Comparison of infection of different cell lines by uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Studying the interaction between uropathogenic Escherichia coil （UPEC） and uroepithelial cells is important in elucidating the pathogenesis of urinary tract infection. In this study, the African green monkey kidney cells （Vero）, human kidney carcinoma cells （Ketr-3） and bladder carcinoma cells （EJ） were infected by UPEC132, a clinical strain isolated from Tianjin, China, and were compared for their capacities to allow the adherence and invasion by this strain. The results revealed that all these cell lines could be attached and invaded by UPEC132. The adherence rates for Vero, Ketr-3 and EJ cells were （49,20 ±7.55）%, （55.22 ±4.09）% and （73.20 ±5.26）%, respectively, and invasion frequencies were （2.61 ±0.32）×10^-3, （3.00 ±0.34）×10^-3 and （3.25 ± 0.20）×10^-3, respectively. The statistical analysis showed that the adherence rate for EJ cells was significantly higher than those for the other two cell lines （P〈0.05）, and the invasion frequencies for EJ and Ketr-3 cells had no statistical differences （P〉0.05） but were higher than that for Vero cells （P〈0.05）. Three cell lines were detected for the receptors for P pill of UPEC by using indirect immunofluorescence. The results showed that receptors existed on the surfaces of all cell lines, and the highest distribution was found on the surface of EJ cells. Additionally, the invasion of EJ cells by recombinant UPEC132/pSELECT-GFP could be directly visualized using confocal microscopy. These data strongly implicated that EJ cells could be more easily infected by UPEC132 than the other cells, and thus could serve as a good experimental target for further investigation of UPEC infection.     

Enhancement of transfection efficiency for HeLa cells via incorporating arsinine moiety into chitosan

Arginine-rich peptides have attracted considerable attention due to their distinct internalization mechanism. It was reported that arginine and guanidino moieties were able to translocate through cell membranes and played a critical role in the process of membrane permeation. In this work, arginine was conjugated to the backbone of chitosan to form a novel chitosan derivative, arginine modified chitosan （Arg-CS）. Arg-CS/DNA complexes were prepared according to the method of coacervation process. The physicochemical properties of Arg-CS and Arg-CS/DNA complexes were characterized and the transfection activity and efficiency mediated by Arg-CS/DNA complexes were investigated taking HeLa cells as target cells. Arg-CS was characterized by FTIR and ^13C NMR. Arg-CS/DNA polyelectrolyte complexes were investigated by agarose gel retardation, dynamic light scattering （DLS） and atomic force microscopy （AFM）. The results revealed that the Arg-CS/DNA complexes started to form at N/P ratio of 2：1, and the size of particles varied from 100 to 180 nm. The cytotoxicity of Arg-CS and their complexes with plasmid DNA were determined by MTT assay for HeLa cells, and the results suggested that Arg-CS/DNA complexes were slightly less toxic than Arg-CS. Moreover, the derivative alone and their complexes showed significantly lower toxicity than PEI and PEI/DNA complexes, respectively. Taking HeLa cells as target cells and using pGL3-control as reporter gene, the luciferase expression mediated by Arg-CS was greatly enhanced to about 100 folds compared with the luciferase expression mediated by chitosan at different pH media. These results suggest that Arg-CS is a promising candidate as a safe and efficient vector for gene delivery and transfection.     

Effect of Extractant and Cold-drawing on the Structure and Performance of FIDPE Hollow Fiber Membranes Fabricated via Thermally Induced Phase Separation Method

Microporous polyolefin hollow fiber membranes were prepared from high density polyethylene （HDPE）-paraffin solution via thermally induced phase separation （TIPS） method. Effects of extraction and cold-drawing condition on membrane structure and performance were investigated.Five volatile solvents were used as extractant. Dimension of hollow fiber and gas permeation rate of membrane were measured. Mierostructure of membrane was examined by Scanning Electronic Microscope （SEM）. The results show that the membrane treated by pentane possesses a higher porosity, nitrogen permeability and lower shrinkage than those of membranes extracted by other three extractants. It is also found that the membrane stretched 133% shows the highest porosity and gas permeability in this study.     

