RESUMEN: Cada vez se presta más atención a la contaminación del aire en la salud respiratoria, particularmente, en relación con los días de neblina. En consecuencia la exposición al humo del cigarrillo aumenta la toxicidad de los contaminantes comunes del aire, lo que además aumenta la complejidad de las enfermedades respiratorias. Aunque existen varios mecanismos involucrados en las enfermedades respiratorias causadas o empeoradas por el tabaquismo, en las que el papel de las AQP en el pulmón respecto a la homeostasis de líquidos sigue siendo difícil de alcanzar. En este artículo, copiamos los modelos de rata basados en el generador de humo e investigamos los cambios morfológicos de la mucosa y las funciones relacionadas según el equilibrio del líquido de revestimiento de los alvéolos a través de la expresión de AQP. En comparación con el grupo normal, se detectó claramente un etiquetado débil de la abundancia de proteínas AQP1 y AQP5 en la parte correspondiente de los grupos de exposición al humo en comparación con el grupo control. Por lo tanto, se sugiere que la contribución de las AQP en el pulmón está disminuida, provocando así un equilibrio perturbado entre la homeostasis del líquido secretor y de reabsorción bajo el hábito de fumar cigarrillos.

SUMMARY: A great deal of attention of air pollution on respiratory health is increasing, particularly in relation to haze days. It is that exposure to cigarette smoke augments the toxicity of common air contaminants, thereby increasing the complexity of respiratory diseases. Although there are various mechanisms involved to respiratory diseases caused or worsen by cigarette smoking, in which the role of AQPs in the lung with regard to fluid homeostasis still remains elusive. In this paper, we copied the rat models based on smoke generator, and investigated the morphological changes of mucosa and related functions depending on the balance of lining liquid of alveoli via AQPs expression. Compared with normal group, weak labelling of AQP1 and AQP5 protein abundance were clearly detected in the corresponding part of smoke exposure groups compared with normal group. Hence, it is suggested that the contribution of AQPs in the lung is diminished, thereby causing perturbed balancing between resorptive and secretory fluid homeostasis under cigarette smoking.

Abstract AlCoCrFeNi alloys are widely studied due to the combination of high strength in a wide temperature range, good corrosion and wear resistance, but they typically present low ductility. Due to this limited ductility, traditional bulk fabrication processes that involve forming are difficult, and casting processes are also non-ideal due to pronounced segregation and coarse microstructure. Therefore, both the selective laser melting and the powder metallurgy are more promising routes for this alloy, both of these use powder as starting material. This work aimed to produce powder of Al20Co20Cr20Fe20Ni20 alloy by gas atomization and to perform its detailed characterization.The results show that the powder is mainly spherical, which resulted in good flowability. Most of the powder (62%) has a size smaller than 75µm, and microscopy analyses confirmed that a B2 dendritic microstructure was formed, with A2 cuboidal precipitates.

ABSTRACT Phosphorus deficiency can lead to serious reductions in crop yield and quality. Rapid and accurate determination of phosphorus stress status in vegetables is essential for ensuring the appropriate application of water and fertiliser, improving the yield and quality of vegetables, avoiding the waste of resources and serious non-point pollution source caused by the abuse of chemical fertilisers, and promoting green production and sustainability of facility agriculture. Chemical analysis and spectral or visual imaging methods for detection of phosphorus nutritional status are not conducive in facility production owing to their low accuracy and damage to plants. Owing to its penetration and fingerprint characteristics, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) can distinguish differences in internal components caused by excess phosphorus nutrients and changes in nucleic acids, nuclear proteins, phospholipids, and other macromolecules; thus, it could potentially be used to evaluate the nutritional status of crops. In this study, an innovative THz-TDS-based method was used to detect the nutritional status of phosphorus in lettuce. Lettuce was grown with different phosphorus levels using soilless cultivation and different nutrient solutions. Based on the standard formula of Yamasaki nutrient solution, the phosphorus content in the nutrient solutions was reduced or increased by 20%, 60%, 100%, and 150%, and lettuce samples exposed to each of these phosphorus concentrations were collected. Terahertz spectra are highly sensitive to water; thus, the lettuce samples were freeze-dried to minimise the effect of water and maintain their original quality and bioactivity. The spectra of lettuce were recorded using a TS7400 THz-TDS system; noise and interference were eliminated via normalisation based on Savitzky-Golay smoothing. The correction and validation sets were divided using sample set partitioning based on the joint x-y distance (SPXY). The stability competitive adaptive reweighted algorithm, iterative retention information variable algorithm, and interval combination optimisation algorithm were used to select the terahertz characteristic wavelength, and the successive projection algorithm was then used for secondary optimisation. Finally, a THz-TDS model of lettuce phosphorus was established using the partial least squares method with five principal component variables. The coefficient of determination of the model reached 0.7005, and the root-mean-square error of the predictions was 0.003273, indicating that this method has a high prediction accuracy.

