Effect of Dietary Selenium Yeast Supplementation on Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) Infections in Mice

The present study was performed to determine the protective role of dietary selenium (Se) yeast supplementation in porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infected mice. Forty-eight Kun Ming female mice were randomly assigned to Se yeast group (0.3%Se +basal diet, n = 24) and control group (basal diet, n = 24). After 3 days of adaptive feeding and 15 days treatment with the experimental feed, mice were challenged by intraperitioneal injection of PCV2 at the dosage of 2000 TCID₅₀ (50% tissue culture infection dose, TCID₅₀). Serum total superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) level, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) levels were measured at 5, 10, 15, 20 days post infection (dpi). The PCV2 virus load in the liver, spleen and lung, and the microscopic lesions in the liver, spleen and lung also were determined on 5, 10, 15, and 20 dpi. Dietary Se yeast supplementation decreased (Pμ0.05) the serum levels of TNF-α, but had no significant effect on the activity of SOD and the levels of MDA, CRP and IL-1β between experimental and control groups. Dietary Se yeast supplementation had little effect on the PCV2 virus load in the liver, spleen and lung. However, mice in the selenium yeast group showed a significant decrease in microscopic lesion scores in the lung and spleen compared with those in the control group (Pμ0.05). These data indicate Se yeast attenuated the PCV2 infection through altering the systemic inflammation and maintaining the normal organ morphology.     

槲皮素下调hTERT表达对肝癌HepG2细胞生长影响研究

目的观察槲皮素对肝癌HepG2细胞生长及对hTERT基因表达的影响。方法以台盼蓝拒染法计数肝癌细胞的生长抑制率,透射电镜从形态变化上了解凋亡的发生,流式细胞术检测细胞周期变化,western-blot、RT-PCR检测hTERT基因表达改变,PCR-TRAP法检测端粒酶活性。结果台盼蓝拒染法计数显示槲皮素抑制肝癌HepG2细胞增殖的作用明显,且呈浓度和时间依赖性,槲皮素处理48h后的Ic50为25.5μm。形态学检测显示出细胞凋亡的特征变化,流式细胞仪检测表明经10～20μm/L的槲皮素处理,肝癌HepG2细胞周期阻滞于G0/G1期,且HepG2细胞hTERT蛋白和mRNA表达降低,端粒酶活性受抑制。结论槲皮素能抑制肝癌细胞的生长,呈时间、剂量依赖性,能诱导HepG2细胞发生凋亡,其抑制增生与诱导凋亡的机制可能与下调hTERT基因表达,抑制端粒酶活性,破坏端粒稳定性有关。     

Unique Role of Refractory Ta Alloying in Enhancing the Figure of Merit of NbFeSb Thermoelectric Materials

NbFeSb‐based half‐Heusler alloys have been recently identified as promising high‐temperature thermoelectric materials with a figure of merit zT > 1, but their thermal conductivity is still relatively high. Alloying Ta at the Nb site would be highly desirable because the large mass fluctuation between them could effectively scatter phonons and reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. However, practically it is a great challenge due to the high melting point of refractory Ta. Here, the successful synthesis of Ta‐alloyed (Nb_1?xTa_x)_0.8Ti_0.2FeSb (x = 0 – 0.4) solid solutions with significantly reduced thermal conductivity by levitation melting is reported. Because of the similar atomic sizes and chemistry of Nb and Ta, the solid solutions exhibit almost unaltered electrical properties. As a result, an overall zT enhancement from 300 to 1200 K is realized in the single‐phase Ta‐alloyed solid solutions, and the compounds with x = 0.36 and 0.4 reach a maximum zT of 1.6 at 1200 K. This work also highlights that the isoelectronic substitution by atoms with similar size and chemical nature but large mass difference should reduce the lattice thermal conductivity but maintain good electrical properties in thermoelectric materials, which can be a guide for optimizing the figure of merit by alloying.     

