Search

Objective: This paper briefly reviews the structure and function of NLRP3 inflammasomes, signaling pathway, relationship with synovitis in KOA, and intervention of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in NLRP3 inflammasomes as a means to improve its therapeutic potential and clinical application.Method: Literatures about NLRP3 inflammasomes and synovitis in KOA were reviewed to analyze and discuss.Result: NLRP3 inflammasome can activate NF-κB mediated signal transduction, which in turn causes the expression of proinflammatory cytokines, initiates the innate immune response, and triggers synovitis in KOA. The TCM monomer/active ingredient, decoction, external ointment, and acupuncture regulating NLRP3 inflammasomes are helpful to alleviate synovitis in KOA.Conclusion: The NLRP3 inflammasome plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of synovitis in KOA, TCM intervention targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome can be a novel approach and therapeutic direction for the treatment of synovitis in KOA.

The variability and heterogeneity of tumor antigens and the tumor-driven development of immunosuppressive mechanisms leading to tumor escape from established immunological surveillance. Here, the tumor cells were genetically modified to achieve an inducible overexpression of the N-terminal domain of gasdermin D (GSDMD-NT) and effectively cause pyroptosis under a strict control. Pyroptotic tumor cells release damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and inflammatory cytokines to promote the maturation and migration of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Furthermore, local tumor delivery, and preventive or therapeutic subcutaneous immunization of the modified cells, followed by the induction of GSDMD-NT expression, significantly stimulated both the systemic and local responses of antitumor immunity, and reprogrammed the tumor microenvironment, leading to the dramatic suppression of tumor growth in mice. This study has explored the application potency of inducing the pyroptosis of tumor cells in the field of tumor immunotherapy, especially for developing a new and promising personalized tumor vaccine.

In order to improve the detection accuracy, provide effective targets for drilling and provide reliable geological information for mine water damage prevention and control, a two-dimensional inversion method of transient electromagnetism in whole-space based on particle swarm is proposed for the complexity of actual mining conditions in coal mines. By establishing a Q-type geoelectric model and carrying out a two-dimensional forward simulation based on finite difference in the time domain, the magnetic field intensity values at each grid node at different times are obtained. The extracted magnetic field intensity values obtained from the forward simulation and the magnetic field intensity values from the measured data are inverted by the least squares method. The particle swarm algorithm is used to optimize the resistivity and formation thickness parameters, so that the fitting error of the inversion results meets the accuracy requirements. According to the measurement point number, the magnetic field intensity values after the least square inversion are calculated by the two-dimensional inversion method of transient electromagnetism in whole-space. Moreover, the transient electromagnetic field response law and inversion accuracy obtained after the two-dimensional inversion are analyzed. The practical application results show that the two-dimensional inversion method of transient electromagnetism in whole-space based on particle swarm is feasible. The low-resistance anomaly in the inversion result has layered characteristics and certain connectivity, which can better reflect the lithological structure characteristics and water-bearing characteristics of the layered formation that dominated by sand and mudstone and improve the detection accuracy and resolution.

A 62-year-old postmenopausal woman was diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast and received modified radical mastectomy (molecular type: hormone-receptor-positive human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative). After that, she received postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. After 2 years of tamoxifen adjuvant endocrine treatment, the patient inccurred recurrence with metastasis. PET-CT scanning showed metastasis in the left thoracic wall, the sixth left rib, and the right lower lobe of the lung. Multiple lymph node metastases were observed throughout the body. Palbociclib in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) was used, but the metastatic lesion at the sixth left rib increased than before. Subsequently, the lesion shrunk and the clinical symptoms were relieved, which was considered as a pseudoprogression. Herein, we reported a pseudoprogression in the breast cancer patient after treatment with palbociclib plus AI.

