The NLRP3 inflammasome: Multiple activation pathways and its role in primary cells during ventricular remodeling.

Inflammasomes are a group of multiprotein signaling complexes located in the cytoplasm. Several inflammasomes have been identified, including NLRP1, NLRP2, NLRP3, AIM2, and NLRC4. Among them, NLRP3 was investigated in most detail, and it was reported that it can be activated by many different stimuli.

Evaluation of modified cold-atmospheric pressure plasma (MCAP) for the treatment of peri-implantitis in beagles.

Objective: To assess the effect of adjunctive use of modified cold-atmospheric pressure plasma (MCAP) to surgically mechanical debridement (MD) on peri-implantitis (PI) in beagles.

Material And Methods: Bilateral mandibles of beagles with PI, which induced by cotton ligature twined with steel in sub-marginal around the implant, were randomly divided into two groups: MD in conjunction with 2% CHX irrigation (control group) and MD with adjunctive intervention of MCAP (plasma group). Sulcus bleeding index (SBI), probing depth (PD) and bone height (BH) were examined before and after intervention using computed tomography and histological staining.

Changes of Ictal-Onset Epileptic Network Synchronicity in Childhood Absence Epilepsy: A Magnetoencephalography Study.

To further understand the mechanisms underlying epileptic network and the characteristics of individual specific network, we conducted a study on brain network by magnetoencephalography (MEG) focusing on patients with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). The network connectivity of 22 patients was investigated with MEG at the source level. Network connectivity of spikes and slow waves was computed with accumulated source imaging (ASI) and correlation analysis.

SSR1 is involved in maintaining the function of mitochondria electron transport chain and iron homeostasis upon proline treatment in Arabidopsis.

Although increasing intracellular proline under stressed condition could help the plants survive, treating plant with high level of proline under normal condition could be inhibitory to plant growth. Among other possible mechanisms, proline-induced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production due to electron overflow in mitochondria electron transport chain (mETC) caused by elevated proline degradation may contribute to the proline toxicity. However, direct evidences are still elusive.

Ginsenoside Rg1 promotes lymphatic drainage and improves chronic inflammatory arthritis.

Objective: The lymphatic system plays an important role in joint diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of ginsenoside Rg1 on lymphatic drainage and accumulation of inflammatory products in the joints.

Methods: Two-month-old transgenic mice that overexpress tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α; TNF-Tg) were used as the animal models.

Efficient synergistic disinfection by ozone, ultraviolet irradiation and chlorine in secondary effluents.

Disinfection of secondary effluents is vital to provide a sustainable aquatic environment, minimize microbial risks and guarantee public and environmental safety. This study investigated the effectiveness of six treatment trains including single and combined disinfection processes (i.e.

Calmodulin level is significantly increased in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Background And Purpose: Human prion diseases (PrDs) are a group of fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative disorders that are diagnosed definitively in post mortem brains. Calmodulin (CaM) is a ubiquitous calcium-binding protein. Increased brain CaM level has been reported in prion-infected rodent models and some scrapie-infected cells.

Detailed composition evolution of food waste in an intermittent self-agitation anaerobic digestion baffled reactor.

This study used an intermittent self-agitation anaerobic baffled reactor (SA-ABR) to treat food waste. The organic matter and detailed composition evolution were analyzed under continuous operation. The gas production rate was 2.

Whole-Genome Assemblies for Three Yersinia pestis Strains Isolated in Erenhot, China.

To explore the genetic diversity of strains in Erenhot, China, and their relationship with Mongolian strains, we collected and sequenced three strains from Erenhot, China, in 2018. Here, we report the draft genome sequences of three bv. Medievalis strains belonging to the 2.

Highly efficient CoO/CeO heterostructure as anode for lithium-ion batteries.

CoO has been extensively studied as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) because of its high theoretical capacity. However, during the charging-discharging processes, the issues of large volume change and low electric conductivity arise, which significantly limit the practical applications of CoO. To solve these issues, a CoO/CeO heterostructure derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) was designed and synthesized through one-step microwave synthesis.

Clinical and Laboratory Features of Three Rare Chinese V210I gCJD Patients.

Genetic human prion diseases are a group of inherited encephalopathies directly associated with different mutations in PrP-encoding gene , including more than 50 different mutations worldwide. Some genotypes of mutations show ethno-correlation, and among them, genetic Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (gCJD) with V210I mutation is frequent in European countries but rare in East Asia. Here, we comparatively analyzed the clinical and laboratory features of three Chinese patients with V210I mutant identified via the Chinese National CJD Surveillance System (CNS-CJD) in 2019.

The relationship between epilepsy and cognitive function in benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes.

Introduction: This study was aimed to explore the relationship between neural network changes in newly diagnosed children with Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS) and cognitive impairment.

Methods: Children's cognition was evaluated using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data of 18 healthy children and 22 BECTS patients were recorded in order to construct a functional connectivity (FC) network, which was quantified by graph theory (GT).