Structural dependences of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">η</Emphasis><Superscript>6</Superscript> complexes of 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole with chromium tricarbonyl fragment on third-order optical nonlinearities

Degenerate four-wave mixing measurements, using the 35 ps pulses at 532 nm, have been employed to investigate the third-order nonlinear optical parameters of two chromium tricarbonyl complexes η6-bonded to 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole at either the NH2-substituted aryl ring （1） or the unsubstituted ring （2） and their precursor 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole （AECz）. The second-order hyperpolarizability y of the compounds 1 and 2 were found to be 42.9×10^-31 and 35.9×10^-31 esu, respectively, approximately one order of magnitude greater than AECz. The relation between the molecular structure and second-order hyperpolarizability of the compounds I and 2 was explored in detail based on the three-level model and the density functional theory （DFT） calculation. The theoretical results indicate that the spatial distribution of electron density has the profound role in the third-order nonlinear optical properties.     

Enhancement of transfection efficiency for HeLa cells via incorporating arginine moiety into chitosan

Arginine-rich peptides have attracted considerable attention due to their distinct internalization mechanism. It was reported that arginine and guanidino moieties were able to translocate through cell membranes and played a critical role in the process of membrane permeation. In this work, arginine was conjugated to the backbone of chitosan to form a novel chitosan derivative, arginine modified chitosan (Arg-CS). Arg-CS/DNA complexes were prepared according to the method of coacervation process. The physicochemical properties of Arg-CS and Arg-CS/DNA complexes were characterized and the transfection activity and efficiency mediated by Arg-CS/DNA complexes were investigated taking HeLa cells as target cells. Arg-CS was characterized by FTIR and 13C NMR. Arg-CS/DNA polye- lectrolyte complexes were investigated by agarose gel retardation, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results revealed that the Arg-CS/DNA complexes started to form at N/P ratio of 2:1, and the size of particles varied from 100 to 180 nm. The cytotoxicity of Arg-CS and their complexes with plasmid DNA were determined by MTT assay for HeLa cells, and the results suggested that Arg-CS/DNA complexes were slightly less toxic than Arg-CS. Moreover, the derivative alone and their complexes showed significantly lower toxicity than PEI and PEI/DNA complexes, respectively. Taking HeLa cells as target cells and using pGL3-control as reporter gene, the luciferase expression mediated by Arg-CS was greatly enhanced to about 100 folds compared with the luciferase expression mediated by chitosan at different pH media. These results suggest that Arg-CS is a promising candi- date as a safe and efficient vector for gene delivery and transfection.     

Dynamic changes of apoptosis in duck embryo fibroblasts induced by new type Gosling viral enteritis virus

The monolayer duck embryo fibroblast （DEF） cells were experimentally infected with new type Gosling viral enteritis virus （NGVEV） and the dynamic changes of apoptosis were detected at different time points after NGVEV infection by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, DNA agarose gel electrophoresis and Annexin V-FITC/PI stained fluorescence-activated cell sorter （FACS）. The result shows that NGVEV can induce infected cells undergoing apoptosis and changing regularly. A series of characteristic apoptotic morphological changes including shrinkage of the cells, chromatin condensation and margination, as well as formation of apoptotic bodies, were observed by TEM. The typical ladder pattern of DNA fragmentation was demonstrated by agarose gel electrophoresis. And using flow cytometry analysis of Annexin V-FITC/PI staining, the dead, viable, apoptotic and necrotic cells could be analyzed quantitatively.     