Reduced salinity is a major factor that causes macrobenthic degradation in reclaimed wetlands. We investigated populations of the sesarmid crab Chiromantes dehaani in reclaimed and natural wetlands. Then, in the laboratory, we exposed male and female crabs to four salinity levels (0, 6, 12 and 18) for 96 h to analyse the effects of reduced salinity on osmoregulatory enzyme activities in the posterior gills and digestive and immune enzyme activities in the hepatopancreas of C. dehaani. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between the number of crabs and salinity. In the laboratory, we found that the isosmotic point of C. dehaani was close to 16 ppt. The crabs showed strong hyper-osmotic regulation when exposed to 0–6 ppt salinities. Moreover, in this salinity range, amylase activities were significantly inhibited. Under low-salinity stress, the immune enzyme activities were significantly activated. However, phenoloxidase and lysozyme activities were inhibited in the freshwater environment. The male and female crabs showed no significant differences in most of the enzyme activities. Thus, reduced salinity can adversely affect the digestive and immune functions of C. dehaani, which may cause population degradation in reclaimed wetlands. Our findings can provide new insights into the effects of reclamation on macrobenthos.

With several microservice architectures comprising of thousands of web services in total, used to serve 630 million customers, companies like Meituan face several challenges in the verification and validation of their software. The use of automated techniques, especially advanced AI-based ones, could bring significant benefits here. EvoMaster is an open-source test case generation tool for web services, that exploits the latest advances in the field of Search-Based Software Testing research. This paper reports on our experience of integrating the EvoMaster tool in the testing processes at Meituan. Experiments were carried out to evaluate its performance in detail on two industrial web services which are parts of a large e-commerce microservices. A questionnaire and interviews were carried out with the engineers and managers at Meituan, to better understand the applicability and usability of fuzzing tools like EvoMaster in real industrial settings. On the one hand, the results of these analyses clearly show that existing tools like EvoMaster are already of benefits for practitioners in industry, e.g., EvoMaster detected 21 real faults and achieved an average of 71.3% coverage for code defining endpoints and 51.7% coverage for code implementing business logic, on two industrial APIs. On the other hand, there are still many critical challenges that the research community has to investigate.

Objective: The single-agent therapy was unable to provide an effective control of the malignant process, a well-established strategy to improve the efficacy of antitumor therapy is the rational design of drug combinations aimed at achieving synergistic effects. Objective: The objective of this study is generating the new potential anticancer agents with synergistic activity. Owing to the unique mechanism of action of Camptothecin (CPT), it has shown abroad spectrum of anti-cancer activity against human malignancies, and growing evidence revealed that Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) reduce the risk of different kinds of cancers. So four CPT-NSAIDs conjugates were synthesized and evaluated. Methods: In this study, a series of novel CPT - NSAIDs derivatives were synthesized by esterification. These new compounds were evaluated for in vitro antitumor activity against tumor cell lines A549, Hela, HepG2, HCT116 by MTT assay. To probe the required stabilities as prodrugs, stability tests were studied in human plasma. To further evaluate the stability of Ketoprofen-CPT in vivo, the female SD rats were used to determine the pharmacokinetics following a single oral dose. Results: In vitro results showed that Ketoprofen-CPT and Naproxen-CPT conjugates possessed nice efficacy. In a molecular docking model, the two conjugates interacted with Topo I-DNA through hydrogen bonds, - stacking and so on.In human plasma results showed that the prodrug was converted to ketoprofen and another compound. The female SD rats were used to determine the pharmacokinetics following a single oral dose, the half-life (t1/2) of Ketoprofen-CPT was approximately 12 h which was much longer than that of CPT. Conclusion: Good activity was noted for some compounds will be helpful for the design of dualaction agents with most promising anti-cancer activity.

In order to decrease corn straw crystallinity for improving reducing sugar yield, physicochemical pretreatments plus enzymatic hydrolysis were investigated. The results showed that hemicellulose and lignin degradation rates in corn straw treated with physical method (ultrasound wave (group 12), extrusion + ultrasound wave (group 14), extrusion + ultrasound wave + microwave (group 15)) combined with chemical compounds (lime + sodium hydroxide + hydrogen peroxide) were significantly higher than the untreated corn straw (P

