GhDET2,a Steroid 5alpha-reductase,Plays an Important Role in Cotton Fiber Cell Initiation and Elongation

Cotton(Gossypium hirsutum L.) fibers,one of the most important natural raw materials for the textile industry,are highly elongated trichomes from epidermal cells of cotton ovules.Among the longest plant cells ever characterized,cotton fiber is an ideal system for studying plant cell elongation.

Transcriptome Profiling and Analysis during Cotton Fiber Cell Development

In this project,we aim to elucidate the molecular mechanism controlling initiation and elongation of tetraploid Gossypium hirsutum fiber cells by setting up a high throughput custom-designed

Biochemical Pathways That Are Important for Cotton Fiber Cell Elongation

The regulatory mechanism that controls the sustained cotton fiber cell elongation is gradually being elucidated by coupling genome-wide transcriptome profiling with systematic biochemical and physiological studies.Very long chain fatty acids(VLCFA),H2O2,and several types of plant

Proteomics Study of Cotton Fiber Cells

A comparative proteomic analysis was applied to explore the mechanism of fiber cell development in cotton.Initially,an efficient protein preparation method was established for proteomic analysis

Evaluation of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer, macula and ganglion cell thickness in amblyopia using spectral optical coherence tomography

AIM:To investigate peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), macula and ganglion cell layer thicknesses (GCC) in amblyopic eyes with spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS:Thirty six patients with a history of unilateral amblyopia and thirty two children who had emmetropia without amblyopia were included in this study. In this institutional study, 36 eyes of 36 patients with amblyopia (AE), 36 fellow eyes without amblyopia (FE), and 32 eyes of 32 normal subjects (NE) were included. RNFL, GCC and macular thickness measurements were performed with RS-3000 OCT Retina Scan (Nidek Inc CA. USA). RESULTS:The mean global thicknesses of the RNFL were 113.22 ±21.47, 111.57 ±18.25, 109.96 ±11.31μm in the AE, FE, and NE, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference for mean global RNFL thickness among the eyes (P =0.13). The mean thicknesses of the macula were 258.25±18.31, 258.75±19.54, 248.62±10.57μm in the AE, FE and NE, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference for thickness of macula among the eyes (P =0.06). The GCC was investigated into two parts:superior and inferior. The mean thicknesses of superior GCC were 102.57 ±13.32, 103.32 ±10.64, 100.52 ± 5.88μm in the AE, FE, and NE, respectively. The mean thicknesses of inferior GCC were 103.82 ±12.60, 107.82 ± 12.33, 105.86±10.79μm in the AE, FE and NE, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference for thickness of superior and inferior GCC between the eyes (P =0.63, P =0.46). ·CONCLUSION:The macular thicknesses of AE and FE were greater than the NE, although it was not statistically significant. Amblyopia does not seem to have a profound effect on the RNFL, macula and GCC.

Identification and characterization of plasma membrane aquaporins isolated from fiber cells of Calotropis procera

Calotropis procera, commonly known as "milkweed", possesses long seed trichomes for seed dispersal and has the ability to survive under harsh conditions such as drought and salinity. Aquaporins are water channel proteins expressed in all land plants, divided into five subfamilies plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs), NOD26-like proteins (NIPs), small basic intrinsic proteins (SIPs), and the unfamiliar X intrinsic proteins (XIPs). PIPs constitute the largest group of water channel proteins that are involved in different developmental and regulatory mechanisms including water permeability, cell elongation, and stomata opening. Aquaporins are also involved in abiotic stress tolerance and cell expansion mechanisms, but their role in seed trichomes (fiber cells) has never been investigated. A large number of clones isolated from C. procera fiber cDNA library showed sequence homology to PIPs. Both expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) studies revealed that the transcript abundance of this gene family in fiber cells of C. procera is greater than that of cotton. Full-length cDNAs of CpPIP1 and CpPIP2 were isolated from C. procera fiber cDNA library and used for constructing plant expression vectors under constitutive (2×35S) and trichome-specific (GhLTP3) promoters. Transgenic tobacco plants were developed via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The phenotypic characteristics of the plants were observed after confirming the integration of transgene in plants. It was observed that CpPIP2 expression cassette under 2×35S and GhLTP3 promoter enhanced the numbers of stem and leave trichomes. However, 2×35S::CpPIP2 has a more amplified effect on trichome density and length than GhLTP3::CpPIP2 and other PIP constructs. These findings imply the role of C. procera PIP aquaporins in fiber cell elongation. The PIPs-derived cell expansion mechanism may be exploited through transgenic approaches for improvement of fiber staple length in cotton and boosting of defense against sucking insects by enhancing plant pubescence.

