Biological analysis of woodpecker’s brain after impact experiments

Woodpeckers can withstand a fierce impact during pecking. Previous studies have focused on the biomechanical analysis of the pecking process, the properties of the beak and hyoid bone of woodpecker; however, the biological characteristics of the woodpecker brain are also important in resisting impact injuries. We employed impact experiments and biological analysis in normal and injured brains to reveal the impact-resistant biological characteristics of woodpecker brains, as well as the impact energy's biological effects on the woodpecker brain. The hoopoe, which has a similar size but only a slight pecking behavior, was selected as the control group to compare brain morphology and neuronal cells differences in normal brains between woodpecker and hoopoe by sectioning and staining. A loading device was designed to conduct a quantifiable impact energy to the woodpeckers' head. Four groups of woodpeckers were impacted with the same energy on the forehead, beak, tempus and occiput,respectively. Biological changes in the injured brains were evaluated by Nissl staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.The results showed that:(1) woodpeckers had a larger cerebellum and a higher density of Nissl bodies than hoopoe;(2) Nissl apoptosis appeared in the brain samples after the forehead and the occiput impact experiments, but no obvious Nissl body apoptosis was observed after impact on the tempus and the beak;(3) β-amyloid protein accumulated in the normal status woodpecker brain. This study reveals that: woodpecker brain morphology is well-adapted to impact, woodpecker heads display location-dependent protective performance, with beak and tempus regions having a better protective performance than the forehead and occiput, Nissl apoptosis appears in injured woodpecker brains, and that the accumulation of β-amyloid protein does not show a direct relationship with the injury state of woodpecker's brain tissue in our study.     

Reprogramming Metabolism of Macrophages as a Target for Kidney Dysfunction Treatment in Autoimmune Diseases

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), as one of the main complications of many autoimmune diseases, is difficult to cure, which places a huge burden on patients’ health and the economy and poses a great threat to human health. At present, the mainstream view is that autoimmune diseases are a series of diseases and complications caused by immune cell dysfunction leading to the attack of an organism’s tissues by its immune cells. The kidney is the organ most seriously affected by autoimmune diseases as it has a very close relationship with immune cells. With the development of an in-depth understanding of cell metabolism in recent years, an increasing number of scientists have discovered the metabolic changes in immune cells in the process of disease development, and we have a clearer understanding of the characteristics of the metabolic changes in immune cells. This suggests that the regulation of immune cell metabolism provides a new direction for the treatment and prevention of kidney damage caused by autoimmune diseases. Macrophages are important immune cells and are a double-edged sword in the repair process of kidney injury. Although they can repair damaged kidney tissue, over-repair will also lead to the loss of renal structural reconstruction function. In this review, from the perspective of metabolism, the metabolic characteristics of macrophages in the process of renal injury induced by autoimmune diseases are described, and the metabolites that can regulate the function of macrophages are summarized. We believe that treating macrophage metabolism as a target can provide new ideas for the treatment of the renal injury caused by autoimmune diseases.     

Proteomic Biomarkers of the Apnea Hypopnea Index and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Insights into the Pathophysiology of Presence,Severity, and Treatment Response

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a disease associated with excessive sleepiness and increased cardiovascular risk, affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide. The present study examined proteomic biomarkers indicative of presence, severity, and treatment response in OSA. Participants (n = 1391) of the Stanford Technology Analytics and Genomics in Sleep study had blood collected and completed an overnight polysomnography for scoring the apnea–hypopnea index (AHI). A highly multiplexed aptamer-based array (SomaScan) was used to quantify 5000 proteins in all plasma samples. Two separate intervention-based cohorts with sleep apnea (n = 41) provided samples pre- and post-continuous/positive airway pressure (CPAP/PAP). Multivariate analyses identified 84 proteins (47 positively, 37 negatively) associated with AHI after correction for multiple testing. Of the top 15 features from a machine learning classifier for AHI ≥ 15 vs. AHI < 15 (Area Under the Curve (AUC) = 0.74), 8 were significant markers of both AHI and OSA from multivariate analyses. Exploration of pre- and post-intervention analysis identified 5 of the 84 proteins to be significantly decreased following CPAP/PAP treatment, with pathways involving endothelial function, blood coagulation, and inflammatory response. The present study identified PAI-1, tPA, and sE-Selectin as key biomarkers and suggests that endothelial dysfunction and increased coagulopathy are important consequences of OSA, which may explain the association with cardiovascular disease and stroke.     

Internal OH? induced cascade quenching of upconversion luminescence in NaYF4:Yb/Er nanocrystals

Internal hydroxyl impurity is known as one of the main detrimental factors affecting the upconversion (UC) efficiency of upconversion luminescence (UCL) nanomat...     

岩体平巷充气降氡技术研究

提出了一种适用于破碎山体中平巷的降氡技术.该巷道中氡浓度受山体内空气渗流方向和强度的控制,渗流的机制是烟囱效应.由于山体内空气的温度基本恒定,因而密度不变,而巷道外空气密度随温度的变化而相应地变化着,这就导致了山体内外空气的失衡--夏季山体内含氡空气经裂缝流入巷道,冬季巷道外新鲜空气流入巷道后再经山体裂缝流向大气.实验表明,通过在巷道口部设置自动风门,向巷道内机械压风,形成充气状态,可以调节山体内空气的渗流方向,从而可以显著降低巷道内氡的浓度.     

大直径薄壁筒件的加工

通过设计研究和生产实践,制定出合理的加工工艺,再配以相应的辅具,完成了加工大直径薄壁件的任务,为以后类似零件加工打下了基础。     

X094测量仪的改造与调心轴承径向游隙测量

根据调心轴承对用仪器测量径向游隙的基本要求,改造了X094测量仪,并在实践中找出适宜的调试测量方法。