Abstract Septin14 is an important spermatogenesis related gene involved in the pathogenesis of male infertility that has not been well studied. Here, full-length Septin14 cDNA of the Banna mini-pig inbred line (BMI) was cloned using the RACE method and expressed in pig kidney epithelial cells (PK15) and E. coli Rosetta (DE3) cells. Septin14 expression was identified in somatic tissues and testis in different developmental stages. The pig Septin14 CDS is 1,299 bp long, and encodes a peptide (or protein) of 432 amino acids (MW=50.4 kDa). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that pig Septin14 was highly evolutionarily conserved. Subcellular localization of GFP-tagged Septin14 fusion protein revealed that Septin14 was distributed throughout the testicular cells. Among 34 pig tissues, Septin14 mRNA was found specifically in testis and seminal vesicle. In six different postnatal developmental stages, the testicular level of Septin14 mRNA was barely detectable on day 2, while the highest level occurred on day 75. The spatiotemporal expression profile of Septin14, reported herein for the first time in pig, indicated that Septin14 might be involved in the division, development and apoptosis of germ cells. Furthermore, using a pET prokaryotic expression system, we expressed and isolated recombinant 67.9 kDa Septin14 protein.

SUMMARY: One of the key functions of the hepatobiliary system is bile formation. Aquaporins (AQPs) are likely to play a role in water transport that is essential for appropriate hepatobiliary tract function. The increasing prevalence of fatty liver parallels the rise of obesity and its complications over the past several decades. In this paper, general morphology observation, histopathology and AQP1 immunohistochemical expression were observed in livers of the high-fat diet (HFD) rats. For the liver of HFD rats, immunolight microscopy revealed weak labeling of AQP1 on the surface of central veins and liver sinusoid compared with the normal diet (ND) rats. It was suggested that bile secreted by the liver of HFD rats was maybe abnormal, thereby causing abnormalities in the composition and secretion of bile. However, the deeper understanding of mechanisms involved to the fatty liver is still unclear, in particular AQPs in the liver of obesity, additional studies would be required to study the signalling cascades involved in these processes.

RESUMEN: Una de las funciones clave del sistema hepatobiliar es la formación de bilis. Es probable que las acuaporinas (AQP) desempeñen un papel en el transporte de agua que es esencial para la función apropiada del tracto hepatobiliar. En las últimas décadas, la creciente prevalencia de hígado graso es paralela al aumento de la obesidad y sus complicaciones. En este trabajo, se identificaron características morfológicas generales, histopatología y expresión inmunohistoquímica de AQP1 en hígados de ratas con dieta rica en grasas (DRG). En el hígado de ratas con DRG, la expresión inmunohistoquímica determinó un marcaje débil de AQP1 en la superficie de las venas centrales y del sinusoide hepático en comparación con las ratas de dieta normal (DN). Se sugirió que la bilis secretada por el hígado de ratas con DRG era tal vez anormal, lo que causaba anomalías en la composición y secreción de la bilis. Sin embargo, se necesita un conocimiento mayor de los mecanismos involucrados en el hígado graso, en particular de las AQP y se requieren estudios adicionales para determinar las cascadas de señalización involucradas en estos procesos.

SUMMARY: Recent evidence has indicated that adipose tissue produces bioactive substances that contribute to obesity-related kidney disease, altering the renal function and structure. Eight of the AQPs are expressed in the kidney, where several of them contribute to water absorption and maintenance of body water balance. In the study, we mainly examined the localization of AQP2, AQP3 and V2R in renal medulla of Normal Diet (ND) and High-fat Diet (HFD) of rats, respectively. In renal medulla of HFD, immunolight microscopy revealed weak expression of AQP2 at the apical plasma membrane and intracellular vesicles of principal cells of the IMCD and OMCD. AQP3 and V2R expression also observed a decrease in immunolabelling in the IMCD and OMCD. It was suggested that excess lipid accumulation may lead to lipotoxicity and may be the major driver of organ dysfunction such as water reabsorption dysfunction, which may be resulted from abnormal response of rphan G-protein-coupled receptors in kidney.

