Objective: To explore the effects of hydrogen sulfide (H 2S) on hypoxic pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) apoptosis in rats. Methods: Twenty four Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups: control group ( n =8), hypoxia group ( n =8), and hypoxia +NaHS group ( n =8). The plasma level of H 2S was determined by methylene blue spectrophotometric method. VSMC apoptosis was measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL). The protein expressions of Bcl 2, Fas and caspase 3 in pulmonary arteries were detected by immunohistochemical technique. Results: Compared with rats in the control group, the plasma level of H 2S decreased by 36% in rats of hypoxic group . The apoptotic rate per area in VSMCs detected with TUNEL was significantly decreased by 52.9% in rats of hypoxic group . The expressing integral score of Bcl 2 of VSMCs was increased by 123.9%,while Fas protein expression of VSMCs was decreased by 45% and caspase 3 protein expression of VSMCs was not significantly changed in rats of hypoxia group. But compared with rats in the hypoxia group, the plasma level of H 2S increased by 65% in rats of hypoxia+NaHS group. The apoptotic rate in VSMCs of TUNEL was significantly increased by 62.5% in rats of hypoxia+NaHS group. The Bcl 2 protein expression of VSMCs was decreased by 36.4% in rats of hypoxia+NaHS group. The expressing integral scores of Fas and caspase 3 were significantly higher in rats of hypoxia+NaHS group than in those of hypoxia group. Conclusion: Hypoxia decreased the pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell apoptosis. H 2S inhibited Bcl 2 protein expression of VSMCs and activated Fas and caspase-3 protein expressions of VSMCs, and therefore promoted the pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell apoptosis.

Objective To investigate the biomechanical effects of lateral wedge insole(LWI)on internal tissues of the foot and ankle(including foot bones,joints,and ligaments).Methods A three-dimensional finite element model of the foot-insole-ground was developed and validated,and the plantar pressure distributions,contact pressures on joints,and peak stresses on metatarsals and major ligaments in barefoot model and insole intervention models at three key gait instants were explored.Results The 5° LWI model reduced the peak plantar pressure by 65.8％compared to the barefoot model.Insole interventions decreased the peak contact pressure at the cuneonavicular joint,but increased the peak contact pressure at the subtalar joint and peak stress at the 4th and 5th metatarsals.Conclusions This study quantitatively assesses the biomechanical effects of LWI on various parts of the foot and ankle,and suggests a design that can appropriately reduce the inclination angle of LWI at the 4th and 5th metatarsals.

The importance of structural variants(SVs)for human phenotypes and diseases is now recognized.Although a variety of SV detection platforms and strategies that vary in sensitivity and specificity have been developed,few benchmarking procedures are available to confidently assess their performances in biological and clinical research.To facilitate the validation and application of these SV detection approaches,we established an Asian reference material by characterizing the genome of an Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-immortalized B lymphocyte line along with identified benchmark regions and high-confidence SV calls.We established a high-confidence SV callset with 8938 SVs by integrating four alignment-based SV callers,including 109x Pacific Biosciences(PacBio)continuous long reads(CLRs),22 x PacBio circular consensus sequencing(CCS)reads,104x Oxford Nanopore Technologies(ONT)long reads,and 114×Bionano optical mapping plat-form,and one de novo assembly-based SV caller using CCS reads.A total of 544 randomly selected SVs were validated by PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing,demonstrating the robustness of our SV calls.Combining trio-binning-based haplotype assemblies,we established an SV benchmark for identifying false negatives and false positives by constructing the continuous high-confidence regions(CHCRs),which covered 1.46 gigabase pairs(Gb)and 6882 SVs supported by at least one diploid haplotype assembly.Establishing high-confidence SV calls for a benchmark sample that has been characterized by multiple technologies provides a valuable resource for investigating SVs in human biology,disease,and clinical research.

Objective:To analyze the neutralization properties of different genotypes and mutants of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV).Methods:Pseudoviruses of SFTSV of different genotypes and mutants were constructed using VSVΔG-Fluc*G backbone. Neutralization assays were established based on the pseudoviruses. DNA vaccines for different SFTSV genotypes were prepared. Serum samples were collected from guinea pigs immunized with the DNA vaccines. Neutralizing antibodies in serum samples from immunized guinea pigs and naturally infected patients were detected using neutralization assays and analyzed.Results:The pseudoviruses of five genotypes and 43 mutants were successfully constructed and the neutralization assays based the pseudoviruses were successfully established after optimizing the reaction parameters. The dilution multiple corresponding to the inhibition rate of neutralizing antibody to half of the pseudovirus infection was taken as the titer of neutralizing antibody by the reduction in pseudovirus reporter gene. The neutralization antibody titers in naturally infected patients and immunized guinea pigs were respectively in the ranges of 1∶100-1∶43 000 and 1∶100-1∶2 500 when detected with the reference HB29 pseudovirus. The neutralization antibody titers ranged from 1∶100-1∶2 500 after immunization with different genotypes of DNA vaccines. No significant statistical difference in neutralization antibody titer was observed among different genotypes or mutant strains.Conclusions:The neutralization properties of different genotypes and mutants showed no significant change, which would be very useful for developing vaccines.