The Characteristics and Trends of Socioeconomic Metabolism in China

China has become the country with the largest resource use and has high levels of waste emissions that pose a great management challenge. To provide more details about environmental problems and to find effective solutions, this article analyzed the scale, structure, and trend of the socioeconomic metabolism in China during the period 1992–2014 based on economy‐wide material flow accounts (EW‐MFA), and predicted resource use during the period of the 13th Five‐Year Plan. The results of this study show that the scale of China's socioeconomic metabolism in China increased more than twofold, during 1992–2014. However, after 2011, with the economic slowdown, the growth rates of total material requirement (TMR), direct material input (DMI), and domestic processed output (DPO) began to decrease. China may reach an inflection point, but this point will probably not be approached before the year 2020. Material recycling (MR) has played an important role in improving resource productivity, improving it by 92.52 renminbi per tonne in 2014. Metallic minerals and fossil fuels are the main sources of hidden flow. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, construction waste, and agricultural emissions have become the major sources of DPO. Because of the 13th Five‐Year Plan, China may slow the growth rate of DMI and may save 10.26 gigatonnes of resources during 2015–2020. Resource productivity is predicted to increase by 15.91%. Imports and MR may play more important roles. These suggestions are made: (1) strengthening the recycling system; (2) stronger policies, especially in metallic mineral and fossil fuels; (3) developing management systems for CO₂ emissions, construction waste, and agricultural emissions; and (4) adjusting China's economic structure.     

CSF3R,SETBP1 and CALR mutations in chronic neutrophilic leukemia

The WHO 2008 definition of chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) is based on clinical and laboratory parameters but not on molecular abnormalities. Mutations in CSF3R, SETBP1 and CALR are reported in patients with chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL). However, because CNL is rare, there are few large studies of this issue. We sequenced these genes in 14 patients who met the WHO-criteria of CNL. 8 subjects had CSF3R ^T618I , 6 SETBP1 mutations and 1 a CALR mutation. Our data suggest mutation analysis of CSF3R, SETBP1 and CALR should be included in the diagnostic criteria for CNL. These data may also have therapy implications.     

Cucurbitacin induces autophagy through mitochondrial ROS production which counteracts to limit caspase-dependent apoptosis

Targeted disruption of STAT3 function has proven to be a useful cancer therapeutic approach by inducing apoptotic cell death. Cucurbitacin is currently under development as a small molecule of STAT3 inhibitor to trigger cell death in many cancers. Here, we systematically studied the molecular mechanisms underlying cucurbitacin-induced cell death, in particular the involvement of autophagy. Treatment with cucurbitacin resulted in non-apoptotic cell death in a caspase-independent manner. Notably, cucurbitacin enhanced excessive conversion of lipidated LC3 (LC3-II) and accumulation of autophagosomes in many cell types. Such autophagy and cell death induced by cucurbitacin were independent of its ability to inhibit STAT3 function, but mainly mediated by enhanced production of mitochondrial-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS), and subsequently activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK). Interestingly, both the autophagy inhibitor wortmannin and knockdown of Atg5 or Beclin 1 failed to rescue the cells from cucurbitacin-induced cell death, as suppression of autophagy induced the mode of cell death to shift from autophagic cell death to caspase-dependent apoptosis. Thus the present study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying cucurbitacin-mediated cell death and supports cucurbitacin as a potential anti-cancer drug through modulating the balance between autophagic and apoptotic modes of cell death.     

Migratory Herbivorous Waterfowl Track Satellite-Derived Green Wave Index

Many migrating herbivores rely on plant biomass to fuel their life cycles and have adapted to following changes in plant quality through time. The green wave hypothesis predicts that herbivorous waterfowl will follow the wave of food availability and quality during their spring migration. However, testing this hypothesis is hampered by the large geographical range these birds cover. The satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series is an ideal proxy indicator for the development of plant biomass and quality across a broad spatial area. A derived index, the green wave index (GWI), has been successfully used to link altitudinal and latitudinal migration of mammals to spatio-temporal variations in food quality and quantity. To date, this index has not been used to test the green wave hypothesis for individual avian herbivores. Here, we use the satellite-derived GWI to examine the green wave hypothesis with respect to GPS-tracked individual barnacle geese from three flyway populations (Russian n = 12, Svalbard n = 8, and Greenland n = 7). Data were collected over three years (2008–2010). Our results showed that the Russian and Svalbard barnacle geese followed the middle stage of the green wave (GWI 40–60%), while the Greenland geese followed an earlier stage (GWI 20–40%). Despite these differences among geese populations, the phase of vegetation greenness encountered by the GPS-tracked geese was close to the 50% GWI (i.e. the assumed date of peak nitrogen concentration), thereby implying that barnacle geese track high quality food during their spring migration. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the migration of individual avian herbivores has been successfully studied with respect to vegetation phenology using the satellite-derived GWI. Our results offer further support for the green wave hypothesis applying to long-distance migrants on a larger scale.