First, low-dose radiation (0.3Gy) induced significant increasing of Wnt1, Wnt3a, Wnt5a, and beta-catenin expression in both neural stem cells and in situ hippocampus by immunohistochemical

and PCR detection. Secondly, low-dose radiation enhanced the neurogenesis of hippocampus indicated by increasing IWR-1-endo Stem Cells & Wnt inhibitor proliferation and neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells, going up of nestin-expressing cells and BrdU-incorporation in hippocampus. Thirdly, it promoted cell survival and reduced apoptotic death of neuronal stem cells by flowcytometry analysis. Finally, Morris water-maze test showed behavioral improvement of animal learning in low-dose radiation group. Accordingly, detrimental influence on Wnt/beta-catenin signaling or

neurogenesis was confirmed in high-dose radiation (3.0Gy) LCL161 clinical trial group. Taken together, this study has revealed certain beneficial effects of low-dose radiation to stimulate neural stem cell proliferation, the neurogenesis of hippocampus and animal learning most possibly by triggering Wnt/beta-catenin signaling cascades, suggesting its translational application role in devising new therapy for aging-related neurodegenerative disorders particularly Alzheimer’s disease.”
“From a biotechnological point of view, bacteria can be seen as either pathogens to target with new drugs or as biocatalysts for largescale processes in industry, agriculture or the environment. The last includes the exploitation of bacterial activities for bioremediation of toxic waste either in situ or ex situ. The onset of genetic engineering in the late 70s opened the possibility of tailoring recombinant bacteria for environmental release, aimed at biodegradation of otherwise recalcitrant chemicals. However, a few decades later this website the outcome of this prospect has been quite meager. The literature counts very few cases where the use of genetically engineered bacteria has been proven to be more efficient than natural microorganisms in elimination of recalcitrant compounds under natural (not laboratory) conditions. Fortunately, the emergence of Systems

and Synthetic Biology in the last few years is helping to identify what were the caveats of the former approaches and how to correct them. In addition, robust design concepts imported from process engineering provides fresh approaches to the challenge of designing microorganisms a la carte for environmental applications.”
“Upconverting materials can be used to increase the energy conversion efficiency of a solar cell. Such materials convert low-energy transmitted photons to higher-energy photons that can be absorbed by the cell, substantially reducing the spectral mismatch between the cell and the solar spectrum. Previously, the performance enhancements achievable with an ideal upconverter-solar cell system were theoretically investigated.