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, and its incidence is expected to increase as the global population ages. Recent studies provide increasing evidence that inflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis and progression of AD. Diosgenin, an active ingredient in Dioscorea nipponica Makino, is a promising bioactive lead compound in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, which exhibited anti-inflammatory activity. To search for more efficient anti-Alzheimer agents, a series of novel diosgenin-triazolyl hybrids were designed, synthesized, and their neuroprotective effects against oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced neurotoxicity and LPS-induced NO production were evaluated. Most of these new hybrids displayed better activities than DIO. In particular, the promising compound L6 not only demonstrated an excellent neuroprotective effect but also showed the best anti-inflammatory activity. The structure-activity relationship study illustrated that the introduction of benzyl or phenyl triazole did improve the activity, and the introduction of benzyl triazole was better than that of phenyl triazole. The results we obtained showed that the diosgenin skeleton could be a promising structural template for the development of new anti-Alzheimer drug candidates, and compound L6 has the potential to be an important lead compound for further research.

Weiwei Huang,1 Chao Li,2 Mulan Chen,1 Duanyu Lin,3 Fan Wu,1 Xinhua Chen,1 Nani Li,1 Lili Wang,1 Jian Liu1 1Department of Medical Oncology, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, The Teaching Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pathology, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, The Teaching Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Imaging, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, The Teaching Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jian Liu Tel +86-13906912727Email ljfjszl@163.comAbstract: A 62-year-old postmenopausal woman was diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast and received modified radical mastectomy (molecular type: hormone-receptor-positive human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative). After that, she received postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. After 2 years of tamoxifen adjuvant endocrine treatment, the patient inccurred recurrence with metastasis. PET-CT scanning showed metastasis in the left thoracic wall, the sixth left rib, and the right lower lobe of the lung. Multiple lymph node metastases were observed throughout the body. Palbociclib in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) was used, but the metastatic lesion at the sixth left rib increased than before. Subsequently, the lesion shrunk and the clinical symptoms were relieved, which was considered as a pseudoprogression. Herein, we reported a pseudoprogression in the breast cancer patient after treatment with palbociclib plus AI.Keywords: pseudoprogression, palbociclib, breast cancer

Community characteristics of phytoplankton in the surface water of paddy fields under four nitrogen fertiliser (NF) treatments were studied in the Yangtze River Delta, China. The results were as follows: (1) in total, 65 species, belonging to six phytoplankton phyla and 50 genera were detected; their average total density was 1.25 × 106/L. Number of species and diversity of phytoplankton were higher in the control treatment (0 kg N/ha; CK) than in the NF treatments at later experimental times; (2) there was a significant positive correlation between phytoplankton density and total N; however, total density of phytoplankton was higher in CK than in NF treatments; (3) during the transplanting and rehabilitation stage, under high N treatments, phytoplankton mainly comprised Chlorophyta, among which the dominant species was Volvox aureus, while under low N treatments, the main phyla were Chlorophyta and Cryptophyta, with Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chroomonas acuta forming the dominant species. During the rice tillering stage, the dominance of Chlorophyta was partially replaced by Cryptophyta and Bacillariophyta in all NF treatments, while the proportion of Cyanobacteria in CK increased significantly; (4) species and density of Cyanobacteria were higher in CK than in NF treatments, accompanied by the dominance of nitrogen-fixing species such as Anabaena spp. at later experimental times. The results indicate that NF application changed the phytoplankton community. Low N conditions can promote competition for photosynthesis and nutrients among phytoplankton in paddy fields, while low N application rates can induce growth of some algae with nitrogen-fixing abilities.

The present study describes the use of metabolic engineering to achieve the production of R,R-2,3-butanediol (R,R-2,3-BD) of ultra-high optical purity (>99.99%). To this end, the diacetyl reductase (DAR) gene (dud A) of Paenibacillus polymyxa ZJ-9 was knocked out via homologous recombination between the genome and the previously constructed targeting vector pRN5101-L'C in a process based on homologous single-crossover. PCR verification confirmed the successful isolation of the dud A gene disruption mutant P. polymyxa ZJ-9-△dud A. Moreover, fermentation results indicated that the optical purity of R,R-2,3-BD increased from about 98% to over 99.99%, with a titer of 21.62 g/L in Erlenmeyer flasks. The latter was further increased to 25.88 g/L by fed-batch fermentation in a 5-L bioreactor.