The molecular mechanism of embryonic stem cell pluripotency maintenance

In vitro cultured embryonic stem （ES） cells are derived from the inner cell mass （ICM） of pre-implantation embryos, and are capable of giving rise to all cell and tissue types of the three germ layers upon being injected back into blastocysts. These ceils are therefore said to possess pluripotency that can be maintained infinitely in culture under optimal conditions. Such pluripotency maintenance is believed to be due to the symmetrical cleavage of the cells in an undifferentiated state. The pluripotency of ES cells is the basis for their various practical and potential applications. ES cells can be used as donor cells to generate knockout or transgenic animals, as in vitro models of mammalian development, and as cell resources for cell therapy in regenerative medicine. The further success in these applications, particularly in the last two, is dependent on the establishment of a culture system with components in the medium clearly defined and the subsequent procedures for controlled differentiation of the cells into specific lineages. In turn, elucidating the molecular mechanism for pluripotency maintenance of ES cells is the prerequisite. This paper summarizes the recent progresses in this area, focusing mainly on the LIF/STAT3, BMPs/Smads, canonical Wnt, TGFβ/activin/nodal, PI3K and FGF signaling pathways and the genes such as oct4, nanog that are crucial in ES cell pluripotency maintenance. The regulatory systems of pluripotency maintenance in both mouse and human ES cells are also discussed. We believe that the cross-talkings between these signaling pathways, as well as the regulatory system underlying pluripotency maintenance will be the main focus in the area of ES cell researches in the future.     

IBCIS: intelligent blood cell identification system

The analysis of blood cells in microscope images can provide useful information concerning the health of patients. There are three major blood cell types, namely, erythrocytes （red）, leukocytes （white）, and platelets. Manual classification is time consuming and suscep- tible to error due to the different morphological features of the cells. This paper presents an intelligent system that simulates a human visual inspection and classification of the three blood cell types, The proposed system comprises two phases： The image preprocessing phase where blood cell features are extracted via global pattern averaging, and the neural network arbitration phase where training is the first and then classification is carried out. Experimental results suggest that the proposed method performs well in identifying blood cell types regardless of their irregular shapes, sizes and orientation, thus providing a fast, simple and efficient rotational and scale invariant blood cell identification system which can be used in automating laboratory reporting.     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of artemisinin with pyronine B as the substrate for horseradish peroxidase

Enzyme-catalytic fluorescence determination of artemisinin （qinghaosu, QHS） was developed using pyronine B （PB） as substrate of horseradish peroxidase （HRP）. The interaction between HRP and QHS was an enzyme-substrate model. The catalytic characteristic of HRP in the oxidation reaction, in which the fluorescence of PB was decreased in the presence of QHS, was studied. The steady-state catalytic rate depended upon enzyme and substrate concentrations, and the Michaelis-Menten parameters Km, Vmax and Kcat were 8.4×10^-5mol·L^-1, 7.4×10^-6mol·L^-1s^-1 and 50.23s^-1. The catalytic activity of enzyme was inhibited in the presence of deactivated agents and at high temperature, respectively. Under optimum conditions, linear relationship between fluorescence intensity change （F0-F） of pyronine B and concen- tration of QHS was in the range of 1.41×10^-7-1.27×10^-6mol·L^-1. The detection limit （3σ） was determined to be 2.7×10^-8mol·L^-1. The proposed method was applied to the concentration determination of QHS in the media of plasma or urine samples.     

Effect of copper excess on peripheral blood T-lymphocytes in the chicken

Experimental study was conducted to examine the effect of copper excess on the peripheral blood T-lymphocyte by the methods of flow cytometry （FCM） and experimental pathology. 420 one-day-old Avian chickens were randomly divided into seven groups, and fed on diets as follows： 1. controls （Cu 11mg/kg） and 2. copper excess （ Cu 100mg/kg, copper excess group Ⅰ; Cu 200mg/kg, copper excess group Ⅱ; Cu 30（hng/kg, copper excess group Ⅲ; Cu 400mg/kg, copper excess group Ⅳ; Cu 500mg/kg, copper excess group Ⅴ; Cu 600mg/kg, copper excess group VI） for six weeks. The results were as follows- 1 ） In thymus, lymphocytes in the medulla were decreased in number in copper excess groups Ⅲ,Ⅳ,Ⅴ, and Ⅵ, and the increased and enlarged thymic corpuscles and the proliferated reticular cells were also observed in both copper excess group V and copper excess group VI in comparison with those of control group. 2） The percentage of CD4＋ T cells was markedly decreased from 2 to 6 weeks of age in copper excess groups Ⅳ, Ⅴ and Ⅵ （P 〈0.05 or P 〈0.01）. 3） The percentage of CD8＋ T cell was not varied in six copper excess groups during the experiment when compared with that of control group （ P 〉 0.05 ）. 4） The CD4 ＋ / CD8＋ ratio was lower from 2 to 6 weeks of age in copper excess groups Ⅳ, Ⅴ and VI than in control group （ P 〈0.05 or P 〈0.01）. 5） It was concluded that dietary copper in excess of 300mg / kg suppressed the development of T-lymphocytes and reduced the percentage of CD4＋ T cells and the CD4＋/CD8＋ ratio, and resulted in pathological injury of the thymus. Cellular immune function was finally impaired.     

