Many overwintering organisms produce antifreeze proteins (AFPs) that can be adsorbed onto the surface of ice crystals and modify their growth. These proteins show great diversity in structures, and they have been found in a variety of organisms. AFPs from insects have higher thermal hysteresis activity than other organisms. Recent studies revealed the structures of AFPs and put forward different ice-binding models. No mechanism, however, can apply to all antifreeze proteins and the molecular interaction between AFPs and ice are not accurately resolved. AFPs can be applied extensively to agriculture, aquaculture and low temperature storage of organs, tissues, as well as cells. To confer transgenic plant cold resistance application of AFPs is essential, while the expression and regulation of antifreeze gene need to be elucidated.

The traditional denoising algorithm for ultrasound images would lost a lot of details and weak edge information when suppressing speckle noise. A new denoising algorithm of adaptive threshold based on curvelet transform is proposed in this paper. The algorithm utilizes differences of coefficients' local variance between texture and smooth region in each layer of ultrasound image to define fuzzy regions and membership functions. In the end, using the adaptive threshold that determine by the membership function to denoise the ultrasound image. The experimental text shows that the algorithm can reduce the speckle noise effectively and retain the detail information of original image at the same time, thus it can greatly enhance the performance of B ultrasound instrument.
Algorithms ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Ultrasonics

The gene nhaA encodes functional protein that may play an important role in salt tolerance of Escherichia coli In order to study bacteria salt tolerance, a pair of primers were designed according to public nhaA sequence and was used to amplify 1 1kb DNA fragment with PCR The nhaA gene from E coli DH5?was cloned into a T vector and sequence analyses reveal that the cloned fragment contains entire nhaA gene coding region To apply the method of homology analysis,the result shows that many kinds of bacterium have nhaA gene, such as E coli K12, E coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella enterica , et al This analysis suggests that nhaA gene lie generally in bacterial; and it has intimate relation with salt tolerance of E coli that may be of great importance in improvement of the salt tolerance of plant

Objective To investigate the reversal effects of tetramethylpyrazine(TMP) and cyclosporin A(CsA) on multidrug resistance(MDR) of human erythroleukemia cells with gene transfer K562/MDR and to discuss the possible correlative mechanism.Methods K562/MDR cells in culture medium were treated with TMP(50—6 400 mg?L-1) and CsA(0.5—256 mg?L1) respectively.The growth rates of these cells were measured by MTT assay.Non-cytotoxic doses of TMP and CsA were determined.There were 5 growps in the experiment:G1(TMP+ADM+K562/MDR),G2(CsA+ADM+K562/MDR),G3(TMP+CsA+ADM+K562/MDR),negative control(K562/MDR subsitituted by K562/S),control(drugs subsitituted by 1640 culture medium),the inhibitory effects of adriamycin(ADM) used alone or in combination with TMP or/and CsA on the proliferation of K562/S and K562/MDR cells were observed by resisting fold and reversal folds.The effects of TMP and CsA on ADM accumulation in K562/S and K562/MDR cells were analyzed by fluorospectrophotometry.The protein level of P-glycoprotein(P-gp) was detected by flow cytometry(FCM).Results The non-cytotoxic doses of TMP and CsA were 320 and 2.0 mg?L-1,respectively.The resistance of K562/MDR cells to ADM was 19.2 folds of that of K562/S cells.When TMP and CsA were added along with ADM to the K562/MDR culture,the reversal folds were 5.2 and 9.6.When TMP in combination with CsA was added along with ADM to the K562/MDR culture,the reversal folds were 15.6.When various concentrations ADM were added to the K562/MDR culture,TMP and CsA could increase the intracellular accumulation of ADM.The effect of TMP in combination with CsA was more evident.Compared with control,TMP and CsA could inhibit the overexpression of P-gp protein(P

Objective To investigate the effects of water extract of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.(GUWE) on the activation of RAW264.7 cells and the possible mechanism.Methods RAW264.7 cells were treated with GUWE containing different concentrations of polysaccharide (10, 50, 100, 500 μg/ml).Viability of these cells was analyzed by MTT assay.Phagocytic activity and surface molecules expressed on these cells were detected by flow cytometry.Levels of cytokines were analyzed by ELISA.Western blot assay was performed to analyze the activation of key molecules in TLR4 signaling pathway.Results GUWE at the concentration of 500 μg/ml significantly decreased the viability of RAW264.7 cells, but significantly increased the viability of RAW264.7 cells at concentrations of 50 μg/ml and 100 μg/ml.GUWE significantly enhanced the phagocytic activity of RAW264.7 cells as well as the expression of cytokines and costimulatory molecules in a dose-dependent manner.Further analysis indicated that the activation of RAW264.7 cells induced by GUWE was suppressed by TLR4 inhibitor.Moreover, GUWE enhanced the phosphorylation of NF-kB p65 and TLR4 downstream mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) including p38, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK).Conclusion This study indicates that GUWE promotes the activation of RAW264.7 cells through TLR4 signaling pathway.