Inulo-oligosaccharides (IOSs), a novel food additive and health product, represent a promising alternative to antibiotics. As prebiotics, IOSs can be obtained from inulin by endo-inulinase-mediated hydrolysis. Nonetheless, enzymatic catalysis is not feasible industrially because of the required catalytic conditions and cost. In this study, a 2331-bp optimized gene inuQ (from Pseudomonas mucidolens) encoding endo-inulinase was cloned into shuttle vector PHY300PLK and transfected into Bacillus subtilis WB800-R, with the simultaneous deletion of gene sacC encoding levanase. The maximal IOS yield after hydrolysis of the crude extract of inulin was 67.84 ± 0.72 g/L for a recombinant strain with the signal peptide nprB from alkaline protease and promoter P43. The conversion rate reached 75.38%. For the major IOSs, the degree of polymerization was between 3 and 5. This study offers a simple and efficient one-step bioprocess for IOS production from inulin through secretion of an extracellular heterologous endo-inulinase by B. subtilis.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and zearalenone (ZEA) are the secondary toxic metabolites of fungi which contaminate a wide range of food and feedstuffs. Limiting exposure of humans and livestock to them is very essential. Among numerous methods of mycotoxin-degradation, biodegradation by microorganisms and enzymes is an effective and promising approach to eliminate their hazards. The present study aims to optimize the proportion of different species of beneficial microbes by means of response surface methodology (RSM) and its combination with mycotoxin-degradation enzymes. The results indicated that AFB1 and ZEA degradation rates were 38.38% and 42.18% by individual Bacillus subtilis (P < 0.05); however, AFB1 and ZEA degradation rates reached 45.49% and 44.90% (P < 0.05) when three probiotic species such as Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus casein and Candida utilis were at a ratio of 1:1:1, corresponding with the predictive value of the RSM model. The further experiment showed that AFB1 and ZEA degradation rates were 63.95% and 73.51% (P < 0.05) when the compound of three probiotic species was combined with mycotoxin-degradation enzymes from Aspergillus oryzae at a ratio of 3:2. This result indicated that the combination of probiotics with mycotoxin-degradation enzymes is a promising new approach for synchronous detoxification of AFB1 and ZEA.

Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) fiber is a kind of high-performance fiber, which shows excellent performances and has been widely used in many fields. In this study, PTFE nanofiber membranes were prepared by electrospinning, solution blowing spinning (SBS), and electroblown spinning (EBS). Compared with other methods, the EBS method was more successful in producing excellent flexible, uniform, and continuous PTFE nanofiber membranes, with a mean diameter of approximately 414.54 nm, which was lower than the traditional electrospinning and SBS PTFE fiber diameters, 785.27 and 446.03 nm, respectively, and the diameter distribution of the EBS fiber was more uniform. The EBS PTFE fiber mat with a pore size of 0.74 µm was obtained, which was smaller than the traditional electrospinning (1.58 µm) and SBS (0.90 µm). The lower fiber diameter, smaller pore size, and better hydrophobicity made the EBS PTFE fiber mat more fit for thermal filtration and other applications compared with the electrospinning and SBS one.

