Research progress on ecological adaptation and prevention of Parengyodontium album on the surface of cultural relics.

Cultural relics as the crystallization of human history are non-renewable and irreplaceable resources. Microorganisms are widely colonized on ancient wall paintings, stone cultural relics, and other types of cultural heritages to cause harm. The dominant disease fungus, Parengyodontium album, is extensively distributed and can seriously threaten the long-term preservation of precious cultural heritage due to surviving in various cultural relics and extreme environments. The classification and nomenclature of P. album have undergone several changes, so its impact on cultural relic received little attention. Here, we summarized the brief histories of its classification and development, distribution range, and cultural heritage preference of P. album. We further analyzed the physiological, biochemical, and ecological characteristics and potential biological degradation mechanism. We proposed that P. album could be used as an indicative species of microbial hazardous effects on cultural heritage. We discussed the prevention and control countermeasures of such typical mural microorganisms and pointed out key research directions in this field.

Application of New Energy Thermochromic Composite Thermosensitive Materials of Smart Windows in Recent Years.

Thermochromic smart windows technology can intelligently regulate indoor solar radiation by changing indoor light transmittance in response to thermal stimulation, thus reducing energy consumption of the building. In recent years, with the development of new energy-saving materials and the combination with practical technology, energy-saving smart windows technology has received more and more attention from scientific research. Based on the summary of thermochromic smart windows by Yi Long research groups, this review described the applications of thermal responsive organic materials in smart windows, including poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) hydrogels, hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) hydrogels, ionic liquids and liquid crystals. Besides, the mechanism of various organic materials and the properties of functional materials were also introduced. Finally, opportunities and challenges relating to thermochromic smart windows and prospects for future development are discussed.

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The bioweathering of stone cultural relics is a ubiquitous problem. Weathering prevention is an escalating challenge under the increasing global climate and environmental changes. Here, the mechanisms of lichen-microorganism mediated weathering of stone materials and their relationships with climatic and environmental factors were reviewed. The biological protection of lichens and the evaluation of the efficacy of biocides in lichen-control were discussed. The potential research directions in this field were proposed. Research on lichen-rock interfaces suggested that biological weathe-ring could be mainly attributed to physical and chemical weathering which represented by mycelium penetration and calcium oxalate formation. Bioweathering of outdoor stone cultural relics is closely related with the whole ecosystem encompassing factors, such as stone matrix, surrounding environment, and climate factors. Lichens have both biological weathering and protection effects on stone heritage. For the restoration of bioweathered stone cultural relics, environmental conditions for pre-servation of stone cultural relics should be improved step by step. The related industry regulations and national standards for evaluating biological weathering and control efficiency should be established to promote the efficient development of scientific protection.

Mir20a/106a-WTX axis regulates RhoGDIa/CDC42 signaling and colon cancer progression.

Wilms tumor gene on the X chromosome (WTX) is a putative tumor suppressor gene in Wilms tumor, but its expression and functions in other tumors are unclear. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women and the second leading cause in men in the United States. We demonstrated that WTX frequently lost in CRC which was highly correlated with cell proliferation, tumor invasion and metastasis. Mechanistically, WTX loss disrupts the interaction between RhoGDIα and CDC42 by losing of the binding with RhoGDIα and triggers the activation of CDC42 and its downstream cascades, which promotes CRC development and liver metastasis. The aberrant upregulation of miR-20a/miR-106a were identified as the reason of WTX loss in CRC both in vivo and in vitro. These study defined the mechanism how miR-20a/miR-106a-mediated WTX loss regulates CRC progression and metastasis, and provided a potential therapeutic target for preventing CRC progression.

[Effect of shRNA-mediated CDC42 knockdown on morphology of colorectal cancer cells in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To test the effect of CDC42 (a member of Rho family of small GTPases) knockdown mediated by a CDC42 short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) on the morphology of colorectal cancer SW480 cells in vitro. METHODS: Four CDC42 siRNA fragments targeting CDC42 were designed and the most efficient siRNA for CDC42 knockdown was selected to construct the shRNA vector for transfection of colorectal cancer SW480 cells. The interference efficiency in the stably transfected cells (sw480.shCDC) was detected using real-time PCR and Western blotting, and the morphological changes of the transfected cells were observed. RESULTS: Western blotting result showed that siCDC42-3 was the most efficient fragment for CDC42 knockdown, which caused CDC42 knockdown by over 50%. DNA sequencing confirmed successful construction of the CDC42 shRNA vector. Transfection of the cells with the vector significantly reduced CDC42 expressions at both the mRNA and protein levels. The transfected cells exhibited reduced filopodia and cell size with smooth cell margins. CONCLUSION: shRNA-mediated CDC42 knockdown can reduce the cytoskeleton dynamics of colorectal cancer cells to lower their invasiveness. This shRNA construct facilitates further study of the role of CDC42 in the tumorigenesis and progression of colorectal cancer.

[Clinical trial on the prevention of diarrhea by oral BIFICO for infants aged 1-6 years].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevention of diarrhea by oral BIFICO for infants aged 1-6 years. METHODS: 490 cases of infants were randomly divided after age stratification: the experimental group (n = 247) and the control group (n = 243). Based on principles of randomized double-blind and placebo-controlled, the infants were given BIFICO (dedicated clinical research)therapy for 4 consecutive days, then observed for 21 days. 25 days composed a cycle. They were observed total 5 cycles. During the study period, principles for "the diarrhoea patients must be detected", follow-up visited the participant infants and conducted etiology detection by way of sampling for diarrhea infants. Evaluate the prevention efficacy of diarrhea by oral BIFICO for infants aged 1-6 years. RESULTS: A total of 480 completed all study. 120 and 95 infants in the control group and experimental group were detected with diarrhea. The incidence of diarrhea was 50.85% and 38.93% in these two guoup, respectively. The difference has statistical significance (chi2 = 4.175, P = 0.041). In the third observation period, the infants in the control group had a higer incidence of diarrhea compared with which in the experimental group (chi2 = 4.415, P = 0.036). 14 strains of rotavirus, 3 strains of norovirus, 3 strains of sappovirus, 2 strains of adenovirus, 5 strains of salmonella and 4 strains of Shigella were check out in 128 samples. CONCLUSION: Oral BIFICO can paly certain preventive role on diarrhea, and decrease the incidence of diarrhea in infants aged 1-6 years.

[Expression of ER, bcl-2, and p53 mRNA in early hybrid embryos of chicken-quail].

Using artificial insemination, 100 female quails were crossed with 10 male chickens. The eggs were collected and hatched in the same incubator. The sex of live hybrid embryos from 66 to 120 hatch hours was determined using multiply PCR of Wpkci. Total 300 male and female embryos at various hatch times were sampled and the relative mRNA abundance of ER, bcl-2, and p53 in the embryos was detected by RT-PCR using beta-actin as the internal standard. The effects of ER, bcl-2, and p53 on the early embryonic development for hybrids between chicken and quail were analyzed. The results showed ER mRNA expression of female hybrids were higher than male hybrids from 66 to 84 hatch hours with a highly significant difference (P<0.01), which indicated that the sex differentiation of hybrids was perhaps happened between 66 to 84 h of embryo stage. The obvious sequential expression of bcl-2 and p53 in the embryonic development indicated that the bcl-2 and p53 genes had an important effect on the development of the hybrid embryos.