Ultraviolet light-emitting diode irradiation induces reactive oxygen species production and mitochondrial membrane potential reduction in HL-60 cells.

OBJECTIVE: Ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV LED) irradiation at 280 nm has been confirmed to induce apoptosis in cultured HL-60 cells, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of 280 nm UV LED irradiation on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in HL-60 cells. METHODS: HL-60 cells were irradiated with 0, 8, 15, or 30 J/m2 of 280 nm UV LED and incubated for 2 hours. The intracellular ROS levels were assessed using the fluorescent probe 2'-7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) and a fluorescence plate reader. MMP was determined by flow cytometry using 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethylbenzimidazol-carbocyanine iodide (JC-1) staining. The apoptosis-related proteins Bax and Bcl-2 were evaluated by western blot. RESULTS: UV LED irradiation at 280 nm induced a dose-dependent increase in ROS production and loss of MMP, and it activated apoptosis at irradiation doses of 8 to 30 J/m2. These results were consistent with a previous apoptosis study from the authors' group. CONCLUSION: Enhanced ROS production and mitochondrial depolarization are two distinct but interacting events, and both are involved in UV LED-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells.

[Experiment on pruning of Cistanche deserticola inoculated in artificial Haloxylon ammodendron forest].

At present, the objective of cutting and pruning Cistanche deserticola is to harvest in successive years and enhance the harvesting yield and quality of C. deserticola in the process of the artificial cultivating C. deserticola. An experiment was conducted focusing on cutting and pruning C. deserticola in artificial forests of Haloxylon ammodendron drip-irrigated with saline water at the hinter-land of the Taklimakan desert, according to different growth stages and lengths. The results were following: (1) The effect of cutting on C. deserticola was similar to that of pruning, which resulted in three kinds of morphological types, not related to the bloom and size of C. deserticola. (2) The growth forms were diversified after pruning. Among them, there had sprouting new body, died or maintaining life with no sprouting, mildewed on its surface layer, etc. However, some of new bodies were sprouting from the lower part of the old body. The death rate of bloomed C. deserticola was higher than that of the underground, and the death rate of the 40 cm in stubble height for C. deserticola was higher than those with the stubble height of 20 cm and 5 cm. (3) Most of the diameter of living C. deserticola after pruning was increasing, but some of them changed little. (4) The mildew and rot of C. deserticola and the broken of the roots of the H. ammodendron and the fallen of the point of the inoculated when it was dug, which would cause the death of the C. deserticola. On the other, the yield-increasing effect and the economic benefit of the techniques of the pruning of Cistanche would need further research and evaluate. Therefore, the application of this technique needs to be cautious.

[Variations in the optical absorption and attenuation properties of cultured phytoplankton and their relationships with cell size].

The spectral absorption and attenuation coefficients of 16 phytoplankton species were measured in the laboratory using acs instrument. Ancillary measurements included particle size distribution and chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a). The results indicated that both algal cell size and Chl a were the two major factors dominating the magnitudes of the spectral absorption and attenuation coefficients. The spectral behaviors of attenuation spectra were dominated by algal cell size, the relationship of them didn't follow the monotonic function. Both the ratio of absorption in blue and red waveband and the spectral slope of absorption coefficient were influenced by the product of algal cell density and squares of cell size rather than algal cell size alone. The relationship between algal cell size and both absorption and attenuation spectra would be interpreted by Mie theory for homogenous sphere, which imply that the heterogeneity and non-spherical shape in algal cell morphology and internal structure have little effect on the inherent association among them.

[Reflectance of sea ice in Liaodong Bay].

In the present study, the relationships between sea ice albedo and the bidirectional reflectance distribution in Liaodong Bay were investigated. The results indicate that: (1) sea ice albedo alpha(lambda) is closely related to the components of sea ice, the higher the particulate concentration in sea ice surface is, the lower the sea ice albedo alpha(lambda) is. On the contrary, the higher the bubble concentration in sea ice is, the higher sea ice albedo alpha(lambda) is. (2) Sea ice albedo alpha(lambda) is similar to the bidirectional reflectance factor R(f) when the probe locates at nadir. The R(f) would increase with the increase in detector zenith theta, and the correlation between R(f) and the detector azimuth would gradually increase. When the theta is located at solar zenith 63 degrees, the R(f) would reach the maximum, and the strongest correlation is also shown between the R(f) and the detector azimuth. (3) Different types of sea ice would have the different anisotropic reflectance factors.

[Decomposing total suspended particle absorption based on the spectral correlation relationship].

A model for estimating the contributions of phytoplankton and nonalgal particles to the total particulate absorption coefficient was developed based on their separate spectral relationships, and a constrained nonlinear optimization code was used to realize the spectral decomposition. The spectral absorption of total particulate matter including phytoplankton and nonalgal particles was measured using the filter-pad method during two cruises in autumn in Northern South China Sea. Using the dataset collected in 2004, the spectral relationships of particle absorption coefficients were examined and the results showed that the phytoplankton absorption coefficients at various wavebands could be well expressed by aph (443) as the second-order quadratic equations; and the nonalgal particle absorption (aNAP(lambda)) could be successfully modeled with the simple exponential function. Based on these spectral relationships, we developed this partition model. The model was tested using the independently measured absorption by phytoplankton and nonalgal materials which were obtained in 2005 from the same area. The test results showed that the computed spectral absorption coefficients of phytoplankton and nonalgal particles were consistent with in situ measurement. Good correlations were fo und between the comput ed phytoplankton absorption coefficient and the measured value,with the determination coefficients (r2) being higher than 0.97 and slopes being around 1.0; and the RMSE values could be controlled within 17% over the main absorption wavebands such as 443, 490 and 683 nm. Compared with the other two existing models from Bricaud et al. and Oubelkheir et al., this method shows many advantages for local applications. Moreover, this model does not need any information about pigment concentrations and the selected spectral bands are consistent with the ocean color satellite sensor. This method could also be used in the total absorption coefficient decomposition which provides much insight into the phytoplankton absorption retrieval from in situ measurement and ocean color remote sensing data.