protein levels are significantly upregulated in T. gondii-infected mouse brains, as shown by RT-qPCR and western blot analysis, compared with that in vehicle-treated brains, and their expression is localized in the microglia, astrocytes, and neurons of T. gondii-infected brains, as determined via immunofluorescence staining. Furthermore, the western blot mean gray value for the immunoproteasome subunits and the positive microglia and astrocyte immunohistochemical signals in the brains of T. gondii-infected mice were positively correlated, indicating that the observed relationships were highly significant. Therefore, it was concluded that the induction of the immunoproteasomes is a pathogenic mechanism underlying T. gondii infection-induced inflammation.

The elimination of infected cells by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) occurs through interactions between T cell receptors (TCRs) and pathogen-derived antigenic peptide-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I complexes. The immunoproteasome (i-proteasome), which is a large proteolytic machine derived from the constitutive proteasome, is highly efficient at processing antigens for presentation on MHC class I molecules to activate CD8+ T lymphocytes; this in turn facilitates antiviral adaptive immune responses. To date, i-proteasome expression in the porcine lung has not been investigated. In this study, we systematically analyzed the expression of the i-proteasome in vivo in the porcine lung and in vitro in alveolar macrophages (AMs) under normal and inflammatory conditions such as with IFN-γ stimulation or PRRSV infection. AMs were shown to readily express low levels of i-proteasome subunits, which were confined to the cytoplasm and nucleus under normal conditions. While i-proteasome expression could also be detected in other lung parenchymal cells including alveolar type I and II cells and bronchial epithelial cells during inflammatory conditions. Results showed that i-proteasome expression is markedly increased in IFN-γ-stimulated AMs and PRRSV-infected lung tissue. In addition, PRRSV infection promoted i-proteasome expression in AMs during the early stage of infection, and this was independent of IFN-γ; expression was attenuated during the later stage of infection in vitro. These results suggested that i-proteasome subunit expression can be induced in the porcine lung, which facilitates the development of antiviral adaptive immune responses against intracellular infections. These results could facilitate the development of therapeutics that target intracellular pathogens.