Inflammation is a major cause of neuronal injury after spinal cord injury. We hypothesized that inhibiting caspase-1 activation may reduce neuroinflammation after spinal cord injury, thus producing a protective effect...Inflammation is a major cause of neuronal injury after spinal cord injury. We hypothesized that inhibiting caspase-1 activation may reduce neuroinflammation after spinal cord injury, thus producing a protective effect in the injured spinal cord. A mouse model of T9 contusive spinal cord injury was established using an Infinite Horizon Impactor, and VX-765, a selective inhibitor of caspase-1, was administered for 7 successive days after spinal cord injury. The results showed that:(1) VX-765 inhibited spinal cord injury-induced caspase-1 activation and interleukin-1β and interleukin-18 secretion.(2) After spinal cord injury, an increase in M1 cells mainly came from local microglia rather than infiltrating macrophages.(3) Pro-inflammatory Th1 Th17 cells were predominant in the Th subsets. VX-765 suppressed total macrophage infiltration, M1 macrophages/microglia, Th1 and Th1 Th17 subset differentiation, and cytotoxic T cells activation;increased M2 microglia;and promoted Th2 and Treg differentiation.(4) VX-765 reduced the fibrotic area, promoted white matter myelination, alleviated motor neuron injury, and improved functional recovery. These findings suggest that VX-765 can reduce neuroinflammation and improve nerve function recovery after spinal cord injury by inhibiting caspase-1/interleukin-1β/interleukin-18. This may be a potential strategy for treating spinal cord injury. This study was approved by the Animal Care Ethics Committee of Bengbu Medical College(approval No. 2017-037) on February 23, 2017.展开更多
An analysis of the neutron activation and shutdown dose rates was performed for the EAST high-power deuterium neutral beam injector test facility(EAST NBITF) by using the multiparticle transport code FLUKA2011.2. Also...An analysis of the neutron activation and shutdown dose rates was performed for the EAST high-power deuterium neutral beam injector test facility(EAST NBITF) by using the multiparticle transport code FLUKA2011.2. Also, the neutron and neutron-induced gamma spectra of the facility's vacuum vessel were evaluated. The results identified the major radionuclides^(99) Mo,^(65)Ni,^(58) Co,^(56)Mn, and^(51) Cr for the vacuum vessel and the primary nuclide^(64) Cu for both the ion dump and the calorimeter.The simulated results indicated that, when the EAST NBITF operates within the design parameters of deuterium energy 80 ke V, current 50 A, and pulse 100 s, the neutron intensity will achieve 10^(11)n/s with no radiation safety problems after the EAST NBITF shuts down.展开更多
This research applies experimental measurements and NUBEAM,ONETWO and TRANSP modules to investigate the shine-through(ST)loss ratio and beam heating percentage of neutral beam injection on EAST.Measurements and simula...This research applies experimental measurements and NUBEAM,ONETWO and TRANSP modules to investigate the shine-through(ST)loss ratio and beam heating percentage of neutral beam injection on EAST.Measurements and simulations confirm that the ST loss ratio increases linearly with beam energy,and decreases exponentially with plasma density.Moreover,using the multi-step fitting method,we present analytical quantitative expressions of ST loss ratio and beam heating percentage,which are valuable for the high parameter long-pulse experiments of EAST.展开更多
Background:Hyperphosphatemia is a risk factor associated with mortality in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.Gut absorption of phosphate is the major source.Recent studies indicated that the intestinal flora of ure...Background:Hyperphosphatemia is a risk factor associated with mortality in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.Gut absorption of phosphate is the major source.Recent studies indicated that the intestinal flora of uremic patients changed a lot compared with the healthy population,and phosphorus is an essential element of bacterial survival and reproduction.The purpose of this study was to explore the role of intestinal microbiota in phosphorus metabolism. Methods:A prospective self-control study was performed from October 2015 to January 2016.Microbial DNA was isolated from the stools of 20 healthy controls and 21 maintenance hemodialysis patients.Fourteen out of the 21 patients were treated with lanthanum carbonate for 12 weeks.Thus,stools were also collected before and after the treatment.The bacterial composition was analyzed based on 16S ribosomal RNA pyrosequencing.Bioinformatics tools,including sequence alignment,abundance profiling,and taxonomic diversity, were used in microbiome data analyses.Correlations between genera and the serum phosphorus were detected with Pearson's correlation. For visualization of the internal