Sijin Li,1–3 Qishu Zhang,1–3 Hongmei Bai,1–3 Weiwei Huang,1–3 Congyan Shu,1–3 Chao Ye,1–3 Wenjia Sun,1–3 Yanbing Ma1–3 1Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 2Yunnan Key Laboratory of Vaccine Research & Development on Severe Infectious Disease, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 3Yunnan Engineering Research Center of Vaccine Research and Development on Severe Infectious Disease, Kunming, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yanbing MaLaboratory of Molecular Immunology, Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 935 Jiaoling Road, Kunming 650118, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 871 6833 9287Fax +86 871 6833 4483Email yanbingma@126.comBackground: Vaccines are one of the most promising strategies for immunotherapy of HPV associated tumors; however, they generally lack significant clinical efficacy at present. This inefficacy might be due to inefficient generation of anti-tumor cellular immune responses.Purpose: This study aimed to assess the potential of using self-assembled nanofibers as a new vaccine platform to elicit potent HPV antigen - specific anti-tumor immunity.Methods: A HPV16 E744-62 peptide was chemically appended to the N terminus of self-assembling peptide Q11. The nanofibers were prepared and used to immunize mice through a preventive or therapeutic strategy in a TC-1 graft tumor model.Results: Preventive immunization with nanofibers almost completely suppressed the growth of primarily grafted TC-1 tumors and even a re-challenge of tumor cells after a six-week rest. Therapeutic immunization significantly increased the levels of effector Th1 cells, CTLs and the cytokines IFN-γ and TNF-α in E7 peptide-stimulated splenocytes, and the immunization reduced Th2, MDSC and IL-4 contents compared to the controls. The nanofiber immunization significantly suppressed the growth of established tumors and achieved 66.7% and 50% tumor-free in mice carrying 2–3 mm tumors and even larger tumors with a diameter of 5–6 mm respectively. In addition, the nanofibers were more efficient than the corresponding unassembled peptides for the treatment of established larger size tumors.Conclusion: The results indicated that self-assembling nanofibers could elicit robust HPV antigen -specific anti-tumor cellular immunity and are a potent antigen delivery system for HPV related tumor vaccines.Keywords: self-assembling nanofibers, cellular immunity, tumor, vaccine, human papillomavirus, HPV

In order to remove zearalenone (ZEA) detriment&mdash, Bacillus subtilis, Candida utilis, and cell-free extracts from Aspergillus oryzae were used to degrade ZEA in this study. The orthogonal experiment in vitro showed that the ZEA degradation rate was 92.27% (p &lt, 0.05) under the conditions that Candida utilis, Bacillus subtilis SP1, and Bacillus subtilis SP2 were mixed together at 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.0%. When cell-free extracts from Aspergillus oryzae were combined with the above probiotics at a ratio of 2:1 to make mycotoxin-biodegradation preparation (MBP), the ZEA degradation rate reached 95.15% (p &lt, 0.05). In order to further investigate the MBP effect on relieving the negative impact of ZEA for pig production performance, 120 young pigs were randomly divided into 5 groups, with 3 replicates in each group and 8 pigs for each replicate. Group A was given the basal diet with 86.19 &mu, g/kg ZEA, group B contained 300 &mu, g/kg ZEA without MBP addition, and groups C, D, and E contained 300 &mu, g/kg ZEA added with 0.05%, 0.10%, and 0.15% MBP, respectively. The results showed that MBP addition was able to keep gut microbiota stable. ZEA concentrations in jejunal contents in groups A and D were 89.47% and 80.07% lower than that in group B (p &lt, 0.05), indicating that MBP was effective in ZEA biodegradation. In addition, MBP had no significant effect on pig growth, nutrient digestibility, and the relative mRNA abundance of estrogen receptor alpha (ER&alpha, ) genes in ovaries and the uterus (p &gt, 0.05).

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the mycotoxins most frequently encountering in cereal-based foods throughout the world. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used to alleviate porcine jejunal epithelia cell (IPEC-J2) injury induced by DON in this study. The results indicated that cell viability and proliferation rates were significantly decreased when DON concentrations were increased from 0 to 64 µM after 24 h incubation (p

In order to solve the problem that the working space of the central switchgear is limited or the current transformer is limited, and the single person cannot complete the operation, the brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is applied to the actual operation. In this paper, the δ (0–4 Hz) and θ(4–8 Hz) sub-bands of EEG signals are obtained by wavelet decomposition (WD). The relationship between the 14 pairs of EEG channels was determined using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The motion characteristics are then analyzed using the validity of brain network parameters. At the same time, eye movement features are extracted from the F3 and F4 channels. Finally, the movement characteristics identified by the brain network and eye movement features can aid in the disassembly and assembly of the transformer. The experimental results show that the accuracy of left and right motion recognition is over 97%. Compared with the traditional disassembly method, the efficiency has increased by nearly 60%.