Structural impairment patterns in peripapillary retinal fiber layer and retinal ganglion cell layer in mitochondrial optic neuropathies

AIM：To evaluate the structural injure patterns in peripapillary retinal fiber layer （pRNFL）, retinal ganglion cell layer （RGCL） and their correlations to visual function in various mitochondrial optic neuropathies （MON） to offer help to their differential diagnosis.METHODS：Totally 32 MON patients （60 eyes） were recruited within 6mo after clinical onsets, including 20 Leber hereditary optic neuropathy （LHON） patients （37eyes）, 12 ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy （EON）patients （23 eyes）, and 41 age-gender matched healthy controls （HC, 82 eyes）. All subjects had pRNFL and RGCL examinations with optic coherence tomography （OCT） and visual function tests.RESULTS：In the early stages of MON, the temporal pRNFL thickness decreased （66.09±22.57μm）, but increased in other quadrants, compared to HC （76.95±14.81μm）. The other quadrants remaining stable for LHON and EON patients besides the second hour sector of pRNFL thickness reduced and the temporal pRNFL decreased （56.78±15.87μm） for EON. Total macular thickness in MON reduced remarkably（279.25±18.90μm; P=0.015）, which mainly occurring in the inner circle （3 mm diameter of circle） and the nasal temporal sectors in the outer circle （5.5 mm diameter of circle）, in contrast to those in HC. RGCL thickness reduced in each sector of the macula （61.90±8.73μm; P≤0.001）. It strongly showed the correlationship of best corrected visual acuity （R=0.50, P=0.0003） and visual field injury （R=0.54,P=0.0002） in MON patients.CONCLUSION：OCT is a potential tool for detecting structural alterations in the optic nerves of various MON. Different types of MON may have different damage patterns.

Effects of environmental factors on corrosion behaviors of metal-fiber porous components in a simulated direct methanol fuel cell environment

Abstract： To enable the use of metallic components in direct methanol fuel cells （DMFCs）, issues related to corrosion resistance must be considered because of an acid environment induced by the solid electrolyte. In this study, we report the electrochemical behaviors of metal-fiber-based porous sintered components in a simulated corrosive environment of DMFCs. Three materials were evaluated： pure copper, AISI304, and AISI316L. The environmental factors and related mechanisms affecting the corrosion behaviors were analyzed. The results demonstrated that AISI316L exhibits the best performance. A higher SO4^2- concentration increases the risk of material corrosion, whereas an increase in methanol concentration inhibits corrosion. The morphological features of the corroded samples were also characterized in this study.

Evaluating Kinetic Composing of Cell Wall for Low-Fiber Mutation Rice

The work compared the differences of low fiber mutation rice (LF, Nendao) that selectedthrough gamma-ray (γ) with parental variety Shuangkezao (CK) on their biologicaldevelopment and cell wall composing after rice heading stage. Comparing with parentalrice, LF rice revealed an advantage on its vegetative growing by increasing the yieldsof leave blade, leave sheath and stem for 27.77, 30.19 and 37.96% respectively. And thecellulose content of LF rice straw was decreased remarkably for 23.9%, the hemicellulose,lignin and biogenic silicon contents were increased contrarily for 11.94, 8.79 and 5.60%respectively. Moreover, the crude protein content was increased by 20.71% for LF rice andwith an improvement on its solubility for 63.49% concomitantly. The results indicatedthat the low-fiber mutation rice exhibited its potential as a fodder-rice variety or asdual-purpose rice to improve fiber degradability of straw.