interactions and further measurement of the microbial community,SparCC was used to calculate the Spearman correlation coefficient with the corresponding P value between each two genera. Results:Thirteen genera closely correlated with serum phosphorus and the correlation coefficient was above 0.4(P <0.05).We also found that 58 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs)were significantly different and more decreased OTUs were identified and seven genera (P <0.05)were obviously reduced after using the phosphate binder.Meanwhile,the microbial richness and diversity presented downward trend in hemodialysis patients compared with healthy controls and more downward trend after phosphorus reduction.The co-occurrence network of genera revealed that the network complexity of hemodialysis patients was significantly higher than that of controls,whereas treatment with lanthanum carbonate reduced the network complexity. Conclusions:Gut flora related to phosphorus metabolism in hemodialysis patients,and improving intestinal microbiota may regulate the absorption of phosphate in the intestine.The use of phosphate binder lanthanum carbonate leads to a tendency of decreasing microbial diversity and lower network complexity.展开更多
Eye-specific segregation in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus(dLGN) and superior colliculus(SC) starts from the embryonic stage and continues to develop postnatally until eye-opening in mice. However, there have b...Eye-specific segregation in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus(dLGN) and superior colliculus(SC) starts from the embryonic stage and continues to develop postnatally until eye-opening in mice. However, there have been few systematic studies on the details of this developmental process. Here, we carried out time-dependent studies of eye-specific segregation in the dLGN and SC. Our results demonstrated that the development of eye-specific segregation in the SC is completed before postnatal day 12(P12), which is earlier than in the dLGN(P20). During the whole period, ipsilateral and overlapping axonal projections decreased continuously in both the dLGN and SC. On the other hand, contralateral axonal projections showed little change, except for a slight decrease between P8 and P20 in the dLGN.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,Nos.81772321,82072416(both to HZL)。
文摘Inflammation is a major cause of neuronal injury after spinal cord injury. We hypothesized that inhibiting caspase-1 activation may reduce neuroinflammation after spinal cord injury, thus producing a protective effect in the injured spinal cord. A mouse model of T9 contusive spinal cord injury was established using an Infinite Horizon Impactor, and VX-765, a selective inhibitor of caspase-1, was administered for 7 successive days after spinal cord injury. The results showed that:(1) VX-765 inhibited spinal cord injury-induced caspase-1 activation and interleukin-1β and interleukin-18 secretion.(2) After spinal cord injury, an increase in M1 cells mainly came from local microglia rather than infiltrating macrophages.(3) Pro-inflammatory Th1 Th17 cells were predominant in the Th subsets. VX-765 suppressed total macrophage infiltration, M1 macrophages/microglia, Th1 and Th1 Th17 subset differentiation, and cytotoxic T cells activation;increased M2 microglia;and promoted Th2 and Treg differentiation.(4) VX-765 reduced the fibrotic area, promoted white matter myelination, alleviated motor neuron injury, and improved functional recovery. These findings suggest that VX-765 can reduce neuroinflammation and improve nerve function recovery after spinal cord injury by inhibiting caspase-1/interleukin-1β/interleukin-18. This may be a potential strategy for treating spinal cord injury. This study was approved by the Animal Care Ethics Committee of Bengbu Medical College(approval No. 2017-037) on February 23, 2017.
基金supported by the International S&T Cooperation Program of China(No.2014DFG61950)National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program(No.2013GB101001)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11405207)
文摘An analysis of the neutron activation and shutdown dose rates was performed for the EAST high-power deuterium neutral beam injector test facility(EAST NBITF) by using the multiparticle transport code FLUKA2011.2. Also, the neutron and neutron-induced gamma spectra of the facility's vacuum vessel were evaluated. The results identified the major radionuclides^(99) Mo,^(65)Ni,^(58) Co,^(56)Mn, and^(51) Cr for the vacuum vessel and the primary nuclide^(64) Cu for both the ion dump and the calorimeter.The simulated results indicated that, when the EAST NBITF operates within the design parameters of deuterium energy 80 ke V, current 50 A, and pulse 100 s, the neutron intensity will achieve 10^(11)n/s with no radiation safety problems after the EAST NBITF shuts down.