Zearalenone (ZEA) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) are two main kinds of mycotoxins widely existing in grain and animal feed that cause a lot of economic loss and health problems for animals and humans. In order to alleviate the cytotoxic effects of AFB1 and ZEA on swine jejunal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2), the combination of a cell-free supernatant of compound probiotics (CFSCP) with mycotoxin degradation enzymes (MDEs) from Aspergillus oryzae was tested. The results demonstrated that coexistence of AFB1 and ZEA had synergetic toxic effects on cell viability. The cell viability was decreased with mycotoxin concentrations increasing, but increased with incubation time extension. The necrotic cell rates were increased when 40 &micro, g/L AFB1 and/or 500 &micro, g/L ZEA were added, but the addition of CFSCP + MDE suppressed the necrotic effects of AFB1 + ZEA. The viable cell rates were decreased when AFB1 and/or ZEA were added: However, the addition of CFSCP + MDE recovered them. The relative mRNA abundances of Bcl-2, occludin, and ZO-1 genes were significantly upregulated, while Bax, caspase-3, GLUT2, ASCT2, PepT1, and IL6 genes were significantly downregulated by CFSCP + MDE addition, compared to the groups containing 40 &micro, g/L AFB1 and 500 &micro, g/L ZEA. This research provided an effective strategy in alleviating mycotoxin cytotoxicity and keeping normal intestinal cell structure and animal health.

Cytomegalovirus is typically associated with immunocompromised hosts, pregnant women and transplant patients, who require a timely diagnosis. In this work, a sensitive and highly specific electrochemical amplification immunosensor was established for detecting Cytomegalovirus pp65 antigen based on Pt-PdNPs@SWCNHs with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a signal enhancer and thionine as a signal probe. First, Pt nanoparticle (PtNP) and Pd nanoparticle (PdNP) functionalized single-walled carbon nanohorn (SWCNH) nanocomposites, i.e. Pt-PdNPs@SWCNHs, was used as a carrier for immobilization of antibody through the Pt-N bond and the Pd-N bond. Next, HRP was used to block the rest of the binding-sites. Signal amplification was obtained by the cooperative catalytic activities of Pt-PdNPs and HRP to H2O2. SWCNHs loaded with a large amount of Pt-PdNPs further amplified the signal due to the excellent surface area. The fabricated immunosensor was used to detect different concentrations of Cytomegalovirus pp65 antigen under optimized conditions. The tests showed a linear range from 0.1 to 80 ng mL−1 with a low detection limit of 30 pg mL−1, and exhibited excellent selectivity, stability and reproducibility. Therefore, this project presented a potential approach for the early diagnosis of Cytomegalovirus infection in clinical trials.

Modern enterprises are in a time of change and under high degree of uncertainty. There are risks in human resources management of each enterprise, such as recruitment failure and sudden leave or casualties of the key technical staff. These will affect the normal operation of enterprises, these can even cause fatal blow to the enterprise if the problem is serious. Therefore, it is important to establish a sense of risk in the human resources management to prevent human resources risk as an important part of enterprise human resource management, and also important to explore actively about the risk identification and prevention in human resources management, all these are the new direction of theoretical and business research. This paper will elaborate on the above issues, first elaborated on the concept of internal human resources risk and characteristics, followed by risk identification analysis, and then put forward the enterprise human resources risk prevention strategies and response measures.

Xylanase can hydrolyze xylan for reducing its anti-nutritional impact and improving nutrient availability, so obtaining suitable xylanase to degrade xylan is essential. Error-prone PCR and gene transformation were used in this study to obtain the ideal xylanase for degrading xylan effectively. The result showed that one mutant xylanase gene with high xylanase expression was obtained. After the mutant xylanase gene was connected with pGAPZαA and transformed into Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris), the recombinant P. pastoris with mutant gene was found to produce higher xylanase activity (0.1480 U/mL) than that with the native xylanase gene (0.1360 U/mL) after 12 h incubation (p

