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The capacity of human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) to differentiate into motor neurons and the identity of molecular factors that confer hADSCs with the competence of motor neurons have yet to be elucidated. Here, retinoic acid and sonic hedgehog were applied to examine whether hADSCs could be differentiated into motor neurons. As early as 6 h after induction, hADSCs were changed toward neuronal morphology. After induction, hADSCs showed positive immunocytochemical staining for β-III-tubulin, choline acetyltransferase, and neuron-specific enolase. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction characterization indicated that cells differentiated from hADSCs were restricted to the ventral spinal fate (Nkx2.2, Pax6, Hb9, and Olig2). Our results suggest that hADSCs may be a potential candidate in cellular therapy for motor neuron disease.

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a b s t r a c tThe urban functional zone (UFZ) is the basic unit of urban planning, which is defined as an area of similar social and economic functions. Despite the importance of UFZs, the stability of their annual temperature between winter and summer has seldom been investigated. With an understanding of the thermal impacts that planning decisions can have, it is essential to know how UFZs can be designed to regulate temperatures in the urban environment. 690 UFZs were identified using ALOS images in 2009 in Beijing. Land surface temperature (LST) was extracted from daytime Landsat TM (2002) and ASTER (2009) images. The regional LST variation of 31 district-sized sub-regions was correlated to the types of UFZs in the region and structural features of the region such as area, size, diversity, complexity and connectivity. Results showed that: (1) UFZ types, in order from highest to lowest LST variation, were commercial, campus, high density residential, water, recreational, low density residential, road, preservation, and agricultural zones; (2) the regional LST variation was positively correlated with the area of campus, commercial, high density residential, water, and road zones, but negatively correlated with the area of agricultural and low density residential zones; (3) increased connectivity and complexity decreased regional LST variations. The results indicated that the stability of annual temperatures was determined not only by the UFZ type and size but also by the connectivity and complexity. These results are clearly useful and essential pieces of information that can be applied in urban planning to improve climate adaptability.Crown