基金Supported by the Collaborative Innovation Program of Hefei Science Center,CAS (Grant No.2019HSC-CIP015)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.11875290,1170529,11875253,and 11975276)+2 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No.WK3420000004)the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No.2008085J04)the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No.2019YFE03020004)。
文摘This research applies experimental measurements and NUBEAM,ONETWO and TRANSP modules to investigate the shine-through(ST)loss ratio and beam heating percentage of neutral beam injection on EAST.Measurements and simulations confirm that the ST loss ratio increases linearly with beam energy,and decreases exponentially with plasma density.Moreover,using the multi-step fitting method,we present analytical quantitative expressions of ST loss ratio and beam heating percentage,which are valuable for the high parameter long-pulse experiments of EAST.
基金the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.81570664 and No.31671366) the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No.2017YFC 1200205).
文摘Background:Hyperphosphatemia is a risk factor associated with mortality in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.Gut absorption of phosphate is the major source.Recent studies indicated that the intestinal flora of uremic patients changed a lot compared with the healthy population,and phosphorus is an essential element of bacterial survival and reproduction.The purpose of this study was to explore the role of intestinal microbiota in phosphorus metabolism. Methods:A prospective self-control study was performed from October 2015 to January 2016.Microbial DNA was isolated from the stools of 20 healthy controls and 21 maintenance hemodialysis patients.Fourteen out of the 21 patients were treated with lanthanum carbonate for 12 weeks.Thus,stools were also collected before and after the treatment.The bacterial composition was analyzed based on 16S ribosomal RNA pyrosequencing.Bioinformatics tools,including sequence alignment,abundance profiling,and taxonomic diversity, were used in microbiome data analyses.Correlations between genera and the serum phosphorus were detected with Pearson's correlation. For visualization of the internal interactions and further measurement of the microbial community,SparCC was used to calculate the Spearman correlation coefficient with the corresponding P value between each two genera. Results:Thirteen genera closely correlated with serum phosphorus and the correlation coefficient was above 0.4(P <0.05).We also found that 58 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs)were significantly different and more decreased OTUs were identified and seven genera (P <0.05)were obviously reduced after using the phosphate binder.Meanwhile,the microbial richness and diversity presented downward trend in hemodialysis patients compared with healthy controls and more downward trend after phosphorus reduction.The co-occurrence network of genera revealed that the network complexity of hemodialysis patients was significantly higher than that of controls,whereas treatment with lanthanum carbonate reduced the network complexity. Conclusions:Gut flora related to phosphorus metabolism in hemodialysis patients,and improving intestinal microbiota may regulate the absorption of phosphate in the intestine.The use of phosphate binder lanthanum carbonate leads to a tendency of decreasing microbial diversity and lower network complexity.
基金Project supported by the Shanghai Postdoctoral Scientific Program,the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31271158)the Doctoral Program of Higher Education from Ministry of Education of China+2 种基金the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission(No.13ZZ002)the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning,Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(Nos.12ZR1441000 and 13PJ1401000)the Young 1000 Plan
文摘Eye-specific segregation in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus(dLGN) and superior colliculus(SC) starts from the embryonic stage and continues to develop postnatally until eye-opening in mice. However, there have been few systematic studies on the details of this developmental process. Here, we carried out time-dependent studies of eye-specific segregation in the dLGN and SC. Our results demonstrated that the development of eye-specific segregation in the SC is completed before postnatal day 12(P12), which is earlier than in the dLGN(P20). During the whole period, ipsilateral and overlapping axonal projections decreased continuously in both the dLGN and SC. On the other hand, contralateral axonal projections showed little change, except for a slight decrease between P8 and P20 in the dLGN.