A dually amplified DNA biosensor was constructed for the determination of the DNA of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneu). A gold electrode was modified with 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (PTCDA; a π-stacking perylene semiconductor dye with outstanding electronic and optical properties), a layer of gold nanoparticles (nano-Au), and capture DNA. Pt@Pd nanowires served as carriers for the coimmobilization of complementary probe (CP2) and the mediator thionine (Thi). Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) acted as a blocking reagent and signal enhancer. Following base pairing, the modified Pt@Pd nanowires were captured on the surface of the gold electrode. After addition of H2O2, the Pt@Pd nanowires and HRP both catalyzed the reduction of H2O2 and promoted the electron transfer via the mediator Thi, resulting in an amplified electrochemical signal. The electrical signal, best measured at a working voltage of −200 mV (vs a SCE), is logarithmically related to the concentration of the M. pneu DNA in the 0.1 pM to 20 nM concentration range, and the detection limit (at an S/N ratio of 3) is 0.03 pM. The assay is robust, sensitive and specific. Conceivably, it is a cost-effective alternative to the established PCR method for the detection of M. pneu in clinical samples.

Garlic is a vegetable known to be a good antioxidant food resource around the world. Several studies on the antioxidant activity of garlic, mainly conducted using one or two methods, have been reported. However, comparison of the antioxidant activity of garlic before and after cooking is rarely reported. In this study, we compared the antioxidant activity of garlic aqueous and methanol extracts processed before and after boiling to mimic the cooking process. By testing the antioxidant activities of the extracts in different chemical mimic systems in vitro, namely, ABTS [2, 2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] and DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activities, reducing power, and metal chelating ability, we found the following data: (1) no significant difference was observed on the ABTS radical scavenging activities of garlic aqueous and methanol extracts before and after boiling process; (2) the reducing power of garlic aqueous and methanol extracts decreased by 25.9% and 14.1%, respectively, whereas the metal chelating activity of boiled garlic aqueous extracts increased by 54.7%; and (3) DPPH radical scavenging test may not be suitable to examine the garlic extracts. In addition, the ABTS radical scavenging activities of garlic extracts were very stable at pH ranges similar in human bodies, and both sulfhydryl and phenolic compounds were probably responsible for the antioxidant ability of garlic. The boiling process destroyed only a small part of garlic bio-ingredients related to antioxidant activity properties.

Harmonic contents are employed for indicating the quality of the programmable AC power source (PACPS). However, spectrum leakage usually occurs. This paper employs a variation semi-sinusoidal window (VSSW) for performing the power harmonic analysis. Since the rolloff of the sidelobes of the VSSW is fast, experimental results show that the VSSW outperforms existing windows.

R,R-2,3-butanediol (R,R-2,3-BD) was produced by Paenibacillus polymyxa ZJ-9, which was capable of utilizing inulin without previous hydrolysis. The Jerusalem artichoke pomace (JAP) derived from the conversion of Jerusalem artichoke powder into inulin extract, which was usually used for biorefinery by submerged fermentation (SMF), was utilized in solid state fermentation (SSF) to produce R,R-2,3-BD. In this study, the fermentation parameters of SSF were optimized and determined in flasks. A novel bioreactor was designed and assembled for the laboratory scale-up of SSF, with a maximum yield of R,R-2,3-BD (67.90 g/kg (JAP)). This result is a 36.3% improvement compared with the flasks. Based on the same bath of Jerusalem artichoke powder, the total output of R,R-2,3-BD increased by 38.8% for the SSF of JAP combined with the SMF of inulin extraction. Overall, the utilization of JAP for R,R-2,3-BD production was beneficial to the comprehensive utilization of Jerusalem artichoke tuber.