Objective The aim of this study was to determine the content of phthalate in disposable plastic tableware sold on Chengdu market,and to provide primary data for safety evaluation.Methods Sample selection was based on stratified sampling.Sixteen phthalate compounds were investigated in 60 disposable plastic tableware,divided into seven groups.The analysis was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).Results In this survey,diethyl phthalate,diisobutyl phthalate,dibutyl phthalate and diethylhexyl phthalate were detected,while the other 12 phthalate compound were not.The positive rates of the four detected phthalate were 6.7％ (4/60),10.0％ (6/60),46.7％ (28/60) and 28.3％ (17/60) respectively,and the highest concentrations were 10.3,6.4,7.2 and 65.6 mg/kg,respectively.Conclusion The observed level of detection rates and maximum concentrations were relatively high in this survey.In addition,some subgroups of PAEs that were not allowed to use in food contact materials were detected.Therefore,the migration in different food simulant would be analyzed in the next step for further health outcome assessment.

Objective To detect the intervened effect of the compound of Polygonum caspidatum to the NAFLD rat models and analyze its mechanism at the level of gene expression.Methods The Wistar rats were fed with high fatty chow to induce NAFLD and intervened with the compound of Polygonum caspidatum.The mRNA relative level of leptin,adiponectin,tumor necrosis factor ?,resistin and uncoupling protein 2 in the adipose tissue of the intervenient and control rats was detected with RT- qPCR method.The data differences between two groups were analyzed in t-test.Results Comparing to the control group,the relative level of leptin mRNA in the intervenient group was significantly increased(P0.05).At the same time,the resistin and UCP2 mRNA didn’t been detected in all samples of these two groups.Conclusion Metformin hydrychloride can adjust the adipose metabolism in liver and improve the steatosis and inflammatory reaction in liver cell.

0.05).TNF-? mRNA in the intervenient group was significantly decreased to that of the control group(P

Objective In order to study the difference of depression-like behaviours among three widelyused stress models in rats.Methods The new-born Spragne-Dawley rats were randomly divided into maternal deprivation(MD) group(n=27),chronic mild stress(CMS) group (n=29),dual stress(DS) group ( n=31 ) and control (C) group ( n =30) on postnatal day 1.MD rats only received maternal deprivation.CMS rats only received chronic mild stress when 10 weeks old.DS rats received both maternal deprivation and chronic mild stress.Control rats received no experimental handling.Behavior tests including forced swimming test and sucrose consumption which were carried out to evaluate rats' depression-like behaviors in the thirteenth weeks.The extend time of floating and sucrose preference ratio should be recorded in the forced swimming test and sucrose consumption test respectively to reflect the behavior of helplessness and anhedonia of rats.Results In the forced swimming test,the extend floating time of MD group( 119.30 ± 65.56) s,CMS group ( 145.00 ± 80.24) s and DS group ( 170.03 ±61.75 )s were longer than the control group(81.14 ± 52.40)s (F =11.53,P ＜ 0.01 ).In the sucrose consumption test,the MD group(0.32 ± 0.22) had a low sucrose consumption.The comparison of the MD group and CMS group (0.43 ± 0.28 ) to the control group (0.54 ± 0.28 ) had significant differences (F =4.33,P ＜ 0.01 ).In these four groups,no sexual difference was found in the forced swimming test and sucrose consumption test ( all P ＞ 0.05 ).Conclusion The results suggest that MD,CMS and DS may induce some kind of depression-like behaviors in rodents such as anhedonia or the behavior of helplessness and the depression-like behaviors induced by different stresses are similar in male and female individuals.

Objective To compare the treatment effects of Qingyi Huoxue decoction and infliximab on acute necrosis pancreatitis ( ANP) complicated with MODS in a rat model. Methods 4.5% sodium taurocholate was injected into the pancreatic duct to induce the ANP complicated with MODS model. The ANP rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, ANP group (ANP), Qingyi Huoxue decoction treatment group ( QG) , infliximab treatment group (IG). Rats in infliximab group received infliximab injection at a dose of 8 mg/kg body weight via tail vein 6 h after the ANP induction. The ANP and QG received normal saline and Qingyi Huoxue decoction (20 ml/kg) via gastric lavage 4 h before and 3 h, 9 h after ANP induction. After 24 h, all rats were sacrificed, the serum levels of amylase, total bilirubin, Cr, TNF-α, diamine oxidase ( DAO) , intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and the rate of carbon propelling rate in ileum were measured. The pancreas samples were collected for pathological examination. The pathological score of pancreas was calculated. Results The pathological scores in ANP, QG, IG were 13.8 ±0.8, 6.1 ±0.4, 3.9 ±0.6, and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). The serum levels of amylase, total bilirubin, Cr, TNF-α were significantly decreased. In ANP, QG, IG the serum levels of DAO were (186.3 ± 10.2 ) , ( 134.6 ± 14.3 ) , ( 149.1 ± 16.3) U/L; the carbon propelling rates in ileum were (53 ±0.1)% , (89 ±0.1)% , (61 ±0.1)% ; the IAPs were (11.8 ±1.5), (4.1±0.8), (5.8 ±1.2) mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa). The DAO and IAP in AG, IG were significantly decreased when compared with that in ANP group, but the carbon propelling rates in ileum was significantly higher than that in ANP group, and the difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.05). In addition, the carbon propelling rates in ileum in QG were higher than that in IG, and IAP and DAO levels were lower than that in IG, and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). Conclusions The Qingyi Huoxue decoction and infliximab were significantly effective in the treatment of ANP rats complicated with MODS. But the effects of Qinyi Huoxue decoction on promoting gastrointestinal motility, reducing the IAP and improving the intestinal barrier function were better than those of the infliximab.