The Natural Compound Notopterol Binds and Targets JAK2/3 to Ameliorate Inflammation and Arthritis.

The traditional Chinese medicinal herb Notopterygium incisum Ting ex H.T. Chang has anti-rheumatism activity, and a mass spectrometry assay of patients' serum after administration of the herb revealed that notopterol is the most abundant component enriched.

Assessment of the Sensitivity and Specificity of the Established Real-time Quaking-induced Conversion (RT-QuIC) Technique in Chinese CJD Surveillance.

Real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay is a newly established PrP -detecting method. The development of RT-QuIC improves the diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), showing good sensitivity and specificity in many countries when the method was used in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. However, in China, the sensitivity and specificity of RT-QuIC has yet to be determined due to the lack of definitive diagnosis samples.

Corrigendum: Alleviation of Synovial Inflammation of Juanbi-Tang on Collagen-Induced Arthritis and TNF-Tg Mice Model.

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Riveting Dislocation Motion: The Inspiring Role of Oxygen Vacancies in the Structural Stability of Ni-Rich Cathode Materials.

In Ni-rich cathode materials, dislocation can be generated at the surface of primary grains because of the accumulation of stress fields. The migration of dislocation into grains, accelerating the annihilation of reverse dislocation as well as oxygen loss, is considered as the principal origin of crack nucleation, phase transformation, and consequent fast capacity decay. Thus, reducing the dislocation would be effective for improving cathode stability.

Preparation of PrP-specific Polyclonal Antibody Immunization of -knockout Mice with Recombinant Human PrP Protein.

Objective: The definite diagnosis of human and animal prion diseases depends on the examination of special pathological changes and/or detection of PrP in the brain tissues of suspected cases. Thus, developing methods to obtain PrP antibody with good specificity and sensitivity is fundamental for prion identification.

Methods: We prepared a PrP-specific polyclonal antibody (pAb P54) in a -knockout mouse model immunization with recombinant full-length human PrP protein residues 23-231.

Effects of rainfall on surface environment and morphological characteristics in the Loess Plateau.

Slope failure is a one of major process that causes severe landform variation and environment variation, and slope failure has become a major hidden danger to human settlement and urban construction in this vast loess region. The physical model of slope failure as induced by artificial rainfall was constructed in the field, and monitored the pore water pressure (PWP), earth stress (ES), volumetric water content (VWC), electrical conductivity (EC), and temperature (T) of the soil using this physical simulation. The surface morphology of slope started to occur in the slope as a result of erosion caused by rainfall and rainwater infiltration at the beginning of the experiment; concurrently, PWP, ES, VWC, and EC were increased gradually.

Frequency-Dependent Interictal Neuromagnetic Activities in Children With Benign Epilepsy With Centrotemporal Spikes: A Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Study.

: This study aimed to investigate interictal neuromagnetic activities in the low- to high-frequency ranges in patients with benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS), especially those without interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs). : We studied 21 clinically-diagnosed BECTS patients and 11 age-matched healthy controls (HC) using high-sampling magnetoencephalography (MEG). Neuromagnetic sources were assessed with accumulated source imaging (ASI).

Multifrequency Dynamics of Cortical Neuromagnetic Activity Underlying Seizure Termination in Absence Epilepsy.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the spectral and spatial signatures of neuromagnetic activity underlying the termination of absence seizures.

Methods: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) data were recorded from 18 drug-naive patients with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). Accumulated source imaging (ASI) was used to analyze MEG data at the source level in seven frequency ranges: delta (1-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), beta (12-30 Hz), gamma (30-80 Hz), ripple (80-250 Hz), and fast ripple (250-500 Hz).

Genome-wide characterization and expression analyses of the auxin/indole-3-acetic acid (Aux/IAA) gene family in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).

Aux/IAA genes are early auxin-responsive genes and essential for auxin signaling transduction. There is little information about Aux/IAAs in the agriculturally important cereal, barley. Using in silico method, we identified and subsequently characterized 36 Aux/IAAs from the barley genome.

The F-box protein EST1 modulates salt tolerance in Arabidopsis by regulating plasma membrane Na/H antiport activity.

F-box protein, one of the building blocks of the SCF complex, functions in substrate recognition of the SCF subtype of E3 ubiquitin ligase. However, the role of F-box protein in salt stress is largely elusive in plants. Here, we report the characterization of an Arabidopsis salt-tolerant mutant est1 with significantly reduced sodium content and higher Na/H antiporter activity after NaCl treatment compared to the wild-type.

Different post-mortem brain regions from three Chinese FFI patients induce different reactive profiles both in the first and second generation RT-QuIC assays.

Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI) is one of the most popular genetic prion disease (gPrD) in China. Unlike the other types of human prion diseases, FFI patients show distinctive neuropathological characteristics, such as less deposition of PrP, low tissue infectivity and severe neuron losses in some special brain regions. Compared with other gPrDs, the positive reactions of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) RT-QuIC of FFI patients were markedly low.