2016, 【要旨】

A pot experiment was carried out to study the effects of addition of leaf litter of Cinnamomum septentrionale on growth and resistance physiology of Brassica rapa during the decomposition process.Each pot contained 8 kg of soil mixed with 0,20,40,80 g leaf litter of C.septentrionale respectively.Seeds of B.rapa were sawed on 13th April,a week later after litter addition.Height,biomass,leaf area and several indexes of resistance physiology were determined at 30,40,50,60 and 70 d after sowing.Supplementary experiment was conducted as following: leaf litter of C.septentrionale after soaking in water for 48 h was steamed for 4 h,and the other methods were the same as above.The results were stated as following.(1) In formal experiment,height and biomass of B.rapa were inhibited significantly in 70 days.The activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD),peroxidase(POD) and catalase activity(CAT) in leaves of B.rapa increased on the condition of low litter content and short time of decomposition,but decreased on that of higher litter content and longer time of decomposition.The activities of CAT went up significantly in 70 d.The content of sugar and soluble protein in leaves of B.rapa increased in low litter content and short time of decomposition,whereas,decreased in that of higher litter content and longer time of decomposition.The affect intensity of leaf litter on B.rapa was from strong to weak in pace with prolonged decomposition time.The compound negative effect of 80 g treatment was the strongest,that of 40 g was weaker,and that of 20 g was the weakest.After 60 days,the discrepancy size of some indicators(e.g.biomass and SOD) of B.rapa among treatments had reduced.This implied that the effects were weakened.The reason might be that the allelochemicals in the litter of C.septentrionale had obviously reduced or almost no longer released.(2)In supplementary experiment,after sowing for 70 d,there was no obvious difference of morphological feature and no significant difference in biomass,height,leaf area between litter addition and control.It indicated that soil physical properties were not influenced obviously and the growth of B.rapa was not affected by addition of litter.On the whole,the leaf litter of C.septentrionale had a fierce allelopathic effect on B.rapa during its initial decomposition process in soil.

The shear modulus G(t) is one of the most important mechanical parameters of viscoelastic materials, and it is widely used in 3-dimensional stress and strain calculation and strength analysis, but it is very difficult to be obtained directly from the experiment. In this article, the feasibility and process of shear relaxation experiments were discussed, and the Arcan fixture and butterfly specimen were considered; with the modified Arcan fixture, the shear relaxation experiments of solid propellant under different temperatures were carried out. The master curve of shear relaxation modulus and the parameters of W.L.F were obtained. This new method brings forward a new way to study the viscoelastic properties of solid propellant.

This paper proposes a map free lane following solution based on low-cost 2D laser scanners for Autonomous Service Vehicle to fill the gap between future driverless car and the lane keeping assistant. The applications of autonomous service vehicle include feeder bus in a local residential area, shuttle bus in a park or playground, sprinkler car, sweeper car, and transporter in airport or container terminal. As autonomous service vehicle is running only in a limited area and its speed is slow compared to normal vehicles, we can further simplify the problem regardless of the issues of road infrastructure detection/communication and V2I maps which prevent the popularization of driverless car, and to propose a unique map free solution. The features of our approach include: 1) an innovative configuration for two 2D laser scanners to detect the lane with sharp curve; 2) a fast and accurate lane detection algorithm based on 2D laser's raw date directly; 3) a reliable and smooth path planning based on local lane fitting and prediction; and 4) a self-built unique drive-by-wire system for electronic car. We successfully tested our vehicle with autonomous driving in the testing field. The experiments show that the vehicle's trajectory matched the planned path accurately.

Conference Name:9th IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, IEEE-NEMS 2014. Conference Address: Waikiki Beach, HI, United states. Time:April 13, 2014 - April 16, 2014.

Ring-width series are important for diverse fields of research such as the study of past climate, forest ecology, forest genetics, and the determination of origin (dendro-provenancing) or dating of archaeological objects. Recent research suggests diverging climate-growth relationships in tree-rings due to the cardinal direction of extracting the tree cores (i.e. direction-specific effect). This presents an understudied source of bias that potentially affects many data sets in tree-ring research. In this study, we investigated possible direction-specific growth variability based on an international (10 countries), multi-species (8 species) tree-ring width network encompassing 22 sites. To estimate the effect of direction-specific growth variability on climate-growth relationships, we applied a combination of three methods: An analysis of signal strength differences, a Principal Component Gradient Analysis and a test on the direction-specific differences in correlations between indexed ring-widths series and climate variables. We found no evidence for systematic direction-specific effects on tree radial growth variability in high-pass filtered ring-width series. In addition, direction-specific growth showed only marginal effects on climate-growth correlations. These findings therefore indicate that there is no consistent bias caused by coring direction in data sets used for diverse dendrochronological applications on relatively mesic sites within forests in flat terrain, as were studied here. However, in extremely dry, warm or cold environments, or on steep slopes, and for different life-forms such as shrubs, further research is advisable., Dendrochronologia, 57