高氯酸银-苯配合物结构的重新测定和从头计算

在低温下对高氯酸银-苯配合物AgClO₄&;#8226;C₆H₆的晶体结构进行了重新测定，晶体属斜方晶系，空间群Cmcm（#63）.晶胞参数：a=8.154 0(6)×10^-10 m， b=7.918(4)×10^-10 m， c=11.717(1)×10^-10 m，V=756.4(4)×10-³⁰m³, Z = 4, 精度偏离因子R=0.023, Rw =0.050.根据该配合物晶体结构特征和从头计算的研究结果, 与前人报道的结构数据进行了对比, 指出两次测定在结构上的差异.据此, 提出了目前在中外教科书中有关苯在与银离子配位时发生严重变形的描述有待更正的必要性.     

缺位磷钨杂多阴离子PW11O7-39电催化降解邻苯二甲酸二甲酯

 以Keggin型缺位磷钨杂多阴离子PW₁₁O^7-₃₉(PW₁₁)为电催化剂,邻苯二甲酸二甲酯(DMP)为模型污染物,详细研究了PW₁₁对DMP降解的电催化作用。实验结果表明,在pH=2.5,E=-0.6 V和60 mL·min^-1O₂流速下,0.05 mmol·L^-1DMP反应120 min的降解率达96%,总有机碳(TOC)去除约34%。DMP的电催化降解服从准一级反应动力学模型,准一级表观速率常数(k obs)与DMP的初始浓度有关, 当DMP的初始浓度为0.05, 0.2 和0.3 mmol·L^-1时,kobs分别为2.9×10^-2, 7.5×10^-3和4.9×10^-3min^-1。     

PVC碳糊修饰电极测定Pb2+

 介绍了一种用PVC碳糊电极测定Pb²⁺的方法.该法在开路电路条件,富集介质为0.1 mol/L KNO₃(pH 11.0),检测底液为0.15 mol/L HNO₃.用微分脉冲阳极溶出伏安法扫描,有一灵敏Pb氧化峰出现,峰电位为-0.496 V(vs.Ag/AgCl),溶出峰电流与Pb²⁺在1.0×10-7～2~2.0×10^-5mol/L浓度范围内成很好的线性关系,线性相关系数为0.9960,检出限为5.0×10^-8mol/L.     

Zn(OH)4-6和Zn(H2O)2+6系列配合物的电子结构

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)的B3PW91方法，在Lanl2dz、6-31G(d,p)、6-311++G(d,p)基组水平上对具有不同点群对称性的Zn(OH)^4-₆及Zn(H₂O)²⁺₆系列配合物的几何构型进行了全优化并在B3PW91/6/311++G(d,p)水平上对前线轨道、振动频率等性质进行了分析。Zn(OH)^4-₆系列配合物中具有D_3d点群对称性的构型最稳定，Zn(H₂O)²⁺₆系列配合物中具有T_h点群对称性的构型最稳定。从体系能量角度考虑，Zn(OH)^4-₆·6H₂O体系比Zn(H₂O)²⁺₆·6OH^-体系稳定。通过振动分析得到的O—H键吸收峰在3816和1638cm^-1位置处，Zn—O键的吸收峰在541和391cm^-1位置处，与文献报道的实验数值相符，证明所采用的理论方法及基组适用于研究Zn(OH)₆^4-和Zn(H₂O)²⁺₆系列配合物的电子结构。     

