MiR-665 inhibits inflammatory response in microglia following spinal cord injury by targeting TREM2.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to uncover the role of microRNA-665 (miR-665) in protecting inflammatory response in microglia following spinal cord injury (SCI) and the underlying mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The serum levels of miR-665 and TREM2 (triggering receptor expressed on myeloid 2) in SCI patients (n=24) and healthy subjects (n=24) were detected by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Then, the serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). After lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction in BV2 cells, the relative levels of miR-665 and TREM2 were detected by qRT-PCR, and relative levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the culture medium were examined by ELISA. Next, TREM2, the target gene of miR-665, was determined by Dual-Luciferase reporter assay, and the relationship between the expression levels of TREM2 and miR-665 in SCI patients and BV2 cells was analyzed. Finally, the regulatory effects of miR-665 and TREM2 on IL-6 and TNF-α levels in the culture medium of LPS-induced BV2 cells were assessed. RESULTS: It was found that miR-665 was downregulated in serum of SCI patients and LPS-induced BV2 cells, while TREM2 was upregulated. Silenced miR-665 or overexpressed TREM2 was involved in protecting inflammatory response following SCI. Besides, rescue experiments showed that miR-665 participated in the regulation of inflammatory response following SCI by targeting TREM2. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-665 inhibits inflammatory response following SCI by targeting TREM2.

Molecular cloning and expression analysis of tyr and tyrp1 genes in normal and albino yellow catfish Tachysurus fulvidraco.

The full-length complementary DNA of two genes related to vertebrate albinism, the tyrosinase gene tyr and tyrosinase-related protein 1 gene tyrp1, were cloned and analysed from normal and albino yellow catfish Tachysurus fulvidraco. The open reading frames (ORF) of tyr and tyrp1 encode putative peptides of 533 and 526 amino acids (amino-acid), both of which possess two conserved copper binding sites. The homologous identities of deduced amino-acid sequences showed that both Tyr and Tyrp1 of T. fulvidraco share considerable similarity with that of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Both tyr and tyrp1 were expressed in a wide range of adult tissues. Tyr gene had the highest expression level in the brain of both normal and albino T. fulvidraco. Tyrp1 had the highest expression level in the skin of normal groups, and the fin of albino groups. The messenger (m)RNA expressions of tyr and tyrp1 were detectable at different early developmental stages and varied with embryonic and larval growth. Tyr and tyrp1 mRNA have obvious tissue specificity both in normal and albino T. fulvidraco and higher expression levels were detected in the normal group revealing that tyr and tyrp1 may have an important role in pigmentation. These results will provide useful data for understanding the molecular mechanism of melanin formation and the occurrence of albinism in T. fulvidraco.

Population transfer driven by far-off-resonant fields.

For a two-level system, it is believed that a far-off-resonant driving cannot help coherent population transfer between two states. In this work, we propose a scheme to implement the coherent transfer with far-off-resonant driving. The scheme works well with both constant driving and Gaussian driving. The total time to finish population transfer is also minimized by optimizing the detuning and coupling constants. We find that the scheme is sensitive to spontaneous emission much more than dephasing. It might find potential applications in X-ray quantum optics and population transfer in Rydberg atoms as well.

Response of two-band systems to a single-mode quantized field.

The response of topological insulators (TIs) to an external weakly classical field can be expressed in terms of Kubo formula, which predicts quantized Hall conductivity of the quantum Hall family. The response of TIs to a single-mode quantized field, however, remains unexplored. In this work, we take the quantum nature of the external field into account and define a Hall conductance to characterize the linear response of a two-band system to the quantized field. The theory is then applied to topological insulators. Comparisons with the traditional Hall conductance are presented and discussed.

Quantum gates by periodic driving.

Topological quantum computation has been extensively studied in the past decades due to its robustness against decoherence. One way to realize the topological quantum computation is by adiabatic evolutions-it requires relatively long time to complete a gate, so the speed of quantum computation slows down. In this work, we present a method to realize single qubit quantum gates by periodic driving. Compared to adiabatic evolution, the single qubit gates can be realized at a fixed time much shorter than that by adiabatic evolution. The driving fields can be sinusoidal or square-well field. With the sinusoidal driving field, we derive an expression for the total operation time in the high-frequency limit, and an exact analytical expression for the evolution operator without any approximations is given for the square well driving. This study suggests that the period driving could provide us with a new direction in regulations of the operation time in topological quantum computation.

