Evaluation of octenol and Lurex as baits in Mosquito Magnet Pro traps to collect vector mosquitoes in China.

The effectiveness of the attractants 1-octen-3-ol (octenol) and L-lactic acid (Lurex) on the collection of Aedes albopictus, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Cx. pipiens pallens, and Anopheles sinensis was first evaluated in Mosquito Magnet Pro traps in Yamenkou and Badachu residential areas, Beijing City, and Lishui area, Zhejiang Province, China. The Mosquito Magnet Pro traps baited with octenol collected significantly more Ae.

Dissemination of western equine encephalomyelitis virus in the potential vector, Culex pipiens pallens.

Two western equine encephalomyelitis virus (WEEV) strains have been isolated in China. Our previous studies have verified that the mosquito Culex pipiens pallens Coquillett (Diptera: Culicidae) infected with WEEV was capable of transmitting this arbovirus, but it was not clear how the sequential multiplication and spread of virus occurred within the mosquito. In this study, we observed the distribution of WEEV antigen in orally-infected Cx.

[Isolation and identification of a Banna virus strain from mosquitoes in Yunnan province].

Objective: To isolate and identify Banna virus (BAV) from mosquitoes collected in Mengla county of Yunnan province.

Methods: Mosquito samples were collected in houses and stock yards in Mengla county, 2008. Mosquitoes were homogenized and incubated onto both C6/36 and BHK21 cells.

A novel sensitive detection platform for antitumor herbal drug aloe-emodin based on the graphene modified electrode.

This paper has presented a novel strategy to carry out direct and sensitive determination of antitumor herbal drug aloe-emodin in complex matrices based on the graphene-Nafion modified glassy carbon (GN/GC) electrode. This proposed modified electrode showed good electrochemical response towards aloe-emodin (AE). Compared with the multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) modified electrode, the GN/GC electrode has the advantages of higher sensitivity and lower cost.

Effective 3D protein structure prediction with local adjustment genetic-annealing algorithm.

The protein folding problem consists of predicting protein tertiary structure from a given amino acid sequence by minimizing the energy function. The protein folding structure prediction is computationally challenging and has been shown to be NP-hard problem when the 3D off-lattice AB model is employed. In this paper, the local adjustment genetic-annealing (LAGA) algorithm was used to search the ground state of 3D offlattice AB model for protein folding structure.

Removal of color from textile dyeing wastewater by foam separation.

The feasibility of foam separation for color removal from direct dyes-containing wastewater was assessed using actual textile wastewater as the research system and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the collector. The influences of liquid loading volume, air flow rate, surfactant concentration, and initial pH on the removal efficiency and reuse of CTAB in the foamate were studied. The results indicated that using CTAB as a collector for foam separation can provide good foaming quality and effectively remove color from textile wastewater.

3D protein structure prediction with genetic tabu search algorithm.

Background: Protein structure prediction (PSP) has important applications in different fields, such as drug design, disease prediction, and so on. In protein structure prediction, there are two important issues. The first one is the design of the structure model and the second one is the design of the optimization technology.

Combination of vesicular stomatitis virus matrix protein gene therapy with low-dose cisplatin improves therapeutic efficacy against murine melonoma.

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) matrix protein (MP) can directly induce apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway due to the inhibition of host gene expression. Our previous studies have demonstrated that MP gene therapy efficiently suppressed the growth of malignant tumor in vitro and in vivo. The present study was designed to determine the possibility that the combination of MP gene therapy with low-dose cisplatin would improve therapeutic efficacy against murine melanoma.

[Simultaneous determination of four constituents in wild Gentiana lawrencei from Qinghai province by RP-HPLC].

Objective: To establish a RP-HPLC method for simultaneously determination of swertiamarin, gentiopicroside, sweroside, isoorientin in Gentiana lawrencei from Qinghai province.

Method: The RP-HPLC method was used. Chromatographic column was the Kromasil C18 column (4.

Electric-field-induced layer-by-layer fabrication of inorganic-organic hybrid second-order nonlinear optical films.

This work focused on the development of a novel method for molecular level assembly and processing of inorganic-organic hybrid second-order nonlinear optical (SONLO) multilayer films. Aromatic diazo group linked silicon sol was first synthesized and used as a polycation. This oligomer was assembled into inorganic-organic hybrid SONLO multilayer films by electric-field-induced layer-by-layer assembly technique with a low molecular weight chromophore molecule as an anion.

[The regulative effects of polydatin on toll-like receptor 4 signal transduction pathway in lung ischemia/reperfusion injury in rabbits].

Aim: To investigate protective effects of polydatin(PD) during lung ischemia/reperfusion in rabbits and its potential mechanisms.

Methods: Rabbit lung model of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury was constituted in vivo. Thirty rabbits were divided into groups randomly: Control (C), I/R, PD group, respectively.

Tyrosine phosphorylation of the nuclear receptor coactivator AIB1/SRC-3 is enhanced by Abl kinase and is required for its activity in cancer cells.

Overexpression and activation of the steroid receptor coactivator amplified in breast cancer 1 (AIB1)/steroid receptor coactivator-3 (SRC-3) have been shown to have a critical role in oncogenesis and are required for both steroid and growth factor signaling in epithelial tumors. Here, we report a new mechanism for activation of SRC coactivators. We demonstrate regulated tyrosine phosphorylation of AIB1/SRC-3 at a C-terminal tyrosine residue (Y1357) that is phosphorylated after insulin-like growth factor 1, epidermal growth factor, or estrogen treatment of breast cancer cells.

[Effects of safflower injection on cycloxygenase in rabbits lung ischemia/reperfusion injury].

Aim: To observe protective effects of safflower injection (SI) on lung ischemia/reperfusion injury (LIRI) and investigate its potential mechanism.