Retinal ganglion cell-inner plexiform and nerve fiber layers in neuromyelitis optica

AIM： To determine the thickness of the retinal ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer（GCIPL） and the retinal nerve fiber layer（RNFL） in patients with neuromyelitis optica（NMO）.METHODS： We conducted a cross-sectional study that included 30 NMO patients with a total of 60 eyes. Based on the presence or absence of optic neuritis（ON）, subjects were divided into either the NMO-ON group（30 eyes） or the NMO-ON contra group（10 eyes）. A detailed ophthalmologic examination was performed for each group; subsequently, the GCIPL and the RNFL were measured using highdefinition optical coherence tomography（OCT）. RESULTS： In the NMO-ON group, the mean GCIPL thickness was 69.28±21.12 μm, the minimum GCIPL thickness was 66.02±10.02 μm, and the RNFL thickness were 109.33±11.23, 110.47±3.10, 64.92±12.71 and 71.21±50.22 μm in the superior, inferior, temporal and nasal quadrants, respectively. In the NMO-ON contra group, the mean GCIPL thickness was 85.12±17.09 μm, the minimum GCIPL thickness was 25.39±25.1 μm, and the RNFL thicknesses were 148.33±23.22, 126.36±23.45, 82.21±22.30 and 83.36±31.28 μm in the superior, inferior, temporal and nasal quadrants, respectively. In the control group, the mean GCIPL thickness was 86.98±22.37 μm, the minimum GCIPL thickness was 85.28±10.75 μm, and the RNFL thicknesses were 150.22±22.73, 154.79±60.23, 82.33±7.01 and 85.62±13.81 μm in the superior, inferior, temporal and nasal quadrants, respectively. The GCIPL and RNFL were thinner in the NMO-ON contra group than in the control group（P〈0.05）; additionally, the RNFL was thinner in the inferior quadrant in the NMO-ON group than in the control group（P〈0.05）. Significant correlations were observed between the GCIPL and RNFL thickness measurements as well as between thickness measurements and the two visual field parameters of mean deviation（MD） and corrected pattern standard deviation（PSD） in the NMO-ON group（P〈0.05）. CONCLUSION： The thickness of the GCIPL and RNFL, as measured using OCT, may indicate optic nerve damage in patients with NMO.

Retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness in children with obesity

AIM：To evaluate retinal nerve fiber layer（RNFL）thickness analysis of peripapillary optic nerve head（PONH） and macula as well as ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer（GCIPL） thickness in obese children.· METHODS：Eighty-five children with obesity and 30 controls were included in the study.The thicknesses of the PONH and macula of each subject＇s right eye were measured by high-resolution spectral-domain optic coherence tomography（OCT）.· RESULTS：The RNFL thicknesses of central macular and PONH were similar between the groups（all P 〉0.05）.The GCIPL thickness was also similar between the groups.However,the RNFL thickness of temporal outer macula were 261.7±13.7 and 268.9±14.3 μm for the obesity and the control group,respectively（P =0.034）.· CONCLUSION：Obesity may cause a reduction in temporal outer macular RNFL thickness.

