Chrysomya pinguis (Walker) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is an endemic Asiatic blow fly species of forensic importance. Chrysomya pinguis is one of the first species to colonize a corpse, especially in high altitude areas during spring and autumn when the ambient temperature is lower. Despite its potential for forensic investigations to estimate the minimum postmortem interval (PMImin), little is known about the development of C. pinguis. In this study, C. pinguis was collected from the Yangtze River Delta region of China and reared at seven constant temperatures between 16°C and 34°C to investigate the effect of temperature on development duration, accumulated degree hours and larval body length of C. pinguis. Isomorphen and isomegalen diagrams for C. pinguis were generated using the results, and equations describing the variation in larval body length during development and the temperature-induced variation in development time were also obtained. Chrysomya pinguis can complete its life cycle at 16-34°C. The mean (±s.d.) developmental durations of C. pinguis from egg to adult at 16°C, 19°C, 22°C, 25°C, 28°C, 31°C and 34°C were 811.0 ± 3.8, 544.8 ± 2.0, 379.8 ± 1.8, 306.7 ± 2.4, 250.0 ± 2.8, 203.2 ± 2.1 and 185.3 ± 1.6 h, respectively. The mean (±s.e.) developmental threshold temperature D0 and the thermal summation constant K of the whole developmental process of C. pinguis were estimated as 10.88 ± 0.21°C and 4256.50 ± 104.50 degree hours, respectively. This study provides fundamental development data for the use of C. pinguis to estimate PMImin.
Abstract Since the electrochemical de/intercalation behavior is first detected in 1980, layered oxides have become the most promising cathode material for alkali metal‐ion batteries (Li + /Na + /K + ; AMIBs) owing to their facile synthesis and excellent theoretical capacities. However, the inherent drawbacks of unstable structural evolution and sluggish diffusion kinetics deteriorate their electrochemical performance, limiting further large‐scale applications. To solve these issues, the novel and promising strategy of high entropy has been widely applied to layered oxide cathodes for AMIBs in recent years. Through multielement synergy and entropy stabilization effects, high‐entropy layered oxides (HELOs) can achieve adjustable activity and enhanced stability. Herein, the basic concepts, design principles, and synthesis methods of HELO cathodes are introduced systematically. Notably, it explores in detail the improvements of the high‐entropy strategy on the limitations of layered oxides, highlighting the latest advances in high‐entropy layered cathode materials in the field of AMIBs. In addition, it introduces advanced characterization and theoretical calculations for HELOs and proposes potential future research directions and optimization strategies, providing inspiration for researchers to develop advanced HELO cathode materials in the areas of energy storage and conversion.
Abstract Hydrotaea spinigera Stein is a necrophagous species, widely distributed in Oriental and Australasian regions. Considering that the postfeeding larvae or puparia of this species can still be found in abundance at the advanced decomposition stage or even the skeleton stage of remains, it can serve as a good supplementary indicator for estimating the minimum postmortem interval (PMImin). This could also extend the range of PMImin when the primary colonizers are no longer associated with the corpse or have emerged as adults. This study investigated the development duration, accumulated degree hours, and larval body length changes of H. spinigera at seven constant temperatures ranging from 16 to 34°C, and established three development models for estimating PMImin, including isomorphen diagram, isomegalen diagram, and thermal summation model. At 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34°C, the development durations of H. spinigera from egg to adult stage were 1,412.6 ± 62.9, 867.4 ± 14.9, 657.1 ± 22.9, 532.3 ± 10.1, 418.8 ± 21.3, 379.8 ± 16.6, and 340.0 ± 20.3 h, respectively. The lower developmental threshold L0 was estimated as 10.50 ± 0.20°C, and the thermal summation constant K was 7,648.83 ± 146.74 degree hours. Using regression analysis, equations were obtained modeling the change of larval body length with time after hatching at different temperatures. This study provided basic data based on the growth and development of H. spinigera for the estimation of PMImin in forensic science.
ABSTRACT Introduction Myasthenia gravis (MG) occurs globally, and many studies have indicated that there are regional differences in epidemiology, biomarkers, and prognosis of MG. Methods A total of 478 patients with MG who visited hospitals in the Henan Province between January 2010 and February 2014 were included. Age, gender, age at onset, serum antibody, thymus pathology, treatment information, and Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) classification were assessed. Results Compared with previous reports from other areas, we found some differences in MG patients from Henan. The proportion of childhood MG in our study was lower than other reports of Oriental patients with MG. There seems to be an association between onset age, muscle involvement, and acetylcholine receptor antibody levels. Thymectomy improved the symptoms in 78.5% of thymectomy‐treated patients. Conclusions These differences are likely related to geographical, environmental, and ethnic differences. Understanding these differences will help us to define more specific treatment. Muscle Nerve 53 : 711–716, 2016
In this paper, a D-A polymer (PIB) containing carbazole as the donor group in the main chain and benzimidazole benzisoindolinone as the acceptor group was synthesized by Suzuki reaction. The Suzuki reaction, also known as the Suzuki coupling reaction, is a relatively new organic coupling reaction in which aryl or alkenyl boronic acids or boronic acid esters react with chlorine, bromine, iodoaromatic hydrocarbons or alkenes under the catalysis of zerovalent palladium complexes cross-coupling. A series of devices were fabricated by a spin-coating approach, and the devices all exhibited ternary resistance switching storage behavior. Among them, the composite device with the mass fraction of SnO2 NPs of 5 wt% has the best storage performance, with a threshold voltage of -0.4 V and a switching current ratio of 1:101.5:104.5. At the same time, the current of the device remained stable after a 3-h test. Furthermore, after 103 cycles, the current has no obvious attenuation. The device has good stability and continuity. Moreover, the conduction mechanism is further revealed. Inorganic nanoparticle composite devices have splendid memory performances and exhibit underlying application significance in storing data.
