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Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 80% of lung cancer. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are closely associated with the development and progression of various cancers, including lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential role and molecular mechanism of lncRNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) in regulating the proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of NSCLC cells. The expressions of PVT1, integrin β-8 (ITGB8), and miR-145-5p were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The protein levels of ITGB8, MEK, p-MEK, ERK, and p-ERK were measured by western blot analysis. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were determined by MTT assay, flow cytometry, and transwell assay, respectively. The potential binding sites between miR-145-5p and PVT1 or ITGB8 were predicted by online software and verified by luciferase reporter assay. A xenograft tumor model was established to confirm the effect of PVT1 on NSCLC in vivo. We found out that the expression levels of PVT1 and ITGB8 were upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cells. Knockdown of PVT1 or ITGB8 suppressed cell proliferation, migration, invasion and promoted apoptosis in NSCLC cells, which could be reversed by ITGB8 overexpression in NSCLC cells. Moreover, PVT1 could regulate ITGB8 expression via direct binding to miR-145-5p. Furthermore, PVT1 regulated the MEK/ERK pathway by affecting ITGB8 expression. In addition, knockdown of PVT1 inhibited tumor growth, ITGB8 expression, MEK/ERK signaling pathway, and increased miR-145-5p expression in vivo. In conclusion, the knockdown of PVT1 inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion but induced apoptosis of NSCLC cells by regulating miR-145-5p/ITGB8 axis and inhibiting MEK/ERK signaling pathway, providing a novel avenue for the treatment of NSCLC.

Summary Powdery mildew disease of rubber trees affects young rubber leaves, buds, inflorescences and other immature tissues reducing rubber latex yields by up to 45%. The disease is present in all rubber-growing regions, with a high incidence rate in subtropical environments. The causal agent of powdery mildew disease of rubber trees was first described as Oidium heveae, but later research on the morphological characteristics suggests that O. heveae was in the past confused with Erysiphe quercicola. However, the most appropriate classification is still under debate between the genera Golovinomyces or Podosphaera. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses have established some relationships between rubber powdery mildew fungus and other powdery mildew species, but the generic sexual state of rubber powdery mildew fungus has not yet been established. Rubber powdery mildew conidia are wind-spread spores that are produced in great numbers when growth conditions of the disease are favourable. The optimum conditions for conidial germination are 97–100% relative humidity and temperatures between 25 and 28°C. While some newly bred rubber clones have shown resistance to the disease, it can also be controlled with a number of fungicides and biological control agents. It is clear from recent knowledge about climate–fungus relationships that changes in weather strongly influence disease incidence and severity. The aim of this review is to highlight the classification conflicts, main causes and influencing factors behind the disease spreading, as well as draw attention to the impact of weather changes on the outbreaks of the disease. The information in this review will be helpful to adopt better control measures of the powdery mildew disease of rubber, especially in higher humidity areas, thereby minimizing the loss of rubber yields due to this disease.

Background and aims Psoriasis vulgaris (PV) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterised by abnormal keratinocytes proliferation and apoptosis. Evidence has showed that transcription factor WT1 plays important role in many pathophysiologic processes such as organs development, tumorigenesis and cells proliferation. However, the role of WT1 in PV is still remain unclear. In this study, we will investigate the role of WT1 in the pathogenesis of lesion formation in PV. Methods Skin specimens and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from 25 patients with PV and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. mRNA and protein levels were detected by real-time RT-PCR and western blot. WT1 siRNA and WT1 overexpression plasmid were transfected into HaCaT cells with lipofectamine 2000 respectively. The proliferation and apoptosis of HaCaT cells were detected by CCK8 kit and Annexin V-FITC/PI Apoptosis Detection Kit . Results Compared with normal controls, both the mRNA and protein level of WT1 were increased significantly in psoriatic skin and PBMCs. Transfect with WT1 siRNA inhibited the proliferation of HaCaT cells and promoted HaCaT cells apoptosis, while WT1 overexpression plasmid exhibited the opposite effects on HaCaT cells. The global DNA methylation level of psoriatic skins and PBMCs were elevated accompanied with increased DNMT1 expression. In addition, an positive correlation was observed between WT1 and DNMT1. Conclusions Increased WT1 promotes the keratinocytes proliferation and inhibites the apoptosis of keratinocytes which may mediated by recruiting DNMT1 to its target genes related to cell proliferation and apoptotic pathway.