Qualitative and Quantitative Characterization of Wood Fibers of Shrubs and Tree Species of the Tamaulipan Thorn Scrub, Northeastern Mexico and Its Possible Relation to Wood Quality and Utilization

The present study was undertaken to determine the variability in fiber cell morphology and its length among wood species of the Tamaulipan Thorn Scrub, Northeastern Mexico, used for various uses such as timber for furniture, fence, post, firewood and sources of forage. The results reveal large variability in fiber cell morphology and fiber cell dimensions. The species are classified on the basis of its fiber cell morphology and fiber cell length and recommended for their possible utilization for different purposes. Wood having fibre cells with broad lumen and thin wall could be suitable for the manufacture of paper documented in the literature viz. Acacia farnesciana, Caesalpinia mexicana, Cordia boisiieri, Diospyros palmeri, Forestieria angustifolia, Morus celtifolia, Prosopis laevigata. This technique can be used in preliminary screening of woody species for its utilization for different purposes. Further studies are needed to confirm.

血清1型Ⅰ群禽腺病毒Fiber-2蛋白的表达及其中和作用研究

为研究血清1型Ⅰ群禽腺病毒(FAdV-1)的Fiber-2蛋白对FAdV-1在细胞水平上的中和作用,研究根据FAdV-1亚型Fiber-2基因序列设计引物,进行Fiber-2全基因序列PCR扩增并构建重组质粒,转入BL21(DE3)感受态细胞,经IPTG诱导表达,表达产物纯化后免疫SPF鸡制备抗血清,通过鸡LMH细胞研究Fiber-2蛋白抗血清对FAdV-1感染的中和作用。结果显示,FAdV-1 Fiber-2基因扩增产物大小为1 233 bp,构建了pCold-FAdV-1-Fiber-2重组质粒,表达的FAdV-1 Fiber-2蛋白分子量大小为105 ku;FAdV-1 Fiber-2蛋白的抗血清孵育LMH细胞后,与阳性对照组相同第4天细胞出现病变,而阴性对照组细胞均无病变。结果表明,FAdV-1 Fiber-2蛋白抗血清在体外试验中不能中和本血清型病毒的感染,FAdV-1 Fiber-2蛋白作为亚单位疫苗的研究存在风险。

雅培CELL-DYN 3700血球计数仪故障排除

介绍了雅培CELL-DYN3700血球计数仪常见故障的分析与排除。

脂肪干细胞复合透明质酸支架对糖尿病小鼠皮肤创面愈合的影响实验研究

目的:探讨脂肪干细胞(ADSCs)复合透明质酸(HA)支架对糖尿病小鼠皮肤创面愈合的影响。方法:使用高蔗糖和高脂肪食物饲养30只小鼠10周,第11周于腹膜腔内注射50 mg/kg链脲佐菌素建立糖尿病小鼠模型。切取10只健康小鼠双侧腹股沟区域的脂肪组织,分离培养ADSCs,制备ADSCs-HA复合物。将30只糖尿病小鼠随机分为ADSCs-HA组、HA组和对照组,每组10只,每只小鼠背部制备2个创面模型。其中,ADSCs-HA组小鼠创面基底下及创周皮下注射0.3 ml ADSCs-HA复合物(ADSCs密度6×10^(7)个/ml,HA浓度10 mg/ml),HA组和对照组小鼠同部位分别注射0.3 ml同等浓度HA、0.3 ml 0.9%氯化钠溶液。于术后3、7、10、14 d,观察各组创面愈合情况,并计算创面愈合率。记录各组创面愈合时间。术后14 d,采用免疫组织化学染色法观察创面组织微血管数量,行Masson染色观察创面组织胶原纤维沉积情况,采用RT-qPCR法检测创面组织生长因子及胶原蛋白mRNA表达水平。结果:术后7、10、14 d,ADSCs-HA组小鼠创面较对照组、HA组明显缩小,且ADSCs-HA组创面愈合率高于HA组和对照组(均P<0.05)。ADSCs-HA组创面愈合时间较HA组和对照组缩短(均P<0.05)。免疫组织化学染色结果显示,ADSCs-HA组术后14 d创面组织可见许多圆形或椭圆形微血管,数量多于HA组和对照组。Masson染色结果显示,与HA组和对照组比较,ADSCs-HA组术后14 d创面组织中的胶原纤维排列更整齐,胶原沉积以及胶原纤维更多。ADSCs-HA组术后14 d创面组织微血管数量、胶原纤维沉积百分比及血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)、成纤维细胞生长因子(FGF)、Ⅰ型胶原蛋白(COLⅠ)、COLⅢmRNA表达水平高于HA组和对照组(均P<0.05)。而HA组与对照组上述指标比较差异无统计学意义(均P>0.05)。结论:ADSCs复合HA支架能够促进糖尿病小鼠皮肤创面愈合。