Preterm infant feeding intolerance, diagnostic criteria, related factors and clinical manifestations have been elaborated. Non-pharmacological interventions in the feeding intolerance in the premature infants were reviewed as the reasonable way of feeding, the best choice of appropriate milk and position, early trace elements feeding, nursing intervention of oral movements and timely neonatal massage.
Key words:
Non-pharmacological intervention; Premature infant; Feeding intolerance; Literature review
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease. A proportion of MG patients did not get satisfactory results after treatment with pyridostigmine and prednisone. Jia Wei Bu Zhong Yi Qi (Jia Wei BZYQ) decoction, a water extract from multiple herbs, has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of multiple "Qi deficiency type" diseases including MG in China. In this text, we investigated protein alterations in the plasma from healthy volunteers (C), MG patients without any treatment (T1), MG patients with routine western medical treatment (T2), and MG patients with combined treatments of Jia Wei BZYQ decoction and routine western medicines (T3) and identified some potential proteins involved in the pathogenesis and treatment of MG. iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) and 2D-LC-MS/MS (two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry technologies) were employed to screen differentially expressed proteins. The identification, quantification, functional annotation, and interaction of proteins were analyzed by matching software and databases. In our project, 618 proteins were identified, among which 447 proteins had quantitative data. The number of differentially expressed proteins was 110, 117, 143, 115, 86, and 158 in T1 vs. C, T2 vs. C, T2 vs. T1, T3 vs. C, T3 vs. T1, and T3 vs. T2 groups, respectively. Functional annotation results showed that many differentially expressed proteins were closely associated with immune responses. For instance, some key proteins such as C-reactive protein, apolipoprotein C-III, apolipoprotein A-II, alpha-actinin-1, and thrombospondin-1 have been found to be abnormally expressed in T3 group compared to T1 group or T2 group. Interaction network analyses also provided some potential biomarkers or targets for MG management.
Objective
To detect the expression of non-neuronal cholinergic system (NNCS) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG).
Methods
The middle elbow vein blood was drawn from MG patients and controls, and the total RNA was extracted from isolated mononuclear cells. The expression of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) subtypes (M1R, M2R, M3R, M4R, M5R), nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtypes (α2, α3, α4, α5, α6, α7, α9, α10, β2, β3, β4), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and cholinesterase (AChE) was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). At last, mAChR (M1R, M3R, M5R), nAChR (α5, α7) and AChE in control group and MG group were quantitatively analyzed by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR).
Results
RT-PCR results showed that PBMCs in both MG group and control group expressed M1R, M3R, M5R, α5, α7 and AChE, but nAChR (α3, α9, β2) was only detected in the control group, and the rest of the subunits and ChAT in the two groups were not expressed. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the expression of M1 mAChR in MG patients was 0.80 times higher (P=0.418), that of M3 mAChR was 0.40 times higher (P=0.004), that of M5 mAChR was 1.23 times higher (P=0.488), that of α5 nAChR was 0.63 times higher (P=0.177), that of α7 nAChR was 0.81 times higher (P=0.668), and that of AChE was 3.24 times higher than that of control group (P=0.002).
Conclusion
The expression of nAChR (α3, α9, β2), M3 mAChR and AChE in PBMCs of MG patients is different from contols.
Key words:
Myasthenia gravis; Peripheral blood mononuclear cells; Non-neuronal cholinergic system
Abstract Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease that causes fatal disorders including severe pneumonia. Our study aimed to utilize bioinformatics method to analyze the expression profiling by high throughput sequencing in human bronchial organoids/primary human airway epithelial infected with SARS-CoV-2 to identify the potentially crucial genes and pathways associated with COVID-19. Methods: We analyzed microarray datasets GSE153970 and GSE150819 derived from the GEO database. Firstly, the Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in human bronchial organoids/primary human airway epithelial infected with SARS-CoV-2. Next, the DEGs were used for GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Then, the PPI network was constructed and Cytoscape was used to find the key genes. Results: Gene expression profiles of GSE153970 and GSE150819, in all 12 samples were analyzed. A total of 145 DEGs and 5 hub genes were identified in SARS-CoV-2. Meanwhile, we found that the 145 genes are associated with immune responses and the top 5 hub genes including CXCL8, CXCL1, CXCL2, CCL20, and CSF2 were mainly related to leukocyte migration, endoplasmic reticulum lumen, receptor ligand activity. In addition, the results also showed that the hub genes were associated with Cytokine−cytokine receptor interaction, IL−17 signaling pathway, and Rheumatoid arthritis in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Conclusion: The five crucial genes consisting of CXCL8 , CXCL1 , CXCL2 , CCL20 , and CSF2 were considered as hub genes of SARS-CoV-2, which may be used as diagnostic biomarkers or molecular targets for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. It is evidenced that bioinformatics analyses in SARS-CoV-2 can be useful for understanding the underlying molecular mechanism and exploring effective therapeutic targets.