Methods: Rabbit lung model of ischemia/reperfusion injury was constituted in vivo. The rabbits were randomly divided into three groups: sham-operation group (S group), ischemia/reperfusion group (I/R group) and ischemia/reperfusion plus safflower injection group (SI group).

[Protective effects of polydatin against lung ischemia/reperfusion injury and the initial exploration for its mechanism].

Aim: To observe protective effects of polydatin (PD) during lung ischemia/reperfusion injury (LI/RI) and investigate its potential mechanism .

Methods: Rabbit lung model of ischemia/reperfusion injury was constituted in vivo. The 40 rabbits were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10): control group (C group), ischemia/reperfusion group (I/R), PD + I/R group (PD) and PD+ polymyxin B (PMB) + I/R group (PMB).

Dendritic cell surface calreticulin is a receptor for NY-ESO-1: direct interactions between tumor-associated antigen and the innate immune system.

How the immune system recognizes endogenously arising tumors and elicits adaptive immune responses against nonmutated tumor-associated Ags is poorly understood. In search of intrinsic factors contributing to the immunogenicity of the tumor-associated Ag NY-ESO-1, we found that the NY-ESO-1 protein binds to the surface of immature dendritic cells (DC), macrophages, and monocytes, but not to that of B cells or T cells. Using immunoprecipitation coupled with tandem mass spectrometry, we isolated DC surface calreticulin as the receptor for NY-ESO-1.

Genetic alterations and expression of inhibitor of growth 1 in human sporadic colorectal cancer.

Aim: To explore the effect and significance of inhibitor of growth 1 (ING1) gene in carcinogenesis and progression of human sporadic colorectal cancer.

Methods: mRNA expression, mutation, and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of ING1 gene in 35 specimens of sporadic colorectal cancer tissues and the matched normal mucous membrane tissues were detected by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), PCR-single strain conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and PCR-simple sequence length polymorphism (PCR-SSLP) using microsatellite markers, respectively.

Results: The average ratios of light intensities of p33(ING1b) and p47(ING1a) mRNA expression in the cancerous tissues were significantly lower than those in normal tissues.

TULA: an SH3- and UBA-containing protein that binds to c-Cbl and ubiquitin.

Downregulation of protein tyrosine kinases is a major function of the multidomain protein c-Cbl. This effect of c-Cbl is critical for both negative regulation of normal physiological stimuli and suppression of cellular transformation. In spite of the apparent importance of these effects of c-Cbl, their own regulation is poorly understood.

N-Terminal peptide labeling strategy for incorporation of isotopic tags: a method for the determination of site-specific absolute phosphorylation stoichiometry.

Determining the phosphorylation stoichiometry at specific sites in a phosphoprotein is a very challenging task. We describe here a novel mass spectrometry based method that is capable of measuring the absolute phosphorylation stoichiometry at specific sites without the need for specific internal standards, phospho-site antibodies or radioactivity. The method is based on a gentle chemical labeling strategy which specifically and differentially labels the N-terminus of all peptides in a sample with either a D(5)- or D(0)-propionyl group and measures the ratio of the abundance of the D(5)/D(0) peptide pairs simultaneously using mass spectrometry.

Serine phosphorylation of Stat5 proteins in lymphocytes stimulated with IL-2.

Tyrosine phosphorylation regulates cytokine-induced dimerization of STAT proteins. Serine phosphorylation has also been found to occur in a number of STAT proteins, including Stat1, Sat3, Stat4, Stat5a, Stat5b and Stat6, and was shown to be important for maximal transcriptional activation mediated by Stat1, Stat3 and Stat4, but not for Stat5a or Stat5b. As these latter proteins were studied in transiently transfected COS-7 cells stimulated with prolactin, we sought to further investigate the significance of their serine phosphorylation in a more physiologically based system in response to IL-2.

[Sequence analysis of Bt insertion flanking fragments in transgenic Bt cotton].

The copies of outside gene and DNA structure of integration locus are important in high expression and avoidance of gene silence. Many research results showed that outside genes were inserted into the plant genome with recombinant type, and the integration was related to border T-DNA sequence in the course of Agrobaterium mediated transformation. SAR structure was also found in the integration location of transformants with direct DNA transformation method.

[Three dimensional digital subtraction angiography in volume embolization ratio measurement of densely packing experimental aneurysms].

Objective: To calculate the volume embolization ratio of densely packing experimental aneurysms by three dimensional digital subtraction angiography (3D-DSA).

Methods: Six experimental crotch aneurysms were created microsurgically in the common carotid artery of white rabbits. Two weeks later, each aneurysm's volume was measured with 3D-DSA surface shaded display(SSD) and the correction of lacteprene balloon calibration method.

Serine 577 is phosphorylated and negatively affects the tRNA binding and eIF2alpha kinase activities of GCN2.

Protein kinase GCN2 regulates translation initiation by phosphorylating eukaryotic initiation factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha), impeding general protein synthesis but specifically inducing translation of GCN4, a transcriptional activator of amino acid biosynthetic genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. GCN2 activity is stimulated in amino acid-deprived cells through binding of uncharged tRNA to a domain related to histidyl tRNA synthetase. We show that GCN2 is phosphorylated by another kinase on serine 577, located N-terminal to the kinase domain.

[Computer aided intracranial aneurysm embolization with GDC].

Objective: To establish an expert system that automatically generates optimal GDC selection program for the embolization of intracranial aneurysm.

Methods: Twenty highly cost-effective cases of intracranial aneurysm embolized with GDC dense packing were collected. Each of them contains information including aneurysm's volume measured by three-dimension digital subtraction angiography (3D DSA), aneurysm's location, maximum transverse diameter, maximum length diameter, and GDC selection program.