RESUMEN: La evidencia reciente ha indicado que el tejido adiposo produce sustancias bioactivas que contribuyen a la enfermedad renal relacionada con la obesidad, alterando la función y la estructura renal. Ocho de los AQP se expresan en el riñón, donde varios de ellos contribuyen a la absorción de agua y al mantenimiento del equilibrio hídrico corporal. En el estudio, examinamos principalmente la localización de AQP2, AQP3 y V2R en la médula renal de ratas con dieta normal (ND) y ratas con dieta alta en grasas (HFD). En la médula renal del grupo HFD, la microscopía electrónica de barrido reveló una expresión débil de AQP2 en la membrana plasmática apical y las vesículas intracelulares de las células principales de IMCD y OMCD. La expresión de AQP3 y V2R también observó una disminución en el inmunomarcador en IMCD y OMCD. Se sugiere que el exceso de acumulación de lípidos puede conducir a lipotoxicidad y ser el principal impulsor de la disfunción orgánica, como la disfunción de reabsorción de agua, que puede ser el resultado de la respuesta anormal de los receptores acoplados a proteína rphan G en el riñón.

SUMMARY: AQP1 plays an essential role in maintaining body water balance. In the kidney, AQP1 is localized to the apical and basolateral membrane of epithelial cells in the proximal tubule and descending thin limb of Ansa nephroni (Henle’s loop) where it reabsorbs the vast majority of filtered water. The growing epidemic of obesity and metabolic diseases particularly obesity-related kidney disease is getting more and more attention in this century. However, a full understanding of mechanisms involved to the progressive renal disease is still unclear, in particular AQPs in the kidney of obesity. In this paper, we examined the localization of AQP1 in renal cortex and medulla of ND (normal diet) and HFD (high-fat diet) at rats. In the renal cortex and medulla, immunolight microscopy revealed weak expression of AQP1 in the apical and basolateral membrane of epithelial cells at the proximal straight/convoluted tubule of HFD compared with ND, respectively. The same result was confirmed in the thick descending limb and descending thin limb of Henle’s loop. In the high-fat nutritional obesity of rats, decreased AQP1 levels may not directly cause serious obesity-related kidney disease, e.g. chronic kidney disease, even end-stage renal disease. But at least, AQPs (AQP1 in this study) was one of initially conditions to the incentive of obesity-related kidney disease.

RESUMEN: Las acuoporinas tipo 1 (AQP1) constituyen una parte esencial en el mantenimiento del equilibrio del agua en el cuerpo. En el riñón, la AQP1 se localiza en la membrana apical y basolateral de las células epiteliales, en el túbulo proximal y en el segmento descendente del Ansa nephroni o asa nefrónica (asa de Henle), donde reabsorbe la gran mayoría de agua filtrada. La creciente epidemia de obesidad y enfermedades metabólicas en el siglo actual, hacen que la enfermedad renal relacionada con la obesidad esté recibiendo cada vez más atención. Sin embargo, aún no existe un conocimiento definitivo de los mecanismos implicados en la enfermedad renal progresiva, en particular los relacionados a las acuoporinas renales en la obesidad. En este trabajo, examinamos la localización de AQP1 en la corteza y la médula renales de la dieta normal (DN) y dieta alta en grasa (DAG) en ratas. En la corteza y médula renales, la microscopía de luz reveló una expresión débil de AQP1 en la membrana apical y basolateral de las células epiteliales en el túbulo contorneado proximal del grupo DAG en comparación con el grupo DN, respectivamente. El mismo resultado se confirmó en la porción descendente gruesa y en la porción descendente delgada del asa nefrónica. En ratas del grupo DAG, la disminución de los niveles de AQP1 pudo no ser la causa directa de una enfermedad renal grave relacionada con obesidad, como por ejemplo, enfermedad renal crónica, o una enfermedad renal terminal. No obstante, en este estudio, la expresión renal de AQP1 constituyó una de las condiciones iniciales para inducir la enfermedad renal relacionada con obesidad.