Aligned Fibrous Scaffold Induced Aligned Growth of Corneal Stroma Cells in vitro Culture

To investigate the contribution of fibre arrangement to guiding the aligned growth of corneal stroma cells,aligned and randomly oriented fibrous scaffolds of gelatin and poly-L-lactic acid（PLLA） were fabricated by electrospinning.A comparative study of two different systems with corneal stroma cells on randomly organized and aligned fibres were conducted.The efficiency of the scaffolds for inducing the aligned growth of cells was assessed by morphological observation and 3-（4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl）-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide（MTT） assay.Results show that the cells cultured on both randomly oriented and aligned scaffolds maintained normal morphology and well spreading as well as long term proliferation.Importantly,corneal stroma cells grew high orderly on the aligned scaffold,while the cells grew disordered on the randomly oriented scaffold.Moreover,the cells exhibited higher viability in aligned scaffold than that in randomly oriented scaffold.These results indcate that electrospinng to prepare aligned fibrous scaffolds has provided an effective approach to the aligned growth of corneal stroma cells in vitro.Our findings that fiber arrangement plays a crucial role in guiding the aligned growth of cells may be helpful to the development of better biomaterials for tissue engineered cornea.

Analysis of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer and inner macular layers by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography for detection of early glaucoma

AIM： To analyze the diagnostic capabilities of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer（p RNFL） thickness and segmented inner macular layer（IML） thickness measured by spectraldomain optical coherence tomography for detection of early glaucoma. METHODS： Fifty-three patients with primary open angle glaucoma（POAG）, 60 patients with normal tension glaucoma（NTG） and 32 normal control subjects were enrolled. Thicknesses of p RNFL, total macular layers（TML）, and the IML, including macular RNFL（m RNFL） and macular ganglion cell layer（m GCL） were assessed. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves（AROC） were calculated to compare the diagnostic power of different parameters. RESULTS： There were no differences in the parameters of p RNFL, TML, and IML between POAG and NTG groups. The thicknesses of superior and inferior m GCL showed significant correlation with mean deviation of visual field（R2=0.071, P=0.004; R2=0.08, P=0.002）. The m GCL thickness significantly correlated with the p RNFL thickness in the superior and inferior quadrants（R2=0.156, P〈0.001; R2=0.407, P〈0.001）. The thickness of the inferior-outer sector of macula had greater AROCs than those in the inferior-inner sector of macula. The AROCs for superior（0.894） and inferior（0.879） p RNFL thicknesses were similar with the AROCs for superior（0.839） and inferior m GCL（0.864） thicknesses. Sensitivities at 80% specificity for global p RNFL, inferior-outer m GCL and inferior-outer m RNFL thicknesses were 0.938, 0.867, and 0.725, respectively. CONCLUSION： The diagnostic capability of the m GCL thickness is comparable to that of the p RNFL thickness in patients with early glaucoma. The inferior-outer sector of IML has a better diagnostic capability than the inferiorinner sector of IML for detection of early glaucoma.