Preparation of topological modes by Lyapunov control.

By Lyapunov control, we present a proposal to drive quasi-particles into a topological mode in quantum systems described by a quadratic Hamiltonian. The merit of this control is the individual manipulations on the boundary sites. We take the Kitaev's chain as an illustration for Fermi systems and show that an arbitrary excitation mode can be steered into the Majorana zero mode by manipulating the chemical potential of the boundary sites. For Bose systems, taking the noninteracting Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model as an example, we illustrate how to drive the system into the edge mode. The sensitivity of the fidelity to perturbations and uncertainties in the control fields and initial modes is also examined. The experimental feasibility of the proposal and the possibility to replace the continuous control field with square wave pulses is finally discussed.

Porous tantalum rods for treating osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

This study evaluated the outcomes of using porous tantalum rods for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH). We performed core decompression and inserted porous tantalum implants in 149 patients (168 consecutive hips) with ONFH. Hips had large (65), medium (64), or small (39) lesions; 63 lesions were lateral, 68 were central, and 35 were medial. Conversion to total hip arthroplasty (THA) was the end point of this survey. A total of 130 cases (138 hips) were followed. The mean follow-up time was 38.46 ± 5.76 months; 43 hips (31%) were converted to or needed THA. Of the 43 hips requiring THA, 33 had large lesions, including 1 medial, 3 central, and 29 lateral lesions; 9 had medium, lateral lesions, and 1 hip had a small, lateral lesion. Bone grafting was used in 59 hips, with 3 hips failing; 40 of 79 hips without bone grafts failed. The sum distances between the tops of the rods and the lateral lesion boundaries (SDTL, mm) were measured in anteroposterior and lateral radiographs. In the failure and spared groups, the average SDTLs were 7.65 ± 2.759 and 0.83 ± 2.286 mm, respectively. The survival of porous tantalum rods used for treating early-stage ONFH was affected by the size and location of the lesion, whether or not a bone graft was used, as well as the distance between top of the rod and the lateral boundary of the lesion.

[Manufacture and usage of a new rotatometer of spine].

The purposes of this research are to study the changes of some projective points of vertebrae on roentgenogram during consecutive axial rotation and to design and manufacture a new rotatometer of spine for clinical and research work. Using 2 anatomic specimens of normal spines, aged 10 and 17 years. We took anteroposterior roentgenograms for each vertebra during consecutive axial rotation from 0 th 90 degrees. Some projective points on the roentgenograms were selected. Changes of the projective points were measured. The data were analysed with the stepwise regression, linear fitting in a microcomputer. The rotatometer was designed and manufactured upon the linear regressional equation. The results showed that there was an excellent correlation between actual rotation of vertebra and changes of the projective points on anteroposterior roentgenograms. The distances between the center of vertebral pedicle and lateral edge on convex side of vertebra and rotation angle Q were the reliable references which express the actual axial rotation of vertebra. We thought that rotation angle Q was the mark which had advantages of definition, directness, precision and extended measurable range. The 3 sets of graduations were used to measure the segments of T3-6, T7-12 and L1-4 neuromuscular scoliosis, some congenital scoliosis and axial rotation of spine without certain causes in adolescents. Quantitative measurement of scoliotic rotation is very important for determinating and selecting schemes of operations on scoliosis. It is also helpful to predict prognosis of scoliosis and evaluate the results of corrective operations on spinal deformity.

Study on lung function and blood gas analysis of nickel carbonyl workers.

In the literature there are few reports on the chronic harmful effects of nickel carbonyl on the health of workers who have been exposed to relatively low levels of this gas. The purpose of this study is to determine whether some impairment of lung function could be found in such workers.

Identification of the phenolic substances in bovine urine associated with oak leaf poisoning.

Six phenolic substances in bovine urine associated with oak leaf poisoning were identified by means of the ferric chloride reaction, paper chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography. The results indicate that these are neither oak tannin nor tannic acid but small molecular weight phenolic compounds. The concentration of free volatile phenols in the urine of cattle affected by oak leaves (n = 9, 26.57 +/- 11.20 mg litre-1) was significantly higher than in normal cattle (n = 9, 2.59 +/- 0.03 mg litre-1).