The influences of mechanical actions on interfacial reactions between an iron plate and molten tin were examined. Tensile and compressive stresses up to 100 MPa on the iron plate did not significantly change the thickness of the reaction layer and the corrosion depth of the plate. However, when the iron plate was subjected to repeated rubbing with tungsten and Pb–Sn eutectic alloy wires and when it was immersed in the rotating molten tin, the reaction layer thickness decreased and the corrosion depth of the iron plate increased. From these results, it was concluded that the corrosion of the iron plate in the molten tin was enhanced by repeated rubbing with the solder alloy on the plated iron layer and also by flow of molten solder alloy down the surface of the soldering tip in the soldering process.

Introduction/Background To study the therapeutic effect of core stabilization training combined with virtual reality for treatment of the upper limb function in stroke. Material and method Forty-six patients for hospitalization and outpatient treatment after stroke were randomly divided into a control and an experimental group. The two groups are all treated with physical therapy, occupational therapy, physical agents therapy and virtual reality, and core stabilization training are adopted in the experimental group. After four weeks of treatment, range of motion (ROM), Fugl–Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity (FMA-UE), Fugl–Meyer Assessment balance subscale (FMA-B) and Modified Barthel Index (MBI) used for evaluation and comparison before and after treatment. Results Before treatment, the ROM, FMA-UE, FMA-B and MBI scores in the two groups had no statistical significance (P > 0.05). But after four weeks of treatment, the two groups had a significant improvement in the four scores (P Conclusion The core stabilization training combined with virtual reality can improve the upper limb activity range and balance function after stroke. At the same time it can obviously improve patients’ upper extremity motor function and quality of life.

Selective laser patterning of thin films in a multilayer structure is an emerging technology for the fabrication of MEMS devices. A 775-nm Ti:sapphire laser (130 fs, 1 kHz) was used to irradiate thin-film stacks with variations in the process parameters, such as the pulse energy, feed rate, and numerical aperture of the objective lens. The two layers of the Au/Cr film have the same thickness, which is about 1000 nm. They were coated on a glass substrate. By SEM, an AFM and an optical surface profiler, we investigate the morphology of a pattern including the line width, groove depth, and laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs). The ablation depth was observed to depend on the pulse energy. In addition, from the energy spectrum, we find which layer was removed completely. The experimental results show that precise micromachining with a desired stability and reproducibility can be achieved by controlling the ablation energy and the feed rate. With a different energy and feed rate, we have processed the gating and the circle, which with the smooth cutting edge and groove was consistent with the beam spatial distribution.

The fundamental dynamic characteristics of an elevated railway subjected to harmonic moving loads are investigated. The elevated ballast railway is analytically modeled as three different cases, with Case A indicating a simply-supported beam, Case B a two-parallel-beam system that is simply supported and inserted with a viscoelastic layer, and Case C an expansion of Case B through addition of two semi-infinite beams with viscoelastic foundation on two sides. The resonant conditions of these three cases are especially emphasized and studied in details. Finally, the resonant curves of an elevated railway to harmonic moving loads are presented, which are useful to railway engineers and may be used as preliminary design aids.

The online wind turbine tower monitoring system helps to ensure the security of wind turbine in intertidal zone, because the sea level height changes from time to time and this will greatly affects the stability of the wind turbine tower and the monitoring system could automatically reveals the safety status of tower. This paper proposed a structural safety monitoring system for one tubular steel tower with five-pile foundation, which consists of four parts, sensors arrangement, wireless signal transmission, large-scale and high-speed computing platform and on-line information publishing. The inclination of basement, displacement on top of tower, vibration characteristics and stress distribution of jacket are chosen as the monitoring parameters. The monitoring data is illustrated at the end of this paper. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/59

Systemic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is widely used to induce a neuroinflammatory response that is associated with short-term 'sickness'-behavior that can include fever, loss of activity, loss of appetite, impaired cognition, anxiety and depression. If large enough or left unchecked, this neuroinflammatory response can become self-perpetuating and lead to long-term neurodegenerative processes. In this study, we assess the longer-term effects of a single systemic LPS injection on electrophysiological neuromodulator effects and basic behavioral analysis in mice. Five months after LPS injection, we find a mild reduction in cortical inhibition and altered temporal dynamics of acetylcholine but not norepinephrine or serotonin neuromodulator effects. Consistent with electrophysiological findings, LPS treated mice showed a deficit in memory performance in the novel object recognition test with no effect on measures of anxiety or despair as measured in the open field test and tail suspension test, respectively. Furthermore, LPS-treated mice showed an increase in acetylcholinesterase activity. As increased acetylcholinesterase activity is associated with reduced acetylcholine signaling and impaired cognitive ability, these studies demonstrate the potential for a single inflammatory event to initiate processes that may lead to long-term neurodegeneration.