Transplantation of neural stem cells, Schwann cells and olfactory ensheathing cells for spinal cord injury:A Web of Science-based literature analysis

OBJECTIVE： To identify global research trends in transplantation of neural stem cells, Schwann cells and olfactory ensheathing cells for spinal cord injury. DATA RETRIEVAL： We performed a bibliometric analysis of studies on transplantation of neural stem cells, Schwann cells and olfactory ensheathing cells for spinal cord injury published from 2002 to 2011 and retrieved from the Web of Science, using the key words spinal cord injury along with either neural stem cell, Schwann cell or olfactory ensheathing cell. SELECTION CRITERIA： Inclusion criteria： （a） peer-reviewed published articles on neural stem cells, Schwann cells or olfactory ensheathing cells for spinal cord injury indexed in the Web of Science; （b） original research articles, reviews, meeting abstracts, proceedings papers, book chapters, editorial materials and news items; and （c） published between 2002 and 2011. Exclusion criteria： （a） articles that required manual searching or telephone access; （b） documents that were not published in the public domain; and （c） corrected papers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： （1）Annual publication output, distribution by journal, distribution by institution and top-cited articles on neural stem cells; （2） annual publication output, distribution by journal, distribution by institution and top-cited articles on Schwann cells; （3） annual publication output, distribution by journal, distribution by institution and top-cited articles on olfactory ensheathing cells. RESULTS： This analysis, based on articles indexed in the Web of Science, identified several research trends among studies published over the past 10 years in transplantation of neural stem cells, Schwann cells and olfactory ensheathing cells for spinal cord injury. The number of publications increased over the 10-year period examined. Most papers appeared in journals with a focus on neurology, such as Journal of Neurotrauma, Experimental Neurology and Gila. Research institutes publishing on the use of neural stem cells to repair spinal cord injury were mostly in the USA and Canada. Those publishing on the use of Schwann cells were mostly in the USA and Canada as well. Those publishing on the use of olfactory ensheathing cells were mostly in the UK, the USA and Canada. CONCLUSION： On the basis of the large number of studies around the world, cell transplantation has proven to be the most promising therapeutic approach for spinal cord injury.

A method to deliver patterned electrical impulses to Schwann cells cultured on an artificial axon

Information from the brain travels back and forth along peripheral nerves in the form of electrical impulses generated by neurons and these impulses have repetitive patterns. Schwann cells in peripheral nerves receive molecular signals from axons to coordinate the process of myelination. There is evidence, however,that non-molecular signals play an important role in myelination in the form of patterned electrical impulses generated by neuronal activity. The role of patterned electrical impulses has been investigated in the literature using co-cultures of neurons and myelinating cells. The co-culturing method, however, prevents the uncoupling of the direct effect of patterned electrical impulses on myelinating cells from the indirect effect mediated by neurons. To uncouple these effects and focus on the direct response of Schwann cells,we developed an in vitro model where an electroconductive carbon fiber acts as an artificial axon. The fiber provides only the biophysical characteristics of an axon but does not contribute any molecular signaling.In our "suspended wire model", the carbon fiber is suspended in a liquid media supported by a 3D printed scaffold. Patterned electrical impulses are generated by an Arduino 101 microcontroller. In this study, we describe the technology needed to set-up and eventually replicate this model. We also report on our initial in vitro tests where we were able to document the adherence and ensheath of human Schwann cells to the carbon fiber in the presence of patterned electrical impulses(hSCs were purchased from ScienCell Research Laboratories, Carlsbad, CA, USA; ScienCell fulfills the ethic requirements, including donor's consent). This technology will likely make feasible to investigate the response of Schwann cells to patterned electrical impulses in the future.

Multiple-cell elements and regular multifractals

Based on fractal super fibers and binary fractal fibers, the following objectives are approached in this paper： First, the concept of multiple-cell elements is induced and abstracted. Second, through multiple-cell elements, the constructability of regular multifractals with strict self-similarities is confirmed, and the universality of the con- struction mode for regular multifractals is proved. Third, through the construction mode and multiple-cell elements, regular multifractals are demonstrated to be equivalent to generalized regular single fractals with multilayer fine structures. On the basis of such equivalence, the dimension formula of the regular single fractal is extended to that of the regular multifractal, and the geometry of regular single fractals is extended to that of regular multifractals. Fourth, through regular multifractals, a few golden fractals are constructed.