甲醇与O[3P]反应机理的从头算及动力学

采用UQCISD/ 6-311G (d,p )从头算方法,优化甲醇和O [³P ]的反应两个通道、反应物、过渡态和产物的几何构型。进一步运用G2方法进行单点能量校正,得出通道 (1)和通道 (2)的位垒分别是48.86kJ/mol和28.89kJ/mol。并指出通道 (1 )是吸热反应,而通道 (2 )是放热反应。在300～3200K温度范围内,采用传统过渡态理论计算两个反应通道各自的速率常数k₁ 和k₂ ,由此采用非线性最小二乘法,得出这两个反应通道各自的速率方程为k₁=2.43×10^-18×T^2.23×exp(- 32.97/T)cm³mol^-1 s^-1 (300K≤T≦3200K), k₂=6.12× 1 0 ^-18×T^2.19×exp(- 1396/T)cm³mol^-1s^-1(300K≤T≦3200K) 2/k₁对温度变化的依赖关系。计算得出CH₃OH和O[³P]反应的总速率常数k₁₊₂ ,与实验结果取得很好的一致。     

Sm(Ⅲ)-HP配合物与DNA的作用机制

 应用紫外-可见光谱法和荧光光谱法并以中性红(NR)作光谱探针研究了Sm(Ⅲ)HP配合物与DNA的作用机制。研究表明,血卟啉(HP)与Sm(Ⅲ)的配合比n_Sm(Ⅲ)∶n_HP = 1∶ 1,Sm(Ⅲ)HP配合物与DNA的结合比n_Sm(Ⅲ)HP ∶ n_DNA = 1∶ 1,Sm(Ⅲ)HP配合物与DNA的结合常数K^θ_30℃ = 1.67×10⁴  L/mol。该过程为熵所驱动,其Δ _r H_m为4.86×10⁴ J/mol,Δ_r S_m为195.61 J/(mol·K),30 ℃时Δ_r G_m为－1.06×10⁴ J/mol。Scatchard法和探针法研究表明,Sm(Ⅲ)HP与DNA之间的结合方式主要是沟区作用。     

基于层层自组装的{壳聚糖/多壁碳纳米管}9/玻碳电极电催化氧化H2 O2

 基于带正电荷的壳聚糖(CHIT)和功能化的带负电荷的多壁碳纳米管(MWNTs)之间的静电吸附,通过层层自组装的方法制备了均一、 稳定的{CHIT/MWNTs}₉多层膜。组装{CHIT/MWNTs}₉多层膜的玻碳(GC)电极用来研究H₂ O₂的电催化氧化,测定H₂ O₂的线性范围﹑响应时间和检测下限分别为：8×10^-6～1.0×10^-2 mol/L (相关性系数为0.997)﹑2 s 和4×10^-6 mol/L。另外,{CHIT/MWNTs}₉/GC电极具有较好的稳定性能。     

反相悬浮聚合法合成超高分子量聚丙烯酸钠

以丙烯酸钠和丙烯酰胺为单体,采用反相悬浮聚合法制备了超高分子量的聚丙烯酸钠(NaPA).研究了引发剂浓度、抗交联剂及其他助剂对合成产物聚丙烯酸钠性能的影响.结果表明,(NH4)2S2O8的最佳用量是0.15%(质量分数);随着CO(NH2)2用量的增加分子量提高明显;在聚合体系中加入甲基丙烯酸N,N-二甲氨基乙酯(DMAEMA)可提高分子量但用量应控制在9.4×10-4%～15.6×10-4%之间.同时用抗交联剂防止交联反应,结合使用醋酸钠和异丙醇这两种分子量调节剂不仅能提高分子量而且溶解性也得到改善.最终得到了分子量高达3.0×107的产物,其分子量和溶解性能较前人研究成果有明显提高.     

Structure and magnetic properties of vacuum annealed FePt/Ag nano-multilayers

The hard disk driver (HDD) technology has been loping quickly for recent years. An aerial density of 2 has been demonstrated by Fujitsu and Seagate espectively. To further improve the recording density, the ic effect will be a serious problem tropy of a- alloy thin films in the ordered 0 phase exhibit a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy Ku of the order of 106 J/m3 at room tempera-[1,2] and is very attractive for future high density mag- In the FePt (L10) phase, Fe and Pt atomic c axis, w…